I am so, so proud of my husband, Dylan. Despite some really stressful weeks with school, snow, landlords, money, etc... I feel so excited and so proud and so optimistic when I allow myself realize I'm married to the sweetest and most talented man I know. Here are two things I'm most excited about right now.
Beta Self is Dylan's new blog. It's about life with diabetes, traveling, eating, puppy, DIY projects, video games.... He's the best writer I know and I can hardly wait for his next posting. Check it out. Black Love is Dylan's band. He's played drums recreationally for forever with our friends Glenn and Travis, but they're getting serious. And it's really really fun. They played a show at Carabar last night and it was awesome. Strangers were dancing and smiling. Here's a video of them playing one of my favorite songs at Monster House a few weeks ago:
I love Mark Bittman. I can't wait to go home and try this tonight, with soy chorizo from Trader Joe's. Not the same as Spanish chorizo, I know. But still probably delicious.
Last Sunday (Valentine's Day!) Dylan and I were invited to attend a worm-composting workshop co-hosted by our good friend Britany. In the spirit of the themed celebration, Britany provided nostalgic "dirt dessert". I thought we needed a savory worm food, so made worm-shaped soft pretzels. I used Alton Brown's recipe but made a few changes; half of my flour was whole wheat, I split the dough into 16 parts instead of 8, and I added wormy segments by scoring them with a knife. The end was result was delicious. I'll definitely use Alton's recipe again.
Pictured above: boiling worm, boiled worms waiting to bake, and the finished product.
I come from a family (i.e., father) who gets excited about living on a tight budget. We purchased food, office supplies, and housewares in bulk; mom cooked dinner from scratch nearly every night; Dad recorded/cataloged movies off the satellite dish instead of renting/buying/theaters; we packed snacks and meals for road trips instead of stopping...
Of all the thrifty habits my family developed, my favorites by far are the frozen lunches in our deep freezer. For as long as I can remember my parents have had a deep freezer containing milk crates filled with ziploc bags of frozen soup and chili. To avoid the costly (for $ and health) habit of eating out for lunch, Mom would (and still does) make 1-2 big pots of soup a few times a month for him to take as lunch. Dad bags, labels, and freezes the bags flat and then "files" them in crates. At any given time there are 6-8 types of soup, chili, and pasta in their freezer. I've always planned to follow suit when I grow up and have a deep freezer. Now I'm excited about doing more than just soup.
My friend Jess just pass along the following story about a freezer meal group, and it has me daydreaming about all the freezer-friendly meals I could be making and sharing... (click the picture for the site)
Matilda has a cardigan. It's a human cardigan altered just for her. I'm a far way away from perfecting clothes for her, but I guess I've got to start somewhere. She's really proud of it, as you can see in the second photo :). She's all dressed up for a major family snow walk.
Ciabatta, tilapia, spinach, lemon, a hungry husband... but no mayo! What's a girl to do snowed in, craving a fish sandwich? A quick search for homemade mayo and I found this. Dylan has a mustard phobia, and I LOVE lemon, so here's my adjusted recipe for aioli (basically mayo with garlic):
1 egg yolk 1 tb fresh lemon juice 1 t white vinegar 1/2 t salt plus more to taste 3/4 c olive oil 1 t finely minced garlic
I used a whisk to beat all but the oil, then whisked in a quarter cup, one teaspoon or so at a time.
The last 1/2 c I drizzled and whisked in very slowly. This all took about 10 minutes, but by the end I had 3/4 cup of legitimate mayonnaise-like delicious sauce for our sandwiches. I'd nearly broken a sweat in our 62 degree kitchen and I'm sure burned at least as many calories as are in 3/4 c of olive oil ;).
I know this is a little ridiculous, but one of the reasons I haven't blogged as often as I wish is because I created this from my lauradolle account. I don't use that account anymore. I use a meister account. And every time I think about blogging, I know I have to sign out of my meister account and log into dolle. Well I finally fixed that. And added another Meister to the mix. Dolle-made is now a group blog with Laura Dolle, Laura Meister, and Dylan! I'm not sure if we'll hear much from Dylan, but he has the ability to blog now. We been discussing starting a new blogger for our adventures as Meisters, but for now I can't part with dolle-made. And meister-made will never sound as good.
I want so badly to be a regular blogger. but life is so hectic, sometimes.
Big news: Dylan and I were blessed with a sweet-tempered, vegetable-loving puppy in October. Her name is Matilda and she's wonderful. Here she is in her homemade scarf (XL sweatshirt arm). We recently poked ear-holes in it. She rarely leaves the house without it.
Other news, last week, for the first time, I poached something other than eggs. Quick dinner for 5 friends= tilapia and salmon fillets over sliced onions, zucchini, and summer squash. With thyme and white wine. Baked covered for 25 minutes. And mashed potatoes.
