On the road again...

I'll be attending a week-long Sports Conference in Louisville, Kentucky home to the Kentucky Derby, Louisville Slugger, and Muhammad Ali Center. What's real cool is that there will be educational seminars at all three of these locations. I'll be traveling with three other colleagues/friends and are planning to explore this trail as well.

I "heart" Anthropologie

When I do travel to Metropolitan areas I look forward to shop at stores that I can only visit through the internet here in Lafayette, LA. When I did work in the hotel industry I often wondered why guests would flock to the mall. Now I understand. While I was in Chicago I shopped at the 9th largest mall in the US. Anthropologie is my absolute favorite store. I always get this warm-fuzzy feeling just being in the store. If I ever decide to make a career change to retail, I would definately work there. Today I received their Stitch catalog and just looking through it made me feel cozy! They feature a few sweaters from Twinkle Big City Knits by Wenlan Chia. I purchased this book and now I'm really excited to knit a sweater.

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!