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Our garden has produced its first harvest: 2 cherry tomatoes! Lucas does not like tomatoes, so these were enjoyed only by me. I had to savor them, because I'm not sure the plant will produce any others...it seems to have developed some kind of disease (perhaps blight?) and has no signs of further tomato growth at this point. I plan to continue to water it in hopes that we will get a few more, but at any rate, I am happy to have at least these 2 in my first gardening attempt! Our squash plants are enormous now and have a few flowers that bloomed this week. Although I am really excited about them, I am also a bit sad in that in their growth, they have begun to take over some of the other squares of the garden, completely hanging over and blocking the sun of the peppers and parsley. Both peppers and parsley still seem to be hanging in there, so we'll see...The watermelon has also begun to vine out of the box and we are now trailing it along the side of the deck. And, the basil, which I thought was a lost cause, is finally starting to grow! We also have mesclun, which is fair to good. Something ate half of the red leaf variety, but the rest is looking good. I'll have to get out there soon and take some updated pictures.
August 2nd, or sometime around then, we're not really sure on the exact day, was our puppy Wembley's first birthday. I had these grand schemes to invite all his doggy friends (really, just our friends who happen to have dogs roughly Wembley's size) over for a fun filled afternoon of water fun. Lucas was having none of that (staunchly determined not to become "those dog people"). I can see how having a birthday party for your dog may seem a little bit overboard, so I was willing to compromise. Instead of inviting other dogs to join in the fun, we bought Wembley a sprinkler. Wembles is a huge water fan anyway and loves the hose, so we figured he might enjoy a sprinkler. Enjoy it he did--he played a good 30 minutes straight in the water, pausing every so often to roll around in the grass to get good and dirty (this birthday party ended with a bath for Wembley--probably not his favorite present ever). When we thought he might fall over from exhaustion, we presented him with his cake (see, there, I mentioned food! This still counts as a food post!): 5 wheat thin crackers topped with peanut butter--his favorite treat. So, happy birthday to Wembley! Fun times. Note: the last picture is a video.
While I was visiting my family this past week in Omaha, my mom and I met my brother for lunch one day at Dixie Quick's Magnolia Room. The building itself, from the outside, is nondescript, not even a sign except for some paint on the windows telling you that you have just driven past the restaurant. Inside, it is a cute little diner, with murals painted on the walls, a chalk board listing the menu of the day, and an art gallery accessible through a doorway in the dining room. The tables were covered with butcher paper and a cup of crayons on the table indicated that drawing all over your tablecloth was encouraged. The menu featured both breakfast and lunch items, and my family ordered from both areas. I had the magnificent french toast dish pictured above--it was topped with fresh berries and whipped cream and served with maple syrup. Delicious. The picture (from the Dixie Quick's website...click on it to link back to their site) doesn't give you an accurate picture of how monstrous it is--the stack of toast was huge. Being pregnant, I was able to give it a good effort and ate nearly 3 pieces. My mom helped out with the rest. For her meal, she had the grilled tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwich. She loved it. My brother had the black bean and corn quesadilla, also declared to be quite tasty. Dixie Quick's was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on Monday night and got rave reviews. I don't know if it is available to watch online or not, but I'll see if I can find it. The menu changes daily (or even during the day), according to Chef Rene Ortuna's preference. I'm looking forward to going back next time I'm in Omaha, and recommend it to anyone that lives there or will be visiting!
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