Dear Blogosphere has been my online journal for over seven years. It has followed me along a journey of education and growth. It is where I have shared adventures, delights, and thoughts with my family, friends, and the world-at-large.
Today, I find myself contemplating on God, religion, hope, and love. I converted to Roman Catholicism at Easter Vigil of this year. I am still learning about my faith and know I will continue to learn and experience it for eternity. So lately I have been sharing my thoughts on my faith.
Please join me on this journey. Share your thoughts.
Yesterday, Sean and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day with a big feast! We had exchanged gifts early, he gave me a beautiful necklace and a very sweet, handmade card. I made him a couple homemade gifts along with a Slinky and "fancy" calculator watch. We ooze love!
Instead of going out, we decided to stay in getting cozy with some delicious food. We had stuffed mushrooms, Caesar salads, fondue, and red velvet cupcakes. All of it was divine! It was my first time making/eating cheese fondue, and I was surprised how easy it is to make (once all the cheese is grated!) and how it sneakily fills you up. We were stuffed!
We're saving the creme brulee for another day and the red velvet cupcakes were simply amazing. Sean says they were the best cupcakes he's ever had! He was afraid they weren't really gluten-free because they were spongy and delicious, so he told me not to eat them. That's the best review for gluten-free food imaginable! I did eat them... three so far. Divine.
Hope you all had a great Valentine's day! Next up... St. Patrick's Day!
There's a random list for ya! I am enjoying the beginning of what will be a late night, complete with my sweet nerdtastic Star Wars pajamas. The past few days I've really enjoyed the new Matt Nathanson album (guilty, guilty pleasure). For example...
I spent the weekend in the bay area with Sean and his siblings. It was a much needed vacation (moving is much more time consuming and stressful than I remembered!) and was SO much fun. I don't have many photos at present, but I will share the best of the handful I took! I have a couple of fun instant photographs that will get scanned some time soon. Regardless...
On Friday, we drove down to his sister's place in Sunnyvale, had dinner and I got my photo at 1 Infinite Loop!!! Knocking items off the 24 before 24 list!
On Saturday, Sean and I went to Santa Cruz for lunch, shopping, and sight-seeing. We ended up at the Seymour Discovery Center at UC Santa Cruz, where I got friendly with some sharks and various sea creatures, and explored Sean's birthday party/sister's wedding spot. It is beautiful. I don't think I could ever tire of seeing the ocean. And some choice photographs!
At the Discovery Center.
That's right, fools. Science is important AND exciting!
Simply breathtaking.
Sean is the next scientist!
We spent the evening with his family, enjoying veggies and meats via grill and a hilarious game of Scattergories. On Sunday, we all went to the Pride Parade in SF. I had a very good time and picked myself up a little sunburn! Then we went to dinner and... well, [laughter].
And voila! back in Davis. Today I got a number of ducks in order. Including meeting and acquainting my sublessee with #3. She said a wonderful thing as we walked inside. "Oh, it's not as cute as it was in the pictures! I loved all of the color." I also picked out a sofa, courtesy of my sweet mom! Yes, that's right... I'm not getting a LoveSac which disappoints the adolescent Natalie very much but the adult Natalie will admit that it's probably a more appropriate piece of furniture for my living room. Plus... it's pretty darn spiff:
I also did a little bit of cooking for dinner -- christening my fantastic oven. I made my first frittata tonight! It was delicious. I had several different recipes but in the end got creative. First...
In very faint letters above the three holes, is the instruction guide to operating my oven. "Light Here." Yep. You actually light the oven. Fortunately, nothing blew up. Eyebrows are safe. And the frittata?
Goat Cheese Frittata
Not bad for my first one! Delicious goat cheese, red bell peppers, sweet onions, and broccoli! Why I have never done this before, I do not know. It's brilliant! It's like a puffy omelet sent straight from heaven. I will be making more of these soon.
Once you've stopped snickering at the title of this post, feast your eyes...
It's never too early for a sandwich, especially one with pesto, thinly sliced Vidalia onion and tomato, oven roasted turkey breast, and baby arugula -- my favorite elitist vegetable -- between two slices of my favorite whole grain, gluten-free bread. I do so love myself a good sandwich.
I'm getting excited for summer's heirloom tomatoes. What are your favorite summer treats?
I have a problem. I eat at restaurants too frequently. And I forget how much I like cooking. I also have lots of tasty things in my pantry which want to be dinner. Hence, I'm challenging myself to a week of eating in. Tonight on the menu:
Start at the beginning and when you come to the end... stop.
Preheat oven to 400*F. Start by cooking salted onions over medium high heat in a large frying pan sprayed with PAM. Cook until almost translucent. Add chicken. Cook until heated through. Add about 1 1/2 cups of vodka sauce. Make it bubble. Add frozen spinach and cooked brown rice. Mix it up.
Cut the tops off the peppers, seed and take out those bitter ribs. Place the peppers in some sort of bakeware that can withstand the high heat of a 400*F oven. Fill the peppers with rice mixture. You'll have left over rice. Eat that while these cook. :-) Top the rice with the mozzarella.
Pour the rest of the vodka sauce into the bottom of the casserole, or what-have-you. Put the tops on the bell peppers and toss those suckers in your oven! Keep 'em cookin' until the peppers have softened.
I can't remember the last time I cooked in my kitchen! Made a super tasty lunch today -- very easy, of course.
Tzatziki on a Steamed Potato + Veg
I've never seen it done before, but tzatziki on a potato is delicious. I simply steamed the potato in the microwave (wash, stab it a few times with a knife, wrap it up in a damp paper towel and wave for 7 minutes) and served it with sauteed onions, red bell pepper, and chopped spinach. Salt and pepper, obviously, to taste.
Yellow rice is one of my favorite comfort foods. It's not particularly difficult to make from scratch, but I do use a box (Zatarain's) as it's that much easier and still very delicious. I can focus on the vegetables and sausage portion of the meal!
To cook the veg, pour about 2 tbsp or so of olive oil into a pan and heat, heat it up. Add half an onion, thinly sliced, and cook until they start to get translucent. Then add some cooked broccoli, sliced red bell pepper, and sliced chicken sausage (I used Saag's Fennel and Asiago). Once things are looking pretty well cooked, add in a sliced+salted tomato and let everything steam for a few minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Stephanie made some adorable (and gluten free!) "sushi" desserts for a birthday at work. So cute!
Things are about to get insane. Tomorrow morning I'm going to go pick up two hundred sexual autobiographies to grade, an estimated 1400 pages of reading. My goal is to get them graded as quickly as possible. If I can have them done by Tuesday, I'll be feeling a little OK about the end of this quarter. I have to tell you all a secret... grading sucks.
So, here's what's left:
Big stats project! I'm looking at the development of body dissatisfaction during adolescence, from about age 12-18. Most of the research on body dissatisfaction is cross-sectional, but I've read a few articles that say body dissatisfaction increases for girls through adolescence (as they are taken away from the "ideal" female figure) but decreases for boys (as they grow closer to the "ideal" male figure). So I'm going to see if (1) that's true and (2) if there are ethnic group differences.
Big life course theory project! I'm planning to do a little study looking at pubertal timing, father absence, and relationship status in 12th grade, looking at gender differences.
200 papers to grade.
A few stats assignments.
A little more reading for my life course theory class.
Study recruitment and some data analysis.
Poster for Montreal.
Thesis lit review/introduction finally finished.
Thesis committee assembled (currently in progress, cross your fingers for me)!
It's getting to that point in the quarter (the end!) and the semester (midterms!) where I think everyone could use a little Boundin'.
***
@Sarah, I had a delicious dinner! A Natalie creation: Mediterranean scramble and toast. This was the most delicious scramble I've ever made. A cup of frozen broccoli and bell peppers, steamed and chopped. Heat a medium sized skillet/saute pan on high, coat with non-stick spray, and salt the pan. When the pan is hot, add the vegetables, spread out in a single layer. Pour two beaten eggs over the vegetables. Stir. Add as much feta as you wish. Scramble until eggs are set. Enjoy!
***
So, today the family got some great, wonderful news! My sister and brother-in-law are having a GIRL! and, as we say, the more girls, the merrier! She's healthy and beautiful (I had no idea that ultrasound photos were so... good)! I talked with Emily for a while this evening about how we get to pull out our Barbies and American Girl dolls, have tea parties, and do all sorts of fun, girly things!
I had a lovely evening at home tonight. I listened to Cannonball Adderley (loving the Bossa Novas!), took a long bath, drank half a bottle of White Zin, cleaned and reorganized my kitchen to have more counter space, and oven roasted baby heirloom tomatoes. All while it was raining outside and I was chatting with my dear San Diego Caitlin.
My life is fantastic.
Tomorrow brings statistics, reading, thesising, and brown rice penne with oven roasted tomatoes and goat cheese.
Ahhhhhhh, I love this show. So fantastical and tragic and terribly romantic. Oh, and charming.
Only three more episodes left. Then I think I'll move on to Dead Like Me. I also want to watch Six Feet Under but I'm not sure I'm ready to see Michael C. Hall in a different light...
There seems to be a common thread in my favorite shows. Just a little macabre.
I'm taking a break to finish the second half of this episode, blog, and research recipes. I'm thinking about making the following at some point this quarter:
Another wonderful day. Let's just say any day that ends with me lounging, sipping on a blue bombsicle, chatting with my San Diego Caitlin, and dipping TJ's tortilla chips in homemade mango salsa is a fantastic day.
Tahoe Caitlin and I made that delicious salsa as well as tasty tilapia tacos (the triple 't's) and tried a new cocktail -- the bombsicle. It was... is delicious. UV Blue, raspberry flavored vodka, and lemonade. Basically, it's Louie-Bloo Raspberry with benefits. Lots of benefits that lead to Tahoe Caitlin and me showing off our sweet dance moves to Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Band on my new shag carpet. My new shag carpet...
It's like Astroturf! And that bright blue drink? Bomb-tastic.
Tahoe Caitlin and I christened the carpet with a picnic. SWANKY. So swanky. Also, we checked out my books and albums... which is always fun. Flipped through my copy of Lawrence V's book (brilliant, totally brilliant) and listened to Paul Simon. My heart is warmed by the fact that I have friends who will listen to The Simon with me (hence the lyrics at the beginning of this post).
Tomorrow is going to be pretty low key (except for the sure to be amazing party!). It's weird that I'm sort of looking forward to a day of work. Well, and leftover mango salsa. :-) I have purpose! I also have textbooks to buy. Happy Friday! Or... Saturday morning!
Lots of delicious things around here, blogosphere! I left the kitchen while my sister and mom made and decorated the above cupcakes -- cute and I'm sure scrumptious -- on account of the presence of flour. Last night I made Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chex Mix for her Spanish class party. Ha ha, so good. But it's really difficult for a Chex Mix to go wrong.
Tonight, I made Tyler Florence's Chicken Enchiladas for dinner. I've made them before but this time they were WAY spicier... I thought extra green chiles would be good and not too spicy. Not wise move! Fortunately, it's nothing a little extra sour cream can't cure. Heh heh. Anyway, it's a great recipe.
I've really enjoyed being able to cook again. Living alone, I can cook but I can't really make soups and casseroles because I can never finish them before they become something of a science experiment in my fridge. I also can't cook anything with raw meat as I can't bring myself to touch it (at some point, I really need to tackle this fear). Plus, cooking is much more enjoyable when others are around to sample the fruit of my labor... and when someone else cleans up!
So, to switch topics completely, I've been catching up on xkcd tonight. Lots of great ones. Here are a few that tickled my funny bone (click to make them larger):
Trader Joe's opened here in Davis on Friday. I am a ten minute walk from my favorite grocery store ever (sorry, DFC, but you are too expensive)! Caitlin and I went last night and stocked up on the essentials. Examples: raw almonds, tomato-less salsa, tamales, goat cheese, lemon yoghourt, and two-buck chuck. Oh, and $2/lb gluten-free pasta. You read that right. $2/lb. It almost makes me cry!
Needless to say, my appetite and my wallet are quite thrilled.
I wanted a salty snack while watching Pushing Daisies so I decided to make my own potato chips. I'd say that they are pretty healthy.
1 potato (I used russet)
Cooking spray
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400*F. Line a baking pan with a cut and flattened brown paper bag. Spray the bag with cooking spray. Wash the potato and make thin slices (a mandoline would be very helpful!). Arrange the potato slices in a single layer on the baking pan.
Bake the chips for 10-15 minutes, until they begin to golden. Remove from oven, salt and pepper to taste (get creative with your favorite spices - I'm trying rosemary next)! Let them cool for a minute or two. Enjoy!
This evening, Sarah and I got together for dinner and a movie! We are officially naming these get-togethers "date nights." Two fabulous single women eating delicious food and watching classic date night movies. Lovely!
Tonight we made amazing pizzas. We used Udi's gluten-free crusts and topped them with pesto, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, goat cheese, and spinach and feta sausage. The cheese was amazing and really tied the pizzas together.
Our delicious feast and Sarah!
We watched Amelie (one of her favorites, my first time seeing it) and sipped "Real Deal Red" wine. So much fun! Hopefully we'll have another "date night" next Friday. We're thinking When Harry Met Sally.
In other news:
My iPhone 4 arrived! It's very cool. Well worth the wait!
Pint of grape, cherry, pear, or small Roma tomatoes. Halved.
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Thyme
Preheat oven to 225*F or so. Line baking pan with a greased brown paper bag (or, if you're equipped, parchment paper). Lay out the tomatoes skin side down. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme (rosemary would be lovely too!). Roast for three hours or until tomatoes are happily shriveled up but still juicy inside.
Welcome to Dear Blogosphere! I am Natalie, a 20-something PhD student, a Catholic neophyte, and a newlywed. This blog has served many purposes and is now a place for me to collect and share my thoughts as a new Catholic Christian.
