Oregon Trip 2013 Conclusion

Welp, I think I've taken a long enough vacation from the blog. The hubby and I flew home from Oregon on Monday, and I'm just now having the time to sit down and write. It's been a crazy week. We got home around 1:30 am on Monday night/Tuesday morning. Needless to say, we slept for most of Tuesday. The hubby returned to work on Wednesday, while I was forced, forced I tell you, to run to the grocery store. *Groan* While grocery shopping the day before Thanksgiving may sound slightly less pleasurable then enjoying a colonoscopy, I was happily surprised to find a nearly empty store. Upon checkout, standing in front of the cashier, I inquired about the scarcity of crazed Thanksgiving shoppers. I was informed that Tuesday and Tuesday night at the store had been absolute nightmares, because people were afraid of getting snowed in. Worked out well for me!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving (obviously), which was spent with the hubby's family. All of this rambling brings me to my point- today is the first day I've had to sit down and play catch-up with social media. Along the lines of catch-up, here are a few pictures to sum up the monthlong vacation extravaganza-

My mom and I have started a tradition since I've moved away. We always go out for drinks at The Vault at least once while I'm in town. This year, I had a Raspberry Lemon Drop made with fresh raspberry puree. It was all kinds of delicious. 

We let Dad and the hubby come with us :)

Shrimp and Lobster Bruschetta. Yum!

I'm not sure how Haloti finds this comfortable, but apparently, he does.

Forever hoping someone will drop something.

Rhoadesgiving! Since the hubby and I flew out a few days before Thanksgiving, my family celebrated Thanksgiving last Saturday. Lots of wine, lots of food, and lots of football! It would have been a perfect day, if only the Duck's could have won!

Beautiful, beautiful turkey.

The dogs enjoying a little howling on their last night of the trip.

A shot of Vegas (our layover city) as we flew out.

Foodie items purchased in Oregon!

I'm really excited about this jarred adobo sauce. Sometimes recipes only call for a little bit of adobo sauce, which makes it a pain to open an entire can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for just a teaspoon of the adobo sauce. 

I would never be able to buy this -ground shrimp- in Kentucky. I smell a latin-inspired soup on the horizon.

Risotto is also looming on the menu!

So, we are home now. The blog should be returning to normal. I have to admit, I'm excited to get back to cooking and baking. It's nice to have a break once in a while, but when it comes down to it, I just love being in the kitchen.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and that you were not harmed by Black Friday violence :)

Oregon 2013- so far!

Happy Monday friends!

So, I've recently come to terms with the fact that #1- I'm having too much fun to be at my computer and #2- November is going to be a less than proliferous month when it comes to the blog. I constantly have that constant, nagging self-reminder that I should take to the computer and blog. I just don't have the time (or desire) right now. And that's ok. It's going to be an all-out blogging blitz when I get home though- holiday cooking! I'm super-excited. In the meantime, some pictures from the first half of our trip to entertain you and get you through this inconsistent blogging month-

The hubby and I in our Halloween finest. Hubby won Scariest Costume at the party we went to!

The hubby's friends' highly creative, homemade, paper-mache mask. I'm still not sure what he was supposed to be, but it was pretty cool :)

My parent's house has a daylight basement which is where our guest bedroom is at. I love looking at the squirrels and birds at eye level.

The parent's took us out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Corvallis. My mom's favorite radio guys (Steve Tannen and Justin Myers from Crunch Time with Steve and Justin) were doing a show from that location, and my mom was beside herself to get to meet them.

I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for the fam.

A "Kentucky Jenny" from Bar 101 in Corvallis. I wish I remembered exactly what was in it, but I think it was bourbon, ginger beer, and bitters over shaved ice. Like a snow cone. I just had to try it :) It was pretty good!

It's a rough life for Mr. Gizmo.

Loved this double rainbow over Corvallis.

Cheering on the Ducks for the ill-fated Stanford game. Boo.

The hubby and I went down to Southern Oregon (about 3 hours from my parents) where my brother lives. The little bro and his wife took us to an amazing Italian restaurant in Ashland, OR, Pasta Piatta. We all split a bottle of Chianti Classico. So lip-smackin' good!

Their calamari was amazing, with fresh marinara.

After lunch in Ashland, we walked through the town to see Lithia Park and The Oregon Shakespeare Theater.

My brother's wife and the hubby goofing off at the theater.

Bro's wife, Bro, and me in Lithia Park.

I just seem to find duckies where ever I go!

My dad taught me how to make his homemade noodles. A priority when I get home is replicating his German potato and homemade noodle soup. First, I'll have to figure out a name for the soup though, because he calls it "Leichtyswitch". This ends up sounding like "lick-it-ee-switch". I've been unsuccessful finding a German soup of this name, but my dad swears that's what his Grandma used to call this soup. I will continue to search for a name for the soup, or at the very least, a correct German spelling :)

Gizmo's favorite resting spot at my parent's house.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Creamy Pumpkin Custard

Here's the DL: I made a large batch of those Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for the hubby to take in to work. Since the recipe only uses 6 tbsp of pumpkin puree, I had almost a whole can leftover. What's a girl to do?

Since today is Game Day for my Ducks (Huck those Fuskies!), I didn't want to spend all day baking. I also wanted to go for a run this morning. What the heck was I going to do with that pumpkin that wouldn't require oodles of time? I found this super easy recipe upon Googling "easy pumpkin recipes". Google was right about one thing, this recipe is majorly simple. The prep took 10 minutes, which I completed while my coffee was brewing this morning. The custards baked for 50 minutes while I drank my coffee. That's it. That was the whole process. I pulled them from the oven, and immediately left to go running. The custards were completely set by the time I got home. It really doesn't get easier than this.

These turned out really well. The flavor of the custard is similar to pumpkin pie filling, but has a different texture. The custard is a little bit stiffer and fluffier. I know that sounds weird, but the texture is hard to describe. The best comparison I have is that the texture is similar to those whipped yogurts you can buy. It's really a perfect fall dessert, though. The hubby and I are going to enjoy these tonight with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, but whip cream's got to be a sublime topping choice as well.

I hope everyone's having a great fall weekend, and college football game day!

GO DUCKS!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz evaporated milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin through evaporated milk. Whisk until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar through salt. Whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet. Whisk until well combined.
4. Divide pumpkin mixture among 4 ramekins. Place ramekins in a casserole dish. Fill casserole dish with enough water to go halfway up the ramekins. Place casserole dish in preheated oven, bake for 50 minutes.
5. Remove ramekins from water bath, and place on a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. Serve immediately, or chill in the fridge before serving. Store custards in the fridge.

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart. 

Lately: 10/3/13

Haloti chased this poor little groundhog up into a tree at our house yesterday, around 3 pm. The poor little groundhog was so scared, he didn't come down until the middle of the night. I kept checking on him all afternoon yesterday, but he didn't move a muscle. He sat like this all day yesterday. I'm happy to say that when I went to check on him this morning, he was gone. Thank goodness. I was having nightmares of trying to get him down after Googling "getting a groundhog out of a tree video". Watch the video. So glad we don't have to do that :)

Retail Value: $127.10
Paid: $45.30
Savings: 64%

Crispy Chicken BLT Salad.

The hubby got me some gorgeous fall flowers last week.

The vacuum scares the beejeezus out of Gizmo. Somehow, he managed to score a ride-along to stay safe from that evil, noisy machine.

Made a batch of lunch burritos to freeze for the hubby.

Fall is upon us, and in this house that means breaking out the heating pad for the pups to share.

Haloti stays true to his namesake, and supports those Duckies!

My shirt for Huntington's Path to the Cure.

After putting in 3 miles on a sunny fall morning last week.

Spaghetti with Toasted Breadcrumbs, Swiss Chard, and Poached Eggs.

One day closer to the weekend! Happy Thursday everyone!

Hey, It's Ok... Fantasy Football Edition

Image source: NFL

So, I guess I could be considered a girly-girl. I like clothes, makeup, shoes, purses, shopping, hair, etc. However, this girly-girl loves football. I grew up in a football-centric household. If there was a football game on TV, the TV would be on that channel. No if's, and's, or but's about it. No negotiations. My childhood home was a football dictatorship run by my mom. Yes, my mom. Maybe I inherited my love of football from her? It's hard to say. All I know is I was raised in a household where when my brother brought home a girl from the Bronx, New York, she was completely flabbergasted that my mom and I were at a college football game, and my dad was home cleaning the house and cooking us dinner. I look forward to football season every year, it's like Christmas time for me. I love Saturday's spent watching college football, Sunday's spent watching the NFL, and Monday night's with pizza, beer, and MNF. And one of my favorite parts of football season? Fantasy football! This could be why I like fall so much... Nevertheless, here is my fantasy football edition of "Hey, it's ok..."

Hey, it's ok...

-if you've had one too many gin and tonics on draft day, and your first round draft pick is Mark Sanchez. Quarterback's not an important position, right?

-to call your commissioner and tell them that your hot water heater blew up, taking out your electrical grid, and causing a massive power outage, which stopped you from setting your lineup and could they please just unlock the lineup so you can set it?

-to hastily add that the hot water heater also took out your wireless internet, so you couldn't even set your lineup on your phone.

-if Week 6 you are desperately searching the waiver wires for a wide receiver after Reggie Wayne just dropped his millionth pass of the season.

-if you have an epic meltdown (complete with screaming, tears, and snot) after Reggie Wayne scores more points than he ever has the week after you drop him.

-to ponder if you are bipolar after your defense (the Broncos) intercepts a ball late in the 4th quarter, and instead of a pick 6, Danny Trevathan drops the ball at the 1 yard line. You've never gone from so elated to so pissed so fast.

-if you win your league, and believe you own bragging rights for the next 5 years.

-if you picture laying waste to your spouse in your head when they take Peyton Manning before you, even when you told them that's the only person you cared was on your roster.

-to make your spouse sleep on the couch for their audacity in participating in this Manning-gate.

-to secretly cheer for your team's division rival because you have their quarterback and tight-end. Even when they are playing your team. Just don't admit this one out loud.

-to be apprehensive about watching football around children, the elderly, or your in-laws, because you are actually afraid of what might come out of your mouth after downing a 6-pack of beer.

-if you go into a deep depression followed by a drinking binge when football season is over. Now who will you scream and throw your beer can at on Sunday's??

Superbowl 2010

Happy Hump Day! :)

Lately-ish

Haloti looks crazy!

I was at the self-checkout at Walmart, attempting to run my debit card. Apparently, their machines were having trouble. The terminal didn't take my card the first, or second time, but it did print out this "receipt" when it rejected my card the 2nd time. I took this to the cashier to see what I needed to do. The cashier looked at this for 1 second and then snapped at me that this was a receipt, I was fine to go. I just kind of shook my head as I left. Sure enough, this purchase never hit my bank account. Maybe the cashier should have taken 2 seconds to listen to me. 

Wild turkeys!

Seared Pork Chops and Roasted Baby Carrots with a Mustard-Pan Sauce.

This is inevitably what happens when I try to work out at home.

This is what happens when I ignore him when I'm trying to work out :)

Grilled Lamb Chops.

Siri is apparently an Oregon State fan.  This is the answer you get when you ask her what her favorite college football team is.

Coupon Haul 8/18/13: Spent $22.08 on $93.69 worth of product.

Coupon Haul 8/24/13: Spent $19.71 on $97.59 worth of product.

Coupon Haul 9/1/13: Spent $20.08 on $72.33 worth of product.

Hair freshly colored!

Making chocolate chip cookies for the hubby, watching football. It's starting to feel like fall!