Hanging out with Roma

We had 16 days of rain in a row--That feels like a big number right?! Well we finally got some reprieve from the rain today- thank goodness!

When I was little and Dad had to travel for business trip, he would try and come home with little trinket or souvenir (t-shirt, paper weight, I even got a Chicago shot glass). Getting these little gifts made me so happy. Similarly (or not), when I go away and Roma has to stay at "camp", I try and snag her a little something too. There's a pup store in Houston that I particularly like; they sell bones that will last Roma for a year. And that is really saying something because Roma likes to devour bones, toys, etc.

OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG

"MMMM, I'm loving it!"

Roma got to say hello to my birthday lobster too...

Roma meet lobster, Roma say goodbye to lobster...

Roma, Where did the lobster go?

"Mom, where did the lobster go?"

3 years ago: Duetchland Countdown

2 years ago: South American Paradise

1 year ago: Bye Bye 27

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Number 28!!

What a GREAT birthday!!!

Thank you for all the cards, emails, text messages, facebook wall posts, gifts, etc. It was such a special day!!

When I came home from work, Jolin had decorated the front porch with balloons, which basically made me feel like a celebrity. Then, Ross made me an excellent lobster dinner, complete with gooey lava cakes, puppy kisses, pinot grigio, and the gold Anna Beck earrings I've been lusting after. (He also did all the dinner clean up!)

yay!!!

Roma loves helping open presents- see her head all the way down in the bag?

Look at Roma's head. ha ha. She wants me to pay more attention to her and less attention on my new earrings.

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Thai Lemongrass Soup

We've had a subscription to Cooks Illustrated magazine for a couple years now and absolutely love the mix of recipes, tips, and reviews. However, it can be a real chore to find an old recipe within a large stack of magazines. So, we recently switched to the online version. What's the verdict? To be honest, I really miss the paper copy waiting in the mailbox. I always feel guilty when I see a new issue lying on the counter and I haven't tried any of the recipes. A big perk of the online C.I. website is the "searchability"; Ross wanted Thai, I wanted soup, with chicken, so whela! This recipe for Thai Lemongrass Soup came up. It's not something I would normally pick out, but I'm sure glad we did because it was really good (and ranked high on Ross's effort vs reward matrix)! Too bad my pictures aren't more convincing...

Coconut milk, mushrooms, lemongrass/cilantro infused broth, mmmmmmmm

Toppings: Limes, cilantro, green onions

Served with Basmati rice.

Here's the recipe, Curtesy of C.I. Magazine:

INGREDIENTS

• 1teaspoon vegetable oil
• 3stalks lemon grass, tough outer leaves removed, bottom 5 inches halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise
• 3large shallots, chopped
• 8sprigs fresh cilantro leaves, chopped coarse
• 3tablespoons fish sauce
• 4cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2(14-ounce) cans coconut milk, well-shaken
• 1tablespoon sugar
• 1/2pound white mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise and sliced on bias into 1/8-inch-thick pieces (see illustration below)
• 3tablespoons fresh lime juice from 2 to 3 limes
• 2teaspoons red curry paste (Thai)
• Garnish  
• 1/2cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 2serrano chiles, sliced thin
• 2scallions, sliced thin on bias
• 1lime, cut into wedges

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until just shimmering. Add lemon grass, shallots, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon fish sauce; cook, stirring frequently, until just softened, 2 to 5 minutes (vegetables should not brown). Stir in chicken broth and 1 can coconut milk; bring to simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until flavors have blended, 10 minutes. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer and discard solids in strainer. Rinse saucepan and return broth mixture to pan.
2. 2. Return pan to medium-high heat. Stir remaining can coconut milk and sugar into broth mixture and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms, and cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until no longer pink, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove soup from heat.
3. 3. Combine lime juice, curry paste, and remaining 2 tablespoons fish sauce in small bowl; stir into soup. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro, chiles, and scallions. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
   
   
   3 years ago: Duetchland Countdown
   2 years ago: Birthdays
   1 year ago: Many Birthdays

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Sheep Hunt Movie Time

Ross and Vaughn took some videos on the hunt, which I thought I'd share because they show the  real challenges of sheep hunting... Sheep are so elusive!

Getting down the mountain...

And a boat ride...

And a river crossing...

3 years ago: Duetchland Countdown

2 years ago: Birthdays

1 year ago: Many Birthdays

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Sheep Hunt 2012

Ross returned from his sheep hunting trip a couple weeks ago... Though no sheep meat was brought home, it was still quite an adventure (as always). On the brightside, Ross and Vaughn lucked out with some gorgeous weather and snapped some great pictures, which I just cleaned up a bit in photoshop :) Enjoy!

Do you see the sheep?

There's some sheep!

Glacier.

3 years ago: Duetchland Countdown

2 years ago: Cook with Steph and Liz #10

1 year ago: Minus 10 inches!

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Birthday Number 2

Just to re-iterate, I LOVE celebrating birthdays. One of the perks of getting married is that you get an additional family and sometimes you get multiple birthday parties :). Just something to consider if you're on the fence about getting hitched.

Birthday kebabs: lot's of grilled veggies, steak, and pineapple.

Beautiful sunset.

Gumbo is ready for a sunset boat ride.

Ross's happy place.

3 years ago: Duetchland Countdown

2 years ago: Lemon Splashed Shrimp

1 year ago: Minus 10 inches!

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