I'm writing from snowy Massachusetts, where we are watching the Green Bay Packers/Atlanta Falcons playoff game. The cast of characters: Carrie, me, Jen, Sean, and Matthew (asleep, hopefully to stay that way). Thomas is sleeping in his crib (also hopefully to stay that way).
In case there is any confusion, we are rooting for the Packers, a.k.a Yellowpants.
8:10
Everyone: Who's the Zac Brown Band?
Carrie: Holy crap, that's a big flag.
8:12
Carrie: Wait, maybe we're not all rooting for Green Bay.
Me: Yes we are. My blog.
Carrie: Jen, who are you rooting for?
Jen: Becky's team. She's scary.
Carrie: Sean, who are you rooting for?
Sean: Green Bay vs. the Falcons? I don't really give a crap.
Carrie: See, I guess we're not all rooting for the Packers.
8:13
Jen: I miss the light.
Sean: You could have watched the boys when they were in here pushing it over.
Jen: I had an urgent situation.
8:15
Sean taught Carrie how to stir...a valuable skill to acquire at age 28.
Jen: Do you think cheese fondue and champagne is a good food for a football game?
Me: I come from Wisconsin.
8:16
Carrie: Okay, I am not missing the kick-off this time. Is this it? Yay, I saw the beginning! That's the beginning, right?
8:19
Carrie: I am actually capable of following this game now if I'm paying attention.
8:28
Packers fumble
Carrie: They took the ball! Is that legal?
Everyone: Yes.
Jen: You would have them play a very calm game.
Carrie: It's MEAN!
8:35
Falcons touchdown. Sad face.
Cheese fondue all gone. For the record, it was Pesto Fondue with hot Italian sausage and bread. Delicious.
Here comes the chicken wings! (Jen: Can we eat wings with fondue forks?)
8:45
Jen (to Carrie): It's a little weird that you know about football.
Yes, and it also makes for less entertaining live blogging. Sigh. Oh well, I have wine. Perhaps that will liven up the liveblogging!
8:51
Sean explains random facts about football.
Carrie: I didn't even know you LIKED football! Is it like in your genes cuz of that Y chromosome?
8:54
Touchdown Green Bay! W00t!
8:56
And the Falcons ran it all the way back for a touchdown. Lame.
Carrie: Can they even do that?
9:02
Carrie: They're playing really rough.
Jen: It's the play-offs.
Me: It's FOOTBALL.
Carrie: But it's MEAN!
9:09
Touchdown Green Bay again! Huzzah!
Sean: Yellowpants just needs some defense
Carrie: Well, they need someone on their team other than Aaron Rodgers. Apparently they forgot.
9:20
Interception. Woo-hoo!
9:32
Touchdown!
Carrie: That made up for his (Jones) mistake earlier. SEE?! I also have increased memory!
9:36
Jen: Wait, you drank more Pinot? How are we gonna drink that whole big bottle of bubbly if you keep drinking Pinot?
9:40
Interception/Touchdown!!! Carrie and me yelling...fortunately this did not wake Matthew.
9:44
Sean explains something about eligible receivers and various positions...
Carrie: Sean uses a lot of words I don't know when he talks about football.
10:00
A giant slice of chocolate cake with Bailey's frosting appeared in front of me, along with a glass of bubbly. Magic! Also, the Packers are rockin' the house.
10:07
Rodgers runs it in for another TOUCHDOWN!!!
10:13
Me: Do you think if I went to the gym more often, I'd look like them? I mean, the cheerleaders, not the players.
Jen: I think you'd have to go a lot more often. And not eat so much cake.
10:23
Insightful lesson on challenges courtesy of ehow.
Jen: Is there anything we do that doesn't involve Google?
Sean: Yes, sometimes you can use Yahoo.
Me: Ew.
10:26
Another touchdown! Awesome!
10:47
Carrie: If your team messes this up, I'm gonna be so disappointed in you.
Me: In ME, personally?
Carrie: In your ENTIRE STATE.
10:48
Oopsy, just realized I forgot to mention a Falcons touchdown. Jen and I weren't paying attention then anyway.
11:09
So there was a fieldgoal, and the Packers picked up a fumble. But there was also a champagne flute that broke here, so several of us were consumed with that clean-up effort.
11:13
Field goal. Also, my cousin's wife, who's from the Twin Cities and part of a family of die-hard Vikings fans, just declared herself a Packers fan. Huzzah!
11:19
Victory for the Packers! NFC Championship game next weekend!
And now, I think it's time to put my sicky wife to bed. She has been complaining off and on all night that her head feels like it's full of syrup. Between her cold and the cold that Matthew and Thomas both have, I think it's only a matter of time until I get sick...
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Smooth Moves
Well, in the spirit of trying to get my butt off the couch more often, I decided this week to try out one of my Christmas presents: a Wii game called Zumba Fitness.
Hahahahahahahahaha.
What, you don't think that's hilarious? Well, that my friend, is where you are quite wrong.
So for starters, the game requires wearing this belt around your hips (the Wii remote goes in the neon green pocket).
Since photos and video were strictly forbidden, you'll have to just form a mental picture of me in my living room wearing pajama pants (circa 1999) with turquoise cow spots, a magenta t-shirt, and this really awesome belt velcroed around my hips.
I then fired up the game (which by the way, has the most annoying interface I have ever seen in a Wii game. It's like they forgot that the Wii remote could be pointed at the screen to select things. Who knew the arrows on that thing could be used outside of Mario Kart?) and proceeded to the Learn the Steps section. Each style of dance (calypso, salsa, merengue, etc.) is divided into several levels.
I started with beginner calypso. The first step is pretty much put one foot in front of you, then back, lather, rinse, repeat with other foot. I got that part. The game then decided I was so good that it would just fly through the rest of the steps in the beginner lesson, with the instructor telling me how great I was doing the whole time! Let's just say that the motion sensor on this thing leaves a bit to be desired. My best recollection of this scene:
Glowing green Zumba instructor: You're doing great! Keep it up!
Me (blank stare): What the hell just happened?
Carrie: Bahahahahaha
Cats (blank stare)
I tried another learning level thing and concluded that it was not going to work, so I figured I'd just jump into a beginner song. Following the steps actually went a little better that way. And I decided that since the motion sensor was off, I'd just keep jumping around and the stupid machine wouldn't know the difference. And it worked! I got all kinds of bonus points despite the fact that my "dance" probably would have horrified any real-life Zumba instructor. (That is the good part about the Wii game: glowing instructor on screen is very non-judgy of my sad, sad dancing.)
The downside of switching from learn the steps to the do the routine? Shimmying. And lots of hip rotating. And all sorts of other things that my joints do not do. Seriously, I have the stiffest, whitest hips on earth. I am astounded by dance moves that other people can pull off, but I cannot do any of them. Instead, at this point I just looked like a sweaty, out-of-breath, pajama-ed fool doing some combination of calypso, Jazzercise, and that Cotton Eye Joe line dance from 5th grade gym class.
I'm pretty sure even the cats were laughing by this point.
Carrie showed her support by standing up and imitating me.
But Carrie can't laugh too much, because I have one chief advantage over her: rhythm. Yes, I may have no sense of how to dance to said rhythm, and my coordination is so limited that I will likely trip over myself if I try, but I can find the beat and at least do some basic movements in time with it.
Anyway, I'm pretty lousy at the game. But since the game is a little lousy at figuring out that I'm lousy, it's all good. And it gets me off the couch for 20 minutes at a time, and it doesn't require going outside in 20-degree weather, which is always a plus.
Besides, I think I'm getting better. The second time I played, I only grape-vined into the Christmas tree once.
Hahahahahahahahaha.
What, you don't think that's hilarious? Well, that my friend, is where you are quite wrong.
So for starters, the game requires wearing this belt around your hips (the Wii remote goes in the neon green pocket).
 |
| Zumba belt of awesome |
I then fired up the game (which by the way, has the most annoying interface I have ever seen in a Wii game. It's like they forgot that the Wii remote could be pointed at the screen to select things. Who knew the arrows on that thing could be used outside of Mario Kart?) and proceeded to the Learn the Steps section. Each style of dance (calypso, salsa, merengue, etc.) is divided into several levels.
I started with beginner calypso. The first step is pretty much put one foot in front of you, then back, lather, rinse, repeat with other foot. I got that part. The game then decided I was so good that it would just fly through the rest of the steps in the beginner lesson, with the instructor telling me how great I was doing the whole time! Let's just say that the motion sensor on this thing leaves a bit to be desired. My best recollection of this scene:
Glowing green Zumba instructor: You're doing great! Keep it up!
Me (blank stare): What the hell just happened?
Carrie: Bahahahahaha
Cats (blank stare)
I tried another learning level thing and concluded that it was not going to work, so I figured I'd just jump into a beginner song. Following the steps actually went a little better that way. And I decided that since the motion sensor was off, I'd just keep jumping around and the stupid machine wouldn't know the difference. And it worked! I got all kinds of bonus points despite the fact that my "dance" probably would have horrified any real-life Zumba instructor. (That is the good part about the Wii game: glowing instructor on screen is very non-judgy of my sad, sad dancing.)
The downside of switching from learn the steps to the do the routine? Shimmying. And lots of hip rotating. And all sorts of other things that my joints do not do. Seriously, I have the stiffest, whitest hips on earth. I am astounded by dance moves that other people can pull off, but I cannot do any of them. Instead, at this point I just looked like a sweaty, out-of-breath, pajama-ed fool doing some combination of calypso, Jazzercise, and that Cotton Eye Joe line dance from 5th grade gym class.
I'm pretty sure even the cats were laughing by this point.
Carrie showed her support by standing up and imitating me.
But Carrie can't laugh too much, because I have one chief advantage over her: rhythm. Yes, I may have no sense of how to dance to said rhythm, and my coordination is so limited that I will likely trip over myself if I try, but I can find the beat and at least do some basic movements in time with it.
Anyway, I'm pretty lousy at the game. But since the game is a little lousy at figuring out that I'm lousy, it's all good. And it gets me off the couch for 20 minutes at a time, and it doesn't require going outside in 20-degree weather, which is always a plus.
Besides, I think I'm getting better. The second time I played, I only grape-vined into the Christmas tree once.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Happy Snow Day Recipe
We did not actually get a snow day today here--all the dramatic lead-up (and New York does drama and anxiety in preparation for snow like nowhere I've ever seen before), and then we only ended up getting around 9 inches. And after the disaster that was the snowstorm a few weeks ago, city governments apparently figured out how snowplows work and got things cleaned up. But it did snow, and therefore it was a perfect day for making soup!
Wild rice soup is a favorite of both Carrie and me, so I thought I'd share our recipe with you. Both of our moms had slightly different recipes, and we've incorporated bits from each into our version.
Note: if you don't live in Minnesota or Wisconsin, wild rice may be tricky to find or obscenely expensive at your average grocery store. But I have good news--Trader Joe's sells it for a completely reasonable price! As an alternative, you could wait to see if Carrie's mom brings you some the next time she visits, but I think that's probably not the most reliable plan for most of you. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, I am truly sorry.
Wild Rice Soup
Makes 4-6 servings
2 cups cooked wild rice (2/3 cup uncooked)
5 Tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
pinch of pepper
pinch of turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 cup diced ham
1 cup half and half
Cook the wild rice first; it takes about an hour total, so you'll want to start this a little in advance of the rest of the soup. I generally use about three parts water to one part rice, so 2/3 cup rice and 2 cups water (this leaves a little extra water in the pan at the end, but you can either drain it off or just pour it into the soup with the rice). Put rice and water in a pan and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 45-55 minutes or until most of the rice kernels have popped.
Melt butter in a sauce pan and sautee the onion and carrots until tender. Blend in flour. Slowly add broth stirring constantly (A whisk helps at this point to keep the flour from getting lumpy). Keep stirring until mixture thickens slightly. Stir in pepper, turmeric, and bay leaves.
Add ham and cooked rice. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in half and half and heat to serving temperature. Don't forget to remove bay leaves before serving!
We usually make a double batch of this--the leftovers are delicious! If you double it, make sure you use a stock pot or dutch oven because it's a lot of soup.
Wild rice soup is a favorite of both Carrie and me, so I thought I'd share our recipe with you. Both of our moms had slightly different recipes, and we've incorporated bits from each into our version.
Note: if you don't live in Minnesota or Wisconsin, wild rice may be tricky to find or obscenely expensive at your average grocery store. But I have good news--Trader Joe's sells it for a completely reasonable price! As an alternative, you could wait to see if Carrie's mom brings you some the next time she visits, but I think that's probably not the most reliable plan for most of you. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, I am truly sorry.
Wild Rice Soup
Makes 4-6 servings
2 cups cooked wild rice (2/3 cup uncooked)
5 Tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
pinch of pepper
pinch of turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 cup diced ham
1 cup half and half
Cook the wild rice first; it takes about an hour total, so you'll want to start this a little in advance of the rest of the soup. I generally use about three parts water to one part rice, so 2/3 cup rice and 2 cups water (this leaves a little extra water in the pan at the end, but you can either drain it off or just pour it into the soup with the rice). Put rice and water in a pan and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 45-55 minutes or until most of the rice kernels have popped.
Melt butter in a sauce pan and sautee the onion and carrots until tender. Blend in flour. Slowly add broth stirring constantly (A whisk helps at this point to keep the flour from getting lumpy). Keep stirring until mixture thickens slightly. Stir in pepper, turmeric, and bay leaves.
Add ham and cooked rice. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in half and half and heat to serving temperature. Don't forget to remove bay leaves before serving!
We usually make a double batch of this--the leftovers are delicious! If you double it, make sure you use a stock pot or dutch oven because it's a lot of soup.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Fun with Census Maps
Hello friends. I could come here today and moan and complain about the buckets of money that we are pouring into my eleven year old car. I was actually going to do that. But I did a lot of private moaning and complaining, to Becky, to my coworkers, to my family. And now I'm moving through the stages of grief into reluctant acceptance.
So instead I will share with you a fabulous New York Times creation that Becky found for me to play with. You might remember my fascination with interactive maps. This one is pretty cool, huh? I love how populated New York is, and therefore how clear the neighborhood distinctions are. By either income or race, there is such an obvious line where Harlem meets the Upper East and Upper West Sides. By pretty much any measure Manhattan below 110th street is so very unusual; it is richer, more educated, whiter, rent is higher, and an absolutely insane percentage of elementary kids go to private schools. The whole crazy I-95 corridor from Boston to DC has these peculiarities to some degree too. The map of percentage of people without high school diplomas has a swath of color across the southern United States, even more than I would have expected. Check it out! And then come back and tell me what exciting things you learn! I need something to distract me from my poor decrepit car and its health care bills....
So instead I will share with you a fabulous New York Times creation that Becky found for me to play with. You might remember my fascination with interactive maps. This one is pretty cool, huh? I love how populated New York is, and therefore how clear the neighborhood distinctions are. By either income or race, there is such an obvious line where Harlem meets the Upper East and Upper West Sides. By pretty much any measure Manhattan below 110th street is so very unusual; it is richer, more educated, whiter, rent is higher, and an absolutely insane percentage of elementary kids go to private schools. The whole crazy I-95 corridor from Boston to DC has these peculiarities to some degree too. The map of percentage of people without high school diplomas has a swath of color across the southern United States, even more than I would have expected. Check it out! And then come back and tell me what exciting things you learn! I need something to distract me from my poor decrepit car and its health care bills....
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Knitting--No, I Haven't Forgotten How
It's been a slow knitting year for me; as with many things, it took a bit of a backseat during wedding planning. In the months leading up to the wedding, I did manage to finish off three pumpkin hats (last year's version featured here, and this year's version is here, both modeled by our favorite nephews) for Matthew, Thomas, and our friend Stephanie's daughter.
The pumpkin hat, along with the Christmas hats I made for the nephews last year, are from Susan B. Anderson's itty-bitty hats, which I highly recommend. I also came across a pattern in that book for a hat with little pigtail tassels, which I knew would be adorable on Stephanie's daughter--the perfect complement to her mischievous smile. I don't have pictures of her in the hat, but here are a couple pictures of the finished product.
I've knit a lot of baby/toddler hats in the last couple of years because they're so fun, so cute, and SO quick, but I think it's time to branch out and tackle something else. I haven't yet decided what that should be, but I suspect Carrie will probably argue that I should finish one of the several projects that I've started for her but never finished!
Are any of you knitters? If you're on Ravelry, add me--just search for duhbeckster.
The pumpkin hat, along with the Christmas hats I made for the nephews last year, are from Susan B. Anderson's itty-bitty hats, which I highly recommend. I also came across a pattern in that book for a hat with little pigtail tassels, which I knew would be adorable on Stephanie's daughter--the perfect complement to her mischievous smile. I don't have pictures of her in the hat, but here are a couple pictures of the finished product.
I've knit a lot of baby/toddler hats in the last couple of years because they're so fun, so cute, and SO quick, but I think it's time to branch out and tackle something else. I haven't yet decided what that should be, but I suspect Carrie will probably argue that I should finish one of the several projects that I've started for her but never finished!
Are any of you knitters? If you're on Ravelry, add me--just search for duhbeckster.
Zee Weekend
Last week felt a little bit like it would never end. I think this might be the unfortunate but inevitable result of an extended vacation. But the weekend did finally come, and we did our best to enjoy it.
Friday night we met up with our friend Kara, who is usually up for the wackier of our entertainment choices. For dinner Becky wanted to try something new (Shake Shack overload I guess) and suggested a Bosnian restaurant called Djerdan. I was doubtful, but agreed. Since I was running late Becky and Kara ended up first having a drink at a Spanish place down the block. Suffice it to say that the sangria was made with Carlo Rossi's finest. Alas. But Djerdan was excellent! We shared an appetizer of some doughyness in yogurt sauce that was decent. The highlight though was the main dish, the house speciality, burek. Becky and I shared, so we got to try slices of cheese and meat (spinach is the third choice). Burek is apparently a scrumptious stuffed phyllo dough pie. It was savory and greasy in the most delicious way, and each slice only cost $5! I'm quite excited that we now know of another tasty and inexpensive option that is convenient to Port Authority and most Broadway theaters.
We then headed over to Madison Square Garden for the entertainment portion of the evening: the 2011 Professional Bull Riders Invitational*! I had no idea there would be so many cowboys in New York City. The festivities started while Kara and I were buying pretzel beer (pictures of which are sadly on Kara's camera and therefore not currently available to me). But, as photodocumented by Becky, they poured gasoline on the dirt and lit a giant PBR on fire.
Good start, good start. An invocation was prayed, and then we sang the national anthem while saluting a giant waving American flag stitched together by tornado survivers from flag pieces somehow associated with 9/11. I think that speaks for itself.
Then came the bull riding!
Trusty Wikipedia, via the Motorola Droid, filled us in on the rules and various controversies related to the sport. Basically, each rider climbs on a bull and has to hang on with only one hand for eight seconds. If he (as far as I can tell, they're all men) succeeds, then his performance is ranked 0-50 and the bull's performance is ranked 0-50. The scores are combined, and the rides are ranked. Watching the bull-riding was moderately exciting for eight second increments, but overall a bit slower paced than we expected. At one point a rider was dragged behind a bull for a few seconds, and at another point a bull with a lasso around his neck pulled free of the cowboy who lassoed him.
Saturday we planned to do errands and all kinds of boring stuff around the house. We debated about whether to walk to the closer grocery store or to dig the car out of the snowbank and drive to Target and Trader Joe's. Digging out won. That is, until we went to start the defroster and found that the car didn't start. I spent nearly an hour on the phone with AAA and another hour idley waiting for the tow truck to come. Despite fears that it would be worse, we're fairly sure that the car is fine, but that the battery just couldn't hold a charge while parked in once place for three weeks in cold weather. Friendly tow truck operator jumped us and away we went. Except for one catch. The hood of the car will not completely latch, which seems to be related to some fraying of the cord near the hood release switch in the car. Becky and I know pretty much nothing about cars (a cause for some concern), but the tow truck man told us not to drive on the highway until it somehow starts latching... Troublesome.
Sunday we headed to Queens for brunch with our friend Stephanie. She made the most delicious baked French toast, eggy casserole, coffee cake, homemade hot chocolate, and served us mimosas. Yum. We provided raspberries, blackberries, and thawed strawberries from our summertime adventures. We had a lovely time chatting with Stephanie and playing with Stephanie's two-year old.
This evening we watched the Packers beat the Eagles - go yellow pants!
*No Friends of Animals protestors were injured in the writing of this blog entry.
Friday night we met up with our friend Kara, who is usually up for the wackier of our entertainment choices. For dinner Becky wanted to try something new (Shake Shack overload I guess) and suggested a Bosnian restaurant called Djerdan. I was doubtful, but agreed. Since I was running late Becky and Kara ended up first having a drink at a Spanish place down the block. Suffice it to say that the sangria was made with Carlo Rossi's finest. Alas. But Djerdan was excellent! We shared an appetizer of some doughyness in yogurt sauce that was decent. The highlight though was the main dish, the house speciality, burek. Becky and I shared, so we got to try slices of cheese and meat (spinach is the third choice). Burek is apparently a scrumptious stuffed phyllo dough pie. It was savory and greasy in the most delicious way, and each slice only cost $5! I'm quite excited that we now know of another tasty and inexpensive option that is convenient to Port Authority and most Broadway theaters.
We then headed over to Madison Square Garden for the entertainment portion of the evening: the 2011 Professional Bull Riders Invitational*! I had no idea there would be so many cowboys in New York City. The festivities started while Kara and I were buying pretzel beer (pictures of which are sadly on Kara's camera and therefore not currently available to me). But, as photodocumented by Becky, they poured gasoline on the dirt and lit a giant PBR on fire.
Good start, good start. An invocation was prayed, and then we sang the national anthem while saluting a giant waving American flag stitched together by tornado survivers from flag pieces somehow associated with 9/11. I think that speaks for itself.Then came the bull riding!
Trusty Wikipedia, via the Motorola Droid, filled us in on the rules and various controversies related to the sport. Basically, each rider climbs on a bull and has to hang on with only one hand for eight seconds. If he (as far as I can tell, they're all men) succeeds, then his performance is ranked 0-50 and the bull's performance is ranked 0-50. The scores are combined, and the rides are ranked. Watching the bull-riding was moderately exciting for eight second increments, but overall a bit slower paced than we expected. At one point a rider was dragged behind a bull for a few seconds, and at another point a bull with a lasso around his neck pulled free of the cowboy who lassoed him.
Saturday we planned to do errands and all kinds of boring stuff around the house. We debated about whether to walk to the closer grocery store or to dig the car out of the snowbank and drive to Target and Trader Joe's. Digging out won. That is, until we went to start the defroster and found that the car didn't start. I spent nearly an hour on the phone with AAA and another hour idley waiting for the tow truck to come. Despite fears that it would be worse, we're fairly sure that the car is fine, but that the battery just couldn't hold a charge while parked in once place for three weeks in cold weather. Friendly tow truck operator jumped us and away we went. Except for one catch. The hood of the car will not completely latch, which seems to be related to some fraying of the cord near the hood release switch in the car. Becky and I know pretty much nothing about cars (a cause for some concern), but the tow truck man told us not to drive on the highway until it somehow starts latching... Troublesome.Sunday we headed to Queens for brunch with our friend Stephanie. She made the most delicious baked French toast, eggy casserole, coffee cake, homemade hot chocolate, and served us mimosas. Yum. We provided raspberries, blackberries, and thawed strawberries from our summertime adventures. We had a lovely time chatting with Stephanie and playing with Stephanie's two-year old.
This evening we watched the Packers beat the Eagles - go yellow pants!
*No Friends of Animals protestors were injured in the writing of this blog entry.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Deliciousness in the Target aisles
Here we are in the midst of an exciting weekend in the tri-state area. It would be a lot easier if we actually lived in New York City, by the way, and could do things only in New York and be New Yorkers. But that's not the case. So anyways, what would a weekend in New Jersey be without a trip to Target? It's a magical land, where spending $100 is not optional, regardless of whether or not you cross start to get there. So, we're tooling along in the grocery section, trying to focus on buying the foods on the list, when what to our wondering eyes should appear...
Peppermint Oreos! And yes, I shamelessly stole that image from some other website. And no, I'm not going to credit them because I already forgot what website it was. Sorry, I accept the bad internet karma.
I had high hopes for the cookies. The fact that I chose them to be my one off-list splurge purchase should be evidence enough of that! (Becky chose chocolate goldfish with mini marshmallows, in case you're wondering. But I'm a nice wife, so I let her have some Oreos too.) But seriously? These cookies are delicious. The pink frostingy goodness in the center is just the right mix of minty fresh and cremey delicious, and the peppermintyness perfectly complements the traditional chocolate cookie covers.
Becky did some experiments and determined that her optimal frosting:cookie ratio is 3 chocolate wafers:1 frosting patty. As usual, I strongly disagree, and would instead argue that 1 wafer:1 frosting patty would be ideal. But don't trust our opinions; try it for yourself!
Peppermint Oreos! And yes, I shamelessly stole that image from some other website. And no, I'm not going to credit them because I already forgot what website it was. Sorry, I accept the bad internet karma.
I had high hopes for the cookies. The fact that I chose them to be my one off-list splurge purchase should be evidence enough of that! (Becky chose chocolate goldfish with mini marshmallows, in case you're wondering. But I'm a nice wife, so I let her have some Oreos too.) But seriously? These cookies are delicious. The pink frostingy goodness in the center is just the right mix of minty fresh and cremey delicious, and the peppermintyness perfectly complements the traditional chocolate cookie covers.
Becky did some experiments and determined that her optimal frosting:cookie ratio is 3 chocolate wafers:1 frosting patty. As usual, I strongly disagree, and would instead argue that 1 wafer:1 frosting patty would be ideal. But don't trust our opinions; try it for yourself!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
About that New Year Thing
It's the start of another new year. I have a long history of making New Year's resolutions and then failing to achieve them, but it still doesn't stop me from having a desire to start fresh and make changes as we swap in a new calendar for the old.
Last year was so dominated by the wedding and all the planning involved that it feels a little strange to not have one big project to focus on this year. I'm actually not mourning the loss of wedding planning or wishing for more DIY projects or anything like that; it's just that I don't have one big thing to obsess over so now I have space to figure out where I want to focus my energies.
I've read on a few blogs this week about the idea of One Little Word: selecting a word for the year to be a point of focus and reflection throughout the year. As far as I can tell, the idea started here and has now boomed into all sorts of internet craziness (you can pay to take a One Little Word online class?) I really like this idea though, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
For 2011, I think my word is intentional. Throughout the course of a day/week/month/year, I do all sorts of things without thinking about them. And thank goodness for some of that--imagine if I had to think carefully every time I brushed my teeth! But there are a lot of things I do that really deserve more thought and care than I give them. And there are many things I would not do if I was a bit more intentional in my actions.
In particular, I want to be more intentional about
Last year was so dominated by the wedding and all the planning involved that it feels a little strange to not have one big project to focus on this year. I'm actually not mourning the loss of wedding planning or wishing for more DIY projects or anything like that; it's just that I don't have one big thing to obsess over so now I have space to figure out where I want to focus my energies.
I've read on a few blogs this week about the idea of One Little Word: selecting a word for the year to be a point of focus and reflection throughout the year. As far as I can tell, the idea started here and has now boomed into all sorts of internet craziness (you can pay to take a One Little Word online class?) I really like this idea though, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
For 2011, I think my word is intentional. Throughout the course of a day/week/month/year, I do all sorts of things without thinking about them. And thank goodness for some of that--imagine if I had to think carefully every time I brushed my teeth! But there are a lot of things I do that really deserve more thought and care than I give them. And there are many things I would not do if I was a bit more intentional in my actions.
In particular, I want to be more intentional about
- How I spend my time. I always feel like I don't have enough time (don't we all?), but let's face it: I waste an awful lot of time staring at my computer and doing nothing useful at all. That's time that could be spent exercising, cooking, crafting, reading (books, not facebook!), volunteering, exploring the corner of the world I live in, or millions of other things, not least of which is spending more quality time with my wife. In fact, even updating this blog more often would be a million times more productive than refreshing my facebook news feed or checking to see what the most emailed NYTimes articles are today.
- How I spend my money. I'm pretty frugal, but there are certainly things I spend money on that don't really bring me much happiness but still waste money. I'm trying harder to skip spending money on the candy bar that I only want because I'm bored or the Chinese food that we only want because we're too lazy to cook and instead save that money for something we actually want (and sometimes that something turns out to be Chinese for dinner!) And maybe, just maybe we could go to Target "just to pick up a few things" and not end up spending $100? I'm pretty sure we don't actually need to buy every random limited edition Reese's product ever made, for example...
- What I eat. I tend to go in spurts of eating healthy followed by long stretches of eating mostly crap. Don't get me wrong--we cook dinner at home most nights and don't eat a lot of pre-packaged foods by American standards, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. Like vegetables. I heard they're good for me. So this year I'd like to be more intentional about eating more vegetables, eating fewer processed foods, and trying new recipes. I get caught in food ruts, but between all the cookbooks I have and all the recipes I've bookmarked online, I think I should have plenty of new foods to keep me busy in the kitchen this year!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Wedding photos!
In all of the holiday craziness, we neglected to mention that our wedding photos finally came back!! Click here to take a look at the post that our lovely photographer, Becca Dilley, put up on her blog. Maybe someday soon we'll post a few more of the 700 or so that we received (don't worry, only immediate family have to sit through all of them! Speaking of which, are our parents and siblings still our "immediate" family? Inquiring minds have been inquiring.)
They're gorgeous and I'm very very happy with the pictures and of course the wedding. But a little part of me is sad to have everything, including the pictures, be settled and final and unchangeable. There's no more possibility that maybe we could throw another pose in or smile a little better or lose more weight or or or. I'm always looking for all the options!
We also got the video back from my brother-in-law over the holidays, as it had been previously held captive on his video camera, due to the power cord being left in Minnesota after the wedding. Videography is the one area that we ended up really skimping on, and had a friend video the ceremony using my family's camera rather than hiring a professional. He did a much better job than I ever would if someone asked me to do the same (take note, never ask me to video something important for you). The camera is steady, the sound is audible, and everything really important about the ceremony is captured. So, success!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Snowy New England Christmas
As mentioned in several previous posts, we spent Christmas in Massachusetts with my family. In a wave of brilliance, we created an itinerary that did not require us to drive at all. We took Amtrak (my first American train trip! Verdict: good, but no Shinkansen) to Providence, flew from Logan to Milwaukee, and then flew home to Newark. As we hauled our suitcases packed for both trips, 12lbs of cookie tins, and Christmas gifts into Manhattan, I briefly regretted this decision. All that was gone forever by the time we were nestled into our train seats, dining on traditional Wisconsin cheese and summer sausage and watching the Connecticut traffic through the windows.
My parents arrived by car from Minnesota the same night we did. Their car was piled up not only with Christmas gifts for everyone, but also with tons of wedding gifts we had been forced to leave in November! It was fun to see everything again, although only briefly: we weren't able to take anything with us, since we were flying out. But we'll go back in January with our car to pick our stuff up. Apparently destination weddings keep on giving!
My parents arrived by car from Minnesota the same night we did. Their car was piled up not only with Christmas gifts for everyone, but also with tons of wedding gifts we had been forced to leave in November! It was fun to see everything again, although only briefly: we weren't able to take anything with us, since we were flying out. But we'll go back in January with our car to pick our stuff up. Apparently destination weddings keep on giving!
Our adorable nephews continue to get more adorable. Thomas' truck obsession has only grown more intense, and dominates his small vocabulary. His favorite phrases seem to be "big truck," "my big truck," and "more big truck." He received Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go as a gift, and showed a surprisingly long attention span for it. The cutest part is a page that shows a big accident, with several trucks all tangled up together. When Thomas saw it he stared at it with a look of horror and announced "big truck uh oh!" And every time (which is many) after that when he got to the accident page, he'd repeat it over and over and over.
In contrast, Matthew doesn't have a particular affinity for trucks. Unless of course it happens to be in Thomas' hand, at which point whatever it is becomes the single most important thing in the entire world. He's more cautious than Thomas and more socially aware. His sneaky little grin, when he thinks he's getting away with something he's not supposed to do, is precious. I think his favorite phrase is "mo"(re), which can be used to demand more of a type of food, more snuggles, more off-key grandparent singing, more slides down the slide, more bouncing on the bouncy ball, or pretty much anything that could possibly be repeated.
We did our usual ritualistic Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with new ornaments and stocking hanging and church and wild rice soup and oyster stew on Christmas Eve, and stocking opening and full breakfast with coffeecake and one-at-a-time present opening ordered from youngest to oldest on Christmas Day. The little boys enjoyed ripping the paper off and playing with their abundance of new toys, but had limited patience for the extended version that my family has elongated in the child-free years.
For Christmas dinner Sean cooked up a lovely bazillion pound prime rib (every good holiday meal has at least a few pounds of meat per person!), mashed potatos, Yorkshire pudding, and bread pudding.
Yum. Unsurprisingly, we also ate well the rest of the time there, with a birthday meal out at the best restaurant in Providence (in honor of my mom, myself, and Becky), egg roll weather, Breakfast Nook, and Chili's chicken crispers.
After the Nor'Easter we bundled up Matthew and Thomas and introduced them to snow. They had of course seen the stuff last year, but never really had a chance to play in it.
I think it might take a year or two to catch on.
We also spent a lovely afternoon at the candlepin bowling alley. Before we lived with Jen and Sean a few years back, I had never heard of this wacky Massachusetts tradition. They have their own style of bowling, in which the pins are skinny, the bowling balls are tiny and light, and you get three attempts to knock the pins down during each frame. Matthew and Thomas really wanted a chance to immitate the adults and throw the balls down the alley, but had to settle for handing them to us, rolling them around on the ball return, and crawling under every row of seats. Thankfully this was much cleaner than the smoky, stinky bowling alleys I remember from childhood!
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