Electricity is my friend

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, we've been powerless for the past 3.5 days. And when I say powerless, I mean literally and figuratively. Despite the fact that I called the local municipal offices and gave them a piece of my mind, they allowed a massive tree on a power line to keep a road closed near our house from Sunday until today. We drove by at least 4 times a day and never saw a soul working on the tree. Stacia and I called each other every time we drove by to say "still no one working on the tree." I did see a local news crew filming the tree, but they weren't doing anything to move it.

Anyway, enough about that tree and the worthless electric company that serves all of New England that left me 3 voice recordings every day thanking me for my patience. I was able to make these oatmeal pancakes right before the power went out. (I used old fashioned oatmeal and it worked just fine.) I also sprinkled chocolate chips throughout, and then threw sliced peaches, cinnamon and brown sugar onto the griddle while it was still hot and topped the pancakes with that peachy goodness. It was a heavenly way to begin our electricity-less 3 days.

We spent a lot of time reading by candlelight, eating out for every meal and charging our phones in the car. Thomas left the windows open while Hurricane Irene swirled around inside our apartment all day Sunday. On Monday I hauled all of mine and Stacia's frozen goods to a friend's house and took a shower there. I spent half of last night on the couch because it was so hot in our bed and The Husband was clearing his throat, in his sleep, all night long. I was reaching the end of my rope by the time the power finally came on this afternoon. I will forever have a new respect for the pioneers, and Adam and Eve, and all of the people who lived in the time between.

 Thomas was quietly reading while Irene swirled my curtains all around him. And don't mind the black panty hose on his leg, that's just a special sleeve to keep the fluid in his knee from swirling around like the curtains.

Thomas created many fire hazards with our candles. In this photo, he had a candle sitting on the arm of the couch. Smart.

The line at TGIFriday's in the only town around that had power on the first day. Needless to say, we didn't eat there. 

"We are at the mercy of National Grid" was indeed true for the past 3 days. (National Grid is that fabulous electric company I mentioned earlier.) From what I gathered from this newspaper, I wasn't the only one who thought they did a pretty terrible job. I'm just glad I can sleep with the air conditioning on tonight!

Quinoa Pilaf

Since Husband is at football all day every day, I can get away with a vegetarian dish for dinner. This quinoa pilaf was worth sharing. I got the idea here but made a few additions based on what I had in my fridge. 

Quinoa Pilaf

1 c. dry quinoa

1 c. water

1 c. dry white wine

2 small squash, diced

2 T. olive oil

1 carrot, diced

1/4 c. onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 c. fresh spinach

1/4 c. walnuts, chopped

1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped

2 T. white balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring water and wine to a boil. Add quinoa and cook for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. 

2. In saute pan, heat 1 T. olive oil. Add carrot, squash, onion and garlic. Cook 7-9 minutes. (I have to make myself walk away so that the veggies will get nice and brown, otherwise I stir them too much in an effort to hurry them up.) Set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil and spinach to pan. Cook until wilted. 

3. Meanwhile, toast walnuts in toaster oven or under broiler for about 5 minutes. 

4. Stir together quinoa, veggie mixture and walnuts. Add parsley and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. 

This could probably serve three people as a main dish and about 6 people as a side dish. Unless they are linemen. In that case, serve them the whole pot in a single serving. 

THE Tomatoes

Remember the tomatoes I posted about from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook? I am more in love with them today than I was two weeks ago. I've now made them 6 times in 2.5 weeks. Three times I made them for non-tomato lovers and they were converted. I put them on sandwiches, on top of fish, chicken...I'm pretty much willing to try them with anything and I'll swear by it. My sister used them in Gwyneth's recipe for frittata and said it was amazing. With these statistics, how could I forget to actually post the recipe? Shame on me.

And while Gwyneth was not the first one to invent these tomatoes, I have to give her credit because her cookbook is the first place I learned about them.

Gwyneth describes them as "a pantry essential. This method turns even the most flavorless, out-of-season winter tomatoes into gorgeous, sweet ones." Preach it, Gwyn.

She doesn't give any measurements for this recipe in the cookbook (which is probably why I love it so much.) But for those of you who need measurements, the last time I made this, I used about 6 Roma tomatoes halved lengthwise. I placed the halves on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzled olive oil all over the top of them (I'd say about 1/2 tsp. per tomato) then sprinkle salt and pepper all over. I use Sarah's Sea Salt  instead of salt and pepper, but if you don't have that, any blend will do.

Place in oven preheated to 275. Bake for 3-5 hours. I usually check them around 3 hours to make sure they aren't getting too brown on top. They will look nearly sun dried and most of the moisture will evaporate. They also keep in the fridge for a week, so I make a big batch and reheat them throughout the week. Hope you enjoy as much as I have!

Baby Gia

Our friends Danny and Stacia had a beautiful baby girl on Saturday, and Danny called me in to the hospital on Saturday night for back-up. He had to return to the team hotel/practice, and poor Stacia was having a bad reaction to her medication. So, here I sit three days later feeling like this hospital is my second home. I'm really going to miss my little pull-out bed with the scratchy blanket and plastic pillows. 

But really, I've had so much fun getting to know baby Gia and helping Stacia, who is an awesome mom. I'm going to have withdrawals after Stacia's family gets here! 

Baby G and I on her first day of life. She really loves me. That chair I'm sitting on turns into a little bed. Comfortable and multipurpose. (kidding)

 What a sweet little family! They really are great parents. Poor Danny has only gotten to come for about 45 minutes the past two nights. Oh football.....

 I have become a master swaddler. One might say I am obsessed with swaddling. I've watched multiple videos on YouTube about swaddling and even said to Stacia at 2:30am "it's like a game to me. I want to be the best swaddler there is. I guess I am a little competitive after all." This fish blanket made by Swaddle Designs is by far the best swaddling blanket. I got carried away and bought three more of them for baby Gia last night. If you'd like a swaddle blanket of your own, this one is called the Marquisette Swaddle Blanket. It is so soft and made out of this fabulous gauze material. I think I may buy one for myself and, oh I don't know, sleep with it at night? Wrap it around my head as a towel? Use it as a scarf?

We're all headed back to our respective homes today, so hopefully we can get some rest without nurses and doctors coming in 60 times a day. Three days in the hospital was long enough for me! 

West Point

Last week I was able to run down to West Point for two nights to hang out with Thomas' parents and three of his four sisters (Jenn, I can't wait until you live on the mainland!) I also got to hang out with our niece Skylar and sweet little chunky Finley (who was born on my birthday 4 months ago.) We had a fun time making food, going on a hike to nearby Bear Mountain, watching YouTube videos, Skyping with Josh, and counting the adorable rolls of fat on Finley. 

I may or may not have thrown my nephew-dog Jack into an icy cold lake. It may or may not have done my heart good to see the look of panic on his face. Seeing the look of horror on Skylar's face as she screamed "I will miss him!" did not do my heart good. You can read more of that story here.  Keri also made an amazing dish that reminded me of Chicken Pad Thai from our favorite Thai place in Foxboro. If you like Chicken or Shrimp Pad Thai, you should definitely give this recipe a try. I'm drooling remembering it. 

Thomas has Uggs

Thomas now owns his very first pair of Uggs. He'd been begging and begging me for a pair of his own, and I finally gave in to his desires and sacrificed a whole week's paycheck to buy him some. 

Actually, Tom Brady gave all of the players a pair because he is part of their men's marketing initiative. I actually think Thomas will get a lot of wear out of these in the cold months, and he says they feel like "walking on soft clouds of cotton." And I don't think they are quite as hideous as the standard Uggs that make people's legs look like they are the size of large tree stumps. 

And I assure you, Thomas has NEVER asked me for Uggs. But he did beg me for that Soli Deo Gloria t-shirt, which you can purchase here. 

And I took this picture of his playbook last week just so y'all can see how big it really is and how hard he has to study. We decided to put a bottle of G2 next to it, partly to show the epic proportions and partly because every time Thomas stops by to see me, he leaves a trail of empty G2 bottles in his path. I'm so glad when I get to see him, but those bottles....

Oh! I almost forgot to say that he'll be starting at Left Guard tonight in the pre-season game and be playing back-up Center. Tune in if you can!

Sister Time

I got to go see my sister and her little brood this past weekend. I haven't gotten to spend much one-on-one time with her since I lived there for a month last summer (during training camp, imagine that!) We had a wonderful time together and rearranged most of the rooms in her home. My brother-in-law would walk in the door, look horrified, and walk back out. 

 I got to spend some quality time with my namesake, MJ. She is a hilarious mess. I didn't take any photos of her porker of a 3.5 month old brother, but he is a little doll as well. (I actually didn't take many photos at all, I leave that for my sister.)

 We got to dine at Proof, where we became best friends with our waitress. She happens to be in wine school, so we drilled her with questions throughout dinner. She loved us.

 I can't visit DC without driving to Lucketts Store and The Wine Kitchen.  We brought along two of Jeannie's sweet friends, so it made everything twice as nice. We split 4 entrees between us and loved every.single.bite of The Wine Kitchen. And here are some scenes from around Lucketts.

 That floor! I must have it someday. And I thought this chalkboard door was genius.

And of course we stopped at Mom's Apple Pie Company for Buckeyes. Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Sister! (And thanks to Jesse for putting up with us for 3 days.) 

New Favorite Cookbook

I have a new favorite cookbook. I know, I know, I have a new favorite cookbook every week. But this one will really rank up there in my top 5. 

 

Yes, amid the slew of glowing and not-so-glowing reviews, I gave in to my desires and bought My Father's Daughter.  And I'm loving just reading it. I made two of her recipes tonight and am officially obsessed. I proceeded to put a star by every recipe that looked as good as the ones I made tonight, in hopes that I'll get in the kitchen and create all of the yummy goodness. 

 I'm currently spending the weekend at my sister's house (hello last minute super-cheap Southwest flight!) and we all were pleased with our dinner of Chicken Milanese (very similar to Ina Garten's Chicken Parmesan ) with Slow Roasted Tomatoes on top. People, Slow Roasted Tomatoes have turned my world upside down, backwards, sideways, and right side up again. My friend Margaret (love her name!) of The Savory Sister told me about roasting tomatoes for 8 hours on 250 degrees, and I thought it was revolutionary. The fact that Gwyneth Paltrow agreed with her put me over the edge, and we tried them tonight. I only roasted for about 3 hours on 275 (she calls for 3-5 hours in the book) and they were perfectly juicy to go with the greens. She uses them in many of her other recipes in the book and rest assured, I will be trying all of them.

So, if you love yourself and you'd love perfectly roasted tomatoes of your own, go buy the book. And Gwyneth, you can pass some of the proceeds my way if you feel so inclined.

Pictures From the Cellular

This post is mostly for the entertainment of Caroline.  She always begs me to post more photos from my cell phone. This time I don't have any shots that I've secretly taken of folks who weren't looking, but I do have some other things that I've been doing with my time that may or may not interest you.

Last week, I was eating a chicken melt that I'd created at home. I used a piece of pre-sliced cheddar cheese. I took a few bites and first thought "wow, I sure can make a mean melt," then thought "wow, I knew this bread was stale and I figured toasting it would help, but I can barely chew this." I took another bite and realized the paper that separates each cheese slice was melted into my melt. And part of it was running through my digestive system. Am I losing my mind? Probably. So I snapped a photo to send to Thomas, who is needing some laughs while he is working hard at football camp. 

Have I ever told y'all how much I love the town square that is within walking distance to our house? There was a community yard sale the other day and it just made me happy. I think it reminds me of the gym lawn at Camp Desoto, one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. 

My friend Stacia and I spend most of our time together these days since our husbands are enslaved to football. We were at Kohl's last week buying some last minute baby items (for her) and I decided we should put these awful nightgowns on and take a picture to make our husbands laugh. It worked. We looked ridiculous. 

Stac seems to have found the perfect outfit to wear in the hospital after she delivers Baby W. It even has pockets. 

Stac and I also ran out to Cape Cod yesterday for the afternoon. I just love it there. We met up with my sister's mother-in-law and sister-in-law and had a late lunch at Sesuit Harbor Cafe. Their lobster rolls are to die for. 

This used to be one of my favorite things to cook for breakfast (Stella, are you reading this? CANADIAN BACON!) It is so simple and I've been revisiting it a lot lately. And it only has about 280 calories. I just heat a non-stick skillet for 2-ish minutes, spray with PAM, throw in one medium egg (I break the yolk because I don't like runny eggs), a slice of Canadian Bacon, and one of those Arnold sandwich thins with a slice of cheese. And I now double-check to make sure the cheese doesn't have paper attached to it. 

And I just had to throw this picture in for good measure. This is me with my grandparents when we were in York a few weeks ago. They'd come over for dinner and I needed a ride to my cousin's house. Papa said "well, jump in the truck and drive us Marg." So, my Granny was smooshed in the middle (giggling of course) while I drove. They are pretty darn cute!