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Pardon the "oops" as we reconstruct

One of my favorite places...

is Oregon. There are so many things to love about Oregon. The food, the wine, the beer, the mountains, the ocean, the people, the music, and on and on and on. I recently went to Bend, OR for work. I got there a day early and did a hike at Smith Rock State Park. It was only about 30 minutes from the airport and had some incredible views.

Back to reality at home, though and it's snow, snow, snow! There have been some HUGE icicles and lots of inches of snow.

We went and cut down our own Christmas tree this year...soo much fun! We made a day out of it and finally found our perfect tree just as it was getting dark. We had to cut some of the bottom off to get it in the front door, so I made a wreath with the leftovers. Isn't that what Christmas is all about.....leftovers?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

We are headed back to the Carolinas tomorrow.....yee haw!!

"To the sweet, sunny South, take me home"

B

Bloga what?

Oh, hiiii! It's been a while, I know. Again, life got in the way. This little thing called a j-o-b, the holidays, and exams are a few of my excuses.

No need to talk about the job, as it is well, just that a job and it pays the bills, has great perks, and I'm very thankful for it.

Is it really December? I feel like everyone is saying that, but seriously wow time flew by. Let me back up to Thanksgiving because I think a lot of you will be shocked by our Thanksgiving this year. Wes and I were fortunate enough to enjoy Thanksgiving with both of our parents and one sibling (Missed you so much Brit and J). Mom and Dad hosted us, my brother in law (really, he can be referred to as my brother because I love him dearly), and my mother and father in law (same as above goes here). Wes and I came up with this idea because we wanted to be with everyone and didn't want to have to pick one family over the other. We sprang it on Mom and Dad and their two month old house. We had no idea how unusual it was to have both families together for a holiday until we told people and got their reactions. Maybe our family is different and we didn't see an issue until "outsiders" made us concerned. No concern was necessary as it was a perfect Thanksgiving with the exception of W having to study to gear up for exams. I hope this wasn't the one and only time we celebrate a holiday like this. Thanks Mom and Dad for opening your brand new home to everyone, allowing us to catch your deck on fire (true story), and giving us all the opportunity to gain 5+ lbs with the abundance of delicious food. (Sorry no pics)

Exams started right after Thanksgiving and they end in just a few days. Hallelujah! I can't believe we almost have one semester under our belt. Yes, this is a we thing because I watch W study :) That is creepy. I really don't stare at him. Anywho, holy dedication and determination from this boy. Go boy!

Since I can't go a post without mentioning food/cooking, I must say I've been cooking up a storm lately. It is my outlet. My outlet for organizing, planning, thinking, and trying to please others as I love to see W's reaction to the meal. Since the end of October, we've had at least one soup a week and I don't think we've had any repeats. Here are some of our favorites:

White Turkey Chili (used leftover Tgiving turkey and a can of rotel in place of the jalapeño and red pepper)
Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew
Baked Potato Soup
Two Bean Soup and Kale
Butternut Squash Minestrone (I can't find the recipe for this best W really liked it)
Chili - We've struggled here. I've tried vegetarian and beef chili and can't find the perfect one. Send your favorites my way, please.

Along with soups, my goal was to try one new recipe a week. Many of the soups took care of this goal but I continued to aim to try new recipes. Here are some of our recent non-soup favorites:

Cornbread (add 1/2C to 1C of corn kernels to the batter and we say it's the best semi-healthy cornbread recipe)
Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta (per W it got a 5. this makes sense to you if you remember me talking here about our ranking)
Fajitas (per W "these might be the best fajitas I've ever had." Hooray! We cooked them on the grill, used chicken and cheated with a box of fajita rice)
Chicken and Rice Casserole (used leftover Tday turkey. This was a favorite of mine. It was comfort food)
Italian Drip Beef (I hate the name, but holy deliciousness.Make sure you top with cheese (havarti or provolone) and place it under the broiler. You're welcome. We've tried both recipes in that link and the Italian Drip is the way to go.)
Athenian Pasta Primavera (Would be a great Spring or Summer meal.)

Here's a final one for you that is great when sweet potatoes are on sale for $0.28 like they were the other week. No need to buy pumpkin pie spice, just use nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon or google a substitute.
Sweet Potato Pecan Bars (click on the link and scroll down)

I feel the need to explain that I am not saying my cooking is spectacular, wonderful, unbelievable, yum, etc by my comments above. It is the recipes that are delicious and yummy. I simply follow a recipe.

A few things to note about some of the recipes and ingredients above:

• If a recipe calls for beans, we use dried beans that I've soaked, cooked, and froze. I try to avoid the canned beans now because of all the sodium and other unnecessary ingredients. If you plan in advance, it is just as convenient as canned beans.
• Butternut Squash...what a pain. Cooking and peeling it is annoying and I didn't find much enjoyment in it. Neither recipe above used an entire one so I froze the remaining amount of squash and used it for the second one. Worked just as well.
• Wherever a recipe calls for all purpose flour, I use whole wheat and you can't tell a difference so why not.
• Along the lines of the flour, we use brown rice, not white.

If you're still with me, stay warm and enjoy the excitement of the holidays!
A

Catching Up

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted anything. I've been traveling for the new j-o-b while trying to stay on top of emails, emails, emails.

Here's what's been going on...

I've been seeing more and more white falling from the sky. The dogs are loving it!

Even with the temps dropping and some white on the ground, radishes were hanging on strong.

I've finally finished my office. After finishing my desk, James put together a quick DIY shelf. We found a plank of wood on our property, and I found these two brackets for $20 at an antique store. And there you have a shelf for scarves and bags. We found the big cedar chest in North Carolina at an antique store. It's great for sweaters and other bulky items that take up space in drawers.

One other DIY project that James and I did together is a coat rack. We needed a place for hats, rain gear and heavy coats. I found this old piece of fence on our property and we cut it down smaller with a skill saw. (My first time using a skill saw! It kind of makes you feel like a bad ass.) Then, we screwed on some rustic curtain rod brackets that I found for a $1 each. I love this $4 project.

We're off to Flagstaff to visit friends for Thanksgiving!! One of the many benefits of living out west...we get to see great friends that were once too far away.

Have a great week!

B

Check it out

It's funny to look back to a few years ago when "blog" was a somewhat foreign word to me and now it is a part of my everyday vocab. I love them. I love reading them; reading about people and things from all over the country from everything from recipes, to decorating, to budgeting, to family life, etc. Some of the writers I know, but most I don't. 

Blogs are a part of my everyday life. I get giddy when I stumble across a new one and it captures my attention for minutes or hours. This morning, I stumbled across one that I immediately had to send out to some friends and I wanted to send it to everyone I knew so I thought I would share it here before I got too email happy.

All Things Farmer

Check it out. You have to. If nothing else, just scroll through the pictures. There is something effortless and cozy about the posts and pictures to me, yet creative and elegant. 

I've already grabbed a few recipes to try, such as this Raspberry Black Bean Dip. I've never heard of such a thing.

I hope you check it out and find it inspiring.

A

Wait, don't throw away that

PUMPKIN! 


Remember this guy? Well his parts have a new home. I have been debating about using his insides in numerous ways and after work today I just went for it. I've been so busy with him that I didn't even stop to get my camera and take pictures.

After I took his top off (get your mind out of the gutter), I gutted him and dropped his goop and seeds in a bowl full of water. While the seeds were soaking, I cut the entire pumpkin into sections and put them inside side down in a glass baking dish. I had to use four. Oh and the oven was preheating to 450. No oil, no seasonings, no water, it just went straight in the oven for 1 hour. Once it was done cooking, I laid the pieces on cooling racks inside side up to cool. I let them cool for oh a good hour I would say, and I just finished scooping out the flesh and putting it all in a bowl. Tonight or tomorrow I plan to puree it and freeze it. This will be my alternative to canned pumpkin. I already know I will be making multiple Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Breads with it and who knows what else.

I baked the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread this weekend (with canned pumpkin) and it was a big hit with Wes. Here's the recipe and I remembered to take a picture! I can't remember the source and I changed it a little so it is now mine. :)

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin (canned or fresh)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 c whole wheat flour (or all purpose)

1c all purpose flour 

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 heaping cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first five ingredients and mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix together and pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Keep an eye on the bread and if the edges are browning too much, cover the bread loosely with foil until done baking. 

*If you can, wait for it to cool before tasting. It is so much better at room temperature than warm.

As for the seeds, they just finished roasting. While the seeds and goop were sitting in the bowl of water, I swished everything around to remove the goop. The seeds then went onto a baking sheet and were blotted to remove as much water as possible.  After drizzling a little bit of olive oil and sprinkling with cinnamon, I tossed them to evenly coat and into the oven they went. After 10 minutes, they were stirred and then finished after another 15 minutes. 

Yum!

A

A little bit of this and that

This post could probably be 25 (exaggeration) posts on its own. However, we traveled again this weekend and then I was on the road again yesterday for work. I'm exhausted and my house and life need my attention right now so this will just be a quick recap of things I've been wanting to post about.

• Arts and Crafts: My springy green hydrangeas on the dining room table weren't going to cut it for fall/winter. While at the beach mom and I decided to start an arts and crafts project I saw on YHL a while back. Ever since I saw this YHL post, I had my mind on some of those goodies for the new centerpiece. Mom and I grabbed some (faux) winter squash at WalMart for $1 each and a can of glossy white spray paint. In no time I had an inexpensive "ceramic" fall centerpiece. Ta da

Pretty sweet $6 centerpiece.

(Hickory nuts courtesy of mom and dad's front yard. Plate I had.)

• Recipe: I never made quiche before but have enjoyed eating it lately. I had eggs on hand that I needed to use and found this recipe (scroll down) to try. Holy yum! I did not use the cayenne pepper. The quiche was delicious but not very filling. You need to fill half your plate with sides. However it received a "4" and I will be making it again. 

• Current Obsession: While we're on the subject of food, shocker I know, I have to mention my current obsession. (Remember this summer it was feta and cucumber?) Right now, sweet potatoes and apples. Cube a sweet potato and apple. Place cubes on a roasting pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with some paprika and roast at 450 for 20-30 minutes. Oh man, it is so good. It is like eating candy.

• Tigers: Victory! This past weekend we had our first and only trip to see the Tigers play this year. I think we picked a good game to see.  I had several pounds of peanuts (don't ask) and I decided to try boiled peanuts for the first time to bring to the tailgate. Easiest thing ever! Cover peanuts in water and dump 1 -2 cups of salt in the pot. Boil for 4 hours. Yum. Oh and you need to use "green" peanuts. Little did I know, the peanuts are not actually green, but green refers to freshly picked. You can laugh at me. 

I am so excited about being home for the next week or so and hope to blog a little more often during that time. 

A