Ode to our back yard

When I look at our back yard, I think "a family lives here."

My parents' back yard is wide open. There are no fences in their neighborhood, so one yard blends into another to create a magical space. As a child, it was green grass as far as the eye could see.

Each afternoon, or first thing in the morning in summer, all the neighbor kids would gather in our common back yard to play. We'd make mud pies on one neighbor's back porch, climb on picnic tables and swing from rope swings, and jump from tire to tire at the neighborhood playground. In the evenings we played capture the flag. I remember running and laughing and warm summer nights.

As a teenager we sat on those same picnic tables. The play turned from mud pies to card games, but that back yard still held magic for me.

When I moved to Arizona, I missed that green, green grass. The desert has it's own kind of beauty, but grass is a part of me. When Ray proposed, I knew right away that I wanted our wedding reception to be held in my parents' back yard. To me, it's the most beautiful place I know. That night was magic, and the back yard was as beautiful as it's ever been.

Since then, Ray and I have dreamed of having a back yard of our own, with green grass for our children. We've had patios, but never grass. I wanted Emmett to grow up with a back yard. To play with roly polies, make mud pies and run through sprinklers. I want him to have a childhood like mine.

 We have that now, in our sweet little rental home. A back yard of our own, with green grass. This little rental isn't ours, not really. But it's perfect for us now. It feels like home, and that back yard.. It's magic.

Currently.

Watching: Nashville! Or trying to. I steal my sister's Hulu log in and she's started watching the show now too because I won't stop talking about it and she wants to know what all the fuss is about but Hulu won't let you watch two shows at once on the same log in. Booooo.

I'm a little bit embarrassed by how much I love this show. When Emmett and I are lying on the couch in the morning watching his whale documentary, I'm secretly daydreaming about Nashville. When I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep, I'm secretly day(night)dreaming of Nashville. It's that good. And I'm that obsessed. And alllll the drama!

Reading: Nothing exciting. Anyone have recommendations?

Thinking about: Instagram! I have a major crush on Instagram y'all. I love photography and looking at photos, so IG is the perfect social media app for me. There is so much inspiration to be found through hashtags and @instagram suggested users. There are people doing photo prompts like @my_365 and @its_my_week, communities teaching about iPhone photography like @annapolisandco's #theeverdayproject and my new favorite @theportraitclub's #theportraitclub. There's so much to learn and so many people to learn from, all over the world, at your fingertips. I have to be careful not to spend all day digging through hashtags and finding new users to follow. I just think it's so cool to be able to open an app and be inspired, just like that.

Thankful for: The weekend we had. It was really wonderful. Emmett and I started Friday off with a trip to the park with Mary and her kiddos, and finished it off with those same kiddos watching Frozen in the park. Such an awesome way to begin our weekend!

On Saturday, Ray worked at our condo (it's soooooo close to being ready to hit the market!) while I cleaned the house to get ready for our Cinco de Mayo party. Our friends arrived at 5 and we spent the evening chatting and eating while the kids played in the sprinkler and fought over trucks. It was a really awesome evening and left me feeling full and content and ready to host another party. We love having people over, and it's really nice having a place we are excited about to host parties and impromptu hang outs in the back yard.

If you're looking for something yummy to make for Cinco de Mayo, look no further. I wrote a complete menu yesterday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend as well!

The hosts of Currently.:

If you are interested in co-hosting, please email Jenna at info(at)amamacollective(dot)com to get on the list!

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Fish Tacos with Cream Cheese & Avocado Sauce, Corn and Avocado Salad, & Fresh Citrus Margaritas: A Complete Cinco de Mayo Meal

We had a few friends over for dinner this weekend. With Cinco de Mayo coming up, we knew we wanted to serve Ray's insanely easy and delicious fish tacos with margaritas to celebrate the holiday a little early. The party was a huge success- the kids played together really well (after a few minor melt downs over toys everyone wanted at once,) the weather was cool and breezy, and the food was a big hit! There's really nothing more special than sharing a meal with friends in our back yard while the kids play.

Since the food we served was delicious and really easy to make, I thought I would share the menu in case you're looking for a quick and easy Cinco de Mayo meal for your family.

The Menu:

Fish Tacos with corn or flour tortillas (Ray loves flour, I prefer corn.)
Cream Cheese & Avocado Fish Taco Sauce
Corn & Avocado Salad (My absolute favorite summertime dish)
Beans and Rice (We use Vigo brand- so good!)
Hot Dogs for the kiddos
Watermelon
Fresh Citrus Frozen Margaritas

Fish Tacos: Ray insists this is too simple to be called a recipe, which makes me even more excited to share it with you. I love a meal that's incredibly simple to make, but still tastes really good. Ray's fish tacos are absolutely one of my favorite things he makes, and our friends agreed. "So nummy!" as Emmett likes to say. ;)

Ingredients:

1 pound Wild Pacific Cod (This should serve three. For the party, we made 3 pounds.)
Old Bay Seasoning
1 box Beer Batter
2/3 cup beer (We used an IPA)
Canola oil

Directions: Slice fish into small pieces. Lightly season with Old Bay Seasoning.
Mix Beer Batter and beer in a medium-sized bowl.
Place enough oil in a pot or pan to submerge the fish, and heat it on medium high until it's hot enough to fry. Dip each piece of fish in the beer batter, then submerge in oil for 2 1/2 minutes per piece. Lay on paper towel to cool.

Serve with tortillas, cole slaw, and lemon slices. Top with sauce, recipe below. :)

Cream Cheese & Avocado Fish Taco Sauce: This sauce is based on a sauce we had with fish tacos at a friends house years ago in California. Ray and I still talk about that sauce anytime fish tacos are mentioned! It was so delicious, but our friends don't remember the recipe, so I tried to come up with something similar for our party. It wasn't exactly the same as the sauce we remember, but I'm really happy with how it came out. :)

Ingredients:

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoon sour cream
1 avocado
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, finely chopped
juice from 1 lime

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, finishing with the lime juice, and mix in a blender or using a hand mixer. Serve cold with fish tacos.

Corn Salad: I crave this salad all year round. I wait impatiently for corn to be in season all through the winter until finally it begins to appear in stores again, and then I make this salad first thing and eat it straight from the bowl. It is my favorite dish to make in the summertime, so if you're going to a pot-luck with me this summer, expect to see it on the menu. :)

Ingredients:

5 ears of corn
2 avocados
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
juice from 1 lime
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions: Grill corn until blackened. If we don't have time to grill it, we'll put it under the broiler in the oven to blacken it a bit. Let corn cool, then slice the kernels off each ear into a large bowl.
Slice avocado and add to the corn. Add cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle with olive oil, just enough to lightly coat the salad. Squeeze the juice from a lime over the salad, and mix. Enjoy!

Fresh Citrus Margaritas: We snagged a nice bottle of tequila on major sale yesterday, just in time for our Cinco party. We used grapefruit for our citrus because we have a grapefruit tree in our yard, but you can substitute lime, or orange, peach, watermelon, or whatever your heart desires. This recipe is for a large batch, and be warned, we like our margs on the strong side. ;)

Ingredients:

8 ounces tequila
6 ounces triple sec
juice from one grapefruit
8 ounces margarita mix
ice

Directions:

Mix ingredients together in a large blender and blend on high for about a minute and a half, until the ice is the desired texture. Enjoy, and drink responsibly!

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend so far! Have a safe and happy Cinco de Mayo!