stacey ewing

Thanksgiving Day was AWESOME! Lorraine spent all day in the kitchen cooking her butt off and set out quite the spread (sorry, we were all too busy stuffing our faces to take pictures). Everything was really yummy!! Rascal was really happy too- getting pieces of turkey that “accidentally” fell off the table when Jay wasn’t looking! ;)

Afterwards, we wadled over to the couches, cradling our “food babies,” and tortured their neighbors for the rest of the afternoon with SingStar karaoke on Jay’s PS3 before moving on to Buzz. Oh man, Buzz was just SO boring because NONE of us are competitive at all… har! ;)

Later that evening, Jay made the HUGEST mistake by showing Lorraine and I how to play Call of Duty 3. Oh yeah! We dominated the game, decimating Nazi Zombies for the rest of the night, until the guys begged us to shut it off. PWNED I say, PWNED! ;)

Definitely thankful for family, friends, health, and happiness.

On Wednesday, right after work, Tim and I loaded up the car and hit the road, driving south on I-75 to Ft. Myers. The plan was to spend Thanksgiving with my brother, Jay, and his girlfriend, Lorraine.

We’d anticipated heavy traffic on the interstate but certainly didn’t plan on the ’stop-go-stop-go-stop-go-stop-friggin-go’ traffic that turned 40 miles into nearly two hours. *well, suuurprise!* There were more than a few moments when flipping a u-turn across the “grassy knoll” and heading home almost became a reality, but we soldiered on and eventually traffic eased up a little bit once we passed Zephyrhills.

We stopped in a nameless armpit of a town south of Z-hillz for gas and ::shudder:: fast food (since we’d skipped dinner to get on the road as soon as possible). We were in and out of there as fast as we could possibly could, since the “local color” was out en force, whoopin’ it up for the holiday- doing donuts in the McD parking lot with giaganticon 4-wheeled trucks emblazoned with stars-n-bars (niiiice).

We’d planned on arriving there by 10ish but the way things were progressing (or not), our arrival would be delayed to around the same time Jay got off duty at 11pm, which was fine.

TOTALLY bored about 35 miles outside of Ft. Myers and with a strong need to entertain myself, I started to annoy Tim by calling out the remaining mileage every time we passed a mile marker. Not too long after I called out “20!” the car made a LOUD popping noise.

Stacey: What was that??!

Tim: Did you hear that??!

Stacey: Was that the Timing Belt?? Did the timing belt just blow on my gorram station wagon??!

(the car starts to decelerate)

Tim: Sounds Like…

Stacey: I thought Ford just checked our engine!

Tim: Yeah, well if this trucker over here in our blind spot doesn’t let us over, this situation could get pretty interesting…

Stacey: Define Interesting…

Tim: Oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna die?

Stacey: Just get us to the side of the road…

Tim (deftly threading the needle between two semis): That part will happen pretty definitely…

It was only approx. 38 degrees out and LUCKILY Tim was fully outfitted in his warm North Face hiking fleece and Keen hiking shoes, so he was able to hike a half mile to figure out which mile marker we were closest too (I’d forgotten which one we’d passed in all the excitement). He called the marker number in to Jay, who in turn very kindly called dispatch and had them send a wrecker.

The wrecker, with tow lights flashing, Jay, with his FWC lights flashing, and Lorraine, with her hazard lights flashing, all showed up at the same time! Lorraine loaded us up and took us back to their place while Jay and the tow truck driver followed. Upon arrival, the boys helped the tow truck guy unload the car into a parking space outside the building and it wasn’t long before we were all hanging out in the living room having a good laugh about the whole situation. So what if our 4.5 hour drive turned into 7.5 hours, we were finally at our destination!! :D

Using the very last of the apples from Mercier Orchards, I made two casserole dishes of apple goodie yesterday. The second one, I altered the recipe a bit adding a couple dashes each of nutmeg, ginger, and cloves as well as drizzling approx. 2 TBSP of sourwood honey from Berry’s Honey Farm in Blairsville, GA. We both agreed that that one came out superior to the other.

APPLE GOODIE:
APPLES - peeled, cored, sliced into half-moons (and enough to fill a small casserole dish)

Apple Mixture:
SUGAR - 1/2 cup
FLOUR – 1 tablesppon
CINNAMON – to your taste

Topping:
BUTTER – 3/4 of stick at room temperature
BROWN SUGAR – 3/4 cup (packed)
BAKING POWDER – 1/4 teaspoon
BAKING SODA – 1/4 teaspoon
SALT – 1/2 teaspoon
FLOUR – 3/4 cup
OATMEAL – 3/4 cup

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Make Apple Mixture by mixing the flour, cinnamon, and sugar in a bowl. You’re basically making cinnamon sugar. I use a whisk to fully incorporate all the ingredients. (you can get a little crazy here and shake in some cloves, ginger, and/or nutmeg).
3. Pour mixture over the apples and gently toss to make sure all the apples are covered. (if you’re feelin’ saucy, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of honey over the apples.
3. In a separate bowl and using a wooden spoon, mix the brown sugar and butter until completely incorporated and crumbly.
4. Sift together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour and then slowly add to brown sugar/butter mixture, working it in until crumbly. I sometimes use my fingers to knead/work it in a bit. When it’s mixed it should look like crumbly pebbles.
5. Add the oatmeal and mix again.
6. Gently pour topping on top of apples. Two schools of thought on this: packing down the mixture or leaving it light and crumbly. Personally, I leave mine light and crumbly and just keep an eye on it in the oven to make sure it doesn’t bubble over. Seriously, you can go either way without fear of reprisal from the Apple Goodie Cops (because they don’t exist).
7. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes then uncover and finish it off for 10-15 more minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream. You can also serve it instead with a little bit of half-n-half, milk, or soy milk OR if you’re feeling particularly boring, just eat it plain. :)

*click picture for a larger view:*

This morning we slept in a bit (which means I snoozed the alarm about 10 or 15 times before finally turning it off and getting up. Our awesome little travel clock, the one I bought Tim 10 years ago for his Alaskan cruise ship gig, finally gave up the ghost :( so we’re back to an old giaganticon digital monstrosity that is terrifyingly loud, so snoozing the alarm isn’t as pleasant as it once was. heh that didn’t stop me this morning… :)

I got up and got around so I could meet the Accidental Environmentalist at the Farmer’s Market for the Need-a-Bag Project. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of stopping by the bank on the way there and got stuck in a line (someone two cars up had obviously NEVER used an ATM machine before…sigh) so I was running about 10 minutes late and the poor girl was nearly frozen by the time I got there.

A.E. had already done all the work of collecting the bags and stowing them away for next week, so we got the heck outta there toute de suite and regrouped over at Kay’s Coffee on 34th for a cuppa and a muffin. Had SUCH a great time chatting and catching up that I almost lost track of the time. We parted ways- AE was off on the great saturday candle wick hunt and I headed home to gather up The Tim.

The boy was ready to go when I pulled into the parking lot so we hit the road and headed down to O-ca-la to meet the Wood-Harvin for lunch! We all grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed over to Gander Mountain so the Wood could look for jeans, the Harvin to find a gift for his pa (and some shoes) and for Murray to fondle all the hiking gear in the store. I was just along for the ride and tried not to pay too much attention to the stuffed critters scowling down on us from shelves and poles, cursing all of us and our children and our children’s children… After 2.5 hours of goofing off (hey, the place is pretty big!), the Wood-Harvin had to go back and help Momma Wood prep for a party.

Tim & I drove home and when we got in, we fed the kitties right away before they decided to take matters into their own hands (thank god they don’t have opposable thumbs, we would’ve been screwed long ago…). He went in and practiced for a couple of hours and I finished book #3 of the weekend.

WARNING! SPOILER ALERT AHEAD: He and I met back up over pad thai and watched a Japanese Ninja vs. Sammurai Shakespearian-based Love Story where EVERYONE dies in the end. God I hate those movies sometimes, can’t there ever be a happily ever after ending just once?? They were such a cute couple… sigh. Oh well, at least the ninjas were cool (yeah, I KNOW, ninjas are ALWAYS cool!). :)

What a great day. :)

OMG, do we ever *HEART* having company!!! W & C were up for the weekend for the UF/UM game AND to visit C’s mom AND they chose to stay with US!!! Me, Tim and the kitties!!! SWEET!

Momma Wood had surgery on Friday which BTW, was VERY successful and she’s doing SO well that she got to go home about a week early!! (Who’s the cylon now??! ::grin::) We are all so happy for her and the entire family! Man! it’s so freakin’ nice to have good news around here for once! :D

Before I sign off, something that you need to know about CWH- this chica breathes & exhales creativity 24-7! This trip she brought me this totally kicka** bento lunch box that she made!! My embarrassingly crappily lit photos do not even come close to doing it justice- but that’s okay, this “bento box” is SO cool that it will actually burn out your retinas if you stare at it directly for too longl!! :D

Labor Day Weekend Tim & I went Tally for a day/night to visit Clannus Austinus and it was good.

Highlights include but are not limited to:

The requisite trip to Decent Pizza was made…

Tim and John consumed many Liberty Ales…

I finally got to visit 10,000 Villages (was always closed during prev. trips) w/Ally & Lydia…

We were treated to brunch at the “Grouper” (heehee) bagel shop across the street from World Market…

A trip was made to the Florida Museum of History downtown…

So sad to leave…

Back in early August, my ‘rents sent us a small freezer as an early Christmas prezzie! One VERY early Saturday morning, around 6:30am, I get a phone call from Mom, letting us know that there was a delivery truck on it’s way to our house and that they would be there at 7am! Holy Crap! 7am?? Saturday morning??! Ouch! Luckily we’d only just fallen asleep a few hours earlier! heh! :) Sure enough, just a little after 7am, we got a loud-a**ed “cop knock” on our front door. We ran downstairs, opened up, and the giaganticon freezer box was sitting right outside our front door.

The delivery guy was long gone, already out in the parking lot, revving the truck and subsequently burning rubber as he pulled a neutral drop & peeled out of our ‘hood. Oooh, I just bet ‘Virginia Slim’ across the street loved that!! mwuahahahaha! ::clapping hands together with evil glee:: >:)

We cut the box away from the unit and it was so light, we were able to carry it right out to the porch without a dolly. I plugged it in and it fired up like a champ. Tim collapsed back on the couch for a quick 15 minute nap before he had to leave for his mountain bike riding date with Barry, while I put half of the things from our tiny fridge freezer out there- it was so exciting! (yeah, you know you’re getting old when appliances are exciting!) :)

A coupla weeks later, Jay & Lorraine came up from Ft. Meyers to stay with us. Saturday morning we got up at the a**crack of dawn, and drove up to Adel, Georgia where we met up with our parentals. Adel is comprised of nothing but a few gas stations and an old strip mall off I-75 that has sadly faded from the glorious King Frog Outlet Center that it once was in the late 70s/early 80s. We instead decided to all head 20 minutes north to Tifton- a smallish town absolutely teeming with southern culture- a shiny little bauble hidden between the folds of Valdosta & Macon. ;D

Jay & Lorraine generously treated all of us to lunch at a restaurant in the “Friendly City” and I don’t know about anyone else, but Tim and I had an awesome time and were both sad that our time with the ‘rents was so short. Before we parted ways, Mom & Dad unloaded about FOUR GABILLION pounds of fresh, frozen, and canned veggies, canned jams & jellies, dozens and dozens of fresh eggs, and baked goods from their jeep into our wagon. All was from their garden and ab. amazing. I’m still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the back of our station wagon, loaded down with fresh veggie booty. It was quite a sight to see. :)

Jay, Lorraine, Tim & I kicked around Tifton for a little while longer before heading home. We stopped at the interstate Famous Adcock Pecans store- who hasn’t seen the billboards on I-75 for the last hundred forevers??! We couldn’t resist!

It was cleaner and bigger inside than I’d imagined it would be. They had TONS of jellies & sauces and their pecans were pretty cheap. I bought a big 2lb bag for less than five bucks (to take home and put in the freezer! haha). Tim got a jar of powdered, just-add-water, peanut butter to try out for his hiking trips (yeah, it looks just as skeevey as it sounds…). He hasn’t tried it yet, BTW. Next stop was a store downtown that we thought carried camping clothing but it turned out to be an old fashioned department store with creepy locals giving us outsiders the stink-eye. We headed home after that and Jay and Lorraine continued on home to Ft. Meyers from there.

Several weeks after that (yesterday actually), Tim & I received a box of baby roasting potatoes (the last of the taters out of their garden) along with three adorable baby butternut squash from their garden. Our pantry & freezer now runneth over thanks to Mom & Dad and all their garden laboring and we seriously can’t thank them enough.

The Accidental Environmentalist (AE) invited me to join her this morning at the Alachua County Farmers’ Market off of 34th & 441. I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed to be down there by 8am. :D Very early for me on a Saturday but so worth it! I had a great time!

There was a really large crowd waiting for the gates to open and AE told me it was the biggest she’d seen yet. I wondered if it had to do with the Gainesville Sun running an article about all the local stores yanking tomatoes because of the salmonella outbreak. I could see from outside the fence that many of the tables were heaped with all sorts of ripened tomatoes- maybe that was part of the draw.

When AE got there, I helped her hang up a bunch of bags for the Need-A-Bag? Project. We finished right as the gates opened and the crowd rushed forward, politely pushing/shoving each other as they raced over to their favorite tables.

She and I strolled around the market, checking everything out and stopping to chat with people we knew. AE introduced me to Erica and we “ooohed and aaaahed” over all the different varieties of caladiums she was selling. AE picked up two gorgeous reddish/pink ones and a way-cool green one with pink spots. Erica told us what they were called but that important information just leaked right out of my ear as I squatted down to take a closer look. ;) They’re going to look so great in AE’s yard!

I ended up buying some really nice grape tomatoes, a rosemary baguette, an acorn squash, and some yellow, crook-neck squash. There seemed to be quite alot of Japanese eggplant around but I wanted to wait until I found a good recipe before buying some so they didn’t go to waste. I’ll probably pick some up next weekend and give it a whirl.

Tonight I made Baked Rigatoni with the yellow-crookneck squash. The following is my bastardization riff on this recipe.

BAKED RIGATONI, stacey-style ;)

SAUCE
1 jar of Newman’s Own Marinara
1 24oz can of Muir Glenn Fire Roasted tomatoes
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 cups of diced yellow squash
oregano to taste
kosher salt to taste
pepper to taste
3/4 cup of half & half cream (if you’re ready for the heart attack use 1/2 cup heavy cream instead)
[I've also done this recipe with chopped fresh basil and it's really good]

PASTA
1 lb of Rigatoni
4 quarts of water
2 tablespoons of kosher salt (after the water boils)

THE BEST PART
10oz of grated fontina cheese ( you can use mozzarella but it just won’t be the same)
1/2 – 3/4 cups of grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven 450 degrees.

Prepare 13 x 9 baking pan by greasing with olive oil.

Combine all the sauce ingredients (except for the cream) and simmer for about 15 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a stock pot. When boiling, add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, & stir before next adding rigatoni. Cook rigatoni until al dente (about 10 minutes).

As the rigatoni cooks, slowly stir in the cream to the sauce and lower the heat to low. You want it to warm up in the sauce but not simmer hard/bubble- too much heat will cause the cream to go yucky (nice scientific term, eh?) and kind of curdle.

Drain pasta, return it to the now empty stockpot, pour in sauce, stir to combine. Then toss pasta/sauce mixture with about 1.5 cups of the fontina cheese and all of the parmesan. Toss until well distributed and then pour mixture into prepared 13 x 9 pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and bake for about 15 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Let sit about 3-5 minutes before scooping so no one has to go to the hospital with cheese burns and plus, it’s easier to scoop out of the pan after it sets up a bit. ;)

We ate the rigatoni with the awesome rosemary baguette. YUM!

Dinner at our place tonight- 8pm! Come on ovah! ;D

Ever have one of “those” days?
Luckily, for me, today wasn’t one of them. :)
I still like the picture below and it’s not photoshopped either… http://www.thomaspeschak.com/kayak-great-white-sharks-/