plant update

In my last post, I posted a picture of my pepper plants and ginger that I had decided to grow. Now, a few weeks later, they look great!

Cayenne peppers, we've had a couple, they taste wonderful!

Green peppers, hopefully we'll get some more buds on these.

And this is my ginger! I had read online that you could buy ginger at the grocery and plant it and it would keep growing. Then, whenever you wanted to use some, you just dig it up, cut some off and replant it! I was skeptical cause I had planted it for several weeks before it began to grow. And now it's huge! I can't wait to use some!

shopping for fresh food

Lately, Luis and I have been making an effort to eat healthier and spend more time cooking using fresh ingredients and cut down on the amount of processed food we buy. When Jill, Carey and I moved into our first apartment in college, I think we owned two pots and maybe one frying pan. I spent many a night eating from instant pasta and rice packets and rarely buying fresh veggies. It was quick, easy and I was only cooking for myself so I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I wasn't concerned with what was actually in the food I was eating. After college, I started cooking more, but I often found myself resorting to using processed foods a lot. Now that Luis and I are both working and in school and have crazy busy schedules, we end up going back to college and buying pasta packets again. After getting sick of constantly eating pasta and not very tasty frozen stir fries, and watching Jamie Oliver make chicken nuggets -- I'd had enough. Luis and I decided to start cooking more often, invested in some really good cookbooks (that didn't all revolve around pasta) and began buying more fresh ingredients. I've also gotten really into gardening: growing herbs, green peppers and now tomatoes and cayenne peppers (and ginger!).

My peppers and ginger, in their early stages!

Now that we're finally buying fresh ingredients, and cooking delicious meals from scratch, like this Jamie Oliver sweet and sour pork:
I've noticed that our grocery bills are going up like whoa. This really bothers me. I've always said that I have no problem paying MORE money for BETTER quality food; if you can taste/see/smell/feel the difference, then I'm all for it. But I despise the fact that it costs more to eat healthy than to eat junk food. I understand that it costs more to produce fresh foods, but there is a serious problem in this country if going to McDonald's is encouraged, while eating healthy is discouraged. I am ashamed of you United States! I get the Sunday paper every week, and I always go through and look for the coupons. I used to save TONS of money at the store, but now not so much. Why? Because they don't print coupons for fresh vegetables - just for mac 'n cheese and instant stir fries. I hate that we live in a country that does not encourage fresh foods and healthy eating. I hate that you have to have money to buy foods that are good for you. It seems like, as a whole, we are encouraging people to be fat and eat junk. And that is wrong. I'm a lot happier and healthier now that I've stopped buying as much processed food. And I enjoy cooking with fresh, raw ingredients, even if it does take some time. And the end result is always way better than any bagged stir fry could give.

My new favorite cook book. I don't think we've made a recipe in this that we didn't love. I even made cheesecake, from scratch!

columbus, part two

Recently, Luis and I traveled to Columbus, OH once again to see the Columbus Crew in action. This game was much more intense than last year, and was successful in getting me excited about the World Cup! Columbus Crew managed to pull off the win over Chivas USA, but it was a good game overall.

Before the game, we went to the Columbus Museum of Art. Apparently, pretty much the entire museum, minus their special exhibit, is closed as they are renovating. Luckily, the lady there only charged us for one admission! We saw this exhibit which was pretty awesome.

Then we wandered around trying to find something to eat. Apparently, Columbus' downtown is similar to Lexington's - everything is closed on the weekend. But we eventually found some yummy Cuban food!

Hey Art.

Then, we went to the game where there was a drumline with really small children.

And our seats were amazing! It's crazy how you can get such cheap, good seats in soccer!

The teams warming up.

Good times.

hey authors

I've met a lot of authors lately.

Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal (Robert Jordan's wife)

Patrick Rothfuss

Dandi Daley Mackall

John Green

And ready for more!

hello summer

Summer is here!

I am so excited about summer and all it's glory. It's been super hot here, which is crazy for this time of the year. School ended on Wed. and I'm incredibly happy that terrible semester is over. So far, one grade has come in but I'm still waiting on the other two. To celebrate summer Luis and I went out to lunch and saw Iron Man 2 (which was amazing and I loved it immensely and now want to rewatch Iron Man.) I also celebrated with a trip to the bookstore and purchased several books which I am very much looking forward to reading. I got God of the Hive by Laurie R. King, Lies by Michael Grant, The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, and Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. So excited. Right now, I'm reading a book about the Gardner museum heist which is very interesting and quite enjoyable.

Tomorrow, I will attempt to bake a fruit tart (should be interesting). Then on Monday, I will purchase the rest of my herbs and tomato plants, and plant them. On Tuesday I start my internship at the Lexington Public Library. I think the internship will be good, but I am nervous and not looking forward to getting up early. Then, next weekend Luis and I are going to Columbus for the weekend to see a Crew game and do other fun things! I love summer.

Now I just need the Red Sox to stop sucking and all will be well......Well, that and to not work....

And of course, the terrible election day is coming up!

Also, the best news....I am halfway done with my masters! yay!

work stories

So we have this anchor at work (who brought in cookies today, so he's now my favorite), and he has a tendency to read whatever's in the prompter a la Ron Burgundy style. So today in the commercial break I noticed the first story began "ASK WAS FALLING DOWN" or something along those lines, which obviously doesn't make sense. The story was about the Iceland volcano so I mentioned to everyone that it should be ASH and not to read it like that. The anchor replied "You know me too well." Crisis averted.

Well, (here's the interesting part of the story) this brought up another story our producer told. Our old chief meteorologist used to have weather stories in his weather forecast and he would read a script that went along with it. The producer had written it wrong and he read it, never noticing the mistake. It was a story about a flood and people being rescued. "PEOPLE WERE BEING RESCUED BY BOARS" Amazing. I couldn't stop laughing when he told that story. Just imagine boars rescuing people from the flood. Rescuing? Or stabbing people in the stomach? which is more likely?

Oh, work.

baseball

I'm so happy it's baseball season! Go Red Sox!