Apple Bars.
Jay is presenting to the accounting department on Monday about the differences between the US and Australia. Since the Aussies love their tea so much, we have to bring in food for the occasion. I thought just ordering a bunch of McDonalds cheeseburgers and fries would be perfect, but that idea got vetoed. Next to Mackers, there is nothing more American than apple pie. So I took it upon myself to attempt to make Sherry’s apple bars.
First hurdle. No Crisco, only lard. Not sure if I did the conversion right or not…
Second hurdle. No pastry mixer. A fork worked just fine (thanks to mom for making all of her pie crusts with a fork).
Third hurdle. No golden delicious apples. Hopefully red delicious will do.
Fourth hurdle. No apple peeler/corer/slicer. Thanks to Jay for cutting all of the apples by hand.
Fifth hurdle. No sheet pan. Sent Jay to the store to get one and ended up with some sort of roasting pan…one batch in that and a smaller batch in a square glass pan…
Sixth hurdle. No rolling pin. I tried to improvise by wrapping a Pringles can with wax paper, but that didn’t work at all. So I used the palm of my hand.

I felt like I was in an episode of Little House on the Prairie. Cross your fingers they turn out ok!

Jay is also attempting to make a batch of Ashley’s buffalo chicken dip. However, there is no such thing as Franks Red Hot sauce in Australia, so he is concocting something with Tabasco as a substitute. I am more than a little nervous about how that is going to turn out. Everyone is going to think the food in America sucks if they form their opinions off of our weak attempts at cooking here…

Sanctuary Cove, Round 2.
We checked out the Sanctuary Cove Christmas schedule online this morning and found out that Santa was going to be there for pictures between 1 and 2:00. Since that was prime nap time I figured it would be a disaster, but we got Ty down for a nap a little early and woke him up to thoughts of seeing his idol. He was super excited to sit on Santa’s lap. Santa didn’t want to hold Lily, so I got to sit on his lap. Haven’t done that in years!

Jay and Ty went on a quick train ride, then Jay went to get ice cream while Ty waited patiently in line to get his face painted. He really wanted the snowman. He wanted it so bad, in fact, that he chose face painting over the bouncy house. He hit up the bouncy house in style, with Frosty on his face!

Swim.
It was stinking hot out, so we came home, threw on our swimsuits, and played in the pool for a couple hours. I am lounging on the patio, cuddling with Lily, watching the boats come home along the canal. Great way to end the weekend!