1 day ago
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Beach Bums
From A:
Vacation time is coming up! Here is the vacation condo where we'll be staying:
Here is the back patio at the condo:
Vacation time is coming up! Here is the vacation condo where we'll be staying:
Here is the back patio at the condo:And here is the view of the beach:
Jealous?
Friday, November 20, 2009
Just 5 Minutes
From A:
Word travels fast around the hospital where I work. Apparently, Tim Tebow came to see the new hospital today on a Congressional tour. As soon as I heard about it, I did what any good Gator fan would... grabbed my camera and attempted to find him. It turns out that I missed his departure from the building by about 5 minutes. Boo.
I guess since I didn't get a picture with him to post, I'll have to settle for his cover of Men's Fitness:
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
A Gets a New Look
From A:
I have a couple of new looks lately.
First, I got my hair cut... and not just a trim... it's short (for me)!
And second, I am now the proud owner of my very own scrubs. Scrubs will be my work look for the next couple of days while I'm in the Emergency Room doing some process mapping.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Pie Bake-Off
From A:
Today at work, we had a building-wide chili and pie bake-off. I made a pie for the competition. There were 12 total pie entries, including peanut butter pie, cookies and cream pie, two pumpkin pies, french silk pie, blackberry pie, ice cream pie, and a few others... including two cornbread pies. I'm not sure what was up with those except that perhaps they were meant to accompany the chili.
My recipe, chocolate chip pecan pie, took second place! If you'd like to recreate my masterpiece in your own home, here is how you do it:
Today at work, we had a building-wide chili and pie bake-off. I made a pie for the competition. There were 12 total pie entries, including peanut butter pie, cookies and cream pie, two pumpkin pies, french silk pie, blackberry pie, ice cream pie, and a few others... including two cornbread pies. I'm not sure what was up with those except that perhaps they were meant to accompany the chili.
My recipe, chocolate chip pecan pie, took second place! If you'd like to recreate my masterpiece in your own home, here is how you do it:
Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
Ingredients
Crust:
1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
Filling and Topping:
¾ cup light corn syrup
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1 teaspoon shortening
Directions
1. Heat oven to 325ºF. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on pie crust box.
2. In large bowl, beat corn syrup, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and eggs with wire whisk. Stir in pecans and ¾ cup of the chocolate chips. Spread evenly in crust-lined plate. Cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.
3. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 15 to 25 minutes longer or until pie is deep golden brown and filling is set. Cool 15 minutes.
4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips and the shortening uncovered on high 1 minute; stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over top of pie.
Serve pie warm or cool.
Happy Baking!!!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
El Presidente
From A:
On Friday, J and I were able to have lunch at the president's house. Not the president of the country, but the president of the University of Florida. And no, he didn't personally invite us to dine with him. Actually, contrary to the name, the president doesn't actually live at the president's house. Former presidents of the university have lived in the house, but the current president decided to reside elsewhere and allow the house to be used for university functions. Which is neat, because otherwise I doubt we would have ever seen the inside. Plus, it probably minimizes the number of times the house gets rolled (a police officer was stationed at the house during our event to make sure all the engineers didn't get out of hand and start devising clever ways to utilize pyrotechnics).
The reason for our visit was a luncheon for my engineering department's anniversary celebration. We ate at tables set up in the backyard of the house, but the first floor inside was open for everyone to get their curiosity fix. It's a very nice house, complete with a reading room and piano. Here is J in front of the piano:
Here I am in another part of the house. I'm not really sure what this room is intended to be since there is only a single table with a floral arrangement on it:
And here I am at the huge table in the dining room. This must be where all the student government officers schmooze important people in an attempt to get more money to spend on fingerprint identification scanners for the campus gyms.
And for the most entertaining photo, there were a bunch of boxes of wine on the back patio of the house. This is especially comical due to the firm anti-alcohol policy the president implemented when he started at the university. But once again, we can probably blame student government for it:
On Friday, J and I were able to have lunch at the president's house. Not the president of the country, but the president of the University of Florida. And no, he didn't personally invite us to dine with him. Actually, contrary to the name, the president doesn't actually live at the president's house. Former presidents of the university have lived in the house, but the current president decided to reside elsewhere and allow the house to be used for university functions. Which is neat, because otherwise I doubt we would have ever seen the inside. Plus, it probably minimizes the number of times the house gets rolled (a police officer was stationed at the house during our event to make sure all the engineers didn't get out of hand and start devising clever ways to utilize pyrotechnics).
The reason for our visit was a luncheon for my engineering department's anniversary celebration. We ate at tables set up in the backyard of the house, but the first floor inside was open for everyone to get their curiosity fix. It's a very nice house, complete with a reading room and piano. Here is J in front of the piano:
Here I am in another part of the house. I'm not really sure what this room is intended to be since there is only a single table with a floral arrangement on it:
And here I am at the huge table in the dining room. This must be where all the student government officers schmooze important people in an attempt to get more money to spend on fingerprint identification scanners for the campus gyms.
And for the most entertaining photo, there were a bunch of boxes of wine on the back patio of the house. This is especially comical due to the firm anti-alcohol policy the president implemented when he started at the university. But once again, we can probably blame student government for it:
Friday, November 6, 2009
Christmastime
From J:
A wise man once said that you aren't really married until you have monogrammed Christmas stockings. Well.....
We're married now. Bring it, Christmas.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The post where I give out a delicious recipe
From J:
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the object of my recent affections:
Panera's Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. And no, I didn't take this photo. I found it on the internet. Anyway, this salad is delicious. I MUST HAVE IT. But it costs $6.99. I REFUSE TO PAY THAT MUCH.
A little bit of googling revealed several imitation recipes that looked terrible but one that looked pretty good. To no surprise, this salad's magic is all in the dressing. I tinkered around a little bit with the one I found and came up with this:
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil (the dark stuff)
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/8 tsp lemon juice
2 packets of Splenda (4 tsp)
Whisk vigorously. If you want some more oil in there for some reason, add a little bit of vegetable oil to thicken it up, but it really does nothing for the overall experience and adds some calories. The end result is tart and fruity with a little bit of a toasty, nutty flavor from the sesame oil. For the rest of the salad,
Chicken (we used lemon pepper rotisserie)
Fresh cilantro (just a bit)
Sliced almonds
Chow mein noodles
Romaine (or spinach, my preference)
Seriously, this is good. I would say that it's g--d eats, but I don't want to get sued.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the object of my recent affections:
Panera's Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. And no, I didn't take this photo. I found it on the internet. Anyway, this salad is delicious. I MUST HAVE IT. But it costs $6.99. I REFUSE TO PAY THAT MUCH.
A little bit of googling revealed several imitation recipes that looked terrible but one that looked pretty good. To no surprise, this salad's magic is all in the dressing. I tinkered around a little bit with the one I found and came up with this:
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil (the dark stuff)
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/8 tsp lemon juice
2 packets of Splenda (4 tsp)
Whisk vigorously. If you want some more oil in there for some reason, add a little bit of vegetable oil to thicken it up, but it really does nothing for the overall experience and adds some calories. The end result is tart and fruity with a little bit of a toasty, nutty flavor from the sesame oil. For the rest of the salad,
Chicken (we used lemon pepper rotisserie)
Fresh cilantro (just a bit)
Sliced almonds
Chow mein noodles
Romaine (or spinach, my preference)
Seriously, this is good. I would say that it's g--d eats, but I don't want to get sued.
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