Water Bill

What do you suppose happens to your water bill when you leave the sprinkler on in your garden and your front lawn all night long? Let's say from 8pm ish until 7am ish. Just a hypothetical...

Shelagh started camp this week so it's back to Me, Rory, & Kelly again for my home day. Off to the pool to enjoy the sunny 90 degree day we're expecting today. Kelly has become FEARLESS at the pool...this summer won't end without her walking right into the pool by herself. She barely let's me touch her in the pool. She climbs down the ladder herself, hangs there and splashes, and then dunks herself and comes up smiling. No vest, no swimmies. The vest I ordered her just arrived last night so we'll see how that goes today. I'm putting my foot down. Keeping on top of her without any safety device is exhausting me.

PS - Is it not cool to sneak an ice cream from the snack bar while the kids aren't looking????

It's Not All Fun and Games!

Long Weekend Away

We had a really nice weekend away. Saturday we head down to Darien, CT to spend the day/night with some friends. They have a huge backyard and we just basically let the 7 kids, between our two families, loose. The next day we attended my family summer party at my cousins house. It was great other than the 3 huge dogs that terrified Shelagh pretty much for the whole day. I hope she gets past it at some point.

From there, we went to the Jersey Shore to visit some friends in Silver Lake. Despite a quick thunderstorm we had beautiful beach weather and the kids had a blast playing in the ocean, building a huge sand fort and enjoying the pool they had right there at the beach. Long drive home on Tuesday, but worth it. Nice breakaway for a few days. Back to the grind...

Cucumbers

All harvested today from our cucumber extravaganza we have growing from the garden into the driveway. Thank God the kids both like to eat them!!

Fresh Shell Peas

These are from my last CSA bag a couple of weeks ago and some more I bought b/c I thought there wouldn't be enough. Yeah right. I LOVE fresh shelled peas. I just boiled them briefly in salted water and added a touch of butter. We ate them with dinner a couple of times, poured some into some leftover pasta, dumped some on top of my salad, and ate them cold out of the frig. Yum.

Fresh Breasts

I just heard a commercial on Sirius for a product called Fresh Breasts to deal with the issue of sweaty breasts. Hmmm...I didn't realize this problem was so prevalent that it required it's on specific product. Couldn't a little baby powder handle this situation? The website domain they are paying for is called www.sofreshsodry.com. I find this fascinating. The product is described as helping women who suffer from "perspiration and chafing under their breasts and in their cleavage area".

By the way...their brother product is called Fresh Balls. Please go to their website to see the polished lady that is giving her sales pitch with a very serious and professional voice for both Fresh Breasts and Balls. Please PLEASE let her become a famous actress one day so that I can look back at this and laugh my ass off.

You just can't make this shit up.

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

I snagged this recipe from Bon Appetit May 2010 to use up my CSA blueberries and some other blueberries I had in the frig. Apparently it's from a restaurant in Santa Monica called the Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe.

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 2/3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 6 Tbl vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbl vanilla extract
• 1 tsp honey
• 10 Tbl unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup plus 3 Tbl sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt (I had french vanilla so I used that)
• 3 cups blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 10-inch springform pan with 2 3/4" sides with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk flour and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl.
3. Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and honey in another medium bowl.
4. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 3/4 cup + 2 Tbl sugar, and salt in large bowl until creamy
5. With mixer running on medium speed, gradually add egg mixture; beat to blend.
6. Beat in flour mixture just to blend.
7. Add ricotta and yogurt; beat on low speed just to blend.
8. Pour half the batter into prepared pan. Scatter 1 1/2 cups blueberries over. Spoon remaining batter over in dollops, then spread to cover blueberries. Scatter remaining blueberries over. Sprinkly remaining 1 Tbl sugar over.
9. Bake cake until top is golden brown and test inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.

Serves 12.

Chocolate S'mores Pie

I spotted this recipe in a recent issue of Vegetarian Times and gave it a whirl for the 4th of July BBQ we went to. Let's just say that I was able to put the fire out quickly and easily...

1 7-oz bar 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
1 cup soy creamer (I used heavy cream)
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 9-inch prepared graham cracker crust
1 1/2 cups marshmellow creme

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place chopped chocolate in heat-proof bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in medium saucepan. Pour over chocolate and let stand 30 seconds, then whisk until combined. Whisk in egg, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
3. Pour chocolate mixture into crust. Cover crust edges with foil. Place on baking sheet, and bake 25 minutes, or until softly set around edges but still loose in center when shaken. Cool 1 hour on wire rack.
4. Preheat broiler. Spread marshmallow creme on pie, and broil 30 seconds to 1 minute until top is golden-brown.

Sounds easy right? The whole thing was easy until I put the pie too close to the broiler and scorched it. I wish I had a picture. It was so charred that I couldn't break through it with a spoon.

Garden Update

My garden experience has been terrific this year. I'm so pleased I've stuck with it and kept up with the watering and weeding. The tomatoes are just starting to show green fruit. The cucumber plant is out of control...I've harvested 4 huge cucumbers and there are a bunch growing. The brussel sprouts and carrot tops look good. Herbs are beautiful, although the dill and parsley really didn't take off too well this year. I think it helped that I set up the soaker hose in there...watering is so easy. Also, I finally got my composter. I'm so excited to start!!

Books: Catching Fire, The Help

Catching Fire is the 2nd book in the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It was just as great as the 1st book! I already put in a reserve at the library for the 3rd book that is due out in August. I hope they make the movie soon - it's slated as In Development with Lionsgate Films right now. They need an unknown cast and I bet it will be awesome.

Also read The Help which seems to be in everyones hands these days. I enjoyed it. It was a nice change from the Hunger Games books that I have been devouring.

On to No Angel by Penny Vincenze on recommendation from a friend of mine that travels and reads all the time. Also a trilogy I guess. Good so far. I'm pleased with the increase in my level of reading these days. Not too much on TV right now so it's working.

Movie: Crazy Heart

We watched Crazy Heart Saturday night. Jeff Bridges earned his Oscar. I said to Joe that I didn't even realize how good Jeff Bridges performance was until the end, when he got sober, and you compared his portrayal to the rest of the moving when he's severely bombed. I'm hit or miss on Maggie G (she ruined Batman, but she kicked ass in Secretary)...I thought she did this role justice. A very surprising, lovely supporting actor performance by Colin Farrell. I will say that it had a bit too much country music than I can stomach hearing. All in all, a very touching, well done film.

Sunday Grilling

More time in the kitchen today...Grilled up all my zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, and the 8 ears of corn I got from the CSA bag. I'm going to make some kind of corn salad on Tuesday when I'm home again. Loved the grilled veggies...haven't had them in awhile. So good.

Grilled Corn

Grilled Zucchini, Summer Squash & Asparagus

Happy Sunday Morning

Joe and the kids

Kelly is pretty sick right now, but even when she feels yucky, she loves to snuggle her Dada

CSA Pickup

• Going to grill the corn and make a corn/black bean salad
• Picked the pickling cucumbers
• Will just steam the green beans
• Going to grill the zucchini & summer squash and wrap it around fresh mozzarella (saw that in a book and it looked wonderful)
• Romaine for salad
• Not sure what to do with the Rhubarb. I made strawberry-rhubarb jam last year, but I missed the boat with strawberries and jamming this year. I ordered a case of raspberries from my fruit CSA to jam.

Pickles, Sour Cherry Cake, Cucumber Salad, & Roasted Figs

With Kelly too sick to veg out at the pool, I was able to be home in the kitchen yesterday and today for a bit as well. It was nice to spend some time cooking. Here's what I worked on yesterday..

1) Hungarian Sour Cherry Cake: This recipe from Saveur is wonderful. I was skeptical b/c it called for sour cherries, which really taste terrible on their own, and all whole wheat flour. I needed to do something with almost 2 lbs of sour cherries from the fruit share. Pitting them was a pain, but the cake has the perfect balance of the sour and sweet. I baked it for 45 minutes, but I would probably do about 5 minutes less next time.

2) Slightly Sweet Dill Refrigerator Pickles: I made these last year. I had 4 pickling cucumbers from the CSA bag. Ran out and grabbed a bunch of dill for this and the cuke salad below. I have some extra and I just love the smell they give off in the frig. I'll have to make tuna or chicken salad with the rest.

3) Cucumber-Dill Salad: I got 2 large cucumbers from the CSA this week and harvested 4 more huge ones from my garden. My cucumber plant is OUT OF CONTROL! This salad is nice, but needs more salt than it calls for. I used white vinegar.

4) Roasted Figs: Not sure what I'm going to do with these...I've always want to do something with fresh figs so I did the roasting part from the recipe from Food & Wine, but not the Red Wine Fig sauce. I will either chop them and wrap with prosciutto or I thought I saw an appetizer calling for french bread slightly toasted with melted sharp cheese topped with roasted fresh fig. Maybe I'll do both!!

I still have a Job, but Kelly has Croup (I think)

And, I have health care. But, I have to increase my work hours to get it. So, I'll make more, the health care costs less up front, and I get an extra week of vacation. The best part is that we get to go back to Microsoft Outlook from Lotus Notes (which sucks).

The health care plan is weird. They have no HMO's, just a traditional PPO and this weird PPO hybrid plan. I went with the hybrid plan, but it's freaking me out a bit. They pay the first 2K for a family plan for all non-preventative expenses (ie sick visits, specialists, etc) so you have no co-pays and this includes pharmacy. Then, you pay the next 1.5K of everything. After that you go into an 85/15 plan like the regular PPO, with an annual cap, of course. All our doctors can stay the same. The idea is that if you are a generally healthy family, you try to stay within the first 2K and you have no out of pocket expenses. So, now I'm wondering how many sick kid doctors visits fit into 2K and how sick do Joe or I have to get to break down now and go to the doctor.

I guess we'll start to find out today. I think Kelly has Croup.

Another Bat - Holy Crap

There I am sitting at dinner with a friend on Thursday night, enjoying my first sips of Chardonnay. The phone rings and it's my house/the babysitter. Big sigh. I answer and get "There's a bat in the house". Oh, any Joe is away at a work conference. I actually have to find a way to deal with this. Shelagh is hysterical, Kelly is sleeping in her room, Shelagh and Rory are hiding with the babysitter in the playroom. Thank GOD both of my neighbors were home and I could borrow some men to deal with this for me. Otherwise, I think I would have grabbed Kelly screaming hysterically through the house and driven to a hotel. Seriously.


So, the doors were propped open and we searched for 10-15 minutes to no avail (with my hair piled into a tight bun under a hat!). We settled on "it must have flown out" and I, nervous-on-the-inside-chirpy-on-the-outside, shepherded the kids to my room to sleep with me. Shelagh would not calm down or rest to fall asleep, so I brought them downstairs with me at 830pm so I could shove some food in my mouth. As we came down the stairs I spotted it out of the corner of my eye circling the living room. I hustled the kids outside and ran back to my neighbors house. While I spent the next 10 minutes explaining to Shelagh that I hadn't lied to her before when I said it was gone, my neighbor found it on the floor of the fireplace and calmly picked it up with a towel to bring outside.


I'm pretty sure it came down from the top floor. The door had been otherwise closed other than the one time it was opened that morning, so I stuffed a towel under the door and the 3 of us hid in my room for a night of thrashing, tossing and turning, moaning, and overall completely shitty sleep.


All of yesterday was spent looking over my shoulder and mistakenly looking at testimonials and pictures of bat excavations from the company that is coming today to inspect the roof/top floor for entry point(s). This is top of the list of the things that creep me out the most. So happy Joe is home!!

Disturbing Incident

All seemed fine at our little BBQ this evening with our neighbors...The kids were playing well, the temp had cooled off just enough, I had a nice Sam Adams Summer in my hand. When, all of a sudden, Rory is crying and drooling and spitting and rubbing his tongue. What the F????? I was like "Rory, stop spitting and drooling!! What's wrong with you??? Did you eat a piece of pepperoni or something???" Turns out he took a swig of what he thought was refreshing ice water. No such luck. My 4 1/2 year old had his first mouthful of vodka on the rocks. Nice.

Still Beautiful

I love Boston

Beautiful night. Me & Joe. Fenway.
Oh... And a perfect Dunkins iced coffee alongside a cold beer.

Shelaghs 1st Swim Meet

Despite this scared looking "before" face, followed quickly by this embarrased "after" face, she had a lot of fun and did great!!

Friday nite on the golf patio

Sat on the patio of the club having dinner last night followed by some practice swings by the kids. Beautiful evening...Joe is pleased with the golf interest exhibited by everyone!









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Really?

I'm wondering what the sales numbers are on this cookbook? I wasn't
aware that the cuisine was noteworthy...hmmm