Food!

Recent Accomplishments of Food Adventures:

Today, I purchased 10 avocados for $5. Sure, they're a bit small, but they were only 50 cents each! There is nothing better than deliciously cheap avocados. Thank you Monterey!

It's not soup weather, but I wanted to make soup anyway. I opted for a recipe I found online for an Olive Garden look-alike. (Taste-alike?) Their Zuppa Toscana has potato, kale, sausage and bacon in a light cream broth. I couldn't find kale at the market, so I grabbed some green swiss chard instead. The recipe produced a result remarkably similar to the Olive Garden original, and it's definitely one I'll make this winter.

Perhaps my most notable accomplishment was the garlic ice cream. Don't knock it 'till you try it! It turned out remarkably well, though the recipe called for a bit too much garlic in my opinion. The only problem is that garlic ice cream isn't something you can just eat a bowl of; it's best in small scoops with a cookie or cone to make it more of a dessert. I thought I had some Nilla Wafers on hand, but apparently someone ate them (ahem, Steve!), so I came up with Plan B. I pulled the first recipe I could find on the internet for homemade ice cream cones and whipped them up. While they didn't hold a shape at all (it was more like a sweet crepe), they were delicious with our ice cream! Definitely a dessert to remember.

Steve had a rough test today, so I decided to make him his favorite treat: chocolate chip cookies. Relatively simple, sure, but my cookies are uncharacteristically soft and delicious. I'm currently resisting the urge to help myself to a few, but Steve has already given in to temptation.

With all the yummy food in the house, it's surprising I haven't gained more weight. Must be all those walks with Kenai. :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Recent Pics

Teaching Kenai to jump on command. He's so cute!

Yeah, we let him chase birds. We find it entertaining.

Loving being so close to the beach!

Enjoying the Garlic Festival!

A Birthday, An Accident, A Drive, Golfing, Another Drive, Another Drive and Happy Birthday Nathan!

Oh golly. So much to catch up on! My birthday was back in June, and we celebrated with a fantastic week at my godmother's house in Lincoln City. Family and friends came out for the weekend, which was full of presents, crab, lots of other food and crunkness. So fun! It was also the last time I got to see my sister, Ashlee, before she headed to Australia for work over the summer. I miss her!

Steve and I began the drive from Oregon to Monterey around the second week of June on a Friday. I drove the Lexus, he drove the STi. About 20 minutes into our drive, we were on the freeway and Steve was rear-ended. Fantastic. I watched him get hit in my rear view mirror. Talk about frustrating. (This happened on our move from Connecticut to New York, too. Maybe Steve shouldn't be allowed to drive during our moves...) Luckily, we were able to grab Baruka (my subie, not the STi) the next day and drive south. Upon arriving in Monterey, we started immediately looking for a place to live. We found two places that were ok, but were hoping for something better, and we found it! We are now living in a 4 bedroom house about 5 minutes from Steve's school (Naval Postgraduate School), which is such a better commute than what either of us had in Washington! Love it.

Alisha and Josh Weiss (two FABULOUS friends from WA) came down for a visit and to go to the US Open. It was held at Pebble Beach this year, just south of Monterey. I had no idea golf was so much fun! Alisha and Josh stayed for a few days; so much fun having them here! The day they left, we picked up a rental car and drove straight back up to Oregon to pick up the STi. Funnily enough, we picked it up on Steve's actual birthday. Haha, love it! We stayed for a couple of days to see family and celebrate Steve's birthday again with a lovely dinner out, then headed back to Monterey in the STi with the pup. Kenai, by the way, is loving all this beach time. He chases birds like nobody's business.

Steve is a bit over halfway done with his first term of school, and I'm enjoying the unemployed life. I cook and bake a lot (we have an apple tree in our backyard!), and we are both enjoying seeing each other every single day. It's different, this shore tour life, and I think I can get used to it. We went to the Garlic Festival in July and had a blast. Battlestar Galactica kept us entertained for a while; we watched the entire series. Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica. :-) Overall, we are still getting used to Monterey and having to pay tax. We found an amazing deli the other day and look forward to discovering more favorite haunts. Yay for shore tour!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN VOELKER!