The theme for our Supper Club this month was Italian and in the past I have been sticking with Cooking Light recipes (since that's the message board we all met on). However, I am all for easy and delicious fried desserts (who isn't?), so this is what I prepared for Saturday night's dinner. They were a huge hit! Chocolate-Hazelnut Ravioli recipe from Giada De Laurentiis 16 wonton wrappers 1 egg, beaten to blend 1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella) Vegetable oil, for ... continue reading...
caring for your introvert
Eric sent me this article a while back and I recently rediscovered it while cleaning out my bookmarks. I will say that as an extrovert, I am immediately suspicious of anything in this article. :) However, I happen to be married to an introvert, so I'll share the link anyway... http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch ... continue reading...
listening to…
Other Side of the World by KT Tunstall ... continue reading...
dining in Tempe
Before we go on trips, we always locate at least a handful of possible restaurants to try. This seems to lessen the chance that we'll just duck in somewhere awful because we are tired of walking around. We made it to almost every restaurant we wanted to try and weren't disappointed (with the food, at least) once! House of Tricks - a pricey "bring your parents" type of place, so we opted for lunch instead of dinner. The food was delicious (tuna burger and BBQ chicken sandwich), but the service ... continue reading...
We are back!
We're back in North Carolina after five days in the desert - check out the photos - and it is nice to eat at home for a change. Leandra grilled tonight as you can see in the pic below: ... continue reading...
Desert Botanical Garden
Sunset at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ. ... continue reading...
getting used to carrying water with me everywhere
After the arboretum yesterday, we drove part of the Apache Trail for some scenic views of central Arizona. While the mountains and plentiful saguaro cacti were indeed nice, the powerlines dominating every scene were a disappointing distraction. In fact, several 'scenic pullout' vistas were marred by their presence. We managed to get some good shots from other pullouts and once or twice by stopping in the roadway (not recommended, but we were there mid-day and mid-week so traffic was very ... continue reading...
…but it’s a dry heat!
After picking up our rental car in Phoenix we headed straight for the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for a lovely hike through flowering cacti and other drought tolerant plants and trees. This is my first time in so-called dry heat and that whole analogy about being slow roasted in an oven is completely accurate. We used the shade often and drank a ton of cold water (water fountains were supplied readily along the trail) and took quite a few photos. I'll leave you with a sampling of the arboretum ... continue reading...
new garden photos
Gee, updating this website everyday is easy when you take half days from work because you are still sick. We leave for Tempe tomorrow, maybe the 100 degree heat will clear up my sinus infection? New garden photos are up along with an updated garden banner. ... continue reading...
it’s someone’s special day…
First shots with new macro lens
Below are two of the shots I've taken with my new 60mm macro lens (click on the pics to see a larger version). This lens is quick and very quiet - I can't wait for the next botanical garden trip. Thanks for the birthday present mom and dad! ... continue reading...
this post brought to you by DayQuil
Since I've been confined to the couch I have gotten a lot of pictures sorted and posted while Eric has been working in the yard. Thankfully, the Princess Bride was on AMC today as I was running out of patience with the poor daytime programing on the Food Network and HGTV. Last night a bunch of us went out to the Melting Pot to celebrate Randi's 25th birthday (photos). Eric turns 30 tomorrow, so he wasn't too sympathetic with the whole 'I feel old' talk. :) We were planning on just cheese and ... continue reading...
New plants for the garden
I went to the Raleigh Farmers market this afternoon and came back with a few new additions for our yard. ... continue reading...
sowing the seeds of love…
Today I tore out my overgrown mesclun/mustard greens and sowed some new seeds in both planter boxes on our deck. This was my first time growing lettuce greens and I admit, I was a little overzealous with the planting... plus I refused to thin out the plants because what if I didn't have enough? Not long after this I had so many plants that I couldn't possibly eat all of them and some of them went to waste. This time I plan on 'thinning' the plants out when they are young and tender by eating ... continue reading...
home sick
I stayed home today because my lymph nodes are so sore and swollen that I am having trouble swallowing. I woke up at the normal time and made myself some tea but Eric took one look at me and sent me back to bed. I tried to sleep some more but wound up tossing and turning all morning while listening to the birds "singing" outside my window. So, I am taking it easy and managed to finish up the photos from our trip to DC, some shots Eric took of me making focaccia bread last weekend, and Eric's ... continue reading...
our new journal design…
welcome to our new journal! We have been working for a few weeks now on making our journal more dynamic. For example, we want to be able to update on the road instead of waiting until we returned from trips. Also, you will be able to hear from both of us now... look for the icon by the date to tell who posted what. We have even more changes in store, so stay tuned! ... continue reading...
Traveling lightly
This site has some advice on packing lightly: http://www.onebag.com/home.html. We'll try some of the tips on our upcoming trip to Tempe, AZ, next week. ... continue reading...
We couldn’t agree more
http://bancomicsans.com/home.html ... continue reading...