Thankful Addendum, Summer thus Far

Greetings, all! 

I'm quite embarrassed, ashamed and chagrin that I forgot to include someone in my Thankful piece. I will make up for that travesty now:

CHRISTI (AKA SUPER-FRIEND)

How, how, how could I forget her? Especially, since according to the "Find your Facebook Perfect Match", I am her perfect match! (When she shared the results of the algorithmic computations, I said, "Yes! I'm your damsel in distress!") She was president of the MOM's club, which I joined to find friends and stave of psychosis. Even before she knew me she was saving me! She's generous and funny - even a calming voice when the thrusters of my rage rocket start firing: (I left Isaac and Shiloh there a couple of weeks ago so I could go to my writers group. Stupidly, I forgot to bring their swimsuits, but I said they could swim in their clothes and I'd bring clean ones when I picked them up. When I got there, Isaac told me he forgot to take his phone out of his pocket before getting in. Christi's super X-ray vision could see the magma roiling underneath my clenched-jaw exterior, then she calmly pointed out: "It's okay. These things happen. It's just a phone." Yes. It was just a phone. These things happen. (And now T-Mobile is sending us a phone for free. I called them yesterday to cancel the line, and was asked what I needed to keep the line active. I said a free phone - including shipping. Our certified, pre-owned Nokia Lumina 530 is due to arrive today.) Thank you, Christi, for being there and being you!

SUMMER THUS FAR

Summer is usually the season I want to race through to get directly to fall. However, I'm still recovering from the mammoth monster that was winter, and I will stroll leisurely through this summer, thank you. Actually, I'm reeling, just a bit, that the end of July is nigh! 

Summer has been a series of little day trips around towns, to playgrounds, a "Summer Fun Festival", beaches and splash pads. Ben's brother and family were in Gloucester for two weeks and we were able to sneak up there and spend a night. It was great fun and too short! Since I'm the worst photo-journalist of our family life, the only pics I took in Gloucester are of the dog-tree & sleepy-time in the car on the way home. 

That's Isaac up there!

Does this tree look like
a dog on hind legs
to anyone else?

No, we're not tired!

A long over-due overnight to Salem (Kim has been very busy) occurred the weekend before my birthday. I celebrated my 38th year on this planet by doing nothing special. The chirrus were less argumentative, per my request, and what a present it was!

Last Sunday we took a family trip to The Museum of Science that was mostly fun. We saw the lightning show and rode the escalator (Shiloh discovered these when we went on our very first trip to IKEA with Christi a few days before!). I took some pics of the very cool gallery of Modernest Cuisine. I didn't feed Shiloh enough before we left, and after about two hours there, hunger combined with overstimulation transformed my widdle darling into the snarling girl-beast who made another child cry. We tried giving her a time out on a bench, but when she took off her sandals threw them while declaring, "I WON'T be quiet!", it was time to go. I wanted to have lunch in the city, but Ben had another idea which, because I can be an egregious snob, I mentally (not verbally) poo-pooed. We had lunch at The 99 Restaurant and Pub in Braintree. This is a local chain, with casual American fare at a decent price. It had been probably a decade since I'd been in one and nothing stood out from the memory banks except the cheesy commercials.  This was a delightful lunch experience with the children from walking in. Shiloh barreled to the podium where the hostess stood and asked, "Can I have a grilled cheese, please?" Oh, how darling! We were seated and the lovely waitress came over with a bowl of popcorn which was promptly devoured and ordered. My turkey wrap was delicious (but could have used a little more chipotle sauce), as was the raspberry-limeade drink I ordered. (On a mission to get ingredients for cherry limeade to make at home.) Isaac didn't complain when we got him the child size bacon burger, and Shiloh inhaled her grilled cheese. The cherry on the sundae, was "petite" section of the dessert menu. Three different mini-sundaes. Ben an I each had a mini peanut butter brownie topped with about two tablespoons of vanilla ice cream and some hot fudge. The perfect size! Ice cream sandwiches came with their lunches. With full tummies, the rest of the ride home was blissful.

Before the transformation into she-beast

Burger

Blueberry

Stuff in a pot

Can't remember what this was
but I remember I didn't
think it was delicious.

Looks like shrimp and pasta.

Burgers!

Woooshed!

Ben is in Maine for the weekend and I must figure out something interesting to do with Isaac and Shiloh at least one day. The kids and I are going to visit Mumsy and Daddy the second week in August which we are thrilled about. I must put reminders in my phone for each day that week to take pictures!!

What have you been up to?

GIMMIE SOME YUMMIES

Who loves gooey, melty sandwiches? Anyone? Anyone? One afternoon a few months ago, I wanted a turkey melt, but wasn't in the mood for just boring mayo and Dijon mustard. So I contemplated the ingredients in my kitchen and settled on the the following: light mayo, garlic, jarred roasted red peppers, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Thus began my mission to create a perfect Roasted Red Pepper Aioli. After several batches and a few tweaks, I have finally achieved this goal!

ROASTED RED PEPPER AILOI

The cure for a boring turkey melt!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 cup Light Mayo

1/3 cup chopped, roasted red peppers

1 large garlic clove, chopped

1/4 c roughly chopped basil leaves

1-2 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

WHAT TO DO:

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixed, stopping to scape the sides of the bowl a couple of times. Taste for seasoning and tweak, if necessary. 

NOT BORING TURKEY MELT

This is the first rendition of the Not Boring Turkey Melt. Such thoughts as, maybe some thinly sliced red onion, or fontina cheese instead have been tickling my gray matter. Stay posted for Version 2.0!

Hellllo, gorgeous!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Roasted Red Pepper aioli

3-4 oz of sliced deli turkey (I think smoked is best)

2 pieces of sourdough bread

2 slices of Monterey Jack cheese

Butter

WHAT TO DO:

Heat butter in a grill or fry pan over medium heat. Slather aioli on both pieces of bread. Slap a slice o cheese on one slice o bread, top with turkey, top that with other slice of cheese then other piece of bread. Cook until both sides of bread are golden and cheese is melty. About 3 - 5 minutes a side. Slice and enjoy!