Ratatouille

Ever since Stephen saw the movie Ratatouille several weeks ago, he occasionally asked me to make the dish ratatouille.
I found a recipe in a general cookbook and adapted it so that it would look like the movie version - except I kept the tomatoes called for in my recipe and left out the yellow squash. Stephen did help a little, and we even got to work on patterns as we layered the veggies in the baking dish.
My version is not nearly as pretty as the one in the film of course - especially since I only had fairly large eggplants from which to choose.



Lee and I enjoyed it, but Stephen tried a few bites and didn't like it. Oh well.

In looking for pretty pictures of Ratatouille for contrast, I found that better cooks than I have also been inspired to make their visions of the film's version of ratatouille. This recipe does look much better than mine.

Mystery Man in Green Eggs and Ham

Ok, so maybe I've read Green Eggs and Ham a few times too many lately. But, have you ever noticed the "mystery man?" He shows up in the coach car of the train - the first time you see the train. You then don't see him for most of the rest of the book - you only see the woman and child in the train (or in the water, etc.). But, you see little glimpses of someone else that hasn't been previously introduced. A hand here, a hat there (mostly while they're in the water). I'm going on the assumption that the man in the train is indeed still along for the ride throughout the book, he's just ignored. It's as if he's having a cameo appearance and is then treated like an extra.

It's a bit odd to have read a book so often that I can almost read it from memory; leaving my mind free to wander and think about such things. Perhaps we need to go to the library more often.

Family Update

Greetings all! We apologize for the long length between blog posts. Here’s the quick update:

1. Kristy and Lee had a nasty diarrhea bug. We started within hours of each other a few Saturdays ago. The kids didn’t get it, but we couldn’t keep up with both of them. So, my parents took Stephen for most of the week (thankfully). I recovered slower than Kristy (I missed church and 4 days of work), but we’re both much better. Apparently it’s been going around.
2. The semester is over at WCU, so Lee gets to work on longer-term goals. For the nerds out there, I’m learning ASP.NET (in VB) and how to interface with a database through that.
3. WCU hires a carnival near the end of the semester and we took the family to that. Stephen (and the rest of us) had a good time. I rode the Ferris wheel with him and though I was afraid I would have to put the “daddy death grip” on him, he was very good. The funnel cake was pretty good too.
4. We took Stephen and Lydia to their first baseball game. Clemson came to play WCU, so we wore our orange. It was a good game and Clemson won. We also met some Clemson folks, including a fraternity brother of mine (he was after my time).
5. Kristy’s boss has asked us to consider having her come in three mornings a week instead of the current two. We’re trying to figure out the childcare for that to see if we can make it happen.
6. The search for a dean for our college failed – the provost didn’t pick any of the candidates invited for final interviews. So, I don’t know who I’m going to report to as of July 1. We don’t even have an interim dean picked. AND our associate dean is stepping down. Whatever happens, there will be a significant change in leadership.
7. For our Texas friends – in spite of the gas prices, we’re still trying to figure out a trip out there to visit. We’ll be in touch.