Old goals met

Here are some goals from my list that I met a while ago.

Use the picnic basket. We got a fantastic picnic basket as a shower gift and used it last summer at an Andrew Bird concert at the NC Art Museum. The site was fantastic,and we had brought an orzo, feta, mixed greens, and chicken salad. I was LVP (opposite of MVP) and forgot the bottle of wine we wanted to bring. Then it started raining during the opening act (Mavis Staples) and only got worse. This was the fourth time I'd seen Andrew Bird, and it would have been fantastic in better weather. We left early, soaking wet, but the picnic cooler was fantastic.

Foster s cat. I volunteer at a cat cshelter in Raleigh and had wanted to foster a cat for a long time. This involves taking care of a cat who needs a little extra time to get socialized and become comfortable in a house. I brought home Kyra Sedgewick, a silver grey tabby. She was a fantastic cat to foster. She hated the shelter and wasn't really comfortable around other cats. We kept her in a separate room and spent time with her every day. She did great with the dog and one cat, but one of the resident cats hated her. I got a great idea of what she would be like in a house, and she got adopted after she returned to the shelter by a woman who adores her. Our last foster experience (due to Kitty), but a happy ending.

Leftovers

As part of a company holiday gift, Jeremy got a coupon for a Butterball turkey. We could have cashed it in during the holidays and gotten a 40 lb bird for free, but we waited and got a much more manageable 15 lb breast. We roasted it on Thursday and dealt with leftovers today. First up - turkey tetrazzini. Patricia inspired me to break out our pasta maker, so we used fresh egg noodles for that. This was the first time we had ever successfully made pasta - will definitely make again. Then, a turkey chili. It smells delicious, but lunch tomorrow will tell for sure. The kitchen was super busy today and we ran the dishwasher several times. Totally worth it!

Dressed up for Halloween

I promise Sanford is more handsome that this would lead you to believe. He's ready to perform mountain rescue missions!

Brewery tour

This was written quite some time ago....
One of my goals was to visit a new brewery. There are so many fantastic breweries in the Triangle area, and we have visited quite a few: Triangle Brewing Company, Fullsteam, Bull City Burger and Brewery, and Big Boss. There was a (relatively) recent deal on a local deal site for a tour, growler, two pint glasses, and a 22 oz bottle at Aviator Brewery way out in Fuquay-Varina, so we snapped it up. We redeemed it this past week. As far as brewery tours go, it was pretty standard - here is where we boil stuff together, here is where we store it, here is where we bottle it, etc. (Except they don't really bottle and are working on getting a canner up and on line.) Super disappointed that there weren't more (any) free samples. Also, it was very hot and we had to wait a long time for the tour. Did I mention the brewery was an hour away? And that there were tornado warnings near our house while we were gone? We were worried about Sanford and didn't want to drink much when we had an hour long drive ahead of us. Anyway, the Hog Wild IPA is delicious, the Hot Rod Red is debatable (Jeremy likes it, I don't), and the Octoberbeast was pretty good. We will definitely take home some six-packs of the the IPA when it shows up in stores.

TV

Jeremy and I really enjoy getting caught up in good TV and following our favorite shows. Before we got married, Jeremy bought me the entire series of The Wire, and I watched seasons 1-4. I have a thing about watching all episodes of a series that has ended - it's like if I don't watch it all then it isn't really over. Other examples: Battlestar Galactica (Jeremy made me watch the final season, but there are still episodes from the first season I haven't seen) and Friday Night Lights (likewise, I haven't seen the entire first season even though I own it). We recently found ourselves without any new episodes of any favorite shows to watch (no thanks to Dish Network for dropping AMC), and we went back and watched the entire Wire series. How this show never won any awards is beyond me. The writing and acting are incredible, and there are others all over the internet who can better praise the show's virtues. One of the things that really struck me on the second watching of the 4th season was how difficult that particular season is to enjoy. The main storyline takes place within a public middle school in Baltimore, and in the words of my sister, you better not get attached to any characters.

I wrote the above paragraph several months ago and never published it. After switching from Dish we got three free months of all the premium channels on demand and glutted ourselves on Homeland, Game of Thrones, and Boardwalk Empire. Love, love, love. We've got one season of Boardwalk left, and Justified starts back up this month. Excellent entertainment for the new year!

Sewing Goals

When I wrote out the goal to sew an item of clothing, I had no idea I'd be so pleased with the result. I am a competent seamstress, but my sewing projects are mainly for the home (curtains, pillows, dog bed, etc.). I had an idea for a tunic to wear with shorts or skinny jeans. I found the fabric at a quilt store and adjusted a pattern I found to get the right torso and arm length. I'd never made anything with sleeves before, so that was a big challenge. I love the result and I get complimented whenever I wear it. Jeremy calls it my Mad Men shirt - the colors are much more vibrant in person.

I have a related goal of sewing something for the home, so I'll update here when I cross that one off the list.

Running

Next up on the goal list - run a race longer than 5k. I'm pretty sure that when I wrote out this goal I intended that the race be run without stopping, but I think the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh counts for this. I had wanted to do this race since I first heard about it many years ago. This past year the race was a little longer than it had been in the past - the course was 5 miles. Competitors were considered to have completed the "Challenge" if they crossed the finish line in under an hour. No problem, right? The only catch - you ran by the Krispy Kreme store at mile 2.5 and had to eat a dozen donuts. Then keep running. I was pretty happy with my result - 7 donuts and a time of 59 minutes. Jeremy walked the course with some friends of ours - he ate 8 donuts. We were supposed to travel to Davidson for a game later that afternoon but ended up spending the day on the couch in sugar comas. My goal is to eat all 12 donuts and finish in an hour next year - digestive system be damned.

I also ran the inaugural Ninja Challenge in Fuquay-Varina this summer. The running part was 5k but I feel like this race counted for more since it included (in part) monkey bars, a balance beam, running through water, using a rope to climb up a seriously slanted surface (followed by jumping into a dumpster full of muddy water - at which point I felt like I was dying), climbing a cargo net, and throwing ninja stars. It was a ton of fun, but I doubt I would do it again unless I had someone to do it with.

Next up, domestic goals...

Goals

About seven years ago I sat down and started a list of about 30 things I wanted to do in the next five years or so. Some of them I did (learned to can), some I haven't (take a trip to Memphis). Inspired by my sister's list, I made a new list of 53 things I would like to do in the near future. I'd like to use this blog as a way to keep up with what I've done - some of these things are worth sharing! My next few posts are going to be dedicated to the goals I've met/things I've done.

Here are some simple ones:

First up, one of the goals was to get this blog useable by deleting all of the wedding pictures hogging up space on my google account. Done!

Next, I wanted to deal with my wrist. During the last phases of my dissertation I developed a nasty case of carpal tunnel. When I wrote out my goals, my wrist was really bothering me - I couldn't type, do yoga, grip with my right hand, etc. It resolved itself as soon as I moved on to a new job and computer. Yay for meeting a goal without actually taking action!

Next up, sewing and running...

Dye job

My sister and mom have spent the summer working on some clothing reconstruction projects. Their creativity inspired me to tackle a project that's been sitting in my closet for months. I have a white cotton shirt with some persistent brown stains on the collar. Make-up? Endangered sea turtle blood? Who knows? The shirt isn't one of my favorites, but it's a good layering piece and it's work-appropriate. Enter fabric dye.

I picked a light blue, but probably should have gone darker to completely cover the spots. They are still visible if you look close, but no one at work needs to be that close to my neck. I don't have any before pictures - just use your imagination. Not bad for a $3 investment and an hour of a Saturday morning. Success!

Menus

I wrote this about a year ago and thought it was lost. Imagine my surprise when I downloaded this blogger app and found some posts about dinner. Since I first wrote this I've become more comfortable with writing in my cookbooks, so I have a better record-keeping system now. Anyway, here's a post I wrote last year....
I've been thinking about how best to record the meals we cook so that we have a record of what we've done and how well it's worked. Then I remembered I had a blog. How handy!
Saturday - smoked a beer-marinated brisket. Not great. Of the things we've cooked in the smoker, this is definitely the least favoriite. We had this with baked potatoes and maybe a vegetable..
Sunday - church dinner, no cooking
Monday - grilled a London broil marinated with mom's recipe. Served with steamed broccoli and twice baked potatoes left over from Saturday. Mixed the potatoes with milk, butter, sour cream, and cheese. A little bacon added for deliciousness. I also baked a loaf of French bread from a cookbook Jeremy's mom gave me for my birthday - it turned out beautifully.
Tuesday - White beans with tomatoes, oregano, and feta from a Ted Allen cookbook I picked up at a Borders closing sale. I adapted it a bit and Jeremy grilled some chicken breasts until they were almost done. I sliced them and finished cooking them in the beans. Had this with the leftover French bread.
Wednesday - chicken parm from the Ted Allen book. It was super good and we had it with pasta. I was going to cook a vegetable, but I burned my hand in the process of making the chicken and gave up on cooking for the night. Still delicious.
Thursday - I was trying to make a dinner that didn't require a trip to the grocery. We had eggs and potatoes that needed to be eaten, so I made a potato and bacon quiche. I kind of made up the recipe, but it turned out great. Had this with a salad.
Friday - we had a thawed pork loin in the fridge, so I wanted to try a new recipe for carnitas.

Pillow talk at the Trantham household

Scene: Last night

Me: I would get a fire-breathing unicorn.
J: No. You can only have real animals. So, either a unicorn or a fire-breathing horse.
Me: But what if I had both and mated them?
J: No. Do you know what that makes?
Me: A fire-breathing unicorn?
J: A mule.
Me: ???
J: Do you know what happens when two unicorns mate?
Me: ???
J: Erik Estrada.

(Hi! I got married and got a dog - things have been busy.)

Fairest of the foul

Look who caught a foul ball! Last season he caught a tshirt from Wool
- E - Bull's hot dog gun, but this year it's the real deal. And done
with a beer in one hand! My future husband is the best.

News!

Is this terribly tacky, with the Facebook? I couldn't decide and it's time for bed. Regardless, we are ridiculously excited.

Foulest of the Fowl, Part 2

Two weekends ago, Jeremy and I took a mini-vacation to the Outer Banks. The hotel lobby housed a fancy-looking bird named Sabrina, and a sign near her cage indicated that she loved people but that she would bite. I walked over to her to say hi and she lifted up one leg and leaned toward me. Wondering if she wanted to walk out onto my arm, I held out my arm and she hopped on. Jeremy snapped some pictures while she walked up and down my arm. After he had documented my bird encounter, he headed toward the local brochure display and left me alone with Sabrina.

She started nibbling on my knuckles, which was kind of cute and tickled a little. I then made a fist so that she wouldn't have any skin to latch on to. She was not pleased with this development and promptly leaned over the side of my hand and bit the side of my first finger. Clamped is probably a better word, because she kept holding on, no matter how much I moved my hand or tried to pull away. I got her to walk from my arm back onto her cage, but she was still attached to my hand. I was too shocked to call for Jeremy to come help me (but I'm not sure what he would have done but laugh - can't say I blame him). After a few minutes, it became clear she had no intention of letting go - she kept licking the bit of finger she had trapped in her mouth - maybe I tasted good. I started pulling my hand away as hard as I could, and she gripped the bars of her cage with her claws and pulled in the opposite direction. You can imagine what happened next - let's just say there was some blood shed.

After I had cleaned up my hand and found Jeremy, we had to walk by her cage to get to the exit. As we walked by she started talking and lifted out her leg towards me. Nice try, bird, but I learned my lesson.

Foulest of the fowl - Part 1

A few weeks ago, when I was on NC State's campus I noticed tents and farm equipment in the main quad. It was Agriculture Awareness Week, and student groups had brought farm animals and tractors to show off. They had sheep, goats, cows, baby ducks, pigs, and chickens. I was taking some pictures and got a little too close to this guy. He came up to the fence right after I took this picture and gave me a nip on the finger. I was shocked more than hurt and walked away laughing.
Part Two of my fowl encounters occured this past weekend and involved more hurt and less shock. I'll post the story and a picture of the perpetrator soon.

Blast from the past

In class tonight the professor passed around an article written by a woman with a familiar-sounding name. I ran through all the ways I might know of her - had I read something of hers before? Is she affiliated with UNC?
It took me a while, but I finally figured it out. Her name? Karen Brewer

PSA

Yes, I'm still around. I've got some posts in my head and I may try to
do some more posts from my phone since that's pretty easy. Anyway, as
a frequent user of Census data I couldn't pass up the opportunity to
say how happy I am to get to fill it out this year. I was kind of
hoping to get the long form but no such luck.

NaBloPoMo Day 12

Hutchinson is a new cat at the shelter who came from a breeder turned hoarder. She had about 40 purebred American Shorthairs who have been coming through the shelter. Hutchinson has a defect in his jaw that doesn't allow him to completely close his mouth - hence the tongue that constantly hangs out. He's pretty funny - how could you ever frown with this guy around?

NaBloPoMo Day 11

William is entirely displeased with his current living situation
downstairs. He can't wait until everything is put back together. Me
too, buddy.

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/faq/htm/willy.htm

NaBloPoMo Day 10

Round-Up

Eating: Vegetable Soup. I had to break in my freshly cleaned (but still a mess) kitchen with a good, fall meal. I make vegetable soup in a two-part process - first I make a pot roast and then use the juices and meat in the soup. This batch had crushed tomatoes and tomato juice from canning camp this summer, corn from Kentucky, and limas from a local farm. It's always extra nice to be able to cook with local produce and ingredients you helped make.

Watching: Swoopo. I'm kind of fascinated by this online auction site. Jeremy got a phenomenal deal on a laptop and some of the sales are unbelievable. Watching some of the auctions is kind of like watching the weather channel - you get sucked in and can't help but watch.

Loving: The fact that Miss Doxie is back. She is hilarious and was much missed during the year that she disappeared. She has fantastic stories about her crazy dogs (I cannot tell you how often I think to myself "Gimme that ugly dog") and has recently acquired a crazy cat.