fried green tomatoes

Well, it used to be one of my favorite movies and now it is a favorite food. We have an abundance of tomatoes right now, and a few green ones fall off the vine every now and again so I decided to try my hand at some fried goodness.

And oh goodness are they good! I've made them three times already! They're just pan fried after dredged in egg, flour, egg again and italian bread crumbs. After one side is golden I sprinkle them with garlic salt. But the best part is the dipping sauce. I used this recipe from The Neelys. (sort of modified depending on what I actually have in the house when I make it.)

Twanda!

Sara Groves: Invisible Empires!

Well, sometimes I just turn into her biggest fan. And here I go again. We had a listening party a month ago to hear this new album and just yesterday Rory came home from a brother's breakfast with our own copy. We've listened to the whole thing six times now. Because it's that good.

The album doesn't release until October sometime...but I wanted to get the word out about her CD Release Concert for those of you twin cities folk. Tickets are on sale now, and I guess I just really think you should go. Sara is a storyteller more than anything else, and a CD release concert is full of the stories behind the songs. And there are some really good stories within these songs.

So the details!
The Release Concert is at Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove on October 1st at 7:30.
Line up your babysitters now! :)

You can order your tickets by calling 877-840-0457 or else you can click here to order online.

If you're not in the Twin Cities, check out her concerts page for her future shows this fall and Christmas. They have shows in MD, NC, TN, FL, WA, WI, ND, CA

And I just found this interview with Sara talking about the new album. Enjoy!

before you head out to the fair!

I've said it before (in 2009) and then I said it again (in 2010). And now I'll say it another time. I adore the Minnesota State Fair. Love it. I went last night to arrange flowers with my mom and it was great, though I was glad we decided to leave Ivar at home with Rory at the last minute. It was a bit hot and I watched enough kids have meltdowns that I felt good about having my little boy at home.

This is just a quick post to let you know I found a new fair favorite. I've always loved the fruit stand, but I cannot even tell you how good the peaches are this year. They're enormous and are the kind of juicy that has you slurping your fruit from the very first bite. At $3 they're probably the cheapest thing you'll find to eat. And it's the best $3 you'll spend.

Unless, of course, you're excited about the new chocolate covered jalapenos. I was in this line getting a lemonade for my mom and these babies were popular! But I think they were underwhelming. It was a raw jalapeno dipped in melted chocolate. And the chocolate was still saucy. One guy took a bite next to me and said, "well, it tastes like a pepper dipped in chocolate."

For those of you going to the fair in the next few days, the Fruit Stand is between the Horticultural building and the International Bizarre and looks like this:

And my mom swears by the World Famous Coconut Macaroons. I'm bummed I didn't get them!

Toonces is rescued!!!

(moving from Montana back to Minnesota)

The short version of this story: Yesterday, I woke up and started crying. Hard. So sad to say goodbye to a cat that has moved with us to Montana, Nebraska, Alexandria and back to Minneapolis. He's been a faithful family mascot and we love him so much. So I cried. The ugly cry. The cry that has you staring at yourself in the bathroom mirror as you cry because you feel that sorry for yourself.

The morning moved along slowly. I filled out all of the paper work telling Toonces' next owners the important stuff like, "he loves water dripped on his back" and "he loves tiny wax paper balls to bat around on the hardwood floors." I ugly cried some more.

It was time to take him to the Humane Society, so we got his crate out. I loaded the diaper bag in the car and the paperwork. I was going in to get Ivar and told Rory we should call our next door neighbor to see if she wanted to say goodbye. I dialed, but then started crying too hard and handed the phone to Rory.

Our neighbor picked up and she and Rory discussed a new plan. You see, there are really only two other people in the whole wide world who love Toonces like we do. Alison our neighbor here in Minneapolis and Joan, our neighbor in Nebraska. (Both read this blog! Hi Ladies!) The rest of the world doesn't really care for our fat, shedding, vocal cat. But these two ladies do.

It's okay that others don't love Toonces. We wouldn't expect them to. We don't love other people's pets with the same love that we love Toonces, so it's okay.

But Alison loves Toonces. She really does and we can feel it. Sadly, her cat is ill and quite old for a cat, and she discussed with Rory that when her cat passes on, she would for real love to take Toonces. For real.

And that changed everything. Because our deadline was arbitrary. Obviously if we had been putting up with Toonces for 9 months, we can handle him a bit longer. We don't know if we'll have Toonces for another year or just another month. But just knowing that there is a loving lady who is ready to love and care for him made this whole story turn into a happy ending.

Not only that, we spent the day yesterday cleaning out a storage room in the basement and put all of Toonces things in there: food, litterbox, bed, pillows... There is a window and a high ledge and a shelf to sit on. And last night we put him in his new room and we could not hear a thing upstairs! Not a thing! He was meowing, but we couldn't hear him.

And the happiest ending to this story? Guess who slept through the night last night...11 hours?

Ivar Nicholas Groves.

Toonces needs a new home

Well, this is a sad post. And sort of a desperate plea, too. We have to find a new home for our beloved cat, Toonces. Over the last year he has developed a period of time in the morning and evening when he gets really vocal. He meows loudly wanting attention and if we don't give it to him immediately, he wakes Ivar up. Every time.

We've been putting this fact off since the day Ivar was born, trying to quiet him every possible way, but at some point the baby's sleep has to take priority.

It's so sad for us. Toonces is a snugly cat, loves to be brushed, so affectionate, fantastic with Ivar, and 95% of the time quietly looks out the window. It's that other 5% of the time that just doesn't work with a baby.

If we had a house that had a room where he could be kept at night, allowing us all to sleep in peace, this would be no problem. And, if we didn't have Ivar it wouldn't be that big of a deal either. All he wants is some love and affection. But that is harder to give with a little baby crawling around.
People who know Toonces (and love cats) love him. He's a people cat, loves chasing little wax paper balls, and likes to eat... which means there is a lot of him to love!

Anyway, if you or anyone you know is looking for a declawed, fully immunized, free cat and would make for a good loving home for Toonces, let me know. I'd be so relieved to know where he is going. Otherwise, he has an appointment on Wednesday with the Humane Society where they'll evaluate if they can keep him until he finds a new family.

Can't tell you how heavy my heart is and how sad I am. It's a terrible feeling to have to give your own pet away.