Sometimes jellybeans for breakfast isn't a good thing

When I was little, one of my favorite books was "Jellybeans for Breakfast." I don't remember all the details, but I think the gist of it was what would happen if parents vanished and children could do whatever they wanted to? Well, they could go to the moon for the morning, live in treehouses and drink out of acorn cups and of course eat jellybeans for breakfast!

Today, though, I got confirmation that children don't really know what's good for them and that eating jellybeans for breakfast is disgusting. I had to eat 18 jellybeans in 5 minutes flat at 7:20 this morning, in order to get tested for gestational diabetes. It was either eat the jellybeans or drink some horrid glucose potion that I had been warned was pretty terrible. And I'm sure it is ... it's just that stuffing your mouth full of jellybeans 30 minutes after you wake up probably isn't much better.

I hope to be able to read Baby D. my favorite book someday (although I doubt I'll be buying it - it's now out of print and more than $100 on ebay), and you know, I might even let my child gorge him/herself on jellybeans for breakfast one morning - just to learn that sometimes grownups really do know what's best.

Football fields of crib sheets

When it comes to registering for Baby D, I feel totally paralyzed. I went to Buy Buy Baby a few weeks ago, and when I saw a football field length of crib sheets, I started to wish I was giving birth 20 years ago, before the advent of the Internet and snazzy little laser guns that make it possible for any ignorant mom-to-be to build a registry list of 100+ products in eight minutes flat.

Now of course I want to be sure Baby D. has all that he/she needs, and I'm sure that involves crib sheets (although I've heard some newborns do just fine in a dresser drawer on top of some towels), but I'm really starting to wonder if it has to involve a registering as if I were getting married all over again.

And yes, I've heard the advice that you should just bring someone with you who knows what they're doing, who can tell you what you really need, what you really don't need, etc. But isn't every baby different? Every mother I've talked to seems to have a completely different opinion on what kind of stroller worked best for her baby/family, so how do I even know if the mother of my choice is going to line up with my lifestyle and my baby's personality?

I haven't yet come to a decision on what I'm going to do, but I have a feeling I'm going to wind up registering for a few critical items and figure out the rest as a I go along ... after all, isn't it most important for the mom-to-be to remain as relaxed and stressfree as possible? If so, then I'll take a prenatal massage over a laser gun any day!

We closed!

It's official! We closed on our house today, and what a relief that was. You hear horror stories of a buyer losing his job the day of the closing, and not being able to go through with the purchase. And when they were a little late showing up for the closing, well, I tried not to imagine the worst.

They were a really cute, newlywed couple and seemed so enchanted with our house and thoroughly excited to be moving in. We asked them a little about how they picked out our house (I'm not opposed to a little flattery!) and they said they'd looked at about 90 and just stumbled into our open house by chance. Well, it was no mistake and we are still thanking the Lord that this all happened so quickly and easily.

For the past month, I've been tallying up a list in my head of little house quirks/issues that "aren't my problem anymore," especially when I've felt sad about leaving. But I didn't want to post them until the deal was done, because what if the sellers saw them and changed their minds?! Now even I'm a little nervous to write them, maybe because I just can't quite believe we really sold it?!

So stay tuned, maybe I'll gather up the courage to type them out later this week!

A confession

I also feel obliged to confess that about 18 hours after I posted that I'm handling all of these changes and unknowns with uncharacteristic optimism and peace, my "hormones" shifted. What formerly seemed exciting turned into terrifying and our new adventure just didn't seem like much fun anymore, largely because I realized I'm not in the driver's seat and have very little, if any, control over what's going to happen.

So my hopes of being a supernatural pregnant woman with astonishingly balanced hormones have been dashed, or maybe this has nothing to do with hormones and only is a matter of personal responsibility. Who knows ... and interestingly, these shifts have been happening on Fridays, which is why now Matt and I are dubbing Fridays "Freak Fridays" in preparation for my major mood swings.

Good thing we made it to Saturday!

Sold!

In less than a week. I think this might make for some kind of recession real estate record, don't you think?

When I first moved to Berkley and occasionally saw signs for "Berkley Bill" Wahlstrom, I'll admit, I had my doubts. Even if he didn't have a dollar sign slashed through his name, I probably would still have felt better going with Prudential or Coldwell Banker.

But we've learned from friends that Berkley Bill really does know Berkley, and he promised to cut us a good deal on closing costs, so what did we have to lose?

Now we're grappling with the reality that we need to be out of this house in less than a month, and that means weekends and evenings will be occupied with decluttering, packing, packing and packing ... and of course thanking the Lord for the best realtor in the universe.

Lots of news

I've been debating how to share some of the "bigger" news that we have to report. Since I just don't have the energy to come up with anything clever, I'll just be frank - I'm nearly 17 weeks pregnant and our house is for sale!

These circumstances coupled with the fact that Matt is looking for a new job are about all the change I can handle right now. I feel, though, that I'm managing it all with uncharacteristic optimism and peace. Someone pointed out to me that I might be one of those rare women whose hormones actually balance out during pregnancy. This I have never heard of, but if it means more peace and less pessimism, I'll take it!

I've also recently developed an addiction to playing solitaire on my phone. I've probably played it 98 times in the last week, mainly because I just can't win. And I hate that. Every time I'm so close to winning, I have the superstitious thought "If I win, this means we'll sell our house." Or, "If I win, this means Matt will get a great job."

Ridiculous, I know. While sometimes it feels like the odds are stacked against us, I'm beginning to get the feeling that we'll actually sell our house and Matt will get a great job, and the baby will even be born before I win a game of solitaire.

And you know, that will be just fine with me!

A recipe for frittata

For those of you who are asking, here's the Simple Frittata recipe from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home" that I love to use:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter (or a combination)
1 medium potato, cut into quarters and thinly sliced (I like to use a sweet potato)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
some vegetables (optional) sorry I don't have a proportion, but I just use however much I feel like, or however much I have! Veggies that work well include bell peppers, spinach, kale, mushrooms, tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs (basil, chives, oregono, tarragon, pretty much whatever you like! and i probably use more than 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed (optional)
4 or 5 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)
salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute the potatoes and onions covered, stirring frequently. After about 4 minutes, add the optional vegetables (add them a little later if you're using something that cooks up quickly, like spinach, kale or tomatoes), and continue stirring for about 8 minutes until the potatoes and onions are tender and golden. Stir in the herb and optional garlic. Pour the beaten eggs over the sauteed vegetables, tilting the pan to distribute them evenly. Sprinkle on the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, until the eggs are set and golden on the bottom.

To brown the top of the frittata: If your skillet is flameproof, simply place the frittat under a preheated broiler for about 2 minutes. Otherwise, carefully slide the frittata onto a plate and then flip it over, back into the skillet, to brown the other side. To serve, cut the frittata in half.

Serves 2.

Penny pinching evening

We've had a bit of a rough week or so. Matt is now what he jokingly calls a "statistic" of the recession and is no longer working for General Motors. Fortunately, we're doing pretty well and are by no means in the breadline ... however, I'm not opposed to using my "free bread" coupons at the local gourmet grocery store and we're certainly watching what we spend a little more carefully.

So tonight I served up what's probably going to become a regular in our quick-and-easy, budget meal lineup - fritatta. We definitely got our full serving of vegetables - half a bunch of kale each, along with red pepper, onion and sweet potato, a good amount of protein, and it only took me about 15-20 minutes start to finish.

After dinner I said "I wish I could have an ice cream cone!" Matt acknowledged that I've been doing such a good job with all of this unexpected change, and said he'd get me one, and that it could be a good way to use up our change.

I thought he meant our quarters. But no, he meant our pennies in the change dish. He asked me to count them out and I looked at them, fumed a little, started counting a few, and then said something to the effect of "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

I'm really glad I stood my ground, because Matt relented pretty quickly, counted the pennies and took me to get my cone. Even better, he didn't make me hand the man behind the counter all the pennies. I can't imagine what the cashier was thinking, and I couldn't see his face because I was trying to hide behind Matt the whole time.

So it was a penny pinching evening indeed ... and pretty fun, too!

I did it!

I safely made banana bread! No knife accidents, or any other kind of accident for that matter, involved.

I did hesitate a little before preheating the oven and committing to the deed, because this Saturday feels strangely similar to the Saturday last summer when Matt was gone backpacking. A cloudless sky, perfect temps, an open day spread out before me with hardly any responsibilities, excitement for Matt's approaching return, and satisfied feeling of accomplishment for making it through the whole 8 days without him.

So why tempt fate? Because this banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping is just SO good.

A fun trip and kitchen safety

I just returned from a fantastic few days in Annapolis and Charlottesville. Of course no trip to Charlottesville would be complete without some time with Tucker, who now eagerly refers to me as "Yiz!" whenever he wants my attention. We had a lot of fun tromping around at the park, playing with trucks, reading, and listening to numerous renditions of "The Wheels on the Bus."

I came home to a house FULL of notes from Matt, who is backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas this week. Everywhere I turn, every cabinet or door I open, there's a note! Definitely a wonderful surprise.

However, I felt suddenly reprimanded when, barefoot, I opened the knife drawer to find a knife to slice some bread, and was reminded by a note from Matt to "wear foot protection."

It's not that Matt's some kitchen safety czar. He's simply reminding me of what happened last summer when he was backpacking - I dropped a knife on my foot while trying to make him banana bread. This little accident put me into surgery and onto crutches for about two months. Not fun.

So, I immediately put on my Merrells and am vowing to have them on at all times while handling knives this weekend! And, incidentally, I have loads of frozen bananas that are just begging to become banana bread. Dare I give it another try?

I want to make these!

I wish this post was a description of how tasty these cookies were, but alas, I haven't even bought the ingredients yet. I'm just enjoying looking at the picture, and am trying to figure out when I'm going to make "The Best One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies." I'm such a sucker for any recipe that starts with "The Best." If they're the best, well, then I just have to make them!

By the way, this is starting to feel more like a cooking blog and less like a Detroit blog, so I'll throw in a local picture for good measure. This is Matt showing off his wakesurfing abilities for the ladies!

The longest salon visit of my life

I really only like to have men cut and style my hair. I feel like they're more objective, and not as chatty. I also am partial to having the owner of a salon cut my hair, and fortunately I've always been able to find skilled men who own their own salons and don't chat too much.

However, I'm beginning to feel a little uncomfortable about how much my haircuts and highlights cost, so last week I went down a new path. I went to the Douglas J Aveda Institute, which is a fancy name for school. So I entrusted myself to a very tentative young stylist and just told myself that anything she did could probably be reversible.

What I neglected to consider was the amount of time it would take a student to highlight and cut my hair. When 30 minutes had gone by and she was just getting around to sectioning my hair for the foils (which, by the way, is not something pros do - they just start foiling), I knew it was going to be a long morning.

Three hours later my hair was still not cut. I had texted Matt multiple times pushing back my ETD, as well as made it clear to poor Suzie (don't worry, I'm giving her a fake name) that I needed to leave by 2:00. (this was sort of a lie, but just couldn't take it anymore!)

Thankfully, Suzie's supervisor swooped in and saved the day by cutting my hair in 12 minutes, while Suzie supervised, or, rather, observed. This almost totally redeemed the situation, especially because I got a professional haircut for only $16! Oh, and you're not allowed to tip at the Institute, so I scooted out of there without a hole in my wallet.

Would I do it again? I'm not sure. I think it's a question of what's worth more to me - my time or my money.

And of course I'd like to find a male student, but I'm still figuring out a tactful way to make that request!

Birthday weekend

We had a fun, full weekend with my parents in town for my 29th birthday. Activities included cleaning out our basement, antiquing, golf, a trip to the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens, time with Matt's parents at their lakehouse, a birthday dessert with friends, and plenty of excellent meals.

One comical highlight turned out to be the root beer coolers we fell in love with. A few months ago I blogged about the Frosty Freeze up the street from our house. Well, they sell a drink that Matt adores called a Boston cooler, which is actually Vernors ginger ale (one of America's oldest soft drinks that happens to have come from Detroit) mixed with vanilla ice cream. It becomes a ginger ale milkshake and really is delicious.

Well, they also sell the same drink but with root beer, and my mom and I shared a small one on Friday afternoon. Big mistake, as that gave each of us about a dixie cup worth each - hardly enough.

What really got my mom thinking, though, was how on earth they make these milkshakes with carbonated drinks like ginger ale and root beer without soda going everywhere!

This never occurred to me, and I just assumed they had some contraption that took care of fizz and any soda explosions.

But, when we stopped by again on Sunday night for a second serving, it was still nagging my mom, so she asked the girl at the register her question.

The girl's whole demeanor changed. Her eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped. "OH my GOSH," she said. "These are SO hard to make."

She then went on to describe how precarious the process is and how easy it is to get splattered with ice cream and soda. You could tell she really appreciated that we had asked.

Then, she put her game face on got to work on our four coolers. I think she made it out clean.

Now I feel a little badly that we put her in harm's way ... but not that bad. In fact, I think I'll have another one this week.

Why girls bake cookies

I think all girls know that when they bake cookies, or any kind of dessert for that matter, for a significant other, they're really just baking them for themselves.

I noticed a recipe for nutty oatmeal cookies today and realized I had all the ingredients. Plus, we bought a LOT of local oats yesterday, and I was excited to have a purpose for them other than breakfast.

So I decided to make cookies for Matt. He deserves a little treat in his lunch every now and then, right? Especially since I usually smuggle away the little chocolate treats I get at Trader Joe's in a place where he couldn't find them unless he was really looking.

The recipe called for a cup of dried fruit, and I realized this was a perfect opportunity to use up some dried cranberries I'd bought awhile ago and hadn't used very much since Matt isn't crazy about cranberries.

Why I thought he would like them in cookies, I don't know. Maybe I thought the cookie would compensate for the cranberries and he wouldn't notice them very much.

Not the case. Looks like I'll have my share of lunchtime treats for a long time.

In truth, though, I really think I was making them just as much for Matt as I was for myself. I think it might have been a little subconscious guilt over squirreling away chocolate treats,which now maybe I'll have to share since he's not interested in my cookies. Darn.

Beans and freezer bags

I know this is a strange thing to say about beans in a ziploc bag, but don't you think they look pretty? I cooked up a big pot of beans this weekend, a 17 bean variety bag from Trader Joe's. Every kind of bean you can imagine came in this bag! I put the leftovers in this ziploc bag and I think all the different colors and sizes of the beans are so pretty to look at ... a cross between a mosaic and a spread of marbles.

I'm also a big fan of the bag they are in. My mom gave me this great little gadget that sucks all of the air out of special ziploc bags so that your frozen goods keep longer and don't develop freezer burn. For someone who likes to freeze as much as I do (just ask anyone I've ever lived with and they can all tell tales of frozen bananas tumbling out of an overstocked freezer ... but in my defense, a full freezer runs more efficiently and saves energy, not to mention food!), this gadget is a life saver.

Ideal weeknight meal

We've had Melissa Clark's Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp twice now (including tonight) and I think it is now one of my favorite weeknight meals. It truly is quick, relatively affordable, healthy and doesn't dirty too many pans. Plus, it consistently makes enough for generous leftovers, a real bonus in this household!

Summer road trip - Charlottesville, VA and Annapolis

Well, eventually we made it to Charlottesville, tired, hungry, a bit edgy and basically just ready to call it a night. My parents were letting us use the cottage they rent on Beau Pre Farm in Charlottesville and had even had an extra key made for us to ensure easy access.

Not so easy - for some reason, the key didn't work and we found ourselves in the pitch black dark. Perhaps Matt was secretly hoping this was his one shot to convince me to camp, but I had hotel on the brain if we couldn't find a spare key.

Fortunately, my parents' landlord was awake and let us in. Phew!

The next morning Matt and I drove northwest and up to Skyline Drive, where he began a 40-some mile bike ride along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park. He wasn't sure how long it would take him and just asked me to meet him at a certain point about 4 hours later.

3 hours later, I was in the middle of running errands and leisurely enjoying my morning, when I got a call from Matt saying "I'm finished!" Maybe he's a better cyclist than both of us thought! So I picked him up and we stopped at the Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, VA for pizza and local beer.

Then it was on to my brother and sister-in-law's house for an extended play session with our nephew Tucker and dinner. Austin and Jackie have more squash growing in their garden than they ever could have asked for, so you can guess what we had for dinner!

At one point during our vacation, I got it in my head that I just had to go to a swimming hole. Just had to! Well, Matt had already plotted out a Wednesday morning run for us along Moorman's River, which runs through Shenandoah National Park and has numerous swimming holes. Serendipitous! The picture below isn't actually Matt, just one grabbed from the Internet ... but you get the idea. SO fun.

After our run we cleaned up, had a quick breakfast at the Bluegrass Grill and Bakery in Charlottesville and began our drive to Annapolis. Before ending up at my parents' house, we met Katie and Anabelle Roberts for smoothies at Robeks, which turned out to be a somewhat eventful episode, but you'll have to ask Katie for the details on that one. :)

Our time at my parents' has been full of fun, delicious food, golf, porch sitting, reading, and of course plenty of Tucker time - he, Austin and Jackie arrived Friday afternoon and it's been one Tucker-centered activity after another, as you can see from the pictures below!

Summer road trip - Lexington, KY & Asheville, NC

After polishing off dessert in Sidney, we hit the road again and made it to Lexington, KY in time to grab 7 hours of sleep before jumping in the car once more. Of course our morning wouldn't have been complete without a little breakfast, which we enjoyed at Magee's Bakery, a hot spot for young families, Saturday morning runners, and just about anyone who appreciates homemade baked goods.

As you can see from the picture, the atmosphere at Magee's was as appealing as its offerings - we whet our appetites on breakfast casseroles that had just popped out of the oven, a homemade honey bun, strong coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

But enough about our breakfast. I know you're probably more interested in our lunch! About five hours later we found ourselves in Black Mountain, NC, a quaint town just outside of Asheville, NC, where we were staying the night, and we were definitely ready to eat again. There are a handful of restaurants in downtown Black Mountain, but none looked all that appealing for lunch.

I did spot, though, a rustic little cafe callled An Apple a Day Depot that had words like "vegan" and "gluten-free" on the windows. While this caught my interest, I knew it probably didn't have the same effect on Matt. However, it really was our only option, it looked affordable and we were ready to eat.

Well, it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. I won't belabor you with all the details, but let's just say I'm not so skeptical about the raw food movement now that I've had an Apple a Day wrap, along with "pink" lemondae (made with apple, lemon and beet juice) as well chlorophyll filtered-water, which has a fresh minty flavor. Do check out the Web site for more information!

While in Asheville, we did more than just eat, I promise, although I suppose many of our activities revolved around food. We had dinner with my best friend from college, her husband and daughter, who happened to be there on an anniversary trip, something we figured out just a few days earlier! On Sunday morning, we visited the Western North Carolina Farmer's market and picked up some juicy peaches and local honey.

On the athletic front, we took two early morning runs in surprisingly cool temperatures and tackled quite a few hills. We also hiked a particularly beautiful part of the Blue Ridge Mountains - the "balds" they are named - which afforded us some priceless views, seeing as how they weren't covered with trees.

Because we're operating on a pretty conservative budget for this trip, I must say that we were particularly pleased with our post-hike lunch - two generous slices of pizza and a lemonade from a gourmet grocery store for $7. You can't beat that! Our dessert that night - a Black Mocha Stout milkshake (yes, it was beer-flavored) and a lemon-mint sorbet smoothie even cost more!

On our way out of Asheville on Monday, we enjoyed breakfast at the Early Girl Eatery, a gem that Matt had scoped out prior to our trip. Fabulous! I had the Early Girl Benny, which is a grit cake topped with tomato, spinach, poached eggs, tomato gravy and avocado. Now if I could just recreate it at home ...

We also took the scenic route out of Asheville, traveling up the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 3 1/2 hours, which still put us about 5 hours from our final destination when it was all said and done ... a reality that was a little harsh when we wound up spending 8 plus hours in the car for a trip that could have just lasted 5. This gave me flashbacks to middle school when my dad would want to take the parkway for portions of a trip and I just moaned and groaned about how loooonng it would take!

Fortunately, this time around I tried my very hardest not to slip into that kind of funk and mainly just enjoyed the scenery ... and Matt was a trooper to put up with my brief spells of complaining!

Summer road trip - Sidney, Ohio

FINALLY! Summer vacation has arrived. Yesterday, Matt and I hit the road for a week-long vacation to Asheville, Charlottesville and Annapolis. Needless to say, there will be a lot of driving involved, but also plenty of scenery, activities, family, friends and awesome food. In fact, I have a feeling that the next few posts will largely revolve around food, because our meals thus far have been just SO good.

Last night we drove from Berkley, MI to Lexington, KY and stopped for dinner in Sidney, OH. We'd actually stopped there a few months ago when Matt ran the "Flying Pig Marathon" in Cincinnati. One of the things that I love about being married to Matt is that when we're on road trips, he's never interested in just rushing through a drive-through window or dropping cash on a tasteless Subway sub. He figures that when you need to eat, you might as well also get a good look at the small towns that make America so great!

So in April, when we were looking for place to eat between Berkley and Cincinnati, I "Wikipediad" Sidney, OH and learned that it:

• was the recipient of the 1964 All-America City Award
• has a park or recreation area within a half-mile of every residence
• is the hometown of renowned scientist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Lauterbur, who was involved in the invention of the MRI
• and features some unusual architecture for a small town, including the 1883 Second Empire courthouse

Now come on, don't you want to visit Sidney?!

But perhaps most importantly, it's home to the Spot Restaurant, a good old-fashioned diner with homemade fruit pies and thick chocolate malts. When President Bush visited the town in 2003, he even dined at the Spot!

Last night we actually brought sandwiches with us, and ate them in Sidney's courthouse square, while an Ohio State alumni band serenaded all of the senior citizens in the town, plus the two of us. Delightful.

And then, of course, we hurried across the street for strawberry pie and a chocolate malt!

Supernatural tomatoes?

A few weeks ago, we bought a roma tomato plant at the farmer's market. I've never grown tomatoes before and don't really know what I'm doing, so I just water the pot a lot and keep it in the sun. I'm not sure what a healthy tomato plant looks like, and I've been hoping ours is healthy even though it looks a little scraggly to me.

The other day I gave it a closer look and discovered a few tiny green tomatoes on the vine! I told my brother about this and he didn't believe me and said they just couldn't come this early.

Well, here's proof. Maybe I know what I'm doing after all!

A realization

We've been spending a lot of time this week with Matt's brother and his wife, who are in visiting before they move to Connecticut. Matt's brother works for tegu, a toy startup. They're more than just your everyday toy company, so I'd reccommend checking out the Web site for more information!

Because they are designing magnetized block sets, though, it got me thinking about Legos and how much I enjoyed playing with them when I was young. In fact, for a few years in a row, my brother and I would enter a Lego-building contest sponsored by the local toy store, Be Beep, and each design our own space stations, small cities, or what have you out of Legos.

My memories of these contests are a little fuzzy, but I do remember dropping my creation off at the store, and then returning a day or two later to see if there was a little ribbon attached to my design, indicating that I had won a prize (which was more Legos of course).

And lo and behold! There was always a ribbon attached to my design, as well as to my brother's. Imagine that - we both won!

And just the other day it dawned on me - I bet every contestant must have won a prize! I mean, there's no way to really know, but my brother and I couldn't both have been that good at Legos ... what are the odds?? And wouldn't at least one of us be an architect today if we had rightfully won our prizes?

More on asparagus

Tonight I felt like a child again. I had finished an awesome hamburger and was left with a small pile of asparagus stalks. And I just couldn't finish them. Didn't want to finish them. Had to force myself to eat them, even though Matt would have left me off the hook. After all, I am an adult.

I'm a healthy eater. I love vegetables, get sad when I miss my "5-7 servings," and even ate at a vegetarian restaurant last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, I'm struggling to love asparagus. It's been sounding like such a good idea these days - easy to prepare, in-season, affordable, etc. And I haven't even been steaming it .. I've been roasting it in lots of olive oil, with plenty of sea salt and lemon pepper.

But it's not really working. I do think the tips taste fine, but the thick, hard to chew, stringy stalks are another story. Ugh! And when they get cold (as they often do when you leave them till the very end to eat) they're just unbearable.

Matt, on the other hand, loves every last bite of every single stalk, no matter how thick or thin. Wish I had known him when I was a child, and really did have to finish every last bite. I could have used the help!

Failproof landscaping

We did a little yardwork yesterday. Actually, perhaps I should say Matt did a lot of yardwork yesterday and I was moderately helpful and hopefully inspirational. (I only say that because on one of our trips between the nursery and home I commented that I didn't feel like I was much help, and Matt said I was inspiration. Kinda cute and I'm hoping he wasn't just joking!)

In just three hours, Matt mowed the lawn, dug up 5 ailing rhododendrons, extended the width of our front bed by two feet, transplanted our Japanese maple, planted 5 hydrangeas and 13 boxwoods, and laid some mulch!!

To my credit, I planted some herbs, did some pruning and weeding and laid some mulch as well.

I really don't have much of a green thumb, and, at this stage in life, am not all that interested in doing what it takes to make it greener. It makes me sympathetic to those people who really aren't that interested in cooking, but still want to eat well without too much effort or cost.

Our friend with expertise in landscaping told us that this plan was "failproof" ... here's hoping he's right!