Madison

Quick recap of the last trip. It was an awesome trip.

-I wish I would weigh myself right before and right after visiting Wisconsin, or have a pre & post trip doctor visit, because the diet is outrageous there.

-Always drove past Madison, never realized it was more than a strip mall off 90/94.

-Would happily move there

-The Edgewater Patio: Boogie on, reggae woman (or at least a midwest teacher's interpretation of reggae)

-The Great Dane is crazy good, a great draw and a real good reason not to live there. I'd be dead in a month.

-Pretty sweet downtown area, like if you scrunched up all your favorite parts of a medium size city into one area, BAM!

-Real nice lakes for chilling, walking, and biking.

-Monona Terrace was pretty cool, got 2 lil videos from there.

-UW would have been a cool place to go to school, but again, this was a visit in June, so let's hold back that judgment until February...

-Ate dinner one night in this crazy 150 year old farmhouse, had to walk thru a cellar from a barn to get there. Great food.

-Seriously killer farmers market, felt closer to something like taste of chicago than a farmers market. Would go broke trying to grocery shop there.

-A ton more, it was a fab trip. Encore!

Lying in the park on a beautiful day...

We went down to St. Anthony Falls & the Stone Arch Bridge today, these are some pics from the trip.

More good time garden fun!

Oh sure, it's too many pics, but what else do you have to do right now?

401k plan

Human Giant on Reno 911!

RENO 911!	Wednesdays 10:30pm / 9:30c
401k Plan
comedycentral.com
Joe Lo Truglio Funny Cop Videos

Garden is Go!!

We got the veggies in today. Tons of work, but totally worthwhile. Celebrated with a swim, guacamole, and tacos. I'll try to post pics later (but my camera work is not nearly as good as Mrs. Jessie Rowles).

From North to South, in 8ft long rows:
2 hills of watermelon
TOMATOES
CARROTS (2 ROWS)
LETTUCE (2 ROWS)
BANANA PEPPERS
PIMIENTO PEPPERS
ZUCCHINI
SQUASH

CUCUMBERS are along the fence, along with peas, off the side of the patio. We've got a bunch of extra seeds, and a lot of peppers that are growing, so if anyone wanted to trade or take some, cool! I've got a guy whose gonna get me a few more tomatoes, Alison wants to put in potatoes, but if I had a choice, I'd like to go with okra, beans, or tomatillos.

And some bird has decided to make our hanging basket it's home.

Time to make the tacos...

Randumb Fridayness

Loved Lifetime's outdoor pool. Probably less fun with lots of people, but it was a great start to "summer". Spent the day working on Casa de la Nate, so it was refreshing. Listening to Drive-By Truckers and about to start the grill.

Jorge Garcia (Hurley) from LOST has a blog.

Better Homes and Gardens.2

I realize that in this and the last post, they aren't great images, but I wanted to throw some stuff up here. As we get on with the summer, I'll get some better shots.


Here's the veggie garden, or where it will be. 18ft x 8ft


Trying to capture the lilac bushes that sweep across the entire backyard. Can't do it justice!


Here's a view from the edge of the patio, of the bushes, just can't get it all in there! Next time I might stand on the roof.


Lily of the Valley and homemade concrete edging. Alison's working hard on that project!


Couldn't get a good quick pic of it, but this is a window box I just put in on the kitchen window. I think it'll be pretty cool. It's got Lavender & Yellow Violas and this white ground cover, I didn't get a name on it, so let me know if you have the answer.

All the hanging/potted and most of the new flowers came from the church plant sale, good deals, remember for next spring!

Better Homes and Gardens

So there's been a lot of outdoors activity at Casa de la Nate since the snow melted in March, and it's finally starting to work out. I've got some pics of the action for ya.

 

This is a wide shot of the front garden, including our new hanging fuchsia.

 

We wondered why this bush was here. Now we know.

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The back patio, with a couple new potted plants.

 

The garden off the back patio.

Gardening Racket

Veggie Garden size: 18' wide x 8' deep, with optional room to add 2' to width

Roll Call:
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Peas
Banana Peppers
Red/Yellow Peppers
Watermelon

Going nice and slow this year.

Planting all but tomatoes this weekend.

Weed-Be-Gone Max killed most weeds this week.

Looking forward to Bratfest '09 Monday!

Used part of Christmas gift card on Flip camera, can't wait to get it & starting shooting video.

Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully the gym will open the pool tomorrow, gonna be so nice!

Caponata Picnic Sandwiches

Thanks for dinner Saturday, Giada! I took your idea, tinkered with it, y'know, add bacon, drop the capers, easy on the celery stalk, no raisins, but added zucchini. I'm all about doing it again, so very tasty. Oh! so tasty...

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 celery stalk, chopped
* 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* Salt
* 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1(14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 3 tablespoons raisins
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon drained capers
* 1 loaf ciabatta bread, cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces
* 2 garlic cloves, peeled
* 6 slices (1/3-inch-thick) drained fresh water-packed mozzarella

Directions

Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and saute until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the eggplant and saute until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Season with salt. Add the red pepper and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes with their juices, raisins, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat until the flavors blend and the mixture thickens, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar, sugar, and capers. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cut the bread pieces horizontally in half. Grill the bread cut-side down on a grill pan over medium-high heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Rub the whole garlic cloves over the toasted side of the bread. Add a slice of mozzarella to bread bottom, spoon the caponata on top, cover with the other bread half, and serve.

To take for a picnic: Wrap the sandwiches separately in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Chill until ready to serve, or keep at room temperature up to 1 hour.

Added to the list

of movies I am very intrigued by: Guy Ritchie. Robert Downey Jr. Jude Law. Sherlock Holmes. Is it cool, steampunk-ish like "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" graphic novel, or lame "TLoEG" movie? I have great expectations, and it's difficult for a movie to disappoint me (I still love "From Hell"), thus I look forward to it.

i'm gonna grill some mahi mahi

for dinner and pretend i'm jacob.

also, if you are a fan of wbez OR "wait, wait, don't tell me", you might enjoy this. otherwise you won't.

Aziz vs Fake IMAX

Great Post

Aziz is fabulous

This guy is my favorite comedian, and I'm really pleased Parks & Recreations will be back next year.

I've never tried to do this, so let's try it with a favorite of mine