Ensalada Caprese

We picked the first tomato yesterday, an Early Girl. She received the royal treatment, a pairing with fresh basil (also from the garden) and mozzarella with a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil.










My youngest son took a look and said "fancy food." My husband and I grinned and explained that he would NOT like it. He eyeballed the cheese for a second and took off. Whew, that was a close one.

I would have loved to have fresh mozzarella, but it's a bit of a drive to get it, so we made due with just regular... It didn't seem to matter...

Kitten Wins Over A Devoted Dog Lover

For those of you that know my husband well, this is a remarkable moment. For those that do not, please let me explain:



My husband does not like cats...that's simply to mild...



My husband hates cats! Can't stand them! He's even been overheard saying cats were put on this earth to be drop-kicked.

This abandoned kitty, named Sox by the boys, seems to be getting under his skin.

Do you suppose he may even pet the kitten?

Could we dare to think he may coo to it?

Coo to it??? Uuuh, no cooing, definitely NO cooing.

Now wait a minute, after examining this photo a little closer... I believe he was watching TV...yes, I'm sure of it. It was probably ESPN! That explains everything! He didn't even KNOW the kitten was in his lap!!!

Dang it, I thought for sure we had had a breakthrough.

Important Note: This story is greatly exaggerated. It's true and I just didn't want any confusion about it. My husband LOVES all domesticated animals, especially our three boys.

Cultivating Weeds?

There's a bit of a weed problem along the garden paths. Pulling all those weeds has been on the to-do list but just somehow has never made it to the top.

When I toured Sharen's garden she mentioned using Round Up on weeds in her garden...in her garden!!! She said just be careful to only spray the weed and you will be fine. My Dad worked for Monsanto Co., the maker of Round Up, for many years, so I was more than willing to give this a try.

This is only 24 hours later!!! All the vegetables seem to be just fine. Round Up, where have you been all my summer?

While I was out there, I spied this teeny, tiny watermelon. The little sign is 1" x 2" as a comparison. I am hoping it will grow, but some things in my garden are just teeny, tiny this year... more on that later.




The Roma tomatoes are not teeny, tiny, however. Aren't they lookin' good? We're eating cherry tomatoes now and will have some other varieties soon. Can't wait!

Raising Good Marriage Material

The ability to feed one's self something other than fast food or a TV dinner is an enviable skill.

Let's go a step further and say that one incomparable gift that a mother may give to her sons is some cookin' and cleanin' skills.




With this end in mind, I've encouraged each of the boys to learn to cook. We've started small with opening a can and heating up soup, and have progressed through mac and cheese, pancakes and cookies. I've found a heavy emphasis on favorites has increased interest!





I fully understand the mess potential here. At times it makes me shudder a bit. At these moments, an interview I watched years ago strangely pops into my head. In it, Steven Speilberg's mother said, "I would let Steven create whatever he wanted in the kitchen as long as he would clean up." I'm thinkin' Steven turned out pretty well.





My youngest came into the kitchen a few days ago and announced that he was going to make pancakes for himself and his brothers. He set to work and the only help he needed was my reaching the cooking oil on a high shelf. Halfway into the pancake making he decided to make scrambled eggs, too. Oh, mercy...he even helped with the clean up!

July 4 in a Small Town

Growing up in the city, July 4 was an enjoyable, low-key day with relatives visiting, sparklers and fireworks in the park. The fireworks were similar to the ones we all shoot off in our backyards today!

So for me July 4 in my small town is something of a phenomenon. It's not just a day off from work, it's days and days and days of hoopla! This year, we enjoyed the carnival, fireworks in the backyard, dinner with friends, fireworks in the friend's neighborhood, a car show, a parade, dinner with family and... fireworks at the city ball diamonds. The highlight for my boys, you guessed it - fireworks!

4th of July holds special memories for me as last year my Mom and sister, Pam came to visit. My sister came to visit again this year and we had a wonderful time!



Also, last year my mother-in-law, Lauranell, was honored with the Citizen of the Year Award and was Grand Marshall of the parade. My husband was driving the car and my three boys rode with grandma.


A little side story: as the crew in the car waited for the parade to start. Nancy Boyde, Kansas State Senator walked up and extended her hand to my husband. She said, "Lawrence, congratulations on being named Citizen of the Year." My husband chuckled, swung his thumb toward the back seat and said that would be my MOM, Lauranell. hee hee

Our parade is a long-running affair, not just in terms of the length of the actual parade, but also in terms of consequtive years of parading. It draws a crowd and a motley crew of entries. This year was no exception. Our parade was in top form with antique cars, garganchuan trucks, antique tractors, heavy machinery, themed floats, unusual tractors, politicians, horses and state-of-the-art tractors.

You've heard of funny cars...this is a funny truck. The back-end has it's own driver who seems to have had a few too many libations prior to the parade. The K-State paintjob may explain it!

Woo hoo hoo, hee hee hee...this guy cracked me up. He was so serious about riding.

Here's some of the family after about an hour of watching...something tells me they are thinkin' about dinner.

Horses, now that's my favorite part! Not just because they are beautiful beasts, but because they are the second to last entry in the parade. The last entry...


The pooper scoopers!

Our little town's parade seems to be a big deal...not just the number of entries, which has some limits, believe it or not... but because of the wide variety of entries. At least that's my story. In all truth I'm not sure I fully understand it. I will add that election years, like this one, are particularly amusing as ALL of the candidates come out...local, county and state!

Another memorable 4th! A time to appreciate our incredible nation and the freedoms we enjoy, and a time to celebrate with family and friends. I'll be signing off now as I need a nap. I still have not fully recovered, and I do hope someone will wake me before the next 4th of July.

Woman Committed for Not Being Able to Say NO

Reporting from the Psychiatric Ward of the Local Hospital:



Woman receives phone call from husband announcing the discovery of an apparently abandoned kitten. Kitten has been attacked and has sustained minor injuries to the face and leg. Woman immediately goes to investigate. She finds poor kitten is also starving. Orders husband to buy food and meet woman at home.



Once kitten is fully satiated on food and water, husband and woman take note of black kitty's four white socks, white stripe on face and black-dot nose. Woman looks forelornly at husband. Husband responds with "that's a cute cat".



Woman is a goner. She reports adoption of THIRD cat to three sons and is immediately carted off by men in white coats. Surely there is a cure for "cute baby animal, must adopt" syndrome!

Homegrown Spuds

We headed to the garden to harvest potatoes - Yukon Gold Potatoes.

"We" became my husband, Bart, as he was having so much fun digging up the potatoes. I pulled some weeds instead. Too bad you can't harvest weeds and do something fabulous with them!




What to do with freshly dug potatoes? How about a surprisingly easy Shrimp Boil that looked something like the picture above. Oh, was it good! A messy meal where you appreciate all of the flavors.


Shrimp Boil
1 lb. uncooked shrimp
1 lb. smoked sausage (I used turkey keilbasa), 3/4 inch diagonal-sliced pieces
4 or 5 ears of corn, halfed
Equivalent of one large potato per person, quartered
1 onion, halved then quartered
1 teas. garlic powder or 1 clove minced
1 teas. dried Parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped

Bring water to boil in large pot. Cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces and boil until almost tender. Add shrimp, sausage, corn, onion, garlic and parsley. Cook until shrimp is fully pink (about 4 min.). Be careful to not overcook the shrimp as it will become tough.

Fortunately, we had a nice, little haul of potatoes. Hmmm...need to get thinking of some other messy, yummy meals.