More to come soon!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Ahhhhh....
Okay it's been a while and I have posts to catch up on, but for now, let me just say this: I'M ON VAY-CAY-SHUN!!!!!!!! Last day of work yesterday; don't return until August 1st. Man, am I ready for a break!
More to come soon!
More to come soon!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Gotta Love Simple
Saturday night we went to an impromptu wine and cheese party. We asked what we could bring, but of course the host said we didn't need to bring anything. Yeah. Right. Have you ever shown up at a wine and cheese party with nothing? Me neither. We decided to KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and brought a respectable zinfandel, a wheel of brie warmed and toped with warm apricot preserves, and a crock with warm Greek olives. Mmmm. Everything was delicious! The most surprising hit of the night was the warm olives. Everyone was crazy about them! Around Christmas time, a friend of mine mentioned that she'd been given the tip to heat the olives while she was shopping at Sur la Table. They told her that heating them slightly added a nuttier flavor to the olives. Who knew, right? I never would have thought of it, but I have to say, it really did make a delicious difference.
Anyway, at the party everyone kept asking how I 'made' them. I kept saying that I really didn't do anything other than heat them up. Apparently, my explanation was not believable ;o) Today I received an email from one of the party guests requesting a step-by-step guide of what I did with the olives. Here's my reply:
Easy, peasy.
1. Go to Pavilions (or any store with an olive bar)
2. Select olives from bar; I chose assorted Greek olives (already combined - no effort on my part)
3. Place said olives in a microwave-able crockery vessel
4. Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute
5. Remove from microwave
6. Place crockery vessel on serving table; add cutesy plastic toothpicks to retrieve olives from aforementioned vessel
7. ENJOY!
Just call me Martha ;o)
Urban Gardening: Woohoo - We have veggies!
So it's been a while since I posted about our urban garden - and it's growing like crazy!
Tonight when I went to water, I was happily surprised to find all sorts of new discoveries out there. The first discovery is that we have tomatoes - and quite a few of them!! We found about 8 or 10 of them just sitting there pretty as you please. I swear, we were out there on Sunday and there were only flowers on the plants - no actual fruit. Those little lovelies just seemed to burst out over night!
Next, while we were looking at the greens in the raised bed, we discovered cucumbers! Right now they are still teensy weensy, but before you know it, the'll be ready to pick and enjoy. Can hardly wait!
Then, just outside of the Fern Grotto, we have grapes. We didn't know that until last year when one of our neighbors pointed it out to us. Now that we know they're there, I've been keeping an eye on them. The other day I noticed that we had baby green grapes. I don't know what variety the grapes are, but I'm guessing the small champagne variety. Last year there were a ton of them and they all ripened but they stayed very small. Anyway, while watering tonight I went over to check them out. The vines are loaded! I think they just look so cool! We do have a lot of deer in the area and last year I noticed them munching on some of the grapes; hopefully we'll be able to keep them more to ourselves this year. I'm sure we'll be able to salvage at least some of them - some of the clusters are pretty far up in the yard and I didn't see the deer up quite that far in the yard.
I saved the best discovery for last. Isn't she cute?
She always turns to the side just as I snap her picture. Silly girl. No matter - she's cute from every angle ;o)
Tonight when I went to water, I was happily surprised to find all sorts of new discoveries out there. The first discovery is that we have tomatoes - and quite a few of them!! We found about 8 or 10 of them just sitting there pretty as you please. I swear, we were out there on Sunday and there were only flowers on the plants - no actual fruit. Those little lovelies just seemed to burst out over night!
Next, while we were looking at the greens in the raised bed, we discovered cucumbers! Right now they are still teensy weensy, but before you know it, the'll be ready to pick and enjoy. Can hardly wait!
Then, just outside of the Fern Grotto, we have grapes. We didn't know that until last year when one of our neighbors pointed it out to us. Now that we know they're there, I've been keeping an eye on them. The other day I noticed that we had baby green grapes. I don't know what variety the grapes are, but I'm guessing the small champagne variety. Last year there were a ton of them and they all ripened but they stayed very small. Anyway, while watering tonight I went over to check them out. The vines are loaded! I think they just look so cool! We do have a lot of deer in the area and last year I noticed them munching on some of the grapes; hopefully we'll be able to keep them more to ourselves this year. I'm sure we'll be able to salvage at least some of them - some of the clusters are pretty far up in the yard and I didn't see the deer up quite that far in the yard.
I saved the best discovery for last. Isn't she cute?
She always turns to the side just as I snap her picture. Silly girl. No matter - she's cute from every angle ;o)
The Red Sox Win the Pennant!!
Okay, well maybe not the pennant, but definitely the Championship!
Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of going out to TO to watch Pat and Drew play their final Championship game. Their team, the Red Sox (sorry about that, Pat ;o), was undefeated and this final game was double elimination, meaning that if they lost the game, there would be a second game.
So ... what do you think happened? Second game? Or no second game? If you guessed second game, you'd be a big winner - just ask my poor sunburned shins and feetsies. (Let me just say this about that: wear sunscreen. Even if you think it's cloudy. Go ahead, ask me how I know.)BUT ... it was totally worth it! Both Pat and Drew got and awesome hit! And Pat had the perfect catch out in left. It was so thrilling to watch. We enjoyed the heck out of it. Deb is the team scorekeeper and Bill walked from one side to the other taking pictures of the boys. AND, the best part of all - Auntie Nan and Grandpa Bill from Seattle flew in for the game. Die hard fans, no? ;o)
Check out these handsome ball players: Pat - Go Big 3!
Drew - Go 4-2!
Proud mama and papa:
The Seattle Lala's:
The Champs and their trophies:
Congrats P&D - we're so very proud of you!
Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of going out to TO to watch Pat and Drew play their final Championship game. Their team, the Red Sox (sorry about that, Pat ;o), was undefeated and this final game was double elimination, meaning that if they lost the game, there would be a second game.
So ... what do you think happened? Second game? Or no second game? If you guessed second game, you'd be a big winner - just ask my poor sunburned shins and feetsies. (Let me just say this about that: wear sunscreen. Even if you think it's cloudy. Go ahead, ask me how I know.)BUT ... it was totally worth it! Both Pat and Drew got and awesome hit! And Pat had the perfect catch out in left. It was so thrilling to watch. We enjoyed the heck out of it. Deb is the team scorekeeper and Bill walked from one side to the other taking pictures of the boys. AND, the best part of all - Auntie Nan and Grandpa Bill from Seattle flew in for the game. Die hard fans, no? ;o)
Check out these handsome ball players: Pat - Go Big 3!
Drew - Go 4-2!
Proud mama and papa:
The Seattle Lala's:
The Champs and their trophies:
Congrats P&D - we're so very proud of you!
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