Bye-bye Hummer

"Who would want a Hummer? Can you imagine if you had a Hummer right now? What a nightmare that would be."

My husband just laughs at my rant, and it's double entendre-y nature. But seriously. Who has that kind of cash just waiting to be thrown away on gas?

Nobody, it turns out. GM is backing off it's line of SUVs, and thinking of selling its beloved Hummer, to focus on smaller cars. Come on Ford. Bring back that feisty Festiva at nearly 30 mpg.

Come to think of it, maybe people are going a bit further. A few weeks ago on a bike ride to the park with my girls, I saw two other parents with kid trailers — on the SAME block. I see them everywhere now (even my neighborhood Target store for less than $100 on sale). Today at the playground, the only things there were three parents, three kids and two bikes with Burleys.

It's pretty exciting to watch the market crush the things are damaging the planet while promote the things that make us all healthier.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

My salad days are back — literally.

This week in my CSA bounty, I received three full heads of lettuce, a bag of baby greens and a bag of spinach. That means salad.

I'm totally not complaining. I would gladly eat salad every day between now and doom's day. But of course, I need a good dressing. A first-rate dressing is important when trying (begging, pleading and threatening) to get kids to eat their green leafies as well.

Personally, I lean on the side of sour on the sour/sweet debate. Here's what I view as the perfect combination. Just blend all the ingredients, the oil in a slow, steady stream to emulsify the vinaigrette. Toss immediately with greens (and if I'm really lucky, some yummy radishes).

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar or fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (just a pinch if you only have table salt)
6 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
a few chopped chives, optional


My CSA farmer passed along this dressing recipe recently. I haven't tried it, but I'm intrigued. I'm guessing it would be a favorite with the girls.

Combine about 1/4 cup mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip--it will not work!) with enough milk, thinning it, but not runny. Add about 1 tsp sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add vinegar (cider vinegar works best) to taste, 1 TBSP or more.

Bunny killer

It didn't take long before we forgot to let our dog inside when we headed out one day.

This resulted in a very quick end to our nest of bunnies. While we were saddened by the sight of tiny dead bunnies turned into tasty snacks by our beloved (and kind of disgusting) beagle, I do realize this is nature and nature cannot always be controlled.

We'll try harder next spring bunnies. Only, I hope your mama knows better than to birth you in a yard with a killer beagle.

Successful no-mo

We made it, but just barely.

A weekend without driving seemed like a great idea Friday. The forecast called for sunny and 80 all weekend. So when rain showers threatened even an hour outing, it seemed clear that no car (and no buses running Sunday or Monday) would leave us pretty inside and bored.

But we pushed on, took some chances and had a fantastic weekend complete with three meals from the grill and lunch at a restaurant. It was mostly uneventful, but it was inexpensive and nice to just be home with the family.

No-mo weekend

Since gas prices are ridiculously high, and because my family and I had mostly planned a leisurely weekend of yard work, playgrounds and around-town outings, we decided to go car free this Memorial Day weekend. Plus we have brats from this local farmer, so really there's no reason to go anywhere.

For any adventures we might take, we'll be traveling via walk, bike or bus. I'm sure this will work out perfectly well, without even one 2-year-old tantrum. So happy three-day weekend to us and everybody else.

Bunnies

Today, we discovered a nest of bunnies in our back yard.

Ahhhh. !!! Bunnies!!!

Obviously, mommy bunny wasn't too bright. A dog and two little kids equals bad place for baby bunnies. And because my husband and I aren't the kind of people who kill cute little baby bunnies, or let our dog kill the cute little baby bunnies, or can tolerate the sadness of having mother rabbit continually look for her cute baby bunnies we moved, we put a small fence around the nest.

Turns out, that was the right thing to do. In a few days, the bunnies will have hair. In 10 days, they'll be old enough to move around. I'm thinking of doing a bunny lesson for the girls.

Our neighbors probably think we're crazy. That's fine. At least I don't have to live as a bunny murderer. And that's fine by me.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

Could there be a more perfect spring dish than spinach salad? The greeny deliciousness. The bacon. The vinegar.

I just love it. But it also needs a perfectly cooked hard boiled egg, one of life's most perfect foods. For such a simple thing, hard boiled eggs can be hard to master. I normally end up with most of the egg going down the disposal with the shell or an overcooked yolky mess that works like cement inside my mouth.

But the following method seems to work well.

Put the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cover the eggs and let set for 10 minutes, remove the eggs and plunge them in an ice-water bath.

Just because I'm a huge pain in the ass, I must admit I actually don't do this because I am the lucky owner of an electric tea kettle.

I just plop the eggs inside, turn on the kettle (it turns off when it reaches a boil) and take them out at 10 minutes. If I don't break any, I make myself a lovely cup of tea as a reward for being so smart.

Run them under cold water as you peel to reduce egg-white waste.