Ma and Pa's Blog

Well, I tried the lentil salad I told Jeff about awhile ago: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_170126,00.htm It was pretty good, just not photo-worthy. (I certainly don’t think it justified Giada’s signature toothy orgasm face when she tasted it on her show, but I don’t think she eats enough food to be able to make any distinction between well-seasoned food and so-so dishes; any sustenance at all probably elicits ecstasy. But I digress.) I didn’t find any fancy-schmancy french lentils, so I just used run of the mill green lentils and man, one pound made a BOATLOAD. If I make it again, I will only use 1/2 or 3/4 pound, keeping the other ingredients at the levels suggested in the recipe. The grapes and cucumbers were a nice addition, and the toasted walnuts I subbed for the hazelnuts added a nifty crunch and flavor. We also squeezed a lime over the salad as we plated it, and it added a little extra, welcome zing. Maybe with less lentil, the tasty lemon vinaigrette flavor would come through more. Anyway, it was good, not great, and I’m not too upset that there is PLENTY left over for another meal. It may or may not put in an appearance at Hocking Hills. And now, because we feel all virtuous and whatnot about having eaten such a healthy meal, tomorrow I may cook up the slab of baby back ribs that’s waiting for us in the freezer…

Over the years, we have perfected our own workable method of traveling to unfamiliar areas: clueless-ly driving around in ever-decreasing circles until we stumble upon either a) our destination or b) a familiar landmark. The driving is sometimes, but not always, accompanied by grim silence and seething irritation, depending on the urgency of finding the destination (or making a flight). Maps? Google search? We got ‘em–but sometimes traffic or maybe just our a.d.d. seem to get in the way and, ta-da! we veer off left–to adventure. Generally, though, we manage to remain fairly congenial and philosophical, because–hey, it’s what we do. No matter that we never can find anything a second time, since we found it the FIRST time by pure accident, and we had no earthly idea where the hell we were or how the hell we got there. It has been a comfortable means of travel, which we have perfected over our nearly 40 years together.

This summer, though, we are going to be visiting two remote forest-y areas: Shenandoah in VA and Hocking Hills in OH. And I got to thinking that it’s less appealing to be wandering around aimlessly in the woods than it was a few years ago. So we decided to spring for a tom-tom gps. I am looking forward to punching in “restaurant” and having our menu of options appear on the tiny screen, instead of driving down any random street in the hopes of finding somewhere to go to dinner. Or asking our new best friend how to get back to the cottage. Or home.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new purchase, and, with it, our new, focused mode of travel. Dad is looking forward to having yet another woman telling him where to go, sans the shrill, irritated tones that are apparently my style. And I’m sure we’ll still veer off the plotted course, as the whim takes us–it will be fun to confuse the electronic mapster!

Look at all this cool work going on as they pave our street . . .

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These are courtesy of Stephanie . . .

She was sad that they’re a week early for Owen’s birthday party.

It’s 7:30PM, and the temperature is on the way down.   Ma saw 100 degrees earlier this evening!

Here are some pictures from Hocking Hills — hocking hills photos

And here are some updates from around the homestead — homestead photos

I have tried many times to start plants from seeds. Flowers, vegetables–the seedlings all die. This year I tried mightily to grow some basil from seed and, once again, I had to toss the damned tray of dead/dying seedlings into the trash and buy a couple pots of healthy, happy basil. Now, it’s not a big deal, obviously. But as I was grubbing around in the flower beds I got to thinking about Peak Oil and the coming famine. If these guys are correct, we’ll have to grow our own produce in a few years and man, we are totally screwed. The only way I’ll be able to keep my family fed is if I volunteer to go to the Soylent Green factory.