Good To Be Home

Finally!  The long summer of 2010 is drawing to a close.  I am dreaming of snow and ice; at least some cool fall days.  The heat has just about whipped me - I'm done with sweating.  I'm done with traveling every weekend too.  My whole family agrees that we are ready to stay home for awhile. 

Our weekends in Lincoln, Nebraska and Sparta, Illinois went very well; the kids had a great time and both performed well in their respective sports.  I ended up going to Sparta which I will fail to adequately describe.  Unless you go there in person, you cannot imagine what the World Shooting and Recreational Complex is truly like.  The trap fields stretch as far as you can see and the constant pop of gunfire from early in the morning till dark serves as constant background noise.  The place oozes testosterone and I could never have imagined such a collection of guns anywhere.  The hotels for miles around are filled with gun toting men, giving a surreal effect to the whole experience.  Meanwhile, Barry had a perfectly normal weekend at the swim meet.  Nothing unusual there unless you count seeing large numbers of very fit children.  Sad that healthy, active children are becoming more rare.

My son with a $16,000 gun at one of the many stores in Sparta.

Now we are ready to resume a more relaxed home life if such a thing exists.  I've kept up my exercise as much as possible with being on the road so much.  I tried to watch the food I ate as road trips can easily lead to eating too much of the wrong thing.  In between our travels, I've even managed to find a few new recipes, one of which I'm sharing today.  I have a couple of tips for eating better when traveling: 1. always eat a good breakfast, skip the sweets and have eggs or oatmeal and some fruit. 2. Take some healthy snacks and a cooler of water, tea or G-2's with you so you won't be tempted to eat junk. 

I tried this recipe a few weeks ago and it was an instant hit.  And because it's easy, I'll make it often.  This is an elegant side dish for any meat and a tasty way to prepare carrots. 

Caramelized Carrots

2 lbs. whole small carrots, peeled, with a bit of green top left on

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

4 garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup whipping cream

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Heat the oil in an extra large skillet and add the carrots.  Sprinkle with salt.  Cook covered for 10 minutes.  Uncover and turn, then add garlic.  Cover and cook 10 more minutes or until carrots are tender and golden brown on both sides.  Remove carrots from pan and keep warm.  Add cream and cayenne pepper to skillet.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Simmer until cream is slightly thickened, 2 to 4 minutes.  Pour over carrots.  Sprinkle with fresh snipped parsley if desired.

I hope everyone is getting in school mode!