February swimming

A few weeks ago, on a Friday in February, it was so warm and sunny that Steve spent some time on his day off doing laps in the hotel pool.  (I opted out... the pool is heated but the air was still too cool for me for swimming, although I did stick my feet in!)  We had an extremely mild winter, even for this part of the world...until last week when it cooled down and got rainy and gray (which is the norm for winter).  (Yeah, that was the week where it was near record highs back home in Michigan so, me being selfish, it was no fun seeing that the temps were quite a bit higher there and that everyone was outside doing things...  But I am glad my Michigander friends and family got a visit from the sun, too!)  Hard to believe Steve was swimming in February but this past Monday at BSF I thought my toes were going to freeze off!

Anyway, it looks like spring is trying to return once more (although we actually do need the rain), so I thought I'd post these pics to remind me of what's in store soon (and why you should come visit)! Looking forward to some nice, sunny days! :)

Bay Area Experience: Chinese Pearl Tea

We (okay, mostly I... Steve works most of the time!) have had a lot of fun experiences since moving to the Bay Area and some of them involve experiencing different cultures.  I thought I'd share one with you... One of the things the BSF crew I hang out with these days likes to do is go out for Chinese pearl milk tea (aka bubble tea aka boba tea) and they have re-introduced me to it (I tried it once in college years ago).  Instead of going to Starbucks after BSF (as we did in Farmington Hills), we go to Verde, a local Chinese tea cafe.  So what is it?  Basically, what I'm going to tell you I have learned from Wikipedia... 

"Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit (or fruit syrup) and/or milk. Ice-blended versions of the drinks, similar to slushies, are also available, usually in fruit flavors.

One of the famous categories of bubble teas is "pearl milk tea" (also known as "boba milk tea" in parts of America), which contains small chewy balls made of tapioca starch, called "pearls" in Chinese (also known as "fenyuan 粉圆" or "zhenzhu 珍珠"). Pearls made of tapioca are also available in many places."

Let me just say this, I'm not sure about the "tapioca pearls" but the tea is yummy and refreshing.  It's just a creamy, sweet tea... that is sometimes fruity (although I haven't tried the fruity variation yet but need to!).

Here's a photo so you can see what I'm talking about.  Check out the big, fat straw that is big enough for the pearls to be sucked up! (Those dark brown balls at the bottom are the pearls.)

Just in case you're wondering, it has NOT replaced coffee in my life :)  But I will admit that the day these photos were taken I was satisfying my first pearl tea craving!

By the way, Michiganders, can you please send the sun back?  It seems to have left us (though I shouldn't complain because we need the rain!)... hopefully only temporarily.  Then maybe the sun will have the strength to be in both states (and maybe a few in between) all at once!  

So anyway, there you have it, pearl milk tea.  You are now informed.  Come visit and I'll take you for one :)

Majesty of Creation: Lake Tahoe

In February I had the awesome privilege of going to Lake Tahoe to Heavenly Ski Resort with some of the BSF leaders I serve with here in San Jose.  Poor Steve stayed home and worked :(  It was seriously one of the most breathtaking places I've ever seen.  Here are just a few photos I snapped while enjoying the awesome skiing!  (I had to keep reminding myself that I was there to ski, not shoot photos!)  I'll post more on Facebook soon.

Lake Tahoe is right on the California-Nevada border and Heavenly has ski runs in both states.  I found it amusing to see the direction signs that had "To California" (as above taken from the Nevada side) or "To Nevada" on them!

View from the chair lift...

Here's the view from the Nevada side.  Snow here, but not down there!

Glancing back up the hill.  The sun was out and keeping things warm!  I had to remove my gloves on the chair lifts to cool down between runs.  Now that's what I call perfect ski weather!

We stayed the first night in a hotel right across from the Heavenly Gondola that takes you to the base of the ski resort.  This is where I had my first glimpse of the beauty since we drove in at night and it was pitch black.

We arrived Thursday night (two of us drove up early) and then met up with the others on Friday.  One of the guy leaders has an aunt who has a cabin in South Lake Tahoe (the town where the resort is), and she graciously let us stay there Friday night for very cheap!  Then it was back to San Jose on Saturday afternoon so I could be back in time for church with Steve.  I definitely hope to go back and next time will bring Steve with me!

Celebrate!

We closed on my condo on February 15th!  Here's my celebratory Frappuccino enjoyed immediately after sending in the closing paperwork :)

We are so thankful to God for doing the impossible and doing it quickly!  We did not miss a single payment and they still approved the short sale only a couple of months after the offer was received.  Wow.  Everything went so smoothly.  Many thanks to all who prayed with us!

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Do you know that song?  I usually think of it at least once every time I go there.  If you don't know it, check out this Dionne Warwick classic here.  I actually only know that one line, but that doesn't stop it from getting in my head.

Anyway, last month (oops, I've been blog negligent!) we decided to keep our weekend-off adventure to nearby San Jose.  First, on Thursday we got free tickets to the San Jose Sharks (hockey) game.

That's us, not having fun (because we don't like the Sharks!).  Okay, it was kinda fun.  Sharky even came to our section!  (But we still don't like the Sharks, Dad, I promise!)

The highlight of the evening was the third period. That's when we got Dippin' Dots (you know, the ice cream of the future!)... Steve's first!

Ohhhh yeah!

Then on Saturday, we headed back to SJ to the Tech Museum.  We thought, hey, we're in Silicon Valley, it's a technology museum, I bet they have lots of cool stuff there!  Maybe like the first Apple computer or something.  Well, they do have lots of cool stuff there... if you're under 12.

But we did have fun anyway.  We got to experience a simulated earthquake (the only one we've felt here... the one that was reported recently we did not even feel though we were awake!) and had fun with the infrared camera.  They also had a lot of hands-on, interactive science exhibits.  The hundreds of germy children there seemed to love touching everything.  Ask Steve about that... we are pretty sure he contracted laryngitis from one of them!

They also had a few electric cars on display... but no Teslas!

Steve is recharging at the electric car charger!

After that, we went to this shopping area called Santana Row.  It's a few blocks of very posh shopping and some restaurants. We enjoyed dinner, Starbucks, and a walk around to peer into windows and people-watch.  And Steve got to check out the Tesla store front!  He got to sit in it... looks pretty good in the driver's seat, no? (I know you can barely see him! He wasn't too concerned about me getting a good photo...)  Let me tell you, that's a hot little car!  I'm sure it wouldn't beat a Lamborghini in a race, though (see my recent Facebook status for explanation).

So that was our San Jose adventure!  Hope you enjoyed the update and sorry if you (like me) now have that song in your head :)

Coffee Emergency!

Greetings!  As you know from this post, I make my coffee each morning in my trusty French press.  When I come back up to our room after breakfast and sending Steve off to work, two things help me be successful to not go back to sleep:

1) I make the bed. (Since we're in a studio, if I don't it mocks me and calls me to jump in and warm myself and just "rest my eyes."  Evil. So I make it to avoid getting IN it.  Yes, we have maid service, but they don't come until the afternoon!)

2) I make my coffee! 

I keep thinking that since I'm getting puh-lenty of sleep each night (which I know you'll be happy to hear, Mom) that I'll be a morning person one of these days...  After all, Steve's already off to work and earning the big bucks, so I should be able to stay awake, too!  But, so far, my body (or mind?) is not cooperating.  So the coffee and bed-making ritual help me fake it.  (Now I just have to figure out how to avoid falling asleep on the couch...)

But anyway, the other day, there was a kink in my caffeinating plans!  I noticed a crack in the spout of my trusty French press, and when I put the plunger in, the spout fell right off in one piece.  So I made the coffee in there and then quickly poured it back into the hotel coffee maker carafe over the sink.  But I knew this would not do...  (and confirmed this after a minor scratch that came while cleaning the pot the next day!)

In this case, I did not want to buy another press (it was $20 and this one was only a few months old!).  And sadly, I did not see duct tape as a viable solution for this problem (shocking, I know!).  So, I found me some Elmer's non-toxic glass glue and picked some up a few days later and did some minor surgery on my beloved caffeine-delivery-device. (Does anyone else think it needs a nickname?)

Good as new!  (Although not as pretty...) Yay for not having to buy a new one! And yay for that awesome handy-woman feeling from fixing something yourself! :)

Cooking Up a Storm!

Okay, maybe just a light rain shower...

Anyway, I was trying to think of something else I could share with you all besides photos from recent adventures (of which I am currently all out... but Steve's off this weekend so there will be more to come soon!) and I thought of all of the cooking I've been doing!  Well, I only have to make dinner 3 times per week and never breakfast, so that means I can't possibly be doing all that much cooking... but for me, this is a lot!

I signed up for got addicted to Pinterest recently thanks to my sis-in-law (it's a website where people share things they like from the internet...if you have never heard of it, stay away if you value your time!) and have found a few really good recipes on there and a few using my iPad AllRecipes app.  So I thought I'd share.  I only have one photo to share (of a dessert), though, because I accidentally deleted the others that I remembered to take... (insert game show "sorry, you lose" music here)

I'm also including the links to the recipes so you can check them out... because if I can successfully make it, anyone can!  (I've included a little rating system for your benefit... all categories are out of 5.  The "number of ingredients" category is a rating, not the number of ingredients required.  Higher scores going to recipes requiring fewer ingredients, thus making them easier!)

So without further ado, here are the highlights of what I've made in January:

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino: (translated spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes, but doesn't the Italian sound so much better?)  This was a super easy dish that I whipped up one day for lunch after we ran out of deli meat and I didn't feel like going to the store.  I added chicken breast and it was a good meal.  It would also be really good and make a full meal with a nice green salad and bread.

Ease: 5 (Super easy)
Number of ingredients: 5 (few needed)
Time required: 15 minutes
Taste: 4 (great flavors, but very simple -- that's part of the charm, really.  But bottom line is that there's not too much to it... the appeal of this dish is definitely the ease!)

Meatball and Spaghetti Soup: yummm... Steve loves soup and I love pasta!  I spied this recipe from a Facebook friend and whipped it up one night for dinner.  We had 2 days worth of left overs if I remember correctly.  I followed the recipe just as described and found the meatballs to be difficult to handle (they were really wet before I plopped them into the broth) but turned out good (albeit deformed). 

Ease: 4 (Fairly easy)
Number of ingredients: 4 (quite a few ingredients, but most commonly found in the pantry)
Time required: 30 minutes or so?
Taste: 5 (this had great flavor... Steve loves his spices and he thought this was one of the less bland dishes I made.  But wasn't too much for me, who likes my bland food)
Notes: I subbed star-shaped pasta instead of the short spaghetti because that's what I had (and let's face it, stars are so much more fun!).  Bonus: this is a low-cal dish :)

Better-Than-Olive-Garden Zuppa Toscana: I told you Steve loved soup... and his favorite is Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden.  He told me he'd love me forever if I could make it for him... so onto the internet I went and dug up this recipe!  (Turns out he tricked me and said I had to continue making it for him to keep loving me... but the joke's really on him because he's stuck with me....hahaha!)  Anyway, he liked it a lot although I couldn't get him to say it was better than OG's. 

Ease: 3.5 (lots of chopping)
Number of ingredients: 3 (quite a few ingredients that I had to go buy)
Time required: > 30 minutes
Taste: 4 (this one was pretty spicy thanks to the spicy sausage... not too much for Steve but a little much for me.  A bit salty for me, too.)
Notes: I ended up adding another potato and probably another cup of kale after the first time we ate it because I didn't think it was enough in proportion to all that sausage.  Also subbed 1% milk for the heavy cream to no detriment.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup: Another "stolen" recipe... this time from Panera.  If you like their cream of chicken and wild rice soup, you'll enjoy this!

Ease: 4
Number of ingredients: 3.5
Time required: 30 minutes (roughly... by now you've noticed that everything takes me a half hour.  It probably doesn't, I'm just bad at guessing how long something takes and how much time has passed.  Which explains my poor time management skills!)
Taste: 5 (mmm, comfort food!)
Notes: I used half-and-half instead of heavy cream and found it to be almost too creamy.  Next time I'll probably use half half-and-half (whoa, that's a lotta halves!) and half milk.  I also added carrots and a healthy dose of celery to it, which I thought improved it.

Pork with Mushroom Dijon Sauce: Really easy and delicious twist on a classic.  I still haven't figured out how to properly prepare pork chops so that they're not dry, but at least this had the yummy sauce to improve it!  If anyone has any pork-cooking tips, please send them my way!

Ease: 3
Number of ingredients: 4
Time required: I'm not going to guess this time.  The recipes says 25 minutes for prep and 25 for cooking :)
Taste: 4 (nothing amazing or spectacular, but yummy nonetheless)
Notes: I skipped the wine and it was still delish!

Cheddar Baked Chicken: Also known as the reason I had to find more recipes using Rice Krispies!  This was really good and pretty easy... and I imagine that it's very kid-friendly, too.  Can't go wrong with cheese :)

Ease: 4
Number of ingredients: 4 (mostly common pantry items)
Time required: < 1 hour
Taste: 4 (yum but not I-will-lick-my-plate)
Notes: I believe I skipped the step of drizzling even more butter on top and it was still rich and delicious.

Okay... this is longer than I thought it would be (see, told you I've been cooking!) so I'll post desserts and snacks next time.  I've got some yummy treats that go well with coffee :)  So come back later, okay?