Summer Salad

Today's "chore" was taking lunch to DeeAnn. I recently acquired a recipe for a salad that I thought she might enjoy (credit to Paula McKinley, a bookmobile volunteer). Apparently she did (thirds anyone?). So did the office staff.

It's easy to prepare, has a sweet taste, and even (gasp) healthy. And it is very yummy!

1 head Romaine lettuce, cut to bite-sized pieces
2 apples, thinly sliced
1 6 oz. pkg. Blue Cheese, crumbled
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup toasted almonds (we serve these optionally)
1 6 oz. pkg. Craisins

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 slice of onion, chopped (we use red onion for the color)
1/2 cup oil

Blend the dressing ingredients enough to mix but not to puree the onion
Add 1 tablespoon poppyseeds and pour over salad. Serve and enjoy.

The return of the Killer Tomatoes

Even though the first batch turned out salty, we returned to the recipe for a second batch. Monday's family Home Evening was spent making salsa, revisited. This time, I called upon the carpenters rule, revised for cooks: measure twice, cook once!

Needless to say, it turned out well and those we have shared it with have been very pleased. We even found some cute half-pint jars to use and ended up using all 12 in the case, plus a couple of pint jars!

Killer Tomatoes

Since we have an abundance of tomatoes, we have been thinking of what to do with them. We have given several away to Orem residents in the area where they are not allowed to grow anything (the area includes DeeAnn's school due to a bug infestation). Our latest brainwave was to make salsa. After searching for a descent recipe that was fast and tasty, I can across one at recipezarr (for a copy of the recipe, contact us--I removed the link after discovering their site tries to install spyware) that looked like it met the requirements (though we cut the cumin to 1 1/2 tsp).

So, yesterday we picked all our ripe tomatoes and went shopping for the ingredients. This morning, we spent the past 2 1/2 hours making and canning salsa! DeeAnn had the pleasure of peeling the skins off the tomatoes and chopping the jalapeño peppers while I blanched the tomatoes, chopped the onions, green peppers, garlic, and mixed it all together. DeeAnn supervised the canning process so that I would not burn myself.

Only apparently, I don't know how to measure. I realized that I had doubled the portions of salt. I was using the 1/4 measuring cup, intending on halving it for the required 1/8 cup, but must have been distracted. Oops! Despite the extra salt, it still tastes good.

Once the 7 pints have cooled off, I'll check them out to see if the flavor of the salt has lessened. If not, we have plenty of tomatoes for a new batch next week (and the week after that, and the week after that...)! It might also help to have a low-salt chip for dipping or to use it in a recipe.

We also learned that tomatoes are very juicy and slimy! So we tried to de-juice them by hand as well as we could, along with de-seeding them. That helped make the salsa a little less runny. But the consistency looks very good. So, live and learn!

Next canning projects (assuming we don't have to re-do the salsa), will be homemade spaghetti sauce (start sending your recipes to us now) and peaches. YUM!

Cedar City

We have just returned from our latest adventure, the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah. We watched one play, Lend Me a Tenor, that was fabulous. The comedy was side-splitting and the musical ability of the cast, especially the character of Max, was amazing. It was a very enjoyable time.

We were not sure about this since the last time DeeAnn had visited the festival her view was blocked by a large pillar. But this time, the wheelchair seating, in the back of the theater, was an a level platform and allowed me to sit next to her on a nice padded folding chair. The view was excellent. We can hardly wait to return for next years season.

We left Provo on Saturday morning, drove to Cedar City, and checked into our hotel. Well, it was actually a 7-room bed and breakfast. The Iron Gate Inn, is a lovely Victorian home, lovingly restored by a very nice and friendly couple. The wheelchair room had plenty of room in it. We were treated to a very nice breakfast the following morning and enjoyed some nice conversations with our fellow guests. It's not often you find accessible B&Bs, so we wanted to take advantage of it.

For dinner before the play, we drove up Cedar Canyon. Intending on eating at Milt's (they were only taking parties with reservations and didn't look all that wheelchair accommodating anyway), we ventured down the road to Rusty's Ranch House. DeeAnn enjoyed a very good steak and I enjoyed some potato boats). We drove back down the canyon and prepared for our evening out.We enjoyed a little of the Greenshow of the festival, but with the sun directly in our eyes, it was not that pleasant of an experience. But, as I indicated, the play was wonderful. It's not exactly the kind we would take kids to since there was a fair amount of bad language and sexual innuendo. Looking past that through, we enjoyed the talent of the cast, and the catchy tunes and comedic timing the play brought to life. (Play a video clip)

As we traveled home, we stopped by Cove Fort, an old historic fort built by early LDS pioneers, and marveled at the destruction the fire caused around the fort, but not touching the fort at all. Instead of sticking to the fast and efficient freeway, we ventured off to Highway 89 and saw Richfield, Saline, Gunnison, and then back to Nephi to join up with the freeway.
The pets were glad to see us, after having been abandoned for a night.

Review - The Titans Curse

Just a few moments ago, I finished The Titans Curse by Rick Riordan. This is book three in Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Apparently, there are still more to come!

The premise of this book was that Percy and his friends rescue two newly discovered half-bloods (half mortal, half Greek God). Meanwhile Kronos, the Titan lord has set a trap for the young heroes, which they fall into, of course. Along the way they battle with Atlas and renew their battle with Luke and his armies. But the final battle still awaits Percy, Grover, Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke.

The book was 312 pages, and read pretty fast. The action was quick and the story kept my attention. I'd recommend the book, but to an older reader and especially a fantasy reader or anyone with an interest in Greek mythology.

Now it's on to The Navigator by Clive Cussler, or perhaps Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. I'd hate to be the last person on earth to read it!

Is it s fruit or vegetable?

Our first harvest! One of the potato plants was ready and yielded 9. Another plant appeared to be ready but when dug up, it only had one potato on it. Meanwhile, we are NOT having the same problem with the tomatoes. We have harvested our first ripe tomato though it didn't last long (I heard it was yummy). There are LOTS more to come, so if you have any recipes for salsa, send them our way!


The yard is coming along. I bought about 40 16" blocks and 20 decorative blocks. The rose bush is finally out and I'm tilling the grass under. After leveling out the ground I started to lay the blocks. I have to adjust them a little since I forgot to allow space for the fence posts. Oh well, at least I have just started. 9 down, lots more to go. Once the blocks are down I'll be able to start on the shed. Maybe by that time the weather will have cooled down a little more.


Of course, with everything that is going on, Chester still doesn't care, as long as he gets his treats and his tummy rubbed occasionally.