A Different View, Week Two.

As promised, I scanned a fresh set of leaves from the backyard today.  First a reminder of what they looked like last week.

And scans from today.

I kept them in the same order as last week, replacing two duplicate leaves.  Third row, first image is from my magnolia tree.  First row, second image is a mystery leaf.  Absolutely no clue what kind of tree that is (frankly I don't remember what tree I got it from either, so this may be it's last appearance).

Many of the leaves are still green, but definitely a more yellowish green than last week.  And I'd love to know what's up with all the big dark spots.  I'm hoping that's normal.

Back with more scans next Wednesday.

Spinach Dip and Social Media.

I heart social media.

For at least 5 years now I have been on a quest to find a nice, hot, gooey, cheesy spinach dip recipe.  As it turns out it is surprisingly difficult to find a dip that is cheesy enough without being too spinachy.   After my last attempt turned out terribly wrong, I blogged and twittered about the failure.  I asked for anyone to please pass along their delicious recipe to me.

My pleas were answered.

I wish I had taken a pretty photo of the dip before we inhaled it.  As it was, I gave myself a blistering burn on the roof of my mouth I was in such a hurry to try it fresh out of the oven.  Totally worth it, by the way.  So delicious.

Props to Megan, twitter pal extraordinaire, for passing along the recipe.

Garlicky Spinach Dip With Hearts of Palm (Cooking Light)

• • 1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
  • 14 ounces can hearts of palm, drained and chopped
  • 10 ounces package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
  • 8 ounces block fat free cream cheese, softened
  • 6 1/2 ounces tub light garlic-and-herbs spreadable cheese (such as Alouette Light)
  • 
    

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   
2. To prepare dip, combine mozzarella, 1/4 cup Asiago, sour cream, and remaining ingredients, stirring until well blended. Spoon spinach mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Asiago. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve warm with chips.
   

This awesome recipe can also be found on RecipeZaar.  And I'm still open to trying more, so feel free to pass along your yummy recipes to me.

Butt Crack Wine.

I need to offer both sincere praise and a heartfelt apology to the talented illustrator of "The Slammer", this week's "Cheap Wine with a Pretty Label".

First the praise:  Slammer Illustrator, You Rock!  What a cool, awesome label design.  I love, love, love this label.  I had such a great time checking it out, hunting down all the little details you thought up.  So clever.  I love the lock on the top of the screw top, the keys around the top of the lip.  Such a clever idea to put the year and wine scrawled into the wall like graffiti (it's a 2006 Central Coast Syrah, by the way).  And your copyrighter?  Well, let them know they rock too.  The little wine blurb on the back about being criminally rich?  Well done.

But you didn't stop at the front of the label.  The back illustration?  That rocks, too.  So smart that the inmate's name is the name of the wine, Syrah.  This part of the illustration, however, is where my apology comes in.  It's the butt crack.  Love it, don't get me wrong.  But at this point, I apologize, the juvenile humor in me takes over and I can't think about anything but the butt crack.  Great idea coming up with a name like The Slammer, and I'm sure you labored over that decision, but I'll be referring to this one as Butt Crack Wine.  And giggling a little bit when I say it.

Final details.  Let's see, distributed by Big House Wine Co.  (the website is worth checking out, complete with a note from the warden and a map of the cell block).  Good wine, very fruity, almost grape juice like.  The bottle was $9.99, and I enjoyed a glass while watching "The Green Mile".  Would have gone equally well with "Shawshank Redemption" (if you haven't seen this movie, you need to).

Still cracking up about the butt crack...

"It Could Be 80, It Could Be 8."

That's the age estimate the homeowner (and new friend) gave me on the latest "True Love Always" carving.  I've mentioned before that I live in a wonderful old historic town.  This drawing happens to be painted inside the detached garage of one of those beautifully renovated century homes, which gives a very wide span in predicting it's age.

I always have so many questions when I see these declarations.  This was no exception.  Of course I wonder who Brad and Amy are, how old they were, how long this marking has been here.  I knew quite a few Brad and Amy's back in my high school days, so I imagine they are around my age.  The handwriting to me looks feminine.  I also noticed that Brad's name is first and more care is taken to writing his name.  Which leads me to think Amy lived in this house and made these marks.  I also have to wonder how her parents felt about her marking up the garage.  And then I think, maybe it was a married couple excited about buying their new home.

In any case, if Brad and Amy are interested in a visit to the garage, their time is running out.  The building and the carving are to be torn down in the next few weeks.

On a personal note, I do want to thank my new friend both for bringing this to my attention and allowing me to photograph it.  Met her and her husband at a dinner party last week (she's the one holding the wine bottle near the fire in my last wine post).  Thank you to "the real MH"!

It Just Doesn't Seem Right.

On this day, the 8th anniversary of the day America changed, it just doesn't seem right to compose a post about the cookies I baked today.  Or the football game I'll attend tonight.  Eight years ago everything changed, yet my memory of the day is still crystal clear.  I am still as angry, sad, heartbroken, mortified, as if it had happened yesterday.  I wonder if that will ever change.

It just doesn't seem right for me to write about my thoughts or emotions on what happened September 11th.  There are so many people more qualified to write that post and tell their story.

What I can speak about is the little lesson that I learned 8 years ago.  The habit I picked up.

I am always reachable.  

My cell phone never leaves my side and it's usually in my hand.  On a walk, at the pool, grabbing the mail, a quick run to drop off my kid.  I am reachable.

The phone calls that were placed that day haunt me still.  People calling for help or speaking to a loved one from a hijacked airplane.  Husbands calling their wife one last time from the top of a burning building.  I always think, as horrific as that situation was, they could make that one last phone call.

So my phone is by my side.  And I hope and pray that I never have to use it for this kind of situation.  I hope and pray I never get that kind of call.  But if my phone does ring, I will be there to answer.

We Are Ready For Some Football.

It's that time of year again.  The return of football and also the return of our family's "perfectly legal fun football pool".

We can thank (or blame) my dad for creating and maintaining the pool.  We can also thank (and again blame) him for making us change our names for the season.  From September until Superbowl Sunday I am known as ShaNayNay around here.  And no, I did not choose that name.  I have to note that one person's identity has not been changed.  Not sure how they got away with that.

In theory, it is a fun family pool that keeps us all together throughout the season.  In reality, there will be lots of trash talk, disqualifications and several heated conversations about ties and playoffs.  Heaven forbid you call in your pick at 12:01 on Sunday afternoon (the rules clearly state you need to have your pick in by noon).

What's the prize?  The prize is a yard sale find trophy complete with the winners name and year engraved on the base.  The winner has possession of the trophy all year and the bragging rights as well.  And believe me, there is definitely bragging.  I'll have a chance to take a photo of the trophy at the end of the season as I have every intention of winning it back this year.

For now, this is ShaNaynay, signing out.

A Different View.

The view outside my window is beginning to change, another sign that fall has arrived.  Each day the trees are more and more colorful.

Rather than take a photo of the changing backyard, I thought it would be cool to scan an individual leaf from a few of my favorite trees.  Garden experts will note there are a couple of shrub leaves in the mix as well.

I'll try to remember to do this with a leaf from the same trees every Wednesday.  It will be interesting to see the progress from week to week.  Wonder which ones will change the fastest, have the most red, or won't change at all.