It's a grill thing

I love to grill.

And when I make a steak this restaurant pretty, I need to show it off.

And really, it's not hard to do.

Dog dishes

My neighbor took his dogs in for spaying and neutering last week.

Oh man.

Giant puppies in giant Elizabethan collars.

It was way too cute.

Poor things were so clumsy, bumping into each other and scraping the wall with the giant cones.

Yukon also was very funny trying to bite Sacha's cone.

But since they both had cones on, it was just comedy.

They looked like little satellite dishes.

Or giant coffee filters.

Finally, pork chops

OK, OK. I promised this recipe ages ago.

Sorry.
You know how it goes.

I get busy and things fall behind.

But here it is, pork chops stuffed with chard and pine nuts.

Big food, that is really pretty easy to make.

And if you don't want to deal with cleaning the chard, you can probably substitute some of those pre-washed spinach leaves.

My never-ending quest

This is about what I feel like anytime I go shopping for shoes.
Thanks, NatalieDee.com for putting it into Web comic form.




Especially dress boots.

A few years ago I found a great pair of black, leather boots with a simple square toe and not-too-high heel.
They are fabulous with jeans, skirts and dresses.
They are not too short and not too tall.
The leather is soft, but durable.
They also were $200 boots that I found for $70 at Nordstrom Rack in Broomfield, Colo.
It was pure luck and good timing that I found the perfect boots at a store four states from home.
If they'd had more, I would have bought every pair.

Because buying boots is a pain.

And while these are great, they are now about four years old and starting to show it, no matter how much I baby them and take them to my favorite repair guy every summer for an overhaul.

So I am back in the market for boots.

The problem? I am 6 feet tall. That comes with some big ol' feet.

They are not wide, just very, very long.

I have tried every pair of black boots Zappos has, I have tried going back to the Rack here in So Cal, I have tried several boots from Nordstrom.com.

Basically I am on the lookout for great boots anywhere I go and anytime of year now.

In the end, I think it will just have to be another moment of good luck.

Round Robin Photo Challenge - End of Summer

This is my first time posting a Round Robin challenge here.
I had been posting them before on the other, non-inactive blog.

The topic this time is End of Summer.
What says end of summer to you.

I decided to do this challenge at the last moment.
So, pressed for time, I looked on my way to work
Friday for school buses and dying sunflowers.

Seeing none of those, I continued on to work.

Then as I was leaving work, it occurred to me that the
biggest sign of summer's end for me is that the sun
no longer shines when I leave work.

So dark. So sad.

I think it is also what has put me in a bit
of a funk the past few days.
So I decided to take some photos on the way
home, of my now-dark commute.

51 minutes into the drive. Normally it takes about
40 minutes. Tonight I hit some traffic.
You can see that the time is 8:20 p.m.
and it is 69 degrees outside.

This is Pacific Coast Highway through Harbor City.
No worries. Pictures were taken while I was stopped at red lights.

The view from my side-view mirror.

This time I stopped the car and walked back to
the intersection to get the pictures.
That is a view of Crenshaw Boulevard.

Heading into my neighborhood. I never realized how dark
and kind of creepy it can look at just past 8 p.m.
It gets dark early once summer ends.

You say potato, once again, I say ...OK!

Tom-ay-toes, po-tay-toes.

Tom-ah-toes, po-tah-toes.

Yep, a couple of the perfect foods for me. However you say it.

Here is the promised recipe for the mini potato pancakes I made last weekend.

These were the fancy-schmancy take on a potato pancake.

They were best fresh, but the leftovers also were not half bad reheated.

You say tomato, I say... OK!

I love, love, love me some tomaters.

Here is a little how-to on how I like to make roasted roma tomatoes that can be used in a variety of ways.

It's easy and really brings out an intense, concentrated flavor in the tomatoes.

Enjoy!

P.S. I know. I still owe you stuffed pork chops and mini potato pancakes.

Patience!