9/21/2007
Farewell Party, Part 1
Greetings all, and sorry to be gone so long! We are happily arrived in Maryland, but more on that later. First, some pictures from our farewell party in OKC. No captions, just my favorite pics.
8/18/2007
Catching up Cakes
Here are 2 pictures I haven't shared yet, one a wedding and one a first birthday. Please note the impromptu cake-topper arrangement made by yours truly. . .communication is a good thing.
Bagels!!!
Whole-wheat bagels are becoming increasingly difficult to find in the grocery store, at least in my part of the country. Solution? Make your own! Here are the pictures of my scrumptious bagels! The recipe may be found here.
Shaped dough:
Boiling Bagels:
Ready to bake:
Finished!
Next time, dutch apple walnut bagels, almond crunch, orange craisin. . .the possibilities are endless. . . .
Shaped dough:
Boiling Bagels:
Ready to bake:
Finished!
Next time, dutch apple walnut bagels, almond crunch, orange craisin. . .the possibilities are endless. . . .
7/21/2007
Long Time, No. . .Blog?
Hello all. It's been a while since I've really posted anything of substance (Have I EVER posted anything of substance?), I know. Since we disconnected our Internet at home (in preparation for the still-awaited move to Somewhere), my opportunities to blog are not abundant. So, some updates. . .
On the job/move front, we're still waiting. K is wading (and I mean wading as through a thick, murky swamp, not in the clear blue waters off a Hawaiian beach) through the paperwork and such that must be completed and approved before he can be hired. In June, they gave us a 4-6 month timeframe, so I suppose we're sitting at 3-5 now. We'll likely live in or around Annapolis, though we haven't delved into those options too deeply just yet.
In wider family matters, things are going pretty well. My youngest cousin got married last month and moved here. They live about 15 minutes from us, and it's nice to see her more often now. I got to help her do all the little things that have to be done when you change your name and move to a different state. Also, they're expecting a baby in January, so I foresee some garage sale and consignment shop maternity clothes shopping in the future. That will be fun.
I went to the Farmer's Market with a friend this morning, bright and early. It's really grown since I first started going a couple years ago. It used to be that, if you went around 7am, there were very few people there and you could have your pick of things. Now, traffic is already crazy at 7, and it's already crowded. That's good, I guess. It means more vendors and more produce in the future. This morning I bought a Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper spice mix, and I picked up a couple recipes to go with it. The Spice Hunter vendor booth is amazing. I also got some black cherry tomatoes. They're a dark gray-red color, and I hadn't tried them before. But I ate one this morning, and they were good. I think, when I have a house and garden space, I should try to grow those along with regular cherry tomatoes, sungold cherry tomatoes (orange-colored), and these others I saw this morning that are a bright yellow. Wouldn't that make for great table presentation? And think of the fresh salsa! I like colorful food.
I also bought some fresh yogurt this morning. I've never been a huge yogurt fan, but I'm trying to learn. I don't like milk that much, and there is only so much cheese a girl can eat. So I'm working to expand my dairy (read: calcium) options. Flavored yogurt, though, has so much sugar that I avoid it. A couple months ago, we had breakfast at a friend's house. I made baked oatmeal, which we normally eat with yogurt and fruit. She buys plain yogurt, so that's what we had. While not my favorite thing (as if yogurt were even close, anyway), I didn't hate it. So a couple weeks ago, I bought a small container of plain yogurt. I mixed it with fresh blackberries (from the market. . .mmmmm!) and homemade granola and a teaspoon of sugar. I didn't like it much, but I ate it. Then, last week, I bought more, but a better brand this time. It was much more palateable. I even liked it. So today I bought some fresh-made yogurt from a dairy farm booth. They let me try a spoonful of a sample container they had open first, and I think I can handle it. . .properly sweetened with fruit and granola, of course. I think I can forego the teaspoon of sugar now. So we're making progress, and I feel like I'm making great health strides. I will probably get tired of it quickly, as I do cottage cheese, string cheese, and snacks that make milk worth drinking. But if I can gather enough options, I can just switch every couple of weeks and still get my daily calcium dose. Next on the list? Yogurt cheese and recipes that use it.
That's all my rambling for now.
On the job/move front, we're still waiting. K is wading (and I mean wading as through a thick, murky swamp, not in the clear blue waters off a Hawaiian beach) through the paperwork and such that must be completed and approved before he can be hired. In June, they gave us a 4-6 month timeframe, so I suppose we're sitting at 3-5 now. We'll likely live in or around Annapolis, though we haven't delved into those options too deeply just yet.
In wider family matters, things are going pretty well. My youngest cousin got married last month and moved here. They live about 15 minutes from us, and it's nice to see her more often now. I got to help her do all the little things that have to be done when you change your name and move to a different state. Also, they're expecting a baby in January, so I foresee some garage sale and consignment shop maternity clothes shopping in the future. That will be fun.
I went to the Farmer's Market with a friend this morning, bright and early. It's really grown since I first started going a couple years ago. It used to be that, if you went around 7am, there were very few people there and you could have your pick of things. Now, traffic is already crazy at 7, and it's already crowded. That's good, I guess. It means more vendors and more produce in the future. This morning I bought a Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper spice mix, and I picked up a couple recipes to go with it. The Spice Hunter vendor booth is amazing. I also got some black cherry tomatoes. They're a dark gray-red color, and I hadn't tried them before. But I ate one this morning, and they were good. I think, when I have a house and garden space, I should try to grow those along with regular cherry tomatoes, sungold cherry tomatoes (orange-colored), and these others I saw this morning that are a bright yellow. Wouldn't that make for great table presentation? And think of the fresh salsa! I like colorful food.
I also bought some fresh yogurt this morning. I've never been a huge yogurt fan, but I'm trying to learn. I don't like milk that much, and there is only so much cheese a girl can eat. So I'm working to expand my dairy (read: calcium) options. Flavored yogurt, though, has so much sugar that I avoid it. A couple months ago, we had breakfast at a friend's house. I made baked oatmeal, which we normally eat with yogurt and fruit. She buys plain yogurt, so that's what we had. While not my favorite thing (as if yogurt were even close, anyway), I didn't hate it. So a couple weeks ago, I bought a small container of plain yogurt. I mixed it with fresh blackberries (from the market. . .mmmmm!) and homemade granola and a teaspoon of sugar. I didn't like it much, but I ate it. Then, last week, I bought more, but a better brand this time. It was much more palateable. I even liked it. So today I bought some fresh-made yogurt from a dairy farm booth. They let me try a spoonful of a sample container they had open first, and I think I can handle it. . .properly sweetened with fruit and granola, of course. I think I can forego the teaspoon of sugar now. So we're making progress, and I feel like I'm making great health strides. I will probably get tired of it quickly, as I do cottage cheese, string cheese, and snacks that make milk worth drinking. But if I can gather enough options, I can just switch every couple of weeks and still get my daily calcium dose. Next on the list? Yogurt cheese and recipes that use it.
That's all my rambling for now.
6/28/2007
6/11/2007
The Story
This post and the accompanying picture is for. . .you better know who you are.
While making one of the lovely cakes in the post below, I inadvertently made a BIG mess. And I mean bigger and unrelated to the inevitable big mess I make any time a cake is made and decorated. You see, several weeks ago, I splurged. I bought real maple syrup. It was expensive. It was in a glass bottle.
After it was opened, it had to be placed in the refrigerator. I put it in the door, behind round jars so that it would not slip through the hole made by the door shelf and the bar that holds things in it.
A few days before this cake, I used all of the mustard in one of the barrier jars, leavng a hole. I did not realize this. So, of course, during one of my trips to the fridge for eggs (the 5-tier cake used 70 whites!!! I make LOTS of trips to the fridge for eggs. . . .), it fell out. It made a great crash and covered my kitchen floor in sticky, liquid maple syrup. Needless to say, I had to suspend my baking to sop, mop, and mop again. I took a picture, in (you know who you are)'s honor. I apologize for not thinking of that BEFORE I started cleaning up the mess.
The moral of the story? Do NOT put glass containers that will slip through the crack in the door of the refrigerator, EVEN if they are protected by larger containers in front. You will NOT remember when said larger jars are emptied and disposed of.
While making one of the lovely cakes in the post below, I inadvertently made a BIG mess. And I mean bigger and unrelated to the inevitable big mess I make any time a cake is made and decorated. You see, several weeks ago, I splurged. I bought real maple syrup. It was expensive. It was in a glass bottle.
After it was opened, it had to be placed in the refrigerator. I put it in the door, behind round jars so that it would not slip through the hole made by the door shelf and the bar that holds things in it.
A few days before this cake, I used all of the mustard in one of the barrier jars, leavng a hole. I did not realize this. So, of course, during one of my trips to the fridge for eggs (the 5-tier cake used 70 whites!!! I make LOTS of trips to the fridge for eggs. . . .), it fell out. It made a great crash and covered my kitchen floor in sticky, liquid maple syrup. Needless to say, I had to suspend my baking to sop, mop, and mop again. I took a picture, in (you know who you are)'s honor. I apologize for not thinking of that BEFORE I started cleaning up the mess.
The moral of the story? Do NOT put glass containers that will slip through the crack in the door of the refrigerator, EVEN if they are protected by larger containers in front. You will NOT remember when said larger jars are emptied and disposed of.
5/30/2007
CO
A few pictures from our backpacking trip in Golden Gate State Park. . .in Colorado, not California, as the name might lead you to believe.
5/25/2007
5/14/2007
Yes, This is What I Think
I have issues with people making comments about teenagers, particularly to young children, in the vein of "Well, wait until the teen years hit." No wonder we have such a teen problem; we tell our kids from the time they're in pre-school that we expect rebellion and attitude as soon as they hit the big 1-3. And don't get me started about asking 5 year-olds how many boys they've kissed. . . .
Anyway, I like this article .
Anyway, I like this article .
5/06/2007
Just Two More. . .
Two of my Favorite Men
And, perhaps, my favorite graduation picture. . .it was obligingly windy (Would it be an Oklahoma graduation if it weren't?), and I think this one is great.
And, perhaps, my favorite graduation picture. . .it was obligingly windy (Would it be an Oklahoma graduation if it weren't?), and I think this one is great.
Bell-Ringing
TU has a tradition. There's a big bell in the center of campus, and graduates are supposed to ring the bell at the end of their university career. Kevin and some friends got together the day before graduation, and we documented the historic moment with photos.
4/30/2007
Two Days, Two Analogies
This one is better than last night's, I promise.
We were at K's grandma's for her birthday dinner today, and K's parents gave her two new Betta fish, a male and a female. If you don't know what a Betta fish looks like, stop reading now. Find a picture online, then come back. It will help.
The male, of course, is stunning. Vibrant dark blue and red with long, flowing fins. He's flashy, glamorous, fascinating.
The female, as is often the case in nature, is dull by comparison. A shimmery silver-grey color with clipped fins, the only apparent connection to her male counterpart is a smattering of red and blue on her tiny appendages. The two fish are in a single container with a divider down the middle, as the males tend to be cannibalistic. When the two approach each other on either side of the clear plastic divider, the male struts his stuff, fluttering his side fins boldly and making a general show. The female reflects his magnificence. Her silver sides turn rosy pink or smoky blue, depending on the angle.
It makes a great analogy. Christ, the bridegroom, is magnificent in his beauty. Fiery and brilliant, He lacks nothing. We, His bride, pale in comparison. While we might be considered marginally attractive in isolation, we are nothing next to His glory. Yet, when we draw near to Him, the reflection of His vibrance makes our simple scales glow with reflected glory and we are made beautiful.
We were at K's grandma's for her birthday dinner today, and K's parents gave her two new Betta fish, a male and a female. If you don't know what a Betta fish looks like, stop reading now. Find a picture online, then come back. It will help.
The male, of course, is stunning. Vibrant dark blue and red with long, flowing fins. He's flashy, glamorous, fascinating.
The female, as is often the case in nature, is dull by comparison. A shimmery silver-grey color with clipped fins, the only apparent connection to her male counterpart is a smattering of red and blue on her tiny appendages. The two fish are in a single container with a divider down the middle, as the males tend to be cannibalistic. When the two approach each other on either side of the clear plastic divider, the male struts his stuff, fluttering his side fins boldly and making a general show. The female reflects his magnificence. Her silver sides turn rosy pink or smoky blue, depending on the angle.
It makes a great analogy. Christ, the bridegroom, is magnificent in his beauty. Fiery and brilliant, He lacks nothing. We, His bride, pale in comparison. While we might be considered marginally attractive in isolation, we are nothing next to His glory. Yet, when we draw near to Him, the reflection of His vibrance makes our simple scales glow with reflected glory and we are made beautiful.
4/29/2007
Light to Pluck By
I apologize in advance for the absurdity of this analogy.
After washing my face and brushing my teeth tonight, I commenced plucking stray hairs from my eyebrows. (Yes, I confess I pluck. . .not expansively, but, since my brows are quite dark, frequently.) Since we've been away from home and in a hotel the last 2 days (hotel light fixtures not being known for their brilliant luminosity), I had catching up to do. Bright light is a must for successful plucking. Those light baby hairs that are just starting may be innocuous and invisible now, but give them a day and they become full-fledged dark monsters. Natural light is really best, but it's hard to come by in our apartment.
As I mulled this dilemma, fighting a particularly tenacious little sprout, I thought how good friends are like good light, illuminating the out-of-place bits of our lives that need to be weeded out. They're honest and courageous enough to point out even the mostly-invisible-right-now flaws that will inevitable rear their ugly heads in the future if not discarded now. They help get problems out while they are small and mostly invisible, before they really take root and cause pain. And, when we both miss a stray eyesore, they eventually help us yank it out by the root, even if it bleeds a bit. Every now and then, they prompt a complete overhaul and reshaping, from tip to tip. Real friends--friends who know us frontwards and backwards and sidewards, too--keep us trim and groomed and nicely-shaped.
Yes, in the eyebrow of life, friends are the light by which we pluck.
After washing my face and brushing my teeth tonight, I commenced plucking stray hairs from my eyebrows. (Yes, I confess I pluck. . .not expansively, but, since my brows are quite dark, frequently.) Since we've been away from home and in a hotel the last 2 days (hotel light fixtures not being known for their brilliant luminosity), I had catching up to do. Bright light is a must for successful plucking. Those light baby hairs that are just starting may be innocuous and invisible now, but give them a day and they become full-fledged dark monsters. Natural light is really best, but it's hard to come by in our apartment.
As I mulled this dilemma, fighting a particularly tenacious little sprout, I thought how good friends are like good light, illuminating the out-of-place bits of our lives that need to be weeded out. They're honest and courageous enough to point out even the mostly-invisible-right-now flaws that will inevitable rear their ugly heads in the future if not discarded now. They help get problems out while they are small and mostly invisible, before they really take root and cause pain. And, when we both miss a stray eyesore, they eventually help us yank it out by the root, even if it bleeds a bit. Every now and then, they prompt a complete overhaul and reshaping, from tip to tip. Real friends--friends who know us frontwards and backwards and sidewards, too--keep us trim and groomed and nicely-shaped.
Yes, in the eyebrow of life, friends are the light by which we pluck.
4/23/2007
Sophie!
Chris and Sassi came to visit yesterday for the last opera of the season, and we took some pictures with our beautiful little goddaughter. . .who, thankfully, has a very healthy set of lungs. . .and likes to use them. We had a great day, though. It's good to have friends.
4/20/2007
Final Photos
These are two of the several historical church buildings in town. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the Methodist church, which is grey stone and beautiful, but these are also nice.
ID
Identification?
Nope.
Intelligent Design?
Nope.
Idaho!
Here are some pictures from our trip:
the Visitor's Center
the falls that give the town its name
the really cool flower outside our hotel
the moment I knew I was born to live here. . .they have purposeless turrets!
Nope.
Intelligent Design?
Nope.
Idaho!
Here are some pictures from our trip:
the Visitor's Center
the falls that give the town its name
the really cool flower outside our hotel
the moment I knew I was born to live here. . .they have purposeless turrets!
4/14/2007
Sometimes You're the Egg
You've heard the saying "Sometimes you're the windshield, Sometimes you're the bug"? Well, tonight I coined a similar phrase--a baking metaphor, given my current project.
Sometimes you're the egg.
This recipe is so good, but it's really tough to get out in one perfect piece. . .too moist, I suppose. So, the first cake didn't quite come out of the pan as intended.
Sometimes you're the egg.
I need 3 batches of icing, but I only had 2 bags of powdered sugar. And, on top of that, I have to go to Rachel's to make icing, because my THREE MONTH OLD mixer died last week.
Sometimes you're the egg.
A free replacement mixer is in the mail.
Finally! Sometimes you're the BOWL.
While I wait on it, I do have good friends nearby with a durable mixer, who are even kind enough to share dinner and clean up after me.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
On my first large layer, I had the bright idea to not only cut parchment paper for the bottom, but to line the sides with strips. It came out perfect.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
And I chanced putting it on a cooling rack that often peels the top off a cake, placing a strip of parchment between the two as a hopeful safety net. An hour and a half later, the cooled cake slid right onto the waiting transfer plate.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
I can't add. Somehow, I only bought cake ingredients for half the layers.
Sometimes you're the egg.
My darling husband went to the store at about 1:30am to get what I was missing.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
The store I sent him to didn't have cake flour.
Sometimes you're the egg.
He also washed my pans and bowls for me. . .over and over and over and over.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
It's 3am, and I will be up for at least another 30 minutes. Then I'll snatch 4 (I hope that many) hours of sleep and continue. Weddings don't wait for cakes. Some days, no matter how many times you're the bowl, you still feel like the egg.
But tomorrow, when I watch our friends join their lives together and then see their friends enjoying this truly fabulous, moist, chocolate goodness. . .I will be the bowl.
Sometimes you're the bowl; sometimes you're the egg.On the first recipe of this cake I am repeating too many times to tell, I bent my thumbnail back far enough to cause a fair amount of bleeding underneath the nail, effectively ripping the front half of my nail off the nailbed. I almost got the other thumb at the same time.
Sometimes you're the egg.
This recipe is so good, but it's really tough to get out in one perfect piece. . .too moist, I suppose. So, the first cake didn't quite come out of the pan as intended.
Sometimes you're the egg.
I need 3 batches of icing, but I only had 2 bags of powdered sugar. And, on top of that, I have to go to Rachel's to make icing, because my THREE MONTH OLD mixer died last week.
Sometimes you're the egg.
A free replacement mixer is in the mail.
Finally! Sometimes you're the BOWL.
While I wait on it, I do have good friends nearby with a durable mixer, who are even kind enough to share dinner and clean up after me.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
On my first large layer, I had the bright idea to not only cut parchment paper for the bottom, but to line the sides with strips. It came out perfect.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
And I chanced putting it on a cooling rack that often peels the top off a cake, placing a strip of parchment between the two as a hopeful safety net. An hour and a half later, the cooled cake slid right onto the waiting transfer plate.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
I can't add. Somehow, I only bought cake ingredients for half the layers.
Sometimes you're the egg.
My darling husband went to the store at about 1:30am to get what I was missing.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
The store I sent him to didn't have cake flour.
Sometimes you're the egg.
He also washed my pans and bowls for me. . .over and over and over and over.
Sometimes you're the bowl.
It's 3am, and I will be up for at least another 30 minutes. Then I'll snatch 4 (I hope that many) hours of sleep and continue. Weddings don't wait for cakes. Some days, no matter how many times you're the bowl, you still feel like the egg.
But tomorrow, when I watch our friends join their lives together and then see their friends enjoying this truly fabulous, moist, chocolate goodness. . .I will be the bowl.
4/03/2007
Sleeplessly Waiting
It's one in the morning. . .Tuesday morning, that is, not Saturday, as you might think. I do have to work tomorrow. . .today. I should be in bed, sleeping soundly. But, being the incredibly intelligent person that I'm often not, I drank a medium-sized vanilla latte at nine o'clock. That means it had at least 2 shots of espresso in it, possibly 3. So now I can't sleep. . .go figure. And I'm starting to shake. It's all part of the coffee cycle. You'd think I'd know better, but I was swept off my feet by the charming company I had. And it wasn't even Kevin.
Before you get worried, rest assured that I was out with my brother. He invited me to dinner tonight (well. . .us, but if you know us, you know what Kevin spends all his time doing these days. . .one week to go until the big defense!), and then we went for coffee. I had a great time. If only I could now go to sleep. . .
In lieu of rest, I'll share my thoughts.
The people at Wittingshire posted a mini series recently on the theme of waiting. The phrase that keeps running through my mind is waiting in confidence. I'm doing a lot of waiting right now. The future is. . .unknown, to say the least. I don't know where we'll be 3 months from now, and those 3 months seems both very short and very long at the same time. It's exciting, and unnerving. There are other things I don't know. There are things everyone has to wait for, to wait to find out even: where we'll live, who we'll be close to, what we'll do every day, if we'll have children, how many children we'll have, how our friends and family will fare in their life choices, and more. We don't even know that we will be here tomorrow to wait for the things we're waiting for, really. For some of those things, we are waiting and wishing--fervently, sometimes desperately--for a certain result. We want things to happen a certain way. And the uncertainty of waiting becomes that much more unnerving.
That's where waiting in confidence comes in. It is waiting patiently in the secure knowledge that God gives good gifts to His children. It does not mean I know what those gifts will be. I do not know if He will give me what I wish for. I do not even know that I will always recognize His gifts as good when they come. But I know He has promised to give good. And I can rest in that. I can rest (at least when I haven't had too many shots of espresso. . .currently rest is a foreign word altogether) in the confidence that what God has planned for me is good in His eyes. I still wish. I still pray and ask for the things I wish for. But my confidence is not in the hope for those things. It is in the surety of God's good and perfect will for me, even when I do not know it.
There is peace there, and I welcome it in this time of waiting.
Before you get worried, rest assured that I was out with my brother. He invited me to dinner tonight (well. . .us, but if you know us, you know what Kevin spends all his time doing these days. . .one week to go until the big defense!), and then we went for coffee. I had a great time. If only I could now go to sleep. . .
In lieu of rest, I'll share my thoughts.
The people at Wittingshire posted a mini series recently on the theme of waiting. The phrase that keeps running through my mind is waiting in confidence. I'm doing a lot of waiting right now. The future is. . .unknown, to say the least. I don't know where we'll be 3 months from now, and those 3 months seems both very short and very long at the same time. It's exciting, and unnerving. There are other things I don't know. There are things everyone has to wait for, to wait to find out even: where we'll live, who we'll be close to, what we'll do every day, if we'll have children, how many children we'll have, how our friends and family will fare in their life choices, and more. We don't even know that we will be here tomorrow to wait for the things we're waiting for, really. For some of those things, we are waiting and wishing--fervently, sometimes desperately--for a certain result. We want things to happen a certain way. And the uncertainty of waiting becomes that much more unnerving.
That's where waiting in confidence comes in. It is waiting patiently in the secure knowledge that God gives good gifts to His children. It does not mean I know what those gifts will be. I do not know if He will give me what I wish for. I do not even know that I will always recognize His gifts as good when they come. But I know He has promised to give good. And I can rest in that. I can rest (at least when I haven't had too many shots of espresso. . .currently rest is a foreign word altogether) in the confidence that what God has planned for me is good in His eyes. I still wish. I still pray and ask for the things I wish for. But my confidence is not in the hope for those things. It is in the surety of God's good and perfect will for me, even when I do not know it.
There is peace there, and I welcome it in this time of waiting.
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