You have got to be kidding me

Jack Bauer Interrogates Santa

Secret Santa/White Elephant

One of my friends was just asking for ideas for what to bring to a white elephant gift exchange. I'm pretty sure everybody on the internet knows what these are by now but in case you don't read this.

It made me realize it was probably time to start thinking about what I was going to bring to any of the three of these exchanges I will be going to this year. Just yesterday I was shopping at the mall with my husband and brother, and my brother was talking about how he wants to bring the perfect present. He wants it to be something good, but not too good. Something that makes people laugh or have some sort of reaction but not be the obvious gift to get people to steal (like say, alcohol) but also something that will actually get stolen! He was picking up things I thought would be good, a pair of chucks with a receipt so you could exchange for your own size. A mario bros. sweatshirt. Perfect, right? But unfortunately if my 60 year old dad got either one of these presents she wouldn't even know what to do with them, much less my 80 year old grandmother.

It is a very delicate balance, finding the perfect gift if you are looking for something funny. We always have a mix of good and crappy presents, but unfortunately the people who brought something good and get stuck with something crappy feel ripped off twice over.

At my work they decided to solve this by having the swap be called greedy santa so you bring something you would want. That one noone is stuck with something they don't want. Turns out, this does not ease hurt feelings when someone opens those oven mitts you spent the last three months knitting and you loved so much and makes a dirty face and tries to push them off on other people.

And why do we do put ourselves through all of this? So we don't have to put any thought into buying presents for those that we like enough to spend time with but not enough to buy individual presents for.

So since this post has got me no closer to knowing what to bring, any ideas?

Our Weekend

We had a pretty packed weekend this weekend. One of the fun things we did was help out my cousin's wife's dad in the Adolphus Children's Parade in downtown Dallas. He is in the parade balloon business and needed help guiding the ballons. I LOVE parades so I was glad to be able to help. It was pretty tiring, but it was SO much fun!

We were in charge of the jingle bell balloons.

The most entertaining part of the morning was that Darth Vader was in the parade along with all of his storm troopers, Princess Leia, r2d2 (i think), and the rest of the crew. The crowd went wild anytime Darth passed by.

After the parade was over, we helped deflate the balloons and pack them away. This is us trying to get all the air out of Thomas the Train.

I also spend a lot of time doing yard work this weekend. I worked on raking leaves all three days of the weekend. We ended up with seven and a half bags of leaves. The sad part is, only one of our trees even looks remotely empty so I see a lot of raking in our future. After all the leaves were up Travis mowed the yard for the first time! It was actually pretty fun for both of us.

An Adventure - Green Tomato Pie with Whole Wheat Crust

I have been loving the cold weather we have been having here in Dallas lately! Snow in December, who would have guessed. Unfortunately, the freezing cold weather took the life of my poor tomato plants. We had about 20 tomatoes left on the vine so I decided to pick them off and see what I could do with them.

For breakfast on Thanksgiving I made Alton Brown's fried green tomatoes from his book I'm Just Here for the Food. We used corn meal instead of ritz crackers, and they were delicious, but we couldn't exactly cook up 20 tomatoes worth of fried green tomatoes.

I searched the internet for what to do with my batch of green tomatoes and my options seemed to be fried green tomatoes, tomato relish and green tomato pie.

Just like you, I though green tomato pie, BLECH! But this was the only recipe for which I had all of the ingredients on hand, and all of the reviews of the pie were good reviews. I figured it was worth trying, and if nothing else we could make it, taste it, and toss it. No one ever had to know.

As we started, we realized we were out of white flour so we ended up having to use wheat. Again, I figured this was going to be a tosser anyway, so why not go ahead and experiment with whole wheat pie crust.

Well, wouldn't you know this pie pretty much rocks. It tastes like a very tangy apple pie, one of the best apple pies I've had, except for it is green tomatoes. I will admit, there is a little bit of a don't think about what you are eating factor. I didn't take a picture of the pie before we tested it, but I guess that is good because you get to see that the filling looks perfectly normal. I guess if you wanted you could call this a way to sneak in some vegetables.

In case you are curious, here is the recipe I used for the pie (because the reviews said the filling was too runny, I added 1/4c extra flour and this flour was whole wheat as well, and then more cinnamon to compensate):

Green Tomato Pie

and for the crust (I only had 1 3/4 sticks of butter and this was the only recipe I could find that didn't call for 2 sticks of butter. I ended up making 1 1/2 of this recipe so I could have enough for a lattice top. Like I said, I used whole wheat flour instead of white. Also, this recipe needed sugar, so I added sugar on top. You, however, can use whatever crust you like!):

Pie Crust

And while I was writing this blog I found this Paula Deen recipe to try

Green Tomato Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Oh, and while I was searching for that cake recipe again, I found Paula Deen makes a green tomato pie. See, I'm not such a freak after all, in this instance any way.

Paula Deen's Green Tomato Pie

Procrastination

I'm a pro at it!



I don't really have anything interesting to say, but I am in the mood to write and I have a lot to do at work that I am working very successfully to put off. So here are a few things going on in my life right now



-we've been trying to get pregnant for 8 months now with no luck. it is going to sound stupid, but I really had no idea we would have a problem. in fact, i'm pretty sure i was told in the hospital we wouldn't have a problem. i started tracking my temperature so I could better figure out when we were supposed to be trying, and by that I mean having sex in case you aren't up to date with the baby making lingo, and all I have figured out is that I am all messed up. my cycle used to be 28 days to the t. I started on the 3rd Thursday like clockwork. now, not only is my cycle not 28 days, but it isn't anything. every month it is a little longer. since i have been tracking it has been 33, then 35, and this last month 45 days. looking back, i realize that the reason i thought i was pregnant every month that we have been trying (sex) is because each month i was late. that is a lot of wasted pregnancy tests right there. i need to buy some stock in ept.



-along with this same subject i am struggling a little bit to know what i am supposed to do. i don't think i want to go on any sort of hormone to regulate my body, but if i don't it might be impossible to get things back on track. i have always felt very strongly that i was suppose to adopt, but i always thought it would be after we have kids and most likely after our children our grown. now i keep looking into what we would need to do, and it seems like even if we wanted to adopt it would be impossible. it takes so much time and money. we have all the time in the world, but we are about to spend all of our savings on a house. it is going to take forever to build that up again to the point where we can afford to bring a child in our home.



-along that point, why is it so expensive to adopt? i read an article that it takes anywhere from 10-30 thousand dollars to adopt a child. aren't there tons of children who are dying to be in a forever home? according to my economics degree, that means they should be giving them away, but I guess that is not the way it works.



-speaking of the house, we close in a week! we are moving in 8 days. i can hardly believe it. the schedule we have to work with is so tight. we close on a tuesday, are having the house painted on a wednesday, moving on a thursday, have my grandma's 80th birthday on saturday (all day), and have to be out of the apartment on sunday. be prepared to not hear from me at all. if you do, expect a little crazy.



-back to the baby making, why do they make you wait for a year of trying (remember, that is having sex) to see a doctor about problems you are having. don't they know that is 12 months of waiting and wondering.



-related to nothing else here, travis and i have been wanting for a long to time make some couple friends. we have tons of friends individually, and we love hanging out with them, but we don't really have many friends who are in our same position as DINKS. not any that live close any way. well finally, i think they are coming out of the woodwork, that phrase is really gross by the way. i have i hopes for our new sets of friends and they better end up being cool or else i am going to be forced to tp their house.



-speaking of friends and tping houses, we went by to see our house two weekends ago and we saw some people our age-ish moving in down the street!! i have always hoped that we could live on a street that has cool people living on it so we would have someone to sit outside and talk to while we drink margaritas and gossip about the neighbors. these people also better be cool or they are going to experience the wrath. you know what i am talking about (not sex)



there are my random thoughts for the day. maybe i will have more tomorrow, you probably hope not

oh my gee, i just typed up this whole post and then it disappeared. PTL for auto save or else i might have had to tp the computer.

Baking For the Troops

As some of you may have, but probably haven't, noticed, I haven't
blogged in a while.

I started getting behind when I was travelling a ton this summer. I
wouldn't want to blog one thing without blogging about the thing that
happened before. All of a sudden it's October and I haven't told my
loyal blog readers about my trip to Virginia or my very fun family
vacation (the first one we've taken since 99) to Lake Livingston.

Well I've just decided to start over. If I ever get around to sharing
pics about what's been going on, they'll just have to be super late

Anyway, on to the reason for this post. I heard about this Baking for
the Troops group of ladies through an internet forum I frequent. I
thought this would be a great way for me to support our troops, as I
love to bake and I love our troops. I think next time I do it I will
send more goodies, and maybe get more people involved. This was just
so easy to do, I don't see any reason not to get more people baking.

In the boxes are snickerdoodles and chocolate cookies dipped in nuts,
powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar.

The soldier we are sending to this month is Alex and I also made a box
for my brother who is also stationed in Iraq. I didn't think it would
be cool to send a box to a stranger without also sending one to Patrick.

Please keep both of these men and their families in your prayers.

Go to Stephan Pyles, Go there Today

Welcome to my evening as Stephan Pyles. As you can tell from the post title, you need to get there immediately. The service and food were impeccable. We have been to several fine dining establishments before but I do not hesitate to say this was the most consistently best tasting food and wonderful service we've experienced. We decided to opt for the ten course tasting menu, me with wine pairing Travis without. He got the tower of tequila and the mojito instead. I will say while the wine pairing was fantastic, it was not the best ever and it was not always timely. That is a very very very small complaint, considering how incredible the rest of the evening was.

We started with amuse bouche (to get your palate ready for the meal) but I didn't think to take a picture. Trust me, it was fun and tantalizing.

Sorry the pictures are crappy. I was snapping them with my iphone in a hurry in order to not make a scene. Who are we kidding, I was too excited to dive into the food to take a good picture, and you'll see that with some of the courses more than others.

Our first of ten courses. Quatro ceviches. From left to right, salmon with capers, green olives, and jalapenoes (intense, delicious). Scallops with Aji Mirasol and Orange. Kampachi with guanabana and agave nectar (sweet, unlike any other ceviche I've ever had). Striped bass with avocado and tomatillo (this most mild but had a great flavor none the less).

One of the breads we were served through out the night. Balsamic, caramelized onion scone. It was very dense, but very tasty. Such a great flavor.

Charred tomato and eggplant soup with crab crouquetta. Sorry, I took a bite before I took a picture. It was worth it though. Imagine this with a fried crap cake and a dollop of creme fresh. I love the flavor of roasted tomato so this was delicious to me!

Almond gazpacho with lobster, vanilla-roasted fennel and frozen champagne grapes. This was the biggest WOW of the night. It was SO interesting and tasty. It is very difficult how to describe how the flavors worked but man, was it good. The sweet tart of the little frozen champagne grapes with the creaminess of the broth and the buttery-ness of the lobster just worked so well together but was so different than anything I have ever experienced.

Sea scallop with pork belly and passion fruit-serrano chile coulis. This was probably the weakest dish of the night. Not to say it was bad, per se, but it definitely was not as big of a hit as the other meals.

The most surprising course, as suspected. Foie Gras Creme Brulee with Bing Cherry Gastrique and Jalapeno Jam on Date and Nut toast. Wow! This was incredible. From my first and only experience I didn't think that I liked Foie Gras but this dish made me a believer. The servers made a joke about how they ate this particular dish until they thought they were going to die, and I can totally see how that would happen.

Palate cleanser, watermelon three ways. From left to right, key lime, granita, and pickled. That is also the order from best to least best. They first two were very delicious, and the third was best described as interesting.

One of the breads we tasted, potato focaccia. It was melt in your mouth good!



Out first warm entree, beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms (the kind that grow on the side of corn in Mexico, very interesting and VERY yummy), and a Sope with Mole. It was topped with jimica, red pepper, and mozz. from Dallas Mozz. Co.

Our last entree course, mint spiced rubbed lab with potatoes and date-balsamic demi glace YUM!

Happy Birthday to Me! A powdered sugar "Coffee and Doughnuts" (doughnut hole with espresso creme brulee), Chocolate Fondant with Caramel and Kahlua Crema, Banana Caramel Cake with Red Finger Banana and Banana Ice Cream, and my favorite, Powdered Sugar Lemon Fried Pie with Blackberry Ice Cream and Mango Chutney

and after this, they brought us three house made chocolates! I wish they had come in a box so we could have actually taken them home and enjoyed them!

The two of us, so full we're not sure who is going to roll us home

look what my husband got me

A clean kitchen! *swoon*

what my friends need part 1

I am always finding funny stuff for sale on the internet and every once in a while something will pop up that would be the perfect present for a friend, but it is just too expensive as a joke.

I've decided I will start posting the stuff on here so my friends will at least know that I am thinking of them when I see something hilarious.

This one is for Heather.

Name that NFL player

Gerome bettis?

It's George!!!

So sexy!

George Strait #2

Blake Shelton is a total cutie!

George Strait #1

A suprise visit from Lee Ann Womack

Mother's Day

I'm a little late on posting but this mother's day my brother's, their wives, children, myself and tc all chipped in to get my mom a little pampering time. One of my aunts decided to join in for the fun. My brothers wanted prood that I actually took her, so here it is!

First we went to breakfast.

When we got to the spa, the massage was first

doesn't she look relaxed?

then she got a pedicure

then she got her nails done

she also got her haircut, but by then the camera had been put away, it looked very cute though, trust me!

a good time was had by all, if i do say so myself!

What a great way to start a 3 day weekend

Cilantro Stuff

I used to hate cilantro. Bleck! Anything that had too much of it I wouldn't eat.

But for some reason recently I can't get enough of it. It has been adding the most amazing flavor to some recipes you wouldn't expect to see it in. Without further ado, here are two recipes I have tried recently that make use of the cilantro very well.

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

I know, I know hummus and cilantro, who would have thought? But trust me, it's good. Real good. And it is SO pretty! This recipe is from Annie's Eats, my edits are in italics

Ingredients:

1/3-1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves does anyone pic off the leaves? I just cut off the gross part of the stems and threw about half a bunch in

1-2 jalapeno peppers, ribbed and seeded I used 2, and it just has a touch of jalapeno zing

1 clove garlic, peeled

3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice i think lime juice would be really nice as well

1/4 cup water

6 tbsp. tahini

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil i omitted, and used the chickpea juice instead

1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp. salt i added quite a bit more than that

1/4 tsp. cumin omitted, i didn't have any

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions: Combine the cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients have been finely minced. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and water. In another bowl, whisk together the tahini and olive oil. (I obviously left this step out) Set aside. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl and add the chickpeas, salt, cumin and cayenne. Process until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl. With the machine running add the lemon juice-water mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Scrape down the bowl and continue to process for one minute. With the machine running, add the oil-tahini mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube, and continue to process until smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. I just do this until it is the texture that I like
Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until the flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. you don't have to wait, it will be fantastic right out of the food processor, and i mean scrape all of the components clean good.

I've been eating this with carrots, but I think it would be delicious with just about anything you dipped into it, and I think it would be a wonderful sandwich spread.

Southwestern Corn Salad

this is a recipe my sweet husband got off the weight watchers sight. at first glance, it does not seem like there is going to be enough dressing to be able to taste it and i do not like dry salads so i was not optimistic. boy, was i wrong. the lime juice provides a tang throughout the salad and there is a hint of spice that makes this salad quite cravable.

4 cup(s) mixed baby greens
15 1/2 oz canned yellow corn, drained
1/4 oz low-fat hard cheese, diced (i used mozzarella, but this is so little cheese you are better off just leaving it out)
2 medium scallion(s), chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper(s), diced
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar, or fresh lime juice (i used 1T of each)
1/4 tsp table salt
1 1/2 tbsp cilantro, minced
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions
In a large bowl, combine greens, corn, cheese, scallions and pepper.
In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients for dressing. Pour over salad, and toss well before serving.

It says this is 4 servings, 2 pts each but I doubled the lettuce and it was not enough for me for lunch.

go buy some cilantro, make something new, and then invite me over so i can try it!

Mexico Trip: Summary

if you don't want to read the rest of this post, let me summarize the trip with one picture

We started our trip by upgrading to first class, so now nothing else will ever be good enough. Champagne, breakfast and arm room are really the only way to start a vacation. After we were driven the 30 minutes it took us to get to our resort we were welcomed with champagne, and taken to check in and served more champagne.

showin off our first class


After seeing our room, we headed straight to lunch at the grill which is on top of two of the resort's pools. After requesting something special to drink, then declining a second, the waiter asked me, "why not, do you have somewhere to drive?" which would be the first of many times we would be asked this question, along with, "why not, are you worried about the cost?" and "why not, do you have somewhere to be?"

our first lunch complete with first two fruity drinks

We spent our first, and eventually every, afternoon in the pool with the swim up bar. Each time we would try new drinks and find new people to chat it up with. Some of our favorites were the mojito made with cuban rum, of which a purchased a bottle because they were so delicioso, a miami vice: strawberry daiquiri on the bottom and pina colada on the top, and tc's favorite was the drunken banana something or other which tasted a lot like banana's foster.

our favorite place to spend the afternoons

Our first evening we had dinner in an Asian themed restaurant and I was very impressed but tc did not prefer it. After dinner we went down to see the band that played outside and ran into some of the people we had spent time with at the pool. That night was karaoke and dancing. Unfortunately, there was a photographer there and he caught pictures of both which he later showed us, not a memory any one needed.

Our second day we spent the morning at the beach reading, and the afternoon at the swim up bar. We had dinner in the French themed restaurant which was incredible. That evening's entertainment was a circus show, which was corny but entertaining.

somehow reading here in the mornings never seemed to get old

one of the performers at the circus show

Our third day was spent exactly like the second, except this one involved sunburn. We stayed at the swim up bar until it was closed plus some. We went to the Italian themed restaurant but neither of us really liked our food at all so we went back up to the room and tc went straight to bed while I watched tv.

another beautiful morning at the beach

another fun afternoon at the pool

Our fourth day I was recovering from the sunburn so we took everything very slow and spent all of our time in the shaded part of the beach. It was a beautiful day to be sitting in the shade reading so it worked out very well. That night we ate dinner at the steak and lobster restaurant, and ended up being joined by a couple we had met at the pool. They were hilarious and so we were very glad we ended up running in to them. They dude had tc's same first and middle name and the exact same sense of humor as my funniest friend so naturally we got along famously. The restaurant quite literally only served steak and lobster so it was of course delicious. After dinner the four of us went to watch the band, then to dancing. It was quite a fun (and hilarious) evening.

our shaded haven

dinner with friends

Our final day we spent mostly being sad. Okay, really I spent most of the day being sad. It is so hard to know you are going to be leaving paradise. We had breakfast, packed our bags, read, and then waiting for our ride to show up. On the way out the door I had one mas cosmopolitan for good measure.

All in all it was an incredible trip. The weather could not have been any better, the service was wonderful, the beaches, pools, restaurants, bars and entertainment were all magnificent. I personally feel so spoiled that we are able to go to someplace that was so amazing.

just a little warning fail from the tabacco industry. we thought this was SO funny

Mexico day 3

Me: thank the Lord for aloe
Tc: so drunk he's praying

Mexico Day 2

Even better than it was yesterday, if that's even possible

Mexico - On our way!

The 80s are back

niece/nephew quotes

I don't have any adorable children to tell you the cute things they do, so today I'll be sharing some recent quotes from my niece and nephews. They are currently at Disney World and my brother has been filling us in about their trip. This may be one of those things that is only funny if you know them, but every time I think about it it brings a smile so I figured I'd share

B (9) on his first day there - "I am so excited my stomach doesn't know if it's full or if it's hungry."

P (4) on riding his first roller coaster (and his 2nd and his 3rd well you get the idea) at the top of his lungs - "THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!"

H (6) has a loose tooth - "Dad do you think Tinker Bell is the tooth fairy at Disney?"

B on riding some of the more intense roller coasters. "Dad, that was a fun and scary ride. I'd say its a fairy ride."

H, wearing a pink outfit, was talking to the pink garden fairy. The pink fairy went on and on about how pink was her favorite color. About how she loved it sooo much. The pink fairy then asked H if pink was her favorite color to. H matter of factly responded, "No." When my brother asked her about the whole exchange later H said, "Well, its not."

After riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, H stated, again rather matter of factly, "Mom, I want to be a pirate. (then singing) Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirates life for me."

And on a non Disney World note, getting ready for the trip they took the kids to the library. My nephew has been reading some fiction books but wanted to read something on history. He found a particular book that looked interesting and opened it up to see the Gettysburg Address. He told my sister in law, "Mom, look, the Gettysburg address, now that's what I'm talkin about."

He is doomed I tell ya, doomed!

weekend wrap up

I forgot to do this last weeekend, but it was so full of Easter activity it would have been boring anyway!


Worst part of the weekend: being sore on Sunday. I don't need any reminders of how out of shape I am

Best part of the weekend: Dinner and Jazz with friends at Buttons in Fort Worth

Most random part of the weekend: i got REALLY REALLY angry randomly this weekend. tc and i went to look at an open house that was in the neighborhood that we would like to buy and ended up finding several more. the anger came in when i FINALLY found a house that looked very reasonable, it had EVERYTHING i wanted in a house: layout, set up, everything. it ended up being 3-4x what we can afford. for some really that just pissed me off to no end. it was the PERFECT house! (not even perfect in the in my dreams kind of way but perfect in the very reasonable kind of way)

People I saw this weekend: megan, tc (of course), marcy, jaime, mom, dad, baby brother, aunt keri, and uncle mike

Something I wished I did this weekend that I didn't get around to doing: meal planning and grocery shopping, it kind of got away from me this weekend. luckily i have girls nights planned three nights this week!

Things that I am looking forward to this week: 3 girls nights!

Things that I am not looking forward to this week: i am super busy at work and i am not looking forward to the stress

new font color

this post means nothing to all of you google readerers out there, but i just realized i can change the color of the font in my blog. i got the layout from thecutestblogontheblock.com and i thought i was just stuck with the font color, that you could barely read if you were viewing my actual blog. i went through to find a new layout to fix the problem but couldn't find anything i like. then it dawned on me, i should check and see if i can change the color. wah la! no more squinty eyes trying to catch up on my latest ramblings.

weekend wrap up monday

worst part of the weekend? driving until 2am friday night

best part of the weekend? laying in the sun on the deck with the breeze blowing

most random part of the weekend? driving in circles trying to figure out what we wanted for dinner last night

people i saw this weekend? had a girls night with people from my company that i don't see much, grandma in law and grandpa in law. we went to church and had lunch with then on our way back to the city. mom, dad, and sister in law who is leaving for the phillipines on wednesday

something i wished i did this weekend that i didn't get around to? grocery shopping, spending even more time outsite

things that i am looking forward to this week? 4 day work week!!

things that i am not looking forward to this week? i am looking forward to see my other set of grandparent in laws but not looking forward to more driving

Things That I Want

a trip to somewhere beachy

this ring from shiningstone's etsy shop, it probably wouldn't look good on me but i'd like to find out

this customizable dress from eshakti.com

new pillows and bedding from private quarters blissbed.com

this chair from pier 1, even though it wouldn't fit in our tiny apt living room

a new couch, i'd take this one from pottery barn

some new art for my house, i think this set from pier 1 would look good in my living room

maybe three of these would look good in my bedroom? i LOVE what is there currently but it doesn't really go

I think if I had an empty wall, these would look cool in my kitchen