I'm off to the "Windy City"

I will be in Chicago for a week-long Sports Convention to hopefully be awarded a tournament for 2009. There will be some leisure time to explore the city and to hopefully feast on Chicago-style Pizza at Giordano's, Lou MalNati's, or Gino's East of Chicago to name a few.

...and the crazy-busy season begins...

It's that time of year when my job and the fall/Holiday Season collide. I honestly have to say I "heart" my job to pieces. I have the Best Boss ever and I actually enjoy going to work everyday! I know that sounds "too good to be true", but this is the best job I've ever had and I plan to retire there!

I'm leaving today for Atlanta, GA for an educational seminar. Too bad it's not peach season, I would've loved enjoying this.

Gumbo Ya Ya

We are getting ready to plan our fall and winter garden. We are still getting a couple of bell peppers, crowder and purple hull peas. R planted okra the beginning of summer. I'll freeze the okra and use it for gumbo this winter. When it starts getting nippy here in South Louisiana we call it “gumbo weather.” Hopefully that will be soon...

On the needles...

Entrelac Scarf

C's Blue Scarf

Grey Mohair Lace Scarf

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Not the American Alternative Rock Band, but our red hot chili peppers from the Hodge-Crop. R and I enjoy fresh sliced peppers with anything and everything. We've been getting a chock full of peppers and recently I've chopped them up in the food processor, placed them in a jar with sugar and vinegar and it's quite tasty.

Sorry for the lack of posting but I've been very busy, both with work and at home. The southern summer heat is brutal and makes me tired and sleepy and worthless when I do get home. Thank goodness I have R in my life, our house and yard would be a train wreck!

"Buy me some Peanuts and Cracker Jack..."

Well, we don't have to buy some roasted peanuts thanks to M planting them this past Spring.

This is what M pulled up...

and R roasted them last night!

Speaking of peanuts, look at what I spotted the other day... Reese's Elvis Cups!

I'm a big fan of Elvis and was excited when I saw this! This “limited edition” candy is being made in honor of the 30th Anniversary of The King’s passing, which is August 16th. I need to get my hands on the King Size version get it…”The King”! The packaging for this features Hawaiian Elvis, sporting sideburns and a purple lei at the 1973 concert taped at the Convention Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. This was the first program to ever be beamed around the world by satellite. Oh and they are also including an instant win contest for a trip for two to Graceland…in that case I need to buy a truck load of Elvis Cups!

Short and Stumpy but are they yummy???

We pulled up the carrots yesterday and look what we came up with.

The close-up is the strangest ones out of the bunch. R called them Nuclear Carrots and insisted on tossing them out.

Although Bruneaux disagrees and is proud of our carrots!

Smart Yarn

One of my WIP's is my first pair of socks. I'm using Fortissima Socka yarn in Veracruz. What amazes me and makes me wonder is how does the yarn know when to stripe and line up perfectly? My knitting pals and I are using a pattern that D gave us which has no relation to the brand of yarn I'm using. Hopefully when I start the second sock the colorway will be the same.

Flower Power

Here's what's blooming in our yard...

Crazy for Blueberries...

My friend F here at work told me about a place in Lewisburg where you can pick fresh Blueberries. I'm all about fresh fruits and veggies from a farm. You should've seen all the blueberries. We ended up picking five and a half pounds. Not bad for $1.50 a pound.

My knitting friend A and I celebrated our birthdays this past Saturday with our other knitting pals and had a Blueberry Martini which I may mention was quite tasty.

Nothing like biting into a blueberry muffin made with fresh blueberries. I love the sweet-tart flavor. Looks like I'll be baking a lot of Blueberry Mochi unless I use them all up for Blueberry Martini's!

Japanese Bento with a Southern Twist

• Crowder Peas (from our garden!) and Tasso
• Sliced Cucumbers (from our garden!)
• Onigiri with Furikake
• Sliced Fresh Peaches and Strawberries (from our garden...just kidding!)
• Red Globe Grapes
  

"Gee, I coulda had a V-8!"

We don't have to worry about having a V-8 we pick enough veggies to full fill our daily intake. So far we've had our share of:

• Corn
• Crowder Peas
• Cucumbers
• Green Beans
• Green/Red/Yellow Bell Peppers (Orange are ready to be picked!)
• Purple Hull Peas
• Tomatoes (Cherry/Creole/Grape/Hybrid 444/Roma)
  

Since we've been getting a lot of rain (29.78 inches since January 1, 2007) some of our Veggies have "boo-boo's" on them but are still tasty.

According to the San Francisco-based WeatherBill Inc., a study published in May of rainy cities had Lafayette, Louisiana ranked at fifth, with 62 inches as the average annual rainfall and having 55 average annual rainy days.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks..

R and I saw this commercial the other night and laughed hysterically. Hopefully we won't catch Buddy or Bruneaux doing this in the house! Speaking of B&B I took these pictures the other day on our camera on B&W setting. I have to admit I haven't really studied my camera instructions/manual. Maybe that's why my pictures don't look as nice as others out there. Of course, I don't know what setting the camera was on and I'm really bummed because these are probably the best pictures I've taken so far.

'Ole' Bento!

Today I have some leftovers from last nights supper. I made Pork Enchiladas but since it's R's fave I left it for his lunch today.

First tier: Pork Carnitas (used in enchiladas) and Mexican Rice and a bottle of Tomatillo Sauce

Second tier: Fresh Roasted Beets (from Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge) and Sweeeeeet Roasted Yellow Peppers from our garden

Secret compartment (under lid): Three Mango Cream Sandwich Cookies

I start a 6-week knitting class tonight. D is going to teach us to knit socks, I'm excited! The class is from 6-8pm so I brought this for my snack. Butter Crackers, Pepper jack Cheese and Grapes.

Abigail at Bento Yum inquired about my Herb Lime Rice and the Eggplant recipe. I found this recipe at Chowhound and modified it with our herbs that we grow in our garden. Not only did I use Cilantro, I added Italian Flat Parsley, Basil and Mint. Very fragrant. As for the Eggplant I just sliced, drizzled olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper and put em' on the grill. Easy-Peasy! I find roasting any vegetable moves it up to another dimension. I roasted Green Beans awhile back and my stepsons B and M really enjoyed them this way which is hard to believe because they would not even touch them before.

'Olé!', in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, used to express excited approval, for example at sporting events. Possibly derived from Arabic w-Allāh = "by Allah!", carried over from medieval Muslim rule in Spain.

"Leggo my Bento!"

I grew up in Hawaii where Bentos are everywhere. In restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores. I bring my lunch to work everyday and snacks are my best friend. So, I always have snacks packed away for the Hodge clan in a tote wherever we go. I purchased the Pink Chrysanthemum set at Bento Yum. Here's my first Bento.

First Tier: Roasted Eggplant over Herb Lime Rice

Second Tier: Tri-Color Corn (from Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge) and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Compartment under lid: Fresh Sliced Kiwis

I realize my Bentos aren't as fancy-schmancy as the ones posted on Bento Lunches, but I figure with my Bento obsession I will soon be Bento Queen!

Off to work I go with my Bento!

Weather report for today..."Mostly Sunny", how about "Mostly HOT?"

I realize that it's 92 degrees (but feels like 107) and the humidity is 57% but I thought I'd post about this anyway. Last winter when it was nippy I knitted these skull caps for my two step sons B and M. I used Bernat Camouflage yarn in Outback and Mash. They also have Pink Camo! I'll have to knit one for A, my Sista-Friend in Seattle for this winter since she's been on my case since I've started knitting! I'd really like to learn to knit some of these Helmet liners/Neck Coolers for our Troops. Speaking of Troops I'd like to Congratulate my Kuya on his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve and my sister-in-law J to a Master Sergeant...well deserved.

A trip to Baton Rouge and the Dentist...

Well, the day-trip to Baton Rouge is a lot more joy than the dentist office. I was home last week for a few days due to a toothache and some dental work. I'd explain more but I'm afraid my tooth will start to hurt again! On a lighter note R and I took the dogs to Baton Rouge last Saturday for the day (before my tooth incident). We went to the Red Stick Farmers Market and bought veggies, fruit and some herbs plants. After we took the dogs to the dog park. As I mentioned here before, Bruneaux has the "little man syndrome". Well, at the dog park a Pit Bull aggravated him and Bruneaux started to growl and bark at him and was ready to brawl. I swooped Bruneaux up in my arms. Little does he know that the Pit Bull can eat him in one bite! The Pit Bulls' head is the same size as Bruneaux's body! My "little man" has some Cajun fire in his blood! Other than that Buddy and Bruneaux had a great time smelling and socializing with other dogs.

A "must stop" for us when we do go to Baton Rouge is a trip to "Death Valley". Well, that's another name for Tiger Stadium at LSU. R graduated from LSU and I do believe he bleeds purple and gold! LSU fans are very loyal and are die-hard Tiger fans. Mike the Tiger recently passed away. He lived his last years in great comfort.

Our final stop was at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum. We'll have to come back in early Spring when it's not quite hot. The dogs enjoyed their garden stroll! Bruneaux slept all the way home!


Oh, and check this out, the Arboretum has a Hodge Podge garden as well! It's where the Arboretum’s friends and fans have the opportunity to scour their gardens for plants in need of a new home. I would love this sign in our Hodge ~ Podge crop!