July and Avocado-Feta Salsa

July, July, July!

Last week I told you that July is super busy at our house. This year seems even busier!

Saturday was my birthday.

And that sweet thing was my birthday cake :) In a house with two bakers in residence, neither of us had the time or energy to bake a cake. So I took the easy way out.

Why didn't we have time or energy? Because I asked for a special birthday treat - a family hike to the top of Harney Peak, the highest mountain between the Rockies and the Pyrenees.

Here are some of the sights along the way:

Our goal - the fire tower at the top!

But with a 4:30 wake-up call and six hours of hiking before noon, we were wiped out. Therefore, Hostess baked my birthday cake and Klondike took care of the ice cream. :)

And while I haven't been baking, I have been cooking. Here's a foretaste of next week's recipes for "brinner."

Virginia told me about a Facebook group for Cast Iron cooking enthusiasts, and I've been finding the best recipes! Here's where you can join the group: Cast Iron Cooking.

Or you can wait until Virginia and I share our favorites.

And I haven't forgotten about the sourdough! Waiting for the weather to cool off, first. We're in the mid-90's this week.

Meanwhile, I'm sharing a great rerun recipe from a couple summers ago. This is definitely going on this week's menu!

Avocado-Feta Salsa

Yes, you read that right - Avocado and Feta together in a salsa.

It's fabulous!

Start here:

Avocado, tomato, red onion and cilantro. Chop it all up.

And then add a bit of this:

Throw in some garlic and a bit of oregano, and then mix it all together with a splash of olive oil and some apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar - whatever you have handy).

And here's the hard part.

Refrigerate for 2 to 6 hours.

*tap, tap, tap*

And then it's good to go! You can eat it with tortilla chips, pita chips, or.....

Twice-baked Zucchini Rounds! 

Take one of those big zucchinis - you know, the ones that were hiding in your garden until they're gargantuan size and you don't know what to do with them - and slice a few 1/4" thick rounds.

Cover both sides with olive oil, and bake on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes or so at 375°. Then take them out of the oven and top them with your favorite combo. I used the Avocado-Feta Salsa. Stick them back in the oven and broil them for a few minutes, or until the cheese starts melting.

Delicious!

I had a few of these for lunch with my Salmon with Garlicky Spinach (recipe here). It was a low-carb extravaganza!

And last week I put the salsa on my hamburger - now that was delicious!

Okay, I know I need to give you the official recipe:

Avocado-Feta Salsa

(originally from AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 plum tomato, chopped

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped

2 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)

1 teaspoon oregano

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon vinegar (apple cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar)

2 Tablespoons crumble feta cheese

Mix together gently. Cover and chill for 2 to 6 hours.

And I thought it would be fun to end up with a couple rerun Thatcher pictures. He was about six months old here. :)

Okay, it's time for me to get back to working on the second installment of my trilogy from Revell, "Mattie's Pledge." I love this story, but the deadline is looming!

How is your July going? Weddings? Birthdays? Cousin Paloozas? What is your favorite part of the month?

Spring fever? It's time to make baby gifts!

The tallest "hill" is Harney Peak. It's the highest point between the Rockies
and the Pyrenees with an elevation of 7244 feet. Every time I look at it I think of the
day my dear husband and I climbed to the top.

I love going to Walmart.

No, I don't love the crowds, spending money, or fighting with my shopping cart in a snowy parking lot.

It's this view. If I remember to lift up my eyes, this is what I see from the front door of Walmart.

(I have to confess. I cheated a bit and drove to another part of town for this picture. I wanted you to see it the way I do...ignoring the parking lot full of cars and the houses that are between the store and the Hills.)

With a view like this awaiting me everywhere I turn (you should see the hill out my window right now!), how can I ever concentrate on mundane things like cooking? Eating? Sleeping?

(Man, oh, man, you should see the sky at night! Stars upon stars upon stars.....)

You can tell Thatcher loves the view, too. (Actually, he's watching Wynter - they're out for their weekly run in a nearby park.)

But Spring Fever is knocking at my door. You can see how much snow we have here at the edge of the prairie...up in the Hills it's much deeper. It will still be a few months before we can hit the trails.

A handsome coyote we found while driving through Badlands National
Park on Sunday. Isn't he beautiful? I think he enjoyed
posing for his pictures.

But meanwhile, we're just bursting with babies around here!

No, not in my family, but in our little church. We've added four babies to our church family in the last year, and over the weekend we had a shower for the next little one - due in March.

So many babies means a lot of showers and baby gifts.

And don't we all just love shopping for baby gifts? Little tiny onesies, itty bitty booties, soft fleecy blankets.... {{{sigh}}}

I still like homemade gifts, though. I've tried to keep up with knitting baby sweaters, but these babies are coming too fast!  

So while the sweater is still growing on my needles (shh...don't tell the baby's mom...it's a surprise!), I decided to make my favorite alternate gift.

Someone gave me one of these hooded bath towels for a shower gift for our oldest, and I made additional ones for our other three children. They're too big for a newborn, but perfect once the baby outgrows those sweet hooded towels you buy in the store.

And once toddler-hood is reached, these towels become everything from tents to Superman capes. They're perfect for the beach or pool, too!

To make two of these, you need two bath towels and a matching hand towel.

Cut the hand towel in two pieces. Each half will be a hood for one of the towels.

This is the only cutting involved, and you have just that one edge that's unfinished. So now it's time to get out your sewing machine (or borrow a friend's.)

Say "hey" to Wynter. She thinks she's found an out-of-the-way spot.

Fold each part of the hand towel in half so that the right sides are together, and sew it up along the raw edge. You'll want to finish the seam so it doesn't unravel over the years. You can use a zig-zag stitch, a serger (if you have one), or you can make a French seam. The main thing is that this seam needs to be strong and durable.

As you can see, this hood is WAY too long...unless you're sewing for Jawas.

So fold the front edge back about three inches.

Now it's time to sew the hood to the towel. Pin the bottom edge of the hood to the long edge of one bath towel, centered and right sides together. Double check to make sure the hood will be attached the way you want it to be, and then sew the two pieces together. I always sew a double seam here.

Did I tell you my children used their towels until they were at least seven or eight years old? Durability is key!

Repeat with the other half of the hand towel and the other bath towel.

Now you have two shower gifts ready to go!

Or, in this case, one towel for the baby, and one for the big brother.

What is your favorite gift to take to a baby shower?