Taco Taco Burrito Burrito

If you haven't seen the South Park episode, then you won't get the reference. Anyway, instead of your normal ground beef taco, I made chorizo tacos. I don't know why I have never thought to use chorizo before. I guess it was an "experiment", as Grandma would say. The spread:

 

Not to toot my Aldi horn again, but all the ingredients you see here came from Aldi and they were amazing. Again, for the price, some really great food! 

Besides dinner, the rest of the day was spent doing about 2 weeks worth of laundry, memorizing my NLUs and fixing up odds and ends. I did find this awesome wedding website. I am thinking we should do the dia de los muertos wedding in the cemetery! Just kidding! We are looking at next summer to tie the knot (around our 10 year anniversary) so I guess I should start looking for ideas. 

Well I need to get to bed, I have to be at work at 6am tomorrow! In the mean time, please enjoy this photo of and itty bitty salamander that my herpetology class found at Mohican State Park in Ohio back in August of 2008:

Feeling a litte slow

Work hasn't gotten physically intense yet, but mentally intense. We have been taking tests every day on what we have learned and we also are in the process of memorizing about 80 NLUs which I think stands for Numbered Look Up or something like that. Like any grocery store, produce usually doesn't have bar codes. So in Aldi's pursuit of efficiency and reducing prices for customers, all cashiers must memorize the 2 digit codes for all the different items so we can enter them at check out. Speaking of Aldi, Mike and I had to run errands today and one of them brought us to Aldi for groceries. I am still amazed at the prices there and, believe it or not, the quality is great. I have enjoyed almost every product I have purchased there. Since we were out and about running errands, I didn't get a chance to cook my planned dinner of chorizo tacos (but I will being doing it tomorrow night!).

On the weekend I normally like to make a special breakfast so as to save our cereal for the weekdays when we need to eat in a hurry. I was browsing through some of the blogs I normally visit and I stumbled upon this recipe. I have never heard of German pancakes before and it sounded easy enough (plus I have been dying to use my blender again). Before going into the oven:

 

And after I cut it and dusted it with powdered sugar:

 

I didn't make the buttermilk syrup but instead I added some sugar and a little vanilla to the batter (which I cut in half). I then baked it in a 9x9 inch glass pan. Each slice ended up being about 1/2 inch thick. It was surprisingly good! The center almost had the consistency of a custard, but tasted like a pancake. It was so easy to make too that we are most certainly going to make this one again.

Remember the azalea bonsai I received from Mike pre-Valentine's day? Well all the gorgeous flowers are starting to bloom:

 

  

Aren't the pretty?!? Oh, and if you have a keen eye, you will see in the top picture, in the lower right, some avocado seeds. The large one on top is a Florida avocado and the smaller bottom one is a haas avocado. Mike has successfully got at least 4 seeds to sprout and he is working on some more for our garden. 

Please stay tuned for some chorizo tacos tomorrow! In the mean time, please enjoy this photo I took back in 2006 when I was with a class canoeing in a river near Tallahassee, FL. You can see the outline of a large manatee that was trying to swim under our canoe:

Really quick!

Just wanted to update you really quick on my first day at Aldi. It's going to be a tough job but the pay and benefits are totally worth it. This will be the first job I have ever had with paid vacation, sick days, and holidays. Here is my green Aldi shirt:

 

And my new fanny pack:

 

Why a fanny pack you may ask? Well to carry all my stuff:

 

My tape, pen, highlighter, calculator, and box cutter with holster. And that's it for today! 

I work tomorrow and Friday, so probably no major cooking or crafting until the weekend. Tear :( Until then please enjoy this photo of the gazebo at the compound I stayed at in St.Ann's Bay, Jamaica back in 2006 (it was for a college research class):

Work Work Work

Yesterday's estate sale was informative but un-eventful on my buying end, not what I was expecting. I would like to go to an estate sale that was actually at some ones house and see some furniture. Maybe next time!

Since I was gone yesterday, I didn't have much time for cooking so we just had leftovers. Today was spent cleaning up the house and baking since I start work tomorrow and I don't know my schedule yet for the rest of the week so I don't know what I will have time for. Lots of uncertainties I guess! Grandma sent me home with some cook books yesterday. One of them was Sunset Cookies, Step-By-Step Techniques:

 

Well the girls next door gave me some peanut butter last week and I was really craving peanut butter cookies so look what I found in the book:

 

We were also out of cookies (go figure) and I thought I might need a snack to bring to work tomorrow. Mixer action = butter, sugar, and peanut butter goodness:

 

And of course the done cookies:

 

Dinner was nothing fancy. Just grilled chicken (marinated in olive oil, soy sauce, and garlic), brown rice, and mixed veggies:

 

I figured I should cook tonight since tomorrow night after work with have the HOA meeting. I can't wait! I want to call all these crazy people out on being crazy! When we moved here no one was welcoming. Only a few people would respond to my "Hello". Everyone glares at me, assuming I am some college kid making a ruckus (since we live next to ones who do). They judge with out knowing and complain about our door and fence. Give me a break people. 

That's it for now. Until next time, please enjoy this picture of the Black and White Tegu I used to have (I had to adopt him out when I moved). His name was Benitora and he was a beast:

Second time's the charm!

It was 4 years ago to this day Mike proposed to me. If you know anything about my past, then you know that we broke off our engagement about 5 months later but are still dating. How he proposed: I came home from school to this large box at the top of the stairs:

I was tried and hungry, so I walked around the box, ignoring the sign. About 10 minutes later I decided to open the box. Inside was Mike in a suit. He had been waiting inside that box, sweating, the entire time. He proposed right there from the box. Well this morning, when I rolled over to look at the clock this is what I found on my night stand:

 

I happily obliged the instructions promptly this time! Shall we open this mini box up and see what we find? Yes we shall:

And of course this whole time Mike was sleeping. He was up till about 3am last night making this little surprise for me to find this morning when I woke up. Oh, and as the commercial goes "He went to Jared!". This is the originally ring, obviously unworn for the last 3 1/2 years. These pictures really don't do it justice since we went and had it cleaned today at Jared (Thank goodness they have some in Florida!). Here is is this morning on my finger:

 

While we were out and about getting my ring cleaned, we decided to stop over to Target because we received a hot tip from my Aunt that there had an outdoor patio set on sale for $99. Mike and I want one for when all our company is here so they may enjoy the glorious Florida evenings/nights. The box (sorry for the glare):

Mike of course wanted to assemble the table tonight. So here he is working on it the the back room, but this picture is also enticing because you can see the sweet futon frame we got at Habitat for Humanity Restore (note: the mattresses that are on there right now do not go with it, we still need to buy a nice one for our guests):

 

And just for fun we stopped over at TJ-Maxx where Mike bought himself his valentine's day present:

 

A Cuisinart grind and brew coffee pot (on clearance for $39!) and a huge bag of Starbucks coffee beans for $16! We already tried it out, hence the condensation in the carafe. (Hello KitchenAid peeking out from behind the coffee!). I also found these wedding invitations (print them yourself):

 

I know it's early to start planning and we aren't going to be having a big wedding, most likely a destination wedding to, where else, Florida. But it was a very good deal: 30 sets of invitations with ribbon and stickers for $10! So I bought 2 (just in case).

On to the food! My Aunt Lorri brought some homemade crab cakes that we had as an appetizer:

 

Very good for using imitation crab meat! And the main course, au-gratin potatoes (from a box, I know, I know, but Grandma sent them down and I thought they would go good with lobster), lobster tails, and clarified lemon butter:

 

The lobster was sooooooooooooo good, even without the butter! Definitely a good buy for our Valentine's dinner. Dessert was just those little brown velvet cupcakes I made on Friday. 

And, finally, I took some pictures of the sewing desk my Aunt' sent up to me. Apparently it was my Great-Grandma Ruth's. Here ya go:

 

 

  

They took the old sewing machine out, so Mike and I are going to try and rig it for my sewing machine as well as add wheels to the bottom so I can roll it from room to room. Thanks Aunt Lorri and Aunt JoAnn!

Until next time, please enjoy this photo of me holding a water monitor named Sally when I used to volunteer at Malone University in Canton, OH :

 

The power of electricity.....

Today my totally awesome Aunt Lorri came to visit and help Mike install some extra outlets in our kitchen. For some bizarre reason there are only 4 outlets in the kitchen for small appliances and they are only on the right side of the kitchen. One of the outlets is taken up by the microwave and the other by the power adapter for Mike's computer, which leaves me with 2 for my 8 million electric kitchen appliances. Lorri and Mike installed 4 new ones on the left side of the kitchen for me. Yay!

For breakfast and before Lorri showed up, I made Pumpkin Muffins from the 1961 cook book (pg 89). Mixer action:

 

I love love love all things pumpkin and these were divine (especially with the raisins!):

 

I think they would be good as a dessert if you frosted them with some yummy cream cheese frosting.

I got a little bored today since I didn't have access to the kitchen/dinning room for a few hours. I didn't know what to do with myself. Besides watching the Olympics and reading a magazine, I covered this little cardboard box with some left over scrapbooking paper I had:

 

Why did I cover this box? Do you really want to know? If I tell you, you can't get mad or disgusted. Okay. Well when it's my time of the month I leave a tampon box full of all the things I could need for the week out on the counter in my bathroom. The box is not pretty and it's starting to fall apart since I reuse it every month and just replace the items it in. So I thought why not have a semi-pretty un-identifying box for my stuff to leave on the counter for the week. Everything fits nicely into this box and it make things happier for all involved :)

Lorri and Mike weren't in the kitchen all day which means I got to make dinner tonight. Yay! I made my basic chili recipe. It's a ground beef, tomato, and taco seasoning base and then I add whatever is in the fridge or pantry. Today it was pinto beans, green chilies, onions, and jalapenos. Here is a shot of part of the kitchen (on the far left is the new outlet, center is the new magnetic bar Mike installed, and right is my chili on the stove):

 

I decided to pair my chili with Rachael Ray's Flat-Tire Corn and Black Bean Toppers from her M.Y.O.T.O cards my Dad got for Mike for Christmas:

 

They turned out more like corn and black bean pancakes, which were actually really really good. Since the corn muffin mix was sweet it was a nice balance for my spicy chili. I have some leftover ones and I will probably eat them for breakfast!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I have a lobster tail dinner planned for Mike and I. I am so excited for lobster! In honor of my lobster friends, here is a little clip art I made for a shirt that I made to wear to my brother's varsity soccer games (long story):

Valentine's day is just around the corner.....

What a rainy day....oh bother! What do you think I did? Well I couldn't stop thinking about Valentine's Day on Sunday and spending time with my baby : ) So I made my version of Paul Deen's red velvet cake, I call it "Brown Velvet Cake" since I didn't have any red food coloring (plus I don't like to color foods weird colors). Mixer action:

My Grandma also gave me a silicone heart mold for Christmas. I made half the batch in the mold and the other half as mini cupcakes:

 

 

They were sort of oily. Apparently other people thought that of the recipe too, I guess I should have read the comments before I made the recipe. Next time I will adjust! I wanted to decorate them with the Butter Icing recipe from the 1961 cook book (pg 172), but I didn't put together my icing bag quite right and it exploded on me, so I just had to do this without a tip on the bag:

At least they look festive, right?

Of course I had to try out the new dutch oven today so I made Chicken Cacciatore from the Southern Living Cook book (pg 390). Cooking the chicken (I know it looks sort of burnt):

 

But with everything else added it looks spectacular:

 

And over pasta it tasted great:

 

While I was eating dinner, look what showed up at the door:

 

Mike got me an Azalea bonsai from 1-800-flowers for Valentines day!!!! It was to make up for the fact that when we were in Ohio my little bonsai died. Look how pretty (even before it blooms):

 

And for the enjoyment of all the northerners while I sit here in my 55 degree weather, here is Mike shoveling out of a snow storm back in 2008 in Ohio: