Hi Everyone! I’m finally back to regular blogging once and for all. Things have been really hectic and we’ve been extremely busy. Now it’s time for a really long catch-up post. I also want to say thank you for all the nice comments and emails while I’ve been on hiatus. I will be returning emails very soon.
First things first though, a very big Thank You to Sara at I Like to Cook for including me as a Rockin’ Girl Blogger. Wooo Hoo! What a great compliment.
In keeping with tradition, I am passing on the honor to some more Rockin’ Girl Bloggers (in no particular order):
- Udandi ( Udandi & the Craft of Money)
- Selina (Vegans Rock!)
- Randi (Culinary Adventures – 2 Girls in the Kitchen)
- Mikaela (MDM*Intake)
We’ve been having fun exploring Chicagoland this summer. My parents came out for a visit earlier this month. We toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. It was a wonderful tour and really surreal to see the property in person. We also went to the Volo Auto Museum. The trip there was a belated Father’s Day present for my dad. They had an awesome assortment of cars, including some movie cars. Rob will have a full report on our visit there on his blog soon. One of my personal favorites was the Ecto-1 from the Ghostbusters movies. If you look closely, you can see the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo in the background.
Even with some of the issues with my community garden, I’ve still had a lot of fun gardening there this summer. Here are some pictures of the tomatoes I’ve been picking.
Heirloom Tomatoes (these are so delicious, they’re usually eaten before they can be photographed)
Grape Tomatoes. I’ve nicknamed one of my grape tomato plants “Insane-o” because it has totally outgrown the tomato cage, is much larger than the other grape tomato plants, and keeps growing and growing. We’ve also had to stake insane-o’s cage up with bamboo stakes because the tomato cage wasn’t enough to support it anymore.
Roma Tomatoes – which I’ve used to make salsa fresca:
I was obsessed with Thai food earlier in the summer. Here are a few pictures (with more to come) of some of the Thai food I’ve been making.
Tom Yum Soup:
Pad Ped w/ tofu (I used eggplant from my garden in it):
Thai Fried Rice with Basil (I picked the basil from my patio garden):
While at Whole Foods in Chicago, I found Temptation Chocolate Soy Ice Cream. You might remember the fuss about local Whole Paycheck stores not carrying them. I guess there are 4 Whole Foods in the area selling Temptation now. I met one of the owners there who was doing a tasting….if inquiring minds want to know….I got a taste of the chocolate chip cookie dough soy ice cream. I bought some cookie dough, chocolate, and vanilla. I didn’t see Mint Chocolate Chip which is my favorite though. Boo! Oddly enough, I had an easier time finding Temptation back in the “D” than I do here! That’s crazy since it’s made locally!
I used the chocolate Temptation to make chocolate soy milkshakes:
A recent snack I made for us – Hummus and Trader Joes’ mini pita:
I know I always rave about Rachel’s Eggplant Marinara from Coconut Lime. This time I made it with eggplant from my garden and served it with garlic bread. Apparently Rob wanted to show off his hand, er, finger modeling skills by pointing to the yummy food. LOL
It’s good to be back to blogging. I’ve missed reading and commenting on your blogs. I can’t wait to catch-up. Take care and I hope you have a wonderful day. 
