Shining Brightly

Have you ever heard of 'Points of Light"? Maybe you remember George H. W. Bush talking about his desire for people to become points of light by volunteering and giving back to the community. In response to his call to action, the Points of Light Foundation was created to encourage and empower the spirit of service. The Foundation presents both individual and corporate awards annually. 

Last year the Advisory Board challenged it's employees to achieve a volunteer rate of 100% and we rose to the challenge. Well, this year we won a Points of Light Corporate Award. It doesn't come with a trophy, or a monetary award, or anything tangible to show off. But you know what it does come with -- a really good feeling (and bragging rights!). How great to know that we are doing great things, one contribution at a time.

The Advisory Board Company – The Advisory Board Company’s employee volunteer program, Community Impact, aligns its efforts with the firm’s mission to elevate the performance of health care and higher education institutions. Community Impact enables employees to apply their core competencies in technology, research and consulting to empower community partners, helping them to independently operate more effectively. The success of the Advisory Board’s approach demonstrates how the same business principles that make our nation’s leading health care and higher education institutions effective can drive improved performance from nonprofit organizations, ultimately moving the needle in improving public health and education. In 2013, 100 percent of the Advisory Board’s 2,700 employees participated in Community Impact, resulting in 32,000 hours of service and $1.7 million in monetized impact. Advisory Board employees recently ranked Community Impact as the No. 1 driver of engagement throughout the firm.

So let us be an inspiration - get out there and do something good!!

Brussel Sprouts

Well, tonight I cooked the brussel sprouts that we got in this weeks' CSA package.  They were quite tasty.  When I started, I didn't realize how much work is was going to be to get them off the stalk!  With a sharp knife and a steady hand I found my rythym and was able to get a nice little pile of them in a short time.  

A friend of mine had recommended balsamic-braised-brussels-with-pancetta - which looks great, but I didn't have pancetta or bacon, so I looked around and found this recipe for cavatappi browned brussels sprouts with buttery breadcrumbs.  Because I consider recipes a suggestion, I made this one minus the noodles.  

It was really good!

Jim went back for seconds - and finished the all, so it must have been good!!  I do still want to try Mal's recipe some day.  In fact, there are MANY recipes on that site that look fantastic.  Check it out if you get the chance.

I'm still not sure what that round yellow/orange squash is that we got last week.  It doesn't feel hard like a butternut.  I'm going to cut into that tomorrow and see what it looks like.   

CSA Day!

There's a group of us at work who are participating in a CSA.  Every Tuesday we get a new delivery of meat, cheese, eggs and produce.  This week we got ground beef, pepper and onion brats, chicken breast, carrots, a couple varieties of squash, and brussels sprouts - along with eggs, cheese and almond butter.  The quality of the food is fabulous.  Even the eggs are so much tastier than what we get at the grocery store.  

Every week when that delivery email hits the inbox, people start heading into the lunchroom to see what we got.  It's a lot of fun - and gives a chance to play "What is this?",  and then "What do I do with it?"  We're learning new things every week.  Last week I learned how to prepare beets - this week I could use some help with the brussels sprouts - anyone??

I always knew what a CSA was - it's like a subscription service where you buy food.  Good food.  Free range, grass fed, non GMO -- you know, good old fashioned food.  CSA actually stands for Consumer Supported Agriculture.  One of the owners of the farm came into the office to give us a presentation.  She and her husband were government employees who burned out and wanted to farm.  They knew they probably couldn't be self-supporting, so in order to do this, they needed to become a CSA.  For them, it was't just that they had an abundance of food and thought they could sell it for a profit, it was actually a business plan.  They've been doing this for 18 years now and still love what they do.

Check them out here.

Peach Cobbler

Easy Peach Cobbler is what the blog said  http://thepeachtruck.com/blogs/blog/14253153-easy-peach-cobbler

As much as I hate to cook meals, I love to bake.  And when a recipe name starts with the word easy, I'm willing to take a look.  If it doesn't look quick and easy, I'm probably not going to make it.  But this one - this was easy.  Remember the peach cobbler I mentioned here?

I had peaches that were past their prime, but I didn't want to throw them away.  I peeled and sliced the peaches, 

melted the butter right in the baking dish, mixed the other ingredients - poured it all in the pan and spooned the peaches on top.

 Into the oven, and Presto.   Oh-My-Goodness deliciousness in a baking dish.  I wish you had smell-o-vision, because this smelled fabulous.

 A dish of this with a little cool whip on top - mmm mmm good!!

Thanks Peach Truck!!

Now,  a couple of things - because I view a recipe as a suggestion, not a mandate.  I didn't have self-rising flour, so I used Bisquick (it's the same thing, right?) and I had 3 cups of peaches (5 peaches cut up) not four, so I used 3/4 of the amount of everything else (see kids - math does come in handy!) and used an 8x8 pan.  It did take almost the full 40 minutes, and when I looked at it I didn't think it was done.  But it was cooked through and delicious.  

It's definitely not a diet recipe, and I might work on slimming it down a little, but I think a splurge is justified when it's something this good. 

I am not a Foodie

In fact, I'm probably the opposite of a foodie.  I'm not sure what that's called.  It's not that I don't like food - I eat.  But I eat for nourishment, not for enjoyment.  So when I rave about a meal, you know it's good.  And dinner tonight, was really good.

I joined a CSA at work (more about that in another post).  Last week was the first week and one of the things in the food package was a bunch of fresh beets.  I've never cooked beets (and neither had any of my co-workers that I asked), so I posted a request on Facebook and got lots of helpful hints and recipes.  Since we were already cooking on the grill, we decided to go with Deb Rebiero's suggestion to sprinkle them with olive oil, wrap in foil, and cook them on the grill for about an hour.  They were delicious!

Another CSA item this week was a whole roaster chicken.  Not too big.  Just the right size for beer can chicken.  If you've never cooked it, you should try it.  You can google a recipe, we don't really use one.

We had green beans freshly picked from the garden earlier today.  I blanched and froze a couple of bags full earlier, but kept out enough to have with dinner.

And a fresh salad.  Leaf lettuce (CSA again!) romaine, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, peppers - most everything from the farmers market.  Delicious!

Imagine this is a picture of my 

dinner plate heaped full of food.  

Sorry!  I couldn't wait to dig in!!

Oh, and I also made peach cobbler for dessert.  We haven't eaten that yet, but I'll have to let you know it is.  

Ciao!

Summer Solstice

Break out your swimsuits, fire up the barbeque, and put on the sunglasses, because summer is here.  It's time to get out and enjoy the early morning calm - before the heat of the day sets in.

Today is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, often referred to as 'the longest day of the year'.   It's still 24 hours long, the difference is that it's daylight for about 16 of those hours.  

Get out and enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad

Or as they say in Sweden - Glad Fars Dag

He is the patriarch of this crew, and I must say we are quite an eclectic bunch.  This is the latest picture we have of (almost) everyone - this one from Thanksgiving 2012. 

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads!!

The calm after the storm

Linking up with Chrisy at Living a Good North Coast Life for Reconnecting with Nature

It poured late Saturday afternoon.  We were headed downtown to go to the CMA Fest concert and it was thundering, lightening and raining.  Raining cats and dogs, as they say.  They were calling for severe thunderstorms and, apparently, they were right.   CMA Fest brings in about 80,000 people over the course of the week, and about 65,000 attend the concerts at LP Field.  

Downtown Nashville has lots and lots of honkey tonks, and during CMA fest there are numerous music stages with live music.  Most of the crowd stays downtown until it's time for the concert.  The shortest route from there to LP Field is to cross the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River.  The storms were bad enough that they closed the pedestrian bridge and they delayed the start time of the concert.  The gates were closed and anyone who was already in the stadium was escorted to the concourse to wait out the storm.  We were in the car waiting for the text message telling us the gates were open.  FINALLY - about 8:00 pm, they opened the gates.  As we got out of the car, I looked to the right and saw the sunset.

The Grand Old Opry - June 3

What a great show at the Opry.  Although, truth be told, I've never been to a bad show at the Opry.  There's always such a variety of music performed by wonderful artists, that it's always entertaining.  Andy and Jenn were with us and we had a great time.  Here's who we saw.

Terri Clark - who celebrated her 10th Anniversary as a Member of the Grand Ole Opry.  She puts on a great show.  I think it must be difficult to be the first artist, but she does such a great job of opening the show.  Last time we saw her she did an acoustic set.  That was also a great show.

Jennifer Nettles - formerly of Sugarland, who was making her solo debut on the Opry.  Personally I'm not a fan of hers - I'll just leave it at that.

Charlie Worsham - who I had not heard of.  Great performer, really plays to the audience and has a variety of musical styles.  He was also playing outside at the Opry Plaza Party.  We have seen so many up-and-coming acts on the Plaza.  He is surely one of them.

Bill Anderson - Whisperin Bill they call him.  He's a fabulous songwriter, LOVES to perform, and we have seen him frequently at the Opry.

Josh Turner - who doesn't love that deep voice!!

The Oak Ridge Boys - I love the energy that they bring to the stage.  We have seen them before and they always come out and make the audience feel like there's nowhere else they'd rather be.  And, of course, they played Elvira!

Trace Akdins - who seemed a little shy at first, but warmed up nicely and is always fun to see.

 Carrie Underwood - Blown away by her vocals.  She's a born superstar and, fortunately for her, she has found her way into the hearts of millions.

It was quite a line-up.  A fun show, and a pleasure to be there!!

Fisher Cat

Linking up with Chrisy at Living a Good North Coast Life for Reconnecting with Nature.

My friend Cindy recently took these photos and explained that her dog, Sadie, had chased this Fisher Cat and it had found safety up in a tree.

Fisher cats aren't actually cats, they are part of the weasel family.  They are a medium sized, forest dwelling mammal.  They can climb trees, but prefer to hunt on the forest floor.  They like old-growth forests with dense, overhead cover.  Fisher Cats are not afraid of most other animals and will not hesitate to defend themselves if necessary.  I just learned this - and found it fascinating, they have extremely mobile ankle joints, which can rotate their hind paws almost 180 degrees, allowing them to agilely move through tree branches and climb down trees head first.  How's that for adapting to your lifestyle!

Fisher Cats are known as extremely vicious and dangerous to all other animals.  Fortunately Sadie came through this encounter unscathed and the Fisher was able to climb down from the tree and run back into the forest.