Tax Time Saturday
8:58 a.m. - 2009-03-28


I need to get some potting soil. The spouse was supposed to get some last weekend, but various work-related dramas interrupted his weekend, and he forgot. I have to start the seedlings. The spouse says that he heard that the water board is going to average your usage for the two prior years (not counting 2008 when everyone was supposed to be voluntarily conserving, which is really nice of the water folks) so it is looking better for our vegetable garden this year.

We had a mini-luncheon at the women's group at church this week, and I made my mother-in-law's 'Garbanzas'. This is a recipe for marinated ceci beans that she often served at family gatherings. I coveted the recipe for years and finally was rewarded with a copy. This time I threw in a few tablespoons of dried-tomato pesto to the marinade, and it was really delicious. All the ladies asked for the recipe so I had to give them a verbal recitation. I made a huge batch so have been eating it for lunch this week.

The spouse and I have been taking walks every day, and it is having a good effect. He had been having trouble waking up at night and not being able to go back to sleep, but the walking is helping and he has had several nights of good rest. Tax time is bad enough without going through it half dead from fatigue.

Our neighbors travel a lot and ask us to watch their house for them and pick up the mail, etc. They usually bring us a little thank-you gift when they return, but this time they brought something really great. They had been to Alaska and brought me an Eskimo cutting knife with a cutting board with a circular depression in it like a cutting bowl. It really works great and is just the thing for a quick chop of nuts for baking, and it keeps the nuts or celery or whatever from flying all over the counter. The blade is fairly lethal looking, but fortunately for me, there is a slit in the top of the cutting board that the blade fits into for safe storage.

I just finished a really good book called Summer Island by Kristin Hannah. I was a little put off by the blurb on the cover, but tried it anyway, and it was very enjoyable. I have several other books by the same author out of the library so I am trying the next one now. I didn't have the same luck with the DVDs I checked out, since they were all dumb except for Checking Out with Peter Falk which I liked.

I have to start thinking about Easter dinner and what I can make. I have some zucchinis in the freezer that can be turned into a casserole, and a lot of corn that can be corn pudding. I think one of the girls is going to make flan for dessert, and that will be delicious. Melissa is talking about making pot roast since she is not a fan of the ubiquitous ham.