Pickles!

This past weekend I made spicy homemade pickles, based loosely off a family recipe my mother-in-law gave me. Her recipe was for bread-and-butter pickles, which aren't a favorite of mine. I prefer spicy or dill pickles, and I combined the two into my recipe.

I can't taste them until 8 days from now (pickling time is 10 days from jarring), so I'll have to let you know if it was a best or bust!

Here's how they look:


I added fresh dill, several chile de arbols, black whole peppercorns to the usual pickling recipe of vinegar and sugar. I also added several of my favorite spices.

Results soon!

Check Up & Granola

A few weeks ago I posted a small list, and I think it's about time to check up on my progress!

1. Blog More (At least 6 times before the month is through.)(DONE)
2. Call my Sister & Mom (I need to check up on them more often.) (MAKING PROGRESS)
3. Go to the gym or spin class every week. (Both.) (MAKING SOME PROGRESS)
4. Return Andrea's message on Facebook. (DONE)
5. Utilize my pantry for this month's dinners. (So many rices, quinoas and lentils!) (MAKING PROGRESS)

I'm beginning to blog more, but I feel like most of my posts are frivolous. I'm good on quantity, but not exactly quality. That's my new goal.

Finally, I've been taking a hard look at my pantry, and am trying to use some forgotten ingredients. A few weeks ago I made a lentil dish, and I've been incorporating rices into many meals. Today, I made a cinnamon almond granola with the old-fashioned oats and agave nectar that I had sitting in the pantry.


The result is fabulous! Also, I was able to utilize an ingredient that I've never used before: wheat germ. I've heard of it, but never really used it. It's similar in texture to bread crumbs or steel-cut oats. It tastes nutty. A great addition to crunchy granola.

Simple Gift

A friend at work left this on my desk this morning.



Such a sweet and thoughtful gift. The coworker remembered from back at Christmastime that I had owls on my wish list. Every day gifts are sometimes the best ones.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

How are you celebrating?

To this Texan, Cinco de Mayo is always cause for celebrating the Mexican influences in my life, i.e. Mexican food, colorful fabrics, the Spanish language.

So, tonight, a group of friends and myself are going to Rosa's!
Hooray for sloppy, cheesy, yummy food!

Recap!

Here we are in May, and I haven't shared since the middle of last month! I'm not keeping my posting promise very well, am I?


At the end of April, Michael and I went down to Houston to join the celebration for our friend from college. She is(has) leaving for veternarian school in the Caribbean, and we were sending her off. Sounds like a dream to me! Anyway, we had dinner and drinks at Bodega's Taco Shop (a must if you're hanging around the Museum District in Houston), and then went back to Hotel Zaza (where Michael & I stayed) for drinks and music. The hotel was fabulous, and they even gave us sparkley rings to wear in the dark! How thoughtful.

We took too many photos that night, but this is one of my favorites.






Last Tuesday Michael won tickets to the Texas Rangers game! If you know me, you know I'm not that thrilled about baseball. Being the AWESOME wife I am, I went anyway! We lost the game, but got a fabulous photo out of it! (You see where my priorities lie.)


I can't wait until the next weekend!

Weekend Wedding!

Today I'm at the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center FREE Head and Neck Cancer Screening. Anyone who lives in the area can come by before 11:00am. No appointment necessary.

Last Thursday was Gloria's (some #) Anniversary, and they were celebrating with 25 cent margaritas. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to go, but after standing in the line at the Addison location for 1 hour and 15 minutes, I gave up! We ended up going to Blue Goose for some yummy frozen margaritas. They were only $3, so I didn't take it as that much of a loss.

Later that night we had the hailstorm of the decade! It was unreal. It looked like snow on the ground; quarter- and dime-sized hail! Crazy! I should have taken pictures.

Tonight is my college friend Lizzy Murray's wedding - I can't wait! It's at a country club in Lewisville, next to the lake. I'll be sure to take a ton of pictures. Stay tuned!

Whiskey Cake & Friendly Times

This past weekend was an intesnse one. Intensely fun!

I hung out with some old work friends on Friday at a friend's birthday party at Trinity Hall. Always good times at the Hall.

Michael and I invited a few friends (family, really) over for a fun night on Saturday. First, we went to Whiskey Cake for dinner. After waiting for a while, we were seated in one of the three huge rooms. (Huge for Plano dining.) We all ordered fancy cocktails and appetizers. I had the guava gimlet, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
We also ordered fried green tomatoes with remoulade, smoked salmon deviled eggs and hummus with pita bread. After devouring that, we ordered our entrees: the OMG burger (complete with spicy mayo and an onion ring), braised short ribs, ribeyes with white cheddar grits, and a roased chicken sandwich. Amazing! Then, for dessert...what else? Whiskey cake. I'd have to say, it was one of the best desserts I've had in a long time.

BUT
The highlight of the evening was the pickle that topped my cousin's roasted chicken sandwich. Yes, the pickle. (Side note: I have a serious love for pickles. I love them for their sour crunchiness, vinegary taste and briney snap.) When he tossed the obviously homemade pickle to the side, I hesitantly asked "Are you going to eat that?" (YES I AM A LADY.) It was delicious. So delicious, I stupidly asked the waiter if I could buy some to take home. Screw dessert, I'm having pickles for my nightcap! And yes, he came back with a to-go tub of homemade pickles! Thrilling! So, I've been rationing them since then. I could have asked for the recipe, but where's the fun in that?



Thanks, Jake, for ordering that chicken sandwich.

Be The Match: Baylor Healthcare National Marrow Donor Program

I ran across this blog, Sammons Says, which posts articles that speak to people with cancer or their families. It painted a very compelling and distressing picture. I discovered that Baylor has one of the eight programs nationwide (only one in Texas) to offer the National Marrow Donor Program. That's amazing. The program helps people with various blood cancers find their marrow match (almost 1 in a billion) in order to save their lives. Most people are only given 2 or less years to live once diagnosed, so that's a incredibly short time to find a 'needle in a haystack.'

This is the article I read about a film shown at the Dallas Film Festival. The film gives a closer look at three people's search for their match. Powerful.

Find out more about the program and how to be in the donor database here.

Back Patio Garden

For some reason, I'm giving a patio garden a shot again. This will be the third time I've tried, and I've only been minutely successful. I managed to kill gardenias, basil, sage, thyme and mums. My lime tree is the only thing I've kept alive, and it only produced 2 limes last year. Of those two limes, I only got to use one. A squirrel made off with the other one. The remaining one made a damn good cilantro-lime grilled chicken, though!

This year I mistakenly made a trip to Calloway's, where I couldn't resist the vegetable seedlings. I bought two plants:

Yellow Variety Zucchini Plant


Green Zebra Heirloom Tomato Plant

I hope they live.
I'm aiming to get one vegetable each from the plants. And for the lime tree my goal is 3 limes this year! (I'd love to have a zucchini gratin and a heirloom tomato salad with buttermilk dressing!)

Rainboots & Making Lists

Good morning, Thunderstorm!

I'm sure I looked like an idiot, but I donned my rainboots (from about 2-3 years ago) this morning for my walk from the parking lot to the office building. I tucked my black suit trousers into the black-and-white houndsooth Merona rainboots, and away I went. I had the last laugh because the bottom of my pants were dry!

As I'm sipping my green tea and writing my weekly 'To Do' list, I'm thinking about how very much I love making lists. And even further, crossing things off that list. I even list that in my small biography section of this blog. It's that serious. With that being said, I think I need to make a list of goals for April.

1. Blog More (At least 6 times before the month is through.)
2. Call my Sister & Mom (I need to check up on them more often.)
3. Go to the gym or spin class every week. (Both.)
4. Return Andrea's message on Facebook.
5. Utilize my pantry for this month's dinners. (So many rices, quinoas and lentils!)

I think I'll stop there. Considering I have a huge list here at work, I need to get started! More posts to come.

P.S. - I believe the new cat food is a go!