Garden: Year 2

We planted our garden this past weekend! And when I say "we" I actually mean it! I helped... unlike last year when Jake not only planted everything, but also built the planter boxes.

We planted about half of what we did last year because we had way too many vegetables to handle last summer.

We left a large empty space in the planter on the left because we have some peppers started in a small shed, but they aren't ready to transplant yet.

And I'm not sure why THREE of these plants were purchased, but I planted them anyway. I can assure you that I will not be eating any this year. Perhaps I'll use them in some salsa though.


I'll be sure to post updates once things start to grow!

Menu Monday

Monday:
Stir fry-it was beautiful, but I don't have a picture :(

Tuesday:
Taco Salad

Wednesday:
Veggie burger and salad with homemade sun dried tomato dressing
Thursday:
Pizza

Friday:

"Chicken" nuggets (yeah, we eat these way too often) with garlic carrots and beet greens

Saturday:
Frozen burritos (organic and vegan!) and guacamole

Apple sweet potato cobbler and strawberry rhubarb cobbler

Sunday:
Pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes and olives

The following were from last week. They're the only two pictures I have and I can't even remember what else we ate.

Spicy hummus pizzas with cous cous and lemon roasted asparagus

Enchiladas with black bean and spinach filling

Temporary Tattoo Fun

We've had these fake tattoos for months, but never got around to using them. Yesterday we put our procrastination techniques to good use and applied them before we began cleaning the house. Unfortunately, Jake's mermaid has completely rubbed off, and even more unfortunately, my Poo Bear has not come off at all.

150 years of Lake County

This year marks the 150th year of Lake County. There will be celebratory events going on throughout the summer, but yesterday was the start of the festivities. There were musical performances, a reenactment of the ceremony that took place 150 years ago, and other various speakers, including Jake's uncle.


There were also people dressed in elaborate costumes that were walking around and giving historic tours.

This is a lion, not a bear.

Uncle Rob!

The governor of CA in 1861

CSA Week 2

I finally got my rhubarb and strawberries!! I also received corn, english peas, garlic, beet leaves (seriously, where are the beets?) and a head of iceberg lettuce that I threw away because I'm not really a fan. I don't have anything against iceberg, but I'd prefer to just use of the rest of the spinach and romaine that I already have in the fridge. More nutrients.

But let's talk about the beet leaves....I'm so confused. I was at the store when Jake was picking up the box. I asked him if there were beets because they was listed on the website and I'd already planned a recipe around them. He said there were no beets so I picked some up. I got home and compared them. They are EXACTLY the same, but one is missing the actual beets. Where did they go? And what am I supposed to do with the leaves? I guess I'll google it later. I'm sure there's something that can be made from them.

Everything looks beautiful. Especially the strawberries. FYI, if you only buy one type of organic produce, it should be strawberries. Apparently they retain more pesticides than any other fruit or vegetable.

Confession: I still buy non organic on occasion if they're on sale.

Before and After

Zulu had her first haircut today. I'm not exactly thrilled with the results. She looks like a an entirely different dog. I'm glad that she can see now (her fur was impeding her eye site), but I wish she didn't look so much like a poodle! I miss her shaggy little face. I think I'll warm up to it a little more once she de-poofs. She's EXTRA poofy from the hair dryer. She's still adorable and she smells very pretty, but next time I think we're going to specify that they just clip the fur around her eyes and maybe let her air dry a little bit. Time for the reveal....

Before:

Mom, where did you throw my stick? I can't find it!

After:

Mom! I found it!!

Nom, nom, nom...yummy!

I'm still cute! You know you love me!

Okay, so she really does look adorable in this picture, but I think she looks much different in real life. Come back shaggy face, come back!

Bay to Breakers 2011

Bay...

To Breakers

Before the race

Costumes...

Costumes...

Costumes...

Costumes...

And Crowds...

This race was INSANE! I have never witnessed, much less participated, in an event like this one. Wild and crazy does not even begin to explain this legendary foot race. The costumes were amazing, the nakedness was plentiful, and the energy was immeasurable. We were definitely in the thick of the race and were surrounded by people for the entire 7.46 miles. It was a slow race because of all the people, but like the trail run I did a few months ago, time is NOT an issue during this race. It's alllll about the experience.

There were live bands, spectators in costumes, and stereo systems blaring from homes along the course. There was not a single second that I thought "I wish this was almost over." Okay, well maybe during an uphill climb in an early part of the race, but after that it was smooth sailing.

We ended in Golden Gate Park and picked up our awesome medals.

(Jake did not want to pose with his medal)

I'm so glad we did this race. It was something I wanted to experience just one time, but after doing it, I'm hooked. We're already trying to think of costumes to wear next year. Suggestions are welcome. We will most likely be running with some friends. I'm going to encourage everyone I know to do this at least once in their lifetime.

P.S. Some non-pictured craziness:

A huge "school of fish" swimming upstream (against the crowd)
A runner in metal armor with a spear and shield
Old, naked men
A group of spectators that were painted blue and dressed like smurfs. I thought it was extra impressive that non runners went to so much trouble with their costumes.

Bay To Breakers Weekend

We're headed to San Fran today to participate in the 100th Bay to Breakers on Sunday. Today is the expo so we must go early to ensure we get our t-shirt and other free stuff.

The race is a 12k (about 7.5 miles) but I don't intend to take the running part very seriously. I intend to take pictures while running and to just enjoy all the craziness of 55,000 people in costumes (or no clothes at all). In addition to the 55,000 runners, they're estimating around 100,000 spectators. This thing is huge!

Unfortunately, this is the first year where alcohol and floats are banned. I'm a little disappointed, not because I wanted to drink or ride on a float, but I totally want to see other people doing these things. I'm sure it will still be exciting, and probably a little safer than years past.

I'll be back soon with lots of pictures!

CSA

On Monday I signed up for my first CSA box and I picked it up yesterday. I paid $24 for an annual membership and $16 for the box of fruit and veggies. 80% of the CSA items are organic so I think $16 is quite a bargain for everything I received.

My box for this week included a head of romaine lettuce, a head of cauliflower, 3 oranges, a bunch of asparagus, several sweet potatoes, 4 apples and 4 carrots. All of it was so fresh and beautiful. I've already eaten the asparagus and one of the oranges. Both were excellent!

After placing my order I realized you can also purchase items a la carte style. They have beans, flowers, baked good, olive oil, and several other awesome things. Needless to say, I'm super excited about placing my order for next week!

Here's the link for the Lake County co-op if you're interested.

The CSA website indicates what will be in the box each week, but also adds a disclaimer that contents may vary. Well, I should have taken the disclaimer a little more seriously because this week's box was supposed to include strawberries and rhubarb. I actually planned this week's blazingburner meal around those two ingredients, but was severely disappointed to find that I'd unexpectedly received apples and oranges in place of strawberries and rhubarb. So sad, but luckily the recipe can easily substitute the apples in place of the berries and rhubarb!

I hope that we can get our garden planted within the next week or two so that we'll have even more organic veggies on hand. We're definitely going to cut back on the number of hot pepper plants this year because we had way too many last season. Jake was excited to find a new pepper to plant this year. Apparently it's hotter than a ghost chili. I WILL NOT be eating one. Not after the Habanero Incident of 2010.

In addition to planting our garden, I'm also going to see if Jake will build a clothes line for me so I can dry the laundry outside. I'll be out of work all summer so I feel like I'll have plenty of time to devote to hanging clothes outside. And we might as well save money on the electric bill since I won't be working!

CSA member, gardener, and clothes line dryer...just look at how country I've become!

Menu Monday

I totally skipped last week's Menu Monday because it was even more pathetic than the week before. In my defense though, I was out of town the first couple of days and then the weekend was spent eating out a lot to celebrate my b-day. This week wasn't a vast improvement, but I did actually make it into the kitchen a couple of times so I thought I would share....

Monday:
Jole in Calistoga

Tuesday:
Pizza at Grandma and Papa's

Wednesday:
Salad-this week's Blazing Burner meal

Thursday:
Pasta and zucchini


Friday:
Taco Bell

Saturday:
"Chicken" on spinach (and other veggies) with homemade honey mustard dressing

Sunday:
TBD-I'm typing this on Saturday night

This next one was from last week. It might have been the only meal I actually cooked...
And it consisted of a lot of vegetables that were about to go bad + vegan Parmesan cheese

Man make fire. Eat s'mores.