Dark Side of the Fridge

Somebody just looks awfully pleased with herself, doesn’t she?  One might almost say she looks like the cat who ate the cream, only we know she’s not getting any cream – skim milk, maybe, but no cream! 

I’d love to get her on the scale, but I have a hard enough time getting her to stand still for a picture – she’d never stand for a weigh-in. 

Of course, we know why she’s so pleased with herself, don’t we?

After months of trying to get him in trouble and whispering her not-so- sweet nothings through the kitty door at the dog. . .

You’re adopted!

You’re going back to the POUND!

Drooly dogs smell!

. . . he finally managed to rip it off – now NO ONE is going through it, and the solid part of door got slid closed.

Yeah, she thinks her work is done here.  We’ll see. . .

Aww. . . look at that!

It’s the Tiniest Green Bean Ever! 

Suddenly, after all the rain last week, the beans are just loaded with blossoms, and some of those blossoms are starting to become beans!  Yay!

Stay tuned next week for “what the heck am I supposed to do with all these beans?” 

So I asked last week whether anyone would be interested in a cooking challenge – and the response was a resounding . . . yawn. 

So for the moment, this idea will be put on hold – for the summer.  I’ll spend the next couple of months trying to come up with something Fun! and Exciting! and Challenging! – and I’ll make an announcement in September.  Oooh. . . I’ll bet you can hardly wait, huh? 

Oh, and as always, suggestions are always welcome – either leave a comment, or feel free to email . . . whatever makes you feel comfortable. 

Just like everything else around here, the herb garden has been happy happy happy with all the recent rain – I’d almost say it’s starting to get out of control!  Especially the tarragon.  Don’t get me wrong – I love tarragon.  In fact, I’m planning to use a goodly amount of it in a marinade this week.  But I wonder if I should just hack it back, like we did to the oregano?

I’m a little nervous about that, though. I mean, we’ve already cut the Greek oregano back twice, and every time we go after it, it just comes back stronger than ever.

I’m just afraid that if I do the same to the French tarragon, it might just . . . surrender. 

I just couldn’t resist trying to capture some raindrops on the petals of those gorgeous lilies.

I’ve been wishing I was a better photographer, then I realized that, just like with anything else, practice will help!  So here I am, practicing! 

If you don’t take anything else away from today’s entry, you should always remember this one thing:

It is NEVER a good idea to pick lettuce for a salad right after it rains.  I mean, yeah, sure, it just pulls right up out of the ground so easily and all . . . but, DUDE. 

You can thank me later.  Maybe after I’ve removed the quart or so of dirt from the sink . . .

And here it is, everyone’s favorite part of Mondays – the Monday Menu Plan. 

You may be wondering why, with just the two (occasionally three) of us, we bother planning our weekly menu, especially given the hours we work – Peeps is almost almost home by noon (which is what happens when you start at 5!) and I’m usually home well before 4.  Plenty of time to figure out and cook dinner, right?

Well, yeah, probably.  If, of course, it’s not frozen, or if you’ve got all the ingredients handy. 

We find that it’s just nice to have a written plan laid out, so we know what we need to do (maybe pick some lettuce for salad the day before so we’re not scrambling at the last minute for a green vegetable) or if one of us needs to pick up something at the store  (if we’re going to have burgers on Thursday, we really don’t want rolls sitting around all week!).

So here we go!

Monday -  The forecast is calling for 74 and sunny – perfect weather for grilling.  We haven’t had any seafood in a while, so Peeps is going to grill some tilapia – one of his favorites!  I’ve already got salad cleaned and in the fridge to go with dinner.

Tuesday – Since the tarragon is threatening to take over, I figured it would be a good idea to actually do something with it!  I’ll do a simple chicken marinade with some orange juice, tarragon, a little garlic – YUM!  That will be perfect with some basmati rice and some garden-fresh peas.  Peas and tarragon are a classic pair anyway. 

Wednesday – I’ve got some errands to run after work Wednesday, and it’s supposed to be raining anyway, so Peeps suggested that tuna-pasta stuff that we tried a while back – it’s quick, cheap, tasty, and he brought home a couple of pounds of fresh linguine the other day that are sitting in the freezer wanting to be used up!

Thursday – Thursday, I’m going to try something a little different – pork tenderloin “medallions” with Herbes de Provence and a white wine-scallion pan sauce.  I’m debating whether to use dried Herbes or just make a fresh “almost” version . . . I guess I’ll see how I feel Thursday!

Friday – Pizza night!  Boy, are we predictable, or what?  It really is nice, though, to just relax in front of the TV with our pizza and Jarly’s Kong toy!  His new favorite “pizza night” treat – peanut butter and kibble in the Kong! 

Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday post for loads and loads of other ideas.