No pictures to share, just two great recipes that we enjoyed with our Father's Day dinner.

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Gazpacho Shrimp Appetizer

Lemon Artichoke Salad

Beefetta Roast

Mashed Potato Bake

Strawberry Yogurt Pie

I have never actually had, let alone made, gazpacho, but I am a sucker for good food photography.  I was intrigued by the pic in the recipe book, although they presented the dish in little footed glasses while ours rested prosaically in custard cups.  This was a fun appetizer which the father in our home really enjoyed.  Best of all, most of the ingredients were used in our taco salad the night before, which simplified grocery shopping.

Gazpacho Shrimp Appetizer

1/2 - 1 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (buy it this way, Hope!); 1 green pepper, chopped; 1 tomato, seeded and chopped; 1 can 5 1/2 oz. spicy V-8 juice; 1 avocado, peeled and cubed; 3 green onions, sliced; 2 Tbsp. minced cilantro; 1 can (2 1/4 oz.) sliced ripe olives, drained; 2 Tbsp. lime or lemon juice; 1/4 c. fat-free sour cream

Combine first nine ingredients; cover and refrigerate one hour (or not; if you know you will be in a bit of a hurry you can make sure you've refrigerated the V-8 juice the night before).  Transfer to individual dishes and garnish with sour cream, lime slices, and/or cilantro.  OR you can serve the gazpacho in a bowl with shrimp arranged prettily around the edge, sour cream in the middle, and lime slice/cilantro atop the sour cream.

Lemon Artichoke Salad

(This salad was a huge hit with the father in our family.  He loves olives and artichoke hearts and he said that it was Olive Garden-like.  Without the croutons, although you could certainly add them.)

10 c. torn romaine (or one head lettuce, torn); 4 plum tomatoes, sliced; 1 can (14 oz.) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and quartered (you can buy them in a jar, quartered);1 can (2 1/4 oz.) sliced ripe olives, drained); 3 Tbsp. water; 3 Tbsp. lemon juice; 3 Tbsp. olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 tsp. salt; 1 tsp. ground pepper; 1/3 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine first four ingredients in bowl.  Combine next 6 ingredients and pour over salad.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Serves 8.

SIDE NOTE: It would be much more helpful to me if recipes would specify "black olives" or "green olives".  I always have to stop and think about it.  And those of you who are foodies need not point out that olives come in other colors occasionally too.

ADDITIONAL SIDE NOTE: Beefetta is a seasoned, tender roast with an Italian flair.

Just back from an eleven day, half-cross-country trip, I've been thinking of some things that made this trip a little easier.  These may be common-sense things that you've been doing all along, but here they are anyway.

-In the midst of the packing, try to get in some basic house cleaning before you go - vacuuming, dishes, clean sheets on beds, clean bathrooms.  It makes the coming home and getting back into routine much more pleasant.

-Get rid of anything in the refrigerator that could turn green (or other colors) before you go.  Take it along in the cooler, give it to a neighbor, freeze it, or pass it on to your house-sitter.

-Make sure you take care of your paper and mail delivery.  The post office now lets you put a hold on your mail online.

-If you have overnight stops along the way, pack one overnight suitcase for each night.  Put everybody's pjs and outfit for the next day in one bag.  Dirty clothes can be stashed in the suitcase (in a clean garbage bag, if you like).  Also pack toiletries for everyone in one bag.  It was much easier to grab those two bags than a suitcase for each person.  We also had the boys just bring one or two objects with them (favorite stuffed animal or blanket) rather than their whole backpacks.

-Collect restaurant coupons before your trip (to supplement your cooler full of healthy snacks, of course). 

-If you plan on using a credit card for gas, etc., it might be a wise idea to call your credit card company ahead of time so that they allow your purchases to go through.  We have had the experience on several trips of not being allowed to use our credit card because we weren't in our own state. 

What is your favorite travel tip?

Ah, yes, that is the question.  And tonight the answer was, no, 'tis better to blog.  Just because it wouldn't all fit into a single status and some of it - well, all of it - is just kind of odds and ends. 

Yesterday I hired a sitter to come and watch the kiddos so that I could enjoy the pleasures of grocery shopping unattended.  I actually fit a lot in to my timeframe, including a hair cut, a trip to the chiropractor, the post office, and shopping.  I even squeezed in a little trip to the fabric store.  Definitely not a place to take four kids.  It was nice to have that little bit of freedom, such as it is and - confession time - I offered the babysitter extra to clean my kitchen.  Fortunately, she was glad to earn some extra money and I didn't have to bring groceries home to a messy kitchen.  A win-win!  I love the feel of my hair, freed from the weight of too many inches.  At the place where I get my hair cut, they keep track of how often you come in.  It had been five months since the last cut.  Definitely time.

School is going pretty well.  We're enjoying the Apologia astronomy course.  Even Joel is picking things up.  Last week he brought me a basketball with a train track fitted around it and said, "Look!  I made Saturn!".  He is much further along in the ABCs than either of his brothers were at the beginning of K-4, numbers too, so I'm thinking I should pick up the pace with him a little.  Joshua is finding cursive to not be the hairy beast he was imagining.  And Nathan is seemingly being a little less slow-pokey than last year. 

Today we rather spontaneously packed the kids up and went to the world-famous Hermantown Fall Fest at the little Hermantown Historical Society building.  The kids especially loved the little train that they got to ride several times.  They had a tiny petting zoo, where Annemarie got her fill of the "moo goats".  And, of course, we indulged in a little bit of fair food, corn dogs and ice cream for the boys.  Little bits of culinary delight in a bag (freshly fried mini donuts) for Dave and me, and a porkchop on a stick for me.  I know, it sounds disgusting and I wasn't that sold on the idea but they were running out of food.  It was actually really juicy, succulent meat (not fried).  Mmm.  We found a really comfy handmade wooden lawnchair that was tempting both of us.  I got the man's card and just may buy one of his chairs for someone for Christmas. 

On our way home, we picked up a new crockpot (now on sale at Target) because the old one had become very unreliable.  Why bother using a crockpot if you still have to cook the meat on the stove when you come home (if you want to eat in a reasonable amount of time)?  And so, early tomorrow morning, I plan to plug in 2 crockpots, side by side on the kitchen counter.  One (the new one) with a beef roast and the other (old one) with coconut-pecan sweet potatoes (doesn't that sound good?  I'll put the recipe up if it's as good as it sounds).

And, in a final odd/end, the baby's hair is long enough for a braid!  I took pics and will put them up on facebook (ah, we're back to that, are we?).