My 23rd random act of kindness was to buy frozen yogurt at work for the next person that came up wanting one. This is in honor of Mary Sherlach, the school psychiatrist at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She sprung into action when the gunfire started, running towards danger in an attempt to protect the children. Mary was known as the voice of reason, calm, and comfort in her circle of friends.
Last night, in the midst of crazy crock potting, I tried a new recipe from Pinterest (click here for the original). It was a bit of a juggling act as it feels like you’re making two separate sauces, one of which needs constant stirring. It was fun to finally use my immersion blender! This was delicious, especially with the bit of fresh basil in it. Yum!
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 9 medium)
1 small onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons flour
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup half & half
2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 pound farfalle or other short cut pasta
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Start the tomato sauce. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Score the bottom of the tomatoes, blanch in the boiling water for about a minute, cool and peel. Discard skins. Roughly chop tomatoes and set aside. In a small saucepan, sweat the minced onion and garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium low heat for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic. Blend the sauce with an immersion blender to make it thinner and to break down the tomatoes. Cook about 15 minutes until thickened.
While the tomato sauce thickens, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.
While the pasta and tomato sauce are cooking, make the alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook about 2 minutes, until brown. Whisk in the milk, half & half, and garlic and season with salt & pepper. Continuously whisking, bring to a simmer and cook about 2 minutes until thickened. Fish out the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard. Whisk in the parmesan cheese. The sauce will be very thick, so add 1/3 cup of the hot pasta cooking water to the alfredo sauce to thin it out a bit. Remove from heat.
Drain the pasta and add to the alfredo sauce. Mix the basil into the tomato sauce and add the tomato sauce to the pasta. Mix well.
Today I completed random act number 22. I was buying the groceries for my crock-pot-a-poloosa and I saw this great little fern. I took it with me to the register and asked the checker if I could pay for it and then have her give it to the next person who came through that looked like they were having a crummy day. This is in honor of Lauren Rousseau, a thirty-year-old teacher who had recently become a permanent substitute teacher and died shielding her students.
A long, long time ago on Pinterest, I pinned a “recipe” for crock pots. Basically, this girl had pulled together five of her favorite crock pot recipes and “cooked” them ahead of time. The idea is that you do all of the work ahead of time, then freeze what you would put in the crock pot in gallon freezer bags. Then, you pull a bag out the day before you want your meal, let it defrost in the fridge overnight and then plop it in your crock pot in the morning.
I followed her directions and labelled and laid out all of my bags:
Then I started with the tedious part – the chopping of the veggies. I wish I would have taken a picture of them all laid out on the counter… it was impressive! Once I had the veggies chopped, I added the meat and spices to the bags. Then I sealed them up, squished out all the air and laid them flat in the freezer.
Pretty impressive, isn’t it? In total, it took me about an hour and a half from start to finish – not bad to have ten ready-made meals! I wrote on each bag the name of the meal, that it was meant for the crock pot, today’s date, and anything that needed to be added in the day of (more broth, water, etc). I’ll post the recipes as I try them… I don’t like to post them on here until I can give an honest review. Everything looked and smelled good though! If you want to see her blog, complete with recipes, click here!
Every year we host a big New Years party. And every year, Shadow has the pleasure of spending the night at Gold Country Pet Resort (Sidenote: if you live in Amador County or anywhere near it, this is the ONLY place to board your pet. I’m pretty sure Shadow doesn’t want to come home because he has such a great time there!). I do this for a variety of reasons – there are people in and out of the house all night and I worry someone will let him out, he’ll get fed WAY too much food he shouldn’t eat, etc. Probably more peace of mind for me than anything.
This stay was no exception – he had a fantastic time and I picked him up at 5pm on New Years Day. It was dark by the time we got home, and I only pulled about halfway down the driveway because I still had some things in the garage to clean up before I was going to put my car in. I opened the back door of my car and unlocked Shadow’s crate. He jumped out like he normally does, but either tripped or was expecting to be on flat ground (instead of the slant of the driveway). He landed smack on his face. Like really hard. It actually scared me a little bit. He jumped up and shook it off, but I know how those sneaky labs can be, so I took him in to check him out. Teeth are all intact, nothing seemed to hurt to touch, but I did find a gigantic raspberry that was bleeding on his chin. Poor little fella!
I gave him a bath (he really did have a fun time at the kennel) and cleaned it up a bit. Here’s what it looks like today…
I feel so bad! At least it’s healing and nothing else was hurt! Poor Shadow!
Today I completed random act number 21. This one was done with the help of a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. She had some clothing that wasn’t quite her style, and asked if I could donate it to one of our local retirement homes for those who might really like it. This is in honor of Avielle Richman, a six-year-old who loved swimming, going to the library, and riding her pony.
Our latest movie from On Demand was Looper. I’ll admit, Mike wanted to see it more than me, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
Director: Rian Johnson
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt
Runtime: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Plot Summary (from IMDb): In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to ‘close the loop’ by transporting back Joe’s future self.
Rating: On Demand.
This was seriously a good movie. It was one of those thought-provoking types that leaves you at the end with the question “What do you think happened next?”. The whole idea is that when a looper kills his older self from thirty years in the future (“closing the loop”) he gets a big chunk of gold and to live the next thirty years of his life in peace. Joe’s older self (Bruce Willis) realizes that his life is amazing and that he wants more than just thirty years. When he gets sent back to be killed by the younger Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), he has to convince him that life is worth living longer than thirty years. The ending really does leave you thinking and contemplating. This is definitely a must see movie!
Ratings Explanation:
Today was such a beautiful day that I decided to visit my local nursery to get some plants for a project I had been thinking about for a while. Back in our patio building days, our old wheelbarrow broke. Like the tire completely exploded. It sounded like a gunshot. Mike mentioned at the time that it might make a cool planter. Fast forward to today. I finally got around to moving it to where I wanted (this perfect bare spot of concrete in our front yard) and decided on the plants I wanted to grow in it. I headed down to the Ridge Road Garden Center – if you’re in the general area and need plants, this is the place to go. Salye (the manager) is absolutely amazing – she knows the customers by name, is incredibly knowledgeable about plants, and is always willing to give advice. Plus, she has a great golden retriever named Gunner who runs around the nursery.
I decided that I wanted a succulent garden – something that tolerated the sun/heat well and that the deer would leave alone (fingers crossed – I’ve learned the hard way that absolutely nothing is “deer proof”).
Of course, I can never make it out of the garden center without buying more than I went in for. I was inspired by Mike’s aunt and uncle in Oregon – they have a beautiful sun room that is full of amazing live plants. I have a couple of houseplants that I’ve been growing for a while, but nothing substantial. The first one I got was the corn plant (Dracaena Fragrans), so named because it’s leaves resemble the leaves on corn stalks.
The second is the money tree (Pachira aquatica), complete with braided trunk. I just love having something green and alive in our house! This one is in our bedroom – I’m not sure I love where I put it, so I might move it around.
I absolutely love gardening. I was talking with Salye today and we were both wishing it was spring and could plant more! I had to restrain myself and remember that if I planted too much outside it would all die! There’s something so rewarding about turning the soil, planting something, and watching it grow! I suppose I’ll have to stick with houseplants until spring comes!
Mike and I were just watching a movie (review to come tomorrow when I’m not so tired) and I commented that the birds were really quiet. I headed downstairs to cover them up (I do at night so they don’t get too cold) and discovered them snuggled up together in the tiki hut:
Trust me, it was really adorable.
For random act number 20, I bought McDonalds for the person behind me last night. I was needing a little snack to get me through the long drive home and thought I’d share the love. This is in honor of Jessica Rekos, a six-year-old little girl who absolutely loved horses (near and dear to my heart!). She had just learned how to tie her own shoes.
Down The Road I Go 