After a grueling two weeks in New Hampshire, I came home to this plant growing in the middle of our backyard. Turns out that something (bird, rabbit, or armadillo?) was nice enough to install a tomatillo plant for us and it's already fruiting. For size comparison, Sammie (who was 55lb at her last vet visit) is, as always, on her best behavior posing next to it. Now to find some tomatillo-utilizing recipes.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tomatillo!
After a grueling two weeks in New Hampshire, I came home to this plant growing in the middle of our backyard. Turns out that something (bird, rabbit, or armadillo?) was nice enough to install a tomatillo plant for us and it's already fruiting. For size comparison, Sammie (who was 55lb at her last vet visit) is, as always, on her best behavior posing next to it. Now to find some tomatillo-utilizing recipes.
Pa Roosky
Zdrastvwechay (booyah phoenetics)! Today is day two for me in Russia, arriving yesterday afternoon. Technically, I guess I've only been in country for 24 hrs. After arriving yesterday at 11a local, a few people met up at 5p to go have Indian food for dinner. At a place called Maharaja, the Chicken Andraki is what I had and it was good. Really expensive, but good. After that, the group of us walked to Red Square for some photo ops (none from me, actually), saw St. Basil's Cathedral (I will try to go inside someday soon), the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and some old ladies dancing in the street to their boombox with 80's style hairpieces. It was pretty funny :)
I crashed out last night, woke up every hour to check the time and wonder exactly what "2:07 am" meant, then finally awoke at 6:00am to get ready for the day. Chris ("Buckles" as I call him) is over here for work on a 3 month tour, so we went a-travelin' this morning before work. First we went to Sparrow Hill which is southwest of the city center, right across from the University of Moscow - a huge, beautiful building. We hiked up this hill which is also home to a ski jump across from an olympic stadium (i think). She ain't too steep, but MAN am i winded from the climb up the hill! There was a fog over the city this morning and it's still overcast and sometimes sprinkle-y outside, but the weather is cool and lovely. Ahhhhhhhhhh. None-the-less I was pitting out all over the place in my rain jacket. Now my feet and my person stinks. Pleasant!
After Sparrow Hill we took the metro back toward the city center and stopped at Sculpture Park which is across from Gorky Park. I didn't know Gorky Park was an amusement park - I had associated it with the Sculpture Park right across from it...huh. I liked Sculpture Park a lot - walking amongst old sculptures from around Moscow and seeing some interesting spectacles. PLUS, there is the Peter the Great statue in the Moscow River (I think that's what it is) adjacent to the park and it's HUGE! Neat as well, so we got to see that also.
Next up for me today is work from 12-5, then dinner. Hope to get some of the "famous" pizza from near the TsUP ("soup", not " 'sup?") which is the mission control center in Moscow, today for a late lunch. Mmmmmm. I think I'm going to be lacking protein this trip, so I'm going to try everything I can to eat it in some form when I can - even if that means pizza! I have some basics from the grocery store near the hotel, so I'm sure I'll be eating just fine this trip :)
For now, I'm going to get ready for my first day at work and will write more later!
ps: I only brought my point-and-shoot camera, so I'll try to post some pix when I have some free time later. So far, not too many pix - we'll see how I do this trip!
**UPDATE: PIX!***
I crashed out last night, woke up every hour to check the time and wonder exactly what "2:07 am" meant, then finally awoke at 6:00am to get ready for the day. Chris ("Buckles" as I call him) is over here for work on a 3 month tour, so we went a-travelin' this morning before work. First we went to Sparrow Hill which is southwest of the city center, right across from the University of Moscow - a huge, beautiful building. We hiked up this hill which is also home to a ski jump across from an olympic stadium (i think). She ain't too steep, but MAN am i winded from the climb up the hill! There was a fog over the city this morning and it's still overcast and sometimes sprinkle-y outside, but the weather is cool and lovely. Ahhhhhhhhhh. None-the-less I was pitting out all over the place in my rain jacket. Now my feet and my person stinks. Pleasant!
After Sparrow Hill we took the metro back toward the city center and stopped at Sculpture Park which is across from Gorky Park. I didn't know Gorky Park was an amusement park - I had associated it with the Sculpture Park right across from it...huh. I liked Sculpture Park a lot - walking amongst old sculptures from around Moscow and seeing some interesting spectacles. PLUS, there is the Peter the Great statue in the Moscow River (I think that's what it is) adjacent to the park and it's HUGE! Neat as well, so we got to see that also.
Next up for me today is work from 12-5, then dinner. Hope to get some of the "famous" pizza from near the TsUP ("soup", not " 'sup?") which is the mission control center in Moscow, today for a late lunch. Mmmmmm. I think I'm going to be lacking protein this trip, so I'm going to try everything I can to eat it in some form when I can - even if that means pizza! I have some basics from the grocery store near the hotel, so I'm sure I'll be eating just fine this trip :)
For now, I'm going to get ready for my first day at work and will write more later!
ps: I only brought my point-and-shoot camera, so I'll try to post some pix when I have some free time later. So far, not too many pix - we'll see how I do this trip!
**UPDATE: PIX!***
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Whales in New Hampshire
We had a beautiful day today with blue skies, a slight breeze and gorgeous sunshine (including the super red faces with sunglasses lines to match)! The temperature was a perfect mid-seventy or so...ahhhhhhhhh, so nice! We boarded the Granite State Whale Watching vessel, a two-story boat, from Rye Harbor Marina and set off on our 4 hour whale watching adventure!
We ended up seeing over 30 different whales, which generally were traveling in pods of 2 or 3. 
At one point our boat was surrounded by whales on every side - of course, they stayed relatively distant from us. There were some really close encounters with the whales, including: 1. A Humpback doing a pirouette-turny-thing out of the water, showing off its tummy and waving a fin at us right off the bow, like 10 feet away, and 2. one of the Fin Backs swimming right toward our starboard side and then about 20 feet away from our hull, turned toward our stern and swimming away. The whales we saw were Humpback and Fin Back whales. Note: The Fin Back whale is the second largest animal on the planet, next to the Blue Whale. PHENOMENAL! I took entirely too many pictures of seemingly the same thing. I'll post them all in an album shortly, but for now just a couple of my faves :)
At one point our boat was surrounded by whales on every side - of course, they stayed relatively distant from us. There were some really close encounters with the whales, including: 1. A Humpback doing a pirouette-turny-thing out of the water, showing off its tummy and waving a fin at us right off the bow, like 10 feet away, and 2. one of the Fin Backs swimming right toward our starboard side and then about 20 feet away from our hull, turned toward our stern and swimming away. The whales we saw were Humpback and Fin Back whales. Note: The Fin Back whale is the second largest animal on the planet, next to the Blue Whale. PHENOMENAL! I took entirely too many pictures of seemingly the same thing. I'll post them all in an album shortly, but for now just a couple of my faves :)
This has been such a great vacation (more on that after the trip is over)!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sweet Potato Soup Recipe
A bunch of people have asked me to post the Sweet Potato Soup recipe. Follow the link to the ever-wonderful Bon Appetit parent website, http://www.epicurious.com/. I found the recipe from one of my magazines, apparently from aught-six.
Few Items to Note
1. Measurements: I am not a fan of precise measurement. I like to experiment a bit, and while I don't usually stray too far from the recipe, I recommend using your best judgement and making the food in a way that makes you happy. More rosemary? Yes please! Less butter? Sure, why not.
2. Sweet potatoes: For the mashed sweet potatoes, in case you don't have any "leftover" for use in this recipe, you can take 3 good sized sweet potatoes, peel the skins off (tried it w/ the skins once, no good), then slice the potato into rounds about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle some oil on a baking sheet and spread the rounds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 mins at 400 F or until tender. Once tender, take out of the oven and mash them up. No seasoning required.
3. Chicken broth: I use free-range, low-salt organic chicken stock from the store and use at least 4 cups. I think in my last batch I used 6 cups total. Basically, I would recommend starting with 4 cups and adding more based on the consistency you like. It probably also depends on how much potato you stick in the recipe. Again, eyeball it to a place that makes you happiest.
4. Pancetta or Bacon?: I have used pancetta twice in this recipe and bacon once. I ate most of it before it actually got into the soup, every time. Pancetta is less greasy and more salty than bacon. I generally didn't use very much, if any, butter with the pancetta drippings. If you use bacon, you'll have to discard more of the pan drippings and won't need any butter at all. Plus, I recommend a thick-cut bacon if possible.
5. Croutons: I start out by pan-frying the sourdough cubes in the leftover grease/buttery goodness, with lots of rosemary (love that stuff and frankly, it's coming out of my ears here at the house). Then I either bake them to get them all-over crispy or I broil them. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn in the oven.
6. Consistency: I highly recommend puree-ing this recipe in your blender after it is all completed, then back to the pot for more heat or from the food processor to the bowl.
Enjoy!
Few Items to Note
1. Measurements: I am not a fan of precise measurement. I like to experiment a bit, and while I don't usually stray too far from the recipe, I recommend using your best judgement and making the food in a way that makes you happy. More rosemary? Yes please! Less butter? Sure, why not.
2. Sweet potatoes: For the mashed sweet potatoes, in case you don't have any "leftover" for use in this recipe, you can take 3 good sized sweet potatoes, peel the skins off (tried it w/ the skins once, no good), then slice the potato into rounds about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle some oil on a baking sheet and spread the rounds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 mins at 400 F or until tender. Once tender, take out of the oven and mash them up. No seasoning required.
3. Chicken broth: I use free-range, low-salt organic chicken stock from the store and use at least 4 cups. I think in my last batch I used 6 cups total. Basically, I would recommend starting with 4 cups and adding more based on the consistency you like. It probably also depends on how much potato you stick in the recipe. Again, eyeball it to a place that makes you happiest.
4. Pancetta or Bacon?: I have used pancetta twice in this recipe and bacon once. I ate most of it before it actually got into the soup, every time. Pancetta is less greasy and more salty than bacon. I generally didn't use very much, if any, butter with the pancetta drippings. If you use bacon, you'll have to discard more of the pan drippings and won't need any butter at all. Plus, I recommend a thick-cut bacon if possible.
5. Croutons: I start out by pan-frying the sourdough cubes in the leftover grease/buttery goodness, with lots of rosemary (love that stuff and frankly, it's coming out of my ears here at the house). Then I either bake them to get them all-over crispy or I broil them. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn in the oven.
6. Consistency: I highly recommend puree-ing this recipe in your blender after it is all completed, then back to the pot for more heat or from the food processor to the bowl.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Latest and Greatest
Well well well. Yes indeedy, it's been a month and a half since I've written. Charlie is really slacking, I know.
The haps with the craps is:
1. Faithie's baby Brandon is doing well, yay! (see last post)
2. My first lead shuttle mission, STS-127/2JA just finished a 17-day long journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, and back on Friday. Booyah! It was a blast, the whole thing. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for sure.
3. My brother and sister in law (Andy & Melissa) just had a bouncing baby girl yesterday - Welcome little Mia! We can't wait to meet you...hopfully this Fall (?)
4. Lieutenant Junior Grade Charlie is in New Hampster for the Navy until next Tuesday & he'll have been gone a whole 2 weeks. I go to visit him this weekend for a rousing good time of watching woodchucks eat crabapples, seagulls making noises, WHALE WATCHING (oh yeah baby! jealous?? boom!) and in-season Maine Lobster. Mmmmmmm.
5. I finished my summer grad school class today by turning in my Final paper. Technically I have two classroom sessions to watch, but without any homework due ...and my paper being finished...not likely to happen. One more class left ending in December and then I'm donesky. D-O-N-E, gradutated.
6. I got a membership to Massage Envy for a year and I am pumped iz-up. One guaranteed massage a month is what I'm gifting myself with my work bonus this year. Woohoo!
7. I'm making sweet potato soup (with pancetta and fresh rosemary and homemade croutons) all the time up in this piece. It's delicious, easy to make and quick. Num!
8. Speaking of fresh herbs, our gardens are doing pretty well. I can't tell what's happening with the tomato plants (we got some fruit, but not too much...hmmm), but the herbs are growing really well! I have more basil than i know what to do with and the thyme, sage and mint (3 kinds) are growing quite nicely. Our peppers are doing decently as well. I love to eat what we grow!!
That is the last month or so summed up as snug as a bug in a rug. Shouldn't be too incredibly long before the next post arrives either. I mean, don't hold your breath or anything, but ...it should be less than a month coming :)
The haps with the craps is:
1. Faithie's baby Brandon is doing well, yay! (see last post)
2. My first lead shuttle mission, STS-127/2JA just finished a 17-day long journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, and back on Friday. Booyah! It was a blast, the whole thing. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for sure.
3. My brother and sister in law (Andy & Melissa) just had a bouncing baby girl yesterday - Welcome little Mia! We can't wait to meet you...hopfully this Fall (?)
4. Lieutenant Junior Grade Charlie is in New Hampster for the Navy until next Tuesday & he'll have been gone a whole 2 weeks. I go to visit him this weekend for a rousing good time of watching woodchucks eat crabapples, seagulls making noises, WHALE WATCHING (oh yeah baby! jealous?? boom!) and in-season Maine Lobster. Mmmmmmm.
5. I finished my summer grad school class today by turning in my Final paper. Technically I have two classroom sessions to watch, but without any homework due ...and my paper being finished...not likely to happen. One more class left ending in December and then I'm donesky. D-O-N-E, gradutated.
6. I got a membership to Massage Envy for a year and I am pumped iz-up. One guaranteed massage a month is what I'm gifting myself with my work bonus this year. Woohoo!
7. I'm making sweet potato soup (with pancetta and fresh rosemary and homemade croutons) all the time up in this piece. It's delicious, easy to make and quick. Num!
8. Speaking of fresh herbs, our gardens are doing pretty well. I can't tell what's happening with the tomato plants (we got some fruit, but not too much...hmmm), but the herbs are growing really well! I have more basil than i know what to do with and the thyme, sage and mint (3 kinds) are growing quite nicely. Our peppers are doing decently as well. I love to eat what we grow!!
That is the last month or so summed up as snug as a bug in a rug. Shouldn't be too incredibly long before the next post arrives either. I mean, don't hold your breath or anything, but ...it should be less than a month coming :)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Aunt Again!
Faithie just called me from the hospital 5 minutes ago:
Brandon Evan Turner
6 lbs TBD oz, 21 inches long.
No time for medicine (again), 1-2-3 pushes and he was out!
C'mon people! Who's amazed?? I am!
Faith, you are an amazing sister. A wonder-mother, birthing machine!
Congratulations Faith, Shawn & Noah on your new family addition and to Faithie for not having to be pregnant any longer! Can't wait to see you all :)
We love you!!
Brandon Evan Turner
6 lbs TBD oz, 21 inches long.
No time for medicine (again), 1-2-3 pushes and he was out!
C'mon people! Who's amazed?? I am!
Faith, you are an amazing sister. A wonder-mother, birthing machine!
Congratulations Faith, Shawn & Noah on your new family addition and to Faithie for not having to be pregnant any longer! Can't wait to see you all :)
We love you!!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Skeeties
For some reason, this season has more mosquitos than I can remember since moving to TX in aught-one. There is an abundance of them everywhere I go, which includes (but is not limited to) my backyard, the inside of my car, the trail by my house, and my living room.
Yes, Minnesota really probably wins the trophy for most mosquitos (and biggest ones), but I do not remember them being as irritating and blood-thirsty as the bad boys we have right now. I have bites on the tops of my toes, backs of my knees (the worst!) and today, one little guy even took a chomp out of my lady nether-regions. Seriously.
Why this year is so bad, I do not know. What I do hope is that by some twist of fate their numbers will dissipate and I do not have to keep slathering myself in DEET or some other outrageous chemical that is likely to seep into my system and wreak havoc.
I hope you are all keeping 'skito free.
(scratch, scratch, scratch)
Yes, Minnesota really probably wins the trophy for most mosquitos (and biggest ones), but I do not remember them being as irritating and blood-thirsty as the bad boys we have right now. I have bites on the tops of my toes, backs of my knees (the worst!) and today, one little guy even took a chomp out of my lady nether-regions. Seriously.
Why this year is so bad, I do not know. What I do hope is that by some twist of fate their numbers will dissipate and I do not have to keep slathering myself in DEET or some other outrageous chemical that is likely to seep into my system and wreak havoc.
I hope you are all keeping 'skito free.
(scratch, scratch, scratch)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
SYTYCD
So You Think You Can Dance? Oh yes baby, it's on! I love this show!
First to go for the ladies? I think it will be Asuka.
For the dudes? I don't know yet.
...more on this exciting topic next week after the dance/vote premiere on Weds 6/10!!
First to go for the ladies? I think it will be Asuka.
For the dudes? I don't know yet.
...more on this exciting topic next week after the dance/vote premiere on Weds 6/10!!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Sweating Again
I ran today people, 3 miles! After almost 4 months of no running, my fat A finally did it! The miles tracker is back on!!
Total of 46/142 miles expected (for my 1 mile/day average).
With 223 days and 319 miles left to run in 2009, in order to make my year starting goal I will need to run 1.5 miles per day to meet my goal. Or, 3 miles every other day. OR...well, let's face it...I won't be running more than 3 miles at any given time. Especially in the summer hizeat of the dirty Souf.
Kirby ran with me too today.
She sweat her tongue off. That's my dogg!
One.
Total of 46/142 miles expected (for my 1 mile/day average).
With 223 days and 319 miles left to run in 2009, in order to make my year starting goal I will need to run 1.5 miles per day to meet my goal. Or, 3 miles every other day. OR...well, let's face it...I won't be running more than 3 miles at any given time. Especially in the summer hizeat of the dirty Souf.
Kirby ran with me too today.
She sweat her tongue off. That's my dogg!
One.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Gardens and Honeybees
So it's been a long time coming, but we finally got started on our food-growing endeavor. We built some raised planters in the yard (we have crap for drainage), complete with pop-up irrigation for each box. There are four 4'x4' boxes and one 2.5' sided hex. We've planted a bunch of tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, strawberries (with more on the way), squash, mint, sage, basil, cilantro, and thyme. Hopefully we get at least some food out of it before the bugs, birds, and K-dog eat it all. Jaime also put in some coo Kangaroo Paw plants. I don't have a good pic of them at the moment, so hopefully we will soon.
In other news, upon returning home this afternoon, I was greeted in my living room by about 20 or 30 honeybees, which was great! They were getting into our house through our light fixture in the living room (pictured, post bee-fix 2009; note the impressive duct tape work). Never had any bees in our house besides the ones & twos that fly in through o
pen doors, but now we can hear them in our ceiling. It's especially creepy when they get agitated every now an then and you can really hear the hive humming away. Really weird. So we called a beekeeper guy who's going to come out tomorrow and see what it would take to remove them. But I'm pretty sure we'll be hacking into our ceiling and following up with some reconstruction. Awesome.
In other news, upon returning home this afternoon, I was greeted in my living room by about 20 or 30 honeybees, which was great! They were getting into our house through our light fixture in the living room (pictured, post bee-fix 2009; note the impressive duct tape work). Never had any bees in our house besides the ones & twos that fly in through o
pen doors, but now we can hear them in our ceiling. It's especially creepy when they get agitated every now an then and you can really hear the hive humming away. Really weird. So we called a beekeeper guy who's going to come out tomorrow and see what it would take to remove them. But I'm pretty sure we'll be hacking into our ceiling and following up with some reconstruction. Awesome.
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