Pumpkin For Dinner

It has been awhile since I posted anything here. But some recent changes have given me a few ideas, starting with food.

As I will be home somewhat early three nights a week, and Courtney will be working, I will be cooking much more often. I love trying new food, and Ashley likes picking out recipes, it's a good combination!

On Friday Ashley decided she wanted something different for dinner so we went through the recipe stack and Ashley picked something interesting. Baked Pumpkin and Sausage Rigatoni (found in Family Circle magazine) sounded like a perfect fall dish. After a quick run to the store, we got to work.

Ashley helped for a bit, but Austin pulled her outside to play soccer. I made a salad to go with it with veggies from the local farmers market.

The voting -
Courtney: "It's pretty good, but the sausage is too hot."
Josh: "It tastes really good, but is very rich. I can't eat that much of it."
Ashley: "I love it!"
Austin: "It's good, do I have to eat the salad?"

It only took about 20 minutes to prep for the oven, so it will become part of the fall repertoire. About half of the dish survived dinner, so good for work lunches also.

Baked Pumpkin and Sausage Rigatoni
Makes 8 servings
4 links (12oz) hot Italian sausage without casings
1 can (29 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
1 pound mezzi rigatoni
1 1/2 cups milk
4 oz Neufchâtel cheese
1 cup and 2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Sage
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350°. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling.

Add sausage to a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until browned, breaking apart with a wooden spoon. Stir in Sage and cook 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon; set aside. Pour off and discard drippings.

In the same skillet, whisk the pumpkin, milk, Neufchâtel cheese, egg yolks, 1 cup of Asiago, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir over medium heat until cheeses are melted.

Meanwhile, cook rigatoni in boiling water 1 minute less than the package directions, about 9 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Return pasta to the pot. Stir in sausage, pumpkin mixture and reserved pasta water. Mix well to combine. Transfer to a 13x9x2 inch dish and top with the panko bread crumb and the remaining 2 tablespoons of Asiago. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Turn the broiler on high and broil for 1 or two minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

No, my wrists aren't broken

I would point out that I can be a bit of a slacker, but I did that once already.

The truth is that I wanted to carve out time to write properly and "in peace", and that has become all but impossible. The quiet time I get is currently spent taking practice quizzes and (finally) reading my Accounting book. Nothing like them being out of the book you need until half way though the semester. 

I may find more time once I finish setting the office back up. I have fixed one of the desks and put it back in the room, but there are still half a dozen boxes that need to be sorted, labeled, and put back into the storage closet. 

I know what I want to do with this blog, it's just finding the time to do it.

I can't dance

Really, I can't dance. I never had the body rhythm needed to do anything more than slow dancing, and even then my partners feet could be in jeopardy. At school dances this was never a problem, if I had a date all I did was slow dance, otherwise I just hung out with the guys.

As an adult I have never wanted to go out dancing. I am highly self conscious of the fact that I can't dance well and stick out like a sore thumb on the dance floor. I mildly dreaded certain functions (weddings in particular) when I knew that I would be pulled onto the dance floor. I used liquid courage to get myself moving when the music started, and it worked well enough for me.

For a long time when my wife wanted to go out dancing with friends I opted to stay home and watch the kids. Courtney really wanted me to go, but was very kind about letting me off the hook. Not all that long ago I decided to change how I approached life in general, and in particular things that I wasn't comfortable with. So when it came time to go dancing again, I went.

Our friend Shawn likes to go to the Sky Club above Sangria on Thursdays. Yesterday Courtney and I joined her and left Josh in charge of the house. We had already decided not too stay out too late, so I knew that even if I was making a total idiot of myself it wouldn't be for more than a couple hours.

Much to my surprise, I figured out how not to step on my own feet and had a blast. I stuck with water for most of the night, having a single $4 Corona during our last break from the dance floor. The club was packed and that helped some as well, hard to stick out when there isn't a lot of room to move anyway.

Next time Courtney wants to go dancing, I'll be first in line.

Pandora

Months ago my brother-in-law told me about Pandora. He raved about it's music selection and your ability to tailor the "radio" play list to your personal tastes.

I was used to using Winamp and it's stations that are set by type and never checked it out. Now I wish I had.

Pandora has changed the way I listen to music at work. It runs in your web browser (unless you purchase the premium edition) and I haven't noticed any slow down of my PC from it. It seems to be well compressed as it doesn't hamper my web browsing speed, and the network admin hasn't come to kill me for using all the bandwidth.

But the best part is the "stations" you can create. Just pick a song or artist and it creates a station around that music type. If a song pops up that you can't stand, just check to remove it and it won't be played on any station that you create. If you want more variety in a station, just add more artists or songs to it.

I have different stations now for whatever mood I'm in. Today it is Rock, but last week it was all Classical. Bad days tend to get a Heavy Metal sound track, it's like putting out a "Do Not Disturb" sign for non-critical questions.

The only down side is that you can only listen for 40 hours a month, after that they will ask for a small donation ($0.99) to listen more. I haven't hit that yet but I know I will at some point. However the limit does not apply if you buy the premium version, and for only $36 a year I may do that.

Time to list more on ebay so I can use my PayPal account...

Love Dare: Day 18

This took a lot longer to pull off than I planned. I originally decided what I wanted to cook almost 3 months ago now, and bought it two months ago. But before I start in on the details, here is the love dare itself:

Love Seeks to Understand

Prepare a special dinner at home, just for the two of you. The dinner can be as nice as you prefer. Focus this time on getting to know your spouse better, perhaps in areas you've rarely talked about. Determine to make it an enjoyable evening for you and your mate.

I ended up deciding to move ahead with the dinner despite my lack of a plan to reduce the number of children in the house. Courtney had mentioned several times recently that she missed me doing the love dares. I wasn't about to skip one, so I set a date and started making plans.

Step one was to feed the kids beforehand, something easy and hopefully filling enough to get them into the basement or their bedrooms for several hours. Hot dogs and salad worked well, even if corralling them in a remote location didn't. Josh and Ashley are more than old enough to know when to keep themselves occupied. However Austin had other ideas, though I think that only a couple of interruptions in two hours is pretty good for a three year old. Bella is a puppy, and behaved that way. Though I think our floors remained unsoiled for the duration of dinner.

Getting things together for our dinner was not as easy, I was making Cornish Game Hen for the first time and my Mom hadn't made it in so long she didn't have any pointers. The internet came to the rescue and provided me with a recipe that sounded good, though some of the ingredients were hard to come by. Fennel Seeds, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, Thyme branches, and shallots all needed to be hunted down.

I had already found most of what I needed months ago, and thankfully an herb garden was part of our recent "eating healthy and cheap" initiative so the Thyme branches were not an issue. The rest of the spices were relativly easy to find once I had stared at the spice section in Kroger for awhile.

I had searched for shallots before and didn't have any luck. I was planning to go find them the day I was going to cook the dinner, but Courtney wanted to get out of the house for a bit so she decided to take up the quest. Two stores later and a small grocer telling her that they were just green onions (they aren't) we gave up and used green onions anyway.

After returning home Courtney was starving, so she ate some with the kids and I started cooking. It is a fairly straight forward recipe, I just had to adjust it to 2 birds instead of three and forget about completing the "fine herbs" portion. Just stuff the birds, make the "rub" and apply it, and cook for 75 minutes.

I made some wild rice when it was almost ready, and took the salad out of the fridge. Courtney and I spent the entire prep and cooking time talking and nibbling on what was left of the dinner for the kids. The only downside was that our nibbling whetted our appetites and we ended up not finishing our hens. Live and learn.

We had a nice candlelight dinner anyway, with relatively few interruptions. Speaking of learning, next time I start my shallot hunt long before it's time to make dinner.

Yes, I'm a slacker

I know, I haven't posted a blog update in a long time. I'm a slacker, at least some things don't change!

However I haven't forgotten about the blog, or where I want to go with it. But first things first, I need to finish what I started!

I put the Love Dare on hold not because I didn't want to do the next step or that the step itself was too hard. What is hard is making a nice dinner for two when you have three kids and a puppy around.

Add a serious lack of Grandparent time (I knew I should have waited until they retired to have kids) and you have a looooong waiting period. So long I gave up.

Coming soon: Love Dare Day 18 (the dinner for 2.... plus interruptions)

Home Movies

I haven't forgotten about the blog (or the Love Dare for that matter), I just have been really busy.

I have fixed the computer in the basement, allowing my kids access to the internet and their I-pod libraries. I finished the garden in the front, and the grass seed in the back. And I have finally started to work on creating digital copies of our home movies.

The Macbook does this really well, though it isn't the fastest process at times. I need to play each video on the camera itself with a Firewire cable hooked up to get it onto the laptop. Then I need to cut, edit, format, and save the video clips into appropriate sized video files.

But after all that is done, I simply upload them to Facebook for anyone (that has access anyway) to enjoy. I'm almost done with the last 2 years of videos, more to come as time allows!

As for the Love Dare, someone needs to volunteer to watch my kids for a night. How am I supposed to cook a romantic dinner with those 3 around? (No suggestions that involve duct tape please)

Memorial Day at Metro Beach

I have needed to get out riding for a few weeks now, but never seem to find the time when it isn't raining. There is so much work to do around the yard I always end up doing that instead of getting in shape (though one could argue that yard work does get oneself in shape).

Thankfully my brother Mike came to the rescue on Memorial day and dragged me out of the house to hit the trails. Since we haven't ridden this year we kept to the paved kind, easier in theory but not always in practice.

We decided to park a ways out and ride into Metro Park and back, however Mike didn't remember where he parked the previous time he rode in. We ended up parking several miles further out than we had planned to, adding about 3 miles of uphill and into-the-wind riding to our trip (and an easier 3 miles on the way back). But there are worse things that can happen, the picture above is the line to the admission booth of the park.

That line extends about 3 miles back down 16 mile road, not to mention the side roads lined with people waiting to turn into the line. In the hour that it took us ride from the back of the line all the way to the furthest most point in the park and back to entrance to the park, the cars that were at the very back of the line when we started were only just then getting within site of the entrance booth.

And the park was PACKED, not the place to go on a holiday. Glad we were just there for some exercise.

"V" Returns to TV

I didn't think that anyone would ever try to resurrect V after the less than stellar first TV series. Not that I didn't enjoy watching it as a kid, but it didn't measure up to the mini series it was based off of. It is no surprise that it was canceled after just one season.

The new trailer looks fairly decent, it seems that ABC isn't going to short end the budget this time. From what I can tell this is a "start from the beginning" remake, so we won't get to see the resolution of the cliffhanger at the end of the original TV series only season right away. If they take the same direction that is, and of course assuming that it survives long enough.

I'm hoping it can fill the Sci-fi void in my viewing habits left by the cancellation of the Terminator series. (Not too happy at Fox about that one)

Bella the Beagle

Last summer when our cat Jack died we talked about getting a new pet when we were ready. Six months later we had decided on getting a dog, and everyone wanted a puppy.

We started looking into it in earnest about 6 weeks ago, and after a few bad experiences with pet rescue agencies we decided to simply buy a puppy.

Bella is currently about 4 weeks old and in another 4 weeks we can bring her home. She is a Beagle, so training will be a long process, but otherwise we expect her to be a perfect fit for our family.

The backyard has been prepared to resist most escape attempts, and we have a cage and dog beds ready inside. Now we need to teach Austin to keep his toys put away, though a few of those lost to puppy teeth may prove to be the best learning method.

The Super Burrito

That giant mound of cheese covered burrito to the left is known as the "Super Burrito" at Pancho Villa's. If you manage to eat the whole thing, it's free!

I love food, even more so when it's free. But the menu doesn't have any pictures so I had no idea of the true size of what they were going to place in front of me.

I had expected a 5 pound burrito or so, some monstrosity that would be difficult to finish and would keep their coffers full. I didn't expect that they would go to such Herculean lengths as to make an abomination that is nearly impossible to keep on the cafeteria tray on which it is served.

This approximately 10 pound beast of a burrito finished my family meals simply by arriving at the table, they declared themselves full even before I took a bite. I am happy to say that I ate about 1/4 of this before deciding that I wasn't going to finish it so there was no point in making myself sick trying.

For $14.99, I think it was still a good deal. I get leftovers for a week!

Dream Job

I need to find a way to be notified of these kind of job postings on a more timely basis. I don't want to find out about them after they have created the short list, or even worse after applications cease being accepted.

It seems that there really is a "best job in the world", at least if you like being paid a lot to babysit a Villa on a tropical island and blog about the experience for six months.

There were approximately 34,000 applicants for caretaker of Hamilton Island in Queensland Australia, and unfortunately I was not one of them. They have now whittled down the list to 16 finalists who hail from all over the globe. While I missed this round the position is only for six months, so maybe I can try again next year.

While the job is real, this is in essence a marketing campaign for the island. I can only hope that more tourist locations follow suit, I'll start prepping my application now just in case.

Love Dare - Day 17

Love promotes Intimacy
Determine to guard your mate's secrets (unless they are dangerous to them or to you) and to pray for them. Talk with your spouse, and resolve to demonstrate love in spite of these issues. Really listen to them when they share personal thoughts and struggles with you. Make them feel safe.

No additional notes on this one, other than to say I did the dare.

Love Dare - Day 16

Love intercedes 

Begin praying today for your spouse's heart. Pray for three specific areas where you desire for God to work in your spouse's life and in your marriage.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I didn't do the dare in it's original form. However that doesn't mean that I can't use the day (and the dare) for something constructive.  I do find a certain irony in asking God to do something to someone else for what you believe is their (or maybe your own) best interest.

Instead of looking to a higher power to do something for me or looking to change Courtney, I reviewed what I am working on in our relationship. 

Love Dare - Day 15

Love is honorable
Choose a way to show honor and respect to your spouse that is above your normal routine. It may be holding the door for her. It might be putting his cloths away for him. It may be the way you listen and speak in your communication. Show your mate that he or she is highly esteemed in your eyes.

This is an easy one to do every day, you just have to pay attention. I had it easy yesterday, Courtney has been struggling to get though all of our old pictures. She was able to do the pictures books easily but with Austin around loose pictures were a nightmare to try to go through. So while she was at school and Austin was being occupied by his siblings in the basement I dove into the pile of photos. It took about two hours to go though the hundreds of photos and toss out duplicates, file them in some vague semblance of chronological order, and put them all into a large tub for safe keeping.

Courtney is happy, the photos are safe from our rampaging toddler, and I get the chase back in the living room.

Earth Day - 2009

I use Earth Day as a time to start a new habit or way of doing things that reduces the negative effect I have on the global ecology.

Two years ago is was replacing all of my lightbulbs with CFL"s (and I will go to LCD bulbs once they are economically viable). Last year it was getting serious about recycling, and I have gotten even more thorough about it recently.

This year I decided to start my own vegetable garden. I don't live in the best house for it, the back yard is in far too much shade and we are right across from the school. A garden in the front yard may not survive all that well due to the school but it will get enough light to have a shot at growing well.

I have some fond memories (among all the ones of me being angry about having to pick weeds) of the gardens we had when I was growing up. I want one of my own and as a bonus I save money on groceries, have some healthier and fresher food, and reduce my carbon footprint by not purchasing veggies that had to be trucked in and grown with fossil fuel based fertilizers. I wish I could have a bigger garden (though then I would need a rototiller), but I'll have to wait until I move for that. I don't think Courtney will let me take over the entire front yard.

Here are a few links and freebies or giveaways today:

• Reynolds Wrap is giving away mail-in rebates so you can have free boxes of their new foil made from 100 percent recycled aluminum. You can get the coupon from their website, they are custom made per person so you need to do this today! You can buy the foil anytime until May 14th.
  
• Drugstore.com is offering a free Seventh generation tote bag with $40 worth of samples with every order of $30 or more from their Green & Natural Shop.
  
• The Disney Store is giving a free surprise gift to anyone that brings in three plastic water bottles today...rumored to be a reusable Mickey tote bag.
• Walgreens.com has a printable coupon to get 15 percent off plus a free tote bag at their brick & mortor locations.

Love Dare - Day 14

Love takes delight
Purposefully neglect an activity you would normally do so you can spend quality time with your spouse. Do something he or she wold love to do or a project they'd really like to work on. Just be together.

I make a habit out of this now, to spend more time with Courtney by not doing some of the things that I normally waste time on. Usually it is skipping T.V. shows, but sometimes I don't write or I see what she wants to do instead of getting the umpteen millionth home project completed. (It's not like the list ever gets finished anyway).

Love Dare - Day 13

Love fights fair

Talk with your spouse about establishing healthy rules of engagement. If your mate is not ready for this, the write out your own personal rules to "fight" by. Resolve to abide by them when the next disagreement occurs.

Courtney and I did this over the weekend, on the front porch while enjoying a softball game across the street. We had already talked about "off limit" comments during arguments before, but it never hurts to go over them again and to see if there is anything new that either of us thinks should be off limits when we are upset with each other. 

Gift of Reading®

A long time ago I used to read a lot, too much if I'm being honest about it. Reading was my escape, my way to leave my world behind and enter one in which I had no stake. I enjoyed all manner of horror, fantasy, mystery, and Sci-Fi books. I was rarely disappointed, so I'm not much of a critic.

That being said, I enjoyed my latest dive into reading. I still get sucked into a good book, and Gravity by Tess Gerritsen is a fun and interesting read. I started reading Sunday but only had time to complete one chapter. I finished reading it Monday night, pouring over the majority of the book in a four hour stretch.

At it's core Gravity is a medical mystery thriller, with the added bonus of the catastrophe being aboard the International Space Station. It is one of the more realistic medical thrillers I have read, with obvious great pains taken to ensure the accuracy of medical treatments in space. Unfortunately the twist at the end is pretty easily foreseen, but otherwise it is a good read.

Title for the blog comes from the Literacy Foundation.

Love Dare - Day 12

Love lets the other win
Demonstrate love by willingly choosing to give in to an area of disagreement between you and your spouse. Tell them you are putting their preference first.

Courtney and I have been working on compromise for awhile now, we both have things we think should be done our way and both of us can be rather stubborn individuals. This isn't always a bad thing, but not listening while being stubborn isn't that great for relationships.

In this case I won't give details on what I gave in on, but Courtney knows.