Name That Fruit

Well, vegetables and fruit and special bonus items this week! (and extra credit if you can identify the source of "Name That Fruit")

First, the vegetables (and one fruit)...

My guesses are (from left):Kale, Strawberries, Peas, Small Beets or Large Radishes, Red Scallions, White Scallions, (Blue Scallions?), Misc. Lettuce (top), Different Misc Lettuce (bottom), Large Beet, Garnish Type Green Leafy stuff.

Next, our tiny little rental car for the next two weeks while ours gets fixed from the sideswipe a couple of weeks ago...

If you can name that car, you know more about (sub) compacts than is probably advisable...

Finally, just for Helen...

No more vegetables, just dinner cuteness!

Help, Please!

I have continued the grand adventure in running - thanks, in large part, to Amy's suggestion about the Couch to 5K program. Having a very specific workout has helped immensely. And I'm happy to say that the running is going very well (though I still think running more miles than you can count on one hand is just crazy).

However. It has recently come to my attention that I'm doing something somewhat unorthodox. You see, when I mention running in casual conversation, it usually goes something like this: "When I was running the other day, I was listening to my NPR podcast, and I heard that..." [fits of laughter from whoever I'm talking to]. Apparently, listening to NPR while running isn't normal.

While I do LOVE my NPR podcasts (I never drive, so how else will I get my NPR fix??), and don't intend to give them up, I understand that music might also be a good running motivator. I particularly came to understand the power of music when I was in Arkansas for Easter, and I had the pleasure of taking a spin class that my dad teaches. He uses GOOD music, and it definitely gets you going.

So, I need your help to compile a really, really good playlist for running. I need upbeat, peppy tracks, people. Please help! I'm seriously musically challenged.

Girls' Night

The men went to a Braves game last night, and Ashely and I stayed home for girls' night - complete with wine, conversation and Pride & Prejudice. Pure girly heaven.

We also each took a turn entertaining both kids. Here's what was going on while I cooked dinner:

More Shoes

Carter immediately went after Aunt Ashley's shiny red shoes!

Big Shoes

My mom is tired of pictures of vegetables, so here are a few pics of Carter's latest obsession: big shoes. These were taken over the last month or so, and there were oh-so-many more moments of cuteness for which we didn't have the camera ready. One such moment looks pretty much exactly like this (seriously, Rachel and I have nearly identical shoes). And then there were the enormous yellow flip flops. I tried to teach Carter how to wear them properly, but he does not like having stuff between his toes.

Mystery Greens

We got our second CSA box this evening. It contained red scallions, peas, arugula, strawberries, broccoli rabe, radishes, beets, red leaf lettuce, and.... these mystery greens. Who can help?!? Might one of them be mustard greens? That was listed in the newsletter as a possibility for the box this week.

I'm Home!

It's so good to be home! I got back late yesterday afternoon. It took Carter a little while to warm up to me, but he seems happy to have me back now. I quickly got to work with our CSA food. Thanks for all your ideas and interpretations. As we get mystery foods, I'll certainly be posting for more help! Thomas appreciated all the ideas, but did not attempt to do anything with the food (not even the strawberries or peas!). Which was just fine with me because after a full week of airport, hotel and conference food, I was in the mood to cook!

First, for a snack, I taught Carter how to properly eat strawberries. I got a small bowl of powdered sugar and taught him to dip the strawberry in. At first (unsurprisingly), he just dipped, licked, dipped, licked, without actually eating the strawberry. Eventually, I got distracted with my own strawberry-eating, and when I looked up, I discovered that Carter had eaten the entire strawberry - stem and all. He seemed to be enjoying it and was unwilling to open up and let me get the stem out. More nutrition, I suppose...

Then for dinner I made a roasted beet and goat cheese salad with lettuce, arugula (not dandelion greens) and the beet tops - and I used some of the scallions in the dressing. It was tasty. For the main dish, I made this turkey meat loaf. It's a really good recipe, and I was able to use a full cup of my home-grown parsley and some of my chives.

It's so nice to be home and back in my kitchen!

The Last Hotel

This is my last night away, and its the first day I haven't flown or moved into a new hotel. We definitely picked the right hotel for a two-night stay. This is such a nice hotel! It's a bit sad to be enjoying it alone.

The view from my bed into the bathroom. Yes, that's the water pouring from the ceiling (on purpose).

And from the tub, you can watch tv. Heaven!

My meetings wrapped up this afternoon, so now I'm just waiting for an early morning flight. I decided to do something nice for myself, and I got a massage this evening (aren't you proud, mom?!). I'm very much looking forward to being home tomorrow afternoon!

C! S! A! C! S! A!

Well, the time has finally arrived for our long awaited first box of CSA locally organically grown vegetables to arrive so the healthy living can commence... just as soon as Elizabeth gets back from her whirlwind tour of the country (Hi, Honey!). So I thought, hey, I can cook vegetables too, lets get that box and enjoy the fresh, non-chemical, non-engineered taste of...whatever happens to be in the box this week.

The anticipation

The revelation

The explanation

So, from left to right: Green leafy stuff, scallions! (with some red stuff), green leafy stuff, radishes?, green leafy stuff, strawberries!, green leafy stuff, and (whirled) peas!

So, without a little guide book or multiple choice or really any useful food knowledge, my ability to prepare exciting healthy meals on the fly without any idea what foods I am looking at is underwhelming. So we had pork. and rice. But I do see peas in my near future. and probably fresh strawberries. Beyond that, we just have to play it by ear. (Now if there had been corn in there, we'd be talking).

Come home soon, baby, the food needs you!

2 of 4

This is my marathon work week. I'll be hitting 4 different cities this week, and right now I'm in my second. Last night, I flew to NYC, where I had a meeting today. This evening I'm in Chicago for a meeting tomorrow and then it's off to Houston and then Seattle before heading home Friday afternoon. Needless to say, you won't be seeing much blogging from me. So, bug Thomas to post something for you. Sure, he's busy holding down the fort while I'm away, but he definitely owes you a post about his spring training trip...

Update: I got up early this morning and took a run through millennium park, which I'd never seen before (my last trip to Chicago was November 2004). It was really nice, and I'm feeling so nostalgic for Chicago! This is such a great town. I'm very much looking forward to getting to actually spend more time here in May when I come back for a girls weekend.