Dinner to be...

My Mema grew these tomatoes. Tonight, they are dinner. Homemade spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite things to make. Home grown ingredients only make it better.

Mema also helped me grow some basil. I bought it, and kept it alive for a few months. In June, Kevin and I went out of town so Mema was in charge of watering all of our plants. She took care of my basil for two weeks and it doubled in size and looked better than it EVER had with my help. Mema started teaching me to take care of plants. She taught me how to replant aloe, well any plant, and also began teaching me how to root plants.

So tonight's dinner: Baked lemon chicken with pasta and homemade sauce. Yum.

Food again...

My main job right now is practicing and teaching. I recently enrolled myself in orchestral excerpt boot camp. Never in a million years did I think I would actually be trying to do this, but you know...sometimes things take you by surprise. Unfortunately, I am super out of shape and learning orchestral excerpts is a feat all by itself. Also, unfortunately, the last concerto I learned really well is not standard and is working against me. So, I started working on a new one, a really standard one...as in everyone plays it.
More than likely, it will take me about a year to be ready for a high stake audition. In the meantime, learning the excerpts, the two concertos (Mozart 5 and Sibelius), and working on Bach takes up most of my day. Teaching in the afternoon keeps me busy and the occasional gig keeps me traveling and learning even more music. So far I've taken two regional orchestra auditions. I got one, didn't get the other one. However, I was super sick for the one I didn't get and had never played two of the excerpts before in an audition. It still discourages me though. Sure, I need to look at the situation realistically. I have never been coached or given extensive lessons on orchestral music/excerpts/yada yada... Now I am. It takes time. I can't just have my first coaching on Don Juan and then expect to win an audition the next weekend? Yeah? I guess...It still makes me sad.
Oh well, I got that other one right?
Here's the other thing: I have started trying to make my food really pretty. Sometimes, my salads are beautiful, other times they are not so much. For some reason, maybe boredom, maybe too many hits with the metronome, I take pictures of the food I make.
I think this blog is going to catalog my preparation processes in food making and audition taking. Related? Maybe. Maybe not. Only time will tell.
Also, our wedding is really sneaking up on us! So many details. So little time.

Food

Baking. Cupcakes, cakes, cookies...
Yesterday, the craving to make cocoa cupcakes overwhelmed my thoughts. Unfortunately, we were one stick of butter short. We even called my grandmother to see if she had a stick we could have. Alas, she did not answer her phone. No cupcakes.
More than likely, no one gives one hoot about my baking addiction, but oh well.

Poached, boiled, scrambled, or fried?

Growing up, a favorite movie of mine was "Runaway Bride." The main character, Maggie, is so lost that she doesn't even know what type of eggs she likes. She always likes whatever type of eggs her current boyfriend likes. After seeing the new movie "Julie and Julia" (fabulous, by the way) I realized that I have never poached an egg. Then I thought...what type of eggs do I like? I'm not a big omelette person. I enjoy a fried egg with a runny middle on occasion, and scrambled eggs are OK if they are cooked correctly. I like boiled eggs, especially on salads or deviled. So, I like eggs, but which on is my favorite?
As I spent the time I should have been practicing, thinking about eggs, I remembered Christmas mornings as a child. My mom would prepare on eggs benedict. Yum. That is my favorite way to have an egg. So, after making this realization I wanted to know how you make eggs benedict. How do you make hollandaise sauce? I looked it up. You need to poach the eggs. I also looked up the nutritional facts...they are unfortunate for your health. I can't eat eggs benedict every day...I would be bigger than a house. I also looked up the healthiest way to eat an egg: poached. Hence me learning to poach eggs. 2 good reasons to poach: healthy when eaten alone...not so healthy, but delcious when making eggs benedict. Maybe keeping eggs benedict as a holiday treat would serve me well, until then poaching an egg and serving it on toast with a dash of salt and pepper will do for me.
This morning I made a beautiful poached egg. The best one yet. I almost took a picture of it to show, will do next time.

Home

Kevin and I are considering buying the home we are currently renting. The house has the potential to be very nice, and is a great starter home. Of course, it does need some work here and there. The cabinets are extremely 1962, the shuffleboard court in the backyard gives the yard a nice Love Boat elderly person feel. The hardwood floors need to be stained again, the kitchen floor is not attractive...you get my drift. So, we may renovate it. It would be a project to complete over the next few years. We don't want to do too much all at once. We could do a little at a time. Number one...paint! These white walls could use some happy.
Every Saturday morning I watch "Property Ladder" on TLC...I know. I am super lame, but I've actually learned more information on renovating a home and the steps needed to make sure everything is up to code. There are some things I don't think I ever would have thought of that the show has shown me like getting the home inspected.
There is a strange little smell sometime in the house. I smelled it the first time I walked in and chocked it up to the house being vacant for some time. However, the smells comes out when the sun shines on the floor, or if the house gets hot, or if we have the air off. I think it is in the wood. Sometimes the faintest hint of old cigarette smoke comes through. I would want to have it investigated before I put a penny down to buy the home. Kevin and I want a project but not if it involves some sketchy house smell that requires ripping up the floors and walls to remove. We shall see...

Life's Good

Occasionally, I'm overwhelmed at how good life can be. Sometimes it is as simple as sitting on my couch in our den watching the food network, other times it is watching a student finally understand something, and other times it is just the way Kevin looks at me.
Kevin and I are on a kick to try new things. He recently bought a bike and is going to be biking to and from work. We go on dates every weekend and have now made a new date rule: the restraunt or coffee shop must be locally owned and operated. Although I grew up here, I do not know every nook and cranny. Two weekends ago we tried a great Italian restaurant in Acworth. They had wonderful bread and a good salad. The chicken marsala was pretty good, but it was fun and different. Sunday we went to a little coffee shop in Smyrna. It seemed to be OK. We both got coffees, but their smalls are the same size as a Starbucks Grande. So, it seemed to be worth it.
I'd like to go sit there for a while. We were on a bike hunt that day and had to keep moving.
Oh, yes. We bought a car together, it is a cute scion xb.
Our wedding is rapidly approaching. We still need a cake and some other minor details still need to be worked out. We couldn't be happier.

...

I doubt anyone has read this is a while, but yesterday was such an interesting day.
First off, I'm just now discovering the health benefits of apple cider vinegar. I've been researching ACV and trying to figure out which one to get, organic? filtered? unfiltered? The answer: unfiltered, raw, organic, must contain "the mother"...
So, ACV is good for a lot of things. It cures athletes foot, acne, helps with digestion, helps with weight control...you get the picture.
I decided that it was a GREEEEAAAT idea to use it as a toner. I read the directions a few days ago and thought I'd try it last night. Well, I didn't remember one little detail: test a small area first before you apply it undiluted to your ENTIRE face.
Things were going pretty well, I applied to a blemish and thought, "hmm, that doesn't burn, I will put it all over my face." So I did. I went into the den and sat down with Kevin. I was giggling about how I smelled like ACV and asked him if he could smell it. He could. It was dark and he didn't notice anything unusual looking about my face...only that I stank. So, I told him why I smelled like ACV and then my face started to burn. He laughed and thought I was silly until I shrieked from the bathroom. I yelled for Kevin to get in there. Kevin came running. My face was RED! Really Red. Fever face red. Blotchy red. I looked like I had burned the skin right off. I frantically started rinsing my face with cold water as Kevin tried to assure me that it didn't look THAT bad. So he suggested I put aloe on it. Thank GOD mom had watched that ridiculous Martha Stewart Show that Toast and I had gone to in NYC last year. Mom re-potted some aloe pups for me and gave it to me for Christmas. I stood there in that bathroom with an aloe leaf, stem thingy, and rubbed it all over my face. Kevin scurried over to the computer to find out if there was any info on the internet about my ACV condition. Apparently, you are supposed to dilute the sucker before you apply it on your face and test a small area to see if you are allergic.
I went to bed last night horrified! For some people, ACV burns...yes literally burns a burn on your face, sometimes a 1st degree burn that takes a month to heal... You have to apply a lot of aloe, vitamin e, and neosporin...
The good news is I won't break out for WEEKS...the bad news: I smell like vinegar and have a pinkish hue...
Thank the LORD it was starting to clear up this morning. Yes, it is a little pink, but not nearly as severe as last night. Word to the wise: dilute it!

To Rent or To Buy?

We've found a house we want to rent. It is super cute, well at least I think it is. I have a tendency to find potential in apartments and homes. The house is 3 bedrooms and 1.2 baths. I say 1.2 because the second bathroom is so tiny and in one of the bedrooms. Nonetheless, it is a very nice home with a big back yard for our little Con Con. He would love it.
The home was built in the late 50's early 60's. It is all brick with mostly hardwood floors. There is ample closet space and storage.
We would turn the front bedroom into an office/studio, have a guest bedroom, and then the master bedroom. The kitchen is nice. I love that the sink is under a window. The car port is big...even big enough for my truck. YAY!
Now, of course there are some draw backs. I am not crazy about the windows. They are too small. I love natural lighting and the windows are about half the size of normal new windows. There is also a giant sliding glass door. Those make me nervous. Poor little birdies can fly into them and then I think it makes it easier for people to break in...but I love the light it lets in. Well, I think the pros outweigh the cons.

If someone were to ask me what taste reminds you most of your childhood?
I would say roasted marshmellows. Without a doubt. Yum.

I almost forgot I had a blog that one time I lived in NYC.
I live in a small town now in GA, and I love it.