Summer has officially arrived

I grew up with the luxury of having both my parents as teachers, which we all know the best benefits are June, July, and August. I remember constantly going on several day trips to Door County (the "Cape Cod" of the Midwest), spending a few weeks at Camp Friedenswald, going on a major 3-week vacation to either the East Coast or out West somewhere, trips to my aunt and uncle's cabin on Lake Huron, and then ending with an end-of-the-summer trip north to Lake Vermillion (near the Boundary Waters in Minnesota) where my mom's family has been going for the past 55 years(!) every. summer. (Oh, the stories you hear of that tradition!)

My life schedule these days does not include three lush summer months off that I'm so very-much accustomed to due to Marc's job. This has been quite the adjustment and I'm trying to redefine summer that does not always involve a lake or some sort of travel. However, we were very lucky to score a good chunk of days that Marc could take off and we bee-lined it out of town up north to my aunt and uncle's cabin on Lake Huron.

Just EVERYTHING about this trip brings me great joy, even the drive which is mostly driving along the shoreline of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The picture that I posted is seriously what we saw for over half of our trip. We relaxed, we had a wonderful visit with my aunt, ate really good food (that included fresh Michigan blueberries), canoed a lot, played in the water (which was the perfect temperature), read, etc, etc.

Now, THIS is what I call VACATION!

I'm making this for supper tonight! (I hope it works)

I know, I know, I know... Just about all of the recipes that I have ever posted have been from Rachael Ray, but I can't help it! Wouldn't you be excited about this too?

GRILLED CORN AND SAUSAGE FLATBREAD

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb of pizza dough
1 c plain Greek-style yogurt
2 scallions chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 c corn
1 jalapeno chopped
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 6oz package portobello mushroom caps (I bought 4 caps in bulk)
1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage
2 tomatoes

1. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on a large baking sheet. Place the 4 dough pieces on the baking sheet and press each out into a 4-by-8-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, scallions and lemon juice.
2. Pile the corn, jalapeño and cheddar in the center of each piece of dough and press the toppings in. Fold over the dough and press all over to seal, enclosing the filling. Let rest in a warm spot until slightly risen, about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, arrange the the mushrooms upside down and drizzle with olive oil. Place the mushrooms and the sausages on the grill; cover and grill, turning once, until cooked through, about 4 minutes for the mushrooms and 6 minutes for the sausages. Transfer to a board. Thickly slice the mushrooms and slice the sausage on an angle; keep warm.
4. Press each flatbread again into an 4-by-8-inch rectangle. Grill, covered, until crisp and golden, about 4 minutes on each side.
5. Spread yogurt sauce on each flatbread and layer with the sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes. Fold the flatbreads over the filling and serve warm.

Doesn't this sound FANTASTIC?!?!?!?! I can't wait.

Check out the pictures on http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/no-recipe-zone/grilled-corn-and-sausage-flatbread/article.html

(I can't seem to figure out how to post links by just clicking on highlighted words... hmmm)

Toddler-Appointed Time-Out

My 23-month old child has told me "bye-bye" after 20 minutes of him screaming and pointing to things he wants. He just woke up from a 3-hour nap madder than a hornet. This doesn't happen frequently, thank goodness (the "madder than the hornet" part)!

I got him what he wanted: spoon (three of them), bowl, cereal, and milk. When he had all he needed, he waved to me and said, "bye-bye." So here I sit on the couch ignoring him so that he doesn't scream at me anymore. I actually looked in his direction to see how he was doing and he was staring at me as if he were just waiting to show me he was in control or something. I smiled at him and without taking his eyes off me, he took one of his three spoons and threw it on the floor and told me "bye-bye" again.

I grabbed the lap-top that was near him and now I'm writing, hearing him nibble on his cereal. No screaming. Phew!

I wonder when I'm allowed to get off the couch and play?

Where is my routine?

We just moved to our new house two weeks ago today, to be exact. Everything went well with the closing and moving, yada, yada, yada, but I feel like it's taking for-ev-er to make this house feel like our home. It's not just painting over the bear, moose and tree stencils (no joke!) that the previous owners had in the kitchen or all the other little projects that we want to do, it's figuring out our routine and identity in this house. We're carrying on with life like we have been, but we have to think a little harder about where we put certain things or where to get groceries when the co-op is now a 20-minute drive across town and not just a 20-minute walk away.

Sigh.

Or, getting to know this community and the kids at the various parks and figuring out the best route to the library. I saw some bumper stickers the other day on a walk that said, "Secure Our Borders" and "John McCain for President." It's a good thing to have differing views, right? This is another adjustment from our previous neighborhood, which was 110% Obama.

Sigh.

We are happy and doing very well. Ben loves his new yard and the parks that are within spitting distance of our house. We walk frequently to our library and enjoy evening walks on the greenway that goes through a nicely sized patch of prairie restoration. We will have "front row seats" to one of the biggest fireworks shows this weekend. According to our neighbors, our neighborhood buzzes with folks from all over town to see these fireworks since they shoot out from the largest city park nearby.

The neighbors are very friendly. Everyone has a dog (except us... which I'm hoping to change). We are doing much more in our house and yard and feeling like a "normal" summer. Can't complain! All I need is for that sense of routine to settle in.