new addtitions

i have wanted chickens for YEARS... but my sweet honey never was real big on the idea. then last year he started talking like yeah, one day we would put together a little coop and i could have a few chickens... WELL, that was all i needed to hear so while sister was here for spring break, before a coop was in existence or even planned, i picked up some cute little baby chicks...

and now they look like this... i have started anticipating fresh eggs in the next several weeks...

we have 9 all together, gertie (short for gertrude) the lady in charge, claire our sweet banty hen, berniece our red, and the three sisters that we can't really tell apart so they are the three sisters, and the boys darell and his other brother darell... the banty roosters that think they can crow and it cracks me up!

oh, my honey also picked up a game hen and two babies (a boy and a girl) that roost in the trees and won't let you anywhere near them... he has the chicken bug too now... i am expecting 100 baby quail any day now, 20 or so will stay with us and the rest will go live with the neighbors. oh and my dear father-in-law built me the cutest coop from spare lumber and windows... now if i could just finish painting it!

what more tomatoes? your kidding right? no sir, i'm not.

tomatoes: round three

let me tell you, if you have never experienced oven roasted tomatoes, this easy recipe is for you... try it! yummyness!

i started by quartering my 'maters (this is redneck for tomatoes boys and girls). If you're using small romas, just cut them in half. anything larger, quarter them.

place tomatoes in a large bowl. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. mixing with care until everything is coated.

arrange tomatoes in a single layer, skins down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. mince garlic and sprinkle over tomatoes. drizzle a little more olive oil over the top.

place in oven (preheated to 325) and cook for 2 1/2-3 hours, depending on the size of your tomatoes. keep an eye on them after about 2 -2 1/2.

when the juices have dried up and the tomatoes start to get dark around the edges they are good to go.
so good... smell good, taste good, look good (well maybe that's pushing it), taste good... smell good, taste good...

freeze em, eat em, cook with em, puree for a spread...

mountain biking mommas

sister and i went on our first mountain bike ride, like on a trail, not down the road... we should have paid more attention to the sign we encountered glistening in the morning dew...here is our adventure... in pictures... with a few captions... be impressed!



shouldn't the caution sign be hanging in view
not laying on the ground covered in leaves?


where my bike landed after i bailed... don't worry i landed on my feet... and sister got the opportunity to bail too!

some parts of the trails were pretty intense... this ramp, at the end of the bridge in the photo below, would launch a rider a good five feet in the air... cr-a-zy...
we made it... despite no helmets, gloves (you would be really surprised how important they are, definitely not just for looks), knee or wrist guards, water, or much common sense...



i wish this picture really showed all the dirt, scrapes, and bruises we received from our morning adventures...

*just to let the world know, all of these pictures were posed. there was no way either of us could have ridden most of this trail even though we took the intermediate and easy routs. we did ride when we weren't laughing so hard we couldn't stand up, when we weren't stopping for photo ops, when sister wasn't running into trees, or it wasn't just plain too hard... it was great! i highly recommend going mountain biking. just make sure you are prepared!

num yummy tomato sauce

salsa making is done and there are still tomatoes, so now... fresh, homemade, num yummy tomato sauce.

start by cutting an X in the bottom of each tomato (about 20) and placing them X-side up on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.

mmmm... juicy ripe tomatoes
roast tomatoes about 30 minutes, in oven preheated to 375F, until skin begins to pull away at X. remove from pan and let cool...

when cool enough to handle, core each tomato and peel away skin, working over a nonreactive bowl to catch the juice...


while peeling tomatoes, saute in olive oil: 6 to 8 garlic cloves thickly sliced, 1/2 cup torn fresh basil, and 2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar...


add cut or crushed (with hands for fun) tomatoes to pot, add 1 teaspoon sea salt and ground black pepper, and simmer for one hour... you can't imagine how good this smells... if i had a smell widget for my blog i would let you smell it... heavenly...

when cooled, puree in food processor. label clean glass jars, freezer boxes, or bags. fill 2/3 full and freeze for up to 6 months...

summer goodness all winter long!





*if sauce is too acidic, add a little brown sugar to taste, just a pinch at a time

salsa... not just a hot latin dance

gamma and pawpaw came over tonight for pizza and salsa. we ate the pizza and made the salsa. and boy did we make salsa.

boy helped cut tomatoes. he cut the little green tomato that he picked himself. (don't worry he was using a butter knife while closely supervised)
then we cut more tomatoes, cause our garden decided to bless us with LOTS of late tomatoes.


add a little onion, cilantro (yum), jalapeno, and seasoning...

used the food sealer to bag it up to freeze. and 18 cups of salsa later we were done for the night... we have that much more to finish up tomorrow! oh, and lots more tomatoes where those came from.

i'm thinking of doing my first blog giveaway... tomatoes anyone?

Yum!

tent city

`


my sweet momma and i went to the uofa campus and heard Mark Horvath, creator of invisiblepeople.tv speak out about homelessness in NWA. afterwards we slept on the lawn to help raise awareness and support for some really wonderful groups that work to help people who find themselves in this desperate situation. what momma and i didn't know was that when they said sleep on the lawn, we were the only ones who took them literally. everyone else had tents, lawn chairs, one lady even brought a blowup mattress. (see pics above)

not momma and i... no sir. we slept ON THE LAWN. (see pics below)

our bed...and us. we had a great time and learned a lot about a very serious and growing problem in our community. check out these local organizations (seven hills, cobblestone project, nwa women's shelter) to learn how you can make a difference and hear Judy's story.

the zoo

i took boy to the zoo this weekend with his gamma and pawpaw. we saw all kinds of animals, ate ice cream cones, rode the train and the merry-go-round, saw more animals...

and his favorite part?

the plastic chains they had hanging in the doorways of the indoor displays so the birds couldn't fly out.

go figure...

but we still had a GREAT time.

a man after my own heart

went to eat at our favorite mexican restaurant tonight. boy had his first chips and salsa (they have a really great fresh, mild salsa) and loved it. and i don't think that is was only because he got to dip his chips. he is his momma's boy!

the public library: storytime

stinker at the public library coloring after story time. this is the first time he has colored instead of trying to eat the crayons. if you haven't checked out your public library lately, you should! they have many wonderful, FREE, programs and activities for all ages.

http://www.youseemore.com/bentonville/default.asp

mmm...berries

the wild blackberries are finally starting to ripen. boy and i went out to the pasture behind the house, where the official wild berry patch is, and picked us some blackberries. there weren't many ripe and boy was eating them as fast as i could pick.

i think it's safe to say he liked them.

it's just not summer until you've had some wild blackberries.