Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Aunt Mary moves to Ohio

Last week, Brian's great aunt Mary moved to Ohio, a few hours north of us. We drove up with Brian's parents to help her get settled and check out the place. It was nice to see Aunt Mary again, meet a few new people, and see some relatives that live pretty close to Aunt Mary's new place. Here are some pictures from that visit.








Friday, August 26, 2011

vegi 'pasta'

We have been trying to eat more vegis lately, so I have been experimenting with different recipes. One I like is for vegi pasta. There is no actual pasta in this recipe, just vegis that are cut to act as pasta. The original recipe was for zucchini, but I tried it with carrots too and found that is also good.

To start, you put a bit of oil in a pan and saute some onion and mushroom. The first time I made this, I also put in garlic, and that was pretty awesome. This time, I added celery, which was good, but not as good. The mushroom is cut up pretty small so it cooks fast and is less recognizable (as not everyone likes mushrooms). I also add salt and black pepper to the saute (since I like to give my spices some time in the oil to release their full flavor).

While the onion et al are sauteing (or even beforehand), you need to cut your vegi noodles with a vegi peeler. Just cut the vegi into long thin strips (like you are peeling, but continue after the peel is gone). For zucchini, use the peel and the main flesh, discarding the seeds. For carrots, keep turning the carrot, getting as many noodles off each carrot as possible. (Zucchini may need to be dabbed dry with a towel, since they let off a lot of moisture.)

Once the sauteing vegis are looking just about ready (for me, this is brown on the edges), add the vegi noodles. Toss the noodles with the bits of sauted vegis and oil. The noodles will cook in just a minute or two, since they are so thin. Keep turning them to keep distributing the oil, onions, and mushrooms. To finish, add a dash or two of lemon juice and cut the heat.

Here are the results from tonight: carrot and zucchini noodles.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

visit to gmas

I visited several relatives in CA also. It was great to catch up with several of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Deb & Joel, on the ranch, after dinner:
Deb has started harp lessons (which I did not know previously), and she let me try it.
The war memorial in Ripon with Grandpa's name on it.
Jill and Henry and soon-to-be-born baby, at Grandma's house:
Grandma by some of her flowers:
Grandpa and Rebecca in the backyard:
Jill and me at her baby shower:
Grandma and Jill at Sheri's house:
Me and my youngest cousin, with a cake Grandma made for my birthday:

Point Reyes visit

Last week, I was in California for several days visiting friends and family. My first stop was at Michelle and Jamie's house in Petaluma. Petaluma is a beautiful area, with coastal hills and lovely weather. Michelle and I went to Point Reyes. It was a really nice trip, despite the fog. We had a lot of fog right on the coast, so we couldn't always see the sea. We did see lots of happy California cows, as there are many ranches at the point.

We did have some breaks in the fog, as seen here:
The fog is rolling in again behind me. The water on the left of the pic is the sea, while the water on the right is a cove of sorts.

The trees grow sideways because of the wind.
It was really interesting to see several pieces of whale brill in the small museum/ranger station.
These plants were tenaciously holding onto the rock.
Lovely coast, with fog:
This building's white paint was covered by bright orange algae on two sides. The historic lighthouse stands behind this building, but the light and horn are now mounted on this smallish house.

Here is the lighthouse from the top of the steps. The orange house stands just behind and a little lower, out of sight. The fog is thick, so it is hard to see the water.
Some whale bones:

Cow in the mist:
Deer in the mist:

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

birthdays

Dave and Amy are visiting Columbus for a few days, so we celebrated my and Dave's birthdays over the weekend. (Dave's birthday was a few days before they arrived.) We had some pizza and cake and presents. It was a nice celebration.

One of the gifts I got was Mexican Train, a game based on dominoes. Here we are playing it.

Presents waiting to be unwrapped:

Dave and Amy with one of his presents. Amy is indicating her favorite picture in the frame.

Me with some candles to blow out:

Dave has some candles too!

Dave cutting cake with his mom. It was quite hard because it was frozen ice cream cake.

My cake with berries - yum!

Brian and I also celebrated my birthday separately before Dave and Amy's visit. Brian got me this delicious oreo cookie ice cream cake.