I've been tagged!

Jess at Planted Gypsy Feet tagged me. Darn her. :-)

Here are the rules.

1. Link to the person that tagged you

2. Post the rules on your blog

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs

5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP

Well, this seems easy enough, right? Let's see...

1. I am generally a quiet person...until you get to know me. Or, until I get to know you. Upon first meeting me most people think I'm shy and reserved - and then the flood gates open and I probably become one of those people that you wish would really just shut up for five freaking seconds!

2. My right leg is shorter than my left. Sometimes you can see it when I walk, but only if I'm really tired. I fell off of a horse at age 11 and broke my femur bone which also caused damage to the growth plate and I wasn't quite finished growing.

3. I am scared to DEATH of snakes. I have to flip the light switch on to check the toilet before I use the bathroom because I have a fear of them being in there waiting for me. Crazy, I know.

4. I don't like eggs or shrimp. It's a combination of texture and smell. The smell of eggs can make me very sick to my stomach and the texture of shrimp...blech. My mom swears the egg aversion is from childhood. She would put eggs on my highchair tray and I would flip out when I touched them and squeal to get them off of my hands. I'm ruined for life. My friend Maegan swears that as a pregnant woman I'll eat shrimp and egg breakfast tacos!!

5. Whenever we meet new people or Jason introduces me to someone he knows, the first question that I want to know the answer to is always "What do you do?" I don't know why - it doesn't really matter. But we'll go on a whole 20 Questions spree with "what do they do?" and "what do their parents do?" if they're old friends. I think it's a way for me to learn something about them and what they'll want to talk about.

6. I love, love, love reading cookbooks. I'll peruse the bookstore or my MILs stacks of cookbooks. However...I tend to cook the same things over and over instead of finding something new. But I still love to ooh and aah over the pretty pictures knowing that mine would never look anything like that.

Well, that's it. Here are my tags. I don't have 6 because Jess took some of the blogs I read (Viula, Amber and Duchess) and because of work I have to limit my blog reading to ones that I really will look at.

1. Bridget at Bridget and Bear

2. Kati at Josh + Kati + Marion

3. Katie at Good Things Catered & The Hyper Homemaker

Thanks Jess for tagging me! It took me all day to come up with six random things...how boring is that???

Ladies, babies and food

Occasionally the girls on the Nest will have a Foodie GTG. Basically...a reason to hang out, chat and eat. :-) Plus, since we have them on a Saturday the moms bring their babies and, well, that just makes everything fun.

This time I took a few appetizers that my mom found in a magazine. She said that the recipes came from a Good Housekeeping magazine, but I could not find the recipes on line. So...I can't credit the source either. They both turned out really well and were fairly easy to make, unless you consider pitting the two packages of cherry tomatoes. Thank goodness Jason is a nice husband and helped me out because I would have been making a tomato dip instead of stuffed tomatoes!

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

• 2 pkgs cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup lite mayo
• 1/2 pgk bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 T grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• chopped parsley

Cut the tops off of the tomatoes and pit them. I used a small paring knife which worked really well. Stir remaining ingredients and stuff the tomatoes. Try not to eat all them them before you serve them.

Stuffed Cucumber Slices

• 2 cucumbers
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream (I actually had to use Miracle Whip because my new container of sour cream was not sealed!)
• 1 apple, chopped (any flavor but I used Red Delicious)
• 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Slice the cucumbers. Mix remaining ingredients and spoon onto the cucumbers. I loved these, but my mom wasn't as thrilled with them.

Both of these are great for appetizers and not that horrible for you.

Wine, Wine, Wine

A few weekends ago I left Jason at home to study and headed to the Hill Country with some girlfriends. We had a really good time - eating, tasting wine, eating, playing putt-putt, getting kicked out of the pool...maybe we tasted more wine than I thought!

We stayed at the Marriott Horseshoe Bay Resort - I really recommend this for a weekend away. I'm actually looking for a weekend that Jason and I could go together. We didn't really explore the resort, so I can't say much about what it has to offer but the food was good, service was nice and the Hill Country is always pretty.

Saturday morning we arranged for a limo to pick us up (minus one who stayed at the spa) and headed out to some of the local Texas wineries. The first stop was Grape Creek Vineyard. This place was really crowded. They have a few options - you can taste their "white labels" complimentary and their "black labels" for $5. They have a great patio area for lunch (bring your own) or you can shop in their little snack area. We managed to leave with a LOT of cheese and crackers. Which we also managed to eat.

The second stop was Becker Vineyards. Their tasting was either $5 or $10, but well worth it. They also had a lavender festival going on out on the patio which made everything smell wonderful! The setting here was so nice - perfect if you have a lot of time to just hang out and visit.

From there we took a short drive to Torre di Pietra. They have a great shop for knick knacks and tastings run $5. To squeeze in more wineries, we decided to make that stop quick, so we didn't get to enjoy the band on the patio...but it looked really nice.

The next stop was Woodrose. The wine here was just...ok. Tastings were $5 or $7 each. For the cost, I would probably go back. They have a great patio that backs up to a wooded area - it was so relaxing and great for visiting with friends.

The final stop was the Lost Creek Tasting Room. The actual winery would have been quite a trip from where we were, but they also have a small tasting room in Johnson City. We spent a little more there on our tastings because we bought Lost Creek wine glasses. They were very gracious at the Tasting Room because we arrived pretty close to 6pm (closing time) but we never really felt rushed.

Back at the hotel we decided to have dinner at River City Grille in Marble Falls. They have a huge deck overlooking the water and we wrapped up the day listening to more live music. Seems to be the norm in the Hill Country. If you have time for a weekend get away, I would suggest going for wine. :-)