Summer Okra Recipe

Roasted Okra

 

We sadly ripped up our tomatoes and zucchini after a long summer and an okay yield.  So where the tomatoes were, we platned okra, not really knowing what would happen.  Well apparently okra grows to 15 feet tall.  Lawd have mercy.  And the harvesting has begun...

 

The "baby" okra plant in the back.

 

 

Ingredients

18 fresh okra pods, sliced 1/3 inch thick

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

2 teaspoons black pepper, or to taste

 

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 425 F

 

2.  Slice okra into 1/2 inch pieces

 

3. Arrange on baking sheet.

 

4. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.

 

5. Bake in preheated oven 10-15 minutes.

 

Amount Per Serving Calories: 65 | Total Fat: 4.6g | Cholesterol: 0mg

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-okra/

Y'all enjoy! 

 

Champagne Brunch

Sooo I have been missing Uptown lately and the weekend brunches. 

                                                     

 

Brunch isn't food, it's a way of life.

Got the citrus theme from Better Home and Gardens, July, 2012 issue. 

So we threw a champagne brunch for two couples that we adore.  Being dumb, I forgot to take pictures of actual live people, but got the decorations.

I left my heart in San Francisco

Since I have a hundred bizzilion photos, I'll try to limit them to one or two per day.  We spent 4 days in San Francisco and 2 in Napa. I wish I was still in Napa pretending to know about wine and eating the best Greek food we've ever had.

Day 1: Exploring the peer and eating dinner in Chinatown.

The stinky seals.  They acted like bad behaved school children, knocking each other off the boards, then laughing.

Taken on Pier 39

Day 2: Alcatraz

I loved visiting and learning the history.  I bought a book on Al Capone and have since become obsessed.

He lost his mind while he was in Alcatraz and died 2 years after he got out.

You should become obsessed too.

Loved Chinatown.  The food: incredible. 

We had fried dungeness crab at R&G lounge.  (Thanks Spencer!)

Day 3: 20 mile bike ride to Tiburon.

I was scared to ride across the bridge until I saw that bikes had a separate lane. 

In SF, pedestrians and bikers RULE the road, unlike in Texas.

My only visit with the cable cars :(

Each car was packed like a Japanese wave pool

(see link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inA-36YRV0Y ).

So we opted out, even though I have an on going love affair with trolleys.

Days 4-6, Napa.

We stopped at Domaine Carneros on the way to Napa.

The BEST sparkling wine.  Try the blanc nior.

We splurged on a convertable... The hair did not approve.

My favorite winery was Robert Mondavi.  Took the wine tasting class and are now officially snobs. 

(So we can pretend).

At the hotel vineyard.  All of Napa smells like sweet grapes. 

We LOVED the trip and had a wonderful tour guide (Spencer) in SF.  It was a needed break from the beach!

Triathlon

So... It's been a while.  But we have been too busy to even stop and think about blogging.  I have been busy finishing up things with the school and Michael has been busy training for his triathlon and busy with work.  So here's a snapshot of happenings in College Station (and Dallas)...(and San Francisco).

First things first.  Yay for summer! For years, I have been conditioned to be out of school and off work  during the summer, so of course it is my favorite season. 

You know it's summer when you have too much produce sitting out all over the counters.

Our first cookout of the summer.  Michael grills some mean zucchinis :)

 

For a contest at work, Michael entered and ran a triathlon. 

He was exhausted by the end but swears he didn't walk!

He beat his time by 10 seconds!  Official time was 2:59:50.

Just for fun, some quotes I heard while waiting for Michael to finish:

"I haven't been working out so I decided to do a traithlon".

"I'm just doing this triathlon to train for my Iron Man next weekend".

Crazy fools!

Happy Easter~!

We have had a busy spring so far with Michael's appendectomy and getting our new kitten.  It's not getting any calmer since we are hosting Easter at our house this year.  I've combined my decorations from college with a few new items (from Goodwill no less!) to decorate for spring this year.  See if you can figure out what is from Goodwill.

When pigs fly...

A beautiful basket from Grandma's funeral.  I loved the Easter lillies and am planting the hydrangeas in our yard soon.  We miss you Grandma!

Table runner was a shabby chic gift from Barbara.

Guest room.  

Easter cookies from a Turtle's Life for Me blog.

 http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2012/03/chocolate-thumbprint-cookies.html

Flowers blooming from all the spring showers.

Dinner at Chuys

Michael won the dyed egg contest.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  He has risen!

P.S. The headboard window shutters in the guest bedroom was $20 at Habitat  :)

New Garden

Step One: Marry a husband who is good with his hands to build the frame :)

Step Two: Find a sunny spot. 8+ hours of sun!

Step Three: Dig out sod with a shovel.

Step Four: Place a weed guard around the edges.

Step Five: Measure cubic feet and buy enough soil to fill it (almost) full.  

Ours was 3.5 by 8 feet and we used Miracle Grow garden soil (50% organic material), mixed with plain garden soil as well as some pellet fertilizer.

Step Six: Take a break.

Step Seven: Planting!  Only plant veggies and fruits that you actually like and won't be sick of.

We did: Strawberries, green and purple lettuce, cherry and large tomatoes, garlic, zucchini and Marigolds for color. Remember to plant the tomatoes very deep until the first leaf is under the soil.

Step Seven: Water once you are through planting. 

Step Eight: Wait a month to start enjoying your hard work.

I couldn't have done any of this without Michael building the frame and my mom coming to visit and helping.  Her garden is AWESOME!

Recent Books

Now that I'm no longer working in private practice, and get off by 4:00 I've had more time for reading. These are some recent books I've read.  Let me know if you want to borrow a copy :)

A compilation of short stories, recipes, and tidbits from the author's southern momma.  She says there would be no wars over in Iraq if everyone had a southern momma to remind them to take a nap and think it over.  I made her pot roast...delicious!

This is one of those books that you love and hate.  I've been reading it for years and am finally almost through.  I love it because it is about a rich, manipulative family who eventually gains control of the papacy, but I hate it because it's so detailed.  Each page takes forever to finish since there are so many details I can't miss.

Don't laugh.   I love the Kardashians.  This book goes deep into stories of their childhood and their dad.  I didn't know that he left them nothing when he passed.  I can't wait to read Kris Jenner's book too.

One of my next books to read.  It's about marriage and how it changes as time goes by.  When some say "you've just changed so much", really the stage of life is what has changed.

I'm excited about this best seller too.  A very F. Scott Fitzgerald feel, about two girls in New York during the Jazz age.