Whatever, Bob, Just Crash it!

Well, it was a success! Travis didn't suspect his surprise party at all, and we had a wonderful time. I wanted to take a picture of my food - even though I'm against that still - because they put a lot into presentation. Also, I had sushi! I had fun trying out new things, even if I learned what I didn't like so much. If you should ever make it to Geisha House, try the Marilyn Monroll - that was my favorite. Some fun names, which should tip you off that this is not your average sushi house, were as follows: Cowboy roll, Dynamite roll, Heaven, Frightened Geisha, and as you read, Marilyn Monroll.

I have just realized what I signed on for. This would be simple and fun if I didn't occasionally - nay, oft - make "regular" things for dinner. Example: this evening consisted of already marinated chicken breasts - I'm talking I bought them that way - baked in the oven and served with broccoli and Velveeta shells and cheese, a personal request made by Travis. I can't take a picture of that and put it on here. That would just be...ridiculous, for lack of a better word. Even, perhaps, redundant, as you all gazed upon what you similarly served on your dining room tables across the country. I guess it is a good thing that I have some old pictures saved up. Just another example of something not entirely thought out by me... Another thing: what do I do if I see a great movie? Can I blog about that, even if it's neither "No Reservations" nor "Ratatouille," thereby having nothing to do with cooking or food? I suppose that remains to be seen. Onward to the symphony of vegetables below.



One of our favorite salads this summer consists simply of tomatoes and avocados, sliced, served on a plate, with a bit of salt and pepper. However, this one was all the more gorgeous, as we had been to the little farmer's market the Saturday before. See our beautiful yellow pear tomatoes? They were even sweeter than the accompanying grape tomatoes, if you can believe it. Combined with the creamy, almost melty texture of the avocado, and the zing of salt, it made a perfectly blended harmony in our mouths.

The thing is, we've been trying to get healthier. That means trying to fit in more trips to the gym, more activity (less TV), eating more vegetables with each meal, and making-over recipes so they fall under the "healthier" category. Sidenote: healthier means more healthy. Ergo, roasted peanuts are healthiER than beer nuts. I have been having a lot of fun trying out new recipes, some things that we have wanted to make, some I just stumble upon, and some I make up because they sound good.


Enter the asian lettuce wraps. Everyone knows how yummy they are at PF Changs, and they seem healthy - they are wrapped up in lettuce, after all. Also, we had been wanting to do something with vermicelli noodles. These are FUN! You should try them - in something, it doesn't have to be these. Anyway, we made these with ground turkey - see, healthier! - and we omitted the pickled ginger. Grocery lists don't always get filled in as thoroughly as they should.

**I have included the link to the recipe I found - Click the title bar.**

So nobody has blogged on here (by the way, I love when new verbs are created because of the internet) in a VERY long time... so I'm reviving it. However, it is going to have a theme. I like to cook. I am not the best cook in the family, or in the world, maybe not even in this house - but I enjoy it. So this will now focus on some of my food adventures. The kind in the kitchen, not eating out. I like reading those, but I don't want to have to take a camera every time I go out to eat. Who does that? Anywho... let's begin with the 4th of July when I thought that there ought to be more than one berry atop a shortcake. After all, the colors are red, white and BLUE! Behold, the power of blueberries. Here's my lovely Patriotic Shortcake. So that's rather basic, really. I even bought the little pre-made sponge cakes with the dip in the middle. You could call that assembling, rather than cooking. However, I did macerate the berries. Macerate - sounds official, huh. That's why I had to include it.