Tasty Tuesday and recap

Here is a recap of the main moments of the past few weeks.
I was inspired when I went to the grocery store and bought some veggies and two mangoes. Tom didn't care for eating mangoes on its own while I grew up eating them as an after dinner treat in the summer. So I improvised and made a mango salsa topping for grilled chicken, with a bonus of using cilantro from the balcony garden. Tom absolutely loved it. I also had some Brussels sprouts and spinach on hand so I made a maple and bacon Brussels sprouts and creamed spinach.

And just like that my inspiration went away. I barely cooked last week, we had grilled cheese one night for supper, french toast on another and I'm sure I skipped dinner altogether on some days.

This weekend was a bit better. Tom was super excited when we opened a wedding gift that came last week. Why? Because it was a dehydrator/jerky maker. So that's what we did on Friday night, make beef jerky. I don't think that we have any left.

Memorial weekend was quiet for the most part - Tom put in a lot of hours which meant that we couldn't go camping. I took it easy, finished thank you cards, and did a few chores around the house.  Tom declared that it isn't a holiday weekend without grilling and he made the most delicious steaks that I ever had. Our pepper plants are already producing although they are very mild. Tom stuffed them with sour cream, wrapped them in foil, and on the grill they went. He was also craving his mom's pickled cucumber, and Laurie was very kind to provide Grandma Skemp's recipe.

We also found out that something was wrong with my car, she's getting old (I got a new radiator put in yesterday). One of our water bottles in our emergency kit broke without our knowledge and a gallon later we had dripping water in our entry way. We were glad that our landlords live right next to us - Tom went and got them and they said that there were no water pipes in that spot. Crisis averted.

Tasty Tuesday

And I think I may be an inspired cook again.
It had been a while since we cooked at the house due to wedding leftovers and then my short work trip to DC. While I was there though, I went to this little Afghan restaurant close to the hotel and had some very tasty food (it was very similar to Pakistani food or a milder version of Indian food). I had their pumpkin dish and something that was very to lamb biryani but sweeter.

Kadu Buranee: Sautéed pumpkin with garlic yogurt and meat sauce

This weekend we celebrated our first anniversary; we started with red velvet cake and champagne, exchanged gifts, then saw Iron Man 3. Tom insisted on IMAX 3D. It was a great action flick. The plan was to have dinner at Cajun Steamer, which has decent Cajun food but with a 35 minute wait, we turned around and tried Southern Legacy BBQ and Brew. It was inexpensive and good. Tom had spicy wings (which were really spicy) and I had a burger (which was a bit overdone and dry). Their Southern Belle cocktail was very yummy and Tom liked their beer selection.
On Sunday we decided that we needed to eat healthier so I stocked up on some basic veggies. Sunday night I tried a recipe from the Bon Appetit cookbook from the Drankas (flank steak salad with shallots dressing) and a potato au gratin from Jacques Pepin. I did modify the recipe for the flank steak since I didn't have the full amount of red wine vinegar or shallots. I also had spinach on hand, and thought that maybe some tomatoes and homemade croutons would add a little something.

Then last night I made mushroom and shrimp orzo - the recipe from allrecipes called for a whole stick of butter but I thought that was overkill. But I liked that instead of the typical pasta recipe where you cook the pasta and strain, you actually use water and white wine and let it absorb, almost like a risotto. Served with some spinach and choice of dressing.

I miss an herb garden because these dishes would have been so much better with some cilantro or parsley. Maybe this will be a project for this weekend. Anyways, here is to more cooking, I hope!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mommy Day! We love and miss you!

Weekend warrior

It might not have been a typical weekend warrior event but by the way that we both felt last night, I'd like to think that we worked really hard. We marked a new turn in our Larson household, starting to make Tom's room into "our" room (both my parents thought that the craft room was the master bedroom, after all, it does have a nice non-working fireplace and curtains).
We consolidated closets, boxes, and moved furniture around. We bought a new cabinet for the kitchen to help with storage. We installed a new bar in one of the closets to store all the leftover wine and beer. This is still work in progress. The place is starting to shape up and I already have doubts about the new location of the futon but we'll see. Next up on the list, curtains, pillows (I'm really inspired by Anne B's blog), more consolidating, and organizing the pantry.
For now, I'm excited to hang out with the girls at craft night tonight, my trip to DC, and our first anniversary.

Oh May!

Wedding craziness is past us, at least for now, until the third time.
It didn't feel quite right to have the May post on May 1st - that was Grandma Mae's birthday, and we had just been to her funeral a few weeks ago.

Excited: seeing all the wedding pictures soon
Worried: I don't think that I'm really worried right now
Watching: Scandal
Reading: nothing in particular
Listening to: nothing in particular
Creating:  I need to pick up a new craft/hobby
Cooking: I'm really inspired to cook and looking forward to trying recipes from my new cookbooks
Loving: Keurig Caribou coffee
Thinking: about my professional development and the Mauritian trip/wedding
Looking forward to: my upcoming trip to DC

Sunny Sunday

This week was so refreshingly inspiring and productive - as I write this post, I am almost done with laundry, the floors have been cleaned, I finished a few wedding crafts, cleaned the craft room, and so on.
I was very inspired in the kitchen. It started when I went to Publix after work on Monday and wanted a rotisserie chicken but I couldn't find one. So I just bought a whole chicken without really knowing what to do with it. It has always been a goal of mine to cook a whole chicken or turkey in the oven and for some reason it had not happened yet. I remembered that Jacques Pepin had a recipe for cooking a chicken: http://www.kqed.org/w/morefastfoodmyway/episode204.html
And here is the result:

(Yes the pan should have been a bit bigger, but oh well)
It was very tasty if I may say.
Tom used the breast meat in a big Caesar salad while I had my regular salad (lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, and dried cranberries) with a chicken thigh.
This chicken also made for some nice leftover dishes: I made an orzo salad with sliced olives, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, asparagus, cashews, and feta cheese (with a lemon juice, onions, and olive oil vinaigrette):

Other leftovers: chicken salad, grilled chicken and cheese (croque monsieur), and chicken caesar salad wraps. This was a great strategy for not cooking much throughout the week and having easy lunches. And the chicken cooked really quickly, I would say about 45 minutes (my chicken was bigger than Jacques' and I wanted to make sure that it was cooked through).
I also attempted Jacques Pepin's crispy kale (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/617694); it didn't quite turn out like chips, which a lot of people said it would taste like. I may have used a bit too much olive oil. I might try this again. Tom gave it a "decent", nothing spectacular.

On Tuesday, I had a fun time hanging out at Kelly's and catching up with her. I even managed to get a little bit of crafting done, which I am convinced got me out of my crafting funk.
Also, while I said I didn't like the time change, I do like coming home with the sun still high and being able to enjoy a cup of tea on the balcony before being blinded by the setting sun.

Speaking of the balcony:

Also, I keep forgetting to introduce this guy:

It does not look like much but it's a hydrangea. I hope that this a plant that will last us for many years and we will eventually put it in the ground to set roots where we do.
Saturday was so pretty outside, nice weather with a cool breeze. We tried Maffioza's pizza in Mountain Brook for lunch and then walked around the area. We found a gorgeous but pricey plant shop. We will have to go back with my dad. We also drove by the very expensive houses with oohs and ahhs. We got home and enjoyed the balcony (well, Tom was laying on the roof), just hanging out, sipping on cool Moscato wine. At night, Tom fired up the grill for steak and grilled asparagus and I made the usual sauteed mushrooms.
So that's all for this past week.
Happy St. Patty's day!

March Madness

I think 2013 will be the year of recaps.
I was out of town for a few days for a conference in Atlanta. I was able to attend the talk about the Mississippi Baby that was "cured" of HIV (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/03/first-baby-cured-of-hiv.html). I met a whole bunch of people and had some fabulous meals. My hotel room was about a block from the conference center and had a view of the Olympic park. It was fun to watch the snow flurries on Saturday and Sunday.
This medium sized conference (~4,000 people) was very clinical, which is different from my basic sciences training. I started having a cold on Tuesday and by Wednesday I was feeling so miserable that I packed up and after lunch, headed back to Birmingham. Can you tell that the theme of 2013, is another day, another illness?
Thursday was spent at home and with some relief from my every four hour dose of medication, I was able to tackle a few wedding projects.
The rest of the week/weekend went by at a slow pace. We have a new member in our lab and I had to move my desk - I'm no longer sitting next to the nitrogen tanks which would startle me every now and then when it was time to vent.
Saturday was a relaxing day and we managed to make it to Melissa's - her husband Matt had enlisted a few of us to throw her a surprise birthday party. Sunday was a recovery day still and I decided that I didn't like the time change. I had a nice long talk with my family, oh how I love Skype! Oh, and I must have been more tired than I knew, I kept falling asleep on the couch.
Finally, today is a dark and wet day. I have a big personal to do list, including groceries, chores, and crafts.

For March, I'm
Excited: seeing family and friends soon
Worried: upcoming deadlines, wedding prep
Watching: Revenge, Scandal, Body of Proof, the Taste, Kitchen Nightmare
Reading: nothing in particular
Listening to: nothing in particular
Creating:  wedding crafts
Cooking: Crockpot meals and hopefully a few Jacques Pepin recipes
Loving: hot tea
Thinking: about a few relatives who are not doing too well
Looking forward to: not being sick

In the garden

These are a welcome sight: the hyacinths are blooming!

Tasty Tuesday on Wednesday

We did a special celebration (not to call it Valentine's day) on Friday the 15th - Tom had a lab meeting that day so having it on Thursday would not have worked. We had a coq au vin style fondue, with steak, shrimp, lobster, sun-dried tomato and four cheese ravioli, mushrooms, and asparagus. And of course, some red wine :)

Then this past Friday, we had grilled pork chops with fried okra, cheesy biscuits, and cauliflower and broccoli au gratin. The gratin is a recipe from Jacques Pepin but is also a Mauritian favorite. Fried okra is also a Mauritian favorite, except that here we bread the okra, while back home we don't. Notice the grill marks on the chops? I did that using a cast iron grill pan that my parents got us. I'm loving it. We are also using our new Corelle plates.

Happy Valentine's Day

We do not celebrate the Hallmark holiday. However, I pointed out to Tom earlier this week that we hadn't had fresh flowers in the house in a very long time (>1 year). So we had a team effort, Tom picked out the flowers, I made the arrangement, and he found a spot for it. It has been a welcome sight since it has been raining pretty much all week.