Blog Button - I Did It

I decided that I needed a blog button. Hey everybody else has one. So then I had to decide how to make it catchy in a tiny space. Let me know what you think.

I'm so proud, I figured out how to get it on the side. Now I can be famous! Well famous in my own mind.

Don't you love the internet?

Spaghetti with Onions

So what can you make with just four ingredients that tastes fantastic? Why this recipe, spaghetti with onions.




Yes that is ll the ingredients. This comes from the one Italian cookbook that we own, Sicilian American Pasta. It takes some time but you will be very pleased with the cost and flavor.

Spaghetti with Onions
Recipe by Sicilian American Pasta

3 lb yellow onions, sliced (we prefer sweet onions)
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 lb spaghetti

Sauté the sliced onions in the olive oil with the crushed red pepper over high heat ten minutes, stirring constantly. The onions should start to become transparent.




Cover tightly, lower the heat and cook thirty minutes, letting the onion smelt down. Stir occasionally to keep them from burning. Some of the onion will become glazed and develop a deep caramel color. If there is not enough liquid, you. Ay add a tablespoon or two of the pasta water during the cooking.

Undercook the spaghetti slightly and mix with the onion sauce, tossing in the pot over a warm range.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

We halved the recipe nd had enough for leftovers for the two of us.

We love rain

Today it rained! Why am I so happy about this? Because we are in the drought part of the country. It has been so bad that Dan has not had to mow since we got back from vacation. That's six weeks. The grass is so dry that you have to wear shoes to walk on it because it feels like slivers going into your feet.

You also know its been a long time because I took pictures of it while stopped at a stoplight.






It rained so hard I decided I really didn't need to go shopping so I drove back home.

Friday Fragments

Joining up with Mrs. 4444 for fragment time.

I think I've decided to bite the bullet and try to pass the Certified Research Administrator test this December. I don't remember how to study. This is going to be hard. 250 questions. I mean I know the answers instinctively to many of them but when you ask me what circular or federal notice is in force, I've got no clue. I just know how to do my job.

I also decided to go to the national meeting in November. I was trying to avoid it since it is in Washington DC on election day. Do I really want to be in DC on election day? Now I have to figure out how to vote early before I leave.

University classes start Monday which means all the students are back. That usually adds 5-10 minutes to any travel time around town.

Our church is expecting 1,000 new/returning students/people this weekend and next. Let me tell you ushering is going to be challenging on Sunday.

We went out to dinner for Dan's birthday and had the best carrot cake ever. The frosting wasn't overly sweet which happens a lot. And the cake didn't have the chunky texture that a lot of them do.

I started looking through recipes for things to make that I know Whitney doesn't like. This week was risotto. Next week will be some kind of Asian stir fry.

Have a great weekend everyone! It isn't going to be triple digits anymore here!

Hodgepodge

Joining up with this week's hodgepodge questions from Joyce.

1. Joyce included this quote (attributed to William H. Danforth) in my blog post yesterday... "The best cure for a sluggish mind is to disturb it's routine." When was the last time you 'disturbed your routine' and how'd you do it?

We are all creatures of habit. Maybe trying new foods? We went out to an Italian restaurant for Dan's birthday and he like what I ordered and I like both his and mine. So we switched. First time I've had ricotta salada. It was tasty.

2. What's your favorite fried food indulgence?

Fried foods and I do not agree. The closest I get to them is the occassional french fry from McDonald's which is very rare.

3. Did you have an allowance as a kid? What did you do with it? Do you give your own kids an allowance?

I don't remember having an allowance (although my mother could correct this now that she is on the computer and reads my blog). We always gave Whitney an allowance. It was never tied to chores because those were expected. It started small when she was little like a quarter a week (which seems like a lot of money). By the time she was in high school, it was $10/week. We paid for gas for the car and necessary clothes but she was responsible for her own expenses (i.e. homecoming tshirt, the pair of shoes she just had to have). She also had a summer job but most of that went to savings for college. I think it taught her the value of money and the fact that you can't get everything you want all the time because you can't afford it.

4. What's something you wish you knew more about?

Tough question. I know during the Olympics I wondered about a lot of the different sports. What the terms they were saying meant (repacharge anyone). I wondered how the scoring system worked. And I wondered how they can keep shaving off tenths of seconds speed wise in track and swimming. Shouldn't the human body stop getting faster at a certain point?

5. Is there anything you feel too old to do anymore? If so, what?

There are things I think OTHER people are too old for but I keep my mouth shut about that.

6. What's a song you think has a great first line?

Today I don't feel like doing anything - The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

Lazy people of the world - UNITE!

7. Who are you writing to/for when you create a blog post? In other words...as you write, who is the audience in your head?

I actually am just writing for me when I write a blog post. I'm happy that other people are reading it; I love comments, but I'm writing for me.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Whitney called Sunday morning saying her car wouldn't start. Trying to diagnose a car in person is hard enough; over the phone is impossible. Dan went up Tuesday and it needed a new battery. Hoping that fixes everything. Of course her car was just at the dealership for an oil change and a checkup. Couldn't they have found the battery lacking then?

Closing ceremony thoughts

First of all...COLLEGE music. Madness and PetShop Boys, george michael, Annie Lennox. Wow is all I can say.

What's up with the newspaper and orange origami hats?

One Direction - you should learn how to lip sync better.

Ryan Seacrest - heat miser/tastee freeze man wants their hair back

Why can't NBC spotlight the athletes who won medals that weren't shown on the nightly segments? I want the archery/bicycle/rowing people on. We already saw the swimmers and gymnasts.

What's up with the berets? I don't understand that look USA. Or is it a newsboy cap?

Don't understand the spice girls at all.

Nor do I understand Monty python humor.

Bad NBC to make me wait an extra hour to see the Who. Guess the DVr will be busy tonight.

Friday Fragments - Last Olympics Edition

Joining up with Mrs. 4444 for Friday Fragments. Come on in...anyone can play.

Cool Olympic Jobs
1. Line checker for long jump. You sit there and watch where the foot lands on the board and put up either a red or white flag.
2. Starter for bicycle time trials. Stand with your hand out and count down the start with your fingers. Move hand when time starts.

Have you seen team rhythmic gymnastics? Its like synchronized swimming with apparatus. Five girls had five balls and it was just wild. Now they have three ribbons and two rings.

What about solo synchronized swimming? Doesn't synchronized mean you are doing it with a partner?

Marathon swimming and triathalon? BMX bicycle riding on a track? So many unusual choices.

Shark week is next week on Discovery Channel. I always love saying SHARK week. Just ask Dan and Whitney.

Just saw a story about a girl who the city says she can't have her bunny because they don't have two acres of land. Since when does it take two acres to have one bunny? Do they take up more space than I know of? I saw it and it isn't that big.