My Little Chef

My little Carolynn has been quite the chef lately.

One night, while I was at work she made some kind of carrot curry soup. I didn't try it. I was at work.

On another night, while David and I were at Disneyland with Michelle, she made, for her and Catherine, some kind of barbecued portabello quessadillas. They looked yummy. She was going to save me one, but she missed.

Then she made this fabulous Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken in a Creamy Rosemary Lemon Sauce.

She used twice as much chicken as it called for and she put in all the rosemary at once.

It was delicious. There were no leftovers. We are making it again.

Hopefully we can get some more of her fabulous cooking around here.

Hint, hint...

Pie Dreams

For Mother’s Day, my dear, sweet, adorable husband bought me a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It’s red. He has been trying to buy me one for years. Every time my birthday or a holiday comes along, he offers me a mixer. And I always say no. They are too expensive. Until he found a deal on E-Bay and now I have a fabulous mixer.

Ever since I got it, this same husband of mine has wanted to use it. This guy has a food making repertoire of hot dogs, hamburgers and pancakes. And he thinks he is going to bake.

So he made chocolate chip cookies. They were not bad. He did learn a few lessons. Brown sugar must be packed. And if you don’t put it in an air tight container, it will be a brick later. Flour and sugar must be properly measured and leveled. And the whole bag of chocolate chips is supposed to go in. The cookies tasted fine though.

So then he starts talking about how he wants to make a key lime pie. Really? I don’t think he even eats limes. But he wanted to.

We got the pre made pie crust. But we got everything else so he could make the pie from scratch. He squeezed an entire bag of key limes. They are tiny. But he did it. I zested some. He needed a teaspoon of zest.

He made the filling and baked it. He followed everything exact. He didn’t want to mess anything up. He even made fresh whipped cream.
And then the pie was ready.

Carolynn was the first taste tester. She didn’t make a face. I tried it.

It was good. Really. I am not lying. Catherine tried it. She loved it too. Michelle was into it. (Bite more pie peese?)

Wow.

David tried it. Nope. He didn’t like it. Figures.

Next he is going to make a chocolate truffle torte. I am not even 100% sure what a torte is. But I will let you know how it goes.

Days Of Wine And Bacon

They say you shouldn't cook with a wine you won’t drink. I don’t drink wine. So where does that leave me? Buying the cheapest wine I find, that is where.

I found this pork chop recipe a few months ago and it has been a hit around here. Pintrest… is there anything it can’t do?

It calls for white wine.

I was going to make it a few weeks ago and I was out of white wine. Around the same time, Carolynn wanted me to make her and Michelle’s favorite, bacon fried rice. We were also out of bacon. So I ask David to pick up those two items on his way home one day.

He picks up the girls from school and heads over to the Winco. He picks up a $2.97 bottle of white wine and a pound of bacon. Quite the combo; Less than $6 purchase.

He takes it up and the cashier won’t ring it up for him. He shows his ID. Okay, he looks young. Good for him. But he has his ID so no big deal… Or so you would think.

But the checker won’t sell him the wine. She insinuates that David is buying this wine to give to Carolynn and Catherine who are with him. Because they are under aged and he looks like the kind of guy who buys $2.97 bottles of wine for minors. Or so he can get them drunk and take advantage of them. Whatever.

The manager is called and basically tells him the same thing. He tries telling them that they are his kids but no one is buying that. We just cook with it. They aren’t buying that either. They eventually let him make his purchase, after making him feel like a creepy child predator first.

I know a lot of dumb criminals.

But in this case…

If you are planning on buying alcohol for minors, why would you bring them with you? Why would you make the purchase in broad daylight at a large market? And why would you buy a cheap bottle of white wine? And why would you need bacon?

Bacon…

Not Such A Hot Date

The other day David got it in his head that we needed to go out more. So he took me to Outback and we had a great time. We hadn’t been there since we moved from San Diego. Carolynn watched the baby and everything. It was fabulous.

Usually when we go out we go to Red Robin. David is a big fan of burgers. (And Pizza.) So it is a good choice for us. I can get a burger or chicken or fish. They have great food. And a lot of burger choices. And amazing fries.

So last week, on Thursday night, we decided to go there. It was just us and the baby. The other two were off visiting friends. We got there at about 5:00 PM, according to my FourSquare.

So they were super nice right away. We didn’t have to wait to be seated. They brought us drinks right away. They even brought crackers for Michelle. So we ordered our burgers and then…

We waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

At about 5:40 PM the waitress finally reappeared. She apologized for the wait and brought us a basket of fries. She said there was some kind of mix up and the manager would be out to talk to us. By that time, we were starving and Michelle was sick of waiting. She is 1. She doesn’t wait.

A few minutes later, they finally brought the food. My burger looked right but David’s was wrong. He had to send it back. The came back a few minutes later and brought him the correct burger. Too bad for him it was way overdone. Mine looked right but, it didn’t taste right. I had ordered a bleu cheese burger and whatever sauce they put on it didn’t mesh with the bleu cheese. The manager never came and talked to us. Even though she said he would.

It was awful. AWFUL!

I complained. We eat there often. They should make it right.

Tastes Like Meatloaf?

One of Catherine's favorite things to eat is Swedish Meatballs. I never made them. She loves to get them in frozen dinners or out to eat. So I decided to try making them. I like Swedish Meatballs too.

Once again, on Pintrest, I found a recipe that sounded good. So I made it.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 lb 93% lean beef
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups reduced sodium beef stock
2 oz light cream cheese

Directions:

In a large deep saute pan, heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add celery and parsley and cook until soft, about 3-4 more minutes. Let cool a few minutes.

In a large bowl combine beef, egg, onion mixture, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and allspice. Mix well and form meatballs with your hands 1/8 cup each (fill 1/4 cup then divide the meat in half).

Add beef stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly drop meatballs into the broth. Cover and cook about 20 minutes. Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside in a serving dish. Strain the stock, add to blender with cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Return to pan and simmer a few minutes to thicken, then pour over meatballs. Garnish with parsley and serve over noodles or with toothpicks if you want to set these out as an appetizer.

First of all, I doubled the recipe because Robby and Gena were here. Second, I was out of fresh parsley having used it earlier in the week on a Moroccan stew. So I used dried. My meat was 80/20. I didn't use reduced sodium beef stock. And my cream cheese wasn't light.

But it was a huge hit with Catherine. I should have used a different pan, and I made the meatballs in batches. Catherine ate the first batch before I finished the second. I could have made them all at once in a different pan. The sauce didn't come out very thick. I will have to figure out a way to make it thicker. We ate it with egg noodles and the sauce just kind of fell through. I didn't chop the veggies small enough. Probably I could have pureed them.

Carolynn liked it. But she agreed the sauce needed to be thicker. Michelle got to taste the sauce, and she liked it. Had it been thicker, it would have stuck to the binky better and she would have tasted more. I liked it. I assume Robby liked it. He ate it. Gena picked at it and then gave her meatballs to Robby. David said it tasted like meatloaf. And he would have liked the veggies pureed too. He doesn't like to see the onions. He also said he needed to invent a "Noodle Magnet" so he wouldn't have to chase his noodles all over the plate.

Noodle Magnet.... Coming to an infomercial near you.

Casablanca

I have been trying lots of new recipes lately. David is helping. Mostly by not objecting. He has a friend who tries new recipes and posts them on Facebook. This one looked good so he read it to me and we decided to try it. I never made anything from the Middle East before. But I will try anything. (Except lima beans or beets. Eww.)

Harira (Moroccan Lentil and Tomato Soup)

Ingredients

1 lb of Lamb or Beef, Cubed
6 Large Tomatoes, Peeled, Seeded and Pureed
2 Cups of Dried Chickpeas, Soaked Overnight or 4 1/2 Cups of Canned
2 Cups of Dried Lentils
2 Celery Stalks with Leaves, Finely Chopped
1 Large Onion, Grated
4 tbls of Fresh Cilantro
4 tbls of Fresh Parsley
3 tbls of Tomato Paste
3 tbls of Rice or Broken Vermicelli
1 tbls of Butter
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Tumeric
3 tbls Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs, Beaten

Directons

Heat oil in a pan and cook meat for 5 minutes.

Add everything except the tomato paste, lentils and rice. Also, only add the chickpeas if you were using dried. If canned wait until later. Add eight cups of water. Stir well.

Mix tomato paste with 1/2 cup of water. Add it and the lentils to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 2 hours.

Add in the rice or noodles and the chickpeas if you are using canned. Simmer another 10 minutes.

Slowly pour the beaten eggs into the simmering soup, stirring constantly. Simmer 1 more minute.

Now I adapted this from the original recipe and my conversions may be off. I used canned tomato puree. My soup was really more of a super thick stew. And I really needed to add the rice earlier. 10 minutes was not long enough to cook the rice. Maybe I should have added precooked rice. It didn't say.

It smelled like nothing I ever smelled before while it was cooking. Sort of like a cinnamon beefy smell, but better. It smelled good.

And it tastes good too. A little spicy kick in the end. David tried it. He doesn't eat beans and this is a very bean soup. So he just tasted the meat. And we ate it with naan bread. He tried that too. Carolynn and Catherine gobbled it right up. It was super cheap to make. Dried beans are cheap. A cheap cut of beef and some herbs and you are all set.

We might have to do this one again.

New Mexican Flair

Sometimes I like a vegetarian dish. Mostly because sometimes I forget to take meat out of the freezer for dinner. I found a recipe for these southwestern egg rolls on Pintrest (of course). So we tried it.

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

INGREDIENTS
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total)

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.

Talk about spicy.... WOO! But good. I think they would have been a bit better had I fried them. Also, my egg roll wrappers only came in a pack of 20, so my egg rolls were a little stuffed and some of them oozed a bit. And I think we needed a dipping sauce. Salsa was not the answer. Spicy on spicy. But sour cream or guacamole would have been awesome. Since they had beans in them David didn't try them and they would have been too spicy for him anyway. And way too spicy for Michelle. Carolynn and Catherine liked them a lot. I liked them. They would be a good party food.

If At First You Don't Succeed....

In our quest to try new foods, I was trying to find something that David would like. He is such a picky. He is trying not to be as picky though because he doesn't want Michelle to be like him in that way. (Though don't give her the peas.... OMG!)

I found a recipe on Pintrest for Salisbury Steak. It led me to this blog and this recipe.

Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy

Ingredients:

Onion Gravy
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Meat Patties
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup cooked white rice
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
1) To make gravy: Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat, until onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. When onions are slightly softened and turning a deep honey brown, add 1/4 cup broth. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to prevent caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan from burning. It should take at least 25 to 30 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce by half. Stir in remaining beef broth and tomato paste. Stir in cider vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
2) To make patties: Mix ground beef, rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and thyme in a bowl. Shape into 4 oval patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear patties about 3 minutes per side, or until a brown crust forms. Pour gravy over patties and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or noodles. Yield: 4 Servings.

Well, it sounded delicious. But I don't think we will make this one again. First of all, I think we made the patties a little off. Catherine made them more like hamburger size when I really think they should have been flatter. And they were not as moist as I would have liked. And I don't know what was up with the rice in them. David thought they were onions and almost refused to try it. Finally, that made a ton of onion. A TON! Way more than was needed for 4 little patties. It was a good sauce though. We also added mushrooms to it. They were good. And we served it with mashed potatoes and purple cauliflower. Michelle enjoyed the mashed potatoes.

Salisbury Steak is a good idea. Even David thought so. But we just need to try another recipe.

Wordless Wednesday

See more Wordless Wednesday here.

Sweet Potato Time
January 2013
Apple Valley, California

Trip To Asia

We like Asian food. And by we, I don't usually mean David. If we go to Panda Express, we drive through the burger joint next door for him. He will eat some orange chicken if we make him.

But eating out is expensive. Especially at Panda Express or other Chinese take out. And since we are trying to stay on budget and still eat fun stuff, we decided to try and make some Chinese take out at home.

I found this recipe on Pintrest and it led me to this blog and this recipe for Cashew Chicken.

Cashew Chicken (with a kick)
2 chicken breasts cubed
1 tbsp cooking sherry
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup oil
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it, a little goes a long way)
3 green onions, sliced diagonally
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tsp of jarred minced garlic)
1/2 cup cashews, unsalted
toasted sesame seeds
lightly or unsalted cashews.

Sauce:
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp white vinegar

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce with the cooking sherry in medium sized bowl. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, put chicken pieces in soy/sherry mixture. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch, 4 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp vinegar. Set aside. Slice the green onions, and measure out the red pepper flakes and minced garlic.

Drain chicken in strainer to get the marinade off as much a possible. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add red pepper flakes to oil,stir a couple times. Add chicken all at once, let sit for a minute or two till golden,then turn chicken. Add garlic to chicken. Cook chicken till golden on all sides and cooked through. drain oil if there is still an excessive amount. Add cashews. Move wok off hot stove and immediately pour in sauce while constantly turning chicken over to cover everything in sauce. Sauce should thicken quite a bit, if you want it thicker put it back on medium heat for about 5-10 seconds, and stir, stir, stir. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and add sliced green onions. Serve over Rice. ENJOY!

I didn't use a wok. I just used a big non-stick skillet. I didn't use low sodium soy sauce. I didn't slice my onions diagonally. And my cashews were lightly salted. I only used a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. It had a little kick to it.

David said it was edible. Carolynn and I liked it, but we both felt that there were too many cashews. Catherine said it was too spicy. Also, it didn't make a whole lot. But enough for 1 serving each. We might try this one again. We ate it with white rice. But I think fried rice would have been good too.

Feeding The Baby

Now that Michelle is such a big girl... All of 4 months old... She has started eating baby food. She is a good eater. A pig really. She never misses a meal. Her first food was mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. I gave her a few bites from my plate. Technically I have been giving her little tastes of stuff on her binky practically since she got the binky when she was two weeks old.

Her first food just for her was rice cereal. She loves it. And baby oatmeal. Then we moved to applesauce. That has remained one of her favorites.

So far we have tried...

Rice Cereal- Yum!

Oatmeal- Yum!

Applesauce- Yum!

Bananas- Yum!

Sweet Potatoes- Yum!

Turkey- So far just one try on that and it was a no go. I will try that more times.

Pears- Yum!

Peaches- Yum!

Carrots- Yum!

Prunes- Yum! But be careful of the aftermath. Because EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

Peas- Negative! OMG! We have tried it four different times. She gets so excited when she sees the baby food container and a spoon and then you get the bib on... She opens her mouth just like a little baby bird. Then when she realizes it is peas, she gets so mad and won't open any more and cries until you get her something else. Usually I can get her to eat about 1/2 of a container. But it is such a struggle. I won't be forcing that one anymore.

Green Beans- That one we have tried twice. It isn't as bad as the peas, but it isn't looking good.

Squash- The first time we tried it, she was too busy making raspberries to give it a go. The second time, she ate it right up.

Mashed Potatoes- This is homemade. Not baby food. I just thin out what I make a little for her. She loves it.

She also has a cuppie now. A cuppie! She drinks juice. Well, 20% juice and the rest water. She likes apple, white grape and pear.

Before I know it, she will be ordering a Big Mac and nomming on a turkey leg.

Trying Something New

So in order to eat out less and save money, we are trying out some new recipes. Less money is spent and we even tend to eat healthier. A winning combo. Our first experiment was Chicken Tortilla Soup. I got the recipe from Food Network.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Recipe courtesy Danny Boome
Show: Rescue Chef Episode: Sunday Soup for Supper

Total Time: 35 min
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min
Yield:4 to 6 servings
Level: Easy

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 jalapenos, finely diced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips
1 avocado, pitted, sliced
1 cup shredded Monterrey cheese

Directions
In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, grilled tortilla strips, avocado slices and cheese.


I didn't follow this exactly. First of all, I was out of chicken stock. So I used turkey stock instead. Also, I didn't make my own tortilla strips. I bought tortilla chips at the store. And also, I added a cup of frozen corn. I thought it might be spicy and I thought the corn might help. It wasn't too spicy. We also didn't think it needed lime wedges. The avocado was good though.

Carolynn, Catherine and I liked it. It was too spicy for Michelle to try. David doesn't eat anything with beans in it. This is something we will be sure to make again.

Gag Reflex

I have serious issues with oatmeal. Just the smell of plain oatmeal cooking makes me gag. The flavored kind is easier to take since it tends to smell like cookies. But I don't eat oatmeal. No way. Not a chance. Just ask my sister's mom. It just isn't happening.

Earlier this week, I took the baby to the doctor and he says she isn't gaining weight and I should give her formula. However, after some research, I decided not to do that. However, I began looking at ways to increase breast milk production.

The baby seems fine and dandy to me. But if she needs more food she can have it.

Online and through friend recommendations I found that oatmeal can do a lot to increase breast milk production.

Oh the dreaded oatmeal.

But I will do anything for my baby.

So yesterday, I choked down a bowl of apples and cinnamon oatmeal. I gagged a bit and drank a lot of water, but I did it. For Michelle.

Today I choked down a bowl of cinnamon and spice oatmeal. It went down a lot easier. But still required water to make it go.

The things I am willing to do for this baby.

Check Up

Yesterday we took Michelle for her 2 month check up. She is healthy. But the doctor says she isn't gaining enough weight. She weighed 8 lbs and 12 ounces yesterday. She weighed 7 lbs and 15 ounces when I had her. He suggested we give her formula. I say no. Instead, today I am researching tips to improving breast milk output. We have to take her back in 10 days for him to check her weight again.

He also put her on vitamin D drops. They smell awful and from the face she makes, I am guessing they don't taste awesome either. Then she got 6 vaccines. She only cried a little. She is a tough cookie.

All in all she is a healthy, strong baby.

So we took her to Mary and Tonya's for dinner so they could cuddle her and spoil her rotten. And they did. And we had turkey and it was fabulous.

Random Cop Cliche'

Today is my David's birthday. As a surprise, after I got off of work this morning I decided to go get some doughnuts and bring them home for breakfast. I was in the doughnut shop picking out my doughnuts when a man came in with two little girls. They were excited and the little one was going on about holes. She was about 4 and the other one was about 10. Anyway, I finished picking my treats and was waiting for the lady to finish packing them and charge me when I noticed the little girl next to me. She was glancing at me and inching closer and closer. She was wearing Minnie Mouse pajamas and sparkly silver slippers. (It was 8:00 in the morning on a Sunday....)

Closer and closer....

Then a little tap on my arm.

She asks...

“Are you the police?”

I tell her yes.

And she says....

“Wiggum likes doughnuts.”

And I die laughing.

Her dad looked a little mortified.

I laughed harder.

She got her little bag of doughnut holes.

Then I took my doughnuts and went home.

Cherry Coke

Cherry Coke is my favorite soda. When ever we go out, if they have Cherry Coke, that is what I order. If it is on sale I stock up. We have a fridge in the garage full of soda. And if there is no Cherry Coke, I don't really go out there for soda. Maybe the occasional Dr. Pepper.

When David's dad was visiting, his wife Jasmin had never had a Cherry Coke. She is from the Philippines and there they just have regular and diet. She went out to the garage to get a regular Coke and decided to try a cherry. She must have really liked it because unless she was holding the baby, she had a Cherry Coke. Now every time I get a Cherry Coke from the garage I think of her.

They should visit more.

Showing Those Nazi Jerks Who's Boss

Several weeks ago, David and I were watching a show on the Smithsonian Channel about Iwo Jima.

No, I don't know why. These are things we watch when David has the remote.

Anyway, after that came a show about World War II Victory Gardens and how the Smithsonian still grows one. Then it had another show about Native American gardening. We watched that too.

Then we decided we too could plant a Victory Garden.

It took us a few days to get the area ready. We weeded it. We threw bags of manure on it. We put up fencing to keep certain fat beagles out. Then two weeks ago, we planted.

We divided our garden in to 4 parts; 2 large rectangles and 2 smaller squares. In one rectangle we planted things that spread- zucchini and watermelon. In the other large area, where Catherine is planting in the picture, we planted alternating rows of corn, green beans and peas.

Corn.

Green Beans.

Corn.

Peas.

Repeat.

We got that idea from the Smithsonian show about the Native American garden. Green beans and peas need a place to vine up. Corn stalks give them a place to go as well as keep the corn moist.

In one of the smaller squares, we planted various herbs, onions and peppers. And so far nothing in the other square, though we will probably buy some tomato plants to go there.

One week later, we had our first sprout. Zucchini. Yum.

Now it has been two weeks. Yesterday. And this is what the garden looks like.

This one is the corn, beans, peas.

This is the Zucchini patch.

So far so good.

Take that Nazis.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

Day 7- Fruit

A Christmas Carolynn

*************************
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

After the last two days of work, I really needed a day off. So today I am enjoying my day.

I slept in all I wanted. I got up and watched Home Alone and did lots of holiday baking.

For dinner, we got some Jack In The Box. Tacos and burgers! Yay!

Best. Day. Ever.

*************************
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;