Weekend in Tyler TX

I had a great weekend hanging out with Natalie in Tyler, TX. The drive from Houston to Tyler took about 4 hours but was scenic, winding through parts of East Texas I hadn't seen before. On Saturday we went to Canton, TX (35 miles from Tyler) for a craft show that takes place the first weekend of every month. There was a neat little candle shop where we had fun sniffing around...

Check out the name, Country Bumpkin. I bought this one.

I didn't buy 'em, but how cute! Miss Roma...

Before our dinner date.

This was a bottle of wine Nat saved from our Sonoma trip last year!!!

I got a nice surprise when I got home-- Ross went to the grocery store and planned meals for the week! For dinner, Ross made an EXCELLENT cod dish (from Cooks Illustrated), sauteed lemon garlic mushrooms, and browned butter balsamic asparagus.

Cook Method: Seared then finished in the oven at high heat

Brown butter balsamic sauce, to be drizzled over asparagus.

Final Plating

Ooey gooey choco chunk cookies for dessert.

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Roma want dinner? or breakfast?

Miss Roma hasn't eaten anything for 2 whole days :( I was thinking her tummy was upset and it would pass, but 2 days is a long time without any Eukanuba! She is still plopping the toys in our lap so I don't think she feels bad, but she is looking too skinny. I think a vet trip is in order...
For dinner we had grilled chicken soft tacos. They were quick and delish. Fresh tortillas really bump up the yum factor.  I am driving to Tyler after work tomorrow. Girl weekend. Yay!

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Sushi Night

I met Tamara and Leigh for sushi after work. MMMM. We caught the happy hour special, so it wasn't quite the price gouge that sushi usually is. A mid-week sushi/wine date is just what I needed.  I'm also looking forward to my trip toTyler TX this weekend. Afterall, it's about time I visit Natalie!!
Ross and I are watching the movie "Coraline"-- the Blu Ray makes such a difference! Anyways the movie is getting good... hasta la vista baby.

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Tid Bits

Random Things I learned today:
1. "Who Dat" does not mean "Who's That." Au contrare. When the Saints are headed to the SuperBowl it has a whole new meaning. Read this if you are still lost.
2. What it feels like to julienne 60 bell peppers. Ross and I went over to church after work to help do some veggie chopping for a meal tomorrow. I can't say Ross ever pared and chopped 100 carrots before tonight either... Now we know a) why all the chefs on Top Chef bring their own knives to every competition b) what it feels like to be a sous chef.
3. I took my first picture with my new lens, which arrived today, and got bokeh (blur from shallow depth of field) like never before! I have lots to learn now that I'm trying to use the "manual" settings rather than the "automatic" settings... Miss Texas right here:

4. It is possible for 2 people to oversleep, despite 2 alarms.
5. There are people willing to jump around and stay awake for 46 hours straight to raise awareness and funds to support cancer patients. If you like myself and are not participating in a dance marathon, you can still encourage/support those that are... GO JEFFREY!!
6. If you haven't brushed a puppy's teeth in over a year, they don't respond well to a toothbrush-- even with peanut butter flavored toothpaste.
7. My car has 2 air filters, not just one.
8. I still can't do a pull-up on my own. My goal is 1 real pull-up within the next couple months.
9. Some commuters are unaware that the HOV lane is for "High Occupancy Vehicles" ie, you must have MORE than YOURSELF in the car to be LEGAL, your cell phone doesn't count!
10. Tabasco and Louisiana hot sauce are not the same heat intensity. For example: Do not apply Tabasco liberally to your veggies as you may normally do with Louisiana hot sauce or you will be sorry.
11. Ross's venison roll is still my favorite way to eat venison. Bacon wrapped, stuffed with cheese, roasted bell pepper, and sauteed onion. Hello...

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Sleepy Monday

I was really dragging this afternoon, so I am going to try and hit the hay relatively early tonight. First, I have to see which girl gets kicked off the Bachelor. I'm halfway kidding... I have so many friends who watch the show that it is actually easier to watch the last five minutes so I'm up-to-date. But 2 hours? Is that really necessary?
We made Emeril's spicy shrimp skewers and black bean corn salsa for dinner. The shrimp had a lot of flavor, but tasted a little gritty from the spices, mainly the dried thyme. I also wouldn't recommend to someone who doesn't like some heat :) The black bean corn salsa is one of my favorite side dishes. Always a winner!

I've been tracking my new camera lens as it makes its journey to my doorstep. According to UPS.com it's in Dallas right now. I'm hoping it will be waiting for me when I get home tomorrow!

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Beautiful Day

The weather today made me feel glad to be alive! The day included church, the dog park, and some car washing. Last night, the Huebel parents came over to hang out and catch up... over dinner of course! Here's a recap:

Roma and Gumbo playing tug-a-war

Rick Bayless's scalloped potatoes with tomatillo salsa.

Parents brought asparagus/zucchini side

Ross's Famous Baby Back Ribs

Chocolate Bread Pudding- Ross's request

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Friday with Steph and Liz

Last night we had our first "Cook with Steph and Liz"!! There is a bit of context required at this point... A couple months ago I bought Dorie Greenspan's cookbook, "Baking: From My Home to Yours", and have been baking my way through the book ever since. Dorie is regarded by some as the QUEEN of baking and there is a club called "TWD: Tuesdays with Dorie" in which a different Dorie recipe is selected every week and each person in the club bakes that recipe and blogs about their experience. So the caveats are a) you have to do it every week or you get kicked out b) you must have a blog c) you have to make what they tell you to make. Well when Steph realized she also owned a copy of Dorie's book, we took it as a sign, and thus we formed "Tuesdays with Steph and Liz" Hmmm, except we only very rarely will actually do it on a Tuesday and we have expanded our night to dinner also, so "Cook with Steph and Liz" is the winner!! We are aiming for a bi-monthly date :) Robbie and Ross have their own Xbox date and disappear upstairs to play Call of Duty.
So the menu was: Chicken Milanese with Lemon Cream sauce and assorted greens, wild mushroom risotto, and Dorie's Blueberry-Peach cobbler. My favorite thing was the risotto, but I had been craving it. If you haven't made risotto or you love risotto, try this recipe. I highly recommend it. Perfecto!

Pressure's on! Kneading cobbler dough

Cobbler going into the oven.

Go Steph! ha ha.

Chicken Milanese

Tyler Florence's Wild Mushroom Risotto.

The Crew.

Final Plating!

Dorie's Blueberry Peach Cobbler

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Stew on This

Ross made "Best Beef Stew" from Cooks Illustrated Magazine.  (Ross gave me a subscription for Christmas). He used venison instead of beef. The stew had such nice flavor from the red wine in the recipe. I think we both agreed that stew is NOT going to replace our favorites anytime soon. For Ross, that would be chili and gumbo and my favorites are tortilla or black bean soup. Either way it was fun trying a new recipe. All the credit goes to Ross on this one!

While Ross slaved away in the kitchen I took the Pestie for a quick pre-dinner run. I hate to say it, but she is outta shape! ha. It was a beautiful day and it felt great to get outside after a week and half of being sick and holed up inside. JUST BREATHE!

Dessert and movie time. We're going to watch "Hangover." Ta Ta.

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analyze or analyse?

Just got home from dinner with some of Steph's high school friends. It is so neat that their group of 6 or so girlfriends have stayed in touch and make it a point to get together once a month. The conversations are always entertaining. I was feeling full after dinner so I skipped dessert. *GASP!!* Don't be too impressed... the first thing I did when i got home was make dessert. My favorite dessert of late has been Dreyer's slow churned (1/3 fat) Vanilla Bean with dark chocolate peanut M&M's crushed up and mixed in. DIVINE. Now you might ask why I choose a lower cal ice cream.... It's because I eat ice cream EVERY night. I love love love it. I can sacrifice on the flavor some, but definitely not the frequency. I'm glad we cleared that up.

I've had a couple questions lately about what I do at work. Sometimes I ask myself the same thing! But really, what is a reservoir engineer? I stole the following description in which there are some British spellings, but that is what I have to deal with at work on a daily basis, so I thought it would be perfect. Here it goes....

Reservoir engineers analyse the production potential of a petroleum reservoir. (How much oil/gas is there?) 
They study the behavior and characteristics of a petroleum reservoir to determine the drilling and extraction methods that should be used to optimise oil or gas recovery. (How deep, pressure environment, how easy does oil flow, temperatures,  location, of the oil that's there how much can we get out of the ground)
They gather data from various sources to produce a development plan, using computer models to simulate production conditions. (Gather Data. It sounds so easy, but it is so time consuming. it's such an important step because if you put junk into any model you will get junk out. I sit in front of the computer most of my day using Excel and simulation software.) 
This enables them to identify risks and forecast the likely outcome of events and possible interventions, to maximise reservoir yields and performance. (Predicting what a well will make. Used to "book reserves" at the end of year with the Securities Exchange Commission. Reservoir Engineers must be able to back up all numbers!)

Does that help? Do you all want to be reservoir engineers now or did I make you fall asleep? 

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Leftovers? Really?

We ate leftovers tonight. I know, I can barely believe it myself. Ross had the novel idea of making enough food for a 2-for-1, cook once but make 2 meals. Now why didn't I think of that? Well,  actually I can tell you exactly why. It's because there is nothing better than taking leftovers to work for LUNCH the next day! Fortunately for me, Ross isn't a fan of the same meal back to back and I get it ALL. Unfortunately, I was left high and dry today and had to fend for myself. I survived and on the brightside, we didn't have to cook tonight. With all the free time, I ordered my first LENS for my new big girl camera. Weeeee I'm so excited! I've been reading lots about photography since my class and finally decided on a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. isn't she a beauty???

The pressure is really on now! I'm hoping my food pictures will look even more tantalizing and that everyone will want to own a Weimaraner puppy.

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Monday Night Fun

My friend Sarah came over for a dinner'n'chat. we had such a good time I don't have much time for a post.. Ross made us a chicken dish from is new Rick Bayless cookbook. It was really good. We (Sarah and I) watched The Bachelor after dinner, followed up by some warm oatmeal raisin cookies and ice cream. mmm. don't worry about ross feeling left out... he was playing xbox. haha. until tomorrow!

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King Crab

Yep that's right, there was King Crab at the Holiday party. All is right with the world :) The food was not quite as stellar as last year, but it was still very good. BP didn't pay for parking or the valet, so we were determined to get our moneys worth out of the buffet, all $14 of it. Mission successful. Ross had a different plate for each course. They also had an open bar. As I was still getting over being sick, I drank Perrier with lime all night long!!
At sunday school, we are reading a book called "The Hole in our Gospel" by Richard Stearns. I am a only a couple chapters in, but so far it is the story of a man (the author) and his calling to leave his job as CEO of Lenox fine china to become the president of World Vision, a worldwide charity organization. It is an interesting story and makes you think about the bigger picture and our call to serve, especially after an event like the Haiti earthquake. I'll give the book a thumb up or down after I finish it :)
Ross and I had a nice bike ride this afternoon. The weather was beautiful. I took my camera along for the ride and snapped some pictures at our stop. We had venison steak, portabella mushrooms, and roasted fingerling potatoes for dinner. MMM.

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Holiday Party?

Ross and I are heading to the BP holiday party tonight. Yep, it's a holiday party AFTER the holidays. I suppose the rates were cheaper... I'm really hoping the food is as amazing as last year.  I'm going to play food critic. Report tomorrow.
I think I'm FINALLY getting over this bug, which really knocked the wind out of my sails for a good week. Mom made it to Key West safely and has talked to Dad a couple times. Apparently the ladies are having a nice time with some beautiful weather.
I am a couple days late, but I also need to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to GRAMPIE!!

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Riccccccccola

*Cough, Cough* Being sick will really slow you down. I've been going to bed at 9pm the whole week. I think Roma is ready to end the early bed times... she woke up at 1am last night and brought a toy over to the bed and tried to get us to play with her. haha. little pestie.
Ross and Robbie are upstairs playing xbox, Call of Duty i think. It is so funny listening to guns, and bombs, and boy banter. There is some competitiveness going on, we'll put it that way.
I had my consultation with the eye doctor today! I found out that I am not a candidate for Lasik because my vision is just too bad. Too near-sided for the lasers. Good news is that I am an ideal candidate for ICL (implantable contact lenses).  The more information I get on ICL, the more I think this will be the perfect fit! Still pondering the concept (and the price), but hoping it's a go in the next couple months. stay tuned!

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Z-Pack Please

Went to the doc today. He said most likely i have some kind of infection and my lymph nodes are in pain bc they're fighting the sickness. I'm now on an antibiotic, aka a Z-pack, and hoping I feel much better tomorrrow. While i'm heading into the office, Mom will be heading to Key West with 2 of her friends. Ohh the life. The perks of being a Mom :)

Here's a pic of a really great side salad we had a couple nights ago... Ellie's Asian Style Three Bean Salad.

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Don't sit next to me...

In. Bed. Sick.

I have a dr appt later this morning....

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Thai Night

Still feeling a bit under the weather today, mainly because my throat glands are huge. Today I was asking Ross why I get sick more than him and he told me we are probably sick the same amount of time, but that his pain threshold is higher. He also said that I should wash my hands less to build up more immunity to germs. haha. I love him.
We had Bobby Flay's Thai Inspired Beef Salad for dinner. Watercress, carrots, mint, peanuts, basil, green onions, and cilantro with a soy sauce, white vinegar dressing topped with asian marinated filet mignon.  mmm. Delish!

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Ribbit

I woke up this morning sounding like a frog with 2 golf balls in my throat. UGG, must be the cold weather.   Hoping I will wake up feeling better tomorrow.
I went to a Basic SLR (single lens reflex) photography class with my friend Taylor on Saturday at Houston Center for Photography. I learned so much! I'm ready to embark on my new hobby, one picture at a time :)
On Saturday some girlfriends came over for "make your own pizza" night, followed by Dorie's Gooey Chocolate cakes.  Think molten lava cake. They are a perfect personal size AND easy to make. I highly recommend this recipe! Unfortunately, I didn't snap any pictures of our meal because we were running late to our movie. We saw "It's Complicated" with Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep (aka my MOM).  I really didn't have very high expectations, but it surprised me.  I laughed so hard on multiple occasions.  good food and a good movie :)
We had a casualty of the cold weather... our sprinkler system pipe burst on Saturday. 4 of our neighbors had the same problem. so glad it wasn't our water line to the house.

Practicing camera skills with a backyard snapshot

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Dragon Bowl

I picked up sushi "To Go" after work at a place called Dragon Bowl. It is a little place in a strip shopping center near Katrina's house. I liked it better than Pei Wei and it seems more healthy. I got my usual sushi order: edamame and a rainbow roll with light soy sauce. mmm. I brought the goods over to Katrina's house so that we could grub before kickoff. We got to chatting and the next thing I know Colt McCoy is gone. We had to rewind and still couldn't tell what was injured. Anyhow, I don't want to talk about the game, so I'm not going to.
BIG(ish) NEWS: Roma stayed in the house the whole day, OUT of her crate. We've been working up to leaving her out of her crate (kennel) for longer and longer periods of time-- she has been a good girl so far. Ross's pep talk this morning sounded something like this, "Roma if you mess this one up, Daddy's going to take you to the pound, so behave yourself. See you after work."

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Pasadena, Tomorrow

It's hump day and it's almost over. Also, it my off Friday this week (I get every other Friday off on the 9/80 schedule). What could be better? Well, since you asked, it does get better -- UT is playing in the National Championship tomorrow night at 7pm cst!!! I have some friends who are lucky enough to be going to the game, but I'll be parked in front of the TV instead. Unless things get really bad...
For dinner we had delicious venison chili with steamed corn on the cob. A great meal on a cold day.

Steamed Corn with Venison Chili

As I was shucking the corn I noticed a black blob and movement. Yes, movement. Wait, corn isn't supposed to move! WARNING: the next part of the story is not for all audiences, particularly those who don't like WORMS. Yep. A big ole worm was hanging out right inside the corn. Bleck blach blah. I didn't even scream though. It was like a wave of calm came over me as I handled the situation, right into the trash can. Maybe I think more clearly when Ross isn't home, who knows.

Ross is going to the ranch this weekend, so I had to make cookies for him to share with Brandon, Adam, and Danielle. Cookies-- it's what I do!

Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies for the Ranchers

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Movie Night

Shhhh... we are upstairs in the media room watching Inglorious Bastards, but it's starting out slow so I'm sneaking a post.  For dinner I was in charge of crash hot potatoes sprinkled with rosemary and Ross made Mexican chicken tomatillo enchiladas from his new Rick Bayless cookbook. Everything looked so good!

Now this story takes an unexpected turn. The enchiladas were too spicy for me to eat!!! They were soooo hot!!! Ross could barely even eat them and his hot'o'meter has a much higher threshold than mine. All the tomatillo, Chihuahua cheese, and chicken flavors were drowned out by the spice from the serrano peppers.  I had to make myself an alternate of chicken salad. Sometimes these things just happen.

This movie is pretty gruesome. I would not recommend watching it before bedtime. Time for bed!

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