Thursday, July 30, 2009

Our 5th Anniversary...in Mexico!


This July 16th was our five year anniversary. Can you believe that?? FIVE years! Time really does fly when you are having fun. Our gift to each other this year was the trip to Mexico. What a great time! We have been on all-inclusive vacations before, and every time we say that we wish we had some friends with us. Well, this time we did and it was everything we hoped it would be!




We stayed at the El Dorado Royale, just outside Cancun. The resort was awesome. The last time we were in Mexico we were at the Royal Porto Real in Playa del Carmen. The facilities were equally nice, but the El Dorado was much bigger (which is not necessarily a good thing, you had to take a shuttle if you didn't feel like hiking). I loved being in Playa, because we were only one block away from 5th avenue--a cool little area with lots of shops and restaurants. The food at the El Dorado, however, was much better and they even had a sushi restaurant!



When I say that there were friends with us, I don't mean just a couple...there were 10 of us in all. That really threw them for a loop at this couples resort, although I don't know why it was such a big deal because they have weddings there all the time. At any rate, it was next to impossible for us to all sit together at a restaurant. Interestingly enough, they did set us up for a romantic candlelight dinner for 10 on the beach, the night of our anniversary.





I guess the only "adventure" we went on was a van ride to the shops in Playa. We were a little nervous at the checkpoint we went through along the way where we saw Mexican military guys with machine guns, but they were there the last time we went and apparently it is like the road-blocks we have here.




It was a great trip that included a lot of eating, laying by the pool, massages and the occasional pool volleyball game. Can't wait to see what our next trip will be!





At the time of the trip, Luke was 6 1/2 months old. Part of the week my parents stayed with him and part of the week he was with Kyle's. When we got home he was sitting up like a big boy without any support! For a few weeks before the trip, we would hear an occasional "dada", but when we got back it was "dadadadadadadadada!" By 7 months, he had discovered "mamamama" and "babababa", too. I tried several times to get a good video of "dadadada," but he wouldn't cooperate. He's a little angry in this one:



Friday, July 24, 2009

Mediterranean Cravings


Hola! Just got home from Mexico on Sunday and we're still trying to recover. I'll have some pictures for you soon, but I wanted to wait until after we all get together to share all of our pictures so you don't miss out on any really good ones :)

In the meantime, I got all the laundry done and the house in order (somewhat), so I had a little time for a project. Lately, I have been craving hummus and pita bread (and no, I am NOT pregnant). Kyle and I have commented several times since moving here that Dothan needs a Purple Onion, (or better yet, a Hooligan's, if you've spent any time in Tuscaloosa). Since I enjoy cooking and baking and since the pita you buy at the grocery story resembles cardboard, I decided to try to make my own.

First, let me say that you need not a lot of skill for this undertaking, just a LOT of patience. And that is not only if you have a teething six-month-old at home. I will say, however, that I (not surprisingly) made this a little more complicated than it had to be. The only health food store in Dothan (that I am aware of) was out of tahini, so I decided just to make it myself. It wasn't that difficult, but I would have been happy to save a few steps along the way.



I'm not sure why, but I started by making the hummus. Once I was knee deep in sesame seeds I looked at the pita recipe and realized it would have to sit at the very least for an hour and a half, overnight for best results. Next time(if there is a next time), I plan to start with the pita, so I'll start with that here, for you.

Pita Bread
(recipe from smitten kitchen)

3 cups plus a scant 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (I used half white and half whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature



1. About 1 1/2 hours before shaping, or for best flavor development, 8 hours to 3 days ahead, mix the dough.

Mixer method: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients. With the paddle attachment, mix on low speed (#2 if using a KitchenAid) just until all the flour is moistened, about 20 seconds. Change to the dough hook, raise the speed to medium (#4 KitchenAid), and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should clean the bowl and be very soft and smooth and just a little sticky to the touch. Add a little flour or water if necessary.



Hand method: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for a scant 1/4 cup of the flour. With a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until all the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together.

Sprinkle a little of the reserved flour onto the counter and scrape the dough onto it. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding as little of the reserved flour as possible. Use a bench scraper to scrape the dough and gather it together as you knead it. At this point it will be very sticky. Cover it with the inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 5 to 20 minutes. (This rest will make the dough less sticky and easier to work with--and believe me, you will need all the help you can get.)

My counter is uneven, so I tried to do this on wax paper. The dough is VERY sticky, so I do not recommend this. The cutting board worked much better.




Knead the dough for another 5 to 10 minutes or until it is soft and smooth and just a little sticky to the touch. Add a little flour or water if necessary.

2. Let the dough rise: Using an oiled spatula or dough scraper, scrape the dough into a 2-quart or larger dough-rising container or bowl, lightly greased with cooking spray or oil. Press the dough down and lightly spray or oil the top of it. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough overnight (or up to 3 days), checking every hour for the first 4 hours and pressing it down if it starts to rise.



3. Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 475°F one hour before baking. Have an oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone, cast-iron skillet, or baking sheet on it before preheating.

4. Shape the dough: Cut the dough into 8 or 12 pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth. On a lightly floured counter, with lightly floured hands, (lightly floured?? Only if you also want to eat the cutting board!) shape each piece into a ball and then flatten it into a disk. Cover the dough with oiled plastic and allow it to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.



Roll each disk into a circle a little under 1/4 inch thick. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes before baking.



5. Bake the pita: Quickly place 1 piece of dough directly on the stone or in the skillet or on the baking sheet, and bake for 3 minutes. The pita should be completely puffed but not beginning to brown. The dough will not puff well if it is not moist enough. See how the pita puffs, then, if necessary, spray and knead each remaining piece with water until the dough is soft and moist; allow to rest again and reroll as before. (However, those that do not puff well are still delicious to eat.)



Proceed with the remaining dough, baking 3 or 4 pieces at a time if using a stone or baking sheet. using a pancake turner, transfer the pita breads to a clean towel, to stay soft and warm. Allow the oven to reheat for 5 minutes between batches. The pitas can be reheated for about 30 seconds in a hot oven before serving.


Paula Wolfert’s Hummus (--who is Paula Wolfert?)
(recipe also from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 4 cups

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 cup sesame seed paste (aka tahini, see recipe below)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, and more to taste
Cayenne, hot Hungarian paprika or za’atar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil

1. Rinse the soaked chickpeas well and drain them before putting them in a saucepan and covering them with plenty of fresh water. Bring to a boil; skim, add one-half teaspoon salt, cover and cook over medium heat, about 1 1/2 hours, until the chickpeas are very soft (you might need to add more water).

2. Meanwhile, crush the garlic and one-half teaspoon salt in a mortar until pureed. Transfer the puree to the work bowl of a food processor (this one was my mother's day gift!), add the sesame seed paste and lemon juice and process until white and contracted. Add one-half cup water and process until completely smooth.



3. Drain the chickpeas, reserving their cooking liquid. Add the chickpeas to the sesame paste mixture and process until well-blended. For a smoother texture, press the mixture through the fine blade of a food mill. Thin to desired consistency with reserved chickpea liquid. Adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon juice. The hummus can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.) Serve, sprinkled with paprika (or za’atar) and parsley and drizzled with oil.



Tahini Recipe

For about 2 cups of tahini, you'll need:

2 C sesame seeds
1/3 C olive oil


First, you'll need to toast the sesame seeds. Heat a heavy, wide-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat.

Add the sesame seeds and toast lightly - about 2 minutes, stirring constantsly so they toast evenly. Keep a careful eye on the sesame seeds as they go from toasted to burnt really quickly. As soon as they start to brown, they are done. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely.



Next, you'll process the toasted seeds with the olive oil. Put the toasted sesame seeds in a food processor and drizzle in the olive oil.



Pulse for 3-5 minutes, or until it's as smooth as you can get it. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Apparently, store-bought tahini will be smoother because they remove the hull from the sesame seeds. Mine looked like that natural peanut butter. Smelled a little like it, too!



I pulsed mine for longer than stated, but only because Luke was terrified of the food processor and I had to try to distract him in between pulses!



Remove from food processor and store in the refrigerator. (The tahini, not the baby).

It was quite an ordeal, but I must say it was worth it. It was all delicious! I would definitely only recommend this to those who LOVE hummus, though, because otherwise the storebought kind would be fine. We ate ours with greek peppers and Kalamata olives. YUMMY! Kyle even dipped his ham sandwich in it.

Just a few tips so that your experience may be a little easier than mine:

1. Some kitchen tools you can do without (like a rolling pin), but that little plastic scraper was a necessity for me. And again, don't try to make these on wax paper!
2. When you roll the dough into balls and flatten them into disks, make the disks as even as possible to avoid funny shapes when you roll them out. (I am somewhat of a perfectionist, but by the end even I didn't care that they looked like amoebas!)
3. When making the hummus, don't forget to keep the liquid you cooked the chickpeas in. (I actually did not forget, but it would be just like me not to realize this until it was too late!)
4. I love garlic and I tend to use more than called for. Just don't forget that it is RAW in this recipe. The 3 cloves I used were HUGE. It was almost too much. Almost.
5. The hummus recipe calls for 1/2 c. of lemon juice. It seemed a little lemony at first, but I think I like it. You might want to start with 1/3 c. and add more later, if you want.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

If we can pull this off...

When I was about 4 months pregnant, my mom and I bought outfits at Strasburg for Luke and his cousin Kate. Luke's was a little one-piece deal, solid white with a little sailboat and Kate's a long white dress with bows on the shoulders. Perfect for photos on the beach. At the time, almost a year ago, I really didn't realize what had to come together to make this happen. The outfit for Luke was for 6 months and when he began to wear that size around 4 months that was my first concern. When I realized that I needed to book a room and coordinate a photographer with our trip only about 6 weeks ago, it was almost time to panic. And of course this was all supposed to happen around the fourth of July, the busiest time at the beach. I decided to start with booking the photographer. In my email to them, I asked if they had any Fridays or Saturdays available in June or July. (Kyle has already taken off a good bit of work, so he was only going to drive down for the weekend). He replied back, "How about June 9th?" I said sure and began looking for a condo. We wanted a three bedroom for less than $200 per night, so I spoke with a realtor to speed the process along. We settled on Maravilla, which is on scenic 98 in Destin, across the street from the beach. (It wasn't until after we arrived that I realized it was only two bedrooms). After the room was booked and the deposit paid, it hit me. Let's see, July 4th is on Saturday so that means...July 9th is a thursday! I was a little nervous about telling my sister and her husband, because I was afraid they couldn't take an extra day off work. They live in Oxford, so it would be a fairly long trip for them. Thankfully, that was no problem, but poor Kyle would have to drive from Dothan to Destin Thursday evening, then back for work on Friday, and back to Destin again Friday night. He was a good sport about it, though.
As it turns out, Kim and Shane were able to get off for Wednesday, too, so early that morning we were off. The weather was beautiful. Not a drop of rain to be found...that is, except for Thursday evening as we were driving to the beach location for our pictures. We planned to leave the condo at 6:00 to give ourselves plenty of time to get there by 6:45. At 6:20 when Kyle and I pulled out into traffic, the horrible, horrible traffic, we were immediately separated from the rest of the fam. When I tried to call my sis I realized I had left my phone in the room. At about 6:30, with phone in hand, we were back on the road. The traffic was comparable to Hwy 280 in rush hour traffic. And it was not just sprinkling. It was POURING. I was actually on the phone with the photographer as we turned on the road to the beach access, discussing whether or not we wanted to reschedule for Saturday (he'd had a cancellation). As I told him I would have to talk to my sister, I thought about trying to get that crew ready again...NO WAY!! The photographer told us to go ahead and go to the beach, he would meet us there. I was picturing lovely pictures of us all playing in the rain. No need to discuss rescheduling with Kim--that wasn't happening. But, as we pulled into the parking spot the clouds parted. You could actually see the sun. It was a miracle! We quickly got Luke dressed in the car (had to wait until the last moment to end up with the least amount of spit-up on the white outfit, and by the way, if we tried to put that on him one day later it would not have fit.) We all rushed out to the beach and hopefully got a few good shots.


When the pictures were done and we were eating dinner at Gilligan's (next to Harbor Docks in Destin. I recommend) I said to my sister, "If we pulled that off, anything is possible!" It seemed to have been doomed from the start, but somehow it all came together. I think we even had a little fun, too!








You know how you always say you need a vacation after your vacation? Well, Mom and Dad are on their way right now to stay with Luke and we are headed to...Mexico!!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Update!

We just got back from the doctor a little while ago and Luke weighs 18 pounds and 6 ounces! What a big boy! He is in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. And when we got home he had a date with Adeline Nichols so her mommy could take her big sister to the doctor, too!
Ok, back to packing. I need to get done so I can begin a study of "The Power of a Praying Wife" tonight. Unfortunately, my praying husband has to work late so I'm afraid I will have to call in another favor from the Moss's...now I'll owe them TWO movie nights!!

Fourth of July...Friends AND Family!

For the past six years, we have spent July 4th with our friends, Jon and Kaydee Roden. In med school, each new year started in July, so the tradition began in 2003 as a way to blow off steam and mourn the beginning of our third year (which for me was by far the worst). That year, the four of us sat on the dock at the end of our neighborhood in Northport and shot fireworks over the lake, trying not to think about the misery that was ahead. Over time we picked up several new friends and this year we celebrated with much lighter hearts...and a lot of babies!








Jon and Kaydee were such great hosts! They themselves do not have children, so I know it was not easy to have them all over for several days. Their house in Albertville is incredible and as you can see, there was no shortage of water activities! We even had a grown-up slip 'n slide!



While we wish our friends lived closer to (or in) Dothan, having them in Albertville makes it easy to visit family! July 6th is Gramma's (Kyle's grandmother) birthday, so on Sunday we celebrated with her and we got to see Nana and Poppy, too.












A busy weekend, but so much fun! Don't worry Mom and Dad, we're coming to see you SOON!
Now off to take Luke to the doctor for his six month check-up and shots :( Then time to get ready for our next beach trip!