Memories Of Potatoes And Marriage

We are just about halfway unpacked in our new home, after one full week. I had most of the kitchen unpacked within the first few days, therefore had few excuses not to start cooking right away. The only issue was, with not much more than a sack of potatoes in the pantry, I was at a loss for what to make for dinner (unless there was a harried rush to the grocery store involved - which is never a good idea where I'm concerned).

Then a memory came back to me about the first meal that my now husband (then boyfriend) ever made for me. We had been dating for about a month at the time, and he told me that one of his favorite foods was the mighty Potato. Ever the sassy one, I asked him to make me something with potatoes...and voila, he produced this amazing foil-wrapped roasted potato dish. Adding to the fact that this meal was prepared with care, I couldn't help but notice that this foil-wrapped method locked in all the yummy herbs and spices and infused the potatoes with their flavor in such a marvelous way. It is a stand-alone meal for us potato-lovers, but is probably better suited to being a side dish for normal folk!

I have since made my husband's special potatoes quite often and every time we enjoy this dish, those fond memories come rushing back. So, what better way to break in our new kitchen than to load it up right away with fond memories of our first meals together?

As an added bonus, I got to celebrate the fact that I finally have an oven that I can turn up to over 400 F without having to worry about an over sensitive smoke alarm!  :)

Foil Roasted Potatoes

You will need:

4-5 baking potatoes, cubed (we like skin on, but feel free to peel)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 tablespoon dried rosemary
1/4 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste
Aluminum foil

Preheat oven to 425 F. Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Tear off enough aluminum foil to cover a cookie sheet twice. Pour the potatoes over this double layer, then cover with another double layer of aluminum foil. Fold the edges over tightly, to make a "packet". Put the cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Then carefully flip the packet over and bake for another 20 minutes. That's it. Enjoy! 

Curried Crab and memories...

We went out on a date yesterday, to a Malay restaurant, and I ordered Curried Crab. Not only was it a fun date with my husband (they usually are!), but the crab was totally delicious too, in all of its 2lb glory. It brought back so many memories from my childhood of my mom's crab curries. I remember waking up early in the morning and going to the fish market with her, picking out the liveliest, crawliest, and freshest crabs! Caught that morning, and still wet from the sea. Best of all was the smell of mom's crab curry filling up the entire house. Such a treat!

This crab was impressively larger than its counterparts from my childhood....and it tasted pretty good, but I think I really prefer the memories.

Dinner And A Movie

Dinner and a movie. It's completely clichéd, isn't it? The same old go-to date itinerary. But somehow, in our house, it just doesn't get old. Since we do it about twice a year, and we really look forward to it each time, it has stayed pretty classic...dinner and a movie.

This afternoon, my husband took me out on a date to go see Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part I, entirely his own idea, followed by a quick and comforting dinner. He really did live to please, today. After the movie, we wondered what to do for dinner. I mentioned that I could go for some hot soup (in my head I was thinking French Onion, and I knew Panera always had it) so I suggested Panera. Done. He even knew which location was closest to us, and off we went. He never ceases to amaze me!

The soup hit the spot. I got French Onion (in a bread bowl, of course) and Ryan got Black Bean. It was simple, delicious, and hit the spot.

I remember going to Panera all the time in college with friends. We would go there with our books to study. Occasionally, we would time our visits to coincide with "closing time", which meant, we scored bagels and other things they were just going to throw away anyway. What a poor hungry student will do for "free food", it really is every college kid's kryptonite. I wonder if these restaurants still do things like that?

Fully charged from my date evening, I'm ready to take on this week!

The Two Tragedies Of Shredded Wheat

My husband Ryan always says "there are two tragedies in life...getting what you want, and not getting what you want." I expect he heard someone say it, or read it somewhere. But this makes sense, and I love hearing him say it. Not just because Ryan is very wise for remembering it but because it is true. I'll explain in a minute.

For years and years I have been coaxing him to get up an an insane hour (4:55 a.m.) and come to the gym with me in the early mornings. I don't know what it was, but a few weeks ago, something inside him snapped and he made up his mind to tackle a personal challenge head on. So, as of a couple of weeks ago, he has been getting up early in the mornings and coming to the gym with me, three times a week. I am so proud of him. This is the 'getting what I want' part of the story.

Now, he is also motivating himself to eat better. So, we talked about various things we would do to make sure he gets more fiber, cut back on fat, and making sure we always have breakfast in the morning. I told him that I used to eat Kashi cereal pretty regularly back in my college/single years, and he said that sounded good. So, this week Ryan went to the grocery store, and proudly returned with a box of...Shredded Wheat. And he exclaims to me, "no fat and 8 grams of fiber, thank you very much!" And I go "what happened to Kashi!?" You may have guessed by now that this is the 'not getting what I want' part of the story.

For those of you don't know what Shredded Wheat is or have not eaten the cereal before, it's not hard to imagine. It tastes exactly how it sounds. But, we resolved to finish the box. Actually, HE resolved to finish the box. I am just eating it because a) I can't stand the thought of wasting food, and b) I can't stand the thought of the man I love eating cardboard-like material all by his lonesome self. Besides, 8 grams of fiber in the morning is inherently a good idea, regardless of what form it is in. I can respect that.

So there you have it, folks. Two tragedies.

The best news though, is that the box is almost half empty now.

Rainy afternoon date!

I took my husband out on a date yesterday afternoon. No, you didn't read that wrong. I took him. We had grand plans to go eat lunch at an authentic french patisserie I had heard about last week and was eager to try, only to find when we got there that the place was "closed for vacation". Hmm. With the imminent threat of a thunderstorm, the luck of the Irish came to the rescue and we found a neat little pub just around the corner from the patisserie. Much to their credit, they were open! That was perfect, and looked exactly like Ryan's type of place. Look how happy he is.

We ordered yummy cold beverages, and split their signature appetizer shrimp. The shrimp was happiness on a plate, prepared simmered in a broth of portobello mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice, and parsley, served with enough crusty sourdough bread to mop up all the broth. I immediately thought of ways to replicate my own version of it, and I will be making it soon. It was a nice lunch. We made silly faces at each other across the table, some of which have been captured for posterity on the camera!


From there, we moseyed on to a thrift store, with it still pouring rain, to browse for much-needed storage solutions for our little house. Finding nothing, I made my way across to the jewelry aisle (while Ryan patiently occupied himself) and I found this funky necklace for $2. How cute is this, to dress up a plain t-shirt and jeans?


It is shaping up to be a really good weekend. Wishing you all the same joy, memories, and happy relationships.

when the eyes look tired

Yesterday, at about eight-thirty p.m., I was just wrapping up my work day (the longest and worst of the week), when one of my co-workers said "you look tired, your eyes are very red". When I heard that all I wanted to do was run home and go to bed. The work-week was the worst in a long time. Very busy and not nearly enough coffee to keep it all going at a hundred-miles per minute.
However, I did get a wonderful mid-week break on Tuesday night, Ryan surprised me by "kidnapping" me in the parking lot and driving me to Governor Dodge where we hiked up an outcropping of rocks that we are particularly fond of, to enjoy the sunset and a picnic dinner - which he had made, planned, and packed all by himself! So I am going to brag about it - turkey-tomato-and anaheim pepper whole-wheat sandwiches, with grape tomatoes freshly picked from the garden, and capri sun to drink! I love my husband dearly. More so when he does things like this :) He even brought me a change of clothes and the appropriate hiking shoes. :) :) It was a welcome break in an otherwise blurry, stressful week. Here is a picture of the sunset that we got to enjoy:



Today is Friday, and I am looking forward to a nice weekend. We are waking up early in the morning, packing up the dogs, some "road-food", and driving to central Illinois for the weekend, to attend Ryan's cousin's baby-shower. It is sure to be a fun but hectic trip, as it usually turns out to be when we travel with the doggies. But it will be great spending time with family! It will also allow me to engage in some rather strange "road-trip-only" behaviors, for example: eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos. This particular food has been a Ryan-Niha road-trip tradition ever since we met. Don't even remember how it started!

Well, I better get to bed soon.

We leave at daybreak!
(I have always wanted to say that)

a sigh of relaxation

It seems like it has been a long weekend. Friday I had to go to Milwaukee for a green card thing. Ryan very lovingly accompanied me. It gave us a chance to indulge in some terrible, but oh-so-good “road-behaviors”. That encompassed a rest-stop at Target, with a cheddar pretzel for me, and a ham-n-swiss sandwich for Ryan. The appointment went smoothly and we were on the road again in less than 15 minutes. On our way home, we had the urge to stop at the outlet mall...well, I had the urge, and Ryan glumly followed. But he got some clothes; in fact, he got way more clothes than I did! I was very good, in comparison.

Saturday and Sunday we made up for all the excesses, in many ways. We didn’t use the car at all, for starters, we didn’t spend any money, didn’t shop (even online), and we ate entirely home-cooked food! Talk about living efficiently.

We started Saturday right. Whole-wheat toast with butter and jam for breakfast, followed by a beautiful bike ride to Mineral Point and back…slightly over 20 miles. It was a very scenic trail, but no shade at all! Good thing we put on sunblock. When we got to Mineral Point, we stopped by the farmer’s market, and I got a “lavender eggplant”, and also some “Italian bottle onions”. The lady at the stand said that the bottle onions tasted really good when grilled, so I thought we would make a pizza that night and try them on it! We did take some pictures along the bike trail –

















Saturday afternoon and evening we primarily relaxed. We made sushi (second time last week!) for lunch, and it turned out very well. Ryan was happy that his rolls turned out much better the second time. We watched the movie version of “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. Figured it would be a good idea, since we just finished reading the book two weeks ago. The book is MUCH better. For dinner, I tried a new pizza dough recipe – which turned out very nicely – and our toppings were the eggplant and Italian bottle onions from the farmer’s market, and also some tomatoes and banana peppers from my garden. The whole thing turned out very well, and we decided that we will definitely use the dough recipe again. Here’s a picture –



Sunday, I had media duty all morning at church. Afterwards, those of us who had signed up for the praise band jam stayed on to rehearse. We needed to be there by 3, so we had from 1 to 3 to practice. It was a little sketchy, and we probably weren’t as prepared as we could have been. But the event itself was great! We couldn’t hear ourselves because the stage monitors sucked, and I guess I had gotten used to the in-ear monitors….but it was exciting, and we were there worshipping, and it was really cool to see all the area churches come together for one cause. I wish there were more concerts/events like that.

And today we are more than halfway through August. *sigh*

It has been an unrelenting couple of weeks, which caused a bit of stress. Most of it was due to work (promotion) or self-inflicted (getting a second dog). So, yes, we did get a second dog.
Johnny B. Goode is a 15-lb runt of a dog, we adopted him on the 4th of July from a nice family who was moving and couldn’t take him. He’s a rat terrier-beagle mix, and has the sweetest personality I have ever seen in a dog. In other words, he’s a spoilt baby and loves to cuddle. He spent the first week with us doing everything he could to hide from Lola who, by comparison, is a monster with abundant energy and a huge tongue that always seems to want to lick him. The two are getting along fine now.
On the other side of the stress-causing issues, I’m excited about the changes at work and stepping up the corporate ladder. But, if the past week or so is any indication of the times to come, I am not looking forward to always being exhausted by the end of each day. But enough of that.
The weekend was fun! Saturday was mellow. Ryan and I vegged all morning as it was pouring rain outside. It cleared up by noon though, and very quickly became a beautiful sunny day! Funny weather. So, we went on a bike ride and our buddy Ben came with us. It was a fun, easy ride, to the bench and back. Then Ben and Amanda and the girls went to dinner with us at Café Four, which was very nice.
Yesterday I had media duty at church, and afterwards Ryan very kindly offered to come and help me clean my desk at work so I would be ready for the move to my new area. It took us two hours, and now my personal belongings are all in boxes, and my desk smells Lemony-fresh.
We met the nicest girl at church yesterday! Stephanie is interning in the area this summer and was looking for things to do and see. She mentioned having a bike, so we invited her to come with us on our bike ride. So after the desk cleaning, we changed, got our bikes and met the girl, and set off on the bike trail. We rode to Ridgeway and back, an almost no-incline 20.3 miles. It was beautiful weather, and the views were spectacular! We discovered that the wild raspberry bushes were starting to ripen, we picked a few and ate them. They were good! Next time we are definitely going with an extra water-bottle to fill it up with raspberries.
In Ben’s ongoing pursuit to “culture me” with the “classic” 80s movies that I missed out on growing up, he and Amanda invited us over last night to a grill-out dinner, and to watch Short Circuit. We invited Stephanie to go with us. We took a bottle of Sauvignon-Blanc that we had chilling in the fridge, and it went perfectly with all the good food – turkey burgers Ben and Amanda made, the fresh romaine lettuce and strawberries and stuff from Amanda’s garden, the new red potatoes I bought at the Dodgeville farmer’s market yesterday, and the veggie kababs Stephanie brought. We watched Hannah play in her plastic fort, it was hilarious. And then we watched the movie. Or at least, we started to, but half of us were falling asleep by 9 p.m. So we decided to finish it another day and call it a night. I was asleep as soon as I got home and my head hit the pillow.

the last weekend in June

I got a bug-bite the size of a golf ball on my forearm this weekend. This happened while we were visiting yet another new baby, this time at our friends Jill and Jeremy’s house, on Friday after work. But I don’t blame them. I blame the rotten bug that bit me while I was standing in their Strawberry patch. I was helping Ryan and Jeremy pick strawberries for about three minutes. I felt an awful bite, looked over and saw the nasty bug sitting on my arm and promptly shooed it away. I didn’t get a good enough look at it for a proper identification. It wasn’t a very big bite on Friday evening. But it got bigger and bigger over the weekend, and when I woke up Sunday morning, several tiny bubbles had formed on the surface of the bite. Yuck. Anyway, it looks much better today, and the nasty-looking bubbles have subsided.
On a different note, we went on another enjoyable long bike ride on Saturday. We seem to have perfected the art of getting in our bike rides (mid-mornings), that is, well before the weather turns bad (afternoons, as has been the case). We rode to Ridgeway and back, with no dark clouds in sight for miles around. A pleasant 32 kms, or 20 miles, in 2 hours and 3 minutes. Not bad at all. It was a gorgeous day and I didn’t even complain once. We didn’t see any deer or snapping turtles on / around the trail like we did last weekend…but we did see pretty birds, and cows and horses, and interesting weeds, and some wild grapes growing along the trail by Ridgeway. We passed this old (very old) couple riding their bikes along the highway section of the trail. We were already sitting down in the park at Ridgeway when they arrived. They parked their bikes, took out their picnic lunch and made themselves comfortable on the park bench to enjoy it. I wonder if Ryan and I will be like that when we are in our sixties…or seventies….
And so, the first six months of the year are gone. Just like that.

when it really counts

It is Wednesday afternoon and you're at work. Your morning dose of caffeine has worn off and it is all you can do to stay focused. It is a sunny day, seventy-two degrees outside, and you feel like the birds are chirping your name. You are counting down the minutes to five o'clock. The week moves on at a snail's pace and Friday finally rolls around. You cannot be more thrilled as you exit the building and head
home.

You've been there. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Friday afternoon. No work looming ahead of you. A welcome Sabbath. You enjoy the rush of joy floating to your head.

We started our weekend on Friday afternoon by walking the dog, enjoying some time in
the garden, relaxing on the couch and watching funny things on television or just lounging and reading. For dinner, we made linguine with white clam sauce accompanied by a perfectly chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Then, we took the dog on a pre-bedtime walk, and played with the Border collie puppies one street over (they have gotten so big!) What a wonderful Friday.

Saturday was even better. I woke up, after a refreshing night's sleep to beautiful morning sunrays streaming in through our bedroom window. I put coffee on and then Lola and I took off on our morning walk. Upon returning, she collapsed in the middle of the kitchen floor while I made Cinnamon rolls. Then Lola and I spent a few minutes in the backyard. I pulled weeds out of my beautiful vegetable garden, lifting my head on and off to watch Lola eat grass and dandelions and subsequently throw up
(of course). I'll never cease to wonder why she doesn't learn :-) Ryan and I then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of coffee, cinnamon rolls, and scrumptious egg-white quesadillas while watching an episode of The Alaska Experiment (that is such an addictive show). And then...the highlight of the day - we geared up for an amazing two and a half-hour bike ride. We biked all the way to Ridgeway and back, stopping a few times to smell the wildflowers and admire the breathtaking scenery. We got home and topped off our sandwich lunch with Root-beer floats! Then, in the afternoon, we went bowling with the Flessners and smiled as two-year old Hannah rolled the eight-pound ball down the alley. For dinner, Ryan and I were both craving steak so we grilled sirloin and had baked potatoes and some wine with it. After dinner we went over to the Flessners to watch Spaceballs (I watched it for the first time, and man, was it funny!!), and play with the kids. I got to hold Samantha for the longest time and it was so much fun.

Sunday - another joy-filled day. Lola turned one year old! We got up at our own pace.... walked Lola, and then got ready for church. We waited until we got home from church to give Lola her present - a huge meaty knuckle bone - which she spent most of her day chewing down to barely anything! Ryan then ran errands, while I enjoyed some time alone at home doing laundry and picking up a few things around the house. Then I
headed over to the first of this summer's hvcc women's activities. I got to relax by the pool, met a few new people, and the lady did such great job organizing it, with fruits and cold drinks on hand. Then, more relaxation at home...a delicious dinner, lounging on the couch and reading, and the season premiere of The Food Network Star!!!

I could not have come up with a better way to end a tiresome work-week.
I knew that we had to have a special weekend. It had to count.

And ours certainly did.

it is fixed

That's it then. We have the perfect solution. No more worries about being ousted from the upstairs because it is overflowing with books. Here's the story behind this sudden euphoria...
Last Saturday, Ryan had a stroke of genius and we moved the ginormous ugly black bookshelves from the study into the bedroom. The curious thing is, not only have we created a lot of "new" space in the study, the ginormous bookshelves don't look ugly at all in the bedroom. Amazingly enough. The futon also fits perfectly in the study now and has turned into an upstairs haven to snuggle, read books, or simply get away from one Miss hyper-active Lola.
So not only did we solve the problem of the overcrowded study, and finding the space to put the futon in the study, but we also figured out a system for book buying. You see, we have a perfectly reasonable monthly budget for books (which we both enthusiastically agreed upon), and we will just get a few more (non-ugly) bookshelves to line the other wall of the bedroom and that's where we'll put all the new books!! Genius.
We had a post-bookshelf-futon-moving celebratory dinner at Cafe Four (at the Chesterfield) in Mineral Point. There was an older gentleman playing songs (I've got you under my skin...and that type) on his accordion. That was nice. The food was delicious. But we will not get the four cheese pizza again. Instead, we will get one of those scrumptious-looking salads, and perhaps the prosciutto pizza. And maybe next time they will have a person there who can make creme brulee. Not some sixteen year old chippy who has that permanent deer-in-the-headlights expression about her.

the story of the organic lamb

Once upon a time a boy and a girl met, fell in love, and got married. Their friend, a sheep farmer, didn’t have a wedding present to give them. He asked the happy couple if, as his wedding present to them, they would accept a lamb. In a mild state of shock, the couple said “yes”. Five months later, the couple’s freezer was stocked with forty pounds of freshly butchered, one hundred percent pasture-fed lamb meat. They made marinated roast lamb, grilled lamb, lamb kebabs, lamb-burgers, lamb ribs, and many other delicious lamb-recipes, and they lived happily ever after.

to be saturday

to wake up to each other knowing that the day will be free and fun
to buy shirts and change into them in the mall parking lot
to leisurely browse books and run my fingers along their spines
to hold hands and stroll
to eat at taco-Hell and not give a hoot
to play with kittens and puppies and bunny rabbits
to decide which chew toys to buy
to kiss and not care who is looking
to go to the movies for the first time in eight months
to eat sushi with a bit too much wasabi
to overhear and secretly giggle at yuppie women complain about life, love and whether or not to have kids
to share chocolate, laughs, and sunsets