Thursday, August 27, 2009

And we're off...

to Haiti! I will be back to the blogging world in a couple of weeks. Think positive thoughts about 100 degree weather and 100% humidity!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Post-triathlon...

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Pre-triathlon...

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Our new patio area


Our kind landlords built this great patio and gave us a great picnic table. You can also see our tomato plants in the pots below. We had a glass of wine at our table a few nights ago and slices of watermelon for lunch yesterday while enjoying the sun.

FUN!
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Apricot time!



Today I did a little cooking! And blackberry picking! Yum!
I also made a snack to eat while I was cooking. Edamame! Yum! Unfortunately, one of the edamame popped out of the shell and right into the apricot jam I was making!
See Below
Apricots cooking down!
Some people put the pits in the jam to give it an almond-y flavor
About a month ago I made another batch of apricot jam (about 4 lbs worth of fruit) that was absolutely perfect. After I had completed the jam, I decided that it was not quite as thick as I wanted so I turned the heat back on...and I forgot about it...and it burnt. I cried. So sad.

BUT,
I yesterday I turned the smoky apricot jam into "spicy apricot bbq sauce". I added a variety of ingredients and it tastes pretty dang good! I added tomato paste, rice vinegar, mustard, grated onion, hot sauce (combination of brands!) and of course, the burnt jam. Now I just need to do some marinating.

The last week



Has been so busy and FUN! I finished my last week of summer quarter with three big finals that almost killed me and a weeked full of fun. I harvested some vegetables from my garden, too!
This is me SO excited about my red tomatoes and sweet carrots.
A harvest of basil, carrots (I think they are the sweet nante variety), beets, zucchini, cucumbers and small slicing tomatoes.


While I was studying like crazy, Dashel spent the day with Quin. They had quite a fun day!
Quin jamming out in Dashel's practice space.
Quin enjoying a delicious cupcake
Cupcake Royale is a great cupcake shop just a short 15 minute walk from our house.

Oh the joys of school being out and the beginning of summer!

Friday, August 7, 2009

These are a few of my favorite things...

Today I woke up early for my last quiz before finals week. I made it to the pool just in time for a quick swim before work. My new favorite place to buy coffee before work is at a place called Watertown. It's right in between the gym and work so I can stop on the way. I try to bring my coffee with me but I just can't seem to make it work on the days I swim.


A few nights ago Dashel and I made another fancy dessert with the ice cream maker as evidenced below. We cut up a bunch of mint from the garden and made mint ice cream and dark chocolate cookies (both from Martha Stewart's website) and made ice cream sandwiches.







We also had a yummy dinner of fish tacos. I breaded sturgeon my dad caught a while ago in Ilwaco, WA along with a peach cucumber salsa. I picked my first harvest of tomatoes and mixed them with cucumbers from the garden and peaches and jalapenos from my parents with a fresh squeeze of lime.



The fish looks kinda yucky but was actually really great! Tomorrow I have a quick run in the morning, a date with my dear cousin Kelley and off to the beach with my parent for a fun filled weekend!

summer weddings

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summer weddings

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Contemplating choices...

cheap beer or pharmacology...
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Sunday, August 2, 2009

What a day!

Today I woke up bright and early and went to Discovery Park to do some trail running. For those of you who aren't familiar with Discovery Park, it's this great big park right smack-dab in the center of Seattle with beaches and trails made for running and picnic-like food. It's also conveniently located right next to Vertical World, a climbing gym. Everytime I go to Discovery Park to run I give myself a treat of going climbing. Today it was expecially great because I was there right when they opened leaving lots of space for beginner-me. Afterwards, I went to PCC and bought some groceries and headed towards Wallingford to study for a few hours.

After all of my business was taken care of, I decided to stop by and water our friends plants who are on their honeymoon and also borrow their ice cream machine. Below is the proof that the machine rules. We made "Arnold Palmer" sorbet (black tea/lemonade) and coconut/cajeta (condensed milk) ice cream. We visited our friends Jeremy and Tessa, ate dinner and now I am off to bed. What a day!
Arnold Palmer Sorbet


Inside of ice cream maker

Evidence of our messy kitchen

When I start to feel grumpy...



I remember how fun it is to go to fancy weddings with great friends.
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Remember when it wasn't 100 degrees?

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Blue angels are not ok...

...in fact, they scare people. Expecially my people (meaning the patients I work with). Last year during Seafair, myy patients from Cambodia thought they were back in a war zone and wouldn't leave their houses. What makes us think this is OK? Such a strange place we live...

On a better note, my garden is exploding with zucchini and cucumbers. I don't have any updated photos but here are some from my garden over the last month along with a hodge-podge of homemade wheat pasta and wedding photos.





Saturday, August 1, 2009

Vashon Strawberry Fest a couple of weeks ago!

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My first blog...

I decided to start a blog. Everyone cool has a blog so I thought I should get it together. This blog is primarily going to be about the things I do during the day. It's also a great example of why I am so stressed out all of the time (see photo below). Here we go...