Woohoo!

So okay, it's not the 4th of July, but it is almost as good! Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids. I am so excited! Thursday and Friday are teacher workdays. Summer, here I come!

Grilled Artichokes with Tomato-Balsamic Chutney

I must admit, I have never eaten an artichoke before. It's a weird looking, strange vegetable. Our newspaper had an article on grilled artichokes one day last week and I saved the recipe because they looked so delicious! Plus, they are very good for you. The picture really doesn't do it justice! Here is one of the recipes we tried this weekend. Mike says, "Two thumbs up!"

Chutney:
5 ripe tomatoes
1/2 med yellow onion
1/2 bunch green onions
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger (I used ground)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 C. Brown sugar
1/2 C. Balsamic vinegar
1 Tsp. Cumin
1 bay leaf

1. Chop tomatoes and onions into large dice. Slice green onions into rounds. Combine with remaining chutney ingredients. Place in a medium saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes. remove bay leaf.
2. Cook artichokes. Cut stem and leave about 1 inch. Place in a pot with about 3 inches of water and boil for approx. 30 minutes, or until stem is tender. Careful of the prickly ends! No need to remove them.
3. Slice artichokes in half and remove spiny center. Brush with olive oil and place on grill for about 10 minutes, turning half way.
4. Top each half of an artichoke with some chutney.
*how do you eat these? Well, you take each "leaf" of the artichoke, slide in between your teeth to get the "meat" off and discard the rest. You will notice that the top is kind of waxy- don't eat that part! You can also use balsamic vinegar as a dipping sauce, along with topping each with a bit of chutney.

This is a good "appetizer" type meal. I paired this with salad and bread, and it filled us up!

For Your Amusement...

This post is for Mike. I was laid up all weekend sick with some kind of flu/sinus infection. I'm not sure which I had, but I'm feeling much better! I relaxed, read and watched TV all weekend so I could go back to school today. Mike did some cleaning and fixed meals for us. He claims I was so sick he had to "clone" himself to get everything done. By the end of the weekend, he was exhausted, as is clear by this photo.
*This photo made possible by Photoshop!

Rebecca's Delicious Taco Salad

Here's what we had for dinner tonight. My wonderful husband says this is the best Taco Salad he's had! Thought I would share since it's easy and pretty healthy. I especially LOVE the avocados!




Ingredients
Romaine Lettuce, torn
Tomatoes, chopped
onion, chopped
avocado, sliced
1/2 can black beans, drained
chopped chicken (I use Purdue Southwestern precooked chicken)
Salsa of your choice
cilantro (if desired)
Tortilla chips, crushed (I love the Tostitos with a hint of lime!)

Combine first 7 ingredients and toss. Put tortilla chips in a small ziploc baggie and crush with the end of a glass. Top with salsa. Enjoy!
*This would be great without the chicken as a vegetarian meal.

New Couches

I am proud to say we are the new owners of a couch and love seat and they arrived this weekend. I love to decorate and these pieces of furniture were the last part of the finishing touches on our living room. We are thankful to our parents for the "borrowed" furniture we've used for the last 5 years, but it is so nice to be able to pick out our OWN furniture. Of course, Mike had really no say except asking "how much does it cost?" So I was thrilled to go from store to store and look through loads of fabric. They are a little more overstuffed than I prefer, but I LOVE the fabric! Now, the last question is: what color should I paint the walls? I'm thinking neutral, but I want some more contrast between the walls and sofas. I also think I need a few more paintings in the grouping over the sofa. My decorating wheels are already turning to work on finishing our bedroom!

Oliver's Simple Pleasures

When we went to NC last weekend, we went through some of mom's stuff that was at my Aunt and Uncle's house. It was packed in that wonderful packing paper. Well, this weekend I was going through some of the boxes that had photographs in them and left some of the paper on the floor. This picture is the result of that! Oliver loved the paper - I guess he especially liked the crackly sound it made. So, we found him rolling around on it, hiding in it, and generally loving his new toy- and the best thing about it- it was free!

We Made It!

Well, many of you knew that this past weekend was the weekend we met my dad's future wife. Reuben, Mike and I and Mike's parents traveled to Hayesville, NC. We were planning on spending the whole weekend with both her and my dad, but arrived to discover she was busy. We spent a few hours with her at dinner on sat night. Let me just say that this whole thing is just strange! This woman that he is bringing into his life has a less than stellar reputation in the community, and we are concerned about her intentions for marrying my dad. My dad is going into this completely trusting someone he has known for 2 months. So, at this point we know no more about her now than we did when we arrived in NC. I feel like if she really was sensitive to all this that's going on she would make it a point to make our visit a priority- and try to get to know us. She said very little in our presence. It's not that I have a problem with dad getting married again. It's this person, and the way he has gone about the whole situation

This weekend was good for several reasons. We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle and enjoyed being with them and had some delicious food. We got to see my Great Aunt and Uncle(they were extremely close with my mom and are the sweetest people you will ever meet!) and of course got to see my Grandma and my other uncle. We also spent some time with my dad, alone, which we desperately needed. We basically laid it all out- poured our hearts out to dad and explained how we ALL felt, including my in-laws (who have known my dad for over 30 years). I was so thankful to have both of them as our advocates- and they spoke when we couldn't- they are a big part of our family.

I feel a sense of relief- we've gotten it off our chests- and I feel lighter because of it. Now, it is in the Lord's hands and my dad will make the decision- and live with the consequences. I know we haven't changed his mind about anything, but at least it's all been said.