New Year, New Me

Technically it's not the New Year yet, but I am counting this as a HUGE accomplishment and a change in the essence of who I am. To be honest, I have to credit my college roomie and bestie (not beastie - bestie) Julie for this drastic change.

Several weeks ago I was complaining to Julie about my incompetence when it comes to bread making. I have tried 3 different times and each time my bread comes out stiff and really dense. I think the primary reason is my house is so cold the dough refuses to rise, but it's just so frustrating when all I want to do is make my own bread and I simply CAN NOT DO IT. Ugh.

A few people had mentioned the "no rise" bread as an option when I received my Dutch Oven but, being stubborn, I did not think too much of these recipes. Fast forward to my conversation with Julie - she mentions the "no-rise" bread and I asked her if it was really worth it and if it would really work - she promised yes.

Pictured below is what I pulled out of the oven an hour ago. It is so good! You should try the recipe today!!

Left Behind

Are you excited because the title of this post is making you think it will be on my own personal eschatology? Or how Kirk Cameron films are always the best? Or how you, too, had a childhood crush on Austin O'Brien? No, my friends (little Maverick shout out there), I am sorry to disappoint but this post is actually dedicated to the left side of my behind, which is killing me due to the excessively long run I did Saturday - more on that later. Oh, and the fact that it's kind of an "update" which I'm getting really good at - I think I'll only blog once a month from now on since these update blogs are so successful.

This month started out like any other December - with a visit from my seeester Kimberly (who can be stalked on facebook if you are interested) and her bf Erik-with-a-k. When they came, we did lots of fun things. I made dinner at home one night - tomato soup with fresh cracked pepper and parmesan crostini, french bistro steaks with blue cheese crumbles, green beans and asparagus - blanched? why of course! - and roasted golden potatoes. YUM.
Here is the table, I welcome you to my dining room.



We also spent lots of time with #2 in the Kalleberg ladies line up - Corrie! We went to RA! Sushi and ordered half the menu...


Paid our holiday visit to Disneyland where we used the lovely blue lighting in Space Mountain for fabulous photographs. While at Disneyland we dined at our 2nd favorite lunch spot - Storyteller's Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel where I think everyone should eat every time they are at Disneyland. Lunch is better than dinner, and you can't go wrong with one of the hot sandwiches (including the burger) or the cobb salad. If you don't think it's going to be worth the price and aren't feeling like leaving the park - take a chance and do it anyway. I guarantee the first bite of unlimited hot out of the oven bread will make the 1/4 mile walk worth your while.

The week of Christmas I had NINE DAYS IN A ROW off! Paid! Only had to use two vacation days! Welcome to the amazingness that is my job! We went to Idyllwild for the Murdock family vacation (the extended Murdock's, not just Glenn and I - we do plenty of other annual vacations on our own...) and spent time with the nieces and crazy uncles/brothers/girlfriends/wives/moms/fun. I modified Ina Garten's Chicken Chili and it was a success! I used ground turkey instead of chicken, added a lot of extra cayanne pepper (ai yai yai!) and also snuck in two cans of kidney beans, much to Glenn's dismay. Nothing seems to pair with chili like cornbread so I did the Ina jalapeno cheddar cornbread that I've only made twice now but, like most of her recipes, has been breathtakingly scrumptious both times. Wish you were in my family? I know, it's awesome.

The Christmas Chill, two favorite friends getting engaged, fun gifts from Anthropologie (hello, aprons) and A NEW SANTOKU KNIFE, a long run and a life saved by my running buddies (not kidding - read about it here) later, it's almost January and Glenn and I are discussing 2009 goals.

On the agenda for this week: use the knife as much as possible, read a few more chapters of the book pictured below, and enjoy the last days of what has been a glorious year.

One Crazy Night

This is a story about walking, eating raw things, car crashes, and murder. Children, be ware.

Once upon a time in a beautiful city called San Diego, there was a fun-loving couple who enjoyed food. For this couple, eating dinner at restaurants was a fun and special treat, as they were trying to stick to a not so fun-loving budget. On top of food and eating out, this couple enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and experiencing new foods with said groups of people.

One sunny Sunday afternoon, after the Chargers had been stomped on once again, the fun-loving couple decided it was a good night for sushi. Wanting to spend time with people they loved, they thought it would be a great idea to invite the husband's parents to come along. Slightly nervous at the thought of sushi, but eager to spend time out on the town with their youngest child and favorite daughter in law, the parents said "YES! We would love to!"

Now the fun-loving young wife had heard of a great new cupcake shop in the downtown area and was eager to try it out. It was decided that the two couples would drive downtown together, stop by the cupcake shop to pick up dessert to go, and then get sushi at a lovely, inexpensive spot in Hillcrest called Sushi Deli.

As they drove downtown, getting closer and closer to the cupcake shop, the anticipation was rising. Too excited to contain herself, the fun-loving young wife hopped out of the car while the rest of the crew found parking. She ran up to the cupcake shop, threw open the door, breathed in the sweet smells of chocolate and vanilla, and noticed there were no cupcakes sitting out. The friendly shop owner informed the fun-loving young wife that they had just ran out and were closing up for the day. NOOOOO! The fun-loving young wife's heart broke just a tiny bit, but it was ok because at least she had sushi to look forward to.

On they drove until they reached Sushi Deli. The group decided to park about a block away, as there were plenty of spots there and not many right in front of the restaurant. They then proceeded to the front door and put their name on the list, anxious to eat as they were all very hungry. 20 minutes passed and nothing... they noticed there were a lot of people standing around who had been there even longer than they had. Inquiring as to how long each different group had been waiting to be seated, they learned the wait was going to be an hour. Too hungry to be able to wrap their minds around standing on the streets of Hillcrest for an hour, the fun-loving young couple and their fun-loving parents/in-laws thought it best to walk down the street to find a new place to eat.

Down, down, down they went - and nothing was found other than a super cute Italian place that was significantly out of their price range but should still be visited at some point. So back up, up, up the hill the two couples walked, passing by Sushi Deli on the way only to notice the wait had now been increased by 10 minutes, so they were no closer to being seated than they had originally been. Down, down, down the other side of the street the two couples walked. They passed a moderately priced Chinese restaurant but decided that was not the way to go tonight. They walked back toward Sushi Deli, passing Jack In The Box and debating Jumbo Jack's and Ultimate Cheeseburgers for dinner as that was sounding mighty fine at this point in the evening. When they reached Sushi Deli for the third time, their name was next on the list.

"It's a miracle!" the two fun-loving couples exclaimed. Truth be told, it was no miracle, they had simply been walking for an hour instead of waiting in line for an hour. Excited at the realization that they would be eating sushi after all, the couples ordered a handful of rolls, a noodle dish, miso soup, and plum wine. And by 'the couples' I mean the fun-loving young wife. The rest just looked on and trusted her judgement. Good call since she was very hungry and not to be messed with.


Dinner was delicious and oh so fun. A new experience for the in laws/parents and a great time for the fun-loving young couple. Arm in arm and laughing, the foursome left Sushi Deli and noticed a policeman circling their car. Being extremely strong and manly, the two husbands ran ahead to see what the problem was. "Your car was hit by a drunk driver." stated the police-man. "He was driving erratically, ran the red light, smacked into your car, and kept driving. Some good citizens noticed what was going on and followed him back to his residence, calling the police on their drive. We now have this man in custody, and it looks like the only damage done was to the back left side of the car."

Crazy! The car was hit, the sushi was still settling, the policeman had victoriously captured an evil law breaker, and they hadn't even decided on dessert yet. Energized from the adrenaline rush, the two couples decided they needed to go somewhere fun and new for dessert, too. "Extraordinary Desserts it is!" they laughed as they hopped into the slightly bent up but still working car and headed a few blocks away.

Tea, coffee, chocolate deliciousness and a berry crostada topped with meringue were all these four needed to end the night right. Oh, and a story about the crazy guy that killed a man a couple of years ago at Extraordinary Desserts.



I told you there was murder in this story.

Jamming and Christmas Gifts

Last year Glenn and I decided to make cranberry apple preserves to give to friends and family for Christmas. We spent a day learning how to safely can and seal said preserves, tied festive bows around them, and everyone was happy. This year I wanted home made strawberry jam, as there is nothing better than freshly baked bread smothered in jam that tastes only of strawberries and sugar and was made by someone you love.

Like most adventures, the strawberry jam making day began at Costco where we saw HUGE containers full of fresh strawberries and decided we simply must have them. After sitting around for a day or two, it was time to wash and remove the stems. Sounds thrilling, I know. The exciting part came when I almost sliced my finger off trying to remove a rotten part of one of the berries. Cuh-razy.


Once the stems are removed, we had to smash the berries, one layer at a time. Off to the pot they went, an incredible amount of sugar and a little bit of pectin was added, and we waited for the fruit to boil!

Here I am checking the levels on the jars, and ladling fruit from the pot into the hot jars. Yes I am still in my running clothes from about 5 hours earlier. Yum.


Twist the cap on, and you're done!! Merry Christmas, bloggies!

Day Tripping - A Post For Jessica Holt

Fall in San Diego is one of the best times of year. I suppose fall everywhere is nice, but here it is especially nice because we don't have the horrors of below freezing (or anywhere near freezing) winters looming. We light fires in our fireplaces, make chicken pot pie and soup in bread bowls (more on that later), and take day trips to exotic, cooler climates like Julian.

4 hours of sleep, too much caffeine, a rainy day, and a craving for apple pie were reason enough to travel to Julian with Glenn and Matt and Jessica this weekend. It may sound odd to drive through windy mountain roads for over an hour with the primary goal being apple pie, but the pie in Julian is SO good. Especially from Mom's. Mmmm, I can smell it now.



Glenn was eager to sit in the back and watch a holiday movie. His choice - The Santa Clause. I was planning on sitting back there with him, but got queasy before we turned onto Montezuma so obviously that didn't happen.

Matt drove as he has a far more comfortable car, and I don't think he trusts us SoCal crazies when it comes to driving in the rain. (wait, you're NOT supposed to slam on the breaks when it's pouring? I don't understand...)

I was just excited to no longer be at a club and ready for apple pie on a rainy day. For those wondering where Jessica was, she was asleep in the way back, but not for long.


The temperature was dropping rapidly. From 56 to 48 to 42 to... 37!!! So cold! Julian, why are you freezing? Matt, why didn't you wear real shoes? Kristin, where did you get those super cute mittens? Why Vienna, of course, thank you for asking.




Since Jessica loves cats (???? totally made this up) she made us stop by the store Cats Cats Cats! which was, yes, just as terrific as it sounds. We also found a very cute home store where they had lovely smelling things, fantastic cookbooks, cute kitchen gadgets, and a crazy lady who ran the store in tights and uggs.


Our visit was perfectly timed, as the Craft Fair was happening in Julian's town hall. Glenn found this lovely magic scarf, which, believe it or not, you can wear as a scarf, headdress, tube top, or dress!

We waited in line at Mom's for a while (totally worth it, and not as long of a line as Sprinkles, FYI) and watched the employees refill the flour and sugar bins as they prepared for the following day's pies. When in Julian, Mom's is the only place to go. Many bakeries boast Julian Apple Pie, but Mom's is simply the best. Do any other stores have mile long lines every day? I didn't think so.

One tea, two coffees, a slice of apple crumb a la mode, a slice of strawberry rhubarb a la mode, and an apple dumpling.


Jessica could barely stand how delicious it was.


Mmm, strawberry rhubarb.




Jessica ate it all! At least she was kind enough to give us a few bites...


All in all, a very productive day in Julian, and it really inspired us and put us all in the autumn/holiday spirit. A much needed break after a stressful election!

Over It. And Yet I Press On.

Maybe it's just because it's almost 10:30 and I am exhausted. Or because I have a new job and even though I really like it, new jobs are kind of draining. Or because my clothes still are not fitting the way they should considering the calorie watching I have done over the past 2+ months. Or the fact that my cute new haircut does NOT allow me to put my hair up at the end of the day and I don't know what to do with this new hair in my face self. But I am O.V.E.R. blogging right now.

In order to keep myself in tune with the (person) that cares about my blog and excitedly waits for updates, as well as to not turn into a big ole grump, I am going to create a list of things, food and non food, that I am NOT over. Please keep in mind that blogging will not be on this list.

Things Kristin is Not Over:


1. High School Musical
Can it be any more fun? I have watched 1 and 2 at least five times each, and can't wait to see 3 for the 2nd time sometime soon. Thank you to my sixteen year old sister for introducing me to the world of Gabriella, Troy, and inspiring dance numbers.

2. Bauman Lunch
Even though I left my last job, I miss the crazy boys I worked with and the weekly lunches we had. I got to join them today and I hope I can again next week!

3. Running
Though you may think I am based on the fact that I haven't ran in almost 2 weeks, and the thin layer of cellulite that lines my outer thighs (I'm not ashamed) - I am, in fact, still a runner. I can, in fact, kick your butt. I will, in fact, hurt after this Saturday's 8 miles. And I do, in fact, have the most awesome pair of 2130's ever invented. They have pink on them. Go me.

4. The iphone
Which I now own! Boo-ya! If you are wondering why I haven't added the "facebook application for iphone" to let the world know of my updated power status, it is because my iphone is not alive yet. Soon!

5. God's power to change lives
Ok that one is kind of deep for a food blog, I know. But seriously, I am in awe of God's provision, care, power, and grace. I am honored to be used as an agent of change and grateful to those who have helped change me.

6. The Finer Things Club
It's my turn to host again! This Saturday I will be challenging myself with an autumn themed Finer Things. More to come on that!

What I'm Eating Right Now

NOTHING.
And I'm really hungry.

Shrimp and How to Keep a Man Happy

Remember when I won the awesome grilling cookbook from the Food Network? I have slowly been testing the recipes and there is one I have already made twice. It's that good.

Recipe courtesy of the Food Network Kitchen's Get Grilling
New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp

1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
8T unsalted butter (my 2nd round I only used 5 and it still tasted good!)
12 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 bay leaves (Kelly - do not smoke these!)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound large shrimp, shell on and deveined (make sure they are raw)
1t Worcestershire sauce
1T kosher salt
1T sweet paprika
1/2t cayenne pepper (more if you like to keep it real spicy)
2T dry sherry
3 lemons, cut into wedges

And the most important ingredient - a loaf of crusty bread

Preheat the oven to 350. Yes, although this is a grilling cookbook, you are using the oven and the stove and never come close to the grill, unless your grill is your stove.
Heat the butter, olive oil, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat, until the butter melts and the herbs are fragrant - about 5 mins. At this point you should realize just how amazing this meal/appetizer will be - 12 cloves of garlic and a stick of butter?? How can you go wrong, really.

Toss the shrimp, Worcestershire sauce, salt, paprika, and cayenne together in a bowl. Add to the skillet along with sherry and transfer to the oven. Bake until the shrimp turn pink and curl, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with lemon wedges and lots of bread for sopping up the sauce.

I made this as one of the appetizers for Glenn's finer things, and I kid you not, I ran upstairs to get a spoon of some sort, and by the time I was back the entire thing was gone! Your guests will love it as an appetizer, or you can make it for 2 or 3 and serve it with a side salad for a (kind of) light meal. Just keep the sopping up of sauce to a minimum if you are counting calories, and you're set!

Now on to the 'how to keep a man happy' part of the post. It was Glenn's birthday a few weeks ago and I threw him a birthday party. I had every intention of making two birthday cakes, one in the shape of a castle and one a multiple layered confection dream.

Sometimes intentions are not that realistic. Especially when you have a friend staying with you and you all decide to go to lunch together, and then you realize you haven't even bought any of the food you are preparing for 20 people in 2 hours. Woops.

So what's a girl to do when her husband needs an awesome birthday cake and she has no time to make said cake? A good cook never tells her secrets. Just look at that happy face, whatever I did, it obviously worked.

Fried Green Tomatoes and Other Southern Specials

In summer wrap-up post I mentioned our trip to Atlanta, a place I had not been before. The purpose/excuse for going on the trip was a "work-thing" Glenn had to attend for Chick-fil-A. Seeing as a favorite friend of ours lives in Atlanta and her boyfriend also happens to be Glenn's boss, we figured this would be a good excuse for all of us to go!

Glenn was scheduled to land about 2 hours before me, but the plan was for him to just wait at the airport and then the two of us would take a cab to the Dwarf House, where Matt and Jessica would be waiting (did I mention that Jessica did not know we were coming? She likes surprises, or so we decided). The two hour difference turned into 5 because United is just that good at delaying flights. When I finally hopped off the plane I was ready to eat a horse, and really ready to be out of the airport.

We headed to The Original Dwarf House at about 2 a.m. and it was quite the experience. They served things I didn't think existed. It was everything you hear about a down home Southern place. Picture this: chicken nuggets, smothered in gravy, topped with cheese. For real. My arteries cried out in agony but I had to have at least two bites. Come on, I was in the South!

One of my few culinary demands for while we were in Atlanta was to try fried green tomatoes. Ever since I saw the movie I felt like they would be good. I also felt like they should not have let Chris O'Donnell die. Don't you think they could have lived happily ever after and still come up with some good drama to keep us watching for an hour?

We tried fried green tomatoes at two different locations. The ones pictured above were my favorites. They had (what else?) goat cheese!! and caramelized, spiced pecans on top. I think I might try to re-create the recipe at home with the heirlooms I saw at Vons last week. Be watching for that post...




Other Southern specialties included - fried chicken with grits (which I never thought I liked, but I tried some of Jessica's and it was delicious!), a loaded baked potato with LOTS of BBQ pork and American cheese (the only negative) and this fantastic shrimp/gumbo/grits thing that had the perfect blend of spice and fat.



All in all, a successful first trip to Atlanta, I would say.

What I'm Eating Right Now

Reduced fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich and a passion iced tea with no sweetener in my amazing new tumbler.

It's Friday!

Summer Magic

Has anyone seen that movie? Summer Magic? A Disney and Kalleberg classic. Come to think of it, I might watch it after I finish this post. Call me if you want to come over. I have popcorn.

To all my foodie friends, forgive this post for being not entirely (or really at all) about food. This is more of a post about "why I was lame and didn't blog all summer" as well as a "look at these silly photos of my friends" type of thing.

The summer started the last weekend of May with Blake and Jenna's wedding. Lovely day, fun taco bar, lego cake toppers, and my super stud of a man wearing a kilt. Here are Kim, Sheri and I at the reception.


The day ended in an even more amusing way: me drinking a cosmo alone at the bar of California Pizza Kitchen while one friend with the initials AC raced down the freeway to meet me. 18 olives, a couple martinis, and a huge bucket of buttered popcorn later - we were enjoying all the raunch that was Sex and The City - The Movie. (Don't worry, Mom, I closed my eyes and/or squealed "gross!" at the nasty parts.) All in all, a good start to the warmest season.



Next came a hoard of visitors - the first of which was my middlest sister Kimberly. She went to China so I drove her to LAX and, clearly, we had to stop by Sprinkles.



In the middle of all of the summer madness, Glenn and I became aunt and uncle for the 2nd time! This time to twins! This is Maddie the day she was born. She is still in the hospital but we know she will get to go home soon.



During Kimberly's visit I managed to win tickets to Sea World! Our former stomping ground, it was fun to visit and test out the new night-time shows.



Our 2nd set of visitors came in for the 1st week of July and spent the 4th with us. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at C Level, waved hello to friends on their way to Island Prime (lucky ducks!) and then watched what is now my favorite 4th of July fireworks show in a city other than DC.



A couple of days after this came my first panic attack. Soooooo fun. You should all have one. Nope, not really. Awful. The wost experience in life ever. Couldn't stand up straight without feeling like I was going to puke/fall over for 4 days. Genuinely thought I was going to die. Not ok. Has made for some funny jokes, but that's about the extent of its blessing. Unfortunately there are no panic pictures. Ask Glenn if you want him to describe the events of the evening to you.

Next came Sheri's shower which I was honored to throw! I am co-matron of honor for my best friend since childhood Sheri's wedding and was really so excited to throw her a party and try to demonstrate all she means to me. Here are a couple detail shots.




In the middle of all of this, or maybe before, my favorite friend in high school, Adam Day Desjardins, and his lovely wife Danielle moved to Michigan. We sent them off in style by eating at Fuddruckers. Mmm.



With everyone out of the house and Glenn slaving away as the new General Manager (woo-hoo!) it was time for me to go on vacation! My 2nd year crashing the Dentt family party at Lake Powell and this time was even more fun than last year. The only thing missing was Glenn, but his absence made for some great times with Julie - we even jumped off a cliff! This is the landscape shot I am most proud of from my time there. I'm no photographer, but I like the way this one turned out.



Next item on the agenda: another vacation without Glenn. I'm spoiled, I know. I took Amtrak up to Santa Barbara to visit these kooks! We swam, ate, walked around the block, hit the town, gabbed until the wee hours, and discussed the benefits of buying cereal at Vons when it's on sale. Who knew it got so low? Roger isn't in the picture because he was busy tearing a tree down with his bare hands or something equally intimidating. Thank you, Sandra, for always being a good friend.



Now that this post has turned into a senior year yearbook shout out page...

Another wedding! This was a stellar party thrown by Matt and Jenny where we ate and drank the MOST terrific food and mixed drinks - honestly phenomenal. The craziest part about this day: I got off the train in Irvine from Santa Barbara, where Glenn and Jason were supposed to be waiting for me. 2 hours later we finally found each other, all of us famished. We scarfed some burgers at Red Robin, then ran into Barnes and Noble where they changed into suits and I did my hair, make up, brushed my teeth, put my contacts in, and squeezed myself into a strapless dress and heels. Cute. No really, I was. It's amazing what a little mascara can do to a girl that never wears make up.



The night of Matt and Jenny's wedding I started feeling a little tickle in my throat. Thinking it had to be the night air/cigar smoke/4th cocktail, I ignored it. And then I got a 102 fever two days later (wouldn't have known I had a fever if my parents weren't visiting at the time which gave my Mom the opportunity to buy me an Elmo thermometer while Dad picked up a burger for me from In N Out) and the WORST cold/flu I have ever had.

Did I mention I had a non-refundable flight to Georgia the next day? I brought the black plague to the South and really liked it (Atlanta, not the plague). We surprised Jess, even though Twitter and Glenn almost ruined it (grrr), got to meet some lovely new people, and ate wonderful food all over town. I can't wait to go back when I'm not sick. Here is a favorite picture of mine from the trip - Glenn and Jessica at the World of Coke sampling the nastiest soda ever. I think it was like sparkling asparagus or something horrid like that.



Well, I think this post was long enough to make up for my 2 month absence. Hope your summer was as splenderrific as mine!

MIA

I have been out of commission for over a month, but that stops tonight.
Get ready for some serious summer updates!
In the meantime - here are two fun pictures from this weekend's events: Sheri's bachelorette party!
~MP&M