Happy Tilapia Day!

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving. We certainly did... we had a small, simple seafood dinner with Mike's brother and sister-in-law and their kids since most of the family is out of town this year. We had homemade clam chowder and corn pudding prepared by my sister-in-law, which were both delicious, along with roasted veggies and broiled tilapia that I brought along. It was fun to have something a little different for Thanksgiving dinner, and the company was wonderful. At one point during one of those natural lulls in conversation we all heard my nephew call out "I see you pee!" His older brother had played the classic trick of asking him to spell "I cup." We all cracked up as we saw him slowly realize what he'd said. Nothing like some well-timed potty humor! 

After dessert we all went to see the new Disney movie, Bolt, in 3D. It was a really cute movie, genuinely funny, and I almost cried a few times... what can I say, I'm a sucker for a dog story, even if it's only an animated dog. The 3D effect was fun and the animation was pretty impressive - computer drawings have come a long way. Even the fur looked like fur - pretty cool.

Mike is at work this morning, but probably only for a half day. I am avoiding the shopping madness today. Tonight we're invited out for a glass of wine with a colleague of mine and may go stroll around downtown to see the Christmas lights in the Gene Leahy mall.

Aliens

This is my current work project. Mike thinks they look like giant cocoons. To me they're reminiscent of Easter Island heads. In any case they are pretty creepy... there are two of them in the spare room, and they're about five feet tall and three feet wide.

Feliz Cumpleanos x 2

Last week was Mike's birthday, and being that it fell on a Wednesday, the festivities extended for a few days. Actually, being that my willpower broke down and I gave him his birthday gift on the Sunday before his birthday, it kind of extended for a week. I had kept the secret for almost an entire month and I finally couldn't take it anymore - I'd managed to snag a Garmin Nuvi 250w at a great discount on ebay in September and kept it hidden in a purse in the back of the closet for weeks.

On the birthday day itself, I got us a pizza from Whole Foods (the best pizza in town hands down! And we've tried a lot of pizza places) and I also snuck out and bought Mike's favorite ice cream (mint chocolate chip) and managed to hide in the freezer until the big reveal, which involved a Batman candle holder and an amazing interpretive dance to the Happy Birthday song.

The following weekend we went out to dinner with Mike's parents and brother and his family. I hope they won't mind me posting this photo of our nephew, who is turning one year old soon. How cute is he??

Dinner was at Julio's Tex Mex restaurant in downtown Omaha, a spot Mike chose for the giant sign out front advertising their margaritas. In order for him to fully partake of the margarita goodness, I volunteered to be the driver for the evening.  The restaurant was probably more aptly described as a bar, at least in terms of ambiance - long and narrow with a large bar and a few tables. The food was your standard Tex Mex fare, with a fair number of vegetarian offerings included. I had a Portabella mushroom burrito, served with rice and refried beans. The flavor of the burrito was good, mostly due to the mushrooms being marinated in something tangy, but the burrito itself was quite small. Normally I don't mind a reasonably-sized restaurant meal, but I was actually still hungry by the time I had finished my meal, and had to 'help' Mike finish his shrimp fajitas. The rice was okay boxed rice, and the refried beans were completely flavorless. Overall, I'd say it was another Omaha dining experience that was fine at the time, but which I won't be eager to repeat.

After Mike's birthday festivities were over, there was this election thingy, not sure if you heard about that. My favorite wrapup of the election came from The Bloggess, who wrote: Also, I don’t keep up with the news but apparently Barack Obama is getting a puppy!  And something about him winning something too.  Some kind of raffle, I think. 

This weekend we had coffee with friends at the Blue Line in their new downtown location - or NoDo (North Downtown), as I've heard it called. This is a happening little part of Omaha that's undergoing a revival with an artsy-collegey kind of feel. They've also opened up an Urban Outfitters and American Apparel on that street, where the all-ages music venue The Slowdown is also located, as well as the non-profit art house movie theater Filmstreams. They're showing Kubrick all month, so we concluded our evening by seeing Dr. Strangelove.

Last night we were invited out to dinner with a coworker of Mike's and some friends he was bringing along. The whole party aside from Mike and myself were Mexican, and they took us to a place in South Omaha that Mike's coworker loves, called Guaca Maya. We had high hopes and things started out well as we all ordered Mexican beers and snacked on some pretty tasty warm tortilla chips and hot salsa. Two different musical groups played songs by request at our table - the company was great, the conversation was fun, the atmosphere festive. Unfortunately the food did not exactly live up to the anticipation, to say the least. Mike and I both ordered shrimp dishes, as our non-meat options were limited to the seafood menu. I had "Tequila Shrimp" and he had the "Shrimp a la Diabla." Each were served with soup or salad (we had salads, which were typical restaurant garden salads), baked potato or french fries, and rice.

My "Tequila Shrimp" was literally, and this is not mere description but actual fact (according to my taste buds), shrimp covered in Campbell's Mushroom Soup. What exactly is "tequila" about this is a mystery I will ponder for the rest of my days. I'm not sure what else to say about it. Mike's dish was shrimp covered in a sauce he later described as "ketchup and chili powder." The rice was orange boxed rice. I had a small baked potato with a dollop of sour cream, he had french fries that looked pretty anemic and I imagine did not taste like much. What pains me the most is that each of these dishes cost about $13 and everything in them obviously came from a box or a can. I'm a pretty adventurous eater, but I also love to cook my own food, and the bare minimum that I ask of a restaurant is that the food is at least partly made from scratch. It should be something at least as good as what I could make at home - hopefully better - but if it's worse than my own cooking, well, disappointing is an understatement.

However... I still want to stress that we had a lot of fun. While we ate and talked, we were at times laughing so hard that we all were crying. And Mike's coworker's friends brought their six month old baby, who was super cute and well behaved. After we were done eating, Radio Lobo, the local Spanish radio station, set up a dance floor and played some of their hits. We all went out and danced to a few songs before we left.

So the search for a Mexican restaurant in Omaha continues, but happy birthdays abound.

Sundried tomatoes are the vegetarian's bacon.

This is an improvised recipe I threw together last night. It was wonderfully delicious and may be something I bring to holiday dinners in the future. It's seasonal, comforting, yummy, and a full meal by itself, though it would make a nice side dish as well. Bonus: it's super easy to make.

Autumn Roasted Vegetables

About 1/2 lb whole fingerling potatoes

About a dozen brussells sprouts

One carrot, chopped into big chunks

One tomato, chopped into big chunks

About a fourth of a butternut squash, chopped into big chunks

About a fourth of a red onion, chopped into big chunks

Three or four (or more) whole cloves of garlic

About an ounce of tempeh, crumbled (you could substitute beans if you don't like tempeh, but if you don't like tempeh, you are crazy)

One sundried tomato, cut into tiny slivers (I like to use the vacuum-sealed ones rather than the ones floating in oil - they are cheaper and healthier! Bonus tip: use kitchen shears to cut them up small)

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add dried herbs - I had tarragon, sage, and thyme - and some salt and pepper. Mix well until all veggies are nicely oiled up and dump into a baking dish (about 9x9). I then threw a pat of butter (about 2 tablespoons) in there for good measure. I had preheated the oven to 425, then turned it down to 400, put the veggies in, and cooked for an hour. About halfway through I stirred the veggies so nothing would dry out on top.

This recipe makes two decent but not overly generous portions. We were satisfied but probably could have gone for seconds if there were any!

I almost forgot the best part... I topped each of our bowls with a little shredded Gouda. I know it is a sin to ever forget about Gouda.

One Year Down

Today is our first anniversary! The year has flown by, but at the same time, it seems like our wedding happened a million years ago. When we got married, we had no idea that we'd be homeowners within six months... at that point, we had only a vague idea that we didn't want to stay in our dingy apartment for another full year. We didn't really see ourselves as qualified to buy a house yet, but I when I went into our bank to change my name on my checking account, they encouraged us to try for a loan through the Nebraska First Time Home Buyers' program, and here we are!

We celebrated our anniversary over the weekend by taking a short road trip down to Lincoln, about 45 minutes away. Neither of us had been there for anything but brief work-related stints, so we enjoyed exploring a town that, while not far away, was new to us.

A few people had recommended we check out the Haymarket District, and so we did. We did a little window shopping first... and both totally fell in love with a store called Ten Thousand Villages. It's a gift store that sells fairly traded items from around the world, and organized in the store by color, which makes for a visually delicious experience. The handmade objects were all exquisitely beautiful, and we were especially taken with a set of green onyx wineglasses, not shown on the website, but similar to this one:

Trust me, the photo does it no justice - it was gorgeous. Unfortunately $24-apiece wine glasses are not in the budget at the moment, but maybe after we hit the lottery.

After that we stopped into a store called From Nebraska, hoping to score some Nebraskan wine - and what do you know, they just happened to be having a little wine tasting from the Soaring Wings Vineyard in Springfield. We liked both the LaCrosse, a dry white, and a dry red De Chaunac - we picked up a bottle of the latter for later in the evening, plus a bag of locally made chocolates for dessert.

Once we were done wandering, we went to The Oven for dinner. It's an Indian restaurant in Haymarket that came highly recommended (via my online research). We sat outside, where it was pleasantly cool, and people watched while we ate (Lincoln was pretty quiet due to an out-of-town football game, thank goodness). We shared a piece of garlic naan, which was garlicky and light, and each started with a bowl of Mulligatawny soup. I thought the soup had a wonderful flavor, light but lively, with a nicely balanced mix of sweet squash, warm spiciness, and the crispness of lemongrass. It set my expectations rather high for the entrees, which were, to be honest, slightly disappointing. I had Bengan Bearta, an eggplant dish, and Mike ordered Shrimp Goa, made with coconut milk. I thought his was tasty but a little one-note, and mine was frankly bland. The rice was fine but not special. We enjoyed the meal but have certainly had better, even right in Omaha at Jaipur.

(randomly googled picture of mulligatawny soup)

We stayed overnight at the Rogers House Bed & Breakfast in Lincoln, also chosen after much online research by me. Since we stayed at a B&B (in Rhode Island) for our honeymoon and loved it, we thought we could recapture some of that romance - and it worked. We checked in with one of the propieters, Nora, and she showed us around while giving us a little history of the two buildings that make up the inn. We stayed in the Barrister Room, which is the master bedroom of the West House - a beautiful 100 year old Craftsman style home. 

To keep things somewhat within a budget, I did not shell out the extra $30 for a room with a jacuzzi, but might if we ever go back... or maybe we'll try one of the fireplace rooms in chillier weather. The room we had was nice though, with beautiful solid wood furniture and everything clean and tidy. In the morning they brought our breakfast right into the room - setting up a table and two chair at the foot of the bed, at a time preselected by us. Breakfast was two courses, starting with juice, coffee, and yogurt with fresh fruit, and followed by an egg casserole, coffee cake, and more fruit. 

The personal touch was lovely, and the whole experience spurred us to daydream (yet again) about opening up our own B&B someday. Mike would be the friendly proprieter, I would cook... we'd love to have one that opened to the public for Sunday brunches. We just have to think of a suitable location and come up with a ton of capital - no problem!

We did not bring gifts or cards on the trip but over dinner we both spilled the beans. Mike said that since the first anniversary is traditionally "paper," he got us a subscription to the New York Times Sunday paper. We used to love getting the paper on Sundays in Boston, but the Omaha World Herald really is not the same, and the Globe is not delivered here - but the NYT is. Now we have one more reason to hang around in our PJs drinking coffee! On my end, since the first anniversary is (in the modern tradition) clocks, I had snuck his old favorite Tag watch out of the house, gotten the battery replaced and a new band put on for him. Tonight we dine on year-old cake and exchange sappy cards (you did remember to get me a sappy card, right honey?)....

Nebraska Food Cooperative

While in our local health food store buying dog food for a certain spoiled cocker spaniel, I recently spied a business card for the Nebrasaka Food Cooperative.  To my surprise, this was exactly what I had spent hours googling and never found... a local CSA (community supported agriculture) group that would enable us to buy local food and goods year-round and support family farms in the area.

Mike and I are big fans of the Farmer's Market that takes place downtown, but it only runs during the summer and early fall months, and of course there is the added downside that if we are too lazy to make it downtown by noon on a Saturday morning, we miss our weekly opportunity to buy the beautiful, delicious, and inexpensive produce they have to offer.

The NFC seems to have all the variety of the Farmer's Market and more, with a wonderful selection of produce, dairy, baked goods, handmade gifts, and even (were we so inclined) local, sustainably-raised meat products... and the best part is, it goes all year round. This particular CSA group operates on a monthly basis (many are weekly) and all orders are delivered to Jane's Health Market in Omaha, which (lucky us!) just happens to be right in our neighborhood.

NFC membership gratifies two of our pet passions at once: supporting local businesses, and eating local, healthy, environmentally friendly food products. Most of the items available through their catalog are organic or produced with minimal chemicals, and are farmer-friendly. They even sell a large variety of fair trade coffees for the same prices we already pay at Whole Foods.

More information on CSAs can be found online at Local Harvest.

Labor Day Vacation

Mike and I made an epic journey back East this past weekend for a friend's wedding in my hometown, so we also got to see my family and some friends. Let me just say that if you haven't flown for a while but have heard a lot of horror stories about air travel these days, IT'S ALL TRUE. We had two broken planes, three or four delays, were bumped from a flight, ate a lot of airport food... all told I think we traveled for over 24 hrs and spent about as much time with our loved ones. And yet, we had a great time and it was awesome to see everyone.



I am making a weird expression in this pic but don't my husband and sister look adorable? We spent Sunday afternoon just hanging around in my dad and stepmom's backyard with the kids. It was a gorgeous day and totally relaxing.

Here we stopped by the restaurant/gift shop my little brother manages and had lunch. Trev is rocking a kickass mustache these days. We only got to see him for a few minutes due to our packed schedule, but he's looking good!

Here we stopped into see Pops, my paternal grandfather. He was sleeping so I didn't wake him up, but I just wanted to say hi and get a pic with him. Pops has Alzeimer's and is under Hospice care in a private apartment in my aunt's home. He hasn't recognized me for a while and only recently stopped remembering my dad.

My cute littlest sisters on the swings. Ashley is outgoing and funny; Cassie is becoming more reserved and loves to read (a girl after my own heart). They are both a lot of fun, and so gorgeous... man I am jealous of that long hair.

Mike with Zipper, in serious contention for Cutest Dog in the World. Don't tell Russell I said that.

My dad set up target practice in the backyard and everyone took turns shooting balloons and cans with this BB gun rifle. This is good old fashioned fun... it's nice that playing in the yard hasn't gone out of style completely yet!

Look out Russell, Zipper is making a run for it!