Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Craft Time
I've just decided, people, that when Brian and I have a house (long time from now) and have kids (WAY long time from now), we're going to need an official craft room or table or something designated just for arts and crafts. I mean really, people talk about what a mess their kids made on the kitchen table with their finger paints... I'm just as bad, and my previous roommates will attest to that. I pick out a spot on the floor and designate that as my "art studio." Currently, I have a spot that's right in between our desks, near the window, so I can bask in sunlight when it appears, that is my painting spot. Right this minute there is a half-finished painting sitting there with tons of paints, brushes, palettes, etc. surrounding it. Good thing it's too cold to walk out onto the porch because we wouldn't be able to get to the door. Also, the bar on our kitchen counter (a.k.a our dinner table) is covered in a mess. An absolute mess. And it will remain there for at least two more days as I work on this guy:
My Valentines Day gift for Brian. Believe it or not, it's a tad difficult to hide a soggy Triceratops head in a 600 sq. ft. apartment. There's been progress made since I took this picture... We had some surgery earlier to take out a mid-section of the obviously disproportionate snout, and tomorrow he's going to get a hanger stuck into his head to stabilize the neck frill stuff (what is that called? I'm not an expert). And he's eventually going to get painted a crazy color, given a name, and put on our wall like a deer head. I'm pretty excited. But totally convinced that if we have kids who are into arts and crafts (which they will be, if I have anything to do with it), we're going to need a lot more room for the mess.
My Valentines Day gift for Brian. Believe it or not, it's a tad difficult to hide a soggy Triceratops head in a 600 sq. ft. apartment. There's been progress made since I took this picture... We had some surgery earlier to take out a mid-section of the obviously disproportionate snout, and tomorrow he's going to get a hanger stuck into his head to stabilize the neck frill stuff (what is that called? I'm not an expert). And he's eventually going to get painted a crazy color, given a name, and put on our wall like a deer head. I'm pretty excited. But totally convinced that if we have kids who are into arts and crafts (which they will be, if I have anything to do with it), we're going to need a lot more room for the mess.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
It's Okay...
... For you to be jealous... Today the weather cleared up just long enough to enjoy the outdoors. We went and explored Discovery Park, which is a beautiful and natural 350 acre park right in the city. We hiked through the rain forest to get to the beach. Please excuse the huge pictures, but I was so excited about them and our day that I just felt like they deserved to be super-sized.
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And because I know you miss seeing our lovely faces...
Hope your day was as great as ours! :)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sneaky like the Chameleon
Hola, friends.
Every once in a while I catch flack for not contributing to this blog often enough, so I am now letting you in on a little more of my view of life here in Seattle.
I have much fewer classes this quarter, and spend a lot of time in the lab/office where I just read papers and run an occasional experiment as I try to figure out what exactly I'm doing. Like today, I did what's called "mini-prep" for plasmid DNA on someone else's project, just so I could learn the technique. So that was kinda fun, learned about some DNA sequencing, and what not.
Meanwhile, I tested the results of my first quantum dot synthesis on monday, and they were pretty bad. Not BAD, but not good like we want them to be. (They aren't nearly bright enough.)
Ummm, Katie and I are pretty sure we picked a wedding date, so now
we have to make sure we can get it all going for that day. (Not to mention now it's for real. Something about a date just makes it more serious.)
Also, I got a new coat. It's gray. And wool.
Ooh, we went to Mars Hill Church this last week, and that was an... intriguing experience. We heard some great quotes. Had some interesting questions raised to us. And raised some of our own. Check out Mark Drischoll if you are interested in why we were so fascinated by that morning. Anyways, it gave us a lot to talk about that day. So we enjoyed it. And the ice cream people were back at the market! Yahtzee!
Well I'm about tired out of this. So...be free.
Every once in a while I catch flack for not contributing to this blog often enough, so I am now letting you in on a little more of my view of life here in Seattle.
I have much fewer classes this quarter, and spend a lot of time in the lab/office where I just read papers and run an occasional experiment as I try to figure out what exactly I'm doing. Like today, I did what's called "mini-prep" for plasmid DNA on someone else's project, just so I could learn the technique. So that was kinda fun, learned about some DNA sequencing, and what not.
Meanwhile, I tested the results of my first quantum dot synthesis on monday, and they were pretty bad. Not BAD, but not good like we want them to be. (They aren't nearly bright enough.)
Ummm, Katie and I are pretty sure we picked a wedding date, so now
we have to make sure we can get it all going for that day. (Not to mention now it's for real. Something about a date just makes it more serious.)
Also, I got a new coat. It's gray. And wool.
Ooh, we went to Mars Hill Church this last week, and that was an... intriguing experience. We heard some great quotes. Had some interesting questions raised to us. And raised some of our own. Check out Mark Drischoll if you are interested in why we were so fascinated by that morning. Anyways, it gave us a lot to talk about that day. So we enjoyed it. And the ice cream people were back at the market! Yahtzee!
Well I'm about tired out of this. So...be free.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New additions
It seems like the apartment just continues to get more and more "homey." And I love it. Christmas left us with many new additions: placemats, tongs (!), and most exciting... new sheets and lamps! Just ignore the junk piled in each corner... storage is not really a luxury of ours. And the clear lack of anything else in the room... we need maybe a dresser or shelf or something on that wall to the left. Hmmmm...
And this guy (below) is something I'm working on today, as well as an internship application and a variety of other things. It's going to go in the kitchen, unless anyone else wants it.... ;)
And this guy (below) is something I'm working on today, as well as an internship application and a variety of other things. It's going to go in the kitchen, unless anyone else wants it.... ;)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Yum Yum: Stuffed Peppers
Hey folks! Today I am expanding your food knowledge. I know, you're excited. You should probably start salivating now. Before you know it, I'm going to have you guys trained like Pavlov's dogs... There's a new blog post?! I hope it's a new recipe! Bahaha, now you know my plan to gain world [food] dominance.
Anyway, have you heard of quinoa? I feel like it's suddenly been popping up in recipes I look at, especially healthy ones. It made me wonder what the heck this new grain quinoa is. Turns out, it's not new at all. I guess I'm just behind the times. My super reliable Wikipedia search tells me that quinoa has actually been a staple in South American foods for about 6,000 years. Crazy. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that I thought it was a grain. It is not. It is actually a "chenopod," which means it's related to foods like beets, spinach and tumbleweeds (tumbleweeds? That's what it said. Can you eat a tumbleweed? Perhaps that will be my next food knowledge exploration). So, as you can imagine, it's packed with protein. It's gluten-free. It's filled with dietary fiber, magnesium, and iron. In other words, maybe you should consider adding this to your grocery list.
Today I decided to try this mystery food and see what all the hype is about. Thanks to a recipe in Shape Magazine (I know, I'm exponentially cooler now that you know I subscribe to Shape), I ate this for lunch:
It's a Cheese- and Quinoa-stuffed Red Pepper. And... It was delicious. And 4 hours and a workout later, I am still not hungry, which is pretty much unheard of for me. Here's how to do it:
1/4 cup dry quinoa
1 large red bell pepper
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 c. shredded carrots
1/4 c. baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced white button mushrooms
1/2 tsp. salt-free Italian herb seasoning (I just did a mix of basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, and oregano)
1/4 c. finely shredded cheddar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place quinoa and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until all water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Set aside and keep covered.
While the quinoa cooks, use a sharp knife to cut the top off the pepper and remove the seeds and membranes; keep the pepper whole. Set aside.
Heat a medium skillet on medium-high; add olive oil. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, and seasoning, and saute until veggies are slightly tender, about 4 minutes.
Transfer sauteed veggies to a bowl. Mix in cooked quinoa, and gently fold in cheddar.
Fill pepper with the mixture. Place in baking dish and bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until pepper is slightly charred. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Anyway, have you heard of quinoa? I feel like it's suddenly been popping up in recipes I look at, especially healthy ones. It made me wonder what the heck this new grain quinoa is. Turns out, it's not new at all. I guess I'm just behind the times. My super reliable Wikipedia search tells me that quinoa has actually been a staple in South American foods for about 6,000 years. Crazy. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that I thought it was a grain. It is not. It is actually a "chenopod," which means it's related to foods like beets, spinach and tumbleweeds (tumbleweeds? That's what it said. Can you eat a tumbleweed? Perhaps that will be my next food knowledge exploration). So, as you can imagine, it's packed with protein. It's gluten-free. It's filled with dietary fiber, magnesium, and iron. In other words, maybe you should consider adding this to your grocery list.
Today I decided to try this mystery food and see what all the hype is about. Thanks to a recipe in Shape Magazine (I know, I'm exponentially cooler now that you know I subscribe to Shape), I ate this for lunch:
It's a Cheese- and Quinoa-stuffed Red Pepper. And... It was delicious. And 4 hours and a workout later, I am still not hungry, which is pretty much unheard of for me. Here's how to do it:
1/4 cup dry quinoa
1 large red bell pepper
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 c. shredded carrots
1/4 c. baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced white button mushrooms
1/2 tsp. salt-free Italian herb seasoning (I just did a mix of basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, and oregano)
1/4 c. finely shredded cheddar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place quinoa and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until all water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Set aside and keep covered.
While the quinoa cooks, use a sharp knife to cut the top off the pepper and remove the seeds and membranes; keep the pepper whole. Set aside.
Heat a medium skillet on medium-high; add olive oil. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, and seasoning, and saute until veggies are slightly tender, about 4 minutes.
Transfer sauteed veggies to a bowl. Mix in cooked quinoa, and gently fold in cheddar.
Fill pepper with the mixture. Place in baking dish and bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until pepper is slightly charred. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
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