Fantastic French Fries

I was making a steak and salad dinner last week and I decided to be daring and make homemade french fries. They were delicious (and so good for you, I'm sure, right mom?). So here's the recipe. I could honestly put this batter on just about anything it's so good.

2.5 Pounds Peeled russet potatoes (or however many you want, I didn't use that many for the two of us)
1 cup flour
1 t. garlic salt or garlic powder
1 t. onion salt
1 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1/2-1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil

1. Slice the potatoes and place in cold water (if you're worried they'll discolor)
2. Heat oil over medium high heat
3. Combine flour through paprika. Stir in the water as needed to form a paste (for dredging the potatoes through)
4. Dip slices in batter and place in hot oil so they aren't touching, one at a time (if they touch they stick together).
5. let cook, flipping over halfway, until they are browned on the outside and soft on the inside (I just taste-tested so I have no set time for you).
6. Drain on paper towels.

Picture time!

Here are our top two favorite pictures from the past week. First, our newest Christmas ornament. I love the world-within-an-ornament ornaments, so I was tickled to find this one.

As I'm sure I've already mentioned, our cat Whiskey and our parent's cat Sammy are not exactly on agreeable terms. In fact, it has become a daily tradition for Sammy to come around to our outside door and stare in at Whiskey. A hissing-fest naturally ensues. I finally took a picture of their strange routine:

Also

In case the weather is as blah wherever you are as it is in Moscow right now, here's a little something that cheered me up!

http://vimeo.com/2926432

Sorry I couldn't embed it. And since I don't speak Swedish I just have to hope they're not saying anything wildly inappropriate!

Kale and Kielbasa Soup

In the mood for some kielbasa, kale, and a host of yummy herbs? Then kale and kielbasa soup is the one for you!

I tried this recipe off of our friends the Church's blog, and absolutely LOVE it. This is definitely my favorite fall soup so far!

You can find the original recipe here.

In other news, this was my week of graveyard shifts at the hospital. 5:30pm to 5:30 am Monday-Wednesday. I am now in the recovering stage and very grateful that that will not be my regular schedule. The only member of our household who benefited from my crazy shifts was Whiskey. She got to go out romping in the early hours of the morning when I got home.

And a teaser: I've been working on an Advent calendar and it's turning out great! Pics will be coming soon.

We've been busy

I promise we have. Like I always promise when there's a lengthy internet silence. unfortunately there are no pictures to prove our business. BUT, I did find pictures that I forgot to post from our trip to Butte, so at least I have something of interest. I'll post those at the end. In the meantime, here's the quick scoop on what we've been up to:

Joel: At work he's heading the church's move to a new software. Lots of extra hours. Plus we had a tenant move out of our Spokane triplex, so he's spent several days in Spokane fixing it up for new renters. Many thanks to Matt V and Dad D for going with him so I didn't have to. :) Also injured his knee several weeks ago and has been limping ever since. Will be calling a specialist next week to find out what's wrong with it.

Christine: Started new job at Gritman medical center and LOVES it. Working in admitting, forty hours a week for six weeks of training and then down to half time or three-quarter time. Learning lots about hospitals and getting lots of stories from strange patients. Also learning to be tougher, as I am training in ER admitting right now. Yikes. Working on Thought Meadow's next issue: Festivals, coming soon!

Whiskey: Becoming more and more paranoid of shadows and things that make any sort of noise that's disagreeable to her. Compensates by sleeping in well-hidden areas. Dreams of ways to off Sammy, although we're working on that last bit.

AND last, a few of the pictures from our trip! More to come. First, here is a picture of Toad Hall Manor where we stayed. Amazing hospitality and really good food! Plus the owner (Toad) made us drinks both nights we were there.



Another view of Toad Hall, with one of Toad's cars out front:



We toured a mock-up of a mining town and I found this sign.... Dr. Pierce offers $500 reward for women who cannot be cured of female weakness.



More to come when I find them!

Kate- This One's for You

Last weekend we took a celebratory trip to Butte, Montana. What were we celebrating? Well, our first and second year anniversaries for starters. Plus the fact that we both graduated from college this year. And it coincidentally happened that I was hired at Gritman Hospital and started work in Admitting yesterday. We realized a lot of exciting stuff had happened to us the last two and a half (almost) years of marriage, and we always seemed too busy in the moment to celebrate. So instead we took a little vacation to celebrate all of God's blessings on us at our favorite time of year: Fall.

I have plenty of things to say about our trip. We had a fantastic time. But, since I don't have much time this morning I'm going to start with the little town of Phillipsburg, which we visited on our way home from Butte. The town itself is adorable: a 1900s coal-mining town that is now mostly a tourist-stop for skiers and hunters and all around sight-seers.





But the most magnificent building in Philippsburg was called the Sweet Palace. Inside was every type of candy imaginable: fudges, caramels, a million types of taffy, chocolates, mints, hard candies, candy from foreign countries, it was incredible. I had to force myself to be reasonable and not go twirling around the store shoving samples of everything into my bag.





If you're ever in the area I would definitely recommend a stop at the Sweet Palace. Part of the fun of that store was watching everyone who entered be transformed into children, with huge grins on their faces as they sampled childhood favorites and new treats. Exhibit A:

Kitty Wigs

Whiskey has been making subtle hints about her Christmas present ideas this year. Today I found that my internet's home page had been set to a very special site.

I haven't told Joel yet, but I know he'll be willing to cough up $50 for our precious wittle kitty-kins.

Check it out!

Stay Tuned for Moon Bombings

Apparently the celestial beings didn't do a good enough job with battlefield Moon, now it's time for us humans to join in the fun. :)

NASA Moon Bombings Tomorrow

Time to dig out my telescope.

Fall Decor

I may never get around to trying the crafts I mentioned on my last post, but here at least are some of the ways I've decorated our little place for fall.



Rachel and I collected this wild grass on the way back from our morning run. So far I have had to chase Whiskey away from it twice. We'll see how long they last.



The two buddies, butternut squash and cinderella pumpkin on my coffee table.




A warty gourd.



This one is my favorite. One of the things I love about U-Pick pumpkin patches is that you can cut the stems as ridiculously long as you want.



And last, my poppy flowers minus leaves. I frequently take one out and shake it to hear the dry rattling of the poppy seeds inside.



Aren't they neat? Very Tim Burton, I think. I have the same problem with my poppies that I have with the wild grass though. My cat seems to think I bought them for her as a snack.

My Fall Resolutions

I have given myself two resolutions for this fall: make more soup and finish my quilt. I also have all of these wild ideas for fall decorations, like this and this and even this but I'm forcing myself to be reasonable. Two resolutions is enough to begin with.

And so, I stuck to my resolution today and made soup for one of our first really fall-ish days. It's called Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Escarole. You can find it here, although I made several changes so I'm going to reproduce it on the blog with my own suggestions. Joel loved it so much he said he would eat it every night.

Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Spinach (Yes, I even changed the title!)

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 (main course) servings

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces of lentils, rinsed well
• 5 cups water
• 3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 Turkish bay leaf
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 pound spicy ground Italian sausage.
  
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped (okay, I didn't actually add these because we both hate celery, but I'm sure it would be better with it.
  
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 pound spinach, chopped.
  
• 1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

IN THE MORNING:

Simmer lentils, water, broth, bay leaf, and half of garlic in a 4-quart pot, uncovered, 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a wide heavy 5- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown sausage and break into chunks, about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl.Drain most of grease.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, carrots, celery, remaining garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add sausage and lentils with cooking liquid and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Put in the fridge until about 5, then reheat. 5 minutes before serving...

Stir in spinach and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf (yes, I did keep the bay leaf in all day. Daring, I know).

Serve with crusty bread.

The reason I made it in the morning and then reheated for an hour is because a lot of the reviews complained that it was a little bland. But some daring cooks let it simmer on the stovetop for like three hours, adding water the whole time, and said it was fantastic. And since I get off work at 5 and do not have time to prepare a three hour meal, I thought I would make it in the morning and let the juices mix all day and see how it worked. And it was fantastic1

So there you have it. Yummy soup number one. Now I have my eye on the butternut squash currently decorating my coffee table. Its days are numbered.

History buffs, this one's for you

I'm sure most of you have learned about this already, but I couldn't help posting about it anyway:

Huge hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure uncovered in UK

Apparently it beats the hoard found at Sutton Hoo by a long shot.

The best part? The man was unemployed and pursuing his favorite hobby: metal-detecting. He just happened to stumble upon the biggest Anglo-Saxon loot ever, and he gets 50% of the proceeds when it is sold to a museum. The other half goes to the farmer whose land the treasure was found on.

Incredible. My favorite find that they've uncovered so far is the strip of gold with the "crudely written and misspelled Biblical inscription in Latin: Rise up, O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face."

It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Beowulf. Wouldn't my Traditio teacher Mr. McIntosh be proud, I still have my commonplace book, and I'd copied that quote down:

"But the Lord was weaving a victory on His war-loom for the Weather-Geats. Through the strength of one they all prevailed; they would crush their enemy and come through in triumph and gladness. The truth is clear: Almighty God rules over mankind and always has (696-702)."

Color Crazy

Recently I've gone a bit crazy in the decorating department. Not crazy as in my tastes have changed from New England Homes to Rococo (I'm not sure my mother would set foot in our place if they had), or I've swapped out my Monet for Picasso, but I have been experimenting with colors much more than I've ever done before. The result? Behold, my writing desk:



I know what you must be thinking. She actually painted a desk that color??!! Actually when I got it at our church's large yard sale it was already that gloriously bold color of green. And I love it!

The desk itself is charming on its own, it used to be a sewing machine desk and it has the neatest antique knobs on the drawers. But then my friend Kathryn gave me that blue lamp, and of course the only place I could justifiably stick such a brightly colored lamp was on my (almost) neon-green desk.

Now, there is one problem with the picture (ha, you say, just one??) which you decorating gurus may have noticed. The lampshade does not go at all with that lamp. I need something retro to match that style, and I have no idea what to pick... round? square? patterned? layered? hexagon bell?

Time to start googling retro lamp shades. Any suggestions are welcome!

My skunk story

Last night I went searching for my cat. She frequently goes adventuring down at the bottom of the hill and out in the fields past the road. So, I grabbed a flash-light and thought that by shining the light I could hopefully detect her gleaming little eyes and be able to bring her in for the night.

In the fields past the road there is a marsh-like area which during the day resounds with the noise of hundreds of little birds happily taking baths. But at 11 at night, the only sound I could hear was rustling. A lot of rustling in fact, which made me think that perhaps my cat was down there. I got to the edge of the marsh and shone my flashlight. Instead of a cute little tabby cat, I discovered a whole family of skunks, rooting around in the tall grass. None of them seemed terribly disturbed by my presence, so I decided to give them a wide berth and look for kitten elsewhere. I shone my light and saw a gleam of kitten eyes around the other side of the marsh, so I started to head that way.

Apparently, however, there were more skunks than I had anticipated. And apparently I got too close to an over-protective mama skunk. As I was walking, I suddenly heard a very loud rustling to my left, followed by a SHRIEK! CHATTER CHATTER CHATTER and this animal comes bounding out of the marsh towards me. I'm not scared of little night creatures, but when they possess the ability to spray you with one of the most terrible smells ever invented, I run like my life depended on it. This was a persistent skunk, and it chased me all the way back to the road, chewing me out in skunk speech the whole way.

I decided against searching for Whiskey any more that night, although as I left I swept my flashlight across the fields one more time, and I could see those gleaming kitten eyes still in the distance. I could have sworn they looked amused.

In case you're wondering what a mad skunk sounds like, here is a good representation.

A few pictures of our apartment

I realized I never put up pictures of our new apartment, and since I'm finally almost finished with decorating it, here are a few shots!


There's our entrance with Joel on the couch looking ready to greet guests.



And this is the outside of the apartment, with our cat trying out some new dance moves.



Our dining room table...



And a close up shot of the entry way. I will probably keep the cheery daisies up all winter long.... regardless of how many decorating rules I'm breaking.



The Hallway



Plus a better shot of the hallway.... and who, you ask, is the small child in the picture?




Yes, that would be the little nephew David.

More to come....

Our first puzzle in our new place

We're goin' to the big city!

Yes indeed, mom, dad, Joel and I are breaking out of this small town for the weekend to visit Spokane. My fabulous grandmother is turning the big 8-0, and she's still as funny and spirited as ever. Friends of mine usually remember her as "that cute Scottish grandmother of yours," and I couldn't agree more. I've been so blessed to grow up living in the same town as my Gran, and being an hour and a half away makes me realize that even more.

On a different note, yesterday mom and I went to see Julie and Julia. I would highly recommend it. We laughed (somewhat loudly for such a small theater) through most of the movie, and all I can say is I plan on wearing pearls when I cook from now on. And finding "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Meris, you are my resident cookbook connoisseur, do you have a copy?

So off we go, back to my childhood town. As Gran says (in a fabulous cockney accent), "Home Charles, and don't spare the horses."

Sangria Recipe

I've made this recipe twice now for parties and both times received rave reviews. In fact, this last time for a party of 12 I quadrupled the recipe and we still ran out! It's a cinch to make, as long as you remember to start it the night before.

* 1 Bottle Red Wine (I've used Zinfandel both times)
* 1 Lemon, cut into wedges
* 1 Orange, cut into wedges
* 1 Lime, cut into wedges
* 2 Tbsp sugar
* Splash of orange juice or lemonade
* 1 Cup of raspberries of strawberries (thawed or frozen)
* 1 small can of diced pineapples (with juice)
* 4 cups ginger ale

Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple then add sugar and orange juice (you could add a couple shots of gin or triple sec, although I never do). Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving.

For doubling, tripling or quadrupling: I would do it by taste.... not everything in the recipe needs to be doubled, tripled or quadrupled (like the ginger ale, and probably the sugar).

A Tale of Two Kitties

We've settled in nicely to our parent's basement apartment; our cat, however, has been a different story. Despite my mother and my fervent prayers that Whiskey and Sammy would get along, they continue to regard each other as mortal enemies. That translates into a lot of hissing, stalking, and general silent glaring whenever they encounter each other. So much for my image of them sleeping curled up together and stalking field-mice side by side. Oh well.

A few morning's ago Joel and I found Whiskey in a fair bit of pain and flinching whenever we touched her left side. A visit to the doctor and one very expensive radiograph later found no internal bleeding or broken bones (which would have suggested an encounter with a car), but they did discover a small puncture wound on her left side. It looks like she got into a fight. We're all trying to be very open-minded about this and give Sammy the benefit of the doubt (she's still refusing to confess, although I do remember her looking particularly smug the morning of the accident). Anyway, Whiskey's healing up just fine, and has even discovered a new favorite place to sleep.

It's Here!

I forgot to mention that another thing I've been doing since I last posted in July is getting the third issue of our magazine published! So, if you would like a copy, hop on over to the Thought Meadow Blog and sign up!

Lame-o

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged. I'm sure any interested followers we might have had have abandoned us long ago, but I'm still going to pretend like we have an audience. Since I last wrote we've moved into my parent's guest bedroom, helped kate and davey move to South Bend, visited them in South Bend (and Chicago), and then moved into my parent's basement apartment. It's been a busy month, and I finally feel like I have my feet underneath me again.

One reason I've been so bad about blogging is because I have no new pictures to show you. Why? Because somehow in the move I lost my camera, and I have not found it again. I suppose until I find it again I will have to learn to write interesting posts without pictures.

Speaking of interesting, one major bonus of living in my parent's basement is that they have cable tv. Which means we now have unlimited access to many channels, our favorites being Sports (Joel), Food Network (me) and the Discovery channel (both of us). Right now I'm learning all about animal mummies. And Coptic Cairo, which sounds like one of those places I will always dream about visiting but never actually go to.

I'm also learning in this show about Saint Rose of Lima (Santa Rosa de Lima), the Catholic saint of Lima. She was a severe ascetic who disfigured her face with lye, wore a crown of iron thorns, and had many ecstatic trances. She died at the age of 31, having prophesied her death to the day. I have a hard time understanding these Saints who came before me. On the one hand, she spent her days helping the poor and the sick, working with her hands to sell things and giving the money to those in need. But on the other hand I don't understand or agree with the ascetic movements. Near the end of her life she became a total recluse, she constructed a cell-like chamber that she stayed in all the time, only leaving for communion. When saints like Rose submitted themselves to these types of self-denial, they are telling only half the story. They are stuck in Christ's Passion, without participating in any of His resurrection life.

Another interesting saint to check out is Saint Cecilia, an early Christian martyr. Her story of martyrdom is not for the queasy of stomach (mother), but it's fascinating nonetheless.

Fun times with the Eiferts

Two weekends ago we visited Wenatchee and spent time with our friends Hope and Ellis. We did some fairly urban camping as well as boating, s'more roasting, talking, and sight-seeing. Wenatcheee is a beautiful area; built around the Columbia River, the Wenatchee area has acres of cherry trees, apple trees, vineyards, and more.





Here are the Eiferts at Farmer's market



And here we are:



This is one of those fabulous cherry stands located all throughout Wenatchee. Best cherries we've ever eaten.


Even Hope agrees:



We took the two youngest Eifert kids (Ellis' siblings, there are 11 of them) boating with us. Here I am with Margaret:



And here we are, the very scary Cohens:




Joel and Ellis were the most intense about their tubing:


Joel had a good time


And so did Margaret



Here we all are on Sunday before church:

The Cohen Zoo

Yesterday was an exciting day at the Cohen petting zoo. It began around 1 when I received a call from Joel.
"Umm, Christine?"
"Yes, dear?"
"There is a bird in our house."
"Is it alive?"
"Oh yes, it's hopping around shedding feathers left and right."
"Where is Whiskey?"
"Well, she's chasing it."

After advising Joel to lock Whiskey outside, I came home to survey the damage. Joel hadn't lied, a torrent of feathers lay strewed around our house. In the midst of the carnage a very scared looking Robin crouched under our piano stool. I did the eco-friendly thing and rescued the poor bird. Elissa, you would be proud. While I didn't attempt to set its broken leg myself, I did stick it in a shoebox and transport it to the nearest wildlife rehabilitation center. We were fast friends by the end of the trip, I'd even considered naming him.

Whiskey has a habit of bringing her trophies inside and depositing them in her food-bowl. This would explain how the Robin found itself unhappily trapped in our house. It would also explain the appearance of our second guest of the day. While I was making dinner, Joel's voice came from the other room.

"Umm, babe?"
"Yeah?"
"There's a mouse in the house."
"Is it alive?"
"Well, yeah..."

And so the story repeated itself. Me chasing the little furry rodent around and finally managing to trap it under a teacup. Unlike the robin, the mouse didn't get to go to a comfy animal hospital. In fact it met a somewhat more depressing end (children, leave the room now). Despite my pleas to let it go free, Joel remained firm. He wanted Whiskey to learn how to kill mice. So we marched the poor rodent outside and stuck it in the grass next to our cat. Whiskey, however, while she makes a charming house-pet, is a failure as a mouser. She stared in fascination at the mouse, following it around and occasionally knocking it off its feet. The claws never came out, the teeth remained firmly shut. In fact, she was so un-intimidating that the mouse soon considered her a friend, and tried several times to snuggle up against her. This was too much for Whiskey, who was able to maintain at least some shred of dignity and backed away from her admirer in confusion. After several hours of inaction on the part of our cat, Joel took matters into his own hand and sent the mouse sailing into the next life with the help of a mouse-trap. I voted pro-life, but my husband, ever the practical one, voted anti-hantavirus. And that was the end of the Cohen zoo.

What are we doing, you ask?

We've been keeping busy. And here I naively thought that summer would slow things down... it's really only changed what it is that keeps us so busy. Joel, in addition to working two jobs, has been fixing up our house for the renters who are going to move in in either late July or early August. We were so thrilled to find friends who wanted to rent the house for a year. Wonderful. He has now painted all our interior doors white, our front door red, and is working on building trim for the windows. He is also playing softball for a city league (Go Whammers! No, the name hasn't changed...).
I'm working 25 hours at Hall Closet, also doing work around the house, and finding my time very filled up with being the new senior editor for Thought Meadow magazine. Thought Meadow is a Christian women's magazine that was started last year by friends of mine for the "edification of souls and sharpening of minds." We're working on our third issue now, and I just love doing all the administrative chores that go into making each issue come out. You can check it out at: thoughtmeadow.com/blog.
Whiskey, the most productive member of our family, has been doing her favorite summer activity: sleeping.

Yard Sale Finds

I love yard sales. Here in Moscow there are usually 5-10 every Saturday that are within 5 minutes driving distance from us (then again, everything in Moscow is 5 minutes driving from us). A few weeks ago we had our own garage sale with several other couples. It was a blast, and in addition to selling things, I also found this fabulous picture.




Now it is hanging in our bedroom. I have visions of it in a little boy's room someday. Oh how I love the nautical theme.

The Arboretum

I love every season in Moscow, even that in between Spring and Summer stage that is the epitome of June. You never know what type of weather you're going to have in June. One of the best ways to get a feel for the ways the palouse showcases the different seasons is to take a walk in the arboretum. These pictures are from about a week ago when Joel and I visited.


Here are some ducks who swam up to us as we stood near the pond. When we didn't throw them food, they promptly jumped out of the water and proceeded to follow us for a while, much to the amusement of the other people in the arboretum. I'm not sure where they thought we were leading them....



View to the South.







We found this strange tree and Joel counted 11 different offshoot trees. Nifty place for a picnic.