Must Try Recipe

So I made the fish dish that I blogged about earlier today and it was very, very good! If you're looking for something light, flavorful and easy, this recipe is the ticket...

Bing...

Bang...

Boom...

1. Lay tin foil on a baking sheet
2. Put on the foil:
1. 1/2 lb fresh spinach
2. Couple mild white fish fillets (we used Jimmy-caught mahi mahi from the freezer)
3. 2 tbsp. soy sauce
4. 2 tbsp. sesame seed oil
5. 2 tbsp. marsala cooking wine
6. 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
7. 2 tbsp. fresh minced ginger
3. Fold up tin foil to create a little pocket of yumminess
4. Bake at 400 for 20mins
5. Serve over Near East Basil & Herb Pearled Couscous (highly recommend this brand and variety)

P.S - I'm experimenting with food photography. Ree from Pioneer Woman and Tasty Kitchen suggests no flash and natural light, among other things, so we had a period of near darkness before we dug in tonight. You can tell, however, that it was much lighter outside when dinner was being prepped. I'm learning...

Fish Friday

Hope everyone is having a great Friday thus far. For us, the morning started out with a nice run. Ahh, to get your workout done in the morning - it's the best. This weekend is shaping up to be pretty uneventful, which is a really nice change of pace. Tonight I'm trying this fish recipe Amie told me about. In a nutshell, it's a bed of fresh spinach, topped with fish fillets, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, marsala wine, rice wine vinegar and fresh ginger, folded up into a tin foil pocket, baked in the oven and then served over pearl couscous. If I don't totally botch it, I'll try to resist eating immediately and take a few pictures and post the whole recipe. 

Saturday Jimmy has class during the day and exams start next week, so Saturday night we might just do a movie and maybe Sunday Jimmy can get some of his studying done on the beach. Depending on our moods, I vote the  movie be either Inception or Dinner with Schmucks. 

Saturday evening Carolina Beach is hosting their first annual beerfest right at the lake, about .3 mile from our house. On the one hand, we should be "supporting" town events. On the other hand, a beerfest sounds like a pretty unnecessary distraction in Jimmy's quest to survive his second semester of grad school. We'll just see how it goes. I mean the proceeds go to the Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project. Who doesn't love sea turtles?

Dockside...

Yesterday evening we had the pleasure of having dinner with the Huesdash's at Dockside in Wrightsville Beach. Hello Happy Hour. 

Jon and Spencer have been in Sunset Beach, NC since last Saturday for their annual vacation with Spencer's family. We feel so lucky that our out-of-state friends and their families love and enjoy the southeast coast as much as we do because we get to sneak in visits here and there as well. The Lucas' (CA & MD based) vacation in Emerald Isle, Spencer's family (VA & PA based) vacation in Sunset Beach, Hilary's family (CA & MD based) vacation in Hilton Head, SC (though we've yet to get up with Hilary - next time, I promise). I'm probably missing someone. You get the point. 

Anyways, dinner was good and the company even better. To give you a little belated context, Jon and Jimmy met at James Madison University and they've been best buds ever since. Spencer is Jon's amazing wife. I'm pretty enthralled with her sweet and special job as a neo natal nurse. 

We're so happy we got to see them and we're now in talks with Spencer and Jon about a possible Pittsburgh New Years - GO CAPITALS! And, of course, we're recruiting them to join us for our Bocas Del Toro vacation with Ben and Amie in Dec. 2011. Until we meet again...

Midweek Weekend Update

A little late for an update, but this past weekend we had Kelly, Spencer, Kevin and Stefanie in town to go out fishing with Captain Mark Gorges and let me tell you, boating is exhausting! We took it easy Friday night, the boys went surfing, the girls just chatted and then we had dinner. We went to bed pretty early because we had to get up by 6am to head to Wrightsville Beach to catch the boat. Saturday we kicked things off right with double doses of Dramamine (1 hour prior) and mimosas on the dock. Note: Anti-motion sickness medicine + even a drop of alcohol = near narcolepsy.  

Then we headed maybe 5 miles off the coast for a little fishing. We got a couple fish on the line, but only actually got one, about 3ft shark (not pictured) on the boat. I'll have to ask Kelly for the Flip video footage. A couple cute shots, including Kelly kissing the bait fish for good luck...

Next the captain brought us up the Intracoastal Waterway to a cute place on the docks called the Fish House for lunch. We then finished out our day on the boat by dropping the anchor at Masonboro Island for some relaxation in the sun. Like every day at Mase, we were not the only ones...

We all remained awake through dinner at the Deck House in Carolina Beach that evening, but it was at the Fat Pelican that we started loosing people (ahem, Stefanie)... Sunday was brunch at Havana's and then the crew had to head back to Virginia Beach. What an amazing, wonderful weekend. Let's do it again soon...

Success!

Well last night's Green Chicken Curry turned out pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I was too ravenous from my afternoon workout to pause to take a picture for proof - I'd make a horrible food blogger - so you'll just have to take my word for it. For anyone who's interested, here are my modifications:

• Green Curry Paste - I decided not to make my own, but used a jar of Thai Kitchen's pre-made paste instead. One review said you should use a specific Asian food specialty store version, but I think the kind I used worked out just fine. Per yet another review, however, I would recommend adding a dash of chili and curry powders to give it a little more heat and flavor.
  
• Lemongrass - Harris Teeter didn't have this fresh, so I used about a tablespoon of a minced version (found in the produce section near the packaged herbs)
• Kaffir Lime Leaves - Again, Harris Teeter didn't have this fresh, so I used a few pinches of bottled kaffir lime leaf shreds (found in the Asian food section of HT)
• Curry Sauce - Just before I added the chicken to poach in the sauce, the last step, I did a little sauce taste test. Luckily, I still had the taste of the restaurant green curry I had a couple weeks ago lingering on my palate, so I quickly knew something wasn't right - it just wasn't sweet and flavorful enough. So, I added two teaspoons of sugar and that was the ticket. Perfect!
• Thai Basil Leaves - Just used regular basil
• Serve over Jasmine rice
  

The whole meal took 30 minutes from start to finish. I will definitely be making this again - Lord knows I have enough minced lemongrass, green curry paste and bottled kaffir lime leaves left over...

Shark Week!

fyi Shark week starts soon...and it looks like they chose my friend Dan Stringer to model for their web advertising!

Firsts

I'm blogging a little out of order here considering I haven't done my usual weekend update yet. I've been too lazy to download my pictures. Lame, I know.

Anyways, tonight will be a first. As I mentioned before, Amie challenged me to make a curry dish this month and a curry dish I will make! Two weeks ago Jimmy and I tried a new Thai place in Carolina Beach and it was there that I decided it was definitely green curry that's my favorite.

Authentic ethnic dishes are great, but I'm always a little wary of spending more money at the grocery store to make a dish at home than it would cost to have a restaurant make it for you. So I found this Tyler Florence Green Curry Chicken recipe that I thought was a good middle ground between a dumbed down Rachel Ray rendition (yummo?) and a bazillion rare ingredients version.

Pictures and taste test reviews to come later. Is it bad that I'm already hungry for dinner and it's only 8:45am?

I'm on a boat...

Kelly, Spencer, Kevin and Stefanie are on their way down to Carolina Beach as we speak!

The plan for this weekend started out as just a guys charter fishing trip to the Gulf Stream aboard Captain Gorges' Seaward Action - yes, it's pronounced gorgeous. Then Kelly and Stef decided they'd come down too, so I wouldn't be stuck in a house with a bunch of dudes. Captain Gorges, also known as Mark, one of Castle Branch's Sales Reps, then broke the news to the guys that the seas were supposed to be too rough and/or too high to go out, so then no one was coming to visit. Then it was just Kevin and Stef coming with no intention of fishing and now finally Kelly and Spencer have decided to come too! I was so happy that our plans were bouncing back and then I became ecstatic when last minute the Captain said that it may be calm enough for an inland joy ride on Saturday. If it's looking good in the AM, it'll be me, Jimmy, Kelly, Spencer, Kevin, Stef, Mark and his girlfriend on his 30ft Grady White just cruising and soaking up the sun... 

Seaward Action and the Captain...

 
What's on the menu this weekend, you ask? 

Dinner Tonight - Emeril's Fish Tacos (I'm using mahi mahi) with cabbage, avocado, pineapple habanero salsa, lime and crema.
Saturday Breakfast - Pioneer Woman's Make-ahead English Muffin Melts and To Die For Blueberry Muffins
Saturday Dinner - OUT

I had two pints of blueberries to use up and I saw the muffin melts on Ree's blog earlier this week and thought they looked delicious, so my sibling-in-laws will just have to be my guinea pigs...
 

Note to Self

When a recipe says to sift the flour, do it. My sifter was giving me trouble, it was late, I decided flour is flour and as a result I completely botched Jimmy's late grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe. Shame.

I'll do better next time, Grandma O...

Reunited!

As I mentioned in a previous post, some neighborhood hooligan stole my beach cruiser a couple weeks ago. Ever since, it's been a hot, sweaty walk to the beach instead of a cool, wind-in-your-hair ride. Well things are looking up because on our run this morning, Jimmy spotted my bike in front of the culprit's house...unlocked and out in the open. So Jimmy hopped on and road it home with Malloy in tow, while I ran beside them. There she is, safe and sound under the porch again...

Also, very random, below is a cute picture of (left to right) my business development co-worker, Elizabeth, me and our two Marketing gals, Kristen and Brittany. We sit within 10 feet of each other and we strangely came into work this morning matching each other in all black or black and white. Bored a few minutes before close of business, we thought it would be cute to do the Sex and the City strut...

Update

I'm really just blogging for the sake of blogging because I really don't have much to report! The carnitas I blogged about earlier were just okay. They came out tasting more like pork BBQ to me, which is good, but not in a tortilla with all the taco fixins'. The peach cobbler was really yummy. My only complaint is the same complaint I have about every dessert, I always end up throwing away a lot of leftovers. I guess it's a good thing that I don't feel inclined to "clean-up" desserts the way I do dinner leftovers, but still.

I have not really taken any pictures with my SLR, I have missed the first two days of this week for workouts and I have not ventured to try making a curry dish yet, though I did eat green curry out a new Thai restaurant. Does that count? I didn't think so. Like I said, nothing much to report. Enjoying the laziness...

Pops

Looking forward to a weekend with my Dad! Tomorrow night we're having a taco bar with carnitas prepared in my crock pot. Gotta love coming home to dinner essentially done.

I had a bunch of peaches, so I assembled a peach cobbler tonight as well.

Saturday it's the beach for me and my Dad while Jimmy has class. Bummer. Saturday night - who knows?!? While we love showing our friends and family around the island, hitting up the bars, etc - something we do more with first and second-timers - it's also really nice to just chill and enjoy our front porch, play games, watch movies, etc. I know my Dad is looking forward to the same kind of activity, so we're definitely on the same page. Hope everyone has a happy Friday tomorrow!

Another Resolution

As Amie so kindly reminded me of, I promised her I'd make a curry dish this month. I'd say I've been fairly adventurous with my cooking thus far, but I've never really messed with curry and it's one of her favorites. I can't really argue with her request considering she and Ben just sent us some amazing coffee from their friends Tricia and Sean's business, Kona Essence. Amazing. Can't wait to have a cup tomorrow AM.

Now to choose a curry color? I think I like green curry with coconut milk. Stay tuned...

Mid-Summer Resolutions

Recently I made two vows to myself that I want to blog about for reinforcement.

1. Alternate power yoga and running at least 5 days a week

I was doing P90X, but haven't been especially impressed with my personal results. I did it fairly consistently (between 4-6 days a week) there for a while, but didn't really follow the diet part of it - though I generally eat pretty healthy anyways. I don't own a scale and I didn't take "before" pictures, so I don't have proof for or against the impact on my body. I don't know. I think I just thought that I would feel more slim and trim from it than I do. Anyways, I'm giving a yoga and running routine a try to see how that goes. Malloy is happy with my decision because he gets to partake on my run days...

2. Start using our digital SLR camera more often

Currently, I only use my little, digital point-and-shoot, but being around Amie the weekend before last and seeing the beautiful pictures she was able to capture with her SLR, made me realize that I should start using our SLR more often. Chris Atkinson, Matt and Garrett's mom, has one too and always gets great pics. I mean, we already own it, why let it sit on the shelf? I still won't probably take it out-out, as in to bars, restaurants, etc, but I would like to use it at the beach, around the house, weddings, etc.

Killing two birds with one stone - picture of Malloy with our SLR before heading out on our nightly run.

Blue Ridges

What another wonderful, but busy weekend. I took a half day on Friday so I could get up to Boone, Blowing Rock actually, in time for Erin and Eli's engagement party. A few horrible rain storms later and I made it to Blowing Rock just in time to change stealth-like in a parking lot near the country club. I felt a little disheveled, but I suppose I turned out alright. I was greeted with some big hugs from a couple great high school friends and some super low humidity and cool mountain weather. Couldn't ask for much more. Here's me and Erin and Erin and her future hubby.

I left the party at about 9:30 to get myself home to my mom's safely. We shared some wine while we caught up a little and then hit the sack. Saturday morning we actually made our way back to Blowing Rock for a family friend's surprise lingerie shower and a few quick errands. Saturday afternoon, I was making my way to my Dad's when I realized it was Highland Games time. This meant pretty bad traffic and also that the annual Bear race was earlier that week which Erin and Eli actually ran. I ran the Bear last year and vowed I'd try it again, but there's no way that I can train for running 5 miles straight up a mountain at the beach. Whatever. I'll find something else to set my mind on, the front runner being a triathalon.

Anyways, Saturday afternoon and evening was just some quality time with my pops. We made dinner together (grilled strip steaks, "mock" garlic mashed potatoes, salad, bread and red wine), which we shared outside in the aforementioned mild mountain temps. Bodhi loved that I stopped by too...

Sunday then consisted of a quick stop back in Boone at my mom's, a visit with Erin and her parents at their beautiful home in Blowing Rock, a very quick stop to see Ali in Chapel Hill and then home. Whew. Such a busy weekend, but all so worth it when (1) I get to see friends (2) I get to see my family and, last but not least, (3) I get to marvel at the beauty that is the Blue Ridge Mountains.

So fortunate to have the week to relax a little before my dad comes for a visit on Friday. Woo hoo! So excited to see him again. Poor Jimmy is beyond busy at school. Still enjoying the summer, but not as much as he'd like to. Doing a great job though!

oil free in nc!

Cause to Celebrate

I always knew he had it in him - it as in more than enough smarts. But until recently, my brother, Colin, lacked the drive and desire necessary to complete his degree. Late this Spring he lit a fire under his own you know what and applied to University of Arizona in Tucson and today he received his official acceptance. He'll be starting in just a couple days with the 2nd Summer session. I couldn't be more happy for him! Col, Monday is the first day of the rest of your life. Go Wildcats!!

Ben and Amie's Firecracker!

This past weekend, Jimmy and I had the pleasure to meet the wonderful, adorable Lucy. Ben, Amie and Lucy came from Venice, CA to visit Ben's family in Emerald Isle, NC for a few days and then came to visit us for the 4th of July weekend. What an amazing way to spend the holiday. Some highlights of our time together (in no particular order)...

1. Jimmy and Ben got some good surf.
2. Jimmy and I successfully planted the seed to get the Lucas' to move to the Southeast.
3. We decided to take a trip together some time in the next year and half - the boys for surfing and the girls for the beach & relaxation. The destination, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Whose coming with us?!?!?
4. Amie and I got to cook some meals together - for those of you that don't know, Amie is my inspiration in the kitchen.
5. Amie and I got to go on a run together - just like old times in CA.
6. Jake got to meet Lucy and visit with Ben and Amie at his BBQ.
7. Jimmy and I got to see Matt and other friends at the aforementioned BBQ. 
8. Malloy and Lucy hit it off and now they're fast friends...

Now for the onslaught of pictures. I apologize in advance. I can't stand to not post every picture of Lucy.

I'm so sad that the Lucas' are now back in L.A. We've missed them so much and I can't stand that the next time I see Lucy she'll probably be crawling, talking and more.

Lucas Landing

The countdown is on... Ben, Amie and Lucy will be here in 8 1/2 hours. How am I going to work today? Talked to Amie last night and she said Lucy has a bikini and a special 4th of July dress. I can't handle it. So unbelievably cute...

Latest Happenings

So the last couple days have been interesting. The new restaurant, 19 Hundred, I blogged about last time was great. Eclipse was just okay as far as I'm concerned. A little uneventful for my taste. I'm more excited for the wedding, baby, etc coming in the last movies. Here's a pic of all the gals out to dinner...

I think I blogged about this before, but on the way to Kelly's wedding in April I got my first speeding ticket in Greenville, NC. Today was my court date, so I decided to appear in court and ask for a prayer for judgment. To ask for a prayer for judgment, I needed a certified copy of my driving record. Like the organized person that I am, I got this from the DMV a month ago. Excited about my girls night out, I conveniently left this crucial piece of paper at the office. The office is locked down at 6pm and I had to leave for Greenville at 5am in the morning. Awesome. Luckily, one of the girls I went to dinner with is the Director of Accounting and has the codes to get in the office after hours. It was pretty comical walking through the office late at night, in the dark, punching in all the various alarms. I don't know - you had to be there.

Total of 5 hours travel time and three super boring and painful hours sitting in Traffic/Criminal court and I was set free.

My reward for the inconvenience, a Chick-fil-a peach milkshake. Ok, so I had a spicy chicken sandwich as well. Both were delicious...