QT's Home-Grown Eye-Talian Stuffed Zucchini!

Okay, I found a humane way to dispatch one of my 4#+ zucchinis tonight...

Once again, I consulted the Great Oracle Google and read a boatload of different recipes. Then I smushed several of them together and made it "mine!"

Here's the recipe (such as it is), and accompanying photos...

Ingredients:

• 1 Monster Zucchini (appx 4#). Although, the recipe would probably work *much* better with an equivalent quantity of "normal-sized" zucchinis
• 1/4 of a large chopped onion (I used red onion)
• 2 cloves of fresh, minced garlic
• 1 lb lean ground sirloin
• 1 lb sweet Italian Sausage
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• Fistful of shredded mozzarella (probably appx 1 cup)
• Sprinkling of fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 jar of GOOD spaghetti sauce (Best if you had some of your own preserved sauce!)
• 4 Tablespoons fresh pesto (I bought mine from the refrigerated italian section of the grocery-store. Home-made pesto would be *even* better!)
• Couple of fistfuls of fresh herbs (basil, oregano, marjoram, garlic chives). You could probably go w/dried italian herbs, but I wanted this to be a "Garden" dinner!

Slice the Zucchini in half (I ended up having to quarter mine). Scoop out the center seedy area so you've got Zucchini Boats. Put the zucchini boats on an olive-oil-spritzed, foil-covered baking sheet. Daub the 4 TBS Pesto on the exposed innards of the zucchini boats.

Brown the meat in a skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil, if needed. Saute the chopped onions and garlic along with the meat (if I'd had fresh mushrooms, I probably would have included them!). Once the meat is browned and the garlic and onions are soft and mushy, turn off the heat. Add freshly chopped herbs at this point, and stir it around... Take a taste and add ground sea-salt and pepper, if needed...

Allow the meat to cool, somewhat. Scoop in appx 1 cup of ricotta cheese and mix it in while the meat is still warm. Then sprinkle in 1/4 cup of bread-crumbs (this will allow it to stick-together pretty well).

Once the meat/cheese/breadcrumb mix is cool, start scooping it into the zucchini boats. Neatness doesn't count here!!!

Add a generous sprinkling of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the meat mixture.

Glop on some spaghetti sauce (mine was Artichoke Pesto Spag Sauce).

Sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese on top of that.

Toss the whole thing in a pre-heated 350* oven for appx 30-45 minutes, til the zucchini is fork-tender (smaller zooks would take less time, I'm sure!). I actually used my microwave/convection oven and it took 45 mins on "Convection" - then another 7 mins on "Nuker-High" to get the zucchinis to tenderize.

Anyway, it was splendiferously delicious!

I wish I had the patience to drag our my "good" camera to take more appetizing photos (but Droid is sooooo much easier!!!). Anyway... Here it is!

One of my Monster Zucchinis

Fresh herbs from my garden...

Pesto-slathered Zucchini Boats

Browning the Sirloin and Italian Sausage w/onions and garlic.

Stuffing the Zucchini Boats with Meat (No, it ain't very appetizing, is it?!)

Cheese makes EVERYTHING better!

Topped with Pasta Sauce and parmesan cheese

After cooking.

Now, had we not gobbled this up so quickly, I might've been able to take a "prettier" photo (rather than showing the zucch's congealing in their own grease!!!)

Anyway - Trust me! It was delicious!!!

Garden Update - Again!

Wow! 2011 is shaping up to be *quite* the Gardening Year!

It's been so successful, in fact, that I am BRAZENLY feeling that I might actually be up to the task of planting a Cool Season Garden this year! (Nothing like setting myself up for failure - to offset a freaking fantastic Summer Gardening Season!!!)

P called me earlier this week and reminded me that the Santa Clara Master Gardeners were offering a free seminar on Cool Season Vegetable Gardening up at the Cupertino Community Center, so we headed up there and learned lots of cool stuff...

I've decided that I'll give my Straw-Bale Experiment one more chance before I compost it. Since my raised beds are utterly and completely out of control (see pictures below) and I can't find room to plant even a single seed (unless I wield a machete!) I'm going to toss some more compost on top (maybe improve it's water-rentention properties?), then start some of my Cool Season Veggies in that bed. Hopefully we'll get enough wintertime rains to sustain it...

This afternoon, I went through my "Cool Season" Veggie Seed Collection (many of which expired back in 2004!) (Yes, I tossed the oldest ones!).

PSA: Don't handle small seeds while your Netbook is open! Some of the packages *may not* be sealed and, well, teeny-tiny seeds jammed under your keyboard keys are a genuine pain in the @$$!

Anyway, I think I'm going to plant some "Big Stuff" in the straw-bale beds. Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage, maybe some spinach (not sure yet). I'll end up throwing lettuces and Mesclun mix in the upside-down planters - since they'll be closer to the back door and easier access for "cut and come again." Root veggies (carrots, beets, turnips) will go in the raised beds - after some of the summer-stuff has died back some. I'll also plant peas in the raised beds since they will enhance the nitrogen in those beds.

Haven't decided where I'll plant garlic and onions. I might attempt to grow those in containers since there's a "Stop Watering Them" period - so they really can't be commingled with other stuff...

So my mind has been racing with all these ideas! FWIW - I *have* attempted cool-season veggies in the past and had, well, "limited success." Unfortunately, most of my veggies either got drowned (b/c I planted them directly in our supremely muddy clay soil) or got hopelessly infested with insects (I'll throw floating row covers on them this year). We'll see....

Anyway... This morning I had an inexplicable burst of energy and went out to the garden to see what was going on. Armed with my Droid, I took the following pictures:

Oops! I skipped a couple of days of Plum Harvesting.

I think Plum Season is "done!"

(there're maybe half-a-dozen nearly-ripe plums left on the tree)

Peach Season is Starting!!!

These are my white peaches and they are DEEEE-LISH!

Juicy as hell, too. You, literally, have to stand over the sink to eat them!

There won't be a ton of white peaches this year.

But there will be a metric ton of yellow peaches, a little later on (sorry no pics!)

Raised Beds have gone completely, fucking insane!!!

I think there are 5 tomato plants that are threatening to take over!

(Threatening?? Hell, they've already taken over!!!)

Why yes, there *are* tomatoes!

Ripe ones, even!

And MORE tomatoes...

And still *more* tomatoes!

Did I mention that I'm gonna have a lot of tomatoes???

I *really* wish that I'd written down which variety of tomato was planted where!

Straw-Bale Fail. But I'm gonna give it a second chance!

This is Today's Harvest!

And this is the natural archway over the path leading to the tool-shed and compost bins.

Soooo... In addition to "planning" for my Cool-Season Veggie Bed (and YES I *will* write down what gets planted where!), I am also planning ahead for what to do with my upcoming harvests!

P has proposed a South-Bay Canning Club where several of her friends (myself included) will get together to "exchange" whatever we've put-up for the season. I've already got some Splenda Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam, and Splenda Plum Jam. I think I'll also buy a flat of strawberries to make up another batch of Splenda Strawberry Jam. I am also looking for ways to preserve my soon-to-be ABUNDANT harvest of tomatoes. Either plain-ol frozen tomatoes with minimal cooking (to be tossed in the freezer), or maybe some garlicy/oniony spaghetti sauce kinda stuff.

P has a Steamer-Canner thing that I might want to borrow (since I can't do water-bath canning on my stove). Although, to be perfectly honest, I really like the "fresher" flavor of frozen stuff...

If I stumble onto, or create any stupendously delicious recipes, I promise to post 'em here!

Anyway, I an SUPER HAPPY with how this Gardening Season is shaping up! It's *almost* made me forget about the last 2-3 years of failure!!!

A *Most* Delicious Sammich!

Recipe time!

So, my esteemed employer recently changed their "Cafe" Food-service Arrangements - which, honestly, kinda sucked IMHO...

But whatever!

One of the "Specialities" (misspelled on purpose!) of our Old Foodservice Hoo-Haw was their "Special" BLT Sandwich. Let me tell you - kiddies - it was THE BEST! And whenever they listed it as their "Special" for the day, ppl would LINE UP well-before lunch hour!

So - I'm gonna share it with ya'alls. But I do hafta tell you: BLT's don't taste NEARLY as good when you make 'em yourself, as when somebody else makes 'em FOR you. That's just a Fact of Life and you're just gonna hafta deal with it.

So - That said: Go find SOMEBODY ELSE to make this sandwich for you!!!

Ingreeeediments:

4 slices of cooked, thick-cut, Applewood-Smoked Bacon
2 slices of fresh tomato
Couple of pieces of Lettuce (green lettuce, or iceberg, or red lettuce, or romaine, or whatever - it honestly doesn't matter!)
Schmear of fresh pesto (I bought mine from the "fresh" italian/refrigerated section of the grocery store).
Couple-three slices of fresh avocado
Toasted Sourdough Bread

That's, pretty-much, it! I think you can figure out how to put it all together!

Somebody once told me that the "Secret" to a good BLT was to make sure that the tomato slice rested-against the Mayo (on a "standard" BLT). That may be true (I tried it. Failed miserably, but at least I *tried!!!*). *I* think that the "Secret" to a good BLT (or BLAPT, in this case) is that *somebody else* has to make it for you!!!

Now, last week, I had a "hankerin'" for a BLAPT sammich and I went to the local Grocery Store to procure the necessary ingredients (bacon, sourdough, avocado and pesto). I later discovered that I *didn't* have a fresh tomato in my garden (:::gasp:::) and had to go to the local farm-stand to procure said tomato (SACRILEGE!!!). I *did* make the sandwich - but I made it MYSELF so it wasn't *nearly* as good had someone else made it FOR me!!!

So there you have it. My Recipe Du Jour (such as it is!!!). GO MAKE SOMEBODY ELSE MAKE IT FOR YOU AND ENJOY IT - DAMMIT!!!

No pictures, sorry! You'll just have to trust me. It looked *just* like a BLT sandwich!

We Be Jammin', Mon!

First Tomato of the Season! Yippee-Skippy!!!

Okay, more "catching up" to do!

So... July 8 was the day I harvested my Very First Tomato (Yayyy!!!). It was teeny, but it was GOOOOOD!!!

And, of course, I've been harvesting plums 'til I'm about ready to puke! Last weekend, I put on my "Suzie Home-maker" Hat (or "Molly Mormon" as D likes to say!) and I made some Plum Jam. I, unfortunately, did not write down the recipe (sorry!), but I *did* take pictures thru the process, so I'll share them here!

I basically "mostly followed" the recommendations that came with the Pectin (Ball Freezer-Jam Pectin). I had to go w/Freezer Jam because my Ceramic Cooktop Stove (no, not the Fancy Schmantzy "Induction" style) can't generate enough heat to boil the quantity of water I'd need to properly sterilize jars for conventional jamming. FWIW - I do have a Propane Cajun Cooker I could have used, but last weekend our temps topped the Century mark and there was no effin' way I was gonna stand outside making jam in 100*+ temps!

Anyway, I started with 3-1/2 # of plums - expecting 10 jars of jam - so I mostly followed their recipe. I did cut back the qty of Splenda (3 cups for 10 jars - I think I might go even less, next time) and water (1 cup), and I added Cinnamon (3/4 tsp - but I think 1/2 tsp - or even less - would be better) (Cinnamon really does add a nice little "punch" to the jam, though!). They do have a website that sort of "guides you along" here

You'd have thought I would have remembered - from the last time I made Plum Jam - that it's a buttload of work! The making of the jam itself isn't too bad - it's the Plum-Prep that's the killer! You need to clean 'em, peel 'em (blanching helps!), chop 'em up, pit 'em (they are *not* freestone!), then cook and mash 'em (cooking and mashing's not so bad - just don't overcook 'em like I did!).

But bottom line: It really does make a helluva mess!

3-1/2 # of Plums - Destined to be Jam!

Plum-Prep: "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble!"

Blanching the Plums. You basically toss 'em (appx 5-6 at a time) into a vat o boiling water 'til the skins start to peel off.

Nekkid Fruit ("Hide the Children!!!")

De-pitted and chopped. They're a little too firm for mashing. They need to be cooked a bit.

This is the stage where you're supposed to STOP COOKING them and take 'em off the stove. Unfortunately, I left them on a little too long and they turned to mush. :::sigh:::

Yield: 8 x 8 oz. jars of Jam and a Sink-Full of Dirty Dishes

It only took me about an hour, though. And the jam is "Pretty Okay." Splenda seems to work better w/Strawberry and Strawberry-Rhubarb jams. Can't say I am overly thrilled with Splenda Plum Jam - but since I *can't* have the Real-Deal, I'll just have to deal with it!

Heh - I offered to drag out my dehydrator and make prunes for hubbie (since he's - ahem - "More Mature" than I, and seems inordinately fixated on his fiber intake) but he declined my most generous offer - claiming that prunes didn't provide the "right kind" of fiber. Hmph!

So I am *still* pawning-off plums on friends and neighbors (left an anonymous bagful on my neighbor's porch today!) . I've even resorted to emailing fellow bloggers and BEGGING them to take some plums off my hands!!!

Annnnnd... Added Bonus: In today's Farm-Share Delivery - guess what they included??? FREAKING PLUMS!!

Look! More PLUMS!!!

(AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!)

On the Bright Side: Plum harvest is *almost* complete. However, Peaches are coming up next!!!

Garden Video!

I have more Garden-Related and Food-Related Rambling to do.

(Ate my FIRST tomato yesterday - YAY!!! *And* found a way to use-up some plums!)

But I spent the better part of this afternoon f**cking around with my PlantCam so I figured I'd share the Fruits of my Labors!

Initial thoughts on the PlantCam: It's a pretty cool li'l gizmo - and the price seems to have come down since I put it on my Wish-List (I think Amazon had it for sixty-something bucks). You pretty-much set-it-and-forget-it. It does require an add'l SD Card (didn't come with it, but we've got dozens of those laying around 'cuz we are GEEKS!).

The User-Interface is pretty low-tech and semi-intuitive (LCD screen. You scroll through limited menu selections on the unit). The User Manual - ehh! But they do have a website with a bit more information. Overall, it's a pretty low-tech device, but it seems solid enough (made it through our freak rainstorm with no problems).

And, low-tech means there's less that can go wrong with it, right?!

I originally set it up a couple of days after my B-Day. By then my Veggie Bed was already pretty-well established. I'd set it to take photos at 1-hour intervals starting at daybreak, shutting off at 8pm. Well, the flaw in that plan was that we've got a quirky motion-sensor light outside and it, unfortunately, seemed to trigger the camera's interpretation of daybreak! Consequently, I got a LOT of pictures of the wild black panthers that roam our yard at midnight!

The camera does have options to take videos or still photos. And the COOL option is that it allows you to string up-to 360 still-photos into one AVI file...

The 360 pic limit can be kinda problematic though. Allow me to 'splain...

I did set-it-and-forget-it. Unfortunately, I kinda "forgot it" 'til I reached the point where the camera had 400+ images on it. Ehh, no worries, I'll just string-together the first 360 pics just to see what it looks like.

Well, as I'd mentioned, I ended up with lots of "Black" photos. Which meant I had LOTS of black-patches throughout the video. No Biggie, I'll just go in and delete the black pictures. That was somewhat tedious - but it's a New Toy! - so I didn't mind too much. Plus, I "learned!" No, I won't set the camera to go on at daybreak, I'll set it to go on at 8:00am!

Sooo.. I went back into the camera. It does have a USB interface and Thank-Gawd the computer recognizes it as an external drive (it doesn't require any "proprietary" software interfaces!), I deleted all of the black pics, as well as the 7:45am-ish pics (where the rising sun was blaring directly into the camera lens). Then I went to "string" the photos together again.

Unfortunately, the 360-pic limit seems to be based on the File-Name - not the actual # of pictures. :::sigh:::

So THEN I had to go back into File Manager - again - and re-name Every-Freaking-Photo! WSPC0001.JPG, WSPC0002.JPG, WSPC0003.JPG, ad-nausem. I think I ended up with 320 photos - when it was all said-and-done (and Yes, I do know the F2, back-space, back-space, back-space trick). But it was TEDIOUS AS HELL!!!

All told, I think I f**ked with it for a couple of hours, but I did end up with a *somewhat* interesting video! Annnnnd, I know what I'll do differently - next time!

Speaking of: I now have the PlantCam strapped to one of my palm trees, aimed at one of my Plumeria Flowers that's about to bloom. And I *think* I've positioned it in such a way that it won't get a Direct-Hit of morning sunlight. I do have it set on an 8am-8pm schedule (although there's no Motion Sensor light to confuse it here), and a 30 minute interval. I might change my mind and set it to 15 minutes - maybe the video will flow more smoothly. I dunno!

Anyhoooo, I hereby proclaim that the PlantCam *is* a Cool Toy, and I'm sure I'll find more Fun Things to do with it! Hopefully more interesting than the Veggie Bed, anyway!

I'm Plum Sick of Plums!

Well, not yet. But SOON!

I think I mentioned, yesterday, that we had about 800-trillion plums ripening on the tree.

And I feel *real* bad when they end up rotting on the ground.

And the dogs are pissed 'cuz I don't let them in the back garden anymore (ironically, the back garden was *originally* the "Designated Dog Yard" - and now they are forever banished [well, at least during Gardening Season!]). Used to be that Tazz would gain 5# during peach season!!!

But I digress.............

Yes. I have plums.

Today's Harvest

(after I pawned off a shopping bag-full on my neighbor!)

But wait! There's MORE!

And more...

Looking up!

Yes, there's more...

Oh Good Gawd!!!

Yes, this really is just ONE tree!

Oh here - this is taken from the *other* side of the tree!

And this is the view from my Studio Window...

Holy Cow! Enough already!!!

Garden Update (Finally!!!)

Yeah, yeah... I've yammered before about what a lousy blogger I am. "Oh, well!"

Well, today I'm gonna *try* to make up for it by posting some Progress Pics on my garden for this year. ("It's about friggin' time!!!")

Two words: "Holy Cow!"

Okay, Finnyknits made me a believer! Testing and amending the soil prior to planting *does* make a difference! Read here and here for more info on that...

Ohhhh... Where to begin? Ehh. How about starting with Last Year's Upside Down Planters?

"Okay!"

So last year I bought these upside-down planters and planted some tomatoes and peppers in 'em. I put 'em out on the [blazing hot] patio and *attempted* to water them at-least-somewhat-faithfully (Although - fair warning! - upside-down planters require a LOT of water!) (Even if you add Soil-Moisture Crystal Doohickeys to the mix!). Anyway, tomatoes didn't produce Squat! Peppers, I think I may have gotten a couple of peppers, but I'm not a big pepper-eater so it was nothing particularly memorable.

Also last year, I decided to plant my herb garden in a Strawberry Pot (one of those planters with all the mini-pot-holes on the sides). That was a miserable failure as well because I couldn't get enough water INTO it. The soil compacted, then all the water would simply run out all the side-pot-holes, taking the soil with it - without saturating the soil within :::sigh:::

So two Big Fat Failures last year!

To be fair, we were pretty-effectively robbed of a Summer last year (it didn't arrive 'til late October - and most of the "really-nice" days happened while we were in Hawaii - IN NOVEMBER!!!). It really was a suck-tastic year for veggies, in general.

I think I got, maybe, half-a-dozen cherry tomatoes - Total!

So Fast-Forward to February of this year. I was wandering around outside (for reasons I can't explain 'cuz February is friggin' COLD!) and I happened to find THIS growing out of the bottom of LAST SUMMER'S upside-down tomato planter!

Jeez? Are you confused???

I was all excited and ate it, of course. It was the mealiest, most tasteless thing you could ever imagine - BUT STILL!!!

I picked a *fresh* tomato in FEBRUARY! "Nah-nee-nah-nah-NAHHH!"

So *this* summer, I replaced some of the soil in the Upside-Down-Planters and decided to leave Mr. "I'm Confused" Tomato Plant alone - just to see what he'd do... And I also decided to plant my herbs in the tops of the U-S-D planters - easier to keep 'em watered that way, and they're still reasonably close to the Manly BBQ Grill.

Well... Findings so far: There are two identical planters, appx 15' apart, planted with similar plants and identical soil. Well, I think they are in distinctly different micro-climates.

The planter closer to the fence is shaded 'til well after noon - but after that, it reaches about 800-jillion degrees in that spot in the late afternoon (I know b/c that's where we go to dry off after swimming!). Herbs in this planter are doing "Okay." Peppers in the bottom? Eh. So-so..

I only experience Thermonuclear Meltdown Temps in the late afternoon.

And I *like* it!!!

The one, closer to the back-door, is in full-sun all day. I think that one stays at around 650-jillion degrees All. The. Time. Patio takes up a lot of sun and radiates the heat like nobody's business. Consequently, the one closer to the back-door needs a LOT more water. The Tomato seems to like it. The herbs? Not so much! They're pretty scraggly and they keep bolting!

Feelin' Hot-Hot-Hot!

All. Freaking. Day. Long.

Anyway, Mr. "I'm Confused" Tomato seems to be thriving and was the first plant to set fruit this year (No, I have NO idea what variety it is!). And Tazz, unfortunately, *discovered* said fruit and - thieving li'l bastard! - she STOLE one of my precious 'Mater Babies! Hmph!

"Tomato? What Tomato?! I don't see any Tomato!!!"

GUILTY!!!

Extreme Measures were taken!

Flowers: Blissfully happy, as always! We get about a dozen new Hibiscus flowers every day...

Gwah-JUS!

And how's this for weird? It's a Two-Headed Bird of Paradise growing out of one stalk!

Side-Show FREAK!

And, once again, the Morning Glories are threatening to gobble-up anyone who dares pass thru the Garden Gate!

"I will gobble you up!!!"

Unfortunately, the Morning Glories have also gobbled-up my new Dwarf Cherry Tree (methinks we'll be relocating next winter!). And the Dwarf Apricot Tree never did leaf-out, so I need to dig it up and take it back to the nursery :::sigh::: (at least they offer a one-year guarantee on their bare-rootstock).

Speaking of fruit... My GAWD have I got a lot of plums this year. These are Santa Rosa and not quite as purply as the Satsumas (Replacement Satsuma leafed-out nicely and, hopefully, will start producing next year). Consequently, I've been kinda forgetting to pick 'em in time and lots of them have hit the dirt (Oooops!). But there's plenty more where that came from (and I think I may be forced to make jam this week! Either that or dry them and make prunes!). Maybe I can pawn some off on the neighbors while I'm at it!

White peaches... Oh, they are TEASING me with their ohhh-soooo-slooooow ripening! I swear, they're only about a week away from ripeness and I can't friggin' wait! I *love* the flavor of the white peaches.

Such Teasers!

Yellow peaches... Comin' along, but they probably won't ripen 'til early August. Yep. I think there are Peach Pies in our future as well!

Next up: Straw Bale Bed. One word: "FAIL!"

Oops!

The first time temps hit the 90's, everything in the Straw Bale Bed just kinda withered and died. There are still a couple of Tomato plants out there, barely-clinging to life, but everything else is fried. I think that Straw-Bale Beds would be useful in places that get actual RAIN in the summertime. We (typically) don't - although we did have a freak rain-storm at the end of June. Bottom Line: The straw-bales really don't hold enough moisture to sustain life in South San Jose. I did ask DH to bump-up the drip schedule - but it just seemed wasteful to keep pumping *that* much water into a bed where it was just gonna run straight through. It's not a complete loss, though. I'll break up the bales in Autumn and use them to top-dress my raised beds over-winter...

Okay, I've saved the best for last! "So how are your raised beds doing?"

"Fan-Freaking-Tastic!"

Holy chit! My tomatoes are freaking HUGE! As is my Artichoke (well, one of 'em anyway - not sure if the other one ever took root). I've never successfully grown artichoke before so I have no clue when or if it's supposed to flower, but it's a damn big happy-lookin' plant! (but I can't take it's picture b/c the 'Maters are hogging the show!) Zucchinis - again, threatening to take over. Gawd only knows what else I planted out there (Note to Self: Write down what got planted where!), but it's ALL doing GREAT!

My very polite and well-behaved Bush Beans

Gad-Zooks!

It's a JUNGLE out there!!!

Annnnnd... Even though Mr. "I'm Confused" was the first tomato to set fruit, I think Mr. "I'm Gonna Eat Your House" is gonna have the first *ripe* fruit. Can't friggin' wait!

Maters comin' - taken less than a week ago!

And today!

I'm gonna eat YOU before you can eat my house!!

So that's the latest from QT's Li'l Slice o' Paradise... Veggies are comin' along!

Annnnd... Maybe in another week, I'll be able to post a Time-Lapse Video of the Raised Beds "In Action" 'cuz Hubbie bought me a Mondo-Cool Wingscapes Camera for my B-Day last month!