Saturday Pictures

Here are some pictures from our Saturday market run in St. Petersburg with Shirley. We bought some cafe con leche and agave and cream cheese pastries for breakfast. It was a beautiful morning and I ended up getting some yummy produce for the rest of the week. Oh and apple cider which I am using for a special dessert so come back letter for a new recipe.

Just another Halloween

I have had such a busy week studying for a test that took 3 1/2 hours of my Thursday night. I know I did my best and feel like I got a B but grades won’t be posted till next week. The waiting always makes it worse but I just keep repeating to myself that I did my best.

On Wednesday, my work invited all co workers kids to trick or treat at the office. Although we didn’t decorate like we did last year it was still fun to see all the kids. I volunteered for 1/2 hour at the craft table. So I helped kids make foam masks and picture frames. I ended up making a pumpkin picture frame that has a magnet on it. It is currently hanging on our fridge.

Last night we watched The Land of the Lost and I just couldn’t get into it. I ended up reading blogs during the middle of it. The funniest part I thought was the Matt Lauer parts.

Today we are picking up Shirley and heading to the St. Pete Saturday morning market. It should be another perfect weather day that calls for Capri's and short sleeves.

Tonight we are watching another movie –Aliens v Monsters. That is our Halloween big night. Sadly I didn’t get any Halloween candy to give out so if anyone shows up at our house they will be getting granola bars. I just hope I don’t get egged because of it!

5 Tag

Diana tagged me and I think I have missed some other tags prior to this so I am taking time to do this one. Sorry if I have missed prior tags to this! I just am crazy with work and school lately. But today besides a annual doctors check up I have the day off to study for a test tonight. It makes it easier when I take a day off to study. A lot less stress makes me a happier person.

5 Things I Don’t Leave The House Without

1. Keys
2. Blackberry
3. Sunglasses (I live in Florida)
4. A Lara bar or other bar in case I get hungry
5. Burt's Bees chap stick (love this stuff)

5 Cartoons I Watched When I Was Younger

1. Gummy Bears
2. Smurfs
3. My little pony
4. Disney movies (obviously my mind is blank of other cartoons)
5. Sponge bob (hey I watched this 5 years ago and I was YOUNGER then)

5 Things That Terrify Me

1. Small spaces crammed with people (elevators and airplanes get me all the time)
2. Walking in the dark back to my car after school
3. Death
4. When people don't know how to drive or drive like maniacs
5. Hurricanes - I live in Florida so of course I get nervous

5 Things I Hate/Dislike That Everyone Else Seems To Like

1. Clutter -I don't like collecting things
2. Snow Skiing - when people hear I am from Utah and hate to ski they are shocked
3. Kids - ok I don't hate them but I don't want my own I will gladly take yours for a couple of hours though
4. Wearing coats and layers of clothes
5. Surprises - I would rather plan and enjoy looking forward to something then being surprised

5 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Swim with Dolphins
2. Travel More
3. Sky Dive
4. Learn to love being still and in the moment
5. Have the corner office with the window view (hopefully of water)

Salmon Patties

I have to share this recipe with you because first of all it easy and second of all it is really good. I can't believe I opened a can of salmon and made it into such a delicious dinner!

Along with the salmon patties, I roasted some sweet potatoes and asparagus. This recipe was adapted from Eating clean magazine. This is not the first time I have loved a recipe from this magazine and I highly recommend it if you are looking for some healthy ideas for dinner.

• Salmon cakes
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 6-oz can salmon packed in water, without bones or skin, drained
• 2 egg whites, whisked
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard (I used regular mustard)
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs ( I used Italian bread crumbs)
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
• For Fruity glaze:
• 1/4 cup no sugar added fruit preserves (strawberry or raspberry works best)
• 1/4 cup water

Saute the onions until they are tender.
In a large bowl, mix together diced onion, salmon, egg whites, Dijon, bread crumbs, carrot and 1 tbsp cilantro. Using your hands form mixture into 4 large patties, each about 4 or 5 inches in diameter.

Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Mist with cooking spray. Place all 4 patties in pan and cook for 2 1/2 minutes (I cooked mine 5 minutes) on each side or until lightly browned. Remove patties from pan and let set for a couple of minutes before serving.

For Fruity Glaze: Combine preserves and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened and warm. Remove from heat and drizzle over patties.

Then for dessert I experimented with a vegan blondie. I can't say it turned out good enough to share so you won't be getting a recipe yet. I added too much whole wheat flour so they are dry but I have some more of this Nasoya Silken creations so I will be giving it another try.

So you may be wondering why vegan? Well I am just experimenting with different things. I know I am from a family of dairy farmers and my grandpa is rolling in is grave as I write this but I just think that those small type of farmers are not where the majority of my cow products are coming from. So I am trying out different things and trying to be more responsible in this world that I live in. I am not becoming vegan 100% of the time - just experimenting with a few things here and there. Oh and I couldn't taste a difference between these chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips - yes they were more expensive so I won't get them all the time but I would get them again if I was cooking for someone with allergies or specific food requests.
The blondies at least looked good! Just too dry for my tastes. I will tweak and get back to you with a better recipe.

Pet Walk 2009

So I forgot my camera for our big walk yesterday which means no photos of all the cute dogs we saw yesterday. Oh well, Bruce did take some pictures with his blackberry so check them out on facebook when you get a chance. Team Sparky raised $255 for the Tampa Bay SPCA! So proud of what we did.

Baking Sunday

I had a great day of baking last Sunday. I baked almost all day because I had a bake sale at work on Tuesday to raise funds for Pet Walk 2009. In between the brownies baking, I roasted a butternet squash, red peppers, and garlic. For dinner, I roasted a speghetti squash following a recipe in "The Vegetable dishes I can't live without". Oh my, this recipe took squash to a whole new level. It was carmelized and oh so good. I will definitely be following this recipe again. Along with the squash, Bruce grilled some steaks and we had Mushroom Pate. It was an amazing dinner.
My bake sale was amazing on Tuesday. I had made toffee brownies, cream cheese brownies, blondies and Raspberry supreme. I sold out and raised $144 for the Tampa Bay SPCA.
Tomorrow I will be doing the walk and hopefully taking a lot of pictures of really cute animals so come back soon!

Saturday Morning Market

Bruce and I went to the Farmer's market this morning down in St. Petersburg. It was such a beautiful morning. Cool enough to enjoy the day but not so cold as to need a jacket. We did some shopping for Christmas and our trip to Utah so I can't show you everything that we purchased but we did buy all these fruits and vegetables for $22. Starting in the upper left hand corner going clockwise you see asparagus, apples, butternut squash, Spaghetti squash, blackberries, pears, fresh ginger, yellow squash, garlic, shallots, zucchini, bananas and peas. I am planning on roasting the butternut and I have a new recipe to try out for the spaghetti squash. So look for new recipes to be coming.

Springpad

I have added all my recipes to Springpad so that I can find them quicker and easier. In case any of you use Springpad or are looking for a simple solution to keep track of yummy recipes that you find on the web. I am still figuring out how to add pictures but I love that you can choose weekly menus and make a shopping list from them.

Very useful tool!

Epcot's Food and Wine Festival

Now comes foodie heaven. Are you ready? I should preface all these pictures that first of all this is not all that Bruce and I ate throughout the day. This is the highlights and our favorites. I didn't even take pictures of everything that we ate. It was so much. I should also state that we shared the plates. I had a goal of getting one of everything but it was so hot so we skipped all of the soups and items that didn't sound appetizing. Since these are personal tastes, please remember that there is a lot more choices at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival and if you don't see something you like here well you still have to go!

Our first stop of the day was New Zealand. We had a lamb slider and a scallop with vegetable slaw. This was a great first start. It was refreshing and the flavors were complex.

My favorite of the day was Ireland. The Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's Pie was amazing. I must figure out how to make this at home. I love Shepherd's Pie but this took it to the next level.

Along with our pie we had Kerrygold cheese selection with Apple Chutney and a warm chocolate lava cake with a Bailey's ganache. This just put me over the edge in love with Ireland. I love lava cakes but the Bailey's ganache added excitement and flavor that was beyond divine. Yes I could go back today and have the same thing and be totally happy.

This next part goes out to my mom and cousin, Greg. Of course we had to stop by the Rio De Janiero booth!

We stopped by at the end of our day and because we were quite full did not try everything. I chose the Grilled pork skewer with Farofa and a Leblon frozen Caipirinha.

Sadly both were a little disappointing. The pork was on the dry side and the Caipirinha is better when made with fresh mint and is on the rocks.

A quick picture of Bruce enjoying the Sam Adams 14th Anniversary Food and Wine Beer special. We loved this light refreshing beer for its hint of orange. Really went well with the hot Florida sun. We even got a bonus by getting the 22 oz - a Epcot food and wine festival souvenir glass.

With the beer we had a lobster roll and crab cake. The lobster was awesome. Cool and refreshing with a ton of lobster. The crab cake was only so so.
In France, I had the Sparkling Pomegranite Kir. Got to love those antioxidants. More please!
The Braised short ribs in Cabernet with mashed potatoes were good for me. Simple and I loved the fact that the ribs were crispy carmelized on the bottem. My husband thought it could use more flavor and I agree you couldn't taste the cabernet so next time add more!
In Argentina, we find my husbands favorite of the day. I do think that this made the best picture. The grilled beef skewer with Chimichurri and Boniato Puree (mashed potatoes) was excellent. Complex flavors and bright happy colors made this a joy to eat. The beef was tender and moist. This booth was a favorite of all and had the longest lines but was so worth it.

We also got the Beef Empanada in Argentina and this was excellent. Crispy shell with flavorful beef on the inside. Just looking at it is making me hungry!

Would I go back to the Food and Wine Festival? YES. Already making plans for next year. It is expensive to have to pay to get into the park and then pay for all the food and drink. But most of the food and the wine was around $4. I felt like the servings were generous on most of the food and sharing with my husband was perfect. Overall experience with the food was excellent but I am not a picky eater - if I didn't like onions I might have an issue as everything is premade and unless you can pick it out you are out of luck.

Tips to survive - when you find a place to sit in the shade sit and relax for a little bit. There is plenty of food and a lot of walking so take your time. Share the food if possible for maximum tasting pleasures. Drink lots of water. Sadly, I did not drink a whole lot of alcohol because I was so worried about dehydration but I tried enough and I wasn't one of those people that passed out on the park bench. Look through the map and decide on three or four booths that are a must. I did this and it helped a lot in deciding what I wanted to try at the other booths. We skipped a lot of booths because we just go too full. Plan on going half way through or till you are full then go back to the rides. By the time you stand in line and explore the other part of the park you have some more room for goodies.

If it is your birthday, wear your happy birthday button. Why not? So many people said happy birthday to me. I felt like I was the princess and why not enjoy it for a day? You are at Disney World don't let sweat, heat, worry, stress get in the way of your enjoyment. If you find yourself starting to let adult worries get in your way just think of your favorite disney song and that should help you get back to the magic place. :)

First gifts and then Epcot

On Saturday October 10th I was lucky and got to start celebrating my birthday a day early. Since we were headed to Orlando for the weekend my husband was kind enough to let me open my presents. My mom sent me aprons made by my great grandmother, grandmother and my mom as well as some yummy cookbooks. I am so excited to start cooking now I just have to go grocery shopping and find some time! Here I am modeling one of the aprons.
Besides the nice new camera my husband got me some new workout socks. They are sweet or should I say no sweat?

After finishing opening presents, we packed up the car and were off to Orlando. Our first stop? Well it was Disney World's Epcot Center!!!! It was our first time to Epcot and Bruce and I are both wondering why it took us so long to go. We will be back sooner rather then later.
We got the usual pictures in front of the Planet Earth ride. You can see the ball most of the time while you in the park which is nice because it helped with directions. We went to Epcot for the food and wine festival. I am splitting my blogs into two. This will contain pictures of the park and rides. My next blog will be all about the food.

The grounds for Epcot were beautiful and well kept. For all the people and all the food that was being consumed, the grounds were in really good shape. This is in the English part of Epcot and I just thought it was a great picture to showcase the landscaping.

Through out the park there were Disney characters. If you look to the right of the green pole you can see Sleeping Beauty in her blue dress kneeling next to a child. I have to say if it weren't for the Disney characters I think most children would think Epcot is very boring. We didn't see that many children but just by all the walking and the theme of this park I believe that children would appreciate other parks so much more.

This is a picture of me as we crossed over into the Italian part of Epcot. Of course Bruce let me have the map and be charge. He was so good to me all day long.

A quick snap of the both of us. Boy was it HOT. Buy this time there was not a single dry area on us. We were having a heat wave in October of unusually hot weather.

We took a break from eating for two rides. The first was the Mission:Space ride. Someone was kind enough to offer to take a picture of Bruce and I. I have no idea what the kid was doing in the background.

Another picture of Mission: Space that I thought was really good and just wanted to show how good I look after sweating for 5 hours.

One last tease to keep you coming back a picture of me in front of the welcome sign for the food and wine festival.

To be continued....

Missing Bruce

Bruce is in Coral Gables (by Miami) till tomorrow and he is being missed - not just by me but by Sparky too. When I came home from school last night I fed Sparky and then went back to the bedroom to get into my pj's. When I came back out, Sparky was waiting by the front door for his dad to come home. I had to tell him that Bruce wasn't coming home. It was so sad! I can't wait for Bruce to be home tomorrow. I am not used to being by myself anymore and although I watched my tv shows (Brothers and Sisters and Hotlanta housewives) I would have traded those for him to be here.

Catching Up

I wasn't really going to blog today but I am in the mood to express myself and let you know what is going on in my life.

First of all work has been crazy this week and weekend. I worked 13 hours on Friday and 10 hours yesterday. Plus I still need to go back in today for more. Being an accountant that has strict end of the month deadlines is not fun sometimes. But it is good to know that come Tuesday I will be on cruise control at work. Plus I have a birthday next weekend and my husband has a lot of special events planned that I get to look forward to.

When I came home last night I just couldn't spend more time sitting, so I thought I would get some shopping out of the way but Costco was closed. I like to start my grocery shopping at Costco because what I find there is always so much cheaper then at the grocery store and better quality. So instead of shopping, Bruce and I headed off to the beach for a walk and to enjoy the sunset. The weather is perfect lately in Florida. No humidity and a little cooler. I feel like I am in heaven and would be happy to move my cubicle outside! The sunset was ok - the sun went behind massive clouds before we got to experience the whole sunset with the flash of green. The walk was amazing and just what the doctor ordered.

On our way home, we stopped at Bonefish Grill for dinner. It was right during the Saturday night rush but thanks to a very nice gentleman who gave up his seat at the bar, Bruce and I got seats rather quickly. Whoever you are sir, I appreciate your thoughtfulness!

I wanted a glass of wine so I got La Crema Pinot Noir. It was divine -velvet, smooth and the perfect complement to the appetizer which was Singapore Calamari. For dinner I got the Grouper with the Rhea's topping - which is sauteed spinach, crab and a lime garlic topping. It hit the spot. I had been craving fish all week long. For those of you who knew me in Utah where I didn't eat fish I am amazed by how much my tastes have changed and by how much better fresh fish is!

As I am reading this I realize there are no pictures so I am leaving you with one of my favorite sunset pictures from Anna Maria. Enjoy your Sunday and I will catch up with you later in the week when my test on Tuesday is over.