Charleston/West Ashley Hail Storm 4/21/11

*flowers in front*
Mother Nature is all kinds of MAD right now as we are seeing over the last week or two with the deadly tornadoes and storms. Thank the good Lord that we have not been affected badly (yet), but we did get a terrible hail storm out of nowhere last Friday.

It was insane and I have never seen anything like it. It came and went in about 2o minutes, but left behind a big MESS! The hail clipped about half of the leaves in our front and back yard and poor Brad has been on clean up effort ever since.

*front yard*
Everyone's car has little dents in it and i'm sure State Farm's phone hasn't stopped ringing.

*backyard*

Lexington and The Riverbank Zoo

Greenville

We had a BLAST in Greenville last weekend visiting Nana and Papa! It was a great way to kick off Spring Break 2K11:) We got to see Nana the Great and spend some QT with Nana and Papa.

And then on Saturday we got to see Brad and Sarah and the Three Little Lucases. So FUN!!! Aunt Hanna was there to help out with the 3 Ring Circus.

These two were inseperable!

And these two took turns sitting in Nana's little wicker chair. All of the littles are obsessed with it.

See? He LOVES it!

CSA - Week 2

*Beet salad with arugula, mesculin, radishes, sweet onions, pine nuts, goat cheese, oranges, and homemade white wine vinaigrette.

*Sauteed kale with garlic and pine nuts tossed with honey, dijon, and walnuts over 4 cheese ravioli*

Arugala
Braising Mix (Possible)
Broccoli
Carrots
Cauliflower
Collards
Pete's Sweet Onions
Kale
Mesclun Mix
Mustard
Strawberries
Turnips
Radishes

Easter Sunday

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) - Week 1

Braising Mix with Pasta
*recipe below

*i added fresh grated Parmesan cheese and grilled chicken on top and it was seriously DELICIOUS! Brad went back for 3rds. it was so fresh and healthy!

The Earnsts gave us a small share of CSA from Ambrose Farms this year for Christmas and last week was our first box. I pick up on Wednesdays at the market and have decided to blog about some of the things that are in the box and some recipes I am trying. I would LOVE some feedback if any of you have suggestions/recipes for some of these interesting foods. We will get a box a week until the end of July:) Here's what was in our box last week:

• strawberries *both boys love these for breakfast
  
• bok choy *have not used yet
  
• multi-colored carrots *manning loves them boiled soft
  
• green sweet onions
• green garlic
• braising mix (mixture of all sorts of greens)
• radishes
• asparagus *henry loves it roasted
  
• romaine lettuce *salad with radishes, carrots, onions,
  
• cabbage *blue cheese coleslaw
  

Braising Mix With Pasta

Ingredients

5 cloves garlic, chopped
Olive oil
braising mix
red wine vinegar
cooked pasta
Pine Nuts (optional)
Honey(optional)
Dijon Mustard(optional)
Walnuts or Peacans(optional)

Instructions
Sauté five cloves of garlic in olive oil until they soften; turn the heat to high and toss in the braising mix until it wilts. Sprinkle with red wine vinegar and stir until it disappears. Serve over pasta.

Sauce:(optional) 2 tsp. honey 1 T Dijon mustard and some chopped walnuts or pecans.

The Masters

I am lucky enough to be able to check one thing off of my "bucket list" at the age of 33. The Masters! And Sunday at The Masters, at that! Rebecca's family has had tickets for like ever and she decided to take her girlfriends this year. So Margaret and I left Charleston at 6:30am on Sunday and met Rebecca and Christina there. It was H.O.T and humid, but we dressed cool and had plenty of sunscreen. And Augusta National is everything I thought it would be and more. It really is like Heaven on Earth tucked in between the Georgia pines. Southern manners and charm were aplenty at this place. Everyone from the patrons to the bathroom attendants were sweet, friendly, and just thrilled to be in such a wonderful place.

I got to see everyone I wanted to except the young, cute ones who were vying for the lead (Adam Scott, Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel=winner). I saw Phil, Tiger, Freddy, Ernie, Rory, Angel, Ricky Barnes (SUPER HOT), Brandt, K.J. and many more. My favorite spot was the green on 6 and the tee box on 7. This is where we saw most of them up close.

And they don't allow camera's on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National on tournament days, so these pics of Marge and I are just before we entered.

Such a great day with some great friends!

T-Ball!

Henry is playing T-Ball this spring and it is quite comical. He can hit the ball great off the T, but playing the field is another story. These little boys don't get the "team" concept yet and all go after the ball at the same time and most of the time end up in a dogpile! Too funny!

But, he is having fun and learning about the great game of baseball.

I just hope the bugs don't eat us up before it's all over!

Donuts for Dads

Two Friday's ago Henry's 3K class hosted Donuts for Dads. This photo was taken prior to the event because there were no MOMS allowed. So this is the best I could do. But, Brad couldn't say enough about how cute it was and how great of a job Henry did in hosting his Daddy. They sang some adorable songs and made some precious little things for their dads.