Summertime Pasta

I posted a new recipe on my recipe blog.  It's delicious, much better than it looks.

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

I decided to pass along some noteworthy items from other people.  The first - Utah Mom's Life.  This blog is hosted by my niece, Cindi Braby.  Her posts feature guest appearances, recipes, tips, sources and giveaways.  Right now she is giving away a family four pack of tickets for free admission to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.  That includes the Magnets, Motors and the Mind special exhibit.  Skip on over to this site, enter the contest and have a look at the posts.  Be sure to leave a nice comment - it will pick up your spirits and I'm sure it will tickle Cindi.

My next section mention is THE BAD!   Last night I was watching The Biggest Looser, one of two shows that I watch faithfully.  I was so appalled by the language that I ended up turning it off.  I wrote the channel complaining of all the bleeps that did little to hide from my mind what was being said.  Today I discovered I was not the only viewer who was upset.  Check out Candleman's blog, LIVE AND LEARN.  He is issuing a ban on the show and the sponsors until they do something about the language.  He hopes that enough people will join him and the show will get the message that we want to watch but we won't until they clean things up.  If you agree, stop over and leave a comment.

And last the Beautiful.  Katie has started a new vlog where she reviews her books.  I think it is really awesome and thought you would like to know about it.  Here's her introduction.




And here's her first review:

Isn't this a fun way to hear someone's thoughts and opinions about the books they've read?! And you see what I mean by beautiful?   You can find her at http://www.youtube.com/katesbookclub.  Or if you are on the YouTube site you can type in kate's book club into the search engine to find her.

Summer Summary

Since I didn't recap Jun and July and now August is over I decided to do a whole summer wrap-up.

June

6 - Mark was in town.  We went to dinner with Mom, Shaneen, Steve & Verona at Don Pedro's.
9 - BBQ with the family
16 - Opening night for 7 Brides for 7 Brothers; Katie has a part.
18 - John's birthday.  Katie and I went to a summer reading program class where we learned different patterns for folding paperback books.  I didn't feel guilty because most were yucky romances.  It was fun and we made several over the next week to give to the library for a huge mobile they are going to hang.
21 - Father's Day

Books Read:
The Texicans by Nina Vida
1st to Die by James Patterson
Split Second by David Baldacci
A Second Look by Lisa Scottoline
Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

Netflix: 
Boston Legal Seasons 2 & 3
Victoria Albert
Bramwell Season 2: Disc 1& 2

July

4 - Fourth of July Celebration - We held our traditional BBQ for both sides of the family who live in the area or who were visiting.  After hamburgers and wonderful potluck dishes we watched the fireworks from our front lawn.  Some of the group walk over to the park to watch them.  It was an especially pleasant 4th.
7-9 - Mom, Candleman, Katie and I went to Cedar City to visit Susan and maybe see a play at the Shakespearean Festival.  Dinner with all the cousins from Northern Utah at the Pastry Pub.  Candleman and Katie saw Secret Garden.  Went to Corey's one evening.
10, 11 - Candleman, Katie and I drove to Las Vegas to see Alyson.  We had a wonderful time visiting and playing games.  We went to 3 different Barnes & Nobles bookstores looking for their special $3.99 books. Sounds crazy now, but it was fun. Lunch at On the  Border and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Drove down the strip and saw the fountains going.  That was neat.  The strip doesn't seem anywhere near as bright as it used to so maybe they are saving energy for the good of the planet.  Couldn't believe how many people were crowding the sidewalks and streets.  Absolutely amazing!
12 - Back to Cedar City and another good visit.
13 - Candleman's birthday.  Ohhhh...he is getting so old!  We stopped in Provo and bought him a ukele for his birthday.
15 - BBQ with some of my side of the family.  Nothing like burgers on the grill.
24 - Dinner with family at Steve & Verona's.
27 - Went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  It was good.
31 - Petersen reunion in Layton.  Lots of fun.  Mom, Mark, Susan, Shaneen, Cassie, Kevin, Kristi, Ronnie, Candleman and I attended from mom's part of the family.  On the way to Layton we stopped at Zupa's for lunch.  It was fabulous!

 Books Read: 
Relentless
The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut


Netflix:
Boston Legal Season 4 & 5
Monk Season 7
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Bramwell Season 2: Disc 3
Changeling

August

18-22 - My niece, her husband and 6 kids and her sister-in-law and her 3 kids were all staying at Mom's this week.  J & J took their nice camper down for some of them to sleep in.
20 - Candleman bought 3 milk cans over the internet for a lot of money! so he could fix milk can dinners.  Tonight he tried it for the first time.  There were potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onion, corn on the cob and kielbasa sausages that are layered and then cooked over a camp stove for 1 1/2 hours then dumped in a big trough or metal tub.  He made so much that we invited the whole crew back for dinner the next night and still had oodles left over.  Jenny brought her luscious rolls.
21 - All Debbie's crew and a bunch of local family members hiked to Jone's Hole to play in the waterfall.  Sounds like they all had a blast.  Candleman and Katie joined the fun but I stayed home to enjoy the peace and quiet. 
22 - Brett & Angela and Cassie came out and we all met at Mom's for sloppy joes.  Shaneen must do something 'secret' to hers because they tasted especially good.  We played the name game and had tons of fun.
30 - Candleman made Ebleskivers in his new cast iron Ebleskivers pan that I kidded him about buying.  They were so yummy.  Looking forward to having those often.  He got very proficient at turning the little bundles of goodness.

Books Read:  
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (highly recommend - this is book 3 in the series)
Receive Me Falling by Erika Robuck
The Last Queen by C. W. Gortner (really liked)
The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block  (highly recommend)


Netflix:  

Doubt
Northern Exposure Season 5
Eureka Season 3: Disc 1 & 2
Eli Stone Season 2
Scarlett
Bramwell Season 2: Disc 4
The Closer Season 4

Overall Impressions:
I have loved this spring and summer.  It's been cooler and wetter than most which made it great for enjoying the backyard.  I really don't want summer to end, although it's always nice to get in a more set routine in the fall.  Our tomatoes have produced and I'd like to go on enjoying them for several more months, along with the squash.  I hurt worse than I ever have the first part of the summer but the last half has been basically pain free.  It's been heaven!  I do love autumn I'm just not ready for it so soon.