iPhone Home

Finally! Our new iPhones have arrived.

James and I have been considering getting iPhones for some time now. We hesitated because it meant switching carriers and we hesitated because, well...is it really necessary? When the new iPhone 4 was announced this spring, we decided we had enough of the waiting and jumped on the bandwagon. We put money aside and started an iPhone fund with the monies raised from our tag sale. After several more weeks of waiting for it to be released and a few headaches last week surviving the "pre-order" process (these folks weren't as lucky - they should have pre-ordered!), our phones were shipped to us yesterday. They sure are pretty and really easy to use. Here's a few pics from last night (sorry for the poor picture quality) - suffice it to say we were up way past our bedtime playing with our new toys!

Garden Goodness

Here are a few snapshots of our young backyard garden. So far we've only harvested lettuce and rhubarb but our tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, herbs and blueberries are coming along nicely and should be maturing in the next few weeks. This year's garden is leaps and bounds better than last year's effort. If you were anywhere near the Northeast last spring I bet all you can remember is week after week of rain. Our sad little garden didn't stand a chance. Thankfully this spring has been darn near perfect. There's nothing better than checking in each day to see how our little plants are growing and eating veggies for dinner that you know you grew all by yourself. Maybe my thumbs are a little green afterall!

Finally, here's a delicious dessert recipe in honor of our first rhubarb cut of the year. This is a MUST try, I promise, you'll love it!!

Rhubarb Streusel Bars

Ingredients

· 1-1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

· 1 cup all-purpose flour

· 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

· 3/4 cup butter

· 1/4 cup granulated sugar

· 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

· 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

· 2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened sliced rhubarb

· 1 recipe Ginger Icing (see recipe)

· 1 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8x8x2-inch baking pan with heavy foil extended beyond pan edges.

2. In large bowl stir together oats, the 1 cup flour, and brown sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1 cup oats mixture. Press remaining on bottom of prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl stir together granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and ground ginger. Add rhubarb; toss to coat. Spread on hot crust. Sprinkle reserved oats mixture; press lightly.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until top is golden and filling is bubbly. Cool on rack. Drizzle icing, sprinkle crystallized ginger. Lift from pan; cut into bars. Store, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days. Makes 16 bars.

Ginger Icing: In small bowl stir together 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and 3 to 4 teaspoons apricot nectar, orange juice, or milk.

Full Circle

A few months ago I blogged about my brother and his family and how excited we were that they had decided to move back to the Northeast. Check out that old post here. The idea at the time was that they were going to be hanging out in Connecticut for a few months until they could sell their house in Texas and then move to the D.C. area where Curt is now based out of for work. Curt could commute easily to work because he's a commercial pilot. His "drive" in is only about an hour or so from CT to D.C.

Well, what was to be just a temporary layover has now become a permanent grounding! Plans changed and Curt and Mandy have decided to stay in Connecticut long term. So last weekend we helped them move into their new old house. What do I mean by new old house? Well, the house they moved into was the house that my brother and I grew up in...our old house. Our parents no longer live there, but they have held on to the property until they figured out the right plan for it. Curt and Mandy fit that plan perfectly. It's a beautiful house on a beautiful piece of land and being in it again last weekend really brought back old memories.

A view from the front and back of the "house on a hill"

The best view of all - the farm!

Curt, you've come full circle. Congratulations on your new digs! We're so happy to have you and Mandy and the kiddos back in town again and we're looking forward to sharing the neighborhood (literally - but I'll blog more on that later!).

"Hi, I'm a Mac"

A month or so ago, I got a new Mac. I've always been a PC person so this was a whole new world for me. My job keeps me pretty geeky and some of the software I use is PC-based, however there are now magical tricks that can be used to run Windows and PC-based programs on a Mac. I won't go there in this post, but suffice it to say I'm in love with my new computer and feeling just a tad less geeky now that I'm in the cool kids club.

Anyway, here's my first foray into iMovie, Apple's super easy to use video making software. I used photos and clips from our 200 mile race, but now that I know how to use iPhoto, I can think of about a half dozen or so movies I could make (a honeymoon montage will be the first to come!). Enjoy!