Memorial Day Weekend, Part One:Barbeque to Baby Ducks

The unofficial beginning of summer at Silly Hat Central looked something like this.

Big Daddy fired up the grill and made kicked-up veggie kebabs for lunch. He also steamed a redonkulously large spaghetti squash. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and it was a feast fit for kings.

But the day started with an early morning trip to IKEA for $49 Expedit bookcases. We scored two of these birch-stained beauties, plus Dröna fabric baskets for each cubbyhole. As you can see, Silly Hat Central was in desperate need of a storage solution for the Sprout's toys.

Now we have plenty of storage space for the trains, tracks, trucks, plastic food items, play kitchen utensils, power tools, and stray Matchbox^® cars that have routinely littered the floor. A big win.

After supper, Big Daddy took Sprout down to the lake in his covered wagon to feed the "ducks," (Sprout-speak for geese) including four "baby ducks" (goslings). He must have been pretty worn out from such a full day of excitement.

The unofficial ending of the first day of Memorial Day weekend looked something like this.

Here's hoping your day was as eventful and enjoyable!

Tomorrow — strawberry picking at Belvedere Plantation. And a scrapbook page Big Daddy created to record the Sprout's 2007 visit. Oh, ha, ha, ha! Look at that sweet, berry-pickin' bunny!

Rosemary Skewers (à la Mario Batali) from an article in The Herb Companion

[Actual Date Posted: September 1st]
I know it must seem like I have skipped off to Mexico or some fairytale place far far away, but really I've just been a very bad blogger.

Actually I decided to impose a one-month moratorium on late-night blog surfing and digital scrapbooking on myself. The 30-day ban is over and I'm feeling more refreshed.

During the break I picked up the September issue of The Herb Companion. It has lots of great info on garlic, a story on late summer tapas, immunity-boosting mushrooms, harvesting and preserving your herbal crop for winter use and making herbal pet treats.

The article that surprised me was celebrity chef Mario Batali's two-page spread on Piastra cooking. Of course he's pitching his latest cookbook, Mario Batali Italian Grill, but the article includes a scrumptious Shrimp Rosemary recipe.

For this recipe you take sturdy eight-inch sprigs of rosemary, pull off most of the leaves from the top inch-or-so down and cut the bottom of each sprig on a diagonal to get a sharp point.

I have a thriving, waist-high rosemary bush in my back yard. This recipe gives me a delicious reason to go harvesting.

The recipe recommends leaving "a nice tuft of leaves at the top" to give the skewers a rustic, yet elegant look. The rosemary skewers infuse the shrimp with an aromatic, herbal fragrance. Of course, the skewers must be soaked first so they don't burn on the grill.

I say, this recipe is sounding better by the minute! Sadly, I drool over the photo in the magazine almost daily, but I haven't made this recipe yet. As soon as I do I will report back with photos.

Oh, and no, I am not getting paid to promote the magazine, Mario Batali or his grilling cookbook. I just really think this recipe looks scrumptious and am excited that I have the means to make rosemary skewers in my own backyard. Sometimes it pays to grow your own herbs, eh?