Friday, August 17, 2012

Gluten free Pesto - Now & Later


- 2 cups of packed basil

- 2 cloves of garlic

-1/4 cup of pine nuts (walnuts are delicious too - and more cost effective)

- 2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil


blend all ingredients together (I use my food processor) until very very fine.  store in refridgerator until used.  yields 1 cup of pesto.


***  As the season for growing basil comes to an end, don't let your basil leaves go to waste.   You can make pesto and pour into a muffin tin lined with saran wrap.  Put in freezer until pesto has frozen then you can remove from tin.  Keep in freezer and on a cold winter night when you are looking for dinner options, pull out a frozen packet of pesto to add as chicken/fish marinade or pasta sauce.



I'm a water collector. Kisses to mother earth.

I have waited and wanted.  So thrilled for my rain barrel! 


I am obsessed with catching & conserving rain water and catching the run-off water from potted plants after a nice long watering session.  I put my watering cans out it the rain, move  hanging plants, and potted plants from porch every time we have rain fall.  I have a very deligent method to watering my ferns...  water at the top and a watering can at the bottom catching every drop as it runs through my plants.  It only makes sense for a water collector to have a rain barrel!  BRING ON THE RAIN!  xoxoxo to you mother earth.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Taco Seasoning. You can do it.

Taco night and you are out of seasoning?  Make your own - ingredients are just inside your cabinet....


1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

You can substitute onion powder for freshly chopped onion.  Also, I sometimes use garlic salt (double the amount above) and eliminate the sea salt.  Lots of variations can be made above but no more packets to purchase for taco seasoning.  I hate buying things and wasting packaging when the ingredients are just inside my cabinets.  Just be sure to seal left over seasoning well and make extra for later :).  Enjoy!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Downtown today

It's a beautiful day downtown Atlanta.  Walkinig out of the Georgia Pacific building, wearing my red patent leather pumps, and happy to be working downtown.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

"I" is now "WE"? How'd that happen?

iPhone and bicycle

Saturday night Ben and I went to an eclectic bar, Sister Louisa's Church and Ping Pong Emporium, down the street from our house.  We went out pretty late because Anne, Ben's sister, was in town from NYC for a wedding.  The night was fun and full of chit chatting and picking Anne's brain about her recent move to THE CITY.  Then... I realized my iPhone was missing from the bar.  Long story short - we tracked my phone with a tracking app I had uploaded.  It was late.  We were ready for bed. My phone was sitting in an apartment complex...  I thought - let's go to bed and deal with it in the morning.  Ben had other plans.  I wake in the morning to discover while I was asleep, he was with the police knocking on doors of the apartment complex where MY phone had been tracked.  He did this until 6 a.m. all because he knew I could not replace the pictures on my phone.  No luck.  I was a little upset because I had been looking forward to going to church on Sunday and with little sleep, Ben was not going to make it.  I quickly remembered it was indeed my phone he was looking for, not his.  How could I be mad?  My newly huzzzzband (so fun to say that way) stayed up all night to look after me? 

Today I get home from work, Ben's phone beeps, I look down to hand it to him, and see a text.  The text is from our friend who owns a bike shop in our neighborhood, Loose Nuts Cycles.  He and Ben love to talk bikes and cars (two of Ben's passions... um wait - obsessions).  The text reads, " John Doe is in the shop checking out your bike."  I turn to Ben and say, "what bike?"  For those of you that know Ben and I, we have NINE BIKES (down from 11).  His big eyes look at me and he begins to tell me there is a bike at the shop that he has been wanting to buy for a few months.  Its a great deal.  Exactly what he wants.  Fits perfect.   I begin to remind him that we are saving our money for our new fence, a patio, on and on.  Then it hits me!!!  The night before he had decided to put a gazillion (okay - exaggeration) bicycle parts and a bike on ebay to sale.  He stayed up until midnight working on uploading pics and writing descriptions.  Although trading bike parts, selling, and buying on ebay are a weekly occurance  in our home - last night was INSANE and there was a mission.  Ben was on a mission.  I was not.

We have been married now for a little less than two months.  Ben, 32, and I, 29 (just shy of 30, but TWENTY-NINE) when we married.  We have been singles, living on our own, making our own decisions, making our own money, looking out for number one - ourselves. I. I. I. I. I.  Get the point?

Once I realized what Ben had been trying to do by listing a bike and bike parts on ebay, I knew he wanted this bike.  I knew he was trying to make the money to buy the bike, and now - JOHN DOE is going to get it while Ben is waiting to sale his ebay items to pay for it.  OH NO he doesn't.  I tell Ben I have to run an errand.  I hop in my car and get to that bike shop to get my beautiful big eyed husband his bike! 

The moral of this story, while long and wordy.  After 30ish years of looking out for I.  Ben and Martha Jane no longer worry about I - I is now we.  Realizations of our unity have and will come in many forms.  This week it came in the form of an iPhone and a bike.  My husband is now on a weekly Wednesday ride,with his new bike and I am a happy wife.  WE are happy. 


heading home


in awe



peacocking - gonna show his tail feathers


For the bike geeks, Ben's bike: Independent Fabrication Crown Jewel.  Dura Ace build group.



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

DIY - Candle Chandelier

4 years ago I purchased old chandeliers for $5.00 a piece at a furniture store.  I striped the old fixtures of their wiring and knew I would once hang them when I owned my own home.  I found candles to fit and had my dad add chain to attach to ceiling on porch. 

Now I have a beautiful candle chandelier to hang over my outside table which adds elegant & romantic light.




small kitchen upgrade

Home improvements have started.  Quick & easy update to kitchen - pulls.  See the before and after.

great deals on pulls at www.pullsdirect.com

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Kites

My Dad loves to fly kites. Every year at our Walker family vacation he works and works and works to get the kite in the air for my nephews.

I have very fond memories of being a child and going to the church field behind our house on Brookdale Drive in Lyman, SC where my Daddy would work and work and work to get the kite in the air for Ellen, Mason, and I. Flying a kite is so invigorating, simple, yet so mesmerizing.

Just last week we were in Surfside Beach, SC for our annual vacation and I captured this sweet picture of Daddy, JL, and Walker with their kite in the air. A sweet moment.




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Little slice of heaven.

My front porch.


 

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Callaway

Oh yeah - I'm married. Geez I am such a slacker. Haven't even started the official name change and blog once every 4 months. What the heck - here is a picture of Ben & I on wedding night.  Official wedding pics and wedding details to come.

 

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Keeva - 9 months today

Keeva - our German Shepherd Dog, GSD, is 9 months today. We rescued her exactly 5 months ago. She loves to swim, obsessed with fetching tennis balls, chewing squeaky toys, guarding her mama (me) at night, following her Dad during the day, and annoying Lyla and Renny. She is excited about starting back to school next week - obedience school that is. Geez, I'm starting to sound like a real mom. We all love Keeva monk, except for Renny.



Fennel seeds

I sprinkled fennel seeds in my back garden yesterday from my neighbors plant. Hoping for at least one beautiful plant next spring. This rain sure is helpful to push those seedlings along. Fingers crossed this time next year I am posting a picture of the whimsical plant!
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