A Common Shepherdess

I'm totally addicted to Ree's pico de gallo. I wake up in the morning wondering if it's okay to have chips and pico de gallo for breakfast. Check out her very cool blog and delicious recipe ! I'm off to the store for more tomatoes.

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Win a year's supply of Nexcare bandaids. I don't normally do contests but what mom couldn't use 45 boxes of bandaids?

The other day we took a drive on the outskirts of Surprise. Much of Surprise is still rural but the area is growing fast. The prediction is that Surprise will grow 10 times it's current population of 60,000 in the next 10 years. New homes are popping up everywhere. I love how the road splits around the saguaro cactus. I had to take a picture. It is illegal in Arizona to harm a saguaro in any way.

Even the locals say it's hot. This is what the forecast looks like for the next week: 99, 100, 102, 104, 100, 100, 100. (The locals also chuckle and say, "Oh, just wait!") 10 ways we have found to beat the heat: Cover roof windows and front windshield with insulated reflectors Block sunlight in the back with a cotton tarp Hang shade fabric from the awning Siesta! Remove the covering from the rooftop A/C so the cold air blasts straight down. None of those sissy vents for us. Chill by the sweet pool Relax under the misters attached to the awning (these are so awesome!) Probably most important is water, water, and more water Get a friend to dump a bucket of water over your head (Don't worry, she likes it!) When all else fails, hang out at WalMart

The great ice cream experiment was a bust. The idea seems so cool. Put ingredients into a 1 lb. coffee can. Seal it duct tape. Put the sealed can into a 3 lb. coffee can. Add ice and rock salt. Secure the lid with duct tape. Have the kids kick the can around the yard for about 20 minutes, adding more ice and salt when needed. I must have gotten the recipe wrong because after 45 minutes all we still had was cold, thick sweet milk. I suppose it didn't help that it was 102 degrees outside. even after a few hours in the freezer, the ice cream looked like it had been sitting on the counter too long. Very yummy, but still soft. Here is the recipe I used: 1/2 pint light cream 1 small tin condensed milk 1-2 tsp vanilla extract I used a standard size can of sweetened condensed milk (which is 14 oz.). Maybe I should have used only half that amount of condensed milk. How much is a "small tin" anyway? I don't think the kids are anxious to try again anytime soon!