Excuse me ... but I'll ramble here. So much is going on, life seems to be spinning. I'm trying to catch up, really I am.
My baby, my youngest is turning EIGHT this week. EIGHT!!! How can this be? I still remember his birth like it was yesterday (well, sorta - don't ask me to recite the exact time, his exact weight, or exact length without looking at his birth certificate ... there, I said it, I'm a bad mom!).
The kids start school on Monday and I'm not ready. School supplies are mostly done (thanks to the program at the school where I could write them a check and they provide me with a box of the required school supplies). But I still don't have the uniform situation worked out. We went last night and they were out of the size shirts that Philip needs. They had a LOT of the larger shirts for their school, but were out of the smaller kids shirts. So today I'll run to another uniform shop to look for them. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh? But really, it snuck up on me and I've been so busy.....
Busy ... that's my excuse.
Busy with things like The Columns for drinks last night. Or the reunion the weekend before. Or the Farmer's Market yesterday. Important stuff, ya' know?
Seriously, I'm still on a bit of a high from the reunion. It was such a great time. Everyone enjoyed themselves and that makes me happy. Last night was a mini-reunion at The Columns and I had a few mojitos and relaxed. It was fun.
I haven't been cooking as much lately. Just doing things like throwing together some grilled (ummm, by grilled I mean thin slices thrown in a hot cast iron skillet with some olive oil) eggplant, onions, bok choy, shrimp - tossing in oyster sauce/fish sauce/soy sauce/butter/brown sugar/shallots/scallions, and serving over soba noodles.
I'm hoping to change that. Yesterday at the Farmer's Market I got more eggplant (I think the house is getting tired of me buying/serving eggplant, but it is in season and I love it!), tomatoes, some rosemary, and oyster mushrooms. I don't know what I'll do with the oyster mushrooms yet. I'm still researching and thinking.
Speaking of cooking and food shopping .... this economy is cramping my cooking style. I have never paid much attention to my grocery budget. I have a long list of standard/staples that I keep in the house at all times. I like a full pantry/fridge. I do not plan out meals. I like to go into the kitchen, dig around, see what I've got, see what inspires me, and throw something together - either something I've cooked before or something I make up on the spot.
In order to do that, you really need a well stocked kitchen. I've always got flour tortillas, corn tortillas, rice paper wraps (for spring rolls/etc). I've always got a HUGE supply of Jasmine rice, soba noodles, bean thread noodles, rice noodles (wide and skinny). I'm never without at least 10 kinds of cheese (an expensive habit!!), and the basic veggies: onions, more than one color bell pepper, green onions, shallots, cucumbers, celery, carrots, lettuce, radishes, mung bean sprouts, fresh cilantro and parsley, and in season-great tomatoes. My freezer always has shrimp (size depends on what the Farmers Market has - yesterday I got BEAUTIFUL HUGE JUMBO 9-12 count shrimp), beef (roast, ground, and thin round steaks), chicken (stewing hen and smaller frying chicken, and sometimes packs of thighs)...etc. You see how this can get expensive???? But, when I want to cook, I want to COOK!
This week - I haven't really cooked. We had that stir fry over soba one night, Popeyes one night, very very bad Chinese take out last night (I was going out - no time for cooking). Hopefully tonight I'll cook a proper meal.....
The kids start school on Monday and I'm not ready. School supplies are mostly done (thanks to the program at the school where I could write them a check and they provide me with a box of the required school supplies). But I still don't have the uniform situation worked out. We went last night and they were out of the size shirts that Philip needs. They had a LOT of the larger shirts for their school, but were out of the smaller kids shirts. So today I'll run to another uniform shop to look for them. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh? But really, it snuck up on me and I've been so busy.....
Busy ... that's my excuse.
Busy with things like The Columns for drinks last night. Or the reunion the weekend before. Or the Farmer's Market yesterday. Important stuff, ya' know?
Seriously, I'm still on a bit of a high from the reunion. It was such a great time. Everyone enjoyed themselves and that makes me happy. Last night was a mini-reunion at The Columns and I had a few mojitos and relaxed. It was fun.
I haven't been cooking as much lately. Just doing things like throwing together some grilled (ummm, by grilled I mean thin slices thrown in a hot cast iron skillet with some olive oil) eggplant, onions, bok choy, shrimp - tossing in oyster sauce/fish sauce/soy sauce/butter/brown sugar/shallots/scallions, and serving over soba noodles.
I'm hoping to change that. Yesterday at the Farmer's Market I got more eggplant (I think the house is getting tired of me buying/serving eggplant, but it is in season and I love it!), tomatoes, some rosemary, and oyster mushrooms. I don't know what I'll do with the oyster mushrooms yet. I'm still researching and thinking.
Speaking of cooking and food shopping .... this economy is cramping my cooking style. I have never paid much attention to my grocery budget. I have a long list of standard/staples that I keep in the house at all times. I like a full pantry/fridge. I do not plan out meals. I like to go into the kitchen, dig around, see what I've got, see what inspires me, and throw something together - either something I've cooked before or something I make up on the spot.
In order to do that, you really need a well stocked kitchen. I've always got flour tortillas, corn tortillas, rice paper wraps (for spring rolls/etc). I've always got a HUGE supply of Jasmine rice, soba noodles, bean thread noodles, rice noodles (wide and skinny). I'm never without at least 10 kinds of cheese (an expensive habit!!), and the basic veggies: onions, more than one color bell pepper, green onions, shallots, cucumbers, celery, carrots, lettuce, radishes, mung bean sprouts, fresh cilantro and parsley, and in season-great tomatoes. My freezer always has shrimp (size depends on what the Farmers Market has - yesterday I got BEAUTIFUL HUGE JUMBO 9-12 count shrimp), beef (roast, ground, and thin round steaks), chicken (stewing hen and smaller frying chicken, and sometimes packs of thighs)...etc. You see how this can get expensive???? But, when I want to cook, I want to COOK!
This week - I haven't really cooked. We had that stir fry over soba one night, Popeyes one night, very very bad Chinese take out last night (I was going out - no time for cooking). Hopefully tonight I'll cook a proper meal.....
