I swear I'm still alive and breathing. My last post was the beginning of August and that makes me sad. I have good excuses (job changing mania, settling into the house, tests, wedding planning...), but really, there's no excuse for this long of an absence.
I have been cooking, but not as much as I'd like. Long story short, I made a big career move earlier this year and worked toward becoming a personal trainer. I studied for my test, passed it in August, and have recently decided to go back to marketing work. It's a long story, but basically, I have little to no time for anything but working these days. So, combine all that with my wedding being 3 weeks away (WOOT!)...we've been eating a lot of quick meals.
However, I do want to share some pictures of the bounty that is the garden I inherited when we moved into our new house in SE Portland. We have been enjoying delicious tomatoes from the garden at most meals. There were plenty of zucchini about a month ago...then I killed them all by letting the weeds and flowering of other plants take over. There's another reason I need to work less than 60 hours a week...
 |
| Beautiful raised beds of oregano, thyme, peas, lettuce (or what used to be lettuce), parsley, and carrots |
 |
| Hang on little tomato! |
|
 |
| Are we an heirloom? Me thinks we are. |
I made at least a couple of dishes this summer. Here's proof!
 |
| Near perfect calzone--great way to use leftovers! |
 |
| S'more pie (care of Smitten Kitchen) that I made for our Friday the 13th movie marathon |
And a quick picture of one of our fabulous dishes from Toro Bravo. We used a gift certificate I had to celebrate Shawn's birthday last month. Of course, even with the gift certificate, we managed to go a little crazy. It was so worth it, though.
 |
| Manchego & paprika fritters with salsa roja |
Sadly, I did not take a picture of the near-perfect roast chicken I made last weekend and the creamed mushrooms that accompanied them. Oh mushrooms...how I love you. I received a birthday present from my grandma (oh yeah, I also turned 30 in all that) of a cookbook put together by Seattle public television KCTS. I had a chicken and knew I wanted to roast it, so I checked my new cookbook for an accompanying dish, and lo and behold, there were the mushrooms. I ended up throwing on some sauteed bread crumbs to make it similar to the dish we had a the Gruner preview dinner (creamed mushrooms and buckwheat spaetzle topped with breadcrumbs). I'm going to say it was a hit as Michael was literally sopping up the last of the sauce with his piece of Ken's bread.
I'm hoping to post more often from now on. With fall upon us, I'll definitely be getting back to bread baking and more soups. Until then, wish me luck with the rest of wedding planning--I'm going to need it.
