This book is a childhood favorite. :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Favorite Restaurants
When you're visiting one of these cities...
Austin:
Houston:
The Sushi at Kona Grill (in the Galleria)
Las Vegas:
Shreveport:
Washington DC:
Firenze, Italy:
Cooking - Judy's Wholesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
Judy's Wholesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
Anna over at Cookie Madness posted these cookies last week. They looked so easy and yummy that I wanted to try them right away! If you are looking for a healthier and low-fat cookie, then definitely try these.
Recipe Link: http://www.cookiemadness.net/?p=2332
Ingredients:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used about half of this amount)
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup all purpose flour (spoon lightly, sweep to level)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (spoon lightly, sweep to level)
1/2 cup oats (old-fashioned or quick)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup toasted walnut pieces
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cookie sheet.
-Mix together brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and egg. When well-mixed, add the baking powder and stir well. (Watch for stray lumps!) Stir in the salt. Then add the flour and stir until absorbed. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
-Scoop small tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 13 minutes. Cookies are done when the edges are slightly browned.
Yield: About 15 cookies
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Cooking - Minestrone Soup
Minestrone Soup
I made slight changes to the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, undrained, coarsely chopped
1 cup cooked kidney beans (prepared without salt)
1/2 package (about 1 cup) frozen mixed vegetables
3/4 cup shell macaroni, uncooked
1 tsp garlic salt (didn't have any garlic powder)
1 tsp dried basil leaves
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
-Cook kidney beans according to package directions.
-Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low.
-Simmer 20 minutes, or until macaroni is tender.
Yield: 8 servings
Hunker Down
Houston "hunkered down" as Hurricane Ike hit Galveston on Friday, September 12.
Lockstep and I decided to stay in Houston and hunker down with the rest of the 5 million people in this city. Lockstep set up a webcam from our apartment window for friends/family to view all day Friday leading up to the storm. Here's the rundown of events:
7:30 pm: Lights start to flicker. Power goes on/off for the next 5 hours.
Me - Fill up bathtub with water, gather other necessary supplies, enjoy television and tracking Ike on the wunderground.com radar
Lockstep - Tries to complete World of Warcraft battle (Vashj) before we lose power completely
The Storm - Beautiful sunset to the West (see photo above). Dark clouds and winds to the South/East. Winds begin to pick up speed. Red bursts seen across city as transformers blow up.
12:30 am: Lose power and water completely (read: no lights, tv, internet, air conditioning; no water from faucet or flushing the toilet)
Me and Lockstep - Decide to go out to the apartment parking garage and roof. The winds are really picking up speed! It was probably about 40 mph at this point. We got some photos of the city. From the roof we can feel the winds picking up strength and speed. We see Downtown is now covered in pouring rain. The rain is coming our way! We stay on the roof until the rain hits and get some video footage.
2:00 am: Make Jello chocolate pudding to use up the milk
2:30 am: Getting kind of bored and tired by candle light. It's raining and windy. We try to go to sleep.
3:00 am: Can't sleep. Between the heat (it's a warm 85 degrees and we usually sleep in a cool 73 degrees) and the storm pelting our windows, it's gonna be an all-nighter.
3:30 am: Keep hearing this banging sound. We go out to the parking garage and see that the wind is slamming the door open and closed. It is SO WINDY.
3:30 - 5:30 am: The strongest part of the storm has reached us. Winds are 110 mph. Catagory 2 Hurricane. Our windows flex as the pelting rain and howling, whistling wind slams against the glass.
6:00 am: The storm subsides. Lockstep and I are exhausted and crash into sleep.
8:00 am: We wake to light rain and dark clouds. The daytime is nice. It's SO DARK at night because the lights are out across the city.
12:00 pm: BLTs for lunch. Cooked bacon at the gas grill by the pool.
1:00 pm: Lockstep and I head out to assess the damage. Hermann Park and Rice University look like a warzone. Trees and branches down everywhere.
5:00 pm: Bathtime out of the sink.
6:00 pm: We head out towards Downtown in search of some College Football (USC/Ohio State game). We end up at the Hilton Downtown. The game isn't showing because it's on ABC and local ABC decide to air local coverage of the hurricane. We know there's a hurricane! Show us some football! So Lockstep and I wander back home to the darkness.
We stayed in Houston through Sunday night. Our resources (water, food) diminished. The weather was back to hot and humid. We cleaned out the fridge/freezer, packed up the kitties, and evacuated to Austin. Thank you Jordan and Patrick!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
New Post Coming Soon
I plan to make a few new posts soon. I'll post info about Hurricane Ike, recent cooking adventures, our week in Austin, and some photos.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Hurricane Ike
Lockstep and I staying in Houston for the weekend. We stocked up on all the standard Hurricane supplies. Bring on the wind and rain, Ike!
Lockstep, tech genius/meterologist, set up a webcam from our window. All can watch Hurricane Ike with us! It refreshes every 1 minute. Here's the link: http://thinkgeni.us/forum_files/window.jpg
Other good weather links: http://www.stormpulse.com and http://www.wunderground.com
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Site Direction
So I'm trying to decide which direction to take this blog... I'm thinking:
-recipes/cooking
-book reviews
-Houston/Austin
-future graduate school stuff
-Longhorn football
-other interesting tidbits
Or do I want to simplify completely somehow? A more professional spin?
Sunday, September 07, 2008
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