MN Bridal Shower

Amy, my best friend and Maid of Honor, was a trooper with hayfever.
Me and my mom!
BIG thank you to Senora H (Nancy) and Rachel for being the best hostesses with the mosteses!!!

And to all the lovely ladies that joined us too! See you all in August for the MN Reception.

Grassroots Music Festival Hits Hutch!

RiverSong Festival premiers in Hutch this Summer.

Here is me, Big Pete, mom and Walllllter in front of the main stage. Mom and I volunteered all weekend.
Romantica rocked the house on Friday night.
Pert' Near Sandstone played on Saturday, four guys, amazing sound:

And good ol' Jim Post was a real hit!
For hundreds of photos go to the Flickr feed.

See you all there next year.

Playing in Knoxville with Annie, Hope and Angela

I spent the Fourth of July with some of my favorite girls. We bought flower girls dresses, made pizza, went to the zoo and had lots of fun!!!

This was my first meeting of little Hope, but she instantly took to me and couldn't wiat to give me a hug!
At the zoo!
Ready to get her hands dirty!
Good little helper!
Mmm-mmm goood!
Bubbles in the yard.
Annie and her new turtle friend we met at the zoo.
Angela and Hope.
My little bug!

Great Meatloaf Off of 2009: And the Winner is....

We held the first ever Great Meatloaf Off. The day begin with a trip to Central Market South for a bunch of supplies. Everyone was home cooking up their meatloaves!

And everyone arrived; we had nine hungry judges. We had four wonderful meatloaf submissions.



We put out all the meatloaves with little flags in them (ISSB is a very good flag maker).
The meatloaves were all different. They all had different combinations of meats, different seasonings, veggies, toppings, etc. I made two very different loves, one was ISSB's family recipe and I also made my mother's recipe, the one I grew up eating.

Everyone got their “test tasters” plates and their score cards and sat down around the house to make their decisions.
So after everyone was done judging, we tallied up all the scores:

And the winner was............
ISSB's mom's four meat meatloaf!

Here is the recipe:

1 lb. meatloaf mix (ground beef, veal & pork)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (less if using dried, but they're fine)
1-2 eggs
1 chopped onion, sauteed if you have time
1 grated carrot
The rest of this I eyeball, and since you're a good judge I'd leave it to your discretion:
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
garlic powder (this is the only thing I ever use it in, but I think it works better than fresh)
dijon mustard
ketchup
oregano
S&P

Panko mixed with EVOO & S&P for topping

Mix gently with your hands and put in oiled loaf pan, top w/panko.
Best to let sit and flavors mingle for at least a couple of hours to a day before baking at 375 about an hour.

Barbara was awarded this cookbook that was recently located at the used book store:
And the runner up was my mom!

Here is the recipe:

2 lb. ground beef
1 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1 chopped onion, sauteed if you have time
A lot of chopped garlic
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Mix with your hands and form in to a round loaf and place in a Clay Coyote pie plate or in a castiron pan. Cook at 350F for 45 minutes.

At 45 minutes, pour over a mixture of:
¼ cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

And let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Overall the Meatloaf Off was a success!!! Hope that you try these out, happy meatloaffing!!!

New England in May

We traveled to New England for a week to do some wedding planning, celebrate Micah & Erica's vows and enjoyed a fun week with friends and family!

Forest Beach - our ceremony site, we were checking out where we want the whole thing to take place.
The Jetty.
View of the Great Gatsby from the beach! Look at those porches - they are just waiting for us to sit and relax on them!!!
Then on to Micah & Erica's wedding in Boston: ISSB, Noel (his brother) and Micah at the reception.
Soon-to-be-groom and Groom having fun!
Micah, me, Erica and Eloise who came in from NYC/CT.
The next day we wondered the neighborhoods of Boston, hitting up Mike's for some famous cannoli.


And Beacon Hill. And Copley Square.
Next visit will be for the wedding in September!

My Alma Mater: Saying goodbye to Tracey

I recently traveled back to the University of Wisconsin to attend the memorial service for my college adviser, Tracey Gladstone-Sovell. She was one of the first people I met on campus back in 1998, she was one of the people I say daily as I went through my courses and she kept in touch with me after I graduated. I will miss her dearly and I am proud to say I was one of her students.

(Photo from Sept 2008 in Minneapolis at health care house party)

While back on campus, I met with a couple of my favorite professors, talked to some budding poly sci students (and some graduated ones), and popped in to the new University Center. And I have to say I was stunned by it. Really, a truly amazing building. I remember back when I was on the Student Senate we approved the money to build it. And, everyone I talked to about it seemed pleased with it.

Inside of the University Center:

Outside of the Center:

On the way to the airport, I stopped to see Mary Jo and the twins, grabbed a cup of coffee with Brian and met my mom for a nice lunch (I sure wish I lived closer so I could have lunches like that more often).

Overall it was a good trip and I am glad I got to be there.

San Francisco Trip, Take 2

More photos from our San Fran trip with Lucy. Here she is on a walk, playing in her Sox outfit and rocking out with her parents and uncle Ian.

Love this hoodie and the sunnies!!!
After Ian flew home it was time to head in to downtown for the conference I was to attend for the next four days. That afternoon after getting check in and going through my conference packet, my coworker Eric and I headed to the ferry building for a trip to Sausalito for lunch.

Little Lucy

We went to San Francisco recently to meet Ian's niece Lucy!

She is adorable! And we had a blast, here she is:

Above, Ian, Lucy and Ian's sister Becky off to the side.

Hamilton Pool

Last Friday when Robin and Lindsay were in town, ISSB, Robin and I went out to Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve. We have been wanting to go out and see this beauty since moving here. And we finally made it....and it was totally awesome.

If only the bacteria levels were lower so we could put our tootsies in!

After the day at the pool we went out to the Saltlick and had a wonderful TX BBQ experience!

Nice walking path all the way around.

Gorgeous tree growths as we walked down to the pool.

2009: 2 minutes faster

I finished the Cap 10K for the second year in a row!

18,000 people and me...

Thai in five easy steps

I got my Fine Cooking in the mail the other day and I am working on trying some new recipes. This one was too enticing, it said “Make it tonight” so I did. And, it was awesome, made enough for two dinners and two lunches (had one today) and the aroma of this dish alone is worth the addition of “fish sauce” to my cooking repertoire.

Note, I did do a couple little things different than the mag, I didn't have shallots or dried chili flakes. So I made due with yellow onion and red pepper and garlic chili paste. Also, I used olive oil not vegetable oil.

1. Heat in pan until onions are translucent little olive oil, garlic, onion (crescents), and red pepper and garlic chili paste.
2. Add chicken evenly diced and cook until not pink.
3. Add 1 Tbs fish sauce, juice from one lime, 2 tsp brown sugar and ¼ cup water. Let simmer and stir often until liquid thickens.
4. Turn off heat and toss in as much basil as you can (or like), then stir it in to wilt it.
5. Serve over jasmine rice.

And the final presentation on my clay coyote dishes: Tonight, I am going Italian with lasagna roll-ups.

Carne Guisada Slowcooker

Last weekend with a little searching around the internet and $10 put together this recipe. Carne Guisada in my slowcooker.

Thankfully when I was tossing it all together I remembered to write it down. Lookin' good, tasted AMAZING!!

Mix together a marinade of:
3 cloves garlic
table spoon salt
¼ c olive oil
¼ cup vinegar
splash kitchen bouquet
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili
1 tsp paprika
1 jalapeno diced
Add cubed beef shoulder and let rest for about an hour in the fridge.

Put everything in to the slow cooker on low and come back four hours later.

Serve with chopped cilantro, onion and fresh lime. We put it in to tortillas and had Mexican rice and black beans on the side.
Let me know if you give it a try!

ISSB & Me: Maiden Voyage

And then there were two...ISSB got his bike this weekend and today we went on our first ride together. They are ready to go:
We went down to Town Lake Park to ride the path. It was very busy on this beautiful day!


Last week I tested out my new commuter bike coffee mug. It was a failure. So back it went to Mellow Johnny's. I guess I will have to keep looking. Currently I have my eye on one like this, but with fun colors.
Overall, we made is 6 miles in 42 minutes through the hills of downtown Austin.

Why are you not blogging that much?

Because we are planning an wedding celebration and small ceremony!

Here are our two beautiful settings:

Minnesota for the BIG celebration on the "farm."
And vows on a Cape Cod beach.

So much to do, so forgive my lack of posting. I am going to be better. I promise. :)

Happy Sarge Day 3!!!

Today is our three year anniversary of bringing home Sarge. He is still the boss around here and always keeps things interesting.

Here I am bringing him home from the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria VA.
Scratches!
The men bonding.
Hugs!
And a recent one when he was peacefully resting.
And many more........

Soy-Braised Kabocha and Lemon Wasabi Tuna

Back in the fall I attempted to turn this into...


This: First, you give your self a MAJOR upper arm workout. This baby is not easy to cut. If you are working as a team, give this job to someone else.

Get the freshest of the fresh for the best flavor. None of that pre-cut ginger for us! (In a beautiful Mel Jacobson bowl.)
Saute in a nice castiron pan. Be careful not to burn it.
Add the soy mixture and the Kabocha to the pan. Simmer and try not to eat it all before dinner.
We served it with a tuna steak grilled and topped with store bought Lemon Wasabi sauce (really, I am nly willing to be "risky" with one dish per meal.)
Grilled tuna. The final product. I think it looks mighty close! Note the great colors and the complementary Clay Coyote Pottery (glaze 17) Enjoy!

Philly with my mom

Mom and I went on our annual trip to Philly for the Buyers Market of American Craft. We were placing orders for the Clay Coyote Gallery in Hutchinson, MN. It is one of the best times of the year.

Here is our view from the Lowes.
At night on Valentine's Day.
The city welcomed us!
This is the convention center where it all takes place.
My good friend Anne came down from NYC to be Mom and my Valentine!!!! We had a great Thai dinner in Chinatown and got to catch up. It was fantastic.
More soon!

Twins!

Over Christmas break I got the amazing pleasure of getting to meet my friend Mary Jo's twins. Here are two photos from their second day in the world. I am holding little Ben and Mom has Maddie. They are adorable!!!

Too throws a soup bowl

Amazing, they are going all high-tech up there in Minnesota!

More pictures with Auntie M and Uncle ISSB

More fun photos of the little guy over Christmas, can't get enough of him, he is way too cute.


Just got great news that there is a San Fran trip in my near future so we get to meet Little Lucy too! I love being Auntie M!!!

Winter wonderland

Sarge is wearing a tee from Michelle (in the Gallery) that says "Rudolph ain't got nothing on me" to stay warm.

Christmas with Phoenix (and the rest of the family)

I had the most amazing holiday...and all because I finally got to meet my favorite nephew (my only, but who's counting). Over the next few days (as I learn to use iPhoto) I will post more pictures from the holiday home with Phoenix.

Here with my brother, I think they look a lot alike.

And here he is admiring my handy work on his train stocking.

Biking!

For Christmas, ISSB gave the two of us bikes. When I opened up a bike bell on Christmas morning I squealed with joy! A bike! I haven't ridden in forever! But, you know what they say...

Over the weekend we visited numerous bike shops, we spent hours looking at them and searching the internet. Our friend Evan, an avid biker, recommended a new bike shop that has recently opened in Austin, Mellow Johnny's. MJ's (located right downtown and only a few blocks from my office) is owned by Lance Armstrong and they put an emphasis on commuting, they even have showers and coffee available to commuters and you can leave your bike there all day, they'll even tune it up for free while they watch it.

Yesterday I successfully commuted to and from work on it and today I made it in in 26 minutes. Not bad. Tonight I am even going to stop at Whole Foods to pick up dinner on the way home.

Now, if only it wasn't up hill both ways!

Getting in the "Holiday Spirit"

We have been preparing the house for the big work Holiday Party that we are hosting this coming Friday at Pi Milton.

We have been getting some little things crossed off the "weekend-warrior list."

One chore I have been waiting to cross off since they day we moved in (over 16 months ago) is painting the front door. Zen rule says that red doors are welcoming.

And then I got to baking. We are going to be giving holiday cookies to everyone as they leave the party and we have a few neighbors who really like the gingerbread with maple frosting. (Pictured are shortbread trees with red rum and green vanilla frosting. Then there are gingerbread trees with maple cinnamon frosting. And there are also chocolate espresso logs. And then ISSB’s cookie of the month: triple chocolate – he went out with a bang.)

I even used my new Clay Coyote Saucepan as double boiler for the chocolate topping.

These are more like biscotti:
And I finally finished re-stitching all the stockings for Christmas in Minnesota. What do you think of my nephew's train?
And, then to top off a day in the kitchen, I used my Clay Coyote Chicken Baker to make ISSB and me a very tasty dinner. (In case you are wondering we used Firemans #4.)
Overall, a very productive weekend.

Austin Empty Bowl, and how to get some bowls for Christamas!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I participated in the Austin Empty Bowl Project put on by the Austin Food Bank. It was an amazing project and it let me do some of my favorite things:

1. I got to volunteer to help fight hunger in America.
2. I got to eat great soup and bread from good restaurants around Austin.
   
3. I got to meet new, cool people.
4. And here is the BIG one, I got to shop for pottery.

Not only did I get two little bowls that were made by Art Students at the Austin Museum of Art, I also was the winning silent bid on a great set of bowls by a local Austin potter.

The line around the building snaked. Some people waited in line for more than two hours.
But, the "Bowl" doesn't happen for another year. So if you want to shop for great pottery this year. I have some recommendations.

1. As always, I am shamelessly promoting Mom and Tom's pottery, the Clay Coyote. See a great post on their blog about what they have available for the holidays.
   
2. But, let me let you in on a couple of other amazing potters that you can order in the Gallery:
   
1. Crystal Pottery: I would go for this bowl. It is perfect for stews and soups this holiday season and it will be great for mixing things (like cookie/bread dough) later in the year. I could have really used a bowl this big last week at Thanksgiving when I was mixing up the stuffing.
   
2. Hank Goodman: I consider myself a "Hank girl." I love this guy, I love his pots and I really love his blue and brown glazes. Just take a look at all the serving pieces he has. I am telling you, bake some cookies, put them on a Hank tray and wrap it up for your favorite person...you will be loved!
   
3. Last bit of fun, this year you have another fun reason to come out to the Clay Coyote and shop! I will be there working in the Gallery for three weeks. Starting December 17th, going until the 4th of January you can come visit with me. I will have cookies, wine, witty conversation and ISSB and Sarge the Wonder Dog will be there too! (Heck if you are lucky you can see my brother, my nephew, and my sister-in-law.)
   

So really, after this post, how can you not want to come out to the Gallery to see me later this month? And, if you can come - visit them online (one last shameless plug!).

Birds all sing as if they knew....

On Thanksgiving, our first spent just the two of us, ISSB asked me to marry him and I said "of course." Friends and family have asked to see a photo of the ring and this is the best we can do. So you are just going to have to wait to see us in person!!!

Sarge is thrilled, our families are ecstatic and we are happy!

Turkey Trot 2008

I participated in the 2008 Austin Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day (that is until I twisted my knee - which is healing up quickly). The night before Ian and started a Turkey Trot Tradition by writing all the things we are thankful for on the shirt. Take a look:

Pi Milton is going red, white and blue!

We spent the day painting the shed. I am so excited because it looks amazing. Here is the old shed:

And now the new blue shed! The trim will be done next weekend and is the same color as the back wall of the dining room seen here. This blue is in the same paint family as the color we painted the den.
All the dust has done a number on my allergies, but it was worth it. :)

Yard Overhaul '08

You may recall, when we moved in we were much more concerned about the livability of the inside of the house - we were leaving the outside for later. Well, later has arrived.

About two months ago we have the tree removers in for a day. They took down 17 junk trees. Leaving only the peach, mountain laurel and the American berry bush out back. Here are some shots from the removal day:

The old backyard:
At one point I looked out the back window to see this:
The biggest tree they removed was in the middle of our deck.
This weekend we are clearing out more weeds, brush and leaves before the big freeze (ha). Tomorrow we are painting the shed and then next week we may (big may) tackle the house trim. I am so excited to put in a red door. Feng shui says a red door is welcoming. And since I hate the color, the purple door has been messing with my chi for the last 18 months.

More photos tomorrow.

Happy Bitrhday Phoenix!!!

My little nephew just turned one yesterday! Isn't he the cutest?

Welcome Baby Hope!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite little Peanut has a new little sister. Hope Elizabeth was born 11/11!!! I am sending big hugs to New baby Hope, Annie, Mom and Dad!

This recipe was put up last week by the Homesick Texan. I am looking forward to making them to celebrate!!!

Lookout Mountain: we are here! (Day 2: Part 1)

The next day we got up early and started to drive all, and I mean all, over the state of Colorado. Check it out:

Amy's hiking shoes!








Ice skating!


We were trying to figure out what the black stuff was...iron ore maybe, charcoal another guess...then we remembered that we were in LEADville!


Per Too's request, we hit up the Coyote Cantina!

Happy Halloween: Drill Baby Drill (Day 1: Part 3)

You asked for it, and you got it!

Just to be sure there is no confusion; I was wearing “Barack the Vote” button under my flag pin.

Lookout Mountain: Here we come (Day 1: Part 2)

We were so excited to go up to the Rockies for two days. Last year, Amy never had an opportunity to go to the Rockies - so this was our BIG trip!

We headed up to Breckenridge to the Lodge, to celebrate Halloween and to see some mountains!!!

(I even thought that the “mountains” you could see from Denver were the real Rockies - holy moly was I wrong! Those are just the foothills…boy was I relieved!)

Denver: Day One

I arrived in Denver after two weeks of grueling work, but hey, it pays the bills and saves my immortal soul.

I am here to visit my best friend Amy - who is here for a month working as a costume designer for the Denver Center for the Performing Art (she has the coolest job!!!).

I arrived Thursday night and was rushed off to see the nightly performance of Noises Off (which had me laughing my brains out!). It was amazing.

Then on Friday I spent the day wandering around the city:


As soon as Amy got off work, we hopped in the rental car and headed to the Rockies! More on Halloween and our trip up the mountain in the next post!

A trip to DC

I spoke on Wednesday at the National Press Club on a panel that I dubbed "Using Online Video to Educate, Motivate and Make Change" (see real name here).
Overall a success! And, one note the speaker from the EPA on the panel is a UW-Stevens Point grad who was on state wide United Council Student Government at the same time as me and we are sure to have met before. Also, the moderator (my good friend Andrew) is a UW-Mad grad...coincidence?

Later that night I got to have a lovely dinner with Uncle Jack and Aunt Karen on the Hill and then over to Sam and Tony's to watch the Philly's take the series and see Virgin Gorda photos.

Cheers! Happy All Saints Day to the BEST-Y

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A day with Annie (and Angela & Doug)

On my current Travel Adventure around the country, I have had major luck seeing friends and family. Here is my day with, my favorite two year old, Annie (AKA Peanut):

First we went to Gymini for some play time. (Note: Angela is about to pop with Annie's new little sister).

Look at her go:
Then we went next door to the bakery for cookies. Here we are watching the cakes being frosted! We had color time and learned a new song "On top of Spaghetti" which we had to sing "again-a" and "again-a."And here she is going night-night with her new Boo-Bag of finger puppets from Auntie M!
I had a BLAST, can't wait to see them all "again-a" soon!!!

Next up, photos from my Press Club speech, and four days in Colorado (where I currently am).

On the road again: NY, DC, CO

First up, New York City.

Then a few fine days in Washington for a forum. And a Happy Second Birthday celebration for my little peanut.
Then Denver to see Amy and the mountains!
But, if you are anywhere near Minnesota this weekend, take a lovely fall drive out to my favorite fall event at the Clay Coyote and give my mom a hug for me.

PS: None of the above photos are mine, I pinched them from the web. But, I promise some of my own in November.

Nephew and ISSB has a new Niece

New photos from my brother of my nephew Phoenix:

And ISSB has a new niece!