Weekly Update

Hello patiently waiting readers! I mean, hi mom and Deb. =)

I have felt extremely busy, but I am not quite sure what I have been up to. Let's try to do a recap.

Since my last post, Joe and I ate all the pie. You may have thought I would have to be in the hospital since this time with the sugar diabetes, but we managed to stay out of a coma.

Last Friday, I went down to babysit for my favorite rug rats. I got to meet the famous Jesus Fandango Rodrigo Luiz Ortega, who is just a little bit funnier and cuter than the pictures. I also got to see my folks, and we got a cute picture from the top of a hay wagon.

Please note my crown. Little Miss put that on me when I first got there. And she TOTALLY forced me to where it all night. Seriously, I hate being a princess.

Saturday, Joe's parents came up to the Fort. They were our first overnight visitors. They even slept on an air mattress!! We are that awesome. Mimi brought us a present! In a Crate and Barrel box! My favorite kind! (Well, expect for presents that come in pretty little velvet lined boxes.) So she got us the green charges we registered for. They are so pretty!

It's hard to get a good picture, but the very pretty dessert plate on top is what my mom got me! I can't wait for my shower! Keep the Crate and Barrel boxes a'comin!

Back to the update... I had unexpectedly been given the chance to go to a conference in Chicago so Sunday night I packed up and drove to Chicago. I pretty much ditched all the conference sponsored socializing events and went about my way in Chicago. I ate at my favorite pizza place and got to poke around the Magnificent Mile.

I have since been working entirely too much. I thought this whole work from home thing was going to be a piece of cake, but goodness sakes- it is easy to get sucked into work till 10pm when it is in your living room.

This last weekend Joe and I went to a state park about 20 minutes from our house. It has 11 small lakes formed by a glacier, and 8 are connected by little channels. Joe and I hiked for 3 hours on Sunday!! Ugh! My butt is still sore. But it was nice. It is so shaded that it wasn't even too bad to walk that long in 80 degree weather. We are going to try to kayak through all 8 lakes at some point, but I think we will wait till it is cooler. I don't think there is too much shade in the middle of a lake.

Welp, I must be off (to work). I must start blogging more regularly. It is harder to even write one when you haven't for so long. So I make this promise to you, I will stop working so much and start blogging!

Happy Happy Birthday

Today is Doctor Joe's 31st birthday. Dude, he's so old. Like as old as my sister.
Last year for Joe's 30th birthday, I surprised him with a trip to New York. I packed his bags for him, made him get in the car, and he didn't know where we were going until we got to the airport. I am still paying off that birthday present. (Thank goodness for 0% APR credit cards). Since I am still paying on that one, this one was a bit more low key.
We went out for a very fancy dinner in the smallest town up here over the weekend. It is such an odd place, the town is maybe a few hundred, and there is this phenomenal four star restaurant. We had fois gras (which is freaky but really good); Joe had lamb and I had fish. And then we had four desserts.
Today for his real birthday, Joe had to work, but he requested a few pies for his present. So I spent all afternoon baking up a storm. He wanted a key lime pie, a cheesecake, and a blueberry pie. So he got...

The key lime pie was the most time intensive. I used actual Key Limes, not regular limes. I felt like I was in some reality show competition while I was squeezing all those tiny little limes. Do you know how many of these

it takes to get 2/3 cup?! Well, I don't either, but it felt like a lot.

Should Joe and I consume all the desserts I made tonight, we would eat 3.3 pounds of sugar, 1.33 pounds of graham cracker, 1 pound of cream cheese, 1 pound of butter, 5 eggs, and 3 egg yolks.
Now I am going to go lay on the couch and watch the Olympics, I mean, go burn off some calories.

Ratatouille

I'm excited to share my first recipe! Although I am very bummed it is not "Ellen's super awesome black bean salsa." Joe's camera is holding those pictures hostage until we find the battery charger. It will come though, I promise.

Anyway, on to Ratatouille. Now, if you are like me, you had no idea what Ratatouille was until you saw the very adorable Pixar/Disney movie. I love it. However, since Remy didn't post a recipe at the end of the movie, I had to ask Mimi. (Remy is the little rat in the movie, Mimi is the soon to be mother-in-law)

So, this is what you need, more or less.

The recipe calls for:

1 eggplant, cubed

1 large zucchini, cubed (I used two small ones)

2 medium yellow squash, cubed (the grocery didn't have any, so I had to use one, slightly old, leprosy ridden squash)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped (mine was not so small)

1 small sweet yellow pepper, coarsely chopped (again, not so small)

1 small red pepper, coarsely chopped (kind of small)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 (14.5 oz) cans of fancy tomato wedges, undrained (I don't have a clue what these are, so I used two cans of peeled, diced tomatoes)

1/2 cup of dry white wine (I don't drink white wine, so I don't know what kind is dry- I used Riesling)

1/3 cup small pitted olives

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of dried Italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used the stuff out of the green can)

If you have these totally awesome bowls from William-Sonoma, you can do this with all your chopped, cubed, and minced veggies.

Saute the eggplant zucchini and yellow squash in hot oil in a large Dutch oven (giggle) over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes (We don't have a Dutch oven yet- it's on the registry!- so I just used the biggest pan we have, which wasn't big enough)

Add the peppers, onions, and garlic and saute for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Look at the pretty colors!

Add the tomatoes, wine, olives, salt, Italian seasoning, and the bay leaf. Stir, cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. (I don't have a picture of this step because my pan was overflowing and I had to divide it between two pans.)

After the 15 minutes, discard the bay leaf and transfer the ratatouille to a large serving dish. (Or keep it in the pan)

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

It may look a little bit like throw up, but it is so good!! I sauteed some ground turkey and added it before I served it. I hadn't done that before, but it was very good and I will do it again.

I feel so healthy eating it- I was getting about 98 servings of veggies!

I heart Fort Wayne

I have been delinquent in my blogging, but I think this story is worth a week's worth! This is an excerpt from the Fort Wayne news.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A Fort Wayne man was arrested Monday for felony Public Indecency after police saw him standing naked in the window of his home.
Around 10:30 p.m. Monday evening, a Fort Wayne officer was driving in the 4500 block of S. Hanna St. when he noticed a naked man standing in front of a large picture window of his home with his genital region clearly visible to those on the street.
According to the officer, the blinds were not pulled shut and the front door was wide open, giving a clear view inside the home.
Together, with another responding officer, the two walked up to the home and found the naked man, then on the couch, conducting a lewd act with a claw hammer, plastic bag and motor oil.
The man, Ronald Miller, did not acknowledge the officer's presence until they addressed him and still did not say anything.
Officers arrested Miller for felony Public Indecency, at which time Miller asked the officer for another chance. Officers declined and took Miller in double-locked handcuffs to the Allen County Lock-up instead.
Mr. Miller had a previous conviction for an unrelated public nudity incident.
A neighbor watching the scene, who wished to remain confidential, told police she had seen Miller walk around naked in his home with the front window and door open on several occasions. She said, "He does it 24/24. He's not right."
The neighbor also told police she doesn't appreciate that he walks around naked for all to see in her neighborhood.

Okay, so the hilarity about the claw hammer, plastic bag and motor oil is almost too much.

Until you read the comment by the neighbor who says he does it "24/24", you know, like 24 hours a day, 24 days a week.

How is it possible I live here?