Check Out My New Toy!

I had a number of United Frequent Flyer Miles about to expired with no plans on taking any trips in the near future so I was able to turn some in to get this baby.

Isn't she beautiful?

Look at all she can do.

And it is all the better because she was "free" since I wasn't going to be able to use the miles for anything else.

I can't wait to take her out for a test drive.  Maybe cheesy skillet potatoes, sweet potatoe fries or apple cole slaw.  You can bet that I am already looking for ways to really get a feeling for what this baby can do.  Stay tuned.

Having a Cuppa - January is National Tea Month

Source:  www.countryliving.com

I love tea.  I love green teas, fruit teas, black teas, white teas.  I especially like a cuppa in the evening on a cold winter night. If we have a fire in the fireplace, all the better.

Since January is National Hot Tea Month, I thought that I would share my favorite tea shop with you.  Todd & Holland Tea Merchants located in Forest Park, Illinois.  This is a gem located just west of Chicago on Forest Park's main street.  With dozens of different types of teas ranging from green to black to oolong to jasmine to herbal and more, their shop is a delight to visit.  I loved stopping in just to spend time smelling all the different types of tea. 

In addition to teas, you can find teapots, tea cups and other tea related accessories.

Before we moved away six months ago, I stopped in to stock up on some of my favorite teas and tisanes.   These included Serendipity, Moroccan Mint, Several Rooibos varieties, Vanilla Flavored Black Tea along with several others.   

I am actually sitting here drinking some Serendipity as I write this post and Mr. Gooch is drinking a cuppa of the Morrocan Mint while he is trying to conquer the world in one of his computer games.  Such a nice way to end the evening. 

Take a few minutes to check out the shop's web site and maybe sign up to get one of thier catalogs so you too can enjoy one of the amazing varieties Todd & Holland carries. 

Happy 2010 & Resolutions - Better Late Than Never

I realized earlier this evening that I never wrote a "Happy 2010 & Here Are My Blog Goals/Resolutions" post. 

Whoops!

I guess the time got away from me as well as since we are making more progress on our house (check out our house blog Claiming Our Space to see what we have been up to outside the kitchen.)

My goals this year are simple:

1.  Keep cooking and baking
2.  Keep menu planning
3.  Try at least one new recipe a week
4.  Post that recipe in the same week we try it

Definitely doable.

Here's hoping you all have doable goals as well. 

Let's all check in at the end of December to see how we did. 

Happy 2nd Anniversary To Us!

It is hard to believe that it has been two years since our wedding day.  What a two years it has been.  Job changes, house selling and buying, relocating to another state, just to name a few things.  And I wouldn't change any of it for anything.

To celebrate we are heading out for a night on the town at a great steakhouse with a little bubbly and a great dessert, then weather permitting, a walk along the river.

Here's to another two (plus 48 or more) years of wedded bliss. 

Flowers in the Garden - March Edition

The first day of Spring was yesterday. Wahoo!! Flowers are starting to grow and soon I will not need pictures to remind me of nature's beauty.

But just in case Spring has not sprung in your area yet, here is a blossom from a Rose of Sharon tree in my the back yard. Enjoy!

Have You Heard About Earth Hour?

What are you doing the evening of March 28?

For the third year in a row, people across the globe will be turning off their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 pm (local time) to take a stand against global warming. Mr. Gooch and I participated last year and will do so again this year. And just like last year, we will be eating a late dinner by candlelight. How romantic!

This year's theme is "Vote Earth," with a goal of 1,000,000,000 (that one billion) votes to show the leaders of the world that the inhabitants of this planet want them to take action against global warming. Each person who participates will be casting one vote so it is important to sign up now. To do so, visit www.earthhour.org or click here to go right to the sign up page.

Even better, the results of the Earth Hour "Vote Earth" election will be presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009.

Last year, over 50 million people participated. Major metro areas turned off landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square. They all stood in darkness for Earth Hour.

Here in Chicago, the our famous skyline went dark with the Wrigley Building, Navy Pier, the Sears Tower, Millennium Park, the Theatre District, the Magnificent Mile among others all turning out the lights for one hour. An amazing sight, I have to tell you. According to the Earth Hour website, the impact of the darkening of those lights as well as the lights of the the 2.7 million other participants in Chicagoland region resulted in an electricity savings of 7 percent - the carbon emissions equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road for one hour or planting 158 acres of trees.

This year, why not join Mr. Gooch and I, along with people living in 930 cities in 80 countries who will be voting Yes in an effort to fight global warming by turning out their lights for the hour between 8:30 and 9:30 pm on Saturday, March 28? And while you are at it, why not plan your own romantic candlelit dinner?

Flowers in the Garden - February Edition

The first day of spring is less than a month away. I can't believe I have almost survived another winter in the Midwest.

This month's flower is the Daylily. So bright and cheerful. Perfect to combat the dreary February days.

Enjoy.

Flowers in the Garden - January Edition

The end of January is coming. That means that we should almost be done with the sub zero temps that have been the norm through most of this month.

The end of January also means that Spring is coming too. Not much longer until there the buds are sprouting and there are real flowers in the garden.

Until then, enjoy the hydrangeas!

Happy New Year!! And the Year in Review!

As 2008 drew to a close and 2009 began, I knew it was time to reflect on the past year. We had some big changes (I changed jobs), big plans in the making (putting the house on the market to move back to my home state) and big doings in the kitchen (I actually cook and bake on a regular basis now). I think it has all been pretty good for us this year.

I thought that one way of looking back would be to highlight big events of the last year and to pick some of my favorite blog posts.

Special Events from 2008
January: We try to survive another Chicagoland winter (brrrr!)
February: Mr. Gooch celebrates a birthday
March: Mr. Gooch starts driving for a postal contractor company
April: The kids come to stay for Spring Break
May: Must have been pretty quiet, I can't think of anything of note
June: I leave my job at the law firm
July: Blogging begins in earnest and Mr. Gooch starts training at a Mixed Martial Arts gym
August: We decide to move back to my home state and work in overdrive to get the house ready
September: The house goes on the market
October: Mr. Gooch and I celebrate our first anniversary
November: Heading to North Carolina for my cousin's wedding and I host Thanksgiving for the first time (and my birthday month)
December: Getting ready for the DIY Christmas with homemade and handcrafted goodies

Favorite Blog Posts
June: My very first post A New Beginning
July: Mr. Gooch Cooks (Multi-Veggie Caprese Salad)
August: More Yum Yum - Blueberry Ice Cream
September: Joelen's Culinary Adventures: Food Network Chef Adventure - Salmon with Puff Pastry and Pesto
November: It's a DIY Christmas - Tile Coasters (the post with the most hits for the year)
December: Creamy Cheesecake - Compliments of Ina G

While we look back at the past year with its ups and downs as well as lots of smooth sailing, Mr. Gooch and I are even more excited about the adventures that 2009 will bring.

I hope you all have a happy, healthy and exciting 2009!!

The 2009 "List of Resolutions"

I have always thought of New Year's Resolutions as somewhat useless. Mainly because I have a habit of making two kinds of resolutions.

The first is the type I know I will have no problem achieving. These include reading more books without being specific, paying more attention to world events, spending more time with Mr. Gooch and family. These are too easy.

The second is the type I know I have no chance of fulfilling. These usually include promises of getting up early to work out (when I am sooooo not a morning person) or that I will work out every day. These types also often involve losing unreasonable amounts of weight in unreasonable amounts of time. You know the type I am talking about. I think everyone makes this second type at some point.

But I have resolved (pun intended) that this year will be different. I limited my resolutions to no more than ten and tried to be realistic with those selected.

So here is my "List of Resolutions" for 2009.
1. Read 1 nonfiction book a month
2. Read 1 fiction book a month
3. Work out for 30 minutes at least three times a week
4. Blog at least three times a week
5. Blog about one craft project a month
6. Try at least 2 new cooking related recipes a week
7. Try at least 2 new baking related recipes a month
8. Clean and organize the basement by the end of January*

There will be a couple of finance related resolutions too but these will have to come later once we have a better idea on the house situation and the move.

I don't think that these are too unreasonable. Don't you agree? I will keep you posted on how things are going as the year progresses.

Here's hoping that everyone keeps their resolutions this year!

*The last one has actually been on my To Do list for several months but I thought if I added it to the "List of Resolutions" it may actually get done.

Flowers in the Garden - December Edition

Christmas is rapidly approaching. Snow is on the ground. Spring flowers are just a distant memory. Except here.

Enjoy the Lilies for the holidays.

Yup, It's December - Definitely Winter Time!!

It is definitely December here in Chicagoland.

How do I know?

I woke up to this view out my kitchen window.

SNOW!

And not just the measly dusting we have gotten a few times in the past few weeks. This looks like it might be here to stay.

I figured that since there was snow on the ground, I had better get a step on putting up our holiday decorations and making new pillow covers for the living room. I don't think orange and yellow (the color of our current pillow covers) are very "holiday."

Look for a post in the coming week or so on our holiday decorations.

What's Cooking Fall Gift Exchange

Have you ever had a gift exchange with someone you don't know? I am not talking about being a "Christmas Angel, " donating a Thanksgiving dinner or giving a toy to Toys for Tots. I mean, when you are part of an online group or other organization where the members don't know each other in real life.

Well, until this year, I never had. But that has all changed. On the What's Cooking Community Board I frequent on The Nest, a fall gift exchange was arranged via Elfster. (What a neat web tool that is).

A dollar limit was set ($25), everyone was matched, you could post gift ideas and then you sent off your gift while waiting for your to arrive.

Well, I can tell you I was so excited to get my box on the front porch. The fact it was from Crate & Barrel was an added bonus. I big pink puffy heart Crate & Barrel.

FayeD, who was matched with me, sent three great items. An item I wanted; an item from her location; and an item she has and loves. The items were (in order) a dough scraper; Black Olive Spread and magnetic measuring spoons.

I can't wait to try them all out.

Thank you again FayeD!! Hope you have a happy holiday season.

Flowers in the Garden - November Edition

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am freaking out a bit since in less than a week Mr. Gooch and I will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house.

I know I need a happy Spring flower to perk me up.

The flower for November is the Peony (my favorite flower by far).

Who Is A Bad Blogger? Me That's Who.

I cannot believe I have not posted a recipe for over a week. It is amazing how life seems to sneak up on you and keep you from some of the things you love to do.

That being said, I will be posting a number of recipes over the next week. It has been added in pen to my TO DO list.

These include

1. Crockpot Chicken
2. Dilled Carrots
3. Skillet Cheesy Potatoes
4. BBQ Spice Salmon
5. Dijon Thyme Chicken
6. Crockpot BBQ Pork
7. Turkey Spaghetti Pie
8. TWD: Kugelhopf

As you can see, even though nothing has gone up on the blog, we have still been busy eating.

So make sure you watch your Google Reader or however you follow your subscription for some tasty recipes.

Traveling: The Horrors

So Mr. Gooch and I just traveled back from my cousin's wedding in North Carolina. It was such a fun weekend. The couple looked so happy and I can only hope that they are as happy as Mr. Gooch and I are.

As fun as the weekend was, the trip back was a bit of a challenge.

Oh, no not the way you are thinking. The flight wasn't delayed much, there was no turbulence to speak of and Mr. Gooch and I each got a whole can of Diet Coke from the drink cart instead of the usual measly single plastic cup full.

What I experienced amazed me.

First, I am so confused why people think that sitting in another person's seat is cause to become upset. We had at least three different people who sat in a seat that was not assigned to them. One young lady actually got mad at the man whose seat she was in. She wanted to sit by her friend so tried to get him to take her seat (a middle seat versus his window seat). He was not pleased by the offer and had to call the flight attendant over to get it straightened out.

Second, and this was more about the placement of our seats which were right in front of the bathroom, please keep in mind that the walls are not sound proof and so the people in row 26 can hear you grunting in the bathroom.

Lastly, (if you have a weak stomach you can stop now) we had a mother who felt that it was perfectly acceptable to hold her son's urine soaked pants up to the little air vent most people use to cool themselves off. Apparently she thought that if she held them up there for 15 or 20 minutes they would dry off. All I could think about was that we were trapped in a tube with recirculated air and it was now full of urine molecules. Blech!! I was totally disgusted. Mr. Gooch and I couldn't believe that anyone would think that doing that was OK.

But things did have a happy ending. The flight landed safely, we made it back home without incident and I was able to take a shower to get de-moleculized. I was never so happy to shower in my life.

Voting...Good for the Country and Your Pocketbook

So Mr. Gooch and I headed off to the polls at 5:50 AM this morning (our polling place is a 5 minute walk from our house). We wanted to be first in line.

We were SO not the first people in line. There had to be at least 40 people in front of us. One guy even brought a chair. Wish I had thought of that idea. It took us about 35 minutes to get our actual ballots. Based on media reports regarding early voting with lines up to three hours long, I will take my 35 minutes.

As I think about voting, it is crazy to realize that this is my sixth presidential election I have voted in. I am not sure how many midterm, primary and local elections I have voted in. But it is pretty cool to be part of the democratic process. Plus if you vote, you get to complain about how things are run. :-)

I think it is great that so many people are participating in the process this year and that the number of voters expected this year will be higher than in recent memory. A big bonus this year is the early voting available in so many jurisdictions.

Even better, I love that there are so many businesses giving treats to those who voted.

Some of those I have come across are below. You may want to contact your local stores to make sure they are participating.

Ben & Jerry's - giving away a free scoop of ice cream from 5-8 p.m. to everyone who votes. (More details here.)

Starbucks - giving away a free 12 oz. tall coffee to all customers who come in and say that they voted. (More details here.)

Krispy Kreme - giving away a free donut to all customers who wear an "I Voted" sticker. (More details here.)

Shane's Rib Shack - giving away a free meal--3-piece chicken tenders, fries, and a 20 oz. drink--to all customers who wear an "I Voted" sticker. (More details here.)

Schuler Books (in Western Michigan) - a free cup of coffee.

Eli's Cheesecake - the Eli's Cheesecake Company of Chicago will reward voters with a free slice of Chicago's favorite dessert, simply by presenting their voting receipt at Eli's Cheesecake World, 6701 W. Forest Preserve Drive, from Tuesday, November 4th through Friday, November 7th - 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you don't live in the Chicago area, go online to http://www.elicheesecake.com/, click on "I voted in the 2008 election" and receive a free 6" Original Plain Cheesecake with the purchase of one Eli's 9" Original Plain or Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.

Books-a-Million - offering a FREE cup of Joe just for showing your "I VOTED" sticker.

Pizza Hut - The chain expects orders to surge on Election Day. To encourage diners to plan ahead, Pizza Hut is will give a 20 percent discount to all online orders scheduled for delivery or pick-up on Nov. 4. (One catch: The deal is valid for new online customers only.) To order, go to PizzaHut.com.

Enjoy the free stuff and enjoy the knowledge you have participated in the process.

Thawing the Top of a Wedding Cake - A True Life Road Test

Mr. Gooch and I got married a year and a week ago. Don't we look happy.

Our wedding day was wonderful, and we loved being surrounded by family and friends. I almost cried as I walked down the aisle when I saw Mr. Gooch up at the alter, I think Mr. Gooch got a bit teary too. At the reception the food was great, the booze was flowing and the music was rocking all night long. A year later, several people still tell me that ours was the best wedding they have been to in a long time. Is it wrong to say that I just LOVE that?

And our cake was amazing, if I do say so myself. You can see a photo of it below.

While the decoration was pretty simple, it tasted amazing. Not being a fan of fondant, we skipped it for a more basic Italian butter cream frosting. The cake was a chocolate and vanilla marble. The filling was a raspberry mousse. Just writing about it is making my mouth water remembering how good it was.

OK now that my trip down memory lane is over, back to the point of this post. Thawing the top of our cake.

We froze the top of the cake to eat on our one-year anniversary. It has lived, wrapped up in a freezer (first at at my mother-in-law's house, then in the basement freezer). We used several layers of plastic wrap, then several layers of tin foil. That whole wrapped package was then placed in a Rubbermaid container. After a year, no frost has accumulated on the inside of the container - which I figured was a good sign.

I wasn't sure of the best way to thaw the cake so as is my usual MO, I headed right to Google and did some searching. Based on that research, I took the frozen cake and placed it into the fridge on Saturday morning. This was two days before we planned to eat the cake. This was to allow the cake to thaw slowly so that there wouldn't be a build up of moisture on the cake or the wrapping.

On Monday, I took the cake out of the fridge and placed it, still wrapped and in the container on the counter. Since we were going to eat dinner at 3:30 (Mr. Gooch works nights, we eat early), around noon, I took the cake out of the container and removed all the wrapping. This was to give the cake and frosting a chance to warm up. No one likes cold frosting.

So far so good. The cake was intact with only some of the frosting smudged in a few places.

The real test was after dinner was over.

We sliced into it. Placed it on our plates and dug in.

It was pretty darn good. Actually, it was pretty amazing. Just as good as we remembered. The best part, there was enough for dessert two nights in a row.

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Monday is our actual anniversary but Mr. Gooch has to work. So last night we went out to celebrate.

Mr. Gooch made all plans and the night's activities were a surprise until just before we left. Turns out we had reservations at Smith & Wollensky in downtown Chicago. S&W is where we went the evening we got engaged so it was the perfect location to celebrate our first year of marriage.

The evening started out perfectly with no traffic holdups on our way into the city. For those who live in Chicago, you know how rare that is on a Saturday night. Even though we were early, there was a table ready and we didn't have to wait. Again, another rarity.

Our starters were the crab cake for Mr. Gooch and the Cesar salad for me. I just love a good Cesar salad and the one I was served was a good one. The dressing was creamy with just a hint of sharpness. Just the way I like it. Mr. Gooch raved about the crab cake, saying the crab was so sweet and the lumps were just huge.

We ordered steaks for our main course. I had the bone-in rib eye with the Cajun seasoning. Mr. Gooch had the New York strip also with the Cajun seasoning. We both loved the seasoning and had to ask our waitress Carrie how it had the great taste without the "burn" that you get with many Cajun spiced dishes. Apparently the steaks are marinated in a Cajun flavored oil versus the spices being rubbed right onto the meat. Once the steak is grilled, more of this oil is applied to the cooked meat. So we will now be on the hunt for a great Cajun oil so we can try to reproduce this same taste at home.

Our side was hashed potato. This dish had a crunchy crust with soft buttery texture underneath. Very very good.

Photo: Anna Grafton/The Daily Pennsylvanian

The crowing glory was dessert. The signature 7-layer chocolate cake topped with a cow shaped chocolate cookie for me. Mr. Gooch had the New York-style cheesecake.

There was enough left over for us to have leftovers tonight. Just as good the next day.

I would recommed Smith & Wollensky for any steak or seafood lover.

Flowers in the Garden - October Edition

Today there is a definite nip in the air. That means Winter is just around the corner. While I love the fall colors, the turkey at Thanksgiving, decorating the Christmas tree and watching the first snow falling, I am already looking forward to the Spring. How awful is that?

So in the next months on the 21st, I will be posting photos of some of the flowers from my garden to help get us all through the cold and dreary winter months.

Enjoy and hope these photos help us all get through the next few cold months.

The flower for October is the dwarf iris.