Saturday, February 14, 2009

Paula's Fresh Garden Salsa



Mike makes the bins and Paula makes the Salsa,

and boy is it GOOD!



1.5 lbs fresh tomatoes, whole
1 Jalapeno
1/2 yellow or white onion
2 inches off the top of a bunch of green onions
1 loose handful of cilantro
4 cloves of garlic
3/4 teaspoon of salt
lime juice to taste (Paula recommends about half a fresh lime)


Pour all contents in a food processor or blender and pulse until mixed


Enjoy!

Veggie Bins, Easy Arizona Gardening




It started with salsa. You can't live in the Southwest without good salsa. It's pretty much imperative. What else are you going to eat while you sip margarita's, and drink Mexican beer? Sure you can buy it, but nothing beats homemade. The trouble? Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes!


Some of you out there might be old enough to remember, or have had the privilege in your young lives to smell and taste the juicy goodness of a REAL tomato. No wonder nobody wants to eat their veggies! Fruits and Vegetables available in the store have been bred to transport well and look perfect, not for taste or nutrients. Because our produce is picked well before it's really ripe, we can be missing up to 50% of the nutrition we would get if we had stepped out back and picked it ourselves.

But gardening in Arizona? SCARY! The dirt is hard, soil and drainage poor, and all those critters! So while on the path to growing salsa with his sweet family, my friend Mike, who is very creative and excellent with design work came up with the veggie bin concept.







Some of the things my friends have successfully grown:


  • Jalapenos



  • Cantaloupe



  • Tomatoes



  • Basil



  • Cilantro



  • Zucchini



  • Blueberries



  • Strawberries

Mike's bins are galvanized metal with steel mesh on the bottom, and come in a variety of sizes. He runs drip irrigation and covers the bins with a framework of netting to protect his harvest from the birds. After the bins are set up all you need to do is plant and harvest! You don't even have to bend over! Those I know who are using his system have been very successful with their gardens. There is no limit to what you can grow!







To learn more about Veggie Bins contact Mike Nelson veggiebins@hotmail.com







Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Singing and Dancing and Finding the Music Again



I'm a child of the 70's! I rocked Sesame Street fever, "doing the Pigeon everyday!", shaking my beak along with Bert and Bernice. The sea of orange Shag carpet was my dance floor, my disco ball, a flashlight my mother shook (often from behind a chair! Bless her Heart!). Mickey Mouse Disco and Meco Wizard of Oz, also had the effect of sending my 8 year old self spinning madly across the floor. Those were the days, when it was all about a Macho duck and there was that great song about YMCA camp. I just couldn't understand when it wasn't like they promised in the song!

In college I came to own a pair of white high heeled clogs that had the ability to magically transport me back to the 70's. Do you have any shoes like that? Shoes that take you somewhere? I wish I had kept them for posterity, and for when I am feeling too old for my own good.

The other night I watched Mamma Mia, for the first time. I know, I am way behind, right? Of course it was silly, or course it was ridiculous, and I kept wondering if Meryl Streep was maybe a little too old in that role, BUT, the way it made me feel! ALIVE! Alone in the living room, my family in bed, I found myself dancing into kitchen for a drink, and days later I am still singing! If only I could remember the words!


Sometimes in this serious world, we completely loose track of our younger selves. It becomes all about the day, getting work done, straitening the house, getting the homework done and wrestling the kids into bed. Sometimes we loose the music for a while. So find your shoes, that special pair that takes you somewhere, turn up the music that made you sing, and dance a little. Nobody's watching!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

When my children were still in strollers, I had a group of mommies’ I used to walk with. As the years have passed several have moved, some of us work, and life just seems different now that we are in the elementry years. When my oldest was just a baby I would walk with my friend Shelly. She has a daughter a week older than my Arden. We would walk in afternoon and then sometimes have wine at her house, or meet for play dates (how much do one year-olds play?), or coffee and pie after the kids were in bed. Then there were potlucks and 4th of July’s and Birthday Parties. It was such a sweet, simple and innocent time, before I learned to worry, before I was the mother of two.

After Shelly moved, I had Pierson and Angie had her boys, we would walk together. And then we were joined by Shannon and Christie and Liz. Again there were dinners and casual gatherings, and a whole house of sippy cups, diaper bags, and little snacks. And we would marvel to ourselves at the women amongst us, with the younger children, and think how next year their worlds would be so different. How before long they would actually get to talk and visit and not be so vigilant.

Now that my kids are bigger and busier and really stinking heavy to push, this kind of walking girl time dosen’t really work anymore. But there is a whole new crop of babies in the neighborhood, and a whole new set of cute mommy’s experiencing motherhood for the first time. Every time I see them walking down the street two by two, pushing their little charges, it makes me smile and remember when.


.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

J








Just a great kitchen! Uploaded to HGTV's Rate my Space by VintageKitchen, I found it and downloaded it months ago for inspiration. I just LOVE it!!! You can find great decorating inspiration at http://www.roomzaar.com




Sunday, February 1, 2009

2009 Forecast Summary

In celebration of National Commercial Day, I mean, Super Bowl Sunday, I am posting one of my favorite Realtor commercials. (didn't work, I'll try later - bummer!) You may have seen it. It's cute and the message is good.

Lovers of all things negative and dramatic, the national media often paints a dire picture. While that may be the case in some markets, there is a lot to be optimistic about in Tucson. These are a few points I brought home from Rosey Koberlein's (CEO Long Realty) talk at the Tucson Association of Realtors 2009 forecast meeting.


  • Homes Will Sell! Buyers will buy, Sellers will sell!

  • Low interest rates....for now

  • Low interest rates plus price decline equals housing affordability

  • Pima county has a positive growth factor

  • Potential housing shortage based on frustrated sellers pulling out of the market, foreclosures, and lack of new builds

  • Bargain hunters are back

  • Pent up buying frustration: local residents and winter visitors: people have been waiting and waiting.

  • January Burst in Tucson properties under contract (numbers from first two weeks)

  • Power shift in Washington "Hope Brings Confidence"

It was the house




When I met my husband Rob, he said "You have to help me find a house". He was living with his brothers, in a home his grandmother owned. I thought "yeah right, you need my help?". I was brand new in Real Estate and his mother and his sister had each been in the business over 20 years! What a come on! Then he said, "I wouldn't buy anything you didn't like". Well, I must admit I was hooked. A house! I have dreamt of my own home since I was a child. In elementary I planned imaginary neighborhood events. In high school, I clipped rooms out of decorator magazines, and pasted them in my journal. In the back of my head I thought, "maybe someday I will live there." So in the summer of 1999 we looked and looked and looked. Finally I found what I felt to be the perfect home for him. Truthfully, I wasn't in love with just him! There was something about that house! Then the exchange went something like this:
"I am not going to buy the house unless your name is on it too." - Rob
"I am not going to live with you unless we are married." - Me
"Maybe we should get married." - Rob
That was how the house on Indian Ridge and my husband Rob caught me.
I couldn't be luckier!