When the Bot Squad is Away...

...the girls will play.

Last weekend Troy, Steve and Scott went to a musical instrument competition at Georgia Tech with the robots. As coincidence would have it, our friend Ayako called last week to ask if we were going to be around for the weekend because her boyfriend (who she now lives with in Baltimore) was driving down to Atlanta for the same competition! Small world. I was already using Troy being gone as an excuse to plan a girls' night so it was great that Ayako could join us.

In 2006 I planned a night with the girls where the theme was "Comfort Food" and it was a big success. We had a huge amount of warm, nourishing foods and lots of desserts too. This time I went for "Comfort Food II." We had a smaller group of women but still a huge amount of incredible food. Caesar salad from Bekah, spinach-artichoke dip, cheese and pepper jelly from Jaimee, a cranberry jello mold from Liz, and spring rolls from Ayako. I made a cranberry salsa, a Boboli pizza appetizer and a wild rice, blue cheese souffle. Funny thing was, none of us thought of making dessert. So 1/2 way through the night Liz and Carey ran downstairs and whipped up a wacky cake. Everything was delicious! I wish I had taken a picture but I was so very hungry by the time we started that I forgot.

On Saturday I went to see Courtney. We had a really relaxing time, went out for dinner again at the Tavern and to brunch the next day at the Grille. We watched movies and vegged, which was just what I needed. I headed back Sunday before the snow starting falling. I haven't taken too many pictures lately but I had to stop on the way home. It's such a pretty drive and so I tried to capture the view.


The boys didn't win the Georgia Tech competition but they got to meet many interesting people (some came from as far away as Belgium) and see a lot of different kinds of instruments.

Being away from their women--and around our party-animal friend Juraj--the boys played too. Sounds like they played a lot harder than the girls, no big surprise. Troy tells me that he and Scott made up an interesting exercise regimen involving beer, bourbon and an elliptical machine in the hotel gym in the wee hours of the morning. Miraculously, they didn't get kicked out!

Well, Troy and I are now off to an island in Florida tomorrow morning for a mini-vacation of beach camping at Cayo Costa State Park. We've been looking forward to this for a while. There should be some interesting blog posts coming up so stay tuned!

Pie Update

With the leftover crust from the mango pie we made two little mini-pies that were fabulous and easy. Here's the recipe for the filling. I used a bag of frozen cherries and a few frozen blueberries. I had to share this because I couldn't believe how easy and good it was. Of course, it may have something to do with Troy's homemade crust!

Miles and Pie in 2009

Troy and I have both been trying to be healthier by exercising more. Neither of us likes going to the gym and we always prefer getting out into nature for hikes, but that's not usually an option during the week. I found a Nordic Track on craigslist for $25 a while back and it has been working wonderfully for quick workouts during the week.

The NT fits into Troy's larger plan of going 2009 miles this year. Partially for health and partially for the environment, he's resolved to travel by bike and foot more (especially for things like short trips to the grocery store). This averages to about 6 miles a day, so in especially busy times he's decided that the NT can count too.

I've been really impressed and proud of how he's stuck to this plan. He's keeping track of it all in a spreadsheet and has pretty much kept up even in times of extreme busyness.

Another interesting, and I would argue counteractive, resolution Troy has for the year is to make a pie a week. He hasn't kept up with this as well as the exercise plan (which is probably for the better) but we've had a number of incredibly delicious pies: blueberry, raspberry chiffon (twice), and French silk.

Last night for a potluck he made a mango pie with a crunchy, crystallized ginger topping and an unbelievable, flaky crust. He was very pleased to find the perfect pie crust recipe after a number of attempts. It's from Cook's Illustrated and has a surprise ingredient--vodka. I wish I had taken a picture because it was quite beautiful, with a lattice top.

If you've got great pie recipes, please share them. We'd love to try something new.

Decadent Valentine Treats

Some women get flowers for Valentine's Day. Here's what I got.


A homemade French silk pie dressed up with some raspberries that I bought at C-Ville Market yesterday. They have to be the largest, most delicious raspberries that I've ever eaten in the winter. I dipped a couple of them in chocolate just to be even more decadent.

The pie was outstanding. And it went very well with the bottle of King Estate Pinot Noir that I bought especially for the occasion. Ahhhh...Oregon Pinot.

Yummy Cashew Curry

Troy and I made a delicious cashew curry on Sunday night with a some of the leftover veggies from the musgrad colloquium. I got the recipe from 101 Cookbooks, a cooking blog that I regularly visit. It's supposedly Sri Lankan style. It calls for cauliflower and green beans but I added sweet potatoes and sweet peppers too.

We made the curry powder from scratch with a gorgeous array of spices.


This recipe is quite labor intensive, don't try it unless you break it up by making the curry powder the day before or have a couple of extra hours to spare. I was going to use the coffee grinder after I toasted all the spices but Troy loves an excuse to use the mortar and pestle!

He wants me to assure you that he ground it up much finer than this picture shows.

We have both been afflicted with a terrible sore throat/cold/coughing thing so it was comforting to have a warm spicy plate of this when all the work was done.

We served it over brown basmati rice and with a garnish of cilantro. Yum!

Naughty Kitty

Getting a pet was my consolation for having to uproot myself from Oregon and move to the south (I had lots of terrible stereotypes about moving to C-Ville). We both would have preferred to get a dog but we felt that since this is a transitory place for us (until Troy finishes his doctorate and finds a job) and since it's such a terribly busy time for him, we didn't have time to devote to a dog. We thought that a kitty would be much less maintenance.

Well, it may be that Kyma is spoiled or it may be the fact that Troy has always treated her like a dog, but she gets terribly lonely when we leave and sometimes can be pretty high maintenance.

Often when we leave for a weekend or longer we rely on Liz (friend and downstairs neighbor) to check in on her. Liz is nice enough to open up the doors between our apartments to let Kyma visit once and a while. At first Kyma was very tentative, creeping around every corner very stealthily like she might come across some unforeseen enemy. But now, she is incredibly comfortable. Too comfortable.

Those of you who have cats know that when you try to keep them from doing something, it's kind of like a little kid. They only want to do it more. That's how Kyma is about trying to get into Liz's apartment now.

Last night Troy was doing laundry and didn't close the door all the way. Needless to say, Liz got a surprise visit from an uninvited kitty. By the time any of us realized it, Kyma had been exploring for quite a while. Sneaky little kitty. Thankfully, we have a good-natured neighbor!

In any event, despite all her quirks and demands, Kyma is a really lovable little creature and I'm so happy that we have her.

Lux Brevis Video!

Here's some video to go with the last post.