Master Procrastinator

It was beautiful outside for a time on Saturday before it rained. I should have seized the day! and done some much needed weeding, mowing, and general yard work. But I didn't, I procrastinated and it's been wet all weekend. Ultimately it's good for my plants, just my grass gets a little longer. Sitting outside earlier I resolved to do some weeding anyway in this wet weather, who knows, it may even be easier. It's also time to start tying up my tomatoes and a few plants already need a second ladder added. I've had to use every tomato ladder I ordered for every plant in my garden-and it still has not been enough to deter the wrath of Kane. I don't know if I had unrealistic expectations or if she has gotten more garden destructive, but either way she has decimated my garden.With the surviving plants I don't know what to do...The ladders are great supports but not Kane proof. I guess I need to look into something else or just be prepared to find them torn to shreds one day.

I have been busy party planning away for my company's summer party at the Vintage Virginia wine festival. It's been fun but because I'm neurotic, it's been time consuming. It's only a few weeks away and I need to take planning to next level here and start buying supplies/ordering food. I'm making the desserts myself but I think homemade is always better, and I did a test run of a recipe last night. I made Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie from allrecipes- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sopapilla-Cheesecake-Pie/Detail.aspx
Although it needs some tweaking before I make it for the festival, it was really good. I am sending Chris to work with the leftovers b/c it's some seriously delicious stuff and I don't want it around.

I hate Mondays b/c my mind is often at work wondering if everything is okay.

It's been a while

So it's been awhile since I last posted. Which a foreboding thought considering my past blogs' track records. At least I can say it's in due part to being away the past two weekends. Each of which was spent in Baltimore. The weekend before last was due to Easter. And this past one was due to Neil Young playing at the Hipppdrome.

Easter weekend was nice but not without a few hiccups. The K family photo shoot went well and the photographer took some photos with just Chris and I along with the pets. Kane as usual was uncooperative but hopefully some of the pictures of her turn out well. Later that day we went to meet up with our friends and ended up on sailboat! We had a blast sailing around drinking cocktails in Annapolis harbor. The next day for Easter I made mashed potatoes but in the process clogged up the sink so bad it stopped working. It was unusable the entire day, and would require a plumber. I felt awful! This followed by the fact that Kane did serious damage to my father in law's library. It was the only place to keep her and she destroyed the door, door jam, and his putting green. So we caused quite a bit of damage. :(

This past weekend we saw Neil Young and it was awesome! He sounded just as good live as he does on his records. Our seats were awesome, I only wished he had played more of his hits than his newer stuff.

Other than that not much else is new. Chris and I were talking the other day about how life seems to just fly by at sonic speeds. My garden is doing well. Everything I planted seems to be thriving albeit one blackberry bush Kane sat on. While not the most productive weekend, I did manage to check a few things off my to-do list the past few days.

I made a lasagna yesterday and just enjoyed a slice for lunch. This is my absolute favorite recipe. It is the best lasagna I have ever had. I got the recipe off allrecipes.com -my favorite recipe site. Here is the link http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Lasagna/Detail.aspx by: John Chandler

I make mine a little different just because I like more ricotta and fresh basil. I also reduced the cooking time b/c each time I've made it it has burned slightly on top, I might reduce the temp. for the second half to 350 next time, keep an eye on it. I always double the sauce and freeze extra just have on hand to make spaghetti. I've made it with both sweet and spicy Italian sausage, I definitely prefer it with sweet sausage. This requires a large lasagna pan. My slightly different version below.

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 bunch fresh basil chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 package dry lasagna sheets, break if needed to fit pan
• 32 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 packages sliced mozzarella cheese
• 1 bag grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with eggs, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Arrange noodles over meat sauce. Spread with one third of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with  Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining ricotta, sauce and mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

I really need a Roomba and a Scooba

I have several things I need to get done today. But as always, the more fun things have a tendency of being completed while the less fun things don't..

To Do:
Shop for blouse for family photo shoot, possibly one for Easter too
Buy second crockpot
Order a bunch of 5x7 prints for Shannon's photo collage-Pick up prints
Figure out what two items I am bringing to Easter
Purchase ingredients for above two items
Wash scrubs and other laundry
Clean & straighten up house 
Vacuum & mop floors

As you've probably deduced the list is in descending order of fun to stinky. I just really REALLY hate doing the floors. While I am not a pillar of good housekeeping it's not uncommon for my house to look decent until you look down and see the floors, complete with dog hair and other mysterious spots. If I had an extra an $800 dollars lying around I would buy a Roomba to vacuum the floors and the Scooba to wash them for me afterwords. I actually think they would be worth the financial investment. Maybe Roomba for my upcoming birthday and Scooba for Christmas? I need to hop off here and get started. :)

A day late and a plant short

So I knew from previous experience that it was best to chart all your plants as soon you plant them. But I don't always learn from my own mistakes and did not do so immediately after planting. As a result of that I wasn't able to label two plants in my garden but somehow I think I will survive:) Below is an aerial view of my garden with varieties charted which will help me determine next year what varieties to get again/avoid.

Kane enjoying her new plush sod...

I am basically done short of adding the tomato ladders. In an effort to prevent weeds and the maintenance they require I am going to plant moss between the slate stones of our patio which you can see smidge of near the bottom of the photo above. Hopefully I can find moss, I know my mother and aunt searched extensively for it before to no avail, and took to looking for it in strange opportunistic places such a sidewalk cracks and in the woods. I did want to plant Rhubarb but was unable to find any. I contemplated ordering a plant but read that they do not like soggy soil. Considering my back yards soil has a lot of clay I would have to consider building a makeshift raised planter to allow better drainage. Not sure if I like Rhubarb quite that much.

Let it rain

All this rain has been great for my backyard garden, and has greatly aided me in being lazy with watering until my new hose arrives. Yes, I paid $45 for a new hose-crazy right? But apparently hoses are expensive, I know b/c I price checked. My current hose is like 300 ft which is totally unnecessary and not only does it kink in a zillion places but it also leaks at the connector point shooting water all of the place. This one is a much more manageable length and has great reviews, but the best part? It's purple!!!

I also ordered red tomato ladders for my maters as well as super cool velcro tape to hold my plants up. Hopefully this will save me from coming home nightly and spending an hour trying to tie up my maters. The ladders are red which helps in producing a better tomato crop and they stack which will be invaluable since I only plant indeterminate varieties.