Sunday, July 13, 2008

Stuff Chris Likes....

Right now Carrie is taking a nap and I am watching the baby in our computer room thinking," gosh I haven't blogged in a while." Since It's critical that Cami stay in this room and away from our poor recovering Peaches* I figure I'll let everyone know a few things that I've really been liking lately.

*Important Side note - Peaches was hit by a car this week. For those of you who are not familiar with our cat Peaches his life has been all sorts of complicated over the past year. After the move and the birth of Cami, Peaches has been living in our garage as an outdoor-only cat with access to the garage via a little kitty door. He has adapted well for the most part, he's become friendly with the neighbors and only sits outside our door and meows for attention on occasion. Regardless, this Wednesday we came back from Dinner at Carrie's folks to our neighbors letting us know Peaches was hit by a car. Carrie found him in some bushes fairly bloody and dragging his left leg behind him. So I collect Peaches, put him in his kitty carrier, and drive him to the emergency pet clinic thinking he's about to be put down. Well, a couple of hours go by and apparently Peaches has no broken bones or vi sable organ damage, so we decide to leave him overnight as see where he's at in the morning. Long story short - three days with the vet and he's really bruised up and limping but has no broken bones or damage that won't heal on it's own. So Peaches is back inside and looking better everyday, just as long as we keep a certain very mobile very curious 8 month old as a safe distance. Anyway...slightly sad story with a little bit better ending, not the best way to start a post about things I like...oh well.

1. Science Fiction - Yup that sound coming through your computer is the nerd alert. Don't be alarmed, it went off for me for a few days when I started this crazy science fiction habit but I've since learned to ignore it. Carrie and I have recently discovered the wonders of the public library and have had a blast taking Cami and getting new books. I started out by renting a Golf book, Tales from Q Schools, a fairly manly topic. But then my eyes caught a glimpse of Ender's Game and I realized I had not read that one and I had been meaning to. So I started reading that one and it began a chain reaction that is still going. In the last three weeks I've plowed through Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow ( Brad Fellows, If you're reading this I still have your book buddy! Give me a call.) ,Dune, A Brave New World, and I'm half way through The Foundation. This may not be many books for some, but for me this is practically a new record. Right now I'm just sucked into reading Science Fiction classics, I don't know how far this addiction will carry me, but I will let you know how it ends. (BTW here are 3 second opinions - Ender's Series - LOVED Them, will read sequels to both books, Dune - Amazing, stunned by the level of detail,will read sequel, A Brave New World - Horrible, I don't like any of the characters and WAY too preachy/pseudo-intellectual. The Foundation - So far so good.)

2. Cucumbers - Our Cucumber plant is the first in our garden to really start churning out the Veggies. Our Garden is doing about 100 times better then I thought it would. Still, after harvesting the first couple of cucumbers and eating them with some Ranch ( ohhhh yeeeaaaahh) It occurred to me that I don't regularly buy cucumbers and I might have too many for our purposes. That was until I found the best cucumber recipe ever. They call it Hungarian Cucumber Salad, but if I had to rename that sucker, and I will, I will call it Quick Pickles!

Here's what you do, take two medium cucumbers, skin them, and slice into rounds as thin as you can get them. Place rounds evenly over a plate, sprinkle with salt ( If you have to layer then sprinkle each layer with salt) Then take another plate and place it on top of your plate of cucumbers, put a 5 lb weight on top of the new plate. Set for 40 minutes ( This is to drain as much water as you can) Before removing the top plate drain the water. Then pat your cucumber slices dry with paper towels.

In the Meantime, prepare in a bowl 1/2 Cup water, 1/4 cup Vinegar (white), a pinch of sugar and a pinch or garlic powder. mix briefly. Put your dry cucumber slices in the vinegar mix quickly and refrigerate for 2 hours.

This is very simple but VERY tasty and takes our excess cucumbers and turns them into a nice snack that tastes like a light pickle. It's also a nice side dish for a BBQ or ward pot-luck if you have a ton of cucumber.

That's about all for now, I also really like the new American Gladiators, Our Ice Cream Gun, and Swimming but I will spare your the blog on those. I hope everyone is having a great summer. leave us a comment and let us know how you're doing. Take care!

4 comments:

Carrie said...

Sad, rough week for Peaches. I'm glad you are taking good care of her while she is on the mend. Chris, I had no idea you were into sci-fi. I've been on a bit of a reading kick lately myself, although I haven't hit up that genre. However, your post has tempted me to broaden my horizons. Congrats on the garden doing so well. I am impressed with you guys.

Carrie said...

Oh and you guys need to stop ignoring my calls. I've probably called your house 5 times this past week only to get an answering machine or busy signal.

Dave & Chels said...

I have to admit (sadly) that at times I go through sci-fi books as well. The only ones I've read on your list is Brave New World, which I found interesting but a little out there. But the guy wrote it in the 1930's, so you have to give him a little credit.
And Peaches. Poor Peaches. He's a fighter, that's for sure. I remember when he was a little kitten and kept jumping onto Dave's shoulder when you guys lived in that apartment.
And that cucumber recipe sounds good. I've been buying them, but don't know what to do with them. You've solved my problem!

Toddy Boddy said...

Peaches-- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
As far as the scifi goes, I love to watch movies on the Scifi channel on Saturdays. They are the stupidest movies in the whole world, yet they draw me in everytime! (Wait! No! Don't go over there! There's some prehistoric dinosaur that looks uncannily like a toy T-Rex I played with when I was five! Ahhhhhh!!!) Peace out!