Cooking up a storm

   Today one of my generous coworkers, David H, brought me a bag of tomatoes and fresh herbs from his garden. Though I'd intended to spend a quiet evening recovering from Roatan (read: zonking out on the couch), it inspired me to cook a big meal: marinara and spaghetti squash, and roast chicken and vegetables. Yum! So lucky to have such awesome friends. :)

   I forgot to add roasted red pepper to the label, but you can taste it for sure. And the cayenne and red pepper flakes too. I made up the recipe, but it is my best batch of sauce yet! Here's what I did:

- chop the ripe tomatoes and sauté them with olive oil and garlic

- roast carrots with a little olive oil

- separately (they cook faster), roast the red pepper, onion, and garlic 

- when veggies are roasted to carmelized perfection, throw them in the food processor until smooth. Blend with sautéed tomatoes.

- add a can of tomato sauce to thicken 

- add fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, and sage

- stir over low heat as the spaghetti squash roasts (45 min at 425 degrees)

   Eat and enjoy!

   The chicken was adapted from this classic Ina Garten recipe: http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/21404 . It's as good as it claims to be, or better. Which is good, because with these quantities, I will be eating this meal for days!

Funny-slash-weird

   Today was one of those days where I needed a laugh. I had a long day at work, and then a meeting that lasted until almost ten. By the time I got home, I had been done 14 hours, missed a happy hour with friends, and was starving. So I started heating up leftovers.
   When I walked over to the sink to wash my hands, I noticed something sticking out of the disposal on the other side of the sink. Which was odd, because nearly 100% of my food waste goes into the compost bin. My first thought was that I had absent-mindedly shoved some celery remnants in there while I was making soup.
   Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a SPROUT that was GROWING out of my disposal! Of course it totally grossed me out initially, as I was thinking it was a fungus. Ugh! So I bravely reached my hand down there and pulled out... a large handful of PUMPKIN seeds that must have been washed down there when Dave & I carved pumpkins 3 weeks ago, each with a 6-8" sprout!

   So if you need a pumpkin for Halloween next year, feel free to stop by. I'm growing them inside of my sink.

Bittersweet Farm: There & Back

   The drive out to Osawatomie was really pretty once I got outside of Olathe and there was more and more green space, rolling hills and fields full of vibrant plants and flowers...

   Then once at Bittersweet Farm, the view got even better... the incredible zinnia garden was the first thing I passed as I pulled into the driveway. I'll bet the bees love this!

   Then when I was leaving at the end of the day, I passed a pasture along 169 North and saw some cool-looking cows right along the fence line. I turned my car around and headed back, and got a couple of nice shots before these ladies became suspicious of the tiny woman with the camera and high-tailed it back toward their barn.

Powell gardens + lots of butterflies 1

   This morning, after observing a large slug leaving slime all over my patio door, Kelly & I headed out to the butterfly exhibit at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, MO, about 30 minutes east of KC.

This tiger swallowtail had recently emerged from its chrysalis and its wings were still drying:

The caterpillars were well-camouflaged:

The gardens themselves were as striking as the butterflies!

We saw only two of the moths; here is a Luna:

Having a drink:

Tiny baby caterpillars:

The larger version of the caterpillars above:

A tiger swallowtail caterpillar:

Look at all those cute lil' feet!

This buckeye landed on the ground right in front of us as we were leaving:

On a related note, check out these paintings by local artist Bill Howe!

Powell gardens + lots of butterflies 2

   Moving into the second, indoor room of the butterfly exhibit, we were greeted with a dense & beautiful garden filled with orchids of all sizes & varieties:

   Butterflies were everywhere! Some were easy to spot, but you were often rewarded for standing still & looking carefully:

Sometimes you just had to look down:

There was a large case filled with hanging chrysalides (yes, I had to look up the plural form):

More exotic plants:

   And the crown jewel of the collection, the blue morpho. But wait, this guy is so drab. Why do they call it that?

   Aha! The morphos were very large & fluttered gently but swiftly around the room, grazing everyone's heads. When they landed they closed their wings immediately, making them tough to photograph with that brilliant cyan showing:

Apparently they like to eat bananas, which were tucked all over the room.

Powell Gardens: Big Bugs & beautiful birds!

   Walking out of the main building of Powell Gardens, we encountered a giant daddy longlegs made of wood by artist Dave Rogers (here through October 3):

And up on the hill were a trio of giant ants:

   In the woods a giant spider was hiding. There were also dragonflies, damselflies, an assassin bug, grasshopper, praying mantis & ladybug.

The lilypond was in full bloom, and dragonflies buzzed about:

The gardens were teeming with a great variety of flowers & plants:

   But our favorite part of the whole trip was watching this goldfinch that Kelly spotted. He was happily pulling seeds out of these coneflower, and allowed us to get within a few feet! I have thistle feeders in my backyard, but have not seen a single finch since I installed the privacy fence. I think it made my yard feel too closed off for the birds to feel secure, because prior to the fence, I had several finches that came around.