City of Black & White

Photo from here

I love eggplant. My husband and kids though, not so much. So the fact that we’ve gotten 5 eggplants in the last two weeks from our CSA was a bit perplexing, because, while I like me some eggplant parm, I don’t have the time to make or eat 5 eggplants worth of the stuff, and it’s not such a good freeze and reheat meal.

Google to the rescue!

Tonight I made Roasted Eggplant and Feta Dip (click here for full recipe) to eat tomorrow with my homemade bruschetta and french bread (yes, I made that too.) We picked up some goat cheese n on Saturday and I’ve been looking forward to this meal since then.

The best part about all of these recipes is that none of them required more than about 10 minutes of hands on time, and man oh man do they taste good. Plus, all can be eaten for both meals and snacks, and most of the ingredients came either from my garden, my CSA or the Franklin Farmer’s Market. It doesn’t get much better than this for fresh, local food in September.

I don’t usually get into gift books, but The Butterfly Effect: How Your Life Mattersis intriguing from the beginning. Beautifully laid out, the book first explains what the The Butterfly Effect: How Your Life Mattersis- the idea that a butterfly flapping it’s wings could cause a hurricane on the other side of the world- and then gives examples of how seemingly insignificant decisions changed the course of history. While the premise behind the book is not unique, especially in Christian literature, it is clear, exciting and inspiring.

“The very beating of your heart has meaning and purpose.
Your actions have value far greater than silver or gold.
Your life … And what you do with it today …
MATTERS FOREVER.”

This book would make a great gift for anyone entering a new stage in their life- whether that is graduation or parented, or anyone who needs to be reminded that their actions matter.

3 Stars

The Boy Who Changed the World tells the story of the boy who invented a new type of corn that would grow in arid climates, thereby feeding over 2 million people. Except maybe it wasn’t him who should get credit for feeding those people, maybe it should be the man who hired him. Or the man who taught him, or the man who saved him. You get the idea- no one can truly receive credit, because they all had a hand in it.

For children of the right age, this story is a wonderful conversation starter. In the end, it’s not clear if the credit should be shared, or if the point of the story is that you should never take credit for anything because no idea was yours alone. Obviously, the point is that even though you might not see it today, your actions could have effects in another lifetime. Just be careful if you have cynical (pre)teens around.

The Boy Who Changed the Worldis wonderfully illustrated and paced well, and kept the attention of my 1 & 2 year olds until the end, which is no easy feat.

Have you heard of Daily Dish in Franklin? It’s actually up in Grassmere, but I just learned that’s not actually a city. So we’ll say Franklin.

Anyway, Daily Dish is a meat and three next to a dry cleaner, just down the street from the coffee shop that Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman like to hang out at. The daily menu is written on a chalkboard outside the door and you can peruse the dessert options as you’re picking up your silverware.

But this meat and three is special, because they have a full menu of salads and sandwiches that you can order in addition to the good ol’ southern fare they’re dishing out. It’s perfect for us, because I can get (the best) macaroni cheese and a salad or sandwich, and Chris can have his chicken fried steak or jambalaya or whatever else they’ve got going on. It’s one of our favorite lunch places.

About a week ago we went there for dinner with both of the kids. They shared a kids meal and (brace yourself) THERE WERE LEFTOVERS! From MY KIDS! These are the same kids who often eat more than me at any given meal. So as far as value goes, nothing beats it.

I ordered the Almond Encrusted Goat Cheese salad. I’ve had the Pesto Chicken Sandwich before (amazing) but I was really just craving some fruit and veggies.

Oh. my. goodness.

Seriously, this is the BEST SALAD I HAVE EVER EATEN.

And I said so between just about every bite. And I couldn’t quit talking about it all the way home. I don’t know how to fully express to you just how good this salad was, except that I have been thinking about it for the last 10 days and right now I’m trying to figure out how I could talk my boss into taking us there for lunch today. (It’s at least a 45 minute drive each way from our office. Not going to happen.)

Just looking at this picture makes me want to drool.