House Hunting is Horrible

Maybe I'm exaggerating ... just a little.

House hunting is exhausting. Thank goodness for our realtor, Dario, who is a family friend and for the internet. I have no idea how people did it without the internet. We've been able to learn a lot about homes and our preferences just from looking at the different homes on the various websites (best one being realtor.com).

Take this lovely home that looks so lovely. This home was so close to perfect... it had everything we wanted and more. There was a teeny compromise that would have been made on the basement but the rest was magnificent ("was" being the operative word). All the pictures and words were right, until we got there ...

We saw this...

This is badly Photoshopped , but you get the idea. The Eiffel Tower of Power in the backyard was conveniently omitted from the pictures. This great house just lost its footing and slid down the tube of oh-this-sucks. A day or so before I asked a friend about a strange gap on the Google map between the backyards of the homes and he warned me. Well of course we had already scheduled the visit but still had to see for myself. It'd definitely a conversation piece.

Less concerned with topics of conversation we worried about the health risks. We did some research and it's almost evenly inconclusive for or against living near these towers of power. Erring on the side of caution, most concluded with the further away the better. Duh. I figured worrying about three-eared children was not something I was willing to take on we backed off and added towers of power to our no compromise list.

We've seen somewhere around a baker's dozen and have narrowed things down and are super efficient at weeding out the online listings and really seeing homes we want to see and are serious contenders. We haven't seen homes in person since the tower of power but have 3 candidates that may be worthy of seeing next weekend.

Wish us luck because the apartment situation sucks - that's a post for another day.
Good night.

Testing Out the Train..

Nick and Chris (they're BFF) went fishing today and afterwards we're heading to the shore. I needed to get to Central Jersey after work without driving so I got dropped off at the ferry in the morning.

I figured I'd take the train to the Jersey Ave stop (North Brunswick) and once I got off the subway it was D-R-A-M-A! I walked one block the wrong way then couldn't find the entrance to Penn Station. On top it, buying a ticket was impossible and I had already missed the train I wanted to take. While waiting on the ticket line I called Nick to complain. Then Chris mentioned you could jump on and pay a surcharge for buying your ticket onboard. So I ran off to find track 12.

No ticketer yet but we're slowly moving through Secaucus because of "track traffic". Crud. So far the best thing is the train is air conditioned and I don't have to drive I am actually scared that the ticket taker will be mad at me. Eeek.

Angry People

Why are people so angry? I admit to being a bit of an angry driver - I yell at other cars but only when warranted (i.e. When your driving 10 miles below the speed limit and there's no way around you) My issue with angry is when there are rules/guidelines in place, for a good reason, and people don't want to follow them but get angry because of the rules.

Last Friday I got on the bus, that takes me to the ferry terminal, and sat next to a very angry woman. Angry because the bus refused to pick her up on a street corner that is NOT the bus stop (you actually have to wait at a city bus stop not a street corner). Duh. She apparently chased the bus and banged on the door dirtying and maybe hurting (she held as if it hurt) her hand. Hitting a bus is stupid. When I got on, she had called the main office for NY Waterway (the ferry company) and was complaining about the bus driver and how she's always been picked up at the corner (since she started working in NYC - 3 months ago) except for on 2 occasions when he refused. I'm okay with the phone call because it gets worse.

This was a long bus ride because it was rush hour on a Friday in the summer. The angry woman then proceded to tell the bus driver the following every 5 minutes until we got to the terminal:

(1) That she would get him fired
(2) If he's so concerned with rules why are there so many standing on the bus (bus was not over capacity)
(3) You picked him up and not me! (it was a bus stop)
(4) That she would get him fired - again

I was thisclose to following her and making a complaint, not about the bus driver, but rather the number of rude passengers (particularly her). It would've been so satisfying just make that complaint so she could her how ridiculous she sounded.

No nut jobs today - it's only Wednesday.

Hubby's Tomato Garden

Each year, for quite a few years now, my hubby's been planting tomatoes and basil for summer tomato salads. Each year Nick tries new plants, techniques and whatever else he learns.

I claim no hand in the success of these tomatoes because I am terrible with plants. Nick is the nurturer and takes great care of the tomatoes, basil and house plants. If it can't tell me it needs water - it's in trouble.

These are some of the plants and they've got green baby tomatoes already! I am so psyched because I am newly obsessed with feta cheese and have been imagining a feta and tomato salad. Totally drool worthy.

What have you planted for summer?

Honey Garlic Ribs ala Jenny

I got sick of having ribs flavored with plain ol' BBQ sauce and ketchup. So I put it upon myself to find a better, more delicious recipe. I came across a recipe online, made it and tweaked it each time I made it. I've made this recipe countless times and the masses LOVE it. Just this past weekend hubby and I did another tweak to the recipe and I think we've outdone ourselves this time.

Here's the recipe...

4 lbs pork spareribs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice ribs into individual pieces and arrange in glass baking pan. In large bowl combine honey, molasses, soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire, and vinegar. Stir until honey, molasses and sugar are completely dissolved, then stir in the baking soda. Mixture will begin to foam. Pour mixture over ribs in pan. Sprinkle garlic salt over ribs.

Bake for 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes. Let ribs sit for 5-10 minutes and serve.

If you have time...
Save the liquid mixture that's left, separate it from the fat/oil that cooks off the ribs. Toss oil. In a saucepan, simmer and reduce the liquid by half or until it's a thick syrup consistency. Brush glaze on ribs for extra flavor. Serve now or throw those ribs into the broiler to caramelize the glaze.

Target Never Fails

Stopped at Target on my home today and found these baggies (minus the popcorn) in the section formerly-known-as-the-Dollar-Spot. They are Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo and Hello Kitty baggies! The Mermaid and Nemo bags come in 2 sizes regular snack bag and the small/half size ones.

I love anything that makes stuff (especially food) look cute. They also had Hello Kitty and Spiderman lunch bags (insulated paperbag looking ones) and a tupperware thing for a sandwich. I passed those up as I'd totally get made of if I bought those and the baggies.

Th popcorn is from Target's snack bar. If I haven't mentioned it yet - it is the BEST popcorn on the planet. It is perfectly crunchy, salted and buttered. The best part is that it's only a dollar (plus tax)!