Happy National Junk Food Day?

It may sound like the perfect excuse for gorging on potato chips, candy bars and twinkies, but before you fill up check out this video:



Yum?
I think I'll stick with the farmer's market and my garden.

Plumbing

I imagine just by reading the title it might make a few people shutter at the thought. Knowing that quite often replacing a faucet can lead to a whole bathroom overhaul we were very cautious with this repair project. The old bathroom sink never quite drained well since we moved in and had only gotten worse. We (Travis) had narrowed it down to the turn in the pipe, conveniently located in the wall of my closet. So out came my clothes, wood removed and old pipe revealed. Cutting the pipe proved Travis right: rusted shut to a hole maybe the size of a nickle. That's not going to get water anywhere fast. Rust scraped off, the pipe was like new. Now putting it back together? A few trips to Home Depot and my plumber made it happen, now draining better than it has in years.

{1. wall removal. 2. pipe-less sink 3. sad pipe 4. new pipe! }

Project completed, and only the task at hand. {High five!} Though, with the removal of the wood in the closet we discovered a larger opening under the house than necessary. And re-covering the closet wall with something other than old cardboard wall paper is a must. New projects #1 and #2!

{the plumber and his assistant. love}

Pickles.

Travis learned early on that when a sandwich comes with a pickle spear stealing it from me is a very bad idea. Lucky for both of us we have a ridiculous amount of cucumbers in our yard, leaving pickles a perfect solution. So I went venturing to find a recipe for homemade pickles, one that didn't require me to learn the art of canning just yet. Success. This recipe is from a local caterer and I will absolutely be making them again.

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES (from Gourmet Girl)

3 cups vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dill seed
12 whole cloves
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
4 bay leaves
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (I didn't include this and I think they came out with the perfect amount of spice)
fresh dill sprigs (optional)
8-9 kirby cucumbers, sliced 1/8" thick

1. Mix vinegar with sugar, salt, peppers, dill seeds, cloves, and bay leaves until sugar dissolves.

2. In a large jar, layer cucumbers, onion and jalapeno.  Pour vinegar solution over the cucumbers.  Refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Happy 4th of July!

We arrived home from a long weekend to a yard full of veggies ready to be picked. Our 4th menu? Fish we caught yesterday and tomatoes and basil from the yard with mozzarella. Not quite your standard fare for this holiday, but you can't get much fresher. Add in a few left over wedding sparklers and we've got ourselves a perfect Fourth of July!

{harvest}