Paint, paint, paint....and ice cream :)

Friday over my lunch break, I decided to go have a gallon of paint mixed up for testing purposes. I can’t decide on a paint color based on a two inch square, so I buy samples and throw them up on the walls in various spots to see how I like the color and how it reacts to light at different times of day. I did this inside, but now we’re getting close to outside paint time…so here we go..

The exterior trim will be the same off-white/cream color as my interior trim.
The doors will be shiny black to match the inside as well.

Worried isn’t the right word, but I was..concerned about the color I wanted to paint my exterior siding. I have been thinking about grays for a long time and wanted something a little darker. Gray, to me, is hard because it can tint several different colors while still being gray. Since my roof is a pretty specific color, I wanted to make sure my siding wasn’t going to have a purple, pink, green, or blueish tint to it…I just want gray.

I used a little cutting from a piece of paper my friend Brooke had – I took that to the hardware store, and they matched it exactly using their computer system. I then painted a couple sample spots around the house making sure I hit all four sides and any area that had a different exposure to the sun.

I finally ordered the rest of the siding for the front of the house! More to come..

I know I like the color. It’s definitely gray..no tint. I’m just not sure it’s THE color I want. Maybe just a hair too dark? The only reason I say that is because of the color of the shingles – I think the house might look too monolithic if the siding matches the roof that closely. Thoughts?

I'm thinking a lighter gray color for the garage door - what do you think?

Thursday night, I was clearing the garden and making things look a little better there when I decided I should probably harvest some of my basil for pesto to store in the freezer. When I lived at home with my former “roommates,” my mom-roommate and I would do this. I’ve seen a lot of people online freezing pesto in ice cube trays – when you need some, pop one out and go – and that’s really handy. I don’t have a spare tray at the moment, so I just use a little plastic container. This way I can have garden-fresh pesto all year long!

I had also read about people making ice cream with one ingredient. Apparently if you went to summer camp you know what this is about. For me, however, it was mind blowing..so I had to try it.

The one ingredient is banana. You cut up a couple ripe bananas into medium-sized chunks and freeze them solid. Then, throw the frozen chunks into the food processor and you’ve got ice cream!

I was skeptical initially, but damnit if it doesn’t work. And damnit if it wasn’t AWESOME! There’s enough fat in the banana to give it a smooth consistency, and the flavor is great – truly authentic banana flavor. I’m not even crazy about banana flavor, but this was great!

Three bananas were enough for two modest size servings. I ate the first right away and saved the second in the freezer to see how it would store…would it turn black overnight if it had already been pureed? No need for worry: I’m happy to report, it was just as good the next day!

Manic cleaning/organizing on a Thursday night

In addition to laundry, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and organizing the kitchen, I cut out these squishy shelf liners for all the drawers and shelves in the kitchen. I also loaded the kitchen cabinets with food, dishes, and other kitchen stuff. Very fancy!

The last two weeks, I've walked around piles of laundry, let the dishes pile up in the sink, and swept crumbs off the counters onto the floor. Last night, I caught up on everything in a burst of energy right before CRASHING to sleep. Looking pretty good around the house, if I do say..

Manscaping

This weekend was a lot of fun! Friday night was Knoxville Movie Night – a free outdoor showing of a film in the public park..open to all..big screen, big sound, big fun!

Any guesses as to which movie we watched this time?
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Knoxvillemovienights

Saturday I slept in a little, woke up and started pulling weeds in the garden, clearing the yard of dead and dried flowers (the drought really took a toll on..everything) and did some laundry.

Then my parents came over, and – within about 15 minutes – we went from this..

..to this..

It's always amazing what a truck and a log chain can do..

The house looks so much bigger without the bushes, don't you think?

This should make it quite a bit easier to hang the new siding and replace the windows in this part of the house. It’s also just easier for me (mentally) to get rid of everything and start fresh. Hopefully next year the weather will cooperate a little better and I’ll be able to landscape the yard, completely. With the changes I’ve made to the house and the paint colors I’d like to use on the outside, I’m excited to have a cohesive plan in place for the plantings in the yard..I just hope it’s not 115F all summer next year so I can actually work on it!

Saturday afternoon, I drove to Cedar Rapids and hung out with a group of old friends, and made some new friends while I was at it. The cool part was, we hung out in a $2,000,000 house on an acreage, complete with horses, dogs, four wheelers, and a whole lot of crown molding.

I didn’t take any pictures this time because my phone was dying all weekend..but I have these pictures from a previous visit. Pretty sweet digs J

The front door, complete with gas lamps on either side of the entry.

Foyer, complete with James Bond style secret closet for coats and shoes.

Immediately inside the front door.

Massive crown molding throughout the house. All the ceilings were at least 10-12 feet tall.

Kitchen, living room, breakfast area with a wet bar to the right. Yes, that's a freaking harp.

Bar area..with two mini fridges. You know..just in case.

From the living room: kitchen with bar to the left.

Sunday afternoon was the drive home with a brief stop at the Iowa State Fair to meet a friend. Within 10 minutes, I was being thrown through the air and spun upside down on a giant death-trap ride. Good fun! J

These were our seats. There were two other riders on at the top, and we spun like a GD windmill possessed by the devil for a couple minutes. They were even kind enough to take video of your screaming and yelling. "You shouldn't have..really"
http://www.iowastatefair.org/

There we are...flying! :)

Pasta Party

So, I’ve written a good bit about all the tomatoes I’ve been given, grown, or otherwise acquired. Today’s post is another “what-the-hell-are-you-doing-with-all-of-these-tomatoes” post.

A bread knife makes cutting tomatoes easier...and cleaner - no tomato squirt.

I saw a variation of this that was simpler, tried it, liked it, and tweaked it to become this recipe. It’s super fast, really satisfying, and tweakable to no end, so feel free to play around with it.

It starts with tomatoes – I cut my garden Roma tomatoes into halves or quarters depending on their size and set them I aside.

I then prepped the rest of what I thought I’d try in this batch: Onion, garlic, chard, kale, pesto, Parmesan cheese, and a good olive oil. I say good olive oil because it’s the sauce for the pasta, so it should be something you like the flavor of. Although butter would probably work well enough, too.

Tomato, onion, garlic, kale, chard, and spaghetti. Nom.

Anyway, sauté the onion in your olive oil for a bit adding a pinch of pepper. I didn’t add salt to the sauce because the cheese is salty enough and I knew I would want a lot of cheese J

After the onions have started turning clear, add the chopped tomatoes and a spoonful of pesto – mine came from a batch I made a while back and stored in the freezer. (Basil, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, sun dried tomato, toasted cashews/walnuts/pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil) I also added some chopped Swiss chard and kale – this was the new addition to the recipe this time..just because I had some in the fridge that needed used.

After a couple minutes when the tomatoes have started to soften and lose their skins, add the garlic and cook the mixture for another minute or so. If the tomatoes are tender enough for you, pull the skillet off the heat and add a handful of Parmesan. You could also deglaze the bottom of the pan with some white wine before taking it off the heat and adding the cheese..that’s really good, too.

Drain your pasta (I used spaghetti because I had it on hand..Fettuccine would also work well) saving some of the salted pasta water to loosen the sauce. Pour your pasta into the sauce pan and cook together until everything is coated and cooked through. If you’re like me, you’ll probably want more cheese J

Kale and chard are both super nutritious..and the fresh tomatoes are packed with all kinds of goodness, too.

Like I said, this can be added to and subtracted from to no end. It’s a really good, quick lunch or dinner and is a great way to use up your garden tomatoes.

Oh…one other quick note.. The President was in town this morning J  

The Man has quite the entourage. DOZENS of cars..lots of Secret Service.

A couple local kids, President Obama, his tank/bus, and the Marion County Courthouse.

Knoxville Nationals

As I’ve mentioned before, Knoxville happens to be the Sprint Car Capitol of the World.

What is a sprint car, you might ask? Watch and see!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXApxIMRRjM

Though I don’t go to the races often, they are actually a lot of fun. Especially when you’re surrounded by 50,000 ‘new’ Knoxvillians for the ten days of the Knoxville Nationals.

This year was the 52^nd Annual Knoxville Nationals – it’s basically the Super Bowl of sprint car racing and attracts people from all over the world. Literally.

http://sprintcarhof.com/Pages/Home

The sport is pretty big across the Midwest, but has a large following all over America, Canada, and especially Australia and New Zealand. So, once a year in early August, they make their pilgrimage to my hometown and hang out with us for a few days. It’s not only really exciting racing, it’s a great excuse to party, stay out late, and generally let your hair down.

People from all walks of life make Knoxville their summer vacation. It’s not at all unusual to find the newest Ferrari, Mercedes, or Porsche parked next to the oldest, rustiest junker you’ve ever seen. Lake Red Rock fills up with expensive boats and jet skis, and local businesses bring in more money in a few days than they otherwise would in months. It’s a pretty exciting time to be in town, and a wonderful opportunity for us to show ourselves off to the world.

http://www.redrockarea.com/events/lake-red-rock/

I had a few friends come to town again this year, and – for the first time – they got to stay at MY house during the Nationals J

The weekend started out innocently enough..a little Thursday harvest.
The 'Atomic Red' carrots were really good! Very carrot-y.

Things quickly descended into a booze-fest.
Exhibit A: Gin Bucket. Bottle of Gin, two-liter bottle of Sprite, juice concentrate (whichever flavors you like)
This was one of two made.. for the night.

No weekend would be complete without a margarita stop..



..followed by a brewery stop. Followed by a stop at the track.
Needless to say, no pictures were taken at the track..



Little bit of everything

Driving country roads on the way to visit a farm. Yes, I stopped to take this picture.



We left the rolling hills of Iowa...



..for the Ozarks.

Actually, it was a great trip. We've been going for years and always have a good time. This is the view from our house - follow the winding steps to the pool, and to the Lake from there.

Got home, did some laundry, did some touchup painting, cleaned the house, and made a few cookies. I need something unhealthy in the house at all times:) I rolled up the extra dough and froze it - we'll see how it turns out.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, everywhere..

Remember my bowl of tomatoes? Quintuple that..this is my life.

With many of the tomatoes from the picture above, I hulled them, roasted them with garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar, and ran them through the food processor for sauces. I've got a couple quarts in the freezer. This is in addition to the multiple bags of tomatoes and peppers I cut up and froze for use in chili later in the year.

Another batch...holy crap.
See the "split" tomato in the front? I learned today that's due to inconsistent watering. The drought has been terrible for crops this year..especially those that need so much water. 

Roasted tomato Caprese salad. Tomato off the vine, basil out of the yard :)

Tomato sauce base from the puree in the freezer, basil and oregano from the yard, onions and garlic from my farm box.
I didn't make the wine or the pasta...I feel like such a failure ;)