No Mo' Mogo!

I must say that my first experience buying in to an organic garden was interesting and exciting. Sometimes the veggies spoiled before I had a chance to use them, so that was a bummer. But what it taught me is that this produce is so fresh, it must be used right away. Will I do it again?? Probably. Here are some photos from the last few baskets we got.

MogoOrganic Veggie Wonderland

Okay! Who wouldn't love getting this basket of yumminess! The skinny little bundle to the left is celery. Yep. Smells like celery, tastes like celery, so it must be celery! Just skinny. More cabbage, green beans and fresh basil. And what goes well with fresh basil? Fresh tomatoes, of course! The heirlooms finally made their debut. They have all been delish, but I think my favorites are the sweet peas! See how little they are? Barely bigger than a pea! What they lack in size they more than make up in taste! They snap when you bite them and fill your mouth with some serious tomato taste. Yummers! Sweet corn, potatoes, a "candy" (yep, that's the name!) onion and a spaghetti squash. Many thanks to Morgan and her crew for all their hard work!!!!

So Much To Share!

First of all, let me share my goodies from my last MoGoOrganic basket. A cucumber, tomatoes, blackberries, peppers, green beans, new potatoes and sweet corn! Everything has been delicious!!

The other thing I want to talk about is my day at the Papa Clutch open house. I met the couple (Tim and Dana) who own this business as a result of going to Leroy Brown's in Ainsworth and then later, because they were a sponsor of Bike Night in the same town. Dana and I hit it off that first time we met. As I got to know her, I learned that they were going to move their business "down the road" and have an open house to celebrate. I offered my assistance and they took me up on the offer. Sooooooooooooooooo, that's what I did this past Friday and Saturday. On Friday I went to the new location (awesome redecotrating job!!) and helped get a few things organized, namely their apparel line. Lots of people were in and out, so I had an opportunity to meet some new people.

One of the guys I met on Friday was Jeff Cochran. He was talking about his last photo shoot. When I got home that evening, I found the issue he was refering to and read the article. What an interesting man! If you'd like to know more about Jeff, bike builder and photographer, check out his website. http://www.roadkingracing.com/. On Saturday, when I saw Jeff again, I told him that I'd checked out the magazine article and visited his website. I think he was quite surprised that I would do something like that. Quite frankly, it was very interesting and it gave me something to chat with him about!

I met two other guys, one was Justin and I didn't ask the other man's name, but he was a bike builder from Muscatine, Iowa. Justin was up from Phoenix. He kept me laughing. He showed me his bike that had been recently used for an ad for Sucker Punch Sally.

The rest of the open house was filled with meeting people from all over Iowa and Illinois. It's an interesting network these bikers and bike builders have. They seem to have a tremendous respect for one another. The event seemed well attended, the food was outstanding and the bands were great. I hope my new friends were pleased with the success.

Working at an event like that is something that I really like to do. It's so different from what I do at my "regular" job. It's like working at the Gift Mart in Atlanta or on the vendor floor at a scrapbooking convention. If anyone is looking for help at a similar event, please let me know!!

What A Day!

Whew! I'm glad Monday is coming to a close! Long story short, nearly every kid who came in to the library today needed a NAP! My tolerance for whining maxed out at about 1:30 today! Geez! And sometimes, you just gotta wonder where some of these parents come from! For example, I had 2 (yes, two) parents ask me where do they put a cd game into the computer. Really? You don't know? You've never in your entire life seen this done before? But alas, I work for the public so I, very politely, showed them how to put a game into the computer. What I really wanted to tell them was that maybe they should just read a book to their child instead.

On to happier material! I got to come home and have a fabulous salad topped with some of my delicious MogoOrganic veggies. In particular, I loved the cucumber. It took me back to when I was a little girl and we had a garden. Mom always canned pickles so we had lots of cucumbers. I can remember

picking them when they were about 6 to 8 inches long and about as big around as a banana. A simple rub of the hand across the skin to remove the little prickles and dust, and then I would bite into one. Warm and crisp and a little bitter. Yummmmmm.........Somehow, this was the best way to enjoy a cucumber. I did the same thing tonight. My little cuc was far too yummy to be sliced up into a salad. Instead, I savored every crisp, mildly bitter bite. Just look at the yummy

stuff we got last Tuesday. More green beans, red potatoes, blackberries, red onions and carrots rounded out the basket. Can't wait to eat the taters and carrots!

Mogo Goodness

I know that some of you are quite tired of reading about my baskets of produce, but here's another post. I'm doing it mostly so my sister in Georgia can see what I'm getting. And I hope my blog gets a few hits from people looking for MogoOrganic on the internet.

This week I had to have my basket delivered because I was working on Tuesday night. (Thanks, Paula!) I kept peeking in it all evening and smelling all of the wonderful earthy smells. This basket contained a strong, sturdy cucumber, 2 firm tomatoes, a bag of green beans, a bag of edemone (soy beans), parsley, an interesting stalk of broccoli, boiler onions, a hearty, perfectly formed and brilliant green head of cabbage, KOLARABI (love it!!) and garlic.

Yesterday I made the Cucumber and Tomato Salsa recipe that was in my newsletter. We ate it tonight for supper with the homemade pita chips, also a recipe from the newsletter. The kolarabi was enjoyed by me and only me. I will share that with no one. I've been munching my way through the cabbage, one raw wedge at a time. The green beans and soybeans may be eaten tomorrow. I'm afraid of the garlic and the broccoli didn't make it. (A moment of silence, please.)

In other news, I've been making cards again. Made some cute ones to send to my nieces and my nephew (who is going overseas) in California. I wish I could spend more time with them.

Work is going well. I've reformated our library programs and the attendance has improved. Yippee! Today we had 60 come in and out for our Craft Day!! That's AWESOME! That many people in 90 min. is a huge improvement over years past. I'm totally impressed that so many parents/grandparents/babysitters are staying and interacting with their kids. It's just what I wanted to see. It's amazing how much fun can be had without being in front of a screen of some kind!

My friend, Ali, is working her tail off getting ready for the Henry Co. Fair next week. This is her first year as coordinator. If you're local, be sure to stop by and check out all of the projects, livestock and entertainment the fair has to offer. It's FREE! And you can't beat FAIR FOOD! Yum!!! Lemon Shake-Up, here I come!!!

Totally Random.....

This coming Tuesday I get another basket of goodness from MogoOrganic. I know that you are not as excited as I am, but I wonder if you are just a teensy bit curious. Or jealous.

I took a class today. It was held at From the Heart in Fairfield, IA. Such a sweet little scrapbooking store! So much paper goodness and always a sale! We learned a bunch of ways to make flowers from paper. Some turned out well, some, well, let's just say the I need to practice the technique. Who knew you could make a flower from 3 paper coin wrappers? Gosh, I really hope that bag of wrappers I found in the basement hasn't already been taken to Goodwill! What was I thinking? The class was taught by the fabulous, talented, published, amazing Lynn Warner. She ROCKS the paper world! And now she's designing for Sizzix!! Right up there with the Big Dogs! Wowza! She's on design teams, teaches classes all over the northern hemisphere (okay, maybe it's just the U.S.A.), designs stamps and I think she may even have a photography business.

Now I want to take more classes. I went through this phase a few months ago, but gave up because I couldn't find anything in the area to take. I want to take a class on how to use my camera. I don't want to read the manual. I just want someone to walk me through the steps. That's how I learn. I want to learn how to use PhotoShop, too. I also would like to take some bartending classes. Not that I have any desire to be a bartender. Let's face it, I'm waaaayyyyy to short to reach the glasses that hang from overhead! (You'd like a martini? Excellent! If you'd just step around to my side of the bar and get your glass down for me, I'll have that fixed up in just a jiffy!)

I went to a wedding last night. Everything was beautiful. The bride looked amazing. The candles were EVERYWHERE --- soooo cool! But the best part? They played the theme song from the Andy Griffith show to walk out of the church after the "I present you Mr. and Mrs........" Unexpected and TOTALLY COOL!!!!

I scraplifted a card from the PaperCrafts July/Aug. issue. I have a tendency to make my cards too detailed, too fussy. This is simple and I like it. The glittery flowered paper is from Target's Dollar Spot, the word "cherish" is a rub-on" and the glittery card stock (DWV) flower was cut with my Sizzix machine. Matching ribbon was also from Target.

Okay, so I warned you at the beginning that this post would be filled with randomness! Thanks for stopping by and leave a random comment, if you wish.

More Mogo!

It's like Christmas every other week! After dining several times on our last basket of fresh produce from MogoOrganic, we couldn't wait to see what was in our basket this week! Morgan was a little unhappy that the weather (okay, the RAIN) hadn't cooperated. She'd hoped to have more, but what we received was wonderful. Here are a few pictures again. One tomato is already gone, as are a few of the green beans. (I have to admit that I ate them raw! Trust me, they are tasty that way!)

The contents of our basket this week included 3 stalks of rhubarb, 3 firm, greenhouse tomatoes, an onion, garlic, aromatic dill, a bag of tender, baby lettuce and a bag of green beans. A MogoOrganic Newsletter was included as well, along with tasty ways to use our basket of goodies.

Going Organic

On Tuesday I picked up my first basket of organically grown produce from MogoOrganic. I was so excited! I didn't have any idea what to expect. I wasn't disappointed! Look at all this great stuff!! Oh. My. Goodness!!! The lettuce variety was AWESOME! Chopped up the radishes for the salad. I'm here to tell you that there is nothing like the "heat" that comes from a garden-fresh radish! Know what I mean??? Green onions -- to die for! Sweet sweet strawberries!! Perky little yellow pixie zinnia. See her peeking out of the basket? Haven't tried the garlic scapes yet - they are just fun to look at! And then there was the kale. (I say "was" because it's gone now!) When Morgan (Mogo's Diva Gardener and Owner) was reviewing the contents with me, she came to the kale and I said, "What do I do with kale?" So she whipped the orange MogoOrganic Newsletter out of my basket and showed me the recipes she'd included for using the garlic scapes, basil and strawberries (for a cocktail!), and kale. She assured me that the recipe for the kale was The Best. So, I made it. While it looked like something that should be raked up in the yard come late October, it was So.Amazingly. Good. Crispy and kinda greenish-brown and just a little salty! Whoda thunk? Even my husband ate it --- and liked it! Alot! Can't wait to see what I get in my basket the next time! Only problem is, I have to wait 2 whole weeks!!!