see.tukey.2009

Turkey day 2009

see.we

see.upside.down.turkey
My friend Kate's mom suggested she cook the turkey upside down for the first several hours... so the turkey juices follow the law of gravity and make the meat juicy. It worked rather well.

see.upside.down.dog
Kate and Paul's dog Rebel. I think he heard us talking about the upside down turkey and tried out this technique on himself.

see.potato.prep
7 lbs of potatoes! Almost as much as the entire turkey! haa

see.he.turkey

see.table.ware

see.dinner
(for all who are interested)

Piccadilly Carrot Soufflé
(I have edited the recipe slightly)
1 1/2 pounds peeled carrots (about 9 medium)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup high-gluten or bread flour
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted margarine or butter
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Boil or Steam carrots until extra soft, about 30 minutes in a steamer basket set over boiling water. Drain well.

While the carrots are still warm, transfer to large bowl of an electric mixer and add granulated sugar, baking powder, vanilla and flour. Beat slowly until carrots mash, then increase speed to medium and beat 3 minutes, or until very smooth.

With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Gradually add the melted margarine.

Whip the egg whites until medium peaks form. Fold into carrot mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon the carrot mixture into a 9-inch round pan or casserole dish. (The mixture will rise, so pan should not be more than half full.)

Bake about 1 1/2 hours, or until the top is a light golden brown. Sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately. (The souffle will fall after being taken out of the oven.)
Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

see.pre.turkey.day

The day before Thanksgiving, November 25, my kitchen saw some serious action. We had plans to eat at a friend's house about 1.5 blocks away. This was our official 'first Thanksgiving' together sans-family. Same for our friends. We bonded together and were going to eat in style. After about 5 calls to my mother for cooking advice, I started... let the cooking begin!

The line up:
1. Homemade Dinner rolls
2. Carrot Souffle
3. Green-Bean Casserole
4. Fresh Cranberry Sauce
5. Apple Pie
6. Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
(I was going to head over to my friend's house early to help with the bird- nothing like fresh cinnamon rolls to get people in the mood to cook)

I had never eaten carrot souffle until one Thanksgiving at Mike's Mom (Jeanette's) house. From that Thanksgiving I learned 2 things: 1. Carrots mixed with sugar, eggs, and butter are really delicious 2. Mike is really attached to a carrot dish, he is obsessed.
Thanks to Google and several helpful internet sites, I managed to find a recipe for Piccadilly's Carrot Souffle. Then I made Mike help prep the carrots.

Next, came the apples and the apple pie. An amazingly helpful apple pie tip from one of my favorite chefs:
Once apples are peeled, cored and cut into slices, set them in a strainer with a bowl underneath. Let them sit for 1.5 hours. The apples will drain their juices into the bowl. Before you bake the assembled pie, take the juice from the apples and heat them in a pot. Since most of the juice is sugar, the juice will cook down to a nice apple glaze, that you can brush onto the top of your pie.

Dessert :)

This pose is for my sister, Jen.
I call it the cooking pose.

Next up, Cinnamon rolls!!!
You have to roll it out, then roll it up!

Always a hit!

I have to admit, this is a cookbook I checked out from the Library.
Southern Cooking... come on, is there any other way to cook?

Some pics of the fresh cranberry sauce. I just love the color of cranberries.

Cranberries, port wine, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla beans. YUM!

see.wedding.weekend

We flew to Florida for Mike's best friend's wedding-weekend. Wes and Mike have known each other for years and share many great memories of surfing, high school, and college. Wes asked Mike to be a groomsman for his wedding and Mike gladly accepted. The weekend was full of visiting family, friends, and driving up and down the East Coast of Florida. I regret not taking more pictures of all the people we visited. We had a great dinner with Mike's family and my dad Thursday night, we spent some fun time with Mike's dad and his gal Susie. Visiting Florida is a non-stop visit-a-thon and we wouldn't have it any other way.

The night before the wedding 'bro-mance' as they called it. Wes is the very happy guy at the bottom center of the picture.

A quick brunch with Miss Lindsay and her mom.

The wedding was beautiful. Outside, on the river, perfect weather, and beautiful bride.
Jackie and Wes.

They look so great together!!

Lucky number 7.

He.

She. goofing off.

I accidentally caught the bouquet. I was told that Jackie may aim for a specific person (not me) so I dodged it the first time. It landed right next to me. So Jackie had to throw it again. This time, it landed in my arms so I had to catch it. And no, Mike did not catch the garter.
Sunday, My mom drove over to spend some time with me. This was the only picture I took! I am so disappointed.
Overall, it was a fun trip. Now we are back in the ice cold tundra but whenever it gets too cold I can (in my mind) go back to this warm and sunny Florida beach, and go walking next to my mom.

see.mike.teach

Before I left for Virginia a while back, a major problem had developed in our house hold.
Miles and the stairs.
We have wood floors and for most dogs this isn't a problem. Miles, however, slips on the floors and prefers to spend most of his time on the rugs I have out for him. He can't avoid the wood staircase we have leading up to our apartment. So for as along as we have been here, Miles has had major problems with climbing the stairs. He slips, he trips, he falls down them, he stops mid way and cries, he won't come up them unless he is assisted and each time he has trouble, it makes his mental condition worse!
This was the situation when I left.
When I arrived back from Virginia, I came home to this:



Mike had taught Miles how to climb the stairs!
With several coaching sessions, he taught Miles how to take the outer-most side of the stairs, go slow, and then take extra care on the turn.
I couldn't believe that Miles was taking the stairs on his own and with ease and grace (OK, maybe not with grace)

see.organization

We built a desk a few weeks ago. One side is for Mike and the other side is for Mel. I noticed something the other day... our sides of the desk, look quite different.

He side.

She side.

Clutter vs. Clean?
or
Study vs. Projects?
hmmm....

see.girl.time

The last day of the conference, Charlotte and I had the morning together before we all had to pack up and head home.

About every 1.5 hours Charlotte would request, in her 9 month old baby way, to see her mom to nurse. So here is a picture of Charlotte and I coming to see Jen.

Quick diaper change... I call this my paparazzi shot.

And back to the Historic Area for one last walk around town. Charlotte loved getting down and playing with the fallen leaves.

I asked her who was the prettiest baby in the world? She replied with "goo" and that means "me", to which I totally agree.

see.williamsburg

On Saturday, while my sister Jen and her pal Bev were busy at the conference, Charlotte and I spent the day together exploring Williamsburg, VA. The day was beautiful, it started out a little cool but warmed up to the mid 70's. After breakfast we went for a stroll, and I brought along my camera as it was still early and not much was open.

From the (minimal) information I read, most of the buildings in Williamsburg are as historically accurate as possible. Most buildings, due to age or fire, have been restored in one way or another but overall the 'town' looks as close to what it did back in the 1700's.

I call this fence the shish-ka-bob fence.

Window shopping.

The apothecary shop.

William Pasteur- not to be confused with Louis Pasteur :)
Also, minor medical history lesson: back in 1775 surgery did not look like it does now nor did it sound similar either... there wasn't such a thing as anesthesia and all surgery was performed on conscious people... ouch!

For most of the trip Ms. Charlotte hung out in her ergo carrier. Meaning she was strapped on to someone, her mom or me. She likes it best that way. This was one of her few stroller moments.

So sweet :)

see.quick.trip

This past weekend, my sister and her pal Bev met me in Williamsburg, Virginia for a Breastfeeding Conference. They were there for the conference, I was there for the baby-
baby Charlotte that is.

The conference was held at the Williamsburg Lodge and that was also where we stayed. These are pictures from dinner.

More Charlotte and Aunt Mel pictures to come.

see.book.worm

I have been saying for weeks that I am going to the library. Today, I finally made it.
I love books. I love to read. (Probably why Mike and I get along so well) My problem is I can never have too many books. Perhaps it is a short attention span, but I always have at least 2 books by my bed that I am working on, usually 3 and occasionally more.

Libraries, to me, are amazing. You can walk in, get any book you want (granted it isn't a reference book and you have a library card), check the book out and leave. FOR FREE! Until you turn it in late. Then it isn't free anymore, but you get my point. But the concept is so exciting. So here is our local library- not counting the University libraries. This one is within walking distance. It is small and very quaint. I fell in love.

Most of the books at this library are located on the 1st floor. There is, however, an upstairs section for fiction books. While I was up there, I noticed something unusual- A GLASS FLOOR!!
This was amazing. The entire 2nd floor- although not large- was made up of glass flooring.

You can see the books below! Come on- Libraries are so cool!!

I walked home with a bag full of delicious new books. I can't wait to cozy up with my schnauzer and dig in!
Happy reading!!