So, how many of you have mandatory fun? It seems fairly normal to have an office holiday party, but during my time with the Department of Transportation, we tended to have all of those celebrations during the work day. Regardless, even if your company still has their parties in the evening, and perhaps your spouse also has a work holiday party or two, you STILL only have three or four somewhat-mandatory holiday parties. Well, as with most things, the military does things a little differently. Because Mr. A has moved positions recently, we had multiple holiday parties with each command. In total, we have four holiday parties with work, but then we also had a 'wetting down'* to go to, bringing the count to five. That doesn't include holiday parties with friends outside of the military scene.
Now, work parties aren't usually considered the pinnacle of fun. I know, at this point you're raising your eyebrows and are thankful that you get to spend your weekends doing whatever you desire. HOWEVER, the Marine Corps has clearly thought through this well. In a career where you are likely to change positions once every three years, growing lasting relationships can be difficult. Also, many marines come out here to Okinawa alone or with only their immediate families. Therefore, these parties are a way to connect socially during a time which can often be lonely for marines and their families when they're so far away from home. Lastly, it gives marines and their families a chance to get to know people outside of the high-paced office tempo. So, while they're still office parties, it's important to see what a great opportunity they are.
Another culture-shock when it comes to living in the military. Now, we don't pay for cable TV. It's not worth it to us. Instead, we watch AFN (American Force Network, I think). There are about 8 channels. I watch two of them: the movie channel and the drama (?) channel. Each channel takes several normal channels (USA, Bravo, Food, FX, etc) and selects a few shows from each of them, and that's what they play all day. For instance, the 'drama' channel plays NCIS and food-network shows, as well as some shows from Bravo. Now, you may get bored of the commercials on normal TV. But consider yourself lucky. The only commercials on AFN are public service announcements. You know those few super-hokey commercials that are clearly low-budget? Yeah. Every single commercial that we see is one of those. From recycling ("I'm a paper cup, yo!") to reminders to save the cell-phone accessible number for 911 in your phone to reminders to check your smoke alarm... We've got 'em all. I've posted a few of the most hilarious or most hokey of all of them below for your entertainment :) So, enjoy your holiday weekends (sans 8,000 mandatory work parties and sans all public service announcements).
*Wetting Down: A Marine Corps tradition when a marine is promoted to spend the first month's raise on a big party for those in the command or folks who have helped develop the marine professionally. Typically, the party has quite a bit of alcohol provided. In this particular occasion, the marine who was promoted doesn't drink, so he provided the location and food, but allowed those in attendance pay for any drinks they wanted.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Pictures of the new place
Well, despite having been here for a month (or because we've been here for a month...), I haven't been able to take many pictures of the new place. It's been exciting to start putting a home together, trying to make base housing look like 'home', finding places for all our stuff, deciding what furniture is necessary and what furniture is 'nice to have'.
One of the first things I decided I wanted to do when we arrived was to paint. I chose a nice light linen color for the 'majority' and a light robin's egg blue as an accent color. These colors go spiffingly well with our general decor and with our comforter set. According to a book I was perusing through recently, it's important to buy all furniture/decor that will go together when you're in the military because you can be sure that eventually, it will all end up mixing together. SO, apparently linen, taupe, robin's egg blue, and dark wood is our basic decorating scheme.
Along those lines, we've purchased couch, arm chair, and dining room chair covers to disguise base furniture in linen and taupe. They are quite lovely, although we haven't quite figured out how to make the covers stay in place sufficiently. I'm debating taking pins and pinning them in place on the cushions... If anyone has any better ideas, feel free to let me know!
While I had such wonderful intentions of painting as soon as we arrived, thus far I have only completed painting the kitchen and one wall of the dining/living area. Both of these projects were using the robin's egg blue that I am such a fan of. The plan is to paint the other three walls of the dining/living area in a light linen color, then paint the bedroom as well. We'll see how that goes... Anyhow, here's the kitchen and dining room:
Clearly I cleaned up for you prior to taking these pictures ;) (just joking - I promise it gets cleaner than this...).
We also have a lovely view from our front door - we can see the Ferris wheel in American Village across the way from us. At night it changes colors :D Apparently it takes 15 minutes to make one revolution. I suppose it's meant to be romantic...
We also have absolutely gorgeous sunsets here occasionally. This picture was taken this evening, capturing the gorgeous fall sunset. The weather here has been lovely - in the 70's almost every day. While the rain sometimes gets in the way of plans, it usually isn't too bad. I suggest if you're planning on visiting, you make plans for the fall!
One of the first things I decided I wanted to do when we arrived was to paint. I chose a nice light linen color for the 'majority' and a light robin's egg blue as an accent color. These colors go spiffingly well with our general decor and with our comforter set. According to a book I was perusing through recently, it's important to buy all furniture/decor that will go together when you're in the military because you can be sure that eventually, it will all end up mixing together. SO, apparently linen, taupe, robin's egg blue, and dark wood is our basic decorating scheme.
Along those lines, we've purchased couch, arm chair, and dining room chair covers to disguise base furniture in linen and taupe. They are quite lovely, although we haven't quite figured out how to make the covers stay in place sufficiently. I'm debating taking pins and pinning them in place on the cushions... If anyone has any better ideas, feel free to let me know!
While I had such wonderful intentions of painting as soon as we arrived, thus far I have only completed painting the kitchen and one wall of the dining/living area. Both of these projects were using the robin's egg blue that I am such a fan of. The plan is to paint the other three walls of the dining/living area in a light linen color, then paint the bedroom as well. We'll see how that goes... Anyhow, here's the kitchen and dining room:
Clearly I cleaned up for you prior to taking these pictures ;) (just joking - I promise it gets cleaner than this...).
We also have a lovely view from our front door - we can see the Ferris wheel in American Village across the way from us. At night it changes colors :D Apparently it takes 15 minutes to make one revolution. I suppose it's meant to be romantic...
We also have absolutely gorgeous sunsets here occasionally. This picture was taken this evening, capturing the gorgeous fall sunset. The weather here has been lovely - in the 70's almost every day. While the rain sometimes gets in the way of plans, it usually isn't too bad. I suggest if you're planning on visiting, you make plans for the fall!
Delicious Delicatessen
As I mentioned before, we have moved into a wonderful new home. And the most important, exciting part of this move has been the addition of a real kitchen to our lives! Needless to say, we have been enjoying all sorts of new dishes as of late. I'll show you all just a few...
Alright, the first is this -wonderful- pumpkin spice muffin.
I got the recipe from here, but, as always, I made a few changes of my own. She calls for using pumpkin pie spice, which I refuse to buy. Seriously, why buy such a specific spice instead of making it yourself with all the components? So, instead, I just used cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. I also like anything pumpkin-y to be very 'spicy', so I added significantly more spices than were originally called for. The lovely crusty, sugared top was even better when I added some ground cloves to the mix - mmmm!
Now, while making your own pumpkin pie spice and adding more spice than is called for helps out, neither of these things help as much as my last addition:
Chocolate chips.
Yep, that's right folks. Just pour 'em on in until you think there will be enough chocolate per bite for your own taste-buds. These were delicious little suckers. I probably made six or seven dozen of them between making some for us, taking some to the neighbor's house for dinner, delivering them to a 'barracks bash' for the marines in Mr. A's unit, and taking them to a church get together.
You'll also notice the -fabulous- muffin tin and lid that they're in. Seriously - on of the most useful things that we put on our registry. The top fits over both muffin tins and a 9x13 baking pan, so you can bake or cook whatever you'd like in it, then transport it easily without fear of spillage. It's glorious. The baking pan has some fun extra features that I love, too! It has markings so you know when you've filled it up 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 of the way full, and it has marks every inch along the edges so you can cut nice, even pieces of whatever you're serving up! Love it. Oddly enough, the top does not fit over the cookie sheet that comes with the four-piece set. However, the cookie sheet is also awesome because it has little circles to show you where to place a dozen cookies on the cookie sheet. No more guess work about how far apart to place your cookies :D Anyhow, here's the link to buy it at Macy's - enjoy!
Alright, moving on to our next exciting venture: bread.
Well, let's make that a little less specific. Any kind of dough that uses yeast.
Now, ever since we got a lovely kitchenaid to work with, I've been itching to try to make some sort of dough with it. First, I tried to make wheat bread.
Failure. Huge failure. Failure like... I could have used this bread as a doorstop type of failure.
Somehow I managed to work the dough so much that it never rose. I swear, it tasted exceedingly like unleavened bread (I should know what that tastes like, we use it for communion at church). The picture is of me checking and hoping beyond hope that it had risen even a little, let alone doubled in size as the recipe said it should.
After discussing it with some faithful friends from church, I decided I would try making pizza with the wheat flour instead. This was a MUCH more successful venture! Isn't it pretty?
I do believe I will use a different recipe for the pizza dough in the future, though, just because needing several hours of prep time between mixing, kneading, and letting the dough rise seems a bit like overkill to me. We chose to make pizza with lots of vegetables (hey, you still need four servings a day, even if you're getting it with pizza) and sausage. I also attempted to make a stuffed crust, which turned out remarkably well given that I didn't even attempt to look up a recipe for it!
To make the stuffed crust, I just mixed shredded mozzarella with cream cheese, put it along the edge of the dough, then rolled the dough over it, pressing it firmly over the cheese mixture to make sure the dough actually attaches to itself and doesn't let the cheese oooooooooze out when it's baked.
My last yeasty bread type project was to make homemade cinnamon rolls. They were incredibly delicious (I got the recipe from the Cook's magazine 'Best of' cookbook, which is awesome), but as they needed a total of about 4 hours to prepare, I don't believe I will making them very often.
I also recently got to take a cooking class on base to learn how to make yakisoba (fried 'soba', which is a type of noodle) and gyoza (otherwise known as 'dumplings'). I've gotten to make both of these several times since the class, always resulting in delicious food.
Here's how to make the gyoza (it comes first since it's the appetizer ^_^ ):
Ingredients:
-1/2 lb ground pork (200g)
-Chinese cabbage (once it's boiled down you need about the same amount as the pork, which is actually almost a full head of cabbage)
-1/2 tsp salt (or so)
-Sesame oil
-Nira minced (this is kind of like a green onion, a little stronger flavor, though. It looks like a really long green onion with flat leaves, and you probably have to purchase it at an asian market)
-1 1/2 Tbs crushed/minced garlic
-Gyoza wrappers (these are round pieces of dough that you buy in a package of about 30 - again, you'll probably have to go to an asian market to find these, but almost no one makes their own from what I understand)
-Soy sauce
-Ginger (if desired)
Directions:
Boil the dark green parts of the cabbage leaves for a few minutes, squeeze out the water, and mince.
-Mix all the ingredients together. You have to mix it really well. It's kind of like mixing meatloaf ingredients together - the easiest way to do it is to mix with your hands for maybe 3-5 minutes.
-Wrap up 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of the mix in the gyoza wrappers. You do this buy placing a small spoonful of the mixture in the center of the wrapper while the wrapper is cupped in your non-dominant hand. Then you dip your finger in water and lightly wet the edge of the wrapper, all the way around. You then fold the wrapper in half, over the mixture, and make a few creases in it (folding the wrapper back on itself) to make the edge attractive. You've seen what they look like in the restaurants, just try to mimic the styling :)
-Boil some water in a pot.
-Place the gyoza in a frying pan, making the 'bottom' (the opposite side from the crease) flat, and adding a little bit of sesame oil.
-Pour boiling water into the frying pan until the gyoza is about half-way covered.
-Cover and steam for 3 1/2 minutes (or so). The wrappers should be somewhat translucent after this time, but not completely flimsy.
-Drain the water from the pan
-Pour in some sesame oil and fry the flat side until golden brown.
-Flip over and serve with the golden brown 'bottom' face up on the plate.
Make sure to grab some dipping sauce while you're at the store!
Here's how to make yakisoba:
Note - most of this stuff can be bought mostly prepared in an asian market
Ingredients:
-Soba noodles (they're about 1/8" thick, long, and not as curly as ramen, but still a little curly. They usually come pre-cooked in bags in a refrigerated section, often near the produce.
-Vegetables (cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts are typical)
-Meat (thin-cut pork, beef, chicken and/or shrimp)
-Pepper
-Yakisoba sauce
-Vegetable oil
Directions:
-Heat oil in a wok or skillet
-Add meat and saute until fully cooked
-Add the vegetables and stir fry over high heat. Note: you can also add slices of garlic or other veggies to those listed above
-Add noodles
-Add a dash of pepper, yakisoba sauce, and/or soy sauce
That's it!
This is one of those 'oh gosh, I need dinner to be fully made in the next 20 minutes' kind of meals, as long as you've got the veggies and meat pre-cut.
Here's what it should look like:
Just a note about cooking with chopsticks: cooking chopsticks are huge. Like, 1/3" in diameter and 1 1/2' long, and tied together at the top. They are practically impossible to use. When cooking this dish at home, I think I used tongs or a teak spoon. Maybe I'm just a lame-o American that I'm incapable of using such chopsticks, but hey, I'd rather eat well than try to figure that out.
And last but not least, I attempted to make Mr. A's favorite dessert: tiramisu.
I don't know if I didn't look right, but I could NOT for the life of me find lady fingers at the commissary. So, I had to improvise. Instead I made pound cake to use as the base :) I was very interested to learn that, contrary to the name and legend, pound cake was never made with a pound of each of the ingredients. Actually, a 'pound' of eggs, sugar, flour, whatever, was not as consistent of a measurement as it is now. You could have a small pound or a large pound. It's similar to how we think of a dozen - you can have a normal dozen or a baker's dozen. Anyhow, just a fun little piece of information there.
I also thought I was going to be feeding this to small children, so rather than using real alcohol, I used imitation rum extract along with Bosnian coffee (I didn't have real espresso on hand, but if you've ever had Bosnian coffee, you'll know that it's just as strong and delicious). I also chose not to use real marscarpone cheese, opting instead for a mix of cream cheese, sour cream, and heavy whipping cream. Unfortunately, Mr. A thought it was whipped cream (which I had given him a taste of earlier) and took a big finger-full of it despite my exclamations that it was indeed not homemade whipped cream. It is always unfortunate to think you're getting one thing but in fact you receive something much less appetizing...
All in all, a wonderful success, as you can see :)
I
mixed recipes from Betty Crocker and from the Cook's magazine 'Best of' cookbook, and used pound cake instead of lady fingers.
All this is in thanks to Jesus who provided so well for us in the home we're in now - we are so thankful for such a wonderful blessing! I hope you feel inspired to do some cooking yourself now!
Alright, the first is this -wonderful- pumpkin spice muffin.
I got the recipe from here, but, as always, I made a few changes of my own. She calls for using pumpkin pie spice, which I refuse to buy. Seriously, why buy such a specific spice instead of making it yourself with all the components? So, instead, I just used cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. I also like anything pumpkin-y to be very 'spicy', so I added significantly more spices than were originally called for. The lovely crusty, sugared top was even better when I added some ground cloves to the mix - mmmm!
Now, while making your own pumpkin pie spice and adding more spice than is called for helps out, neither of these things help as much as my last addition:
Chocolate chips.
Yep, that's right folks. Just pour 'em on in until you think there will be enough chocolate per bite for your own taste-buds. These were delicious little suckers. I probably made six or seven dozen of them between making some for us, taking some to the neighbor's house for dinner, delivering them to a 'barracks bash' for the marines in Mr. A's unit, and taking them to a church get together.
You'll also notice the -fabulous- muffin tin and lid that they're in. Seriously - on of the most useful things that we put on our registry. The top fits over both muffin tins and a 9x13 baking pan, so you can bake or cook whatever you'd like in it, then transport it easily without fear of spillage. It's glorious. The baking pan has some fun extra features that I love, too! It has markings so you know when you've filled it up 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 of the way full, and it has marks every inch along the edges so you can cut nice, even pieces of whatever you're serving up! Love it. Oddly enough, the top does not fit over the cookie sheet that comes with the four-piece set. However, the cookie sheet is also awesome because it has little circles to show you where to place a dozen cookies on the cookie sheet. No more guess work about how far apart to place your cookies :D Anyhow, here's the link to buy it at Macy's - enjoy!Alright, moving on to our next exciting venture: bread.
Well, let's make that a little less specific. Any kind of dough that uses yeast.
Now, ever since we got a lovely kitchenaid to work with, I've been itching to try to make some sort of dough with it. First, I tried to make wheat bread.
Failure. Huge failure. Failure like... I could have used this bread as a doorstop type of failure.
Somehow I managed to work the dough so much that it never rose. I swear, it tasted exceedingly like unleavened bread (I should know what that tastes like, we use it for communion at church). The picture is of me checking and hoping beyond hope that it had risen even a little, let alone doubled in size as the recipe said it should.
After discussing it with some faithful friends from church, I decided I would try making pizza with the wheat flour instead. This was a MUCH more successful venture! Isn't it pretty?
I do believe I will use a different recipe for the pizza dough in the future, though, just because needing several hours of prep time between mixing, kneading, and letting the dough rise seems a bit like overkill to me. We chose to make pizza with lots of vegetables (hey, you still need four servings a day, even if you're getting it with pizza) and sausage. I also attempted to make a stuffed crust, which turned out remarkably well given that I didn't even attempt to look up a recipe for it!
To make the stuffed crust, I just mixed shredded mozzarella with cream cheese, put it along the edge of the dough, then rolled the dough over it, pressing it firmly over the cheese mixture to make sure the dough actually attaches to itself and doesn't let the cheese oooooooooze out when it's baked.
My last yeasty bread type project was to make homemade cinnamon rolls. They were incredibly delicious (I got the recipe from the Cook's magazine 'Best of' cookbook, which is awesome), but as they needed a total of about 4 hours to prepare, I don't believe I will making them very often.
I also recently got to take a cooking class on base to learn how to make yakisoba (fried 'soba', which is a type of noodle) and gyoza (otherwise known as 'dumplings'). I've gotten to make both of these several times since the class, always resulting in delicious food.Here's how to make the gyoza (it comes first since it's the appetizer ^_^ ):
Ingredients:
-1/2 lb ground pork (200g)
-Chinese cabbage (once it's boiled down you need about the same amount as the pork, which is actually almost a full head of cabbage)
-1/2 tsp salt (or so)
-Sesame oil
-Nira minced (this is kind of like a green onion, a little stronger flavor, though. It looks like a really long green onion with flat leaves, and you probably have to purchase it at an asian market)
-1 1/2 Tbs crushed/minced garlic
-Gyoza wrappers (these are round pieces of dough that you buy in a package of about 30 - again, you'll probably have to go to an asian market to find these, but almost no one makes their own from what I understand)
-Soy sauce
-Ginger (if desired)
Directions:
Boil the dark green parts of the cabbage leaves for a few minutes, squeeze out the water, and mince.
-Mix all the ingredients together. You have to mix it really well. It's kind of like mixing meatloaf ingredients together - the easiest way to do it is to mix with your hands for maybe 3-5 minutes.
-Wrap up 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of the mix in the gyoza wrappers. You do this buy placing a small spoonful of the mixture in the center of the wrapper while the wrapper is cupped in your non-dominant hand. Then you dip your finger in water and lightly wet the edge of the wrapper, all the way around. You then fold the wrapper in half, over the mixture, and make a few creases in it (folding the wrapper back on itself) to make the edge attractive. You've seen what they look like in the restaurants, just try to mimic the styling :)
-Boil some water in a pot.
-Place the gyoza in a frying pan, making the 'bottom' (the opposite side from the crease) flat, and adding a little bit of sesame oil.
-Pour boiling water into the frying pan until the gyoza is about half-way covered.
-Cover and steam for 3 1/2 minutes (or so). The wrappers should be somewhat translucent after this time, but not completely flimsy.
-Drain the water from the pan
-Pour in some sesame oil and fry the flat side until golden brown.
-Flip over and serve with the golden brown 'bottom' face up on the plate.
Make sure to grab some dipping sauce while you're at the store!
Here's how to make yakisoba:
Note - most of this stuff can be bought mostly prepared in an asian market
Ingredients:
-Soba noodles (they're about 1/8" thick, long, and not as curly as ramen, but still a little curly. They usually come pre-cooked in bags in a refrigerated section, often near the produce.
-Vegetables (cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts are typical)
-Meat (thin-cut pork, beef, chicken and/or shrimp)
-Pepper
-Yakisoba sauce
-Vegetable oil
Directions:
-Heat oil in a wok or skillet
-Add meat and saute until fully cooked
-Add the vegetables and stir fry over high heat. Note: you can also add slices of garlic or other veggies to those listed above
-Add noodles
-Add a dash of pepper, yakisoba sauce, and/or soy sauce
That's it!
This is one of those 'oh gosh, I need dinner to be fully made in the next 20 minutes' kind of meals, as long as you've got the veggies and meat pre-cut.
Here's what it should look like:
Just a note about cooking with chopsticks: cooking chopsticks are huge. Like, 1/3" in diameter and 1 1/2' long, and tied together at the top. They are practically impossible to use. When cooking this dish at home, I think I used tongs or a teak spoon. Maybe I'm just a lame-o American that I'm incapable of using such chopsticks, but hey, I'd rather eat well than try to figure that out.
And last but not least, I attempted to make Mr. A's favorite dessert: tiramisu.
I don't know if I didn't look right, but I could NOT for the life of me find lady fingers at the commissary. So, I had to improvise. Instead I made pound cake to use as the base :) I was very interested to learn that, contrary to the name and legend, pound cake was never made with a pound of each of the ingredients. Actually, a 'pound' of eggs, sugar, flour, whatever, was not as consistent of a measurement as it is now. You could have a small pound or a large pound. It's similar to how we think of a dozen - you can have a normal dozen or a baker's dozen. Anyhow, just a fun little piece of information there.
I also thought I was going to be feeding this to small children, so rather than using real alcohol, I used imitation rum extract along with Bosnian coffee (I didn't have real espresso on hand, but if you've ever had Bosnian coffee, you'll know that it's just as strong and delicious). I also chose not to use real marscarpone cheese, opting instead for a mix of cream cheese, sour cream, and heavy whipping cream. Unfortunately, Mr. A thought it was whipped cream (which I had given him a taste of earlier) and took a big finger-full of it despite my exclamations that it was indeed not homemade whipped cream. It is always unfortunate to think you're getting one thing but in fact you receive something much less appetizing...
All in all, a wonderful success, as you can see :)
I
mixed recipes from Betty Crocker and from the Cook's magazine 'Best of' cookbook, and used pound cake instead of lady fingers. All this is in thanks to Jesus who provided so well for us in the home we're in now - we are so thankful for such a wonderful blessing! I hope you feel inspired to do some cooking yourself now!
Monday, November 21, 2011
We're back!
Well, after a month of inactivity, hopefully the blogging will resume.
The past month has been fairly eventful. Here are some quick bullet points as to why:
- Moved into a new home
- Immediately had Bible study the same evening we moved o_O
- Party at the new place to get to know our neighbors, see friends, and fellowship with the other folks from church
- Mr. A changed jobs to go to a faster-paced position
- Marine Corps Birthday! Which means pageants, celebrations, and balls (oh my!)
- Holiday parties have already begun!
The next month or two should also be pretty exciting because of all the holidays. All mailings are supposed to be done like... now... in order to get any Christmas presents home on-time. Y'all might receive your presents late. Shocking, I know. "But Mrs. A," you might say, "you're always so on top of Christmas and getting things to people on time!" Alas, this one time (hah), I may not be quite so proactive.
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving spent with three other families from church (two other young couples without kids, and another young couple with two sweet little girls). We also look forward to several work-related open-houses/parties for the holidays, as well as some get-togethers thrown by friends outside of work.
Well, it's good to be back!
Hopefully, I will get into more details about some of those things that have happened in the past month soon, but as for right now, it's dinner time!
Much love to all,
Mr. & Mrs. A
The past month has been fairly eventful. Here are some quick bullet points as to why:
- Moved into a new home
- Immediately had Bible study the same evening we moved o_O
- Party at the new place to get to know our neighbors, see friends, and fellowship with the other folks from church
- Mr. A changed jobs to go to a faster-paced position
- Marine Corps Birthday! Which means pageants, celebrations, and balls (oh my!)
- Holiday parties have already begun!
The next month or two should also be pretty exciting because of all the holidays. All mailings are supposed to be done like... now... in order to get any Christmas presents home on-time. Y'all might receive your presents late. Shocking, I know. "But Mrs. A," you might say, "you're always so on top of Christmas and getting things to people on time!" Alas, this one time (hah), I may not be quite so proactive.
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving spent with three other families from church (two other young couples without kids, and another young couple with two sweet little girls). We also look forward to several work-related open-houses/parties for the holidays, as well as some get-togethers thrown by friends outside of work.
Well, it's good to be back!
Hopefully, I will get into more details about some of those things that have happened in the past month soon, but as for right now, it's dinner time!
Much love to all,
Mr. & Mrs. A
Saturday, October 22, 2011
New home!
Exciting news! God has been exceedingly gracious to us and allowed all of our paperwork to be completed! What this means:
- Mrs. A can stay here in Okinawa with Mr. A with full acknowledgment and approval from both the military and from the Japanese government.
- Mrs. A can get a legitimate drivers license and not be restricted to using just an international driving permit.
- Mr. and Mrs. A get to move out of the bachelor's quarters into a real home!
We weren't completely sure whether we preferred to live on base or off base, so we looked at both options prior to making a decision.
Out of the six off-base homes (apartments, single family homes, and duplexes) that we looked at, here was the run down:
- House #1: close to base, single family home with a yard, but had really low ceilings and seemed somewhat run down
- House #2: within walking distance of church, tall ceilings, wood floors, gorgeous balcony with a view of a lush, green valley, but somewhat odd floor plan and looked like the energy bill could possibly be outrageous.
- House #3: absolutely gorgeous apartment on the 8th floor overlooking a lush, green valley and the ocean, wrap around deck which had doors that opened to a glorious breeze, but a good 45 minute to an hour commute to work, and pretty expensive.
- House #4: Attractive apartment with balcony, but somewhat odd construction, with the top two feet of the walls being plain concrete, and one room with a large concrete 'beam' running the length of it, also a good 45 minute commute to work.
- House #5: Two story single-family home with tons of space, small yard, right off base, but over-budget and smelled a little like smoke.
- House #6: 2 car garage, beautiful floors, gas stove, two balconies (one off the living area and one off the master bedroom), and five minutes from one of the bases. Also a five minute walk to a small beach and close to many good restaurants on the sea wall.
Out of all of these choices, House #6 was the most appealing, probably because it was built in American style and because it was pretty close to Brent's work. I also love love love gas stoves. However, from the first model they showed me to the second model, they changed the layout of the kitchen to a layout I didn't prefer, and they changed the cabinetry and island from an attractive warm wood with nice handles to cheap cabinetry. They also changed the bathroom styling to be less attractive.
After we looked at these six options, we were told that there were two options open in on-base housing. The deal with on-base housing is that they promise to show you at least two units, although they may not be able to offer you both units at the same time. Once they show you a unit, you have 24 hours to either accept or decline the option. If you decline two options, you're placed on a 90 day probation list, and they won't offer you another home on-base until that period is over.
We were able to look at both options the same day: one in a large apartment-style building, and one town home. Both options are about a five minute drive to work for Mr. A, which is awesome. The tower option was somewhat less than thrilling, despite having two balconies (again, one off the living/dining area and one off the master bedroom). It had tile floors and generally looked and felt dingy. The kitchen was also very small. However, it did have something that none of the apartments off-base had: a DISHWASHER! Seriously, how is it that two people create so many dishes? One of the many mysteries in life.
The second option was a town house. As soon as we walked in, our decision was made to live here. It had gorgeous 'wood' floors, a small yard both in front and in back (big enough to enjoy, have a small cook out, plant a little, but not so big that it's overwhelming), a big kitchen, a DISHWASHER!, and plenty of space. In fact, this home is just like House #6 out in town, but about doubled in size. The only things it lacks is an actual garage, balconies, and a gas stove (all of which would be nice, but not nearly as nice as having enough space to actually have people over).
So, we're moving!
In fact, we signed all the paperwork on Friday and move in this Monday and Tuesday. Yep, things move FAST once the ball gets rolling o_O. So we are now in a packing frenzy! So far, we've got about 18 boxes packed, and somehow there's still more left to do. And the majority of it is kitchen stuff. We cannot WAIT to get a real kitchen to use all of it! I've already bought canned pumpkin and cooking pumpkins in preparation for this moment. Also, apparently the commissary runs out of pumpkin if you don't act fast.
Anyhow, we are so thankful that the Lord has provided so well for us! Hopefully you'll hear about various events where we get to open up our new home to people here on-island :) Also, there are two extra bedrooms, so please come visit!
- Mrs. A can stay here in Okinawa with Mr. A with full acknowledgment and approval from both the military and from the Japanese government.
- Mrs. A can get a legitimate drivers license and not be restricted to using just an international driving permit.
- Mr. and Mrs. A get to move out of the bachelor's quarters into a real home!
We weren't completely sure whether we preferred to live on base or off base, so we looked at both options prior to making a decision.
Out of the six off-base homes (apartments, single family homes, and duplexes) that we looked at, here was the run down:
- House #1: close to base, single family home with a yard, but had really low ceilings and seemed somewhat run down
- House #2: within walking distance of church, tall ceilings, wood floors, gorgeous balcony with a view of a lush, green valley, but somewhat odd floor plan and looked like the energy bill could possibly be outrageous.
- House #3: absolutely gorgeous apartment on the 8th floor overlooking a lush, green valley and the ocean, wrap around deck which had doors that opened to a glorious breeze, but a good 45 minute to an hour commute to work, and pretty expensive.
- House #4: Attractive apartment with balcony, but somewhat odd construction, with the top two feet of the walls being plain concrete, and one room with a large concrete 'beam' running the length of it, also a good 45 minute commute to work.
- House #5: Two story single-family home with tons of space, small yard, right off base, but over-budget and smelled a little like smoke.
- House #6: 2 car garage, beautiful floors, gas stove, two balconies (one off the living area and one off the master bedroom), and five minutes from one of the bases. Also a five minute walk to a small beach and close to many good restaurants on the sea wall.
Out of all of these choices, House #6 was the most appealing, probably because it was built in American style and because it was pretty close to Brent's work. I also love love love gas stoves. However, from the first model they showed me to the second model, they changed the layout of the kitchen to a layout I didn't prefer, and they changed the cabinetry and island from an attractive warm wood with nice handles to cheap cabinetry. They also changed the bathroom styling to be less attractive.
After we looked at these six options, we were told that there were two options open in on-base housing. The deal with on-base housing is that they promise to show you at least two units, although they may not be able to offer you both units at the same time. Once they show you a unit, you have 24 hours to either accept or decline the option. If you decline two options, you're placed on a 90 day probation list, and they won't offer you another home on-base until that period is over.
We were able to look at both options the same day: one in a large apartment-style building, and one town home. Both options are about a five minute drive to work for Mr. A, which is awesome. The tower option was somewhat less than thrilling, despite having two balconies (again, one off the living/dining area and one off the master bedroom). It had tile floors and generally looked and felt dingy. The kitchen was also very small. However, it did have something that none of the apartments off-base had: a DISHWASHER! Seriously, how is it that two people create so many dishes? One of the many mysteries in life.
The second option was a town house. As soon as we walked in, our decision was made to live here. It had gorgeous 'wood' floors, a small yard both in front and in back (big enough to enjoy, have a small cook out, plant a little, but not so big that it's overwhelming), a big kitchen, a DISHWASHER!, and plenty of space. In fact, this home is just like House #6 out in town, but about doubled in size. The only things it lacks is an actual garage, balconies, and a gas stove (all of which would be nice, but not nearly as nice as having enough space to actually have people over).
So, we're moving!
In fact, we signed all the paperwork on Friday and move in this Monday and Tuesday. Yep, things move FAST once the ball gets rolling o_O. So we are now in a packing frenzy! So far, we've got about 18 boxes packed, and somehow there's still more left to do. And the majority of it is kitchen stuff. We cannot WAIT to get a real kitchen to use all of it! I've already bought canned pumpkin and cooking pumpkins in preparation for this moment. Also, apparently the commissary runs out of pumpkin if you don't act fast.
Anyhow, we are so thankful that the Lord has provided so well for us! Hopefully you'll hear about various events where we get to open up our new home to people here on-island :) Also, there are two extra bedrooms, so please come visit!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Naha Tug-of-war
We were able to attend the Naha Tug-of-war along with some other members of our church and about 25,000 other folks. According to Wikipedia, it dates back to the 17th century. There are supposedly many such events annually, but this one is the largest in the region. They close off the main street and bring in a rope that's about 4' tall using cranes to put it in place.
Leading up to the actual tug-of-war, there are many performances. First, a large number of 'floats' pass by, which are basically large poles around 15' high with decorations at the top. An individual carries the pole while a crew of people around them make sure it doesn't fall over. Then they stand each pole up using four forked poles to steady the large pole in the center.
They also have a gigantic golden ball suspended between buildings at the very center where the two sides of the rope are joined together. The ball opens before the match begins.
After the decorated poles pass, two emperors from opposite ends of the rope are carried to the center, symbolizing the leaders of each side, East and West, for the tug-of-war. They are dressed as Ryukyuan emperors. When they reach the center of the rope, they perform a ritual sword contest. While they perform in the middle (which can only be seen by a fraction of those who are in attendance), there are many other performances down the length of the rope. There are martial arts performances and fan-dances. We were lucky enough to be in front of a group of students of martial arts. After the emperors perform their contest in the middle, they are carried back to opposite ends of the rope, the ball opens up, showering the crowd in balloons and confetti, and the match begins!
There is much adjustment that needs to happen in order for the match to begin. The rope is actually made of two ropes, joined in the middle with a sort of 'pin' (the size of a somewhat large tree trunk). In order to join the two sides, the ropes first have to be pulled to the center to meet. The participants grab hold of smaller ropes which extend to either side of the main rope and pull in rhythm to bring the two ropes together in the middle. Once the two ropes are joined, the tugging can begin! Every 8 meters or so, a guide stands on top of the rope to give the participants a steady rhythm for pulling. Our section was a little odd because the guide just behind us didn't keep on rhythm with all the guides in front of him, so we often fell off-beat. When either side got off-beat from each other (that is, North and South), the middle of the rope became a precarious place to stand as it moved side to side from conflicting motions. The tug-of-war lasts 30 minutes, and then the winner is chosen. I heard from one announcer that it was a tie, but I suspect that the East won.
Afterwards, it is tradition to cut off a piece of the ropes used to tug on. They are thought to bring good luck, and are hung as decoration in the home. During the winter months, people make them into wreaths, too.
It is clearly one of the primary events of the year in Okinawa, drawing locals, American military, and many tourists to participate. The street vendors were out in full force to support the hungry participants! All in all, a fantastic experience. As we were leaving, those who brought the decorated poles took them away, and the cranes came to claim the center rope.
I loved that even the metro stop closest to the tug-of-war paid homage to it:
Leading up to the actual tug-of-war, there are many performances. First, a large number of 'floats' pass by, which are basically large poles around 15' high with decorations at the top. An individual carries the pole while a crew of people around them make sure it doesn't fall over. Then they stand each pole up using four forked poles to steady the large pole in the center.
They also have a gigantic golden ball suspended between buildings at the very center where the two sides of the rope are joined together. The ball opens before the match begins.
After the decorated poles pass, two emperors from opposite ends of the rope are carried to the center, symbolizing the leaders of each side, East and West, for the tug-of-war. They are dressed as Ryukyuan emperors. When they reach the center of the rope, they perform a ritual sword contest. While they perform in the middle (which can only be seen by a fraction of those who are in attendance), there are many other performances down the length of the rope. There are martial arts performances and fan-dances. We were lucky enough to be in front of a group of students of martial arts. After the emperors perform their contest in the middle, they are carried back to opposite ends of the rope, the ball opens up, showering the crowd in balloons and confetti, and the match begins!
There is much adjustment that needs to happen in order for the match to begin. The rope is actually made of two ropes, joined in the middle with a sort of 'pin' (the size of a somewhat large tree trunk). In order to join the two sides, the ropes first have to be pulled to the center to meet. The participants grab hold of smaller ropes which extend to either side of the main rope and pull in rhythm to bring the two ropes together in the middle. Once the two ropes are joined, the tugging can begin! Every 8 meters or so, a guide stands on top of the rope to give the participants a steady rhythm for pulling. Our section was a little odd because the guide just behind us didn't keep on rhythm with all the guides in front of him, so we often fell off-beat. When either side got off-beat from each other (that is, North and South), the middle of the rope became a precarious place to stand as it moved side to side from conflicting motions. The tug-of-war lasts 30 minutes, and then the winner is chosen. I heard from one announcer that it was a tie, but I suspect that the East won.
Afterwards, it is tradition to cut off a piece of the ropes used to tug on. They are thought to bring good luck, and are hung as decoration in the home. During the winter months, people make them into wreaths, too.It is clearly one of the primary events of the year in Okinawa, drawing locals, American military, and many tourists to participate. The street vendors were out in full force to support the hungry participants! All in all, a fantastic experience. As we were leaving, those who brought the decorated poles took them away, and the cranes came to claim the center rope.
I loved that even the metro stop closest to the tug-of-war paid homage to it:
Monday, October 10, 2011
Food!
So, as we are still living in bachelor's quarters with no kitchen, cooking has been a thing of excitement in our household. Okay, perhaps 'excitement' is too strong of a word, but certainly a thing of creativity.
I had become so enamored with our Pasta Boat 
and stoneware microwaveable covered casserole dish that I had still kept steering away from the crock pot. I can't tell you why I am afraid of the crock pot, but sadly, it is not something I have desired to cook with in the past. However, recent events have changed this drastically. I managed to short out our previous microwave (I didn't even know that was possible - it's not like I was pouring gallons of water over it while hitting it with a baseball bat or anything), and the replacement unit is too small for either my beloved pasta boat or covered casserole. So, now lacking any other cooking options, we have been almost completely limited to cooking our main dishes on the grill or in the crock pot.
At first, I tried to rebel against the whole crock pot idea. Instead, I made sushi. Yes, I have become a sushi aficionado. Okay, that's stretching it. I can (sort of) make sushi rolls. The first adventure here was going to the Aeon, the Japanese grocery store, to pick up the seaweed wrappers, salmon, and sushi rice. To be completely frank, I was unaware that there was even such a thing as 'sushi rice'. In case you were wondering, you use short-grain rice for sushi, unlike for what you use with normal Asian food (long grain - I prefer jasmine rice) or middle eastern food (basmati rice). Not only do you use different rice, but you prepare it slightly differently. You add rice vinegar, salt, oil and rice vinegar after it's all cooked. You also have to rinse the rice until the water is clear before cooking it. Normally I only rinse rice three times before sticking it in the rice cooker and pushing the 'on' button. It takes -forever- to rinse until the water's clean, but apparently it's necessary. After my adventure in the Aeon, where I tried to use my 3 words of Japanese to make sure I was buying good enough salmon for sushi and pay the correct amount for my goods, I made the sushi rice and let it cool off some. I decided to make my sushi rolls with varying combinations of the following ingredients:
- Salmon
- Chives
- Cucumber
- Cream cheese
- Avocado
- Carrot
A helpful piece of advice I was given when I first learned how to make sushi was this: always add a crunchy ingredient. So, in every roll I made sure to put chives, cucumber or carrot, in addition to the other ingredients.
After cutting up all the ingredients to appropriate thicknesses and lengths, I got out my handy-dandy sushi roller (it's a little bamboo mat), laid out a piece of seaweed paper, covered it with a layer of rice, added the ingredients for that roll, and rolled it right on up! I ended up using all 10 sheets of seaweed paper in one night o_O. That's a lot of sushi. Important hint on sushi making: Make sure you have a VERY sharp knife (my brand new cutco knives were perfect, but even my cutco knives that are a year old weren't sharp enough) and COLD water to clean off the knife in between cuts in order to cut your sushi rolls in to pieces. Otherwise the rice gets stuck on the knife as you cut and you end up tearing apart your beautifully made sushi roll.
Overall, a very successful venture into sushi.
Eventually, however, I had to get over my fear of crock pots and start the real challenge. Over the last few weeks of solely crock pot cooking, I have gathered a couple favorite crock-pot recipes. Some of them are favorites because they're incredibly easy, others are favorites because they are -delicious-.
The award for easiest goes to the McCormick Seasoning Slow Cooker Italian Herb Chicken recipe. Grab one of the McCormick Seasoning packets for Slow Cooker Italian Herb Chicken for this one. The recipe is on the back. All you need is the seasoning packet, 2 1/2 lbs of chicken, 1 package of mushrooms, 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. Throw it all into the crock pot and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. You're technically supposed to put the chicken in first, then the mushrooms, then mix all the other ingredients together and pour them on top. I suspect you could probably pour everything in, mix it up, and it'd work just fine. We also added some grape tomatoes to our recipe because we had them lying around. I particularly like this recipe because it doesn't call for any cans of condensed soup. I swear, I've never used so much condensed soup before in my life, and it's starting to scare me a little. I hope to find more recipes like this one where I'm not pouring globs of salty paste into my dinner.
That being said...
Our favorite recipe totally has condensed soup in it. You'll have to wait for the bottom of the post to hear about that one.
I also made pineapple pork chops, probably from this recipe. No guarantee there since I didn't actually -save- the recipe, but it looks familiar. I didn't marinate the pork chops overnight, which I'm sure would have been delicious. However, they were definitely a hit, served (of course) with rice and a salad. I believe I thickened the sauce a little using flour, as I didn't have cornstarch at the time, which is my preferred thickening agent.
I also made a delicious Chicken Masala (ish) using this recipe. Now, I often refuse to buy specific spice mixtures (with the excpetion of the McCormick seasoning, although, that makes me cringe because I ought to be able to come up with my own 'slow cooker Italian spice' mix). This particular recipe calls fro garam masala, an Indian spice mixture that is lovely. However, I was either unable, unwilling, or unable AND unwilling to buy said mixture, so looked up a recipe on my own. Most of the ingredients in it you should already have in your pantry. It was a fantastic recipe - thick and flavorful. I believe I didn't measure the pepper, and probably put in altogether too much, making it inedible for anyone shy of spiciness. Top things I learned from this recipe:
1. Don't use chicken with bones in a crock pot recipe. You spend your whole meal trying to pick them out instead of enjoying your food.
2. Be careful with cayenne pepper. It's spicy. No, really. Be careful. Rice can only absorb so much of the spiciness.
3. When adding yogurt or sour cream (or other such ingredients like coconut milk) to a crock pot recipe, wait until the very end, allowing it to be in the crock pot only until heated. Otherwise, it will curdle and ruin your whole recipe. Thankfully, I learned that from the recipe and not from trial and error.
One of our favorite recipes is a family recipe for Italian sausage and tortellini soup. I liked this recipe because it included spinach. I find it difficult to get anything healthy out of the crock pot, and to be able to add in a vegetable other than potatoes, onions or tomatoes was a relief.
I have made Paula Deen's Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese several times to bring as a side dish. It is delicious and fairly simple, but laden with Paula Deen calories. I've used the low-fat sour cream and skim milk instead of the normal versions when I've made it and it tastes just fine.
And last, but not least, our favorite crock pot recipe to date:
Beef Stroganoff.
Now, people have made 8,000 changes to this recipe in the comments section. I... don't know that that's really necessary. The first time I made it I followed the recipe fairly well. I used a whole onion instead of half an onion and I didn't use wine at all. Oh... And I used fresh chives instead of dried chives and soy sauce instead of Worcester sauce (that's what was in my kitchen). The second time I made the recipe I used stew beef instead of top round, red wine, and a whole onion. I also used cream cheese in addition to sour cream (half low-fat sour cream, half low-fat cream cheese). I also forgot the parsley (oops) and again used fresh chives. I found that my first recipe was better. I definitely liked the top round steak better than the stew beef, though.
I hope your cooking adventures are as exciting and colorful as mine!
I had become so enamored with our Pasta Boat 
and stoneware microwaveable covered casserole dish that I had still kept steering away from the crock pot. I can't tell you why I am afraid of the crock pot, but sadly, it is not something I have desired to cook with in the past. However, recent events have changed this drastically. I managed to short out our previous microwave (I didn't even know that was possible - it's not like I was pouring gallons of water over it while hitting it with a baseball bat or anything), and the replacement unit is too small for either my beloved pasta boat or covered casserole. So, now lacking any other cooking options, we have been almost completely limited to cooking our main dishes on the grill or in the crock pot.At first, I tried to rebel against the whole crock pot idea. Instead, I made sushi. Yes, I have become a sushi aficionado. Okay, that's stretching it. I can (sort of) make sushi rolls. The first adventure here was going to the Aeon, the Japanese grocery store, to pick up the seaweed wrappers, salmon, and sushi rice. To be completely frank, I was unaware that there was even such a thing as 'sushi rice'. In case you were wondering, you use short-grain rice for sushi, unlike for what you use with normal Asian food (long grain - I prefer jasmine rice) or middle eastern food (basmati rice). Not only do you use different rice, but you prepare it slightly differently. You add rice vinegar, salt, oil and rice vinegar after it's all cooked. You also have to rinse the rice until the water is clear before cooking it. Normally I only rinse rice three times before sticking it in the rice cooker and pushing the 'on' button. It takes -forever- to rinse until the water's clean, but apparently it's necessary. After my adventure in the Aeon, where I tried to use my 3 words of Japanese to make sure I was buying good enough salmon for sushi and pay the correct amount for my goods, I made the sushi rice and let it cool off some. I decided to make my sushi rolls with varying combinations of the following ingredients:
- Salmon
- Chives
- Cucumber
- Cream cheese
- Avocado
- Carrot
A helpful piece of advice I was given when I first learned how to make sushi was this: always add a crunchy ingredient. So, in every roll I made sure to put chives, cucumber or carrot, in addition to the other ingredients.
After cutting up all the ingredients to appropriate thicknesses and lengths, I got out my handy-dandy sushi roller (it's a little bamboo mat), laid out a piece of seaweed paper, covered it with a layer of rice, added the ingredients for that roll, and rolled it right on up! I ended up using all 10 sheets of seaweed paper in one night o_O. That's a lot of sushi. Important hint on sushi making: Make sure you have a VERY sharp knife (my brand new cutco knives were perfect, but even my cutco knives that are a year old weren't sharp enough) and COLD water to clean off the knife in between cuts in order to cut your sushi rolls in to pieces. Otherwise the rice gets stuck on the knife as you cut and you end up tearing apart your beautifully made sushi roll.
Overall, a very successful venture into sushi.
Eventually, however, I had to get over my fear of crock pots and start the real challenge. Over the last few weeks of solely crock pot cooking, I have gathered a couple favorite crock-pot recipes. Some of them are favorites because they're incredibly easy, others are favorites because they are -delicious-.
The award for easiest goes to the McCormick Seasoning Slow Cooker Italian Herb Chicken recipe. Grab one of the McCormick Seasoning packets for Slow Cooker Italian Herb Chicken for this one. The recipe is on the back. All you need is the seasoning packet, 2 1/2 lbs of chicken, 1 package of mushrooms, 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. Throw it all into the crock pot and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. You're technically supposed to put the chicken in first, then the mushrooms, then mix all the other ingredients together and pour them on top. I suspect you could probably pour everything in, mix it up, and it'd work just fine. We also added some grape tomatoes to our recipe because we had them lying around. I particularly like this recipe because it doesn't call for any cans of condensed soup. I swear, I've never used so much condensed soup before in my life, and it's starting to scare me a little. I hope to find more recipes like this one where I'm not pouring globs of salty paste into my dinner.
That being said...
Our favorite recipe totally has condensed soup in it. You'll have to wait for the bottom of the post to hear about that one.
I also made pineapple pork chops, probably from this recipe. No guarantee there since I didn't actually -save- the recipe, but it looks familiar. I didn't marinate the pork chops overnight, which I'm sure would have been delicious. However, they were definitely a hit, served (of course) with rice and a salad. I believe I thickened the sauce a little using flour, as I didn't have cornstarch at the time, which is my preferred thickening agent.
I also made a delicious Chicken Masala (ish) using this recipe. Now, I often refuse to buy specific spice mixtures (with the excpetion of the McCormick seasoning, although, that makes me cringe because I ought to be able to come up with my own 'slow cooker Italian spice' mix). This particular recipe calls fro garam masala, an Indian spice mixture that is lovely. However, I was either unable, unwilling, or unable AND unwilling to buy said mixture, so looked up a recipe on my own. Most of the ingredients in it you should already have in your pantry. It was a fantastic recipe - thick and flavorful. I believe I didn't measure the pepper, and probably put in altogether too much, making it inedible for anyone shy of spiciness. Top things I learned from this recipe:
1. Don't use chicken with bones in a crock pot recipe. You spend your whole meal trying to pick them out instead of enjoying your food.
2. Be careful with cayenne pepper. It's spicy. No, really. Be careful. Rice can only absorb so much of the spiciness.
3. When adding yogurt or sour cream (or other such ingredients like coconut milk) to a crock pot recipe, wait until the very end, allowing it to be in the crock pot only until heated. Otherwise, it will curdle and ruin your whole recipe. Thankfully, I learned that from the recipe and not from trial and error.
One of our favorite recipes is a family recipe for Italian sausage and tortellini soup. I liked this recipe because it included spinach. I find it difficult to get anything healthy out of the crock pot, and to be able to add in a vegetable other than potatoes, onions or tomatoes was a relief.
I have made Paula Deen's Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese several times to bring as a side dish. It is delicious and fairly simple, but laden with Paula Deen calories. I've used the low-fat sour cream and skim milk instead of the normal versions when I've made it and it tastes just fine.
And last, but not least, our favorite crock pot recipe to date:
Beef Stroganoff.
Now, people have made 8,000 changes to this recipe in the comments section. I... don't know that that's really necessary. The first time I made it I followed the recipe fairly well. I used a whole onion instead of half an onion and I didn't use wine at all. Oh... And I used fresh chives instead of dried chives and soy sauce instead of Worcester sauce (that's what was in my kitchen). The second time I made the recipe I used stew beef instead of top round, red wine, and a whole onion. I also used cream cheese in addition to sour cream (half low-fat sour cream, half low-fat cream cheese). I also forgot the parsley (oops) and again used fresh chives. I found that my first recipe was better. I definitely liked the top round steak better than the stew beef, though.
I hope your cooking adventures are as exciting and colorful as mine!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Fun with yarn
I have recently taken the opportunity to attempt new project using my double-pointed needles and crochet hooks. So, here are some of my new creations - I found the patterns online at various places, so I'll post where I found the pattern :)
1. Crochet baby hat
This is a hat based on this pattern. I found that the pattern made a very large hat, even using the correct sized crochet hook. So, I didn't increase quite as much, and then I decreased some closer to the end (which is why there is one row that looks somewhat uneven).
2. Rosettes and decorations
These are some little decorative pieces I've crocheted. The one on the left is a crocheted using a pattern found here. It's much larger than it looks like in the picture on this blog or in the blog with the pattern - it's about 4-5" across. My petals are much less defined because of the yarn I chose to use, but i thought it might look very cute on a beenie or on a 4" wide headband (like this one). If i ever make one, I'll be sure to post the final result ^_^ The directions for the flower are in Finnish, so they're rather difficult to follow. Also, the pictures don't give you much help other than what a finished product should look like, but if I can figure it out, I would assume anyone with more than 1 month of crocheting skills would be able to, as well.
The little rosettes on the right are much more appropriate for baby hats (my primary creation). They are both about 2" in diameter. You can see on the baby hat below that I put one of the little flowers on the hat - how adorable is it! I love it. The flower pattern can be found here, and is quite simple to follow. The directions are very clear with great pictures.
I honestly can't find the pattern I used for the little button on the left, which makes me sad, because I really like it. If I find the pattern, I'll post it.
3. Knit baby hat
This is a baby hat that I've given to one of Mr. A's co-workers, as his wife just had a little baby girl. (On a side note, I'm making this crock-pot beef stroganoff for them on Monday). As I said earlier, the little flower on it is the same one that is in the photograph above, just attached to the little hat :) I don't have a pattern for the baby hat, persay... I use double pointed needles (I think they're a size 6, although I can't be certain), and I believe I started with 60 stitches. I -may- have started with 54 stitches, though. When it looks about the right height, I start decreasing. Again, I'm not sure what rate I decreased at for this particular hat (maybe one day I'll get organized enough to write down my exact pattern), but typically I knit 8, then knit 2 together all the way around the hat. For the next row, I knit 7, then knit 2 together, and so on. The edge is crocheted with the same yellow yarn I used in the large rosette above. I do one or two rows of normal crochet around the bottom, then I make little loops by chaining three, then doing a single crochet to attach it back to the trim.
So, that is what I've been doing to keep busy! I'll continue posting the fun and exciting new things I create as I learn how to make new things.
1. Crochet baby hat
This is a hat based on this pattern. I found that the pattern made a very large hat, even using the correct sized crochet hook. So, I didn't increase quite as much, and then I decreased some closer to the end (which is why there is one row that looks somewhat uneven).
2. Rosettes and decorations
These are some little decorative pieces I've crocheted. The one on the left is a crocheted using a pattern found here. It's much larger than it looks like in the picture on this blog or in the blog with the pattern - it's about 4-5" across. My petals are much less defined because of the yarn I chose to use, but i thought it might look very cute on a beenie or on a 4" wide headband (like this one). If i ever make one, I'll be sure to post the final result ^_^ The directions for the flower are in Finnish, so they're rather difficult to follow. Also, the pictures don't give you much help other than what a finished product should look like, but if I can figure it out, I would assume anyone with more than 1 month of crocheting skills would be able to, as well.
The little rosettes on the right are much more appropriate for baby hats (my primary creation). They are both about 2" in diameter. You can see on the baby hat below that I put one of the little flowers on the hat - how adorable is it! I love it. The flower pattern can be found here, and is quite simple to follow. The directions are very clear with great pictures.
I honestly can't find the pattern I used for the little button on the left, which makes me sad, because I really like it. If I find the pattern, I'll post it.
3. Knit baby hat
This is a baby hat that I've given to one of Mr. A's co-workers, as his wife just had a little baby girl. (On a side note, I'm making this crock-pot beef stroganoff for them on Monday). As I said earlier, the little flower on it is the same one that is in the photograph above, just attached to the little hat :) I don't have a pattern for the baby hat, persay... I use double pointed needles (I think they're a size 6, although I can't be certain), and I believe I started with 60 stitches. I -may- have started with 54 stitches, though. When it looks about the right height, I start decreasing. Again, I'm not sure what rate I decreased at for this particular hat (maybe one day I'll get organized enough to write down my exact pattern), but typically I knit 8, then knit 2 together all the way around the hat. For the next row, I knit 7, then knit 2 together, and so on. The edge is crocheted with the same yellow yarn I used in the large rosette above. I do one or two rows of normal crochet around the bottom, then I make little loops by chaining three, then doing a single crochet to attach it back to the trim.
So, that is what I've been doing to keep busy! I'll continue posting the fun and exciting new things I create as I learn how to make new things.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Adventures in the North
So, when I say, "North", what I mean is the northernmost tip of the island that we're on. In fact, the drive takes about 3 hours due to construction and the complete lack of any sort of real highway on-island. Seriously. There's one toll road that they call an 'expressway' where you can go speeding along at 80 kph (that's just under 50 mph for all you crazy Americans and your non-metric system). Since we rarely drive on the expressway (who wants to pay to drive? Unless, of course, you're going through New Jersey?), I feel like I am flyin' down the road when I'm allowed to do 60 kph on one of the bases. I -could- get all up in arms about these ridiculous speed limits. Until, of course, I realized that safety standards here are significantly lower than those back home. For instance, it is not necessary to use tempered glass. Nor do the vehicles have to pass the same side-impact tests. SO, in knowing what I know about how people get hurt in car accidents (having looked at many case studies of various accidents), I am perfectly fine going at a lower speed given the lack of safety requirements in our cars here.
Well, back to the 
story. We drove aaalll the way up the coastline to the very tip of the island. The drive was beautiful, with the ocean always right next to us and green mountains off to the other side.
This type of driving goes slowly, but it's worth it - even with about 18 construction zones that we had to pass through both on the way up and the way back down.
We stopped on the way up to grab a bite to eat at this cute little Japanese restaurant. It was clearly not frequented by Americans as no one who worked there spoke any English. After taking off our shoes, we stepped up into our own 'booth', about a foot off the ground, to slide our legs under the table, which was just high enough to allow you to sit cross-legged. Then comes the next challenge: the menu. After looking over the 'local' menu for several minutes with creases on our foreheads, trying to figure out what everything was from the pictures, they graciously brought us a menu with some English.
<----Here is our menu
----> Here is what we ordered
We both ordered some sort of Ramen with meat (pork, perhaps?). It also came with egg, and as you can see, I got mine with spinach (I think... It's always hard to tell WHICH type of leafy gren you're really eating).
When we finally arrived at the northern tip, we got out to walk around the little park they have there. There were several monuments and statues around and some really spectacular views. I was especially impressed at the -gorgeous- water and the waves crashing up against the cliff. We climbed down the rocks a little way, but when I saw a millipede (which my little guidebook says you should immediately get medical assistance if you're bitten by one due to possibly devastating effects), we decided to climb back up to the normal sidewalks.
Well, back to the 
story. We drove aaalll the way up the coastline to the very tip of the island. The drive was beautiful, with the ocean always right next to us and green mountains off to the other side.This type of driving goes slowly, but it's worth it - even with about 18 construction zones that we had to pass through both on the way up and the way back down.
We stopped on the way up to grab a bite to eat at this cute little Japanese restaurant. It was clearly not frequented by Americans as no one who worked there spoke any English. After taking off our shoes, we stepped up into our own 'booth', about a foot off the ground, to slide our legs under the table, which was just high enough to allow you to sit cross-legged. Then comes the next challenge: the menu. After looking over the 'local' menu for several minutes with creases on our foreheads, trying to figure out what everything was from the pictures, they graciously brought us a menu with some English.
<----Here is our menu
----> Here is what we ordered
We both ordered some sort of Ramen with meat (pork, perhaps?). It also came with egg, and as you can see, I got mine with spinach (I think... It's always hard to tell WHICH type of leafy gren you're really eating).
When we finally arrived at the northern tip, we got out to walk around the little park they have there. There were several monuments and statues around and some really spectacular views. I was especially impressed at the -gorgeous- water and the waves crashing up against the cliff. We climbed down the rocks a little way, but when I saw a millipede (which my little guidebook says you should immediately get medical assistance if you're bitten by one due to possibly devastating effects), we decided to climb back up to the normal sidewalks.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Birthday fun!
Well, yesterday was my birthday - woohoo! So, after a rather normal day (washing dishes, grocery shopping, washing dishes, cleaning the shower, spending far too much time online), Mr. A and I went for a scrumptious dinner at (cue fanfare) a Brazilian steak house! Apparently, to our utmost pleasure, if it's your birthday, you eat for freee! Yes folks, that is correct. Delicious beef, chicken and sausage, as well as a glorious salad bar all for free. AND, they had fantastic beverages, including (but not limited to) acai, starfruit, and cherry juice, all juiced fresh at the bar. The cherry was the best out of the juices we tried, I think (also, it was my choice, so of course it was good).
In addition to such a lovely dinner out, my lovely husband gave me two of my favorite things ever: flowers and coffee. And not only did he get me flowers, but he got me INCREDIBLE orchids. I mean, look at them! Also, look how cool the Starbucks card is. I just think it's fabulous.
Lastly, if you want to be REALLY impressed, here is a picture of the seriously deliciously awesome to-die-for chocolate cake that I made (that's right) in a crock pot. Yep. That's me. Crock-potter extraordinaire.
Now, I started with a recipe that I found online. However, that didn't work out so well. I just disagreed. SO, here are my 'Mrs. A' style directions to making such a lovely slow-cooker cake:
Ingredients:
- 2-3 c cold milk
- chocolate chips (whichever kind you prefer and as many as you'd like in your cake - I used about 1 1/2 cups of the semi-sweet variety)
- 1 package (the larger one) of instant chocolate pudding
- 3 eggs (the other recipe called for 4...)
- olive oil (well, you're supposed to use vegetable oil, but I didn't have any, sooo...) - about 1 1/2 cups
- water
- 1 chocolate box cake mix
Directions:
1. Smear some of that olive oil in your crock pot. You could use Pam, but that's so easy.
2. Make the pudding. Well, ish. Make sure you use cold milk, mix the milk into the pudding mix in a medium/large bowl. The recipe calls for 3 cups of cold milk, I used a little less than that.
3. Beat the eggs in a small bowl.
4. Add the eggs, oil, and cake mix to the bowl with the pudding. Mix until well-blended. Add more oil/milk in order to make the 'batter' moist. It should flow at about the same rate as molasses when it's about ready.
5. Add as many chocolate chips as you want.
6. Pour the whole mix into your well-oiled crock pot.
7. Cook on low for 3 1/2 hours or until the cake bounces back when you press the top gently with your finger (aka, it just feels 'right' and 'done'). The recipe I used said to bake it for 6 or 7 hours, but mind DEFINITELY didn't take that long. I don't know if my crock pot just doesn't do 'low' well or what the deal was, but 6 hours wasn't gonna happen.
8. Eat warm with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm Enjoy!
Another idea is to make 'ice cream' with bananas. I'll be doing that tonight. The bananas are in the freezer as a blog and I will blend them with my handy-dandy hand-held blender and possibly add some vanilla ice cream to it, too. I've heard this is delicious, and I can't wait!
Good luck following those directions, and happy eating!
Parks and Beaches
The past week has been eventful! We finally got to go outdoors and experience some of the local attractions. Two local parks were explored, both with beaches and playground areas. The first one was a fairly small park with awesome rock formations. You could walk under, through, around, and on top of the rocks. The water is gorgeous - the beautiful teal that you see in pictures (the picture doesn't do it justice). The beach is made up primarily of ground up coral and shells, as are most of the beaches here. The beach at this particular park was very small - just a little cove to enjoy.
The coolest part of this park is actually the slides they have. Look at these things! The one on the left has little rollers all the way down it. We saw another family playing on it (the dad was enjoying it WAY more than the kids), and they came up with an interesting method to minimize the pain of sliding down on 8,000 little rollers: They would take a toy shovel and sit on it while holding onto the handle! The other slides are made of concrete. They are VERY slick and look really fun.
The other park we went to has this up front - it's a statue of a phoenix next to a statue of a sun. This park has a stadium where they have track and field events. They also have other fields, a building with lots of tennis and basketball courts, as well as lots of walking trails and ponds.
This is a pond where we fed ducks, water chickens, turtles, and fish. We fed them from the little bridge that you see in the picture. It is really quite pretty.
Then we found the beach! It was low-tide, so the water was REALLY far out. There were a bunch of locals out with buckets and nets. We -think- they were out looking for crabs. We saw one man leave with a crab that was, no joke, at least a foot across. It was enormous. Given how people eat here, I believe that one crab could feed a family of four, if not more.
We also came upon a large 'rock' (for lack of a better word) in the middle of all the flat area that is normally covered by water. If the tide were in, it would be an island. So, naturally, we climbed up on it! The picture on the left is a from the vantage point on top of the island.
While up there looking around, we saw a coconut hanging from the tree in the center of the 'island'. Naturally, we needed to che
ck it out. It turned out that it was a geocache! A geocache is where someone places an object for others to find, often with some 'treasure' in it, then documents the location using the coordinates. People then go looking for the 'treasure' using hand-held GPS systems. The one we had included three sharks teeth and the little guy on the right (I don't think they meant for him to be in the coconut). The idea is that you leave a different treasure for the next person to find if you take what's in the geocache. You also log your visit both on paper and online here.
Completely unrelated, I particularly enjoyed the signs that were around the park. In addition to signs warning that it is unwise to leave the trail because it is habu territory (a rather poisonous local snake) with a somewhat cute caricature of a snake, there were some other fun signs. Here are a couple of them:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)