The Toddy

One of the other birthday gifts I received (aside from the BIG one), was a Toddy. I asked for the Toddy because I'd heard rave reviews about it from a number of people, and I'm a huge fan of coffee so am always looking for ways to have an even tastier cup of joe.

This is what the Toddy looks like in action. A bit strange, eh?


What you're seeing here is the final step in the cold-brewing process.

Cold-brewing is a way to maximize the flavor from freshly ground coffee beans, without getting a cup full of bitter acid and oil. (This, by the way, is particularly good for folks who have stomach troubles or other ailments. Or for those who aren't all that into the bitter flavor of coffee.) Plus, it doesn't involve any electricity at all, except for the refrigerator power for storing the brewed coffee.

Basically, what you do is insert a small filter into the white portion of the Toddy you see above (it comes with two filters, which last quite a while). Then, following the directions, you add a pound of freshly ground arabica coffee beans and cold, filtered water.

After that all you do is let the mixture sit on your counter for about 12 hours. Once the cold-brewing is complete, you remove the plug from the bottom of the Toddy and slip it on top of the carafe (which is included).

There you have it—concentrated coffee, ready for making hot or cold coffee drinks. The Toddy coffee stores in the fridge for up to two weeks without losing its flavor. Making a hot cup is as easy as adding one part coffee to three parts hot water (or whatever ratio you like).

One word of warning: The Toddy coffee really is smooth. So smooth that it takes some getting used to, because it's easy to think the coffee you made is weak because it doesn't have that telltale coffee bite. Conservative Boy and I ended up going through our first batch of Toddy coffee much more quickly than expected, and I think it's because we were adding so much more coffee to each cup trying to get to what tasted "right."

Anyhow, it's easy and delicious and oh so smooth. And after waiting those 12 hours, it makes morning coffee time a piece of cake—just heat up some water, add some of the concentrated coffee, and there you have it, no waiting for the coffee pot to finish its work.

Eggs Blinnadict

On Sunday morning, after I took My Mom to the airport (she flew into town for a day of dress shopping—a successful day, by the way), I curled up on the couch with some incredibly thrilling ecology reading about parasitism and mutualism.

Meanwhile, Conservative Boy headed to the kitchen for a new installment of EXTREME cooking with Conservative Boy.

On the menu: eggs benedict. Or, as he called them in his EXTREME cooking voice, "eggs blinnadict."

First, he whipped up a tasty hollandaise sauce from scratch. Meanwhile, he fried some bacon and eggs (in EXTREME cooking, you take liberties with traditional recipes). Once everything was ready and the english muffins popped up, he assembled our meal, with a few loud grunts and "bams" as is fitting for someone who's all about EXTREME cooking.



Who's impressed?

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I much prefer pies and cookies over cakes and cupcakes, but when I saw the recipe for pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting in Real Simple, I knew I had to try it.

I love pumpkin and I love cream cheese frosting, so they seemed like the perfect combo. Plus I knew that if I made them on my birthday there likely would be other people (read: Conservative Family) around to try them out since I knew I wouldn't voraciously consume them all.

Plus, they were pretty easy to make. All I had to do was make an 18.5-ounce yellow cake mix, just substituting a 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree and 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice for the water in the recipe.


The cream cheese frosting was even easier: two 8-ounce bars of cream cheese at room temperature, plus 2 cups confectioner's sugar. (It's not a super sweet, traditional cream cheese frosting, however. And there's no vanilla. I might add vanilla if I made them again.)

Then all you do once you frost is add candy corns on top.


Just one warning: Don't add candy corns if the cupcakes aren't being consumed relatively soon. By the next day, the candy corns had bled all over the white frosting and it wasn't a pretty sight.

They still tasted good though.

Sharing the Details

Last week, I shared some pretty big news with you.

To be honest, if you know Conservative Boy and I very well at all, it's not pretty big. It's huge. I mean HUGE.

It's news regarding something a lot of people close to us thought might never happen. Heck, I didn't think it was going to happen anytime soon, which is why I was so shocked when it did.

I am, of course, referring to our engagement.

As I mentioned in my last post, it happened last Wednesday morning.

I was out watering my plants in the rain, which honestly isn't as crazy as it seems. It's just that my plants under the eaves don't get any love from the rain, so even when it pours I have to go out and water them.

When I came in, Conservative Boy asked if I'd hold Butter down so he could put in his ear drops. Poor little Butter has ear problems pretty much all the time, and he's not a fan of his ear drops, so often it takes two of us.

So I tackled Butter to the ground and held him in place, oblivious to the fact Conservative Boy had hooked something on Butter's collar. Since I didn't see this shiny object, Conservative Boy had to point it out to me. "What's this?" he asked innocently.

The next part of this story makes my stomach jump. It's a bit of a blur honestly.

I was confused when I saw what he was pointing at—a diamond ring attached to Butter's collar.


(That's not Butter's collar, by the way. It's my hand. But you knew that, right?)

I mean, really confused. The thought it was for me never even crossed my mind, that's how unlikely the whole scenario was. Instead, I sat there looking at it for what was probably a split second but for what seemed like forever, and all I could think (fortunately not out loud, although everyone knows now) was: How the heck did Kid Sister's ring get on Butter's collar, and how is she not aware it's missing?

I realize that is incredibly illogical, yet somehow it made more sense than the fact it was for me.

By this point it was sort of sinking in. Conservative Boy was removing the ring from Butter's collar. I jumped up and he put it on my finger and the first words I actually said to him (remember, this was all in the span of a couple of seconds) were: "Oh my god, are you serious? Is this a joke?" and got a bit teary.

That's the stuff movies are made of, folks.

And then in all my confusion, I realized I hadn't actually said yes. So I said something to the effect of: "I guess I should say yes. So yes."

Again, the stuff movies are made of.

Then there was the usual hug and smooch that this stuff always involves. Conservative Boy had to head to work about 10 minutes later and sent two incredibly verbose 2-3 sentence emails alerting friends and family to the news.

I spent the day part giddy, part confused and got exactly zero homework or freelance work done. Because I am a woman and not nearly as succinct as Conservative Boy, I had my ear to my phone most of the day. That's more than I ever talk on the phone.

... And I didn't even realize until after Conservative Boy was at work that he managed to ask me to marry him without actually asking because I didn't give him a chance to speak. Oops!

A (Big) Birthday Surprise

You never know about birthdays. Sometimes they're swell. Sometimes they're not so swell, like when they fall on Tuesday and you have to work and teach all day and take a three-hour midterm exam in the evening (that happened last year).

Sometimes, however, they're beyond swell.

I am going to put this year's birthday, which happened on Wednesday, in the beyond swell category.

Wednesday seems like a rather lame day for a birthday (who wants to celebrate on hump day?). But when you don't have classes or much work to do and get to stay home in your PJs all day if you like, it's not too bad.

I thought I'd share with you some of the things that made my birthday so beyond swell.

Sleeping in until 7:20. (So lazy of me.)

Having time to water my plants (even though I am fully aware it was raining), send emails, and make myself a latte.

Making pumpkin birthday cupcakes (even though, admittedly, I prefer pies and cookies to cakes). By the way, I'll share more about these soon.

Great gifts, including but not limited to some clothing items, some terrific jewelry, an iTunes gift card, a Borders gift card, a wonderful CD, a springform pan (yes, I asked for one), a Toddy, and more Pyrex bowls with a new pattern (yay!).

A delicious dinner, complete with a wine flight, at Bella Milano in Springfield.

Beautiful happy birthday and congratulations flowers.

Wait a second. Did I just say congratulations?

Why yes, yes I did.

Why would I receive congratulations flowers on my birthday? I mean, I guess it would be OK to congratulate someone for being born.

But it would also be OK to congratulate someone for this.

Yes, folks. This is my hand this time. It is not a joke. (I thought it was a joke too, by the way.)

Conservative Boy proposed to me (with an assist from Butter) on Wednesday morning before he went to work. And after I realized it really was a serious proposal, I said yes.

I will share more details on that later, but I'll let the fact it happened sink in first.

And now you see what makes a birthday beyond swell.

A New Vacuum

First, I would like to take the opportunity to wish My Mom a happy birthday. Yes, my lovely mother gave birth to me the day before her own birthday. Talk about generous.

Happy birthday, Mom! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Second, I would like to discuss a topic that has very little to do with My Mom's birthday, although I'm sure she gets great enjoyment learning about it on her special day.

This topic is vacuums.


You see, when we moved into our house, Conservative Parents were kind enough to buy us a vacuum. It has been a very good vacuum the past two years, but as is apt to happen when you live with an exceptionally hairy creature (no, I don't mean Conservative Boy, although he's rather hairy too), even a good vacuum stops being effective after a while.

That's what happened to ours, a fact I realized every time I flopped down on the floor with Butter or stretched out in downward dog. There was so much hair on the carpet, even if I just finished vacuuming (and emptied the canister twice), it looked like I hadn't done a thing.

So I did some researching and bought a new vacuum, one that got good reviews and was relatively reasonably priced.

It's the Eureka Boss SmartVac Pet Lover. (Please say that five times fast.)

This vacuum has two very important features: a sealed HEPA filtration system, which is key for someone who is allergic to her favorite doggy, and special attachments made specifically for cleaning up pet hair, like the copious amounts of white hair that belong to you-know-who.


It's big, it's powerful, and so far it is doing 100 percent better than our old vacuum. (Oh, and it's bright yellow. Always a nice perk.) Even Conservative Boy loves it, so much that he did all the vacuuming last week (twice) and even vacuumed the couches. (Be impressed. I am.)

Of course, Butter is a fan too, if by fan you mean he loves chasing it around and barking at it as much as he liked attacking the last vacuum-shaped monster. That's what you're seeing in the photos above, in case you weren't sure.

I know sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on in our world.

BioBlitz!

There is not an exclamation point at the end of "BioBlitz." At least not that I am aware of. But in my world, something that sounds as exciting as BioBlitz should end in an exclamation point, don't you think? So, since it's my birthday, I have decided it will have an exclamation point.

I spent all last Saturday at BioBlitz! for my ecology class. BioBlitz! was an all-day biological sampling at Emiquon.

And when I say biological sampling, I mean I spent a good portion of the day in waders in freezing cold water digging around for plants and animals with my bare hands. Yes, really.

This is the area where I spent my time in the water. And no, I don't mean that puddle in the parking lot. Although I'm sure there's a wealth of biological life there to0.

(Also, doesn't it look exceptionally warm? Trust me, it was. My hands were numb for about 3 hours after.)


(There are some photos of me in said waders floating around, but I don't have one yet. I'll share if I find one. Maybe.)

Emiquon, which is located near Havana here in lovely Central Illinois, is a giant floodplain restoration project (we're talking almost 7,000 acres)—one of the largest outside of the Florida Everglades, in fact. Here's a photo of a small portion of it from a bluff we climbed after we dried off and ate lunch:


Emiquon used to be a system of backwater wetlands and lakes full of native plants and animals (plus there are a lot of archaeological sites, such as Native American villages and burial grounds, in the area). But, as is so common in the Midwest, the land was eventually parceled up and dried out in order to be used as farmland. Only now, the area is gradually being restored.


(These are some of the aforementioned burial mounds, which don't show up so well in the photo. It's also a trail now.)

The project is funded by The Nature Conservancy, and UIS as well as other universities are involved in the work being done at Emiquon on an ongoing basis, which is why we spent the day there studying the plants (prairie grasses as well as aquatic plants) and animals (particularly birds and invertebrates in the water).

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday, eh?

Two Real Simple Recipes

Last weekend, I made two recipes from the October issue of Real Simple. It seemed like the right thing to do, since I actually had enough time in my life to cook for once. Plus, you know, it is October and all—even though I refuse to believe it because I'm pretty sure I lost September somewhere.

The first recipe was Shrimp Pot Pie with Fennel, and I made it for Conservative Boy and Conservative Mom on Friday night—the perfect kind of meal for a dreary, chilly day.

Pot pies seem like they'd be a lot of work, but this one had very few ingredients and involved puff pastry, which I happened to have in the freezer, so it was a cinch. And very tasty, the sort of meal that warms your insides. I recommend trying it yourself. You can get the recipe from the Real Simple website.

Then, on Sunday, I tried the Peanut Butter-Cup Cookie recipe.

I'm a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate and cookies, so of course I had to make them, particularly once I found mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups at the store.

I'll tell you this: They're incredibly tasty. But mine did NOT look anything like the ones shown in the magazine, which appeared light and chewy and still showed hints of the telltale edge of the peanut butter cup.

I'm pretty sure they didn't bake their cookies all the way before the photo shoot. It's the only reasonable explanation.

The reason I think this is because I cooked mine for less than 10 minutes, as opposed to the 12 to 15 recommended in the magazine, and they came out flat and crispy and thoroughly melted.

Good, but crunchy.

Is this the fault of my overzealous oven? Perhaps. Did my baking soda spend too much time hanging out next to the bad corn starch? Maybe. Or it's possible these cookies are just destined to be a bit crunchier than the other recipes I make.

I know some of you, dear readers, love a good crunchy chocolate chip cookie, in which case these babies are for you.

Conservative Boy and I prefer big, fat, soft cookies though, so these took some getting used to. Still, they are pretty good, so I can't complain too much.

Try them yourself—again, you can get it from the Real Simple website. And let me know how your cookies turn out. Is it just the baker? Or are these cookies destined to be crunchy every time they're made?

Quest Magazine

I'm incredibly excited to share a special magazine with you today. It's not a publication you can find in stores or that you can subscribe to. But it is hot of the presses, so to speak, and I'm going to show you where you can find it online.

The reason I'm encouraging you to take a look at it? Because it has consumed much of my time for the past couple of months. You see, I served as editor for the 2009 issue that just launched online today.

It's called Quest, and you can view the entire online version here (you'll be downloading a PDF, just to warn you).

It's loaded with profiles of people who are making a difference around the world—people who are working to help North Koreans escape oppression and build better lives in the United States, serving in the Peace Corps in remote African villages, fighting a global HIV/AIDS epidemic, assisting with research missions in Antarctica, and so much more.

The thing that makes all of these people unique is that they were named Coca-Cola Scholars prior to graduating from high school. It's a prestigious honor from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, which awards generous college scholarships to students who demonstrate academic abilities and a dedication to service in their lives. Even after Scholars graduate, the Foundation works to stay connected with them—and this magazine is one way they do that.

I was chosen to be editor of the magazine this year not only because that's what I do when I'm not playing graduate student, but because I'm a Coca-Cola Scholar too. (One who is incredibly humbled by all the amazing things my fellow Scholars are doing around the world, by the way.)

This is the first issue of Quest that is edited by a Coke Scholar, plus for the first time ever all of the stories in this issue were written by Coke Scholars about Coke Scholars (some of those writers, by the way, are editors for magazines, The Washington Post, and more, so it's an impressive group).

But enough Quest horn-tooting. I just wanted to share with you the link in case you're curious about what I've been up to recently. Enjoy!

A Summer Feast

I was perusing a random assortment of photographs from this summer, looking for a tasty little tidbit or two to post for you today, when I came across something I should have shared long ago. It's not a tasty tidbit, mind you. Rather, it's a big, beautiful, M.B.-style feast.

The weekend My Family came to visit, Q and M.B. graciously hosted My Family, Conservative Family, and some additional friends at their farm. The majority of us arrived in style in one giant RV, which we tumbled out of like we were in a clown car.

Between glasses of wine and to-die-for appetizers, we took turns riding in the Gator with Q for visits to their newly installed wind turbine on one side of the house and the destruction caused by an August tornado on the other.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one evening, M.B., of course, prepared a feast of epic proportions. That is what I am about to share with you now. Prepare to drool, for we enjoyed:

Tasty little dishes of peppers.

A most beautiful salad.

Baked beans.

Potato salad.
Baked cheese grits.

Wait a moment. I must dwell on these grits for a moment. They were heavenly—and up until this point, I've never been very impressed with grits. But these beautiful babies—cheesy, flavorful, firm (not soggy). These babies I could eat by the spoonful.

Oh wait. I did.

Petite corn muffins.


An ribs. Beautiful ribs. Flavorful ribs. Fall off the bone the moment you touch them ribs. Ribs that eventually were mounded high on this plate, only I got too excited and didn't wait for M.B. to finish dishing before I took a photo. Can you blame me?

I won't even mention what came afterward for dessert. And by dessert I mean not one, not two, but three desserts.

I was too satiated to snap a photo—and trust me when I say that to describe them without sharing a bite is considered cruel and unusual punishment in at least 300 countries.

So I will spare you. I promise I'm doing you a favor here.

The Quiz Answers Revealed

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: I'm going to reveal the results of last week's quiz. I apologize for the delay, but now I'm here and ready to share the results (and the winner).

1. Where did I go for a bachelorette party this summer? Las Vegas, where I stayed at the Paris (my attempts to convince you all I was actually in Paris failed miserably, by the way)

2. Why do I visit random sites, like this one, around the central part of Illinois on a regular basis? For Illinois Adventures, the online travel magazine I created. And because everyone could use a little kitsch, and a little adventure, in life. (And, in case you're wondering, I am going to start posting new adventures soon. Really. I promise.)


3. What footwear did I purchase in Montana last summer? Cowboy boots! I'm thinking of wearing them on a regular basis now that the weather is cooling off. (By the way, Little Diplomat, I think Michael Johnson's gold Nike track shoes was a nice, educated guess.)

4. Who do I talk to more than anyone else in the whole world? Butter, of course. Although those of you who said myself aren't far off, since Butter never actually responds. But he's such a swell listener.

5. What kitchen-related item is my current obsession? Pyrex! Conservative Boy thought the answer was my juicer. To be honest, that's a good guess, as I use it frequently and swoon every time I pull it from the cupboard. But first and foremost, the answer is Pyrex.

6. What is delivered to our door step in the middle of the night? Milk, courtesy of Oberweis Dairy.

7. What gift did Conservative Boy recently receive, and what concerns me about this gift? His super-special Rachel mug. I'm a bit nervous one side of his body is going to get strangely large from using it. (This one got a lot of people, by the way. Apparently the "concerns me" part threw you all. And no, the answer was not lawn gnomes.)

8. I have two gardens. Where are they located? In our front yard (in pots) and at the Conservative Family house, which is what you see here. (Somehow, the paparazzi found me while I was picking tomatoes. With the paparazzi around, no one is safe.)


9. Who is getting married in May? Kid Sister and T-Bear! (Or, as Kid Sister wrote in her responses, "ME!!!")

10. What do I post about most on this blog? I have not taken a complete, accurate, scientific count, but I believe "food" wins. Gardening and Butter are probably a close second and third, although I'm not sure what comes first.

11. What do I want to be when I grow up? Hmm. Good question. I was actually hoping you all could tell me. It appears the winning answer is "college professor." Yes, that seems about right. And novelist came up quite a bit too. Yep, I'll take that. As for the smart alecks who wrote "lawyer's wife" and who threatened to write "housewife to a successful lawyer"? Your prize: two headbutts. I will deliver them later.

12. I’ve introduced you to a character who’s part frog. Who is it? Cubbie! (Technically, he is T-Bear's boxer. But T-Bear is resigned to the fact that actually he is now Kid Sister's dog.) By the way, Cubbie is part pig too.

13. What is my current cocktail of choice? Lemon drop. Yum yum yum. (This is the reason I've been using the aforementioned juicer more often.)

14. How did this fellow get his name? He was named after Conservative Boy, who was called Butter by his high school friends. This fact still confuses my little monster when he hangs out downstairs with the boys, because they will yell at "Butter," as in Conservative Boy, and Butter the dog comes running.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Conservative Boy thinks our next dog should be called Bread. Butter, on the other hand, is not so impressed with that idea.


15. At what cooking endeavor did I fail miserably—twice? And why did I fail? Strawberry pie. The problem: bad corn starch. Once I purchased new corn starch, I succeeded with the peach version.

16. I recently wrote about three lovely houses—where were they located? The Lake Oconee area of Georgia. By the way, I need to harass Conservative Mom for a moment because she didn't know the answer to this one and one of the houses was HERS.

17. Who is Butter’s arch nemesis? The mailman. Although the wascally wabbits are a close second.

18. Who are these crazy women and what are they doing? That would be Auntie R, My Sister, My Mom, and me. We are just hanging out in the corn field behind the Conservative Family house, drinking wine. What? Isn't that what you do at barbecues in Illinois?


19. What sport did I play at midnight one March? Broomball! Which, the Little Diplomat reminded me, she was present for. And still has the bruises to prove it. (By the way, if someone finds me a place to play broomball around here, you would be my hero forever. Really.)

20. Why have I been so busy lately? Mostly school, my graduate assistantship, and freelancing. Trying to squeeze in some time for 50 million weddings, Butter, and Conservative Boy rounds out the schedule. (Although poor neglected Conservative Boy would argue I'm not doing so hot on the last one.)

21. How many weddings have we attended this year? We just attended our fifth. And now we're done for the year. Breathe a sigh of relief. Hang the dresses back in the closet. Whew.

22. What activity do I regularly lament not being able to do more frequently? Yoga. Although, admittedly, I do wish I had more time for cooking and gardening too. My poor neglected cookbooks and plants ... (Best answer goes to T-Bear: "Yogi...Booboo.")

23. And what activity did I do recently that I found strangely exhilarating? Milking a cow, of course. (Although as MC so rightly reminded me, if I had to milk a slew of cows every morning while growing up, I likely would not have enjoyed it quite so much. True, my lady. So true.)

24. Where were we when this photo was taken? Wrigley! (Or, in the words of T-Bear, "Heaven.")


25. To what songs did Conservative Boy oh-so-romantically serenade me while we picnicked this summer? This one stumped most of you. The correct answer is "Back that A** Up" and Warren G's "Regulate." This was tricky because the answer was hidden in this seemingly mundane post. (Some of your guesses? "Sweetheart of Sigma Chi," "Go Cubs Go," and "We Will Rock You,"all of which are much too romantic to be the answer. Especially "We Will Rock You.")

And now, I will announce the winner. You might say he cheated, as he waited until the last minute and relied on the resources of the peanut gallery. Or you might just call him resourceful.

But he did include some very interesting (correct) responses and it is his birthday today, therefore he deserves to win.

So the winner, with 22 correct out of 25, is T-BEAR. Congrats, T-Bear, on a quiz well done. And happy birthday! You will receive a gold star for your effort. (And, if you're lucky, some homemade cookies this weekend.)

By the way, had T-Bear not snuck in at the last minute, his lovely bride-to-be Kid Sister would have won ... Let the brawl begin.

Thanks for playing!

A Quiz

I know, I know. I just posted a riddle a week or so ago, and now I'm making you take a quiz. I hope you don't mind, but I thought it might be a fun way for you to procrastinate today. I know writing it was a fun way for me to procrastinate.

Should you choose to take said quiz, leave your answers in the comments section at the end of the blog post, or if you get my posts each day by email feel free to hit reply and type them in. Then, in a day or two, I'll post the correct answers to the quiz here—and, if you're lucky, I'll even share some of the more entertaining responses your fellow readers sent.

Have fun!

1. Where did I go for a bachelorette party this summer?

2. Why do I visit random sites, like this one, around the central part of Illinois on a regular basis?


3. What footwear did I purchase in Montana last summer?

4. Who do I talk to more than anyone else in the whole world?

5. What kitchen-related item is my current obsession?

6. What is delivered to our door step in the middle of the night?

7. What gift did Conservative Boy recently receive, and what concerns me about this gift?

8. I have two gardens. Where are they located?


9. Who is getting married in May?

10. What do I post about most on this blog?

11. What do I want to be when I grow up?

12. I’ve introduced you to a character who’s part frog. Who is it?

13. What is my current cocktail of choice?

14. How did this fellow get his name?


15. At what cooking endeavor did I fail miserably—twice? And why did I fail?

16. I recently wrote about three lovely houses—where were they located?

17. Who is Butter’s arch nemesis?

18. Who are these crazy women and what are they doing?


19. What sport did I play at midnight one March?

20. Why have I been so busy lately?

21. How many weddings have we attended this year?

22. What activity do I regularly lament not being able to do more frequently?

23. And what activity did I do recently that I found strangely exhilarating?

24. Where were we when this photo was taken?


25. To what songs did Conservative Boy oh-so-romantically serenade me while we picnicked this summer?

Shrimp Spaghetti

I am shocked and appalled to realize that I have never posted Auntie R's shrimp spaghetti recipe here. How have I overlooked it, when it is one of the old standbys I make quite often? Sometimes I really do question my sanity.


So I'm about to right this grievous wrong by sharing this easy, delicious recipe with you. Here we go:

Saute one pound of shrimp in 1/4 cup olive oil until the shrimp are pink. Remove the shrimp.

Add 1/4 cup dry white wine (pour yourself a glass while you're at it ... this is required), 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon garlic salt, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon basil, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon oregano to the pan.


Now add 1 can chopped tomatoes. If you want an extra kick (a requirement, if you live with someone with taste buds like Conservative Boy's), consider looking for a can that includes chiles. This gives the pasta a nice kick. And add some red pepper flakes too.


While the sauce simmers, cook spaghetti according to package directions. I can't tell you how much spaghetti you should make. I always get it wrong. Just use your judgment—and remember, it's much better to have some leftover than not enough. Trust me, I know.


Return the shrimp to the sauce to heat. If you're nice, remove the tails first. (Conservative Boy is not a fan of pulling the tails off his shrimp when it's in pasta, just so you know. In case, you know, you're ever cooking for him.)


Drain the spaghetti and combine with the sauce.


Serve immediately and enjoy!

The Tour de Weddings

It's still summer, which means Conservative Boy and I are in the midst of our yearly tour de weddings. So far this year, we've been to one in Florida and two in Iowa, plus we missed one in Wyoming and a couple in Colorado. This weekend we're headed to Chicago for one, next weekend to St. Louis.

And then—giant sigh of relief—I think we're done until next May, although one can never be sure when a random wedding might materialize last-minute.

The weddings are always fun, and it's an honor to be included in the special day of so many people who mean so much to us. We've both gone to weddings, we've taken turns being in some of the weddings, and I even had the honor of writing a poem for one of them.

I think we've averaged at least five or six weddings every summer since we graduated college. Whew boy, that gets expensive. And exhausting.

Needless to say, we celebrate on, often alternating between my good friends and Conservative Boy's, with an occasional family wedding thrown in for good measure.

Speaking of which, next May is when a certain Kid Sister and T-Bear tie the knot. This, of course, will be quite an extravaganza.

Which reminds me, I think I forgot to share a little something Kid Sister brought by our house for me earlier this summer.


This is a cookie shaped like a bridesmaid dress. A pink bridesmaid dress, which is the color the bridesmaid dresses will be for Kid Sister and T-Bear's wedding. Attached to it, as you may have noticed, is a note. Inside the note it says this:


(I said yes. And am very excited.) Isn't that cute?

Conservative Boy was asked to be in the wedding as well, sans cookie. I believe he grunted a yes in reply. Now we'll see if he can stay in his sister's good graces until next May ... Any bets?

Eggplant Parmesan

I love cooking. I really do.

I know for some people it's a means to an end (that end being a full belly). But for me, just the process of transforming simple ingredients into a tasty meal is enjoyable.

The problem is, when life gets busy (and when I'm not home for dinner most evenings), I don't have any time to cook. Or any energy to do so (and energy is often required, because I like to try complicated dishes or recipes I've never tackled before).

Last Sunday, however, I decided to put all things homework, freelancing, and cleaning on hold for a bit to make Eggplant Parmesan—for lunch, no less (I couldn't let my cooking interfere with Conservative Family Dinner, of course).


The main reason I went to such lengths for a meal that's usually overlooked on the weekends: my one and only eggplant was crying out for attention.

You see, I planted an eggplant over in garden number two. And shortly after it went into the ground, a storm came along and somehow lopped off the top of said plant. I figured it was a loss and wouldn't grow a thing, but somehow it managed to recover enough to produce one nice little eggplant.

And so, armed with my trusty Italian cookbook, I set out to make a small dish of Eggplant Parm.

It was awesome. Seriously. It was really, really good. Conservative Boy even ate some leftovers and liked it—even though (gasp!) it didn't contain any meat.


In case you don't believe me, here's the recipe so you can try it yourself (thanks, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking).

Eggplant Parmesan
3 pounds eggplant
Vegetable oil
Flour spread on a plate
2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, well drained and chopped coarse
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt
3/4 pound mozzarella (preferably buffalo-milk)
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves
An oven-to-table baking dish, approximately 11 inches by 7 inches
Butter for smearing and dotting the dish
1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Slice the eggplant and steep it in salt.

(To steep, stand one layer of slices upright against the inside of a pasta colander and sprinkle with salt. Stand another layer of slices against it, sprinkle it with salt, and repeat until you have salted all the eggplant. Place a deep dish under the colander to collect the drippings, and let the eggplant steep under salt for 30 minutes or more. Before cooking, pat each slice thoroughly with paper towels.)

2. Pour about 1 1/2 inches oil in a large frying pan and turn the heat up to high. Dredge the dried eggplant slices in flour, coating them on both sides. Fry the eggplant, cooking it to a golden brown on one side, then turning and frying the other side. (Do not turn more than once.) Remove with a slotted spoon to a cooling rack or plate lined with paper towels to drain.

3. Put the tomatoes and olive oil in another skillet, turn the heat on medium-high, add salt, stir, and cook the tomato down until it is reduced by half.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Cut mozzarella into the thinnest possible slices. Wash the basil, and tear each leaf into two or more pieces.

6. Smear the bottom and sides of a baking dish with butter. Put in enough fried eggplant slices to line the bottom of the dish in a single layer, spread some of the cooked tomato over them, cover with a layer of mozzarella, sprinkle liberally with grated Parmesan, distribute a few pieces of basil over it, and top with another layer of fried eggplant. Repeat the procedure, ending with a layer of eggplant on top. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and place the dish in the upper third of a preheated oven.

7. Check the dish after it has been in the oven for 20 minutes. Press down the layered eggplant with the back of a spoon and draw off any excess liquid you may find. Cook for another 15 minutes, and after taking it out allow it to settle for several minutes before bringing it to the table.