Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings

My grandson, Mikey, is 2 years old today. He used to be Baby Mikey until younger brother, Liam, joined the family. Mikey had his first of a series of 2nd birthday celebration last Saturday. The party had a Yo Gabba Gabba theme. (He loves that show... I did not even know what that was until Mikey took a liking, no loving to it!)

Mikey's Saturday in pictures:

After a quick wardrobe change (due to chocolate) ... he decided it was nap time... Good thing most of his guests had left already. :)

It did not matter where. Naptime was going to happen... on the floor until Grandma moved him to a bed.

Exhausted... unitl the next party comes along!

I wasn't sure I had anything on flags until I remembered a previous post. So here is a recycling of photo today. This is the flag of the Philippines - my home country which I will be visiting in August... well, I will be visiting my Mom who decided to go home after 25 years residency in California. This flag was flying high on a side of a building in San Francisco which I noticed during one of my visits there.

Another version of the Philippines flag is on this umbrella I found at a Multicultural Education Conference. Interesting, ok functional too.

I did not realize that packing up a classroom was really stressful. I am finally done with all the boxes, tapes, labels, etc. In the process my classroom looked like a crime scene with signs of struggle!

I started out sorting, throwing out, weeding so to speak, and ambitiously organizing all that I have accumulated. I had one day to pack everything - one day from the last day of school. Moving day was to come faster than my packing speed! I simply could not do all the packing - singlehandedly - in one day, so I was glad when the movers were a day late.

I started labeling in the beginning, but when "tired" sat in I did not want to organize so I just dumped stuff into packing boxes.... My colleague reminded me to label all the boxes.... I told him that I was no longer doing that because I was too embarrassed to label the boxes "CRAP"... LOL.

In the end, I had 81 boxes! Yes, 81! I went back to visit the next day. Moving day, my classroom -

Continue reading "Phew, so much for the boxes, tapes, labels, etc..." »

I am late in making this for the Sunday Salad Samplers but so thankful to Cindy for sharing this recipe. When I first read the post I questioned the "Grilled Romaine" part but wanted to try it out and so glad that I did. Delicious!

GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD Serves 4
2 heads romaine lettuce
Extra-virgin olive oil
Citrus Caesar Vinaigrette, recipe below
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Chopped tomatoes
Homemade croutons, if desired

Preheat grill to med-high.
Rinse and pat dry the lettuce. Cut the 2 heads in half lengthwise. Brush surface wtih olive oil and grill about 4 to 5 minutes total, turning occasionally. Place each wedge on a salad plate and drizzle with Citrus Caesar Vinaigrette. With a vegetable peeler, shave some pieces from a wedge of Reggiano-Parmigiano over each salad. Top with chopped tomatoes and homemade croutons and serve.

CITRUS CAESAR VINAIGRETTE
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons anchovy paste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Place all ingredients in a pint jar with a lid. Secure the lid, then shake to blend. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

I skipped the achovy paste... Grilled Romaine was enough adventure... :) Seriously, Cindy, this was delicious!!! Thanks again.

This week Salad Samplers featured Jan's Shrimp Salad.

Shrimp Salad

1 pound extra large shrimp (16-20)fresh, wild if you can find them.
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
¼ cup mayo
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, tarragon or parsley.
1 large stalk celery chopped
¼ large red pepper chopped
salt and pepper

Steam the shrimp for about 5 minutes in water with Old Bay.
When cool enough to handle, remove shells and chop into about 5 or 6
pieces per shrimp.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Toss in the chopped shrimp and chill.

Serve over a bed of lettuce of your choice.

I had some large shrimp in the freezer so I used those. I did not have any of the Old Bay seasoning, so I used some herbes de Provence seasoning instead. I was at Trader Joes and did not find any of the Old Bay seasoning there. The TJ staff member who was helping me had no idea what I was looking for. :)

Since my shrimp were frozen and large I steamed them for a little longer than 5 minutes.

I also substituted the Dijon mustard with Mendocino mustard. Other than these two substitutions, I used every other ingredient per Jan's recipe.

We had this for dinner with baguette and some brie and some wine.

My daughter commented that this was the first salad recipe that was not huge. We both loved this.... and wishing there was more to share with others.... because we loved it.

Jan, great salad. Thank you for sharing.