Let me first apologise for a long absence. Things here have been busy (to say the least) and then I went out of town for Labor Day weekend. So here are the news worthy happenings from the past 10 days! Enjoy.
I thought one giant fire was crazy. Then the hills behind the base caught fire and burned. It was pretty scary and they had to bring in planes to dump fire retardant.
After the fire. This is a just a small visible section of what burned. The golden hills are now black.
Several months ago I spied this book on the holds shelf at the library. I went home and put it on hold for myself. I've had it out for a few weeks and yesterday finally decided to sit down and copy out several recipes. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm excited at the possibilities.
Omega-3 Granola Chicken Tortilla Soup All American Chili
I'm not even half way in and I've found several things that I think look great and I think J will actually eat. If the recipes turn out well, I will have to add this to my permanent cookbook collection.
If you aren't familiar with Americas Test Kitchen (ATK) you may want to check out their website: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/ They host a PBS cooking show, several excellent magazines and a lovely website. Their original red cookbook is something my mom has and uses a lot. The green version is similar, with an emphasis on being health conscious.
Usually when you see an outfit like this in a magazine (Real Simple to give credit where credit is due) you look to the small print describing where to purchase the pieces with fear. Inevitably everything the model is wearing is $250.
I admit, most of this outfit is over priced. But will you look at those jeans? Not skin tight, ankle sucking, leggings. Not full of weird rips and holes and bleach stains. Not $250 either! Yippie. These are actually from the 1969 denim collection at Gap and with a 30% off sale and free shipping came to under $50. I bought 2 pairs. Me! I never buy clothes. (Honestly, ask J. I still wear things from high school.) But I just couldn't resist.
I bought this classic straight leg silhouette as well as a mid-rise boot cut style. I own one pair of jeans from this collection and they are my all time favorite. And their ankle length inseam fits me and a cute pair of flats perfectly. So here's hoping when they arrive they look as cute as the picture.
What a crazy week. Why is it that things come in extremes? Instead of having events spread evenly over the month, they all seemed to come at once. Specifically they all came this week! And on top of an already jam-packed schedule there was a big inspection going on at the squadron and scheduling issues for J.
Where to begin...
Monday was the second half of J's big check ride. He wasn't real happy about it. Had an off-day in the jet. But as he passed, he obviously did a fine job. The check ride had him out of the house at 5-something in the morning and he didn't get home for dinner until after 6pm. He was exhausted!
Then around midnight: RING! RING! Work called his cell phone several times. I should have known then that Tuesday was going to be a bad day...
Well on Tuesday we were told J was leaving Friday for a month long mission. Wait! What? A month? I could have dealt except that the impending deployment I mentioned a while back had also recently been moved. Sigh. So with a month long mission J wasn't going to be home very long before he left on his new deployment date.
And I dropped one of my rings down the drain. Out of sheer panic I instantly became a plumber, took apart all the pipes under the sink and got my ring back. (You should have seen J's face when I told him this story later.)
And I had volunteered to bring a bunch of stuff to our squadron spouse social that evening, meaning I couldn't gracefully duck out at the last minute.
And I had an interview about a nanny position (more on that later).
And I forgot to pick up J's prescription.
And... well you get the picture!
Wednesday we found out that never mind, J wasn't going on the month-long mission. OK. Awesome.
Thursday from 1-5pm I was running around with my TOSC programs co-chair. We had to finalize and reserve a bunch of stuff for our upcoming socials. We also had to set up the big kick-off event for the year: an ice cream social. Our event turned out to be a big hit! We got 40 new members (our total membership from last year) and filled in some more board positions. Go us! But it was a hard days work.
And we had a new couple over for dinner. They moved into their house on base that day. We really enjoyed getting to know them and had fun! But I was ready for bed.
Today... Bible study for me and then a Key Spouse event (that I am NOT in charge of!) this afternoon.
Nap time?
However, this song came on the radio yesterday and it reminded me, well:
"This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use"
This is the second book I've read by A.J. Jacobs. Again, hilarious! This is a laugh out loud book for certain. While his liberal, agnostic, big city views shine through in places, it's subtle enough that I can take it with a grain of salt.
Here's the official description of this short and easy read: "Jacobs, a kind of latter-day George Plimpton, tests our patience and our funny bones once again with his smart-aleck, off-the-wall and uproarious experiments in living. Jacobs lives a vicarious life as a beautiful woman, the experiment growing out of his role in persuading his son's nanny to participate in an online dating service.In another experiment, Jacobs outsources everything in his life to a company in India, from his research for articles to a complaint letter to American Airlines. Although a coda of reflection follows the tale of each experiment, they provide no clarity or wisdom about his experiences. Everybody plays the fool sometimes, and with this book, Jacobs seems to have made a career out of it."
This is the ladies Bible study that I just finished. I was a short 7 week study done over the summer. It was video based; two weeks of each of the 3 different speakers/authors. There were also daily readings, questions and scripture. I really enjoyed it and was introduced to two new women: Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer. I especially loved Priscilla! I am going to look into getting some of her other books, studies and resources.
This is the first book from the Duggars. We watch their show and they have been talking a lot about their newest book (A Love That Multiplies). Since the list at our library is fairly long for the new book, I got this one out while I wait.
Disclaimer: we do not want to have 20 kids! Right now we aren't even thinking about one kid.
It was a good book. Full of interesting personal stories that go all the way back to Jim Bob and Michelle's childhoods. There are also lots of neat pictures (albeit black and white).
One thing I did not care for was how it was written. There was no consistent narrator. It would say "I (Jim Bob)" or "I (Michelle)" and sometimes half way through a story I'd have to go back to figure out who was doing the story telling. I'm hoping this changed in their new book.
I think some of the ideas and suggestion about raising kids could be very useful. Since I don't think my cat counts, I may have to revisit that part some day. But I found it interesting even without kiddos. The organization part I found very helpful! I've been slowly gathering supplies and motivation to clean out the garage and storage rooms around here. Not just clean but really organize them. I found my new system in this book!
There is also a huge section of various resources at the back of the book.
It's a quick and easy read. Since I had nothing else in the house to read I drew it out over 3 days. I could have easily finished it in 1.
This was a book club read. I've heard many people talk about Jodi Picoult, but she's not an author I would have chosen for myself. Her topics are ... not exactly rainbows and sunshine. For example, this book is about a massive school shooting at a high school in New England.
When I picked up the book, not thinking I'd like it at all, I was almost immediately hooked. She's quite a writer that Ms. Picoult. She knows how to draw you in quickly. She's well written and keeps the story both interesting and fast-paced. But she doesn't just skim the surface; you also become intimately acquainted with her characters.
Although I sensed not all was as it seemed, I couldn't quite put my finger on it until the plot twist was revealed at the end of the story.
The ending wasn't stellar. I'm kind of big on how a story ends, how it leaves you feeling and what it makes you think. I think the end was the weakest part of this book.
And yes, it is looooong. But it's a quick and easy read. I think I finished this in 3-4 days.
Weeknight Bolognese to be precise. I was watching a new episode of Barefoot Contessa the other week and this recipe caught my eye. I've been attempting to make this for several weeks now.
Step one was finding an Italian style wine to use. Sangiovese was what Ina mentioned in her episode. And so while out for an afternoon in Napa one day, we went hunting for it. We have since found 2 we like. Not only does this really make the dish (oh the delicious aroma!) but it makes for a lovely beverage with the final product.
It always takes me longer to cook a new recipe, this one from start to sitting down at the table took about an hour. A few things that would truly make this a week night dish: having the garlic and basil minced/cut (and waiting in the fridge), and having your ground sirloin browned (also waiting in the fridge).
Beware of the salt called for! Ina tends to over salt, but if you don't often cook her food you might not know that. She calls for a Tablespoon. I cut the recipe in half for just the two of us and only used a teaspoon of salt. Still a little salty for me. I'd just add a pinch to season and add more later if you want it.
There is also a lot of garlic in here. I love garlic, not a problem for me. Just another warning.
Overall this was a fun and easy dish. It makes the house smell incredible while cooking. J got home from a really long day (his check ride which he PASSED!) and couldn't stop saying how great it smelled and how awesome it looked. He has dubbed it a keeper.
Simmering away ... It smelled divine
I used whole wheat pasta in an effort to be a little healthier
Back in ... early June we noticed that one of the downspouts on the corner of our house had come loose. And then we heard it. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. So they "fixed" it by taking most of it down. All except the part that was going: Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. So then they "really fixed" it and we got a new sound: VIBRATE. VIBRATE. VIBRATE. (Words absolutely do not convey the horrible sound that it was making.) So this past Friday ... mid-August now people, they finally fixed it. For real. ... hear that? Nope, neither do I!
Saturday we drove South to the charming city of Pleasant Hill. The twins that I babysit turned 1. There was a pool party and some excellent cake. It was a fun afternoon. We ended the day getting wings with a friend and renting a movie. J makes the worlds best homemade popcorn, so any excuse for him to whip up a batch and I'm there.
Today was church. We dragged ourselves to early service because J went golfing this afternoon. He usually goes Saturday, but for obvious reasons, that didn't work this weekend. So while he golfed I: did all the laundry, watered the lawn (twice), cleaned the litter box, swept the floor, cleaned the kitchen, put away all the laundry, made a commissary run, finished a book and finally made dinner. Productive. (Hey, I didn't say anything about exciting.)
Tonight I'm blogging because J is studying for part 2 of his big annual check ride. That's in the morning. Hoping to have a good report on that to share tomorrow.
Then the week really takes off for me and it's going to be jam packed!
This is my report on the July baking assignment (yeah, I'm late) from Holy Batman Cooks!
Step one: zesting and squeezing the limes. It took me about 3 of them.
This was the whipped butter and sugar with the addition of the lime zest and juice. Note: I was reading the directions very literally and only put in 1 Tbsp of lime juice here (it called for 2 Tbsp.). Oops! The dough was a bit dry, but I tried to infuse extra flavor by brushing the remaining lime juice on top of the cookies before baking.
Since I have an awesome kitchen scale and the recipe called for ounces of flour, I used it!
I also managed to find the special sugar at the commissary. For whatever reason, buying the packets was actually cheaper (only $0.89 for the box). But since you only use a single packet for the whole recipe, I might keep my eyes peeled for these little guys while dining out!
The finished product; ready for the fridge to chill for 3 hours!
I mixed the zest, salt and sugar ahead and kept it in the fridge until I needed it.
Slicing my cookies. It didn't make quite as many as the recipe said it would, but my numbers came out even.
When I mixed up the ice cream and sherbet I added extra lime juice as well.
The baked cookies cooling. They smelled so mouth watering while they baked! I think I would make these just to eat on their own as well.
The finished product! So pretty. I placed plates of the sandwiches in the freezer for a few hours to harden up, then each sandwich got placed in a fold top sandwich baggie (I just couldn't bring myself to individually cut and wrap...). I've still got a nice pile in the freezer. I really, really love them! Awesome recipe!
