Essentially I'm talkin' food here...

Note: I've linked this post I wrote last week to the summer recipe exchange over at Fringe Girl...visit there for more summer recipes...read to the end of this post for two yummy summertime salads. Enjoy!

Is it finally Wednesday? My husband travels a lot but this trip has felt especially long. He'll be home from Shanghai this evening and I just finished making a pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs because he loves them. He has asked that I not prepare any river eel in 'special' sauce or any squirrel fish either, at least not for a while. For the record I've never prepared eel of any sort and I've never heard of squirrel fish which he said was pretty good. It's always fun to travel and try new things but always nice to come home to comfy and familiar too.

I headed down to my moms last Thursday afternoon to spend a few days there because fyi, a husband traveling on a holiday weekend just feels wrong. My mom and I like to go out to breakfast, do a little shopping and play many games of rummikub. Friday afternoon she took me out to lunch and we went to a new restaurant called 52 Seasons. Do you have this where you live because I think its a chain? I loved it...the menu changes every week, hence the name. Everything is seasonally fresh plus nothing on the menu is over 475 calories which is just a little added bonus.

Yesterday was my nephew's birthday...he turned the big 0-4. This is the first birthday he has celebrated that I've been in town for and it was fun to be a part of his big day. My sister and her husband had a cookout with family and neighbors at their house last night and the rain held off so we could sit out in their back garden.

Boys are so funny. They are such boys. He loves snakes and superheros and dragons and anything with a motor. Oh, and chocolate cake. He likes that too. We're definitely related.

Here he is with some of his buds...they have a little table built into an area underneath the swing set and that's where the kiddos like to sit and eat.

My sister asked if I would bring my pasta salad to the party...it's so simple and is always a crowd pleaser. I mentioned it once before on my blog and had a few requests for the recipe so I've posted it below. And because I'm killing time here until hubs gets home I've also included another summer salad recipe which is our family's favorite...enjoy!

Pasta Salad Supreme

1 1lb. box rotini, cooked al dente

1 -8 0z. bottle Zesty Italian salad dressing (or your favorite Italian)

1/2 jar McCormicks Salad Supreme spice mix (found in the spice section of supermarkets that carry McCormick brand spices)

1 cucumber, diced

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved if they are on the large size

1 green pepper, chopped

1/2 jar large black olives, pitted and halved

1 carrot, chopped

Cook pasta and then stir in the vegetables (I usually add other peppers if I have them on hand, sometimes green onion, really whatever you like). Stir in the dressing and seasoning and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. You can adjust the amount of vegetables to taste. We like a lot of vegetables in ours.

Cucumber-Tomato-Onion Salad

2-3 cucumbers, sliced very thinly

3-4 tomatoes quartered

3-4 green onions diced

Sauce:

1/4 c. white sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 TBLSP mayonnaise

1 TBLSP milk

salt and pepper

Put the cukes, tomatoes, and onions into a serving bowl. In another small bowl whisk together sugar and mayonnaise. Slowly stir in vinegar. Add the milk and stir to combine. Pour over vegetables and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. It will be soupy. If you prefer it thicker you can increase the mayo. It's yummy!

Some Gave All

On Memorial Day weekend I usually find myself thinking about our many visits to Arlington National Cemetery. I've been there as a tourist and I've been there as a daughter. I've walked behind the horse drawn caisson and flinched as the guns were fired. I've stood beside my siblings and cried tears of pride and sadness as a flag was folded and handed to my mother. I've seen the changing of the guard and I've stood with hundreds more as the sentinel walks the walk at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Arlington, go. The ceremony at the Tomb is moving and something every American should see. And I would like to think that on Memorial Day we could put aside all political posturing and take a moment to honor and thank the men and women who have served our country...to honor especially those who have died defending our many freedoms. Freedoms which, incidentally, include our right as Americans to hold differing points of view. Not everyone in this world is so lucky.

There is something known as The Sentinel's Creed which the guards at the Tomb learn and live by and it goes like this-

My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted.
In the responsibility bestowed on me never will I falter.
And with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection.
Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements,
I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.
It is he who commands the respect I protect.
His bravery that made us so proud.
Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day, alone in the thoughtful peace of night,
this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.

Sandy Cove, Camp I Love...

I'm linking up with Flashback Friday today. For more posts on summertime memories visit Mocha with Linda...

I have lots of happy summertime memories but without question, my favorite are from summer camp. My first real camp experience was at a Chrisitan camp called Sandy Cove. The girls camp was situated on the Northeast River in Maryland, not far from the Chesapeake Bay. I can say in all honesty that some of the happiest memories of my life are tied to that place.

I started out there as a camper and went for just a week the first year. My sister came too but we were in different age groups so she was a 'Papoose' and I was a 'Maiden'. We stayed in cabins, ate in a dining hall, learned to canoe and sail on the river, played massive games of Capture the Flag, rode horses, shot arrows in the archery range, poured sand candles in the beach, made the requisite leather crafts, held 'rap sessions' (there's a term we don't hear anymore) and Bible Study under the trees, drank bug juice, dined on the infamous Sandy Cove Stew and cooked rice krispie treats in a #10 can over a roaring campfire...I could write forever here. Every week was themed-Water Week, Olympic Week, anything Can Happen Week...just to name a few. We called our counselors "Chief" and I loved mine that first year...Chief Judy.

I returned to Sandy Cove two more summers as a camper before entering their CIT (Counselor in training) program. The first summer of the program revolved around a two week 'survival course' and our group of 8 CITs along with our two fearless leaders counselors spent 8 days backpacking across roughly 60 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The very first day, almost the first hour actually, I hyperventilated on the trail in a serious way. I passed out and worried those two counselors quite a lot. I bet they still remember me : ) I recovered (obviously) and stayed on without any more issues but it did get things started with a bang.

My second summer as a CIT I worked at the waterfront, teaching canoeing. The waterfront instructor was an absolute hoot and we had so much fun. I found confidence I didn't know I had and I loved the sense of accomplishment I felt at perfecting a skill. I also loved the fresh air, the exercise, and spending days in the sun. In the final year of the program we were assigned to an age group and I worked as the relief counselor for that group all summer. This meant subbing in different cabins on the regular counselors day off. I was so sure I would be placed with the little ones (papooses)...after all, I'd always loved working with young children and I thought that was where I had the most to offer. The CIT 'chief' saw things differently however and I remember having a moment of panic when she told me I'd be with the squaws (teenagers). But you know what? I've worked and volunteered with teens in all sorts of settings since those days at Sandy Cove...in youth groups, Young Life, scouts, even working in the public schools, and it was at Camp Sandy Cove that I learned to really love that particular age group.

I know this is long but I have a lot of memories and I want to write a few of them here. I went back to Sandy Cove several more summers, both as a counselor and later as a tripper (I do love that term)...As a trip counselor it was my turn to act as one of two fearless leaders on a backpacking trip with a group of young high school girls. I think I learned more about myself on those backpacking trips than perhaps almost anywhere else I've ever been. There is nothing like days and days of hiking in beautiful, rugged terrain and quiet wilderness to have some serious talks with God about who you are and why you are here.

There was a boys camp (5 miles away) and eventually the girls camp was moved there too...the camps were still separate in their day to day operations, they just shared the same large piece of property. And from the counselors perspective it was way more fun to have the boys nearby. Just sayin'

I could write a thousand and one memories from my days at camp but they wouldn't mean anything to someone who hadn't shared in the experience. Roughly 30 years have passed since my last days of summer camp and in the course of those 30 years there have been moments where for an instant, I'm back at Sandy Cove. It might be the smell of a fire, the sight of a sunset on a river, or the sound of a whipporwill singing that does it, but in that moment I am carried right back to those sweet days of camp...I can see the playing field, the chapel on the bluff, the steep path down the hill to the waterfront... I remember silly songs, cleaning latrines, counselor hunts, the camp store, standing at the flagpole, 'waitressing', quiet talks after dark, the stars, the dirt, the bugler's song in the morning and the quiet strum of the guitar at night. I remember candles floating out to sea. I remember the music...always, always there was music.

Two things in particular stand out to me from those long ago summers...the first thing is this-Sandy Cove is the place where God was made real to me. The place where the faith I'd had since early childhood finally became my own.

And the second is this-when you live with people in a setting like camp you develop friendships that are unlike any other. There were summers of laughter. There were moments of heartache. We came from different states, different backgrounds, and different denominations, yet we shared a common faith. We worked, we played, we grew in every way. Including up.

♫ Sandy Cove, camp I love ♫

Rocks and trees and beauties

that are from above ♫

♫Skies so blue

Friends so true ♫

♫Take me back to

camping days at

SANDY COVE ♫

"...but only God can make a tree."

Yesterday it was HOT. And humid. So naturally that would be the day our wonderful landscape crew appeared to begin work on our hillside. Today it is more of the same and I guess they're used to it but I do not envy them one little bit.

For starters, this hillside? It is steep. Very, very steep. I guess I need to back up a little bit and yes I am going to talk about dirt and rocks. Sometimes life is champagne at sunset on a piazza in Italy and sometimes it is sweaty landscapers mixing concrete in the backyard. I could use more of the former btw.

We have a good sized chunk of property. Our front yard is a long, gently sloping, green lawn where dandelions dare not show their pretty yellow heads. The biggest part of our back property is woods, dense and beautiful no matter the season. We also have some lawn out back and so far so good. The trouble spot lies between the back lawn and the woods. In that space we have a steep hillside. Did I mention it is steep because wow, it's steep.

Besides bears, North Jersey is also known for its ginormous supply of rock. Granite in the form of boulders. Boulders the size they grew in Bedrock. Boulders that go deep into the earth and do not want to be messed with or moved without heavy duty expensive equipment. To give you some perspective, the fence in this picture is roughly 5 feet high and the boulders are the same. We have an entire 'hedge' of boulders running across the edge of back lawn where the grass ends. Viburnum and Burning Bush grow and bloom the entire length of the 'boulder hedge' and for the most part block the hillside when you are sitting on the too small deck whose re-do will be Part 2 of our 50 point plan to improve the back yard.

The hillside is a bit scraggly... it's green but nothing worth noting. The deer love it and can eat to their hearts content there. Sometimes I can look out of my kitchen window and see our four deer (well, they feel like ours) prance across the hillside from one end to the other. Because they have plenty to eat on the hillside they don't seem to feel the need to venture into the yard where the 'real' plants are so its a win win.

One portion of this hillside is bare, just dirt and rocks, and its pretty much the steepest portion of the hill. We have had no less than 837 people of varying occupation, background, and opinion come out and give us their take on what we should do to improve this little patch. We could terrace the entire back hillside and that's probably what Donald Trump or Bill Gates would do but that's not an option for us so we're getting creative. Surprisingly its not a drainage problem, it's more of an aesthetic problem.

Anyway, we finally settled on a 'fix' and they got started yesterday. I would have loved to take a picture of the poor guy who had to scale the hillside and stand at the top while the others worked a 'pass the bucket' system to get the rock up to him but I didn't know if he'd appreciate that or not. This was not a quick process in case you are wondering. And did I mention it was 97,000 degrees yesterday?

The rock is in place to prevent further erosion and they built a small stone wall at the base, bringing in topsoil and a beautiful Birch tree. We'll add some flowers around the tree next weekend and Phase 1 is complete.

"I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree."

...Joyce Kilmer

There's a party goin' on right here...

Really its just the weekly random dozen rolling around again but hey, the more the merrier. Feel free to join in the fun...answer the questions on your own blog and then link your post over at 2nd cup of coffee...

1. Would you rather host a party or simply attend a party?

I enjoy both but probably host.

2. Tell us about the most memorable party you've been to?

Wow, how to answer this one? We're pretty much always up for a party and we do like to dress up. I think my hubs favorite article of clothing is his tux. Doesn't every man look good in a tux?

That being said, we like the backyard bbq kind of party too so, hmmm. One that was especially fun was my hubs 40th. We had a 70's theme so of course you know the music was good. I had his senior picture from high school frosted onto the cake with edible ink which was a nice touch. Everyone wore 70's attire and that was an absolute hoot. It was just one of those fun parties with the perfect mixture of neighbors, friends and relatives.

3. What is one thing you hope for in the after-life?

Wow. You mean besides 'no more sorrow, no more pain'? I hope I can sing in tune.

4. What do you enjoy most about sunshine?

I'm gonna say the sunny part.

One of my favorite sites in all the world is sunlight dancing on the water...so beautiful it sometimes makes me want to cry.

5. When you attend a bridal/baby shower do you prefer to bring your own gift or chip in with others to buy a larger gift?

I guess it depends on how well I know the bride/mom-to-be. If I don't know her well I'm happy to go in on a gift. If we're talking baby showers and I know mom-to-be is having a girl forget it... I can spend hours looking at the cuteness that is newborn baby girl clothing.

6. Would you rather have a FREE week of having your house cleaned or all of your meals cooked for you and your family?

No question-clean house please.

7. What song describes your mood today?

Have I mentioned that it is past time for me to sort out my life?

8. What is something you received for your own bridal shower/wedding that you still own or use? (If you are not married, feel free to sub a gift you received a long time ago)

Well, the toaster I received at my bridal shower only recently bit the dust. Almost 26 years...I'd say that's pretty good. To answer the question though I think I'll say my china. I was given most of the pieces as wedding and/or shower gifts and I still use them and am still in love with the pattern.

9. Your favorite flavor of ice cream is?

Ben and Jerry's Cherries Garcia. Or Rocky Road. Or Cookie Dough. Or homemade peach. You didn't seriously expect me to choose just one did you?

10. When was the last time you felt 'tested'?

Certainly this year. And if I were grading myself I think I'd give me a C. Maybe.

11. Fill in the blank___________is a food that once I start eating I find really hard to stop.

peanut m & m's

12. _________is the best motivation.

Seeing myself in a photo. It makes me want to jump on a treadmill and run 100 miles.

Martha would not be so proud

It's quite possible I did something over the weekend that just screams 'Not Me Monday'. I'm linking up at McMamas with this one today...the idea is to write about something you did as if you didn't. Make sense? Read on and you'll get it...

As I was preparing the marinade for Saturday night's dinner I most definitely did not leave the instruction manual and recipe booklet inside my juicers waste can and then proceed to juice six limes and three oranges. I never once wondered why the juicer seemed to be operating more slowly than normal and I absolutely did not rack my brain trying to figure out where in the world I had put that instruction manual/recipe booklet.

And I was not completely finished with the whole juicing process and ready to empty the waste can before I noticed the booklets. I didn't discover the cleaning brush needed for the basket in there too. I am never careless. Glops of pulverized lime peel were not sprayed across every.single.solitary. page of the 115 page booklet and no, of course it wasn't at all wet and sticky. Naturally I took lots of pictures because I want to remember this incident and also share it with Martha. I was given the juicer as an audience member at her show and I know she will find this funny. She is not at all a perfectionist and does crazy stuff like this in her kitchen on a regular basis too.

Define weekend

I'm gonna make a list of stuff because none of it is related which is a nice way of saying its random except some might say that word is a tad bit overused on this blog so I'm going for something different. Raise your hand if you love a blog post that begins with the world's longest run on sentence?

Anyhoo-hubs left for China at the crack of dawn today. I did not go with him. I wanted to go with him and I could bore you (even further) with the whole long story of why it didn't work out or just say I couldn't organize the right flights at the right time using any of my trillion frequent flyer points so here I sit, at home in the Garden State. Which is lovely but it is not Shanghai. I haven't given up on accompanying him on a China trip. Or any trip for that matter. And may I just state for the record here that we've had a few too many one day weekends since moving back stateside?

2. Yeah, the above was #1. Forgot I was making a list. Hubs is such a trooper. Since May 5th he has has gone from NJ to SC to FL to SC to NJ where he made like Superman and switched out vacation clothes for work clothes in the long term parking lot of Newark Airport before heading back into the terminal for yet another flight, this time to Italy. Then on to London last Wednesday and home on Friday. Now off to China this morning and the summer travel is just getting started. Are you keeping up? It exhausts me just to type this.

3. Somehow we do manage to squeeze a fair amount into these one day weekends. When he arrived home late Friday afternoon the guys were here re-sealing our driveway. He went out to 'supervise'...so glad he was home and I didn't need to get involved in any way shape or form. That is not my cup of tea.

4. Friday night we went out to dinner to a little Italian restaurant located on the boardwalk that runs along the shore of our town's lake. You are probably thinking, '...but didn't her hubs just spend a week in Italy eating Italian food every night?" Yes he did but a. you can never have too much Italian food and b. it was a gorgeous nite with ideal temps for al fresco dining and c. I did not just spend a week in Italy eating Italian food every night. I spent a week in NJ eating gourmet meals such as popcorn so he knew I needed a nice evening out. I had ravioli with shrimp and roasted garlic....yum! Hubs and I had a good catch up, sipped some wine and enjoyed the view.

5. Saturday we made a trip to the nursery and put a few plants outside...really just getting started and not in a big way as we need to do major landscaping to our back in the near future. Just need to find that pot of money. I don't want to go crazy putting things out there now only to remove them later. I'll concentrate on the deck pots this week. We also intend to knock the railing off the too small deck and put in a patio but in the meantime I need my flowers.

6. We went to the movies Saturday afternoon and saw Robin Hood. I liked it and thought Russell Crowe made a good Robin Hood. And I much preferred Cate Blanchett to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio who played Lady Marian in the Kevin Costner version. There was sadly no arrow cam in this one but plenty of sword slinging and raining arrows and most importantly the beautiful English countryside which always makes me happy. The movie confirmed a couple of things I already knew which were a. I was right never to cross the English channel in a ferry or boat of any kind and b. I love England but am so glad I didn't live there in the 12th century.

7. We grilled out Saturday night because nothing says I'm home like a bbq. I made Ina Garten's tequila and lime chicken which hubby grilled and it was delicious. I used bone in chicken breasts because I think they are much more flavorful...I am not a huge fan of the boneless skinless chicken breast. I also made a green onion slaw and we grilled pineapple with honey, lime juice and black pepper and that was wonderful. I love grilled pineapple.

Don't you hate when a list ends on an odd number like 7?

Hey, I know something else I needed to tell you. Three lovely bloggers left me awards on their blogs last week. I'm pretty sure that makes numbers 8, 9, 10 on my list which is now no longer odd. Whew! Go say hi to these ladies...I read their blogs, 'met' two of them thru the weekly Random Dozen and I know one in real life which is not something I can say about many bloggers.

First up is the Sweet Blog Award from Lori whose blog is Mountain Woman at Heart...she quilts and rides motorcycles and is crafty too. One thing I've discovered thru blogging is that some people got in line twice when the creativity genes were handed out and some of us must have been in the ladies room and we missed them altogether. I love Lori's blog header because it looks like it was taken from the deck of my brother- in- law's cabin in the Smoky Mountains...beautiful!

Next is the Sunshine Award from Mary at Life in a Small Town. Mary is sorta new to blogging but you would never know it from her writing...she seems like an old pro. And Mary's small town and my hubs small town may be one and the same. wink wink.

And finally (I know!)...Nel left me an award on her blog yesterday. Her site is Fastenau Facts.

For this award I'm supposed to list ten things I love and I did that once before on my blog so I'm gonna link to that post. At this point you probably feel like you've been reading this post since the dawn of time but I'll leave the link anyway.

Thanks for the awards ladies...I'm not going to tag blogs because I think we are all in agreement that this might just be the longest post about nothing in the history of blogger. Just know that if I follow your blog I love it, you bring me sunshine, and I think you're sweet!