a good (reading) problem to have

I had two books that had been on the library hold list forever finally come in today.  That's great news except the books are IQ84 (by Haruki Murakami) and 11/22/63: A Novel (by Stephen King) and they are both very long.  I love thick books but there's no way I can get them both read before the due date.  I'm sure someone else has a hold on them as well, so I can't renew.  And on top of that, I'm in the middle of The Night Circus (which I also had to wait a long time for) and my National Reading Group Month/Great Group Reads Selection Committee books are starting to arrive.  So much reading, so little time!

ziggy's choices for names/ziggy's first love

Ziggy and I have a game we play together on the iPad.  A couple weeks ago we hatched a pet phoenix and Ziggy chose to name it "Emily" which I'm pretty sure was after a friend who we had just visited with the same name.  A little bit of time after that we hatched a unicorn (I wouldn't think a unicorn would hatch, but whatevs) and he decided to name it "Goofy Goldie."

Mae is a young lady he met last year and he has yet to stop talking about her.  He wants to take her on dates, go for walks on the beach with her, and marry her.  Recently he told me he was going to marry Goldie, and I thought he had moved on from Mae, but I think I was wrong.  Since that day I asked him if Goldie and I were his girls and he grinned and said "yes."  I asked if anyone else was his girl and he replied, "Mae."

Today he came back from a quick trip with Esposo and showed me a weed that he needed to feed "his bird." (I can only assume he had named a bird he saw in the backyard earlier today.)  

"What bird?" I asked.

"Mae," he told me in the same tone as if he had said, "duh."

Oh Mae, you  don't even know how much of an impression you made on Ziggy.  Apparently, you're his sweet, little bird.

kaboom!

I made fruit kabobs for Ziggy as a snack.  He kept calling them "kabooms".  Ha!

Does anyone know of something I can use to make fruit kabobs that doesn't have a crazily sharp tip?  My skewers could wound someone!

stuff on sunday (my week in review)

Stuff I Wrote:


La Bella Stella Children's CD Review


Stuff I Read:


Pinterest's Updated Terms of Service


My Love Affair with Smoking, and Why We're Breaking Up


'Little Free Libraries' Hope For Lending Revolution


Stuff I Did:


Attended a super cool craft/beer/ladies' night put together by Old Made Good and Jackalope Brewery (post coming soon)


Ate an awful lot of hot pepper jelly and avocados.  Ham sandwich?  Put some hot pepper jelly on it!  Turkey sandwich?  Put some avocado on it!  Buttered toast?  Put some hot pepper jelly and avocado on it!


Went old school and wrote solely with pencils.  Well, mechanical pencils so not the oldest of schools.

love this quote

Simplicity allows the true character of our lives to show through.

-Duane Elgin

foodie friday: creamy fennel dressing

This week I made bubble pizza, taco stuffed shells, and Honduran pan de coco.  They were all big hits with the family and were very tasty.  All the recipes were found on Pinterest.  There was one other recipe I tried this week from Pinterest but it was only mediocre.  I will definitely make the bubble pizza, taco stuffed shells, and pan de coco again, but I've already planned some tweaking to make them even tastier (and a bit healthier).

Now on to the creamy fennel dressing...
My mom makes this though I'm not sure I do it exactly like she does.  She created it after liking the taste of fennel in a dressing that my aunt (my mom's sister-in-law) made.  Basically, it's a coleslaw dressing with fennel seeds.  I do not have any measurements, sorry!

I take some big scoops of mayonnaise and put them in a bowl.  You can also put the mayonnaise straight into the container you will be using for storage.  Then I add sugar to taste. I like it pretty sweet.  I believe you could also add a splash of vinegar (apple cider vinegar would be nice I think). I mix it up good and then add fennel seeds.  I like to run the fennel seeds between my hands a little because I feel like it opens up the fennel essence.  I think it's nice to set this in the fridge for a little bit to let the fennel taste really get in there.  I can only imagine how good this dressing would be with homemade mayonnaise.  I have been meaning to make mayonnaise.  I will have to get on that.

This is definitely a thicker dressing (at least it is for me, I will have to ask my mom if it's true for her as well) that you spoon drizzle over your salad instead of pouring.  Now just this week, I used agave instead of sugar and I really liked it.  It was still sweet, the taste was just as good as ever, and the dressing was a bit thinner which I liked.  Also, I feel that with the agave there is a bit less guilt because honestly, I could eat copious amounts of this dressing every day.

So basically, mayonnaise + sugar (or agave) + fennel seeds  = awesome.

annie's certified organic rising crust pizza (review & giveaway---3 winners)

Courtesy of annies.com

Annie's Homegrown Certified Organic Rising Crust Pizza is the newest member of the Annie's food family.  Available in Uncured Pepperoni, Supreme, Spinach & Mushroom, and Four Cheese, the pizzas feature meats with no added nitrates and nitrites* and 100% cheese made from milk from cows not treated with the growth hormone rBST.  The meats, along with the vegetables, are organic.  The 11.5 inch crust is naturally rising and has 8 grams of whole grains per serving.  The pizzas are available in the frozen aisle at Whole Foods.

My family enjoyed having a tasty and convenient dinner that didn't have a lot of the drawbacks of conventional convenience food.  Annie's Homegrown and Moms Meet provided me with a coupon to try a pizza and they are also going to provide three readers of Green Moon Rising with a coupon as well.  Enter below using the Rafflecopter form (my first Rafflecopter giveaway!).  You may need to click "Read More" in order to see the Rafflecopter form.

*except for naturally occurring nitrates in sea salt or celery juice powder.