Heavy Metal Kelly

Newport

Quick overnight for us...

Last night


Beach this AM as storm approached...


Beautiful storm clouds passing by


Deeply engrossed in Game of Thrones


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Bread & Butter Pickles

Got these in my CSA bag today and made them tonight!  Didn't have dill to make dill pickles, but did have the ingredients for Bread & Butter Pickles thanks, once again, to Deb at SmittenKitchen.  Seem good, although I'll know better tomorrow.

Matching Girls

Just cute...

Braised Leek, Garlic Scape, and Camembert Pizza

What to do with Garlic Scapes?  Use them like scallions, I've read.  I had some leeks and camembert as well so pizza it is.  Made this a few nights ago after the kids went to bed before a dough I had went bad.  So delicious.  First, I sauteed the leeks in olive oil and butter and then braised them in chicken broth for a good 20 minutes.  Then, I assembled the pizza with pesto on the bottom, some mozzarella, the leeks, some camembert slices and sprinkled the top with chopped scapes and parmesean.  Bake for 10 minutes and TA-DA!  Delicious pizza for snacking while setting up my 20+ series passes on my new Verizon Fios system installed that day!  Good thing I wrote them down before we unplugged the old DVR.  Goodbye, TiVO.  I have loved you and will miss you.

Rhubarb Compote

What to do with 2 lbs of Rhubarb?  Well, you could make a pie or some strawberry rhubarb jam.  Or, you could chop it all up, throw it in a pot with some water and sugar and cook it down into a sauce.  And, then dip everything in it including the below pork chop.  Came out yummy and was lovely with the braised baby bok choy I had leftover from last week's CSA bag.  Which is good b/c I didn't make it in time to pick up this week's bag.  V. Annoying.

More gorgeous Chihuly Pics

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Museum of Fine Arts

A few weeks ago, when my mom was up visiting, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to see the Chihuly blown glass exhibit.  It was mind-blowingly beautiful.  I attempted to use my shitty iPhone camera to capture it.


This statue of a baby with it's eyes closed is called Night.  There is another on the other side of the new entrance called Day with eyes opened.  Cool and Freaky at the same time.

Serene Japanese Garden outside of the new wing of the MFA.

This Chilhuly piece had something like 2,500 parts that are assembled in a different way every time it is put up.  Amazing...

She insisted she didn't like the MFA and was bored, but in reality, we sat down in front of one piece for a good 10-15 minutes discussing what we liked/didn't like, what the parts resembled, etc.  She loved it.


Shelagh had me take a picture of her in front of EVERY sculpture.  She doesn't ask about them later, but she wants it all documented. There was so much more - a room where the blown glass was in the ceiling above you with backlighting and a clear glass "floor".  You could lay down on the floor and just stare at it for hours...there had to be thousands of sculptures in there.  There was a whole room of "chandeliers" - each one a different color, shape, drop from the ceiling.   Just beautiful...I haven't been to the MFA since before Joe and I were married and it's changed immensely.  New wing, new restaurants, new layouts.  The exhibit was amazing, but I'm so glad to have been back to the museum itself.  I will return again soon, maybe with Rory this time. 
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Best Friends

Kelly and Zachary snuggling this week. They are so cute together and such best buds.


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Miscellaneous Pool Pics

Some random pool pictures from a few weeks ago...

Queen of the pool...

So happy to be in the pool and hanging on my legs

Kelly loves to swim by herself in her jacket and chases Shelagh around the pool

For the 2 minutes she spent out of the deep end with me and Kelly! 
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Happy 4th of July

I know it's supposed to get to 87 degrees today but we have later plans today and Kelly is early napping in prep for fireworks tonight.  As a result I've accomplished SO much today in the kitchen - FINALLY!

• Black Bean Salad - Soaked the beans, used leftover corn on the cob, and tomatoes with some salt and olive oil.  Shelagh has rejected all sandwiches, but she loves bean salad, thankfully.
• Cut back lettuce from garden, wash & bag - I only cut back 2 plants out of the 8 or so I have that are totally overgrown.  Holy too much lettuce.
• Made 4 different Salad Dressings (3 from Gywenth Paltrow's new book: Anchovy Vinaigrette, Standby Vinaigrette, Balsamic Lime Vinaigrette and I used a Martha Stewart recipe for Raspberry Vinaigrette) - If I'm going to drown in lettuce b/w the CSA and all that I planted (TOO MUCH!), I need the dressings and lettuce prepped in advance.
• Make reduced Balsamic for Tomato, Mozzarella, & Basil Salad a la Pioneer Woman
• Wash & Prep Swiss Chard - Will likely cook with the anchovy vinaigrette
• Braised Baby Bok Choy - w/ Chicken broth, butter, and sesame oil
• Pit Cherries - These have been sitting around uneaten.  So happy for the $12 cherry pitter I got last year!

The strawberry jam I made a couple of weeks ago.  It was insanely ripe and delicious.  Yum.

City Break at the Carousel

On the way to pickup Mom in Boston last week, we stopped in the North End to ride the Carousel and visit quickly with  Joe.  We also saw a street performer juggling knives - Rory's chin was down to the ground he was so shocked.  Fun afternoon...

















Not so happy on the horse...I should get an award for even getting a pic she was gripping my neck so firmly. 
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Movies b/w Shows

TV is in limbo right now, despite our aggressive year-round Season Passes on a whole slew of networks and cable channels.  We have watched a few movies in the last 2 weeks, all of which I enjoyed and would recommend:

1. Taking Chance (HBO Movie) - Kevin Bacon stars as a Marine who is not in combat and volunteers to accompany a dead Marine home.  This was a beautiful, slow-paced, really touching movie.  It wasn't sad, per se, but I definitely cried multiple times.  Assuming this is really what happens, the process from death to funeral for a fallen service-person is unbelievable.  I had no idea how much time, care, attention to detail and honor that is bestowed upon each person.  They made a lovely movie out of a several day, not very eventful story.
2. Too Big To Fail (HBO Movie) - Extremely well cast, simplied explanation about the 2008 financial collapse.  This really helped me understand the domino effect that took place in the financial industry and government.  It was amazing to see the interplay b/w Lehman, the US Treasury and the other top banks each step along the way.  I think this was based on a book written about it, so I would imagine that much of what was portrayed was true, but who knows.  The Lehman CEO was made out to be a complete and total jackass moron.  What a great cast...William Hurt, James Woods, Topher Grace, Billy Crudup, Cynthia Nixon, Evan  Handler, Matthew Modine, etc, etc, etc. 
3. Somewhere - Sofia Coppola's latest.  I just love all her movies - Virgin Suicides, Marie Antionette, Lost in Translation, and now this too.  Her movies are all focused on cinematic presentation - color, pace, costume, etc.  I really enjoyed this despite how slowly the story was told.  She's awesome!  Stephen Dorff hasn't done much I've seen until this - I enjoyed his performance and noticed he's making 5-6 movies coming out this year and next.  Elle Fanning was great.  Looking forward to seeing her in Super 8.

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