OUR OLD HOME-AHA, OMAHA!

You know, when most people think of Omaha, they think of this.....

  That's right, the Interstate. Interstate 80, to be exact. Because that's all most ever see of the city, just passing through. When we moved to Omaha, back in 2001, I had NO idea what Omaha was all about....my vision was lots of pigs, corn, cows and maybe some cowboys. And tumbleweeds. Boy, was I in for a huge awakening! Because Omaha, and so much of the Midwest, is so much more beautiful, and friendlier, than most people can imagine. So, my goal here today is to show you the people and places of Omaha that I know and love......come ride along with me, my dear bloggie friends`, in my super un-Leslie , brand new and HUGE Jeep Cherokee (the only rental car left at 1 a..m.!) for a grand tour of my ol' hood.....

Okay, but before I start I just have to vent a little bit, because again, this is my blog and I can whine if I want to. Flying during the early summer months can be iffy, at best, and my flights into the midwest were just one big hot mess.....first my flight to Chicago was cancelled (weather), then my flight to Detroit was cancelled (weather), and THEN I was told there were no more flights into Omaha available, until the next day (totally unacceptable, because I needed to go to this girl's graduation):

So do you wanna know what I, Lucy Ricardo, did?  Well, I teared up at the unsuspecting ticket agent, told him my DAUGHTER was graduating and I just had to be there (does that beautiful girl look like she could be my daughter? Okay, so I fibbed a little....), and the nice man behind the counter felt sorry for me and squeezed me onto a flight to LaGuardia (SO the wrong direction!), and then on the very last flight to Nebraska. Here's a photo I took from the plane, as we were flying over NYC.....(What, is that against the FAA rules or something?)....pretty, no?............

At the end of my 15 hour travel day, I made it to Omaha, picked up my strange rental TANK, made it to my hotel, and made it in time for Nyapuot's graduation from high school. I worked with Nyapuot, who is from the Sudan, in this woman's 5th grade classroom, teaching her (Nyapuot, that is) math and spelling.......sorry the photo's so dark. This is my Huckelberry friend Diane Shymanski., who is, just so you know, the world's biggest Andy Williams FREAK!!.....

First up, here are some photos of my old neighborhood, called Elmwood Park. Super leafy and green, just filled with lovely old homes......

See this last home, below? This is Gazillionaire Warren Buffet's house, swear to Gosh, about 2 blocks from my old house. I took this photo super quickly, from my car....he has security guards!.....

And in case you're wondering, I did NOT take any photos of our old home, a charming 1922 Craftsman style home, for a reason : the woman who bought the house from us utterly DESTROYED it, in my opinion, and I just don't have the heart to place a photo in my blog. I mean, scary GARGOYLES, really??? Chopping down all the healthy 80 year old oak trees that lined and shaded our corner lot, just because you are too darned lazy to pick up leaves, really? Taking down a gorgeous white privacy fence and replacing it with an ugly iron one, really? Ahem. I'm moving on now.....

So I took a lot of photos while driving around , something I don't recommend (I will be in SO much trouble when Big Daddy sees this!). Here's our lovely old park where I used to walk with my friend Lynn:

SPEAKING of my friend Lynn, here she is, and here is her amazing home........

Lynn lived (and still does!) a few doors down, and her son Sam and my daughter go to college in California, not 10 miles from each other! Lynn and I used to work together AND walk together, every single day.....she is a dear, dear friend to me, and also one of the most tasteful decorators I have ever known. Check out her home!....

 
She loves toile and blue and white.....

Lovely built-ins....

Her sunroom, overlooking her gorgeous garden......

Family dog, Eddie.....

We used to sit here all the time, watching Oprah (sob!), and sipping wine....

Thank you, Lynn, for the fun meals and latte and home tour! On this trip, I was also lucky enough to have coffee AND dinner with these two fun girls, Mona and Martina! We were all PTA chairs together, back in the day......

                       LOVE THESE WOMEN!!!

Here's another silly one of us, after a big Italian dinner.....

Oh, how I miss these girls...we always have so much fun together, and laugh ourselves silly! The next morning, Mona invited me over into her cozy kitchen for coffee and muffins...I could have sat in this breakfast nook all stinkin' DAY!.....

Mona and her husband Jim have been working so hard on their backyard garden, and it shows! Loving her rock walls.......

Cheerful poppies in bloom....

I COVET the peachy pinky yellowy color of her roses!.....

Mona is so talented, she can even make an alleyway look amazing...check out her iris.....

And just when I feel smug about my super-organized homemaking abilities, along comes Mona's from-scratch bread baking and her recipe binders, organized by subject, just to put me to shame.....

Mona swears this Gnocchi with white bean recipe is DA BOMB---hopefully, you can read it.  I'm cooking it for dinner, soon!......

Right before I flew out on Saturday morning, I went over to my old neighbors house--Aaron and Meg Filipi.......this is their welcomming front porch......

Meg and Aaron have 4 darling children, and they were wonderful friends and neighbors to us....aren't they cute?......

Sadly, it was time, all too soon, to go home. I hope you've enjoyed this little photo tour of my darling friends, their homes, and beautiful, beautiful Omaha, Nebraska! Which brings me to..........

WHAT I'M MOST GRATEFUL FOR TODAY!

*My wonderful and gracious Omaha friends! Words cannot express how at home you all made me feel, and I just loved seeing all of your beautiful children, 7 years older. Not that I'm 7 years older or anything.......

* My freakishly supportive husband, who takes such joy in making me happy. I love you MORE, Big Daddy!

* My daughter, for vacuuming for me while I was away. This is HUGE!

LEMONY CHICKEN TORTELLINI AND OFF TO THE MIDWEST I GO!

That's right--I'm taking off again.  To a place our family lived for three wonderful years--Omaha, Nebraska. Don't you worry, my friends, I'm bringing my camera--that way, I can show you that Omaha is soooo much more than cows and pigs and corn! The reason for this trip? Well, one of my fellow students from a 5th grade class I worked in is graduating from high school, and I promised her that IF she graduated (she's from the Sudan, and has had her challenges making it through the U.S. educational system), I'd be there. I also have three friends there who are very dear to my heart, so Nyapuot, Lynn, Mona and Martina, here I come. Can't wait for our coffee and dinner dates!

I won't be posting again until I return next week, but for now I have this fabulous Lemony Chicken Tortellini recipe to share with you. It's very, very good! First, you need to cook some store-bought frozen cheese tortellini as per package directions, then drain and set aside......

Cut about a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces......

Saute in butter until no longer pink. Remove, and in the same pan, cook red bell pepper until crisp-tender. Add garlic and cook another minute......

Add broth and bring to a boil. Combine flour, seasonings and another cup of broth; stir into the pan. Bring to a boil and stir another two minutes or until thickened.....

Stir in chicken and lemon peel. Add spinach (it looks like a lot of spinach here, but it cooks waaaaaaay down) and cook until just wilted:

Toss cooked tortellini into sauce / spinach mixture, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yummm...................

You and your family will LOVE this.....here's the recipe:

LEMONY CHICKEN TORTELLINI

Serves 6

2 packages (13oz.) frozen cheese tortellini

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tblsp. butter

1 red bell pepper, julienned

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups chicken stock, divided

1 / 3 cup all purpose flour

1 / 2 tsp. salt

freshly ground black pepper

zest of 1 lemon

1 6oz. package baby spinach

1 / 2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute chicken in butter until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. In the same pan, cook red bell pepper until crisp-tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add 2 cups broth; bring to a boil. Combine flour, salt, pepper and remaining broth until smooth; gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken and lemon peel. Add spinach; cook until just wilted. Drain pasta; toss into sauce. Sprinkle with cheese.

TODAY I'M MOST GRATEFUL FOR:

* The energy I found somewhere, somehow,  to get me through the past 3 days of hard core gardening, both for pay and for pleasure. I am still finding mulch in the strangest of places, like in my socks, bra and even in my sofa cushions!

*That my daughter comes to me when she's having a very hard day (after breaking up with her boyfriend of over 1 year, right before finals!), to cry on my shoulder. I'm so glad I can be there for her.

* I'm so grateful for my husband, who does so many things for us without me even having to ask, like washing my car, unloading the dishwasher and staining the decks. I think I'll keep him!

BUSY DAY ASPARAGUS FRITTATA!

I believe that everyone should have, in their files, a few recipes to pull out for those days when you are on the run, big time, but still want a decent homecooked dinner. Because as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE eating out, I know for sure that eating at home is A) much healthier for us, and B) much less expensive. This week I am such a busy bee, as I am the "flower girl" for the club my husband manages, and I am either at a nursery buying copious amounts of Geraniums and Viburnum and Lavender and Licorice Plant and herbs galore, OR I am in the dirt, planting it all before the big Memorial Day weekend. So when I get home, I am bone tired, but still want to sit down to a nice dinner with the family (Little Miss Thing is finally, finally home from school!). Here's the meal I go to, time and time again, on nights like these: A Frittata!

Frittatas are great, because you can pull them together from just basic ingredients in your refrigerator, and they come together super fast. I also love them because you can be creative with your ingredients (I adore sundried tomatoes, so I added those this week), and Frittatas make excellent leftovers. For dinner, I serve mine with a nice salad, but you could also eat them for breakfast, brunch (perhaps with muffins or fruit?), or even lunch. You can make your Frittata vegetarian, like I did this week, or add ham, bacon or any other meat you desire. Be creative! Here's how I put my Asparagus Frittata together, just last night. First thing: round up your ingredients. I needed eggs, asparagus (cut on the diagonal, woody ends snapped off), julienned sundried tomatoes, sliced onion and some Swiss cheese..............

These are Sundried tomatoes, right from the jar......

In a 10 inch ovenproof skillet, saute onions over medium heat until soft. Add asparagus and steam, covered, for about 6 minutes, until the asparagus is tender. Pour in beaten eggs and cook until almost set (but still a little runny on top..............

Sprinkle cheese over the eggs and put under the broiler until cheese is melted and browned, about 3-4 minutes (keep your eye on it, or you'll be sorry!). Remove from oven and slide onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges.....

And suppah is served, baby! Here's the recipe:

ASPARAGUS FRITTATA

Serves 4

2 tsp. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 /2 tsp. salt

freshly ground pepper

1 lb. asparagus, tough ends snapped off, spears cut diagonally into 1 inch lengths

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Heat olive oil into a 10 inch oven proof frying pan over medium high heat. Add onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 3 minutes. Add asparagus, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until the asparagus are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Pour in eggs and cook until almost set, but still runny on top, about 2 minutes. While cooking, pre-heat oven broiler. Sprinkle cheese over eggs and put in oven to broil until cheese is melted and browned, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven with oven mitts and slide frittata onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges. Serve immediately.

TODAY I'M MOST GRATEFUL FOR:

* Our wonderful but very tired (post finals) daughter, who made it home safely after almost 24 hours of travel from the west coast.

* That our daughter's luggage showed up, at MIDNIGHT last night, after getting lost somewhere between Syracuse, Albany and Newark.

*My friend Shelly, who helped me more than words can convey today, with her gardening expertise! Thank you, dear friend!