Strawberry Fields

Yesterday morning Himself and I, Best Friend and son (Pirate 2) all headed out to pick some strawberries. Mmmmmmm…

We do this every year. This year was what I consider perfect picking weather… cool, overcast and slightly breezy. We got a lot in a short amount of time. I brought home 3 gallons (1 gallon will go to my neighbors up the hill) and I gave Best Friend 3 gallons (on top of the 5 gallons she picked). She makes the BEST strawberry jam and is always giving me some. She also gives me some for my Dad (yes Dad… you’ll have some fresh jam soon). And she keeps her elderly neighbors in good supply too.

Don’t you think I have some great looking strawberries?

Best Friend with some of her berries.

Mutant strawberry!

Starting a new bucket.

Quality control tester.

Junior QC.

Certain buckets didn’t get filled very quickly…

H&S Strawberry barn.

My bounty.

And Best Friend’s…minus 2 boxes that were in her back seat.

Grilled Wild Alaska Salmon with Strawberry-Cucumber Salsa

The strawberry-cucumber salsa that tops these moist, flavorful salmon fillets is delicious served on its own, too, with a few tortilla chips for dipping. For the marinade, substitute cranberry juice for the strawberry juice, if you like.

Ingredients

Salmon

1/2 cup strawberry juice from concentrate

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tablespoon roughly chopped ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Zest of 1 orange

4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets



Salsa

1/2 cucumber, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow bell pepper

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

4 large ripe strawberries, hulled and finely chopped

Method

For the salmon, whisk together strawberry juice, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, ginger, salt, pepper, and zest in a wide, shallow dish to make a marinade. Add salmon and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours. Meanwhile, put cucumbers, onions, bell peppers, honey, lime juice, oil, salt, black pepper, ginger, and strawberries into a medium bowl and toss to make a salsa. Set aside. Prepare a charcoal grill.

When charcoal is hot and has a coat of ash, spread the coals to create an even heat source. Grill salmon fillets, flipping once, to desired doneness, 10 to 12 minutes each. Top each fillet with some of the strawberry-cucumber salsa and serve.

Waiting out the storm - boy style

Himself, Best Friend, BF's Sweetie and I went out to a plant auction in "Amish Land" today.  Just before we got home a storm blew into town.  The Pirates called to 'inform' us that the tornado sirens were going off and we had BETTER be home soon!!  Best Friend told them the bad weather was to the north of town but to get into the downstairs bathroom (which is in the center of the house under the stairway) and wait for us to get there... and yes, we were going as fast as we could.

I was the first one inside and this was what I found... "tween" boys idea of how to ride out a tornado warning...

Bring the X Box game, a radio, a blanket, some munchies, the dog and her food all into the little bathroom.

You can see how their priorities lay...  LOL!!! 

Movie Review: "How To Train Your Dragon"

Last night I went to the movie with Best Friend and the Pirates. Pirate 1 and I both like dragons and we've been waiting to see "How To Train Your Dragon" -- in 3D of course!

I was a bit cautious as this is made by the same ones who made "Shreik"... and I personally think there is too base humor in the "Shreik" movies that is not appropriate for kids. So it was a pleasant surprise that there was very little off color humor in this movie. (In fact, I don't remember any.)

It was a fun movie. Animation is good, the 3D effects are quite good. There's a scene with falling ash that it looks like you could slap it away from your face! How cool is that? The one thing I thought was funny is all the Vikings have a Scottish accent!

I can recommend this one for children. It appeals to both boys and girls (the Viking woman are TOUGH). If Hanna was old enough, I would take her to see it.

Might just have to get it for her when it comes out on DVD!

Shopping With Pirates

Two Fridays ago, I took The Pirates shopping. Usually when we do this, it's for something cool like a bicycle, or walkie talkies, or games for the Wii. And they are quite enthusiastic.

However, this time there were many groans and much dragging of feet. Because we were clothes shopping. And not just any clothes... we were looking for suits.

You see, The Pirates were conveyed the honor of being invited to be Congressional Pages on the floor of the Tennessee legislature. Their mom invited me to join them for that day. I couldn't since that was right when I'd planned my trip to Missouri (my Hanna Time). But I requested the privilege of getting their clothes for the day.

(side note: these two are growing like bad weeds and their dress suits were more than a wee bit snug.)

I should have known something was up the way my dear friend chuckled...

Pirate 1 is 12 and a HALF (must not forget the half) and is slim built size 12. He also isn't very concerned with clothes... at least with dress clothes. Any color is fine as long as it is khaki or blue.

Pirate 2 is 10 and a QUARTER (not just 10) and is an athletic built size 12. He on the other hand is the future cover dude of GQ magazine. This young man is not afraid of color... in his shirts. Pants must be black.

Silly me... I thought we'd just be-bop into Target at 4pm and come out with spiffy looking boys. HA!

There are pitiful few dress clothes in the sizes of 12 and 14. One would think with Easter only 2 weeks away there would be plenty to chose from. And one would be thinking wrongly.

Let the boy torture begin.

We started out looking for a shirt, figuring we could build the outfit around that. Their Mom and I started looking thru the shirts and as we pulled out ones to try... there were no boys around to try them on. Found them over in the skateboarder shirts. Pirate 2 starts to get interested and is soon rooting thru the shirt selection. Pirate 1 slid over to hide in the greeting cards, from where he is promptly retrieved and told to find a shirt. After a good 30 minutes of trying various combinations and a check in the shoe department, we take the few (very few) approved selections and check out.

Next stop -- Dillards. I like Dillards. I had great hopes for Dillards.

I was hugely disappointed.

First, their selection in the 12 & 14 sizes was just a limited as Target. Well, they did have a nice tie selection. Second, the only clerk working the floor in boys was an idiot. She didn't know her department and really didn't seem to want to figure anything out.

And at this point, we had pirates in rebellion. Oh they do not like having the fit of their pants checked!

Tough.

Again, I take the very few things we found and head to the check out.

Next stop -- Belks. This is not one of my favorite stores but I'm starting to get desperate! Once in the boys department I remembered why they aren't my favorite store - the selection was the worst yet. However, they were having a HUGE sale on dress jackets. And thank you... there was a navy blue one that fit Pirate 1 and a black one that fit Pirate 2. Score!! Now we wait in line for 10 minutes at the only open check out...

Before Belks, we swung into a shoe shop that hereto before had been a good place to get these two boys shoes. Not any more. The Pirates are at the awkward between child and adult sizes and there was nothing to be found.

By now, we are ALL melting. Feet are tired, nerves are frayed. A quick run thru of our purchases showed we still had not found shoes for either boys and Pirate 1 still didn't have slacks.

So we head across the road to Kohls. Nada for shoes. But we did find the slacks and belt.

Our one last hope was Payless Shoes. And beauty was, it was located next door to the movie theater where we were going to see the 8:15 pm showing of "Alice In Wonderland".

I head in with what were now two walking attitudes. We were met by a bright-eyed clerk who asked if we needed help. I pointed to the slumping boys and said "I need some dress casual shoes for these two." She briskly led us the proper section and soon both boys were trying on shoes. The attitudes didn't faze her at all. They each found a pair - and on sale too - that they liked! YES!!!

I thanked the lady for her patience and help. She smiled and said, "I have 2 boys - 10 and 13". I laughed and said "10 and 12".

(As the line from "Sleepless in Seattle goes:

[at airport watching Jonah be obnoxious]
Sam: "He's 10".
Victoria: "He's good at it.")

We JUST made our movie...

You know, these boys owe their mom a really nice Mother's Day.

In fact, every male out there owes their mom a really nice Mother's Day; because as my friend said, "Welcome to my life!"


However... as you can see from this photo, it was worth the effort. Aren't they a handsome pair of young men!?

Noteworthy Blogs

I've started following blogs of others and have come across some really excellent blogs. Some make me laugh and some have caused me to cry. There are some that share fantastic ideas for decorating or great recipes. Some have made me think about things in a way I never had before.

I decided that there are posts too good not to share. So I'm going to start showing off posts that I've particularly enjoyed each week. I hope you enjoy them too.


This joke tickled me. I can just see it... can't you?
http://majorityoftwo.blogspot.com/2010/03/irish-humor-for-st-paddys-day.html


This one made me laugh out loud as I was reading it. What a hoot!
http://www.thefiftyfactor.com/2010/03/graveyard-garage-sale.html


Fantastic photos! I'm certainly not as hardcore as the photographer she shared. This is the one that inspired me to post some of my photos from Kenya.
http://chroniclesofacountrygirl.blogspot.com/2010/03/amazing-photographs-captured-by.html


I want to go to this beach!!!
http://dailyvitaminsea.com/driftwood-beach-on-jekyll-island-ga/


Here's the one that made me cry.
http://heycabo.blogspot.com/2010/03/pretty-again.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HeyCabo+%28Hey+Cabo%29


And one that made me laugh... especially since the writer is near and dear to me.
http://offthecuff23.blogspot.com/2010/03/okay-so-i-ran-over-squirrel-today.html

The Shoeboxes Begin Their Journey

Himself and I took the shoeboxes we collected from church over to the collection point today. Not bad for a first year – we had 53 boxes (plus some were taken over to the Chic FilA). I hope to triple that number next year!

While we were at the collection center dropping off the boxes, Best Friend and Pirate 1 showed up with their boxes. Pirate 1 jumped right in on helping process the shoeboxes. I bet he’ll be helping even more next year!

The display at church.

All of 53 of the boxes at the collection center, ready to be processed.

Pirate 1 helping with processing.

This is what it's about...

"Little Bird's Box" ready to go somewhere in the world.



"Little Red Truck"

Bonfire and steak fry

One of the great things about living out in the country is the fact you can have a bonfire cookout (after a quick call to the Forestry Service to get a burn permit).

This evening we had our best friends over for just that. Chad, Brenda, the Pirates and Diva Dog spent the whole afternoon and evening with us. While the “Y” chromosomes satisfied their pyro streaks, the “X” chromosomes were inside enjoying the peace and quiet – while satisfying our crafting streaks.

After a few hours the “Ys” informed us that they had a proper bed of coals for the grilling of porterhouse steaks. Alrighty then! Let the cooking begin! The “Ys” grilled the meat (let them sear their knuckles!) and the “Xs” did the rest… mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, peas, sautéed onions & green peppers, Amaretto sautéed mushrooms. The weather was absolutely perfect so we ate outside. Even Sasha got in on it; with her own meaty bone to gnaw on.

Once the meal was over, we gathered around the fire (which the “Ys” added more wood to) and roasted marshmallows for dessert. From there into the night we visited, tossed sticks on the fire and looked at the stars overhead. (There is so little light pollution out here that you can see the Milky Way fairly easily).

It was one of the most relaxing evenings I’ve had in a long time!

Himself by the fire

Pirate Treasure

While I was in Alaska, the two Pirates and their parents made a trip to Europe over Spring Break. Last night we were finally able to get together for dinner and a visit. Towards the end of the evening the boys gave me gifts that they had brought back for me.

A chicken salt and pepper set from Germany (even tho they tease me about having too many chickens in my kitchen!) and some stones they picked while traveling (do they know me or what!?). The set of 3 are from the Black Forest and the single red one is from France. And their Mom surprised me with a nativity ornament for my collection.

Wow, treasure indeed!