Hahahahahahahahaha. See, I Told You Guys.

Overheard in my house last night:

"Honey, have you checked if Bird needs water lately?" said Mike, casually.

"Uh, not for a few days." I responded. Just as casually. (In my head I'm doing the Champion Dance, but I don't dare crack a smile or let on that I noticed he just called our plant by name.)

* * *

We had friends over for dinner last Friday night, and the menu was fabulous: Mike made steamed calamari and prawns, baked Tilapia fillets; I made steamed asparagus, jasmine rice and fruit pizza for dessert; and one of our guests TJ (who is Mike's new shopmate) brought over "Lion's Mane" mushrooms that he just grew. And then we served it all with local organic red wines. It was a feast! And an absolute success!

Our friend Ted took this photo of us, which he then gave us a copy of:



It was a wonderful night that reminded us of the important things in life: family, and the moments you have where you get to enjoy one another's company (as well as eat delicious food, let's be honest here, who doesn't love that).

* * *

I had wanted to make this recipe, but got kicked out of the oven (when I was recipe planning I heard Mike say he was frying the Tilapia but he was baking it, so fine, I'm nothing if not flexible), so I steamed my asparagus instead. I had leftover uncooked asparagus, so I made the roasted sesame asparagus for part of our dinner last night; and it was really easy and really delicious. So here's the recipe, try it and love it:

Roasted Sesame Asparagus

Ingredients

•1 lb asparagus, washed and trimmed
•1 teaspoon sesame oil
•1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Rinse asparagus and pat dry.
Place on jelly roll pan or a pan with sides.
Drizzle sesame oil onto asparagus, tossing to coat, then sprinkle with salt.
Roast for 10 - 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. I like the ends to be a little crispy.

Note: I drizzled about 2 teaspoons worth of sesame oil and did not measure the salt at all, just eyeballed it. Super easy, and tastes awesome. Enjoy! (Oh and I bet it also works well with broccoli.)

The other part of dinner last night was something Mike and I made up together that we are sort of calling "gumbalaya" and/or "mush," though mush is deceiving as it tastes awesome and is super easy, so here it is:

Ingredients:
Rice of your choice (we used jasmine rice)
Black-eyed peas (the canned kind is just as delicious but you can also do the dry kind)
Sausage of your choice (we used sun-dried tomato chicken sausage)
Rita's Hot Salsa (okay, Rita's is a local thing so for you Wisconsin folks, just try to find a red-pepper based salsa that is blended and saucy)

Directions:
Cook rice in pot
Cook beans in a different pot - spice beans with cumin and garlic if desired
Slice and fry sausage in skillet (use oil if necessary and/or desired)
When everything is cooked add the rice and beans to the hot skillet where the sausage is, toss it to get the flavors all mixed together
Mix in salsa to taste

Eat and enjoy! It's yummy.

Part II of My Summer Trip to Wisconsin in Pictures

What better way to start off Part II of the Wisconsin pictures than with this (I believe it's called The Margarator, and with good reason):

It's my aunt and uncle's and it came in quite handy when the family was together and feeling festive, which was this day.

Kids:




Cousins, aunts and uncles:




Grandpa and Grandson (each other, not mine - my uncle and 2nd cousin):


Niece:


Brother-in-Law, Grandma (right) and Great Aunt (middle) - and let me tell you, she is GREAT:


Little Ham Niece:




Proud Aunt:


Another Proud Aunt:




Brother:


Cousins:




Sister and Sister-in-Law:




Eating Time:


Kid Table:






Playing cards:



Cousin H being told to share or something like that (he appears to be deciding if this so-called "sharing" is worth his time):


Nephew being silly and telling me to take his picture hiding in the bed:






This is one of my favorites:


This is one of my other favorites:


This is my niece saying "Take my picture," and then making a funny face every time I click the button:








Looking at Mike's pretty glass:




My sister brought cupcakes with giant plastic ants on them:




My mom's new seashell on her hearth:


After a lot of stormy not-so-fun weather, there was a rainbow:


Can you see the faint second rainbow next to the first one?


And that is my family trip to Wisconsin! It was such a nice time! I look forward to bringing Mike with me the next time I come so that I don't have to spend time missing anybody and can just enjoy my time with friends and family.

FINALLY! Here are the pictures of my summer trip to WISCONSIN! Yahoo!

I don't claim these to be in any particular order. I had a hard enough time putting Earthdance into order, and that trip was a week ago. My trip to Wisconsin took place during the month of June. Today is the first day of Fall. Sorry it took me so long.

Without further adieu (I'd hope not!), MY LOVELY WISCONSIN TRIP PHOTO ALBUM:

Cookout at Ben and Stacie's (pictures by Stacie):




Mmmmmmm, brats and potato salad, mmmmmmmmmm:




I think Benny might have taken this one of Stacie:


Avery's field trip to the Henry Vilas Zoo:




Mike and Anya's adorable new house (at night); and the top of my rental car:


When I would try to sleep at night, Amourette would remind me that it was her time now, and that the porch room is actually her room:










My "porch room" that Hayley and Dan made for me - it was the perfect place to stay!:


The mess is all me:




Newspaper over the windows for maximum privacy:




I spent a lot of time with Hayley and Dan and their cat, Amourette:




Ben came over sometimes:




This is a debate about some song being in some movie or some such thing:


I think Ben was dancing as proof that he was right:


Going out with Hayley and Dan:




Hayley looked radiant:


This is obviously what happens when you request a man to cooperate for a picture:


He made up for it:


We were at Jolly Bob's:


They just take such cute pictures; I can't help it:


Strolling:


Mural on Willy Street:


Poster for Stephen Marley Show on the door of Jamerica:


Hayley and Dan either trying to leave or resting in the car or hiding from my camera/me, probably all three:


Speaking of how cool Jamerica is:




More strolling (see, they got back out of the car):


Something in somebody's yard:


Sitting on a bench by the lake that may or may not be in somebody's yard, either that or public property:


Can you see the lake in the background? And the pretty sky from the sunset:


Hayley:


A maypole(?) in somebody's yard:


We walked by this park, which obviously calls for me taking a picture of Hayley next to the sign (this was totally my weird idea, as if that is necessary to say):


I always wondered:


Hot Nuts:


Thinking about Hot Nuts (this is not ambiguous, please only take it at face value):


Girls:


Bartender posing by Hot Nuts so I can take his picture, and no, I did not make this request, nor did I want a picture:


Some other patron decided to buy me some Hot Nuts since I was so obsessed with the concept (that being a gumball machine that keeps the nuts hot):


Picking out tunes on the jukebox:


Recognize that guy?:


I think here I am in awe of the list of Wisconsin brews on the marker board, something I don't see when out on the town in California:


Where we were:


Driving home (see the Capitol building!?):


I think I was trying to take a picture of me with the Capitol, but it didn't work:


Aw:


Aw:


Oh, look, there's the Capitol again; I don't know how it got there:


Hayley no longer capable of properly humoring me:


We were watching The Beatles' HELP!:


My adorable rental car (I loved the color!):


Walking down the bike trail with Benny:


The start of the Tornado Warning Day:






Eeesh. (It looked worse in real life.):


To Be Continued... Stay tuned for Part II to come to a blog near you soon (it's THIS ONE).