A recipe to try

I know very few people who profess an enjoyment of eggplant. I am not particularly fond of it myself. However, this recipe is an excellent way to prepare eggplant that can be enjoyed by anyone who likes gyros. If you "saute" the eggplant in water and use non-fat yogurt and cheese then this is a nearly fat-free meal. For those who really can't stand eggplant in any form, try substituting tofu or chickpeas.

A note on substituting tofu: As with eggplant, I am not particularly fond of tofu. However, I have learned a few things that make it more palatable. First of all, I always use extra firm tofu since I invariably use it in a cooked dish where I want texture. Secondly, I have discovered that to aid it taking the flavor of the dish, I must dry the tofu as much as possible. This can be done by draining the tofu then pressing it between paper towels. I usually go through lots of paper towels and use a heavy cast iron pan to do the pressing. It also helps if you slice the tofu so there is more surface area to dry. The final "trick" to having tastier tofu is to marinate it. If you have dried it first, it will marinate better. For this dish I might marinate the tofu in balsamic vinegar.

Eggplant Aubergine Gyro


I like to mix the sauce and vegetables and then put it in the pita breads. I also "sauté" the eggplant in water
instead of oil and I do not add the olives because I don't like them.

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1/3 cup scallion, diced
1/3 cup kalamata olive, pitted, halved
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 Tbs parsley chopped
1 Tbs chopped fresh oregano
1 large eggplant, trimmed and diced into 3/4-inch pieces
2 Tbs olive oil (to saute)
4 pita bread

1. Preheat oven to 350. Toast pita bread in oven.
2. Prepare veggies and mix everything except the bread and the eggplant.
3. Saute eggplant in oil over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add to vegetable mixture.
4. Mix the cooked eggplant with the other veggies, spoon onto warm pita bread and eat.

Original Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/eggplant-aubergine-gyro-171352

Freedom

Yesterday my in-laws were visiting. Before church they asked if they could take Joseph with them for a few days or a week. My first reaction was, "Oh no! I couldn't possibly allow that!" Then I went to church all by myself. Ah! All by myself. It had possibilities. If Joseph weren't here I could fix the shop roof and play with my new power tools and go shopping or out to eat or take the dogs to the dog park or.... hmm....

So after his short nap we loaded him and his things in the car with the in-laws. He did snuggle with Dad or I for about thirty minutes prior to their departure. However, his only request to his dad once he was in the car was that Daddy close the car door. He didn't even look back at us as they pulled out of the driveway.

He is, apparently, doing just fine. Michael has called a few times to check on him, but I figure that if anything comes up, they will call me. Besides, there are so many things I can get done! Like writing in my blog! And wood working. Did I mention that I am making pens now? Spouse is going to deal with the business end of things and I will make the pens. He hopes to make vast amounts of monies. Or at least enough to pay for the hobby.

Savannah

Since moving to Augusta I have wanted to visit Savannah, Georgia. There are dozens of historic attractions and museums in Savannah and many websites list which ones are where, but I have yet to find a website that tells you about the museums and how much they cost, without sending you to the respective dozens of individual websites. So I thought that I might make a list and perhaps somebody else will find it useful sometime. Please note, however, that I am compiling these prices from various websites that may not have been updated recently and this page will likely not be updated. I can not be held accountable for any change in price from those listed below. Also, there may be other discounts not listed below.

Ticket Prices in $

Attraction Adult Child Age for free

Juliette Low Birthplace 8 7 5 & under

Old Town Trolley Tours 25 10 3 & under

Mickve Israel 5 donation per person suggested

Telfair Museum* 15 5 5 & under

Owens-Thomas House* 15 5 5 & under

Jepson Center* 15 5 5 & under

Isaiah Davenport House 8 5 5 & under

Andrew Low House 8 4.50

Sorrel-Weed House 10

Ships of the Sea Museum 8 6 7 & under

Savannah History Museum+ 5 4.50 5 & under

Roundhouse Museum+ 10 4 (6 and under!)

Old Fort Jackson+ 6

Tybee Island Light Station 7 5 4 & under

Wormsloe State Park 5

Mighty 8th Air Force Museum 10 6 5 & under

* Admission includes a one-time visit to each of the Telfair Museums three sites (Telfair Academy, Owens-Thomas House, & Jepson Center) for a week-long period following the date of purchase. General admission fee also includes regularly-scheduled docent-guided tours.

+ Call for current pricing!

2010 Visitor Guide

It has been awhile

But on the bright side, I have gotten lots of other good stuff done. But you see, the real problem is that I am a lists person. Several months ago I made a list of things I wanted to get done everyday. Like feed the dog. The list provided spots to check off each item, everyday, until mid-May. Then my list ran out. And my printer ran out of ink, so I couldn't print a new list. Therefore, I didn't get anything done. Like blogging. And every month I would look at the price of ink and decide that it really wasn't necessary. Not as necessary as chocolate ice cream. It finally dawned on me this week that I could use pen and paper to write out my list on graph paper, giving me a place to mark off each task everyday. So now I can remember to blog.

You will be happy to know, I am sure, that the diet is working as it ought. My total cholesterol has dropped from 225 down to 155. All the other numbers dropped nicely, too. We are finding that, with less salt and oil, we are tasting the vegetables more and are enjoying our food more. We also noticed that we have little to no desire to eat food from fast food restaurants any more, even when we are quite hungry. Quite an interesting change, really. The diet tends to be more expensive than our previous diet because we buy so much fresh produce. It takes a lot of produce to keep us full. Which is the main reason we are not completely following the "eat a huge salad everyday" part of the diet. It is just too expensive to do so currently.

Furthermore, I picked up a book titled In Code by Sarah Flannery. An excellent read for any math fans or people interested in the math behind cryptography. After mentioning to my dear spouse how fascinating I found the book he quickly dug out The Codebreakers by David Kahn from the back room and handed the old volume to me. It is from 1967. I know, that isn't all that old, but there is a newer edition out. I have found the book to be vastly interesting. Spouse flipped to the back of the book and pointed out the sections in the index that I would likely find most interesting, but for no particular reason I started right at the beginning and have found all of it to be interesting so far. I don't know if I would be interesting in cryptology or cryptanalysis as a career since I really don't want to spend all day everyday working on a computer, but so far it is an interesting study.

Joseph continues to grow and be amazing. He signs much more now than just a few weeks ago. I love spending time with him. Unless it is after 6pm. Then I just want him to go to bed. The garden is requiring water twice a day but has delicious tomatoes and peppers that we use as fast as they turn ripe. The cat is ensconced in the shop quite happily. The dog has been clipped nearly to the skin and if he has had a recent bath he is allowed inside on hot days.

That's it for now.

How does my garden grow

Quite well, actually. I left for a week to visit my parents with Joseph and I left detailed instructions for watering and caring for the garden in my absence. Michael rose to the challenge and when I returned everything was beautiful! I had brought some new plants home with me as my parents had plenty of mint, lemon grass and lilac seedlings. The mint and lemon grass have survived and are growing well. The lilac is still iffy but she might make it. I was quite pleased with the mint, which I have planted in a container, considering how invasive the plants are. I did not plant it when I returned home at 2 AM and the next day I started to replant it only to be interrupted by Joseph. I promptly forgot all about it and the mint plants lay on top of the dirt, drying out, overnight. I had little hope in the morning when I picked up their limp, withered stalks. Thinking of how hardy mint tends to be, I planted them anyway and watered them well. Lo and behold, the next day they were spritely and cheerful looking! The only plants that are not doing well is my chive plant and my pepper plants, all of which I started from seeds. Some of my plants have not sprouted yet, notably the yellow squash and the passion fruit vine.

Square Foot Gardening

My parents introduced me to square foot gardening last year and I thought it was a great idea because I have a distinctly black thumb when it comes to growing plants. Later in the year they sent me the book All New Square Foot Gardening. Now this method is nearly fool proof if you follow it, or so the book says. I am all for fool-proof gardening. From what the book tells me about traditional gardening, I would not have been a very successful row gardener. I don't want to till my soil or pH test it or any of that stuff. And I certainly would not get around to weeding it as often as would be required. Fortunately with the SFG method, none of these things are necessary. The website has all the information you need to start your own, so I won't go into any of that here. I just wanted to show off my fancy new garden. I only have a few things planted right now and I am waiting a week to buy another bag of vermiculite to fill my second box. We are starting small this year with only two 4'x4' boxes and the 2'x2' box I made last fall. I would love to plant more but I think that I would like to "get the hang of it" before going all out. Besides, with just my husband, the baby and myself, we don't need a ton of produce. I am still figuring out what to plant and when to start the seeds and everything. I am hoping to place the 2' box on top of the corner of my second 4' box and grow corn in it. I love corn. Really. I can eat it like candy. Or like graham crackers, in my son's case. I plan to post updates every few weeks so you, too, can see how my garden grows.

Kissing

I suppose that when a second or third child comes along in one's family each of their new accomplishments is overshadowed by a "been there, done that" sentiment from seeing the first child do those same things. Fortunately, I still only have one child so every new thing that he does is amazing and noteworthy. For instance, yesterday was the first time Joseph ever kissed me. Often when I pick him up I kiss his nose and declare, "kiss!" Yesterday, when I picked him up, he leaned in, touched his lips to my nose and, as he was leaning back, clicked his tongue, his closest approximation to the kiss sound. Michael was the happy recipient of Joseph's kisses today.

It is fun and interesting to watch Joseph learn and study things. He has recently started carrying his toy phone around, jabbering into it for fifteen minutes at a time. Today as I was working on my garden fence, he lounged in his camp chair with a sippy cup in one hand and the phone held firmly to the side of his head with the other hand. He jabbered loudly while waving his sippy cup around. At least until I started drilling holes. The drill was a temptation too much to withstand. I did not accomplish much at that time.

For anyone who looked at my menu, I am happy to say that the meals listed on that menu have lasted us two weeks. This is a good thing because the grocery bill for that menu was large. But if that much food lasts us two weeks, then the bill was quite reasonable. Most of the items on the menu were new to me, and we have enjoyed most of them. Some of them we will not eat again, although they were not bad. Some of them are definite keepers. The last rendition of 15 bean soup turned out particularly well and I wish I had written down everything that I put in it. The spaghetti (on the menu from a previous week) turned out better than expected since we substituted whole grain pasta for the normal pasta and we replaced our usual hamburger meat with diced extra firm tofu. We also added a number of vegetables to the sauce. Next time I hope to have extra mushrooms on hand to add, too.