5 thing Friday - food trucks, faucet, plant babies, socializing, earrings

I found a mini food trailer park really close to my house and stopped by for lunch last Friday. 

There were many options - Jamaican, Thai, burgers...but I went with carne asada fries with queso and an ice cold Horchata from Sopa de Fideo and was not disappointed.  Under the trees it wasn't too hot to eat outside and the lady at the food truck was super friendly.

However, next time I will try the torta with carne asada because she seemed pretty jazzed about that - side of queso, please..  

The saga with the outside faucet continues...

A pretty succulent pot sent by a friend last Friday.  I hope I can keep this alive - I'm having a hard time getting my plants to thrive - even the ones in the kitchen window, outside of the heat.

Exhibit A:

I rescued the spearmint plant from the patio and trimmed it back.  Hopefully, he will survive - if not I will plant another aloe vera in this pot.

Sadly, I gave up on the orchid who suddenly dropped all of her flowers and checked out.  I bought a coconut liner from Lowe's so I could re-use the orchid pot, added a dracena, and this will go BACK to The Girl's apartment.  We really have to stop batting plants back and forth.  I'm starting to really enjoy the fake ones, thanks.

The "Taste of Turkey" on Wednesday evening was educational and delicious.

I sat with some nice people who have a trip to Turkey planned for next month. They told me to look for them whenever I'm at the winery or at pick-up parties.   Made new friends, rejoined the wine club, ate some tasty Turkish food.  Wins all around.

The ladies at Spur are working on my pearls and the above photo is what they are aiming for.  I could not be more pleased!  I love the bezel setting for my little diamonds and although this photo makes the earrings look large, I think they will be perfectly proportional and easy to wear.  I envision them being heirlooms for future Cannary brides and to that end, I may have to have my portrait made, wearing them, giving them some provenance.  Whatcha think?

Happy weekend!

Gina

Little project: clean the A/C

Though I regularly change out my A/C filters and set my thermostat higher when I'm not home, I will admit that I knew nothing of maintaining and cleaning my air conditioner coils.  I strongly suspect that Mark did know something about it, but did he ever do it?  Not sure.  And my guess is no, considering the condition of the previous A/C that we had at Camp Rustown.

That unit got replaced by this one.  And since it was a sizeable investment and you can't even stay alive in Austin, Texas without one, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to clean mine.  {shoutout to the co-worker who told me she was cleaning hers last weekend and I said "am I supposed to be doing that?" so she explained it all.  Duh.}

On the advice of my brother in law I stopped by Home Depot and bought the special cleaner.  He said he would come over and give me the lowdown on cleaning it up without electrocuting myself.  Because, you know, that would be bad.  {UNPLUG IT} It didn't take long and it was so satisfying seeing the filth and such rinse right off the coils.  An easy project!

On two sides of the slab that the unit sits on, there used to be lava rock, to help with drainage.  So I might as well replace that, too.

Which I did!  And not only does it look better, it may help keep the mud spray down when it rains, which will keep the A/C coils cleaner, too.

Lava rock is great for areas where you have too much shade and are fighting a battle to get the grass to grow.  The only maintenance to it really is using the leaf blower to blow off leaves and debris, usually in the spring, but once a month or so I do a once over to keep it looking neat.  {yes, I need to work on the backyard grass}

Lava rock drains well and looks pretty and you never have to fertilize it.

Now, go clean your A/C unit!

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #129

A good lunch on a recent Sunday - margherita pizza, salad with avocado, red peppers and lemon vinaigrette, and a margarita.  Summer on a plate. 

Monday - Mole Pork Tacos with avocado, cheese, lettuce, onion, black beans

Tuesday - Bent Oak's "Taste of Turkey"

Wednesday - (freezer) Mexican Rice Skillet, salad

Thursday - Cheesy Zucchini Casserole, corn on the cob {pay bills, load August budget}

Friday - Happy Hour at The Girl's place

Saturday - Grilled Pork Chop, twice baked, salad with bleu cheese {getting my car inspected, and my tags paid}

Sunday - TBD, but probably a freezer meal {visiting my mother, taking her some wine}

Gina

5 thing Friday - Mark, cooking without a recipe, scrub top, brewery, summer

One year since the loss of Mark:

He was so many things to me - really everything to me.  A path to my future self from the moment I first met him.  Summer feels particularly empty without him, but I have come a long way since last July and I do not intend to spend this weekend thinking of all I have lost.

Rather, I will reflect on all that he did to enrich my life, and the lives of many other people.

******

I have a friend that tells me she can't cook anything without a recipe.  I know that's probably true for a lot of people.  But for me, I think about what I want to eat, then might review a recipe for the basics, then just do my own thing.  More times than not.

The Girl calls it "making it up as you go along".

That's what I did here with pork Carne Guisada last week.  It tasted very much like the dish I have had many times at a Mexican restaurant and I practically licked my bowl clean!  Its amazing what spices and slow cooking can do to make pork carnitas so tender and delish.

I hate it when scrub tops have that dart detail in the back, like they're some kind of fashion top.  100% of the time I pick it out with my seam ripper.  I would rather have that extra inch of fabric to move in.

I liked the pattern and colors on this top, child-friendly or not, and the fabric feels great (its a rayon/poly blend).  Not to mention its a size L, not an XL.  So it looks so much more flattering and is so comfy.

Austin has so many breweries - 6 or 7 within a couple miles from my house.  There are usually food trucks parked right outside and most of them are pet-friendly, so there are lots of dogs and people just sitting and enjoying beer and living their lives.  Heat be damned.

I met a college friend there on Wednesday and we enjoyed some downtime and a couple of beers.  Please notice that the garage doors are up and its the hottest part of the day with Austin's high at 104 that day.  We probably perspired all of that beer out, but it didn't feel terrible.

Do you use Facebook to connect to people anymore?  I feel like I hop on, then right back off, but I love it when old photos pop up in my feed.  I grab them and share them with the person they reference - in this case, Bubbie.  According to this photo he was 11, going on 12.  He was my littlest elf.  By this point in the summer he would be so tan from hitting the pool several times a week.  I kept all of them busy in the summers and trips for treats were a regular thing.

Such sweet summer memories!

Gina

Big project to come: broken pipes

Back in February, when we had another ice storm I found this outside of the barn:

And I knew that I had made a major mistake of not bleeding the pipes to remove the extra water and prevent them from bursting.  In my defense, I was on call and couldn't get up there to do it.  If I could turn back time, I would have gone up there anyway, call or not, and I know Mark would have made the trip to do just that and save himself the future trouble.  Lesson learned.

Turns out the pipe was broken in several different places, including at the main valve.  Main valve broken = no water a the barn.

After I unpeeled the insulation Mark had carefully wrapped it all in, and found a big chunk missing I saw that it was cracked all the way through, so no, you can't just glue it all back and use Flextape.

He created this little jog of pipe around the structure so that he could furnish us with water inside the barn, as well as all the way back to the rear where we had a sink and a shower head.  All of that will have to be assessed and repaired. (but the outside sink is going to go) I found a bit more pipe, some connectors, a cutting tool, and PVC cement in the storage unit.  When the weather cools, one or more of the kids and I will tackle it.  Having water up at the barn is somewhat crucial if you want to stay cool and have a way to put out a fire.  But right now, it is so very hot and jobs like this can be time-consuming.  Plus, I'm learning as I go.

So for now, I' working on this other smallish project: moving all of this stuff off the BBQ patio, storing the BBQ pit, table, and Dutch oven pit, getting rid of that smoker, and killing the brush that is sprouting up between the pavers.  When its nice and cleared, I will have a solid space for the two lounge chairs to sit.

(You can see them in the bottom left of the above photo)

It will be a better space for them, I think, and since I'm not grilling up here, I might as well make a nice little lounge chair patio to sit and read and contemplate what I want to do...plus, the view will be just as nice. 

Gina

Empty Nest menu #128

The latest collection of fabric hearts for IFAQH: 

I keep leaving them, hoping they will be found and add a little happy to this world.

It does make me happy, having a creative outlet!

Monday - Lemon Pepper Chicken, twice baked, broccoli

Tuesday - Coconut Shrimp, rice, green beans

Wednesday - Foccacia Pizza, baby greens salad {meeting a friend here}

Thursday - Carnitas Bowl with leftover rice, black beans, avocado and etc.

Friday - Hatch Chicken Salad Wraps, chips, watermelon {off, errands to do and going to grab a beer with The Girl and Bubbie}

Saturday - Mark's favorite: Hamburger Patties, pork and beans, mashed potatoes* for a family meal

Sunday - Kitchen closed!

******

In college, Hubby had an apartment with two other guys.  They shared cooking duties and "specialties".  This was Mark's signature dish, probably served with iced tea.  Whenever I would ask him "what should I cook this week" he always asked for it.  I think he was mainly being silly, but eating it brought back happy memories of his college days.

Mark, 1983

Gina

5 thing Friday - eye injury (again), magnifying glass, advice, mirror, evening sky

One day last week I managed to poke my bare eyeball with my bath towel as I was drying off from my shower.  It hurt and I was a little freaked out about it so I took a series of pictures to share so that if someone found me blind and wandering the streets, they would know how it all started...

I looked pretty freaked out in all of the photos, but really, I was calm, considering.  And I must have it hit it pretty hard!  And today you can't see it.

Crisis over.

Speaking of eyes...I'm trying to not spend unnecessarily, but I bought this lighted magnifying glass on Amazon that has probably saved me from eye strain and made it possible to work on this bookmark cross stitch kit from The Girl.

And working late this week has given me more hours to work on it.  And now I can work on some other projects that were causing me eyestrain.  So, good purchase, I recommend!

I wished I had been mentally strong enough to follow this advice months ago.  Simply decline - I love that.  Fits so many situations! These things pop up in my Insta feed and they speak to me.

I was getting ready for work yesterday and thought "I need a full-length mirror".  Then I remembered that I have THREE of them, one in each extra bedroom, so I ripped one of them off the wall and nailed it right up in my bedroom.  Then I patched and painted the wall I took it down from and no one need be the wiser.

A July sky at 9 p.m. in Austin, Texas at my my hospital.  Just a really pretty view from the top floor of the parking garage.  Here comes the rain and we so need it!

Gina

Cooking for one - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Most of the time, when I plan menus for myself,  I cook smaller one-person versions of whatever I want to eat.  I don't want to eat leftovers for days and days...and that's usually what you get when you use a casserole recipe.  But since I had all of the ingredients for Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas:

...I figured I would just go ahead and make them, portioning out two servings for this week, and making packets of them for future meals:

Here they are, cooling so I can freeze them.  I will thaw the packet, open it, place it in the oven to heat, and serve it alongside a salad,  Easy dinner!  

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

1 1/2-2 cups shredded chicken

1 can green chile enchilada sauce

1/2 cup or more of sour cream (I used a bit more to finish off the container I had)

10 corn tortillas

2 c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Heat the oven to 350. Grease a baking dish.  Soften the tortillas by buttering them a bit and heating in a hot skillet a minute or so each side.  Set them aside to cool for a minute or two while you mix the sauce with the sour cream until smooth.  Stir half a cup of it into the chicken and set the rest aside.  Roll a bit of the filling with a bit of grated cheese into each tortilla and place seam side down in the baking dish.  (You'll just have to judge how much filling by how many tortillas you have left as you go)  Pour the reserved sauce all over it and bake until hot and bubbly - 25 min or so.  Throw the rest of the cheese on top, set oven to broil, and cook another few minutes until the cheese on top is melted and slightly browned.  Cool a bit before cutting into it.

******

Yikes, I can't believe I had the oven on this week!  But I had a great dinner for work last night, will have some for lunch this week, and have two packets of it to look forward to when the weather cools.

Gina

Empty Nest menu #127

I dog sat Teddy for the weekend and this is where I found him on Friday evening after my shower.  Maybe it was the coolest place in the house.  Or maybe a small space makes him feel safe.  Who knows.

Its either the tub, my closet, or his dog bed in the guest room.  Which is fine, because I know he is anxious without The Girl.

Monday - Beef Taco Salad

Tuesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, corn

Wednesday - Club Hoagie, chips

Thursday - Spaghetti and Meatballs, freezer veggie

Friday - Shrimp and Red Pepper Stir Fry with rice {pick up groceries after work}

Saturday - TBD but going to STW and Highlands after I mow and edge

Sunday - Making dinner for The Girl, menu TBD {might head back to Highlands with Firstborn to fix a broken pipe}

******

I agreed to work evening shift this week since we are so short staffed.  So cooking will happen in the mornings!

Gina

5 thing Friday - Tajin, Scout, solitude, yarn birds, quick dinner

Have you ever tried Tajin?  I don't buy the dry version any more because I really don't need to be adding extra salt and sugar to my food, but on a whim I bought the hot sauce. 

(which by the way is not low in salt either...)

Supposedly its got a hint of apricot?  But really all I taste is chilies and lime and it is DELICIOUS on cold watermelon and orange segments.

Stole this pic from Scout's Instagram because I thought he looked so handsome.  I guess he's out of the pink/teal/blond phase for his hair, but either way I think he looks like exactly who he is: a kind person with a good heart and gentle ways.  He and Dutch are well-matched.

I like my introvert/alone time but it can seem like too much at times and yes, I know I need to investigate groups and classes and such.  Its a work in progress.  Meanwhile, home is my sanctuary - a place that is calm and smells beautiful and has everything I need to be comfortable and its not lost on me how fortunate I am, even in the midst of grief.  Lately it seems very lonely here.

If you use your imagination, you might see birds here.  I still need to get the yellow felt for beaks and some black beads for eyes.  Just a little crafty thing that kept me busy last weekend!

This was a very good meal: a package of Knorr creamy garlic shells with a half cup of grated cheese stirred in after it had thickened, topped with a sauteed yellow squash, red onion, and garlic mixture, then finished off with  "blackened" (sort of) shrimp on top.  It took about 15 minutes to fix and was very comforting to tuck into after a long day at work.

Cheers to the weekend!

Gina