Paper vs. Wine

The traditional first anniversary gift is paper...and if by paper they meant a weekend in the Texas Hill Country, I'll take it.

Caleb surprised me with a weekend away to The Dunn's guest house in Wimberley, Texas. About halfway between Austin and San Antonio it's a sweet little town to unplug, antique, and drink some wine. After the stress of the move to Texas, it was perfect timing for a get-away.

Strawberry Blue Bell is my favorite :)

This beautiful gelato dessert was the end to a VERY delicious and VERY big meal at Trattoria Lisina. I had the Osso Bucco, delish.

I know.....

Ok, Ok...So I'm not the best or most consistent blogger. But at least I'm consistently NOT blogging...? eh?

Caleb is out of town this weekend, so I'm going to sit myself down and make myself blog. While I may not be able to update on everything that has happened in Funky Town (since September,...slacker). I'll cover some highlights so that we can move on from the awkward silence and continue the lovely life-updating conversation that is blogging.

Here's a picture to tide you over til the weekend.

This is Caleb and I in San Clemente this past weekend. We were in town for a wedding in Orange County. And if you're thinking that I look a little orange, do not adjust your televisions, I experienced my first airbrushed spray tan. In this photo I was still ripening, the end product was less orange I promise.

I'll post more about the wedding, because it was by far the most beautiful wedding I have ever been a part of. God is Good and He has blessed The Rodriguez's with a beautiful start to their marriage. One of those moments where I count myself blessed I could even be a witness.

Back to work...

Losing Bets is Delicious

So I know this isn't the big blogger comeback I was hoping for. But it's a start.

Sunday September 19th was a big day for Caleb and I. The Seahawks played the Broncos. We knew there had to be some type of wager to make it even more interesting. Loser cooks a fancy dinner the following Saturday (ummm agreed, I love cooking. and if I win, We'll probably go out somewhere nice :) But leave it to Seattle to shoot themselves in the foot over and over. Really you're going for it on 4th and 2? in field goal range? when you've already tried on 4th and inches and it didn't work?!?! AND you're behind?! UUUGHGH! But this is what most of us have come to expect from our beloved Seahawks. Fancy locks Pete Carol couldn't even save us from our worst enemy...ourselves.

But I digress. On to the meal that set the bet bar so high, that I can't wait to see what Caleb comes up with once I win something (Fantasy Football, week 7, Southbound 35ers v. Captain Tying Knots...it's on!)

I browsed Epicurious.com for recipe and menu inspirations, made a few tweaks, and this is what I came up with.


Antipasto:
Mango Spears tossed in Basalmic Vinegar, wrapped in baby arugula and thinly sliced Bresaola.

Salad:
Watercress, with razor thin radish and celeriac, tossed in a dijon vinaigrette.

Primo:
Linguine Pasta with Lobster and Peas, tossed in a light Mascarpone sauce

Secondi:
Cabernet Braised Short Ribs

Contorno:
Gorgonzola Mashed Potatoes

Dolci:
Apple, Goat Cheese and Honey Tartlets


I'm salivating just reading over this menu again. To start, the antipasto was killer. Velvety mango, tossed in sweet basalmic, wrapped in peppery arugula and savory salty Bresaola (like a proscuitto, except it's beef. Much better flavor in my opinion). Amazing! I should have made 20 but then we wouldn't have room for dinner. A great and easy appetizer or small plate for a gathering.

The menu originally called for a second side of sauted brussel sprouts, but I went for a pasta course instead. I told Caleb this, his comment : "Whenever you have Lobster instead of brussels sprouts....it's a good thing". What inspired the lobster dish was that Central Market (similar to a Whole Foods) had a sale on Fresh live lobster at $9.99 and pound!!! But, I wasn't going to attempt the Lobster dish unless the fish monger took care of the killing for me (I'm not a coward, just a time saver). You get to pick your Lobster, name him (Fred) then, FOR FREE, they steam it and throw it on ice for you. I will never be intimidated by lobster again. Very little work (messy getting the meat out, but fun:) and TOTALLY worth the party on your taste buds.

Also, the contorno originally called for gorgonzola polenta. I have tried several times to get Caleb to like polenta. I've cooked it creamy, cheesy, toasted, with BACON....the guy does not like polenta. Not wanting to beat a dead horse, I switched to red potatoes, boiled them in chicken stock and the result was amazing! I made enough for leftovers and those are quickly disappearing. We will use this recipe for mashed potatoes again and again.

Sweet, fatty, short ribs falling off the bone. Nothing else needs to be said other than I thought I had ruined them. In all my measurement and timing conversions from 8 servings to 2, I didn't reduce the time the ribs were in the oven, I'm an idiot, Jesus saved the ribs. I pulled out the pot and the sauce was totally burnt along with blackened short ribs which I thought would be like little meat bricks. Chicken stock to save the day! I pulled the ribs from the pot and kept them covered so they could rest. I added a bit more cab to the sauce. Brought it to a boil added the thickener, and some chicken stock. Let it cook while I got everything else plated and put together, and voila! Amazing sauce and just slightly overcooked short ribs. With that much fatty goodness, it's hard for these not to go right. Even me, who thought I totally botched it, was able to put something on the table that was delicious, not too filling, the perfect bar setter for any upcoming bets!


Next time I do a major menu I'll take pictures. Fail! Sorry!

New Bookshelf!

We have finally unpacked the last of the boxes in our apartment! There were a few left full of books, and when we couldn't find the right bookshelf to fit our space...we made one! Actually, I can't say "we" on this at all. Caleb did an amazing job!

I was supposed to take pictures with it empty...but I got too excited and started filling it with books before I remembered.

Halloween!

What are we going to be for Halloween?! We asked that about one hundred times, never really figuring anything out until the last minute. So we used what we had... an awesome Ski onesie from Newbees in Buena Vista and Caleb's red union suit. He was an old prospector, I was a ski-bum. But together we were "Onsie in Christ".


To all our friends who have kids, your halloween blog pictures were way cuter. But until we have kids of our own...our pictures will continue to be rediculous. Hope you all had a great holiday!

Southern Hospitatlity

It was off to Clemson, South Carolina for the wedding of Mark Loyd (Caleb's Cousin) and Brittany Robinson (our god friend and fellow intern from Crooked Creek!). The weekend started off with a bang..or maybe I should say a crash. An unexpected ice storm came in over night leaving the interstates more like skating rinks. After seeing several spin-outs and accidents we were driving very carefully. But careful doesn't matter when you hit a patch of ice. We swerved one way, we swerved the other and ran right into the guard rail, then spun around and hit it again! A jarring way to start off our trip. The car was still drivable (the major damage was just to the front and rear bumpers). So we continued on to the airport. Thankfully we made it on our flight (due to the weather, there were a lot of people who missed their flight. Sad for them, but us non-revs rejoice!). They now have live TV on the newer Delta aircrafts. Which is really exciting for us since we don't have cable at home. I had to soak it in! As I was browsing I kept nudging Caleb to look at what was on. He was trying to sleep...

"Caleb, look! Paula Dean is making brownies"

death stare, nod, close eyes

"Caleb...animal planet! Look at the cheetah!"

longer death stare, close eyes

"Caleb...caleb"

Ok, at this point he wanted to strangle me with the airplane blanket...

"College Game Day! They have ESPN"

Well look who perked right up! Grabbed his head phones and got to watching.

Our travel arrangements were with the legendary Pete Buhls of Jasper, GA (one of our intern friends). So good to see him and witness the Notorious BIG sing-a-long that started about halfway through the two hour drive to Clemson.

The Rehearsal Dinner was at The Pompous Pig in Anderson and I'm pretty sure we all ate way too much BBQ. It was delicious!

Aunt Debi and June

It's a little blurry, but that's a Yuengling, America's oldest brewery. Only distributed in the East, well worth the trip

Robot Arm! Brita, it's because we're jealous.


Crooked Creek Interns!


We had to throw in a shakey face pic.

Here's the big day! Ceremony and reception at The Madran Center in Clemson, SC.

A little Horse-Balls before the wedding


Caleb and I with the Beautiful Bride!


Interns lovin' Brita's Robot Arm


I don't know what's supposed to be happening here...but I like it


Beautiful Sunset! had to capture it!

Fall Camping

Wanting to take advantage of the beautiful leaves turning up in the mountains we scheduled a camping double-date with Scott and Kelsey (Caleb's sister and brother-in-law). They found a great spot just outside of keystone, right on a river amid a sea of fall colors! It was a great time until we had to put the fire out and head to our tents...which were covered in frost! Needless to say it was a pretty cold night. But a great weekend get away none-the-less. Enjoy the pictures! and we'll probably wait 'til next summer to drag out that camping gear again :)

Yup...That cold!

Toothpaste, Tylenol, and on our way to build a fire!

Beautiful camping spot. Nice find LoMurrays!

We love our new tent, "The Kingdom"(I call it The Kingdome :)

Thanks Todd and Suzanne!