News Trend Rice Bowl Sauce: Orange Tahini|Actual

I'd been waiting for this question all afternoon and when it finally came, I leaned back in my seat smiling smugly to myself as I answered.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a plan for dinner."

We were driving home from an afternoon shopping trip which, to my third- and fourth-born daughters and me, means a visit to the rock store and the plant store.

It was fairly late in the day, around four. My fourth-born daughter was behind the wheel because I had forgotten my bag at home and therefore did not have my license on me. My third-born was riding shotgun and quite unusually, I was holding down the back seat. Traffic was gnarly and the minutes toward dinner time were ticking down loudly as my daughters broached the daily quandary of what to have for dinner.

Clockwise-ish from the top:

Brown rice

Mushrooms

Flaky white fish

Sirloin

Onion

Orange tahini sauce

More brown rice

Carrots

Watermelon

Broccoli

"Rice bowls," I said. "Let's have rice bowls."

Already the list of ingredients was settled in my mind, and as I rattled off my ideas to my daughters, they nodded in agreement. Rice bowls are a current favorite around our table.

As I wrapped up my presentation, fairly glowing at my successful plan, my fourth-born's next question swatted me off my lofty pedestal.

"What should we have for a sauce?"

Dang it. I forgot about the sauce.

Shamefully, I had overlooked that crucial catalyst of the rice bowl, the secret sauce that brings all the discrete bits together and melds them into a delicious whole much greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, I could patch us through with some soy sauce, a blast of Tabasco, or some sriracha, but I had set my sights high and I wanted only the best for this evening's rice bowls.

I-405 post merge. Traffic was much heavier than it appears here.

As my daughters' attention was momentarily distracted by a hectic merge onto I-405, I grabbed my phone and furiously Googled.

And like an angel from heaven, the first link I opened gave me exactly what I needed.

5 Easy Sauces to Make Grain Bowls Pop

Yes. I scrolled to the first one and broke into a grin.

Orange Tahini.

I thought of the big can of tahini sitting at home in my fridge, and the delicious orange I'd used for a carne asada recipe over the weekend. The angels were now singing a hallelujah chorus, and I knew this was the perfect sauce for my rice bowl dinner plan.

Quixotically, I ate my rice bowl from a plate. And I had seconds.

Ninety minutes and one dog walk later, we sat down to a rice bowl feast. And the star of the show was the orange tahini sauce.

* * * * *

Ingredients & Directions:

Combine 1/2 cup tahini, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons water, zest and juice of 1 orange, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 clove garlic, then blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

from the Kitchn

* * * * *

I'm so inspired by this recipe that I've committed to a month of Rice Bowl Mondays, featuring each of the five sauces in the article. Here you go:

Orange Tahini

Spicy Sriracha Peanut

Mediterranean Olive Sauce

Hoisin Ginger

Herbed Goat Cheese

News Trend Gracie's World|Actual

Gracie most certainly knows how to work a throw pillow and a blanket.

Today marks the two-year anniversary of this girl's arrival into my life.

And just like every other day between then and now, Gracie lived out the day with sunny optimism and a big, bold attitude. My dog has her way with life, and oftentimes I do believe that this is Gracie's world and we are just living in it.

After losing twenty pounds in her first few months with us,

her weight on the scales may have crept back up but she looks as fit and sleek as ever.

As I left the house this morning to run some errands, Gracie obediently hopped up on her favorite couch and presented herself for our goodbye ceremony. As always, I closed the door to the rest of the house, limiting my pup to the run of the family room, kitchen and laundry room.

And though this familiar routine was completely up to our usual standard, I felt something was amiss. So before I even left the driveway, I texted my third-born, who was working on a paper upstairs, to check on our red-headed angel when she had a minute.

Have I mentioned that Gracie wears socks at night? They are infant socks from Baby Gap, and she has nine different sets; these have little yellow bulldozers. In the evenings after she's eaten her apple and made one last trip around the backyard, we slip her into her cozies and she settles right down for the night. She seems to find them to be quite relaxing.

What happened next was this.

My daughter came downstairs and opened the door to the half of the house where Gracie was supposedly napping.

She walked through the kitchen and turned the corner to face into the family room.

There, strewn across the floor, she found the contents of the composting bin.

Mango pits and peels

Eggshells.

Old lettuce.

Pistachio shells.

Our red headed lady had once again jumped up at the kitchen sink, clenched the edge of the gallon-sized plastic bin that holds our food scraps, hoisted it up and over the edge of the extra deep sink, and carted it off to the family room, where she undoubtedly dumped it onto the floor and sorted through the spoils.

My daughter looked that naughty little dog in the eye and calmly asked, "Gracie, what is this?

This is the couch to which Gracie ran. She knows when she has been naughty.

In response, Gracie scrambled to her feet and scampered out the now-open door to the other end of the house, where she jumped up on a different couch, curled in a cozy heap, closed her eyes, and did her best impression of a sleepy and altogether innocent puppy.

And so it goes.

I'm still not convinced that this really is Gracie's world. But I am one hundred percent sure that she considers it to be all hers.

And just like every other day of the two years we have spent together, I can only wonder what she'll dream up to do tomorrow.

News Trend Earthquake|Actual

July 11, 2019 3 Satsop, Washington lima.8

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

My very first happened on July tiga, 1999. My second- and third-born were already tucked into their bunk beds next door and my youngest snoozing nearby while I lay with my first-born on her bed. Our faithful dog, Casey, was curled up at our feet and my husband sat on the floor, leaning against the bed as he read a big girl bedtime story.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

My very first happened on July tiga, 1999. My second- and third-born were already tucked into their bunk beds next door and my youngest snoozing nearby while I lay with my first-born on her bed. Our faithful dog, Casey, was curled up at our feet and my husband sat on the floor, leaning against the bed as he read a big girl bedtime story.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

My very first happened on July tiga, 1999. My second- and third-born were already tucked into their bunk beds next door and my youngest snoozing nearby while I lay with my first-born on her bed. Our faithful dog, Casey, was curled up at our feet and my husband sat on the floor, leaning against the bed as he read a big girl bedtime story.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

My very first happened on July tiga, 1999. My second- and third-born were already tucked into their bunk beds next door and my youngest snoozing nearby while I lay with my first-born on her bed. Our faithful dog, Casey, was curled up at our feet and my husband sat on the floor, leaning against the bed as he read a big girl bedtime story.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

My very first happened on July tiga, 1999. My second- and third-born were already tucked into their bunk beds next door and my youngest snoozing nearby while I lay with my first-born on her bed. Our faithful dog, Casey, was curled up at our feet and my husband sat on the floor, leaning against the bed as he read a big girl bedtime story.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

My very first happened on July tiga, 1999. My second- and third-born were already tucked into their bunk beds next door and my youngest snoozing nearby while I lay with my first-born on her bed. Our faithful dog, Casey, was curled up at our feet and my husband sat on the floor, leaning against the bed as he read a big girl bedtime story.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

I have mixed feelings about earthquakes. In some ways, I hope I never experience another but then again, I would love to feel that spine-tingling, mind-blowing sensation right this very moment.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

I have mixed feelings about earthquakes. In some ways, I hope I never experience another but then again, I would love to feel that spine-tingling, mind-blowing sensation right this very moment.

February 28, 2001. A busy morning at our school for homeschoolers. I'd left the older three girls, ages 13, 11, and 9, under the care of a fellow mom back at the school, and run my youngest up to her Kindermusik group closer to home. While she was busy singing and playing xylophones with other seven-year-olds, I zoomed home for a quick pit stop. I was out on the driveway, about to step back into my Mazda MPV, when I felt the first wave.

I have mixed feelings about earthquakes. In some ways, I hope I never experience another but then again, I would love to feel that spine-tingling, mind-blowing sensation right this very moment.

February 28, 2001. A busy morning at our school for homeschoolers. I'd left the older three girls, ages 13, 11, and 9, under the care of a fellow mom back at the school, and run my youngest up to her Kindermusik group closer to home. While she was busy singing and playing xylophones with other seven-year-olds, I zoomed home for a quick pit stop. I was out on the driveway, about to step back into my Mazda MPV, when I felt the first wave.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

All I know for sure is that when the earth moves under my feet, I feel fully and terrifyingly alive.

I have mixed feelings about earthquakes. In some ways, I hope I never experience another but then again, I would love to feel that spine-tingling, mind-blowing sensation right this very moment.

All I know for sure is that when the earth moves under my feet, I feel fully and terrifyingly alive.

I have mixed feelings about earthquakes. In some ways, I hope I never experience another but then again, I would love to feel that spine-tingling, mind-blowing sensation right this very moment.

"I think it's an earthquake," I remember my husband saying. The first one for us Midwestern transplants, the first one for all four of our girls.

I have mixed feelings about earthquakes. In some ways, I hope I never experience another but then again, I would love to feel that spine-tingling, mind-blowing sensation right this very moment.

All I know for sure is that when the earth moves under my feet, I feel fully and terrifyingly alive.

News Trend No Finer Place To Be|Actual

Wind-whipped waves rock the dock.

Gold sun slips behind the land.

Ferry slides across the Sound.

Summer sky fills with pastel light.

Grey boy feeds the seagulls.

All is well at Mukilteo Beach at sunset, and honestly, I can think of no finer place to be.

News Trend Rocks On Rocks On Rocks|Actual

Welcome to my side yard.

This narrow strip of sloping soil has given me nothing but heartache ever since the day I moved in.

Too sloping and skinny for a proper walkway and too close to the fence to properly improve.

A crooked little path, it seems to be good for just one thing.

Rocks.

Rocks on rocks on rocks.

Over the years, we dug up each and every one of these granite trophies from our garden beds. There's no easy way to get rid of them, so we've made a home for them here.

Rocks on rocks on rocks.

Heaped up along a crooked little path.

Someday, I will build a long and skinny deck that fills the space between the house and the fence, and the rocks will live happily underneath.

But I don't have money for that right now.So I'm dreaming up some low- to no-cost strategies to deal with this space.

Rocks on rocks on rocks.

Heaped up along a crooked little path.

News Trend Pallet Possibilities|Actual

My latest stash of free lumber.

Wooden shipping pallets are good for lots of things.

Psh. Any Pinterester can tell you that.

^ In their original form, they shape up into a nifty coffee table.

^ And house a vertical succulent garden just fine.

^ Deconstructed, pallets can also provide useful distressed lumber. At my house, we've transformed them into towel hook holders and several types of shelving.

And now, the experiments continue as I attempt to answer the question, can pallets help to solve my side yard problems?

* * * * *

In my opinion, you can never have too many succulents, and you can never have too many stories about succulents. Here are a few to choose from:

Court And Kylee's Succulent Party

Succulent Season

Franklin Park Conservatory

Confessions Of A Crazy Plant Lady

Pallet Possibilities

Another Rainy Day

Growing Things

This Is War

All In A Day's Work

Design Dilemmas

Wait For It

Shopping Spree

Saturday Spring Satisfaction

Sprouts

Tiny Tinsel Tree

Biology 101

Little Things

* * * * *

For more of my pallet projects, check out these stories:

Pallet Possibilities

Late-Night Pallet Party

Sex In the Side Yard

News Trend Thanks, Tillamook|Actual

Hey, remember a couple months back, when the Tillamook people asked to use my 2014 tweet about taking their cheese to Vietnam in a marketing campaign?

Well, of course, I don't blame you if you don't. If you'd like to read all the details, go here.

But the gist of my story today is that when I told Tillamook yes, they promised to send me a thank-you gift.

I've been quite excited about that.

And today, when I was out and about, and my third-born texted me to say I'd received a package that commanded, "Refrigerate upon arrival," I knew my lucky ship had finally sailed into port.

So I rushed home, grabbed the box out of the fridge, and here's what happened next:

And then, later that afternoon, this happened:

Yum! Thanks, Tillamook.

* * * * *

What started as an off-the-cuff tweet back in 2014 led to an interesting offer, a dairy industry fact-finding mission, and in the end, a cheesy gift. Here's the full story:

My Tillamook Tweet

Checking Up On Tillamook

Thanks, Tillamook