Recipe for Potato Salad

Roasted New Potato Salad – courtesy of Southern Living magazine - my favorite magazine!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds small red potatoes, diced

1/2 medium-size sweet onion, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

8 to 10 cooked crisp bacon slices, crumbled

1 bunch green onions, chopped

3/4 cup prepared Ranch dressing

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Place oil in a 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan; add potatoes and the next 4 ingredients, tossing to coat. Arrange potato mixture in a single layer.

2. Bake at 425° for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Toss together potatoes, bacon, green onions, and dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or cover and chill until ready to serve.

This recipe makes 4 - 6 servings. I typically double or triple this recipe for cook-outs and family gatherings.

Yummy and always a hit!

A Great Season!

Jacob and Ben had their last baseball games this week. Even though it will be nice not to have a busy schedule of games and practices, we will miss it. Jacob and Ben both had a great time and we were fortunate to be on teams with great kids and good parents. There was not any drama or politics!

Here are some pictures from the year. (The good ones were taken by Joe, one of the parents from Jacob's team.)

Benny enjoying a snack with his pals at Jacob's game.


Benny getting instruction from his coach.


Jacob and his buddy enjoying a snack after Ben's game.


Jacob's pitching debut!


Keeping his eye on the ball!


The coaches planning some baseball "strategery"

They Win Again!

Jacob's baseball team won their 4th game in a row in an exciting come from behind victory! They beat a Deerfield team 10 - 6. Jacob had a good game. He got on base for both of his at bats. He was hit by pitches both times though. At his first at bat, he was hit on the arm. Jacob said it did not really hurt. During his second at bat, he was hit in the side - right in the rib cage. It hurt, but Jacob knows there is no crying in baseball. He then ended up scoring.

It has been great to see the team do so well! They have really improved since the start of the season.

Frog and Toad (and Snake!)

When I was a kid and learning how to read, my favorite books were the Frog and Toad series. Perhaps this explains why I like frogs and toads so much.



For the last few weeks, a toad and a snake have been hanging around my parent's backyard. My dad has been taking some pictures and emailing them to Jacob and Ben. Today we received another email and found that the toad and snake are not getting along so well. Here is what happened:




Luckily for the toad, the snake is not big enough to get the job done. My parents separated the two of them and hoped that the toad and snake will stay away from each other in the future.

In the Frog and Toad books, Frog is described as easy going and relaxed whereas Toad is usually more serious and is easily irritated. I can certainly see why the toad would be irritated....being eaten by a snake cannot be fun! Meanwhile back at the Snow house, our frog, Steve, lounges poolside!

3 in a row! Unbeaten in the last 4!

Jacob's baseball team is tearing it up and has won three games in a row. They won 17 - 11 tonight. With this win, they are now unbeaten in their last four games.

It was an interesting game. The other team's coach was very vocal and took every opportunity to yell at his players, his team's fans, and some unruly kids playing field side. (We hope the children he was yelling at were his own!) I thought we might see some fisticuff action when he was yelling at his parents and fans. After they were yelled at by the coach, some of the younger boys who were running around tried to convince Ben to put a rock in the restroom toilet. Luckily I intervened before any damage was done.

It's all about Ben!

Ben and Jacob jumped in the pool late in the day on Father's Day. Ben braved the water the longest and ended up being caught on film by Colin's girlfriend Erin.


"I WILL go in the pool Uncle Colin!"


Watch out for the "whacker 2000".


George trying a sneak attack!


All is cool, in the pool!

Father's Day

Despite the cool and rainy weather, we had a great Father's Day. The entire crew, minus George's brother Caleb who lives in Seattle, came over for a cook out. George grilled up some fantastic steak tips and my parents brought their delicious chicken thighs in the spicy marinade. The meal was rounded out with my mother-in-law's famous potato salad. I also tried out a new orzo salad that will become a regular in my summer time line up.

Since the weather did not cooperate for pool-side fun, folks played some games on the Wii. Billy and Elizabeth tried out the Wii fit and found out how in or out of shape they are based on the Wii's ratings! Neither was happy with the results!

I'll post more pictures later in the week but here is a nice one of the three fathers.

My dad, George, and Mr. Cook

Winning Streak...

Jacob's team won their second game - it is two in a row now. They beat another local Nottingham team today 13 - 8. Jacob had another good game. The team hit well and there were two home runs! Jacob's good buddy Brendan had one of the home runs. The Nottingham team they beat has a great record so it was quite an accomplishment to win the game.

Benny also had a t-ball game today. He had a good time and enjoyed playing catcher. He is quite skilled at tagging kids with the ball as they run to home base! I was hoping he would not "tag" them too hard or try to use some wrestling move!

Grandma and Grandpa joined us at both of the games to watch the boys play so, all in all -a great day for baseball!


The minor league player, the coach and the t-ball youngster.

There's a new blog in town...

Jacob wanted to start his own blog. My mother actually suggested it as a great way for him to keep writing and reading this summer. So, another blog is born. So check out Jacob and Friends and see what Jacob is up to.

Arapaho Victory!!!

Jacob's baseball team got their first win tonight and ended up with a 17-12 victory over the Raymond White Sox. The team played a great game - they had a slew of hits and made key plays in the field.

Jacob had his best game yet. He had two hits, including a double, a walk and one strike out. He also made a good defensive play. Many of Jacob's teammates had break out games too. Jacob's good buddy Brendan had a nice game as well! It was great to see the excitement on the kid's faces.

Steve is back!

And who is Steve you ask? A long lost friend or relative? No, Steve is the frog that made a daily visit to our pool last year and has now returned for the season.

Jacob named this frog "Steve" last year. Each day George and Steve follow the rules and assume their roles. Steve lets George catch him without too much effort and for that George releases Steve "nicely"(my word and my request of George) on the lawn. Then, later in the night, Steve returns to pool and they start again.

Jacob likes to swim while Steve is in the pool. Frogs are a favorite of ours here in the Snow household so it suits us just fine to share the pool with one.


Relaxing by the ladder.....


Chilling - waiting for George to scoop him out!

Terrible!

Or you could say defiant, controversial, adversarial or just a general pain in the behind....but that is the best way to sum up my husband's choices for his favorite sports teams. Yes he likes the Yankees, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but did you also know that he is a Lakers fan? So, after many years of not following the NBA, as I am sure is true for many of us, George decides to resurrect his old team and sport the yellow and purple. (For the record he did have a pair of Lakers sweatpants in college...it was a good look - NOT!) So, today George opted to wear his new t-shirt to Jacob's baseball game. I did buy him the shirt so I am an accomplice in this treachery.

Will he ever like a local team?????

Our 13th Anniversary...

Today is our anniversary. George and I have been married for 13 years. We were dating for 5 years before we got married so I have known George for almost 1/2 of my life!

Are we doing anything special? - you ask. No, because George and I were a bit out of it when George made plans to go to a baseball game tonight in Manchester with his brother and co-worker. So, I am celebrating 13 years of marriage by blogging! I did have a glass of wine with dinner. And I did find some energy tonight to vacuum the downstairs floors! It is amazing how 13 years of marriages energizes you or perhaps I was just tired of looking at Benny's accumulation of cheese puff, gold fish and cereal crumbs.

Our wedding day was a bit more eventful. We made the fateful mistake of having some unofficial bachelor and bachelorette activities the night before the wedding. So many of the wedding party, including the beautiful bride, were not at their best that day. But do not despair, there was a sliver lining to our indulgence. My father was taking care of the bar bill and it was an open bar. The bar tab ended up being much lower than my dad anticipated since many of the younger folks had their fill the night before.

Also, just so you know, the traditional 13th anniversary gift is lace, but folks who are more hip and modern can opt for furs or textiles. George better have that mink stole ready to go for me!

Dining Alfresco

The kids wanted to eat dinner outside tonight so we had a lovely meal on the deck. That is my empty seat with the wine glass!