Weekend Update

Two posts in one month! Last weekend was great. D and I were out on Saturday at a local field with our:
It was a lovely day with lots of sun!

We made salmon burgers... sorry no pictures of this, they weren't necessarily pretty, but they sure were delicious. The recipe is a compilation from several locations:
2 (6ish oz) cans salmon (no bones or skin) - TJoes is a great source for this...
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped tarragon (fresh)
1 T dijon mustard (ours was specialty with a bit of maple syrup in it, you could add that separately)
1 zested lemon + the juice of the lemon
1 finely chopped shallot
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Mix this all together, form 4 or so large patties, and cook over med-high heat for about 4 min per side or until browned. You can finish these in the oven if you want, but we ate them off the stove. We used buns, tomatoes and lots of mustard. We ate these with roasted potatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts.

We also worked on some wedding details. Our photographer has been amazing and we've got some great photos of us in the snow. Speaking of the snow, it is getting very old - of course the above wouldn't have been possible without all the snow. But we have no where to put it. I need to shovel down some of my piles this week before more arrives. It gets very hard to lift a shovel above about chest high. Some of the banks are over my head! D was on the roof of his house today with his dad trying to get some of the snow clear so the roof doesn't settle any more and so there aren't leaks come the spring or warmer weather.

This weekend has been great, too. A good workout on Friday night, pesto pizza when I arrived at D's fairly late (after talking to a friend on the drive... Ole), karate with D's daughter, a relaxing afternoon, good dinner, a Trader Joes adventure with D's daughter, fun with snow (some experiments complete with lab notebook notes... what temperature is snow, what temperature after 10 seconds in the microwave, etc). And a fair amount of sleep to try to stay well while D is fighting a cold.

The week between was good as well. I have been able to get a good bit of writing done lately. Need to continue to work over the next few weeks to get several grants done. And the good news is that my graduate student's paper is just about ready for submission. Plus, I have a new grad student and an undergrad will work with us this summer, too. Things are going well, just need to keep the momentum going.

Happy New Year!

Okay, okay, I know this blog has been suffering. Last semester was very busy, but I survived and have been trying to get caught up. Last weekend, D and I had a granola adventure. I've been meaning to try a recipe from John for some time. Finally...
We added dried cherries and toasted almonds plus sunflower seeds (the later a recommendation from John). It is delicious.

I have also been messing with ways to prepare oatmeal. There is a place nearby that serves the most amazing oatmeal in the mornings - or I supposed you could get it for lunch if you wanted. It's just a little salty and a little sweet and seemingly a little underdone. I couldn't get it right. It tend to buy the old fashioned oatmeal - or irish style. So the secret is to use 1/2 cup of oatmeal to a 1/2 cup of water and milk (about 1/4 cup of each). Add a pinch of salt and then cook for 2 minutes in the microwave. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and a little maple syrup. Top with fruit if you have it. We made a surprise fruit salad on Friday night for after dinner and had the rest the next morning on oatmeal. Two apples, one banana, two clementines, one mango, blueberries (thawed frozen). Delicious.

Here's to a healthy new year!