A Tennessee Surprise!!

Auntie Marta popped in to visit Ross and I!!! Mechanical problems with the plane, a tropical storm, and flight delays couldn't stop her. Marta rolled up to our house in a candy apple red rental car. I was helping her unload the car and I said, "Wow, you packed Light!" and Marta said, "No, No, No... the rest is in the TRUNK" haha. The suitcase was so heavy Ross had to take it upstairs. So funny.

We had a Tyler Florence fish recipe for dinner. This dish is really amazing when tomatoes are at their prime and you can get a FRESH white, flakey fish... We had to do some improvising this time around, so it wasn't quite as good as the last time we made it, but still a pretty darn good meal...

When Ross and I come home from work we always sneak a peek at Miss Roma in the backyard. It's always funny to see what she's doing. It usually looks something like this...

And then she hears us laughing at her...

I love her.

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Stir-Fried Sichuan-Style Shrimp

This month Cooks Illustrated featured an article called "Rethinking Stir-Fried Shrimp". We picked the Sichuan-Style recipe to try because we like some spicy, hotness :) It was so good. Oh so good. Don't pick this particular variation unless you can stand some HEAT!!

Look at those pretty colors... Red bell peppers, zucchini, cilantro, shrimp, peanuts and some asian flavors. The leftovers (aka lunch the next day) may have been even better.

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Flowers

Do you ever buy yourself flowers... just because? I do. I did. :)

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Girls Dinner

Last year Steph invited me to dinner with some of her friends. They get together once a month for a girls dinner party, hosted by a different person every month. What a great idea! How neat to have your buddies live nearby?! I've been tagging along ever since, and it was finally my turn to play hostess in the dinner rotation. We had Asian chicken coleslaw and Steph brought peach nectar Bellini's to wash it down. For dessert we had Dorie's Hidden Berry Cheesecake Torte and cookie dough cheesecake bars, to celebrate Nikki's birthday and love of all things cheesecake :)

To be honest, I'm not much of a cheesecake person, which is why I choose these two recipes. The bars have a graham cracker crust, a cream cheese "cheesecake" layer, topped with a cookie dough layer. These were definitely a hit! Dorie's torte is actually a mixture of LIGHT cream cheese and LIGHT cottage cheese, blended in a food processor until creamy, silky smooth. Nutmeg and cinnamon finish it off. It has a truely unique taste, but isn't overly dense and rich like lots of cheesecake recipes. Might I also note that the homemade crust is essential :)

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Vacuum bags

I was doing a little bit of tidying up this evening and Ross asked if he could help. Help? YES. I gave him a couple chores, which included vacuuming the family room. Ross headed to the closet to retrieve the vacuum. Of course when Roma sees the vacuum she starts running around, hiding, plotting how to attack that scary vacuum and kill it once and for all. Ross did a couple turns around the room, but I noticed the vacuum was emitting "that vacuum smell" and I stopped him. Here's the conversation that ensued...


E: "Ross, do you smell that? It means its time to change the vacuum bag"
R: "Yeah I smell it"
Ross continues to vacuum. I stop him again...
E: "Do you mind changing the vacuum bag?"
R: "Can't it just wait till next time?"
E: "No because it smells and that means it should have been already"
R: "How about I just finish the room"
E: "There's bags in the closet, please go get one"
R: "I've never changed a vacuum bag before. I don't know how to do it"
E: "What? Never? It's really easy. You'll be fine"


I'm happy to report mission Change Vacuum Bag was completed successfully, much to Roma's dismay. Chores--check!

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Banana Bread

Ross and I got Dad a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, one of our favorite recipe resources, for his birthday. A couple months went by and there was a bit of discussion about the recipes that looked good, but we hadn't really heard about any food that tasted good as a result. Well, until Saturday. The Cook's Illustrated Banana Bread pushed Dad over the edge. Talking about the recipe was just not going to cut it. And that leads us to a Huebel Hammock first-- a guest contributer!!

Quite the professional touch with the ring of bananas around the top, don't you think? Bravo Dad. Bravo. I wish I could have been a fly on the kitchen wall, spying on Dad while he was baking.

Overall, the parents gave positive reviews. It sounded like a dense, richer banana bread based on the fact they skipped dinner. MMM... Warm, fresh baked bread. They should make a Yankee Candle scent of THAT smell. I really want a piece right now. I guess I'll just have to make it for myself :)

Thanks for pictures Dad!

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Alotta Broccoli

This was a good meal here... Grilled tuna steaks, grilled broccoli, and roasted rosemary new potatoes. The broccoli was my favorite part of the meal-- since when is broccoli anyones favorite part of a meal? Since now :)

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Philly

Here our some highlights from our recent trip to Philly...

Penn's Landing. Of course I caught Ross staring at the battleship...

In front of Independence Hall.

The Liberty Bell!

My cousins... Cutest. Boys. Ever. 

Potluck dinner night. I love the colors!

The newest members of the family, Nilla and Ginger.

First Philly Cheesesteak--- for Ross AND Scott!

We had such a fun time visiting with family and friends!

Sidenote:
We ate at Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant in downtown Philadelphia and had one of the best meals we've ever had. So good. If you live nearby, you MUST check it out!

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Roma's Day of Too much love

Roma had a VERY special day this weekend. We took her to see the refugee family and she might as well have been a celebrity. They couldn't get enough of her! It was so funny. Take a look...

Notice little Hope over on the left. He has been asking to meet Roma for some time now, but was a little surprised at how big she was in person. Ha ha.

Roma's makeshift water bowl. She had fun sticking her whole head in the pitcher.

Trying to get Hope to pet Roma.

Bonair was really investigating Roma. He was fascinated with her big, floppy ears.

"I'm a superstar!" 

What a cute sibling picture!

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Grill Master

We tried some Bobby Flay burgers a couple weekends ago at the lakehouse. We try to keep it pretty simple on our mini getaways, but we like to eat too. It's a conundrum. I know. We made Turkey Burgers and Grainy Dijon Potato Salad. I liked using turkey for a change, but it's definitely not as flavorful as a beef burger. The thyme & onion relish was great on top. If you like potato salad but not mayo, check out the recipe above. It uses greek yogurt to achieve the same texture. Dessert was cinnamon grilled pineapple. Yum in the sun.

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Photo Lesson

I previously mentioned that I've been trying to pick up Photoshop Elements again.. It's slow going but just thought I'd show you some of the things it can do!

Straight out of the camera (SOOTC) 

Notice that peskie neighbor girl in the picture (lower right). Let's brighten up the colors and delete the girl out of the picture! :)...

Bye Bye. Wouldn't it be nice to have an "eraser tool" for life? Well, that reminds me of that movie "The Butterfly Effect" and its not all rosy...

 How about applying a crazy effect?

Maybe a bit too crazy for me. How about dimming the colors this time?

I'm liking this one here... The options are endless!

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Hassel what?

Ross has devised a weighted risk analysis of dinner preparation. Let me explain. If a meal is a lotta work, but doesn't taste really really great then, it's scored lower in the "Dinner Matrix." However, if a meal isn't too complicated AND tastes great then it gets a high score from Ross. Overall, the more time you spend on a meal, the better it should taste and if it doesn't then it's not a winner. My little engineer...er ... well,  how about just my engineer. :)

I really have no idea what hasselback means, but these Hasselback Potatoes are so good. If you have 5 minutes to slice a potato and 40 minutes to wait while they bake, then these are a great side for you!

There is something so good about EVOO, rosemary, and sea salt. It makes my mouth sing. Definitely not my voice.

This green bean and tomato salad was really good too! Fresh basil, red onion, and red wine vinegar add such a nice flavor to the otherwise bland green beans. I don't know about you, but I eat with my eyes and when I see a whole bunch of colors on my plate. I. Must. Eat. Exhibit A.

Our protein was grilled jerk chicken. It had the perfect grill marks, but not much flavor because so much of the marinade cooked off. I would recommend a pre-made rub for a quick, easy flavor infusion. Just remember to watch the sodium!!

Happy (Healthy) Eating.

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Huebel Acrobatics

Can you guess what's going on in these pictures?? Please note the agility in these maneuvers!

?? Any guesses? Hint: Ross is standing 10 feet off the ground... Ok here's the give away...

MOUNTING BIRDS!! We finally got the green head and the blue winged teal hung in the alcove of our family room. I like to think its tasteful and not tacky, but maybe I'm just lying to myself. Roma was staring down the birds the rest of the day...

...

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