Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Dinner with a 'Foreign Flair'

We are currently enjoying time with my folks in South Carolina.  We're having a relaxing visit hanging out at the house, drinking good beer and getting ready for Christmas.  I have been trying to do more cooking lately.  I really like to explore various ethnic cuisines.  Last night I prepared a very basic veggie stir-fry that seemed to please our palates.  There were no complaints, and we all had clean plates, so that is a positive sign.  This morning I started thumbing through Mom's cookbooks searching for a soup recipe to fix for tonight.  I decided to go with the Russian soup borsch, which is one of my favorites.  Aaron and I ate plenty of this beet filled soup while we traveled through Poland, and it is a perfect meal for a cold winter evening.  The recipe as follows

Borsch-from Better Homes and Gardens, Meals with a Foreign Flair

Add 2 cups shredded beets and 1 cup each chopped carrots and chopped onions to 3.5 cups boiling salted water; cook 20 minutes.  Add 1 can beef broth (or vegetable broth), 1 cup shredded cabbage, 1 tablespoon butter; cook uncovered 15 minutes.  Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice; pour into 6 bowls, and add a dollop of sour cream to each.

Mom, Aaron and I dined on the Borsch while Dad chose to go with chicken noodle, since he isn't a beet fan.  On the side we ate popovers with butter and strawberry jam.  It was a lovely combination!  The soup turned out well with a very pleasing flavor.  I used canned beets because there were no fresh ones to be found at the market today.  Next time I might try using one can of plain beets and one of pickled just to add a bit more flavor.  I think tomorrow night we are having sandwiches, but I plan to help Mom with fixing dinner for the whole family on Saturday.  She is planning on making a variety of delicious quiches.  More fine dining experiences in the near future! 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

1,275 Miles

We had planned on leaving California on Thursday mid-morning after Aaron got off his last shift, but we decided to head out on Friday instead.  The thought of packing and driving after a long night of work was pretty unbearable.  It was nice to have Thursday free for Aaron to nap and for me to slowly get things together.  I even managed to go shopping and workout briefly.

Our goal was to be on the road by 6:30 on Friday, and we did quite well in achieving that early hour as we were driving by 6:44 to be exact.  The drive to Sacramento took us only two hours, and wasn't too bad even though the roads were already congested with commuters.  Once in town we found a little cafe for breakfast before heading to our storage space to park my car for the month.  So Friday was a very long day, and we didn't make it to Salt Lake until 9:15 or so.  At least it was a scenic ride taking us through the snow clad Sierra Nevada mountains and then onto the unusual state of Nevada.  After leaving Reno, I-80 leads to a very barren terrain.  There are no trees and no towns for many miles, and you look out onto rolling brown hills with cold and forbidding snow capped mountains in the distance.  Although the landscape is harsh and uninviting, I really love it.  It is truly a unique sight for a southern girl like me.  Overall Friday was overcast with big threatening gray clouds and very little sunshine.  We actually managed to get into a snow shower about 80 or so miles outside of Salt Lake City.  This was a bit concerning since it was snowing very hard and sticking to the roads, and the only real warm items in the car were Zuri's blankets.  Fortunately we drove out of the storm within about ten minutes and didn't have any more snow for the rest of the trip.

Saturday morning we managed to sleep in until 8:30 and didn't get leave until well after 9 o'clock.  The skies were clear, which made for a lovely day of driving.  We were in Wyoming by mid morning, and there isn't much scenery to take note of along this stretch of the drive.  Treeless hills that go on forever pretty much sums it up.  Once in Cheyenne we dropped down to I-25 that took us to Fort Collins.  We even made it for Claire's 1st birthday party, which was fun.  Both girls are getting so big, and it is just amazing to observe how much they grow with each visit!  We got back to Rosanne and Dean's by 8:30 and visited with them for a while before crashing. Overall it was a really successful road trip with no unwanted interruptions.  We listened to good music, talked about politics and our future travels, and ate plenty of Subway sandwiches.  All of these things combined makes for quality time spent on the road.

Today we have just relaxed with Aaron's parents, and we are preparing for our trip to South Carolina tomorrow.  Lots to look forward to these days!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Pics of Alcatraz Trip







We have had a busy past few days.  My schedule at work is so choppy this week, that I am having a difficult time remembering what day it is. Oh well, just very typical.

Monday Aaron got off of work and crashed for three short hours before our friends Chris and Karen arrived into town from Monterey.  They're a couple we met in Wisconsin a couple of years ago, and we have managed to stay in close contact.  They just recently got married and will be moving permanently up to Rochester, MN to work at Mayo Clinic.  We always have such a good time when we hang out together, and my face usually hurts from laughing too much from their crazy stories.  It is so much fun!!!

So, on Monday afternoon they came over and we headed into San Francisco to go on the evening Alcatraz tour.  We managed to get there early, so we went to a nearby restaurant for appetizers and drinks.  We ordered a few various food items and two rounds of drinks and the bill was well over $100.00.  Wow!  I suppose we should pay closer attention to prices next time, but that takes some of the fun out of it!  After eating we went to get in line for the ferry to Alcatraz.  I was stunned by how many Europeans and Asians were standing in line.  Aaron and I are so glad they are here and supporting our weak economy!  The ferry ride was brutally cold, but it was a clear evening, so we had to stand on the outer deck and take in the amazing views of the city and Golden Gate Bridge.  The evening sky over the bridge was a perfect combination of orange and pink, and it was truly a mesmerizing sight.  Once to Alcatraz we got off the boat and made our way up the rock to the main prison.  The whole experience was really quite eerie, but that was to be expected.  We each received a headset that took us through a walking-audio tour.  The audio part was very informative, and the sound effects were fantastic.  Aaron even found out that tourists can pay to spend the night on the island.  Maybe that would be a fun Christmas gift for him!  Hmmmm...  So I won't go into too many details of the tour, but it was well worth the money and lots of fun to do with Chris and Karen.  Following our time in SF we went back to our town and drank beer on University Ave.  It is where all of the undergrads spend their wild college nights, and we love to drink quality brew with them at all of the quaint little pubs that line the street.   A perfect ending to a great day.

I worked on Tuesday, but Wednesday proved to be very productive as we found an apartment in the city and even managed to sign the lease and get the keys all by 4pm.  Not too bad!  The apartment building is 51 years old, so it is quite dated, but it has lots of charm and character.  It is only three floors, and the outside is painted a variety of 70's colors that remind me of The Price is Right studio.  Even though the grounds are small and there is very little green space, I was so impressed with the flowers that have been planted around the building.  We will live on the second floor in a very spacious 1 bedroom apartment.  The kitchen is very small, but the living room and bedroom are big, so we will have plenty of space for all of our stuff.  The landlord was so nice and had the lease ready for us to sign by 3pm.  The surrounding neighborhood seems safe, and I can even see UCSF hospital from the bedroom window.  Also, Golden Gate Park is just across the street, so Zuri will get plenty of exercise without going too far.  We also managed to get into Chinatown for a couple of hours to eat at my favorite Thai restaurant.  They have the best peanut tofu sauce in town, and it always gives me heartburn, but I can't seem to stay away!

The past couple of days I worked, and now I am off for one lonely day before going back tomorrow.  I am thrilled to only have three shifts left!  Today is for the gym, errands and hiking with a friend, and holiday beer in the evening.  I found a great Christmas beer that has a  nutmeg and cinnamon flavor.  Drinking this is a heavenly experience!