My mother and her first husband

Thankfully, that marriage didn't last!

Nuton! (New Futon for the rest of you)

Okay, it's new to us. I can finally stop scouring the craigslist ads- except now I think I'm addicted. Anyways, we managed to procure this sturdy piece of work (once Kyle replaces the missing hardware:) from a woman that lived two blocks away from Amelia, which made it easy for us to convince Joe, one of Amelia's roomies, to drive his wife's truck to help us pick it up. A couple bruises and Kyle's handiwork later, and here it is! The cats love it.  Hopefully you will, too.  And if you're family, you can sleep in our bed and WE'LL sleep on the futon:)

And here's a random picture of our lovey pets to round out a sleeping focused entry!

Ocho de Mayo Housewarming

We invited everyone for a mexican potluck and serious sangria drinking last Saturday night. John was working, Malinda and Alex were in Iowa, and Jill was busy being a mom, but everyone else made it.  Guess we'll have to have another...

We started outside on the patio while it was still nice, but, ummmm, it's not quite summer yet. So when it got chilly, and dark, we commenced with our final outdoor activity before heading inside- pinata!!!!!

Many attempted, and honestly, I don't even remember who broke it open? But lots of dark chocolate, magnets, bungee cords and pens fell out.  Ben discovered that all of the candies were easily whipped at my head. Mean Ben.                                                                                                                                   

Afterwards, there was a lot of yelling (it's a game called Outburst, but does sound a little like a riot when we play it), and a lot of dessert eating: berry crisp, vanilla ice cream with dulce de leche and chocolate wafers, and the infamous mint chocolate hand pie!

Welcome to Buca di Beppo!

Welcome to Toni's birthday party! John insisted we take everyone to Buca di Beppo, an Italian family style restaurant in Seattle.  We made a reservation for twelve people and were rewarded with a huge round table in a round alcove all to ourselves.  Needless to say, my opinion of Buca was heavily influenced by our super sweet seats! Here is a taste of the decor, and the guests!

Naked angel babies flew over us playing trumpets as we ate. It was a little distracting, and disturbing, too. They weren't wearing diapers, after all.

Thankfully, the current Pope was able to make it to Toni's party- after all, she's a big fan....Alex was convinced that Popey's eyes contained cameras. Recording for the Vatican, or the restaurant staff? Not sure....

We were completely surrounded by religious pictures, art, and statues. It was like it was MY birthday instead of Toni's! But it wasn't.

Alex eyes Lance suspiciously- or maybe he's still trying to catch the Pope camera?

Toni begged the waitresses to sing "Happy Birthday" to her, and really, what choice did they have? She made it clear their tip depended on it. And so they clapped and sang so well in unison it was almost like they had done it before. Five minutes ago. In an adjoining dining room. (Part of this is a lie- which part?)

Lance was so excited by the singing he forgot to cover his face when I took this picture- HAHA!

Everyone had a great time, and ate a LOT of food- small dishes feed 3 people, large dishes feed 6! We had a huge lazy susan in the middle of the table so that the pasta, wine, salad, garlic bread and tiramisu could revolved before us as we stuffed ourselves. Happy Birthday, indeed!

Welcome to Se Ramona Street!

So my spring break has all but disappeared, but I did manage to take some pictures of our new house.  I used some big rocks left behind to make a little path to our side patio, and I have garden plans.  Kyle is wrestling with a mosquito netting canopy we picked up at Goodwill for the small backyard deck- the top holds water, which is NOT GOOD in this part of the country. That's the extent of our outside work thus far.

We are situated right next to one of those "streets that is not a street", so there is a big gap between ourselves and our neighbors to the right- a nice family with a bunch of kids. On the left of our house is a really nice older man who lives alone, and the neighborhood cat who loves him, Zuzu.

A close up of my efforts:

This is our patio on one side, and the place I will be planting a lot of my garden on the other side.

The backyard is a mostly shaded utilitarian affair that is well fenced, allowing both Willow and the cats to wander around freely! Not much will grow back there, but it should be cool in the summer...

Now for the inside! The front door opens into the living room, then you walk through the kitchen to get to the basement steps straight back, or take a left to the bedrooms and bathroom.

This shows both ends of the living room, and the beautiful view of our cherry blossom trees from the windows.

Here's the kitchen, which has less counter space than our last place, but more cupboard space- and a sweeeeeet new gas stove- the fan comes on by itself! I discovered this last night while cooking:) Beyond it to the left is a little hallway opening to both bedrooms and the main bathroom.

These are the bedrooms- ours has an extra bathroom(!) and a door leading to the backyard. We plan on getting a futon for the spare room, to better accomodate our lovely visitors (and Amelia whe she finds mice in her bedroom). Kyle insists I show you the toilet seat in the bedroom-bathroom:

Pretty awesome, eh? I want to put a new shower curtain in there, but he says I can't until I find one that "matches the theme". Anyone seen shower curtains featuring giant stags on mountainsides? Yeah, I thought not.

Here's another view of our bedroom, including the mountain of laundry I did yesterday. The other shows the hallway straight back, where we have more storage, and then steps to the basement, which is clean and not scary at all! There's lots of open space down there, a washer and dryer, and a perfect place to put the litter boxes out of Willow's reach.

Cheeto would like you to let her out on your way out the door.

Come visit soon!

An "Eating With St'yle" Quickie

(Posted by Kyle)

We tried the new fake meatloaf made by Field Roast, the company that makes our favorite fake sausages. Texture-wise, very meatloafy. The taste isn't quite there. They have perfected the fake sausage, and their other attempts at fake meat, like the pot roast, tend to taste like the sausages, which isn't a bad thing per se. The quest for the perfect fake meatloaf continues.

Yes, it does look like a big turd.

Update

(Posted by Kyle)

We have not abandoned the blog. The lag in blogging was caused by us freaking out and finding a new place to live when the house we were living in went on the market about a month and a half ago. It's now off the market, but nevermind that because we are much happier with the place we are in now. We are getting settled into the new place and putting some stuff up on the walls, so we'll get some pictures up here soon.

So long, little Lexington house!

Sandwiches and Slaw

(Posted by Kyle)


Steph and I have become quite the connoisseurs of cole slaw lately. We've collected and tried out over half a dozen recipes and liked them all.

BARBEQUE TEMPEH SANDWICH with

EAST AFRICAN STYLE CABBAGE SALAD

This is the one that started it all. Steph claims to have clipped this recipe out of the A&E Biography magazine. Okay, sure.

Cabbage Salad

In a large bowl, stir together 3 T red wine vinegar, 2 t sugar, and 1/2 t salt until the sugar has dissolved.

Add 4 cups shredded cabbage, 1 peeled, seeded and thinly sliced cucumber, 3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts. Toss well and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

BBQ Tempeh (recipe found on the web at allrecipes.com)

Pour 1 cup BBQ sauce of choice in medium bowl. Crumble 8 oz package of tempeh into the sauce and let marinate for 10 minutes. Heat 1 T oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 med chopped onion. Cook until tender. Stir in sauce and tempeh and heat through.

We used the barbeque sauce recipe from the rebar restaurant cookbook, but the recipe is way too long for me to type it out.

SUNNY SUNFLOWER SEED BURGERS with

SWEET POTATO FRIES and

GREEN APPLE CABBAGE SLAW

This is the latest addition to our cole slaw arsenal. We clipped it out of Better Homes and Gardens, I think.

Green Apple Cabbage Slaw

In screw top jar, combine 5 T red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 2 T sugar, 4 t canola oil, 1 1/2 t Dijon mustard, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t black pepper; shake to combine.

In a large bowl, combine 1 small head red cabbage, shredded, 1 large green apple, sliced, and 3 chopped scallions. Add dressing and toss.

Sunny Sunflower Seed Burgers from the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook

Place 1 cup uncooked short grain brown rice in a small pot with tight fitting lid. Add 2 cups water and a pinch of sea salt, cover, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes.

In a food processor, finely grind 2 cups sunflower seeds, 1 t garlic powder, 1/2 t dried thyme, 1/2 t dried oregano, and 1/2 t ground cumin. Add 1 small chopped carrot and a small handful of fresh parsley and pulse a few times. Add the rice and pulse a few times to combine all the ingredients.

Form mixture into patties, and cook on both sides for 3 to 5 minutes in extra virgin olive oil.

Sweet Potato Fries from the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut 4 sweet potatoes into wedges and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Add 1/2 t turmeric, 2 t garlic powder, and 1 T paprika. Bake in a single layer for 30 minutes or until tender.

Cleo's Fake Beards*: Nic Cage's Fu Manchu

(Posted by Kyle)
*(Confused? See "The Cat of 1,000 Faces," posted July '09.)

A St. Valentine's Day Miracle

(Posted by Kyle)

Check out the dried tea stain I found in the bottom of my mug this morning:

Spooky!

Master of Disaster!*

(Posted by Kyle)
*Title suggested and approved by Steph.

A year and a half after finishing her coursework, Steph decided it was time to apply for graduation. Her diploma came in the mail last week! I wanted to throw her another graduation party, but she wouldn't let me. So we just had a little ceremony here at the house. Steph walked across the living room balancing a book on her head while I hummed Pomp and Circumstance.

Eating with St'yle: Halibut Veracruz

(Posted by Kyle)

HALIBUT VERACRUZ

from recipezaar.com

We have prepared our summer catch of halibut in a few different ways, but by far our favorite is this recipe for halibut Veracruz that we found on the web. The web search was prompted by a tasty version of the dish made for us by Joe while we were in Alaska.

Ingredients:

5 ripe tomatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons seeded and minced serrano chilies (more if wanted)

1/4 cup sliced Spanish olives (stuffed with pimentos)

2 tablespoons capers

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

6 halibut fillets (6 oz each)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 teaspoons unsalted butter or butter substitute


Place tomatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet; bake at 450°F for 20 minutes. Turn tomatoes; bake 20 more minutes or until skins are blistered and lightly browned. Pulse tomatoes and pan juices in a food processor until roughly chopped.

Sauté onion in 2 tablespoons hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and serrano; sauté 15 seconds; adding olives, capers, and chopped tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in oregano.

Sprinkle halibut with salt and pepper. Melt butter with remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add halibut; cook 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with sauce, fluffy white rice and a green vegetable. (We usually use basmati rice, and serve with steamed green beans or broccoli.)