Myrtle Beach baby!

I am seriously SOOOO excited for my trip to Myrtle Beach in a few weeks! I've never been to Myrtle Beach before (let alone South Carolina). I am excited to have 5 days of bumming around, laying out by the pool, wading in the ocean - just maxin' and relaxin'. Randy & I need a break!

I have to admit, I'm not a huge "ocean" person. It may be due to my upbringing in the landlocked Midwest, where the biggest body of water I saw was Lake Petersburg. Maybe seeing "Jaws" one too many times has something to do with it as well. But I think the experience that tainted the ocean for me was the first time I ever tried surfing on a Carolina beach.

I was with a friend at her beach house and her brother & boyfriend tried to teach me how to surf. I had only splashed around in the ocean a bit but hadn't gone too deep out there - which obviously is a necessity if you're going to catch any waves. Before going in, I asked her about any creepy crawlies in the water and she mentioned that there are some jellyfish - but she never knew anyone who has ever been stung by one. So I took comfort in that and braved the deep ocean water (Ok so my feet could almost touch the bottom so it wasn't that deep...but it makes the story sound better, doesn't it?).

It was my first time trying to get up on the surfboard and I started screaming in pain - my left leg and right foot were on fire! The boys brought me to shore (I think they were half relieved to see that I had all my limbs intact) and examined my leg & foot. Sure enough - a jelly fish got me. Nobody wanted to pee on me to get the sting out (and even though it hurt SO bad I wasn't up for that either) so I had to hobble back to her beach house to get some meat tenderizer to rub on it (which, oddly enough, worked). I think that happened was that the jelly fish stung the back of my leg & then I kicked it. All I know for sure is that I had a huge painful welt for a few days.

Since then I've only stayed close to the shore. But who knows? Maybe this vacation I will decide to venture out in the deep water again. Then again I might just hang out by the pool and drink mai thais.

Things I used to believe ...

This morning on my way to work I was listening to my favorite morning show. They were talking about "what you used to believe" when you were a kid. I chuckled when I heard one lady said that she thought if you touched an "outie" belly button that it would make the person's legs fall off and one guy said that he used to believe winter was caused by too many kids leaving the refrigerator door open.

The innocence of a child is precious - it is something that you will never get back. In a world full of harsh realities, it's nice to think back to a simpler time - when the biggest thing you worried about was what you were going to have for a snack. Here are a few things that I used to think way back when:

- New Jersey was a far off kingdom with kings and queens. When people used to ask me where on the entire earth I wanted to go, I would say in a voice of wonderment "New Jersey."

- If you picked your nose a bug in your head might chew your finger off (I think I got that from a Shel Silverstein poem!)

- Everyone's teeth & gums were removable. My gramma has dentures & I remember one time she took them out & showed them to me - I thought everyone's teeth did that & I couldn't understand why I couldn't take mine out too.

- My ultimate goal in life was to be a waitress at Pizza Hut.

Here are some ideas that I had - that I think were pretty common:

- If you ate a watermelon seed that you'd grow one in your belly.

- If you crossed your eyes then they'd stick like that!

- Chocolate milk came from brown cows.



What are some of the silly things that you believed as a kid?

I knew it!!

My mom is a Photoshop Junkie ... this is how the "family picture" looked this year:


my momma is so creative!!

Family get-together

I live far away from my family - My parents are in Illinois, but I also have a sister that lives in Oregon (+3 nieces), one in Chicago (+1 nephew) and a brother in Indiana (+1 niece). It's not often that the entire clan gets together. So we designate Thanksgiving as our family get-together, but my oldest sister can't usually make it. So instead she comes during the summer.

That is what's going on right now as we speak. Janelle got into town earlier this week and the rest of the sibs are heading down to my parents' house for the weekend. This will be the first time that the entire clan (my parents, 3 siblings and the entire crew of nieces & nephews) will be together since 2005...and that wasn't even complete because I wasn't able to make it. Unfortunately I am not able to make it home this weekend either so I will be the odd man out. I'm super bummed!

The last time I saw Janelle was in 2006 - and I haven't seen her 2 oldest daughters since 2001!! They're growing up so fast and I hate that I have to watch them grow up through pictures! Family get-togethers like this are the main reason that I hate living so far away.

Last time everyone was together, they took a "family picture" and this is what it looked like:


Too bad that's not a framed pic of my Glamorshots that I got in 3rd grade. Now THAT would be a great family portrait!

BBQ

Depending on where you live in the country, there are different definitions to what "BBQ" is. There's Memphis-style (pork with a dab of cole slaw on top), Texas-style (brisket with sauce on the side) and then there's Carolina BBQ. The locals rant and rave about their barbecue - but I must say that I'm not too impressed. The meat is marinated in a vinegar-based sauce - with no red sauce to be found. People from all over the country live in our area, so many local joints have some sauce available on the side to try & appease us northerners - but it, too, is a vinegar sauce and I am just not a fan of the BBQ in this area.

I blame this on my upbringing - when living in TX it just didn't feel right eating brisket all the time. The BBQ of my youth is my preferred variation. This is something Randy & I both agree on - pulled pork with a sweet red sauce incorporated.

And we just found the best place for this kind - - our kitchen. Yes, ladies and gentlemen I am a barbecue goddess.

Last night I made the slow cooker pork BBQ recipe (posted on here earlier this week) and it is DIVINE. I mean seriously it is delicious. I made Randy a big sandwich heaping with the goods - which he promptly wolfed down. Not only was it SUPER easy to make but it was also very scrumptious - the sweet sauce was amazing. Randy is not a "left-overs" person - but he requested that we eat the remaining pork BBQ tonight.

**p.s. that recipe came from Cooking Light's sister magazine, "All You." I think I'll start looking for recipes in that magazine to try out. This was just THAT good.**

Restaurante Bethy

Wow, I just want to let everyone know that I tried THE BEST seafood place this weekend - it's called "North Seafood Bistro". It's in my friend Sara's new neighborhood and seriously this place was PHENOMINAL. I had one of the weekend specials - a peach/cranberry salmon with peach chutney on top. Wow. The salmon had this delicious crust on it - I even spoke with the chef before we left so I could rave about his cooking! They had a very extensive menu - I also want to try their coconut shrimp (I hear they're TO DIE FOR), crab cakes, and their shrimp quesadilla also looked delicious!

The menu at Restaurante Bethy isn't quite as exensive - - but these are the specials this week. This week I decided to do a main dish, a new side & a slow cooker recipe.

Fresh Tortellini with Mushrooms

Cheddar Grit Cakes w/Roasted Peppers

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork

We're going to eat GOOOD this week!! And plus the chef rocks.

This is the greatest ...

This is HILARIOUS! Dogs really are special creatures - they keep us entertained (whether they know it or not!)

Read this - - you'll laugh your face off.

What "silly" thing do you do to keep yourself entertained at home?

Long awaited update on recipes ...

I know that you have been holding your breath in eager anticipation of my recipe reviews from last week. Let me say that, first of all, I was bad this week and didn't look through my binder before going to the grocery store (I went after work on Monday) so this week we've not tried anything new - however, I have been cooking! Monday we had flatbread pizzas, Tuesday was spaghetti, and last night we ate sloppy joes & corn on the cob. I had been CRAVING corn on the cob & seriously it was DELISH!!

Back to last week's recipes, though. I have the same record that I had the previous week - I only got to 2 of the 3 recipes I picked out. But I was very happy with both side dishes that we had.

The garlic fries were TO DIE FOR. Seriously, they were stellar. They were a bit more time consuming to make than frozen fries, but it was totally worth the wait. I must admit, I wasn't paying complete attention when I was making the fries - I read "4 teaspoons of oil" on the recipe as "4 tablespoons" - so I was a bit worried and ended up sopping up some of the excess oil before they went into the oven. The fries were still super delicious and crispy - just not "lite". The Parmesan cheese adds a great dimension of flavor and, as I just said, they were very crispy and perfect. My one suggestion is that I used half the amount of garlic that it called for. I thought 8 cloves would have been a bit much.

The Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Shallot Butter was a hit as well! I love roasting vegetables (so much tastier than steaming - especially with asparagus, you still get a bit of crunch!) and the sauce was a great pairing. The balsamic vinegar added a tinge of sweetness to the dish. I don't have any recommendations for tweaking this recipe. Asparagus is still in season so you can get great produce for cheaper right now.

So next week I will once again start picking out new recipes to try. Lindsay told me about this Tortellini Salad that she made last week - I will have to try that! Sounds like a great summer recipe.

One more little bit: Can I just say how I love cooking during late Spring/Summer months? YUMMY, fresh produce!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is my best friend's birthday! Lindsay turns the big 2-6. Last year I was part of her birthday celebrations (her family flew me out to TX to "almost" surprise her) and I really wish I could be part of her big day today. But, alas, I am geographically undesirable to attend any birthday festivities.

To celebrate I thought I would jot down a few things about Lindsay and why she's such a special friend.

- I have known her for 8 years now - we were "twins" in our college sorority. She really does feel like family! Even though we're 1000 miles away I still talk to her every day!! (I talk to her more than I do my blood relatives!)

- Lindsay helped me discover the "joy of cooking"! In grad school, I used to go to her place every Thursday and we'd make a new recipe and watch Grey's Anatomy & Ugly Betty. She is still the best cook I know! She's always inventing new recipes - and she's my go-to person when I want a culinary opinion!

- She makes me laugh like none other. When she starts to laugh it seriously is contagious! And we have a similar sense of humor so we do a lot of laughing when we're together. She's great at cheering people up, too!

- A few adjectives to describe her: supportive, kind, thoughtful, honest, genuine

- She helps her friends out in anyway she can - when I had mono (and no TV) she brought me a TV from her house, along with a GIANT shopping bag full of movies, tv shows - everything I needed to stay sane while recuperating. She also helped me clean my apartment when I neglected it for 2 months. (oops!) And she was there for me during the bumps in the road of life. She's never too busy for a phone call or visit with a friend in need.

- I really miss Lindsay a LOT. She is a one-in-a-million kind of friend and I have been so blessed to have her in my life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSAY!!

p.s. I wish I could have a big ole slice of Italian Creme (birthday) cake with you today!

The long & short of things

It's an age-old dilemma: LONG hair or SHORT hair? Ever since I was little, I have had short hair. In fact, my mom always kept my hair short and my sister's hair long so that people could tell us apart (my sister was known as "Laurie Long-Hair").

The longest I have ever had my hair IN MY ENTIRE LIFE is to my clavicles. My hair is on the fine side (although I have a lot of it!) and I've always thought that my hair would be stringy looking if I had it long. I would love to have long, luxurious locks - - but I know myself. Once it gets to a certain length I always throw it up in a ponytail & don't do much with it. I get fed up with it and chop it off. It seems that I'm growing my hair only to be able to chop it off!

Don't get me wrong, I like having shorter hair - - I've had it all my life. I must admit, there are so many fun styles - bangs, layers, bobs (believe me I've had them all!). But inevitably I decide that I'm tired of the hassle of having short hair and vow that I will grow my hair out. And so the vicious cycle begins once again.

That's where I am right now - my hair has grown out to about an inch above my shoulders (my once-stylish bangs now hang down to my nose - - I'm channeling my inner Cousin It) and I find myself yearning for long hair. Since I haven't ever grown my hair out, maybe this will be the change I was looking for. At first I thought I'd try to grow it out another 6" - - however I threw that out the window when my internet research told me that hair only grows between 1/4" - 1/2" per month. So I'm aiming to grow it out until the end of the year and see how I like it. So I now vow - - NO DRASTIC HAIRCUTS UNTIL 2010!!

Do you think I can do it?

Off to the zoo we go!

The weather this weekend was GORGEOUS and we decided to take a little road trip ... to the NC ZOO! It's about an hour away in Asheboro, NC (well, the way I drive it's more like an hour and a half). It is a GREAT zoo - it has 5 miles of paths to visit all the animals! They have a portion dedicated to North American animals and the other is for African wildlife. There was everything from ocelots to gorillas, lions to snakes. We were there for about 4 hours or so - and we had to high-tail it through the last section to get out of the park before it closed (we missed out on the lions. Bummer!) Since I have been a bad picture-taker lately I made sure to document the great things that we experienced yesterday.

WE ...

... started the day out with a picnic! (It was a surprise for Randy) ...

... were attacked by killer bees ...

... started a fight with a polar bear ...


... went on an African safari ...

... saw MANY animals, including gators ...

... the magestic giraffe ...

... the ginormous elephant ...

... the baboons as they groomed each other ...

... saw THE NASTIEST thing ever involving this gorilla. This picture shows him "pooing" into his hand, which HE THEN ATE!! Everyone watching was super grossed out (with good reason!) ...

... but the highlight was spending the day with the man I love (who looks so excited in this picture, by the way!) ...

I found it!!

I love little coffee shops -I will settle for Starbucks in a pinch, but I never ever get their drip coffee. There's something about a little, privately owned coffee shop that makes me happy inside. Maybe it's the homey atmosphere, smiling faces that know you by name, or maybe it's the fact that I'm supporting small businesses. Maybe it's just the flavored coffee that makes my heart go pitter patter.

My hometown has THE BEST little coffee shop - The Bean Counter. It's owned by this really sweet local couple that roasts and flavors their own beans. I even worked there before moving to Nashville. They have really spoiled me - the coffee is so fresh and doesn't have that awful burnt taste that Starbucks coffee has. I still drink Bean Counter coffee - my mom has to ship it to me in bulk! (If you're interested, visit their website, they ship!)

When I lived in Waco I found a few good little places - everyone knows about Common Grounds - but there was also a coffee shop, Beatnix, out by MCC that I frequented. I mean to the point where as soon as I walked in they knew me by name and started making my drink (large hazelnut coffee with 2 splendas & skim - thank you!). I also really liked this place because it was off the beaten path and wasn't as crazy busy all the time as CG was. It was a great place to go & study.

Living in Durham I found a few good bakery/cafes but since moving to Raleigh a year ago I had yet to find a cute little place to call my coffeehouse of choice. UNTIL about a month ago. A new place opened about 5 min from work called "It's a Grind" (I love coffeehouse name puns!). They have a drive through so I can even get some on days where I'm running late. Unfortunately they don't roast their own beans - but their vanilla nut coffee is splendid.

So as I sit down to work, I smile to myself and I know that the morning will go down a bit smoother with my yummy flavored coffee in hand.

Culinary Quests for the week

So, last week I only got to 2 of the recipes that I picked out - the Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce & the Sesame-Orange Shrimp/Chicken Stir Fry. I have picked out the new recipes for the week - but first I wanted to share my thoughts on these 2 new recipes.

Chicken w/Mushroom Sauce - I would give this a 3 / 5 rating. The chicken breasts were fine - but I wasn't too crazy about the sauce. It literally looked (and smelled) like homemade cream of mushroom soup - and was very watered down. I tried to thicken it up - but it only helped a little. The sauce didn't stick to the noodles or the chicken, so even though the sauce was poured over top of the dish, you had to try and sop some of the sauce up with each bite. I would have liked this recipe much better if the sauce were thicker and creamier. It was o.k. - Randy liked it - but I don't think I'll go out of my way to make this again. However I did like the variety of mushrooms in the dish.

Sesame-Orange Shrimp/Chicken Stir Fry - WOW. This was soo good. I give it a 4.5 / 5 rating. I forgot to buy more rice at the grocery store, so I used rice (pad thai) noodles and it was better than it would have been with the rice. The sauce is zesty and coats the veggies/meat well. The only thing I would change would be to add some orange zest to the sauce to give it some extra citrus flavor. But all in all, I will definitely make this recipe again - and will always use the noodles instead of the rice.

This weekend I was working on my "Binder" (I cut out/paste recipes to try from Cooking Light - I started the binder 5 years ago - - it's HUGE!) and I noticed that I had a lot of side dishes that I wanted to try, so this week I'm going to try some of those out. They are:

- Pasta with pesto (never made pesto before - but I wanted to use up the basil I didn't get to last week & it's also an excuse to use my food processor!!)

- Italian Chicken (chicken dredged in Italian breadcrumbs & garlic, pan fried) with Roasted Asparagus with Balsalmic Shallot Butter. I'll serve my chulla bread with this.

- Hamburgers with Garlic Fries (one of my clients gave me a great trick to use when making burgers - when forming the patties use some tomato sauce - I use the kind with Oregano & Basil - it makes the burgers extra juicy and gives it another dimension of flavor)

Last night I made meatloaf - I've made this before but I really particularly like this recipe from Cooking Light. Last night I made an actual loaf instead of the muffins. I served it with steamed broccoli and mashed sweet potato.

Bon apetit!