Refreshed

posted by Mel
For over two weeks I’ve contemplated a post detailing all the ways in which 2007 sucked worse than any other year in my reckoning, but something has held me back. I think it’s that we just did such a good job of ending the year right after all that I don’t want to dwell on the bad. [...]

Domesticity (warning: a little disjointed)

posted by Mel
 
Saturday morning I woke up before Vanessa and Eric, proceeded to the kitchen, washed the dishes that were still sitting in the sink from the day before, opened up a new cookbook (AWESOME- btw) that I have an advance copy of from work and made Chicken Pizziola. We had it for lunch, and [...]

The other half of the story

posted by Mel 
With my last post I fear I might have given you all the impression that it’s all hairy showers and crusty dishes over here. There’s lots of good stuff, too– like the other day when I was helping Vanessa get the dogs to the car to go to daycare and Eric rushed out [...]

The good stuff

posted by Mel 
Saturday night we had beer, cheese fries, and portobello fries with Katie, Brigitte, and Brian.
Vanessa started a new job yesterday.  It appears she’s going to work on some projects that have her really excited.
The dogs spent all weekend at the Barkalounge. The cats could not have been happier about it. It also gave us [...]

Dinner Is Served

Last night for dinner I made a muffuletta sandwich and minestrone soup. For the sandwich, I used a round loaf of bread that Mel made Sunday evening. It was perfect because you have to hollow out the bread to stuff it with the sandwich ingredients. I was able to take out most of the guts [...]

Crabs– the good kind

You never know what treasures you’ll find at Aldi’s. The other day we noticed they were selling frozen King Crab legs– $8.99 for a 16 oz package. Neither of us has ever prepared any kind of shellfish other than shrimp at home before, but for the price we decided to give it a shot.
Too easy. I just [...]

30 now. So far so good.

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so enjoyable. I couldn’t ask for better friends. I also couldn’t ask for a better partner than Vanessa. Tom and Shirley’s detour through the cemetary aside (My mother and father distracted me long enough for Vanessa, et al to set up the surprise party), I had a great evening Saturday.
After [...]

Plaster hard. Insulation dusty.

Vanessa and I, Amazons that we are, ripped out a plaster ceiling this weekend. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that we sawed out a plaster ceiling this weekend. We’re renovating the middle bedroom. As soon as my body decides to cooperate, it’s going to be the baby’s room, and I just couldn’t stomach the [...]

Fresh Tomato, Pepper, and Basil Frittatas– Indymel style

For those who might be unfamiliar with frittatas, it’s an open-faced Italian style of omelette that requires a skillet that can go from the stovetop to the oven. You start it on a burner and finish it off under the broiler. It’s a little like quiche, but much simpler and less fattening.
Ingredients
1 large tomato (been [...]

Shake or Barrel Redux

I personally like the Spanish-influenced barrel tiles (see previous post), but there are a few other things to consider. Aluminum is lighter-weight, has higher recycled content, and is more energy efficient than steel tiles. (Recall that the attractive barrel tiles are steel while the shake tiles are aluminum.) Aluminum is slightly more expensive than steel, [...]