Spaghetti Squash Latkes

I've bought and prepared spaghetti squash a time or two in the past, but this is the first time I've bought one lately. I wanted to try out some new ways to prepare it. I think it's great if you're on your own (for me especially, because I don't think Kyle would enjoy it much, particularly if it's meant to take the place of pasta or potato), because you roast it up and have a whole lot of spaghetti squash ready to go for your week. I think I got about six meals out of it. The first evening after I cooked it I mixed it with sauteed onion and bell pepper, and added pesto and parmesan cheese. It was really good! The next day for lunch I made some latkes, with onion and green onion, salt (some garlic some regular), pepper, one egg and flour (2-3 tablespoons probably). I didn't follow a recipe for either, just kind of made it up and checked consistency, and it worked really well! You just cook them in olive oil until they look done (nice and brown and a bit crispy). Very easy and very good! I didn't try it, but I think they'd be great with a little sour cream on top.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

How Does Your Garden Grow

We don't have a garden, but Kyle and I would certainly like to start one. The above is a photo of just some of a big bag of veggies my friend gave me from the garden at her house! Personal and community gardens are wonderful things, and an important part in transforming the way the nation views food, as well as solving our issues of food insecurity, malnutrition and obesity.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Snacks V4

What I'm snacking on this week: kale chips, blueberry muffin, frozen fruit, popcorn for girls night.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Boston in Summer

In August I will be taking a short trip back to Boston, as you probably know because I like to brag any chance I get when I have the opportunity to do something cool, to see Justin Timberlake and Jay Z in concert at Fenway with my sister! I will only be there for two and a half days or so total, but having been there already, my sister and I have been thinking of things to do this time around (also it's summer not winter, so that opens up an array of new opportunities).

1/2/3

- Concert. That will take all of Sunday evening.
- Duck tour. I've never done one of these in any city, but I have heard good things about the Boston duck tour, so this is on the top of my list. I am OK with being a tourist.
- Lobster roll. While we ate a great many things over spring break, we didn't have the time nor stomach capacity to fit in a lobstah roll, so I kindly request that happen (and hope I love it).

Ok, those are really the only things I for sure have down. Erica suggested a day trip to Cape Cod, which would be quite awesome. I might also be up for a little back-to-school/work/internship shopping on Newbury (accompanied by a Georgetown Cupcake, no doubt). And we will have to visit a bar or two to have a drink in Kyle's honor (his birthday is August 12th)!  Otherwise, I'm just looking forward to seeing friends again and drinking getting out of Texas for a bit before my last year of grad school (for now) starts!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Some People Just Fall in Love Like That

I'm sure most of you have watched this already, but if you haven't, you're welcome. :)



Visit here if you need more smiles.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

A Gfit for Baby Aurora

My Finnish sister had a baby girl about a month ago, so I've been putting together ideas for some things to send her! The Finnish government provides her with all the essentials already, so I'm just looking at fun stuff :) ! I've ordered this dress on sale from Ruche; it makes me think of Finland (probably due to the birds and design) and she will be able to grow into it and use it through her first year, and the Perchance the Cat blabla doll, as my sis Eevastiina is a cat lady and this one looks most like hers. She'd probably be grown out of the FEED newborn onesies by the time they would arrive in Finland, but I still love them (and the cause!).

dress/ apple/ cat doll/ headbands/ shoes/ onesies/ print

I've never had to buy baby gifts before...so, yeah. Kind of weird, but mostly fun!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Washington, DC: Hunger in America Day 6

Day 6: Thursday May 23. Thursday morning, while everyone else went to Starbucks, I went down the street for some quiet time at Panera, and then we all went to Share Our Strength, home of the No Kid Hungry campaign (button on my right sidebar)! On the way in I got to briefly meet Billy Shore, the founder of the organization (exciting for a dork like myself; he was also featured in A Place at the Table, book and film). I love that Share Our Strength is very research-oriented, and I appreciate their approach of being involved in many different areas of solving food insecurity, through forming partnerships with businesses, government, and communities. The other grad students and I only stayed for the first presentation, as we were scheduled to attend an over-lunch event down the street and around the corner, at AEI (American Enterprise Institute). There we attended a panel discussion titled, Competing Visions of the Common Good: Rethinking Help for the Poor, with featured panelists Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners, author and theologian, and Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia, as well as the president of AEI, Arthur Brooks. The panelists spoke a lot about collaboration, talking a lot about how as a nation we have failed the vulnerable populations and moved toward extremes of wealth rather than working to end poverty, and the cynicism of Washington, among other things. The quote that stood out most to me from Wallis was, "you shouldn't reduce a deficit in a way that increases poverty."

^^the people persons paper people^^

On the way back to the church we stopped at a chocolate shop, and Doug (awesome THI staff/group leader/kid at heart...I realized I haven't introduced people) kindly bought us one each! I tried the lavender caramel I think it was; it was delicious. I really love lavender lately (I tried lavender ice cream earlier in the trip!).

In the evening we had a networking dinner event at the house of former House Member Jack Fields, with Baylor alumni working in the area. I was unfortunately not feeling well and distracted by some goings on, but I think it was a great opportunity and beneficial to many students. The guests in attendance were really interesting and we very much appreciated them coming out to meet with us!

Kyle was getting back home late that night (he'd been away for a month at a training in Louisiana), so to keep myself occupied (I wouldn't be sleeping anyway even if exhausted), I went with some of the undergrads to see a late showing of The Great Gatsby, in Chinatown right around the corner from our church. Only $10.50 with military discount (city theater prices, y'all)! It was fun to hang out as friends rather than students. :) 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Wedding Photos

As it's on my summer to do list, I've finally gotten around to figuring out the whole wedding photo situation. Does it take everyone over a year to actually get around to ordering and displaying their wedding pictures? Because that's how long it seems to be taking me. But now, I'm ready, and it's happening. Here's what I'm thinking in terms of displaying the pictures!

I ordered two of these from ModCloth. I think it is a simple, clean, and stylish way to display a lot of photos, and as any of you married folks know, it's difficult deciding on just a few wedding photos to put up. I'm thinking of putting these side by side up above our couch in the living room, but the nifty thing is the photos could be exchanged and these could be used anywhere in the house and painted (I don't imagine we'll display 18 wedding photos for ever)! And, the price seems pretty good at $39 a piece.

I also found these frames from West Elm, and I absolutely love them. They are perfect with the gold and linen, but to order all the ones I want it would cost over 200$ (including shipping), so I'm holding off to see what is out there and look into doing a DIY replication of these. I've spray painted frames gold before (for the wedding!), so I may do that again for a cheaper alternative. 

We also have frames about here and there, and decor from the wedding that has transitioned to household display. I'm working on getting the house more decorated in general (taking advantage of army stuff not being everywhere), so I will surely show you what I get done by the end of the summer! :) 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Saturday Cats

 ^^Hux^^

^^D^^

Happy weekend!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Snacks V3

What I'm snacking on this week: Puffins peanut butter and chocolate cereal, spicy baked cauliflower.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Blues on the Green

Wednesday evening a couple friends and I headed out to Blues on the Green at Zilker Park in Austin! It's a free concert hosted by KGSR, which Kyle and I call the Indie TV Commercial Channel (because all the songs that play in TV commercials are played on KGSR). Bob Schneider was performing, whom I know primarily from this song and folks talking about him on the radio (he's a local). There were so many people there, and dogs, and as always Austin is great for hipster-watching. We chilled on the grass and ate some foods, and while it took us forever to park, we made a very quick exit. Unfortunately we spent about as much time in the car (driving from Fort Hood) as we did at the event, but we're thinking next time we'll have to come to Austin in the afternoon and spend some quality time in the city. I really miss being in a city, where there's always cool things to do and people everywhere.

^^fresh watermelon juice!^^

^^Matt wandered off and returned much to our surprise with a tower of three funnel cakes. Combined we ate probably half to 3/4 of one. Poor performance.^^

- From the desk of Mrs. M