We Rode and Rode and then Walked and Walked and then Rode and Rode Some More

It was a fun day. We took the day off from life and went to Caesar's Head State Park in the upper Northeast corner of South Carolina.

Our intent was to see Raven Cliff Falls:

Yeah. Not much of a view, huh? We walked 2 miles out on a wonderful
trail to what we were told in the literature would be a spot BELOW the falls. Well, we took a vote. And a poll of everyone who showed up after us, and we all decided this was ABOVE the falls. We were about a mile
away, too. This was taken with my longest lens, 200mm.

Huh.
But, we had a great time messing around on the trail. Here are my guys and then an attempt at shooting all of us:

Here is Nate doing his "Warrior Pose." And another of him being Dismal Boy at the Dismal Trail:

And here is the photo I took at a huge rock overlook in the park. This is for this week's Nikon D40 Challenge: "Edges"

The Party Had to End Sometime!

One of the revelers in my 3-day birthday celebration. This Sammy, Chris' daughter.

Today we will go out the northwestern part of the state and see if we can hike to some waterfalls. With the drought becoming so severe, I'm a little anxious about what we'll actually see, but the hike will be good and it'll get the guys out and breathing hard.

The weather has finally cooled to a pleasant mid-80s in the afternoons now. I'm very glad of that. I'm not really bothered by the heat, but it does make moving around outside arduous when it's close to 100 everyday. It's exactly like moving around Minnesota in January when it's 15 below zero every day. Really.

We are going to go either to Jones Gap State Park, or Caesar's Head State Park. I'm not sure which at this point. They are just 10 miles apart. Both have hiking and waterfalls. Because the guys don't get as much exercise as I do, I imagine we'll try to go to the one that will get us a waterfall quicker...closer to the trail head. I don't want to wear them out by having them hike 3 miles to a waterfall if they can reach one in 1.5 miles at a different park.

I plan to take my camera and shoot lots of photos. I have to figure out what to take. I can just take my entire bag, but it gets heavy after a while. I know Mensa Boy would be happy to take a turn wearing it, though, so I'll probably do that. (it's a backpack bag)

So, I'm trying to get those guys up so we can leave by 7:30. I imagine we won't get out by then.

It's been a fantastic birthday for me this year, and the 3-day celebration is the main reason why I haven't written. Here's brief account:

MB was working late all week. Deadline. My friends all stepped up to the plate a did a lot to make it a wonderful celebration.

Sarah and I went to lunch on Wednesday, Rena and I went to dinner Wednesday night, and the evening ended with a surprise gathering of my buddies that night. Cassie, Chris and Tambri were waiting at the Rec Center, where Chris and T had been signing up kids for T's dance classes. Cassie made a wonderful cheesecake and they showered me with serving pieces I can use to do my food photography. It was a fun hour of eating and laughing.

Thursday Chris and I took her 4 year old to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville. I'd never been there. It was a hoot! We rode a horse-drawn wagon while animals came up and begged for food. I shot a lot of photos, one of which is the ostrich photo I posted here the other day. Here's one of the giraffes taking a leaf from someone on the wagon:

Friday I spent the day on my favorite hobby: cooking. People always say to me, "too bad you have to cook your own birthday meal." But I love it! I smoked a pork butt I had rubbed the night before. I used a rub recipe from Southern Living's "Ultimate Grilling & BBQ Guide" that they put out this summer. I normally don't think much of Southern Living...especially their recipes...they tend to be too high in fat for my cooking and I've had more than one occasion where the recipe has just been plain wrong or unworkable. But I saw this guide at Julia's when we were in Minnesota, so I rushed around looking for before it was taken off the magazine racks in early August. I liked this recipe enough that I will use it again, and I will definitely try others, now the the weather is cooling enough to cook outside again.

That's it! Gotta get those guys up and hit the road! I leave you with this photo of some kind of duck I shot at Lazy 5. I wish I'd checked to see what it was. It's beautiful, isn't it? Maybe Raymond will google it and find out for me.

That's my Boy!

Overheard yesterday afternoon:

Taylor (12): "I said just look at the serving size and get one extra."

Freddy (10): "I thought the serving size was 3"

Taylor: "No. It's 2."

What, No Blog Entries?

I'm werkin' on it!

Mensa Boy & His Hero

Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question

Did she say, "Osama people out there in our nation that don't have maps?"

The Downy Debacle

My friend Jenny wrote this on her blog.

I'm pretty sure I hadn't told her about my conversation regarding this subject last Friday.

First, I'll tell you the story I sent to my email buds last Friday about my visit to Harris Teeter:

"I stopped at Harris Teeter today to get a couple of quarts of chicken stock for this soup. I had the boxes in my hand and headed toward the checkout.

I aimed for what I thought was an open lane and ended up at one of those freakin' self-checkout things. As I was standing there, contemplating the origins of the universe and why the lane signs seemed to give an optical illusion as to their actual location, the helper chick came up.

"Do you need help?" She asked.

"Well, I intended to be over there, but now I'm over here," I said.

"No problem," she said. "I'll help you."

"Well, I KNOW how to do it, it's just that I'm not feeling like doing it myself," I said by way of apology.

"I do this all day," she assured me. "I'll do it."

And so she took my two boxes from me and proceeded to do all the work, reaching past me to punch the right buttons and I was secretly glad she was because, even though I know how to do it, it all seemed quite confusing and LOUD to me and I just stood there and kept mumbling that I was tired and sorry... tired, lazy and sorry. And she kept smiling and took my $20 bill and gave me change and gingerly handed me my bag."

What I did not tell my email buds was about the conversation I had with a fellow shopper in front of the fabric softener in Target about 20 minutes earlier that day.

"Hmm..." the lady said, to no one in particular.

"Too many choices, isn't it?" I said.

"Well, it's just that I'm looking for this specific stuff and it's getting harder and harder to find," she explained.

Then she proceeded to tell me about some miracle product that is like dryer sheets, but you put them in the wash and when the colors on your clothes run, this sheet traps the color so that it doesn't color all the other clothes.

And so we talked about how cool that was, and then I said,

"Well, I'm looking for what used to be a very popular item, but now I'm starting to worry that it's all gone."

"What?" she asked.

"Free & Sensitive Downy Fabric Softener," I said. "It's been the only brand of scent-free fabric softener that I could find at Target and now I'm not finding it here, either.

"Is this it?" she asked, handing me a bottle clearly marked "FREE & SENSITIVE."

"Yup. What a dope I am!"

She just smiled.

They have changed the labels. Really. It reminds me of when I used to buy Old Dutch Corn Tortilla Cchips and had to stop because I couldn't find it anymore. After a couple of months going chip-less, I found it with an entirely different bag.

Can't they at least WARN US?

Bloomin' Idjut-Part II

Yesterday I again damaged my head in public. I went to the new flooring store to shoot photos at their open house.

And proceeded to hit my head on a carpet display.

Here's how it happened:

I was crouching down next to the display, shooting upward. Stood up after the shot and bonked my temple (the same one as last week) on the edge of a carpet sample.

At least they probably won't forget who I am.

I've decided to take this weekend off--no writing, no work. I chalked up the visit to the flooring store as "playing with my camera."

So I watched two movies yesterday.

The first was Gray Matters. Fairly decent movie. It's about a woman who does not know she is gay until she falls in love with her brother's wife. I think the strongest thing about the movie is it's title, though. The woman's name is Gray. It's a gray area-sexuality-and she matters. I like wordplay like that.

The other movie I watched last night was Peaceful Warrior. Now this was a great movie! I'd never heard of it before and I probably wouldn't have even chosen it if I'd known Nick Nolte was in it. But it was great! A little odd at points. A guy is trying out for the Olympic gymnastic team and he's very competitive and yet unhappy and never satisfied. Nolte plays an old guy at a gas station that teaches him to "empty out the trash." Take out all the garbage in his mind and life and build concentration. Good good movie.

Mensa Boy and the guys are building me a light box for my birthday. Out of PVC pipe and, so far, a sheet. But I think they are going to need a different kind of fabric than a sheet. For those of you who are not aware of what a lightbox is, it's sort of like a portable photo studio where you can put whatever you are shooting and use diffused light to photograph it. Shining the light through the walls of the lightbox (or the bottom, if it's just a table one with no sides), helps you control or eliminate shadows. Here's a photo of an apple I took by way of a test:

You can see the texture of the sheet they used. So I think we'll have to look around for some other kind of fabric.

So. That was yesterday. I don't know what's on tap for today. Probably more of the same! I told Mensa Boy I'm in a sort of in inertia right now. I want to get out and do something, but I don't know what. And it's too ridiculously hot, really. We are all very very tired of summer now.

Dear Hilton, LEAVE US ALONE!!!

We stayed at a wonderful Hampton Inn in Indianapolis, IN recently. We stayed there on August 4 and then again on August 11.Our visit was smooth, the staff was attentive, the coffee was wonderful.
HOWEVER, since our return home, we have received repeated calls Hilton Grand Vacations.

I've informed callers twice that we do not want to be called.PLEASE do not contact us. We are NOT INTERESTED. We will have to stop using your hotels if this continues.

Thank you

No Coffee, No Title

UPDATE: The water came back on just as I was getting the kids up to school. Whew!
____________________________________________________________________

Today could be a bad day.

I woke up at 5:30 and found we have no water to speak of. We had a day a couple of weeks ago when our water pressure was low. Today there is no water at all upstairs and it just trickles out downstairs.

Nate is not going to be happy.

If they have no water at the school then I figure it could be cancelled or postponed. Which would mean being here all day with unhappy people.

I hope this is the worst-case scenario. At least, I can't think of anything worse. But without coffee my imagination is not really running wild, either.

On a lighter note, yesterday was yet another day over 100 degrees. I sat in the car line at school thinking about how I needed to get a few more school supplies and gas for the car and get the bathrooms cleaned and supper started. And I was tired.

Then it popped into my head that I could Nate to put gas in the car and buy the school supplies. Let the boy run around in the heat.

So I gave him some money and the list and told him to call if he had a hard time finding stuff:

Kleenex
Hand sanitizer
5-subject notebook
Clorox wipes or some other surface sanitizer

I told him he didn't need to go all the way to Target to get the stuff. He could just hit the pharmacy on the edge of Ballantyne. (we don't have such things...pharmacies)

He called to say he didn't know where the hand sanitizer was. I gave him some suggestions.

He called to say he couldn't find it. I told him he'd need to ask. [sigh of exasperation from him here]

He called to ask what Clorox wipes were.

When he got home, he had

Kleenex
Hand Sanitizer
5-subject notebook
Bounce dryer sheets

The Man Collects Apples

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/08/08/mac-collector.ap/index.html

"Bloomin' Idjut!"

He was too nice to say that, but I did find out from Dr. Adam Cooper, chiropractor, (signs his emails 'ACDC') that I've completely mis-diagnosed and consequently done every single thing wrong with my shoulder.

The left shoulder has been troubling me a lot in the last two weeks. But it was kind of nagging at me for about a month. I thought I was sleeping incorrectly. That the muscles were getting knotted up from improper sleeping. And so I was stretching it, working it, rubbing it...trying to work out what I perceived to be tightness.

Finally the soreness had morphed into a severe burning sensation across both shoulder blades and I was worried enough to seek medical attention.

Sure. The muscles are tight, but the underlying problem is a strained muscle.

"Feels like it's the muscle that goes across my shoulder blade."

[twist, turn, rotate] "hmm. Is it this way or that way?" he asked.

"YOW! That's it!"

"Strained supraspinalis," he muttered.

"What's that?"

"The muscle that goes across your shoulder blade."

And then I learned that I should be resting it, icing it, not exercising it. No weights.

"So basically, I've been stupidly doing exactly the wrong thing for this."

"Well, I wouldn't put it thaaaatttt way!" he said.

And so I was introduced to this fine product:


It is pure menthol. You only need a tiny bit. Very gelatinous. In fact, if you aren't careful, it will just fall off your finger and plop to the floor. The smell is menthol, but wears off within a couple of minutes. But man! Is it COLD! It's like putting an ice cube directly on your skin. That sensation seems to last about 10 minutes.

I did not tell ACDC about dropping my own camera on my head last Sunday.

YUM! For some...

Sugarfreechocicecream
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I made this sugar-free chocolate ice cream for my friend Mike. He's a diabetic and calls his wife "The Sugar Sheriff."

I like doing this for him because he's so appreciative, but it also gives me a chance to experiment with cooking sugar-free stuff for my food stories. This week I did a story on ice cream, so I played with Splenda.

Personally, I think the ice cream was terrible. But I just can't eat or drink stuff with sugar substitutes. I don't have the taste for it and it just doesn't even want to go down my throat. He said it was wonderful. And I think he'd tell me the truth.

Sugar-Free Chocolate Ice Cream
For 1.5 Quart Freezer

1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup whole milk, divided
Dash salt
1 cup half-n-half
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together Splenda and cocoa powder. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the whole milk until smooth and powders are completely dissolved. Add remaining ingredients.
Turn on the freezer and pour in the mixture while it’s running. Freeze as directed. Allow to rest 20 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy “No Food Left Behind” for The Carolina Gateway

Product Review: True Lime, Lemon, & Orange

Waterflavors
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

In a word: EXCELLENT!

I like flavor in my water occasionally, but not sweetness. These have no sweetener whatsoever. They are good, solid, thirst-quenching flavors. They taste just like you squeezed a piece of fruit into your water.

The first time I tried one, I put it in a 20-ounce bottle of water. Way too water-y. But they do well in the smaller bottles that are around 16 ounces.

LightPlay

While visiting Minnesota, the four cousins got to spend some quality time together. When they were all very small, they were together a lot and my sister and I in general raised them together to be like siblings. The kids miss each other now that we are gone.

My sister bought a trampoline for their back yard and my kids took advantage of our "your house, your rules" theory and jumped on it as much as possible. We do not allow them to jump on tramps here.
My brother-in-law gave them light sticks one night and we played with slow shutter speeds.

Of course I could not resist doing some micro-managing. (They are used to this and played along nicely.) Here they are spelling out a word. Hey. It was the only 4-letter word that came to my mind!

State Slogans

Alabama: At Least We're not Mississippi

Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can't be Wrong!

Arizona: Dehyd-rific!

Arkansas: Litterasy Ain't Everthang

California: As Seen on TV

Colorado: If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother

Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only Dirtier and With Less Character

Delaware: Wow..... you're in Delaware

Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids

Georgia: We Put the "Fun" in Fundamentalist Extremism

Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru (Death to Mainland Scum, But Leave Your Money)

Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes... Well Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Are Real Good

Illinois: Gateway to Iowa

Indiana: 50 Million Years Tidal Wave Free

Iowa: Land of James T. Kirk

Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States

Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names

Louisiana: We're Not All Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Slogan

Maine: Cheap Lobster

Maryland: A Thinking Man's Delaware

Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's (For Most Tax Brackets)

Michigan: First Line of Defense From the Canadians

Minnesota: For Sale

Mississippi: Come Feel Better About Your Own State

Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work

Montana: Land of the Big Sky, the Unabomer, and Very Little Else

Nebraska: Ask About Our State Motto Contest

Nevada: Whores and Poker!

New Hampshire: Go Away and Leave Us Alone

New Jersey: You Want a F$%&in' Motto? I Got Yer F$%&in' Motto Right Here!

New Mexico: Lizards Make Excellent Pets

New York: You Have the Right to Remain Silent, You Have the Right to an Attorney

North Carolina: Tobacco is a Vegetable

North Dakota: Um... We've got... Um... Dinosaur Bones? Yeah, Dinosaur Bones!!

Ohio: Don't Judge Us by Cleveland

Oklahoma: Like the Play, Only No Singing

Oregon: Spotted Owl, It's What's For Dinner

Pennsylvania: Cook With Coal

Rhode Island: We're Not REALLY An Island

South Carolina: Remember the Civil War? We Didn't Actually Surrender

South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota

Tennessee: The Educashun State

Texas: A Great, Big Flat State

Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus

Vermont: Yep

Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs and Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?

Washington: Help! We're Overrun By Nerds and Slackers!

Washington, D.C.: Wanna Be Mayor?

West Virginia: One Big Happy Family -- Really!

Wisconsin: Come Cut Our Cheese

Wyoming: Wynot?

Thanks to: http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/stateslogans.htm

Strangers. And yet...not

MplsBridge7
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Last week my husband and I went to the the Old Mill City district in our hometown of Minnepolis to see the collapsed 35W bridge. We walked across the Stone Arch Bridge, where we could see St. Anthony Falls on one side, and the 3rd street bridge on the other. There were many people on the bridge that day, one week after the catastrophe.
There were a few memorials, but not many. Really, only about five mementos that I can recall. A couple of signs and some small flower bouquets.
I told my friend Julie that I thought it was fitting that this bridge is NOT just heaped high with flowers and posters...that it is not surprising that the outpouring of grief and concern is muted. This is a region full of folks of Scandinavian heritage. A reserved demeanor is common here.
I took this photo of these people looking at a memorial poster. I like the range of emotions we see here.

Product Review: R.W. Garcia Spicy Soy & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips

These? Were not bad. At first I thought they seemed a little bland. Not spicy enough, not salty enough. But kept eating them over the course of a week (I don't eat many chips in one sitting...I CAN eat just one Lay's potato chip...),they kind of grew on me. I still don't think I'd call them spicy.

The flaxseeds do get lodged in your teeth, though.

Tree of Thorns

I have no idea what this tree is. It's on the property of a commercial bakery in Indianapolis. I ran across it when I went over there to sit at a picnic table to talk on the phone. The thorns are very very sharp.

I picked off an interesting bit of the thorns that was just resting there...it had broken off, but not fallen to the ground. I have it hanging from my rearview mirror right now, but need to get it off there. I'll have it sitting on my desk.

When we got home Sunday night, we unloaded the car and got everything put away in just a few minutes. I sat down to go through the mail and when I glanced out into the family room, Mensa Boy and Taylor were watching "Who Wants to Be a Superhero."
When the show was over, they both sighed in satisfaction.

"It's good to be watching quality TV," Mensa Boy said.

Out The Outhouse Window

Out The Outhouse Window
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

HERE!

HERE!
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Well, we are here. Back from "Up Nort." Glad to be home. Maybe. It's stinkin' hot here. And our lawn is burned up. But the jalapenos I hung up to dry in the kitchen and the garage didn't mold, and the house is cooling down nicely after being left at 90 degrees. I've reconnected with a couple of my friends and all is right with the world.

Tomorrow? Massage and then some serious writing.

And the blog entries will come between the paying work. In the meantime, here is my photo of the day, unedited. Brother Lis testing to see how fast I can do the manual focus lens on my camera. Obviously? Not that fast. You can't even see the little reed she is holding up. But she looks pretty darn clear, doesn't she? Of course, my camera naturally navigates toward her anyway.

Can't Talk "Family" without saying "and Food"

Dad's ham
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Family, Food, Fun. That's basically what trips back here entail. I'm certain it's that way for everyone.

Here's my dad, pronouncing his ham a success. I'm sure I've mentioned before that my boys call bone-in picnic hams "Farmington ham." Taylor and my nephew Jake requested Farmington ham as a counterweight to my moussaka Sunday night. Fortunately for me, moussaka is only popular with 50% of the family. This leaves more for me!

We had corn on the cob and yellow tomatoes with the moussaka, which made our meal rather...yellow on the plate. (Fortunately I had not drawn the yellow fiesta plate, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see what I was eating!)

Mom made this fantastic salad with baby beets, onions, and cherry tomatoes. Balsamic vinegar was the dressing. Excellent!

Monday we found Old Dutch potato chips. Easy to do here. Not easy in South Carolina. Here is Nate modeling a box.

They aren't necessarily better than some of the ones we get at home, but it's a nostalgia thing.

And here is brother-in-law Bill making burgers for the grill Saturday night. He has a technique. Pretty much meatloaf, shaped into giant balls. Portioned out fairly, then smashed into patties. Delicious!

We also had a nice bottle of Riesling...a Piesporter Michelsberg Riesling I picked up. Can't remember the winery.

Today hopefully it's Jazzercise. Then lunch with The Cleveland Company, and tonight we go out for dinner with my siblings and their spouses. Kids? Tombstone Pizza.

Still Fits!

Still Fits!
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Huh. Isn't that something?

Running out to have breakfast with Lis. I'll write more later. Great dinner and conversation with the family last night. I have photos of my food and some of the family.

Prison? Theatre? Antique Mall?

Shelbyville
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I saw this in Shelbville, Indiana yesterday. I couldn't resist shooting it. Obviously you can see from the sign that it's an antique mall. But before I saw the sign I saw the top and thought, "Looks like that used to be a prison."

I can just imagine prison guards in uniform with guns patroling inmates behind. But of course there is no courtyard behind. It's just a big brick building.

As I was standing on the street shooting, I asked an older gentleman about the building. He said it used to be a theatre. For decades it was a theatre.

Shelbyville is kind of a picturesque little town. It's right outside Indianapolis to the east. They have a central town square that is a parking lot and a traffic circle goes around it. The circle is lined with pretty buildings. Old ones.

I spent most of the day yesterday (when I wasn't taking my turn driving) listening to podcasts from a website I found, Nikonians. Wonderful conversation about photography and equipment. Digital and film. It's a great resource that I'm glad I found. I also started working through a Nikon D40 manual that was written by a guy named Ken Rockwell. So I played with my camera and remote a bit.

I also watched the movie "Big Chill." I'd forgotten what a good movie that was. I really like the scene where they show everyone unpacking their stuff. The different items they all had with them.

That's it for the day. Hitting the road here soon. Moussaka tonight at Mom's house! Hoo HOO!

In the Driver's Seat

I can't believe it's been so many days since my last posting. It's been pretty hectic here, although you'd think it would be a little calmer since NATE GOT HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE!

Yup. Wednesday morning. I took him to Lancaster and he passed the test! After some errands, we arrived home and I announced to him that I planned to stay home the rest of the day to work and he could very well take his own self to his dentist appointment.

Now, that might not seem like much, but really...our dentist is on the other side of Ballantyne. It takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to shoot the gauntlet that is 521 at Ballantyne. But he made it, had a reasonably good appointment (already in wisdom teeth discussion), and got back home just fine.

Nate's driving is very good, if not a little cautious. Like nervous. But I suspect he'll calm a bit. Although his buddy Ryan didn't really settle down for several months.

He wore Mensa Boy's car Wednesday and Thursday and then we traded back so we'd have Big Green for another doctor's appointment. Another $189 on that car. But if you count that and the starter motor from last month, you still are looking at fewer repairs than a car payment, so I guess that's not all bad. This time it was a window motor. Driver's side. I debated not even fixing it, but somehow it felt like a safety hazard.

You don't realize how much you use that driver's window until it doesn't go down. Here are the encounters I had in the last two weeks:

1. Paying for parking at Discovery Place
2. Drive-Up ATM
3. Sweet Tea at Bojangles--a necessity for any self-respecting southerner
4. Security gate at Sun City

These were all just annoyances, and easy to work around, but there was just a nagging thought that I might NEED that window to go down.

So. It's fixed. And now we are ready to hit the road for Minnesota this morning. I'm the only one up so far, but I'll soon remedy that.

It's two long days driving to get back. We'll stop in Indy tonight. Since Nate can help with driving now, I've brought a particularly comprehensive batch of stuff to do in the car. 3 DVDs from Blockbuster online: "Big Chill," "Gray Matters," and "Rumor Has It." I also have several hours of podcasts from a website I found the other day, Nikonians, as well as a few archived episodes of NPR's "Splendid Table." I never get to hear that in real time.

And I have a user manual for my camera with me. I plan to go through it page by page. I've been experiencing a crisis of confidence with my photography, so I plan to spend a LOT of time on it this week (WATCH OUT FAMILY!).

I also have a new music and an ebook on my mp3 player. Can't remember which book. And the first three Harry Potter books. I stopped reading them around book 4, so now that the series is complete, I plan to work my way through them all from beginning to end.

That's it! It'll be a good trip!

Oh...Mensa Boy sent Nate a Driver's license Haiku when he heard about the test results. So I sent around an email soliciting more. Here they are:

The best advice is
Keep it between the ditches
So Mom will stay sane
-Jenny Hartley


Remember coffee
As you drive to Winthrop U.
Mom must ride with you.

You must understand that I am a Math/Science person. As I write this poem, I remember why I am math/science.
-Kathy Richardson

But does Nate know that
He should wear the car rather
Than just to drive it?

(Can it be all one sentence??)

-Sarah Heins


Hey! Beware! Take care!
Nate's in the driver's seat now
Hey! Beware! Take care!

Jane Alford


Bob: Don't be scared stiff.
Our Devon is driving too.
He is scarier!


Godspeed to Nate (and you all)!

Mary McClane


The last haiku I remembering writing was in the 7th grade but here goes:
Nate and the blue Echo
Poor Bob without his wheels
Lucky Karen home alone

I think my last sentence has too many syllables.
-Cassie

Yellow stripes and white
Flashing by on roads of gray
Mark a bigger world

-Lis Trouten

Gas is on the right side
Brake pedal is on the left
Don't get them confused

Jenny Overman


A boy and a car
Drivers on the road beware!
What were you thinking?

-Julia

Extraordinary
Nate has found his new freedom
Good Luck on the Road!

-Rena Livengood

Yay, for Nate Paulson!
He is now a driving man.
Mom can stay at home.
(Can haikus have punctuation? It seemed the first line really needed it. =-)Congrats, Nate!----Amanda Knoke

Drivers: Stay Alert
Your car may be in danger
Nate is on the road
(hmm...alert is one syllable or two?)
-Jenny Overman

That is so funny
I wish I could write like this
I would be so smart

-MOM

Authorization
DMV to NEP:
You have passed the test

-DAD

Camo

Yesterday my friend Chris and I were talking about how some stores are hard to get out of. Take me to Earth Fare (a local grocery store full of organic products), and I can spend hours in there, looking at everything and reading labels. It's like a library to me.

Chris said it's hard to take her husband Kevin to Dick's Sporting Goods.

"If he gets into the camouflage, I'll never find him!"

PG-Porn

Book Description
Prepare to enter a fantasy world. A world where clothes get folded just so, delicious dinners await, and flatulence is just not that funny. Give the fairer sex what they really want beautiful PG photos of hunky men cooking, listening, asking for directions, accompanied by steamy captions: "I love a clean house!" or "As long as I have two legs to walk on, you'll never take out the trash." Now this is porn that will leave women begging for more!

About the Author
The Cambridge Women's Pornography Cooperative asked women, young, old, rich, and poor, "What really, really gets you hot?" Armed with their findings, they worked day and night to create Porn for Women. Susan Anderson is a Los Angeles-based photographer who believes the future of porn shouldn't be in the hands of men alone.

I got a kick of this. I received a round-robin email with snapshots from the book, so I googled the name on one of the photos.

Photos of Photographers

I read about this blog on one of the photo boards I surf. The blog is called "Damn Cool Pics". I haven't spent any time out there yet, but I did scroll through a pretty fun entry called "Photography and Photographers." Many of the photos have been altered to the nth degree in post production, but some of them are things I've seen happen around me.

Look at it here.

And here's my one photo of a photographer. My friend Jenny. Who always insists that I'm a better photographer than she is (bless her sucking-up heart).

Dangling Conversations: Wrong Number

Yesterday I tried to call a friend and got the wrong number.

"Hey! How you are you?"

"Good! How are you doing today?"

"Great. Whatchya up to?"

"Not much. What can I do for you?"

"Well, Is Linda there?"

"Sure! Which one?"

[chuckle] "You know, the one that vacuums up the dog hair."

"Hm. I think you might have the wrong number little lady."

I used the wrong prefix for our area. The guy owns a convenience store and produce stand. He has 2 Lindas that work for him.

"Y'all come by and see us sometime!"

In my defense? The guy did sound exactly like my buddy Don and he is always yanking my chain with some comment when I ask a question. I thought the "Sure, which one?" question was a fairly new one, but I never know for sure what he's going to say when I ask for her.

By the Side of the Road: Firewood House

firewoodhouse
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive two couples to Spartanburg to see a fellow in a retirement community. The drive is about two hours each way, and I enjoyed listening to the couples all talk to each other, reminiscing about old times, talking about what is happening here in our community now with old friends and grandchildren, etc.

They were indulgent of my photo-taking, and even waited while I pulled over to take a photo of this firewood house.

Cool, huh?

I'm Afraid...

Me: "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to do the dishes this afternoon."

HE: "I'm afraid of that too."

Product Review: Fage Yogurt

FageYogurt
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I've never known before that there was such an animal as Greek yogurt. Well, of course there would be Greek yogurt, but I didn't know that it was more special than any other kind.

Until I read this month's Prevention magazine.

There are several recipes for Greek foods, such as Souvlaki, Village Salad with Feta, and Tzatziki, a yogurt and cucumber dip.

The Tzatziki calls for Greek yogurt. Never heard of it, so naturally I googled. Greek yogurt is touted as being creamier than most, and that creamy-ness is attributed to a "centuries-old process that involves straining to let the whey drain out."

Hmmm...sounds like what I do when I want to use yogurt cheese. When I have a recipe that calls for yogurt cheese, I'll buy plain yogurt, line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth, dump the yogurt in there, and let it drain into a bowl for a few hours (while in the fridge). The result is yogurt that is much less watery.

The author of this Prevention article says that she uses Fage Greek -style yogurt. Googling that, I found all kinds of warnings about how expensive it is, and hard to find. So I prepared to buy the regular plain stuff and strain it for my Tzatziki.

But there was Fage (pronounced "Fah-yeh") at Harris Teeter, costing about 40 cents more per container than Dannon. Sounded reasonable to me.

Here's the recipe for Tzatziki from Prevention, August 2007.

2 C Greek-style yogurt (I used whole, but it comes in 2% and nonfat too)
1 C peeled, grated cucumber, spun dry in a salad spinner
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 tsp ground red pepper

Mix it all together and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve with warm pita bread.

I made a batch of this for our Posse Party last night and it was virtually inhaled by every person there. (Which is good, because I'm sure all of us are exhaling garlic today.) Even the picky eaters ate this stuff. We decided it would be a good salad dressing or baked potato topping as well. I made beef kebabs with an Indian-style marinade, and the beef pieces were quite good dipped in Tzatziki.

I used fresh-pulled, non-aged garlic, so I cut back to 3 cloves. I also didn't spin the cucumber. I put it and the garlic in my mesh sieve and pressed the juice out with a paper towel.

Apparently this yogurt dip is considered to be a necessary condiment for the table in Greece, much like ketchup is to the American household.

Grand Design

I took this through the fan in my office. My sister Julia playing Spider Solitaire. I hate her. She always wins everything.

Friday we went to see "Body Worlds" at Discovery Place in Charlotte. This is an exhibition of real human bodies and body parts that have been preserved with a method called plastination. The bodies are essentially soaked in a plastic product and a vacuum is created that causes the plastic to soak all through the fibers.

That sounds really gross. And many people will not go to see this exhibit because they will be grossed-out. But there really is no way to explain to people how utterly un-intimidating this exhibit is without having them see it. That's a shame.

The exhibit is terribly expensive. It cost $50 for Nate and I to go see it. That included parking and the audio phones we rented. You really have to use the audio phones. You can see everything and understand everything by walking through and reading the signs, but the audio tour really is pretty cool. The exhibit is mostly about the bodies themselves, of course, but also about the plastination process.

About five minutes after entering the exhibit, I came upon a display case showing joints. There was a hand, shoulder, and maybe an elbow. I don't remember that third one for sure. But what struck me was the hand. The audio narrator said the joints are designed so that motion is possible in multiple directions. But what struck me was when the narrator said, "The joints are coated with cartilage to reduce friction."

That is what the phrase "fearfully and wonderfully made" really means. And that phrase, from Psalm 139:14, echoed through my head as I spent the next two hours wandering through the exhibit.

It became easy to see God as a divine engineer, making decisions about this invention, and working out "Well, if I make it able to do this, I'll have to do something about this problem that could crop up."

That was the main thing I took away from the exhibit. The other thing I thought about was, "I sure am glad that I take good care of this body." Seeing all the muscles and organs, in stages of great health and also in serious disrepair, made me realize even more the importance of fitness and health. There was a cross-section of an obese person that really struck me to the core. As I looked on to these two slices of a person, I could see how the fat was so hard on the body. How the organs were laden with the weight. It's amazing how some of those organs are able to function at all. And this particular person had a pacemaker installed.

The exhibit of the obese person made me want to help overweight people as much as I can. It's a terrible burden to bear, both physically and mentally. And our society is not kind to people who struggle with this issue, even though more than half of us are overweight.

Seeing all the muscles was pretty cool. Most of the people who were preserved were obviously in pretty good shape. You could see this superior muscle definition and it was neat to see the individual muscles and muscle groups that our jazzercise instructors are always pointing out, "deltoids, rhomboids, lats, obliques, quads, etc."

There were three things I wished as I was going through the exhibit:

1. I wish the first third of the exhibit weren't so loud. The entrance is in an area of the museum where there are lots of noisy, hands-on exhibits to play with. There are walls separating the traveling exhibits from the rest of the place, but at the beginning of the special area they don't go all the way to the ceiling. It's hard to hear the audio in that environment, and it diminished the serious nature of the exhibit. I remember thinking that about the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, too.

2. I wish there were special times that could be designated adults-only. Like an evening or two. The kids were well-behaved (in fact, the only people I saw leaning on the cases were ADULTS(!!)) and it was cool to see them marvel over the exhibits, but their chatter and excitement was also a distraction to the seriousness of the displays. Especially in the prenatal section.

3. I wish the exhibit were smaller. I was worn out by about half-way through and I know I didn't give enough attention to the displays in the last half.

I'm recommending this exhibit to everyone I know. But cautioning those with young kids that it can be very tiring.

Kids Kids Kids

Yesterday was a day full of kids. It was fun, but I got pretty tired and dragged out by the end of the night...when I finally turned in at MIDNIGHT (!!)

It began at about 6:30 a.m. in a way most of our combined family gatherings do: Jeff and I both companionably working on our computers. Usually he goes out for coffee, but yesterday he let me make him some. (I think he was diluting it with the water, though.)

Then Julia got up and did whatever she does and settled in the comfy chair with a magazine. Here she is putting in her dessert order for the day.

Here's how the guys began the day, and pretty much would have ended the day, if not for Vacation Bible School. I call this "Boys Town." I never heard a thing from them all day except when they called to ask me to buy a 4th controller for their game console. But I didn't get to that because I was pulling in the driveway when they called.

So, after a bit of just hanging around the house in the morning, Julia and I and my niece Jessica set out to run some errands. Jess needed a swimsuit. Target seemed like the place to go.

NOT!

This is where the visit took the first dark turn. I was wandering down the aisle in Target, when I heard my sister say my name. I turned around and she had grabbed the sleeve of an unsuspecting healthcare worker (scrubs), and was saying, "THIS is the color on the walls at Mount Vernon!" Now...she says she prefaced that by saying to the woman, "this is a nice color on you but..."

I was fairly mortified. I said the poor woman, "I'm so sorry! Don't worry, she'll be going home in a few days and then Target will be safe again." And then I said to Julia, "Please do not grab the sleeves of strangers!" The stranger was chuckling and I think enjoying it.

I think.

Then 5 minutes later Julia knocked half a shelf of hair care products onto the floor with her
big *ss purse!

Needless to say, I was ready to get out of Dodge.

After several attempts (in the heat, I might add)to locate a complete swimsuit for Jess (did you know they sell the tops and bottoms separately? So now you can find a top that you want, but there is no matching bottom?), I finally called my bosom buddy Rena. She is shopper extraordinaire. In fact, she was out shopping during her lunch hour when we called. After chuckling at the thought that I, of all people, would be shopping with a teenaged girl, her advice was "Go to the mall. Buy a cup of coffee, sit down with it and your mp3 player and just let the girl go." She always knows exactly the right advice to give, tailored for my particular sensitivities (to noise, commotion, girls, shopping...you name it).

And so we did. But I never did get the cup of coffee. We walked into JC Penney's and found what she needed. Whew!

So after several stops on the way home to gather provisions for supper, we finally arrived, with me about $200 poorer. Isn't that just the way it works? The driver, who sets out not needing anything, ends up spending the most.

I commenced with supper prep during what I affectionately call "The Arsenic Hour." During this period of the day, which is usually about 2 hours long, not really 1, everyone is arriving home, hungry, full of questions, full of activity, I'm cooking supper and cleaning up dishes that have accumulated for the day, all the phones are ringing, etc. The arsenic hour has always been rough for me, but when you add a second family into the mix...a family who, just like ours, likes to parse each sentence, each phrase, ask lots of follow-up questions...it tends to make me very very jumpy. At one point I sent this text message to Rena:

in
out
door open
door shut
eat eat eat
videos
tv computers
piano
trombone
dart guns
whine whine whine...
WINE!!!

All I can say really is that it's nice that I have good drugs. Otherwise this could have ended up with the sound of a gunshot.

After supper was over, I got a call telling me that the hot air balloonist was about the arrive at one of the local vacation Bible schools. So I grabbed my camera and headed out, with the cheesecake I was making for Jeff barely started, and the supper dishes not done.

I was gone for 2 hours, standing around in the heat outside, but I did get to visit a tiny bit with my friend Jenny. And shot a couple of photos of her adorable little girl, Katherine:

And then, I came home, baked a cheesecake, watched a rerun of "House," and caught up on my email.

I never did get any wine.

Today? Who knows?

8-Ball Zucchini

8ballzucchini
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Can you stand it? Aren't these just the most adorable zukes you've EVER SEEN?

No idea why someone would feel they needed globe-shaped zukes, but they are cute as a button, aren't they?

My sister and her family have arrived at our house and are sleeping now. They've been vacationing in New York and D.C. and are winding up their eastern trek at our house. We were planning to meet in North Myrtle for a few days, but they said they are just tired of vacationing and want to lay around the house. That's fine with me!

Farmalanche

Farmalanche
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

It's the hap, happiest time of the year....

Annual Eggplant Rave

EggplantPanko
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

It's time for me to rave again about the eggplant. This was the second big one I've gotten from the farm. We also get some of the long, skinny variety...Japanese eggplant. I like the globe eggplant because it makes for nicer frying. I often use the Japanese variety for stuff like soup and stew.

My cooking is generally low-impact for the food item, and low-fat, making it low-impact on the body as well. But I can never resist frying up eggplant at least a couple of times each summer. If you keep your oil at the right temperature, you'll cook the eggplant through without having it soak up too much fat. It's difficult to coach someone in that, though. I could probably site optimal temperatures for the oil and slice thickness for the 'plant, but face it...most folks will not go to that trouble. I can tell you, though, that last night I used peanut oil instead of my usual canola for this. Just because I'd run out of canola. I'd never fry this in olive oil...too much flavor from that oil. So the peanut oil? I think it turned out to be the best batch yet. I'm not a food scientist (nor do I play one on TV), but I imagine the reason for that is because peanut oil has a much higher smoke point, so I was able to have it hotter without danger of it going ballistic on me.

Last night I served the eggplant mostly out of necessity. I was running out of time and was actually looking around for some Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. But alas! All gone! (need to add that to the grocery list. Hmm..and canola oil)

So I started hurling items out of the crisper drawer again and here was this eggplant I'd forgotten about. AND some zucchini and yellow squash!

The last bit of Panko from the cupboard(grocery list again-check!), some pre-prepared bread crumbs for when the Panko ran out, and I was in business.

Classico spaghetti sauce. Hey we scratch-cookers don't always have time for homemade spaghetti sauce. Classico and Barilla are the only two brands I'll keep around.

Eggplant Parmesan always goes well with my guys. And it's quite filling.

And of course, I had the added satisfaction of knowing the eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash all came from the farm. Another "farm dinner!"

"It's-Monday-Night-and-I-Have-to-Use-Up-Last's-Week's-Share-Before-I-Get-More-Tomorrow" Soup

FarmSoup
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

Ok. You can call it "Farm Soup" if you want:

I started out thinking I would make Ratatouille. And really, I guess that is what this soup is. The french dish is essentially a vegetable stew of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, garlic and onions, all sauteed together together and seasoned with herbs. It can serve as a main course or a side dish. And sometimes as a filling for crepes.

Mine is essentially a "garbage soup." Open up the crisper drawer and start pulling stuff out.

GET OUT YOUR BIGGEST POT! This soup is like taco salad...it just runs away from you.

In olive oil, saute garlic, onions and diced carrots, if you are using them, until they begin to soften. I then added celery, eggplant, leftover savoy cabbage, and green peppers. I also threw in a jalapeno pepper because I had them and my guys like a little zip. I drizzled a little more olive oil in there and stirred it around just so the veggies were coated and woudn't stick to the pot. I also seasoned with kosher salt and pepper and sprinkled in some Black & Red pepper blend (This is from Penzey's and is a wonderful blend of ground red pepper and black pepper. Yeah, I could do that myself. But why?)

I sprinkled just a little dried oregano, basil and thyme in the veggies, slapped on the lid and let them cook on medium-low for about 6-8 minutes.

Then I poured in some Harris Teeter version of V-8. Here's why: 12-year-old Taylor talked me into buying a big jug of it two weeks ago and then decided he didn't want it. After it'd been opened, of course. No sense in letting it go to waste. I also dropped in a bay leaf.

And that's how my ratatouille became SOUP!

After I brought it back to a simmer, I tossed in some FRESH basil, thyme and oregano from my little herb pots on the patio. If I hadn't had fresh ones, I would have put in more of the dried versions earlier.

So I tossed in the chopped fresh herbs, 1 medium zucchini cut up into chunks, stirred it, waited about 5 minutes, and then served it with crunchy french-style bread.

The veggies were a nice mix of al dente and soft. And there were hardly any leftovers. My guys love this stuff.

If you don't care about how the chopping goes...if you can just let yourself go mad and chop like a fiend...you can throw this thing together in about 30 minutes.

I promise.

I have No Idea...

monokpuffgas
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I found this posted on Taylor's door this morning.

Last night we had a "boy night" here. This week Nannette brought her 8-year-old nephew, Cody.

Before they came, Cody talked to his sister Jordin on the phone. "We're going to Karen's for supper," he told her.

"She likes girls better than she likes boys," Jordin told him.

Huh. I guess I must have really snowed that little girl!

We had burgers on the grill, watermelon, the canned baked beans that I couldn't get Jordin to put on her ice cream sundae last week, and some cucumbers & tomatoes from the farm, as well as farm potatoes that I had roasted.

Nannette and I had glasses of Riesling, and then sat on the patio, trying to stay awake. Cody played Wii Golf with Nate and beat him! Cody has a really cute laugh...kind of a Woody Woodpecker thing.

And of course Taylor, Tony, and Mensa Boy all watched "Man vs Wild."

It was a fun evening.

Of course now we have this "deadly poison" thing.

Grilled Okra

GrilledOkra
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

I posted this photo on August 13, 2005 and I've never had okra any different way since then. I adore this stuff and find myself wondering when my farmer is going to give me some this year. It's one of my favorite snacks.

My adorable friend, Kathy Richardson, who has left her job as our school principal to become the Queen of Math and Science at Winthrop University, just sent me an email asking me how to make it. She snagged a few one day as I was taking them to a class dinner.

So here's what you do:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Clean your okra and cut off the tough knobs at the ends. Or not. Those ends do make handy-dandy handles for when you are eating them.

Roll the okra in olive oil and lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. I like to cook mine in this cast iron grill pan so that I get those nice grill marks. I'll roll them around periodically on the pan that's been heated NASA hot on top of the stove, and then finish them off in the oven.

But you can put them right into the oven on a cookie sheet or grill pan.

And basically just roast them in there until they are charring and have softened.

Take them out, sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, and munch away!