Check out the website that Will made for the event I am coordinating in February. I think he did a darn good job!
CLICK ME
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Quotes of the Day
"Sometimes, I just want to tie our arms in a knot, so I can be close to you."
"I just want to glue you to my chest."
"Can I glue you to my chest?"
-William Carrington Jackson (in reference to me, his baby)
"I just want to glue you to my chest."
"Can I glue you to my chest?"
-William Carrington Jackson (in reference to me, his baby)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Clipped
I just had my culinary wings clipped, and it hurt.
Ever since marrying Will, I have taken on a new role in the kitchen. Before, he and I worked side-by-side producing decent, healthy meals, but now, it is my domain. I am head chef.
It is a role that I have grown to love. I have always enjoyed cooking (without recipes) because of the freedom of creation and because its food, and I love food.
It brings me nothing but pure pleasure to watch Will eat and enjoy a meal cooked solely by me. I have put a few new twists on some old favorites that don't go unnoticed.
"This is definitely the best that you have made" has become a frequent comment from Will. Some of our favorites are Fri' Ri' with squash, zucchini, onions, fried eggs and chicken (if it isn't our veggie night); fried cubed pork with mashed potatoes, DELISH gravy, and stir-fried-then-steamed broccoli; zucchini linguine; turkey quesadillas with my salsa; and tuna cakes over arugula with buttered noodles.
I have also begun a new tradition with boring old sandwiches for lunch, where I toast the bread on a buttered skillet and melt the cheese on the bread before smothering on some mayo and spicy mustard and loading it down with some arugula and sliced chicken. Bread toasted in butter is so much better. Trust me.
Well, today was like every other weekend lunch with toasted chicken and provolone sandwiches. Except, I thought I would make it extra special for Will by boiling him some tomato soup. He likes the Campbell's condensed with milk instead of water. Anyways, the sandwiches were nearly toasted to complete perfection when I noticed that the soup was barely warm. So, I cranked up the temp and put on the lid.
This is a very bad habit of mine.
I like to speed up the cooking/boiling process by placing the lid on the pan, which usually (think: always) ends up boiling over. Usually, it is just water from a pot of butter beans or peas and no biggie. Well, today it was scalding tomato soup that spurted like a volcanic eruption from beneath the glass lid as Will grabbed it off the stove and held it at arm's length to avoid burns, chastising me the whole time, as I stood helpless at the sink and confessed that it "always happens to me, dang it!" It went everywhere and found every nook and cranny of our circa 1980 stove to infiltrate. Boy, did it.
It was so bad that the kodak moment that it was was not captured on camera, because it was such a total mess. (Also, the sandwiches were warm and ready and what was left of the soup wasn't exactly scorched, so still edible, and we were way hungry after a late church service and dun-da-dun!, Wal-Mart.)
After lunch, it was time to face the mess and tackle it somehow. Pretty soon, I was literally up to my elbows in the stove, as it had poured down into the belly of it below the burners, sopping up cold tomato soup with very un-absorbent paper towels. Will was up to his elbows in suds (of course) trying to salvage our very nice (and very pricey) Calphalon stainless steel pot. It was a silent cleaning session.
Needless to say, we now have a very clean stove, including burners, belly and all other attachments and parts, and a very clean pot.
And then the kicker:
As we both laughed over the incident, Will remarked, "Babe, today just isn't your day; you've lost your culinary skills."
Clip. Clip. Ouch.
Ever since marrying Will, I have taken on a new role in the kitchen. Before, he and I worked side-by-side producing decent, healthy meals, but now, it is my domain. I am head chef.
It is a role that I have grown to love. I have always enjoyed cooking (without recipes) because of the freedom of creation and because its food, and I love food.
It brings me nothing but pure pleasure to watch Will eat and enjoy a meal cooked solely by me. I have put a few new twists on some old favorites that don't go unnoticed.
"This is definitely the best that you have made" has become a frequent comment from Will. Some of our favorites are Fri' Ri' with squash, zucchini, onions, fried eggs and chicken (if it isn't our veggie night); fried cubed pork with mashed potatoes, DELISH gravy, and stir-fried-then-steamed broccoli; zucchini linguine; turkey quesadillas with my salsa; and tuna cakes over arugula with buttered noodles.
I have also begun a new tradition with boring old sandwiches for lunch, where I toast the bread on a buttered skillet and melt the cheese on the bread before smothering on some mayo and spicy mustard and loading it down with some arugula and sliced chicken. Bread toasted in butter is so much better. Trust me.
Well, today was like every other weekend lunch with toasted chicken and provolone sandwiches. Except, I thought I would make it extra special for Will by boiling him some tomato soup. He likes the Campbell's condensed with milk instead of water. Anyways, the sandwiches were nearly toasted to complete perfection when I noticed that the soup was barely warm. So, I cranked up the temp and put on the lid.
This is a very bad habit of mine.
I like to speed up the cooking/boiling process by placing the lid on the pan, which usually (think: always) ends up boiling over. Usually, it is just water from a pot of butter beans or peas and no biggie. Well, today it was scalding tomato soup that spurted like a volcanic eruption from beneath the glass lid as Will grabbed it off the stove and held it at arm's length to avoid burns, chastising me the whole time, as I stood helpless at the sink and confessed that it "always happens to me, dang it!" It went everywhere and found every nook and cranny of our circa 1980 stove to infiltrate. Boy, did it.
It was so bad that the kodak moment that it was was not captured on camera, because it was such a total mess. (Also, the sandwiches were warm and ready and what was left of the soup wasn't exactly scorched, so still edible, and we were way hungry after a late church service and dun-da-dun!, Wal-Mart.)
After lunch, it was time to face the mess and tackle it somehow. Pretty soon, I was literally up to my elbows in the stove, as it had poured down into the belly of it below the burners, sopping up cold tomato soup with very un-absorbent paper towels. Will was up to his elbows in suds (of course) trying to salvage our very nice (and very pricey) Calphalon stainless steel pot. It was a silent cleaning session.
Needless to say, we now have a very clean stove, including burners, belly and all other attachments and parts, and a very clean pot.
And then the kicker:
As we both laughed over the incident, Will remarked, "Babe, today just isn't your day; you've lost your culinary skills."
Clip. Clip. Ouch.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Hangman
This is what married couples do, I guess.
Will came to work with me tonight. Work was babysitting one of Historic Columbia's properties while this couple got married. We sat downstairs in a storage room on uncomfortable metal stools with no internet connection and no other way to occupy our time.
So, we played hangman on powerpoint. And it was fun.
Here are a few words:
This was my word for Will. I went easy on him, because I love him so much.
This was Will's word for me. That jerk. Has anyone ever heard of this word??? He even spelled it wrong. Haaaaaah.
Will came to work with me tonight. Work was babysitting one of Historic Columbia's properties while this couple got married. We sat downstairs in a storage room on uncomfortable metal stools with no internet connection and no other way to occupy our time.
So, we played hangman on powerpoint. And it was fun.
Here are a few words:
This was my word for Will. I went easy on him, because I love him so much.
This was Will's word for me. That jerk. Has anyone ever heard of this word??? He even spelled it wrong. Haaaaaah.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Smells like fall
So, on our first real grocery run after Will and I had moved into the cottage, I picked up the largest canister of "rolled oats" oatmeal you've ever seen. Will's eyes dilated as he looked from me to it barely clutched in my small hand.
"Its economical to buy in bulk," I said.
"You're going to eat all of that?" he asked.
I checked the expiration date which was Nov 2011.
"It'll last until I eat it all," I said.
We got it. It has been sitting on the third shelf of Util (pronounced "you-tul"), our gigantic metal rack that we use for kitchen storage, for nearly two months now, and I've only used 1/4 cup from it. Oops.
So, I decided to make granola. This afternoon. Exactly one hour ago. I used the third recipe that google gave me. It called for a lot of things that I didn't have like cinnamon and 1/4 cup of honey and parchment paper, and also for a lot of things that I really didn't want to use like vegetable oil (yuk). So, I implemented and scrapped by. The finished product was quite possibly the best granola I've ever had.
Here's MY recipe.
Wow. It is so exciting to have my own recipe.
And, this recipe is dictated the way I think every recipe should be, so that wary bakers like myself won't destroy things!
BRI'S YOU-DON'T-HAFTA-BE-A-BAKER GRANOLA
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Get out cookie sheet and grease with a few drops of Canola Oil and a paper towel.
Set the cookie sheet near the big bowl.
Chop up 1/2 cup of raw unsalted almonds and put in big bowl.
Toss 2 cups of rolled oats and 1 teaspoon of salt in the big bowl with the chopped almonds.
Leave the big bowl beside the cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, combine with a whisk 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 teaspoon of Canola oil, 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/8 cup of honey and 1/8 cup of syrup (think pancakes).
Then, pour over the oats and salt in the big bowl (make sure to scrape the small bowl with a spatula to get all of the sweet goodness).
Use hands to combine the oats and sweet goodness.
Combine until your hands are thoroughly coated in oats and sweet goodness.
Then, scoop up the unbaked granola with hands and spread on the cookie sheet (see why you put the big bowl close to it?).
Pat down with hands.
Scrape gooey unbaked granola from hands.
Lick the sweet goodness off hands and fingers.
Wash hands and fingers.
Place cookie sheet in the preheated oven and time for 10 mins.
Take out the cookie sheet after timer goes off and take a deep breath (smells like fall!).
Use a spatula to scrape up the almost-baked granola and mix it all around.
Pat down with spatula.
Place cookie sheet back in oven for 5 mins.
Take out at timer and place on the stove.
Let the granola sit on the cookie sheet for 20 mins.
Pick it off of cookie sheet after the 20 mins and break into a container.
ENJOY!
And, that is how recipes should be written.
TA-DA!
Can't stop munching....
"Its economical to buy in bulk," I said.
"You're going to eat all of that?" he asked.
I checked the expiration date which was Nov 2011.
"It'll last until I eat it all," I said.
We got it. It has been sitting on the third shelf of Util (pronounced "you-tul"), our gigantic metal rack that we use for kitchen storage, for nearly two months now, and I've only used 1/4 cup from it. Oops.
So, I decided to make granola. This afternoon. Exactly one hour ago. I used the third recipe that google gave me. It called for a lot of things that I didn't have like cinnamon and 1/4 cup of honey and parchment paper, and also for a lot of things that I really didn't want to use like vegetable oil (yuk). So, I implemented and scrapped by. The finished product was quite possibly the best granola I've ever had.
Here's MY recipe.
Wow. It is so exciting to have my own recipe.
And, this recipe is dictated the way I think every recipe should be, so that wary bakers like myself won't destroy things!
BRI'S YOU-DON'T-HAFTA-BE-A-BAKER GRANOLA
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Get out cookie sheet and grease with a few drops of Canola Oil and a paper towel.
Set the cookie sheet near the big bowl.
Chop up 1/2 cup of raw unsalted almonds and put in big bowl.
Toss 2 cups of rolled oats and 1 teaspoon of salt in the big bowl with the chopped almonds.
Leave the big bowl beside the cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, combine with a whisk 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 teaspoon of Canola oil, 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/8 cup of honey and 1/8 cup of syrup (think pancakes).
Then, pour over the oats and salt in the big bowl (make sure to scrape the small bowl with a spatula to get all of the sweet goodness).
Use hands to combine the oats and sweet goodness.
Combine until your hands are thoroughly coated in oats and sweet goodness.
Then, scoop up the unbaked granola with hands and spread on the cookie sheet (see why you put the big bowl close to it?).
Pat down with hands.
Scrape gooey unbaked granola from hands.
Lick the sweet goodness off hands and fingers.
Wash hands and fingers.
Place cookie sheet in the preheated oven and time for 10 mins.
Take out the cookie sheet after timer goes off and take a deep breath (smells like fall!).
Use a spatula to scrape up the almost-baked granola and mix it all around.
Pat down with spatula.
Place cookie sheet back in oven for 5 mins.
Take out at timer and place on the stove.
Let the granola sit on the cookie sheet for 20 mins.
Pick it off of cookie sheet after the 20 mins and break into a container.
ENJOY!
And, that is how recipes should be written.
TA-DA!
Can't stop munching....
Thursday, October 8, 2009
RIP
So, my laptop has finally died; turned up its toes; croaked; finished; left this world and me for a better place. I hope it enjoys PC heaven, as I sit here utterly miserable on earth. Not going to lie; my eyes welled up when that blue screen of finality appeared and said "STOP." Its not that it was the greatest laptop ever or I had any certain or special attachment to it, but it was so darn convenient and it was there and I was dependent.
No more late night blogging or facebook stalking while comfortably wrapped in my soft blanket and perched on the sofa. Nope. If I need to check my email or do any other fun and necessary computer things, I have to go into the bedroom and sit under the arctic blast of the AC vent and type on the circa 1995 keyboard of Will's desktop. Pathetic, right? But, my fingers always get stuck on the monstrous keys and I do more backspacing than typing!
I am here to announce that daily blogging is over. I just can't force myself to sit at the desktop, while my leg hair prickles and grows immediately back after my daily shave and my fingers continually jam on the too large keys.
Will you miss it? I doubt it. Hopefully, this will cut out the random rambling of my posts.
I promise to keep my boring and completely irrelevant posts to myself from here on out.
If the death of my laptop has taught me anything, it is to trim the fat. Consider it trimmed.
*********
In other news, Will is officially a med student! We sent off the deposit on Monday. Ouch. That sure did hurt the bank account and my pride. I'm still chugging along at Historic Columbia with more and more opportunities opening up for me as the days go on. I am now super busy and without a computer. Wonderful!
No more late night blogging or facebook stalking while comfortably wrapped in my soft blanket and perched on the sofa. Nope. If I need to check my email or do any other fun and necessary computer things, I have to go into the bedroom and sit under the arctic blast of the AC vent and type on the circa 1995 keyboard of Will's desktop. Pathetic, right? But, my fingers always get stuck on the monstrous keys and I do more backspacing than typing!
I am here to announce that daily blogging is over. I just can't force myself to sit at the desktop, while my leg hair prickles and grows immediately back after my daily shave and my fingers continually jam on the too large keys.
Will you miss it? I doubt it. Hopefully, this will cut out the random rambling of my posts.
I promise to keep my boring and completely irrelevant posts to myself from here on out.
If the death of my laptop has taught me anything, it is to trim the fat. Consider it trimmed.
*********
In other news, Will is officially a med student! We sent off the deposit on Monday. Ouch. That sure did hurt the bank account and my pride. I'm still chugging along at Historic Columbia with more and more opportunities opening up for me as the days go on. I am now super busy and without a computer. Wonderful!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Who Knew?
So, Will and I are sitting side by side, each on our own computer, wearing our pajamas. Normally, this would not be anything out of the ordinary, except that we have been wearing these pajamas since 11am this morning, when we took a shower and then put them back on.
I know. I know. Gross. TMI. But, we have not set foot outside and Will has hardly left the computer chair. This afternoon, he sat there without budging for 7 hours straight!
Why would he do such a thing, you might ask. Well, because he is doing my job. He is building the website for the event I am coordinating. And, it looks good! Who knew that he was such a whiz on photoshop?
I will post the link as soon as its all done to show him and it off! Should be done by Wednesday.
Soon, I will put his skills to work on my blog. I'm going to have the blingingest blog around. What!
I spent most of the day vacuuming, peering over Will's shoulder, nodding my head in approval, shaking my head in disapproval, washing clothes, kissing my sweet man in thanks and chasing the panther out of our bedroom since she likes to scale our basket-weave headboard. Who knew so much could happen in one day without even leaving the house?
Because I was feeling very guilty for all of the hours he was putting in in front of the computer, I made the most scrumptious dinner I have ever made. Fried cubed pork chops, steamed broccoli, baked spaghetti squash, white rice and PHENOMENAL gravy. Usually, my gravy ends up a gloopy mess of yuk that no one is even brave enough to taste. Tonight, it was perfect. It could have rivaled my grandmother's and that is saying a lot. Who knew I was a gravy master?
It is only 9:47pm. Will and I haven't even been up 12 hours yet. Somehow, we slept in until 10 o'clock this morning. And, for William Carrington Jackson, who sets 7:30am alarms for Saturday mornings (SO ANNOYING), that is a new record! Who knew that William Carrington Jackson could ever in his perfectly-routined-life sleep in?
I'm so proud. Of course, I slept comfortably and unashamedly right beside him.
I know. I know. Gross. TMI. But, we have not set foot outside and Will has hardly left the computer chair. This afternoon, he sat there without budging for 7 hours straight!
Why would he do such a thing, you might ask. Well, because he is doing my job. He is building the website for the event I am coordinating. And, it looks good! Who knew that he was such a whiz on photoshop?
I will post the link as soon as its all done to show him and it off! Should be done by Wednesday.
Soon, I will put his skills to work on my blog. I'm going to have the blingingest blog around. What!
I spent most of the day vacuuming, peering over Will's shoulder, nodding my head in approval, shaking my head in disapproval, washing clothes, kissing my sweet man in thanks and chasing the panther out of our bedroom since she likes to scale our basket-weave headboard. Who knew so much could happen in one day without even leaving the house?
Because I was feeling very guilty for all of the hours he was putting in in front of the computer, I made the most scrumptious dinner I have ever made. Fried cubed pork chops, steamed broccoli, baked spaghetti squash, white rice and PHENOMENAL gravy. Usually, my gravy ends up a gloopy mess of yuk that no one is even brave enough to taste. Tonight, it was perfect. It could have rivaled my grandmother's and that is saying a lot. Who knew I was a gravy master?
It is only 9:47pm. Will and I haven't even been up 12 hours yet. Somehow, we slept in until 10 o'clock this morning. And, for William Carrington Jackson, who sets 7:30am alarms for Saturday mornings (SO ANNOYING), that is a new record! Who knew that William Carrington Jackson could ever in his perfectly-routined-life sleep in?
I'm so proud. Of course, I slept comfortably and unashamedly right beside him.
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