Home Tour Thursday

    I've seen this done by a few other bloggers, and as we live in a house (albeit, a rental) currently, instead of the apartments we were living in the last couple years, I decided to try it for the last few weeks of 2012.

I'm starting with our kitchen. One photo is the view from the entryway of our house/the front door. You may notice I have a few Christmas decorations up and around the area. I'm one of those people who really enjoys the season and likes to have small reminders of the holiday all around the house.

The next photo is looking into our kitchen from the dining area. Pretty much the same view, except you see a little more of the refrigerator, and the silver and glass platter that's been through 5 generations of my husband's family.

Thanksgiving Recipes: Rolls

Continuing with my Friendsgiving/Turkey Day recap, here's the recipe for the rolls (sorry, no pictures, they were too delicious to take time to photograph):

(Adapted and made from the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving 2012 Booklet)

Parker House Rolls

Prep time: 20 min  | Inactive prep time: 1 HR 40 min | Cook time: 25 min | Makes 24 Rolls

1.5 cups milk

8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces, plus 2 TBs melted butter (We use Country Crock)

4.5 tsp active dry yeast (for this I used Red Star from the jar)

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra on hand for rolling dough

3 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs kosher salt (I used good ol' Morton table salt)

1.5 tsp. Sea Salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp white (or black) sesame seeds

Combine milk and the 8 Tbs of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted, about 7 min. Remove from heat and let cool to 105-115*F. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook, combine 4 cups flour, sugar, and kosher salt and beat on low until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead until dough forms a ball., about 1-2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, 4-5 min. Remove dough from mixer bowl, oil inside of bowl and return dough to the bowl. (I used a paper towel and some olive oil for this). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rise for about an hour. 

Divide risen dough in half. Grease a 13x9 pan. On lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into a log 12 inches long. Using a pastry scraper (I used a regular butter knife), divide each log into 12 equal pieces. Using your cupped hands, roll each into a ball. 

Arrange the dough balls into prepped baking pan so there are 4 rows of 6. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 min. In a small bowl, combine the sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and sesame seeds. Preheat oven to 375*F

Remove plastic wrap from pan. Brush tops of rolls with the 2Tbs. of melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt mixture (I used our silicone basting brush from W-S; easily comes apart for quick clean in dishwasher or handwash). Bake the rolls until golden and thermometer reads 190*F, or about 18-20 minutes. Invert the rolls to a wire rack, then turn back right side up to another rack (I skipped this step for transport purposes). 

Thanksgiving Recipes-Apple Pie

           I hope everyone has had a fun-filled past couple months! I was on vacation for the last several weeks, and am still catching up with my blog-reading, but it has been fun reading various adventures/stories. How was your Thanksgiving?

           Since R and I were on vacation with his family, and got back the Sunday before good ol' Turkey Day, we were able to join with fellow Aggie friends here in MD and have a Friendsgiving. I decided to pull out my Pastry Queen cookbook by Rebecca Rather and make Chef Mark's Southern Comfort Apple Pie. (According to the book, Chef Mark now has his own restaurant in Houston, entitled Mark's American Cuisine.) Rebecca Rather used to own and operate the Rather Sweet Bakery in my husband's hometown of Fredericksburg, TX. I learned today, she has opened a new venture, entitled "The Pink Pig," and I'm looking forward to visiting my in-laws and trying it out.

Rebecca Rather's Basic Pie Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2/3 cup (10-2/3 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter
• 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water ( I used 5 Tbs)

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (, combine flour, salt, and sugar on low speed for about 30 seconds. I use Country Crock for my baking, and they have lines for each of the 8 Tbs that make up a stick, so I just sliced along those lines. Add butter to flour mixture and combine on low speed for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until mixture looks crumbly, with bits of dough the size of peas. Add 4 tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing on low speed for 10 seconds after each addition. After final addition, dough should begin to clump together in a ball. If it doesn’t, continue mixing for about 10 seconds longer. (If it still looks too dry, add 1 more tablespoon ice water.) Gently mold dough into a disk, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 

Transfer unwrapped dough to a lightly floured surface. The Roll and Cut mats you can find at Michaels Craft Store work amazing for this! Roll into a 1/8-inch-thick circle large enough to cover bottom and sides of a 9-inch-diameter deep-dish pie pan; do not use a regular (shallow) pan. Transfer dough to pie pan, crimping edges with your fingers or a fork. Prick bottom with a fork. (I then put mine in the fridge overnight, til I was ready to make the pie Thanksgiving morning.)

Topping: (For my purposes, I chose to do something different than make this topping)

• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons firmly packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (5-1/3 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350*F. Arrange pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until a rich brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Coarsely chop nuts and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process sugars, cinnamon, salt, and flour for about 1 minute. Cut butter into small pieces and add to sugar-flour mixture. Pulse 10 to 15 times until mixture is crumbly. Remove from processor and stir in pecans. Refrigerate topping, covered, until ready to use.

Apple Filling:

A note on the apples: If you have a nice-sized deep-dish pie pan, you may have room for more apples. Bake your pie on top of a baking sheet if you’re worried about the caramel filling spilling over.

• 5 to 6 medium-sized tart apples, such as Braeburn, Cortland, or Winesap (I used 5 Honeycrisp)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup Southern Comfort liqueur
• 1/2 cup whipping cream ( I used half & half)

Increase oven temperature to 375* F. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When butter starts to foam, add apples and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes. In a small bowl stir together cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle on apples, and stir to combine. Simmer apples over medium-low heat for about 1 minute longer. Remove apples from skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving as much of butter-sugar mixture in skillet as possible. Transfer apples to a baking sheet and arrange in a single layer until ready to use. (If heaped in a pile, they will become soggy.)

Pour Southern Comfort into butter-sugar mixture in skillet. Simmer mixture over medium heat until alcohol burns off, at least 5 minutes (sniff mixture at close range; if it burns your nostrils, the vapors are still burning off). Add cream and continue simmering until mixture is quite thick but still pourable, 5 to 10 minutes. Return apples to skillet and stir to coat.

Pour apples and cream mixture into unbaked piecrust (do not fill to more than 1/2 inch below top of crust) and sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake until filling is bubbling and topping is brown, 50 to 60 minutes.

Side note: As mentioned above for my pie made for Thanksgiving, I chose not to use the topping. Instead, I used the cut-off scraps from the pie edges to make decorative leaves for the edge and down the center of the pie. My pie-cutters are from the Williams-Sonoma 2011 Autumn set. 

11 years

This is a day for remembering and thanking the first responders of that day in NY, DC, and PA. It is also one in which I join thousands of others in not only thanking the first responders, but also the men and women of the Armed Forces (and their families) who keep us safe and free at home. I wrote up my memories of that day (now 11 years ago) the week after I got married. 

Over the past few years I learned that a family relative had an office down the hall from where the plane collided and crashed into the Pentagon. While said relative had retired and no longer had that office, they still knew people who had offices in that wing of the Puzzle Palace. 

I've also had the recent opportunity to stop by the National Memorial Park in the location of the Flight 93 crash. The NPS should be proud of themselves for a job well done in maintaining an honorable and peaceful area for others to come pay their respects. In case you're interested, it's just a short 15 mile drive off the PA tollway. 

I hope this finds you all safe and well on this day and may God Bless our troops and civilians and keep everyone safe. 'Til they ALL come home.

Almost Fall

I hope everyone had a great summer! It seemed like it went by incredibly fast, but don't they all? Just realized I haven't posted in awhile. Saw this as I was going through my email this morning and thought I'd share:


THURSDAY, AUGUST 30 - Walk on
It’s that time of year again—kids are heading back to school, the days are getting shorter, the carefree summer is winding down; some evening soon there will be a hint of autumn in the air. As the calendar continues its relentless turn, the change of season may bring mixed emotions. Endings always do—whether to a relationship, a job, a dream, or the ultimate end we all will face in this mortal life. These are the moments when our faith is put to the test. Fortunately, we do not have to face final things alone. God is at our side, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. As you say farewell to summer in the days ahead, rest assured that you never walk alone.
TODAY’S READINGS: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Matthew 24:42-51 (428)
“He will keep you firm to the end.”

I don't often comment on religious matters on my blog, but this one just spoke to me this morning. There are some potential changes coming to the L household and I look forward to sharing the journey with you all. (Before you ask, no it's not a pregnancy, as R and I have a couple trips planned before that happens, and yes I'm aware of the phrase "tell God your plans and then He'll just start laughing").

I'm so looking forward to the coming fall season and plan to cherish it for all its worth. It will be our 4th fall here on the Mid-Atlantic coast, and there are a few things I still have on my tourist list that haven't been achieved as of yet.
- R and I have friends that are coming to visit us! So excited to see them all in September and October!
- Still want to make it to the National Portrait Gallery, Holocaust Museum, Udvar-Hazy, The Kennedy Center presentation of the Nutcracker & Alice and Wonderland, National Aquarium, and Mount Vernon.
-Going wine-tasting with friends using some already purchased Living Social deals
-More Texas Aggie Game-Watching parties with local Ags. BTHO Florida (next week)! Excited to be part of the SEC!

Have a wonderful Thursday y'all!

New workout routines

For those of you who know me IRL, you know I end up getting bored with workouts fairly quickly. I have to almost constantly switch up my routines so that I will keep up the work and stay motivated. I think I have finally found a system I can stick with! Being in graduate school these past 2+ years has been rough with my working out plans and staying in shape. Last year, some of R's coworkers were talking and the subject of their soccer team came up- well he casually mentioned that I used to play soccer in my younger years. Technically I played 5th grade-through junior year of HS and then a little with the Gamma Phi intramural team in college courtesy of my friend asking me to join up with her. Thanks for that, R!

Anyway, I joined up with the work team and pretty soon, got my hubby to join in the fun with me! I realized fairly quickly that I needed to get more cardio in my routine than I was doing as I was really only doing strength training and a mix of yoga/pilates. I recently started with Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 and then went through the short version of Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy. (Mandy Ingber is Jennifer Aniston's workout secret, along with several other famous LA residents.) She also happens to be hilarious and motivating, especially when you feel like you can't hold the pose/do any more lunges! I picked up the DVD for free from some credit card points that I cashed in (also scored a gift certificate to R and my favorite restaurant for special occasions-Roy's Hawaiian Fusion).

WOW- finally a combo of workouts that I can feel all over where I need it to be working! My quads and hamstrings feel fantastic today-and usually I can't feel my workouts in that area very well.  I'm excited about my new routine and what I will be able to accomplish again soon with my increasing fitness level. To be completely honest, the last 3 years have seen me gain 3-4 pant/dress sizes and I'm not too happy about it. One of my main goals for 2012 was to get back to my personal happy weight/ muscle tone and it's a work in progress.

Here's my routine:
I take Sundays off; we play soccer on Tuesdays, and the rest of the week I do this combo of workouts. About 3 times a week I try to get into our local gym and work through various forms of cardio.

I have some events coming up in the next couple months that I'm using as my tracking points. First up- a college friend of R and mine is getting married mid-June (sad part is I will be going alone as R's work has him scheduled for a TDY).

Weekend Fun

Hi there! Hope everyone had as beautiful weather and lovely weekend as we did here!

R and I were both free this past Friday night for the first time in a while, so we decided to go out on a dinner and movie date. R chose the restaurant (one of our favorites-Cheesecake Factory) and we chose to go see "Dark Shadows" with the idea of seeing "The Avengers" later on this month.  I'm not sure anyone else remembers this, but in the early 1990s, there was a made for TV mini-series that was made from the original 1960s-1970s Dark Shadows television series. NBC ended up canceling the series after only twelve episodes due to the onset of the 1st Gulf War and news updates meant program interruptions and understandable fewer ratings due to people wanting to see/watch news about the war. I watched the 1991 series with my dad and remember really enjoying the story line!

Source

When I found out Johnny Depp and Tim Burton were recreating the series in a movie, I was pretty excited! These days, I don't get too excited about many things involving vampires (while I'm at it, I am definitively not a fan of Twilight, True Blood, or much of any of the other recent vampire media onslaughts). This version of Dark Shadows starts in 1700s Colonial America and continues in the 1970s, with an Alice Cooper cameo. Ha! I love when he shows up in the most random of places- I still remember him appearing on stage at a Tim McGraw/Billy Bob concert in Austin that I went to with a roommate during college.

While I found the movie pretty entertaining (worth the $12 tickets), it did seem to be a story-line that a viewer would need to know some of the background of the Collins family. Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven, a Bond girl in Casino Royale) and Michelle Pfeiffer also did a good job of being entertaining (and funny) in the movie. Without giving anything away, I thought the Burton/Depp take on the storyline did the series justice with just enough modern-day entertainment added. For a Friday night, the mall area wasn't all that crowded, except there was a fairly large number of Academy freshmen in line to get tickets to see Battleship (gee, I wonder why? -tongue in cheek) while we were in line to get our movie tickets.

I'm still not sure about Hollywood making movies out of boardgames and according to a sidebar in this month's InStyle, studios are planning on making movies out of Candyland, Monopoly, and Risk in the coming months . . . your thoughts?

Breakfast for Dinner

Last week our local grocery store had a sale for 2/1 eggs, so I ended up buying 2 packs of them. Yesterday, I saw this recipe come in through my email:

Huevos Rancheros with Queso Fresco

The recipe looked fairly easy and it hails from Cooking Light magazine. I decided that we should try it for dinner last night. It was fabulous and delicious! We even had leftovers for R to take to work for his lunch. Have a Blessed week!

A little Texas music

Happy Monday! I was missing home a bit the other day and discovered this video from a rising Texas Country singer (Josh Abbot Band):



As a former violin player (on my life wishlist to pick it back up) I have to say that I LOVE the featured parts of the song where you can really hear the fiddle. As the band "Alabama" once stated, "if you're going to play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band." This statement is so true, and if you ever get a chance to get off the beaten path/main highways and venture to a small-town country fair, you will definitely get a chance to hear some wonderful fiddle music. Cheers y'all!

Recap of family visit in March

 I was going through our camera the other day and found several photos from March (I always download photos at least once a week) when my mom and her fiance came to visit us here on the Mid-Atlantic coast. Neither had ever been to the DC area before, so after winning some money in the Texas Lottery, she called and said they'd like to visit over Spring Break time! They came during our unseasonably FABULOUS weather that lasted all of 4 days, then it became typically spring, colder weather again.

My favorite photo?

Cherry trees behind Smithsonian Castle

And some others:

2nd favorite photo: Mom's fiance wanted a photo that looked like T-Rex was coming after him.  : )

 

Smithsonian elephant posing with Mom's fiance

What to do: Kentucky Derby or Cinco de Mayo?

This year, as you may have noticed, the Kentucky Derby falls on the same day as Cinco de Mayo. There's been some talk of people wearing sombreros while watching the Derby. I have an entertaining image of that in my head. If you're heading to the actual derby in Churchill Downs, you might look a little odd if you choose to wear this next to this. Then again, maybe not:

138th Derby Fashions

Whatever you choose, Happy Derby/ Cinco de Mayo) day! I have family that lives in Kentucky and was originally planning on visiting them this year, but just didn't happen. (If you're reading Aunt Les-my apologies! and we'll see you in Destin). 

What is your preference? Are you planning on going to a restaurant that will be celebrating both? I'll be watching the race on TV with a nice mint julep in my hands (maybe followed by a margarita).

Happy weekend everybody! 

SUYL from Kelly's Korner

Today on Kelly's SUYL, she's doing a link-up for all of us to put where we live/our blogs and a little something about yourself. I'm a native Texan (born and raised), where I went to Texas A&M for undergrad, and was a charter member of the Gamma Phi Beta chapter there.

While there I met fabulous friends, including my husband whom I married on September 5, 2009 (it's a 3-generation family tradition to get married that weekend!). Then we both went to graduate school, and once graduated R's job brought us to Maryland. Life's not always easy, but it sure is entertaining, so if you have been a long-time reader or are just finding me through Kelly, welcome!

The picture above is from the "snowmageddon" of the winter of 2009-10, and we lived in downtown Baltimore at the time and decided to do a walkabout to take pictures and get some food. I don't always write every day, but I do try to write at least a couple times a month.

Apostolic Creed

Happy Monday and last day of April!
I saw this on the Aggie Catholic blog and wanted to share.

I grew up in the Presbyterian church but then found a different church home in the Roman Catholic faith during college. We used to recite the Apostle's Creed in the Presbyterian church every so often, and when my husband learned that, he originally thought it a little surprising. Enjoy and think about it next time you recite the Creed.

10 Ways to Know You're an Aggie

In honor of passing under the 100 day mark until Texas A&M and Missouri formally join the SEC, thought I'd do a write-up on some of our campus highlights and traditions.

Found this gem on BleacherReport.com:

10. You know what/who Yell Leaders are.

9. You go to football games to see the band. (Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band)

8. You understand that Reveille Cemetery needs a scoreboard. (Also seen at a few other SEC schools.)

7. Aggie students stand for the entire football game

6. If you happen to be in the Press Box, don't worry if it starts to move, that's just from the Aggies "sawing off."

5. You know who Dave South is and how to recognize his voice and calls during games.

4. Overalls. 

3. The 12th Man east side seating for students- one of the largest allocations of tickets for students in the country. 

2. You know to stay off the MSC grass. 

1. You live for the game on Saturdays. 

Already excited for Aggie Football

So if you happen to also be my friend on Facebook, you've already seen this link to an article I found the other day: Saturday Down South. In short order, the Texas Aggies (football team) are ranked by this website as being #6 out of the 14 teams that make up the SEC!

There is another school in the SEC that has the same colors as ours: Maroon and White. Can you guess which team? If you guessed the Mississippi State Bulldogs, you'd be correct. State fans don't seem to be all that happy that we share school colors. : )

I found some entertainment in that the website article from above describes a few teams we will be playing as "cupcake teams." In other news, Kyle Field is already sold out of season ticket holder seats (earliest date in school history that this has happened).

Wow...I should work on updating my blog more

Happy Wednesday friends! Ha, sorry about my hiatus! Blogging my thoughts has just not been top priority recently. So what better way to come back to blogging than by advertising a contest on a fellow blog? Have you heard of Erin Condren or her products that she makes? Two words: amazing and fabulous! Especially if you happen to be more of a type-A personality (such as myself) and have lists and planners all around you, or just want nice customized products. She even sells items for sorority members. Wanna win a $50 e-giftcard to Erin Condren's store? Check out this blogger who's giving one away: Jordy Liz.

You should visit her blog now.

Have you visited her blog yet?