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...