if you're local...

...and if you're not, hop in the car and come on down!  we're having a gallery open house for Loving Legacy Photography next Wednesday, March 11, and we'd love for you to come.  there will be special on-site offers, and a gift for anyone who brings a (new) friend!  come hang with us.  can't wait to see you!

didn't there used to be a tuesday traditions blog carnival?  or something like it?  well, i've googled my fingers off and i just don't see it.  so it's thursday and i wanna blog about a tradition.  anyone wanna play?  see the mcklinky below.  leave a comment.  link to your blog post.  let's share!

ours:

friday night is taco night.  it's a ritual.  it began some year or two ago, and our kids made sure it stuck.

now i love to cook, and i am adventurous, but friday nights are my night off (unless my sweetheart invites me into the kitchen to work alongside him.  but he has to invite me, and i have to do it his way.  and his way usually includes a taco bell kit.  :)  ).  i don't care - it's wonderful.  especially when he does double-deckers with nacho cheese.  oh, man i've gotta work out!

once he let me make fish tacos. once he let me do shredded chicken in the slow cooker.  i'm always allowed to make fresh salsa and he indulges my need to have cilantro.

we're working on building more traditions, but this is one that has stuck.  sometimes we pile on the couch afterwards and watch a movie.  sometimes we have friends over.  sometimes that includes sangria.  (well, at least when julie's makin' it!)

it's a family feast and everyone dives in...

and it's a good thing we sometimes play wii to at least burn off a little energy... because with even one extra family, that's a lot of wiggles!

...and sometimes the kids just hang and go for a card game.

thanks to friends like j., there are even sometimes homemade desserts.

it's not spiritual.  it's not deep in educational value.  but it brings us all together and keeps us close.  even the grandparents have adopted this tradition when we share friday nights at their homes!

this is one of our family traditions.  what is one of yours?

tomato help {works-for-me-wednesday}

there's maybe nothing more gross than pale tomatoes.  they're lackluster as far as flavor goes, and as for their texture, sometimes they go straight to grainy... YUCK! 

i almost never buy tomatoes unless i can hold them and smell them, but occasionally we get a great deal through our organic co-op and i risk it and unfortunately they sometimes come looking like this:

sorry, but ain't no way i'm going to eat sad, pale tomatoes like this; neither will we waste good organic produce!  to the rescue: roast them!

slice them in half.  we're going to roast these babies.  drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  super simple.  if you want, sprinkle with dried herbs, but do this before the olive oil or the herbs will possibly burn.  burned herbs do not work-for-me.

into the oven with you, little guys!  a little note here: it's best to use a pan with a bit of a lip to catch those wandering juices.  a happy side effect we accidentally discovered is that the acids do a nice job on all the unwanted "seasoning" built up on our pan.  if you actually have a well-seasoned pan, do not use it for this recipe. 

i've tried doing these under the broiler, which is great if they're fairly  ripe and rich in color.  sprinkle those with parmesan and broil just till the cheese browns.  for these critters, though, a little more help was needed.  with a temperature of around 400 degrees, roast them for 30 minutes or so.  we're not going all the way to sun-dried (which you could, which is also delicious), but just till they're nice and gooey and rich, with a golden crust on top.

there you have it.  delicious, delightful tomatoes - saved from their sad pale previous state.  and that's what works for me this wednesday!  if you love this tip and would like to see more, click here!  (temporarily hosted at rocks in my dryer for march 3rd and march 10th. - thanks!)

enjoy!  and if you like what you see, leave a comment!  hugs.