My brother and his fiance arrived in Charleston Monday night.
I had lunch with them yesterday afternoon.
Nathan: What's on your face?
Me: Acne. Thanks.
Last night I went over to mom and dad's to have supper with Nathan, Shannon, and 8 of their friends. Before supper, I changed out of my work clothes and went for a walk. Of course I was wearing my infamous "silly pants." They are royal blue spandex and I LOVE them. Just before the friends arrived:
Mom: Are you going to put real clothes on?
Me: Are you?
Mom: No. I'm cooking.
For some reason my mom thought her old as the hills green sweatsuit, lovingly referred to as her "fry suit" was more acceptable/appropriate then my running pants.
It's not.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
A Stolen Post
While Blog Stalking working hard and getting things done at work yesterday, I found this post. I love it.
The Never-Ending Semester
Most days I have no idea what I want out of life, and it is surprisingly scary. I was voted Most Likely to Succeed in 9th grade (oh the pressure!), but no one ever told me how vague the idea of success is. No life looks the same, at least I'm hoping, because the minute I try to follow the pattern of my friends' lives, I fail.
I tend theorize about why we love college so much-yes, it's the friends we make and the freedom, and learning something new each day about life and about ourselves. But lately, I think we like it so much because it has set beginnings and ends over and over again. A new semester brings fresh subjects, teachers, a clean slate, new friends, and the strange comfort that it will end. There will be finals; you'll be evaluated as good, bad, or mediocre, but really it's just nice to be evaluated. In this post-college life, I find my silly self waiting for finals...
...how precious is the Ultimate Hope we have in Christ, otherwise I would be utterly lost and a total failure.
The Never-Ending Semester
Most days I have no idea what I want out of life, and it is surprisingly scary. I was voted Most Likely to Succeed in 9th grade (oh the pressure!), but no one ever told me how vague the idea of success is. No life looks the same, at least I'm hoping, because the minute I try to follow the pattern of my friends' lives, I fail.
I tend theorize about why we love college so much-yes, it's the friends we make and the freedom, and learning something new each day about life and about ourselves. But lately, I think we like it so much because it has set beginnings and ends over and over again. A new semester brings fresh subjects, teachers, a clean slate, new friends, and the strange comfort that it will end. There will be finals; you'll be evaluated as good, bad, or mediocre, but really it's just nice to be evaluated. In this post-college life, I find my silly self waiting for finals...
...how precious is the Ultimate Hope we have in Christ, otherwise I would be utterly lost and a total failure.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas Cook-Off
So one of my roommates hosts a Christmas Cook-Off party every year. I wasn't exactly sure what this would look like and was on the fence about attending since my two best friends were going to be in town that weekend. Due to a dreadful illness called Mono, one friend wasn't able to join in our weekend festivities. Sad! But my HLP and I were able to carry on. I wasn't too concerned about what we took to the party, yet Courtney wanted to win. So we tossed out a few ideas and decided between Redneck burger sliders (pimento cheese burgers) or chimichangas. Mini Mexican eggrolls won out!
We made the filling and the dipping sauce. Now this dipping sauce is A-MAZING. It will be wondful on chicken, pork, mashed potatoes (I've tried it already) or chips. Basically, anything you eat will be better with this sauce. We rolled dozens of tiny chimichangas. Mine looked terrible, but who cares?!? We had the perfect two bite appetizer.
A special shout out must go to Jacqueline! First, she saved us by bringing an extra package of wonton wrappers so we could use all the filling. Second, she labored along side us in the frying process. Outside in the cold no less. Way to go! We couldn't have done it without you.
The party was fun, the house was filled, the other food was good, but most importantly: our chimis won the overall best food category!!! Such excitement in the air!
(I'm sure the shameless request for votes didn't hurt us either! Seriously, I hounded one girl a little too much. When we won she found out I was the one that made them...of course I'm sitting next to her at this point. She told me I was so humble for not telling her I made them. Humble wasn't exactly the word I would have used, but I'll take it anyday.)
Tex-Mex Egg Rolls With Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
1 (5-ounce) package yellow rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground hot pork sausage
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can Mexican-style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
28 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 cups peanut oil
Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce, recipe follows
Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs
Directions
Cook rice according to package directions, using 1 teaspoon salt. Cool completely.
Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well. Let cool.
Stir together rice, sausage, black beans, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon about 1/3 cup rice mixture in center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold top corner of wrapper over filling, tucking tip of corner under filling; fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush remaining corner with egg; tightly roll filled end toward the remaining corner, and gently press to seal.
Pour oil into heavy Dutch oven; heat to 375 degrees F. Fry egg rolls, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Serve with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce. Garnish, if desired.
"The recipes for this program, which were provided by contributors and guests who may not be professional chefs, have not been tested in the Food Network's kitchens. They have been tested in the Southern Living Test Kitchens. All brand names have been removed from these recipes, which originally appeared on southernlivingcookoff.com."
Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce:
2 (10-ounce) cans Mexican-style diced tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (about 1 bunch)
1 cup sour cream
3 garlic cloves, minced
Garnish: finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Garnish, if desired.
Note: For a beautiful presentation, cut top from 1 large red bell pepper, reserving top; remove and discard seeds and membrane, leaving pepper intact. Arrange bell pepper on a serving plate, and fill with sauce.
Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 10 minutes
We made the filling and the dipping sauce. Now this dipping sauce is A-MAZING. It will be wondful on chicken, pork, mashed potatoes (I've tried it already) or chips. Basically, anything you eat will be better with this sauce. We rolled dozens of tiny chimichangas. Mine looked terrible, but who cares?!? We had the perfect two bite appetizer.
A special shout out must go to Jacqueline! First, she saved us by bringing an extra package of wonton wrappers so we could use all the filling. Second, she labored along side us in the frying process. Outside in the cold no less. Way to go! We couldn't have done it without you.
The party was fun, the house was filled, the other food was good, but most importantly: our chimis won the overall best food category!!! Such excitement in the air!
(I'm sure the shameless request for votes didn't hurt us either! Seriously, I hounded one girl a little too much. When we won she found out I was the one that made them...of course I'm sitting next to her at this point. She told me I was so humble for not telling her I made them. Humble wasn't exactly the word I would have used, but I'll take it anyday.)
Tex-Mex Egg Rolls With Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
1 (5-ounce) package yellow rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground hot pork sausage
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can Mexican-style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
28 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 cups peanut oil
Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce, recipe follows
Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs
Directions
Cook rice according to package directions, using 1 teaspoon salt. Cool completely.
Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well. Let cool.
Stir together rice, sausage, black beans, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon about 1/3 cup rice mixture in center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold top corner of wrapper over filling, tucking tip of corner under filling; fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush remaining corner with egg; tightly roll filled end toward the remaining corner, and gently press to seal.
Pour oil into heavy Dutch oven; heat to 375 degrees F. Fry egg rolls, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Serve with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce. Garnish, if desired.
"The recipes for this program, which were provided by contributors and guests who may not be professional chefs, have not been tested in the Food Network's kitchens. They have been tested in the Southern Living Test Kitchens. All brand names have been removed from these recipes, which originally appeared on southernlivingcookoff.com."
Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce:
2 (10-ounce) cans Mexican-style diced tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (about 1 bunch)
1 cup sour cream
3 garlic cloves, minced
Garnish: finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Garnish, if desired.
Note: For a beautiful presentation, cut top from 1 large red bell pepper, reserving top; remove and discard seeds and membrane, leaving pepper intact. Arrange bell pepper on a serving plate, and fill with sauce.
Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Friday, December 18, 2009
FlashForward
So let's be honest, I spent many hours watching TV online this week after work. Ryan Molony mentioned this show to me the other day and I decided to give it a whirl. ABC has all ten episodes online and I have now seen them all. I am hooked. Of course, it doesn't come back on until March and I can't wait!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
It's official!
I have a master's degree! Even though I completed my graduate school program in August, the day I defended and passed (praise the Lord!) my thesis, today is the day of my official graduation. I won't be attending, but Clemson will be mailing my diploma to me. Yay!I had no idea what to expect as I made my way to Clemson in August 2008. I was excited to go back to school and to see what the Lord had in store for me there as I studied economics.
It was a year of really having to trust the Lord with new and unexpected things: moving to a new place where I didn't know anyone, not making very many friends when I was there, being around people that are really different from me, feeling stupid every day, living alone, etc. But I loved being back in school -- the environment, what I was learning, using my brain. Overall, it was a really positive experience and I'm so thankful the Lord had it in store for me!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Dessert in a bottle?!?
Yesterday our office had a white elephant gift exchange. I drew number 1 and made the first selection. I was excited to open a bottle of Chocolate Wine. Of course number 2 stole it from me. So I then opened a Turvis Tumbler with 2 mini bottles in it. (No, this wasn't a booze only gift exchange! It just turned out that way.) Well, number 3 stole the Chocolate Wine from 2 and 2 stole the Turvis from me. My turn again. I took the Chocolate Wine from 3 and it was then retired.
I tried a bit last night and I must say its quite good. A bit strong, but nice. It doesn't taste like wine, but kinda like an alcoholic Yohoo. The perfect after dinner dessert drink. Drink really cold. I think picking up a bottle for the holidays would be a wise decision.
I tried a bit last night and I must say its quite good. A bit strong, but nice. It doesn't taste like wine, but kinda like an alcoholic Yohoo. The perfect after dinner dessert drink. Drink really cold. I think picking up a bottle for the holidays would be a wise decision.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Fat Pants
Are what I'll be needing after eating after this week...and the big meals haven't even begun yet.
So the last company I worked for was known for loving food, having food around, and we jokingly called it the "Cason 15" the first year you work there because you feel like you are eating all the time. (Yet somehow almost all the employees are slim and attractive and stylish. Go figure.) I didn't think I would find another foodie company again. Boy was I wrong. Last week we had a homemade breakfast quiche on Thursday and homemade hot chocolate on Friday. Apparently that was just the beginning. This is our office menu for the week.
Monday
-- Homemade chili.
-- Homemade chocolate cake.
Tuesday
-- Breakfast casserole.
-- Homemade tomato basil soup.
-- Grilled cheeses.
Wednesday
-- Breakfast casserole.
Thursday
-- Breakfast pastry.
Friday
-- Breakfast casserole.
-- Our Christmas party -- more to come on this later.
Potpouri Items
-- Homemade cider.
-- Homemade chocolate chip cookies.
-- Another chocolate cake.
-- Pumpkin roll.
So far everything I have put in my mouth has been absolutely delicious. And I'm expecting more things to appear...
So the last company I worked for was known for loving food, having food around, and we jokingly called it the "Cason 15" the first year you work there because you feel like you are eating all the time. (Yet somehow almost all the employees are slim and attractive and stylish. Go figure.) I didn't think I would find another foodie company again. Boy was I wrong. Last week we had a homemade breakfast quiche on Thursday and homemade hot chocolate on Friday. Apparently that was just the beginning. This is our office menu for the week.
Monday
-- Homemade chili.
-- Homemade chocolate cake.
Tuesday
-- Breakfast casserole.
-- Homemade tomato basil soup.
-- Grilled cheeses.
Wednesday
-- Breakfast casserole.
Thursday
-- Breakfast pastry.
Friday
-- Breakfast casserole.
-- Our Christmas party -- more to come on this later.
Potpouri Items
-- Homemade cider.
-- Homemade chocolate chip cookies.
-- Another chocolate cake.
-- Pumpkin roll.
So far everything I have put in my mouth has been absolutely delicious. And I'm expecting more things to appear...
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