A Dinner A'Fare

On Thursday Christopher and I went to A Dinner A'Fare in Richmond Hill. I had been twice before, but it was his first time. We had a lot of fun, we were the only two in there that morning so we had the place, and the owner to ourselves.  She offered us coffee, and then some wine (to "taste") and after we were done putting together our meals she out out a tray of veggies and breadsticks and we sat and talked about wine. Christopher has worked out some sort of wine deal with her already, lol. We are hoping to get a bunch of friends together for a night out there, we think it would be a lot of fun. I have always had a great experience there, I would recommend them to anyone. We ordered the Rustic Chicken Gratin, Bistro Steak with walnut gorgonzola butter, Jerk Pork Tenderloin with pineapple chutney, Maple Mustard Pork Chops, Greek Chicken pitas, Honey Bourbon beef brisket, crusted chicken with jalapeno corn salsa, Crispy Ranch Chicken,  and we got strawberry french toast, bacon and cheddar stuffed potatoes, green bean almandine and cream cheese stuffed chocolate cupcakes from their "side dish" fridge. Now we just have to decide what to have first!

Breakfast in Bed

Christopher made me breakfast in bed the other day. It was very nice...he knows how I hate to get up in the morning. :) I actually had just gotten up to get Wesley from his room (he was in there calling for me) when Christopher came upstairs with a tray and told me to get back in bed. I enjoyed it, it was scrambled eggs with mascarpone cheese over whole grain toast with apples and coffee. Very yummy. 

Rainbows

Christopher and Wesley saw these rainbows the other night and took some pictures. Very pretty! 

We are a Saturn Family now!

We had some flea issues with the cats (yuck) and we decided to bomb the house on Monday. To kill time until we could go back in, we went to the mall for a while. As I was shopping the sales in Bath & Body Works, Christopher noticed a new Saturn Astra sitting in the mall. He wanted to check on out so we went across the street to the saturn dealership where I bought my Vue. Larry, our wonderful salesman who sold me my car, was there and took Christopher for a test drive in it. Of course, despite Christopher's protests that he was "just going to look" we ended up buying the car. They did give us an excellent deal, they even redid our paperwork when the new sales prices came in at 2pm. They saved us $1000 and $20 a month in our car payment! The car is sliver with black interior, a 3 door manual. Christopher really loves it. Which is good. Also, it gets GREAT gas mileage (32 MPG!) which was a big factor in what we were looking for, especially with his commute everyday. Now, he just has to teach me how to drive a stick! 

Good samaratins

We went to the commissary today. On our way home, as we were driving up the long road into our neighborhood, we saw a distressed looking woman holding two dogs on leashes and a wet kitten. So, of course we pulled over to see if we could help. She had found the kitten while walking her dogs (there were 3 of them) and didn't want to leave them for fear they would be killed. So, we grabbed an extra grocery bag, piled them in and took them home. We put them in a box in the garage. It was later in the day and we didn't think we would make it to the animal shelter in time to drop them off. Christopher is taking them tomorrow. I have warned him not to get attached and I keep pointing to Princess, reminding him what cute little kittens turn into (oh how we have been suckered in before!). I know what the animal shelter is like, I feel bad there isn't a better way to deal with them, but they need food and care and shots and to be fixed. We definitely can't support an additional three cats to the three we already have. I wish I could get them all homes, but I can't. They are maybe 3-6 weeks old. They are so tiny! I hope that they can be found a loving home, I guess giving them that chance is better than letting them get hit on the side of the road. Wesley is fascinated by them. They are very vocal right now. Oh, and they appear to be the same coloring with gray/white fluffy fur and blue eyes. I am trying not to give them names, as that would make me more attached! 

Finished Garden

Here is our finished garden! Included is closeups of our plant on our front table, and the hanging basket. 

Yard work

We worked in the yard all day Tuesday since Christopher had off work. We went to Lowes, with a list of what we needed and a set budget...we came in under budget, go us. We did a lot of work in the front yard, we still have to do the back yard, but it's been pouring since Tuesday afternoon, so that has been put on hold for a while. Christopher cleaned up the garden around the front tree (with Wesley's help shoveling and digging of course!) and put new black mulch in. We added more rocks to the side garden, and more black mulch to the rest of the garden. We cleaned up all the potted plants, and Christopher got the pressure washer out and cleaned the front of the house. It looks so nice now! We just have the table and out new plant. We moved the hanging basket in front of the pole, it makes such a difference! I added some nice fall colors and plants to it. Christopher got the lawn mowed and trimmed (after having to buy a new trimmer due to the fact someone-and we really don't know who-burned out our other one. That really sucked to have to buy). It started raining that afternoon, but we were in full swing and didn't want to quit so we donned rain coats and continued, pretending we lived in England instead of Savannah. This time last summer is was so hot and dry, so I guess I shouldn't complain! We put Wesley in his Giraffe raincoat and boots but didn't want to go outside because, as he told me "Mommy, it raining outside. Get wet!". So, I give the kid a chance to play in the rain and mud and he turns it down. He did come out for a little while but insisted on NOT wearing his coat. Anyway, the yard looks nice now, and besides some weeding and watering we shouldn't have anything more to do to the garden...except add Christopher's garden gnome, whenever it gets shipped here from Iraq! 

Cakes

One more random post for today. I have evidently been on a cake making trip lately. I am posting just a few of them. From the top: the diaper cake mom and I made Ashley, Brad's Birthday Cake, Ashley's shower cake, and the cupcakes we made for Ashley's shower. They were so cute and easy to do. I would make a business of it if I could always do what I wanted, but I don't think it would be as fun if I had someone telling me what they wanted me to do. So, I guess we will just have to have more kids so I can make a lot more birthday cakes in the future. 

New furniture

Because I told Brad I would post about it...Here is our new dining room table. It's great. We will finally be able to all fit around the table and play games and not have people reaching over each other. And it will be nice for Thanksgiving at our house this year! Woo hoo! :) It expands (it had a leaf in the middle) t fit 8 people around it.  We got it at Sam's Club for $650, which we thought was a really good deal! 

Good southern cooking

One of my goals before leaving Savannah is to actually learn to cook some "good southern food". I am still working on the fried chicken, but I think I may have mastered the fried green tomatoes. 

We went to the farmers market on Saturday and bought 3 great looking green tomatoes. So, I sliced them dipped them in seasoned buttermilk, coated them with a cornmeal and flour mixture and threw them into our cast iron skillet, hot with oil. The were pretty good for a first try...crispy on the outside with a nice coating, and warm on the inside. We served it with chipotle ranch dressing, I would like to try to make a special dipping sauce just for the tomatoes. One step at a time! 

The whole family helped on this one too-Wesley helped me make the cornmeal mixture, I cooked and Christopher enjoyed them! 

Christopher's First homemade pizza!

So, with Christopher being home, we have been getting back into cooking again. Sure, I cooked when he was gone but it just isn't as fun, especially when the one person you cook for just wants fish sticks every night. 

So! We started with homemade pizza. We made the dough and sauce from scratch. I guess I should post the recipie on here. 

Pizza dough: Add 1 packet of dry yeast to 1 cup of tepid water. Stir and let sit. While that is sitting, measure out 4 1/4 cups of flour into a food processor. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Start the machine and as it's spinning add in the yeasty water. If you don't have a food processor you can do this by hand, or you can probably use a stand mixer. Mix until it's combined and comes away from the sides. Roll into a ball, put it in a bowl and cover with plastic. Let sit in a warm place for at least an hour. 

Pizza sauce: 1 large can of crushed tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic minced, a little butter, salt and pepper.  Put tomatoes, garlic, and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, reduce by half. Salt and pepper to taste. You will have plenty so have a jar on hand to hold the extras. 

Anyway, we made a pizza with fresh mozzarella, feta cheese, our sauce, chopped tomatoes and fresh basil. I think the only thing we will add next time is pesto sauce to the top. It was really yummy, and a fun family project to do, we all helped with each step. 

Here we go again...

Ok, I know I started a blog for Wesley and never updated it. But seriously, I call everyone the second he does anything so what's the point of typing it on the computer? Besides, I was usually too tired to update. But! I am going to try again. This time though, it's all about our family, not just Wesley so maybe we will actually have some interesting stuff on here. We shall see. :)