Tomatoes . . . Pasta Sauce

A bag of tomatoes was handed to me along with this advice: roast, puree, freeze.

Olive oil, tomatoes, onions, garlic, three types of peppers. Include any other ingredients you want in your pasta sauce. I made some without peppers, too.

You can include spices as well. I use different spices in my recipes so I chose to spice just with salt and pepper.




 

Roast at 425 degrees F. Let cool

 

Blend or puree. I used a hand blender so I could leave some chunkiness.

Place in freezer containers!


"Oh the Places You'll Go"

On February 16, I started my busy travel season. Here are the highlights:

February 16 - 20, 2012
Kennesaw, GA

On my last visit to Kennesaw in November, I ran Kennesaw Mountain and found these civil war canons at the top.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

To eat? I haven't been able to find highly desirable, write-home-to-mom, eating establishments in Kennesaw. In fact, my recent visit there started with a trip to the market where I purchased food for my stay. All but the last night. After 3 solid days of teaching, I hauled butt to The Marietta Fish Market where I ate the grilled filet of grouper. 

February 23-26, 2012

Raleigh, NC

I started my first visit to Raleigh so ill that I though I might have to visit the local emergency room. 

The next morning, I went for an easy run and found the State Capitol, a city block with a modest government building. 

The next two evenings, I enjoyed dinner out with my friends, Scott and Rebecca. The first night, we ate with a larger group at Bu ku Global Street Food. 

On Saturday night, we drank dinner at The Flying Saucer where those in the beer club are "immortalized in the ring of honor" after reaching established levels of consumption. The local brews would make Wisconsin proud.

March 1-4, 2012

San Antonio, TX

If you haven't been to the Riverwalk, go. 

And eat at Boudro's Texas Bistro.

And drink, sing, and laugh at Durty Nelly's Irish Pub.

And enjoy Howl at the Moon where dueling pianos will make you smile and laugh and be happy.

March 8-10, 2012

Ewing, NJ

I flew into Philadelphia with my colleague, Melissa, rented a car and drove to Ewing, NJ. 

After our meeting on Friday, we drove to Princeton, NJ. 

Princeton University is impressive.

We enjoyed dinner at Mediterra in Princeton, NJ.

Blogspot, and its picture quota, keeps me from sharing visuals of my time with Melissa in Princeton.

I'm home now. Until Thursday . . . Mettawa, IL.

2012 104th 366 and the Google Doodle Preview

I met someone this last weekend who is excited to turn 5 tomorrow even though she was born 20 years ago.

Of course, my first thought is "One more day of interest to deduct on the 2013 tax return!!" Wait . . .

Here is the Google Doodle you will see tomorrow:

Here are some important Leap Year facts (source: wikipedia)

* 1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
* 1704 – Queen Anne’s War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 100 men, women, and children.
* 1712 – February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Old style.
* 1720 – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I.
* 1864 – American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid fails – Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
* 1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida incorporated.
* 1916 – Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old.
* 1932 – TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William “Alfalfa” Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
* 1936 – Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuts on the radio program The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
* 1940 – For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
* 1940 – Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations
* 1940 – In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, because of the war, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives his 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from the Sweden’s Consul General in San Francisco.
* 1944 – World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
* 1952 – The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
* 1956 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.
* 1960 – An earthquake in Morocco kills over 3,000 people and nearly destroys Agadir in the southern part of the country.
* 1964 – In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
* 1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization – South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
* 1972 – Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
* 1984 – Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announces he will retire as soon as the Liberals can elect another leader.
* 1988 – South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town
* 1996 – Novelist Joan Collins awarded US $1 million from Random House for breach of contract.
* 1996 – A Peruvian Boeing 737 crashes in the Andes, killing 123 people.
* 2000 – Six year old Dedrick Owens shoots and kills Kayla Rolland, also six years old, at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan.
* 2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.

Leap Year, the movie . . . which I've never seen . . .



I'm thinking that since this is an Irish holiday, libations are in order. Happy Leap Year all.

Spread the Porn

For the Amish Lovers

For the Runner

For the Cycling Enthusiasts

For the Book Lovers

For the Gardener

For the Architect

For the Traveler

Valentine's Day Foreplay

Gotcha again with the title . . .

Isabella has decided that the 13 days before Valentine's should be gift-bearing, love-filled days.

The picture you see here was my gift yesterday, February 1.

Today, she handed me a deck of cards. On the box was a picture of me with both Izzy and Jeree and a note that said "52 Things I Love About You."

On each card she wrote something she loves about me. I've included her emoticons.

1. Your strength

2. You're gorgeous

3. You challenge yourself

4. How you smell
5. Your wrinkle-free face
6. Your feistiness
7. Your pink sports bra
8. Your singing voice
9. Your tanness
10. Your awesome yoga pants

11. Your piano skills

12. MILF! ;)
13. Your ability to run marathons
14. Your "TSBs"
15. Your kindness
16. You have standards
17. You're accepting
18. Your tastebuds (candy) :)
19. Your sneezing
20. Your ambitious
21. Your blog
22. Your silliness
23. You're nice
24. Ability to laugh
25. Your pretty face
26. Your friends
27. Your Jeep!
28. Your amazing driving skills
29. Your rock obsession (music)
30. Your rootbeer fettish
31. You're funny
32. Your amazing eyebrows!  ;)
33. You stick with goals
34. You're compassionate

35. Your smartness (you smartie pants)

36. Your fitness/"skinniness

37. I love your hair

38. You is spicy

39. You're lovable

40. Your cleanliness

41. Your salary ;)

42. Your handwriting

43. Your craziness

44. Your clumsiness
45. Your licorice fettish
46. Your snuggling

47. Your style

48. Your non-painted fingernails
49. Your tripping over flat surfaces

50. ****

51. ****
52. ****

Please note, that I don't tan. I think she's noticed that she has her dad's fair skin and mine, by comparison, is tan.

**** censored **** only for those who've lived with me.



Wednesday's Wicked Winternet

That is one lame heading . . . but you clicked on it. You might want to click on these

Another day.

Cyclotrope.

Another week.

Finally, some humor Pick Your Battles.

Commit Me . . .

I'm sequestering the inspiration to go run 16 miles today. Ordinarily running is something I look forward to. However, four of the fourteen miles of my last long run were on this trail. 

The Mississippi River will be my starting and ending point again today. I'll begin in Riverside Park, run to Onalaska on the marsh trails where I'll turn around after eight miles and repeat those eight miles . . . going the reverse direction. For those who wonder, eight miles from Riverside Park gives a turnaround point one mile north of the Kwik Trip by the Onalaska Dairy Queen. Commit me.

Quote of the Day: "You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind." Irish proverb.