Our life

Friday, December 16, 2011

Halfway There

I am halfway done with my graduate school education! Pretty exciting....

This week was:

-Roasted cauliflower - why is it that every vegetable is so much better roasted? I honestly never have particularly cared about cauliflower, but roasted? Amazing.
-Said cauliflower and roasted sweet potatoes made into a warm salad with balsamic/olive oil/dijon/honey dressing. Best thing I've made in a while. It doesn't look like much, but if you like sweet potatoes I will make it for you sometime. Delish. And if you don't like sweet potatoes, don't tell me. Because I think that may be a travesty. ;).



-Hot chocolate at Hartford. Num!

-Puppy in a sunny window. Gertie is actually part cat ;)

 -And now I am definitely feeling festive. No school and the holidays coming quickly!!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

December Harvest

No joke. One of the first few days of December, Robin took out our sad little front garden, and got this guy out of it! I could hardly believe we had a December pepper.

Cupcakes for a dinner party. I do love my little pastry bag for piping frosting!

And when I do them correctly, my mother's recipe for crazy cake is the best chocolate cake one bowl can make!

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder 
2 t baking soda
2 T vinegar
3/4 c vinegar
2 c cold water

Mix all the ingredients together, pour in 9x13 (or in my case, lots of muffin tins) and bake at 350 (I think theoretically about 35 minutes?). I topped these with some cherry jam and egg white frosting.

Any cake recipe that is easy enough I can recite from memory is good by me!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Feeling Festive

As all students are well aware, these weeks are crazy. Between school and papers and tests and presentations and trying to feel festive and get ready for the holidays, I don't know where the days go. But my "finals week" is a lot more calm than several previous weeks, so I am snuggled up with the pup on the couch. It doesn't get much better than that.

My last week has been full of:
-Coconut curry potato soup:

Chicken stock, coconut milk, curry, potatoes carrots and kale. Pretty decent and everything is better served with avocado ;). 

-Baked kale: last week I was listening to NPR and they gave a kale recipe, and one of the broadcasters disliked kale pretty strongly, and even the one who was giving the recipe stated he didn't think anyone could be passionate about kale. He obviously never met me!

 
I honestly think I could eat an entire bunch of kale in one sitting when it's tossed with olive oil seasoned and baked at 400. 

-Christmas trees, puppies and Christmas music. 



-Food from University Grill with two of my favorite people in the world: 
The hole in the wall Korean place is amazing. Definitely made Applied Linear Modeling work better! 

I hope your week is full of good food, good friends, and twinkling lights too! 


Friday, December 2, 2011

Happy Birthday Gertie!

Today our sweet girl is 1!


With Gertie, life is a lot more complicated but a lot more wonderful. And when she's snuggled up by my feet, I truly believe that happiness IS a warm puppy.

So here's to many more years of Gertie!

And a final 4 things:

27. Christmas approaching, and a wreath from Diane and Jeff! It's hanging on our front door - Gertie still feels the need to save us from the wreath, but it looks lovely.

28. Living close enough to walk to a variety of things. Just recently, there is a new consignment shop!

29. Down comforters.

30. Gertie's antics.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Glimpse of Gertie


Watch this video (mute the sound for best effect) to see a fantastic impression of Gertie on an average prowl around the house. It's ridiculous how similar this paper dinosaur's mannerisms are to hers.

Happy Thursday.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving

We headed to Milwaukee to visit Kathy and Bilhenry on Tuesday and got home Friday night. We had a great few food-filled days.

Gertie had a blast - Kathy found a dog park really close to their house, so we brought Gertie there every day. Such a cool spot!

We got to see where Kathy works, study a bit, play Scrabble, watch Water for Elephants, take a walk, and help with lots of cooking!

Thanksgiving dinner....


Making the glasses sing: 

Bilhenry's birthday brunch the next morning:
One of our several trips to the dog park:

All in all, a very lovely trip.

I am thankful for:

22. Dog parks and seeing a crazy puppy really run.

23. Delicious food.

24. Families of all shapes and sizes. We're lucky enough to have 3 pretty great ones!

25. Warm beds on rainy days.

26. The promise of another holiday filled with family, friends, and food (and no homework) in just under a month!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Soup and a Short Week

We made the first exciting meal we have had in while last night: black bean soup in the slow cooker. It was really good.

Black Bean Soup:
1.5 cups dried black beans, rinsed.
6 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced 
green onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper 

avocado and cilantro, for garnish.

1. Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours.
2. Blend 1/4 of the soup and return to pot.

We ate it with avocado toast and brown rice, and a mixture of creme fraiche and cilantro. I was a little skeptical the soup would even work, as I hadn't soaked the black beans. But it was really good, and between the rice cooker and the crock pot it was almost the meal that made itself!

I only have terrible photos, but that's what happens when it gets dark at 5 and there's no natural light to be had, I suppose.
So basically black bean soup and our crock pot are my new best friends.

Unrelated, but Patrick Dougherty has a new sculpture on Wash U's campus. He had a piece at Grinnell while we were there, and I think his work is just stunning. This piece is no different:


Today I am thankful for:

19. Shortened academic weeks.

20. Slow cookers and satisfying meals.

21. My Steger mukluk slippers. They might be my favorite clothing item all winter long.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Another Fall Friday

This week was long. Really long. And then I went for a run with Gertie in the park. And ran errands with Robin. And it didn't seem so long anymore. My do I love Fridays.



Gertie wasn't so sure about the ducks...
Today I am thankful for many things....among them are:

15. Fridays

16. AAA, because flat tires are a lot less terrible with some expert help.  

17. Phone chats with mothers.

18. A warm house and a mug full of hot apple cider.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Fall, Food, and Friends

Another gorgeous weekend in St. Louis. Steve was here and it flew by. Our weekend revolved around food, which anyone who knows me is probably significantly less than surprised.

Friday night (pre-Steven), we had dinner with Phoebe's parents. Phoebe and Nick have an amazing apartment just a few blocks away, and Leah and James joined in. Such a fun evening!





Then we picked Steve up: Saturday was filled with walking the dog, lazy afternoon movie, and dinner at Brasserie, a French restaurant we have been meaning to try.




Delicious cupcakes from The Cup

Penguin exhibit at the Zoo

There's an indoor portion we have to take Ridley and Haley to next time!

Delicious salad Steven and Robin made 


This weekend reminded me of a lot of things I am grateful for.

12. Friends who will span my lifetime. This weekend it was Steven, who took the time, energy and money to make the trek to St. Louis. Additionally, he made a fabulous dinner and explicitly asked me not to help, which is an extra bonus. We are blessed with a number of friends who will span my lifetime, and though they may not reside in St. Louis always, we will have all sorts of cool places to visit when we are grown-ups.

13. Professors who go the extra mile to explain hard concepts. Because epidemiology is not easy, but having professors who take the time to hold office hours the Sunday before an exam makes it better.

14. Fresh flowers. And partners who pick them up while grocery shopping.

Friday, November 11, 2011

For the Love of Friday

St. Louis is not a trendy city. The summers are too hot, there is no cross country skiing, and no easily accessible fresh water. Many of my classmates are adamant they are exiting as soon as classes end, and I understand that view. I could use more family closer, some skiing, and some swimming too. But on a day like today, running through the park with the dog, anyone who can't find some love in their heart for St. Louis doesn't have much of a heart.

So I can add a fourth genre of things on the blog: photos of the park. Today I have nothing but photos of the park.... 



This weekend I am super pumped about Steve visiting. I am not so pumped about homework. But both of these things will happen. Dinner with Phoebe's parents tonight, Steve in late. Between now and then, Epidemiology! 
Today I am thankful for: 

9. Legs that move (mostly) how I want them to. 

10. Helpful academic advisors and the promise of another semester with new things to learn. 

11. Hot showers. Even better, hot showers after a run.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

6-7-8

6. I am thankful for hot coffee and heated seats on rainy days.

7. I am thankful for friends. The fact that I live three blocks from Phoebe makes this neighborhood soar in the coolness factor.

8. I am thankful for academic things with due dates. Because when they are done they are done!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Saturday in St. Louis

Today is the most beautiful fall day in St. Louis. Sunny and cool with lovely fall colors. A perfect day for a morning walk with the dog.





I am going to work on a month of being thankful as well. So here are 5 to start me off:
1. I am thankful for sunshine and fall colors.

2. I am thankful for Tower Grove Park, probably my favorite place in St. Louis:

3. I am thankful for a healthy and happy puppy, with lots of quirks and lots of character.
4. I am thankful for Ridley Dexter, a pretty fabulous kid who turns 3 today. Happy birthday from Raya and Nonny!
 5. I am thankful for Robin, who sees me at my worst and loves me anyway. Because that's the biggest gift I can imagine.  This article pretty much sums it up.

Here's hoping your Saturday is full of sunshine!