My insane October calendar is drawing to a close. We're back from our fourth weekend out of town and the wedding was beautiful and went really well. This weekend, we are doing nothing but attending a Halloween party at our dear friends' house. I am making my costume tonight with the hostess herself.
I have a crazy amount of pictures half ready to be uploaded. Those should be up soon, but will have to take the backseat to my poor home, which is in desperate need of a deep clean. I'll at least get the kitchen done, which I did clean yesterday, but dirtied again with a huge, gorgeous pot of turkey chili and honey cornbread. It was a dish I've been meaning to make but couldn't have come at a more perfect time on our first truly chilly night in Broken Arrow.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
to blog, or not to blog?
here is a list of things I need to blog about:
1) my trip to Dallas - Texas/OU game, baby!
2) So You Think You Can Dance tour
3) our camping trip this weekend
4) my grown-up Christmas list (two things so far!)
5) being a poser
6) my scrapbooking endeavors
Sevans' wedding is this weekend. I'm still trying to figure everything out with my schedule and I need to buy brown shoes this week. I think I might break my cardinal rule of comfort and buy heels because I know JT will love them.
I had coffee with the wonderful Laura Reese this week. We ended up talking for over two hours. I think we had been talking for about 30 or 45 minutes before we even ordered our drinks. Today I am grateful for Girl Time and friends in Tulsa!
1) my trip to Dallas - Texas/OU game, baby!
2) So You Think You Can Dance tour
3) our camping trip this weekend
4) my grown-up Christmas list (two things so far!)
5) being a poser
6) my scrapbooking endeavors
Sevans' wedding is this weekend. I'm still trying to figure everything out with my schedule and I need to buy brown shoes this week. I think I might break my cardinal rule of comfort and buy heels because I know JT will love them.
I had coffee with the wonderful Laura Reese this week. We ended up talking for over two hours. I think we had been talking for about 30 or 45 minutes before we even ordered our drinks. Today I am grateful for Girl Time and friends in Tulsa!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
adventures in cooking: fish edition
In the words of my friend OKChick, dinner last night was keeping it real. I had planned to use halibut last night, but when I went to the store, their shipment hadn't arrived yet. So I went back later in the evening and the butcher carefully laid this beautiful, white fluffy fish on the counter. And then told me it was $20 a pound. Sulking, I settled for tilapia and paid just over $6 for two fish.
When cooking, my grapefruit sauce stayed in liquid form instead of turning into jelly. Then my pan was too hot and my fish stuck to it when I tried to turn it over. I had to throw out my first batch of couscous and make another one.
But when life threw me lemons, I decided to make grapefruit seared tilapia. I poured the grapefruit-sugar-lemon "sauce" in the pan, which made my tilapia super tender and freed the fish from the bottom. The flavor seared into the tilapia that way, absorbed by the olive oil I'd marinated it with. I added chicken stock and green onions to my second batch of couscous and fluffed it with a fork. I highly recommend couscous as a substitute for rice and pasta. You can do lots of stuff with it!
There are no pictures of this recipe because it was devoured before I had the chance. We polished it off with a little red wine and went to sleep with smiles on our faces. JT even asked me to bring the pots to the table and scrape the scraps for him. That's pretty much the best compliment he can give my cooking! I will leave you with this beautiful picture of halibut fillet:
When cooking, my grapefruit sauce stayed in liquid form instead of turning into jelly. Then my pan was too hot and my fish stuck to it when I tried to turn it over. I had to throw out my first batch of couscous and make another one.
But when life threw me lemons, I decided to make grapefruit seared tilapia. I poured the grapefruit-sugar-lemon "sauce" in the pan, which made my tilapia super tender and freed the fish from the bottom. The flavor seared into the tilapia that way, absorbed by the olive oil I'd marinated it with. I added chicken stock and green onions to my second batch of couscous and fluffed it with a fork. I highly recommend couscous as a substitute for rice and pasta. You can do lots of stuff with it!
There are no pictures of this recipe because it was devoured before I had the chance. We polished it off with a little red wine and went to sleep with smiles on our faces. JT even asked me to bring the pots to the table and scrape the scraps for him. That's pretty much the best compliment he can give my cooking! I will leave you with this beautiful picture of halibut fillet:
Sunday, October 5, 2008
pancakes
It's 1003 on Sunday evening and I am making pancakes for my husband. We hadan incredibly late lunch after our wonderful Launch Sunday at church. I've botched many a batch of pancakes, so I am testing my patience by blogging in between flipping. The first pancake is always the slowest, right?
Yesterday, I made fantastic turkey burgers. JT told me I could serve them at a restaurant. Major brownie points with that one, my love! They were easy: ground turkey, thyme, sage, salt, pepper, onions, celery, and chopped dried cranberries. You can cook them in a pan or broil them (you can try the grill, but turkey burgers aren't as fatty as beef, so they tend to slip through the cracks sometimes). I added a slice of pepperjack cheese and served them on Sara Lee bakery-style buns.
I have two fantastic stories to tell while we wait:
On Friday, my boss paid for us to take off thirty minutes early and visit a close coffee shop to start our weekend off right. We were chatting and talking about places we like to eat. One of my interns, whom I hired back in August, said she loves Te Kei's, a local Asian place. I told her that JT and I had our rehearsal dinner there and her eyes get big. At the same time, my mind flashes to this picture, taken the night we checked out their banquet room.
It was a busy Saturday night in November and it was occupied. The door opened and we sneaked a glance inside. The guest of honor caught us, though. It was her birthday party, but she proceeded to invite us inside, introduce us to her friends, asked us to share our engagement story, and show us what a great room it was for a party. Then we took this picture.
It was her! It was the girl I have been working with for a few months and never even knew! A girl I'd had a random, but memorable acquaintance with had been working under the same roof and our minds hadn't made the connection until Friday. I'm still totally flabbergasted by that coincidence.
Story #2
On Thursday, I checked out of the grocery line and took my bags to my car. As I loaded the last bag and put my key in the ignition, I noticed an older lady pushing a cart toward the car next to me, her arm in a sling. She's totally disregarding the sling as she lifts several bags with both arms. I crack my door and poke my head out.
"Can I help you with those?"
She shakes her head. "No, this is my weightlifting for today." She juts her chin out defiantly as she explains that she broke her shoulder and her doctor won't let her lift weights. "He's NOT going to find out, is he?"
I smile at her and wave, sliding back into my seat.
She taps on the glass, continuing, "You know what? I'm going to go sign up for a membership tomorrow. He'll never know!"
I grin and say I'm proud of her. And I was! I'm proud of her for continuing to improve her body in probably her mid-to-late sixties. And I'm proud of her for having confidence and strength, albeit stubbornness. Anyway, I really liked her!
Update: my first pancake is finished and the second one is halfway through the first side! It's going to be a long night.
Yesterday, I made fantastic turkey burgers. JT told me I could serve them at a restaurant. Major brownie points with that one, my love! They were easy: ground turkey, thyme, sage, salt, pepper, onions, celery, and chopped dried cranberries. You can cook them in a pan or broil them (you can try the grill, but turkey burgers aren't as fatty as beef, so they tend to slip through the cracks sometimes). I added a slice of pepperjack cheese and served them on Sara Lee bakery-style buns.
I have two fantastic stories to tell while we wait:
On Friday, my boss paid for us to take off thirty minutes early and visit a close coffee shop to start our weekend off right. We were chatting and talking about places we like to eat. One of my interns, whom I hired back in August, said she loves Te Kei's, a local Asian place. I told her that JT and I had our rehearsal dinner there and her eyes get big. At the same time, my mind flashes to this picture, taken the night we checked out their banquet room.
It was a busy Saturday night in November and it was occupied. The door opened and we sneaked a glance inside. The guest of honor caught us, though. It was her birthday party, but she proceeded to invite us inside, introduce us to her friends, asked us to share our engagement story, and show us what a great room it was for a party. Then we took this picture.
It was her! It was the girl I have been working with for a few months and never even knew! A girl I'd had a random, but memorable acquaintance with had been working under the same roof and our minds hadn't made the connection until Friday. I'm still totally flabbergasted by that coincidence.
Story #2
On Thursday, I checked out of the grocery line and took my bags to my car. As I loaded the last bag and put my key in the ignition, I noticed an older lady pushing a cart toward the car next to me, her arm in a sling. She's totally disregarding the sling as she lifts several bags with both arms. I crack my door and poke my head out.
"Can I help you with those?"
She shakes her head. "No, this is my weightlifting for today." She juts her chin out defiantly as she explains that she broke her shoulder and her doctor won't let her lift weights. "He's NOT going to find out, is he?"
I smile at her and wave, sliding back into my seat.
She taps on the glass, continuing, "You know what? I'm going to go sign up for a membership tomorrow. He'll never know!"
I grin and say I'm proud of her. And I was! I'm proud of her for continuing to improve her body in probably her mid-to-late sixties. And I'm proud of her for having confidence and strength, albeit stubbornness. Anyway, I really liked her!
Update: my first pancake is finished and the second one is halfway through the first side! It's going to be a long night.
Friday, October 3, 2008
an amazing way to start your day:
Friday mornings are always bittersweet. Today I slept through my alarm for the countless Friday because my handsome man doesn't work and gets to stay in bed.
I'll tell you, that after I get dressed and come back to say goodbye to him, there's nothing more I want to do than crawl back in bed with this warm and sweet sleepy man.
Every Friday, I leave with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step because of this incredible reminder of how lucky I am to be married to JT.
I'll tell you, that after I get dressed and come back to say goodbye to him, there's nothing more I want to do than crawl back in bed with this warm and sweet sleepy man.
Every Friday, I leave with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step because of this incredible reminder of how lucky I am to be married to JT.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
tortelloni
how to make tortelloni, possibly the most difficult recipe I've made thus far:
Peel the butternut squash for the filling and chop it into cubes. It was pretty hard to slice and I had no idea it had seeds! The recipe had me roast the cubed squash with some oil and spices and I threw some seeds in the pan to roast. YUM!
Next, I threw the squash, some garlic, more spices, and a secret ingredient. It called for amaretti cookies, small Italian almond cookies, but I couldn't find them at four stores, so I subbed animal crackers!
Third, I placed wonton squares on some wax paper, making sure the surface was always dry. I found these in the produce aisle.
I put a tablespoon of the mixture in the center of the square (this, a v. liberal tablespoon!) and wet the edges with some water using a basting brush. (You can use any brush as long as you can control the amount of water, pretty much!)
Next, I folded the square, pressed the edges, and patted it to remove air bubbles. I wet the two corners of the longest edge and pressed those together and repeated the above process.
After making 36 tortellonis, I called it a night. The next day, I made the sauce with some butter, cranberries, and toasted almonds. Keep in mind that I toasted the almonds in my oven!
As my sauce cooked, my tortelloni boiled until floating.
This is a random image of my sage. I bought it at the grocery store, but absolutely love that it was still attached to the soil! Maybe that's why I am so excited about starting my garden.
I used a slotted spoon to serve my pasta and topped it with the sauce. We loved it! It's very heavy with delicious fall flavors like cranberry, butternut squash, and toasted almonds.
Voila!
If you're asking yourself how I can call myself undomestic, you share the feelings of my best friend forever. My overflowing laundry basket, the pile of dishes in the sink, and my crumb-littered floors say otherwise. Cooking is outside of the domestic jurisdiction, though a very helpful asset in homemaking.
I maintain that I cook like a chemist.
Peel the butternut squash for the filling and chop it into cubes. It was pretty hard to slice and I had no idea it had seeds! The recipe had me roast the cubed squash with some oil and spices and I threw some seeds in the pan to roast. YUM!
Next, I threw the squash, some garlic, more spices, and a secret ingredient. It called for amaretti cookies, small Italian almond cookies, but I couldn't find them at four stores, so I subbed animal crackers!
Third, I placed wonton squares on some wax paper, making sure the surface was always dry. I found these in the produce aisle.
I put a tablespoon of the mixture in the center of the square (this, a v. liberal tablespoon!) and wet the edges with some water using a basting brush. (You can use any brush as long as you can control the amount of water, pretty much!)
Next, I folded the square, pressed the edges, and patted it to remove air bubbles. I wet the two corners of the longest edge and pressed those together and repeated the above process.
After making 36 tortellonis, I called it a night. The next day, I made the sauce with some butter, cranberries, and toasted almonds. Keep in mind that I toasted the almonds in my oven!
As my sauce cooked, my tortelloni boiled until floating.
This is a random image of my sage. I bought it at the grocery store, but absolutely love that it was still attached to the soil! Maybe that's why I am so excited about starting my garden.
I used a slotted spoon to serve my pasta and topped it with the sauce. We loved it! It's very heavy with delicious fall flavors like cranberry, butternut squash, and toasted almonds.Voila!
If you're asking yourself how I can call myself undomestic, you share the feelings of my best friend forever. My overflowing laundry basket, the pile of dishes in the sink, and my crumb-littered floors say otherwise. Cooking is outside of the domestic jurisdiction, though a very helpful asset in homemaking.
I maintain that I cook like a chemist.
new wifely fascination:
blackberry bushes.
Where can I find them and how can I plant them?
I'd also like a tomato patch and an herb garden.
Must research now.
Where can I find them and how can I plant them?
I'd also like a tomato patch and an herb garden.
Must research now.
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