About 6 months ago, (when we got the 2nd composter as a wedding present… thanks, Cary!!) we stopped adding to the first bucket to really let it decompose.

I started prepping the beds for fall planting today and decided to mix in some of the compost.  The first bucket looked like it was ready to go!

The second bucket is abuzz with activity. At first I was concerned when I saw tons of little gals (obviously not earth worms) digging around in our chum. I did a little research and it turns out they are the larvae of the Black Soldier Fly which are perfect for assisting in decomposition. Some rear them to use them in their composters. In fact:

Photo from davesgarden.com

Luckily, I haven’t seen them anywhere but inside the bucket doing their thing… so they are welcome!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Ingredients

see Homemade Pasta Dough recipe or use wonton paper
1 butternut squash
8 oz marscapone
6 shallots
salt
pepper
olive oil
parm

Roast the squash for about an hour. Now, start your pasta dough. Obviously stop this process before it is time to cut the sheets into noodles.

After the squash cools, scrape the meat out and compost the skins. Cut up the shallots and sautee in a medium pot. After the shallots are fragrant, add in the squash and stir frequently. When it begins to look dry, take off the heat and add in the marscapone. Stir while the marscapone melts and add salt & pepper to taste. I also added a little sriracha sauce for a little heat.

Cut your pasta sheets into squares and put a dab of your squash mixture in the middle.

With your finger, wet the edges of the square, fold it over and pinch the sides together.

Pop them in boiling water and watch them rise to the top. I used a slotted spoon to take them out as we had several batches. Toss them with a little olive oil (to prevent sticking), salt & pepper, and parmesan. Very, very tasty!

We had quite a bit of pasta left over after we ran out of squash mixture. We cut it into noodles and froze it for later!

Allons! the road is before us!
It is safe–I have tried it–my own feet have tried it well–be not detain’d!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten,and the book on the shelf unopen’d!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn’d!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the
court, and the judge expound the law.

Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourselp. will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

<3

We got our first bushel today: mustard greens, butter lettuce, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches, egg plants, squash, corn and figs. And next week we are getting a gallon of local milk! I haven’t ever cooked with figs or mustard greens before. And I can’t wait to see if these Hill Country peaches give my Parker County peaches a run for their money.

And we have now harvested garlic, onions and many (many) tomatoes from the garden. We have a few red and yellow cherry tomato plants doing really well. My only full sized tomato plant that made it is a hollow tomato that acts more like a bell pepper.

Onions and garlic… yum yum!

And very soon we will be knee deep in pesto!!

Happy farming!

The production was wonderful! Most of the cast had come back from the original Broadway show for this production and it was the first show since the tour ended. I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with the music as I had wrongfully given it the brush off years before. Cool tilting set, very talented cast, excellent dancing (Mary did the only real dance bit in the show) , and I got a quick backstage tour after the show. All that and getting to spend a little much needed sister time = great little trip!

Next she has Sound of Music and her last show will be Show Boat.

Ol’ Man River

Mary’s house… they managed to get the same house as last summer!
It is conveniently located just north of Forest Park.

Dinner @ the Boat House in Forest Park

brute?

B.J. Cleveland was emceeing at the beginning of the parade and Paul walked to see him with me. He was in the middle of it so I only got to give him a quick hug. He was B.J. and the Super Ones on CBS in DFW back in the day. He was a theatre teacher of mine for several years at Casa and we were in many shows together. It was SO great to see him! AND I saw Todd Hart on the Theatre Arlington float but we didn’t get to talk.

We met up with Dad and Kelly at the Fort Worth Zoo for some belated Father’s Day celebrations. I hadn’t been in years and the places looks great! The new Museum of Living Art (new reptile house) is beautiful.

On Saturday night we had dinner at Uncle Julio’s with Mom and watched fireworks over the lake across from her house in Deer Creek.

Sunday there was a wedding shower for Andy and Christina at Gram’s house.

Then we got on the road to Austin for some symphonics and fireworks… our favorite event! We met Abbie, Thierry, Val & Sadie at Auditorium Shores. Sadie did really well despite all the noise from the cannons and fireworks!

Next year we are going to be out on the lake in kayaks!

The Symphony started with the Carousel Waltz and, of course, ended with the 1812 Overture… just like our wedding ceremony! I got Monday off, but Paul didn’t. Old movies and chores all day!

Hula Hut was packed as usual, but it gave us a chance to sit on the patio and have a few pina coladas. So yummy!

Next we headed to the Congress bridge to watch the bats emerge at sundown. As the days are so long, they really don’t come out until after 10:30. We saw some come out but had to head home. We closed the night with some homemade apple pie, bluebell & The Burbs.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Magnolia and explored the shops on South Congress… Uncommon Objects is lots of fun!

and then hit Barton Springs Pool. It was soooooooooooooo cold!

Philosopher’s Stone

They left the house for Toy Joy on their way back to North Texas. Tonight we are having my Aunt Beth & Uncle Alan on my father’s side over for dinner. The Castle PatterSwan is busy, busy, busy!

We had the most fantastic honeymoon in England, Wales & Scotland. I posted my favorite photos from the trip on facebook so you can see the “quick” version here. If you REALLY wanted to take some time seeing the sights, you can see ALL of my photos here and here… all 1,100 of them. Pretty sure Paul took another 1,200 in case that isn’t enough for you.

The weekend after we got back, I was a bridesmaid in my dear friend Elisabeth’s wedding. It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun! I posted pictures here. We immediately came back and had a Memorial Day, wedding-is-over, Paul’s birthday party with swimming and grilling and honeymoon pictures.

Paul got a wine making kit for his birthday and we are about to start on a new adventure. He was given a Chilean Merlot recipe!

The following weekend we headed north for Gram’s 80th birthday pool party on Saturday and Caryn’s graduation pool party on Sunday.

The garden is doing well! I am harvesting tomatoes and basil like crazy. Our potato harvest was small, but I will know what I am doing this fall! We also have beautiful snapdragons, purple coneflowers, black-eyed susans, daisies, and indian paintbrush in full bloom.

Last weekend we purchased a new mattress and bed!! The mattress just got delivered, but we won’t get the frame until August. Mattrezzz Guys & Gage Furniture are great local shops if anyone is in the market.

Tomorrow we are having Wil(l)’s 1st birthday in the park behind the house! And next weekend, Val, Vaughn & his girlfriend, and Chad (my cousins) will be coming down for the weekend. It has been non-stop for the last 6 months, but we are having a great time together.

On Thursday we drove to my mother’s home and immediately realized we needed to take Santino to the vet (had a bout of wedding tapeworm). After that slight crisis was averted, we started to work. Friday was spent designing the flowers (boots, nosegays, corsages, my bouquet and the centerpieces) and packing up cars. We took almost everything with us to drop off just before we had rehearsal on Friday evening at Chandor. Then we had a lovely dinner at the Fire Oak Grill just off the square in Weatherford. We wore our shirts from Think Geek! We had way too much to eat and a lovely time! Thank you to Anne & Jim for hosting this for us!

On Saturday we finished the centerpieces, loaded up and went over early to set up. They had set out the tables and chairs incorrectly so that had to be redone. We put on the linens and the food arrived just before I had to go get ready. Mother came in and helped me put the flowers in my hair just before the photographer arrived. We had a full hour and a half with him before the ceremony. We won’t get the photos until we are back from the trip, but our photag sent over a teaser picture. I hope they all turn out this well!

The ceremony went well… we remembered our vows! I wish the recessional music had been a little louder… but what can you do?! We had been planning for a long time to have the 1812 Overture playing as we walked down the aisle together. Me being me, all of the music for the ceremony and reception was carefully chosen.

The reception is a complete blur. I started to loose my temper with the photag only once during the big group family photos. Thanks to all that put up with the yoyoing back and forth about having big family photos and not having big family photos.  I am glad we got them.

Now all I can think about is how many people I didn’t get to talk to as long as I wanted, if at all. We had so many amazing family members and friends around us in a perfectly beautiful garden and I couldn’t have begged for better weather! I know blanket thank yous are lame but… THANK YOU to everyone that helped make this day so special for us. If I thought it wouldn’t be so annoying to be Katelyn McKenzie McLellan Swan Ballow Patterson, I would absolutely do it. What a wonderful family we have!

If you took pictures or video, we require a copy ASAP! Please, please, please send them along! We are currently uploading wedding pictures here and there will be a link for honeymoon pictures and videos when we return.

We fly into London and will spend a couple of days there. Then we will meander our way up to Scotland by way of Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, Stonehenge, Bath, Wales, West Yorkshire, The Lake District and Hadrian’s Wall. We pass through Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Sterling on our way to Glasgow. We then fly back down to London and then back home.

So excited!

I did it while we watched Mary’s commencement. There was a live stream of it online (and apparently some on TV) because President Obama gave the commencement speech! I had to look up who gave my commencement speech… Gordon England. Meh…

As I do with most anything I make, I made it up as I went along, using a Spicy Dill Pickles recipe from Emeril to guide me. First your must sterilize. I put everything in boiling water for about 5 minutes.

While everything was getting sterilized, I cut everything up. I included big chunks of onion, lots of fresh dill, peppercorns, big cloves of garlic and, of course, the pickling cucumbers. I didn’t have any peppers on hand.

After everything has been sterilized and cooled, start your pickle juice! I used 3 cups of apple cider vinegar, 3 cups of water, 1/2 cup pickling salt, and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir so it all dissolves and bring to a boil. While that is coming to a boil, pack the jars full!

After your juice comes to a boil, pour it into each jar leaving a little room at the top. Be careful! It is hot! Tap each jar on the counter at least once to get rid of any air bubbles. Then place your lids!

Bring more water to a boil so you can process the jars. Carefully put your jars into the boiling water for about 15 minutes. I found that taking the pot off the heat made it easier for taking them out of the boiling bath when they were finished. Tongs didn’t do it for me.

That recipe called for 3 weeks of waiting… but it also left the cucumbers whole instead of cutting chips. Oh well, we will be preoccupied and out of the country for a bit anyway. We will try them when we get back from GB.