Happy Birthday, Brad!

Happy Birthday to my big brother! I hope you're sleeping in and then your day is full of things you love: running, steak & sweet treats.

Love and miss you! Wish we were together on your birthday.

Campanelle with Chanterelles

Mom and I went looking on my uncle's property for chanterelles a couple days ago and found a bunch. They are such a treat. I'm being spoiled with the mushrooms we can find locally in the woods up here - fresh black trumpets (OMG), chanterelles, and horse mushrooms. My parents are growing shitakes and oyster mushrooms outside, but I don't think they'll be ready until after I leave.

 I made a creamy pasta for lunch today with them and peas from the garden. I used this recipe with campanelle instead of fettuccine. Delicious.

Still having a lovely time up here and am amazed at everything there grows here. Mom asked me the other night if I wanted some chamomile tea...from pineapple chamomile she found growing next to their garage. It never ends :).

Grandma's Gardens

This is my second week up in Rimersburg, PA, the town my parents are both from and much of my dad's side of the family still lives. It's a small town with rolling hills, farms and forest. My grandma has had huge gardens and orchards her whole life growing berries, apples, pears, grapes, flowers and nearly every vegetable you can think of. Today my Uncle Alan showed me the four (four!) different types of onions they have planted.

peas so good we usually eat them raw. 

husband in the garden.

garlic going to seed.

friend in the raspberry patch.

strawberry fields forever.

husband hunting for strawberries.

tomatoes.

mom and I made net covers for the blueberry plants.

I can't remember how long it's been since I've been so relaxed. Every day consists of coffee with the parents and my Uncle Alan, red & black raspberry picking, rides through the forest on the golf cart, cooking (usually treats from the garden), mushrooming (more on that soon), thrift store shopping and reading. L O V E. I'm so happy.

Rimersburg Family Trip

Last week Eric and I flew up to Pennsylvania to stay with my parents along with my Aunt Barb and cousins Fred and Mike. We had a blast all week relaxing, sight seeing in the country, walking through the forest and just spending time with each other.

Here's a few funny moments from last week for my family to remember:

"This right here is the King Boofer chair" - My dad

While taking a tour of my parents' new place, my dad made sure to point out the worn-out small recliner on the porch. This is where he chills out boofs (as he would call it). He asked me the other day, "did you ever think you'd see your dad relax like this?". Me, "nope!".

"Well, I gotta go have sex with my squash" - Uncle Alan

My Uncle Alan is the primary caretaker of my grandma's gardens. He fears there aren't enough bees around, so he has to pollinate the blooms himself. He comes to my parents' house every morning at 7am to have coffee with them and often leaves saying something like, "it's time for my fertility clinic" or "I have to have sex with my squash."

"We aren't leaving until we see an elk!" - Everyone in the van trip to Elk Country

My dad, mom, Eric, Fred, Mike and Aunt Barb loaded up in the rental van one day and headed up to check out the Kinzua bridge and drive around Elk Country. After checking out the bridge, we drove another hour or so to look for elk. It was unfortunately really hot and in the middle of the day, so our luck at catching an elk was slim. We even extended the drive to ride along the creek for miles hoping to catch one having a drink. After a number of hours, we were exhausted and hungry and began to settle for finding a spot with elk burgers and making our drive home. We spotted a sign for a restaurant 5 miles ahead and on the way we finally saw an elk! And we got to have elk burgers.

"Grandma, what kind of hot dog is it?" - Mike

Mike (7 yrs. old) is one of the pickiest eaters I've ever seen. He only eats a few different things, one of which is hot dogs, but he won't eat one unless it's been microwaved. We had a weenie roast one night by the fire and guess who wouldn't eat a hot dog? Mike. Luckily his grandma was happy to spoil him on vacation and walked up to the house and microwaved one for him.

"WOW! This is like the Hunger Games!" - Chloe & Mike

You can't live in Rimersburg, PA without owning a 4-wheeler, side-by-side or golf cart to ride around the trails (and often the small roads!). We must have gone on thirty rides during the week (the kids couldn't get enough of this) spotting animals, checking out wildflowers and blasting up hills in the forest. The day before everyone was leaving, we were going on our final rides. I took the kids and headed out for a different path than Eric had taken them earlier....only to come across a ton of mud at the bottom. I got the golf cart stuck and before giving up and walking home for help, we tried to pull it out and took some time trying to think of a solution. Chloe quickly yelled out that this was like being in the Hunger Games (we'd watched the second movie the night before) and there had to be a way to get it out. Mike and Chloe chatted about how we'd get it out if we were in the HG while we walked back home. (I would lose. My dad and cousin Fred came to the rescue and pulled it out!)

Spicy Sriracha Grilled Tofu

Last night I grilled tofu for the time. And actually, I've only ever cooked tofu a few times. The secret I suppose is marinating it overnight so it actually has a lot of flavor. I was really stoked on how this recipe turned out (how could it be bad if it came from Bon Appéttit anyway?).

I flagged this recipe a while back but could never find white miso paste in the grocery store. I didn't realize I needed to look in the refrigerated section...oops! Now I'm excited to use the paste for other recipes.

Sriracha-Filled Tofu
Bon Appétit (June 2011)
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 14-16 ounce container of extra firm tofu
3/4 cup Sriracha
1 TBS roasted sesame seeds (I was lazy and just used toasted sesame oil instead)
1 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS white miso paste
Chopped scallions (a few, at least)
2 garlic cloves

Directions
Cut tofu into 1" blocks. Drain well on paper towels.

Put Sriracha, sesame seeds (or sesame oil in my case), and white miso paste in a blender with a few chopped scallions and the garlic cloves. Blend with water until smooth. (I didn't add any water - I just blended in a food processor!). Reserve some for dipping. Marinate the tofu in the rest overnight.

Grill tofu, brushing with sauce. Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and scallions.
______________________

I haven't been making much lately because of how much I've been working, but have at least managed to cook a ton of meals so far this summer. I've been working full time to crank out of my projects before I leave for three weeks.

This weekend Eric and I fly up to Pennsylvania to visit family and I'll stay an extra while to help my family work in my grandma's gardens. And on my flight back, I'm stopping over in DC for a few days to visit Jess & Keeley (CAN'T WAIT!!).

This summer hasn't really felt like summer yet because I'm working so much and we've been fortunate to have decent weather here in Austin. I'm amazed that it's late June and I haven't felt like I'm melting yet.

More later from PA!

Back from mini-vacation

We went to Florida last week to visit family and celebrate our one year anniversary (!!!). I'm back to work trying to make progress on a couple of big summer projects I'm working on for classes...but wish I was still sitting on the beach and eating raw oysters everday.

Happy Anniversary, Eric! (posting this late)

I love you soooooo much!