A Step in to the Past...

People who knew me in high school and college know that my footwear of choice was either a pair of khaki Simple shoes or various colors of Converse Chuck Taylors. I had Red ones, Black ones, Blue ones, Dark Green ones, and I was ever in search of Yellow High Top ones (never located...this was pre-internet of course.)

I was inspired recently by Nick Mavridoglou and his purchase of cool gray colored converse sneakers...so I went online and found Chucks in my current go-to color of green (named Piquant Green...fancy.) (And a side note: I purchased these via eBates.com, I got a good price, free shipping and 3% cash back.)

When I put these on yesterday...it was just like looking at my high school feet...same size 9 as way back then. (Converse sizing is weird...normally take a women's size 10, but for some reason....size 9 Chucks are perfect.)

These shoes are as close to a reflection of the inner me as mere shoes can be.

Kris

New Patio & Firepit

Hats off to my hubby for creating a beautiful new patio for our grill, a firepit & a future outdoor dining area without spending ANY money (okay maybe a little money for sand, but sand is cheap.) The stones for the patio are from the streets of Hamilton, OH. Joe Becknell picked them up off the side of the road after they were removed from the crosswalks. The rock for the firepit were generously donated by Josh Eagle from the property where he lives...I guess there was a stone wall at some point that had fallen to decay.

Check out that craftmanship!!

Many glorious fires have been built and will be built for years to come. Good job, honey!!!

Kris

CSA & Fall Dinner

We are clearly rolling in veggies at the moment...between last Thursday's Green B.E.A.N. delivery and our continuing Sunday CSA from Eaton Farm - yikes.

This week we got: Butternut Squash, cherry tomatoes, green beans, beets, basil, yellow squash, Swiss chard, & eggs. I also snagged two pints of tomatillos to make & freeze more enchilada sauce for the winter months.


So using last weeks Acorn Squash & the dwindling supply of Rudolfo meat...we had Slow Cooker BBQ Short Ribs (YUM!) and roasted Acorn Squash. This meal took some effort to each (& napkins) but it was amazingly easy to make. Throw the ribs in the crockpot on low at noon with some BBQ sauce and throw the squash in the oven with brown sugar & butter. Voila! A satisfying Fall meal. - Local & Organic 100%

Kris

Green BEAN Delivery!!!!

Last week, Mark & I signed up for an Local & Organic Grocery Hone Delivery Service called "Green BEAN Delivery" (formerly "Farm Fresh Delivery.") I had been hemming and hawing about this for about a year trying to see if it would work out for us. We already do the CSA, get the local beef and local dairy products, but it seemed like this service offered all of that in one location AND comes right to the door. So we took the plunge thinking that if it doesn't pan out we can cancel pretty easily (no commitment.)

So I went to their website (which is super cool) picked a fruit & veggie bin for 2 people (Small), added Milk, Eggs, & Artisan Whole Wheat bread to my Standing Order. During the week I decided that we also needed chicken & ground turkey...so I added that to our week's order.

It arrived yesterday on our front porch by the time I came home from work in two big insulated bins.

Inside one of the bins were the groceries items: Snowville Creamery Milk, Red Sun Eggs, Scholars Inn Whole Wheat bread, Gunthrop Farms chicken breasts and ground turkey. Still very cold or frozen as intended...wrapped up in these cool freezer bag thingees.

In the other bin was the "Small Fruit & Veggie" items (the CSA part): Organic Fruit - Grapes, Oranges, Strawberries, and Apples. Organic Veggies - Corn, Collard Greens, Broccoli, Green pepper, Gigantic Beets, Sweet Potatoes, and (oh no) more Cherry Tomatoes.

The price you ask...Okay...it is expensive...BUT Organic Veggies and meat are expensive to begin with...but you get what you pay for. We got these two bins for $67.58 delivered to the door.

I am excited to try all the other great products that they offer. I also think this will actually save us money in the end. I can better budget & plan meals this way...since I have VAST amounts of internet time at work to fuss with this and I enjoy the fussing. So...basically...so far...I am impressed and excited to continue.

Kris

CSA & Garden Update!!

We are slowly winding down the CSA season and due to the drought-esque conditions here in Cinci, it seems to affecting our Farm quite a lot. The baskets are getting a bit lighter than they were, but still have a fantastic variety. This week, we got: Potatoes, Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Garlic, Butternut Squash, Kale & Eggs.


Our garden, on the other hand, did not get the memo about the drought. I had missed about a week of harvesting and ended up with a giant bucket full of beautiful produce. Hungarian Wax Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes and of course...


A MILLION Mexican Midget tomatoes. We took a few bags of these cuties to share with the Mavridoglou clan...too many for just Mark & I to eat.

And now on to the Science portion of the today's blog. Mark & I are convinced that we have a "cross -polination hybrid" situation occuring right in our own backyard. Now this is not 100% fact, since I am not a scientist (because I am a girl), but we think that the Mexican Midgets cross with the Eggplants to form the oblong cherry tomatoes above. And that the Mexican Midgets also crossed with the regular tomatoes to creat perfectly round slightly larger tomatoes. These all came from different plants...that WE did not plant. They just started growing around the corner of the house from the garden. Gregor Mendel would be proud...or mad about our haphazard methodology...either one...still tasty!

Kris

Labor Day Craziness

It all started so well...Mark worked on our new patio, we had a nice fire, we took the dogs hiking, Mark visited Marcia & Dave. And then SUNDAY came around...and we decided to RAGE at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport for the WEBN Fireworks. Terrible idea. Next time we RAGE, we need to be at home or surrounded by NON-Ragers. We will never speak of it again. Who ARE these people?!?!?! Why don't I remember any fireworks?!?!?

Kris

eBates.com!

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=q%2FiR7%2FpbxS6i0WKN8Qb0rg%3D%3D

I saw an ad for this on late night cable TV and thought...what the heck is this all about. So I went and checked out the website. Well, it all seemed pretty "too good to be true", but I needed to buy Sammy her Glyco-Flex joint doggie chews anyway. So I found a pet store that is linked through the ebates page that said it paid 7% cash back. I found the Glyco-Flex, ordered it for a good price - around $30. The next day, I got an e-mail that I now had $1.47 in my eBates account. That is a pretty good deal and I didn't do anything special besides click on a link.

So now that I am into it...I went through and there are online coupons that you can use AND get the traditional store % cash back. For example, I was going to buy a gift card for someone...I can go to the store, get free shipping and 3% cash back all from eBates. DUH! Of course I am going to do that.

If you are interested, click the link above and explore the eBates website.

I love the internet!

Kris