I have never before been entranced by the winter olympics like I have been this year. I'm
P.S. - Did you catch the USA Hockey win over CANADA?!
family
Sunday, February 21, 2010
2010 Winter Olympics
I LOVE THE WINTER OLYMPICS!!!!
I have never before been entranced by the winter olympics like I have been this year. I'maddicted obsessed with the winter olympics. I don't know what's difference about these Olympics. I used to think the events were boring and would only catch the figure skating, speed skating, and some snowboarding events. This year the only station I've watched over the past week is NBC, that could be due to the fact that we don't have cable and there haven't been too many new shows on this past week. I know there are skeptics out there who were like me and thought the winter olympics didn't have anything to offer them. My challenge to you is to give it a chance over the next week. I'm really glad I did.
P.S. - Did you catch the USA Hockey win over CANADA?!
I have never before been entranced by the winter olympics like I have been this year. I'm
P.S. - Did you catch the USA Hockey win over CANADA?!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Scarves for Azerbaijan
My church is collecting scarves for Azerbaijan, knitted or crocheted. I finished one scarf last week on my winter break and I'm working on my second one. I hope to finish three or four by the time their due. I still have a few weeks to finish, but my next three weekends are already booked. Here's a shot of my scarves.
I'm hoping to learn how to crochet this year.
I'm hoping to learn how to crochet this year.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Snowmageddon
Last December when the monumental snow fell in DC, David and I were in Missouri. We were disappointed because we missed a snow day, but were happy to have missed the snow. Little did we know we should get our own snow storm on Christmas day. That was enough snow for me for the season.
Fast forward one month. It's Saturday morning and David and I head out for Einstein's Bro's bagels. It's already snowed approximately one inch. We think no big deal. It took us about an hour to get home with another 2-3 inches on the road.
We ended the weekend with 4-6 inches of snow. It was annoying more than anything. Two days later we get another 1-2 inches of snow. At this time, the weathermen are predicting an enormous storm for the weekend. Part of me doesn't believe it. How can we get hit with two record breaking snowstorms in one season? People around here are freaking out, grocery store lines are 30-40 minutes long. David and I had planned to host a superbowl party. We'd had already bought some stuff the past weekend, and we planned to hit up Sam's Club for the rest of the items over the weekend. David went ahead and bought our meat at the grocery not wanting to take a chance that we wouldn't make it to Sam's.
It's Friday morning and the metro is empty. Forecasters predict the snow to begin between 10 a.m and Noon. Around noon the snow begins to fall, but it doesn't stick. I'm beginning to think that all the hype was for nothing. My coworker volunteers to drive me home around 4 pm. Once we get out of the District we see that the roads are icy and treacherous. On the way home we stop to pick up pizza at the Italian Store. It was my first experience with the Italian Store and it was delicious. By now the snow is starting to come down heavily. I make it home indulge on my pizza and One Tree Hill. The evening is perfect. Around 6 pm I decide to take a stroll over to the mall to finish picking up goodies for my sister's bachelorette party in a few weeks. Little did we know that most stores have already closed for the evening. There was only a handful of stores open and the mall was closing at 7. Some stores didn't open up again until yesterday. David and I finish watching One Tree Hill and do some cleaning. We decide to make our way out into the snow to clean off our car. We already have around 8 inches of snow and it's still coming down. David had parked our car under an evergreen tree earlier that afternoon, but thankfully moved our car, because the branch snapped. That was the first of many trees that fell over the weekend.
We wake up Saturday morning to no power. Not really a big deal. We have plenty of light thank to our bay windows and we live on the 11th floor of a brick building. We rarely turn our heat on in the winter. Because we don't want to open the refrigerator we decide to head to McDonalds for breakfast. Yes, there are some places open during this epic snowstorm. We live near an underground metro station that is running. It takes us over an hour to go one stop. When we finally make it to McDonalds we almost miss breakfast. We decide to walk home. It's only about 1/2 - 1 mile from us and was so much faster than waiting on the metro. The only bad thing was the wind blowing the snow in our faces. When we make it home, we still have no power. We read for a bit, I scrapbook, and we take a nap. Still no power. Finally we decide to trek out again and enjoy the snow. We dig out our car again, another 12 or so inches. We went to the beach this summer and still have the toys in our car. We decided to build a snow fort. Snow works much better than sand. After we clear out the car and finish our fort we decide to find a spot for sledding. Climbing up hills for sledding was much easier as a child. After sledding we head back inside and spot a lady shoveling out her car. She was parked right next to us so DAvid helped her and we were able to dig out our car as There are still people in the area without power.
Saturday night the power comes back on. We come home and clean out our refrigerator. Most of our stuff was ok. We'd bought bags of ice and transfered our perishables to a cooler. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and cooking for our party. We had three couples come over to help us celebrate the New Orleans Saints win! Go Chase Daniel. What made the evening better was the announcement that the gov't was closed on Monday. For me that meant working from home checking voicemails and e-mails.
It's now Tuesday and I'm still at home. I'm not complaining, but I'm sick of the snow and the second snow storm begins today. We'll see what this storm brings and if I make it in to work at all this week.
Fast forward one month. It's Saturday morning and David and I head out for Einstein's Bro's bagels. It's already snowed approximately one inch. We think no big deal. It took us about an hour to get home with another 2-3 inches on the road.
We ended the weekend with 4-6 inches of snow. It was annoying more than anything. Two days later we get another 1-2 inches of snow. At this time, the weathermen are predicting an enormous storm for the weekend. Part of me doesn't believe it. How can we get hit with two record breaking snowstorms in one season? People around here are freaking out, grocery store lines are 30-40 minutes long. David and I had planned to host a superbowl party. We'd had already bought some stuff the past weekend, and we planned to hit up Sam's Club for the rest of the items over the weekend. David went ahead and bought our meat at the grocery not wanting to take a chance that we wouldn't make it to Sam's.
It's Friday morning and the metro is empty. Forecasters predict the snow to begin between 10 a.m and Noon. Around noon the snow begins to fall, but it doesn't stick. I'm beginning to think that all the hype was for nothing. My coworker volunteers to drive me home around 4 pm. Once we get out of the District we see that the roads are icy and treacherous. On the way home we stop to pick up pizza at the Italian Store. It was my first experience with the Italian Store and it was delicious. By now the snow is starting to come down heavily. I make it home indulge on my pizza and One Tree Hill. The evening is perfect. Around 6 pm I decide to take a stroll over to the mall to finish picking up goodies for my sister's bachelorette party in a few weeks. Little did we know that most stores have already closed for the evening. There was only a handful of stores open and the mall was closing at 7. Some stores didn't open up again until yesterday. David and I finish watching One Tree Hill and do some cleaning. We decide to make our way out into the snow to clean off our car. We already have around 8 inches of snow and it's still coming down. David had parked our car under an evergreen tree earlier that afternoon, but thankfully moved our car, because the branch snapped. That was the first of many trees that fell over the weekend.
We wake up Saturday morning to no power. Not really a big deal. We have plenty of light thank to our bay windows and we live on the 11th floor of a brick building. We rarely turn our heat on in the winter. Because we don't want to open the refrigerator we decide to head to McDonalds for breakfast. Yes, there are some places open during this epic snowstorm. We live near an underground metro station that is running. It takes us over an hour to go one stop. When we finally make it to McDonalds we almost miss breakfast. We decide to walk home. It's only about 1/2 - 1 mile from us and was so much faster than waiting on the metro. The only bad thing was the wind blowing the snow in our faces. When we make it home, we still have no power. We read for a bit, I scrapbook, and we take a nap. Still no power. Finally we decide to trek out again and enjoy the snow. We dig out our car again, another 12 or so inches. We went to the beach this summer and still have the toys in our car. We decided to build a snow fort. Snow works much better than sand. After we clear out the car and finish our fort we decide to find a spot for sledding. Climbing up hills for sledding was much easier as a child. After sledding we head back inside and spot a lady shoveling out her car. She was parked right next to us so DAvid helped her and we were able to dig out our car as There are still people in the area without power.
Saturday night the power comes back on. We come home and clean out our refrigerator. Most of our stuff was ok. We'd bought bags of ice and transfered our perishables to a cooler. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and cooking for our party. We had three couples come over to help us celebrate the New Orleans Saints win! Go Chase Daniel. What made the evening better was the announcement that the gov't was closed on Monday. For me that meant working from home checking voicemails and e-mails.
It's now Tuesday and I'm still at home. I'm not complaining, but I'm sick of the snow and the second snow storm begins today. We'll see what this storm brings and if I make it in to work at all this week.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Yummy Recipes - Superbowl yummy!
Over the last few months, I've dabbled in the world of cooking. A few of the recipes I've tried and recommend are below. Pictures to come.
Hot Broccoli Dip
What You Need
1 round sourdough bread loaf (1-1/2 lb.)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. (16 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, drained
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
Few drops hot pepper sauce
Make It!
HEAT oven to 350°F.
CUT slice from top of bread loaf; remove center, leaving 1-inch-thick shell. Cut removed bread into bite-size pieces. Cover shell with top of bread; place on baking sheet with bread pieces. Bake 15 min. Cool slightly.
MEANWHILE, cook and stir celery, red peppers and onions in butter in medium saucepan on medium heat until tender. Add VELVEETA; cook on low heat until melted, stirring frequently. Add broccoli, rosemary and hot pepper sauce; cook until heated through, stirring constantly.
SPOON into bread loaf. Serve with toasted bread pieces, RITZ Crackers and/or assorted cut-up fresh vegetables.
Cheesy Hot Crab & Red Pepper Spread
What You Need
1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can (6 oz.) crabmeat, drained
WHEAT THINS Original Crackers of baked pitas
Make It!
PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Remove 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese; cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Mix all remaining ingredients except crackers until well blended.
SPREAD into 9-inch pie plate.
BAKE 20 min. or until crab mixture is heated through and top is lightly browned. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired. Serve hot with the crackers.
These are compliments of Kraft Foods. I love this site!
Panang Curry
What You Need
2 tablespoons sugar
4 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced ( if you cannot find them, Lime Zest)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon red curry paste ( Or Panang Curry Paste)
1 cup coconut milk
1 lb beef, sliced or chicken
Make It
Pour 1/2 of the coconut milk in a pan over medium heat. I seem to use my wok for this, Simple as that. Add curry paste and break it up to mix it with coconut milk. Keep stirring to prevent bottom from sticking. Lower the heat to simmer if necessary. Simmer until red oil appears. Add the beef and stir to coat the beef with the curry paste. Add sugar, fish sauce and the rest of coconut milk. Let it simmer until the beef is tender and the liquid is reduced to a thick sauce. It should take about half an hour to an hour depending on your heat. Add water if your beef is still tough and let the liquid reduce.
Sprinkle the sliced kaffir lime leaves on top. Serve hot.
Compliments of David's friend.
Last but not least, and the most delicious of all...
Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
Egg bread, bittersweet chocolate, and an intense caramel sauce combine to make this the ultimate comfort dessert. Be sure to start this recipe ahead of time. It takes about half an hour for the custard to soak into the bread.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
8 1/2-inch-thick slices egg bread (about 4x5 inches), crusts trimmed, cut into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup purchased dulce de leche ice cream topping or butterscotch-caramel sauce plus more for serving
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (about 3 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sugar
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place bread in large bowl. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons melted butter; toss. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bread begins to color, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Cool.
Brush 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon melted butter.
Stir whipping cream and 1 cup dulce de leche in medium saucepan over medium heat until blended and bubbling.
Remove from heat. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl. Add rum, vanilla, and salt; gradually whisk in warm dulce de leche mixture. Stir in bread cubes. Let soak 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix chocolate chips into custard mixture.
Pour into prepared dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake pudding until puffed and set in center, about 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm, passing more dulce de leche topping alongside.
I didn't get a picture of this, but it's definitely worth trying.
Hot Broccoli Dip
What You Need
1 round sourdough bread loaf (1-1/2 lb.)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. (16 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, drained
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
Few drops hot pepper sauce
Make It!
HEAT oven to 350°F.
CUT slice from top of bread loaf; remove center, leaving 1-inch-thick shell. Cut removed bread into bite-size pieces. Cover shell with top of bread; place on baking sheet with bread pieces. Bake 15 min. Cool slightly.
MEANWHILE, cook and stir celery, red peppers and onions in butter in medium saucepan on medium heat until tender. Add VELVEETA; cook on low heat until melted, stirring frequently. Add broccoli, rosemary and hot pepper sauce; cook until heated through, stirring constantly.
SPOON into bread loaf. Serve with toasted bread pieces, RITZ Crackers and/or assorted cut-up fresh vegetables.
Cheesy Hot Crab & Red Pepper Spread
What You Need
1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can (6 oz.) crabmeat, drained
WHEAT THINS Original Crackers of baked pitas
Make It!
PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Remove 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese; cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Mix all remaining ingredients except crackers until well blended.
SPREAD into 9-inch pie plate.
BAKE 20 min. or until crab mixture is heated through and top is lightly browned. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired. Serve hot with the crackers.
These are compliments of Kraft Foods. I love this site!
Panang Curry
What You Need
2 tablespoons sugar
4 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced ( if you cannot find them, Lime Zest)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon red curry paste ( Or Panang Curry Paste)
1 cup coconut milk
1 lb beef, sliced or chicken
Make It
Pour 1/2 of the coconut milk in a pan over medium heat. I seem to use my wok for this, Simple as that. Add curry paste and break it up to mix it with coconut milk. Keep stirring to prevent bottom from sticking. Lower the heat to simmer if necessary. Simmer until red oil appears. Add the beef and stir to coat the beef with the curry paste. Add sugar, fish sauce and the rest of coconut milk. Let it simmer until the beef is tender and the liquid is reduced to a thick sauce. It should take about half an hour to an hour depending on your heat. Add water if your beef is still tough and let the liquid reduce.
Sprinkle the sliced kaffir lime leaves on top. Serve hot.
Compliments of David's friend.
Last but not least, and the most delicious of all...
Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
Egg bread, bittersweet chocolate, and an intense caramel sauce combine to make this the ultimate comfort dessert. Be sure to start this recipe ahead of time. It takes about half an hour for the custard to soak into the bread.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
8 1/2-inch-thick slices egg bread (about 4x5 inches), crusts trimmed, cut into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup purchased dulce de leche ice cream topping or butterscotch-caramel sauce plus more for serving
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (about 3 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sugar
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place bread in large bowl. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons melted butter; toss. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bread begins to color, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Cool.
Brush 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon melted butter.
Stir whipping cream and 1 cup dulce de leche in medium saucepan over medium heat until blended and bubbling.
Remove from heat. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl. Add rum, vanilla, and salt; gradually whisk in warm dulce de leche mixture. Stir in bread cubes. Let soak 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix chocolate chips into custard mixture.
Pour into prepared dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake pudding until puffed and set in center, about 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm, passing more dulce de leche topping alongside.
I didn't get a picture of this, but it's definitely worth trying.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
