Friday, November 21, 2008

Bloggin' for Butchertown

So I know I mention Andy and Alicia a lot lot in my blog, but that's because they're like our siblings. We all live under the same roof, drink from the same wine bottle, have the same BFF's and walk the same dog (dog might be plural soon.... . .. hint hint). Well I'm not sure if I mentioned that Andy is the President of The Butchertown Neighborhood Association, which means that Alicia must be First Lady and also means that we live in the equilivalent of the White House. Anyway, he's all for removing the stink, cleanin' it up a bit down here and throwin' a big ass Butchertown Fesitval to raise funds toward neighborhood development and to bring more attention to our humble hood.

Since this week was the official blog launch, I'm asking you all to visit the blog and add yourself as a follower. There's not much to see right now but we're hoping it to be the start of something collaborative and beautiful. Also, if you are a Butchertown resident (Williary..hmhmhmhm) and want to guest blog at some time, please let us know. Community involvement is encouraged. So please, click here

Cornelius looking Presidential

Excited for Our Mantle!

So J and I have these friends in Indianapolis, Tom and Sheri Battista. Aside from being amazing people and philanthropists (side note: Tom was the tour manager for the P-Funk and now tours with his pal Jimmy Buffet) they have a collection of personal portraits that overwhelms any house guest! For every year that have been married, they have had an artist/friend do a portrait of them. When J and I were delivering his Battista portrait, we were inspired to do the same while eating Tom's homemade pizza in their portrait/dining room. (I wish I had a picture of their dining room). Even though it seems somewhat egoist to have a bunch of portraits around, it was quite touching to see such a personal one-of-a-kind collection. It not only documented their life together, but each portrait is a memory and a story of a friendship (tear, sniff sniff).

So our first portrait was from our buddy Kyle Ragsdale in Indianapolis. We did an art trade with him for our first Vaughn-Pierce portrait:



The second year of our marriage was a blur with us moving to three states in less than 7 months, but I'm thinking that Hillary Harrison might need to revisit the "Ketchup and Mustard" photos if she's up for it! But alas, here is portrait number two! Thanks Dobson Family, we love it and we love you!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Anniversary Brunch

(This tastes a whole lot better than it looks)


It's been 3 years since the little Asian woman announced us married by haiku in downtown Seattle. We're flying to Chicago in two weeks to really get down and celebrate the occasion, but opted to have a comfortable fall day at home this October 14th. First meal of the day is Vegetarian Biscuits & Gravy on Whole Wheat English Muffins with Cheesy Potato Casserole and some Jackson's in our french press. Although this isn't the most healthy of choices, the meal was fucking wonderful. Now I'm sitting here, completely satisfied with life and love and I blog.



Cheesy Potato CasseroleIngredients:
I bag of shredded potatoes
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup organic sour cream
1/2 yellow onion (diced)
1/2 stick unsalted, organic butter (melted)
1-2tbsp. cracked black pepper
8 oz. shredded organic cheddar

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Put mixture in a casserole dish and back 45min-hour.




Vegetarian Biscuits & GravyIngredients:
1 cup green lentils
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 of yellow onion (diced)
1 small red bell pepper (diced)
1/4 cup carrot (diced, but shredded works too)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 heaping cup of unbleached all purpose flour
1 -2 tbsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground yellow mustard seed
1+ tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp dried sage (crumbled)
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup ranch dressing (I use my extra ranch from Puccinis when we order take out, use whatever)
3-5 tbsp. sriracha (depending on your love for the hotness)

2 whole wheat english muffins (or you can do the whole biscuit thing, but my way is healthier)

Directions:
Bring lentils and 3 cups water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer just until tender (30 min). Drain, and set aside.
Heat oil over medium in large skillet. Add onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bell pepper, carrot, and garlic, and cook 5 to 8 more minutes. Whisk in flour, black pepper, paprika, mustard, red pepper flakes, and sage. Stir constantly for about a minute. Add half the milk. Stir until it is well combined (2-3 min). Add the rest of the milk and do the same. Stir constantly until gravy comes to a gentle boil. Remove from heat. Stir in ranch dressing, sriracha and drained lentils.

Split and toast the whole wheat english muffins. I prefer to spoon the gravy on top, but you can pile it and eat it like regular ol' b&g if you want.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Lettin' You Down

So, I have to apologize. I've been cooking up a storm for the last month but our new crib has shitty light. Shitty light means shitty photos. And who wants to look at shitty food photos. The whole point of posting food pictures and recipes is so that I can share the goodness. And maybe, just maybe, some one will want to come over and visit and let me cook for them (residents at 806 E. Washington excluded as I cook for them whenever I'm feelin' it).

Recipes I have had recent success with :

Spaghetti and Meatless Balls (vegan)
(this one is awesome. no meat supplements either. the balls are made with chick peas and they taste kinda amazing)
Pumpkin Walnut Bread
Biscuits & Gravy (vegetarian)
(made with lentils. this dish is pretty much the best vegetarian breakfast item i have ever had)
Black Bean Chili
(spicy and contains soba noodles)

I'm sorry that there are no photos to tease you with. I'm not sure what this means for the future of my food blog. But I can tell you that I have a cook book coming out in early 2009. And that my food is awesome so you should come eat some.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Turtle Power: Why I love Alicia Pahl



We were all sitting down watching the presidential debates last night, having some wine, eating some cookies. And as Andy makes a comment as to how weird John McCain's arms are (something about being joystick operated), Alicia says "he has baby hair." It's fucking true, John McCain's hair looks like the hair my 9 week old daughter's; thin, fine and forcefully combed to the side. Shortly following that brilliant observation, she remarked that he also resembles a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. J followed this with an astute "have you noticed how many times this dude blinks." Real life humor, right here. I'm pretty sure he sets some kind of world record for most blinks per second in a Presidential Debate. I don't think I can take this man seriously. And I'd rather have a pizza fueled "hero in a halfshell" as a president than straight lipped, blinking Mr. Robotto. Just sayin'... . .. .


Thursday, September 25, 2008

Fuck Disney, Who Wants to Grow Up?



So I am one of those people who believe children have a right to a childhood. And fuck Disney, Pixar and such for treating children like adults. Although sarcasm and humor has its place in life, I would much rather my daughter learn it from her family than from some computer generated image with doe eyes. Yes yes, I own a few Disney classics: Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. But believe it or not, I have some sexist beef with even those films. Always a woman as a villan, we've all heard it before.. . . .blah blah.

But this was supposed to be a post about how excited I am about molding my daughter's mind. For those of you who don't know, film was my concentration in college. I've been planning a viewing list for my children for over 5 years; I haven't even been married that long. I have to admit, I'm much more of an academic than a romantic so my excitement always came from disecting a film, rather than indulging in the audiences perception of it. Nonetheless, I am truly excited to treat little Mary Jane to the images of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Shirley Temple.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Andy Shines in the Dark


When we arrived back home on Monday night (we thought for sure that the power would be on within 24-48 hours; we live in Louisville not Houston, right? ), we opted for a candle lit game of Scrabble. Andy kicked our asses.