After almost a year and a half of ownership, I'm proud to say that I finally used one of my kitchen appliances for the very first time: my food processor.
I was intimidated by its sheer heft (probably equal to the Kitchenaid mixer if not heavier) as well as its many attachments. I opened the accompanying box with its many blades and add-ons and thought (somewhat morbidly) that it looked like some kind of torture kit that bad guys bring out in movies when they want the tied-up good guy to tell them THEIR SECRETS. Anywho, I made this chicken curry recipe last night and chopped up the chicken marinade with the processor. If I was a big salsa-eater, I might use this machine every day. But then I'd have to haul it out of the credenza... I guess I could always use some exercise.
Showing posts with label home life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home life. Show all posts
Hey Internet
So... Mark and I finally got our own Internet at home. No more thieving from our neighbors! (Linksys - you were oh so generous when we could get your signal... too bad you had to get all finicky and non-committal with us.)
Now I can finally check our bank account and everything else financial from home instead of waiting to do it at work - I can check our balance during weekends! The luxury!
All the set-up stuff (Internet from a box!) was delivered on Friday and since I was actually off work due to Mark's sister's wedding that evening, I signed for it and saved it from the you-weren't-here-to-sign-for-this-so-you-must-visit-these-locations-during-ludicrous-business-hours-or-else-you'll-never-see-it-again bowels of FedEx or UPS or whoever actually made the delivery.
Now we're addicted - we can actually stream Netflix and Hulu again and watch as many movie trailers as we want. See what you've done, Comcast... the monsters have been reborn.
Now I can finally check our bank account and everything else financial from home instead of waiting to do it at work - I can check our balance during weekends! The luxury!
All the set-up stuff (Internet from a box!) was delivered on Friday and since I was actually off work due to Mark's sister's wedding that evening, I signed for it and saved it from the you-weren't-here-to-sign-for-this-so-you-must-visit-these-locations-during-ludicrous-business-hours-or-else-you'll-never-see-it-again bowels of FedEx or UPS or whoever actually made the delivery.
Now we're addicted - we can actually stream Netflix and Hulu again and watch as many movie trailers as we want. See what you've done, Comcast... the monsters have been reborn.
Weekending
Some thoughts from the weekend.
1. Mark and Melanie and I went to our friend’s rugby game this weekend. Everything I’ve learned about rugby has been gleaned from the movie “Invictus”, which means I had next to no clue what was going on during the game. I told my friend Maile that her new goal is to teach me about rugby! (She played in college).
2. I tend to be a solitary creature. I like to do things by myself and figure things out on my own. I normally include running in my “alone” time (I think I’ve only run twice with a partner) but took a chance and invited a friend to run with me this weekend. Turns out I really enjoyed it! I didn’t have to listen to my “Running” playlist of the same 26 songs and keep myself occupied because Claire did that for me. Plus it was a gorgeous day and it’s always better to share gorgeous days with others, right? Now if I can only get Mark to like running…
3. We watched “The Amazing Race” last night and I decided that my brother and I might have a decent shot at getting on the show. They like sibling teams, and the twin factor is appealing. Could I actually do the challenges? That’s a different story.
4. Speaking of TV, our guilty pleasure started a new season last night: "The Celebrity Apprentice". There’s just something about watching B-list celebrities running around and trying to complete business challenges that is very appealing to us. Sharon Osbourne is on this season and did not disappoint – very funny and extremely irreverent. Plus, Bret Michaels was surprisingly lucid. I guess I thought he’d be stoned the whole time.
1. Mark and Melanie and I went to our friend’s rugby game this weekend. Everything I’ve learned about rugby has been gleaned from the movie “Invictus”, which means I had next to no clue what was going on during the game. I told my friend Maile that her new goal is to teach me about rugby! (She played in college).
2. I tend to be a solitary creature. I like to do things by myself and figure things out on my own. I normally include running in my “alone” time (I think I’ve only run twice with a partner) but took a chance and invited a friend to run with me this weekend. Turns out I really enjoyed it! I didn’t have to listen to my “Running” playlist of the same 26 songs and keep myself occupied because Claire did that for me. Plus it was a gorgeous day and it’s always better to share gorgeous days with others, right? Now if I can only get Mark to like running…
3. We watched “The Amazing Race” last night and I decided that my brother and I might have a decent shot at getting on the show. They like sibling teams, and the twin factor is appealing. Could I actually do the challenges? That’s a different story.
4. Speaking of TV, our guilty pleasure started a new season last night: "The Celebrity Apprentice". There’s just something about watching B-list celebrities running around and trying to complete business challenges that is very appealing to us. Sharon Osbourne is on this season and did not disappoint – very funny and extremely irreverent. Plus, Bret Michaels was surprisingly lucid. I guess I thought he’d be stoned the whole time.
A very urban birthday
Friday was a day filled with birthday wishes and one very unfortunate surprise - our car was broken into during the previous night and the thieves stole Mark's work laptop and our iPod Touch, leaving behind a mess of broken glass. Mark parked in our house's garage behind the house, which he rarely does, which must have seemed more inviting to the car-prowling sort. Though we very much miss our iPod Touch, we're grateful it was only the car and not the apartment. The window has since been fixed but the invasion of privacy will take a little longer to get over.
Our car, sitting innocuously in the carport/garage behind our house.
They smashed in the passenger window.
So much glass!
The silver lining - Mark's jacket was in the back seat but they didn't take it, which means they didn't take our tickets to the 8 p.m. showing of "Chicago" at the Paramount. The show was absolutely incredible - of all the shows I've seen in Seattle, "Chicago" tops them in terms of talent. Every cast member was an outstanding dancer and the show was highly entertaining. It was a fun way to celebrate the day and take our minds off the car. Thanks Mark!
Back burner-ing it up
I'm the queen of the back burner. If I have a task to complete but it doesn't require my immediate attention, it will reside in the back of my mind for months until I'm suddenly confronted by it and forced to act. Some examples:
- A button popped off a coat of mine in December and I haven't worn it since then. The sad part is that I do still have the button.
- I have a "stain" pile of clothes that I need to treat and soak. The pile is growing. UPDATE: I just bought a Tide pen, which has turned out to work miracles! Incredible!
- A pair of earrings require a simple super glue fix but I haven't touched them in a year.
Summer of 2005, back when I first got my glasses. Amanda and me :)
Crocheting: baby booties
I found a pattern for baby booties online and I finally got to try it out tonight. My first attempt wasn't so hot but I figured out my mistakes and got better the next time around!
Try #1. It didn't work so well. Clearly, a change was necessary.
Try #2. Definitely getting better!
Try #3. I could make one bootie but could I replicate it? I think these look pretty similar. Fun! Also, I think these are more like toddler booties instead of baby booties... unless your baby has really big feet.
Sayonara to the holidays
All good things must come to an end, so we said goodbye to our noble fir yesterday. He was a good tree, even if he shed all over the floor.
Our cute glass Christmas tree
Look closely and you can see me
From the bottom up
Homemade teriyaki sauce
Before my elementary/middle/high school moved to its new building in west Greeley, it used to be down the street from a restaurant called Teriyaki Bowl. I'm sure the place broke all kinds of health codes but it was sure delicious.
I came to Seattle in 2003 and was introduced to a teriyaki joint in Belltown called Mom's Teriyaki, a hole-in-the-wall sorta place that you only find by accident. I've tried to find other teriyaki places with sauce that equals Mom's but haven't been successful. Then my friend Melanie's brother came to town and taught us how to make our own teriyaki sauce! Since I learned, I haven't been able to use storebought sauce. Sometimes it's just more fun to make it yourself.
Homemade teriyaki sauce:
I came to Seattle in 2003 and was introduced to a teriyaki joint in Belltown called Mom's Teriyaki, a hole-in-the-wall sorta place that you only find by accident. I've tried to find other teriyaki places with sauce that equals Mom's but haven't been successful. Then my friend Melanie's brother came to town and taught us how to make our own teriyaki sauce! Since I learned, I haven't been able to use storebought sauce. Sometimes it's just more fun to make it yourself.
Homemade teriyaki sauce:
- Whisk together equal parts of honey, sake, and soy sauce in a small saucepan or skillet. I usually use half a cup or a whole cup of each ingredient, depending on how many we're feeding.
- Grate about a teaspoon of fresh ginger into the mixture and bring to a low boil.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes, skimming off any foam that comes to the top.
- Remove the sauce for the burner and let it thicken for a few minutes.
- Serve as an accompaniment to rice or as a marinade for your choice of meat. Our favorite is salmon!
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...
We didn't get the tree decorated until Saturday which turned out to be a blessing because we returned to the apartment Friday night to discover the tree on the floor! Actually, I had a dream last night where the tree was close to tipping again. I must have Christmas trees on my mind.
We left the chairs around it for a while to determine if it was leaning.
I know this is kind of dark but you get the point!
Tree time
Last night, we decided to revisit the tree lot in Laurelhurst where we got our tree last year and were dismayed to find only noble firs at $11 per foot. This was definitely out of our price range and a little outrageous to Mark, who grew up in Portland where you can find excellent trees for $15. In my mind, we had two options.
Option 1: Stick with the noble and get a 4-foot tree. At least it would be easy to decorate.
Option 2: Home Depot
We asked the owner why the trees were so expensive and he told us that they were just cut yesterday and the nobles were always a little pricier. Mark mentioned that we had gotten a douglas fir at his lot for around $40 last year and asked what we could get for a similar price. To my surprise, the owner was completely cooperative and showed us four trees that he would sell us for $40. A couple of the trees were discounted for good reason – one tree looked like it was missing an entire row of branches. It would take some clever decorating to hide a hole of that size! Out of the bunch, we did end up picking a 7-foot noble that had sufficient branch coverage and stood straight. Mark was able to borrow his company’s SUV so we could easily strap it to the rack and get it home.
We don’t have any decorations on it yet but the tree is in its stand and waiting for some Christmas love! And it sure makes the house smell great!
Option 1: Stick with the noble and get a 4-foot tree. At least it would be easy to decorate.
Option 2: Home Depot
We asked the owner why the trees were so expensive and he told us that they were just cut yesterday and the nobles were always a little pricier. Mark mentioned that we had gotten a douglas fir at his lot for around $40 last year and asked what we could get for a similar price. To my surprise, the owner was completely cooperative and showed us four trees that he would sell us for $40. A couple of the trees were discounted for good reason – one tree looked like it was missing an entire row of branches. It would take some clever decorating to hide a hole of that size! Out of the bunch, we did end up picking a 7-foot noble that had sufficient branch coverage and stood straight. Mark was able to borrow his company’s SUV so we could easily strap it to the rack and get it home.
We don’t have any decorations on it yet but the tree is in its stand and waiting for some Christmas love! And it sure makes the house smell great!
Taking on the turkey
Thanksgiving turkeys are the territory of women who have long traversed the culinary world and can offer proof that they indeed know what they are doing. They baste with a steady hand, insert the thermometer in the meatiest section, and season with confidence. I am a newcomer to the actual preparation of this Thanksgiving tradition, nothing but a Padawan learner who must rely on her Jedi masters for guidance.
Because this Padawan didn’t even know what “place the turkey skin side up” meant.
I took my first steps toward this culinary tradition last night. The gobbler was a seven-pound bone-in turkey breast, big enough to qualify as a hefty undertaking by a newbie but not massive. I picked a recipe that took the least amount of time to make – two hours of roasting would give me just enough time if I got off work early and started immediately. My recipe didn’t tell me to cover the turkey from the beginning so the turkey started browning absurdly early. I called a couple of turkey experts and ended up covering the turkey with foil and moving it down a rack in the oven.
Me: “What does “skin side up” mean? I mean, apart from the obvious.”
Wendy: “Umm… it means the obvious.”
Me: “But… what does that mean?”
Wendy: “Think of how you see it in pictures and magazines – that’s what it should look like.”
Me: “Ohh… good.”
Two hours went by but the turkey was definitely NOT done. An extra hour and an additional 25 degrees did the trick though, and we did finally serve our turkey.
So what did I learn?
1. Make sure the turkey is thoroughly defrosted. I think this is where I messed up – I bought the turkey exactly 24 hours before I put it in the oven, and I don’t think that was enough time.
2. Ensure you have an instant-read thermometer to test the turkey. I thought we had one but I was wrong, and we had to make do with a candy thermometer.
3. Keep the turkey experts on speed dial.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Pictures of the apartment
As promised a month ago: pictures of the apartment! It hasn't been fully decorated yet... we're still trying to figure out what to put in the built-in shelving above the fireplace so it doesn't look like a shrine to the Seymours or a resting place for our diplomas. I love our big picture windows.

I just realized that the flash lit up our street signs... the one on the left says Edgar Street and the one on the right says Eastlake Avenue. And they were procured legally.

Here's our kitchen. It lacks a central light minus the ones over the stove, so I think we're going to put in track lighting above the cabinets.

Our dining room, complete with area rug.

This is the office nook that we try to tell everyone about but can't really explain. It really is an office in a closet. You could close the doors and no one would know. There's even a window in it, which you can't see in this shot.

Our credenza separates the living room area from the dining area.

The hallway leading back to our room and the spare bedroom ("Spare Oom").

If you come stay with us, here's your room!
When you enter our apartment, you're greeted by this little bar. I'm a drop-and-go kind of girl, so it's a daily struggle to keep the clutter off the counter. A radiator sits underneath the bar, and sometimes Mark and I just stand at the bar, drink our wine and talk. The radiators are great because they give off so much heat, but they do tend to remind me of the dorms (Hill Hall anyone?)
This is one of the bathrooms. The clawfoot tub is to the right; I couldn't really get it in the shot.
This is the other bathroom, which is equipped with slow-to-action fluorescent lights. A friend summed it up: "Was it my imagination or did it get brighter in there the longer the light was on?"
I just realized that the flash lit up our street signs... the one on the left says Edgar Street and the one on the right says Eastlake Avenue. And they were procured legally.
Here's our kitchen. It lacks a central light minus the ones over the stove, so I think we're going to put in track lighting above the cabinets.
Our dining room, complete with area rug.
This is the office nook that we try to tell everyone about but can't really explain. It really is an office in a closet. You could close the doors and no one would know. There's even a window in it, which you can't see in this shot.
Our credenza separates the living room area from the dining area.
The hallway leading back to our room and the spare bedroom ("Spare Oom").
If you come stay with us, here's your room!
This bedroom does double duty as our TV room.
One year
Mark and I get to celebrate our first ever one-year wedding anniversary on Sunday. I know everyone says this, but I can’t believe a year has passed already. Yet it feels like plenty has happened since we celebrated with everyone and took off for Belize. A new small group formed out of our old group, and it has been amazing to see our friend’s lives changing as they experience God’s faithfulness. The change in small groups and the passage of time have brought a change in our friends group too. Friends have moved away from Seattle and new ones have arrived. We’ve traded our first apartment together for another one, although we still have the keys to the old place (and just last night rescued Mark’s bike from the walkway where we left it). We have more bills (hello Netflix) but have thankfully kept our jobs. Maybe I CAN believe a year has gone by. And I hear it just goes by faster the longer you live…
Shout-out to the movers
We moved this weekend and we'd like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped: Mark's parents, Kelly, Wendy and Gerald, Brian, Claire and Sam. We could not have done it without you guys and we are so grateful! Sorry about the stairs... ideally we would have been able to park in the front but we had to park in the alley behind the house which meant a three-story climb. You were all troopers and I hope you're not too sore today.
We'll post pictures when we clean things up a bit. Thanks again!
We'll post pictures when we clean things up a bit. Thanks again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)










