The Return of the Black Hammer Cowboy

I think these pictures speak for themselves :)

~Becky

Carrot Cheesecake Bars

I can't believe how good these bars (with a graham cracker crust) turned out. I don't really think the picture does it justice- its not perfect, I don't think those cracks are supposed to be there;but it smells like cinnamon and looks like a creamy, fluffy cheesecake. Now it has to set for four hours, and I swear, there had better be some left in the morning. I'm not kidding, there had better be some left, and Trav really could eat the whole thing (his mother can vouch for me, and is probably the only other person that can really appreciate how much it takes to feed that guy, and she did it way longer than me AND while he was a teenage boy). IF there is some left (and there had better be), I'm eating some for breakfast. Its got carrots in it, so it has to be healthy, right? (Just like how zucchini chocolate cake is healthy, 'cause its got zucchini in it.)

~Becky

*recipe is from Kraft Foods (http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/carrot-cheesecake-bars-115437.aspx)

I said, "Sounds like a lot of work." He said, "Sounds like a lot of Fun!"

It was so beautiful today, I didn't have the heart to make Trav stay inside to work on the bathroom - as if I could have stopped him from getting out his tiller (his Christmas present from his dad). I took a bunch of pictures to try to get a good one, and I swear he is grinning in every single one. He just got a good 'ole dose of Vitamin D today (and is currently snoozing on the couch behind me while I type this, big smile on his face).

We dug out all of the carrots and a few parsnips. (We ate parsnips for supper with steak and peas from last year, and oh man! Plus I have a roast full of carrots going right now.)
Beautiful, beautiful carrots...
Trav and one of his big turnips...
Liz and Brad should have stuck around- we got all kinds of goodies today. And Trav planted a whole ton of peas and a few radishes. Its difficult to imagine, after a sunshine filled day like today, that our hard workin' garden gnome looked like this, just a week and a half ago. I almost brought the poor fellow inside back then (which maybe I should have done, because not all of the onion seeds came up). But he was waiting patiently (or impatiently if I am perhaps figuratively talking about Trav) for Spring thaw.
It was such a good day, even my bread turned out. Yay for the sunshine!
Good Night! (I know we'll be sleeping good...)
~Becky

My silly ideas and wandering feet

Hey y'all!

This will just be a quick one, I've got to get to bed so I can catch a train at 8 AM tomorrow (to Pisa!!). I have a quick story from a while back that will probably make you laugh . . .

The weather was finally nice one day in February and I had a bad case of Spring fever (as I'm sure you all can relate to) so I decided to walk to Assisi - it used to be a common city to walk to . . . back in the day. Anyways, I gathered my things - a sandwich of cheese and prosciutto cotto, a bar of chocolate and some crackers (notice that I did NOT say water) - and headed out of town.

The picture above was my first real look at Perugia from afar. The day was beautiful, perfect for a walk, and the traffic wasn't too bad (although italians are kind-of crazy drivers). I walked trough several little towns and, for some unknown reason, saw not a soul. I think it is because I walked through them during la pausa, a 4 hour break stores and people take every day from 12 until 4. It makes shopping a bit of a hassle because you have to shop on the stores' time, but it is a lovely idea.

Above, a sign that shows I was kilometers from nowhere! The walk was relaxing and I thought I was making good time. I stopped in a little town, San Ponte San Giovanni, I think, to buy a bottle of water and drank it in a little park where some young boys were practicing soccer. After a quick lunch I headed back on the road and really got myself in the middle of nowhere.

Some chickens I saw along the way.

This is road I ended up on. i wasn't sure if it was someone's drive-way or a road so I just kept walking. I ended up peeing in some brush alongside it before I started climbing the hill in front of me. By this time I also noticed that the sun was about to set and that I was only about half-way to Assisi.

I finally got to the top of the huge hill and saw Assisi a loooooooong ways away. I admit that my initial idea of walking there wasn't the smartest, but I wasn't silly enough to keep going with the sun nearly set so I made my way to the next macelleria (butcher shop) to ask about the bus schedule. The woman there must have thought I looked half-starved because she gave me the information and then a big pile of meat. Amazing meat. Fatto a casa (made in house) meat. I was exhausted so I hung out there for over an hour and chatted a bit with the kind woman and the jolly owner of the place who arrived a bit later and showed me lots of dead pig parts, including a pig head cut neatly in half! I finally made my way to the bus stop at the correct time - full of meat, warm and with an extra package of pancetta (kind-of bacon but WAY better) and coppa (a gelatinous type meat mixture made of everything but the squeal, quite literally) - only to have a bus whiz past me. Nearly crying (because by now it was dark) I decided to wait 10 minutes more. Luckily I did because another bus came and carried my weary self back to Perugia (note: it had taken me 4 hours to make it roughly 13 km, it took the bus 15 minutes).

And that is my silly story! Pictures of food and Ferrara (the city of bicycles) to come . . .