Today’s question is:  How do you get your kids to stop running into the street?

Background:  This answer may surprise you…..it’s squirrels.  Yep squirrels, squirrels can help you to get your kids to not run into the street.

Let me explain.

Years ago when my kids were little, they liked to go into the street from time to time.  I decided that fear was going to be my partner in crime on this one, fear, just might be the answer to this problem.  Lucky for me one of the neighborhood squirrels did me a huge favor.  He died.  More importantly he was run over by a car right in front of our house.  It was my lucky day.

I marched my kids into the middle of the street and told them the following story:

Look at this little ones, look at this!  This poor little squirrel did not listen to his mama.  He ran into the street and didn’t look both ways first and wasn’t careful.  He just ran out there and splat, a car hit him.  Now he is squished and dead and he has to go live with God.  Now, God is good and nice an all that but, He is not mama.  Now that squirrel is never going to see his mama or his brothers or sisters again.  Ever.  Little ones, if you run into the street the same exact thing could happen to you and I would miss you very much and be very very sad.  Please do not be like the squirrel.  Please.

Those wide eyes looked at the squirrel and looked at me and they never, ever ran into the road again.  To this day I still come out to watch them sometimes (even though they are completely capable of making it now that they are big).

Today’s question is:  why are some trees so incredible?

Background:  I’ve always liked trees.  We had a huge weeping willow in our backyard when I was a kid and I absolutely loved every minute of climbing that thing.

I’ve only noticed trees a little, the colors in the fall, when they leaf out in the spring and change the entire landscape of my yard.  This year is different.  This year I noticed every single flowering tree in the town.  I’ve smelled them in the past but never really took much notice of them.  Is there anything more beautiful than a 30 or 40 foot Catalpa tree in full bloom?  Or a Linden?  OMG this spring was absolutely breath taking here.

I have a catalpa tree in front of my house.  It’s a small-ish tree, about 15 feet.  I noticed last week all the 30 footers were in full bloom but my tree was not.  The other day it finally bloomed.  Here it is in all it’s glory:

upon closer look you can see the beauty in the flowers:

Someone recently told me the the city of Albuquerque, NM had a tree ordinance that restricted pollen producing trees, which means they encourage flower producing trees (and females).  My bet is it’s one of the most beautiful cities to be in in the Spring.  I may have to plan a trip there sometime.

If you haven’t taken notice of the huge flowering trees in your area, take note, they are gorgeous.

Today’s question is:  why do the slugs mock me?

Background:  The other day I made mention of the slugs mocking me.  Mainly because they were on my new grill, the grill that has absolutely no plants by it.

Yesterday, after a fun day in the city with friends that are visiting from California, I went out to the garden to get some lettuce for a salad I intended to make for dinner.  This is what I found all over my fennel:

a closer look, the little buggers….

Someone suggested I get a slug bell and by gosh I think I’m figuring out what one is and getting one.  They are taking over.

Today’s question is:  Why is discovering new vegetables so fun?

Background:  I’m not new to kale, I mean I’ve heard of it before and I may have even used it in a soup once or twice.  This year I decided kale was going to be one of my spring vegetables (one that the slugs don’t seem to like, thank goodness).  Kale grows really, really well.  As it turns out it grows so well my CSA (community sponsored agriculture) also has kale growing pretty well right now.  So I have my supply from my two plants and I always get some in my weekly CSA stash too.  We run the risk of hating Kale by the time it’s out of season.

Anyway, one of my favorite kale dish these days is sauteed kale, fresh garlic, mushrooms and asparagus.  I could eat this every day for quite some time.

Last week my CSA sent me a recipe for kale slaw.  I took one look at it and thought, yum.  It was a Martha Stewart recipe and I adapted it slightly just to make it a little bit better.

This kale you could eat every day.

Kale Slaw

2 bunches of kale (I used 3 different kinds approximately 15-20 leaves) ribs removed and sliced into 1/2 slices.
1 yellow, orange or red pepper thinly sliced
2 carrots thinly sliced
1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped (or crushed)

for dressing:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup salted peanuts
1-2 T brown sugar or 1T agave nectar
1/2 t sea salt

Mix vegetables in a large bowl and sprinkle the peanuts on top.  Put all ingredients for dressing in a food processor and blend.  Pour dressing over kale when ready to serve.

It’s out of this world good.  Enjoy.  Eat some kale, it’s good for you!

Today’s question is:  Why are slugs so disgusting?

Background:  Last year the slugs waged war against me and ate all of my zucchini.  I already knew I hate the little buggers because they are so gross and slimy and they eat my precious plants.  So, this year I have an all out war against them.  I have buried cups in my garden all ready for some beer so I can lure them off my plants to their untimely death.  I have been throwing down something they eat that also causes them to croak.  My last effort is to pour diatomaceous earth everywhere I can to save my poor little plants form these disgusting little creatures.

War is war, I am going to save my plants this year for sure.

I think they are on to me, the strangest thing happened this morning.  When I came out to walk the dog, I saw a big, juicy, disgusting slug on my brand new grill.  What was a slug doing on my grill?  There aren’t any plants there.  Then I noticed, there were ton of slugs on my generator, like 20 of them (the generator sits right behind the grill).  What are the slugs doing on the generator?  There aren’t any plants there either.  They must be trying to torture me, surely they must.

I was so grossed out, I ran inside get my camera to take some pictures for you.

Here’s two juicy ones….

Then there were all these big and little ones hanging out….

Does anyone know why some slugs are tan and some are black?  They are just gross. Look at this big gross black dude…

Why do the disgusting slugs feel the need to torture me?  The mere idea of one of those babies rubbing it’s slime all over my grilling surface is almost enough to push me over the edge.

Today’s question is:  Why is tree climbing so fun?

Background: As a kid I had this huge weeping willow tree in my backyard.  I used to climb as high as I could and hang out in it as often as possible.  I climbed so high I could see over our two story house.  I loved that tree.  I turned it into a house in my mind, one branch would be a bedroom, the other the kitchen, the other a study, I loved tree climbing. I still love it and I’m 41!

As it turns out, I have these two rather large trees in front of my house.  Both are good tree climbing trees.  Both recently became better tree climbing trees because I had all the small branches cut out, which made maneuvering around in there even better.

Lucky for me, it looks like I’ve grown children that love tree climbing as much as I do.  Nothing could thrill me more.  This morning we were sitting on the front porch waiting for a friend to arrive and I said to my two youngest kids “hey, why don’t you climb the trees?”

And they did…..

I think tree climbing is so fun because it’s a game of strategy.   It takes strategy to move higher and higher.  It’s also a challenge and a work out.  There is nothing better than getting to the top and looking out over the land.

If you are in need of a little carefree fun, then hoist yourself up to the nearest tree and start a climbin’!

Today’s question is:  why is it so easy to throw some meals together?

Background:  There is this little movement on the internet called meatless monday.  I started reading about it on my twitter feed about a month or so ago.  I figured it was a great idea and it has worked out pretty good for us (if you don’t count Paul heating up the meat leftovers, as a supplement, that is).  Our CSA (community sponsored agriculture) started last week and I have plenty of fresh kale in my garden so I’ve been trying to cook simple things from my fresh vegetable choices.

On Monday, I decided on a frittata with our fresh vegetables.  First I sauteed some kale, mushrooms, asparagus, and fresh garlic in a little butter.  Once they were tender I cracked a bunch of eggs, added some water and stone ground dijon mustard and poured that on top of the sauteed vegetables.  I sprinkled some dorset cheddar cheese on top and voila, the makings for a super yummy frittata.

I try to make quick and easy dinners as often as possible and really with the fresh options we have at this time of year it can be pretty easy.  Of course, after eating kale, asparagus and swiss chard practically every single day it can get a little old, but that’s why (crop) seasons come to an end.  Luckily it’s usually right when you get sick of whatever it is.

Spring Vegetable Frittata

1 bunch asparagus
1 bunch kale (about 10-15 big leaves)
8 oz mushrooms
1 garlic head
1-2 T butter
8-9 eggs
3 T stone ground dijon mustard (could definitely use more if you like the taste)
1/4 – 1/2 Cup water
Salt and pepper to taste.
2.5 oz (or more) cheddar cheese (I used smoked dorset), chopped or shredded

Preheat oven to Broil setting.

Trim the ends of the asparagus and cut into 1 inch pieces.  Trim stems from kale and slice.  Clean and slice mushrooms.  Slice or chop garlic. Add asparagus, kale, mushrooms, garlic and butter to a large (12-14 inch) cast iron pan and saute until tender.  Salt to taste.  While the veggies are cooking break eggs into a bowl, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup water and mustard and whisk until mixed well.  Pour the egg mixture into pan and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the egg mixture has set on bottom and is beginning to set on top.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Place pan in oven and broil for 3-5 minutes until lightly brown and fluffy.  Remove from oven, cut into 8 pieces and serve immediately.

Enjoy.

Today’s question is:  Why is it so fun to draw on drunk people?

Background:  You’d probably laugh knowing that my brother used to love to come over to my apartment in college after I had had too much to drink and draw mustaches and eyebrows all over me.  Then he’d take pictures.  One of those pictures made it into our college newspaper when I turned 21 years old.  Probably one of my proudest moments to date.  As if.

I sort of thought this drawing on drunk people and taking pictures was something maybe only my brother and his friends did.  Boy was I wrong.  Apparently this is something a lot of people do, and they are a lot more creative than my brother.

Here’s proof:  (not for kids)

I’m not exactly sure what the fascination is all about but, by golly is this hilarious.  Although I do feel a little bad for the people that were drawn on with permanent markers.

Today’s question is:  Why do other’s think it’s ok to make decisions for you?

Background:  I think I may have asked this very question before.  This story is about my friend.  Her son has a handheld playstation.  He likes it.  He has two friends that have the same playstation.  My guess is they really like it too.  His two friends have this “really cool” game that they both play and that they love so very much.  They love it soooo much they want their buddy to have one.  However, this game is rated T for teen.  It’s much too mature, inappropriate and grown up for my girlfriend to allow her boy to have.  She has said no.

Fast forward a month or two and my friends doorbell rings.  Her boy’s friend is standing there with his mom.  They come in and begin to explain how much they love their playstation game and how much fun it is to play.  Sooooo much fun that they have bought it for my girlfriends son, so he can now play it too.

What is wrong with people?  Seriously, do people really think it’s just fine to make decisions about what video games are ok for other peoples children, even when the parents say no?

Just so you know my friend turned it down, of course it all happened in front of her boy which just adds a whole separate element to the whole mix.  It was just wrong of that parent to show up with a game that had been vetoed.

I had a similar thing happen with a movie.  My girl had gone to a birthday sleepover and at 9pm I received a phone call asking if it was ok to watch a PG13 movie that I had not previously allowed my kids to watch.  I despise when people put you on the spot like that.  At that point if I was the only parent that said no I would have been the one ruining the birthday party (I’m sure it was already int he player when they called me).  What’s wrong with advanced notice?  My husband fielded that call because I was yucking it up on the dance floor at my friends wedding, he said yes but he felt like there was no other answer.  The next day the mom said she was so worried I’d be mad (I was mad, but when you frame it that way it’s like backing someone into a corner).  I said it was just pretty late notice and caused all sorts of problems at home because the other kids have not seen it.  She told me all the other kids at the party had seen it so she figured I wouldn’t be mad.

Why is it that people think if other people do it it’s ok for you?