So here they are:
Happy Belated Birthday Gwyn! (Cake by megpi on Flickr)
and...
Happy Birthday Lizzy! (Cake by cakejournal.com)
We love you both!
9.30.2008
More Birthdays!
2 birthday cakes today, one incredibly belated (So sorry Gwyn!) and one early because I didn't want to be late again!
So here they are:
Happy Belated Birthday Gwyn! (Cake by megpi on Flickr)
and...
Happy Birthday Lizzy! (Cake by cakejournal.com)
We love you both!
So here they are:
Happy Belated Birthday Gwyn! (Cake by megpi on Flickr)
and...
Happy Birthday Lizzy! (Cake by cakejournal.com)
We love you both!
9.29.2008
interesting article
read this and look at dumb bush's face. haha. 34 more days! yikes....its getting close and I:m scared for the future of America. Where did we go wrong? Corporations?
Anyways I haven:t gotten a chance to see all of the presidential debate...I think I:m going to try to watch the rest of it at work now since I have no classes. From what I did see of it I thought Obama was too focused on presenting McCain as another Bush and not as focused on immediate things which he could do for out country. It made me sad when McCain wanted to cut "wasteful" spending on things like studying bears. Maybe those bears are important to study! I hope a bear eats you McCain! I am afraid McCain is going to cut the budget on things we actually should be spending money on. The war in Iraq is so incredibly wasteful it makes me want to cry. Businesses operating in Iraq blow up vehicles that cannot be used for some inane reason or another just so they can get a new one. Why is our country so wasteful ACK!!!!!
I do enjoy the McCain turtle analogy...haha! I am pretty worried about Obama being able to handle the Iraq pullout. I think I:m too idealist because I just want people to be at peace with themselves and thus America and there to be no hatred in the world so then the President wouldn:t have to deal with terrorists or war in the first place. But there is no global bandaid to fix that problem...people have to change from within. Ignorance breeds hatred. Perhaps even my hatred of George W is ignorant.
PS. Lizzy, Sarah Palin youtube videos were funny
Trying to get my absentee ballot now! I agree that Obama is the man, but it scares me because I actually did think about voting for McCain for a hot minute. I used to like Obama alot more, I remember the first article I read about him a few years ago and I thought "wouldn:t it be cool if this guy made it" and now here we are. The President...it has got to be such a hard job, I:m glad someone wants to do it!
P.S. Book reccomendations for anyone interested in local food projects: "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbra Kingslover.
9.28.2008
Election...
So ladies...As you are all intelligent, political, socially-conscious women of today, I'm curious to know what you all are thinking as the real countdown to the election starts?
9.22.2008
Happy Birthday Erin!
With this completely inappropriate cake (which I would totally get you and I found on cakewrecks.blogspot.com which means at some point it has really existed), I wish you a happy day of birth Erin McSpadden! May you drink too much and have sloppy sex :)
9.20.2008
Pumpkin Soup yum yum yum and 2009 goodness
Hello, quadbloggers. PS. Nicky, I love the fall blog colors and leaves! yay seasonal themes.
Here is my addition to the fall recipe collection.
I made this soup last night for 3 people but it was the first time I made it and i didn't follow recipe so it ended up being enough soup to feed a small orphanage.
Anyways, here ya go:
Buy a Pumpkin ( I used a 1 and 3/4 of 2 Japanese pumpkings which are on the small side, so maybe a just a regular cooking pumpking or butternut squash would do)
then buy a potato or 2
saute an onion in oil or butter in a large soup pot
cut it up first though
I'm watching reality bites as I write this so it may be confusing
add some chopped cloves of garlic, Add peppercorns or cracked pepper
then cut up some carrots into large chunks of orangey goodness, add them to the saute for a minute while you finish chopping up the pumpkin, get out all the seeds and rinse them
add water to the pot (enough to cover the vegetables that you will soon add)
add the chopped up potato and chopped up pumpkin, let it boil
Peel and apple and cut it into chunks and throw those in
add some bouillion cubes. (Or, even better, if soup stock is available, use that instead of water)
let it boil. (Also add 1-2 bay leaves to the pot)
add some spices that you think would made it taste good. I added marjoman, a tad of basil, oregano, rosemary, nutmeg, thyme, maybe some parsley or corriander)
if you are drinking wine or beer, throw some of that in (I added white wine)
add a bit of sea salt
check the pumpkins, carrots, and potatos, when they are done, turn the stove off
Then comes the blender!
blend blend blend and make sure the you hold down the lid or it will explode all over your kitchen like it did to me.
you can leave some chunks of veggies in if you want it to be a little chunky. i accidentaly blended the bay leaves too, but you should take those out before blending.
Then add one chocolate chip
also, to thicken the soup, you can blend in some cornstarch in the blender.
Add the soup back to the pot (I had to blend it in at least 4 batches because I had so much soup)
Then add some milk or cream or half and half or whatever you have on hand to make it a little creamy. The potatos help with the creamy texture too. So you don't need very much cream.
If you are going to freeze some soup, freeze it before you add the milk
I served this with cous cous, toasty bread, and sausages
yogurt might also make an interesting addition swirled on top with some parsely although the sourness of the yogurt might detract from the creamyness of the soup.
but it was way too much food,
then i got indegestion because I inhaled the soup too fast
Ah, so please tell me if you try this recipe,
I'm curious.
Also, I am 60% likely going to go to Nepal to teach monks in Monastaries or hang out with Kids come August 2009, for 1 or 2 months, then I am interested in taking a road trip across the states, beginning Sept-oct, possibly working at some organic farms along the way. Is anyone interested in joining me for the road trip or Nepal? I won't do the road trip alone, so I was banking on Abby or going to wait. http://www.volunteer-nepal.org/volunteer-nepal_monastries.html
Theres the Nepal deal. I'd love for any/all of you to join me
And there is always time for South America, Erin :).
Here is my addition to the fall recipe collection.
I made this soup last night for 3 people but it was the first time I made it and i didn't follow recipe so it ended up being enough soup to feed a small orphanage.
Anyways, here ya go:
Buy a Pumpkin ( I used a 1 and 3/4 of 2 Japanese pumpkings which are on the small side, so maybe a just a regular cooking pumpking or butternut squash would do)
then buy a potato or 2
saute an onion in oil or butter in a large soup pot
cut it up first though
I'm watching reality bites as I write this so it may be confusing
add some chopped cloves of garlic, Add peppercorns or cracked pepper
then cut up some carrots into large chunks of orangey goodness, add them to the saute for a minute while you finish chopping up the pumpkin, get out all the seeds and rinse them
add water to the pot (enough to cover the vegetables that you will soon add)
add the chopped up potato and chopped up pumpkin, let it boil
Peel and apple and cut it into chunks and throw those in
add some bouillion cubes. (Or, even better, if soup stock is available, use that instead of water)
let it boil. (Also add 1-2 bay leaves to the pot)
add some spices that you think would made it taste good. I added marjoman, a tad of basil, oregano, rosemary, nutmeg, thyme, maybe some parsley or corriander)
if you are drinking wine or beer, throw some of that in (I added white wine)
add a bit of sea salt
check the pumpkins, carrots, and potatos, when they are done, turn the stove off
Then comes the blender!
blend blend blend and make sure the you hold down the lid or it will explode all over your kitchen like it did to me.
you can leave some chunks of veggies in if you want it to be a little chunky. i accidentaly blended the bay leaves too, but you should take those out before blending.
Then add one chocolate chip
also, to thicken the soup, you can blend in some cornstarch in the blender.
Add the soup back to the pot (I had to blend it in at least 4 batches because I had so much soup)
Then add some milk or cream or half and half or whatever you have on hand to make it a little creamy. The potatos help with the creamy texture too. So you don't need very much cream.
If you are going to freeze some soup, freeze it before you add the milk
I served this with cous cous, toasty bread, and sausages
yogurt might also make an interesting addition swirled on top with some parsely although the sourness of the yogurt might detract from the creamyness of the soup.
but it was way too much food,
then i got indegestion because I inhaled the soup too fast
Ah, so please tell me if you try this recipe,
I'm curious.
Also, I am 60% likely going to go to Nepal to teach monks in Monastaries or hang out with Kids come August 2009, for 1 or 2 months, then I am interested in taking a road trip across the states, beginning Sept-oct, possibly working at some organic farms along the way. Is anyone interested in joining me for the road trip or Nepal? I won't do the road trip alone, so I was banking on Abby or going to wait. http://www.volunteer-nepal.org/volunteer-nepal_monastries.html
Theres the Nepal deal. I'd love for any/all of you to join me
And there is always time for South America, Erin :).
9.19.2008
9.14.2008
Pesto Spaghetti Squash
Hello! This is something that I made with the spaghetti squash that I grew in my backyard and basil from Andrew's garden. :)
Bake your spaghetti squash at 350 for an hour. (Slice it in half, put pieces face down in baking pan with a little bit of EVOO spread over the pan.) When it is cooked, scoop out the seeds, insides. Compost these. Scoop out the "flesh", put in a nice big bowl.
Make some pesto! Toast 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts in a toaster oven/oven. Set aside to cool. Put 3 cups fresh, washed basil in a food processor. Coarsely chop 3-4 cloves garlic, add these to basil, food process them. Add a pinch of nice sea salt, 1/4 cup olive oil, pine nuts to processor. When homogenized, scrape it all out into a bowl, mix in romano cheese to taste. 1/2 cup? I don't remember the recipe I used, so I just made this one up, based on the actual one as much as possible. When pesto is well mixed, pour it over the spaghetti squash and stir it all up! Sprinkle a bit more romano over top to make it look sexy and garnish with a sprig of basil.
Ta-da!
Bake your spaghetti squash at 350 for an hour. (Slice it in half, put pieces face down in baking pan with a little bit of EVOO spread over the pan.) When it is cooked, scoop out the seeds, insides. Compost these. Scoop out the "flesh", put in a nice big bowl.
Make some pesto! Toast 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts in a toaster oven/oven. Set aside to cool. Put 3 cups fresh, washed basil in a food processor. Coarsely chop 3-4 cloves garlic, add these to basil, food process them. Add a pinch of nice sea salt, 1/4 cup olive oil, pine nuts to processor. When homogenized, scrape it all out into a bowl, mix in romano cheese to taste. 1/2 cup? I don't remember the recipe I used, so I just made this one up, based on the actual one as much as possible. When pesto is well mixed, pour it over the spaghetti squash and stir it all up! Sprinkle a bit more romano over top to make it look sexy and garnish with a sprig of basil.
Ta-da!
I want to marry rice noodles
I effing love them.
I will post pad thai, but Becca makes it better than me. She uses authentic ingredients like palm sugar. I also don't actually have a recipe. When I unpack my cook books, I will find one of my favs and post it for you guys.
And what goes better with pad thai than thai iced tea?
When you all come to visit us in Cville, I want to bring you to Monsoon, this little thai restaurant downtown that is in an old house. Its so yummy and has a really nice atmosphere.
9.13.2008
So Today Our Car Got Stolen...
...and then retrieved!
Last night, we decided to go out to a bar and then a restaurant with some new friends here in Miami. We parked the car in my FH's work parking garage. It's underground, and we thought, safer (and more free) than street parking. I grabbed my license out of my bag and threw my purse and sunglasses in the trunk of the car.
We had a few drinks and thought to be responsible we thought we'd walk home and leave our car and fellow pedestrians safe and sound.
Fast forward to this morning. We walk back to the parking garage only to discover...NO CAR! No car, no purse, no credit cards, no keys.
Fast forward again, the jokers who stole our car have been using my credit cards to buy liquor and fast food all over town. Fortunately, I'm not liable for any of the charges...but geez!!!! I'm pretty mad, mainly at myself for being dumb enough to leave my purse in my car. I thought at the time that leaving it in the trunk was better than having it in a crowded bar, but I was wrong. Boooooooooo to car thieves.
I have to say though, I'm super impressed with how the police, Bank of America, CHASE and various other authorities have helped us out so far. But man, this sucked the big ol' hairy balls.
You are never going to believe what happened a few hours later. The security company from the parking garage called. They had the car on camera driving up to the gate. You could see the shadows of the people in the car moving around, seeming to look for something. Then they pull a u-turn and drive out of camera range. The team let us know that was the last time that they were on camera. In other words, they couldn't find footage of them ever actually leaving with the car.
We decided to go check it out with the security team one last time, and after a long, sweaty search... We found the car! The thieves had stashed it behind a wall going the wrong way down an entrance ramp. It wasn't in the main garage, but kind of off in a tiny space reserved for the valet parking attendants. Crazy right? My purse was there with my empty wallet, the only things missing were: a road flare (seriously???), my credit cards, my car keys and our GPS system. Huge sigh of relief!!!! I can breathe again! We went to the police station and let them know. And now we're celebrating with sundaes.
Last night, we decided to go out to a bar and then a restaurant with some new friends here in Miami. We parked the car in my FH's work parking garage. It's underground, and we thought, safer (and more free) than street parking. I grabbed my license out of my bag and threw my purse and sunglasses in the trunk of the car.
We had a few drinks and thought to be responsible we thought we'd walk home and leave our car and fellow pedestrians safe and sound.
Fast forward to this morning. We walk back to the parking garage only to discover...NO CAR! No car, no purse, no credit cards, no keys.
Fast forward again, the jokers who stole our car have been using my credit cards to buy liquor and fast food all over town. Fortunately, I'm not liable for any of the charges...but geez!!!! I'm pretty mad, mainly at myself for being dumb enough to leave my purse in my car. I thought at the time that leaving it in the trunk was better than having it in a crowded bar, but I was wrong. Boooooooooo to car thieves.
I have to say though, I'm super impressed with how the police, Bank of America, CHASE and various other authorities have helped us out so far. But man, this sucked the big ol' hairy balls.
You are never going to believe what happened a few hours later. The security company from the parking garage called. They had the car on camera driving up to the gate. You could see the shadows of the people in the car moving around, seeming to look for something. Then they pull a u-turn and drive out of camera range. The team let us know that was the last time that they were on camera. In other words, they couldn't find footage of them ever actually leaving with the car.
We decided to go check it out with the security team one last time, and after a long, sweaty search... We found the car! The thieves had stashed it behind a wall going the wrong way down an entrance ramp. It wasn't in the main garage, but kind of off in a tiny space reserved for the valet parking attendants. Crazy right? My purse was there with my empty wallet, the only things missing were: a road flare (seriously???), my credit cards, my car keys and our GPS system. Huge sigh of relief!!!! I can breathe again! We went to the police station and let them know. And now we're celebrating with sundaes.
I'm bringing drinks!
I'm bringing drinks, including this delightful seasonal cocktail: Autumn Sunset
Ingredients:
1 tsp minced pumpkin puree, 1 oz brandy, ½ oz Calvados, 2 oz apple juice, ¼ oz grenadine, splash soda garnish and le cinnamon stick.
Put all ingredients except grenadine and cinnamon stick into cocktail shaker, shake vigorously and pour into a tall marti
ni glass. After pouring, drizzle grenadine on top so it falls to the bottom of the glass to create the effect of an “autumn sunset.” If you wish to drink this beverage hot, omit the splash of soda. Pour ingredients into 8 oz glass coffee mug, add 6 oz hot water, stir vigorously to blend. Add grenadine as above. Garnish with cinnamon stick plus three whole cloves.
I hope that each of you ladies is having a delightful end of summer. All is well in our nation's capital.
9.09.2008
Eggplant Parmesan Lasangna
OK, so I'll be honest, this is not the picture of the eggplants I used. Totally forgot to take a picture and this one is prettier! I'm lazy, but my amalgamation of recipes actually ended up being super good. Enjoy!
You will need:
1 eggplant (I like the shiny, dark purple variety)
Italian Bread crumbs
Eggs or Egg Substitute
A handful or two of shredded mozzarella
A handful or two of shredded parmesan
Pick one: ricotta (a couple cups) or some fresh mozzarella
1 jar of tomato sauce (We had a basil/tomato one which was good)
Start by preheating the oven to 350 F. Slice the eggplant into 1/2" slices. Sprinkle a little salt over the slices on both sides. Break the 2 eggs into a bowl and whisk them together or pour some egg substitute into a bowl. In a separate bowl, pour the bread crumbs. Dip the eggplant into the egg (both sides) and then the bread crumbs (both sides). Place in the oven on the wire rack (with aluminum or a cookie sheet underneath the rack) for 15 mins. (Leave the oven on when done.)
When the eggplant pieces are done, get out a casserole dish. Pour in some tomato sauce, then eggplant pieces, then cheese and repeat. Top with sauce and cheese. Make sure to cover all the eggplant pieces with sauce as they can dry out/burn. Put back in the oven for 30 mins.
Yummmmm...eggplant...
Here's a link to the gluten-free recipe I found:
http://tinyurl.com/6yaho7
9.02.2008
Hurricane Season
Did you guys know that this season lasts until NOVEMBER??? I just found out yesterday. Check out this picture of what's coming towards us now:
Craziness!
Craziness!
9.01.2008
Happy Labor Day
Is it too early to be excited about fall? I know its still summer and I don't want the days to get shorter, but Fall is my favorite. I am already liking how it gets cooler at night. I can't wait for the leaves to change and the air to get crisp. Thats all I have to say today. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the late summer sun.
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