Happy birthday to you...

Posted on | Monday, January 31, 2011 | 1 Comment

Don't fear the ruching

Posted on | Sunday, January 30, 2011 | 2 Comments

Yesterday I ventured into the land of taffeta and tulle along with Katy and my Mom in an attempt to find my wedding dress. We went to two bridal boutiques - one that is locally owned called Moliere that sells couture dress and the other was David's Bridal.

Can I say right now that the two experiences were polar opposites?

Moliere had three brides in the small shop, and while it made the space was slightly crowded the consultants were right beside their customers one hundred percent of the time. I felt like a bride and really enjoyed trying on the mountains of fabric and hopping onto a tiny box to be critiqued. If nothing else the service I received there makes me want to purchase my dress from them.

At David's Bridal the only word that comes to mind is "pandemonium". I had made an appointment over a month in advance and as I was waiting to be see three walk-ins came in also wanting to try wedding dresses who were taken back before my consultant was able to greet me. It took forty-five minutes (during which I was told to "look at shoes") to get to a consultant and smooshed into a mirror-lined corner as I tried on dresses. Perhaps it was because the weekend in busy, but I felt pressured to pick a dress just to get out of the cramped space.

Talk about being frazzled! I found dresses I really loved at both stores. And I think I might have found "The Dress", although as I think about it this morning over a cup of warm coffee I keep looking back at the other two dresses I fell in love and having second thoughts. I think I might go back on a weekday and try on the three again and make a better decision that isn't based off of a feeling of claustrophobia.

It definitely was an experience, I'll say that much.

The incredible edible... eggplant?

Posted on | Friday, January 28, 2011 | 1 Comment

The vegetable (that's technically a berry) has always left me wondering if it came from another planet. Purple and strangely shaped; it looks like something Barney might tote around. I've Previously tried to cook this supposedly versatile food only to be faced with bitter leathery mess that left me bereft of the need to have such a diversified pallet. They were shuffled over with sardines, boiled cabbage, and brussels sprouts in the no-cook category.

But then, I managed to cook myself into liking brussels sprouts. Maybe I was missing some key ingredient in not botching the foodstuff. If I could get myself to like sprouts surely their was some way to redeem the eggplant.

Thank goodness for Alton Brown. I stumbled upon his Good Eats episode on YouTube explaining the wonders of the vegetable/berry. According to the king of good cookery I had made this strange food all wrong! They're naturally bitter in flavor (at least the kind Americans like myself know about) and need to have a bit of extra treatment or spices to bring out their other flavors. I had simply roasted my purple produce with a smidgen of olive oil and meant to eat it as a side dish. No wonder it tasted like a bitter chunk of shoe leather!

Realizing my mistake I was willing to try again, with a little help from Alton. This time instead of merely roasting them with a boiler I was going to make eggplant parmesan, with a few variances from the original recipe. Per Alton's orders, of course.

"Neither rain, nor sleet..."

Posted on | Tuesday, January 25, 2011 | No Comments

"... Nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." While the saying was originally created sometime around 500 B.C by the Greeks it's still a rather relevant adage for the events that happened earlier this week. You see, a small parcel was left on my door step.

This is around the time that I could say something catty like, "I wonder what it could be?" However that would imply my audience lacks the most basic reading comprehension skills. I guffaw at the very thought! Of course you all remember the voting that occurred earlier this month, which can only mean one thing --

Yowza

Posted on | Monday, January 24, 2011 | No Comments

I've been a mom for a little over four years and in that time Kael has surprised and amazed me, however I think this might have taken the cake. Last night he randomly waltzed up to me and began reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, followed quickly by the State Pledge of Oklahoma. And although bits were mumbled he knew both entirely from memory and could repeat them at a moments notice. Color me astounded (and not a little bit proud)! I can't lie; it was freakin' ADORABLE. Thankfully Alex snapped me out of my excitable flailing long enough to grab my camera and press record.



The pledges are as follows for anyone who might be curious (or cannot fully understand what Kael is saying):

5-7-5

Posted on | Sunday, January 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

Kael how you amaze

With unceasing energy;

Makes my world go 'round.

Hearing that small laugh
And carefully chosen words;
Such a blissful thing.


Eater of apples
And creator of mischief;
If there's quiet, worry.


Prince of mess-making
Imagination abound
Our days are nev'r dull.


Tiny trains and play things
Strewn across the living room
A weekend with Kael.

Mean green

Posted on | Saturday, January 22, 2011 | 1 Comment

As a kid you couldn't get me to eat a Brussels sprout if you tried. They would sit on my plate uneaten, looking like a bitter tasting bright green eyeball. Or so I thought. As an adult I've maintained a moderate phobia of this miniature cabbage, avoiding the vegetable if at all possible. But as I have learned to cook I've discovered there are a lot of foods I never tried in my youth that are really delicious. So I took a deep breath and added a container of them to my shopping cart this week.

Apparently there are a lot of ways to cook these guys. Who knew? You can cook them in butter, with brown sugar, sauteed, boiled, fried, roasted, grilled, in a salad, as a side, as an entrée... I was a little bit bamboozled as I looked for a recipe. I thought the best option would be a side, one that didn't make them taste like bitter mooshy blobs. According to the internet sauteing with a little bit of brown sugar and mixed with either caramelized onions or pecans was the way to go.

I didn't have any onions, but I did have a surplus of pecans. Bingo!

Opening week

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Three weeks out of the year the college I work for has an eruption of students. Fall is by far the worst week, but Spring is a close second. Students needing help locating classrooms, professors, schedules, and books. Working at the Information Desk means I will talk myself hoarse for several days as I try to calmly explain that I cannot give a student their professor's cell phone number, or that the Biological Science Lab really is on the second floor.

These are not the best biscuits in the world, they are merely a tribute.

Posted on | Monday, January 17, 2011 | No Comments

I woke this morning and I wanted biscuits. I needed biscuits. Light, warm, fluffy pieces of floury wonderment. Normally I'm a Pillsbury kinda girl. Unroll the can, plop them on the baking sheet, wait ten minutes and your done. Except, I didn't have any on hand today. And I really didn't feel like wrestling Kael into presentable clothing just to go buy some.

That's when the thought struck me: why don't I just make my own? They can't be that hard. C'mon, they're biscuits! After some quick Googling confirming this assumption I went to my fridge and pantry to collect my ingredients. If I can make cookies and hollandaise sauce I certainly can make a batch of biscuits from scratch.

They are the easiest ingredients ever, by the way. You don't even need eggs or a mixer! Fabulous. Pretend that my salt is in the picture though, you kinda need it. Unless you enjoy bland tasting biscuits.

Busy busy

Posted on | Saturday, January 15, 2011 | No Comments

As the title implies this week has been busy. Very good, but busy.

Oklahoma missed out on a majority of the snowpocalypse that landscaped much of the Midwest and South last week. Or, at least it missed central Oklahoma. We got a light dusting that lasted for about a day and then was gone. I don't think I have ever seen such a mild winter in this state. Not complaining, mind you, but it is different than what we are accustomed to. Every year I have been here has had some kind of a weather disaster during the winter. Ice storms that knock out power for weeks on end, blizzards that leave hundreds of cars (and their drivers) stranded on the interstate Christmas Day, hail that demolishes cars and damages buildings... It's always left me with a looming apprehension of winter.

Sure is pretty though.

Kael and I also went to the Central Oklahoma Asthma and Allergic clinic on Wednesday to try and better understand what happened in December and how we can avoid it happening again.