We've made a recent addition to the grocery list: veggies. This is kind of a big deal for us because we really don't do vegetables. We'll occasionally saute a couple of zucchinis and a basket of mushrooms and every now and then you can see traces of broccoli in our cheese-potato soup but that's about it. The trouble is, we don't like the same vegetables. Steven likes tomatoes and bell peppers and an occasional cucumber and I like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrots, asparagus and green beans. And that's pretty much it. So we think we might have to start tricking ourselves. The goal is to find new ways of cooking with vegetables so that we actually enjoy eating them (let me know if you have any great ideas. We'd be happy to hear/try them). The idea kind of started when we were at P.F. Chang's last week and had this really great asparagus in Sichuan sauce. That particular recipe is one that I have yet to acquire but we had a really nice broccoli-cheddar-green bean-mushroom quiche the other night and we even made a salad on Monday night. You would think that salad wouldn't be that big of a deal but we never do salad because I don't like any of the extra vegetables that go in salad and I get bored eating just lettuce (plus, let's be honest, it's such a pain to wash and chop) But we tried just putting in small pieces of carrot and very small pieces of raw broccoli (something I do not normally care for) and it had a very positive result. Something we plan to repeat in the future. The fridge is full of lettuce and carrots and green beans and cabbage and broccoli and apples and grapes (and a nice wedge of brie) all just waiting for us to enjoy them. Next step: find a way to get Steven to eat Brussels sprouts, because I love them.
Last weekend I thought Seattle had skipped the fall and gone straight to winter. We had ten straight days of sunny weather and temperatures in the 80s to 90s and then all of the sudden it was cold and dark. Saturday was particularly cold and I was worried I would regret not wearing my long underwear as we were on our way to the Sounders game for the evening and it can get SO cold in that stadium. I survived, thanks to my sweatshirt, jacket, scarf and blanket. Uncle Barry took us to the game with him and a friend. It was so SO nice of him to take us with and we enjoyed it very much. The seats were good and we liked them even better when it started to rain -- we were under cover so we didn't have to scramble for those ponchos and rain jackets and umbrellas that we neglected to bring.
The Sounders won 3-0, which means that we got free haircuts the next day :) I have to admit, I was really scared to get my hair cut at a Great Clips and even after the haircut was worried that I had made a big mistake but I'm enjoying it and Steven really loves it so I guess it's okay. It was an interesting experience. Very minimal -- no shampooing, they just spray your head all over with a squirt bottle (very inefficient if you ask me, and I don't even have that much hair!), then the haircut, then kind of a really quick blow-dry but most of it is still wet and absolutely no style or anything. The girl didn't even make sure that my hair was all parted in the same spot. It's so weird to walk out of a hair place with your hair all in the wrong spots and still wet. The lady who cut Steven's hair told him he didn't look good with long hair. Ha! It wasn't even that long but it does always look better after it's been trimmed up a bit. And it was just kind of really fun slash silly that Steven and I got our hair cut at the same time. That I liked.
By Tuesday the sun was back out to play so Steven and I spent a couple of hours walking along the Kirkland waterfront. I was feeling very tired (I've got this obnoxious cold that's been hanging on since last Saturday) so it was slow walking with lots of sitting on benches but still just so nice to be outside. It was really weird to see people swimming and sun-bathing so late into September but I'm certainly not complaining about our late summer. I don't think I was ready for that rainy-with-a-high-of-55 Saturday we had last weekend.
(putting together a photobook with our England pictures -- I can't wait to see it!!!)
I took a sewing class yesterday! I didn't learn too too much but I do know how to get my machine all ready for sewing and I can (kind of) sew in a straight line. I have a quilting class coming up in a couple of weeks, which should be fun. I'm trying to get ready for a small group that I'm leading this fall. We're going to be sewing blankets for the nursery at church. This is something that I've been wanting to do for a long time so I just decided that I couldn't let the fact that I've never sewn a blanket before (or really anything at all other than the garter I wore at my wedding) hold me back. So I'm just going to do it. I also spent many many hours washing, drying and folding yards and yards of fabric yesterday and this morning. A few months ago a lady was evicted from our building and she left behind a huge tub of fabric. Our landlord asked if I wanted it and I said sure why not so now I have all of this fabric!
I had no idea what I'd find in the tub and wasn't really expecting to be able to use too much of it but there's actually a ton of flannel, which is so perfect for all those blankets I'll be making! At the bottom of the bin I also found an unfinished quilt. I don't really like it but I'm planning to finish it anyway. I think it will be a great learning experience for me and it will be nice to practice on soemthing that I don't really care too too much about how it looks. The lady even had all of the squares cut out so all I have to do is assemble and attach the border and then hopefully Sue Piehler will help me figure out the rest. I figure I'll just give that to the nursery as well since it's not something that I would want to have personally. I think it's really sad that that lady was evicted and she must have put a lot of work into that quilt already but what a blessing all of this fabric and the quilt will be to our little Eastlake friends!
I suppose I should probably finish tidying up. Steven should be home soon (had to go put in a couple of over-time hours, they needed extra help at the station) and Tim and Annika will be here within the hour. We're going to the Puyallup Fair this afternoon!!! Can't wait to pet the baby cows and drink free chocolate milk samples and eat scones :)
No comments:
Post a Comment