Much has happened...

Since the last time we posted, we have moved twice, got our ridiculously cute dog Noam Chompsky, got and lost a teaching job, started grad school, and helped a friend open a business.

Here's a little photo journey of Chompsky which hits most of the highlights for us all:

so little and new in Olde Kensington

with hoodie

At Trenton Ave. Arts Festival 2011. DJ and I became involved several organizations against Fracking.

at the house on Coral St 

Camping in 2011

Doing what he does best: cuddling at the apartment on Norris St. this year.

We are excited to be doing new projects. DJ has brewed 3 beers this year and has continued to work on his music. I have completed numerous embroidery projects. We both are trying to continue to make as many things as we can at home while beating the early Philadelphia heat.

Stay tuned...maybe this the start of a new blogging season for us!

We're a good team

As part of our resolution to stay in, DJ and I have been trying to make meals at home. Yesterday, we whipped this together using leftover marinara and wonton wrappers. DJ made the salad and dressing and I made the pasta and fried raviolis.

Penne with marinara and cheese topping made from cottage, parm, and a Italian cheese blend.

Fried "raviolis" made with the cheese topping blend and wonton wrappers

Sometimes eating in is better than eating out. I love it because we get to work together to make a great meal and then sit together to enjoy eating it.

Valentines

So DJ and I are not huge Valentines Day people, but we go out once a week so we thought why not Sunday. Also our favorite Mexican place, Que Chula Es Puebla, was having their one year anniversary with live mariachi and 10% off. After the pm we walked over. To our dismay, the place was packed and the "live mariachi" was actually a guy in a sombrero singing karaoke way too loud! Needless to say we were disappointed and hungry. So we walked back home to regroup. After realizing that several of our regular options were closed, we decided on Dos Segundos in No. Libs. I had the chicken chimichanga and DJ had the goat burrito. With the addition of an enormous amount of complimentary chips, we were stuffed. Sadly they didn't have flan, but otherwise this was a great v-day dinner together.

chili casserole

Hello!

Man have we been busy. DJ and I had our first Christmas together as husband and wife. We also have been keeping up on keeping things homemade and simple. One of our new years resolutions as a couple is to eat more at home. So far we have been doing really well, keeping our restaurant visits down to once a week. This also gives us more opportunity to come up with new recipes!

One our new favorites is Chili Casserole. We take DJ's chili/rice and beans and layer it with cheese in a casserole or lasagna pan. We spread Jiffy cornbread batter (with extra cheese and garlic) on top and bake it until the cornbread is golden brown. The result is a beautiful dish that we eat all week!

golden brown goodness

layer detail

ukulele case

DJ has been rocking out on the ukulele. He also has to carry it back and forth from home to pm on a regular basis. I decided to make him a case out of cardboard, tape, staples, sewing materials, and buckles.

don't play with knives, kids

first I traced the uke and cut it out using a utility knife and cutting mat.

then I taped the sides together using masking tape

finished skeleton.

then I sewed on some fabric, a handle, and buckles for closures.

I left a bit of the lionshead box showing for DJ.

The support inside the case is made of a plastic bottle.

All in all a successful and useful project.

Black Bean Burger

DJ and I love burgers. I think it may be the one thing that keeps him eating meat. Vices aside, I have been wanting to make a healthy alternative to our not-so-healthy favorite. I looked online for the how-to and compiled my own recipe according to what we already had. This is how it turned out.

1 can of black beans rinsed

1 slice of bread toasted

1/2 tomato diced

2 small carrots diced

1 egg

1/3 onion diced

cumin, pepper, garlic

oil for cooking

I first put the toasted bread in the food processor to make bread crumbs. Then I processed the veggies with a couple of pulses to get

them into small pieces. Next, I poured in the beans, egg, and spices. Again, I processed the mixture until it was together, but not a paste. You want to have some texture, so you could even mix in some whole beans after you have finished processing. I formed 6 small patties and fried them in our skillet. I would suggest refrigerating them before you cook them because mine kinda fell apart. However, they were so tasty. I ate mine with cheese and a spicy pepper mayo on a potato roll.

We kept the leftovers in the fridge and ate them all week. I am sure you could freeze them as an alternative to store-bought veggie burgers. These are cheaper and in most cases tastier.

here is the newest incarnation with bell peppers!

Happy eating.

A Happy Accident

A few years ago I worked at a coffee shop in Bloomsburg that shall remain nameless. It was a really strange business, the owner lived outside of Washington DC but ran a small time coffee/Birkenstock/Burt's bees shop in Central PA (basically this store should be in Vermont). One of the nice parts about the job was I got to bake a lot, one of the worst was getting paychecks and being told not to cash them or having the check dated for the next week, also running out of coffee for a day or two was not unheard of. I stopped working there for some of the obvious reasons listed, and an injury. However, I really enjoyed baking.

Since quitting that job I hadn't really baked anything in several years. I didn't really have a reason to, and I really just bake to play with the Kitchen Aide anyway. That mixer is fun, and we got one for our wedding. So I decided to make some Oatmeal Cookies with craisns, flax seeds, and chocolate chips the other day. The cookies are pretty great.

One problem, when making the dough I accidentally doubled the baking powder. I thought "Shit, there I've ruined a whole batch of delicious cookies!" Oh no, it just made them into bigger delicious cookies. The baking powder spread the cookie dough to make some huge cookies, about the size of the Alternative Baking Co. cookies. So if you want to making some huge oatmeal cookies put in some extra baking powder. I don't think it would work with a standard chocolate chip recipe, as it might get a little cakey. But, who knows? Give it a try, and see for yourself.

DJ