Getting To Know You (I Mean Me)

Since I haven't gotten into many stories about family yet, I thought I'd take part in the Getting to Know You link party.

1) How many siblings do you have and what are their names?

I have 4 brothers - we are a blended family.  I have one full brother - JE, two step brothers - K & K, and one half brother - JD. (Not using names here just because I haven't asked them if they care that I share potentially embarrassing stories about them with the world, lol.)  I also have 10 million in-laws who I totally love and adore but that's another post.

Wednesday Blog Hop!

Come join us at the Wednesday Blog Hop!  I have met a lot of my new friends through these fun little link parties.

Country Evenings

I just love coming home to the country after a long day at work - nothing soothes better.  Sure, the commute is long and there is always a list of things to do when I get home.  But the open, fresh, calming feeling is always there.  Here's a peek at my typical Monday night at home after a day at work and kids at daycare/summer camp:






A lot of my blog recipes are really just chronicling the way we really live - I mean, no offense, but I don't greatly alter my life for the sake of blogging.  :)  Often early in the week I will make one meal that I know I can turn the leftovers into multiple meals throughout the week.  Especially now that the kids have skating right after work on Tuesday's and I know we will be starving by the time we get home late in the evening so it helps to have something that will just require a quick reheat.  A blogger friend is taking a well-deserved vacation and I am excited to say I am guest blogging (first time ever!) for her so I wanted to do something really special.  I decided to start working on a 1 meat/multiple meals recipe but I worked it in to the weekly menu.  Not to give it away but here are a couple shots of parts of the guest post - you'll have to visit Michelle's Tasty Creations on the special day to find out more!

The hubster had to run past his folks house so that gave me some extra time to work on food prep.  His parents, bless them, make regular runs to their former neighborhood to get "real" Polish sausages and perogies (yes, those awesomely famous little church-lady kind!) and bring them back for all their kids' families to enjoy - we'll be doing that on Wednesday.  When he got home he pointed out that it had started raining.  Its been so long since we've enjoyed a good rain shower (plus the sun was shining through the rain) so we all got excited and went out under the Ash tree to enjoy the rain and look for rainbows.  No rainbows in sight but I did get some neat shots.

Cool Peas & Pasta Salad

Finally!  The temps here have given way and we are only in the 80's rather than over 100.  I don't know about you, but us Michiganders are just not made for those temps!  We haven't eaten much besides popsicles and Gatorade (what do you mean that's not food?) in almost 2 weeks.  You know its bad when the 3 year old asks for more lettuce...

Here's a light and cool pasta salad that will temp even the kids into eating in the hot summer weather.  I like to use the mini shells pasta because some of the peas will nestle right inside and you'll get a pleasant little cool pop when you bite into it.  Any kind of pasta will do fine though.  


Cook one box of pasta in boiling salted water until tender but not mushy.  Immediately drain into a colander and rinse well with cold water until the pasta is cool.  Leave sitting in the colander to drain while you mix your dressing.


In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese, 1/4 cup mayo, 1/4 cup ranch dressing, 1/4 tsp garlic salt or regular salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp fresh thyme, 1 tsp fresh finely chopped oregano, and about 2 tbsp fresh finely chopped chives (more depending on how much you like chives!).  Mix well.  Add pasta and a 16 oz. bag of frozen sweet peas.  If you have access, substitute 2 cups fresh sweet peas that have been boiled and shocked in ice water to remove the outer shell. Mix until pasta and peas are well coated.  Refrigerate about 2 hours to let peas defrost and flavors marry.  


You can also make this right before you run out the door to the beach or poolside gathering and stick it in your cooler.  The frozen peas will help it stay cool for a while and its cheap and easy for potlucks and other large crowds.  This is also the kind of dish that will keep well and only gets better the longer it sits (as long as you keep it cool.)  Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Pie

Here's another lovely old-fashioned treat from "Granny's Drawers" (don't you just love the name?!).  This brown sugar pie is the kind of treat I can see my Great-Grandma whipping up with a few household staples during the Depression or Caroline Ingalls baking on the prairie when fruit was not readily available. 

My Pinterest Pallet Garden

Remember how I was confessing that I procrastinated long enough on getting my veggie garden in at the edge of the field that our drought had begun and the usual veggie garden area had turned to cement?  Well, after another week or so of debating how I was going to put in veggies, an afternoon spent trying to make the field workable, and an hour of staring at the old pallets in my barn...I decided to go for it and plant my veggies in the pallets along the north side of my barn like this cute little pallet garden I had spotted on Pinterest from the MicroGardener.

This is a spot that was rocky and uneven from years of rain coming off the barn roof and dogs digging.  I figure the rain running off the barn will be mostly good since we've gotten very little this year - I may regret that if we get a big pounding rain...  It is also nice because, as you can see, the big rotating sprinkler hits everything at the same time so no moving it back and forth and minimal time is needed to water.

I started by laying down a layer of newspaper 8-10 sheets thick.  This helps kill off any grass and weeds underneath and also decomposes to provide some nutrients to the soil.  I laid three pallets end-to-end to pretty much go the length of the barn wall.  

Join the Blog Hop!

Join me at the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!  Here's how:

1)Add a link to your blog below.
2) Click the "Get the Code" link at the bottom and copy the code that appears.  On your own blog, make sure you are in HTML mode and paste the code into your post - the exact same list of blogs will appear.
3) Encourage your visitors to join the party and it will show up on every list wherever it is posted!

By adding your blog, you may be randomly chosen to be the spotlight blog of the week! Remember, if someone follows you, follow them back! Show some Aloha!

Surviving the Heat...Lilies

I would love to show you the pictures of my usually green and luscious July in Michigan yard...  The sun has thwarted my plans this year.  Those pictures of green loveliness that was the view from my kitchen window in May is now a burnt brown desert with just a couple of spots of green where the septic drains run...  There are a couple of things that do thrive despite the heat and lack of moisture and one of my favorites is the lilies.

Happy Fourth of July!

These are the only fireworks I'll be seeing today but that's OK. Its over 100 degrees here in Michigan today and we haven't had anything that qualified as real rain for weeks so it is way too dry. My parents did take the kids to some local fireworks last night while we met up with some friends to sweat it out at the beer tent. Today everyone is too hot and crabby for any of the fun activities we were hoping to do - but hey, on days like today a good nap is just as exciting!

My little guy made these cool little "fireworks in a bottle" at daycare on Tuesday and has carried them with him everywhere. I'm thinking it would be fun to freeze and used to keep cool too. Just a  small water bottle, water, glitter, pipe cleaners and curling ribbon. Fun and easy.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and thank you to all who fight to keep our freedom and those protecting us at home as well. God Bless America!

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

While the kids get their breakfast at daycare/camp and the hubby and I are not big breakfast people, there are just some weeks that everyone is starving in the morning and we need something to munch while we are running out the door.  Treats like these oatmeal blueberry muffins work just right.  This recipe makes 2 dozen large muffins or 1 dozen large muffins and 2 dozen mini muffins.  It only takes about a half hour to make so I like to make them on Sunday night for the week.