Stormy Week

Some of you wonderful blog followers also happen to live in Kirksville. Hopefully, you, your family, and your home survived the straight line winds that literally ripped through Kirksville around midnight Sunday night/Monday morning.

We lost power at 12:15 a.m. and got it back on Tuesday late afternoon. I salvaged what I could from the fridge and freezer and I safely evacuated the large quantity of frozen meat in the deep freezer to Kristi and Gerrit's house. It was an inconvenience to lose electricity at home and a few foodstuffs. However, I think for a lot of us seeing this damage produced by 70+ mph winds reminds us that our storm was nothing in comparison to the devastation experienced in Joplin.

I thought I would share what our backyard looked like. We were very lucky compared to many of our friends, coworkers, and fellow community members.

 

If a straight-line wind tries to blow over your pepper plant the night
before here's a tip. Turn it the other way so that in the future the wind
coming from that direction might straighten it a bit. 

The basil plants got a little bent out of shape and the
white flowers on the left were partially lifted out of their dirt.

Ha! You thought that was all I cooked in June!

What would an insanely busy month be without a dinner party or two right?

My parents and brother came to visit for Father's Day. On Saturday night, I was already hosting a birthday dinner party for our friend Carla so we expanded the dinner party. Our friend Kristi was in Michigan but her husband Gerrit was still in town and he also has a June birthday. So I created the Birthday for Carla and Gerrit/Father's Day for Joseph Free State Brewing Co. Beer Dinner.

I had leftover paper from the wedding so I drew up menus and place cards. Then I proceeded to cook a dinner party for 10 with my mom as sous chef...an excellent sous chef in fact! I didn't get as many pictures as I hoped but that's because everyone devoured whatever I set on the table before I could take a picture.

We started with Leek Toasts with Blue Cheese from Smitten Kitchen. If you look at her pics, you'll notice I went with spreading the extra creamy blue cheese on the bread underneath the leeks. But I LOVE how bright these leeks become and they do have a unique, delicious flavor. This was a big hit and I had never cooked leeks but I would highly recommend the recipe.

The next course was a salad with pistachio crusted goat cheese. I served it with Free State's KellerPils as pilsners are supposed to be a good pairing with goat cheese. It has a homemade dressing that is to die for. I have a handwritten copy of this recipe in my recipe notebook so I'm not sure where I got it. I'll try to post the recipe here sometime soon because it was soo good! I had trouble with making the "crusted" part of the goat cheese as the pan didn't seem warm enough to sear the nuts and I ended up with mushy cheese balls. However, no one complained and while not the prettiest, the taste was fantastic. 

The main course was another shout-out to Real Simple. This time it was Five-spice Pork Chops with Grilled Plums served with Free State's Meuse River IPA. The subtle spice flavors from the beer paired perfectly with the five-spice blend on the pork. This tasted great and was very popular. However, I ran into a few problems (besides melting my meat thermometer and my silicone tong handle). The grill basket I used for the plums and scallions was too small for the quantity of scallions needed for 10 people. I had multiplied the recipe quantity by 2.5 to accomodate 10 people instead of 4. My wee grill basket could handle the plums. But when the scallions were added at the last couple minutes of grill time there were suddenly 30 scallions on top of quickly deteriorating plums. They were nowhere near the heat that was supposed to grill them in 2 minutes. Whoops! If you use a large flat grill pan then you'll be fine. If you have a smaller square one like I do with angled sides then I'd recommend removing the plums from the grill before you start the scallions.

For dessert, we had Real Simple's Blueberry-Gin Sundaes paired with Free State's Oatmeal Stout. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this course but we will definitely be making it again. If you plan to serve it to 10 people, keep in mind that a cup of gin takes a lot longer to cook down than 1/3 of a cup (the amount for only 4 people).

We wrapped things up with some limoncello and great conversation.

Pleepleus doing his part to help.

Then Kristi returned from Michigan and we hosted Kristi and Gerrit's Birthday Dinner the following Saturday.

Clifton and Rachel joined us for a true Shaw-Davis-Scholten Clan evening.

Rachel and Kristi pitched in this time as well. Rachel brought Chorizo and Pepper Skewers (another recipe from Real Simple) which we enjoyed with M. Lawrence Sandpiper Sparkling Wine from Michigan.. Kristi made a couscous salad with pineapple, cilantro, and red onion. To match the couscous salad that the Birthday Girl was craving, I made coconut lime grilled shrimp and grilled sirloin steaks seasoned only with salt and pepper.

After the appetizer/wine pairing, everyone enjoyed whatever beverage they wanted. But I wanted to do something special for Kristi since she only got to attend one birthday dinner and Gerrit was spoiled the weekend before. Kristi really likes Pisco Sours. If you are a fan of Zane Lamprey and the show Three Sheets then you might know what I'm talking about. If not, go rent the Peru episode and you'll be caught up. :-)

Last July, Clifton went to Peru and was kind enough to bring us back a bottle of Pisco. We shared some with our friends one night and discovered that Kristi was a big fan! Since we only had two bottles total between ours and Clifton's we decided to surprise her for her birthday. We enjoyed Pisco Sours using the official Zane Lamprey recipe and had a great night. I hope it was a memorable birthday party!

Um...where did June go?

Today I was talking to my mom while making dinner. At that moment I was chopping the first green pepper (I couldn't leave it on long enough to turn red) from my red pepper plant on the driveway. I started going on and on about how my tomato plant was loaded with green cherry tomatoes just waiting to ripen and I had tons of pepper growing quickly. She mentioned how corn was supposed to be at the Farmers' Market this weekend...and that's when I realized that in only a few hours it will be July! July! The entire month of June is gone and I barely noticed. I accomplished LOADS in June but I was so busy that entire weeks were zipping by before I could realize that it's been 20 days since I last posted! 20 days! How does that happen?

Well, I'll tell you how...here's what I did in the month of June. (I apologize now for what is sure to become a record length post or possibly series of posts.)

1.)  I started roasting my own coffee. (I'll post more specifics in another post.) I was tired of having to buy pounds of coffee that was often old and from Columbia or Lawrence and therefore not easily obtainable. They cost $12 to $14 a pound and I have had several friends who roast coffee. So I took up another DIY hobby.

2.)  I started trying to run-commute twice a week. I pack an extra lunch and the next day's change of clothes on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then I run to work from home (1.5 miles each way) to the office and FINALLY found a way to sneak 2 workouts of 3 miles each into my weekly schedule. It does take a lot of planning but with work, summer school, and trying to lift weights with Jason over my MWF lunches there aren't a lot of hours left in the day. So now I run 15 minutes to work instead of drive for 7-10 minutes to work (depending on lights and traffic).

3.) I was elected President of Kirksville Young Professionals. I was Secretary last year and I am thrilled that my fellow board members had the confidence to vote for me as President. I am really looking forward to adding to all of the work we've accomplished in the past year. Go KVYP!

4.) We ate our very first cherry tomatoes on June 12th. I thought I would treat them special so I made a mini caprese salad. I drizzled them with olive oil from Spain and some basil from the backyard. Delish!

5.) I started summer school on June 6th and resumed commuting twice a week to Columbia for classes. The course is Advanced Regression Analysis and will conclude my statistics coursework.

6.) I rolled over 200,000 miles in Laurel (my Subaru Impreza). She did it with four brand new struts while commuting to Columbia (of course!). As a Subaru, I expect her to live at least another 50,000 to 100,000 miles. It makes me sad to think of a time when I might not get to drive her. :-( Also, my best friend Cara might find this the most amazing since it was only a few years ago that I rolled over 100,000 miles. A DeSoto, Kansas, police officer stopped to ask us what we were doing because we had hopped out of the car in a pitch black neighborhood, held up Amos Lee's new CD, and took a picture of us in front of the car. He thought we were insane and let us quickly leave DeSoto but I will never forget the memory.

7.) Jason brewed one last beer with my parents when they came to visit for Father's Day. (I was in the kitchen working on #8.) Joseph hadn't seen our new house and my brother Nathan had never been to Kirksville. It was a great weekend!



The beer baby bubbling away
in the hall closet.















8.) I cooked a lot of tasty food.

This is what you make when you buy a ton of strawberries at the Farmers' Market.

This is what you make when you buy tri-color potatoes and need to use the eggs and kale from the Farmer's Market. So tasty!



If you happen to have loads of asparagus from the Farmers' Market (or wherever you buy veggies) then here are two recipes.

From Hy-vee's Seasons magazine article on asparagus, April issue, pg. 28 (or page 30 of this .pdf.)

"2. Shave the spears into ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Toss with fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Shave Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese on top."

I left off the cheese from above and coupled it with Sauteed Corn, Pepper, and Sausage (I used turkey sausage that was on sale) also from a Hy-vee recipe. We had it for a really late brunch but you could eat them together or separate any time.

Oh look! More foil packet potatoes and grilled pork tenderloins! But do you have this Grilled Asparagus and Manchego Cheese recipe from Real Simple?

Ribeyes from my parent's side of beef, Kirksville snow peas
seasoned with sesame oil and red pepper flakes, and tri-color
foil packet potatoes all grilled.

Finally, Gnocchi with Turkey Ragu (the dinner I was preparing tonight when I realized June was over.)

Flashback Friday - May 1, 2011

Many bloggers have something like Friday Link Love or One Word Wednesday - a day that they try to consistently publish a themed post. I've decided to create Flashback Friday to catch all of the things I forget to mention.

So for this Flashback Friday we are going to travel back in time to May 1, 2011. The past two years I've competed in TriZou, a sprint triathlon held at the University of Missouri. This year, rather than pretending not to drown for 400 meters, I registered for DuZou. DuZou is a duathlon where you run 1 mile, bike 7 miles, and then run 1 more mile. Only about 100 people register for the duathlon versus the 800 or so who complete TriZou.

It turns out that turning 30 does have some benefits because...I placed 3rd in my age group of 30-34 year old women!! Me! 3rd Place! The last time I placed in anything was rowing for OU as a novice team at the Women's Big 12 Championships the first year of the club team's existence. We were 3rd place but we missed the awards ceremony and never received our medals. (Still sad about that!)

Jason and I left as soon as we finished the race because we needed to get back to Kirksville. I would never in a million years have thought I placed but then I received my results online. It said I placed 3rd and after two trips to the event sponsor's business I finally got my medal. Check it out!!

Quick and Tasty Dinner

I thought I would share what I made for dinner on Thursday night but first here's a tip. If you shop at Hy-vee (or probably any grocery store chain) you can sign up to receive weekly ads by e-mail as well as their weekly newsletter.

I learned from Iowa Girl Eats that Hy-vee also posts weekly menus. In fact I believe they post at least 5 weekly menus: Regular, Budget-Friendly, Heart Healthy, Weight Control, and Diabetic Friendly. If I can't come up with anything to make then I'll look at these menus for ideas. They also have a ton of recipes on their website including a function where you can add the ingredients you need to your grocery list and print it. I noticed turkey sausage was on sale so I searched Hy-vee's online recipes for "sausage." I found this Rigatoni Sausage Toss recipe.

I made a few variations by using turkey Italian sausage instead of pork. I also only had fusilli pasta on hand. It was a quick and tasty dinner and made enough for three leftover servings. My only complaint (which is pretty common) was that the turkey sausage (or maybe the jarred sauce) tasted salty. However, I've found that most people like a lot more salt than I do. Besides the ease of the recipe I also enjoyed the combination of sauce with fresh vegetables.

Here's my version of the recipe:

Put the water on to boil and remove the turkey sausage from casings (if applicable). Crumble into skillet. Brown sausage.

Prepare the fusilli according to package directions. Use the boil time to rinse/spin your spinach, halve the grape tomatoes, and warm the jar of sauce. (I used Classico Sweet Basil and Tomato.)

Drain the pasta.

Place spinach in a large bowl. Top with tomatoes, hot cooked sausage, and hot pasta.

Stir in pasta sauce and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese (the recipe calls for a lot more than I used).
Bon Appetit!

When you leave town for five days you really notice the progress in your plants. I couldn't believe how much these grew even in the short time we were gone.

Check out these pictures of the original plants and what they look like this week:

Pepper and tomato plants going crazy!





So many cute little tomatoes!
Grow, grow, grow!



Nasturiums! Now we just need the flowers.

Best of all...remember these little basil plants?
Mom and I split the middle plant into four
and the left one was attacked by leaf eating
bug or something and almost died.

And now LOOK at this basil! Yippeee! I plucked some leaves tonight and made my first batch of pesto. You can barely even tell I took any leaves. I'm so excited!!



In less happy gardening news, my fuschia was poorly potted and tried to die on me while I was out of town. I bought it already potted. Even though it rained while we were gone I think it was too protected under the eaves. When we got home it looked like this and the peat moss type soil had pulled away from the sides of the hanging basket. Tonight I gave it one last chance, removed the dead portions, and repotted it in better potting soil. It looks really pathetic but it might make it.

I also think bunnies think asiatic daisies are delicious. The bunnies have stayed out of everything else but these plants have been sheared down. Guess these perennials won't be sticking around after all. For now I'm going to leave them in the ground in case they rally.

Memorial Day Weekend

Jason and I went on vacation over the holiday weekend with our friends Kristi and Gerrit. Last year, six of us went camping over Memorial Day Weekend and decided to make it a tradition. Unfortunately this year our other friends Rachel and Clifton weren't able to make it but you'll read about our make-up camping trip over the 4th of July.

Kristi and Gerrit are from Michigan so we decided that a camping/winery tour of the Leelanau Peninsula would be perfect. I believe this peninsula is essentially the pinky of Michigan on the west side of the state. With Jason and I on the trip a few breweries also were added to the bill including a second trip to Bell's in Kalamazoo.

We left Thursday afternoon and headed for Three Floyds Brewing and our first overnight in Munster, Indiana. Friday we stopped at The Livery in Benton Harbor for lunch and then New Holland Brewing Co. in Holland on our way to a homestay with Kristi's family. We didn't get many pictures of lunch except for Kristi's giant burrito that we all helped her eat.

It always helps to show gigantic food next to Pleepleus to put it in perspective.

The Livery



Great Hops! Check out New Holland's sign.




















 

Saturday and Sunday we visited wineries on the Leelanau Peninsula as well as the Jolly Pumpkin Traverse City location. Jason took most of the pictures on his video camera so I don't have them to share yet. He's putting together a video of the trip so maybe I can post it here soon.


Maricaibo Especial at Jolly Pumpkin






Monday we stopped by Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids on the way to stay with Gerrit's parents.



At Founders in our homemade Pleepleus t-shirts.



HopCat is also an awesome beer bar. Beer Advocate rated HopCat the 3rd best beer bar in the world...so naturally we had to check it out when we were literally in the neighborhood.

We enjoyed talking to the bartenders, one of which treated us to an empty growler for coming to visit all the way from Missouri. I paid back the favor by filling the growler with one of their in-house brews Hoppopotamus.

We seem to have a hard time leaving the state of Michigan without a trip to Bell's Brewery. On our way home we swung by Kalamazoo to have lunch at the Eccentric Cafe at Bell's.

This brewery makes Jason's favorite beer Two Hearted Ale. In fact this is how much he loves Bell's...

His tattoo of their logo that he got in Alaska, May 2009

Happy man outside their door on Tuesday for lunch.

Pleepleus showing off the sampling boards at Bell's in the shape of Michigan.

Thank you for humoring my tour of Michigan breweries led by a monkey. We had so much fun with great friends and Michigan insiders Kristi and Gerrit. Their families were wonderful hosts and so generous. I'll try to post more on the wine side of the trip soon.