see.gary.allen

Saturday night we went to the free- Gary Allen concert!

It was a good time. Here are a few pics from the day and night...

At the park with Miles, pre-concert.

Easton Corbin opened the show...
he's "a little more country then that"

One of the only pics of us from the night and I totally chopped half of Mike's face off... oops!

Here he is... the star of the night!

see.a.winner

Mike just won tickets to a Gary Allan Concert tomorrow night. He was jumping up and down with excitement when he told me earlier today. The conversation went something like this:
mike: "MEL! Guess what?!! I WON!! I WON!!
mel: "YESSS THAT IS AWESOME!! (I am a big fan of winning in general)
mike: "Do you know what I won?"
mel: "um no... but I like winning and jumping..."
mike: "I won the Facebook Contest for Gary Allan Tickets!!!
mel: "YESSS!! who is gary allan????"
I now have the assignment of listening to all of his songs before tomorrow night.
Luck is shining a little light on our coach house tonight :)

see.we.jam

It's strawberry time!!
Chicago is just starting to see the peak of strawberry season and I took advantage of the low priced berries and bought just enough to snack on and to make some homemade strawberry jam.

10 cups of strawberries, sugar and pectin.
This is the product of an excellent Christmas gift (thank you Ian)
My canning kit.
Last time I made marmalade without a canning kit... I burned my fingers, and the place was a mess... this time- things were a little different.

In order to keep things sterile you must keep jars in boiling water. That's pre and post fruit fill. It is quite a task to keep up with...
but the results!!

So worth it!
I love that when I make things at home I make more then I intended. In this case I figured I would get maybe 5 jars of jam out of my strawberries... wrong!
I was able to fill 8 jars plus some left over!!
We have already enjoyed multiple mornings of toast with strawberry jam and Mike has consumed several pb+j's.
Yum!

see.n.sip

Kahlua.
I have been interested in making Kahlua ever since I realized I could make it at home. (several years now)
I hesitate to call it "homemade", I suppose making it at home constitutes the title, however, Kahlua is so easy to make and involves very very little effort.
It is simply a process of stirring a few ingredients together.
See for yourself :)

Vanilla Flavored Coffee.
The recipe I used suggested Chocolate Flavored Coffee... but I'm not a huge fan of chocolate... HUH! I know.... moving on.
Step 1: make a 12 cp pot of double strength coffee... i.e. enough grounds for 24 cups.
I was afraid of over loading the coffee maker so I made 6 cups of double strength coffee 2x.

When the coffee is finished brewing and the house smells delicious...
Step 2: pour all the coffee into a large stock pot and bring to a boil.

Step 3: When the coffee reaches a boil, add 2 lbs. of light brown sugar. eek!
It took all my strength to pour 2 lbs of sugar into the pot. 2lbs of sugar is an enormous amount of sugar... however, I don't foresee "we" sitting down to a huge mug of Kahlua. We use it just like you would any other strong alcohol. Which is sparingly... at least this is what I told myself when I poured the last pound of sugar into the coffee.

Step 4: Once the coffee has cooled to room temperature, pour 750 ml of Everclear 151 proof alcohol into the pot.
Not sure if your local liquor store sells this? Just look for the bottle that says "Extremely Flammable!" haa ha

You really can't go wrong with coffee, sugar and liquor.

Step 5: Add 4 - 6 tablespoons of vanilla extract.

Step 6: fill up some nifty bottles with your Kahlua

Enjoy!

see.sunny.days

The cold frozen ice sheet of winter is slowly lifting here in Chicago. As stated on the radio "this week will be unseasonably warm" as in high 50's and sunny!!
I am told by many native Chicagoians "not to get used to this!! it can turn on you quickly" so...
We TOTALLY took advantage of this unseasonable event by rushing out to the lake's sunny beaches to one of the area's most popular dog parks.
It was still cold but oooo! that sunshine felt like warm honey on our pale dry faces.

And the dog.
He typically has a case of "doggie ADD" meaning he does not play with just one dog, or in just one area, he is all over the entire dog park the entire time... but on this dog park day, his usual non-stop wondering that displays itself as consistent jogging looked more like sprints.
He has been inside for TOO long!!

This beach is just north of the city.

Miles, post-seagull ambush.

This is a marina near the dog park. We were admiring the color of the water... until we noticed there is still ICE in the water!!
Chunks and chunks of it!!

The city!!

see.green

Happy St. Patty's Day.
Chicago has a special way of celebrating St. Patrick's Day and that is by polluting the river...
OK, not really polluting.
They dye the river a bright green color EVERY year, this tradition has gone on for over 40 years!
This year the festivities commenced on Saturday 3.13.2010
There was a big parade and the bars opened at 7AM! People dressed up in funny costumes and roamed the streets wearing green smiles from their green beer!
I missed out on the green river but made it out in time to enjoy a green beer.

Mike's green river pic.
Apparently the dye is a special "family" secret blend of all natural dyes and ingredients. The powder form dye looks like orange tang before they pour it into the river.

St. Patty's Day ALSO happens to be a very special little girl's birthday.
Happy Birthday Ms. Lola Happel!!
This picture was taken last year when she was just 3 years old.
She is now an elegant young 4 year old!!
We love you!

see.down.home

It is approximately 1,047 miles from Chicago to Gainesville, Florida.

Today... for she (at least) it feels like a million miles.
When do we miss home?
Birthdays, holidays, normal days that end in "day", but most when we lose a family member.
Today, my mom's brother Scott Womeldurf, passed away.
Scott lived a "fast" life with some mistakes along the way but I remember him most at our family's river house in Ocala a.k.a. "The Scrub". Uncle Scott would take us fishing and let me shoot guns, use the axe, and clean fish...
Soon, my family will gather at "The Scrub" to remember Uncle Scott.
Yes, today... home feels like a million miles away.

see.tofu.part.2

Yes... it is another blog posting about Tofu.
We eat a good amount of it around here. Recently, I was talking to a beginner vegetarian friend about all the delicious things you can do with this somewhat mysterious product.
So instead of rambling on and on I'm just going to show you one of our favorite and easy tofu dinners.
Tofu Stir-fry.

When I buy Tofu it looks like this.
For tofu stir fry, I take it out of the package (the day before), toss it into a tupperware, and stick it into the freezer for about 24 hours.
Freezing and then thawing tofu changes the texture... I'm not sure why... it just does.
Take the tofu out of the freezer, let it thaw or run warm water over it.
Press with paper towels to get ALL the water out and chop!

Not so scary huh?

My 2 favorite things about tofu:
1. it is the ultimate mimic... it can be sweet ("soft" tofu is very good in smoothies) or savory or spicy and always yum!
2. unlike meat... I NEVER worry about contaminating anything... I can cut fresh veggies on the same cutting board with the same knife without the fuss of worrying about germs.

I like to coat the tofu cubes in a mixture of flour, corn meal, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, ginger powder... pretty much anything I have in the kitchen.

Once they are all coated, I heat up some oil and pan fry until golden brown and crunchy.
When the tofu is ready (remember brown and crunchy), remove from the hot pan, set aside and stir fry up the veggies.

One of my personal favorites... bok choy.

And never throw away broccoli stems! You can eat them!! Just slice off the hard exterior... you can think of this as skin and chop up! They are good and you get a lot more out of your broccoli bunch.
Once your veggies are nice and hot, add the tofu back into the mix and finally add the stir-fry sauce of your choice.
My favorite stir-fry sauce: 3-4 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar, dash of toasted sesame seed oil, 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon corn starch and fresh minced ginger and/or garlic.

Enjoy!!

see.study

How to get a master's degree from a prestigious school and stay up-to-date with Florida Gator Basketball...
Step 1:
Read complicated books for hours and hours and hours

until the commercial break is over and then switch to
Step 2:
Stream live Florida Basketball games on Mac
Alternate from Step 1 to Step 2 depending on game play.

I timed his arm in the air like that for almost 5 minutes!!
Determination :0)
For the blog record... it is Friday night and March (apparently March is a big deal in College Basketball)

see.blowin.in.the.wind

A few weeks ago, I wanted to take my soap making to a new level: Laundry Soap.
Yep, homemade liquid laundry soap.

The process of making liquid laundry soap is JUST like making bar soap with a few additional steps.
You begin by heating all the oils to the same temperature about 110 degrees.
And allow the lye mixture to cool to about 110 degrees.
Pour oils and lye together and mix.
The mixing can take about 20 mins.
There is where you find a trusty assistant so you can relax for a little while.
Keep mixing until you reach the texture of honey.
Then you pour into your soap box, cover and wait about 24 hours.

The soap is now similar to a semi-hard cheese.

Cut into blocks.
This is where the real work begins.

Grate the bars of soap with a cheese grater.
This almost fills a large stock pot!
Add water to stock pot and bring to a boil.
Simmer soap for a while (I am aware that 'a while' is not all that specific) BUT the truth is I am not sure how long to simmer the soap. I simmered for too short of time and had to reheat 2-3 additional times.
Eventually your soap will end up looking like homemade beer.
Cover and let cool.
Soap will be ready to use within 18-24 hours.
Use just like store bought laundry soap.
Note: this recipe is very fussy to make. Although our laundry came out VERY clean with a clean and bright smell, it only works well when washing whites in warm to hot water. I am now searching for better homemade laundry soap and when I find it, I will report.