Happy New Year!!

Hello Readers (if your out there)
I hope you had a great holiday season. Any time not spent at work is great and nothing like the holiday's to prompt the use of vacation time. I have been enjoying my time away immensely.

How I spent my Vacation

Part 1 - The Kalters

Spent some quality time with my boyfriend. He is in law school and was basically in finals study mode since before thanksgiving. Things sound a lot like this - "I don't have time to think/talk about anything right now" for a few weeks. His finals occupied him all the way until December 22nd. I started my vacation on the 23rd.

We (a loose use of "we" here) spent my first night off making Christmas presents for his family's gift exchange. I am sorry I didn't take any pictures - I was trying to get it done. We made one of those fleece blankets where you cut the strips all the way around and tie it together. By we I mean me of course. I showed him what to do and he exclaimed "Do you see the perimeter of this thing - you seriously want me to cut strips all the way around! - Isn't this already two separate blankets?" I knew I had lost his attention when he shouted test drive and laid on the less than 10% complete blanket on the kitchen floor.

Now in his defense he pulled an all nighter to get his last paper done and was running in the strange fog that comes when you stay up all night. So I took pity on him and finished it.

I also made chocolate suckers. I had never done this before - so I asked one of the ladies at JoAnn's for some help. I asked if she had ever done melting chocolates before and she said no. She showed me where the stuff for this project was and explained to me how she did her chocolates this year - strange since she just told me she had not done this before - oh well. I got a smiley face sucker molds, green and red melting chocolates, the little bottles to melt them in, and the sucker sticks. They turned out really cute, I will likely make these again sometime.

On the 23rd we headed over to his parent's house to see his family and do the exchange. My boyfriend has 4 older sisters, 2 brother in laws and 4 nieces - there is always a big crowd and its really fun. His nieces are super cute. The newest niece is about 1 month old and I got to hold her - yay! There aren't that many tiny babies in my family so it was fun to see a real life cabbage patch kid.

Three of the nieces are pictured below - SO totally cute.

 

Alex's gift to them (i picked it out) was this cute pink tent. They loved it. The blanket and chocolate suckers were popular gifts in the gift exchange and everyone walked away happy and well fed.

Part 2 - The Lozier's Christmas Eve

My family has this funny tradition where every Christmas eve after church we go to this hibachi restaurant. I don't know if that is strange but we always go and its super fun. I had big plans to photograph the meal. But one thing led to another and I ate most of it before remembering to take a picture. Oops. Ill tell you about it though. 

First course - ginger salad and mushroom soup. Yummy. LOVE the ginger salad dressing. (Pictured Below)

Second course - This time I got filet mingon, this was a great choice way better than the chicken. It is served along with stir fry veggies (zucchini, mushrooms etc.) and fried rice. There are two sauces - a decadent creamy sauce and a lighted soy/ginger flavored sauce. None of it went to waste.

Third course - scene change, we go to our friends house (who is also at dinner with us) for deserts and drinks. Whiskey and wine, cookies and cakes.

All good things must come to an end. Time to sleep and hope santa comes ;-).

Part 3 - Christmas Day 

This is the first year my parents didn't make my 21 year old brother and I sit at the top of the stairs to wait and see if santa came. My parents were redoing the floors at home so Christmas was moved into our small family room. I think that contributed to the change in tradition. Christmas was fun - everyone liked their gifts and had a good day hanging out at home. Blaine came and went (which is very typical of him) to his girl friends house. My boyfriend joined us for dinner. It was great fun. Over the next few days it started to snow and made it finally feel like Christmas. 

Part 4 - Pittsburgh

Alex and I did a quick day trip over to Pittsburgh while we were at my parent house. His best friend from high school recently moved there, since Alex has never been to pitt we thought it would be a fun trip. Since there is an IKEA there I was sold. An epic wrong turn led us on a crazy trip through the city to get to our friends house, we made it and got to see more of the city. 

My prized purchase while at Ikea is the blue dutch oven (cast iron pot) I purchased. We helped Pat (the friend we were visiting) purchase a new couch. We enjoyed a few beers and a giant sandwich at FatHead Saloon. It was fantastic - highly recommended the restaurant. 

Part 5 - New Years Eve

For Christmas I got the pioneer women's cookbook and made the egg in a hole. Very yummy - mostly cause of the butter - but still recommended (both the book and the egg). 

To celebrate new years eve we went to vino vino with my friend and her boy friend. Had lots of wine and fantastic food. Baked brie and goat cheese for appetizer. I had crab cakes for entree. We had two bottles of yummy white wine and a bottle of champagne esq bubbly. And a chocolate flight - white, milk, and dark chocolate - creme brulee. OMG so good.

After a good meal we had a some drinks with our college buddies, brought in the new year on the dance floor at a local bar. And as i carried my heels home, we hailed a cab to end our night bringing in the new year. 2012 is gonna be awesome.

Part 6 - New Years Day

I must eat pork and sauerkraut on January 1st. Every year without fail, its for good luck I think. I found this fantastic recipe on the pioneer womens blog. You must try it. 

It is super easy to make. You just get a dutch oven (which I did a few days earlier) brown the meat in some oil on all sides. Deglaze the pot with some sugar free applesauce.

Dump some sauerkraut in pot. Put the mean on top. Chop and onion into big chunks and stick them on top. Cover and bake at 325 for 1.5 hours, check and make sure there is enough liquid, bake for another hour, and then take the lid off and bake for 30 more minutes.

While this was baking I finally finished my first toe up two at a time pair of socks. I love toe up and two at a time. The sizing is a little off but now I know for next time.

The final product of pork is served on mashed potatoes with green beans steamed and sauteed with garlic. The pork is tender and falls apart without a knife. The kraut if sweet and tangy and is amazing. The onions cooked tender and really soak up the flavor of the pork.

Its incredible. Alex says its the best thing I have made in a while.

I also served it with salad. I was trying to replicated the apple gorgonzola salad from Bucca di Beppo with this. I think it turned out pretty good. I don't think I bought enough lettuce so it got a bit soggy from the dressing. And I couldn't find sugar glazed walnuts so I used cinnamon roasted almonds.

Part 7 - Resolutions

What is a new year without vowing to not make the same mistakes you made last year. That is really what a resolution is right. Promising yourself that you will do and be better. My resolutions this year fall into several categories. Its time I got my act together. 

Professionally

- Succeed at my first job. Seek to be happy, hard working, confident and proud. 

Personally

- Work on my relationship with Alex. I love him a lot.  

- Work on my friendships. Where is a girl without her girlfriends. 

- Give everyone the benefit of the doubt - lord knows I have my bad days and who am I to hold anything against anyone else. If I am happy personally then that should manifest in every other facet of my life. 

Physically

- Whats a new years resolution list without vowing to get in the best shape of my life. Hopefully this year it will happen. 

Ultimately I want this to be the best year ever. No regrets. The five resolutions I have listed here are what I think will make me happy if I succeed. Honestly I have no idea what will do it, but I have to keep trying. I will finish school forever (hopefully I won't ever have to go back) this year. Alex has a great job lined up for this summer. I will have my first full year as a working girl. Nothing in particular is looming in the future, all the makings of a great year. 

Thanks for reading - Happy New Year!

Ktbug

Christmas Party!!

The Deserts!!

Featuring Salted Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Truffle Cookies & Secret Family Recipe Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with
Chocolate Chips and Cocoa Powder

Caramels to Drizzle on the Top

You roll the dough around a caramel.
If you don't do it right it looks like this
and is very hard to get off the cookie sheet. 

Family Recipe Cookies

Final Version of Chocolate Truffle Cookies

The Appetizers!!
Featuring: Stuffed Mushrooms, Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip and Cranberry Meatballs

The prep for the Mushrooms - so they could be hot out of the  oven when the party starts

 It turns out this is a complex Dip recipe that requires blanching spinach and basil leaves.

   

 Then you have to food process white kidney beans, with neufchatel cream cheese, garlic and chicken broth.

 The meatballs had a sauce that consisted of chili sauce, cranberry sauce, brown sugar and lemon juice.

 Make meatballs and then you mix them up with the sauce and keep warm.

 

 I also featured a cheese plate of Brie, a form of Gouda and white cheddar.

 Ribbon Candy

 The final version of the stuffed mushrooms

 Really yummy punch

 Pretty cookies

 Yummy Dip

The Decorations!!
I tried my best to put little touches of Christmas everywhere

Window Treatments

 

A menu and festive plates and napkins. 

Stockings and Tiny Tree

Christmas Tree

It turns out the girls I invited don't eat very much so there were lots of leftovers that I ate all day today. I think they had fun - we talked - we laughed. It was a good opportunity to catch up which was really the point - to get everyone together again.

Thanks for reading

Ktbug
 

So good it must be True

So as I alluded to before. I was considering moving to a new place.
The reasons I wanted to move
- more space
- more room for my temporary puppy dog
- storage
- craft room

Recently I siezed the opportunity to get a new sewing machine. :-) It was like 75% off and it came with a serger. I barely know what that is but I got one. I am very excited about my new hobby. The trouble is I haven't even taken them out of the box cause there is like no where to do it. Once I do its going to explode and I will never want to put it back on the box. living in less than 500 sqft left me with few options.

Borrowed from Google Image Search on 1 Singer Sewing Machine and Stylist Serger

So...I am moving out. Getting the heck out of dodge. But not really. Just down the street. First things first though...my lease isn't up for MONTHS. I had my first encounter with Craigs List. HUGE Success, found the perfect subletter with a flexible move in date withing 1 day of the posting be up. Holy cows its a Christmas miracle! She is excited I am excited. Its a wonderful thing.

Then I checked with the place I like and they had a vacancy in February. Yay for me! My commute to work should be the same give or take like 5 minutes - depending on the new traffic flow. My new upgrade will put me in the 840 square foot range. (I know I am impressed too). Its going to be a little bit more expensive of course but I checked the budget and I can afford it. (Yay).

Borrowed from apartment website.
Id tell you more specifically but I don't want to tell you where I live. That isn't safe. 

The thing above is the new floor plan. Notice all of the awesome things I will get that I don't have now.
1) A Hall Closet
2) A pantry
3) A Den which will be my craft room
4) A big kitchen
5) A laundry room
6) A Dinning room
7) A fireplace...and it WORKS...thats right a working wood burning fireplace...but where will i store the wood you ask?
8) In my OUTDOOR STORAGE Closet. Holy cows its to good to be true.
9) I have a balcony!
10) I have a large bathroom with its own built in counter space
11) Last but not a list...A...Walk...IN...Closet...cue the angelic music... that's right ladies and gents. A walk in closet. I am pumped.

As if this wasn't enough - I have the potential to get a covered parking space - the lady has to check and see if any are becoming available. I get to be on the top floor which should be quieter. The neighborhood has a pool and a lake and tennis courts and a gym and a fenced in doggy park. I am happy. Moving sucks but I have to believe this will better my quality of life.

So that is the most notable thing in my life right. Its bright, its shiny, its happy. :-)

Thanks for reading
Ktbug

limbo

These are strange times we live in today. Very strange times. I am in constant state of unrest. I feeling like I am running, walking - sprinting and sitting in every direction possible at all paces attainable.

There are things I am rushing towards
- weekends: who doesn't love weekends
- the moment I find out the grade I got on my final
- fast forward to the moment I get to move to a bigger place (apartment hunting post to come)
- Christmas cause once I buy the presents I am super eager to give em out
- to when my new sewing machine comes

Things I want to savor
- good food - great dinner of french onion soup - sole - and chocolate mousse
- a nap - I miss afternoon naps
- sleep - Im sleepy now
- the tiniest bit of praise a work - rare but i have had a good 2 days
- a good conversation - great catching up with friends tonight at dinner

Things I am trying to run from
- this splitting headache that is raging through my head giving extreme writers block all the sudden
- I had so many thing I was avoid when I started this post...now it seems I am just running forward.

But that's sort of a problem in an of itself. I'm not enjoying the moment. Its good to look forward but not till the point of missing the moment. I think that's where I usually error. Not enjoying the now. Enjoying right now is difficult thought pending the arrival of my hero - ibuprofen - to defeat my headache.

I wish I had pictures to post today. Brace yourself though, I am planning to hold a cute Christmas party next weekend and there will be a nice blog post to follow. Lots of photos.

I guess the moral of the story is eat drink and be merry - now! ;-)

Thanks for reading
Ktbug

Pizza - Soup - Thanksgiving - Thoughts

Sometimes, things aren't going the way you plan. If you are like me. You try a new plan. Then eventually that plan will fall through too. I think there is a science to how quickly a plan will fail, it will happen.  

Do you know how when you watch people younger than you -see them doing things - that you once learned to do or not to do. Does it bother you like it bothers me, to watch people doing things you already learned because you just want to show them how to fix it. I hope that doesn't sound rude. Lately I feel like everyone at work is looking at me like this. They see silly little me and think its their job to teach me how to do "it" whatever it could be better. I feel like I am fighting them (all in my head of course) to show them I have what it takes. Between this a office politics it is exhausting.

 This pizza I am showing you pictures off is from Rachel Ray Look and Cook. Its an individual sized deep dish spinach pizza. Its pretty good. and while pizza, you don't feel so bad cause of all the green.

 I have recently fallen in love with Parmesan. I love its hard nutty flavor. My dog ate a whole brick of it once recently. He was a little "blocked" for a few days, if you know what i mean. 

 Gooeyness. Took me two meals to eat this. 

 I wish I didn't let the world get me down. I was super duper happy this morning for no reason at all. Nothing extra special happened. I didn't win the lottery. I didn't get a surprise present. Free things were not given to me. My boss didn't applaud me and tell me how awesome I was. It seemed to be nothing more than the perfect storm of emotions that seems infrequently occur, especially at 7 am. I got ready fast enough to make a breakfast burrito. I put together an outfit that made feel pretty. Last day of my night class. First day of December. Used my candy cane coffee cup. Unprecedented early morning happiness. To bad it didn't last.

 My apartment is messy and I don't want to clean it. Does that happen to you?

 Sometimes you just have to make do with what you got. Recipe called for beer I had red wine. Gotta do what you gotta do. 

I don't quite like red wine yet. Im trying. I just prefer a crisp white. 

 Maybe I need to start my hobbies again. Maybe that is why my life is missing. I need an obsessive knitting project. I need a book I can't put down. I need something happy to look forward to besides pay day.

 I think joy the baker should call this Cleveland Browns stew. Its entirely brown and orange. And very tastey. 

 I shoulda bought some wine for tonight.

 Below is one of the best things about Thanksgiving. Leftovers. Yum. :-)

Thats all I have to say about that

Ktbug

Stir Fry's are Pretty

Thanks Rachel Ray Look & Cook for this recipe. Seriously people you have to get this cookbook. 

 Chicken

 Pasta

 Red Pepper, Snow Peas

 Fresh Ginger

 Aged Soy Sauce, Orange Marmalade, Garlic, Ginger, Chicken Brooth

 Green Onions

 Edamame 

 "Stir" Fry it together

Add the sauce

(Not Picured, sorry I was too excited to eat it to take a picture)

Add the past served

FYI It tastes way better the next day after the flavors settle in together

I no other commnets. Enjoy the pretty stir fry. 

Thanks for reading

Ktbug