I love my new herb garden....

My Mom helped me plant an herb garden that I love so much! It's so fun to have herbs growing right in your back yard and much cheaper than buying them at the store. I'm not much of a gardener (although I'm working on it!) but it's been pretty easy to keep them alive too. Basically I just planted them, put them in the sun and water them a couple times a day and WAH-LA fresh herbs! So, last night we had Herb Citrus Turkey Burgers from Cooking Light and they were amazing! Here's the recipe with a few of my changes:

Citrus Herb Turkey Burgers
1 pound ground turkey
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 tablespoon thawed orange juice concentrate, undiluted (or I just used the fresh orange juice from the orange you have to buy for the zest instead)
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 shallot - I added this because Charlie loves shallots
2 tablespoons or so of breadcrumbs I made from some high fiber bread (I had to add these because I'm bad about using the exact measurements and my patties looked too liquidy)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

I also made a spicy aioli to go along. Basically I just mixed some light mayo with some of the leftover orange zest, a little orange juice to lighten it up and a spicy mexican spice blend I found in my spice cabinet. Then I added a bunch of freshly ground black pepper and some chives and shallots. It gave the burgers a nice kick. Charlie and I both really liked these and are excited to try them again. I hope you like them too!

I will put up a picture of my herb garden once I get my pics off the camera.

50 Nifty United States...

This weekend I have to go to Raytown, MO. This is not my first trip to MO and I'm not especially looking forward to going back, but at least I'm not going to the flood ravaged section this time. I am hoping that my days as a business traveller are coming to an end, but I still have to make it through the summer which, unfortunately, is one of our busiest times. This weekend's trip is a long one and I don't get back until Thursday night. It's making me cranky just thinking about it, so in order to cheer me up I am thinking of all the places that I've had to go for work and listing for you my highlights and lowlights. I still have 17 more states to hit so that gives me one reason to soldier on.

City that surprised me the most in a good way: Portland, ME or Westport, CT (both are quaint and charming in an old east coast kind of way, Portland has a very charming cobblestone section with good restaurants and shopping and it's right on the water - also you can easily bring back fresh lobster which usually inspires me to hold a welcome back lobster party and that always sounds fun and Westport is really cute and lovely and has some really fun, giant houses to look at. I think Martha Stewart and David Letterman both have homes near Westport)
Honorable Mention: Salt Lake City, UT
I really like SLC and I think it has a bad rap. It has good restaurants and shopping and it's a very walkable city. From my hotel I can easily access a nice U Village type shopping mall or any chain restaurant you can think of along with a few good independent type restaurants - add to that a midsized airport that's easy to navigate and you have yourself an easy and enjoyable business trip (oh, the people are super nice too so it makes my actual job easier too).
City that surprised me the most in a bad way: Ketchikan, AK (maybe it was just the constant June rain, but I was expecting a cute tourist town)
Least favorite airport: Houston International hands down, that place is old, dirty, hot and has too many terminals that are just lobbies with doors and no bathrooms or shops.
Favorite airport: I love Seatac, but I'm usually just there for a little while, so my second favorite is probably Minneapolis, lots of restaurants to choose from and it's clean.

So, thanks, I feel better already, I'm not flying through Houston and I just might like Raytown, MO. I'm staying in KC so maybe I'll have some decent meals and (fingers crossed) maybe the elliptical machine at the hotel will have it's own little TV attached. That would make my trip!

Baby Milton's Room

As most of you know Kelsey is having a baby... and the baby (much to my chagrin) has a top secret name, so I call him Milton. Anyway, Kelsey has graciously allowed me to help (or more like take over) the decor of Milton's room. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure that Kelsey won't be sorry, because look at this cute and CHEAP artwork I found on Etsy! Milton's Dad (Brian) loves sailing and stuff, so I think these work nicely on that theme but are even better than just plain boats because they are cute and whimsical and perfect for a baby's room! I even bought some for me in hopes that I might need them soon (finger's crossed). We're planning a trip to the fabric store next, I'm thinking yellow and white seersucker will perfectly compliment the artwork we've picked out... Milton is going to sleep like a champ in this cute room (or at least Kelse and Brian hope)!

Check them out on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=46726

Sammy's Little Admirer

This picture is of Sammy and my Dad's dog Neko at our Father's Day brunch. Neko is still a puppy and that suited Sammy just fine because Sammy loves to play with a pup that has as much energy as she does... This picture was taken in a rare moment of rest for these two!

I like this action shot too. It looks like Charlie (in the background) just discovered something mischievous that these two did and they are running away as fast as they can!

The Mint Fields of Ann Arbor Ave

Over the weekend I was weeding the back yard and discovered that some of the "weeds" were really herbs! Actually, just a single herb, mint (but lots of it) growing in one corner of our yard... so now you know where to come next time you feel like a mojito! But I figure I can't possibly drink that many mojitos so I looked up some recipes with mint and had the Warme's over to check out the first of my meals created with locally foraged, organic mint (sounding delicious and foodie already, don't you think?). One of the recipes was a total flop, but this one was good. It's originally from Self Magazine so it's healthy too:



Greek Burgers with Arugula, Tomatoes and Feta
4 whole-wheat pitas (6 1/2 inches each)
1/4 cup skim milk
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
4 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 pound lean ground lamb
2 teaspoon olive oil
3 cups arugula
1 medium tomato, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/3 cup crumbled feta
Dressing
2/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup peeled, seeded and finely diced cucumber
Heat oven to 350°F. Cut 1/4 off each pita (a half-moon shape from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock). Chop half-moons, transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with milk. Let soak 5 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess milk. Purée soaked bread, onion, garlic, herbs and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Transfer purée to a bowl. Add lamb, season with salt and pepper and combine. Form into 4 patties. Wrap pitas in foil and heat until warm, about 8 minutes. (Or place pitas between sheets of paper towel and microwave until warm, about 30 seconds.) Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook burgers to medium, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Whisk yogurt, mint, garlic, mustard and honey in a bowl. Stir in cucumber and season with salt and pepper. Open each pita, stuff with arugula and drizzle with some of the dressing. Add burger, tomato and red onion to pita. Sprinkle with feta. Serve leftover dressing on the side.

America's Next Top Puppy Model

I'm really excited because I just signed Sammy up for her first photo shoot! Really, it may be her only photo shoot because I'm more than a little worried that she'll run around the studio like a crazy dog and knock over all the photographer's equipment... but this photographer takes LOTS of dog pictures, so I'm banking on the fact that Sammy can't be the worst behaved dog she's ever worked with and just in case I'm going to wear Sammy out before the shoot so that she's nice and tired. I'll post some of the pics when I get them back, but in the meantime all of you dog lovers out there should go to this website and check out her dog portraits... I almost cried because some of them were so cute. I love dogs!

http://www.alyssarosephotography.com/#

Click on Portraits, then either Galleries or Featured. There is one under Featured that is of a scruffy little golden dog (looks a little like Sammy as a puppy) and it's chasing a tennis ball. I LOVE this picture and have my fingers tightly crossed that I might get one of Sammy just like it. I'm going to the store to buy new tennis balls right before the shoot. Oh, I can't wait for the shoot! Count down to the big day - 19 days!

Happy Birthday Brian!

A couple weeks ago we celebrated Brian's birthday. We sure hope he enjoyed celebrating the big 3 - 5 because it's going to be a red letter year for Brian and family!

We are very happy to have Brian in the family and his mellow, level headedness and dry sense of humor keep us entertained and happy all year around, but his birthday was just what we needed to tell him what a great brother-in-law he is and how much we enjoy having him around! So, Hip-Hip-Hooray for Brian!

The birthday boy!

Melissa, Charlie and Sammy celebrating Brian...