Ginger Pepper Berry

I am being very productive today around the house, but I wanted to stop and blog (for the first time in over two weeks!). A week or so ago, we met up with our (Michael and my) good friends Matt and James at The Ginger Man. I haven't seen either one of the guys in a long time, and it was so much fun to hang out. Matt and his girlfriend live south of Dallas, and James just recently moved to Lubbock to get ANOTHER degree. How I long for the days of spending untold amounts of time hanging out! Anyway, the beer and cider were lovely, and I always enjoy their upstairs balcony. Good times!

Last weekend Michael's mom, Martie, and his sister, Amanda, came down to see us and go to the Dallas Arboretum. If you don't recall (those of you that are Dallas-dwellers), the Arboretum always has the Pumpkin Festival in the fall which features the Pumpkin House. It's awesome. There are pumpkins everywhere, and even a house made completely out of pumpkins. Also, there are a few displays of rare gourds (stop now if this is boring you), which are actually quite interesting. My BB didn't have enough space on it for more pictures, so the Pepper Berry Plant (as I like to call it...mainly because I didn't get the name) will have to do. This is a hedge on the outside of the big grassy areas, but it caught my eye. It's some sort of pepper variety, but it looks like a black bush full of cranberries and blueberries. Gorgeous! Then we headed out for lunch at Cafe Lago, one of my favorite cafes in the city. Good times again!

Now I must get back to the productivity! Happy Halloween!

Crafty Gift

For Michael's birthday, I learned a craft.
Quit laughing.
I learned to crochet, and made him a scarf.



Also, there's a pussy in the basket.

Michael's 24th Birthday

Michael had his 24th birthday this past weekend-slash-Monday, and I'd like to share. I will blog about our Friday evening in a bit. I must get a picture after I procure a model...

Saturday night we went out for drinks with Michelle and Corban at Gingerman. It was really busy, and we decided to move on. After drinks at our apartment, we went over to a mutual friend's housewarming party in Carrollton. It was a good time!

Sunday Michael chose his pre-birthday dinner: roasted potato and leek soup, crusty bread and Sprinkles red velvet cake cupcakes. What a menu! He looked through all of my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks and decided on the soup. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-potato-leek-soup-recipe/index.html) It had roasted potatoes, roasted leeks, arugula, creme fraiche, white wine and Gruyere. It was so completely subliminal, I thought it must have had several sticks of butter. But no butter went into the recipe! Also, I made the crispy shallots to go on top -- another simple but incredible outcome. Anyway, I made everyone jealous at work with my leftover soup. And did I relish that jealousy? Of course. I will definitely make it again. And again.

Earlier that day, we picked up his birthday present from my family at Williams-Sonoma, which I will write about soon, and while we were there, we grabbed a Sprinkles cupcake mix. Now, I am not one to endorse cake mixes, for obvious reasons. The icing was amazing, but the cake itself wasn't the best. It was really rather dry, and not intensely-flavored as I had originally thought it would be. They looked very cute, though. Also, the package said it made 12 cupcakes (more than enough for two people, for sure), and the batter amount could easily confuse a home baker into thinking it made 24. Usually, with cupcakes you only fill the wrapper 2/3 or even 1/2 full - you don't want spillage on the tin. There was a TON of batter to be used, but I stuffed it into the wrappers in the hopes they would come out decently. Maybe that contributed to the dryness? Either way, I have come to a final conclusion. We'll be sure to buy them from the actual store next time!

Now for the birthday present. THE birthday present. Michael decided we were in horrendous need of a set of "good knives." (Surely an idea placed in his head by the one-and-only Ina Garten.) So, he asked for the Wustof knives from Williams-Sonoma, and now they sit in the kitchen. I feel so chefy! Except for they're his, and I am only privileged with the use one of the knives under supervision. ;) I have a tendency to slice through my fingers with super sharp knives.

Finally, Monday was Michael's actual birthday, which means even more celebrating. I made him a nice medium rare steak, roasted root vegetables, roasted Parmesan and garlic broccoli, and crusty bread. Then, more birthday red velvet cake cupcakes. It was a wonderful birthday weekend according to the old man!

Weather

It will be 85 degrees today in Dallas, Texas.

It will be 64 degrees in Boston, Massachusetts.

It's October. Why do I live here?

October is Here!

This weekend has been a good one, and it's not over! We made steak last night, and paired it with a Merlot and heirloom tomatoes. Simple, but filling and exactly what we wanted. Then, today we've made some plans, went grocery shopping, and relaxed at the apartment. Tomorrow my parents are hosting a birthday celebration for Michael at their house in Sherman. My mom is making chicken fried steak, green beans, yeast rolls, and a Bride's cake. I'm bringing smashed garlic-Parmesan potatoes and cards. We haven't been to Sherman for more than a month now, so that will be nice.

I went on an interview for an internship last Friday, and I was hoping to hear from them by the middle of next week. It turns out that they aren't going to make a decision until the end of November! Ugh. I'm a little put-off, but I'll just carry on with other avenues. We'll see what happens around Thanksgiving.

Presently, there is a Brenden Fraser movie marathon on HBO. I never knew he was in so many action movies. Anyway, we caught most of Journey to the Center of the Earth, and it wasn't bad. I never read the book, so I didn't catch most of the references to the text. Did anyone read it? I think I might throw it on my never-ending to-read list. There's no more room on my bookshelves at home!

On another note, I bought my first computer game...ever. Don't laugh. I haven't ever been into the computer or video game thing, so this will be interesting. I think it's a kids game, but it seems like a good time to me:

Busy Bee

I'm stopping for a few minutes (and I said a few) to say that things have been super busy this week, and I haven't had a chance to update ye olde blog. I will have a huge update by the beginning of next week, if all goes well. I don't want to jinx myself, as I seem to have in the past. Keep me in your thoughts, people!

Texas Rangers Game

Last night Michael took me to the Texas Ranger game in Arlington. Of course we took the long way because of the traffic to Six Flags and the new Cowboys Stadium, but we got a close-up of both venues. Six Flags looked smaller than I remember.

Anyway, we arrived at the ballpark, parked and went in. We bought a corn dog, beer, a lemon chill, a taco salad, margaritas and bottled waters (to round everything out). We began watching the game, and I was becoming bored. I commented to Michael that the players needed to big-time spice it up to retain my attention, and then...the fifth inning happened. I witnessed my first grand slam (all bases loaded, and the batter hits a home run), and then an almost-grand slam - all in the same inning! Then we scored several more runs to win over Tampa Bay. It was a good game, and I'm glad I was there to watch the possible record-breaking that ensued. Ironically, that isn't the end of the story. The announcer said there would be fireworks 15 minutes after the game ended, so we decided to sick around. We were both finishing our treats when people started to stand up and begin grabbing in the air. A red flash came towards us, and Michael snatched it out of the air. It was a hat. A sweaty, red hat. We looked around, trying to piece together what had happened, and someone said it was Ian Kinsler's hat. I was shocked. We had the quote "hottest" Ranger's hat, according to two fans who were my age. It has the number 5 written on the inside of the hat's white lining. I looked it up - it's the exact size too. So, of course, I wanted to eBay it, but Michael snatched it out of my hands and said it's going to be an heirloom. Ha. Right, like anyone is going to remember Ian Kinsler 25 years from now. Unless he does something amazing. I whipped the hat into my purse because people were starting to close in on me. Anywho, we now have a Ranger's hat to keep for all eternity.

As I clutched onto my purse with the hat stuffed inside, ignoring verbalized ploys to buy the hat from others, I watched the fireworks. Blast after blast, the show went on for almost half an hour, sparkling and glittering. Maybe it was the greasy food or the funnel of frozen margarita mixed I'd had, but the fireworks were the best I've seen in a long time. It brings back memories of the parade and light show at Disney World (which is sad to me that my young memories automatically turn to Disney), and the gigantic fireworks that occurred after.
Anyway, eating terrible food, catching an actual player's hat and watching fireworks was a fantastic way to create a memory of attending a baseball game. Even if I didn't make it onto the Kiss-Cam.

Picture & Food Find-Caching

A few weekends ago, I mentioned going out with Kelly & Michelle. I wanted to post a photo for everyone - it was such a great night! The photo is from before we went out. (My ugly kitchen is in the background.)

Friday night Michael and I went on one of our Whole Foods Dates. This may seem odd to a few of you, but it's something of which we are able to get great enjoyment. We go with no purchase in mind (a dangerous concept to some), and just walk around looking at the different merchandise. We get something unfamiliar or unique (to us) every time. This time we purchased a Ram's Head Challah, two Rishi tea flavors (White Rose and a Lavender Oolong), and a White Beauty heirloom tomato.

Even though we live in the middle of the highest number of Jewish people in Dallas, we've never tried much of the Kosher food that infiltrates the markets. We picked up the Challah, and I have to say, it's delicious. It's made with a large number of eggs and a good amount of sugar, so it's a sweet and luxurious bread. The teas were VERY rich and a lot more intense than my usual teas, black and Earl Grey (http://www.rishi-tea.com/). Finally, the tomato. My sister brought some heirloom tomatoes for us to eat when she visited us for the Tech/UT game. I had never had an heirloom outside of the restaurant setting, so it was a very nice surprise. After trying the red and green varieties, I decided to try all of the rest: I found an Amish red and a White Beauty. The red was much the same as the other red variety I had tried, but the Beauty was buttery with an almost melty taste when you ate it. I made a lunch of tomatoes and bread. It was glorious.

Fall Foliage

It's beginning to be that time of year - when the weather gets colder, meals get bigger, and the leaves begin to change color. Below is an actual photo of the coastline of a New Hampshire river.
Gorgeous! I can't wait to go back again!
A short post today. I've got tons of things to do around the house, and not enough time to do it in!

Birthday Present

Michael and I purchased two things for the cats' birthday: a can of tuna and a bird feeder. We thought buying them toys would be just like any other holiday, so we went for something fun paired with something more lasting. Michael just hung the bird feeder this morning, and the cats cannot stop staring at it. No birds yet, though.