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Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Return to Baking in 2008

After a long winter break away from our apartment, I've been trying to do some baking again. I did some last fall, which I (Jason here) meant to post about, but never did. It also helps keep the apartment warm when the temperature is so low.

So far, I've made buttermilk biscuits twice, once again this weekend, and a chocolate-Brazil nut torte and chocolate-chocolate chip cookies both last weekend. You can see the torte to the left. I made two types of buttermilk biscuits this weekend, plain regular and, at Chantal's request, some emulating Cheddar Bay biscuits like you would get from Red Lobster. You can see the biscuits with some eggs to the right. They made a wonderful lunch.

I think I enjoy baking so much because the results are so delicious, that is, when I don't burn or destroy things. :) The torte was probably the most adventurous dish of the lot, as it required me to make a meringue (I'm not exactly sure that's the precise term), which I'd never done before. The mixer came in extraordinarily handy to beat the egg whites. I'm sure I would have given up if I'd had to whip them by hand.

The recipe for the Brazil nut torte came to me through tastespotting.com and originally from this other website. The buttermilk biscuits are from a Betty Crocker cookbook Eric and Heather gave us.

New Year

This weekend I've been working on some new abstract paintings, I have a before and after shot for each of them. Here is the first one that I just finished.

Abstract #1-finished

Abstract #1-base colors
Abstract #2-finished and changed a bit- sorry it's still drying and the glare is pretty bad- will re-take when it is dry.Abstract #2-base colors

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Shaving oepsie....

So, I have to start with a warning, if you don't like blood or hearing about shaving, don't look or read. I don't usually post bloody photos, but I thought this was worth it.

Most of you probably already know that I can be VERY accident prone and a little hasty at times-THIS is usually NOT a problem, but when it comes to shaving your legs I now know that it is better to shave slowly and carefully in the future....

This was one of the results of my shaving mishap:


PS don't worry, it's healing nicely and I am being much more patient :)

Friday, January 11, 2008

Mango Madness...

J and I both got incredibly spoiled by our family and friends for Christmas- thanks everyone we feel so blessed!
there is one cool gift I'd like to expand on...(to benefit my fellow mango lovers!)

While Jason and I were in San Antonio this past summer I became a mango lover-
because mango's in Texas were both delicious and much cheaper than we can get in IL I ate them every chance I got.
one problem occurred though...they are difficult to cut
(read on below...)
SO- guess what we got for Christmas?!
Phil and Mary Lou gave us a....MANGO SPLITTER!
This little video is for anyone who has ever wondered if a mango splitter really works-enjoy
Thanks Phil and Mary Lou- this is for you!
OK-so I apologize that this is sideways...I just cannot get it to rotate-argh
and if I sound/look a bit dopey, I'm not good at having videos taken of me :)




Monday, January 07, 2008

Visiting Craig and Maria

Jason and I were blessed by Craig's friend, John, who gave us tickets to go see Craig.
We flew to N. Carolina to help Craig and Maria move into their new apartment.
The happy newlyweds in their first apartment together...Maria organizing the bedroom...very nice and spacious
The boys goofing off in the computer corner...
The kitchen...and bar counter
Jason and I rented a car while we were visiting and to our surprise our compact car ended up being a convertible(red too!!)-we tried it out one morning :)

Winter Wonderland


Pictures from Pa and Ma's house and backyard right after we got some heavy snowfall...

J and I getting ready to go skiing...


Also some cool 'fog' pictures that I took right before we left WI...
.