Caprese Cups

I volunteered to make an appetizer for a girls' night the other day and I came up with this idea based on some other ideas I'd seen online. I thought it was pretty tasty and easy for an appetizer, so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:

Won Ton Wrappers (can generally be found in the refrigerated area of the produce section)
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, diced
Tomatoes (I used vine-ripened), diced
Fresh basil, diced (you could probably use dried basil in a pinch)
Balsamic vinegar
Salt

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease (or spray) a mini muffin/cupcake pan.
3. If desired, gently cut won ton wrappers using a medium-sized biscuit cutters. (I think this made the cups a better size for eating and they looked a little prettier.)
4. Gently, but firmly, press the won ton circles into the muffin pan.
5. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, or until lightly brown. Let cool.
6. Mix mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and a splash of balsamic vinegar and salt to taste. (I just eyeballed the amounts. Just make sure you start out with a little vinegar and add as needed.)
7. If serving immediately, use a spoon to put the caprese mix into the cups. If serving later, store the mix in the fridge (probably for no more than a few hours though or the basil starts to wilt and the tomatoes start getting soggy).
8. Enjoy the yum of the Caprese flavors (one of my favorites)!

Overnight Portland Trip

Since neither of us had spent any time there before, and because Brian had Veteran's Day off, we decided to make an overnight trip to Portland,

Our first stop was the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry since we have reciprocity because of our Pacific Science Center membership.

They have a great children's area so the kids had a great time playing around for a while.

There's a giant sand box in the middle of the play area that the kids enjoyed.

There's also a water area and Wes was fascinated by this whirlpool.

Sydney preferred getting her hands wet.

I had the kids sit in this birds' nest and tried to get Wes to pretend to feed Sydney a worm, but neither of them would do it.

Wes rocked it out at this balance challenge. After the OMSI, we went to Red Robin for dinner and then we went in the "bubble pool" (hot tub) at the hotel. Pretty great day for the kids!

On Saturday morning, we went to breakfast at a local place and the kids inhaled their food. It was yummy!

We then went to Powell's Books, a bookstore that is as big as a city block and 68,000 square feet. It's a really cool - and almost overwhelming - experience. They have so many books!

We then went to a toy store and the Portland Saturday Market before doing a bit of outlet shopping (sales tax free!) and then heading to Puyallup for a night on our way back up to Seattle.