Flavors of life

Tuesday was a night of flavors. Tasting, truly tasting, all of the different things food has to offer. I had a lot of leftover pesto beans & rice that I had cooked up in the crockpot for the baby shower, so I wanted to use that up for dinner. With it, I decided that I would look up some chicken marinades on allrecipe.com and see what I could find, and what I saw was a yummy sounding blend of worcestershire sauce, GF soy sauce, dry mustard, lemon juice, red wine vinegar (except I didn't have that so I used some rose wine I had in the fridge), and parsley. I put it in a bag Monday night and let it soak until I returned home from work with Val on Tuesday night. The website reccommended that I grill it, but I once had an incident involving lighting a grill, a boom, and some singed eyebrows so needless to say that was out of the question. I do have a trusty old George Foreman leftover from college, and I was hungry so out it came. In 10 minutes we had dinner. I was hoping for an allright dinner at best, but when I took a bite of the chicken I had one thought: "Why have I never marinaded chicken before?" I mean, I've added things like olive oil and spices, but never such a wonderful mix of flavors that leave each bite a mystery. Fantastic. I do think though that this marinade might be well suited for chicken wings so look for that in the future.

I haven't been feeling well, and didn't want to stand and make dessert, so I stopped on the way home at Flayvors in Hadley to see if I could pick up a pint of Pumpkin Icecream. I really do think that one of the best things about fall is everything in the world comes in pumpkin. I also splurged for a pumpkin latte this week as well!

I took Val back to campus, and we decided that since it was mid-terms for her and a painful week for me, we would give ourselves a project. We dressed up my dog Jake in his Halloween costume, and took him for a walk around the green to see how many people would look and say how cute he is. Sadly, only one girl really looked at him and smiled so I dropped by my friend Kurt's on the way home because I knew he would appreciate my efforts. And really...how cute is that dog? You can't help but smile. Perhaps I shouldn't admit how many times I've put that costume on him this week, but some weeks need more comedic relief than others!

What this life will hold

I listened today to my best college friend's voice on an album that is being released by another friend that belongs to her church, the sister church plant to the one I am a part of. I'm not sure what it was--or if it is that I am exceedingly melancholy today  but I thought back to less than ten years ago as we sat side by side and wondered what this life would hold. She had dreams to be a worship leader, and with a husband and 3 kids, she is a worship leader, it just looks a bit different from her dream back then. But we are still young, and listening to her voice today I was struck again with the question "What will this life hold?"  For me, I pray it will hold joy, laughter, travel, and someday tiny baby hands. Dreams take time. God's timing isn't our timing. But He is good. Always good. That I know for sure.

Yay Babies!!

This weekend was the long planned for and awaited baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law. They are having twin boys so my Mom and I planned the theme to be "Two Peas in a Pod". The invitations had them, and the party favors were little peas in a pod candles. To go with it all, I decorated the GF carrot cake my Mom baked with cream cheese frosting to match our theme! I made sure one baby had brown eyes like my brother, and one had green eyes like my sister-in-law. The twins are fraternal so I suppose it's possible....

As to the decorating, here is what I learned about working with cream cheese frosting: Cream cheese frosting is difficult to mix. On top of that, it gets soft very easily so when you are mixing colors you should make little batches at a time. Also, if you are decorating with little stars like I filled in the pea pod, you should only put little bits of frosting at a time in your squeezer. (I have these wonderful little accordian like frosters from Pampered Chef). If you use too much, the frosting becomes soup-like, and that makes for some poor frosting. Second, you should always make more frosting than you think you should make, especially when you have more than three colors to mix. Third, there is no food coloring I can think of that makes brown, but cocoa powder does the trick! Decorating just makes me smile :).

In addition to decorating the cake, I made some spinach and artichoke dip, as well as plated some brie and grapes. It looked so beautiful, I felt inspired to take a picture.

       Spinach & Artichoke Dip
1/2 package of thawed frozen spinach
4 oz of chopped artichoke hearts
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (I used the finely shredded--it works better)
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup parmesan              Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes

That's Amore!

I was thinking back the other day to life before Trader Joe's arrived in Western MA. As I traveled the neatly arranged rows, searching well-known corners for my favorites, I knew life just got a tiny bit more sunshine when T.J. blew into town. I mean, where else can you take two staples like those on the left (which cost less than $5) and turn them into this:

Polenta Pizza Pie

All you need is one roll of polenta broken up and softened with a bit of water, mixed with a cup of that delicious vodka sauce, and some cheese and you have the basis for a gluten free favorite!

I added some spinach, mushrooms, and eggplant ( I cooked the mushrooms and eggplant in a little garlic first), and bake it for 20 minutes. The result...happy people!



Tabby

I spent a lovely Tuesday night with the people I like to refer to as "my girls". I in no way have ownership of them, but I have been meeting with them each for over a year to talk about life, love, and Jesus and they have a very special place in my heart. They will very often be the guests who eat my Tuesday night dinners. As much as I love Trader Joe's, I love these two so much more!

Val

Weekend Wining

 This weekend was full of fun. On Saturday, I looked out the window and saw how beautiful it was and decided it was time for a fall adventure. I decided to head out to a local winery called Pioneer Valley Vineyards in Hatfield, MA. I love fruit wines so I had a good time tasting them all--for free! The woman (who I believe was one of the owners) was so sweet and friendly.  I finally settled on these three. Yes...you do see tomato wine. I don't think I will be drinking just a glass of it, but I thought it would be nice to cook with, as it has a very light, basily flavor.

I came home and baked a Swedish apple pie while sipping a glass of blackberry wine. That apple pie only took two apples since the apples I picked a few weeks ago were as big as a shotput! All you do is slice up some apples and fill them 2/3 of the way in the pie pan and sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar. On the stovetop melt 3/4 cup butter and add 1 cup GF flour, sugar, and one egg and pour it over the top. Bake for 40 minutes and you see the delicious goodness below!

 The day finished with a celebratory tea & cider date with my friend Jenny, listening to a man play some folky fun at the Thirsty Mind coffee shop. It was the first weekend I felt well in a long time so I'm sure I had a rediculous smile on my face the whole weekend long. It reminded me that migraines and pain aren't the only things life has in store and that joy always comes in the morning...

of witch's brew & worship

Today I woke up to the sound of wind chimes singing, the very loud snoring of my little animal, and the deep feeling of peace in my spirit. I needed to make a new batch of the tea that I use to help my endometriosis that my Mom refers to it as the "witch's brew" (if there's anyone out there who needs the recipe--I am happy to share) I really do feel like that as I make it--measuring out all the herbs and brewing them up. Today I took it to a new level and doubled the batch to last me a week, so with my pot looking a bit like a modern day cauldron I chuckled to myself as I began the process. While it brewed, I turned on my cd player--not something I often do, and listened to Rich Mullins sing his beautiful songs. That inspired me to unbury my djembe and play along. So with the last few heart-aching notes and the earthy smell of tea in the air, I am content. It was a new day today. A new day indeed.

Familiar faces

With a new job about a month underway, and a struggle with migraines and mahem that defined September, it was so nice to see the familiar face of my old work girlfriend Kat last night. I was between paychecks so I was limited to whatever food I had in the fridge and the cabinet. Also, I didn't get home until about 45 minutes before my guest would arrive so that's how I came to this quick meal-in-a-pan plan. Due to all the chopping, I'm pretty sure I made my dog's night since he gets everything I drop on accident, and I'm not the neatest girl in the world. In the (hormone-free)turkey burger: chopped asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, red onion, and garlic sauteed in a little organic Smart Balance-- served with some shredded sharp cheddar on top, because, let's face it--cheddar makes everything better :). In the pan went some eggplant, baby potatoes, red onion, white mushroom, snap peas, carrots, and spinach with some olive oil and balsamic. I learned the lesson that potatoes should be cooked a bit ahead of time ( I used the microwave to cook them a bit when I realized they were taking forever and believe me when I say it wasn't fun picking them all out of the mix)...though they weren't my favorite part of the dish in the end anyway. Ah well. Live and learn. I was so excited to find my friend happy and smiling, and it was such a nice middle of the week break!

Hello blog world

Many years ago, on a college weekend retreat, I had a vision of what I hoped to be like as a young single woman. (Perhaps I knew then that this marriage thing might take some time for me!) I always envisioned that I'd live in a city, on the second floor, and up a spiral staircase where women would come for tea and comfort. I don't think it's a particularly odd vision, but I stopped recently and looked at my life. I do live in a city (albeit a small one right on the edge of suburbia), I do live on that second floor, and oddly enough there even is that spiral staircase. So that's what this blog is about...learning to come to the table and be that mission minded woman I longed to be, and the recipes, friends, tears, and laughter that happen along the way as I learn what it is to know I'm loved by Jesus and learning to love in return.