Author Archives: Ali

Spaghetti Sauce

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I had so many tomatoes that I didn’t know what to do with, so I thought I would make some spaghetti sauce.

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First I browned some garlic in olive oil.

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Then washed and sliced my tomatoes

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Picked the LAST of my basil from my garden, mix it in with the garlic on a low heat.

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Quarter and peel the tomatoes.

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Add the tomatoes to the garlic and basil, crank up the heat

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Mash with the back of a slotted spoon (I actually used my potato masher, which worked a lot faster) heat until comes to a boil. At this point it was a little thinner than I’d like, so I added a small can of tomato paste, which helped it thicken up. I also added about two tablespoons of course ground kosher salt to taste and some dried Oregano. Simmer for a few hours. This also freezes really well, so I put it into Heavy Duty Ziplocs and put it in the freezer to enjoy later!

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And hey, Paul and I were in the paper this morning!

Quilt…ish

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So I am going try my hand at quilting. I tried to make a quilt once in junior high and just got as far as stitching all of the top together, let’s just say that cutting straight lines isn’t my strong point. Or following patterns for that matter. Yeah, well, we all know I am not a perfectionista. Anyhow.. that’s beside the point! The point is that I found a bunch of fabric at a Rummage Sale 2 weeks ago and grabbed it (It was an “all-you-can-stuff-into-this-bag” donation type sale, so I figured even if I didn’t use it for a while, no big deal. I then suplimented it with a little bit that I had stashed away, and 2 old sheets from the Salvation Army that had cute little flowers on them.

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Look, mom! Straight lines! I took special care to make them the same size (roughly…eh hem, I don’t have the best scissors.)
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So now I just have to find a place that I can put my sewing machine. Woe is me, my apartment has no more space left in it. And husband needs both of the desks for school and work. Hmph. Oh well. I’ll figure out something.

Other than that, Paul and I took a trip out to our friend Alberta’s farm and came back with some deliiiiiicious veggies, which we have been eating every night for dinner (Our favorite thing so far: Frying zucchini in olive oil until browned, then right before taking off the heat adding a dash of garlic salt! Super yum)

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And I am SO glad that we stocked up on blueberries for the fall. We’ve REALLY been enjoying our blueberries.

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Does anyone have any idea for the proper care of Cactus Plants? I haven’t been able to find much online, and I am afraid that our little buddy is dying. We’ve been trying not to overwater him, but I am afraid of underwater!

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Well, that’s all I got for this lovely (hot, again) Friday here in good ol’ Idaho. Tomorrow we hit up the Farmer’s Market, The Fall Jolly (think Rummage Sale/Craft Fair/Food Vendors all in one spot!) a football game with good friends, and it’ll be a great weekend.

Since everyone else did it…

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Since everyone else posted beautiful kitchen sink pictures with their sparkling sinks, I thought I might show you guys the state of my kitchen this morning:

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All washed and clean and now in the freezer to be enjoyed for the rest of the fall!

Also, while at a thrift store I found these curtains that just happened to fit my kitchen windows (actually there were 9 curtains in the package, but they all came together, so I just took the lot)
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They match the color scheme of my kitchen alright (Who am I kidding, I don’t have a color scheme! Nothing in my house matches, but that’s just how I like it) Anyway, what do you guys think? Are they too ‘circusy’? Are they whimsical enough to be fun or just kind of annoying? I just can’t make up my mind about them, so I am relying on all of you to help me out. (They’re anything but beige, Erika!) Well, I’ve got 6 more of them if anyone wants a couple… I can’t image that I could possibly use all 9!

Veggies and Waffles

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While on our quest at the Farmer’s Market to get berries for our Saturday Morning breakfast, we stopped to get some cucumbers, but our friend working at the booth decided to cut us a deal and throw in some squash and some kohlrabi. Now I’ve never had kohlrabi (the spiky purple thing) and so if any of you have any great kohlrabi recipes, please, by all means share them with me!

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We also got some fresh peppers, just look at those colors! I love our Farmers Market, delicious produce, SO cheap!

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Mmmm, Fresh fruit for the Belgian Waffles.

waffles 001Waffles are serious business.

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The perfect Saturday morning treat!

Weekending

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Ahh, I jinxed it! 101 degrees yesterday, just to spite me!

But today, today is Saturday and that means rummage sales and blueberries at the Farmers Market. (And when we get home, we’re making Strawberry-Blueberry waffles. Yummmm)

And todays weather forcast is much nicer than yesterday,

Cloudy 63 Degrees.

I can do that.

Etc, etc.

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This weekend we hit up the Farmers Market (quickly) but we got some fresh blueberries and mini-donuts for breakfast (shh, don’t tell) and then we headed down to the Lentil Fest!

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So Lentil Fest wasn’t all that exciting, but c’mon, there was a parade and everything. It was kind of fun, and I got to hang out with Paul all day so that was fun, too. Then we went and saw Julie and Julia, which we loved.

Meryl Streep was, of course, amazing. She really is quite a character.

In her honor, I fried up some onions in lots of butter tonight. A warning though, don’t go see the movie if you are hungry, lots of yummy food shots! Makes me want to learn how to cook French food!

The weather has calmed down to mid-80s lately, which is loads more pleasant than the extreme heat of earlier this August. I am missing my Tacoma people more than ever. Especially this little dude:

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But! We will be home in less than a month. Also, we will get to hit up the fair! Always the highlight of my year.

I am loving that I can walk to work, be within walking distance of pretty much anything that I need (except the grocery store, but who wants to carry all those groceries back anyhow?)

I’ve been looking up some stuff online for ways to keep our apartment a little more organized (We have a lot of stuff!) Anyway, I’ve come across some pretty fun stuff, and even though it wouldn’t really work in this apartment, I still think it’s kind of cool:

But my shoes would never stay so organized.

Well, that’s all I got for now!

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It’s been a busy week, I’ve  started my new job (so far, so good) and done a lot of work around the house.  Tried my first loaf of Artisan Bread (we made the pizza crust before, but not the loaf) but I am happy to report it turned out great!

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We also had some overripe banana’s, so we made banana bread, and boy is it tasty. I love banana bread.

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So we liked our Artisan Bread so much I tried to make it in a loaf, so it’d be easier to make sandwiches and stuff out of. It took a bit longer to bake (I left in in an extra 15 minutes) but it turned out good, too. Although, it may have needed about 5 more minutes of baking as I don’t think it was done all the way in the middle. Also, I made a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, just because the oven was preheated. (It takes our oven well over 30 minutes to preheat t0 325. It’s absurd.)

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Another little project I was working on… I got these “dish rags” at Target, they were on clearance and they were fun colors, so I bought them. I tried to wipe off the counter with a damp red one, and left a bright smear of dye all along the countertop. I then checked the packaging and it says “Do not bleach, wash in hot water with like colors”… seriously? Luckily we have tile counters, so it came right off, but I am just glad I didn’t toss one of these in with a load of laundry! So, I threw them all in our big (two baby) sink and boiled them about times and the dye still hasn’t really stopped bleeding out, but I figure i can use them at least for wiping the counters now. Then to dry them I set up twine all around my kitchen and had little clotheslines hanging around everywhere. Looked kind of festive with the bright colors. And also now I have a light blue ring around my sink.

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And the most important news of ALL! Head on over to Skrivan Scribbles and wish Ezra a big congrats on being born!

Gardening

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Disclaimer: For all you serious gardeners out there, just an FYI I am not a gardener, or serious for that matter.

That being said; take a look at my new little garden!

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We’ve got tomatos, 2 different kinds of peppers, eggplant, basil, chives and some zinnia’s and some other kind of white flower that I don’t know what it is called that Paul got for me.

Sadly, though, all my dill up and died on me, so oh well for that. But that’s ok, since I’m not a huge dill fan anyhow. But it was kind of sad. I think the heatwave was just a bit too much for it. *

plants 003Right next to our little park bench that is so nicely in the shade for cooler evenings reading outside.

*I think the heat wave was too much for me, too!

The Small Pink Sweater

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This weeks project was a pink sweater. Last week I found 3 skeins of matching yarn, and wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, so I grabbed my needles and started knitting. Pink Sweater 001

I’m not 100% in love with the neckline. It also initially had bell sleeves, but they didn’t really suit the sweater so I ripped them out and just did cap sleeves.

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And today at the farmers market we got some yummy cherries and green beans. Just perfect for a hot summer afternoon.

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