Savoring the Weekend

Well, it was a marathon weekend for the Morgans! Actually, tournament weekend is more appropos.

Emi's basketball team had a tournament in Edmond starting Friday night (when they had their butts handed to them late Friday night by an awesome team that must have been out of their league....) and went on through today.

Friday night was brutal for Emi's team and for those of us on the sidelines with easily bored children distracting us from watching the game every 17 seconds. But we got through it.  It was great to see Emi playing with a team of this caliber. So proud of that girlie!

Saturday morning we were up early taking care of some yard work (trimming/weeding/watering) while Emi was getting a new hairdo. There were some surprises involved here (in the yard, not Emi's hair). I found that my asparagus is still producing so I don't have to wait until next year to harvest some. And I found that my oregano planted YEARS ago in my trying to be Moosewood Kitchen garden has survived all these years.



I think we are going to plow through much of this bed again (carefully avoiding the asparagus beds) and start anew. As you can see, it's a bit overgrown.

FYI, I have a Cardinal family nesting in that Rose of Sharon up against the house. Love it!

I also spent a good deal of time clipping branches from the neighbor's trees as they are growing into the power lines and my DSL line. I don't want a repeat of the 2007 Ice Storm damage. I obviously have more work to do, but Phase I is complete.

Look at that sweet Gracie girl hanging out with me in the yard...

Later I ran to the store to grab stuff for my rosemary flavored endeavors and I found a really good deal. For about what I'd spend for 2-3 bags of herbs, I got a pot filled with Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Spearmint and Sage.

Pot of Herbs for $12.99 Can't go wrong here!

Then we spent Saturday afternoon in Edmond watching Emi play basketball. They won both of these games!

David was so annoyed with the crying little boy sitting near us during the first game - he told everyone in earshot about this annoyance...isn't it ironic?

We checked out coolgreens after the first game and that was a nice unexpected treat. I had heard that we had one in Norman, but I hadn't had a chance to check it out yet. I got the coolgreens skinny flatbread pizza and that is something I will have to replicate at home! Whole wheat flatbread with basil pesto, grapes, sun-dried tomatoes, figs, walnuts, goat cheese and arugula. Nutrient dense and flavor heaven!

For dessert I got a coconut yogurt smoothie with coconut yogurt, coconut milk and coconut. That might sound too coconutty for some but I am a freak for coconut so I was blissed out. It's in my blood....my mom's family owned a coconut plantation in PI. That was a very yummy treat to sip on during the 2nd game.

We were able to capture a little footage of that foul-riddled second game (Emi gets a rebound.)



The refs weren't calling many of the fouls so it got really rough for a while with injuries and there were even some parent-referee exchanges. I didn't record any of those...

Today after church, Scott went with Emi to Edmond to resume the tournament and I took David and Aubri out to my parents for Father's Day lunch with my dad.  My dad is very hard to shop for so I got him something I thought he needed, a Thunder t-shirt to show his support. ;.)

Speaking of a show of support, Emi was able to hunt down and make hers that highly sought after Fear the Beard shirt.

Here she is modeling it along with her silver medal...

Emi's team won their first game handily, but they were defeated in the 2nd game by the same team that beat them Friday night. I think they are properly calibrated now and by the next tournament, they should be more prepared.

For Scott's special Father's Day meal I planned to make the dishes that I posted on Friday but when I announced the menu Friday to my family, I got some less than enthusiastic responses from them.  I assured them that this turkey burger has umami but they had their doubts. I even bought the ingredients to make Reubens (Scott's favorite) in case of disaster. [sn: Those will be on the menu later this week!]

The African Black Eyed Pea Salad was so yummy and vibrant and refreshing. The only ingredient I omitted was the hot peppers. Look at how pretty this salad is! I imagine it would be welcome at any summer party....and it's good for you. For the record, I would love hot peppers in this dish but not everyone in the family appreciates heat like I do.

Saladu Nebbe - Beautiful!

And the Umami Turkey Rosemary Burgers were delicious as well.  Nobody loved the smell of the fish sauce (umami) but everyone got seconds.  I made long skinny burgers to fit the hoagie rolls that were on sale and we added alfalfa sprouts along with the avocado. I had Miso Mayo on mine. I'm pretty sure I was in an Alpha State after this burger.

Now with Umami!

I made the Lemon Rosemary Sorbet too and while it wasn't quite frozen when we decided to sample it heavily (it was like a lemon slush), my verdict is DELISH! So refreshing and zesty! So good in fact that I just went in to "sample" some more.

This weekend was full of wins and conversions - I now have a healthy appreciation of rosemary! I am also very much in love with that sweet little doggie that made her way into our home. She reminds me of my sweet Kirby in so many ways, but she's younger and smarter and smaller. I wish I could take her to work with me!

Hope you had a great Father's Day weekend too, friends!