The Big One

It can't possibly have been a whole year, can it? A whole year since the little man arrived? I mean, I know he's been growing all this time but come on, how can he be one already?

There he is, the first picture ever taken of him.

It is still so amazing to me that he is here, and it is almost unbelievable that he celebrated his first birthday yesterday.

We started celebrating on Wednesday while spending the 4th with Keith's family. Bert has a cousin whose birthday was on the 2nd, so we sang and had ice cream sandwich cake and opened a few gifts.

Then on Friday, my mom-mom and grandpop and aunt came and we had some more visiting and celebrating. And Bert is in love with his car from Mom-mom and Grandpop! I still need to take some pictures of it.

On Saturday morning, on his official birthday, he opened a couple of presents from Keith and I: a singing dog puppet and two wooden puzzles.

Apparently he thought there should be more in the bag than the dog because he tossed it out and went back looking for more.

Then his birthday buddy, his great-grandpop, and grandmom came bearing gifts. Wheelbarrow, shovels, rakes, and a hoe. Now this kid can get to work. It's about time right? He's had a whole year off.

After lunch we had some cupcakes.

Bert ate one. All by himself. In one continuous bite. It was like the eating version of a run-on sentence. He held the cupcake to his mouth the whole time and just kept chewing until it was gone.

Amazingly enough, his face was a mess but there were only a few crumbs on the floor. That kid knows how to clean up.

Later in the day, Memere and Popper arrived. More gifts!

A "grub scouts" sprinkler, which we tested out today. It makes kid-sized arcs. Bert just stood there for the longest time, not quite sure what he thought about it.

Then, because one cupcake wasn't enough and watching him eat it was too funny, we did it all over again.

Same method, although this time he saved the icing for last. Quick learner, huh?

Now that's a birthday.

Side Orders

If you are tired of the simple summer sides series, I'm sorry. I, for one, am always looking for dishes that take a minimum of heat (and a minimum of work) to prepare on these disgustingly hot days. So let me introduce you to at least one more.

(I'm realizing now that the picture doesn't make this look very appetizing, but trust me, it tastes good!)

Creamy Ranch Macaroni Salad
from Almost Homemade, a Gooseberry Patch cookbook


16-oz package medium shell pasta, uncooked

3/4 c. onion, chopped

1/2 c. celery, chopped

1 c. fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 c. sour cream

1-oz. package ranch salad dressing mix, divided

1 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Cook shells according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. Combine onion, celery, and parsley in a large bowl; add shells and toss together. Add sour cream and half of the salad dressing mix; stir well. Add mayonnaise and remaining dressing mix; stir again. Toss with Cheddar cheese. Serves 8-10.

So that's how they do it...I mix the sour cream, mayo, and dressing mix together first, throw in the celery and onion (skipped the parsley this time since mine is puny looking), then put the cooked pasta in. I think it is easier to stir that way. My noodles were still a bit warm so I'll add the cheese in later so it doesn't melt and clump together. 

And if you are looking for a great summer dessert, make this ice cream sandwich cake. I made it for a 4th of July picnic and it was a big hit. I forgot to take a picture but Jane over at Thy Hand Hath Provided has a great post on how to make one. No baking; you just have to work fast enough that your ice cream sandwiches don't melt!

Gimme a Kiss

If you ask Bert for a kiss, this is kind of how it goes...

A little young to be slipping the tongue, don't you think?

Stairway to Heaven

Ok, ok, the post title is exaggerating a bit. I don't think any part of our home could be described as heavenly. Especially not in this heat. But at least the reference to a stairway is accurate.

A couple of months ago, I spotted a coupon for a free quart of paint at Ace Hardware. You had to go on a certain date (it was a Saturday), and the flyer stressed that quantities were limited. A quart of paint isn't a lot, but Keith and I had been talking about painting the stairwell to our basement and figured a free can of paint would be just the thing to jump start our project. When Saturday morning rolled around, I hustled Keith out of bed and dressed and fed Bert and made sure we were out the door so that we could get to Ace shortly after they opened at 8:00. I was getting my free can of paint, darn it.

When we arrived, there were a number of people already nabbing cans and choosing colors. We didn't have a problem getting one though because there had to have been about 400 quarts of free paint. Keith rolled his eyes at me and asked why he had to be woken up so early. It didn't get any better when they ran the same add in their flyers every week for the next month. If we had another room we were ready to paint, I would have gone back for a quart every week and done a whole room.

At any rate, we had our free paint. I wish I could say we came home and got right to it, but we actually didn't get anything done until Memorial Day weekend. The free paint was actually a paint and primer in one, but our stairwell was really grungy, so after we  washed it down and taped it off, we used up some primer we had left over from painting Bert's room to do two coats, then we squeezed two coats out of our quart of paint.

I swear we took turns painting, but Keith doesn't take pictures of me working. I think it is on purpose, to give all of you the impression that he is the only one who gets anything done.

On to the grand reveal! 

So it isn't super exciting, but it looks clean. Ahhhhh... We thought the paint color we had picked was a little more on the yellow, creamy side, but it pretty much looks white. Oh well. We are ok with that.

What we needed next was a curtain to hide all our junk on that shelf. It's where we throw our farmers' market baskets, cooler, and other random things so it's better if we don't have to see it. And if you are wondering why we don't just close the basement door and not look at any of this, it is because the cat's litter box is in the basement so she needs to be able to go up and down freely.

The curtain was the big hold up on getting this post done. Which I guess means it was my fault, because I am the sole employee of the sewing department. Keith's only input was that I should pick a fabric he would like (duh) and no ruffles. So when my mom and I went to the fabric store, I finally made a decision on fabric, and bought a yard and a half. A yard would have easily done it, but I forgot to measure the space beforehand and wasn't taking any chances. When I did measure the opening, I had a space of 30" x 27" that I needed to cover. I very scientifically decided to cut a 34" square, figuring I would use up an inch on each side for the hem (leaving a 32" square) and then I needed to make a casing for the curtain rod.

I measured and cut 34" in one direction, and then just folded my left edge to my bottom edge like a triangle, and cut off the excess so that when I opened it, I had my 34" square.

Then I used my hem gauge, measure half an inch and ironed, folded it over again and ironed it, and pinned it in place to give me a nice finished edge. I did this on opposite sides, sewed them, and then did it to the remaining sides, giving me what appeared to be a giant hankie.

Then I (very scientifically) held it over my curtain rod and played with it until I figured out where I needed to fold it to make the casing and have the right length, which ended up being about 5". I folded that over and ironed it, and then sewed one last seam.

Then I hung it up and I was done.

It feels good to finally have that project finished (to the tune of about $15 since only had to buy fabric and a curtain rod), and even better to have the grimiest spot in our house that we look at all the time looking cleaner and brighter. Just don't go all the way down to the basement.

Putting the "Ex" in Ex Libris

Have you noticed that I really fell off the wagon with the book reviews? I thought I would enjoy writing them when I started but found that I really didn't. I would stack up books next to my desk as I finished them, putting off writing about each of them to the point where I had a big pile and no motivation. So you know what? I'm letting myself off the hook on this one. If I read a book that really moves me, or seems to be in line with the things we write about on this blog, then maybe I'll do a review. Otherwise, I'm just going to use the Ex Libris page to keep a running list off what I'm reading. I might put a sentence or two about the book if I enjoyed it, and I'll definitely let you know if I think it is one you can skip. Feel free to pop over there and see if there's anything that interests you!

Cool as a Cucumber

Since it's still hot, and you can't eat coleslaw every day (well, you can, but you probably don't want to), I have another simple, summer side dish for you.

Our neighbor was kind enough to share some of his cucumbers with us the other night, so I decided to make some cucumber salad. It was nice to have a sneak-peek (sneak-taste?) of fresh cucumbers since I just put our cucumber seeds in the ground today. Yep, today. Here's hoping we have cucumbers for pickling before our dill dies off.

Dilled Cucumber Salad
from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (because if those southern ladies don't know how to make a cool summer dish, who does?)

2 large cucumbers, unpeeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup thinly sliced onion
1 tablespoon fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dillweed
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (I just used black pepper)
1/8 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup sour cream

Pat cucumber slice between paper towels. (I skip that step. The salad is just a bit more watery.) Combine cucumber, onion, and next five ingredients in a bowl; toss gently. Fold in sour cream; cover and chill up to 3 hours. Serve on lettuce leaves if desired.

Cabbage Patch Pleaser

When it gets hot, I don't feel like doing much cooking. I've recently faced my fear of the grill and started using it a lot more often rather than standing over a hot stove or heating up the oven. The grill takes care of our main dish then, but what about sides? Lately, it's been a lot of salads, because lettuce and spinach are ready in the garden but when the cabbage was ready, it was time for coleslaw. A side dish that takes about five minutes to make and doesn't require any heat? I'm game for that.

Coleslaw

1/3 cup mayo
1 Tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery seed

Stir above ingredients until sugar dissolves.

Toss with 3 cups shredded cabbages; add shredded carrots if desired.

I think shredding cabbage is really awkward and makes a mess, so I just chop mine up.

I quartered, blanched and froze the rest of our cabbage to use in soups or cabbage and noodles over the winter. We might try a fall planting of cabbage this year just so we can enjoy more of it fresh.