Thankful for good food and great friends and family

Last week was Thanksgiving. This year, I decided to make a number of homemade items, including rolls and pie crust. Based on that experience, I think I have learned my lesson for next year--buy pie crusts! The crust didn't take long, but I certainly made a mess in the process:

And after all the work and mess, these two little discs of dough are all I had to show for my efforts:

Then it was time to tackle the rolls. Luckily, Shawn was home to help. We made the dough and let it sit to rise:

After that, we had to punch it down, break it into pieces, and roll them into, well, rolls. They had to then sit in the fridge over night before sitting out for an hour and then finally baking (for about 15 minutes).

On Thanksgiving, we actually had a pretty good set-up, as the pies had been done the night before, the rolls were already rising, the turkey sitting in its brine, and delicious homemade cranberry sauce sent by some wonderful friends back home. Shawn and I spent the afternoon with a good friend of ours, eating appetizers and watching football. It was our third year celebrating Thanksgiving with her, and it was wonderful.

We then finished making a few dishes, such as whiskey glazed sweet potatoes, and we were all set for dinner.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Looking inside the box

Ever wonder how that little box of a TV makes all those magical images appear? Well, I can't really tell you. But here is a look at some of the mechanisms that make ours function (or as of right now, don't).

Unfortunately, ours stopped working two days ago. I wish I could tell you that this little experiment made me realize how unnecessary television is, how it has helped Shawn and I have deeper and more meaningful conversations, and how I now am more productive and efficient. Instead, I am just hoping that the DVR is still recording!

But really, the TV went down randomly during a show Tuesday night. I called a repair company, and they think they might have the part and be able to fix it for a not completely outrageous price. Now, however, Shawn thinks he can fix it. Tuesday night, I was encouraging this. Now, I am less sure...

He is good with cars though. I'll let you know if we head to Best Buy in the next few days and get a new one.

Baking to procrastinate

This year brings with it a lot of tasks...dissertation research, paper writing, job hunting, job applications, and then even more tasks with various projects I am involved in for school and work.

Sometimes, instead of thinking about the constant to-do list I have, I find distractions. This weekend's distraction: Baking.

I decided to put up some Halloween decorations and get in the spirit of the holiday by making some cupcakes. I didn't get very fancy this year with my decorations or with my cupcakes, but here are some pics from both. Overall, it kept me occupied for a bit and made our house a little more festive. It also gave us a tasty treat that lasted a few days anyway.

Lobster day!

While on our last day in Maine, we decided it was time to experiment with some lobster (who goes to Maine and doesn't have lobster!). We started the day with a traditional breakfast of french toast, eggs and bacon, but Hollie cut the french toast in lobster shapes. Unfortunately, they didn't hold up all that well (and I didn't get any pictures).

We then kept busy with some shopping, buying various items for Hollie's apartment.

Like the new piece for the kitchen? It only took us an hour or so to assemble (and all we had to do was attach the legs).

While out, we got some lobster, which we then used to make a delicious lobster macaroni and cheese. It was a Food Network magazine recipe, and it was wonderful. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that hard to make either, so who knows, if I end up with some great lobster again, maybe I will give it another try.

Also during the day, we decided to make lobster cookies--lobster sugar cookies that is. Don't be alarmed--they don't actually contain lobster, but they look like little lobsters!

Overall, it was a great final day of the trip. We spent the evening eating our delicious dinner and tasty cookies while playing a game of dominoes and listening to music.

Traveling through Maine

After I returned from our whirlwind trip to Washington, I had two days to get to work before I was heading out again. This time, I was heading to Bangor, Maine, to see two of my good friends and have a girls' weekend. Luckily, Shawn got to stay home on this one.

One of the days, we drove out to the coast. We went to Acadia National Park, where the trees were beautiful shades of red, gold and green. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which has spectacular views, but all we could see was fog. However, that did not stop us from enjoying some beautiful Maine scenery.

Next stop was the coastal town of Bar Harbor, where we went to get some delicious ice cream at Mount Desert, which is known for it's...interesting...flavors. Some of the samples had by our group: Cardamon Raspberry Strudel and Boiled Coffee Oreo. I ended up playing it safe (and delicious) with Maine Sea Salt Caramel and Nutella in a waffle cone. We then walked down to the water and along a small path that has been around for more than 100 years.

After that, it was time for some shopping. We went through a number of cute coastal shops, where I came across some dog bone and lobster shaped cookie cutters, which we used the next day. More on that later...  

Touring the Red Hook brewery

After the Cougar game, Shawn and I were fortunate enough to visit two of our good friends in Seattle. Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures, but we got to see their great new house, eat some good food, and catch up--it was wonderful.

The next day, it was time to meet up with my parents and do some more exploring. We went to the Red Hook brewery for a tour and tasting session. In all honesty, I am not a big beer fan, but I thought that hearing about the process and trying a few would still make for a fun afternoon. Luckily, I was right!

We had a great time. The tour guide was hilarious! Overall, we didn't have to "tour" very much, as most of the time was spent with him talking and pouring us different types of beer to taste, but we learned a little bit about the process and got to try some new things. It was a blast!

Now I just have to find Shawn some of the Red Hook Copper Hook he enjoyed so much--we only seem to have the IPA in North Carolina.

Go Cougs!

We may have left Washington, but we will always be Cougs at heart!

Shawn and I were fortunate enough to get to attend a Cougar football game with my parents and my brother when we were back in Washington. We drove up to attend the Coug game against the Oregon Ducks in Seattle.

Although the Cougs had bad odds going in, we were in good spirits. We attended some of the pregame events at the field, and I was able to see a number of people I knew from when I worked at the Alumni Association and with New Student Programs.

 
We then got some Ivar's (chowder and garlic fries) and sat down to watch the game. The first half of the game proved to be really exciting. The Ducks scored right away, but the Cougars chipped away at their lead until they weren't very far behind at the half. The second half of the game was another story though, so I won't write about it here (too painful).

Although the game didn't end well (51 to 26), we had a blast getting to yell "Go" and "Cougs" at the appropriate times and cheer on our team. I also really enjoyed singing that fight song--Fight Fight Fight for Washington State...Go Cougs!

A day at the beach

Shawn and I went back to Washington for a quick trip. I hadn't been home since right after the wedding (and we had our two year anniversary back in July!).

It was great to see my parents, and see how Ocean Shores has changed (or mostly stayed the same...).

One of the days, we went with my parents down to the beach. The beaches have changed a bit over the years, and while we were at the beach this time, we got something we weren't expecting: Great weather! It was a beautiful day, and warm enough to walk around without a jacket. We went to a few different beach spots, drove around looking at beach houses, and got ice cream--Just like tourists!

More on some of our other adventures to come...

Holy Cluck!

I decided early last week I wanted to do something over the weekend that was specific to life in North Carolina. Shawn and I put our heads together and decided: What's more southern than eating chicken and waffles?

I went online and began searching for the best chicken and waffles in our area. My search didn't take long. The first few hits showcased a place in downtown Durham, Dames Chicken and Waffles, and everyone had only good things to say. We knew that was the place, so I spent Thursday and Friday last week looking forward to chicken and waffles on Saturday with great anticipation.

The first big decison we had to make was what meal we wanted to go for. I still am not sure when the appropriate time to eat chicken and waffles is (um...any time?!) but we decided we would go around lunch. Neither of us had eaten breakfast, and we got to the restaurant around 11. It was already packed, so after a 45 minute wait, we were seated (and hungry!).

Waiting, but happy because of the excitement.

First came our sides. Shawn went with the spicy greens, while I settled on the mac and cheese (one of the best I have ever had!).  We also really liked that the tables were covered in paper and they offered crayons. (Can you spot my lovely picture of chicken and waffles?)

Shawn ordered the Quilted Buttercup, which was two petite sweet potato waffles with a chicken cutlet.

I ordered What a Classy Hen, which was the original waffle with a chicken cutlet. The different dishes also come with different shmears, which are flavored whipped butter. Mine came with an almond hazelnut shmear--Shawn's had a blueberry shmear. 

It was AMAZING! The most amazing part, they (the chicken and waffles) taste good separate, they taste good together, they taste good with syrup, they taste good with hot sauce, and they taste good with both. I don't know how it works, but it does. Chicken and waffles is one of my new favorite things!

I had some leftovers that I took home (including my shmear) but they only lasted until the afternoon. Just so you know, they were also tasty then. Dames Chicken and Waffles is one of our new stops when people come to visit (that means you all should be excited and start planning a trip!).

Camping and back to blogging

It's been awhile since the last post (July--yikes!). Here is an attempt to begin blogging, yet again.

This weekend, we went and did some hiking and camping in the North Carolina mountains. We headed out early Saturday morning (Shawn and our neighbor wanted to try for a 6 a.m. departure initially, but I fought back for a 7 a.m. start time--of course, this means we really left around 7:30).

Our first stop (excluding a breakfast stop along the way) was to do some hiking near Boone. We went down the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit and came to a park that had a number of trails. We took one of our neighbor's favorites, the Boone Fork Trail, which is a 5 mile long hike that goes along a creek (and sometimes through the creek), and has areas where you climb over boulders and down ladders.

All in all, it was a fun hike, and Bella thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Then it was off to set up camp. We found a campground outside of Boone that also had trails and included a pond. We didn't explore the site much, but we spent time sitting around a campfire, eating s'mores, and just having a good time (Did I mention the s'mores?!).

Although we had a great time, Bella did not enjoy the camping portion of the evening. She mostly sat in Shawn's or my lap and jumped at every little sound. I don't think she slept at all that evening. One thing that should be noted about North Carolina camping is how loud the bugs are!

The next morning, we made breakfast over the campfire and headed down the mountain to get set for the week. I love camping, but one thing I do not love is the smell of campfire the next day, so we of course had a lot of laundry to do. And Bella had a lot of sleep to catch up on!

Happy birthday to Shawn! (last week)

Shawn's birthday was just last week. We decided to stay home and celebrate. We ordered some delicious pizza from Amante's, and Shawn wanted to spend the evening washing his car. So that is exactly what we did! In addition to pizza, I made Shawn a red velvet cake, but my cake that was most successful was...a beer cake. Shawn seemed to enjoy this one a lot!

Happy birthday to Shawn!

The best place in our house is...my closet?

This past weekend Shawn and I decided to take on a home improvement project. We don't do these very often (think back to how long it took us to paint the office). But this one wasn't too labor intensive. I'd been thinking for awhile now that the wall in our closet could be much more functional if it had some shelves (We already have a number of shelves, but there was one wall with a window in the middle and nothing else).

Shawn was in agreement, so we headed out to Lowe's in search of closet storage. We found a nice set that we thought would work, but after getting it all home, we realized we had forgotten one main piece that helps hold everything in place. After heading back to Lowe's, we had everything we needed to update the closet.

We added an additional shoe cube and one for sweaters, as well as an upper shelf for shoe boxes and less used items. I am absolutely in love with our closet now. Don't get me wrong--there are still a few additions we need to make (another shelf on the other wall, some hooks for necklaces, etc.), but it is pretty close to a dream space for me. I sat on the floor for awhile and just enjoyed the view. :-)

All defended, with wontons to celebrate

Yesterday was my comprehensive exam and dissertation proposal defense. What this means is I spend 2 hours in a room with my amazing committee members (5 experts on adolescence, sexual health, and health communication) and they determine if I am able to move on to the next stage in the PhD process.

A few weeks ago, I took 5 exams, one from each committee member. The exams would come to my email in the morning, and I would have four hours--closed book--to write on the topic and answer the question. The meeting yesterday involved expanding on some of those answers and addressing some additional questions. I then had to present on my proposed research project and discuss. My committee members were great and provided some very useful feedback. After that, I stepped in the hall and they decided whether I "pass." Luckily the verdict came down that I did pass, so I am now officially a PhD candidate, or considered ABD (all but dissertation). It means I am one (actually quite a few) step closer to getting the PhD. One final research project and defense of it and I am done! (That won't happen until the spring, though).

To celebrate, my advisor took me out to lunch. Shawn brought me some flowers, and Shawn and I decided to spend some time cooking. I wanted to celebrate with champagne and a new recipe. We watch The Next Food Network Star, and last week, one of the contestants made wonton nachos I was determined to try. We had a few hiccups along the way (like practically smoking out our house by heating oil in the wrong type of pan) but overall, the wontons came out great. Here is some info on the process (which took 2 hours as opposed to the suggested 30ish minutes).

We had purchased all the ingredients the day before, except the wonton wrappers, which are kind of important. The stores we visit didn't have them. Luckily, while at lunch with my advisor, she mentioned a Chinese specialty store in Chapel Hill and I was able to get wonton wrappers. Shawn and I had considered making them, but after seeing how thin they are, I think that would have taken us an additional two hours.

To make wontons, we first made a filling of pork, onions, garlic and ginger. This then gets spooned into a wrapper. Here Shawn demonstrates the process (his folding skills were much better than mine).

Put filling in center

Fold into triangle, sealing edges with egg wash

Fold top over and bring tails together

This led to a number of wontons (you can see the ones I created on the right--they look a little wonky)

Shawn was a pro by the end

I spent some time overseeing the process

We then cooked them in some oil until blistered

For the nacho part, we added cheese and broiled, but we only did some--there were a lot of wontons.

In addition to the nachos, we made homemade salsa. Below you can see the finished product.

We then had some friends come over to enjoy them as well. We had a great evening, with some very good food.