William and Kate

It's here!!!  I am in the process of staying up until probably 5:30 in the morning to watch the wedding of Prince William to Kate.  I have my trusty companion, Gizmo along for the fairytale and we are both enjoying watching such a big day!  T-minus 1 hr, 40 mins until Kate arrives!  Can't wait to see the dress.  Happy Wedding Day everyone!

Phillies vs. Padres Game 1

With a husband who grew up loving Philadelphia sports, especially baseball, it was almost impossible not to fall in love with his home-town teams as well.  This is especially true of the Phillies.  Since we have moved away, I have promised him that we would watch the Phillies whenever we have the chance.    This past weekend they were in town for a 4-game series against the Padres so of course we had to go.  Not only did we have to go, we also decided to go to all 4 games!  

We were sure to get there early so we could watch their batting practice/warm-ups pre-game.  Luckily I have a zoom lens for my camera so I was able to get some nice close-ups of the players as they were on the field.

This is Brad Lidge.  He is their closer but is on the DL.  Someone next to us yelled out asking when he would return and his answer was "June".  Woohoo...can't wait!!!

Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz (their starting catcher) talking about something with other pitchers.

More of the pitching staff with Chooch.  Ruiz, Kyle Kendrick, not sure, Ryan Madson

This was taken all the way from the outfield seats, all the way zoomed in.  Not bad huh?  That is Shane Victorino taking a swing, aka "the Flyin' Hawaiian".

My husbands favorite player, Chase Utley (UCLA alum I might add), who is on the DL for who knows how long.  Looking good fielding some ground balls!

The Big Man, Ryan Howard stretching.

Best seats ever?  Beach chairs in the "beach section" in Center field.  Ok, maybe behind home plate can't compete, but still awesome!

Finally for some game play.  I took a bunch of pics but they were mostly boring.  Here is an somewhat great shot of Raul Ibanez sliding into 3rd...safe!!!  That is Pat's shoulder getting in the way.

Roy Oswalt's great form.

Run number 1...Ben Francisco solo home run.

Run number 2 Brian Schneider's solo homerun.

Placido Polanco for run number 3!

Us enjoying the game

The dugout...see the blue hat?  Now look at the partial red hat right in front of that...that is Chase Utley =)  

And now for crazy drunk fans...I have a great sequence of shots for these crazy guys, basically a play-by-play.  They jumped down somewhere in right field and ran like crazy.  He looks so happy doesn't he?

A little shove here...

A knockdown there...

His friend taken down.  Dummies!

Woohoo!  1 for 1 for the weekend!  Great night of baseball.  Stay tuned for the other 3 games.

Grandparent's roses...

I am very lucky to live in the house that I do.  My grandparents lived here before me and they love roses.  This means that I have 6 good rose bushes to enjoy, including one which we used for petals in my wedding.  I decided to take some photos for you all to enjoy; plus I figured it is an easier way to share them with my G-ma who lives about 3 hours away now. 

 A new bud ready to open...

 The one we call Grandpa's rose...

A different angle...

 And finally, my favorite bush (and the largest!)  This one has grown quite a bit since my grandparents planted it over 10 years ago.  This tiny rose happens to be my G-ma's wedding flower.  I love that I now get to enjoy that part of their wedding everyday.

 The bush has even managed to grow down behind our fence and reach the wild-life preserve behind us!

 Now I just need to figure something out for ground cover in the planter...

It smells wonderful in my backyard right now!  Happy Spring =)

First try at Curry!

Picture from good old Google image...

I received this cook book as a gift from my husband and have been meaning to try out a curry recipe for a couple of months now.  I finally got around to it tonight and I am so happy that I did!

This is his recipe for "Chicken Korma"

First chop up 2 onions, fresh ginger, cilantro stems (after picked off leaves), and a green chile (I chose jalapeno)

 Heat a skillet over high heat with "a couple of lugs of (peanut/veggie) oil" and toss in above ingredients (leaving cilantro leaves to garnish) with a Tbs. of butter

Saute for about 10 minutes until golden, with lots of yummy bits on the pan...

Cut up some chicken breast into ~inch cubes

 1/2 cup curry paste (or homemade) which is one small jar

 One can of coconut milk and a couple Tbs. of shredded coconut

 Put all of the above in the pan

plus some Garbanzo beans

 and sliced almonds.  Stir all together and cook until begins to boil.

 Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes (oh...add half a can of water and stir).  Check often to make sure water doesn't evaporate completely.  I served rice with this so about now is a good time to make sure you get it started.

 Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy some baseball (Go Phillies!)

 Or I guess I could have done some clean-up/dishes...

 Put some rice in a bowl

 Then top with the "Chicken Korma Curry"

 Garnish with Yogurt (I used plain Greek yogurt...yum!), sliced almonds, and cilantro leaves.

Bon Appétit!