chrysalis

our garden never ceases to amaze and delight my wonder!

one of two resident caterpillars has changed from crawler into its chrysalis!

beneath the protection of a gigantic cauliflower leaf, something amazing is happening!

what 5 bucks will get, in a pinch

i fell aspeel aspleep asleep at the Mister's house last night (i'm still sleeepy). my body just shut down. immovable. talking about dreams i was having AS i spoke. needless to say, the sleepover was unplanned and i didn't have anything to wear to school today, which, will not fly since the kids notice everything.

we've all had those days, right? i remember one incident, years ago, when an unplanned spleepover forced me to borrow shoes that were 3 sizes too small just so that i could get to work on time and in the appropriate close-toed for my job at the youth museum!

"okay," i thought, "though i don't want to go there, the walmart on the way to school is open and surely i'll find a cheap something that will work." unfortunately, i realized too late that my wallet was missing. oh, crap. the change in my ashtray/change holder totalled about 5 bucks--absolutely do-able at walmart (i feel bad for promoting the place).

10 minutes later, i emerged from the sliding doors sporting a cute t-shirt, holding a kingsize bag of peanut m&ms, and sipping from my drink, with change in my pocket to boot!

ruta-toot-toot rutabaga

the challenge that i set for my 5-a-day friends was to eat a fruit or vegetable that we had NEVER eaten before. the little fruit market by my parents' house is quaint, cheap, and loaded with vegetables, so, wearin my purple dress, i picked up every vegetable with a purple hue, including rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, and chinese eggplants.

i fretted about how, exactly, to prepare a rutabaga (which, by the way, is so southern-fun to say, and, to say often).

so, here's how it all went from bland, like a raw russett potato, to earthy-tasty:

cube 1 parsnip, 1 rutabaga, 1 turnip, and 1 brown russett potato. i peeled some of the skin on some of the vegetables but couldn't continue the stripping process because of the loss of lovely color and nutrients. slice 1/2 white onion. mix all vegetables together with olive oil, red wine vinegar, 1/3 c. sugar, rosemary, salt, pepper, and any other italian seasoning. bake/roast uncovered in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. about 8 minutes before removing from the oven, add another 1/2 sliced onion on top of the lot. yummy and different.