A perfect day, and some good food too...

I have the day off from work today! And my oh my is it the most perfect day to be free. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the sky is blue,the chipmunks are playing....it's like a Disney movie incarnate.

All we're missing is a song.

But let's not ruin a perfectly good day.


Jesco (my German-chocolatier pup), my co-worker and I started the day with a run. While Jesco and I have been walking and hiking plenty of times before, this was his first time running with me....and he LOVED it. Except that I wasn't going fast enough.

Afterwards we did some ab exercises in the grass. Well, my friend and I did abs...Jesco rolled around in the grass looking silly. Which is pretty much the same thing.

Then we came home and fed the rabbits and the chickens, and grabbed some leftovers for lunch. Can you say chipotle sweet potatoes!? Yum. There was supposed to be cilantro lime rice to go with it, but alas, someone ate it.

For those of you who are saying to yourself, "wow, that sounds yummylicious"...here is the recipe:

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Warm spices, healthy sweet potatoes! Yum.

2-3 Sweet Potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder

2 tablespoons vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Peel and slice (or dice) sweet potatoes. Combine all other ingredients.

Make sure the potatoes are thoroughly coated with the mixture (putting them all in a container with a tight lid and shaking works well).

Place in baking pan and cover with foil (punctured a few times to let steam escape).

Cook for 20 min., flip or stir potatoes and continue baking until soft.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Cook 2 cups rice, add FRESH cilantro, butter (optional), salt (optional), and lime juice to taste. DONE.

I try to use at least one ingredient from the garden, something that we have grown ourselves. It makes me feel good about the food I'm making....and it tastes heavenly. For this recipe I used fresh  cilantro. (If you recall from my post,"Cabin Fever", we started our cilantro way back in March)

I do have sweet potatoes growing in the garden, but they won't be ready for eat'n until September. If gardening teaches us anything, it is patience. 

So, give this recipe a try! It is super easy (the only way I cook, duh), and goes great with chicken or pulled pork.

Here is the original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-chipotle-sweet-potatoes/.

Well folks, that's all for today! Happy Tuesday!

Send Me A Postcard!

We decided about a month ago to put a door in between the back additions of the house, and the main house. The idea was to save on heating a part of the house that was used minimally, and that was difficult to heat for various structural reasons. There was already a doorway there, we just needed to add a door jam and a door to block some of the cold air.
Today, Cory finally started the project...and shortly after beginning brought me a very nice present! The first piece of trim he pulled from the wall revealed a postcard...from 1922! I had heard about people finding things in the walls of old houses, here's our proof!

Here is a picture of the front of the card. As you can see it is a little damaged, but still in great shape for being just over ninety years old!
I was able to find a copy of an identical card online to get the whole verse on the front. It says:

"A Joyus Christmas

The stars are still out, but little birds wait

Just bursting with songs of joy.

With songs that will tell of God's love so great

To our sleepy Christmas boy."

And here is an image of the reverse side of the card (this is the exciting part!). It is a little difficult to read, but the card is addressed to "Mr. Charles Becker" of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. The message written reads, "Wishing you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year." It does have a "From", but the only letter I could make out was "H".
If you remember from one of my previous posts containing an image and description of the Becker Family Tree, you may recall that Charles was the name of George Becker's second son, making him the grandson of Herman Becker, the original owner of the Mayhew House!
Taking guesses to who you think "H" could be. If it is even a family member Charles had an aunt, two uncles, a brother, grandmother, and mother who all had names starting with the letter H and would have been alive at the time the card was sent. If only I could do DNA testing on that stamp to see whose spit is on the back!

There is no return address as far as I can tell, but it is postmarked "Dec. 20 1922, SAINT CLOUD, MINN." This would have been when Charles would have been about sixteen. (Cute card for a sixteen year old!).
I was also able to look up that the stamp is an A140 design, 1 cent George Washington. Though it's interesting, it doesn't seem to give me any real useful information. They seemed to be a pretty common type of stamp during that time period.


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