Raclette Dinner

Last night Ross and I were invited over to our friends Sarah & Stead's house for a wonderful Raclette dinner!

The Beautiful Sarah 

And her wonderful husband Stead. 

And Raclette! What is it? Good question. It is a "party grill" of sorts, similar in idea to fondou and oh so much fun! Each person gets this great shovel-type tray to place items such as bread, veggies, but most importantly CHEESE! You place it under the grill to broil. 

While things are broiling down below you are grilling all sorts of things on the top with your personal mini spatula. It's super hot and cooks quickly, and tastes amazing!

Things that work well on the Raclette include asparagus, peppers, onions, sausage, chicken, and mushrooms. The possibilities are endless! Alongside this we had red potatoes, french bread and three types of cheese - cheddar, Swiss and Muenster - just in time for Halloween. 

Once everything is cooked up you mash up the potato, add the veggies, and top with the broiled cheese! Or you could make a cheesy sandwich like Ross did... he makes a sandwich out of everything. It's a fact. I love how creative you can be mixing up the veggies, cheeses and meats - but the best part was getting to cook and enjoy time with each other. This is how a meal should be - time spent together! 

Our Raclette evening gets two thumbs up! Great friends, great food, and a great time. 

Thanks Sarah and Stead! And a special thanks for doing the dishes too... =) 

Happy Weekend! 

CreativiTea

I had a fun and relaxing evening recently with my friend Siri at CreativiTea - a "pottery painting studio and tea bar" located in Fairhaven right next to Skylark's Hidden Cafe. 

First you peruse this massive wall of things to paint - mugs, plates, bowls, frames, vases, dog bowls, and even little things like penguins, gnomes, and they had quite a collection of skulls, pirates, spiders and pumpkins out as well for the upcoming holiday. Eventually you'll be able to pick one. 

But then there is the wall of paint! How do you decide what color, what design, what style? Free hand, look to books for inspiration, or follow a pattern? Stencils? Feathers? Sparkle paint or regular?

Then you have to decide what tea to get! We decided to opt out of tea because our brains couldn't handle any more choices that night. Although when I went back with Ross to pick up our creations we decided to try the Rooibos Caramel Tea - IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Whether you are a tea drinker or not you will love this tea. It reminded me of Christmastime at Holden Village. 

Eventually, we got down to business. Siri selected a lovely leopard print frame to get the part started. 

And went with a frame! 

A week later: beautiful! Sorry for the shadows, but they wouldn't let me take her frame home, just look at it. Pretty cool eh? She chose a color to paint, then placed bits of dried paint which formed those beautiful blobs during the firing. 

I went with a plate because I want a pretty fall background to photograph for my blog. Is that lame? 

Plus I love fall! I did some stencil pumpkins and leaves, some free-hand leaves, and had a lot of fun painting them! It was so relaxing and enjoyable, and Siri is such great company. 

I like it, though I feel a but critical of myself (I wish I had painted that one leaf one cm more to the left! Why didn't I do a border?) But I like it. And soon it will be covered in delicious food! Keep you eye out for it. =)

And we may or may not have painted something else, but I can't tell you about it today. I will definitely share with you when I can though! 

So here's to your CreativiTea! 

Do you like to paint? If not, what is your artsy fix? 

I love to knit/crochet and quilt, and as the weather is changing it is definitely getting to be knitting season! 

A Different Smile

We went out for our first anniversary on Monday. 

It was a really low key day as I am still recovering from surgery, but we still went out to dinner that night - though it might be considered untraditional to go with two members of your wedding party and another really awesome friend... but Justin had flown in from TN and we had to see him! 

Justin and Hayley (they were both in our wedding party and hooked up on our special day, and they are still together. One of my favorite wedding stories!) So we all decided it was their one year make-out-aversary.

And this is Siri (who grew up with Hayley and is now our friend too!) 

We went to Skylark's Hidden Cafe in Fairhaven - and I was swept into wedding day reminiscing with my friends and failed to take any photos. Blame it on the drugs. But if you ever get to Skylark's you must, I repeat, you MUST order the Butternut Squash Lasagna. INCREDIBLE. It was unlike anything I'd tasted before, yet so familiar, creamy and cheesy and wonderful. 

The next day (Tuesday) I got the splints out and boy did that feel weird! My nose is still very tender but I can take deep breaths and was finally let everything drain out of my nose. (TMI? Sorry... it just feels so liberating!) 

Then on Wednesday we got our next CSA box from Cedarville Farm - it just keeps getting better! Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, beans, artichoke, lettuce, swiss chard, and potatoes! I am excited for potatoes. 

I decided to take a twist on the old Caprese salad and made a Caprese Egg Breakfast! 

I fried two eggs, and after I flipped them I topped them with two thick slices of tomato, two slices of cheese, and then topped it with basil once it was ready for eating. It was delicious - a definite repeat recipe! 

Also - something I've noticed today when I uploaded these pictures - I think my smile is different now!!! 

I know these pictures aren't super close up, but the top one is from July and this is my only post-surgery photo as of now. My smile used to show gums on top, and now it doesn't! It totally weirds me out. (Plus Ross is wearing the same shirt in both photos, so that's funny.) Maybe there is still some swelling, or maybe it will always be like this?!?!? Who knows. Hayley said my nose did look straighter though, so perhaps? Am I crazy?

Whew, this was a random blog... ah well. It's what is on my mind. =) 

Hope you are all doing well!

Hittin' the Road

This morning (and last night, since Ross had to work the early shift this morning) we had to say goodbye to two of our very good friends - Lauren and Chris. 

We are going to miss our rock climbing buddies so so much! 

Lauren is moving back to DC with her family and Chris is hitting the road to go on a band tour with Tom Evanchuck and the Old Money. Who knows - maybe they will make it big?!?!? 

A huge congratulations to Lauren who successfully defended her thesis on Friday and is now officially a Master! She'll formally graduate with her Masters in Geography with me in December, but from a distance.

We went to the Copper Hog to celebrate! 

LOVE Brown Ales. 

And the next night we continued to celebrate with a Big Mama Margarita from Jalapenos. Holy Mole these things knock you on your ass! They are so strong - 32oz for $6.50 and that's more than all you need for the night. =) 

And now Lauren and Chris have hit the road and are on a cross-country adventure. They are planning stops at Glacier, Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, Chicago, Cleveland and then to DC. But their first stop was my house for breakfast!!!! 

I decided to slice up the brioche and get my French Toast on! 

So simple - a beaten egg, some cinnamon, and homemade bread! LOVE our griddle. 

Because of the braid these were more like french toast sticks in a way - and they were a treat! 

So delicious slathered in REAL maple syrup. I don't mess around. 

Farewell to Chris and Lauren - safe travels. We will hopefully catch up with them in November when the band is going to be playing in Seattle! 

Girl Time

Sometimes, you just need girl time.

 I love the husband and all... and as much as I am intrigued by the potential realignment of NHL divisions and being quizzed on geography... I LOVE girl time with Hayley. 

Yes, we were indeed viking princess warriors. I mean are. 

And for New Year's we went ice skating together. 

And we went to the Olympics in Vancouver! 

And saw the USA win gold! 

And we went to Disneyland. 

More than once while in undergrad at Cal Lutheran. 

She was a wonderful bridesmaid in my wedding - and caught one of the bouquets! (I threw three, but it was a surprise!) 

And she fixed the bustle on my dress (with pliers) moments before our first dance. I might add that she did so with flushed cheeks as well. ;-)

And we went to brunch at the Harris Ave Cafe this week! 

And it was incredible! A small breakfast spot adjacent to Tony's Coffee in Fairhaven that supports local farmers and food producers and makes a mean scramble. 

We couldn't decide on one thing so we split the Topeka Scramble with eggs, zucchini, broccoli, onions, cheese and potatoes and a slice of wheat bread from BreadFarm.

And the Huevos Laredos - an over-medium egg served with chipotle black beans, tortilla, salsa, guacamole and sour cream. The chipotle flavor really stuck out and was wonderfully spicy! 

Then we walked around a few boutique shops and spent time at Village Books - a fantastic local bookstore! 

Later in the afternoon we went to see Bridesmaids - which I think Ross would have actually enjoyed (but it was girl time!). It was raunchy, pretty hilarious at times, though I never enjoy vomit scenes. That's a boy thing I think - potty humor. 

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We made a stop at Labels to do some shopping for the new job Hayley's starting! Labels is a really great place to find quality used clothing at a really great price. When I started my AmeriCorps position and needed dress clothes I went there and found Gap and NY label dress pants in good condition for only $6 or $7! 

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And we made one more stop on our way home at the Grocery Outlet. I have never been - I prefer to get my food from the market or from our CSA - but I was really surprised to see what was inside! 

I would not buy my produce there, but they have tons of organic non-perishables at prices blew my mind! MaraNatha Cashew Butter for $2.50, Organic Peanut Butter for $1.99, Newman's Own Pasta Sauces for $1.99, and so on! 

Boxes of Nature's Path Optimum energy bars for $6!!! It was great. They tend to have a rotating inventory so you won't necessarily know what you can get, and Hayley warned me to check expiration dates and pop-tops (most of their products are close to the expiration dates, hence why they are cheaper), but the prices were unbelievable! I'm definitely going to frequent this spot more! 

And I'm definitely going to make time for girl time more often as well!!!!! 

Tomorrow - I'm going to blog about roasting the chicken!