December 3, 2008 by sparklingallison
50 days. Yeah. That’s right. Count ‘em.
I went to my second installment of self defense classes last night. A new friend of mine, Eden, also joined me. We were hooked up by a mutual friend because we will be traveling in South America during the same period of time. Eden is going to spend a year on her own. We’re going to try to hook up to hit the Galapagos Islands together!
Anyway, after class we went to Bimbos to get some food, decompress and talk travel! It wasn’t until I got home that I realized today is 50 days to go!
Tags: Peru
Posted in Travel | No Comments »
December 2, 2008 by sparklingallison
I noticed Rhodes frozen cinnamon rolls in someone’s shopping cart last Wednesday, as I was shopping for Thanksgiving goods. I was next in line on one of the busiest grocery shopping days of the year at that moment. Otherwise I would have ran back to the frozen foods aisle to track down some Rhodes dinner rolls.
Yes. Rhodes. Dinner. Rolls.
I had no idea QFC sold them… I had thought all this time that they were a Utah thing. But no. I bought a bag of them at QFC tonight. They were even on SALE for $3.99.
So, I whipped up a few using their quick rise instructions. (They normally take 3-5 hours to thaw and raise. Using the oven and some boiling water knocked this down to 1 hour or so.) I was missing the gravy, but the rolls with some turkey and Miracle Whip… mmmm.
Takes me right back to our yellow kitchen, where Rhodes rolls were so in demand that we were each allotted our share of two when Mom baked them for dinner.
Tags: Thanksgiving
Posted in Food, Holidays | 2 Comments »
November 29, 2008 by sparklingallison
Mmm. Holiday weekend. So nice. I’ve spent the time in the kitchen (turkey! brownies!), watching Weeds, and playing Animal Crossing. And there are still two more days of it. Well, one and a half at this point. Love it.
Check out my turkey, which turned out fabulous.
And here’s my Animal Crossing character with new yellow shoes. (Note: When you get your shoes shined in the city they don’t really give fair warning that they’re going to mess with your shoe color.)
And the brownies… I was inspired by the latest episode of the office. Found this recipe which helped me use up the rest of the buttermilk in my fridge.
Buttermilk Brownies
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup butter
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cup flour
- 2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 slightly beaten eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
In a sauce pan, bring water, butter and cocoa powder to a boil, stirring constantly. Meanwhile, mix the flour, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl. Then mix in the eggs, milk and cocoa mix. Pour mix into a greased baking sheet (17×11x1). Note: I guess cookie sheets with sides are also called jelly roll pans. Who knew. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
Buttermilk Brownie Frosting (Make just a few minutes before taking the brownies out of the oven.)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 tbsp cocoa
- 3 tbsp buttermilk
- 2 1/4 c confectioners sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
In a sauce pan, bring butter, cocoa and buttermilk to a boil, stirring constantly. Then mix in the confectioners sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over brownies immediately after taking them out of the oven.
Tags: recipe, Thanksgiving, Animal Crossing
Posted in Food, Holidays, Media (Books, Music, Movies & Games) | 1 Comment »
November 26, 2008 by sparklingallison
After lots of changes to plans, we’re having Thanksgiving dinner at our house tomorrow. I’m making the turkey! It’s my first, so I went ‘fancy’ with a brine, which isn’t really fancy… it’s just soaking the turkey in salt water with a bunch of herbs. Finagling it the garbage bags and filling them up with water was pretty tricky though. (Glad I had some plastic gloves.) I tried a big bowl first, but it wasn’t allowing the solution to cover it completely. So, this garbage can was a good fix.
Here’s the recipe from Epicurious:
Herb-Brined Turkey
- 3 gallons water (I didn’t have enough room for 3, so I used 2. And note to self: 1 gallon = 16 cups.)
- 1 3-pound box coarse kosher salt
- 1/2 cup whole black peppercorns
- 1/3 cup fresh thyme sprigs (I used the entire package for these three herbs… 0.66oz each.)
- 1/3 cup fresh marjoram sprigs
- 1/3 cup fresh sage sprigs
- 12 Turkish bay leaves
- 1 13-pound turkey (Mine’s 16. I want left overs!)
Stir 3 gallons water and salt in large pot until salt dissolves. Stir in peppercorns and next 4 ingredients. Add turkey to brine. Place large plate atop turkey to submerge. Place in refrigerator. Soak turkey 8 to 10 hours. Remove turkey from brine; rinse and pat dry. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Store uncovered in refrigerator.)
Preheat oven to 450°F. Place turkey on rack in large roasting pan. Rub butter over turkey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place turkey in oven. Reduce temperature to 325°F. Roast turkey until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 175°F, about 2 1/2 hours. Transfer turkey to platter; tent with foil. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before carving (internal temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees).
Another note: I didn’t really understand ‘brining’ until I watched this video.
Tags: recipe, Thanksgiving
Posted in Food, Holidays | 1 Comment »
November 25, 2008 by sparklingallison
Scott and I watched 24: Redemption last night… on television, with commercials. Yes, we were so desperate to see the season opener of 24 that we plugged in our cable for the first time in 6 years. I didn’t know our cable was hooked up and ready to go, actually. It’s included in our condo association fees.
Scott had to pull a simple cord out of the closet. We hooked up the TV which is normally reserved for playing video games. I made popcorn and we laid in bed to watch. It was surreal.
The worst part (other than the classic 24 torture scenes) was the commercials. Scott figured out after a couple of commercial breaks that we could hit the mute button, which helped a little. The flashy parts were what got me… lots of singing and dancing.
And what is UP with the commercial for the divorce lawyer? The one where the couple is arguing, and then they see an ad for this divorce attorney on their TV, and then they both spring up and grab the phone. Wow. Note to readers who might not know me very well, I do advertising research for a living. Oye.
Posted in Personal Rants & Lists | 1 Comment »
November 24, 2008 by sparklingallison
I called Verizon Wireless today to ask them what I should do with my cell phone contract while we’re in Peru. I think, technically, I’ll be done with my contract by January. But, I’d like to keep my awesome phone number while we’re away. (Plus, when I come back, I’ll most likely go back to Verizon because I love them. Who loves their cell phone company?)
So… the deal is that they will suspend your account for 90 days for a $15 fee. After the 90 days, I’ll need to do it again. I’ll make up the time on my contract (if there is any) once I’m back. Sweetness.
Tags: Peru
Posted in Personal Rants & Lists | No Comments »
November 19, 2008 by sparklingallison
I got a phone call yesterday at exactly 4:05pm from the admissions office at the UW MBA program… and I’m IN!
Tags: UW
Posted in Career Related | 4 Comments »
