Outlook for Caturday: warm and sunny

Time go get out those new Vera Wang shades!

Grillin' time

On the menu tonight: Pork chops with spice rub, pasta salad, quinoa taboule salad, angel food cake with strawberries!

Weekend in Nebraska

De Soto Wildlife Refuge: Nothing to see but some geese and a very excited turkey hen (yes, dear, you're right, it WAS a turkey hen) running by the side of the road. I guess migratory season is over...

Yay! One for the home team!

Ugh. One hour of my life, not exactly wasted (cause I managed to read four magazines during today's second half of the "American Idol" finale), but spent slightly nauseated.

I have to say, seeing an old, flabby, washed-up George Michael sing "Praying for time" gave me more goosebumps than anything I've ever had to endure on American Idol (and hey, I've watched a whopping 3 episodes altogether through the seasons). I'm still glad, though, that the rockier David Cook (who is, somehow, from the KC area) had won instead of that schmaltzy kid with the weird little muppet face. Creeped me out.

Shawnee Mission Park: 2nd time's the charm...

We returned to a charming, secluded 3-mile hiking path above Shawnee Mission Lake. A week ago it was still pretty much impassable due to recent rains, now it was mostly fine (apart from very visible signs that this was a horse trail - oh, my poor light blue sneakers!). We saw a blue heron, a bunch of deer *thanks to eagle eye hubby*, and a ton of cardinals and bluejays. Pretty!

Tee hee!

Birthday cake from my Sweetie: check! Birthday tulips from my Sweetie: check! Birthday cake with strawberries: YUM!

Zesty Three-Bean Salad

Recipe from BHG magazine - VERY tasty (if you like a lot of beans and onions, teehee!) and it's made in 5 minutes! Tastes best (i.e. party-in-your-mouth-like) when freshly made - the flavors aren't quite so "zesty" any more after a few hours (I guess because the cilantro goes stale).

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen sweet soybeans (edamame),
1 x 15-oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained,
1 x 15-oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained,
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (I used a little less - don't want to kill anybody!),
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro,
1/4 cup olive oil,
1 tsp. finely shredded lime peel,
1/4 cup lime juice (I skipped the lime peel and used about 1/8 cup of *gasp!* bottled lemon juice).

1. Prepare soybeans according to package directions. Drain in colander and rinse with cold water.

2. In large bowl combine cooked soybeans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, onion, and cilantro.

3. In small bowl whisk together olive oil, lime peel, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour over bean mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Stir well before serving. Makes 10 servings.

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

No, the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead is not a place where they put unruly children out to pasture. It's something of a municipal, mostly free, amusement park meant to look like a farm, located smack dab in the middle of the suburbs, where city kids (and grownups) can learn about farming and farm animals etc.

They have lots of farm animals like cows, goats, sheep (some with babies!), bunnies (!), a bison, a longhorn steer, a couple of sad bobcats (quickly walked away from that one), some birds of prey (ditto), and some more. Some can be petted and/or fed! There's also several historic building reproductions - a large barn with cows (you can try out your milking skills on a plastic cow), an Indian encampment, and a little white turn-of-the-century schoolhouse. And a garden, a fishing pond, a secluded little hiking path through a wooded patch (there were huge wind chimes hanging in the trees, beautiful!), and lots more. Phew! Talk about overkill for little kids! Even I was exhausted after this!