Madeline's famous!

If you know me or have been reading my blog for a while you know my unhealthy love for icanhascheezburger.com. I just about fell out of my chair when I clicked in for my daily dose and saw my own kitty cat!



How awesome is that! I didn't think it was a very good picture because I took it through the glass door and you can't see Madeline's features very well. This network of websites gets 10,000 photo and video submissions a day and millions of unique visitors. Madeline was not enthused when I initially told her the good news, although she cheered a little when I broke out the cat treats to celebrate!

Lounging next to or even under the grill (see below) is one of Madeline's new favorite spots. I guess it's better than some of her other outdoor hangouts, like in between the garbage cans!

Stupid laws

I knew the splotchy patchwork of marriage laws in the U.S. was stupid, but I didn't realize how stupid. Read this article. When oh when are we going to do things efficiently, sensibly, and - most importantly - justly?

Salmon cakes with mango-lime salsa

Whenever a recipe turns out this well, I wish I had been hosting a dinner party instead of cooking just for me! Of course, I am not confident enough in my culinary skills to use dinner party guests (even close friends) as guinea pigs, but this recipe would have been a winner for salmon lovers. Here is the recipe (I used 1.5 limes instead of 1 and herb stuffing mix instead of bread crumbs), and here are my photos:





Wow, was this yummy! I ate two of them. We'll see how this keeps as leftovers - I made the whole 4 serving recipe (actually made 5 little cakes). But of course even after two dinner servings and chips & salsa appetizers I still had room for dessert. I MADE room for dessert because while I was shopping for dinner stuff at Kings Red & White (this cute little family-owned grocery just a 10 min walk away from my house) I was THRILLED to see Jell-O Pudding Pops in the ice cream section!!!!!! Does anyone else remember these? These were my favorite summertime treat as a kid. It was hard to decide whether vanilla, chocolate, or swirl was my favorite. These Jell-O pudding pops I found today were in a bright yellow Popsicles box, and I did not recall them being manufactured by Popsicles. I decided to do some careful Google research, and this is what I found. Indeed, it's true - these are most definitely NOT the same treats as yesteryear. I had a swirl one and it wasn't even swirled at all! It was chocolate in the center, vanilla on the outside. There was no frozen outer shell, and they are shaped like fudgesicles, not the old-time Jell-O pudding pops. It was tasty, but not the same. Oh well.

Another find from Kings was ice cream from Maple View Farms. You know it's a local product when there's no nutrition info label on it (and when it comes to ice cream, ignorance is bliss)! This dairy farm is right next door in Orange County. They had a range of flavors available at Kings, and I decided to try Carolina Crunch (yes, I had two desserts. I'm glad I like running). It is delicious!

But what was the sweetest part of my meal this evening? Listening to 47-year-old Jamie Moyer pitch an absolutely amazing shutout for the Phillies against the Braves! Oldest pitcher in the MLB to pitch a shutout!!!!!!!!!!!