Feeling Hot Hot Hot

I think we need to find an outdoor air conditioner to go in the kitties' igloo. It's been pretty hot and humid around lately, we essentially didn't have a spring. Over the last few weeks since it has been so steamy the cats haven't really wanted to hang out in the igloo. We put their food in there in case it rains but other than to eat they don't go in there as much as before. Yesterday Inky was keeping me company while I was staining the deck and then poor thing was panting. I didn't even know cats did that! So I have decided we need to figure out a way to make a mini-air conditioner. Like, a dehumidifier combined with a humidifier so it could suck water in and then blow it out in a cool mist. Something along those lines.

It thunderstormed today so we didn't get any staining done. Yesterday we worked on the area by the hot tub again and now thankfully we only have to do the floor over there and then we will be finished with that part! Only two million more planks to stain. Anyway, since it was raining today was more of a lots of little projects sort of day. I we sanded and repainted a door that was messed up, planted our border bushes by the hot tub, and hung up the sail clover cover above the hot tub area. So that part is starting to look really cute. Too bad the hot tub is still broken so we can't appreciate it. But it's still nice to look at from the pool. And it's nice to have another area of the backyard finished.

Now we are watching Dr. Who and enjoying chocolate chip banana bread. Basically, take any banana bread recipe and add a cup of mini-chocolate chips. It's tasty stuff.

Lonely Hearts

Little Caiti still won't let us pet her. I know all of the websites on feral cats said the older the cat is when you try to tame it the longer it will take (or the more impossible it will be). But, we really thought that LC would see how nice we are and would warm up to us. Poor LC did have things worse than Inky (we was the first one caught in the trap, she was caughte multiple times, and then she had to live in our garage for 2 months while waiting for her foot to heal) so it's understandable that she would be a little more hesitant... but we are nice people! We haven't caught her since her paw healed, and we give her food everyday, and we don't kick her or anything like that. But you would think we do hurt her! Anytime I'm outside she runs past me at full speed. She watches me all the time and has only let me touch her once. She lets V touch her every now and then in the morning when she is too sleepy to realize what is going on but that's it. It's so sad though because I really think she wants some loving! Whenever I'm playing with Inky she lays down about a foot away and rolls around while staring at me. Hopefully she warms up soon because I feel so bad for her.

Inky has been super lovey lately. She has learned that if she meows it will get me to come outside and pet her for a long time. She didn't make any noise for the longest time so I'm happy she has become comfortable saying hi but it makes me feel so guilty when I leave her to go back inside. She's also started letting me pet her tummy which is adorable. She rolls over about every 45 seconds to make sure I pet every part of her tummy equally. She's a silly one.

Tonight for dinner we are having spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs. I don't really use a recipe for my sauce. I make sure I have two cans of each (this makes enough sauce to freeze at least 2 meals worth): tomato sauce, petite diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes. One can tomato paste. 2-3 onions (diced), 4-6 cloves garlic (diced), 1 bay leaf, dried or fresh parsley, dried or fresh basil, pinch of sugar, tiny bit of dried oregano. Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add tomato paste. Add one can each of tomatoes. Let reduce. Add another can of the crushed and diced. Only add the second can of sauce if you need to thin it out. Maybe add another can of died. Let saute for a few hours with a lid. Then let cool and divide into containers.

I can't remember what recipe I used for the meatballs. I made a ton of those (about 40 small) so I've still got some leftover. Once I do make them again I'll post what recipe I use. I will say, it's easy enough to make homemade meatballs and if you made a bunch in advance it's very easy and then you have quite a few pre-made dinners for weeks!

I would buy you a kebab

Inky was very naughty today. V left very early (before I was awake) to get to court. It was a torrential downpour when I woke up this morning so I ran out and put their food in the igloo then left them alone. After awhile it became just a heavy sprinkle so I braved the wet to put some wet food in their igloo. After gorging herself, Inky planted herself in front of the glass doors, watching me putter around getting ready. After awhile I took pity on her and went out to say this morning and pet her. Inky eventually got bored and started walking away. This is where she gets very badly behaved... I think she had a trap set for me.

I opened the door partway and stuck my foot in. Then Inky turned around and sprinted back and leapt over my foot into the house! Images flashed through my head of spending the entire day trying to find her and get her back outside. I tried to gently pull her back outside but she wasn't having any of it. Luckily, she just looked around for a few minutes then got bored and walked back out. It was still nerve wracking. So she's in trouble now.

I've been loving the grill so far this year. I usually don't like the flavor of grilled food because the smokey taste is overwhelming. But I think V was gotten much better about putting my portion of the food to the side so it doesn't get as charred. It's nice because we can swim for a bit after work then throw something on the grill and still eat by 7.

Last night V made a yummy dinner for us. A friend from work sent it to me and she got it from Martha's (THE Martha) website. She made a slight addition however... garlic powder. It's a simple thing but it adds a nice flavor.

Pork Kebabs with Pineapple Rice

1 cup long-grain white rice (I used 2 cups 5-minute rice)

1/3 cup honey

8 ounce can pineapple chunks, juices reserved (I think I had a bigger can... maybe 14 ounces)

1 pound pork (I used cutlets, she used tenderloin... I used closer to 1/2 pound) cut in chunks

2 red bell peppers, cut in pieces the same size as the pork

2 scallions (I didn't have these and the rice was still good)

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 lime cut into wedges (I used this, V used soy sauce)

Heat grill to medium

Cook the rice. After cooked add chopped pineapple chunks, scallions, ginger, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Whisk honey, 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, salt and pepper

Alternately skewer pork and pepper pieces on skewers. Cook until pork is cooked (10-15 minutes). Occasionally brush with the honey sauce. This is where V sprinkled over some garlic powder too. Serve over rice. Squirt with lime juice or soy sauce as desired.

Long Weekend

And I'm back! It's been a pretty crazy week so I took time off from blogging. But I'm back now with two, count 'em two new recipes. We had a nice long weekend swimming and hanging out by the pool. Everyone told us that a pool would be a lot of work when we bought the house but really it's not too bad. V does most of it but we just skim off the top of the water regularly and then we have a little vacuum to get yuck off the bottom and that's really it's maybe 5 - 10 minutes and we are ready to swim! I also painted the beautiful adirondack chairs and now need to pick out a color to paint the table. I'm thinking white would accent the chairs nicely. We both love swimming and just reading in the pool. For some reason there is an overabundance of ants in the pool which is mildly annoying... but not terrible.

Now I am working on finding recipes that don't require me to do much work so I can swim instead of spending all my time cooking. Which means, lots of grilling this summer. One day we had the summer veggie pasta and another we had creamed corn casserole with grilled asparagus (and V had a steak). Plenty of tastiness to go around! Both of these recipes are from Pioneer Woman's website.

Creamed Corn Casserole

This is really good. I added a little too much cream but I just used a slotted spoon to serve it and it turned out fine. It's not a light dish but it was easy to make and very good.

8 ears corn - shucked and silks removed

2/3 cups cream

2 tablespoons butter (the original recipes called for 3 but I thought it was a little greasy)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. In a big bowl with a big knife remove the corn kernels. Then scrape the back of the knife over the cobs to get out all the yummy corn milk-stuff. Pour in cream. Add butter (I cut it in small pieces so it would better disperse), and salt and pepper.

Pour into a casserole dish. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until warm and bubbly.

Summer Veggie Pasta

This is very good also. The ricotta has a slightly odd consistency but once you get used to it, it adds a nice texture to all sorts of dishes.

• 16 ounces pasta shells
• 1 pound Asparagus - ends removed, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ pounds Broccoli, Cut Into bite-sized pieces
• ½ pounds Zucchini Diced
• ½ cups Frozen Peas
• 3 whole Green Onions cut into little pieces
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (though I used letter butter and more oil)
• 20 ounces, weight Ricotta Cheese (20 - 22 Ozs.)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1-½ cup Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat over to 350.

Melt butter and olive oil in a pan. Put in asparagus and cook 5 minutes (the original recipes said to add garlic first but I like to add it later so it doesn't get bitter). Add broccoli, cook 1 minutes. Add zucchini and good another 2 minutes. Add in garlic and onions and frozen peas. Set aside to cool.

Cook the pasta. Combine ricotta, eggs, salt, and pepper.

In a greased 9x13 baking dish (I used two 8x8 pans and froze half) layer food - pasta, ricotta, parmesan, veggies, pasta ricotta, parmesan, veggies, parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes or until warmed through. Enjoy!

Easy Tomato Sauce

Our flowers are blooming! The hydrangeas are still pretty small but they are getting some flowers and the blanket flowers are getting bigger, but still no flowers. The biggest surprise has been the roses growing by the deck. They were getting really overgrown so this spring I cut them back a lot so that there were basically just 3 twigs sticking out of the ground. We had planned on digging them up but never got around to it. Now they are blooming like crazy! They've got a bunch of vines and bright pink flowers. V bought some trellises and has been winding the vines around the trellises everyday. It's going to be so pretty. We even have a new rose plant growing where I threw some clippings that I forgot to clean up. It's a miracle plant!

The rest of the backyard has been on hold. It keeps raining here so we haven't been able to stain. Happily, this weekend we are supposed to have 4 dry days so I think we will be get some more staining done this weekend. Finally we can put out our new chaise lounges! Unfortunately I also have to mow the lawn Friday night... boooo.

Tonight I tried out a new tomato sauce recipe. I was all around the food blogs last fall so I bookmarked it but never got around to trying it. The great thing about it it that I've had the ingredients for weeks, just waiting for the right night to make it. The sauce was so good! My only complaint is that it was a little thin. It still had good flavor but next time I might leave out some of the tomato juices to help thicken it up. But on the whole it's a keeper.

Tomato sauce with butter and onion

28 ounces whole canned tomatoes (I added another 14 ounces petite diced - I think I would drain this can next time)

5 tablespoons butter

1 onion (cut in half and skin removed)

salt to taste

Put tomatoes, butter, and onion in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil at medium then reduce to low and let simmer for 45 minutes. Mash the tomatoes against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon every now and then. Discard the onion and add salt as needed. Serve on 1 pound of pasta. Enjoy!

Gimme Shelter

Once we decided to keep the kitties, the next step was to figure out where the would sleep. Obviously they will never be indoor cats. I wouldn't get their claws removed and they are too curious to be happy stuck indoors all the time. And I don't clean litter boxes. Ever. There were a few options for kitty homes. They had been sleeping under our back deck and seemed pretty happy about it. But, winter was coming and the deck is not windproof and I don't think there is any source of heat down there (but we suspect the dryer vet might be under the deck, we aren't sure though). The people at the Humane Society with outdoor cats said they just had basically lean-tos that they put straw in for the cats to use in the winter. However, V and I thought that wouldn't be warm enough since Inky was only 8 months old and Little Caiti had recently fractured every bone in her left paw.

V found a petgloo on Amazon that was windproof and pretty water proof. It was insulated and also had a heating pad that we could buy to put inside. That seemed like the best option for softies like us. However, it wasn't cheap. I've learned that nothing about having pets is cheap. We were a little worried when we initially bought it because the kitties didn't want to go in there. To get the used to the igloo we started putting all their food in it (including their favorite wet food) so they gradually got used to going inside. Now they love it! They sleep in it, eat in it, and generally lounge. It's definitely they new home. It's also nice because I can sit and watch them cuddle while they are asleep in it. It's gratifying seeing how much they enjoy it. It has been one of the best purchases we made... so far!

Now, I need to find outdoor shelter for myself. We got some really nice wooden chaise lounges for reading by the pool. I love sitting and hanging out by the pool with a history mystery. Sadly, I can't sit outside very long because I get burned really easily. So... the next thing I'm saving my money for is an awesome cantelever umbrella! That way I can chill by the pool in the shade while the kitties enjoy their petgloo.

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta

It keeps raining here! We haven't gotten any additional staining done. There are still several days worth of work left to do but we can't get it done because it won't stop raining. I thought V could stain this weekend but they just started saying it is going to rain on Saturday AND Sunday. Boo. I'm ready to be done with this mess. Hopefully we can finish it by the end of May so we can relax by the pool for the rest of the summer. If I angle my chair so I can't see the unfinished part of the deck the backyard looks pretty awesome.

For dinner tonight I made another internet recipe and I forgot to save the site. But, I made a few changes to it and it was really tasty. Nice and garlicy. My only complaint is that the sauce didn't stick to the pasta very well. I think next time I would thin it out with more pasta water.

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta

3 cups cubed italian bread

1/3 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic

3/4-1 pound tube pasta

1 cup ricotta (I used skim)

2 cups cauliflower (I just used about a bag of frozen and then steamed it)

1/3 cup parmesan

fresh basil or parsley

Toast the bread crumbs. Dice the garlic. Cook in the olive oil until it smells like garlic. Chop bread in a food processor to make into crumbs (I also put the garlic olive oil in the processor to get the garlic extra small. ) Mix together oil and crumbs. Set aside.

Cook pasta. Reserve about a cup of the starchy water.

Puree cooked cauliflower and ricotta in a food processor. Stir in herbs, parm, salt, and pepper. Stir into the cooked pasta. Add as much water as is needed to thin out the sauce and help it stick to the pasta. Either mix in the bread crumbs or sprinkle over the top. Enjoy!