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.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
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
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Return to the South
Hey, blog friends! Sorry it's been awhile. I know you've probably been aching for a new entry from us. Sorry. But I have one for you today! We have just returned from a very busy 12 days back in the good ole South. A few days in Memphis with Brian's family then to Arkansas to spend some time with mine. Then back to Memphis and back home to Seattle. Whew. The first few days home were truly exhausting, but great. I think we had our days packed from beginning to end trying to cram people in, and we still didn't see everyone we wanted to. We did manage to squeeze in some BBQ eating though. Christmas was great. We got a lot of wedding planning done (er... kind of). And now we're back in home sweet home, which is nice. Today I convinced Brian to walk to the beach with me. He only agreed to make this 6 mile trip to get advance forgiveness for watching a lot of football over the next few days or weeks or however long this whole bowl game thing lasts. Despite the chilly weather, it was a lovely walk. We really do live in a beautiful place.
We hope ya'll are doing well and had a great Christmas. We went to see the movie Tangled this morning, too. It was adorable. You'll love it; go see it.
We hope ya'll are doing well and had a great Christmas. We went to see the movie Tangled this morning, too. It was adorable. You'll love it; go see it.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Makin' banana pancakes pretend that it's the weekend now...
This was my breakfast yesterday. Banana pancakes. They were deeeeelicious. Mmm mmm mmm. There is something about making pancakes that just brings back the best memories... cooking breakfast at the Oxley house as kids sleepily stumble out one by one... staying up late with my roommates snacking on them... going to my lovely friends' house last semester for brunch on Saturdays... Good times, good times. Anyway, this was a spur of the moment pancake making experience, so I did not have my handy dandy bisquick pancake mix. So I had my very first experience making them from scratch. I will never go back. This was the greatest recipe ever. And of course, my friends, I will share it with you.
I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but I can't. It's from the Food Network's How to Boil Water cookbook.
This recipe makes about 8 large or 12 small pancakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional, and I just used ground nutmeg I had)
2 large eggs, room temp.
1 1/4 c. milk
Dash pure vanilla extract (abt. 1/4 teaspoon)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used a bit less. That's a lotta butta)
1 banana, sliced
1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg, if using, in a large bowl.
2. Beat the eggs in another bowl. Whisk in half of the milk and the vanilla.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the remaining milk, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir or whisk into the egg mixture. (Note: I just did that in the microwave instead of on the stove)
4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until a thick batter forms (a few lumps are ok).
5. Now make the pancakes! Pour a pancake sized bit of batter on the skillet and then place the banana slices in the batter immediately. Flip when ready. Then eat. Yum yum yummmmm.
-K.
Hi!!! It's, Brian. I'm posting in the midst of Katie's because I just felt like it. So, school is almost over; I'm going to our last family lunch of the quarter today. Hopefully we keep it going in the coming quarters, but I kinda' fear we won't as we all go join our separate groups. But oh, well. For breakfast the other day I had oatmeal. Like I always do. And it was meh, as it always is. But it makes a nice breakfast since I have to go ride the hot/humid/smelly bus for 40 minutes right afterwards. I've been sick recently but now i'm on 'roids so it should be clearing up (and it is). Well I dont think Katie likes me sitting on her lap like this, so I'm gonna' head out to school and work on my math final (we have 8 hours to complete a single problem) and then I'll be done! Hoorah. Maybe I will see some of you grand folks over Christmas break!? Look forward to it! :)
I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but I can't. It's from the Food Network's How to Boil Water cookbook.
This recipe makes about 8 large or 12 small pancakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional, and I just used ground nutmeg I had)
2 large eggs, room temp.
1 1/4 c. milk
Dash pure vanilla extract (abt. 1/4 teaspoon)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used a bit less. That's a lotta butta)
1 banana, sliced
1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg, if using, in a large bowl.
2. Beat the eggs in another bowl. Whisk in half of the milk and the vanilla.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the remaining milk, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir or whisk into the egg mixture. (Note: I just did that in the microwave instead of on the stove)
4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until a thick batter forms (a few lumps are ok).
5. Now make the pancakes! Pour a pancake sized bit of batter on the skillet and then place the banana slices in the batter immediately. Flip when ready. Then eat. Yum yum yummmmm.
-K.
Hi!!! It's, Brian. I'm posting in the midst of Katie's because I just felt like it. So, school is almost over; I'm going to our last family lunch of the quarter today. Hopefully we keep it going in the coming quarters, but I kinda' fear we won't as we all go join our separate groups. But oh, well. For breakfast the other day I had oatmeal. Like I always do. And it was meh, as it always is. But it makes a nice breakfast since I have to go ride the hot/humid/smelly bus for 40 minutes right afterwards. I've been sick recently but now i'm on 'roids so it should be clearing up (and it is). Well I dont think Katie likes me sitting on her lap like this, so I'm gonna' head out to school and work on my math final (we have 8 hours to complete a single problem) and then I'll be done! Hoorah. Maybe I will see some of you grand folks over Christmas break!? Look forward to it! :)
Friday, December 10, 2010
Heaven in a Loaf Pan
Here in the Strickland-Swift household, we are... how do you say it?... addicted. To chocolate chip pumpkin bread. We want to make your lives better, so here's the recipe. I strongly suggest you go buy ingredients and make it pronto. You won't regret it. Until you gain 10 pounds. But trust me, it's worth it.
This recipe has kind of odd measurements, b/c I halved it to make just 1 loaf. Double it if you want 2. Haha, I guess you could have figured that out, right? Here's the ingredients:
1 1/2 c.sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. apple sauce (if you don't have this, just use vegetable oil instead)
2 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. water
1 2/3 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 to 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (yum yum)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Mix sugar and oil/apple sauce with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add pumpkin and blend. Add water and blend. Combine remaining ingredients and add slowly. Fill pans equally and bake for 1 hour until golden brown.
Enjoy, all.
This recipe has kind of odd measurements, b/c I halved it to make just 1 loaf. Double it if you want 2. Haha, I guess you could have figured that out, right? Here's the ingredients:
1 1/2 c.sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. apple sauce (if you don't have this, just use vegetable oil instead)
2 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. water
1 2/3 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 to 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (yum yum)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Mix sugar and oil/apple sauce with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add pumpkin and blend. Add water and blend. Combine remaining ingredients and add slowly. Fill pans equally and bake for 1 hour until golden brown.
Enjoy, all.
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