A Look Around

I'm embarrassed to show off my garden this year. The heatwave really did a number on my tomato plants. Hard to believe, but I didn't get a single tomato this year. I've had plenty of blooms but they never developed.

Here's another sorry sight...my bell pepper plants. I've only gotten a couple of peppers this year but they were inedible. I can always count on basil, though. Next year, I'm skipping the peppers and planting nothing but basil in this bed.

Look at this poor hydrangea! I have 3 of them and they all look like this! It's starting to put on some new growth since the heatwave and drought broke but most of their existing leaves died.

The muscadines continued to grow, though, and are starting to ripen.

And here's another plant that has continued to grow...vincas (periwinkles). I love this plant because it's almost impossible for me to destroy. It's almost impossible for a border collie mix to destroy, too. She dug out the flowers a few weeks ago and I had to replant them and they're as good as new.

Love For Junie B

Does that classroom look familiar?

It's Room One from the Junie B. Jones books! The boys have been fans of Junie B. since Kindergarten. Sure, she overuses the words smelly, stupid and dumb but she's really a funny character. Especially when she's brought to life in theater. We loved watching Jingle Bells, Batman Smells back in December.

In the first Junie B. book she gets locked in the kindergarten building after school. I can remember reading this book one night to Thomas when he was in kindergarten and as I was turning off the light he said, "Mommy, I wish I could be locked in the kindergarten building with Mrs. D." (Mrs. D was one of the very young and pretty kindergarten teachers at his school.) Cute! Of course, nowadays Thomas doesn't think it's cute at all--especially writing about it my blog--more like stupid and dumb but in the words of Junie B: a journal is where you write your life.

Wordless (Sort Of) Wednesday: Roasted Tomato Soup

(Inspired by chow.com's Doodle Your Favorite Meal contest)

Princess Gravedigger?

(Monster Jam, January 2011)

Nathan and I were playing Know It or Blow It one day and I was doing pretty good, moving along through trivia questions like, name the 7 continents, what are the 4 types of taste buds, and who are the 5 family members in The Simpsons?

But then I hit a snag when it came to naming the 8 original Disney princesses. I know I should have my girl card taken away for this but I could only come up with 2...well, technically just one because I said, "Ariel and the one in the yellow dress." I'm so ashamed. I couldn't even come up with Cinderella?! Sheesh.

On the other hand, I CAN name 8 Monster Jam trucks:)

A Dinosaur Poem...I Think

This is Screature. Santa brought him for Nathan back in 2009. It freaked him out so much that it has been sitting on a bookshelf in my bedroom ever since along with a fake tarantula and a poisonous Shrek glass that we were supposed to return to McDonald's but never did. It's the scary shelf.

And now for a scary poem by Thomas that no doubt disturbed his 3rd grade teacher.

Dinosaur

giant reptile, instinct

moving, roaring, drooling

hunt, kill, kick, jolt

killing, shooting, blasting

dangerous, hurtful

machine gun.

Roasted Pepper Pasta

I was hanging up some laundry in my closet the other day and noticed my Food Network magazines stacked up against the wall. Staring up at me was a picture of this pasta dish. It was the cover recipe from an old issue--July/August of last year. It looked so good, I couldn't believe I hadn't tried it yet. I finished up the laundry, headed into town for the ingredients, made it for dinner that night and...

Wow.

I could've been eating this since last year?! Not fair! It was great but I did make a major change to the original recipe--I served it hot instead of cold. Delicious.

Roasted Pepper Pasta (original recipe here )

16 oz box rigatoni
3 bell peppers, halved, stemmed and seeded
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/2 cup almonds
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon
8 oz bocconcini (small mozzarella balls)
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves torn
salt and pepper

Preheat broiler.
Cook rigatoni as directed.
Place garlic and peppers (cut side down) on a foil lined broiler pan or cookie sheet. Broil for 8 minutes or until peppers are charred. Put garlic and charred peppers into a container and cover for about 5 minutes.
Toast the almonds in a a dry skillet over medium high heat. When browned and fragrant remove from skillet, let cool then chop.
Peel roasted peppers and cut into strips. Squeeze garlic onto a cutting board and mash with 1/2 tsp salt.
Add peppers and garlic paste into a bowl with olive oil and lemon juice. Add bocconcini, almonds, basil, pasta and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Little Pink Donut

Look who got a new toy!

For the past 2 years that Indie has been with us she has never had a toy of her own. I did get her a Nylabone once to dissuade her from chewing on our rocking chairs and she does have a purple squeaky ball that was a hand me down from the huskies but I've never bought her a toy specifically for her to play with and enjoy.

I was feeling a little guilty about that, after all, the huskies had a ton of squeaky toys, balls, stuffed hedgehogs and kongs. So we headed to PetSmart recently and Nathan picked out a brand new toy just for Indie. It turns out, like everyone else in this household, she loves donuts.