Oh, how boring

See, I'm a tad bit anal. But only about certain things. I don't need things to be clean in my home or in my office, but I do need them to be put in the correct place. I think this skill (oh, and it IS a skill) comes from growing up in a tiny house with a mother who couldn't throw anything away (cough, still can't, cough).

Organization. It gives me a freakish high. I love moving into a new place. Why? Because I get to figure out where to put a million little things! What's better than that? I hate to lift boxes, but put them in a room and I'll put everything away for you. I love helping friends move for this very reason. The kitchen is my favorite part. Figuring out what's used frequently and what's not and determining what cabinet will fit all the plates, spices, fancy glasses, pots and pans, and pantry items. My little slice of heaven.

Ok, I swear this is one of my only quirks. For your boredom, allow me to show you an example of my organizational skills.

Spice drawer after my husband has messied it up for a couple of months.


Spice drawer after my beautiful touch.


"A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN IT'S PLACE" - Some guy who probably didn't want to be known for that quote. No, I take that back. It was definitely a woman.

A summer love

Basil. This little guy is wonderful.


I have no green thumb. J has a small green thumb (giggle giggle, I love you). I'm pleased to announce that we've kept this basil plant alive for over 2 months now. We...ok, J...picks the leaves a couple of times a week.

It's provided us with some kick to a couple of delish dishes. And a quick go-to for pesto.

And, caprese style: Tomato, mozzarella, basil leaves, a dash of balsamic. Mmmmm


Note to self: a Mexican cheese block looks like a mozzarella block.
Reminder to self: Tell J not to keep blocks of different cheeses in the same tupperware.

Gnocchi in Fontina cream sauce

When we went out for our anniversary dinner a couple of weeks ago, J had a tasty dish that he couldn't forget. So he searched high and low and found a recipe that is pretty darn close. We tried it out Saturday evening and it was fabulous!

Gnocchi in Fontina cream sauce

1 pound gnocchi
6 T butter
2 T shallots
8 ounces Fontina
2/3 C cream
3 T parmesan
1 T fresh basil

Directions:

First, melt the butter with shallots (or substitute onion and add some garlic like we did)


Then add the cream. We like rich and we like extra sauce, so we added a bit extra cream. Bring the mixture to light boil. Add the Fontina & parmesan. Stir until melted.


Cook and drain the gnocchi (or make your own).


Add the pasta to your sauce. Serve and top with fresh basil. Voila!

NADIA!

Something you may not know about me: I'm a gymnastics freak.

Was I ever a gymnast? No. I'd like to attribute that to growing up in smalltown Illinois. There's not a whole lot of opportunity for such activities. I could have been great. Sigh.

Anyway, growing up, I loved gymnastics. My absolute favorite movie was Nadia, the biographical movie of Nadia Comaneci. I watched it at least once a day. You know how every parent has to hide a movie/toy/snack because their kid can't get enough of it? Yeah, that was mine. My mom bought me a leotard. My dad built me a balance beam. I was in heaven.


I still love the Summer Olympics for this reason. Gymnastic world championships and exhibition meets, while entertaining, just do not compare.

So you can imagine how excited I was to start attending a university that had a successful gymnastics team. Last fall, I only made it to one meet. It was heaven.


But who went with me? My husband. Bad idea. But he owed me. I can't remember why, but he definitely owed me. It was so exhilirating to watch. It was also entertaining to hear J's commentary:

Me: Ooooh! Will you get me a snocone?
J: No. We're in a recession.

J: I feel like I'm in Limited Too. (in regards to all the girls cheering and chanting)

J: I've seen at least 6 or 7 guys that would qualify for pedophile status.

J: Look at how ugly that girl is. Her nose is gigantic...Man, I should be a commentator.

J: I'd like gymnastics a whole lot more if they didn't work with mats. Be confident. Only have concrete underneath you. I think I'll suggest that for the Xgames next year.

J: The floor routine would be ten times better if they required them to do the worm across the mat.

J: Why was her score so low?
Me: Her legs came apart at least 3 times.
J: Well, that's not very ladylike, is it?

(After a girl NAILED this floor routine and everyone started cheering)
J: Shit's weak.


I was amused. Needless to say, I'm excited for the season to start this fall. If you live in Lexington, I will be hounding you to go with me. Be prepared.


What's your childhood-but-never-developed passion?

May I direct your attention

Allow me to direct your attention today to my good friend LBD's blog post . I just loved the story.

Banana Bread

Yesterday, my friend Smartass came over. We had some down time between laying out at the pool and going to listen to a "band," so I used up some old bananas to make bread.

Banana Bread

Sift together:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda

In a separate bowl, mix:
2/3 cup of shortening or margarine
2/3 cup of sugar

Mix, then add:

2 eggs (one at a time)

(I forgot the picture of this mixture, but you can figure it out - it looks like eggy butter...with sugar granules, duh.)

In a separate bowl, mash:
1 cup banana

Alternate adding and mixing 1/4 the mashed bananas and 1/4 the sifted mixture (repeat, repeat, repeat) to the shortening/sugar mixture. Pour into a greased bread pan.

Bake at 300 for about 1 hour or until a toothpick in the middle comes clean. Makes 1 large loaf or three small.

Because we were starving, we also experimented with a dip. Cream cheese, cocktail sauce, crab meat, shredded cheddar cheese. In oven until the cheese melts. Serve with crackers. YUM.

"Tommy Lee Jones isn't made for high def"

An example of something I love about my husband - his sometimes inappropriate sense of humor.

Sunday was our anniversary. The big one-oh. Wait, that's 10. The big wu-un. 1. We made it to one year. That's a success in itself, right?

We celebrated this past weekend. What did we do for our anniversary? We celebrated in a way that we love - low key.

Friday, we made dinner together (which actually turned out to be a big fat fail) and watched some STUPID movie that he got through Netflix. Electric Mist? Bad choice, husband, bad choice.

On Saturday, we started by sleeping in. Ahhhhhh.

Then we went to the pool for the afternoon. Sunnnnnnn.

Then we went to dinner at Giuseppe's, a nice little Italian restaurant in Lexington. Yummmmmm. The appetizers were delish - crabcakes with aioli and scallops over risotto. Salads & portobello cream soup. Chicken and ricotta stuffed shells & gnocchi with Fontina cream sauce.



We came home and had some raspberry cobblers. Mmmmmmmm. No wait, that's what we were going to have if I wasn't lazy. Instead, we went to KROGER after dinner and picked up one of those frozen desserts that you always see at the grocer's but you never know if they're any good? We grabbed a cookies & cream pie and it was good.



Then we watched an incredibly romantic movie.


"The Dark Knight." Wait, what's that you say? It's NOT a romantic movie? Oh, oops.

And we drank our bottle of anniversary wine - Thanks Mikey & Amanda!


Thus ended the night. Please people, we're keeping this PG.

What? That's it, you ask?

Where are the gifts? We're lazy.

Where are the corny letters and cliche sayings? We don't do that.

Where is the wedding cake top? Well...ummm, we didn't have cake at our wedding. True story. I'm surprised our marriage has even lasted this long without a wedding cake.

Grumpy

I'm grumpy today. I bet you want to know why, right? Well, I'll tell you.

First of all, this is what the weather has been like. ALL DAY. Rain, rain, go away.



So then I wore these shoes today. Cute, casual, comfy right? NOT COMFY. Note to self: Test out shoes that you have only worn with socks before wearing them for hours without socks.



And the sink. The sink makes me grumpy every time I look at it. See how the stopper dohicky isn't stuck to the little stick that you can pull up? Yeah. Now I freak out about dropping things down the sink. And I have a screwdriver next to it so that I can pry up the stopper when it gets stuck down there.



This is why I'm grumpy.

*tear*

My baby is growing up :(

Puppy Max is now 10 months old. And today, I scheduled his appointment to become a man. Wait, maybe that's not right. Anyway, he's getting neutered next week.

Let's take a look at how Max has become a mandog:

As a baby, Max slept with his stuffed animals.



And needed to wear sweaters for warmth.



And of course, he fit in a shoe.


Now, Max likes to listen to music.


He helps pay bills around the house, stamping the envelopes for us.



He helps with the chores, like folding laundry.


Corresponds via email.


And gives his own tribute to deceased pop idols.


Yeah, he's a cool cat. Er, dog.

Macaroni & corn casserole

Mmmmmmm, sound gross? Well, it's not dang it!

This recipe came to me from a family friend at a church potluck. It quickly became a favorite and I've passed it on to many others. It's a great side dish for any meal, but especially great for a cookout.

Recipe:
1 can corn, undrained
1 can creamed corn
1 cup macaroni, raw
1/4 stick butter (2 T), chopped for better melting
Cheese*
Breadcrumbs (optional)

*Cheese? Cheese, you ask? Ok, you can use any type of cheese you want. Me, I'm no cheese snob. I usually use good ole processed Velveeta. A 2 inch block, cubed. But for you snobs, do what you want :)

Pour everything into a greased casserole dish. Cover & bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (until the macaroni is cooked), stirring occasionally. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs if desired.

Precooked:


Cooked: