Scout vs. the Kitty Bank

Scout has a habit of sitting on Richard's night stand and knocking off coins to the floor, one by one.  So when I found this kitty bank I had to get it for Richard as part of his 40 gifts for his 40th birthday.  Here is a video of Richard demonstrating the bank, of course using all of the coins out of my purse.  So I guess Richard also got another few bucks out of the deal!

The bank is available at Amazon: Itazura Stealing Coin Cat Piggy Bank - White Kitty and also at Think Geek.

Water Woes

Yesterday's sudden downpour wreaked havoc on our neighborhood's streets.  We had a few potholes before, but now we've got some serious craters:

What Do You Do When Your Husband Turns 40?

I guess if you're me, you try to kill him with extreme yard work.  Poor Richard...  I really gave us both a workout today with landscaping the back of the house.  

Earlier this week I took advantage of a sale at Dayton's Garden Center.  If you buy more than 10 azaleas, they were half off ($3.99 each!).  So I picked up 12 of them, intending on landscaping the back of the house since it is so dull.  Unfortunately, we needed to pull up A LOT of sod to make this happen.  Here are the before and after photos...

Along the back of the house we basically had grass, weeds, and a few hostas around the window wells.  

We had very little color going on:

Since the plants are pretty small right now, they haven't made much of a difference, but they'll get bigger.  I moved a butterfly bush from the front of the house to under the kitchen window.

Next on the project list... Moving the pile of dirt and shavings from the ground up oak tree stump around the house.  The shavings will be good around the azaleas and blueberries, which will like the additional acidic mulch.

Well, it's good to know that we were able to get as much done as we did on such a nice (but a little too sunny) day.  I'm pretty sure Richard is happy to go back to work tomorrow and leave the yard behind!

Green Paper Kitty Shenanigans

What happens when you combine about 80 sheets of green tissue paper, a table fan, and two frisky kitties?  Oh, about 24 hours of romping, rolling, and stalking!  Here's just a sampling of the kitty shenanigans, starring Scout and Monkey.

One Way to Celebrate a 40th Birthday

Give him 40 gifts!

Richard got his geek on today as he opened a variety of gifts, but I think he liked the Green Lantern ones the best!

We stopped at Mom and Dad's after dinner and Richard was greeted by a bunch of numbered parcels:

Richard will need to take his vitamins to get through opening all those gifts!

Did you know that you could get a Starship Enterprise Pizza Cutter?  Richard didn't either!

Awww.... It's a plush Hal Jordan!

And, uh, a bobblehead Hal Jordan?

And a pop-up book with Hal Jordan?

And another Hal Jordan t-shirt????

Okay, that's just a bunch of green tissue paper to bring home to the kitties to play in later!

We ended with a large blank canvas.  That's something for Richard to work on over the next 40 years!

It was a fun way to end a fun day.  And tomorrow is his party... So more pictures to come!

DC Comics-Green Lantern Head Knocker 1 (from S2)
Funko Green Lantern Plushies
STAR TREK USS ENTERPRISE PIZZA CUTTER
DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book

Public Enemy Number One

Every year our neighbor complains about the groundhog living between our yards.  Last year a groundhog was responsible for eating the bottoms off of half of my tomatoes and the year before I witnessed a groundhog finishing off the last of my near-harvest Brussels sprouts (which take a VERY long time to grow).  Groundhogs are not welcome in my yard.  This one has a Havahart trap with his name written all over it.

A sure time it's really Spring...

It's asparagus time!

 I've got about 10 spears poking through the earth.  Mmmnn....  I should have a nice handful this weekend!

Yelp!

I've discovered  a new hobby: Yelping!

Check out my Yelp profile (reenie716.yelp.com) where I've been posting customer reviews.  It's very empowering to be able to quickly share our experiences with random, anonymous people (especially after having a particularly bad experience!)  But I also love singing high praises for some of my favorite places.  And it gives me a better excuse for taking pictures of my food :-)

Lighter Sesame Noodles

I tried a new recipe tonight that I found on the Martha Stewart website as part of a compilation of vegetarian recipes, just in time for Lent.

The result was very yummy and it will become part of my regular rotation of go-to meals.  Here's a link to Martha's recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lighter-sesame-noodles

I chopped all the veggies while the water for the whole wheat spaghetti cooked.  Then once I threw the spaghetti in the boiling water I had time to make the peanut butter sauce.  I love that you toss the veggies in to cook with the pasta water.  I've never cooked this way before and it turned out great.

Since I can't leave a recipe alone, I also stir-fried a block of extra firm tofu and tossed it the peanut butter sauce as the end.  I also used the full teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  Here's the final product:

Even Richard liked it.  It makes a ton, so it's certainly worth the time to make.  This would be a great addition for someone needing a hearty vegetarian dish, especially for a Friday during Lent.

Monkey is a Wombat?

When Richard and I were discussing whether or not marsupials live in America (they do, and we see them often!) we decided to look them up on Wikipedia.

We were so startled to discover that Monkey, who we thought all this time was a kitty cat, is in fact a wombat.  What do you think?

Monkey:

Wombat:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wombat_2.JPG

Two Movies: One Great, One Not So Much....

This weekend we checked out two movies that have been on my hold list for a while at the public library.  I'm very impressed with the availability of independent films through the Stark County Public Library system. 

This weekend we checked out Never Let Me Go and Please Give.  We watched Never Let Me Go on Saturday night and I wish I could get my hour and half of my life back.  I think it was well-acted (Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan) but the story was not for me.  If I found out that I was a clone destined for early death after repeated organ donations, I would think that a rebellion would be in order.  But then again, maybe the British are too refined for that?  Maybe I missed the point...

Tonight we watched Please Give.  I love a movie with well-developed characters with human flaws.   Catherine Keener is one of my favorite actresses who does not get the recognition she deserves, at least from the mainstream critics.  If you can get past the opening scene (if you are squeamish about getting a mammogram, you might was to fast forward past the opening credits) you'll be drawn in immediately.  If you can't get it from the Redbox, put it on hold at the library and wait a bit.  It's worth it!

On my Playlist

Last week I downloaded Adele's new album, 21.  Every song on the album is fantastic.  I usually pick one or two songs from a new album to work into my "Work Playlist" but it looks like I'm going to add the entire album into the list.

A surprising addition, a cover of the Cure's "Lovesong," was such a surprise that I was singing along with the song before I realized why I knew the lyrics.

What a talent...  I highly recommend her second album and am looking forward to dowloading her first album soon.

What? Two Posts in One Day? You Betcha!

Well, this weekend we are two for two... I've been methodically working through the "best lists" of movies this year and we've seen some really good movies lately (City Island) and some really, in my opinion, horrible movies (Solitary Man) but this weekend I was able to get two really good movies from the public library.

Last night we turned out all the lights and watched Let Me In.  Totally creepy, totally my kind of horror movie. I also love how the movie stayed true to the early 80's.  I love the idea that this movie was taking place around the same time I was watching Salem's Lot for the first time.   Chloe Moretz was the perfect blend of innocence and evil.  Love her!

This afternoon I thought I would throw another movie in while I got a few things done around the house, but I had to ditch that plan when Animal Kingdom completely sucked me in.  I wish I would have seen this movie before I turned in my official Oscar ballot for this year... Jacki Weaver totally deserves the award for supporting actress.  And who doesn't want to spend a couple hours with Guy Pearce?

Next on my play list for this week, The Town and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  I'm hoping we keep the winning streak going!  If I haven't said it here before, let me say it know... My library card is my best friend.  Who needs Netflix when you have a public library?

My New Favorite Gadget (and a bonus Hummus Recipe!)

Okay, so Mom pointed out that the last time I posted anything was at Christmas, so I guess two full months of not blogging is just unforgivable.  So, I'm going to share my new favorite kitchen gadget, the Oxo Good Grips Citrus Juicer.

A while back I broke my favorite lemon reamer / press from William Sonoma and wasn't sure I wanted to get the same kind since, obviously, I'm just too strong and don't know my own strength.  So, I went out to Target and bought a couple different kinds, including the Oxo model. 

It has three pieces that fit together and the main reamer part flips between a smaller reamer for lemons and limes and a larger side for oranges.  

I love that I can really get all the juice out of the lemons and the bottom cup has marks to let you know how much juice you have.  The center catches all of the pulp and seeds.

The lid has a notch that lets you pour your juice without getting any seeds in your bowl.

The pieces pop apart and are dishwasher safe.

Makes my hummus sooo easy to make.... (not to mention homemade Skinny Girl Margaritas!)

Here's my new favorite hummus recipe, tweaked a bit from one my Mom gave me a while back.  I still love my "Holy Moly Hummus" recipe for it's depth of flavor, but that one requires a few more ingredients and a couple extra pans, so this one is just quicker and easier.  I throw everything in the food processor and blend.  It's fairly smooth, so it's best for dipping, rather than a sandwich filling. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas (I prefer Bush's chickpeas)
• 1/4 cup reserved liquid from canned chickpeas
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (for me this is usually about 1 and a half lemons)
• 1/4 tahini
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (Mom's recipe calls for 1/8 tsp. but I like the heat)
• Pinch of course salt (Mom's recipe calls for 1 1/4 tsp. but I like less)
• 2 TBS of extra virgin olive oil 

Throw it all in the food processor and blend until you get your desired thickness.  Add more olive oil if you like.  Sprinkle with Paprika. 

Merry Christmas!

And for our blast from the past, here's Richard and Buttercup singing a little Christmas carol for you all...