Angie Windheim

Just finished another article on eHow. Check it out and let me know what you think!

How to Lose Weight with Technology.

So unless you crawled under rock, you know that the Ducks played USC on Halloween (we won!). While it was hard to tear ourselves alway from the game to trick-or-treat and party with friends, we managed to do it all and had a blast with our Ducks inspired costumes.  We had two groovy Oregon hippies, a Duck Santa Claus and a Duck Witch. C’mon everybody, yell “OOOO”

Ducks on Halloween

It may sound silly, but I’ve gotten a lot of praise for my bean dip. My family absolutely LOVES it.   I almost decided not to share it, but, hey, it’s better to spread the joy 🙂  I’ve posted the recipe on eHow. Give it a try!

I just published  my first ehow.com article. I wrote tips for throwing a wine tasting party in your home. My inspiration was a great hostess of just such an event. Nice job, Connie! One thing I didn’t add, was that the Caramelized Onion Spread recipe in my Good Eats – Recipe archive would be a great addition to any wine-inspired event.

The Lit Ladies Book Club picked Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer Prize winning memoir, Angela’s Ashes, for September. I thought that was a great idea, especially since I was hosting our club meeting and, hey, my name is “Angela.”  Well, my namesake book was by far the hardest read I’ve had in a long, long time. I felt like I was in high school reading Grapes of Wrath or Farewell to Arms.  If I’d had a choice to toss it aside, I would have.  But, as I was forced to in high school, I had a commitment to finishing the darned thing (the last 200 pages I read at lightning speed).  I followed up my reading with a snarky email reminder of the meeting time and date to the Book Club girls. I suggested that anyone who dared to say they liked it, would be shoved outside for fear they were delirious with swine flu!

All that negativity aside, we had one of our best Book Club meetings ever. It was a lively discussion about all of the horribleness that was Frank McCourt’s incredibly poor, disadvantaged childhood in Ireland. We enjoyed digging through some biographies of what happened to Frank and his brother later in life. Some Lit Ladies actually admitted that they were curious enough to perhaps, gasp, read his follow-up memoirs. I was content enough with my research 🙂

OK. Something positive…Angela’s Ashes gives a very no-nonsense view of a very depressed era in Ireland.  I can appreciate that it’s one of the most interesting writing styles I’ve ever endured (not too positive). McCourt makes the voices and dialects and people very clear to the reader. Unfortunately, the monotony of this memoir got to me,and I just wanted to throw the book at the wall when I was done. Maybe too much of a good thing?

In closing, many reviews reference the humor of the memoir. They’ve got to be kidding? It is completely depressing. Perhaps the overbearing Catholic school teachers and fusty old family members would be funny if seen in the comedy sketches McCourt later performed on stage with his brother. In fact, we did laugh out loud in Book Club in retelling some of the occurrences (especially the chapter when “Typhoid Fever” was forbidden to talk through a wall to “Diphtheria”). But those lighter moments failed to bring any joy to the reading. Am I glad I read it? Only in the sense that it brought together a great Book Club session. Otherwise, I would really like those many hours back and cannot recommend it to any friend of mine.

I so look forward to my annual birthday dinner out with two of my closest girl friends. Some years I’m boring, but t his year I wanted to adventure to a new restaurant. We thought we’d try Mingo, a newer Italian restaurant in Beaverton.  Mingo served up an excellent Italian meal. I knew it was going to be hard to choose my meal, when I couldn’t even get pass the server’s report of the daily specials to  look at the menu!  I chose the daily special risotto with rosemary and flank steak. Oh so good. I cleaned my plate, much to Brian’s dismay. He was eagerly awaiting a leftovers box…oops.  The portions were nicely done. Very filling, but not overwhelming. Prices are right in there with the likes of Macaroni Grill, yet the experience is so much better. Smaller, more quaint, yet still hopping with people and energy. Next time, I go, and I will definitely eat there again, I will want to eat family style, so I can try more. The salmon, daily ravioli, squash soup all tempted me, but you can only eat or spend so much 🙂 If you decide to try Mingo, definitely make reservations. We had the last booth on a Tuesday night. Only one lonely table was left in the bar.

Heat wave?! Are you serious? Good grief! Oregonians do not know how to handle this above 100 degrees stuff 🙂  So, if you’ve got kids and are bored with staying indoors in the air conditioning, I do have a few recommendations…

Murase Plaza at Memorial Park in Wilsonville: One of my favorite places to take the kids for some water fun is the “waterwall” in Wilsonville.  It’s also one of my favorite places to get great pics. Major photo op. There are mini-fountains in one area and a block-long rock wall with waterfalls and a concrete stream running in front. I recommend parking at the library across the street. The park parking is a bother of a walk on hot days and more appropriate if you want to play on the slides and such, but the library lines up nicely with the water. There is a public restroom…yay…but very little shade…boo. So, bring an umbrella if you are one of those parents that doesn’t want to join in the fun.

Wilson Pool: I make the trek out to Wilson Pool at least once a summer. Why don’t we have any outdoor public pools out near Sherwood/Tualatin/Newberg/Wilsonvillle/Tigard I have no idea?  My friends and I complain about it every year.  That said, Wilson Pool is worth the drive. It’s got a great slide, a diving board and the lazy river into the crazy, spinning whirlpool. So fun. It’s always busy, but we all seem to make our way through the crowds with ease.  Tuesdays are 2-for-1 which is great, but it’s extra crowded on those days.

Tualatin Commons Fountain and Salmon Street Springs: These are fun, too. Not as exciting, but a great stop on a hot day if you are nearby.  We had the kids run through Salmon Street Springs after visiting Saturday Market and the Brew Fest.  Tualatin Commons is very convenient for us after soccer practice.

Portland Fountains Next on My List: Lovejoy Fountain Park and Keller Fountain.

Dave Mathews Band moves me. Whether the lyrics bring emotion or the music behind them gets me dancing…I’m moved. With their latest release, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, they did it again. I can’t get enough of “Funny the Way it is” or “You and Me” or “Grux” and my kids love “Alligator Pie.”   I wasn’t sure what to expect with this release, but is a wonderful tribute to their fallen band mate, Leroi Moore.  We were at one of the first concerts they played after he died (in fact, we were worried they’d cancel the show at the Gorge because they had cancelled several before that). It was an amazing show. They played their hearts out.  I’m disappointed to not be making the trek to the Gorge this year. I would love to hear the new stuff live. But, we go every other year to their annual 3-day stop for Labor Day Weekend and this isn’t the year to go. It’s such a good time. One of the best parties you’ll ever go to.  Just make sure you plan to camp in the big field, get to the show in time for an amazing sunset, and be ready to stay up all night 🙂  Here are a few pics to give you an idea of the setting.

Imagine the stress of having Coldplay tickets in your hand, but not knowing if you can actually make it the concert…  Two of my boys were in district play-off baseball games Friday night and were putting our night out at serious risk. We even tried to sell the tickets, but luckily no one took us up on that spectacular opportunity.  And, luckily, both boys won their games in timely fashion and we were off to the concert.

We are big Coldplay fans. We have all of their CDs. We know all of their songs (and probably all of the words).  The concert was fantastic. Coldplay puts on an excellent, very engaging show. Lots of audience interaction, including a fantastic acoustic set where they came out and visited us poor folks in the general admission lawn seating.  That set included a tribute to Michael Jackson with a cover of Billy Jean.  Very well done. Chris Martin can hit those high notes 🙂  Not sure what my favorite song was. I have too many. Their closing set included “The Scientist” which I LOVE!!!

So, being such huge fans, the concert couldn’t disappoint. That being said, I think the Clark County Amphitheater is my absolute least favorite place to see a concert. We’ve had stellar seats in the reserved section before and it that was pretty good, but then why be in an amphitheater when you are under a cover and can’t see beyond the stage. Sitting in the lawn is a totally lame experience. The sounds is not good, not loud enough, and you can’t see a dang thing. We couldn’t even see the big screens until it got really dark and you could easily hold a conversation during the conert. That’s just wrong! I joked with my friend that if you took the binoculars and focused on the big screen, it was like you were really at a concert.  I’ll never be excited to go that venue, but now I know that I will absolutely not sit in the lawn. Pay the money, honey.  You’ve either gotta be close or not go.  It’s such a different experience than the Gorge Amphitheater. That one rocks no matter wear you sit.

I’m just giddy at how well my garden is doing!  It’s almost like cheating to have brand new raised beds and fresh blended topsoil.  So far we’re eating all of the lettuce varieties and I’m very impressed with the curly red-leaf variety from Al’s and, of course, the Romaine is always a favorite. Not sure about the Chinese cabbage though. It’s enormous and almost too much of a good thing. I’m thinking it’s too aggressive for a raised-bed space. Ben’s also chowing on his favorite Nasturtiums. He loves the spicy stuff.

We’ve also been taking advantage of the basil and cilantro.  You just cannot beat fresh pesto.  And, while I was shopping for some new cilantro plants for a little succession planting, I discovered a red leaf basil at Al’s. It smells absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait to make some purple pesto. Love it!

More garden news:

– Curly green lettuce (from seed) is ready for cutting

– I’ve got my first zucchini 🙂

– The ever-bearing strawberries have been a real treat (for me and the deer*)

– Lots of green tomatoes and peppers

– Sweet snap peas are climbing high on the “tomato” cages with peas almost ready for eating. My planting secret: Dig 1/2 inch deep, 1 ft diameter circle, throw in 10-12 pea seeds, cover with dirt and plop a tomato cage in the middle. It works fantastic. The deer* have found my peas as well this  year, but so far have only nibbled the tops off of one cage (I have 4).

– Bean plants and lemon cucumbers are looking good, but no fruit yet.

– Onions are tasty and growing great. I planted a lot so I could use some as babies and some as full-size later.

– Pumpkin plants are growing big, but no flowers

– Potatoes are proving hard to keep up with. I think I’m done mounding on the dirt for this year

*Deer: We do not have a deer fence this year, since we had to move the garden. It’s a risky game we’re playing, but so far the damage has been very minimal. I’ve received a lot of advice and here are my favorites: have the boys pee around the garden, hang nylon socks full of human hair around the garden and scatter dog poop around the garden.  I think I’ll try the hair since the other options will make me want to stay away too!