End to My 87+ Day Weekend

Today is the official end to my 87 (+ 7) day weekend.  

Teachers don't get paid for Summer, 

so I consider it a weekend.  

+ 7 is because we had construction delays at school so start for this school year was pushed back a week.  

A bonus as my Summer was packed full!!  

These are the places I went this Summer, 

in order (yes I went to Boston twice):

Lexington, Kentucky

Kentucky State House

Virginia Beach

Washington DC

Arlington National Cemetary

Alexandria Virginia

Pennsylvania Amish Country 

Cape Cod

Woods Hole, Falmouth, Massachusetts

My Aunt & Uncle's back deck at the Cape

"Codzilla" on Boston Harbor

Upstate New York and Lake Ontario

Sackett's Harbor

Catalanos' home

Sackett's Harbor

Nicolee's First Violin Recital!

Kingston, ON

Rocheport, MO

Missouri River Town

Heber Spring, Arkansas

"Canned Sunshine"  Fresh Peach Jam

Harvard Square, Boston

Lobster Roll!

Boston Freedom Trail

"Old Ironsides"  USS Constitution

Niagara-on-the-Lake & Niagara Falls

"Whirlpool" Jet Boat on the Niagara River

http://www.whirlpooljet.com/

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Cincinnati, Ohio

Covered Bridges

Parke County, Indiana

Anheiser Busch Brewery Tour

St Louis

Eielson AFB, North Pole & Fairbanks, AK

My Tiffany

That's the Eielson AFB runway behind the Momma & twins

and Home

my own back deck

As the Beach Boys wrote, "I Get Around"

It's been fun and exhausting at times but 

I LOOOOVVVVVVE to travel 

so I won't complain.  

We'll just have to see what next Summer brings.  

Hopefully I can post a little more this School Year.  

So Goodbye Summer ~~ Hello 2010-2011 School Year!!

♫♪ I GOTTA FEELIN' ♪ THIS YEAR'S GONNA ♪♫ BE A GREAT ♫ GREAT ♪ YEAR ♪♫ !! 

BRING IT!!

Random

Nothing special, 
just a few random photos of things that have been going on, 
or just the nothingness of Summer.

Today I put together a fruit salad.
As the bowl gets lower, 
I'll add more fruit 
and the juices just get sweeter and sweeter!

so far:  watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, cherries, peaches

 Y'know, pitting cherries is a messy job.

don't worry, we don't let it go bad,
starting a fresh batch every few days

Don't text & drive.

theology is a little "off" but the message is taken

There is nothing better than finding fruit that is ready to eat instead of the selection you have to leave in a brown bag on your counter and hope that it'll be palatable in a few days.

My simple lunch today.

I love how the sky reflects in the glasstop of the stove

Yesterday I saw these daisy glasses.

Tiffany L♥VES daisies!!

from Pier 1

I have some ferry children...

Right now Tif & Doc & Nicolee 

are on a ferry from Seattle to Alaska.

Lindsey is taking the ferry from Woods Hole 

to the Vineyard tomorrow.  

As another week closes, 

I'm enjoying what's left of my long long weekend, 

my 87 day weekend.

Corncakes: Fourth of July leftovers?

I was looking through my July copy of 

Better Homes & Gardens magazine this morning 

and came upon this recipe:

 Oh my... I have leftover corn on the cob!

So I came in from working (a little) in the yard, while Sweet Hubby was still out mowing and put this together for lunch!

I didn't make the relish, didn't make an entire batch and changed up a few things a little tiny bit, but... 

YUM!

To begin with, there was just the 2 of us so I halved the recipe.

Cut the kernels off 2 leftover ears of corn.

Dice a quarter of an onion and sauteé with the corn in about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet until the onions are tender.

Meanwhile, as the corn & onions are cooking, 

mix together one egg and ½ cup buttermilk.

Well... I didn't have any buttermilk, 

but I had ½ cup milk that was questionable, 

so I added a litte vinegar (½ tsp?) to simulate buttermilk.

Add 3/8 cup of instant polenta mix and ¼ cup flour.  

I used Jiffy mix.
(BHG's recipe calls for polenta mix ... oh well)

Next add ¾ teaspoon baking powder,
scant ½ teaspoon baking soda,
and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
OR
a seasoning salt.
(I used Miracle Blend from Alden Mills)

When the onions and corn kernels are tender
half the mix is to be processed until smooth.
I was too lazy to get out my food processor
so I used my Pampered Chef chopper.

I hardly ever use it
and the amount I needed to chop was perfect.

Next add both the processed corn/onion mix 

and the rest from the pan to the liquid mixture and blend.

Drop about ¼ cup mix into heated olive oil in a skillet 

and brown on both sides.

They may not be pretty

but they are yummy!

I served with sour cream and homemade

The Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa

Shaybert's Corn Cakes

olive oil
1 cup fresh cooked corn kernels

¼ cup chopped onion

½ cup buttermilk (see above)

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/8 cup Jiffy cornbread mix

¼ cup flour

¾ tsp baking powder

scant 1 tsp baking soda

¼ Miracle Blend seasoning

PW Salsa

sour cream

What do you do on the Fourth of July?

our flag

The July edition of Womans Day Magazine published the results of a little poll asking what readers do for the Fourth of July.  

Have a barbecue?

clipartguide.com

Watch fireworks?

2008

Go to a parade?

2008

We usually do all 3!  In fact, this year, we'll be walking in the local parade alongside our church float, handing out flags to the parade goers!!!

Or nothin' special:

Tiffany's toesies!!!

How would you answer?  Or what else do you do? 

Please leave a comment. 

Here are the magazine's results:

How do you spend the Fourth of July:

Having a barbecue.................13%

Watching fireworks...............12%

Going to a parade....................1%

All of the above......................58%

I don't do anything special...15%