Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Come over for dinner!

Okay, so below are some new recipes I'd like to try. Let me know if anyone is interested and I'll invite you over for dinner. The ST doesn't like most of my cooking so I have to beg my friends to eat it. Hehehe!

  1. Zucchini and ricotta galette - this looks so yummy! And I love ricotta cheese. I'm not the greatest with creating dough, but hey???
  2. Candied citrus peels - I got this out of one of my Martha Stewart mags. I definitely want to try this. Plus, I want to then go a step further and try to make choc-covered candided citrus peels. Yum-o!
  3. Linguine alla Carbonara - If I could only find pancetta? Don't you just love all those recipes where Giada uses pancetta??? I guess I'll just use bacon. (Note that I'm not too disappointed. I mean, come on...it's bacon!)
Any takers???

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Indoor/outdoor composting

 I was talking to my ST's aunt about this last week.

I love the idea of breaking down our kitchen waste and applying it to something useful (ex. our garden) vs. just contributing to a landfill. I've found several websites that talk about the pros and cons of creating your own compost bin vs. purchasing one.

This site gave me some cool ideas on indoor compost bins...but the red worm compost bin FREAKS me out. I just couldn't do it!

Plus, I was amazed by the statistic reported on this site - "Kitchen scraps account for 24% of Americans' trash..."

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Sunday dinners and peach cobbler

This week, my MIL and I were discussing Sunday dinners from our childhood. She shared that she and her siblings would travel with her mother to her maternal grandmother's house on Sundays for dinner and piano, ballet, and swimming lessons.

She also mentioned the good food - fried chicken and peach cobbler. Yum!

When I was a kid, my grandmother would also hold a Sunday dinner. However, ours was more likely to be spaghetti and meatballs. Grandma would also add a salad made with green peppers and iceberg lettuce or my personal favorite...wilted lettuce made with sugar, bacon grease, and vinegar. Artery clogger!

And during the summer, my mother would sometimes contribute with a peach cobbler.

So, today, in honor of our childhood Sunday dinners I'm making peach cobbler.

(Please note that I'm leaving off the fried chicken and adding a twist to my own Sunday dinner...cedar-plank salmon on the grill. )

My house is warm from the oven and smells like cinnamon and peaches. I'm not sure I will be able to hold off on eating this before dessert time.

Update - I already dipped into the cobbler. Awesome!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Grilled peaches

New favorite...grilled peaches! Yum-may! Yum-may!

I'm also pretty keen this summer on roasted red peppers and Martini & Rossi's sparkling wine. Ahhh...contentment.

The grilled peaches made a great dessert earlier this week. And the roasted red peppers are super with corn and also pureed into homemade pizza sauce.

And the sparkling wine, well it speaks for itself.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Dirty hobo

So, when Baby R tries to get out of taking a bath I tell him, "You smell like a dirty hobo. You need a bath, kid!"

So, recently, he very seriously says, "Mommy, smell my armpits. Do I smell like a dirty hobo?"

Am I wrong for laughing at this? I mean, come on...that is kinda funny. It's not like I'm laughing at a curse word.

So, I very seriously answered back with, "Yep, you're a hobo. A dirty one. Ew."

*giggle*

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

My temper and mustard

So, I'll tell you the story before my hubby does. It is not a story I'm proud of yet I continue to laugh as I think about it. I'm just weird.

Okay, earlier in the week, I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. The hubby was being particularly annoying - he was maddening, in fact. I couldn't get a word in edgewise and I could feel my temper rise.

I finally had enough so I dropped everything in my hands except a squeeze container of mustard. I ripped the cap off and squeezed about a quarter of a bottle onto my hubby.

I recognize that this isn't normal behavior - but somehow I felt so much better. *cheesy grin*

The hubby didn't take it so well. He was COVERED in mustard. It was everywhere. And then Baby R came running around the corner. He tried to stop when he caught sight of his mustard-covered dad, but his momentum carried him forward. He fell into my hubby and ended up with mustard in his hair, his shirt, and along his arm.

They both just stood in the kitchen, staring at me in horror.

I'm not proud of my behavior yet I wonder if the hubby will think twice before pissing me off again. Hmm...

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Our friend M

While I was finishing my bachelor's degree @Purdue, the hubby and I were living in a small house in Lafayette. Soon after we moved in, we made friends with the neighbors. One, in particular, became our good friend - M. She was a little older than us (by about 4 years) and she was happy, spunky, and always willing to make new friends.

The hubby and I were drawn into her sphere. She had her own landscaping/lawn mowing business, and the hubby started helping her out on a few jobs. We brought her into our lives as our friend; it was never anything more (even though some wondered!). She was truly just our friend, and sometimes we felt that we were almost her parents despite the fact that she was older.

M struggled with depression. She was also a recovering cutter. She was open about her "issues" and also about her sexuality. M was so good about not judging others, and she was always able to excuse others behavior/judgments.

M was a large part of our lives for so long. We spoke on the phone nearly everyday after the hubby and I moved to IL in early 2004. She was even one of my bridesmaids.

Yet, in late 2005 we started noticing that she was getting herself deeper and deeper into trouble. She had alot of drama: married lover, drug problems, and she was struggling with cutting and depression again.

She stayed with us briefly in late 2005 and into early January in 2006. During her visit, the hubby and I saw that we had drifted apart in our friendship with M. She was asking for $ for various debts she'd acquired, she was talking about buying drugs and bringing them into our home, she was talking about her married lover's spouse and how the spouse was trying to track her down to hurt her. Again, a lot of drama and not necessarily something we wanted in our lives.

We talked to her about it and tried to help her. She basically said she wasn't giving up the lover and she wasn't giving up the drugs. We were "okay" with the lover (her choice, but we were worried for her) but we couldn't condone the drug use. So, we asked her to leave.

That was the last time we saw her.

I spoke to her for the last time in late 2006, right before Baby R's birth. It was obviously the end of our friendship. However, the conversation was very friendly and just a little sad. We basically said goodbye and good luck to each other.

Over the last 4 years, as I've had my boys and grown in my life and career, I've thought of her. I've wondered if she was able to find love, if she was at peace with her life...

But, I've never tried to contact her.

Today, a friend sent me a note on FB and let me know that M had died. She committed suicide.

According to the obit I found, she died in January 2007. Our friend died and we didn't even know.

I'm feeling such guilt b/c I can't help but think that maybe we could have helped her. She must have felt so alone.

I don't know what else to say. I'm shocked, I'm sad. And I wish she were still here. I wish that she had found happiness in her life. I wish she'd never felt pain.