November 21st, 2006
I want to a dinner party this weekend. We had this idea that we could mimic the show Iron Chef and pick and ingredient that everyone would have to use in the different courses. We chose lime as our main ingredient.
Debbie made ceviche:
(YUM!)
Laura P. made a yummy salad with a lime vinaigrette and limed veggie skewers. Laura T. made a tomatillio lime salad and a cilantro lime pesto.
I did a Tequila Lime Chicken Pasta:
And we finished it off with four lime desserts made by Danielle, Jessica and Laura P.:
There were, of course, margaritas, limeade, lime sherbet smoothies and even Pepsi with Lime for beverage choices.
It was a totally fun experiment, but I think we learned that there’s a reason why people usually balance the flavors of their meals a little better. By the third bite of the evening, the only thing I could taste was lime. In fact, I may have had my fill of lime for the month.
Next time, Mexican, maybe.
The Lime Gals:
Laura T., Jessica, Debbie, Danielle and Jackie, Laura P. and Me! (Yes, I realize Laura T.’s eyes are closed, but mine are closed in the other one we took and it’s my website, ha!)
November 12th, 2006
OK, so my plan to post daily died in its infancy. You know, it’s been one of those weeks. Gray caught a cold, then gave it to me. The kids had Friday off for Veteran’s Day. Life just got in the way, as usual. But I’ve got a few comments of the week.
Friday, for the holiday, the kids and I headed over to the McCormick Stillman Railroad Park up in Scottsdale. We rode the train and the carousel and played at the park. The scene was mobbed with kids, moms, playgroups and even a few dads, but it was just an amazing day. The weather right now could not possibly be more gorgeous. How lucky are we to live in a place where the high is 82 and the sky is clear mid-November. I keep expecting it to get chilly but it just hasn’t at all yet. It’s lovely. I guess I will keep my sweaters packed away until we go to Oregon over Christmas.
Yesterday I attended the Defensive Driving School for ticket offenders. I got one of those photo tickets for going 56 in a 45. It was an OK experience. Not too painful. It would have been less painful if I hadn’t been an idiot the night before and taken a full dose of cold medicine before bed. I have a weird sensitivity to the stimulant in the decongestant and was up literally until 3:30 AM unable to sleep. Anyway, the teacher let me knit during class (I’m making myself a winter hat for the OR trip) and I learned a couple of interesting things. The first was that in Arizona one in nine drivers has a gun in his or her car. A GUN. ONE IN NINE. The instructor told us this during the road rage section of the class and it made me fear for Jason’s life. He has no tolerance for anyone doing anything he perceives as rude or stupid while driving and regularly engages in intimidation techniques and hand gestures. Jason, they probably have a gun! Quit it! The second thing I learned was that the guy sitting next to me attended his 1079th movie with his wife last week. They’ve been married 52 years. Amazing! (And also, still a lot of moves to see regularly, like 20 a year… Wow.)
Lastly, I walked my neighborhood again yesterday to pass out a flier for a free turkey drawing we are doing. This time my sister helped me do it and we got it done in an hour and a half. It was awesome. And I’m not sore at all. Thanks, Sarah! I’m so never doing it alone again.
November 5th, 2006
We just got home from Sunday at Shemer, an art fair in Phoenix at the Shemer Art Center on Camelback. We went because a colleague of Jason’s has a girlfriend who was exhibiting her paintings. He invited Jason and told him there would be kids activities as well.
It was a gorgeous day and I’m so so sorry that I forgot to load my memory card into the camera before we left. The sun was shining and the museum sits right up against Camelback Mountain. We walked around looking at booths of original art, the kids painted paper lanterns and made their own colored silly putty, we ate Honeybears BBQ and sat in the grass and listened to the jazz band. It was a perfect afternoon.
Two of my favorite of the artists were this artist and this one. I love seeing things I like and getting to speak to the actual artist as well.
Today was one of those days I wish we had more of. It made me think we need to have less on our schedule and more fun family outings. In no time at all the kids will be big and we won’t have opportunities like this anymore.
