Inside Roma's Mind

If only dogs could talk...

'Scuse me Mommy and Daddy, Can you pleeeeease stop talking and let me go Pee Pee Outside?

You are supposed to take the picture on the count of 3, not 2! Sheesh!

Uagh, I'm trying to get my beauty sleep. No pictures!

...But Mom, Sonny started it, why am I getting in trouble?

I LOVE it when I get ICE in my water bowl!

1

Thai Basil Chicken

We found this Thai Basil Chicken recipe in Cook's Illustrated. Put the chicken in a food processor, WHAT??  Hmm, never done that before... Yep let's try this recipe :)

Basil, garlic, and shallots.

We had the Thai Basil chicken with brown rice. I would recommend using more basil than you think you might need and definitely white rice. Quick and easy meal.

0

Babies, but not mine

One of my good buddies just told me she was pregnant, but I forgot to ask for clearance on spilling the beans so she will remain anonymous until farther notice. I know, I know the suspense is killer. The truth is, I had two options in this situation: a) blog like normal and divulge nothing or b) let you know there is something I know that you most likely don't. Now, doesn't option b sound like more fun for me??? :) The best part is how we found out...
John Doe (aka husband of Jane Doe): "Let me go ahead and split this milkshake 3 ways"
To myself: This seems odd, because Ross and I already got a milkshake... wait a minute... maybe... 
Me: "Are you PREGNANT? Are you serious??"

I love it!! I'm so excited!!! More to come!!

I was going to show off my newly organized pantry, but somehow that seems so lame right now. Oh well, I organized my pantry! I knew it was time, when I found 4 cans of PAM opened at the same time...

More organized and more efficient. Perfect.

0

The Fate of Wild Salmon

A move to Alaska might not be a bad thing if you love salmon... I DO, I DO!! Salmon must be cheaper there I imagine, but...
I remember when Ross moved to Egypt and I thought Egyptian Cotton would be really cheap there, so I asked him to get me some amazing linens. Ahh not so. Egypt exports all of the fabulous stuff and only sells the leftovers in the shops.
All I'm trying to say is that I hope wild salmon does not suffer the same fate in Alaska. :)

We made grilled salmon topped with a great grilled corn, fresh tomato, basil, and balsamic salad. My kind of meal right here!

0

Spicy Shrimp, Inception

So first off, we found our favorite shrimp recipe. No big deal. The head chef our favorite Houston seafood restaurant, Reef, was featured in the July issue of Texas Monthly. Chef Bryan Caswell provided a couple of recipes and we knew we had to try them. This Spicy Shrimp with Siracha Citrus Remoulade is pretty much amazing. It is a keeper, many times over. We all loved it. The cooling effect of the Citrus Coleslaw was a nice pairing with the heat of the shrimp.

Great leftovers too :)

Second, order of business. Have you seen the new movie Inception?
Movie Review: (No spoilers here, don't worry). If you like twists and turns, then this movie is for you. It combines action, suspense, and a truly original script to make for a very entertaining movie. This might be my favorite movie of 2010. If you like Mission Impossible or James Bond type movies, I would HIGHLY suggest seeing this movie.  (Despicable Me is still one of the best animated movies I've seen.)

0

Roma's New Outfit

Miss Roma has a new outfit. She's only allowed to wear it occasionally because it's pink. Bahh, if she can wear camo during hunting season, she can wear pink every now and again. Mommy's Pestie.

0

OOMPA!

I am now the wife of a hunter, but I used to be the girlfriend of a hunter. I knew NOTHING about hunting before I met Ross. When you're dating there are a whole bunch of things you don't say. For example, "Umm this sausage you made isn't my favorite." However, once you a) get more comfortable in your relationship and/or b) get hitched, you start to have more honest opinions. For example, "Ross this venison spaghetti is way too gamey for me to eat. I think I'll just have cereal." Some favorites (like spaghetti) just don't translate, but I've been surprised at how many do-- my favorite is probably venison fajitas. It's taken some time, but I really love venison now. I actually prefer venison over beef. (crazy, I know).  There was one major setback along the way. Shall we say, inherent risk? "(CRACK!)... Honey I think I just bit into a shotgun pellet in the gumbo, must have been from the goose... I also think my tooth is cracked. Ah, I'm never eating gumbo again!!" I got my tooth fixed and I started eating gumbo again almost immediately. It's so good.

My friend Sarah had some venison backstrap that had been in the freezer for awhile and needed to be used. Ross pulled a few cookbooks out and I picked Venison Gyros. I made fresh pita bread (which I've never done), but I didn't like the Tzatziki sauce much. We omitted the dill from the sauce (neither Ross nor I like it much) and without it, the sauce was just rather bland. The venison only had to marinade for 15 min, so I was surprised how much flavor it had. We had a Mint Melon Salad on the side, made with a simple syrup, lemon, amaretto, fresh mint, cantaloupe, and watermelon. This salad is a keeper, especially good when watermelon is in season!

0

Cook with Liz and Steph (and Ross & Robbie): #7

Robbie and Steph invited us over for homemade ravioli last week. The boys were on ravioli assembly duty, I made a big salad, and Steph made the spinach/mushroom filling for the ravioli and the tomato sauce. Teamwork at it's best.

The Scene: I'm sneaking a bite of some corn

The sauce.

Spinach-Mushroom filling.

The Assembly Line.

Elbow Grease.

Stuff, Fold, and Press.

Waiting to go for a swim.

We had a good meal and a good time along the way :)

Current Event: Roma is on the couch snoozing away after a tough day out in the rain. She passed some gas and it was so loud it startled her and woke her up from her puppy dreams. Then she barked and looked in the direction of her bum. Yep I'll take her. That one.

0

Gumbo (the food, not the dog)

Guess who was sick this week...

Don't worry, Ross is feeling better now... I was really just looking for an excuse to post this picture because a) I like it and b) Ross is wearing his  new University of Delaware shirt from our NE trip last month. Go Blue Hens! 

Gumbo is one of Ross's specialties. It's pretty darn good. I keep telling him to enter a competition so that we can retire early, but that hasn't panned out just yet. In the meantime, I'll be the guinea pig for the test kitchen. 

The gumbo is topped with green onions and file powder, which is a spice made from ground sassafras leaves. (File is used to season and thicken a lot of Cajun foods.)

0

Mind Matters

My thoughts have been all over the place today and this post will follow much the same pattern.

1. Looking for dinner in less than 30 minutes? I've got a good one for you! Linguine with Shrimp and Cilantro Lime Pesto. Whenever I shell out the extra bucks for wild gulf shrimp (ie NOT previously frozen and flown in from Thailand), I never regret it. I finally invested in a shrimp deveiner and my quality of life just went up a few points.

2. A Brown One?

No, we didn't get another dog :) This is Maple. She lives down the street with Robbie and Steph. She's the calm one in the bunch. I only have a grey one...

3. I really love sunsets on water. Funny how every time I look at one, I think of growing up, specifically of my parents telling me not to look at the sun for too long. Maybe that's why my vision is was so bad.

4. Flat Iron. That just sounds bad for your hair... and it is. However, for many wavy-haired females this a necessity. Necessity. Mine broke last week and I just got a new one (because it's a necessity). Anyways, if you are in the market for one, I recommend the Ultra Chi. I've had many others and always end up going back to this one. It's like the wild shrimp, fork out the moo lah and you won't be sorry.

5. A cop was standing in the middle of the u-turn lane (under the freeway) checking peoples registration tags. I was sitting at the light (going straight, not doing a u-turn) watching this whole ordeal for a couple of light cycles. People were caught completely off guard, slamming on their brakes, with no where to go.  I was thinking "Geez, people are getting ambushed for a sticker? Good thing mine are up to date." As I was telling Ross this story, he informed me one of my stickers was NOT up to date. Let's just say I took care of that today.

1

Michigan

What a great weekend getaway! Pictures speak louder than words...

This levy was right down the street from our cottage, on Lake Huron.

The lake is so big, it looks like an ocean--- waves and all!

At the end of the levy.

Frankenmuth, MI-- a touristy "Little Germany" Not quite like the real thing, but fun.

Sailboat watching.

Bridge to Canada. There was quite a traffic jam to re-enter the US. Good thing we were on a boat!

Afternoon storm rolling in.

I'm already ready for another secret trip!

0