Orzo and Green Beans

from: Martha

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
2 1/2 cups fresh lime juice (about 20 limes), plus 4 limes, thinly sliced crosswise, for garnish
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar

Directions
Bring granulated sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium pan over high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Add sugar syrup and mint to a blender; puree. Pour through a very fine mesh sieve into a large serving container; discard solids.

Add lime juice, superfine sugar, and 2 quarts water to a serving container. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 1 day.

To serve, add ice cubes to fill and garnish with lime slices.

from: Everyday Food May 2006

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 t dried oregano
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
coarse salt & ground pepper
1.5 lbs frozen large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T chopped fresh mint plush more for garnish
4 oz feta cheese

Directions
Heat oven to 475. With rack in upper third. Heat oil in a large skillet over med. Add scallions, garlic and oregano; cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 min.

Add tomatoes. Cook over med stirring occasionally until no liquid remains in the skillet, 10-15 min. Season with salt and pepper.

Add shrimp and mint to skillet. Stir to combine; transfer to an 8-inch square (or other shallow 2 qt) baking dish. Crumble feta over top.

Bake until liquid is bubbling, cheese is beginning to brown and shrimp in center of dish are opaque, 15-20 min. Serve with orzo and green beans, sprinkled with additional chipped mint.

Nutritional Info (with orzo and green beans, 1/4 recipe(
563 calories; 20.5 g fat; 46.6 g protein; 47.9 g carbohydrates; 5.7 g fiber

from: Everyday Food May 2006

Ingredients
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 C orzo
8 oz green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T olive oil

Directions
In a med saucepan of boiling salted water, cook orzo 4 minutes. Add green beans; continue cooking until beans are tender and orzo is al dente, about 5-6 min.

Drian orzo and return to saucepan. Mix in lemon juice and oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

 

shrimp_tomatoes_fetafrom: Everyday Food May 2006

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 t dried oregano
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
coarse salt & ground pepper
1.5 lbs frozen large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T chopped fresh mint plush more for garnish
4 oz feta cheese

Directions
Heat oven to 475. With rack in upper third. Heat oil in a large skillet over med. Add scallions, garlic and oregano; cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 min.

Add tomatoes. Cook over med stirring occasionally until no liquid remains in the skillet, 10-15 min. Season with salt and pepper.

Add shrimp and mint to skillet. Stir to combine; transfer to an 8-inch square (or other shallow 2 qt) baking dish. Crumble feta over top.

Bake until liquid is bubbling, cheese is beginning to brown and shrimp in center of dish are opaque, 15-20 min. Serve with orzo and green beans, sprinkled with additional chipped mint.

Nutritional Info (with orzo and green beans, 1/4 recipe(
563 calories; 20.5 g fat; 46.6 g protein; 47.9 g carbohydrates; 5.7 g fiber

Memorial Day Weekend


As with most 3-day weekends, the list of “to do” was miles long and only a portion of them got done, but we had a really nice and overall very relaxing weekend. And who knows? A bit over 1.5 hours 'til bedtime … I might just fit one or two more in .

Saturday was a hang-out day. We cleaned up the front yard and got it ready to plant bedding plants.

Sunday I met up with my mom and sis to get ready for my parents' BBQ while Matt worked on a bookcase for Tabitha in his shop. Later we all met up for some grilled goodness and fun with friends. I made mint limeade for the occasion. It was super good, but sadly did not come out the perfect green color that Martha had promised … so we added some food coloring. Photos here.

Today was more work … laundry, errands, gardening. And some fun. I've been playing Lost in Blue 2 incessantly. My DS has actually run out of batteries twice.

Work tomorrow. Boooo.

Mint Limeade

from: Martha

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
2 1/2 cups fresh lime juice (about 20 limes), plus 4 limes, thinly sliced crosswise, for garnish
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar

Directions
Bring granulated sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium pan over high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Add sugar syrup and mint to a blender; puree. Pour through a very fine mesh sieve into a large serving container; discard solids.

Add lime juice, superfine sugar, and 2 quarts water to a serving container. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 1 day.

To serve, add ice cubes to fill and garnish with lime slices.

Let Are Kids Walk

I first saw this posted on digg.com and just had to comment here. According to WFAA-TV, the Forth Worth, TX school district is currently blocking seniors who did not pass the TAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam) from walking at their graduation. I won’t comment whether that is right or wrong but I will say this. If you’re going to picket the school district headquarters to protest, please, please, please proof read your protest poster (Story Here). Who ever at WFAA.com picked the photo must have had a really good eye and a really good sense of humor.

So So Busy!

I have loved all of this travel, but it has left me absolutely exhausted and overwhelmed and … behind. There are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish what I need to accomplish, let alone what I want to accomplish. As usual, the time is getting deducted directly from the sleep column. The good news is that Miss Tabitha has decided to go to sleep earlier and get up just once to have a bite to eat (frequently with her father). So I am getting my 6 hours of sleep pretty much uninterrupted, which is nice!

I am hopeful that with our nice long 3-day weekend we'll be able to get a bit ahead on the to-do list and our yard won't look like a jungle anymore. Continue reading “So So Busy!”

Nashville Town


Next time Matt tells me to book the earliest flight, remind me to ignore him. We got up at 3:30 AM Nashville time this morning to catch our 6 AM flight. That's 2 AM Denver time. Blah.

We had a very nice trip. Here's a rundown:
* Tabby got to meet two grandparents (Matt's dad and stepmom), her other great-grandma and her uncle Bryan
* We saw a huge snapping turtle
* Tabby got to spend some more time with her grandma and auntie
* We ate deep fried candy bars
* We met up with two friends from college and saw another get married!
* We visited two Nashville institutions and our Alma Mater
* We saw a human chess match
* We (Matt) swam with two doggies
* We took tons of photos

There's no place like home.

Still Here!

Hey kids. Sorry so long no post. We're in Nashville and we've been having such a great time I just haven't gotten around to posting like I thought I would. We've taken a lot of photos though … and hopefully I can post sometime tomorrow after we get home.

Happy Mothers' Day

Happy Mothers' Day to all you mothers out there. Hope you had a lovely day with your kids and other loved ones.

I certainly had a nice first Mothers' Day. Matt, Tabby, Mom & Dad and I went hiking at Three Sisters this morning. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Then we went to my Aunt Peggy's house for a celebration with her family and my grandma. We cooked out and relaxed in their backyard. It was very nice. Miss Tabitha was introduced to the magic of bubbles and Loki got to hang around with the papillons, Nunsio and Marla. Loads of photos here.

One of those Long Posts

UPDATED
Been wanting this book for a while. Saw it in a store in Los Gatos while shopping with mom on vacation … it was 20% off so I bought it. Loads of excellent projects … looking forward to doing a few.

Minutes after I bought the book, we went into a really cool quilt store called Natural Expressions. They had the most amazing fabrics and I wanted to buy out the whole store, but I didn't let myself. I'll have to find a quilt store in Denver. Had no idea how much better a selection they have. Continue reading “One of those Long Posts”