June 8, 2013 by Andrea

Week’s End

Normally I remember to take pictures of food when I cook. Normally this usually involves Bob chuckling at me and at least one cat running in the opposite direction. This time, however, I was so hungry by the time I got dinner done on Friday, I just sat down and ate. And if you can’t tell from the picture above,

It was very, very good.

I did a version of a Greek chicken salad. Barley cooked in veggie broth (about 1/2 cup uncooked), cucumber (3 very small pickling ones, chopped), one beefsteak tomato, a bit of red onion, feta cheese and shredded chicken that I cooked in veggie broth and covered. To that I added a dressing of white balsamic vinegar, juice and zest of a half a lemon, three cloves of garlic, thyme, basil and pepper with olive oil. Needless to say, neither Bob nor I were willing to leave leftovers.

I also had a project this weekend. I’ve been wanting to paint the inside of the house for a while. We thought we had a color, but Bob was concerned with how dark it might make the house, so we went back to the drawing board. We settled on Swiss Coffee for the wall and Chocolate Coco for the trim. We think. So I decided to do a test.

The kitchen island is a great test space. Large enough to see, but not next to anything incase it turns out horribly. So we picked up some paint and I taped everything off and started painting.

Right next to the old color you can tell the difference. Once the whole wall was done, it is a litte harder to see.

After the first coat of the trim, I was nervous

The brown was not as dark as I thought it would be and I just wasn’t sure. After a second coat of paint and removing the tape …

I really like it. There is something about the chocolate that reminds me of grandmom’s house in Philly. Specifically the stairs in that house. I think the light wall and dark trim has an old fashioned feel to it, which I really like. So the plan is to live with it for a week and if we still love it next weekend we get the rest of the paint and I go to town painting the house.

It would also be helpful if I could get Leia to stop sniffing the paint. I almost got a picture but that cat is a true member of the family and HATES having her picture taken.

On a more serious note, we came through the tropical storm just fine. There was lots of rain, wind and a few tornadoes near work, but overall nothing to worry about. It is summer in south Florida so we kind of expect this stuff.

June 4, 2013 by Andrea

Brief Update

I realized that I had not updated since the big cook out. Bob and I happily ate leftovers for a week as I try to get everything together for the last few weeks of work. You would think it would be relatively calm this time of year, but it is busy and hectic making sure everything is in order before files get transferred to new schools, students know where they stand with credits, classes are picked and then changed for next year etc. And since every other school is doing the exact same thing, the program that I would use to do most of this is slower than beating the eggs to 160 degrees over a double boiler. Seriously – seven minutes today to get to the page I needed for one kid.

I found a surprisingly good wine. I think these are from the same winery – Lady in White and Lady in Red. Not expensive in the least, and good with dinner wine. I liked both very much, but I have to say, there is something about the bottles that I just love.

Tigger has been a fussy baby again. He goes through these phases where he throws up his food, so I search for a new food. We are on bag five (or six, I lost count) of new food. I’m trying to find stuff that is good for them – limit the by-product and gluten meal – but the majority of those foods he won’t eat. Most of these, none of them would eat. Gracie was getting skinnier and Tigger was just down right cranky. So I went with a more middle of the road choice:

Good old Purina. They all swooped in and ate this morning. Maybe Tigger will let me sleep now. Probably not, but at least Gracie won’t loose any more weight. Poor thing is already really, really skinny.

No picture, but I did find an awesome yoga place near me. They changed the schedule for summer, so I can actually make class Monday and Thursday. They also started a Saturday am class so I’m super excited. Two classes in and I think I can already feel my blood pressure drop. Super relaxed atmosphere and the class is a lot like the one I use to take in Jersey. Now if I can just get my balance back.

Gratuitous dog picture. But Jessie is so cute and still I have to get a pet picture in.

Happy almost summer!

May 19, 2013 by Andrea

Winding Down

You would think that by May school would be easy. Calm with everyone anticipating the summer and kids preparing for finals. But no, we are still doing state testing – going into week six or seven – and trying to make sure kids are doing what they should, and not doing what they should not do. Sounds simple enough, but most days I think everyone has lost their minds, or I’ve lost mine. R a combination of both. No wonder we’ve been making do with quick, simple meals or take out.

I did find a fantastic wine.

. I asked the very nice gentleman for a recommendation for a good after wok wine. He didn’t hesitate and pulled this Cotes du Rhone. Normally I’m not a Cotes kind of girl, but this was fabulous. Light, fresh, crisp but not acidic, great “mouth feel.” (Now I feel like a wine snob … And I’m ok with that.) It was perfect with dinner one Friday evening and for sipping after walking Jessie one Saturday afternoon.

I was going to bake Bob a birthday cake last week and try my hand at buttercream icing. But we ran into a problem. No. I wasn’t missing ingredients, the house didn’t explode, nor did I fall asleep before baking. We had a leak in the kitchen.

The drain in the sink was apparently leaking for at least a few days as we had a minor flood under the sink. By the time we got to the hardware store, started, went back to the store for more parts and got it fixed, I wasn’t baking. I did manage to make the beer bread experiments before heading to Val and Bill’s for the weekend

I used a White wheat, Guinness, a Lambic and the New Castle as the control. All were a hit and there was no clear winner as everyone had a different favorite. I think I liked the white wheat best. It’s amazing what three cups of self rising flour, half a cup of sugar and a bottle of beer can create. (Baked at 375 for 55 minutes)

Oh … And Bob had his own geeky project this week.

yep – remote camera. We may have to talk a out the one inside.

Hope everyone is having a great spring.

April 29, 2013 by Andrea

Little Things

Little things make a difference. We hear it all the time and generally think, “mmhmm. Right.” We don’t believe it in general until something little does make a difference.

The last few weeks at work have been hard. Nerve shredding hard. I don’t think I cooked most of April and I actually started not having a drink, or only having one, at night just to make sure I still could. Could not have one, and could stop at one. I went to bed tired, I woke up tired, I felt like any little thing would make me snap and I constantly wanted to cry. I kept thinking the gods had more faith in my ability to handle stuff than I actually could. And Wednesday of last week almost broke me. But, as I FINALLY got back into my office about 4pm (I left it before 9) there was a beautiful bunch of Lilies on my desk. I was terribly confused until I read the card -Bob sent me flowers just to make my day better. For those of you who don’t know Bob well, this is unusual. As in he told me on one of our first dates that he doesn’t do cards or flowers. In the six years we have been together this is the only time he as ever given me flowers. I sat on the floor in my office and cried. But somehow the day, the week and the month just got a little easier to deal with. It didn’t make anything go away. I still had to deal with everything, but my nerves didn’t feel frayed for the first time in three weeks. The woman who has the office next to mine came in and asked what was wrong (She has never seen me cry). I just showed her the card and pointed to the flowers. She told me to, “Damn it, now I love your husband too and I don’t like anyone right now.” A little thing made a huge difference.

The cats have been having a fantastic time in the tree lately. The tree is their little thing to brighten their day. The poor birds are a not finding it as amusing as the cats, but they did build a nest in a tree with three cats in the yard.

Tigger and Gracie haven’t let Leia in the tree very much, but she still finds ways to enjoy it. Tigger has gotten out further on the branch than I expected for a cat his size, but so far the nest is fine.

On Saturday I introduced Bob to the Toasted Mango. This is a breakfast/brunch place near Mom and Dad. The food it fantastic …. and it looks pretty too!

Apricot stuffed French Toast and Berry Topped Waffle. Yum.

I’m hoping to cook a little more in the coming weeks. I started today with BBQ beef sandwich and Asian Slaw.

Not bad, but not as creative as I would like. Look for zucchini and tomato fritters and honey ginger chicken this week.

April 21, 2013 by Andrea

Animals

Somehow, whenever state testing season rolls around, I think ever test publisher and legislator who thinks these things are a good idea and actually measure what students know and teachers have taught should be forced to spend a year in a middle school. Or a high school but middle schoolers aren’t as good at hiding their anxiety and talk to you about how worried they are. So I have spent the last two weeks gathering materials, easing anxieties, reading scripts and watching students take tests for multiple hours a day. Two weeks in and we are not even close to the end. And my regular job still has to get done, so by the time I get home, I’m exhausted (try watching someone do something for a few hours and do nothing else but watch them, no email, no phone, no Internet, no book, nothing …. See how totally brain dead and exhausted you are) and my nerves are frayed almost to breaking. So there hasn’t been a whole lot of cooking recently, and Bob has been totally wonderful about ordering in or going out. I feel guilty but when you can’t think straight and can’t stand much more, cooking just isn’t realistic. This weekend I did manage to make omelettes with the eggs from the veggie patch.

But even that is closing for the summer so now I have to find a new source of cage free eggs.

With all of this going on, the animals are still a source of joy for me. They have been spending a lot of time in the tree lately, something I was thrilled with, but a little confused by. All three of the babies have been going up there or circling the base of the tree for a few weeks now.

I didn’t get a good picture of Leia there – she jumps down and runs over as soon as she sees me every Ike I try to catch her. But what has gotten the kittens so interested in the tree all of the sudden? Surely the birds can’t be dumb enough to build a nest there … or can they?

Yep, they did. One nest on a branch that the cats can get to. They were smart enough to build it out, but Gracie might be able to get to it given the right motivation. At least I will be entertained as I drink my coffee or wine on the back patio for a while.

One more full week of testing then we start the End of Course Exams so only two to three days a week until Memorial Day weekend. So no food posts for another week or so, but I hope to come up with some really creative things once this is all over.

March 30, 2013 by Andrea

Spring Finally Arrives

March has been unusually cold in Florida this year. We still have the heat on, I contemplated putting the flannel sheets on the bed and I broke out the “blueberry” winter jacket Val gave me when I first got Jessie. At least my winter clothes, often reserved for our trips north or across the pond, are getting some use.

But the weather has finally started to feel like spring. So much so that Jessie and I have extended our walks yesterday and today. And we ran across a strange sight the other day.

Bob tells me those are seagulls. Seagulls. In our little subdivision. Weird. The Gulf is a good 20 minutes away so I never think of seagulls around here. Sandhill Cranes, yes. Alligators? Sure. But seagulls? Not really. I did stay on the opposite side if the street on this trek – Jessie really wanted to play with them.

Jess has been a little spoiled recently. Mom brought her dinner yesterday.

in case you can’t read that, it says “Chicken/brown rice/carrots – gravy for Jessie.” Yes, my mother cooked for the dog. Well, she saved leftovers for her. Not for Bob and I, but specifically for Jessie. Can we say spoiled?

I didn’t do much interesting cooking this week. I did some, but nothing recipe worthy. But today, I made a trip out for eggs. … I probably should explain. I like listening to podcasts on my way to and from work and I recently found a new one – Slate’s Table to Farm. (No, I didn’t get that backwards, that is the correct name.) It is pretty interesting – they pick a food, talk to people who source the food – fishers, apple experts, butchers. etc., then pick obtain some of the food, cook and eat it. This sounds weird, and admittedly it is a little odd, but it works. There is a definite slant towards local, sustainable sources of foods from CSAs, farmer’s markets and local butchers, and I can’t say I disagree with that premise. Bob was a little worried about his dinners after the steak episode, but it turns out I had a harder time with the egg episode. Probably because I know where meat comes from and do whatever I can to get meat from smaller sources that treat animals as humanly as possible, but I had never really though about eggs. I’m not sure why, but I just didn’t. After listening to that episode, I told Bob we needed to find local eggs as I am pretty sure I am never buying eggs from the grocery store again.

It turns out, if we are willing to drive a little, there is a local option –Bob’s Veggie Patch I admit it’s a drive, but he does also set up in Bradenton on Wednesdays and the timing works perfectly with my work schedule. I was so excited. We picked up the veggies for the week today too. I was so happy!

After getting our eggs and veggies, we decided to head out to lunch today and we could not have picked a prettier spot.

I also did my nails in honor of spring today

nice light and festive.

Happy spring everyone!

March 1, 2013 by Andrea

A Week of Birthday Fun

So it was my birthday this week. Thank you to everyone who called, texted, emailed and wish me a happy birthday. Yes, mom, that includes your 5:01am text. 🙂

I use to hate my birthday. Being the end of February means you get A LOT of questions growing up as to whether or not you have a “real” birthday or are a leap year baby and don’t really have a birthday. I hated it and just refused to acknowledge the day for a long time. But I’m over that and pretty much don’t care much either way; but a birthday is a great excuse for cake, so ill take it.

Speaking of cake, the week started out with mom and dad having us over for lunch and topping it off with a cute birthday cake. I have to say it was perfect – vanilla cake with vanilla icing and by gosh, it was cute

Bob and I head across the pond for my spring break soon, so I was considering that my birthday present. But … I woke up that morning to find a pretty little box by the coffee pot. (Does he know me well or what? Is there any other place in the house where I am guaranteed to see it?).

That pretty little box contained a beautiful pair of earrings that I have worn every day since. Can’t sleep in them week, but they are very, very pretty. Can’t get a good picture cause they sparkle but that’s ok.

We are still in meeting hell at work and have begun testing hell, so my time has been … booked, taken, short … take your pick. But Melissa took me out for a very nice lunch and we actually sat down and ate. I think it was the first day I didn’t work through lunch all month.

I got home on my birthday to find another little box on my doorstep.

Erin, my friend, you know me too well. Love them and can’t wait to break into the scrub! And the card was darn cute too.

We are going to head out to see Val and Bill this weekend, then it’s off to England soon for some time with Brad, Emmie and Logan. Emmie are plotting to get into the Bodleian library. We are smart girls, we’ll figure something out.

I did manage to cook tonight … Nothing fancy, mind you, but better than I’ve done in a few weeks.

Pork tacos with onions and homemade tomatillo sauce. I used some extra spice in the sauce and it came out really well. Sharp, but not too hot. Good flavor and not bad for an end of the week meal. Maybe after break I can get back into cooking. I have so many things I want to try!

Hope everyone had a good week.

February 21, 2013 by Andrea

I Officially Feel Old

I thought I felt old when I realized a few years ago that my students who were graduating were young enough to be my children. I thought I was old when the oldies station started playing songs I thought were cool. I thought I was old when I realized that the 80s were thirty years ago. But I was wrong; today marks the day where I officially feel old.

One of my students came to me in a panic today because progress reports go out tomorrow and he was not done with an assignment for English. They are learning to write a research paper so he had his topic, had his sub categories and needed to gather sources and gather information and note where it all came from for the bibliography. He had no sources yet and it was due …. you guessed it … today. When I asked him why he had nothing he told me he only had one day to go to the library and the computers were all taken. So he couldn’t use the Internet.

What about a book

He looked in a book.

Why didn’t he write that as a source?

It only had a little information on his topic.

So why not use it as one of the source?

It was a book.

Yes, a book is a source.

But it’s not a website.

(Here is why I feel very, very old today)

I asked him, in a very calm and rational voice what he thought we used as sources for our research papers before the Internet.

He responded, with all sincerity and wonder, “You wrote research papers back then?”

I officially feel old.

February 9, 2013 by Andrea

Reason Number ___ I Love Florida

I should feel at least slightly guilty for this post considering so many are digging out from a blizzard. Should. But I don’t. I did move to Florida in large part to avoid snow, sleet, ice and cold.

It has been a long few weeks and the next two are not going to be any better. This means when I’ve had the energy to cook, it has been simple meals that I’ve done dozens of times if not more. But today we decided to get out and about for a bit and enjoy the beautiful weather. Bob suggested St. Armand’s Circle. So we headed down there and found a little place that did Middle Eastern/Mediterranean called Terrace on the Circle.

After my disaster with falafel a few months ago, I have been reluctant to try it again. We split a plate of falafel that looked great

and tasted way better than any I’ve ever made. And the sauce … just so good.

For the main dish I went with the Kefta.

I was pretty sure I was going to be able to eat the whole thing, but nope. Had to bring half of it home. The meat was seasoned well, but I am use to spicier versions, so it was missing just a little something. The hummus that went on top was fabulous, however. And this from someone who isn’t that crazy about hummus for the most part.

But the best part of the day (aside from finding a cool little spice shop) was the view.

Just another day in paradise you could say!

January 27, 2013 by Andrea

This is January?

As someone who grew up in Jersey, January is cold, snow, ice and hot chocolate. It isn’t gardening and open the windows and air out the house. It just isn’t. And since my very green thumb of Jersey is a little pale yellow turning brown, I am sticking to things that are harder to kill.

But today was beautiful out and I decided I wanted to plant some pretty flowers. I picked up some pansy and another flower I forget the name of and redid the front garden. It isn’t the tulips I had u north, but I think they are pretty and cheery and a nice splash of color.

In addition, I added a few more herbs to the back garden. I decided to forgo the veggies and just get them from my veggie basket and the farmer’s market. But herbs go a long way when cooking so I picked up some purple basil (hoping to get some sweet basil from mom), rosemary, sage, and parsley (let’s hope Leia can’t get to it and eat it this time). This means we have the every growing scallions and thyme with a few leeks and now some new fresh herbs.

It’s a cute little garden and it makes me happy.

On the food front … Food still does not like me. I’m eating a little more, but nothing is sitting well in my stomach these days. I think it’s stress, but who knows. Maybe the residuals of the cold/virus/whatever this is. But … I did make some ribs this weekend that came out rather well.

I slow cooked them in the crockpot with beer and apple juice. Oddly. It worked. I finished them on the grill with the BBQ sauce. And that is not potatoes on the plate! My veggie basket had celery root in it. I’ve never had or made celery root before. So … I roasted them kind of like potatoes with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme (from the garden of course) and then added some carrots. Pretty darn good. Not something I would seek out and buy, but I did like it enough to make again the next time I have it in the basket.

Sixteen Paws

The random adventures of Andi, Bob, and four furry creatures

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