Spring

I can't study continuously all day. I did it once and it was horrible. So I took pictures of some of the lovely blooming things near my apartment on my way to go workout.

Hawthorn flowers

Sycamore tree bark. I'm fascinated by these trees.

Spring has fully arrived in Louisville. Thank God!

Sweet Potato Apple Muffin Scones

So. Yesterday I made the most amazing muffin/scone things ever. I mean, you will have to freeze all of them right away so you don’t eat all of them. They are fluffy. They are moist. They are sweet. They are healthy!

I kid you not.

This is adapted from a berry scone recipe in the book Gluten Free on a Shoestring, which my lovely Grandma gave me.

Here are the ingredients. This list is not entirely accurate because I had to make adjustments. So… go by feel.

~ 2 cups of all purpose gluten free flour – make sure that about 1/3 – 1/2 of this flour is almond meal flour. It is very fluffy and moist flour.

~ 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum – to hold things together.

~ 1 tablespoon of baking powder

~ ½ teaspoon of salt

~ 2 tablespoons of sugar – I used 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 of white. I couldn’t help it.

~ 5 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, diced – I used fake butter because it’s all I had, I’d recommend real, though the fake stuff worked.

~ 1 cup of milk – the recipe says no non-fat which is all I had and it seemed to work alright.

~ 1 sweet potato, boiled, peeled and pureed

~ 1 apple diced

 And the directions...

1. Boil the sweet potato, peel and puree it. You can use some of the milk to help the puree go more smoothly. Stick it in the fridge to cool while you do other things, like dicing the apple. I used my sweet potato hot and I believe it changed the consistency of my scone/muffins.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare baking sheets or muffin tins with either parchment paper or cooking spray, dust with flour if you like.

3. Combine dry ingredients and transfer a few tablespoons to your bowl of diced apples. Giving them a thin covering of the mix helps them not sink to the bottom while baking.

4. Add the diced butter to the dry ingredients – this is where the scones are separated from the muffins – the butter must be cold. This is also why we want the sweet potato cold, so it doesn’t melt the butter. Cut the butter into the mix with a fork, pastry cutter or two knives. Do this until you have pea sized chunks.

5. Cut the cold sweet potato puree into the mix.

6. Add the milk to the mix. Without the sweet potato this would turn the mix into dough. With the sweet potato this turns the mix into batter. You can either add the milk slowly until you get a workable dough or do as I did and dump it all in and add more flour until the batter was gloppy(see step 8b below). I think I probably added a half cup of flour and still came out with muffin-like things.

7. Mix in the apples.

If you have successfully created a dough, continue with the scone steps:

8a. Handle dough as little as possible or butter will melt and you’ll have muffins or something else. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle about ½ inch thick.

9a. Cut the dough into 8 triangles and transfer them to the baking sheets a couple inches apart. Brush with a bit of milk and sprinkle with a little sugar.

10a. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the scones are puffed up and slightly brown around the edges. Serve immediately. Or go for a run while they cool and freeze those suckers.

If you have inadvertently created a batter by following my instructions or whatever:

8b. If you added all the milk you will probably have a somewhat runny batter. Add flour until it is “gloppy.” I.e.: when you can scoop out a huge spoonful and set it on a baking sheet without it spreading out. Use either muffin tins or baking sheets. Shape the batter however you like. These will not look like scones.

9b. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are slightly brown.

10b. While these are baking you should make a drizzle for the scone/muffins as they might not be sugary enough. This is not true but you should do it anyway. Mix a couple tablespoons of brown sugar with about 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon, ½ tablespoon of milk and a tiny bit of vanilla extract. It should be thick-soupy.

11b. Drizzle on the scone/muffins after you take them out of the oven. Try to eat only one. Then go for a run while the others cool and freeze them.

These babies freeze and thaw marvelously. Seriously, these might be the best things I have ever created.

Enjoy!

Brukner Nature Center and Joe's Creek

The first Saturday I spent with Joe we explored the woods and creek by his house. It was fun. 

The creek was very full.

We poked around a little.

Then did stupid things.

Joe climbed dead trees and walked on wobbly logs across the creek. And I slid into the creek while trying to take a photo of some foam on the water. Went in to my knees before I was able to hold myself up with my hands. I did not get the photo.

Later on the following week we were able to go to Brukner Nature Center because the weather was GORGEOUS.

First we saw the animals. Precious little foxes, bobcat, and scary crow. Crows remember your face so don't piss them off!

Then we moved on to other cool things.

Depending on your definition of cool...

But deer are cool!

As are swampy lakes.

And I found a hawk feather. It was epic.

Hiking at Charleston Falls

 Before we set out, Joe had to put on his Rambo bandanna so that he could take doubly epic pictures later.

Brukner Nature Center photos in this post.

These are Charleston Falls. With a really sick tree near them.

I took photos obsessively. The water was so goshdarn clear!

I even made an anigif of horizontal water photos.

These thorns are probably why the signs said "Do not leave trail."

Spring Break

In my humble opinion, spring break is a huge waste of time and an impetus for procrastination. Similar to blogging.

I had a really wonderful spring break despite the vast amount of time I wasted not doing my final projects. I did some work, but never enough.

Here's what did go down. In list format because that's what I'm good at.

1. I skipped my Thursday night class and drove to Troy. We don't do anything.

2. Joe and I celebrated our one year anniversary on Friday. We had dinner with his friend Zack and his girlfriend Lauren, which turned out to be weird and expensive outing that really shouldn't have been. The owner, a sushi chef, ordered dinner for us. Joe ate chicken on a Friday and I ate a $35 plate of sashimi and nigiri sushi. We think it's because Joe got a bottle of wine.

3. Joe bought me a pretty pretty necklace for our 1-year. A key with a fleur-de-lis top. The fleur-de-lis is the symbol Louisville sticks on everything. That we met in Louisville makes the fleur-de-lis appropriate and the key sticks to its cliche. There are teeny tiny diamonds in it.

4. I turned 22 on Saturday. 22 is a stupid number. Extraordinarily unexciting and pointless. Joe's mom made a gluten free cake.

5. Joe gave me a Simpsons audio card which featured Bart saying things like fart and doody and Skinner is a nut he has a rubber butt. Inside there were two Groupons to a therapeutic massage place in Dayton. Woot!

6. On Saturday we went for a long bike ride and then went to get our massages. Full body massages in a dark, candle lit room, with calming music. It was lovely. My masseuse focused on my head, neck, jaws, shoulders and upper back, which is where I keep all my stress and tension. Joe's masseuse focused on his entire back, which always hurts, because his hamstrings are too tight. We were zombies for the rest of the day.

7. Afterward, we went to a shopping center called the Greene, got tea, and sat outside in the sunshine. It was gorgeous outside and really relaxing.

8. On Sunday we went to look at a house that Joe was thinking of buying. It was nice, small, needed a little work, cheap, and a block away from an awesome meat/deli shop. However, Joe's not ready to buy yet.

9. On Monday I did homework while Joe was at work. His mom and I took a short (actually really long, like 2 hours) break to drive around Troy, look at houses, and get frozen custard.

10. Tuesday I drove up to Bellefontaine to have an interview with a YMCA camp for an assistant equestrian director position. Really, it's just a fancy title for barn manager/camp instructor/riding instructor/horse trainer/staff manager. I was there for 2.5 hours. I rode a horse at a walk and trot and demonstrated my riding abilities, especially my ability to "collect" a horse. I don't think it's the right position for me. I would have the opportunity to do a little communications/marketing stuff but mostly I would be working about 60-70 hrs a week for $300 + room & board.

11. One of the above days Joe and I went exploring in the woods near his house. I fell in the creek while trying to take a photo. Oops.

12. Tuesday night we watched a movie called The Lottery about the public vs. charter schools in New York. It was fascinating and biased.

13. On Wednesday I woke up at 5:15 after finally falling asleep at 12:30 and drove down to the University of Cincinnati for an interview with Teach for America. There were 11 applicants and 2 interviewers. First we each taught a 5 minute lesson on any subject for K-12th grades. I taught a lesson on poetry rhyme schemes. It went ok. Then we had a group activity, a discussion about TFA, a 20 question logic test, break for lunch, then we had individual interviews with the interviewers. Overall, it was just okay. I don't know. I'll find out on April 3rd.

14. Joe and I played basketball outside. He was trying to prove he could dunk. He did. Then I missed like a million and a half 3 pointers.

15. On Thursday I did homework. Went for a run, which was awesome and painful, because I'd been sitting around like a whale for a week.

16. We wandered around Brukner Nature Center and got really close to a few deer. It was awesome. I also found a feather. Then we got Panera.

17. Thursday night Joe and I made a bonfire and roasted stale marshmallows. We also threw them at each other and a light pole.

18. Friday I made more attempts to do homework and went for another awesome run which was painful.

19. I hung out with Joe's parents until Joe came home in the evening and then we went to get sushi and a movie- My Sassy Girl. It's a chick flick and Joe picked it out. It was a good movie!

20. On Saturday we went to Charleston Falls to go hiking. We hiked a few miles. The waterfall was cool, but we couldn't wander around underneath it. I mean, we did venture off the trail and explore the stream and woods. We saw a little garter snake and these giant crazy thorns that would have killed you! We picnicked by the stream, ate awesome sandwiches and vegetables and kiwis. It was perfect!

21. In the afternoon we went to meet Joe's sister, her two little kids, and his mom at a park in Troy. They're cute kids!

22. Then we went home, showered and drove down to the outlet mall just north of Cincinnati. We had a coupon for 30% off everything at Gap and Banana Republic. Both stores were having immense sales. I bought $95 worth of stuff (on sale already) for $66. I saved $106 at Gap. Then I bought a $50 skirt at Banana Republic for $22. Seriously a steal. Joe got a really nice summer suit at Banana Republic for $150, plus some shoes, a couple shirts and a pair of pants.

23. Sunday we churched then I left for Louisville because I have a million.2 things to do. Including drawing a house to scale, building a model of it, interviewing people about their meat consumption, writing a paper about that meat consumption, finishing my content analysis so I can start testing, go grocery shopping, and clean my apartment.

24. That's all. I'll post pictures in another post and then I probably won't do anything big on here until I graduate. Priorities, people, priorities.

Burrichiladas

Sometimes I do cool things and am innovative and whatnot. But then I forget to document them.

I have to tell you all about the enchiladas I made this weekend, unfortunately I didn't take any photos, so you'll just have to trust that they looked and tasted goooood.

I made them because Joe was coming and I finished right when he called to tell me he arrived. Seriously. But I was so focused on my perfect timing and Joe's happy arrival that it never crossed my mind these enchiladas might be blog-worthy. Maybe next time.

Well I started by making a salsa. I bought a lot of bell peppers at the grocery store because they're delicious and I needed to incorporate one somehow. Having bell peppers in a Mexican dish automatically says fajita to me and I didn't want that. So I cut up a red one and threw it in my blender. Then I cut up a single green onion and threw that in too. I added a bit of minced garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt and red pepper flakes until I thought the flavor was interesting. I did not measure. Sorry.

The salsa (which really means sauce in Spanish) was interesting. By itself it made you go hmm. It had that red bell pepper sweetness, followed by the instant sharp spice of green onion, with just hints of the garlic and warmth of the cumin and chili powder. It's not something you would scoop up with chips. I poured it in a jar and stuck it in the fridge.

Then I started cooking a cup of white rice. Earlier I had thawed and pounded flat an alien chicken breast (it was all 'roided up on chicken broth?? ...weird). I coated it in a wonderful seasoning by dear Mrs. Dash - Fiesta Lime - go get some - and let it sit in the fridge a while. I started grilling the chicken on my grill pan. When the rice and chicken were about half done I started heating the black beans and corn.

When the rice was done, I squeezed some lime juice and fresh cilantro into it, a la Qdoba burritos.

I shredded the chicken with a fork and mixed in some of my red pepper salsa until all the chicken had a nice coating of it.

I pulled down my baking dish, grabbed my extra thin corn tortillas (the only way to go) and the shredded cheese. I advise letting the tortillas reach room temperature or heating them up or they'll split when you stuff these babies.

I spread rice, beans, corn, and chicken on the tortilla, then sprinkled on a teeny bit of cheese to hold em together and placed them in my baking dish, openings on the bottom of the dish. I used a jar to hold them in place as I finished them. After I'd filled the dish I spooned some red pepper salsa on top and added lots of cheese. Cheese is good.

I put them in the oven at about 300 degrees I think, to make sure the cheese was all melted and the insides stayed hot until Joe got there.

While the burrichiladas were heating I made the most delicious guacamole ever. I just add juice from about half a lime, some salt and a few fingerfulls of cilantro. This is so yummy. I wanted to eat it all right there.

As soon as I finished the guacamole Joe called to say he had arrived. Perfect timing. We devoured the burrichiladas, but saved enough for lunch the next day.

I saved a slice of lime so we could squeeze em into our beers. Joe and I had New Grist, a crisp, gluten free, sorghum beer.

Success? Yes. They were so good. And that red pepper salsa added such a wonderful and interesting layer to the burrichiladas that I think I'll add more next time. This is a time consuming meal but well worth it. Joe made many unintelligible exclamations of satisfaction as he ate and wondered aloud, "How are you so good at this?" I don't know. Maybe because I have had so many wonderful meals in my life, was forced to try the strangest of foods on a regular basis, and because I enjoy creating things. Food is not something to be afraid of. Example- if you know you like rice try experimenting by adding some different spices. Always smell things and always taste things.

Here's the recipe for two people:

Ingredients

~ 1 large alien chicken breast

~ 1-2 avocados

~ 1 cup white rice

~ 1 can black beans

~ 1 cup corn

~ Fresh cilantro- use scissors to chop effectively

~ 1-2 limes

~ 1 large red bell pepper

~ 1 green onion stalk

~ Butter

~ Salt

~ Chili powder

~ Cumin

~ Crushed red pepper

~ Oregano

~ Minced garlic, preferably fresh

~ Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning or your favorite Mexican seasoning

~ Your favorite cheese for Mexican food

~ Mission extra thin corn tortillas

Chicken

1. Thaw*, pound till the thickness of the breast is even. Coat with your preferred Mexican seasoning. Let sit in the fridge until ready to grill.

2. Grill then shred chicken with two forks.

3. Mix in enough red pepper salsa to lightly coat all your shredded chicken.

*The best method for thawing is to place the breast in a plastic bag, removing all air, and set into a bowl of warm water.

Red Pepper Salsa

1. Cut red pepper into chunks and toss into blender

2. Cut up green onion and add about half to the blender

3. Add approx. a teaspoon of minced garlic

4. Sprinkle in chili powder, cumin, salt (optional), oregano, crushed red pepper flakes

5. Taste and add spices/garlic/onion as you like. The salt really didn't seem to do much for the flavor, I don't think I would add it the second time around. Pour into a jar. Rinse your blender right away or you know you won't do it till it's dried on.

Rice

1. Cook per instructions on bag/box. When done cooking squeeze about a half a lime into the rice and add as much cilantro as you like. Don't burn, it's easier than you'd think.

Beans/Corn

Heat beans and corn however you wish, stovetop or microwave. Be sure to rinse beans to remove excess sodium. Add chili powder and cumin to beans. Squeeze some lime and sprinkle some cilantro and salt on the corn if you wish.

Guacamolemolemole

1. Mash up avocado, add juice from about half a lime, a bit of salt, and a few fingerfuls of fresh cilantro.

2. Taste. Adjust flavor. Eat.

3. Make more to share.

Order of Cooking & Assembly

1. Thaw chicken

2. Pound chicken mercilessly, season and refrigerate

3. Make salsa

4. Start cooking rice and chicken and turn oven on to 325 or 350 or so

5. Start beans & corn when rice & chicken are about half to 3/4 done. This is probably a good time to bring out tortillas so they can warm up.

6. Rinse beans; season beans, rice, corn

7. Shred chicken and mix in salsa as everything else is finishing- make sure all things are on low heat to prevent burning or overcooking

8. Whip out baking dish, tortillas, cheese.

9. Fill tortillas with rice, beans, corn, chicken, a little cheese. Fill up baking dish using a jar to hold them in place as you make a new one.

10. Pour or spoon red pepper salsa onto burrichiladas. Cover in cheese. Stick in oven.

11. Make guacamole.

12. Open and lime beers.

13. Pull out burrichiladas (as long as the cheese is melted) when significant other walks in the door.

14. Discreetly wipe sweat from forehead. Smile.

15. Devour burrichiladas with ravenous enthusiasm and no shame.

Sometimes God Slaps You

Last Friday night I complained a lot to Joe about how worried I was.

Saturday night I stayed up really late for no apparent reason.

Sunday morning I slept through my alarm.

Sunday night I went to a 10 pm church service at a Catholic church not far from my apartment.

The message was about worrying.

Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow shall worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt. 6:34