Crack Up

How can cooking not be fun when you're working with ingredients like this:

Cute little garlic butt.

A Fig Deal

Last week we were invited to a fig party by my friends April and Hiro. They have 2 mature fig trees and it's fig season! Here's some food porn from the party:

Gazpacho

Bruschetta and crostini

Port and fig reduction with Brie

Fondue cheese being whisked

Bread with yummy melty fondue cheese

Simmering sauce for Moroccan braised chicken

Moroccan braised chicken with turmeric rice and grilled vegetables

Bacon-wrapped fig with jalapeño oil (ready to be popped in the oven)

Bacon-wrapped fig with jalapeño oil (most have been scarfed down)

Bacon wrapped fig with jalapeño oil (the close up)

Freshly fried pork tenderloin egg rolls stuffed with fig jam

Pork tenderloin egg rolls stuffed with fig jam, drizzled with a balsamic reduction sauce (again, most have been wolfed down before I got a photo, see a pattern here?)

Fig tart (dried fig, pecan, and lemon zest stuffed puff pastry, a spin-off from Baklava)

Red velvet cupcakes (store bought, but yummy so who cares!)

And fresh picked home grown figs for guests to take home

I have never seen such creative use of figs. Well done Hiro and April! I don't know much about figs but they are nothing like Fig Newtons that I ate as a kid. This is my kind of party. If you've got ideas for what to do with the figs I took home, please send them along!

Harlequin

My dogs aren't my only muse:

You remember Harley right? He was posing so dramatically for this photo shoot...

Shedding

We don't just work on our own house, we help friends as well.

Three men with 2 ladders and more hammers than you can count - roofing on a hot day...

They are building a shed. That looks like a little house. Does that make them little gnomes?

Heading in the Clouds

Remember how I mentioned there was an upcoming tournament? Well if you don't already know, I am not a morning person. And flyball tournaments and practice seem to happen precisely at this time. But I honestly can't complain about waking up early for a drive like this:

We moved out here thinking we'd hate it because it's so not us. And we moved here thinking that we'd try it for 5 years and then go back to New England. But now we're not so sure... can you blame us?

Hendrix Lives On!

You all remember Hendrix the squirrel right? Well here's a video that I never posted. It's also the very first video I've posted on this blog. Look how cute and tiny he is and what strange noises he makes:

Yesterday, we inquired and received the last on him:

"...the squirrel made a perfect recovery and was released with three others nearby. Thank you so much for caring.

I may be checking in with you regarding future releases if you have a good yard. I often get squirrels in from Animal Control with no information or from school sites which is not a good release site."

- Squirrelmender

Is that a great ending or what? Rock on Hendrix!

Over Fire

When it's warm out, we like to be outside as much as possible. When we can, we grill.

But sometimes, we're just simply forced to (thanks Mother Nature for this wonderful heat wave!)...

Yep, you are seeing right. That's a whole pizza being 'baked' on a grill. No, we are not renovating our kitchen again. We actually chose to do this.

How to do this? Just keep the grill on a low heat, oil both sides of the dough one side at a time, and cook until it is a bona-fide crust (be patient, it takes longer than you would expect). Then top your pizza and cook some more.

The result: a tasty deep dish pizza (take note of the meat cleaver in the photo. You'll need it).

Bug Out

This morning Karma the dog took interest in a flying insect in our hallway. We quickly had to evict him because Rylie the dog has a habit of eating (or trying to eat) these. Or maybe she thinks it's a game and is only playing with them. Which is cute until she gets stung.

After he was caught, we thought "man this guy is large":

And then we thought "man this thing has a weird body":

All while taking photos of course.

After comparing photos with internet research, I've come to the conclusion that it is a Black and Yellow Mud Dauber. See for yourself, here and here.

They are "thread waisted" and "solitary" wasps. Such weird terms. But befitting for a weird looking bug. No idea where it's mud nest is, maybe in the toilet tank sitting in our hallway?

Sticky Legs

Some great shots of a big spider web on our spruce tree outside:

Anyone know what kind of spider this is?

Great Balls and Fire

There's a flyball tournament coming up and I'm on ball washing duty. So here's what I'm armed with:

(vinegar, unscented soap, bleach)

Don't forget the rubber gloves if you're lucky enough to have dry skin like me (trust me, bleach and eczema are not a good combo). It also protects my hands from using the hottest water my faucet has to offer. And wash the buckets too. And then dump the dirty water into the toilet (you don't want the grass clippings, dirt, mud, rocks to go down your tub drain).

Then I rinsed like it was going out of style. Then I rinsed again with vinegar. Then again with water. Because if there is a hint of anything on them and the dogs don't take the ball, you know who's going to be blamed!

Then I set them out in the cleaned out kiddie pool to dry out in the sun. The sun also zaps the germs. So plan on doing this on a really sunny day.

The dogs are confused.

The dogs are tempted.

Oh but wait until I take these balls indoors tomorrow to mark our team name on them! These girls will be thoroughly confused. And tempted some more.

And after the back breaking work of washing balls in the tub (which brought back old memories), and then hauling them downstairs, I tried to make some well earned breakfast:

Today is not going to be a good day.