It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

So this year with Keith being able to come home, I decided to put up the tree, with the help of mom and dad, and decorate Bruno in the process.



December 5, 2009... Note to self: Stay away from Walmart during the holidays.

Thanksgiving

Here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving this year.

Mom, Dad, Gene and Bee


Bee


Mom and Gene


Cooking with Jim, Mom, Dad and Bee

Bruno's Signature Look

One ear up, one ear down.


December 4, 2009... Note to self: Ask Santa for some coordination for Christmas.

A different take on meatballs

Florentine Meatballs
(adapted from Rachel Ray)


Here's what you'll need:
1 box frozen spinach
1 1/3 lb ground turkey
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parm cheese
3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Here's how to make:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Defrosted spinach and ring out water.
Place turkey in a bowl and make a well in the middle of it.
Add the spinach, garlic powder, egg, milk, bread crumbs, Parm cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and form into 12 large balls.
Place on a non-stick cookie sheet & drizzle with virgin olive oil.
Cook for 20 min in the oven until cooked through.

I topped them off with a little marinara sauce. Next time, I'm going to try Italian breadcrumbs. These seemed to be missing something. The recipe did call for onion, but we all know my aversion to those.

November 15, 2009... Note to self: Eating three meatballs is one too many!

A Poem

Roses are red
That one flower below is blue
Keefy got me flowers
But, sorry, he got none for you! :)


November 12, 2009... Note to self: The pumpkin spice lattes from Dunkin Donuts are might tasty, but apparently they contain espresso.

P-U-M-P-K-I-N

What's one of the best things about Fall? PUMPKIN! Of course you could have pumpkin year-round, but it's just not the same. It has a different feel in the fall. Sort of like watermelon in the summer, strawberries in the spring or hot chocolate in the winter.


Pumpkin Bread

Here's what you'll need:
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup veg. oil
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 1/2 cups self rising flour
2/3 cups water

Here's how to make:
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. After you're done mixing, make a hole/well and pour in the liquids. Mix. Grease and flour 3 loaf pans or one tub pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one-hour.

Enjoy! This is compliments of mom.

November 11, 2009... Note to self: when it's pouring rain and you're trying to make a smooth transaction into your vehicle with your arms full... be careful! You may hit your head on the door frame. Ouch!

November 3 at 2:30 p.m.

This is the date and time I'm working towards. On November 3, we have our last big event for the year and hopefully after that, I'll be better at updating the blog. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from when Anna and Jimmy came to NC.

This is my war face.

We had girl's night at mom and dad's.

Anna and Me. I've had a couple of people say that we look just a like in this picture. I don't see it.

October 20, 2009... Note to self: Turn on the heat before the house reaches 63 degrees. That's way to cold.

Do you see what I see?

As I was watering my tomatoes tonight, I found a new friend. Do you see him?


Meet Frank!


September 4, 2009... Note to self: When the doc said to drink more fluids, I don't think she meant wine.

Madison, WI

So I didn’t fly for the first 28 years of my life, but I’ve flown three times in the last year with the more recent being a short visit to Wisconsin to visit Anna and Jimmy. And two of those, I’ve been solo… Go Me!

I got up at 3:45 am (yes, you read that correctly). I was at the airport by 5:15 am and on the plane by 6:15 am. My “brave hat” was on, but not nearly as tight this time. And by 11-ish, I was in Wisconsin.

Although many people associate Wisconsin and cheese, this time I associated Wisconsin for the cherries. I had cherry ice cream, cherry soda, cherries (both tart and sweet), and was slightly tempted by a pork tenderloin with a cherry reduction for dinner one night. (Note: no cherry pepto was needed).

Here’s a short recap of the trip:

Walked around Madison

Hiked around Devil’s Lake

Visited a Zoo

Rode on a Duck

Ate cherries

August 27, 2009… Note to self: Going to Walmart is almost never a fun experience.

So what have I been up to...

Over the past several weeks....

I've been to the beach.


Worked.



Saw The Proposal.... too funny!


Saw Julie and Julia.... good, but have lingering questions.


August 16, 2009... Note to self: Step away from the chocolate!

Pretty Tasty

I haven't been cooking much lately and cereal was starting to get old. Here's a new recipe. It came from Kraft and I've posted Kraft's recipe below with what I did differently. It's a nice summer dish too.

Greek Isles Pasta Salad

3 cups farfalle (bow-tie pasta), uncooked

2 cups baby spinach leaves

1 cup Kraft Natural Mediterranean Style Cheese Crumbles (I used Feta instead)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (I used a normal tomato, peeled and sliced)

3/4 cup drained canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed

1/2 cup Kraft Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

Cook pasta as directed on package; drain. Place in large bowl.

Add remaining ingredients; mix lightly.

Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

(http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/greek-isles-pasta-salad-106259.aspx)

YUM!

My first really big tomato.

Some pics

Here are some recent pictures. Here's Bruno and his new pool.
Keith and me at his birthday dinner.

Keith and me at the airport.


July 9, 2009... Note to self: When weed eating, wear pants.

My cup runneth over...

with zucchini. So I made about 18 zucchini muffins and a loaf of bread. Grand total is now 1 yellow squash, 7 zucchinis and 2 cherry tomatoes.



Here's the recipe just in case:

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans. Or line muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk.
Mix in oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla.
Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts.
Divide the batter into prepared pans.
Bake loaves for approx. 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Bake muffins for approximately 18 minutes.

Stratch That

Grand total is now 1 yellow squash, 6 zucchinis and 2 cherry tomatoes.

June 19, 2009... Note to self: Make grocery store run for zucchini bread ingredients.

Do you see it?

It's my first tomato. This makes my grand total: 1 yellow squash, 5 zucchinis and 1 cherry tomato.


June 18, 2009... Note to Self: Due to the recent events at work, I might as well laugh than cry... or take up drinking!

More from the Back Deck

Zucchini Cakes

DIY Art

A canvas and some paint... now here's my creation.

Goodness Grows...

... on my back deck.
And tonight for dinner, I had some goodness: a little squash sauted with olive oil then dashed with a bit of salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.


June 7, 2009... Note to self: Yum!

Austin, TX

A couple of weeks ago, Keith and I spent some time in Austin, TX. Here are a couple of pictures. Keith was convinced the roof of picture 3 opened up. I told him that's where Batman lived.

June 6, 2009... Note to self: When in doubt, wear your "brave hat."

One of the best things about Spring

May 6, 2009... Note to self: Buy more strawberries this weekend.

All in a day's work

So today, I finally decided to finish the flower bed out front. I already had the hollies planted, but added some dwarf nandina and mulch. Here's a picture of when I started with the mulch and a picture of the end product.

May 2, 2009... Note to self: Mulch dyed black will also dye your hands and clothing black... whoops!

What a difference a week makes

Mom and dad came down a couple of weeks ago to help do some stuff around the house and one thing we did was build two "Earth Boxes." The plan was to originally build raised beds, but with the colony of deer that come into the backyard, it just wasn't in the cards.

Then last weekend, I planted tomatoes, squash and zucchini.

With a little fertilizer and lime, the tomato plants are already bigger and greener, and the squash and zucchini seeds have started to sprout.

May 1, 2009...Note to self: Foam flip flops and water spilled on the floor don't mix.

New Paint

Keith and I decided to touch up the walls with a bit of paint just recently. We (and by that, I mean Chuck and Nick from Triangle Home Solutions) painted the living room and guest bedroom the same color, but we added a touch of color to the B-Room (Bruno's Room and Bee's Room... where most of Bee's furniture is). Here's a picture of the new blue.

Keeping busy

I didn’t realize it had been over a month since my last post. Not much new here, just keeping busy. Mom and dad stopped by over the weekend and we (and by that, I mean dad)….

-serviced the lawnmower

-put new “string” on the weedeater

-built two earth boxes

-replaced the shower head that Jimmy broke

-cut down some small trees

-replaced the handle on the screened porch

It was a busy weekend. I need a day off.

New Faucets

After my faucet's drain decided to close on it's own repeatly and a piece decided to fall off at random, Keith graciously replaced the faucets in the master bath. Here's our mini-bathroom sink makeover.

Old Faucet: The piece that was falling off was the center dial. It had cracked down the middle.

New Faucet: So shiny

Weeknight Casserole

While I have not been blogging, I have been cooking. Here's a new recipe.

Where's what you'll need:
1 pound lean, ground beef
14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 cups sour cream (I used low-fat)
3 oz. package cream cheese, softened (also low fat)
8 oz. package medium egg noodles, cooked
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Here's how to make:
Brown beef in a large skillet over medium heat; drain. Add tomatoes, salt and sugar; reduce to low heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Set aside. Combine sour cream and cream cheese in a bowl; mix well and set aside. Place half of the noodles in a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish; top with meat mixture, then sour cream mixture. Layer remaining noodles over top; sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

March 2, 2009... Note to Self: Snow isn't as much fun when you're an adult and have to go to work.