Happy Day!

Today is a very special day for two reasons. Chad and I are celebrating three married years together! I am so grateful to have found a man who loves the Lord and seeks His will, a man who encourages and supports me, and a man who makes me laugh. I love you, Chad.

Today also marks baby girl's halfway point; 20 weeks! The miracle of life is so overwhelming. Just a couple of weeks ago we watched our baby girl squirm about on the ultrasound and-as I type this-I can feel her movements in my belly. Maybe we're going to be meeting a rising soccer star?! I simply cannot wait to meet her. However, I did recently receive some great advice from a brand new mother of two last night: 

slow down and enjoy the moment your child is in before it is gone. 

I'll try so hard not to wish away the next 20 weeks and enjoy being pregnant. Baby girl will arrive soon enough.

Wedding photos by our friend

Seth Snider.

Tomato Sauce from the Garden

I've long been a fan of Italian cuisine. This love can be traced to growing up in a predominantly Italian New York community full of family-run restaurants with amazing menus. Perhaps inspired by my trip home, today I made homemade tomato sauce with tomatoes from our very own garden!

To be honest, I was not very confident as to how this was going to turn out. 

Here's how it all went down. The ingredients were simple:

6 medium to large tomatoes 

3 cloves of garlic, diced

1/2 one medium onion, diced

4 ounces of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch of crushed red pepper (more to if you like it spicy)

1/3 cup freshly chopped basil

flour to thicken (as you see fit)

To start, and I was a bit excited to try this, hence all the photos: peeling the tomatoes. 

You simply and shallowly score the tomato skins. Then drop the tomatoes into boiling water for approximately 90 seconds.

Remove tomatoes and place into a bowl of ice water. 

I was shocked to find that the recipe didn't lie; the skins fall right off! After this, dicing the tomatoes was a breeze.

The following steps are so easy I moved through them rather quickly and forgot to snap photos. In a saucepan I heated the olive oil until hot. Then I sautéed the garlic and hint of crushed red pepper until the garlic was golden brown. I then added in the onion for approximately 2 minutes. Next, I stirred in the tomatoes with some salt and pepper and allowed the sauce to cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. 

In the meantime, I ran out to the garden for some fresh basil. 

After the sauce cooked for 10 minutes, I combined the basil and let the sauce simmer for another 10 minutes while the pasta cooked. In the end, I added about a handful of flour to help thicken the sauce. 

Chad suggested some Italian bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar and we had ourselves an amazing meal!

I added just a hint of parmesan cheese to my dish, which I recommend. 

Even the roses were from our garden. :)

In the end, I thought the sauce came out really well. It was very light and fresh and every flavor I added really was detected in each bite. If I try this sauce again I may add a bit more crushed red pepper. 

Chad approved, so another successful food endeavor in the books!

Summer Musings

Summer, for me, has not yet been underway for a whole week. Even in such a short time I've formulated some musings that I want to share.

1. Visiting a neighborhood pool, in the middle of the day, without children places you in one of three scenarios: a) solitude among soccer moms - read, tan, dunk in pool, talk to no one, repeat,  b) a lover of adult swim and, dually, enemy of all under 10 (they will splash you), or  c) just plain creepy.

2. Weighted squats are apparently great preparation for the birthing process, just not such great preparation or walking the next day.

3. Torrential rain is not a good time to drive without functioning windshield wipers. However, 77 is manageable sans wipers, just keep a modest 50 mph and you're fine. 

4. The Today Show is the best way to spend the hours between 7 - 9 AM.

5. Charlotte is slowly being taken over by wildlife. The proof exists in what we've nicknamed "psycho robin" who enjoys dive bombing Koda, the nest of bunnies in our garden who are now exploring our entire backyard, and the herd of field mice (I swear they were rats) that crossed our path during our evening walk last night.

6. Nesting is not only productive, but fun. 

Today is a very special day for our growing family as we find out if this little one is a baby boy or girl! Stay tuned for the news.