CoolestFamilyEver

Is Your Kitchen Restaurant-Quality?

No, I don't mean that you make meals that could be served on Iron Chef or have the really fancy Electrolux induction cooktop, but that you're following proper food handling guidelines to make sure nobody picks up a bug. The Los Angeles County Department of Health has a quiz up so you can self-grade your own kitchen and see if you could serve up haute cuisine or be relegated to the land of filthy taco trucks (which, in my opinion, offer the best-tasting Mexican fare this side of the Rio Grande). Go take the quiz and see how you stack up.

Amazingly, our sink full of undone dishes only knocks us down to a 90, still an A grade. Go figure.

Posted by Jesse | Filed under: Food, Tender Lumplings on June 1st, 2008 at 6:04 pm | 5 Comments »

To Kill a Mocking Bird

About two months ago, some new neighbors moved into a house just a few doors away from us. Like a lot of families, they brought pets with them. Unlike a lot of families, those pets were just under a dozen chickens including a rooster. No big deal, I thought. How noisy can chickens be?

Shauna was the first to notice the regular crowing and it was driving her nuts. I could only barely hear it even when I was concentrating on it. Over time, however, I've been noticing it more and more. It really reached a breaking point on Monday, the rooster crowing like mad while we both tried to sleep in.

I'm reasonably sure that the zoning in a neighborhood of single-family homes probably precludes owning farm animals, but I don't want to be that guy. But what can you do? Go up to their door and ask them to make their rooster hush up? Have them snap back that our dogs will occasionally bark during the day? It seems like we just have to put up with being early risers as long as the chickens are here.

Posted by Jesse | Filed under: Homeownership, Life on May 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm | 17 Comments »

When Poster Parodies Attack

The group health plan at work decided to send up a bunch of "healthy living" posters to remind us to stop eating junk food and start working out. They're along the lines of this one:

Blue Cross Poster

Of course, it just begs for a parody. Someone at work was more than happy to oblige. Read more »

Posted by Jesse | Filed under: Pictures, Work, Tender Lumplings on May 27th, 2008 at 2:00 pm | 5 Comments »

Expanding Our Garden

Remember last year's foray into growing strawberries? Remember the pathetic harvest that was barely even a pint? I think we're going to do better this year.

A bed of strawberries

Posted by Jesse | Filed under: Food, Pictures, Gardening on May 25th, 2008 at 11:17 am | 14 Comments »

New Album: Zion National Park, Mother’s Day 2008

I know, Mother's Day was 2 weeks ago. Shauna had to do quite a bit of touch-up to get these ready for primetime, and her Photoshop skills far outweigh mine. Go check out the new album for yourself for lots of pretty pictures.

View of the west side of Zion National Park from Smith Mesa

Posted by Jesse | Filed under: Pictures, Utah, Travel, Family on May 24th, 2008 at 5:00 pm | 2 Comments »

A Morning Walk

This morning, Shauna decided that we needed to take a walk with the dogs. We started off in the neighborhood and wandered our way into Dimple Dell along Dry Creek, then under 1300 E to the side with the horse trails. I had my new phone with me and decided to snap a few pictures along the way. Go check out the new album for more.

The Wasatch Range above Dimple Dell and Dry Creek in May 2008