See Ya Later SP

When I first started this blog, I decided to try and keep it separate from our working lives. Not sure why, who knows? But when it really comes down to it, our jobs are a big part of who both James and I are and the people we work with are not only our colleagues but also good friends. Today was a really sad day for me at work. It was my friend Sandy's (SP) last day on the job. It's all good news for Sandy, as he gets to start his day tomorrow as a happy (we hope) retiree, but for me and for our whole office - not to mention the entire GIS community in the state of Connecticut - it's going to be a big loss. Thank you Sandy for everything you've done to help me along the way. You've been an excellent teacher, mentor and friend! We will all really miss you. But this is not a goodbye, it's a see ya later gator! - CC

Celebrating SP's last day of work with lunch at the Blue Oar

SP helping me celebrate my 100th geocache find!

River Days

For those of you that are not very familiar with Connecticut, James and I live in a small town named Haddam, located in the central part of the state right on the Connecticut River. I grew up in here and somehow after coming and going for six years or so, I found myself back where I started.

Showing my Haddam Pride in a sweatshirt that's probably as old as I am

We had a strange spring here in Connecticut. It could be summed up in two words: soggy and cold. Now that we've officially made it to summer, the weather pattern is finally starting to come around. Despite a few severe thunderstorms, we actually saw sunshine and bathing suit weather this weekend! Summer days in Haddam can guarantee you one thing - plenty of people will be flocking to the river - and this weekend we joined the crowd!

Summit thinking, "is the rain ever going to end?"

Saturday afternoon we stopped by the Murphy "river shack" to celebrate one of my bffs mother's 60th birthday. It was a surprise party and boy was she surprised! Happy Birthday Ginny! We enjoyed good food, great company and some booming thunderstorms! They didn't last all afternoon though, and when the clouds parted we were treated to an amazing rainbow!

Sues, Kelly and I enjoying a rainbow over the river

James has been itching to get his boat out on the river. James is in love with his boat. The back story goes like this: two years ago I was away on a backpacking trip with my friend Nicole when I got a phone call from James telling me he just got "the greatest deal ever" on a boat. It only cost $200. Well, let me tell you, there's no such thing as a $200 boat. The thing was in bad shape. It needed work. It needed a serious cleaning! It needed some TLC. James was just the guy. I wish I had a "before" picture but I don't (I couldn't bring myself to take a picture at the time - I was just thinking "what did he get himself into?!"). Here's an "after" picture. The boat is a 16' circa late '60's beauty. She doesn't have an official name, but James and I call her "The Seatriever". Get it?

Here are some pictures from our afternoon on the river.

Summit riding shotgun

Bald Eagle Nest - can you see him in there? (it's kind of blurry)


I got to drive - watch out!

Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam


Exploring Selden Island


Had to get a swim in


Happy boaters!

Recipe Thursday - Eggplant Parmesan

James and I both love eggplant (and cheese). We have a few growing in our garden, but they still have a long way to go before they are ready to be harvested so I had to buy the eggplant this time around. I can't wait to try this recipe using fresh eggplant from our backyard!

Last week I came across this recipe on one of my most favorite recipe sites, Simply Recipes. If you enjoy cooking and are like me and need a recipe for everything, take a minute to look through some of the recipes on the site, there's lots of good stuff there! If I were to redo this one, I'd definitely allow the eggplant to drain for two hours like it tells you to. Being the impatient (and hungry!) person that I am, I didn't allow it to dry out enough and it resulted in a somewhat soupy end product (see photo on right). Oh well, it still tasted pretty yummy and it sure was cheeeeeesy! Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs (about 2 large) eggplants
• Kosher salt
• 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• Olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese
• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

Method

1 Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant, salting, until all eggplant is in the colander. Weigh down the slices with a couple of plates and let drain for 2 hours. The purpose of this step is to have the eggplant release some of its moisture before cooking.

2 While the eggplant is draining, prepare tomato sauce. Combine tomatoes, garlic and 1/3 cup olive oil in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to tasted and set aside.

3 When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, wipe off the excess salt, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine flour and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Pour beaten eggs into another wide shallow bowl. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and pour in a a half inch of olive oil. When oil is shimmering, dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg. Working in batches, slide coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a 10x15 inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves.

5 Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan.

6 Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

Father's Day Follow Up

I almost forgot to mention - my dad got another Father's Day present (though really he actually bought it himself so it doesn't qualify as a present and in reality it's going to be my moms but STILL)...a new car! And not just any new car...a hybrid! Maybe I'm rubbing off on him after all! Yay dad, way to be GREEN!

A Day With Our Dads

Happy Father's Day! Today we spent the day with our dads, Alan and Greg. The morning started early - a 6 AM wakeup to make the drive (in the rain) to Lake Compounce for a Father's Day 10K. Here's a picture of dad and I before the race and later in the day showing off our medals. We both had a good race, finishing first and second in our respective age groups. Great job dad!

Did you notice the tie? That was a gift from Summit, a tie covered with yellow labs! I told dad he should wear it for the wedding! His exact words were, "those aren't Summits on this tie, they look too well behaved". Oh well, we tried. Summit had a great visit at grandma and grandpa's today too - the dreary weather didn't keep her from taking a dip in the lake.

The second half of the day was spent at the Pulaski's. We had a yummy lunch complete with fresh veggies from their amazing garden. Check out the picture below. It only shows a small corner of it, but still, it makes our garden look sad and pathetic. I can't wait for another month or so when it's really blooming! Also notice the horses in the back pasture...oh, how I love ponies!

All in all, it was a great day! Happy Father's Day Dads!

-C & J

June 16, 1979

...is the day my big brother was born - exactly 30 years ago today! Yikes, Bung, you're making me feel old! Happy Birthday! Love you! xoxo, Snibs

Something's Brewing

Last Christmas, I got James a wine-making kit. The way these things work is that you select the type of grape concentrate you want (we picked a Cabernet Sauvignon) and the kit includes all the basic supplies you'll need to get started and a "simple" step-by-step guide on how to go from grape juice to delicious vino. Think chemistry experiment.

About a month later, we finally unpacked the kit. We quickly realized it might not be as simple as we thought it would be. There were all sorts of funny looking tools and gadgets: fermentor containers, hydrometer, thermometer, stopper and fermentation lock, corker, siphon hose and sterilizer. A trip to my Aunt Diana's Beer & Wine Makers Warehouse in Hartford for a quick lesson was just what we needed. As soon as we got home, James got right to work. Two months later, the wine was ready to be bottled.

Bottling the wine turned out to be really fun! Even Summit got in on the action.

So that was about a month ago. Tonight we opened our first bottle...it didn't last long! It may not be quite as good as a Napa Valley Cab Sav, but the true test was met - by the end of dinner the bottle was empty and I was suffering from motor mouth and involuntary outbursts of song and dance (which James just loves!). All in all, we'd call it a success. Can't wait for round two! Did we mention we're making the wine for our wedding?! Yay!

Family of Three

Hi and welcome to our little corner of the Internet! We are a family of three living a small town life in a small town in New England. This blog was originally created to document the process of planning our DIY wedding (which you can read about here) but has turned into a blog about every day life and our newest DIY project - building a green home! Thanks for stopping by and please come back often.

Here are a few things you might like to know about us:

Cary likes: original people, avocados, polar bears, running, art in all forms, animals, indie music, costume jewelry, old barns, vegetarians, maps, sewing machines, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and NPR.

James likes: machine tools, sushi, vintage jeeps, gears, garages, dirty jeans, RC airplanes, coffee, tinkering, bicycles, Pawn Stars and microbrews.

Summit likes: dock jumping, eating, air licking, eating, romper room, eating, sleeping in bed with mom, treats, snowball fights, eating and squirrels.

And we all like the view from our future home...

Just in case there aren't enough blogs out there...

... consider me officially on the bandwagon. I resisted for a long time, mainly because the thought of coming up with a creative blog name was enough to keep me up at night (in the end I'm not sure I picked a "cool" one anyway), but also because I'm not convinced I have the time required to keep this thing going - not to mention that our ordinary life likely isn't interesting enough to maintain a loyal audience! Still, I figured this would be a good way for me to document the craziness that will be our life for the next three months as we prepare frantically for our wedding and thereafter as we settle happily into wedded bliss (it is bliss, right?). At this point though, with the impending wedding to-do list looming over our heads, I'm not even sure I'll make it to a second post! Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned!

- Cary (& James & Summit - but be prepared to mostly hear from me =) )