Boo!

I should have put boo'hoo' on the pic... Caitie didn't want to pose for this pic. No big surprise there. ha

Midnight Melody

Thatching

That got your attention, didn't it? If you're familiar with preparing for winter grass, this term is probably familiar to you and wouldn't be an attention grabber. Either way, welcome to my post on thatching. Michael prepped the front and back yard for winter grass this last week; here's how it went...

A tasty, sugary, cool snack is a must for the camera person, that would be me, and homemade chocolate chip cookies and iced tea hit the spot. I was all set to go...

A lawnmower race is a must. Caitie is pushing her mower one-handed due to holding a chocolate chip cookie in the other hand. This girl knows how it's done.



She's still holdin' on to that cookie...

Yep, she's still got it...

Here's where the thatching comes in. The summer grass has gone a week without water and is now dry, or to put it another way, it's gone, bye, bye, dead... RIP summer grass. It takes a special blade to cut the top layer of dry grass(caitie decided to put one on her little mower as well), and once it's put on the lawnmower, the thatching begins. What this means is that this layer of dry grass will be removed and then put over the winter grass seeds; this will ensure that the winter grass gets a good, healthy start. After watering three times a day for two weeks, hopefully the winter grass will have come to life, if so, watering will be cut down to once every ten days or so. That will be nice come water bill time. I like to see the good in everything. ha



It got pretty dusty. I actually liked it... it reminded me of fog, and you know how I love fog. ha

I couldn't help it, I just had to get this shot. Look at those firm, toned, muscular biceps, triceps, and all the other iceps, and forearms, and ooohhh my... that there cute behind is quite appealing as well. My man is in good shape, yepsiree, in mighty good shape. *sigh* (did i just type that out loud?) ahem... moving on now...

Sittin' back, relaxin', watching daddy work on the yard; and yes, she's still workin' on that cookie.

This is the next day. Caitie is going to show us a pile of dry grass. (and yes, that's another chocolate chip cookie in her hand)



Tada! A pile of dry(dead) summer grass to jump into; it's the next best thing to a pile of autumn leaves. It's not as pretty, but it does the job.

Autumn Leaves and the Glowing Light

Caitie adorned the kitchen window with some autumn leaves and acorns made of gel. Yes, we're still decorating for the fall season around here; it's an ongoing project. This helps us forget it's still in the 90's at the end of October... sheesh... Where's the cool weather?!?

Trying to touch the glowing light. Seems magical, doesn't it? Actually, she's pointing at the autumn leaves she just placed on the kitchen window, and I happened to aim my camera just right and got the sun to give me that prism effect just where I wanted it. Doesn't seem as magical, but there you have it.

And this little piggy came home with me

She's a driver not a fighter

It probably looks like Caitie is shadowboxing here, but she's actually pretending to drive a car.

Slide Shots

A girl and her hog

More like a girl on a toy ATV and her little piggy; but you must admit, the title sounds pretty cool. (if you're not into biker lingo, you probably aren't getting this. ha) What inspired this post, you ask? You did ask, right? Well, I drove Michael over to his brother's house on Saturday to help in preparing to load a beat-up car onto a trailer to be taken to the Fair where it was demolished a few hours later(demolition derby fun). On the way, I took notice of many, many motorcycles parked in parking lots, and saw a few bikers on the road as well. I'm assuming there was some biker convention goin' on, or it was some kind of biker holiday? Dunno, but it gave me the idea of sharing these pics and creating this most interesting, but silly post. Aren't you glad it's biker (you fill in the blank ______) holiday/week? (and yes, she's outgrown that wee little green hog)

Parks Anonymous

It's never easy getting Caitie to leave the park; it doesn't matter which park we're at, she loves them all. I sometimes ask her if she wants to go home to see daddy, to try and get her to leave, but she says no, she wants to stay and play, and that's sayin' something, folks, because she's crazy about her daddy. I do believe my child is a park addict.

The return of the family dinner table

21st century style...

Remember how the family used to come together at the dinner table? That is now coming back thanks to modern advances in computer technology. You not only have great conversation(via chat program), but it's done in a nice and quiet atmosphere, except for the clickety, click, click, click of the keyboard(can't have everything). And there's more... You can watch a movie together with the click of a button; you can play games with the click of a button; you can surf the web with the click of a button... hmmm... not much different than sitting in front of the TV, is it? But hey, at least everyone is at the kitchen table, and that's what it's all about, right? That is what it's about, isn't it? Yes, I'm sure that's what it's about... I'll do a search on Google at dinnertime and get back with you on that...

Great Grandma Hawk's Enchilada Pie

Michael's grandmother, which is Caitie's great grandmother, that has passed on now, was a wonderful cook. She lived in a small house on a quarter acre of land in central Phoenix. It wasn't the best area of town to live in, and is even worse now, but in her little neighborhood, there were lawns of green grass, irrigation, chain-link fences, of which you could see the neighbors' yards, some had horses and chickens, it was really nice and a great place to visit. One of the things that stands out in my mind when I think back to our visits with Grandma Hawk, was taco night. She made the best tacos, and Michael and I still make them, and we still call it taco night. That recipe is coming soon. Here is another of her recipes, it's a quick and easy enchilada pie. Here is what you need:

Hamburger meat. The first time I made this enchilada pie, I used meat that was 80% lean and 20% fat. When I made it the second time, which is when I took these pics, I used meat that was 90% lean and 10% fat. The first pie had more flavor than the second one, so I would suggest using the meat with more fat in it; it may not be as healthy, but we're goin' after flavor here, not watching our weight(even though I should be. ha).

Seasonings: Kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and minced onion (measure to suit your taste)

Mild Enchilada Sauce (i don't remember the size. i can't tell in the pic and i don't have another can in the pantry at this time, but as you can see in the pic, it's the big can)

7 - 3/4 ounce can of El Pato Tomato Sauce (this is a mexican hot style sauce)

Chopped white onion

2 - 1/4 ounce can of sliced black olives

Mild cheddar and Monterey Jack shredded cheese (as much as you desire)

As you can see in the two pics below, I forgot to include the corn tortillas in the first pic, so my cute little model held them up for me, which is the second pic below. Don't forget the corn tortillas.





Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

It's best to use a large cast-iron skillet, but if you don't have one, any large skillet will do. Put some kosher salt in the bottom of the skillet as shown, and heat up the skillet, then add the hamburger meat. While it's browning, add all seasonings. I don't measure, so put however much you desire to suit your taste. Once the meat is done, set it aside and move on to the next step.





Combine the Enchilada Sauce and El Pato Sauce together in a bowl. I add the whole can of El Pato Sauce, but if you don't like your food spicy, you may want to add a small amount and taste it in order to get it to your liking; you may end up putting only half the can.



Here is my little helper; she's helping stir the two sauces together.



Spoon some of the combined sauces into the bottom of a casserole dish, enough to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. I used a 9x13 casserole dish.



It is now time to start layering: How much you put of each item per layer is up to you. Be sure to leave enough of the combined sauces to top it off, which I have found to be sparse towards the end. You may want to use more than one can each of the sauces; that's up to you.

Dunk a corn tortilla in the combined sauces then place it in the bottom of the casserole dish. Continue doing this until you cover the bottom of the dish. I used five tortillas to cover the bottom; four whole ones, and I split the last one in order to cover the two smaller areas of the dish where a whole tortilla wouldn't fit. (not a bad one-handed camera shot, eh? i took it with my left hand, which is pretty obvious, i guess. ha)





Add some of the hamburger meat on top of the tortillas.



Add some sliced black olives on top of the meat.



Add some chopped white onion on top of the meat and sliced black olives.



Add some shredded cheese on top of the meat, sliced black olives, and chopped onion.



Add some of the combined sauces on top of the meat, sliced black olives, chopped onion, and shredded cheese.



Then repeat all layers, starting with the tortillas dunked in the combined sauces, then the rest of the meat, some(or the remaining) sliced black olives, some chopped onion, some shredded cheese, and some of the combined sauces. The last layer depends on how much you have left of each item, but you should at least include the tortillas dunked in the combined sauces, shredded cheese, chopped white onion, and put the remaining combined sauces on top. You may want to use more than one can of each sauce when making this; both times I made it there wasn't much sauce left to go on top. This makes it a bit crunchy on top, which isn't too bad.

It is now ready to go in the preheated 350 degree oven. I think the first time I made it I put it in for 30 minutes, and the second time I put it in for 45 minutes. I think I prefer 30 minutes; but the main thing to watch for is it bubbling on top; once it's bubbling, it's done. It's good served with sour cream and homemade guacamole(another recipe coming soon).



Ding, Ding, Ding! Hot out of the oven... Come and get it!



You can make 'Caitie's Chocolate Candy Corn-Topped Cupcakes'(this recipe is the previous post) to have for dessert, and you're all set. Bon appétit! :)