Seven Years Later...

.... and I finally got my tattoo.

Its a stylized version of an Ovation Custom Legend C2079AX. I swear this was my dad's most prized material possession. Possibly Ever. A week from now marks seven years since the last time I saw my dad.  

The actual guitar is now on indefinite loan to my Bonus Dad (non-religious Godparent-Type-Person). It sounds too good to sit in a case and he's in the same band that Dad was in. Dad makes his presence felt with a broken string, feedback, or a battery for the internal electronics dying during the closing song of Behind Blue Eyes. Its quite hilarious and all us "groupies" know exactly what is going on.

The tattoo is not quite done yet. It will be shaded with various blues in a starburst pattern. Jonah at Monkey Wrench in Stevens Point does awesome work. More pictures to come. 

Caprese My Way

This warm summery day started with a walk to the local farmers market on the newly re-vamped downtown square in my hometown.  The Mennonite stand had some heirloom tomatoes. *POP* My craving for the classic caprese salad of mozzarella, basil and of course, tomatoes started.

When I got home I took stock of the fridge and had everything but the mozzarella.  Go to the store and come back with Red Bell Peppers too, since they were on sale. I started making it and got a little carried away...  A classic Summer Lunch. For all you bacon or chicken lovers, you can easily add that to make it even better. The recipe is below photo.

Caprese My Way

1-2 T of Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar  (or less if high quality)

2 Large garlic cloves, minced or crushed

Salt and Pepper to Taste

3 tomatoes chopped into 1 inch chunks and seaded
1 cup of Red Bell, 1/2 inch chop
1 handfull of fresh basil, ripped
1/4 of an onion, sliced thin
1 cup spinach, ripped
1/2 Fresh Mozzarella Ball, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
1 stale ciabatta role (hamburger bun size), ripped or cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

Combine Olive Oil, Garlic, Balsamic, Salt and Peper in a large bowl. Add everything but the bread. Let sit for 1/2 hour. Add Bread. Let sit 15 minutes. Enjoy!