Happy Birthday, Becca!

Happy Birthday, Becca (here with Baby E).  Hope you have a marvelous day!!

March Madness: To the Elite 8 (please)

Got my drink ready in my special UK blue glass.  On, ON UK! Beat IU!! Let's get to the Elite 8!!

Friday thru Sunday

We are watching our neighbors' dog for a few days.  Her name is Friday and we have her through Sunday. She is a Bernese Mountain Dog and literally twice the size of Stirling.  Our dog can walk under Friday's bush of a tail. She is about a year old, doesn't really know her name, and never sits still--unless she is sitting on your feet as she leans against you when you are standing.

She and Stirling are getting along. Though Stirling, the old lady, has had to put the young pup in her place a time or three (including once when Stirling pulled away with a mouth full of Friday fur.  Ahem).

 

We took her to our usual stop of the graveyard to run with Stirling and Biscuit. We got her to run, but not for long--it didn't help that we forgot the water jug for her.

In a straight line, Friday is amazingly fast, but she is unable to turn very quickly.  Biscuit relies on her turning skills to keep away during the chase. Stirling keeps to the inside track, as does Friday, another herding dog.  Still Friday can't keep up for long before she has to just have a small break.

 

Our Newest Godson

Baby O, welcome to the world!  

Will and I are excited to corrupt you rotten for the rest of your life.  Your parents really didn't have your best interest at heart when they picked us as godparents.... mwhahahaha.  I am kdding.  Really. 

Or I am?

Drunk Noodles

I have to say that Will and I are thoroughly enjoying our new kitchen.  It is very easy to use: lots of prep space and lots of cooking space.  One of the recipes that he wanted to try was from a Top Chef contestant that has his own 5-8 minute cooking videos on Yahoo! Shine.  The chef is Fabio and the show is "Ciao Chow"-- it is really fun and you should check it out.  

We decided to make his drunken noodles, only I had goat's cheese and spinach, and not ricotta and nuts.  

boiling water and wine

The idea is that you take spaghetti and cook it in a mixture of water and wine.  The pasta takes on some of the wine flavor, not to mention color.  I think that should one use regular pasta-- or, better yet, home made pasta, the flavor would be more pronounced.  With wheat pasta (what we used), the additional flavor and coloring isn't as strong. 

insert pasta and watch turn pink

Still, you boil the pasta in a large pot in a mixture half water/half wine.  Do not use good wine--that should be consumed the regular way *hiccup*.  This is for the wine that you didn't finish when you opened up the bottle over the weekend and it has been sitting there, undrunk, for a few days.  Believe me, that doesn't happen very often in this house.  

steaming the spinach

At the same time as the pasta was boiling, I steamed some spinach, adding a bit of salt, pepper, oregano, and dried basil.  Oh, and some garlic salt, but just a pinch.  

my goat cheese... sampled, of course

pink noodles!

Once the pasta is done, drain.  I had plated the spinach already so I put the pink noodles on top of the spinach, and tossed in the goat cheese.  I topped it off with freshly shaved parmesan cheese and some herbs, and then served.  Delicious and pretty and very quick!  All the things I want when I come home from the office and need to fix dinner immediately because I am famished.   

delicious and very colorful!

Floors, The Final Item...Sorta

The floors were refinished-- the final item on our punch list for the kitchen.  The contractors, in moving appliances, grooved the living and dining rooms.  The solution? The floors had to be refinished!  Surviving four fumey days (Will was out of town and Stirling next door) was a feat in and of itself.  However, looking at the final product, it was worth it.  They are just beautiful!

Course, we then had to paint all the base boards in the two rooms.  When the shoe molding was replaced, the paint chipped off the base boards.

Then I got the bright idea to repaint the fireplace in the living room, since that trim has yellowed with smoke from the fireplace.   I don't have the steadiest of hands, so I had to get some of the wall paint to straighten the edging around the mantel.  I used the paint from the kitchen-- we used the same color after all.

Only, that is was not the same sheen:

The paint in the kitchen was a semi-gloss, but a flat paint in the living room.  Therefore, we had to paint the walls in the living room.  Ahem.

Such a snowball effect that was the kitchen remodel.  It required the walls of the living room to be repainted.  But, for real, we are done with any house works.  After all of this unplanned work, wouldn't you be?

F

Squish.  Happy birfday, Fiona.  Kees kees.

Spring Planting!

We have started our seedlings! New veggies are germinating as you read this.    We decided to keep the selection of vegetables and herbs small this year, in hopes to have bigger crop yields, vs. the variety of crops.  

We focused on big tomatoes: red, orange, yellow, and a pink one.  All huge, heirloom tomatoes.  We are tired of getting a million small grape or cherry tomatoes; we really want the beefsteaks and big boys this summer.  

We are growing a few varieties of peppers, some herbs (we still have lots of fresh ones in the garden from previous plantings), only one type of carrot.  Bush beans.  Zucchini.  Cantaloupe. I am sure I am forgetting some.  

We planted them yesterday and so far, nothing has come up.