Cows and Baseball

Cows and Baseball: Two of my favorite things!

This weekend, I took an impromptu trip to Omaha, Nebraska with my friend KP to watch the College World Series! She’s an Aggie, so we were sporting maroon. A&M lost the game, but we had a great time.

Don’t be too jealous of my awesome panoramic camera, ok?

We stopped at a gas station and there was a giant cow in the roof of the neighboring building! I have my picture with 2 other huge cow satues, and I wasn't about to pass this one up! (Pardon the Army gear. I don’t normally sport the paraphernalia, but it was my “8 hours in the car” shirt)

One last picture, from last weekend

A local dairy brought a few cows out to the coffee shop, so of course, I had to go love on ‘em a little bit!

We Are Thousandaires

LT Fromage is still in the ‘stan. So much for him coming home all sorts of early. As of right now, the window of return is somewhere between September and February. Not much beyond that is clear either. Which classes he’ll attend, where and when haven’t yet been assigned. We’re in limbo right now, which totally sucks.

The one and only good thing about deployment is the money. Yup, LT Fromage is my sugar daddy.

I am proud to announce that as of Monday, we have no more credit card debt!

Thanks to the deployment money, a few checks we weren’t really expecting to see, the pending sale of my truck, and some serious penny pinching, we’ve been able to bulk up our savings, and even allot some money for a vacation!

The Fromages will be traveling to… get ready…

Bali!

I’ve literally been dreaming of Bali since reading “Eat, Pray, Love”, so I am crazy excited to make it a reality! Sort of one last hoorah, since once LT Fromage starts his new job he’ll be deploying every 6 months and shortly thereafter, we’ll have kids. Traveling will never be impossible, but it’ll be harder the longer we wait.

I’ve only wanted a few things in life,

So far I’ve crossed off –

Travel to AZ for the Colorado Rockies spring training – March 2008
Get married – September 19, 2009
Travel to Italy – September 21, 2009

In the works -

Travel to Bali (late 2011 or early 2012)
Have kids (fingers crossed for a baby belly in 2012!)

Leaving only -

Eat at Dogmatic in New York (I could kick myself… I’ve been to NY twice, yet never eaten here!)
Drive a tank (For $500, I can do that here… 27^th birthday present? Perhaps!)

And my ultimate goal…

Own a Holstein named Sir Loin

Yep. I dream big.

Public Service Announcement

You love me, you really love me!

Thanks so much to Kara, from Visions unto myself , for awarding me this….

In order to accept (plus it gives me some substance to constitute an actual post) I have to list 5 guilty pleasures and pass this award on to three (just 3?) of my favorite bloggers….

Off we go…

1. Cheese. Obviously. I love all things cheese, all kinds of cheese, even nasty processed crap like Velveeta. Does that make me a true cheese lover, or is eating that some sort of blasphemy?

2. Green curry, Indian food of any kind, chocolate, margaritas and frozen yogurt. Not all togeth…. Wait, I just had a fantastic plan for supper!

3. Rodents. I collect them like some people collect stamps. Except most people don’t use small furry animals as postage, and stamp collectors hold their treasures in books, whereas I like to carry mine around in my pockets.

4. Cows. If it’s black and white spotted, I must have it. There are more cow items than cookware in my kitchen. And I have a lot of cookware.

5. MTV. Sad, but true. If I can get an afternoon marathon of Real World or Teen Mom, I’m a happy girl.

Now, I wish I was watching some trashy TV with a big bowl of curry and a platter of cheese on the side. A rodent snuggled in my pocket and my stuffed cow, Sir Loin would complete the picture. What a fantastic day that would be!

Enough day dreaming, gotta pass this on to some other worthy blogs….

Big Fat Gini

http://bigfatginiblog.blogspot.com/

Bre's Recipes

http://brerecipes.blogspot.com/

Life After the Aisle

http://ashleyisawife.blogspot.com/

Bought my first baby bib

Ha! Not what you thought, no babies yet. Read on!

First....

Shamelessly plugging my new blog, 365 days in pictures. Check it out! Shameless plug over.

How cool are thrift stores? Goodwill, ARC, DAV… Just yesterday I got the 2 cutest tops and a darling dress, oh yeah, and a cow mug (how can I pass something with a cow up? I even bought a… cow… bib! Yup. Planning ahead for our little cow-loving baby).

My best thrift store purchase? A huge, antique trunk for thirty bucks a few years back. I almost had to fight a lady for it, but it went home with me!

Anyone else have any good finds to share?

Christmas Recap in Pictures

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree....

Decorated with home made ornaments inspired by Country Living....

"The Cheese Nun" was opened and made me so glad.... (Thanks, LT Fromage!)

Then I opened this cow purse from "Mom" and from "Dad"

LT Fromage's stocking was overflowing with treats....

Left over turkey bones the ratinos did eat...

The dogs both got rawhides, despite being naughty....

Next year we'll save money and just give the cats all the paper....

Christmas oh-ten, you were such a good one. I hope all my readers had just as much fun!

Multiple Choice

Lack of recent posts has been due to

A) Taking a leave of absence from work to deal with my anxiety disorder

B) Hand feeding an 8 day old baby rat every 3-4 hours day and night

C) Cleaning cat pee off of the love seat

D) Screaming at the dog for unwrapping the gift “she got” for her daddy (That was FROM you, Erika, your name was in the FROM spot, not TO, D@MNITT)

E) Hanging cow Christmas lights in my cow kitchen (An early gift from LT Fromage, since he got to open one early… er, Erika opened it for him)

F) Winning the lottery

G) All of the above

H) All of the above except for F

If you answered H, you’re correct. I’m at home for a few weeks (maybe longer, if I qualify for short term disability). I wish we’d won the lotto, but alas, my recent activity has included no such luck. I’m supposed to be using this time to de-stress, however most of my time has been spent trying to undo the damages caused by our four-legged kids and playing wet-nurse to a little boy we call Florian Geyer who’s little eyes and ears aren’t even open yet. (Ok, the baby isn’t stressful. I actually kind of like all that mothering I get to do for our new little guy).

So, folks, please bear with me. I’m still around and blogging, but if I don’t post quite as often for a short bit, assume it’s because I’m re-stuffing the cats’ stocking (again) or dealing with a couple of dogs who’ve eaten every last shard of glass from a broken cake platter. Cross your fingers that I actually will manage to get some down time so I can drink some Red Thai Chi Tea (say that 5 times fast!) with LT Fromage, open some gifts (if the dogs don’t get to them first) and read a good book or two.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from us and ours in the Fromage household!

Back in the Saddle Again

After a rough few days, I’m back at work. I prefer to use my sick days when I’m feeling good; D@MN having to use them (plus vacay time! eff!) for when I feel like crap.

In my down time, I did manage to Christmas-fy the Fromage Palace. Or, at least I’m off to a good start! (ETA for the tree is Sunday!)

The stockings are hung on the balcony with care. Except there is some sharing going on. The cats are sharing a big red paw, and all 5 rattinos will find a can of oysters in their community stocking (Otherwise, we’d need a much, much longer balcony!)

The cows are ready for Christmas (Oh, by the way, the dogs ATE ALL OF MY COW COOKIES. And broke my cake display. Notice Erika has a “naughty” stocking with a piece of coal attached.)

My grandfather’s antique box is filled with “snow” covered, cinnamon scented pine cones and LT Fromage’s beer steins are even in the spirt, donning a big red Santa hat.

The doorway is draped with snowflakes and lights,

And once you reach the kitchen, red and white flowers from LT Fromage, next to my Christmas candle sticks set the table for all the yummy snacks like....

White and milk chocolate dipped candy canes and pretzels

Sugar cookies loaded with pistachios, milk chocolate and dried cranberries

Spicy chocolate; white chocolate peppermint; mint chocolate and eggnog candies and truffles piled high on the tabled (and safely removed when we’re away and the dogs are inside!).

Recipes for these goodies to follow. Also, be on the lookout for the very first Lady Fromage give away!

Remember to follow me on Twitter for up to the minute, life shattering updates like “if I hear one more Taylor Swift song I'm going to shoot myself. Just putting that out there." Or the new Question of the day; today’s being: What part of the gingerbread man do you eat first? (Gini, get your mind out of the gutter! *wink wink*)

Livin’ the Dream

Some years ago, I purchased a cow shaped cookie cutter. If you don’t know it by now, I love cows. However, I don’t love cookies as much as I do cows, at least not sugar cookies (the only ones that really hold their shape. I tried making cow chocolate chip cookies…. Fail.) But last night, my dream became reality, we finally made cow cookies (and I didn’t burn the house down in the process!)!

I rolled out the dough, cut lots of little bovines and baked away until their little toes turned golden brown. Once they cooled, we iced. I even bought black decorating icing and those fancy little tips (which didn’t fit, by the way; we ended up squirting icing into sandwich bags and cutting the corner off. Resourcefulness: just one of my many gifts.) I even went so far as to buy little pearl sprinkles for eyes. Hardcore? Maybe; but I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time.

LT Fromage decorated his cows with red and green spots, since he was in a festive mood (er, I was hogging the black icing).

Santa’s not the only one who likes cookies and milk, so when LT Fromage finished his snack we poured some leftover milk into a cat-sized mug for Toby, who sat on the cow rug and helped finish off dad’s drink. Before we finished up, we carefully made 5 dime-sized cookies for the rats (The Ladies). The dogs didn’t get to partake in the festivities. Sorry, guys.

Giant snowflakes and tiny twinkle lights are hanging and the garland, nativity and stockings will soon emerge too. Best of all? LT Fromage suggested we go pick out our tree… THIS WEEKEND. Shocked? You should be! This comes from the man who grew up in a family who was getting their pine on Christmas-freakin’-eve! I, the polar opposite, erected my fake greenery as early as November 1st when I was a single lady. I thought this gesture was a peace offering since I slept on the couch the night before, but in fact, it’s due to his work schedule; this being the only weekend we can go unless we want to pick up a scraggly tree a few days before the holiday. Whatever the reason, we get the tree this weekend, and I can’t wait!

And finally,

I started Twittering. Yeah, they got me. Be sure to follow me (on the side bar to your right) so you can get updates on my super exciting life every time anything semi-awesome happens. C’mon, you know you want to!

D@MN it Feels Good to be a Gangsta

One night in December, after an evening of pizza, Wii and lots of drinking with our couple friends S & J (My best Non Sucky Army Wife friend), we met “Gangsta Gangst”, J’s alter ego.
We had a lot of laughs at his “gangsta name”, because J is not, in fact, a “gansta”, not even close. He wears sweaters and watches Food Network. LT Fromage also wears sweaters and we're also Food Network junkies, so the 4 of us can discuss the Iron Chefs for hours. It’s no surprise that we’ve become such good friends. Try as we might, none of us are quite gangtas, though.

I began to feel jealous, if fellow sweater-wearing, Food Networking-watching, early-bedtimer , J could have a Gangsta name, why couldn’t I? LT Fromage said he would work on it.
A few days later, driving home from a Monday night date (We try to get some good Margaritas….er, I mean Mexican food, on Mondays), it came to him. “I’ve got it!” he said, “Lady Fromage.” Of course!

I love, LOVE, loooovvvveeeee cheese. LT Fromage claims that if I was an animal, I would be a mouse. (Although a good friend once suggested badger… Aw, that’s mean. Oh, and then those boys MOO’d at me, so maybe a cow, also... But I digress).

When LT Fromage is away, most of my suppers consist of an array of cheeses (I always keep a minimum 6 selections stocked in the fridge at all times), jellies and jams, crackers and breads. Pair that with a bottle, er, glass of wine and I’m in heaven. Our older cat, Garrett also loves cheese, so when LT Fromage is not home, Gare and I can be found indulging on delectable dairy products together while we watch trashy MTV reality shows. (LT Fromage does not delight in cheese to the extent that I do; he prefers meals that are slightly more… diverse and substantial. He also doesn’t enjoy trashy MTV specials. His loss)

On a recent drive home from St. Louis LT Fromage took me to The Cheese Store. This is exactly what it sounds like. That is, Heaven.

I limited myself to 5 cheeses; however I sampled each and every one in the store (some more than once) My final purchases:

*Havarti with Dill (LT Fromage's favorite)
*White Cheddar with Onion and Garlic
*Cajun Cheddar Curds
*Smoked Mozzarella Curds
*White and Orange Cheddar Curds

Other favorites:

*Goat cheese. Plain ol’ is my favorite, but it’s also delicious with herbs and other add-ins.
*Gorgonzola. I make a fab-u-lous sauce to go over steak (or Portabella mushrooms, for me), and I always buy an extra tub so I can snack on the tasty chunks while I cook.
*White Queso. Pretty dee-lish, when you get it at an authentic Mexican restaurant!
*Brie. I even named a pet rat this, once. If ever you have an opportunity to eat baked brie, try it! I promise you’ll eat every last bite!
*Swiss. One word, Fondue.
*Smoked Gouda. O.M.G…. Oh, yes, yes yes!
I’m also a sucker for- this is embarrassing – Velveeta. Sorry, I can’t help it. Heat it up with a can of Rotell, you’ll love it too.

And there you have it. The backstory of my cheesy name. Now you know, and knowing is all the power (*wink *wink, LT Fromage!).

Duct Tape, Pork Chops and other Nifty Things

So I realize that the last few posts have been about childhood toys, cartoon characters and reality televesion. Next thing you know, I’ll be blogging about Justin Beiber. Just kidding. I won’t go that far.

But I do owe you a grown up post, filled with useful information and nifty things you can take away with you (because I’m not all-that enough to do give aways just yet).

Here you go, some free advice. Things I’ve learned and will now pass on to you, loyal readers. Now don’t say I never gave you anything!

Duct tape works well to patch pants from the inside when they begin thinning from your fat thighs rubbing together. Be aware, though, that it will soon begin sticking to said fat thighs, which is quite uncomfortable, and will need to be gently tugged away from the skin, which can be awkward in social settings. Another layer of duct tape fixes this problem, but not for long. Lesson learned: This is not a permanent solution. Buy some new jeans, thunder thighs.

I can substitute vinegar for the cleaner in my Hoover Floor Mate. It’s way cheaper and works just as well, if not better. Plus it’s green, which I feel good saying. Since I don’t actually do many “green things” It is my favorite color though, so that should count for something.

A mixture of half Red Wine Vinegar and half White Wine Vinegar can be used in place of Apple Cider Vinegar when cooking. I don’t know how it would do in the Hoover though.

Pork Chops are a very good substitute for steak, and much less expensive; even than a less than stellar cut of beef. This sounds good to me, because A) I like to save money, and B) I don’t care as much for pigs as I do cows, and will likely feel less terrible about serving them on a plate. I made some piggies for LT Fromage last week and he loved them. (Mouth watering yet? Here you go!)

Apple Ginger Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri (Who totally rocks)

Ingredients
4 pork chops, double cut, center cut, bone in
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup sliced (1/4-inch) yellow onions
2 cups cored and sliced (1/4-inch) Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
In a resealable plastic bag, add the chops, apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saute pan heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to almost smoking, then add pork chops, shaking off excess marinade. Brown on both sides, then place on a sheet pan and put in the oven for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F.

In the same saute pan deglaze with wine then add onions, apples and raisins and cook until apples are soft and onions are translucent. Add butter salt and pepper, to taste, and keep warm.
Remove chops from oven and add to the apple mixture. Serve hot.

Notes From Lady Fromage:

I didn’t buy bone in chops; I couldn’t find them so I got a thick cut instead.

I subbed my above mixture for the Apple Cider Vinegar because I didn’t have any.

Also, who has fresh ginger around? I used powdered instead, but not as much obviously. Those would have been some gingery pieces of pork!

I didn’t have raisins so I used dried dates (Why we have those and not raisins I don’t know…).

I used Lime Juice because we didn’t have any lemons. A citrus is a citrus.

I clearly need to restock my kitchen. Now we don't even have anymore dried dates.

Lastly, I marinated for more like 12 hours, because how can 30 minutes do anything?

Lite-Brite, Lite-Brite, Turn on the magical shining light!

Last week LT Fromage and I took a beginners pistol class. LT Fromage was kind enough to tell me when we arranged it “I’m sure there are things I can learn,” but of course there weren’t. I think he may have actually outshot the instructor, but I had a good time and discovered that I am actually a better one handed shooter than I am when I use both hands. Who knew? Anyway, I got to wear my pink earmuffs, shoot some paper plates and see some cows in the adjacent field and all in all we had a fun day out.

But what does this have to do with a lite-brite? (I know you’re thinking “Where the eff is she going with this story?”)

We had a mega long lunch break, and after we hit up our favorite burger place we still had an hour before class resumed. During that time LT Fromage got a hair cut while I bought yet another pair of sunglasses (our German shepherd keeps eating them) and a cow pen that moos when you push on his head.

So far, there were already multiple high points of this day:

1. Sharing a mid-week day off with LT Fromage. Extra fun because we were shooting

2. The NRA teacher was named Myron Calhoun, which is pretty much a FREAKIN’ AWESOME NAME, right? And he was totally this cute little old man with a big old stocking cap! He even wore a huge name tag, even though we were the only 2 people in his class. Too cute! I have a thing for little old men. We’ll talk about that another time.

3. Lunch at So Long, which included fried pickles and a green chili “burger” with onion rings

4. The above mentioned cow pen. Which totally makes me look like a 6 year old but who gives a D@MN (Using bad words helps me not feel like a kid. Kids can't sware.) Also I got a pink cow eraser. Score!

On our way back to class after the eternal lunch break, we stopped at this funky second hand shop. There it was: The lite-brite. (I told you it was coming)

Pretty much the coolest toy ever. Except maybe Little People. I have a deep rooted love for those, too.

I went a little crazy when I saw it. Ok, more than a little. I may have caused a bit of a scene. But, c’mon, it’s a lite-brite! Who doesn’t remember this from their childhood? I’ll tell you who. LT Fromage.

Boy, he missed out!

I probably should have bought it (It was only ten bucks!) so he could try it out; that is, if I could share it long enough for him to have a turn.

So if you’re in the mood for some lite-brite fun now, because I sure am, I found a website where you can play lite-brite for free. It's not quite the same, but at least it means I won’t be digging those little pegs out of sofa cushions.

If you’ve got an urge for Little People now, well, you’re on your own.

My New Bestie

A little update from yesterday: I went to the corporate HR gal with my dilemma and a half hour later sat in my boss’ office, this time joined by our office HR rep, where I got an apology, assurance that I will not lose my job and some assistance with my options (FMLA, etc.). Phew.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about some lighter stuff, shall we?

I’m a huge fan of MTV and reality shows. I think it’s because, as such an introvert. I can enjoy the “company” of the people I can “get to know” at my leisure (assuming they are on. If I had DVR this could even be better…). When I get tired of them, I can turn them off. I can say things to them that my “real” friends may not appreciate, things like “bee-ach, you look like a blimp in that! Size 4 my @$$, go back to the rack for an 8, at least!”

Come to think of it, comments like that may be why I have very few “real life” friends. Food for thought...

16 and Pregnant was my favorite show, and of course, I followed the girls through Teen Mom. I was devastated when the finale came a few weeks ago, and the promise of a new season of 16 and Pregnant didn’t fix it. I wasn’t looking forward to “getting to know” any more new girls, I liked my old friends.

Until the other night when Brooke was introduced. Girl, you are my new “best friend”.

Brooke is a junior in high school who lives in Texas with her family and a herd of goats. She’s also a race car driver (as is her family and her HUSBAND… yes, husband! She’s 16, pregnant and married!). She and HUSBAND, Cody, are planning to buy a prefabricated barn to drop on her parents’ property. To live in. I’ve never heard of living in a prefab barn, but eff yeah, this is gonna be freakin’ awesome!

Other highlights of the introduction episode included Mom’s shock at how her baby girl got knocked up. She reminded her where the condoms are kept (under the bathroom sink), and apparently instructed her on proper usage with the aid of a cucumber. Perhaps not parenting the way I plan to do it, but I sure do love gasping and grabbing LT Fromage, “Can you believe this $H!T???”

Now, it would be easy to judge my new “friend”, since she probably does fall into a category of “white trash”, but I’m not going to. Why? Because she’s a cow lover too. Every scene showed a new item of cowness. Which led me to grab LT Fromage and shriek “AAAAHHHH!!! COOOOOWWWW” every few minutes (I don’t think he likes my new friend so far, since she and I are keeping him from getting much work done).

Ok, MTV. You got me. I’ll put forth the effort to get to know these new high school moms. None of whom can understand how they could possibly have become pregnant (“We were like, totally having unprotected sex for like, ever, and never got pregnant before! WTF?”).

These young women will become a part of my life. I will resume talking to LT Fromage about people he thinks we actually know, ensuring many more confusing conversations like this:

“So Brooke and Cody are totally buying a barn to live in! A BARN! Can you believe it, baby?”

“Wait, who?”

“Booke and Cody! With baby Brody… remember?”

“Is this someone you work with? I thought her name was Amber?”

“No, silly, BROOKE! The Teen Mom!”

“Oh, Jesus…”

100 Things

I’m speechless (Not really. I’m never speechless), this is my 100th post. In honor of this mile stone, here are 100 things. Not really related things, funny or impressive things, but 100 things none the less.

My list of 100 things.

1. My highest score in solitaire is 735. Which is the highest possible score. NBD
2. I can reach 97 WPM with 97% accuracy
3. I can hold my breath for 1:14
4. Jolly Ranchers always give me hiccups
5. I love grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced jalapeños
6. Or onion and tomato
7. Or dipped in ranch dressing
8. Pretty much anything can be dipped in ranch dressing for that matter
9. I was home schooled until my senior year of high school
10. When I was a little girl, I had an imaginary friend, a horse named Acorn
11. I broke my left ring finger in high school and set it myself, it still bothers me when it’s cold out
12. I love Splenda
13. I add red pepper to hot chocolate, it’s so yummy
14. I’m terrified of earth worms
15. When I was little, I killed a butterfly in a jar using a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol, even though my mom pleaded with me not to
16. I’ve had a stereo stolen from my car and my house broken into twice
17. I worked in an animal shelter where I had to euthanize peoples unwanted pets, I quit working there when I realized I had stopped feeling sad about them dying
18. Ringo is my favorite Beatle
19. I carry 3 types of anxiety medications at all times
20. I starred in the spring musical my senior year in high school (Once Upon A Mattress)
21. I was awarded “Most Improved Dancer” by the cast
22. My favorite color is green
23. I have prosopagnosa (face blindness)
24. I burp when I yawn
25. I read really, really fast
26. I’m not sure if I believe in ghosts, but I am sure that if they’re real, there are some in my house
27. My favorite number is 27
28. I always tip at least 20%
29. I have giant feet, some of my shoes are size 10 ½ wide
30. I had to buy men’s hiking boots because they don’t make women’s that fit me
31. I can’t hike anymore because of patella femoral syndrome in my right knee
32. I love cemeteries, I find them peaceful not creepy
33. However, I do have an abnormal fascination with death
34. I love the old Window’s Entertainment Pack with Chip’s Challenge, Rodent’s Revenge and Tetris
35. I hate the number 35
36. I bruise very easily. I’m afraid most people think LT Fromage must beat me at home
37. When I was little, I had a crush on the Nickelodeon cartoon character Doug
38. My favorite Starbucks drink is the pumpkin spice frappuccino, but when it’s out of season I order a caramel frappuccino with a half cream base
39. I have a paw print tattoo behind my right ear, in memory of all of my pets I’ve lost and the ones I’ve had to put down because there was no room left for another unwanted animal
40. I can fall asleep anywhere, any time. My parents used to think I had narcolepsy
41. I’m the oldest of 4 children, 2 of whom my parents adopted. I love my family so much
42. LT Fromage and I laugh all the time. I’ve never seen a couple who laughs so much and can be so silly, except maybe on TV
43. Last New Year’s Eve I caught our kitchen on fire making breakfast. The fire department had to come put it out
44. We now own a fire extinguisher
45. I love tanks and have a small collection of 1/144 scale miniatures
46. My favorite tank is the Stingray, but it was never mass produced
47. I’ve only been on public transportation once in my life and I was terrified
48. The Office is my favorite TV show
49. I’m also recently lovin’ Arrested Development
50. LT Fromage and I went to Sicily, Italy for our honeymoon, which was amazing except…
51. Our luggage was lost in Rome, so we didn’t have our things for the first day
52. Also, the water was out 50% of the time, so we only showered every other day
53. And we ended up sleeping on separate couches because the bed was so uncomfortable
54. I’m terrified of stopped school busses
55. I dated a guy who went to Annapolis, later married a man who graduated from West Point but was never involved with anyone from the Air Force Academy, despite living only an hour away, while the other schools are on the east coast
56. If while walking, an object is between me and my companion, I have to repeat the phrase “bread and butter” until we are no longer separated
57. I get nosebleeds when I’m nervous
58. I got two nosebleeds on our wedding day (one about 5 minutes before walking down the aisle. In my white dress. The second at the reception immediately before pictures)
59. I had nosebleeds all the time when we started getting frisky, which is a pretty good mood killer
60. I love diet Pepsi, but usually buy Sam’s Club brand diet soda. I won’t touch diet Coke with a 10 foot pole
61. Generations ago, my family owned the Coca Cola company
62. I once stole an Obama sign from a deli window and am guilty of removing an Obama bumper sticker in a parking lot on at least one occasion
63. I didn’t grow out of stuffed animals like my mom predicted I would. I still sleep with “Sir Loin”, a cow LT Fromage gave me for our first Christmas (He had no idea when he bought that cow that he’d be sleeping with it 3 years later)
64. I once ripped the seat of my pants dancing with my friend at a gay club
65. I also ripped the seat of my pants at a county fair while showing my dog
66. My current favorite pair of jeans are wearing thin in the bottom, so to prevent another rip I’ve duct taped them on the inside
67. I live by the phrase “If you can’t duck it, chuck it” (except sometimes I use another work that rhymes with duck)
68. The song “The Reason” by Hoopastank makes my ears hurt, much the same as nails on a chalk board does. Only worse
69. So does the sound of the new Sun Chips bag
70. I don’t believe in the territories
71. I also don’t believe in umami
72. I once cut off my own skin tag with nail clippers
73. I can’t swim
74. I had no idea it would be so hard to think of 100 things. Eff, what was I thinking?
75. My favorite color is green
76. I was raised Protestant, but converted a few years ago to Roman Catholic
77. I got to stay in a Monastery when I was in New York for LT Fromage’s graduation
78. At the present time LT Fromage and I own 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 rats and a frog
79. Our older cat can sit, speak and roll over, the younger can speak and sit up to beg
80. I own and can shoot, disassemble, clean and reassemble my own gun (Ruger SR9c)
81. T-Rex is my favorite dinosaur
82. If it was socially acceptable, I would totally hole up in the house and never come out. Except to pick up an order of green curry (to go, of course) once in a while
83. I have to sleep with one leg out of the covers
84. I love stadium nachos and M&Ms. Yes, together
85. Blue M&Ms are my favorite, even though I think the Red M&M on the commercials is the best
86. My current favorite commercial is the Geico “Bird in the Hand” one
87. Or maybe the Skittles Tube Sock
88. Or the shake weight, because that is too crazy funny, and not on purpose
89. My birthday sometimes falls on national donut day, which is great, because I love donuts
90. I also love cheese, anything to do with cheese, and also green curry
91. I’ve read my favorite book, Life of Pi at least a dozen times
92. I basically live in my “Nothing Tips Like A Cow” hooded sweater
93. I’ve got a space heater with a remote, it’s set up so that I can turn it on to heat the bathroom before I even get out of bed in the morning
94. I’m a die-hard Colorado Rockies fan
95. I love cooking
96. But I can’t bake and always end up frustrated when I try
97. I live for Christmas and, before I was married, would bring out my (artificial) tree on November 1st
98. Now we wait until the first day of Advent and buy a real tree
99. I love antique stores
100. I hate funnel cake

The Sweater Was Black

Ever have those days where you feel like your head is on upside down? I know I’m in for a long one when I start by showing the guards at the gate my credit card instead of my ID, or fix myself a mug of creamer and Splenda, then brew hot water and forget the coffee grounds!

Last night, after a particularly trying day, I left my cell phone at the Thai place. I’d called in a to-go order as a pick-me-up for myself, and ended up driving back and forth across town to receive my phone (I sometimes forgot how lost I would be without it, boy was I glad to have it back!).

Thankfully, my favorite food was waiting for me when I got home with phone in hand. Because I am an emotional eater, and green curry is my weakness, it did make me feel better. I may have licked the bowl. I’m not admitting anything, but it may have happened.

I ordered the cat pill box I shared on yesterday’s post, which, in addition to green curry, also made me happy. The orange purse would make me happy too, but I’m pretty sure when LT Fromage checked the bank account, HE might not be happy, so I’ll just enjoy looking at it for now!

Hooray for being half-way through Thursday. Tomorrow is the last day of the work week and when I get home, LT Fromage will be there waiting! Hopefully he’ll be excited to see Beth* nice and clean**!

*I like naming our cars. Mine is Iron Hide, from Transformers, and his is Beth. I named her after I dreamed that LT Fromage was running around on me with a grungy hippy named Beth. Naming his car Beth gave us the opportunity to make silly jokes like “I’m gonna shove this in Beth’s trunk!” Yes. We act like teenage boys sometimes. I won’t even start on “That’s what she said!”….

**I recently lost a bet on what color sweater LT Fromage wore the first time he met my parents. For the record, it was black, not blue. Thanks mom, for finding a picture and settling it. I wish you would have photo shopped a little blue in there before you emailed it to us though. I was going to get a cow, a pet cow! if it was blue! Instead I’m vacuuming dog hair out of the car.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Wunderlide

What a wonderful weekend! We stayed at the Hotel Phillips, a beautiful hotel in Kansas City, where we were surprised with chocolate covered strawberries in our room with a card addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Wunderlide. The strawberries were great, the room was lovely, but Wunderlide is not our last name. Close. But not right. (Last year, our honeymoon suite offered a bottle of champagne and a note for the Weatherfords, which is again, not us. We’ve got a tough last name, it happens a lot.)

LT Fromage planned so many fun things for us to do; we started with Mediterranean food on Friday night and saved room for Kadayif, a dee-lish cheese/pastry dessert. We had a yummy breakfast at the hotel on Saturday and then went to the City Market, a 145-stall farmer’s market to check out all the treasures: fresh produce, spices, breads, jewelry and other trinkets. We shared a big bag of kettle corn and freshly squeezed lemon and limeades and went home with a cow bobble head and a bag of Spicy Thai dried pasta (I can’t wait to make it with peanut sauce!).

We had planned on eating Indian food for lunch, but nixed it to try Grinder’s. The valet recommended it to us and when he mentioned it was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives we decided we had to check it out! LT Fromage got the Bengal, one of their featured pizzas, which is a Northwest India inspired pie covered in tandori chicken and crab. I ordered the Fun Gi instead. After removing everything that had once been alive, I did take a bite of his, since it was the one Guy ate, and it was so yummy! As if the dining experience wasn’t cool enough, there was a garage door across the street painted like a cow, where I insisted we pose for a picture. (I wish we could upload pictures, but right now our laptop is dead and on its way back to the store to be repaired. I've got my camera phone and lifted images from google in the meantime!)

Of course, it rained on Saturday afternoon, and not just a little, it poured. It was reminiscent of our honeymoon where we battled rain all but one night. The weather didn’t stop us from strolling (under the cover of eves) and stopping into shops to look around downtown.

Saturday night we had intended to see “Going the Distance” but couldn’t find a theater showing it, sadness, so we just chilled out for a while before going to the WaterFire show on the river where they lit big fire pits all down the river. There was music, fire dancers, food, drinking and some other cool stuff. Sadly, the rain caused a late start and early finish, but we had a great time anyway.

For dinner LT Fromage had picked a tapas bar, Extra Virgin. Neither of us had ever been to a tapas bar before and it was a great first time! We enjoyed caprese salad, and tried the chick pea fries which were so yummy. I picked the Garrotxa “Cati” cheese that was recommend by the waiter, LT Fromage was daring and ordered Fried Duck Gizzards. I kid you not. Ew. He said he liked them, however. We were so full after we shared a baked pasta fromaggi and a bottle of Riesling.

On Sunday we had Ethiopian food for lunch and some of the best hot spiced tea ever. We bought 2 miniature beer steins at the River Market Antique Mall, which is 4 stories and full of the coolest goodies, including the dinner set I grew up using, the one my parents registered for at their wedding almost 30 years ago! Does that qaulify as antique? I'm not sure. It was fun to see, though!

LT Fromage found a perfect card that made me cry and then laugh at a reference to our “terrible” first year of marriage; he bought me a gorgeous diamond and sapphire journey pendant necklace. He was thrilled with the 17-inch tall beer stein I found for him. We braced ourselves for some wicked freezer burn and cut into the top of our wedding cake. It was surprisingly not that terrible (just like our first year of marriage!).

(Aren't you digging the black and white floor tiles and the cow spots on my fridge? I love my kitchen!)

I hope you all had equally wonderful weekends!

Lady Fromage Does Not Bake

During the first 6 months or so of married life, I’m not sure that I once served LT Fromage the same menu twice. I know that for some it’s a chore, but I love to cook.

When I resumed working full time, we talked about how we would restructure our lives to adjust to the decreased time for housework; frozen food was a suggestion that was submitted and quickly shot down. Exotic and new cuisine is now reserved for the weekends when I have more time, but during the week I love to come home, put on my cow print apron and begin gourmet burgers or a new recipe for breaded meatballs to go over homemade pasta (made on the weekend and then frozen for later) with a fresh capresea salad. Pizza with barbeque sauce, sautéed red onion and grilled chicken (We also love this one from Busy Bee Lauren) shows up every few weeks and green curry makes a weekly appearance, since I learned the secret.

Our weekends are filled with Thai, Indian, Italian, Southern or whatever other flavors I’m craving. Saturday morning breakfast is always so big we never even plan for lunch; instead we eat until the “food coma” hits, and then nap it away on the couch.

LT Fromage and I are always on the hunt for new places to eat, new things to try and new shows to tune into on Food Network. Currently, we’re watching a lot of Iron Chef America and Chopped, with some Best Thing I Ever Ate and Dinners, Drive Ins and Dives thrown in. I couldn’t believe it when LT Fromage announced the other night that he didn’t like watching baking shows because “That doesn’t take any skill”

HA!

I can make Paneer, (even my own cheese). I make fresh pasta. Thai curry? No problem. But baking? Way out of my league.

There were the rolls that wouldn’t rise; my mom walked me through her infamous recipe step by step, but instead of soft, fluffy dinner rolls, we had gooey lumps with supper. Next I made the rolls that rose too much; I thought we were in some kind of dinner-bread horror film when I saw them, they were at least the size of soft balls! A few weeks ago I bought an “easy” box of Red Velvet cake hoping it would be as simple as described, but it began crumbling as soon as I finished icing it. It looked so pathetic with huge chunks of cake and gooey icing sliding down onto the plate! I was supposed to take it as desert to a lunch, but opted to pick up a frozen Key Lime pie instead. Things were going surprisingly well when I started making these brownies last week, that is, until I broke a wooden spoon in the batter and ended up with so many little pieces we had to throw them out (We did try a bite, and they were AMAZING!... minus the spoon. Whatevs). I won’t even mention the time I caught our kitchen on fire.

I tip my hat to you, bakers. I envy you and your ability to make dough rise and present a beautiful finshed product (and keep splinters out of your friends’ and families’ mouths.) I’m going to keep practicing; I’ll be making these this weekend!

Holy Cow!

I have a slight obsession with cows.

I drink my coffee from a cow mug. I have a cow print apron and a cow print chef’s hat; cow salt and pepper shakers, cow cream and sugar holders. Cows adorn the kitchen walls in picture frames and vintage metal signs. I have cow socks, a cow baseball cap and cow t-shirts. Last Christmas, LT Fromage bought me big, black cow spot magnets to transform our fridge into a Holstein (My favorite cows). I have stuffed bears dressed as cows, floppy cows 3 feet long and tiny cows to hook on key chains. My most treasured cow is one LT Fromage gave me for our first Christmas, his name is Sir Loin and he sleeps in bed with us every night.

Yesterday, as I was searching for cow pictures on google images (true story), I stumbled upon a website where I made a very exciting discovery – There are MINIATURE COWS. How I never knew this I’m not sure; I would have thought that surely they would be listed in my “Field Guide to Cows”, but somehow, they stayed under my radar until yesterday.

Long ago I successfully convinced LT Fromage to let me own my very own cow (one day, when we’re not renting and have more than a little fenced yard). Now, instead of preparing for the arrival of the “real” Sir Loin, we can look forward to bringing home the Petite Sir Loin!

Fall Days and Cows

Autumn is my favorite time of year, but sadly, it lasts about 24 hours here; we go straight from blistering hot summer into bone chilling winter. Today feels like one of the few fall days we get to enjoy here in the Little Apple. The leaves haven’t begun to change quite yet so we are without the brilliant colors, but the air is crisp and cool and today is simply perfect. If I wasn’t at work today, here’s what I would be doing.

Reading “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’engle, drinking a mug of hot raspberry tea with cream and Splenda while wrapped up in a king-size down comforter and listening to Ringo Starr’s 1970 album “Sentimental Journey”.

I doubt it would go over well if I showed up to work today in my cozy green sweatpants, snuggled in a big blanket, but I did throw in Tim McGraw’s newest CD while I went over year-end contracts this morning drinking a fresh cup of Dark Roast Hazelnut coffee in my favorite cow mug. Not a terrible substitute.

Between wrapping up my morning and breaking for lunch, I found these pictures, which I love. Enjoy!