In The Blink of An Eye

We blinked.

We were eating dinner, the phone rang, everything changed.

They were walking in to eat dinner, he said “I think I’m walking sideways”  “My hand feels funny, my head hurts”

She blinked.

He slumped.

She called 911

They called us.

We blinked and we were in the car driving to Victoria.

We blinked and the whole family changed.

Nathan’s grandfather had a stroke last night.  A blood vessel in his brain burst and then hemorraghed into all the available space in his skull.  He is currently in ICU and the prognosis is not good.

I will not be on the computer anymore today, I don’t know when I’ll be back on.

I’m going to go surround Pa Pa (paw paw) with the rest of the family.  We’re going to cry, we’re going to laugh, we’re going to pray but most importantly, we are going to be together.  We are going to enjoy the moments, big and small.  We will tell stories, share memories and we will experience.  We will feel the pain, the inevitable loss and I will marvel once again at both the frailty of life and then strength of the human spirit and unbreakable bonds of love and family.

Hug someone you love today, tell someone you love them today.

You never know what the next blink will reveal.

The Double Stuf Oreo Birthday Challenge

Double Stuf Oreos

Did you know that today is Oreo’s 97th birthday?

These crisp chocolate and decadent cream cookies are as much a part of the fabric of our lives as apple pie, ice cream and milk.  When you say chocolate and cream, people think Oreo.

Happy Birthday Oreo! You look amazing dah-ling.

So, raise your milk cups with me, and let’s sing:
Happy Birthday, to you
Happy Birthday, to you
Happy Birthday De-licious Oreos
Happy Birthday, to you”

In honor of Oreo’s 97th birthday, Princess and Nathan have joined the likes of Venus and Serena (yes, that Venus and Serena) and Peyton and Eli (um hello. YES Those boys, you know Peyton Manning, the QB of Nathan’s favorite football team EVER) in the Oreo DSRL (double stuff racing league).

Princess and Nathan challenged each other and here is what happened:

So tell me, who won?

You can go see those famous siblings competing against each other in their own ‘lick off’ here You can also grab your cold glass of milk and delicious crispy cream filled Oreos and visit the DSRL site and enter the sweepstakes to win the chance to join those famous siblings and be coached by them in an OREO race in late April. That race has a grand prize of $10,000. So, hello! What are you waiting for?

In addition to that amazing opportunity and all the birthday fun….
Oreo has offered me an amazingly delicious and might I say tonguegasmic prize pack that one of you will win:

Do you see the adorableness that is Princess in the awesome Double Stuf headband?

Princess and the oreo style

I have a fabulous blue Oreo portable cooler that is overflowing with Oreo goodies to award to one of my delicious readers! It has one of the super awesome sweatbands that Princess is rockin’ up there. Two Oreo Milk Cups, as featured above, one pack of Double Stuf Oreos, an official DSRL member/rules card and a rockin’ jersey!
You know you want one!

I will run this contest all day Friday, March 6th. Oreo’s 97th birthday!! HOLLA!
All you have to do is:

  • Leave a comment telling me how you eat your oreos. Do you lick, dunk, crunch or stuff? (1 entry)
  • Tell me who won (additional entry)
  • subscribe in a reader (additional entry)
  • tweet this (additional entry)

For each entry that you complete, leave a separate comment and I will use the super fabulous random generator to find a winner! The contest is open until 11:59 PM March 6th. Good luck and happy eating!!!

*another chance to win can be found by visiting Jamie at Savvy Housewife

The contest is now closed and the winner was commenter #12  Amber. Congratulations, Amber!

Tonguegasmic Salmon and Feta Pasta

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Tonguegasmic.  That is the only word for this dish that I am absolutely delighted with!  The flavor profile and ease of this pasta ensure that this one is going to be a frequent visitor in our home.

Let me tell you why this pasta is so amazing, the basil adds just a hint of mint, the peppers add a nice light undertone of spice and the salmon and garlic are a beautiful blend. The grape tomatoes give this dish a surprising burst of roasted sweetness each time you come across one, and the herb Feta.. oh. my. stars. it got all warm and savory and mmmmmmm. I’m drooling just thinking about it. I’m tellin’ y’all, you have to try this. It’s not often that I go into something skeptically and come out a believer.. but y’all…. Nathan ate two huge helpings and I finished off one bowl and then went and nipped a few more bites out of the serving dish. It’s even good served cold for lunch the next day! NOM NOM

First, I bought this Farfalle pasta because I like the 3 colors, plus Farfalle is just fun to say:

Rachel’s Salmon Pasta

  • 2 fresh salmon fillets, roughly 12 oz (frozen works too)
  • a few dashes salt (to taste)
  • 10 oz farfalle pasta, or whatever kind floats your boat
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • roughly 15 to 20 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 C chopped green onions.
  • 3- 4 Tbsp snipped fresh basil leaves (yes, it must be fresh)
  • 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • couple of handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
  • a few drizzles olive oil, you choose how much to use
  • 1 4 oz. package crumbled feta cheese. ( I use a garlic and herb blend)

How To:

  1. Cook pasta according to package.
  2. Drain, drizzle with olive oil, cover and set aside. Make sure this stays warm.
  3. Meanwhile, drizzle olive oil into a medium high heat pan and toss in about 1/2 of the minced garlic cloves.
  4. Cook for about a minute or until the aroma becomes very strong and the garlic starts to soften.
  5. Sprinkle the salmon with salt
  6. Add the salmon to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Turn the fish occasionally while cooking. Stir in the tomatoes, the rest of the garlic, onions, basil and peppers. Heat through, stirring occasionally. Right before you think you’re done, toss in the spinach leaves just and heat them just enough so they start to wilt. In a large bowl toss together the hot pasta, some olive oil and the salmon mixture. Top with the feta cheese.

And to steal a page from one of my favoritest foodies ever, Noble Pig, I recommend serving this with a fabulous Chardonnay, like Lindemann’s

Are you playing along with Mouthwatering Mondays? Thank you!!! Snag your badge and toss it up in your post, your sidebar, tattoo it on you body, whatever floats your boat ;-) Make sure that you sign Mr. Linky with the direct MWM post url and not your generic blog url, or I’ll have to 86 ya for not following directions ;-) Link back here so others know where to find the tonguegasmicness and visit some other participants to share the love of food, eating and cooking.

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