green

…you don’t have a TV? Really? How come?

The main reason we give is: if we had one, we’d watch it. We spend enough time in front of our computers or working on home projects that adding a time sink like TV to the mix would just be disastrous.

Well, enough time has passed that I feel we can finally come clean and reveal the truth, the real reason behind the absence of television from our home:

And yeah, I guess this might also explain why we don’t answer the phone, either…

Since dabbling with potato dough to make pierogies last week, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at gnocchi, so we gave it a whirl for tonight’s dinner.

I love gnocchi. Really, there’s probably no dumpling I’d turn my nose at, but gnocchi are kind of magical in their yumminess. The gnocchi you get in most restaurants and grocery stores tend to be small, dense dough balls. I certainly don’t claim to be an expert on making gnocchi, but the most delicious examples I’ve tasted are fairly light and never chewy.

The dough I made was very similar to the pierogi dough: ~2 pounds potatoes, egg, salt, and flour (except I used two egg yolks instead of a single egg). Following several sources on the Web, I rolled the dough out into ropes and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Then Ted and I rolled them on forks to produce the distinctive, grooved shape, and voila! Lovely little gnocchi.

A quick dip in boiling water, tossed with some fresh pesto made earlier in the week… they are amazingly good. Soft, buttery, and practically melting in your mouth. Yum!

Our friends Kathy and Dave invited us to their neighborhood’s July 4th block party. What a blast! The neighbors put in a lot of effort planning the day and putting together many activities for family fun:

• decorated bike parade, complete with grand marshall
• pie-eating contest
• a bounce house for the kids
• street hockey
• little doggies!
• cotton candy, snow cones, and many tables heavily laden with grilled burgers, dogs, corn, watermelon, salads, and a multitude of desserts
• swimming
• street chalk drawing
• a live band!
• dancing in the street
• rickshaw-cycle rides
• kegs of beer and the “liquor luge”
• fireworks
• late night bagpipe parade (really)

A grand time was had by all…