maya's stream

Today Maya asked me, as she does nearly every day as I get the mail, "let me know if there is anything for me." Apparently she's waiting for a package or a letter or anything at all, really, to come in the mail addressed to her.

As for me, as I do every day, I tried to pass the junk mail off as hers. She never falls for it, but I give it the ole college try every day anyway. Today is was a flyer that offered a Toys R Us gift card just for getting an insurance quote. Maya brought it in to the house and sat at the kitchen table. She flipped it back and forth, turned it this way and that.

Maya - Hmmphh! Where did the gift card go? There is supposed to be a gift card for Toys R Us in this thing. Where did it go? It probably fell out in the mail box. Mom, you should go check. Mom. Mom. You should go check. The gift card is missing.

Me: There isn't a gift card with it honey, just a picture of one.

Maya: But it fell out. I really think it's in the mail box. You should check. Mom. You should check. Mom.

Me: My, there is no gift card, I promise you. It didn't fall out.

Maya: But it was for Toys R Us. You could go spend it at Toys R Us. I know how to get to Toys R Us, but I'm not going to tell you because I can't remember where it is.

what's cooking wednesday - baked potato

I love baked potatoes. So much. Mike is not such a fan though, so I often just through a potato in the microwave and "bake" it that way. I know. I know. It's likely the worst way to "bake" a potato. Very occasionally I will through one on the barbie, but to be perfectly honest... that almost never happens.

So tonight for dinner I was making a beer can chicken, but in my oven because we are all out of propane. Gosh I would love a natural gas barbecue so there was always gas available and I thought what the hey I should toss a couple of potatoes in there with it. Then I remembered seeing something about baked potatoes in this book.......



Yes I know he wears pinky rings. And flip flops. And terry wristbands. And bowling shirts. And, inexplicably, his sunglasses on the back of his head..... but it all works for me. Oh yes it does. So in love with him. Totally on my list!

So buried back in there on page 326, he has a recipe for baked potatoes. Now his recipe calls for brining them, which I didn't have time for, but basically you mix together 5 cups of water with a cup of salt and submerge your taters in there for 2-8 hours at room temperature. I can't speak to how that turns out because, like I said, no time for that.

Instead I skipped ahead to the rub.....

I had 4 red potatoes that I washed and then pricked with a fork a few times each. After which I drizzled a bit of olive oil and then rubbed them, making sure they were nicely coated with said oil.

In a small bowl I mixed up a rub of 2 tbsp seasoned salt, 2 tbsp garlic powder and a tsp of fresh ground pepper. Then I coated them with the spice mix, much like you would dry rub a piece of meat before cooking.

So the chicken went in the oven and the potatoes went in along side of them. Right on the oven grate, not wrapped or anything and I let them hang out there for a bit over an hour at 350 degrees, turning it up to 400 degrees for the last 15 minutes or so.

Hands down this was the best baked potato I had ever eaten in my life. I only made four (Papa and Grandma Linda joined us for dinner) and Mike passed on his. I couldn't stop talking about how much I had enjoyed that potato and would readily eat another one, but I shouldn't. Then Papa said he'd split the last one with me..... sounded good to me, but then Mike wanted to see what the fuss was all about so I ended up halving my half with him.. he loved it by the by. The skin was great, the inside moist and the rub was delicious, if a bit too salty in the places where the rub was heavier. I think you could easily tailor this to your own tastes and mix the spices up. Bottom line.... no more microwave baked potatoes for me!

blah

Just sitting here wondering how I ever blogged from this desk top computer. Weird. It feels so foreign to me. The keyboard is all wrong. My typing feels clumsy. I keep making ridiculous mistakes. I don't really want to be back here. I'm slacking on some volunteer stuff because my email and such isn't set up on this computer anymore.

Counting the minutes until my baby comes back home.

sunday randoms

Weekends always go too fast, don't they?

So the hard drive in my laptop is done. Fried. Toast. Luckily it looks like we'll be able to save my pictures and music. Phew. And let's move on.

The mood around here fluctuates wildly. At any given moment somebody is happy, sad, down, stressed, unsure, positive, upbeat and tired. Almost always tired. This turning your life on it's ear stuff is pretty freakin' exhausting.

I pretty much did nothing all day. I stayed in my jammies all day and you could find me in one of three places - my bed reading a book, the deck reading a different book with a cup of tea or Mike's computer playing Scrabble with my sister-in-law and/or my neighbour. They are both kicking my ass right now.

I can feel fall is just around the corner. I love that first nip of coolness in the air.

As I mentioned I spent a lot of time on my deck reading or rather re-reading.... Clan of the Cave Bear. I read the series years ago, but have to renew myself with the story so I can read the last two books. Anyway the point of this story was.... it's pretty freakin' uncomfortable out there. It's a huge deck and I'd use it more if it were more user friendly.

Mike is suggesting we rent a cottage next summer. I started researching that today.

I can't believe Abby goes back to school next week.

friday high five - making me smile

Lest you think it's all hand wringing and angst over here, there is plenty to make me smile. My stomach is still in knots over the laptop (still not fixed yet, but HPH's guy is doing his best), my infected nose piercing and our life that's been tipped on it's side. All of that has worked together to kick my occasional insomnia into high gear. I am dead tired, but, at almost 1am, unable to wind down enough to sleep. I think it's freaking Mike out a little bit as he ordered me to get my shit together because my role in this relationship is to be the ever dependable, ever supportive, ever calm and steady rock. I am majorly messing with his head right now. Hmmmm maybe I should make that number one on my list.....

but back to my original point.... there are things that make me smile.....

1. The jammies I'm wearing. Identical to a pair one of my besties own. We bought them for Relay for Life. They make me smile every time I wear them and I remember that night and how my Jersey Girls rocked their first relay as Dream Team! $3500 raised and a thank you for our hard work from the Mom of a 16 year old cancer survivor. Very big smile!

2. That Mike has the next five out of seven days off. Very awesome as he's just finishing up a stretch of eight days in a row.

3. That both girls made their own dinners tonight. Mike worked afternoons so it was just us chicks.

4. My plan this year was to donate 12 scarves to a local agency this winter. Tonight while Mike and I watched The Fighter (great movie btw) I finished up number 6 and started on number 7.

5. Jammie Movie Night. Although it looks like's it's just ML and I this month as everyone is off vacationing, but hanging with one Jersey Girl is better than zero JG's.

What's making you smile these days?

gah

I literally feel sick to my stomach. This past Christmas I baked a lot of cookies and then I baked some more and then I baked a few more and when I finally came out from under all that butter, flour and parchment paper I bought myself a laptop. I did. Mike insisted that I do it and went with me to the store bright and early boxing day morning to snag a great deal. It was love at first sight. No looking back.

I swore the laptop was just for me. No other mucky fingers would be allowed to touch it and none did for many months. Then slowly, here and there, I let Abby use it. Then Maya wanted a turn. I had my laptop password protected and only I knew what it was so they had to ask first. Then there was some sort of security breach and suddenly everyone knew my password. I'd wake up Saturday morning and come downstairs to find Abby in the recliner happily surfing away. Then Maya figured out how to type in the password and it was a bloody free for all.

Then yesterday after Abby had spent some time on Webkinz world my beautiful laptop would not turn on. It kept going into start up repair, but it wouldn't repair. I used Mike's computer to google a solution while I texted with my girl HPH about how to fix it. It was clear to see I was in over my head, so I packed it up and let HPH take to her husband. At last chat he'd been working on it all evening with no luck. He thinks it made be "fried" and needs a reinstall of windows. I'll lose everything that's on there. I think about the pictures I have saved to the hard drive and I want to cry. While realizing in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal. I have my favourite ones uploaded to flickr and/or facebook so it wouldn't be a complete loss, but still... I just don't need this right now.

Our lives are in an upheaval as we all adjust to Mike's new job. Money here doesn't grow on trees, I am angry and upset to have something go wrong with something so costly to replace... getting ahead of myself... possibly, but the bottom line is it wouldn't be replaced. Not right now anyway. Abby is, of course, devastated. Which is only making me feel worse. She can be so hard on herself when she thinks she's messed up.... whether she has or she hasn't in actuality. I always say she's easy to "discipline" because nothing I could do could make her feel any worse than she's already made herself feel. Poor girl.

I'm really hoping for some good news.

what's cooking wednesday - roasted red peppers

So we're on post 2001 and two days into our new life. Mike started his new job on Monday and it has been and will be a big adjustment for all of us, but before we know we'll all be settled into our new version of normal. For now there is still lots up in the air and more question marks than answers, but it will all work itself out in the end.

The bigger question that I'm going to attempt to answer today is.... what the heck am I going to do with all these red peppers. At the end of last summer I spent a whole day making and canning endless jars of red pepper jelly, which is one of the most delicious jellies out there, next to grape jelly. So after I had made a gazillion jars of jelly I still had peppers left over. I bought a huge bag of them for $10 at the market. I'd love to get back there again this year for another bag... however, what did I do with the leftover peppers?

Well I ended up cutting them into quarters and ditching the seeds and the ribs inside. I preheated my bbq until it was nice and hot and then loaded the grill up with the peppers, skin side down and leave them there until they are all black and blistery.

Take them off the grill and toss them in a big bowl covered with saran wrap and leave them for a few minutes to sweat. After a few minutes you can uncover them and slide the blackened parts right off. Once they had cooled a bagged them in sandwich bags, about a pepper's worth in each bag and tossed them in the freezer. Easy peasy, right? I loved having those roasted red peppers on hand all year. I just used up the last of my stash and I miss having them to through into lasagna and pasta sauce and in my chili. I might have to put in some pepper plants next year.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

they said it couldn't be done

Well this right here is my 2,000th post! Can you believe that? Two thousand! That's craziness. I'm surprised I still have stuff to say.

I have said many many times that blogging is the best gift I have ever given myself. I have met some amazing people and made some terrific friends. Ladies I wish lived closer because they are total Jersey Girl material. Ladies who send me Christmas cards. Ladies who come and visit me in person.

I guess I just want to say thank you. Thank you for stopping by and reading what I have to say. Thanks for commenting. Don't ever stop. I love it.

In honour of my 2,000th post I am declaring this delurking day. So leave a comment here or on facebook. Just say hey or tell me how awesome I am, either is perfectly acceptable.

Thanks kids! You are the best!

sunday randoms

Went to see the Change Up this weekend with my sister-in-law and our guys. It was so funny. We laughed from beginning to end. On a related note I have some serious love for Jason Bateman. I am totally putting him on the list.

Less than 12 hours until Michael starts his new job. He's been surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

I can't believe the kids go back to school in only two weeks. Where did that summer go?

That being said, fall is my favourite season. I love when the weather starts to get cooler.

I ran out of iced coffee this weekend. It was very sad.

Also making me sad, this is the last season of Entourage.

Mike and the above mentioned sister-in-law are trying to get me to get a blackberry instead of the iphone. They have me wavering. Sort of. I really want that iphone. I think. Hmmmmm.

friday high five - what i'm watching

I am so ready for fall and back to school and routines and a reduction in my babysitting bill and the new TV season I can't even tell you.

Don't feel too bad though, I have been making do......

What I've Been Watching This Summer

1. Big Brother, of course I have. I make no apologies for it. Oh and for the record I am team Jeff and Jordan all the way!

2. Whale Wars. I will admit I do, at times, have an issue with what, I perceive to be, Paul Watson's seeming disregard for human life in the name of saving the whales... even still I'm on the edge of my seat for most episodes. It's really ridiculous what they are getting away with in the name of "research".

3. Phineas and Ferb. My gosh that show is funny. I'm not sure who I love the most. Looking forward to seeing the movie that I forgot to record for Abby while she was camping, but lucky for me she seems to have forgotten all about it. I wonder if I could stretch it out until Christmas?

4. The Wizards of Waverly Place. Admittedly, not my choice, but it's been a nice break from the endless episodes of iCarly we used to watch... even though I do miss Spencer and Freddy and Sam...... oh and Carly too.

5. The Next Food Network Star. I'm really hoping the Sandwich King wins this. I'd watch his show!

15 years and counting

Fifteen years ago today I became Mrs. Michael. Best day ever. Except it was so stinkin' hot. Oh my gosh. So hot, that 15 years later we're still talking about how stinkin' hot it was.



Best decision I ever made.

Also..... wow did that decade and a half go fast!

Thank you Michael for not only making me a wife, but a mom and a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law and an aunt and a cousin.

Thanks for.............

being the person that makes me laugh the hardest.

being the person that loves me more now than you did 15 years ago,

raising these beautiful girls with me.

rubbing my feet.

always unloading the dishwasher.

being my biggest cheerleader.

I am a lucky lucky lady! xo

what's cooking wednesday

I think I'm going to take a personal day from What's Cooking Wednesday this week. The next couple of days are going to be busy, Mike's still ignoring unable to hear me and we're days away from him starting his new job. All that adds up to me just wanting to crawl into bed and so I think I will.

As always though I look forward to seeing what you all are cooking up in your kitchen.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

huh

So Michael's sinus infection has become an ear infection. The poor bugger was back at the doctor's today and got himself some antibiotics. When he was there on Friday they prescribed a nasal spray.

What this means for me and the kids is we are repeating things eleventy billion times at louder and louder volumes. I'm pretty sure the neighbours can hear our TV from their house (last night he had it cranked up to 88). I'm sitting here watching Restaurant makeover on 22 and he's watching something in our room which I can hear plan as day in the living room. I'm going to be so happy when his hearing returns.

On the plus side, he's been so busy feeling unwell he hasn't had time to obsess and worry about that new job he starts on Monday.

Now that I think about it I'm not really sure which scenario is worse.

sunday randoms

I made cookies and cream cupcakes this weekend. The jury is still out on them. I mean they were good, but I think they could be better. I may play with the recipe a bit.

This house is completely devoid of double A batteries which sucks large because the batteries in my wireless mouse died. I was desperate as I dislike the track pad on my laptop, so I've been stealing batteries out of the kids toys all weekend. Well to be honest just the Wii remotes (that were almost dead as well). On a related note I really hate that it's such a ordeal to get at batteries in kids' toys today. I don't want to be hunting down the correct screwdriver at 10 at night just to steal borrow batteries out of a Little People House.

Maya calls Miranda Cosgrove - Ramanda Cosmo. I love it. Always in love with her asking if she can "broom" the kitchen. Doesn't brooming sound like so much more fun than sweeping?

This picture is killing me. Killing me! I can't take it and yet I can't stop looking at it. The 80's were a different time... don't judge. Related - that may be me and my Mom, from back in the day. We loved our perms.

So I have a coupon binder now. It's full. I also have a stockpile of body wash, shampoo, laundry soap, and various household cleaners. Oh yes I do. I'm actually pretty proud of it and the fact that our grocery bills have been consistently under $200 (significantly under) for weeks and weeks. The girl who checked us out yesterday even commented on what a great shopper I was. Yep, I'm that girl now.

Abby is looking at pictures on my phone and she asked me - Mom why did you take a picture of the ice cream truck? Me - For Uncle Dave. He didn't believe me when I said the ice cream truck stops in our town because it never stopped here when we were kids. Abby - Wow! That is suckage. Now there a couple things wrong with this conversation... first, suckage? Really? Where is she learning this stuff? I'm going to blame Selena Gomez and the rest of her Wizards of Waverly Place. Second, the ice cream truck has only been coming here for 3 months. How quickly she's forgotten that her childhood used to be as devoid of ice cream truck visits as ours were.

home

So my baby girls are home from their travels and currently tucked into their beds. Life has returned to normal.

And that means no more watching whatever I want on TV and plenty more watching The Wizards of Waverly Place and Phineas and Ferb.

Not to mention a buttload more hugs.

Life is good!

wordless wednesday - photo by the abster

what's cooking wednesday - iced coffee

So most folks who know us in real life know that we have a standing weekly date.... Friday afternoon..... at the grocery store..... to grocery shop. I know... we party like rock stars.

What you may not know is that we recently took the Friday afternoon date at the grocery store to the next level. Oh yes we did. In the form of $1 iced coffees from Mickey D's. Please try to contain your jealousy!

Then Mike said.. hey I wish we could have these at home. And I said.. yeah that would be awesome, now somebody help me put all these groceries away dang it!

And then several people mentioned to me that The Pioneer Woman's iced coffee recipe was the shit.

And that led to this - The Pioneer Woman's iced coffee recipe

Which led to this.......



Utter perfection!

I fill the cup up with ice, add a decent splash of fat free french vanilla coffee creamer, top with the coffee and YUM. My Mom is an iced coffee fan as well and really liked it, but then she just got back from 5 days in the woods in a tent with my kids so........ ha I'm kidding, she's right it is delicious and my 60+ year old mother is awesome times ten for taking my kids camping. Love her! My girls will remember that time with her forever. My Mom is a fantastic mom and she's off the charts as a Granny! My girls lucked out in the grandparent department.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

at home summer school

Many of you know that school has been a bit of an uphill battle for the Abster. She finished out the year very well, successfully completing the intense reading program she was in. Then I read that students can lose up to 30% of their "school smarts" over the summer and I knew I had to do something. I really didn't want her to back slide even a little bit over the summer. So we've been pretty consistently sitting down sometime after dinner for 30-60 minutes of at home summer school.

It's been an interesting experience for me.... the teacher. There are things that Abby still struggles with, that, to me, seem easy and it's not always easy to stay patient when I'm repeating the same thing for the third time and it's work I know she can do. Her teacher wrote something in her report card that has become our mantra around the kitchen table....... have confidence in yourself Abby, you will always persevere...... I say this exact phrase to her many times as we work. She is her own worse enemy, it seems, but we all can be, can't we?

It's also hard in the sense that I have a reluctant student and an incredibly eager student on my hands and teaching them both is not always easy when we're here on our own. Maya is ripping through 100 words kids should know by the end of Grade 1 and a first grade phonetics workbook. She's finishing up pages and begging me to help her with more, while I'm trying to coax Abby through a second grade math book (and she's going into grade 4). To make things that much more complicated, both girls are now aware of the difference in their abilities. So it's a delicate balance to keep one encouraged and the other one challenged.

The other night Maya had to wait while I helped Abby work her way through a money problem. She grew more impatient the longer she waited until she finally snapped at her sister - Geez Abby, it's grade two work! Which led to hurt feelings and a long conversation about how we all have different abilities. It's much easier when Mike is home so each kid has our 100% attention.

I think at home summer school has really helped to boost Abby's confidence in her work in general. I can see her putting the pieces of math problems together quicker then at the beginning of the summer. We I grabbed this particular workbook I hadn't realized that it was a grade 2 book, but I think going over it has helped her a lot. I also found a second grade English book that has helped to reinforce the rules and reading strategies she learned in the empower program. It was an accidental step back for sure, but one I think that has done a lot of good.

Do you do an at home summer school with your kids?

sunday randoms

Well it's time to wrap up another week of holidays. It was kind of a last minute decision to take this week off. As many of you know Mike is starting a new job in a couple of weeks. Same company, but new location and totally different job from what he is doing now. So we had to get a week of holidays in before the change.

Even for a last minute vacay we sure packed a lot into it. Visited with Auntie Yoli, who has the nicest apartment! So nice that when Abby first saw it she said.... and this is a direct quote.... wow, our place looks like crap!

We picnicked with the family, had dinner out for Grandma Linda's birthday, Mike and I hit up the movies (Horrible Bosses... so funny, so see it!), volunteered at the fair and at the Festival of Friends, dropped the kids off for camping with my Mom and TLP, dinner with friends, jammie movie night and I'm sure there is something I am forgetting.

I did next to nothing today. After such a busy week I don't even feel bad about it.

Mike is super cute. He's trying to get my Mom on the phone so he can talk to the girls. Cell service is spotty where she is and they'll be home tomorrow afternoon, but he wants to talk to his baby girls now. So far he's had no success.

And now it's time for my birthday massage. Peace out folks!

knowing me, knowing you - august 2011

Time once again for that monthly interview project, Knowing Me, Knowing You.

1. Are you going to BlogHer?

Well clearly the answer to that is no, as I sit here typing this at my kitchen table. While I think BlogHer is fun in theory...... hanging out at a conference all weekend is a million miles out of my comfort zone. Although I have fully enjoyed the time spent in seminars at the fair convention, but there again I was with Michael and some of my real life peeps. Now if I was going in a group, that I could see. If these past couple of years have taught me anything, it's never say never.

2. Do your kids share a bedroom? Did you share a bedroom?

I ask because the girls have been asking to share a room. Right now they are both in small bedrooms. We could re-configure so they share our larger bedroom and we take over a similar sized room on the main level. It's actually just a small nugget of an idea right now, but I know Mike would be all over it.

3. Have you bought anything using a group buy website like groupon, wagjag or the like?

I have, quite a bit too. I've picked up an evening of bowling, a couple of dinners out at some local restaurants, photo printing and an incredible deal on water refills for our water cooler. I'm pretty vigilant about checking the different sites because I've missed out on a couple of great deals that I'm still kicking myself about.

4. Are you watching Big Brother?

Oh you know I am. I am helpless against reality TV shows. For the record I am pulling for Jeff or Jordan.

5. Do you have any tattoos?

I don't. If I were going to get one.... and that's a big if...... I'd probably go with the kids names or initials on my foot somewhere.




So now the rules, they're pretty simple. Post your answers to these questions on your own blog in the next few days. Remember to link back here in your post and sign the Mr. Linky too, so we can all see what you have to say. Please make sure you link to your actual KMKY post and not your blog's front page. Any front page links will be deleted. And most importantly, have fun! Have suggestions for next months questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know.

fabulous

We play fabulous every time we get in the van to go somewhere. My kids love it so much they play it every time they get in anybody's car.

How do you play fabulous?

It's pretty simple.... anytime you see a yellow car be the first one to yell out fabulous. School buses and construction vehicles don't count, but anything else is fair game. I wouldn't have thought there were that many yellow vehicles out there before we started playing.

ML taught my girls this game about a year a go and they've been playing it ever since. It's great for long and short car rides.

Do you play any car games?

what's cooking wednesday - tomato cucumber salad

This is our new favourite summer salad. It gets mega bonus points because it's super easy to make. All you need to some basic knife skills and you're good to go. I just whipped one together last night and this is what I did.



Tomato Cucumber Salad

1 english cucumber
5 tomatoes
1 it's not red it's purple onion
feta (optional)
vinegar (ladies choice)
salt and pepper to taste

So I grabbed my cucumber and sliced it in half long ways. So I had two half moon type pieces. Then I sliced those in half long ways and ended up with 4 cucumber spears. After all that I chopped the cucumber up and tossed it in a bowl. Dice the 5 tomatoes, mine were on the small side, so don't take 5 as a hard and fast number. You want more tomato then cucumber, so go with whatever looks good. Toss the tomato into a bowl and get to work on dicing that purple onion. I went for a pretty small dice, you don't want to be overwhelmed with onion. Again, eyeball the amount, onion should be the ingredient you have the least of in the bowl.

Season with salt and pepper before giving the salad a toss. Drizzle in a bit of vinegar. I've made this with balsamic and with cider vinegar. I think I like the taste with cider vinegar more, but that is personal preference. I know Auntie Yoli likes red wine vinegar and some olive oil in hers. Finally crumble up as much feta as you like... if you like... and toss into the salad. This tastes better if you let it hang out in the fridge for a while before serving, let those flavours really meld together. And that's it... easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Recipe Notes: This was a big hit with the adults at the dinner table. Even Mike loved it and he really hates cucumber unless it's in pickle form and even then, only strubs. I can see making this lots over the rest of the summer.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday