Only 25 more days!

Only 25 more days until this house is all ours! I think we can safely say that there is no good reason this sale won't happen. The inspection was a breeze...no big issues, and best of all, no Radon. The appraisal came in last week and it was actually OVER our sale price. Not only is that GREAT news, it also means that we will have instant equity in our new home. That's a huge relief too.
Our closing is scheduled for Friday, August 13. With the luck we have had, I typically would be terrified of having our closing scheduled for any Friday the 13th. But August 13 is special. It's Chris' Granddaddy's (that's Grandpa to us Yankees!) 87th birthday. That's good luck I think!
We are now in the process of making the list of "did we really get rid of that during our downsizing and now have to replace?" things to buy. It's fun and overwhelming. Good thing I love a good list!

Only 25 more days until this is my kitchen! And yes, those are granite slab counters and 42" upper cabinets! HOORAY!
And only 25 more days until this is my living room! I can't wait :-)

Maybe I'm Amazed

Last night was the Paul McCartney concert. And what a story I have to tell.

While we were in Michigan, I told my Dad that we were going to see Paul McCartney. I was pretty excited and thought he'd be proud that I have an interest in and am willing to pay money for an artist who was in his prime during my Dad's era of music. It was a deflating conversation in that for the next 10 minutes I heard all about why I should not be giving Paul McCartney any of my money ever, and that Dad had lost all respect for him as a person AND an artist. All this because of the flip comment about books, a library and former President Bush. I will agree the comment was unnecessary, rude and offensive to many. For me, I was only interested in the music.

Last night gave me insight into the music during a tumultuous time in American history. During the three-hour rock fest, Sir Paul McCartney shared stories about the things he experienced during The Beatles rise to fame and spoke of the inspiration that propelled him to write some of the most iconic music to date. The Beatles (speaking as if they are a single entity rather than 4 incredible musicians) single-handedly changed the face of music. You can see in his eyes that he has experienced more in his life than many of us can ever dream of.

And then he told the story of writing Blackbird. I cried. His inspiration: In September of 1957, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas was desegregated. Nine black students entered the building under the protection of the US Army and the news of this pivotal event swept the globe. The news footage broadcast across the world changed the face of America. It was an event in our history that we have all learned about in school. Half of you reading this can actually remember the day it happened (if there are four who read this, two are my age, and I know two are older!). To see it through the eyes of a young man from Liverpool England will go in my book as one of the 10 most incredible experiences I have had. And then he sang.



After more than three hours of Beatles/Wings/Firemen rocking with no break, Sir Paul McCartney began his third encore. He out-sang and out-performed men half his age.

Today I am exhausted but feel as though I experienced American History in a way no book could ever illustrate. I am honored that I was able to see one of the most iconic singer/songwriters in music history before this chapter is closed forever. Sorry, Dad. Politics aside, this was an experience I am sorry my children will never have (assuming there are some someday--don't read into that one, ladies!).

Ju Ju Eyeballs

I think "Come Together" may be my favorite Beatles song. But I can't forget about "Let it Be" and "I Saw Her Standing There." Tonight Chris and I are going to see Paul McCartney in concert at the Pepsi Center. I really wish the concert could be at Red Rocks instead...it's going to be a perfect, albeit warm, evening. But I'll take what I can get. Being a few years shy (or maybe an entire generation shy) of getting to see the Beatles in concert, I'll take Sir Paul solo in that it's all that's available.

And speaking of Ju Ju Eyeballs, I feel like I have them. Whatever they are. Sans mind altering substances, of course! I imagine Ju Ju Eyeballs are caused by the following sequence of events:

Abby the beagle is struggling with allergies or something. Tuesday night... errr ...Wednesday morning, the dog barfing episode occurred at 3:30 am. Followed by cleanup, a potty walk then back to bed for an hourish. Today she was able to hold out until 5:45. Which isn't so bad. We got up, cleaned up, potty walked, made coffee and watched the morning news. Then Reuger decided that he was having an emergency of his own of a more "southern" variety. Thankfully we (and by "we" I mean Chris) were able to get him in the harness, on the leash, outside and down the stairs before any accidents occurred.

Hence my Ju Ju Eyeballs. Can I have a house with a yard now please? Some less, um, explosive dogs would be nice too!

Dinner Redemption and Finger Frustration

Let's start with the finger. It still hurts. It's still swollen. And I still can't wear my wedding ring. That's the real bummer. I even went to WalMart for a "cheap" one until I learned that the only one that won't turn my finger green is about $60. Soooo not worth it. If it doesn't get better soon I will take my gold band (aka the gym ring) and have it resized so at least I can wear something. I feel sort of naked! The good news is that the actual wound looks better.

Now on to dinner. After Monday night's disaster, last night's experiment was a risk that was WELL worth it. Cooking Light magazine puts out a more expensive version of their magazine quarterly. It has heavier stock pages and lots of great photos...and all the nutrition info for what you are cooking. Last night we tried the "Cast-Iron Burgers" and they were fabulous. A burger with onion relish and a horseradish spread.

Burgers are usually burgers. But we use buffalo in that it's leaner and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than beef. The difference for these burgers was the cooking method. Rather than grilling them, we got a cast-iron skillet screaming hot, sprayed a little organic Pam in then cooked the burgers for 3 minutes on each side (for just over medium. 2 mins on each side for medium rare). It was a no-brainer.

For the onion relish, I skipped the bacon because I didn't want to buy a pound for 2 slices. Never missed it. Here's the original recipe:

2 applewood-smoked bacon slices, chopped
3 cups vertically sliced yellow onion (about 2 medium onions)
1 Tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
fresh ground black pepper to taste

cook bacon in nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon. Add onion to drippings in pan; cook 15 minutes or until golden brown. Combine bacon, onion mixture, chives, Worcestershire sauce and pepper in a small bowl. That's it.

But here's how I did it:

Spray a pan with a little organic EVOO Pam. Add onions and chives. Salt lightly. Sweat onions until soggy and cooked, then let them begin to brown. The pan got a little dry so I added a touch of beef broth. When finished, add Worcestershire sauce to deglaze pan. Add pepper. Put in a bowl and eat them! Super yummy!

For the sauce, I was shocked at how easy it was and how YUMMY it was too!
1 Tbsp canola mayo
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
2 tsp ketchup.

That's it! With a pound of burger (4 patties) this made 4 servings, on 4 buns (we skipped the buns too) with a heap of onions and a shmear of sauce, only 351 calories, 12 grams fat, 29.2 grams protein, 3 g fiber. Sans bun and bacon and we surely saved a few calories that were put to good use with the sweet potato fries I made! Sliced like fies, sprinkled with a hint of EVOO, basil, cinnamon and garlic salt. Roasted for 40 minutes at 425. Just perfect! Great dinner :-)

Tomorrow's blog won't be a recipe, I promise! We are having a salad with grilled chicken for dinner tonight!

Dinner Disaster

Coming home from a week long food-fest, Chris and I decided that we needed to get back on track STAT. On Sunday morning I sat down with my coffee, a cookbook and three cooking magazines looking for new healthful recipes. The plan for last night was pan seared halibut with rosemary roasted vegetables. It sounded great and I was excited to eat a little fish (halibut...or so I thought...is one of the few fish I like). Here's the recipe for the rosemary roasted vegetables:

1 cup broccoli
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow onion
2 large handfuls green beans
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp crushed rosemary (I used fresh)
1 tsp seasoning salt
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the garlic salt, rosemary, seasoning salt, salt and pepper. Cut the veggies into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. While stirring, drizzle the veggies with 1/2 of the EVOO and sprinkle with half the seasonings. Add the remaining oil, add the remaining seasoning and stir well to coat evenly. Arrange veggies in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes or until crisp-tender and nicely browned.

Sounds good, no? Here's the rub. That's enough garlic to keep an entire vampire coven from every entering the state of Colorado. To make matters worse, I was out of seasoned salt so used regular salt...YIKES! Good thing Chris is already on BP meds! And my final complaint is this: Onions produce water when they sweat. My oven temp could be really off (I do live in an apartment after all), but my vegetables ended up really soggy. Here are the changes I will make for next time:

Cook on a rack on a cookie sheet so water drips away. If I don't have seasoned salt, I will not replace with regular salt. Maybe add a little onion salt or celery salt, but too much Kosher salt is just not cool. The broccoli and the beans were the best, maybe add cauliflower and asparagus in place of the peppers and onions? But I do love red bell peppers!

Oh, and the fish was just gross. Chris didn't mind it. I just don't like fish that much, but I keep trying it! I ate a few of the super-salty-kill a vampire-garlicky veggies but ended up with some Whole Foods Rotisserie Chicken and a handful of Bing Cherries. Still healthy, but not awesome. Oh well, lesson learned!

P.S. Lisa K, if you read this, how are you so good about pictures? I want to add more pictures to my blog but I think I need to plug my camera in more often!

Sardines in a can

Our amazing husky, Reuger apparently has a zinc deficiency. It makes his hair fall out in strange places like around his mouth, eyes and paws. Our choices to fix the problem are expensive tablets from the vet, cheaper tablets from PetSmart, or cheaper yet, a can of sardines once a week from Wal-Mart. Reuger got his first can last night and LOVED them! Good thing Chris is around...I would have opted for the more expensive options! Those things S.T.I.N.K!

On a side note, we made it home, safe and sound and on time. Round trip with no issues. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. It was really nice!

Back to Reality

Chris and I head home today from our week long vacation in Michigan. Of all the trips we have made here, this one was by far one of the most fun. To see the whole river family, many of my cousins, my brother a changed man and my cougar Grandma was so fulfilling, I will never find the perfect words to describe how wonderful it was.

I can proudly say my liver survived the week and that, until yesterday, there were no McFarlane-caliber injuries to report. It is with great pain and the inability to type well that I report my battle with the river ramp. I made it all the way across the river with a bag of river shoes in one hand and a flashlight in the other when the exit ramp slid off the bank sending me forward into one of the slimy moss-covered bricks on the bank. The slide took off 75% of the nail on my left ring finger, scraped half the skin off the area above my top knuckle on the same finger, took a small chunk out of my pinkie nail and left a cut on my middle finger. It sounds bad but could have been so much worse.

This morning my fingers are very swollen and quite painful, but a little ice (or in this house, Palmolive), some Advil and a cup of coffee will make it all OK.

I will spare you a picture of the injury... those of you with queasy stomachs will thank me!