SOME EDIBLE AND DRINKABLE...

goodness to share!

Cuz I'm all about sharing. Really I am. Heck, if you'd have been around last Friday night - I'd have shared all of this, and then some!

Had some girlfriends over last Friday night. They brought their boys along too - but we soon kicked them out for some indoor golfing. Then it was just us. And the fun ensued.

This was some of the goodies we nibbled on - I highly recommend ALL of these recipes!

Blue Cheese Nibblers...she calls them something different, but we decided we liked this name better! And after I took this picture - it was only a few seconds before my basket was empty.


They were heavenly. That's assuming you like blue cheese. And frankly, if you don't like blue cheese why do you bother getting up in the morning?

We also inhaled about a pint of homemade ranch dip. My kids were going crazy. The moms were all moaning. To heck with that Hidden Valley Ranch gobble-dee-guk. I've ruined them. From now on I'm sure this is all that will satisfy them. I didn't even have time to take a picture before pandemonium struck. I didn't use ANY milk in my batch, because I knew we'd be using it purely for dip. And it was just perfect.

But this is some of what we dunked in the delectable dip...


handfuls of my homegrown tomatoes. They are taking over my garden so it was nice to have help in eating up a bunch of them!


And all kinds of crunchy goodies. Breadsticks, flat pretzels and some good flatbread.

OH - you noticed the cocktail sitting there? Have no fear - I was simply saving the best for last!

Susan's Sunset Sangria!

2 tsp. finely shredded lime peel
1 C fresh lime juice (about 12 limes squeezed)
3/4 C sugar
ice
1 750-ml bottle Pinot Noir or Syrah, chilled
1 nectarine, pitted and sliced

In a 1-quart glass measuring cup, combine lime peel. lime juice and sugar; add water to equal 4 cups of liquid. Stir to dissolve sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

To serve, place ice in a 16 oz. glass. Add 2/3 cup of the lime juice mixture. Pouring along the side of the glass, slowing add 1/2 cup wine. Thread nectarine slices on skewers and add to glass.

NOW - I served the first round as written, pouring the wine along the side of the glass, so it makes a nice pretty layer of wine on top of the lime mixture. And that was fine and dandy - until we wanted seconds. And then no one wanted to bother with the fancy service. So I just grabbed a pitcher and mixed the rest up in there! (2 2/3 C of juice mixture and 2 C of wine made a nice sized batch!)

Delish! So totally limey. A perfect summery drink.

The best part? You can make up a batch of the lime juice mixture, and keep it in the fridge in a covered glass container (like a mason jar). And although I rarely do it - wine can be re corked. So you can make these one at a time and a batch of ingredients could last you for several days!

Try it and let me know how you like it! I highly recommend it!

So that was my weekend! Nibbling, sipping, laughing, relaxing, visiting, planning, scheming and bonding. It was simply divine! Sorry you couldn't join us!

Big plans coming up. Dear husband is heading out of town so my mother is coming from Nebraska to hang with us for awhile. Hang on to your hats because this house will be crazy. She keeps talking about cleaning closets, and stripping wallpaper and bricking the patio. I am dreaming of sleeping in late and taking naps on the sofa. I'm sure we'll have a meeting of the minds somewhere in the middle! Definite good times ahead!

hope you have big plans for your upcoming weekend...

until then - - -

SO I FIGURE A TEN WEEK BREAK...

is just enough time to recharge the blog-batteries!

You know, the batteries that get to feeling a little drained. The batteries that come up empty when you try to post something relevant, humorous, creative or thought provoking.

Yeah - those batteries.

But they are full to capacity right now, and I couldn't be happier. Because I have lots of updates.

What brought me out of the blog-doldrums though, was a post by my friend Lindsay. A post that involved questions, answers and pictures. Sounded fun (and I had an hour to kill before summer school lets out).

The How-To:

1. type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr.com search
2. pick an image from the search results
3. copy and paste the URL for each image into fd's mosaic maker

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Susan
2. What is your favorite food? any pasta dish
3. What high school did you go to? Lincoln High School, Lincoln, NE
4. What is your favorite color? lime green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Matthew McConaughey
6. Favorite drink? right now - ice water with lemon
7. Dream vacation? Rome, Italy
8. Favorite dessert? pecan pie
9. What you want to be when you grow up? a totally cool grandma
10. What do you love most in life? my family
11. One word to describe you? lover (of food, of travel, of paper, of old screen door...)
12. My flicker name? semk

The Finished Product:



1. black-eyed Susan, 2. anything pasta, 3. Nebraska school house, 4. lime green , 5. Matthew McConaughey, 6. ice water & lemon wedge., 7. Vatican Museum spiral staircase, Rome, ITALY, 8. pecan pie, 9. a grandma, 10. my family, 11. lover, 12. semk

So there you have it! A few things that you didn't know about me - and some cool pictures to look at! Try it - you end up getting some really weird results from the flickr.com search. It'll totally waste an hour of your time!

My last post was from the top of a mountain. Literally. The family and I were in Show-Low, AZ for the final four days of Spring Break. We had an awesome time...mainly with the snow, good food, good drink and my folks!

But lots has happened since then. Running through the calendar at warp speed...here are the events that stand out:

• friends from Nebraska joined us for four days of Spring Baseball, shopping, and good eats!

• my Aunt and Uncle from Colorado flew in for the final four days of the week, for some sightseeing, resting and relaxation!

• everyone was here for the debut of our newest family member - an 8 week old golden retriever we named Maccabees.

• after 10 days as a family-with-three-dogs, the time had come to let our old boy go. One of the hardest things I've ever had to go through - I'll never forget the car ride to the Vet's office. Not as long as I live. Rest in peace lover boy!

• high school Academic Night - a G.P.A. higher than I knew was possible - so proud of her!

• the teen turned 15 - and is now in countdown mode until she'll be eligible for her driver's permit. Consider yourself warned!

• the Mesa Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention - what a crazy weekend!

• the boy and I head north, with 96 other 6th graders for Science Camp. An amazing weekend - not soon to be forgotten! Reiterated exactly why I love this kid so much!

• high school musical Beauty and the Beast. Blew me away - the talent, the costumes, the scenery. We are so lovin' this thing called high school!

• final high school band concert of the year, and the teen gets the "Above and Beyond" award from the Director. It was surprise so it took me completely off guard. Did the same thing to the teen!

• head to Manchester, NH for another Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention. Great weather, great visit with some family members, and an amazing response from the buying public!

• 6th grade promotion for the boy - so tickled that his teacher had such sweet words for him. Those are the things that make a momma know she's done a good job!

• David Cook WINS! I picked him as the winner from his try-out in Omaha. Seriously, I did! He's got a great voice and a great look. The girls in this house were VERY excited!

• last day of school...my final day as an elementary school mom, and the mom of a Sophomore-to-be!

• am I really old enough to know this many kids graduating from high school? Parties and fun all around!

• the boy and dear husband head to Orlando - for a week of NFL meetings, NHL meetings and family fun.

• had a totally exciting phone call with a scrapbook magazine editor. Teaching classes, doing the on-line thing, getting head shots, writing up emails. SO THRILLED about what lies ahead for me and this scrapbook passion I have!

• my youngest nephew turns NINE. And to think I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday!

• the teen and I enjoy our First Class flight to Buffalo, NY - she's tagging along to work the Buffalo scrapbook convention with me. I think she came away with a new appreciation of what I do!

• my folks celebrated their FORTY-FOURTH wedding anniversary...and their poor-planning daughter forgot to send a card...SORRY MOM AND DAD!

• the teen and I left our mark on Canada as well - we ate, we spent, we took goofy pictures, we got drenched in the falls. A good time was had by all!

• the boy flew home ALONE - because dear husband had to go on to Texas to meet with the Cowboys. For about 30 minutes during that day...all of us were in the air at the same time...ON DIFFERENT AIRPLANES. The teen and I coming home from Buffalo, the boy home from Orlando and dear husband on his way to Texas. CRAZY!

Whew!

I'll try and add some pictures later tonight - because I've got some good one! Really I do. But this just about wore me out!

Big couple of weeks coming up. The head shot thing is freaking me out right now. Oh I can take goofy pictures. I can yuck it up in front of the camera as much as the next person. But serious, posed, professional head shots - not my favorite thing to think about. So I'm stressing, just a bit. But my girlfriend will totally hook me up. And I just know they'll be great. And then I can get on with the more fun parts of class-prep.

I'll keep you posted on class plans as they progress! Really, I will!

Right now - I've got to head back to the airport to pick up dear husband. He's been away from home for ten days. Too long in my book!

So there - consider yourselves "caught up". My mother will want pictures - but that'll have to come later! I've got lots of scrappin' to do in the next 2 weeks, and I'm sure most of my recent shots will find their way onto some new pages!

until then - - -