Just Floating Along

Baseball is over.  Music lessons are on hiatus.  I refuse to print school supply lists or even think about school shopping and sports physicals.  It is summer and we're at that beautiful point of just floating along.  Things will pick up soon, I know that.  But I don't have to worry about it now.  Right now, I'm loving my time spent with my favorite people.  Spent last weekend on the lake again.

 The loons were teaching their babies how to dive.  They're diving and swimming under water yet but they are diving and staying under for a little while.  We had the radio on in the boat and Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World came on.  John asked, "Is this Yoda singing?"  He was kidding but still...pretty funny!
Back at the cabin we played Mexican Dominoe Train (where does that name come from?!) and then just laying in the grass looking at the sky.  Again, ahhhh...

New Asparagus Recipe

I love asparagus.  So I don't really need to find new ways to make it.  But every recipe looks so good!  Last week, we drizzled some olive oil, salt and pepper on asparagus and cherry tomatoes and then grilled them - yummmm!
A while back John spent the evening at a friend's house, had supper there, and raved about the meal for days; asparagus wrapped in ham with a light cheesy sauce.  I asked my friend (John's friend's mom) how to make them and she told me but...you know me...I forgot.  So, when I was on Pinterest the other day, I found this delicious looking asparagus, wrapped in ham with cheese sprinkling out from the sides.  I pinned it.  But when I clicked through to the website and recipe, I found this:

• około 150 g mrożonego gotowego ciasta francuskiego (najlepsze jeśli jest zrobione na maśle) lub własne z tego uproszczonego przepisu
• pęczek (500 g) zielonych szparagów, 12 sztuk
• szynka, cienko pokrojona (np. gotowana, suszona parmeńska lub serrano, użyłam szynki paczkowanej gotowanej - prosciutto cotto)
• tarty ser (parmezan, grana padano, cheddar, użyłam gruyere)

I didn't even know what language that was!  I copied and pasted it into Google Translate, hit "detect language" and "to English" and viola! I (sorta) had a recipe.  The language was Polish and it wasn't a great translation but it was enough to work from.  The wraps were delicious.  I think I'll include 3 spears of asparagus (instead of 2) next time.  John tried them and agreed they were good but...not as good as the others!  I'll ask again for that original recipe.  Here's how I made these, in English:

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (17.3 oz) puff pastry sheets

24 spears asparagus (36 if you want to put 3 in each)

24 pieces thinly sliced ham (I used Hillshire Farms prepackaged smoked ham)

grated parmesan cheese

egg yolk and 1 tsp milk

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thaw puff pastry according to package.  Rinse asparagus, snap off woody ends and discard.  Place asparagus in a plate and season with olive, salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.

Unfold puff pastry sheet and cut each sheet into six rectangles, place on baking tray. 

Cover with one slice of ham, sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat.  Place asparagus spears in center of ham slice.

Wrap both pieces of ham around the asparagus.  Then wrap the puff pastry up around the ham/asparagus bundle, pressing together at seam.

Brush tops of bundles with egg yolk and milk mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until golde brown.

Makes 12 bundles.

Mid Summer Check-In

Summer was a little late in arriving, here in the Northern State.  But, ahhhh...it's here now.  And we're savoring the long days - never mind that they're getting shorter each day and the school supply lists were just published, we're not paying any attention to that.  We're soaking in the warmth of the sun and living outdoors.  Fourth of July weekend was spent at Mom and Dad's lake cabin with all the grandkids (except one, ahem...).  The mess of all those kids was beautiful - life jackets, flip-flops, beach towels, bottles of sunscreen and bug spray, foam footballs and butterfly nets, dog bowls and tackle boxes.  Katie learned a new game while out with a friend and she taught it to us.  We played many rounds of "Ricky-Ticky-Bear", with even my youngest nephew joining in and almost keeping up.

Every fourth of July, the grandkids put on a holiday pageant.  They arrange lawn chairs in rows in front of the deck for us, the audience.  Then they perform; they sing songs, perform skits, tell jokes, and end with a dance-off.  As each cousin gets older, they seem to gravitate from center stage to side stage.  My oldest neice was the "applause" sign holder this year.  There's something for everyone in this show!

Yesterday we explored the Dakota Rail Trail, a thirteen mile paved bike path near our house.  Mark is a mountain biker and he loves off-roading.  But this - nearly-zero-elevation paved path winding around the lake and through wooded sanctuaries - this is my kind of biking.  After all that biking, however, we returned home feeling guilty that Rocco hadn't been able to go...so Mark and I walked him around one of our city lakes, Calhoun, stopped at the pavillion for a glass of wine and a beer as the sun set and called it a good day.