Christmastime is Here

When Warren told me he had never seen the Nutcracker live, I couldn't believe it...it's such a fun thing to do around the holidays. I have wonderful memories of my mom taking my sister and I each year. (Usually at the Hartford ballet). There is something so magical about it. We bought tickets to see it at NYC ballet and had a lovely time there. It was nice to see a lot of adults there just for fun as well as, of course, people bringing their small children. I think I could probably go see this ballet every December for the rest of my life without getting tired of it. :)

More Thanksgiving Treats

We had a nice holiday with Warren's family last week. We had a great time playing games together...Trivial Pursuit, Settlers, Pictionary...and enjoyed hanging out and decorating the house and the church for Christmas. One of the yummiest things that Priscilla made for Thanksgiving dinner was these rolls. I am not ashamed to say that I ate 5 of them. Well, maybe a little bit.

Dinner Rolls

In large bowl, mix the following:
1 cup hot water
¼ cup dry milk
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup butter (half stick)

When mixture is cool, add:
1 package dry yeast
1 egg, slightly beaten

Mix well. Beat or stir in 3 ½ to 4 cups flour to form a stiff dough.

Knead 5-10 min. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise til double. Punch down. Divide into 24 pieces.

Shape each piece into small ball and place in greased 9x13 pan. Cover and let rise (may be slow, give plenty of time). Dough will rise ¾ of the way up the pan and rolls will join together.

Bake 20-25 min at 375.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of our favorite Thanksgiving side dish recipes in recent years has been this cranberry sauce. I made it this afternoon to take to Sugar Grove with us tomorrow. I love cranberries- so tart and refreshing.

Wayne's Cranberry Sauce

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
16 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 cup finely chopped apple
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup currants (optional)
1/4 cup Grand Marnier liqueur
1/2 orange, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Combine the sugar and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and return to a boil, then lower the heat so that the liquid simmers. When the cranberries begin to "pop", add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove pot from the heat and allow the cranberry sauce to cool.

New Fave Recipe

We recently saw Ina making this on the Food Network and were drooling on ourselves while we watched the show. We have made it twice in the past two weeks and still want more! I adjusted a couple of things in her recipe to my liking. Here is the recipe we used:

White Pizza With Arugula

raw pizza dough
olive oil
1 large garlic clove, sliced
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
arugula
fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

In small saucepan combine 1/4 cup olive oil, thyme sprigs and garlic and heat on low for 10 min. Discard thyme and add red pepper flakes. Transfer hot oil to a bowl and let cool.

Roll out dough, place on oiled baking sheet and brush with the garlic oil. Sprinkle with grated fontina and mozzarella and small crumbles of goat cheese. Bake for 20 min.

Just before serving, toss arugula with salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil and spread over pizza.

Home Sweet Home

Last weekend I enjoyed a short getaway to Connecticut with Jessica, Shana and Mitch. We savored yummy home cooking, beautiful scenery and fun times with friends. Can't wait to go back next month!

Mmm, Food

We had an excellent dinner and dessert tonight comprised of one new recipe (Curried Pear Chicken) and one tried and true (a pumpkin roll). The chicken dish came from our Eating Well cookbook and involved a sauce of shallots, white wine, chicken broth, cilantro, mint and coconut milk along with a sliced Bartlett pear. The fruity sweetness combined with the cilantro is an incredible taste reminiscent of the Chicken Tagine that we love. (That recipe uses prunes and cilantro). The sauce was so delicious I might double the sauce ingredients next time. It would be nice to have had more to mix with the brown rice that we served with it. The pumpkin roll is a neat looking dessert that is easier to make than it seems, and the taste is thoroughly fall-ish. I wonder if what we think of as "pumpkin" flavor actually comes from the pumpkin itself, or just from all the delicious spices we add, like cloves and cinnamon. In any case, it tastes delicious!

Hacklebarney

Well we did indeed embark upon an adventure to Hacklebarney Orchard today. It was so much fun! Chester is a beautiful wooded area and it was a charming cider mill with shady spots to sit, a little store, and lots of cute dogs running around. We watched a couple guys pressing the apples and got to see the various stages of how the cider is made. The mushy ground apples that go into the press look rather icky, but the end result is delicious! It was interesting to see the apple pulp that gets leftover at the end. It looks like apple cardboard. :) We had a fantastic lunch under the trees of cider hot dogs with sauerkraut cooked with apples on top and cider baked beans. We of COURSE had to go into the store and get cider donuts as well! We also bought some of their homemade cider and fig jam and apples from their orchard. Cider is the quintessential taste of fall for me. I forgot how delicious it is. We enjoyed petting the doggies and then journeyed a half mile further down the road to check out Hacklebarney State Park. It was a nice area with walking trails, small waterfalls and picnic/grilling areas by the creek. We decided it would be great to go back sometime and have lunch or dinner there. Just to walk through the woods and smell that amazing forest smell reminded me so much of home and felt very therapeutic. A wonderful Labor Day weekend day trip!

What Summer Feels Like

A Vacation to Remember

For our first anniversary, Warren and I decided to plan a trip instead of exchanging gifts. We thought it would be cooler to experience something we would remember forever than just to buy material things. We chose Chatham, Cape Cod as a destination, and WOW, it turned out to be incredible! We found our inn in the Select Registry that we got on our honeymoon and it did not disappoint. It was beautiful, peaceful and had every amenity we could want. They had some of the gorgeous blue hydrangeas that grow so abundantly all over the Cape and I couldn't help taking a million pictures of them. Our room was beautiful and we enjoyed resting there at night watching a DVD from the inn's library. It was a great way to get back our energy after all our day's activities. They had a lovely pool where we sat and read our books, and a huge lawn where we sat to drink our evening tea. Chatham is a lovely and quiet town...I'll have to thank Lloyd for recommending it.

Two of our most momentous experiences included a 4 hour guided kayak tour and a whale watch. The kayak tour was led by an awesome guy by the name of Dick Hilmer, who we regarded as a sort of Indiana Jones of the ocean. :) He was incredibly knowledgeable about the sandbars and the wildlife, not to mention his considerable kayaking skills. He's an ecologist and in addition to his kayaking he teaches 7th grade Earth Science and works with local watermen to help them to be environmentally responsible. He knew the location and time of day/tide to find some seals, and we were thrilled by repeated sightings of them popping their whiskery faces up to look at us. At one point we watched a group of around 10 adults gamboling in the water. I would have been happy at that, but then to top it off, a baby broke away from the group and followed us determinedly for 10-20 minutes, coming right up to us and even trying to climb up onto one of the kayaks, allowing us to get a fantastic look at him! It was a priceless experience. We stopped a few times throughout the journey to explore islands or go swimming or just take a rest. It was a major workout but a glorious way to exercise and get to know the beautiful nature of the area.

The whale watch left out of Provincetown, so we drove up that morning and walked around the town a bit first. It took us about 45 minutes to get out to a part of the ocean where we first spotted some humpback whales, and it was incredible to see their flippers and tails and glimpses of their colossal backs. But then we got REALLY lucky and found about 6-8 whales feeding. They were diving down, blowing their bubble nets and coming up in groups to take huge mouthfuls of water filled with krill. It was easy to spot where they would surface because the bubbles were a lighter color than the rest of the water, and HUGE crowds of birds would zoom over to the spot in hopes of catching some fish for themselves. They even tried to grab them out of the whales' mouths. We got such a thrilling, close view of the whales' heads and looked right into their mouths. To come so close to these incredible wild animals is a life-changing experience that you never forget. I have possibly never felt so in awe of this Earth as I was for those hours. It was just amazing.

Here are just a couple of the many photos we took on the trip. More can be found on our Flickr page, as well as some whale videos.

An Update

A blissful month of summer vacation has passed. I am trying to savor every minute of it! Today was my last day of teaching at summer band. Tim, the teacher who conducts the bands, was feeling ill today so I stayed after my lessons to direct the 4 bands so that he could go home. It was quite hot on stage and with the effort of conducting about 10 scores with zero preparation, I was working up a sweat! It went well, though, and I enjoyed hearing the full instrumentation since I usually work just with the clarinets. I kind of enjoy the spontaneity of teaching, when situations come up like they did today and you have to run with them. I am always such a planner, and sometimes it's very refreshing to wing it and be able to feel confident about what I'm doing. The jazz band rehearsal was particularly fun and they did a great job. As usual I feel a little sad to say goodbye. I guess I'll get used to it over many years of children coming and going, but I hope I always retain the sense of joy and pride and curiosity that I feel for them now.

I had a fun day last weekend with Heidi. We made mimosas and had brunch in her little garden and spent the day at Island Beach State Park and Seaside.

Warren and I are getting ready to take off to the Cape for a few days as soon as his program is over on Sunday. Hooray! I hope it will be a relaxing and adventurous time.

Another Trip to the Bronx Zoo

Yeah, I know, I never stop talking about this place, but Jess and Pete had never been so I took them there yesterday. It was a beautiful day and more crowded than usual..I actually prefer going on a more overcast day when there are barely any people. But it was very fun, and I got a free ticket due to some Bank of America promotional thing. Nice! Here are a couple of the cooler pictures:

Gorgeous Day

Yesterday was fantastic weather, high 70s, warm and a bit breezy, and we decided we wanted to do something in Bucks County where we could really enjoy being outdoors. We looked at a couple wineries and places to kayak online and ended up closer to Princeton where we went kayaking along the canal. It was SO beautiful. We had a picnic in a little meadow and then kayaked for a couple of hours, enjoying the fantastic water, shady trees and nice scenery. We saw a Great Blue heron flying overhead, a bunch of turtles, and one gigantic spider on the riverbank. It was so relaxing and a good workout at the same time. When we have a house where we have room to store them, we've decided we want to get a couple kayaks. We really enjoyed using them on our honeymoon as well. Afterwards we had a bit of wine while we strolled along the canal road and stopped by a farm market on the way home. It was the best way to spend such a beautiful day. We hope to go back again sometime this summer.

A Lovely List

Here is what I have done or plan to do over my spring break!

1. Visit Melissa in Washington D.C.

2. Go to lunch and a museum in the city with Carm and Lloyd

3. Go to Sally Lunn for tea and scones with Mitch

4. See Don Giovanni at the Met with Julia

5. Spend one day lying on the couch watching tv

6. Enjoy dinner and game night with Jess and Pete

7. Make a trip to the mall

8. Play with the kitty

Now THAT is the kind of week I would like to have more often! However, it would put quite a dent in the bank account. :)

A Trip to Washington DC

As soon as my spring break began on Thursday afternoon, Warren brought me to the airport and I traveled down to Washington to visit my friend Melissa. She has been living there for about a year and has been wanting me to come visit for some time. Last weekend seemed perfect since Warren was very busy anyway with Holy Week rehearsals and opera rehearsals. It was a fantastic trip from beginning to end. I walked out of Reagan airport to find a plethora of cabs waiting and easily got one for the short trip to Melissa's apartment in Glover Park. As our drive began I was immediately struck by the greenery and flowers everywhere. It was so beautiful. We drove by the Mall and I had beautiful views of the Potomac, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials and the Monument. My cabbie pointed out the Vice President's home and the various embassies along the way. It was an exciting glimpse of adventures to come. We spent 3 days walking all over, seeing the sights that we were most interested in- 3 to 5 miles a day! We went to some lovely restaurants and did some relaxing girly things like mani/pedis and a bit of shopping. It was great to have the time to talk and see these beautiful things with Melissa. It is such a gorgeous, clean and friendly city. To see so many reminders of our history and the people who have shaped it is so awe-inspiring. I have a clear idea of some things I want to see again or for the first time when I go back. I plan to bring Warren sometime soon. There are a number of romantic looking inns or (probably cheaper) regular hotels and many activities I already have in mind. While we were there Melissa brought me to a shop she likes where a local man takes photos around the city and I bought one to hang in the apartment of the Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin framed by a cherry tree. I find myself looking at it frequently and remembering this lovely trip. Thanks, Melissa, for a wonderful weekend!!

Warren's Birthday

Yesterday was Warren's 24th birthday. It was a GORGEOUS day so we got to go for a walk around the neighborhood in the morning and enjoy the beautiful weather. Too warm even for a sweatshirt. It was funny to see patches of snow here and there. Warren requested a German chocolate cake so I spent the morning making that. The recipe was for a three layer cake, which I have never done before, so that was fun. It came out very tasty. The coconut-pecan topping/filling isn't meant to frost the entire thing, so you leave the sides bare. I think that's why last time I made it a few years ago, it turned into a big pile of glop...the topping isn't stiff enough to stay on the sides. After our walk we went out and bought some wine, went out to dinner in Edgewater, and visited Mitch at his new apartment in Rutherford. We are really excited about how close he lives now! Yesterday was also Hoboken St. Patty's day, which we hear is quite the experience, but we decided we'll go next year instead.

the birthday boy

a pretty house on our walk

Warren about to blow out the candles

the birthday gift he picked out: a new tuxedo vest

In other news, we're thinking of going away for a mini vacation this August...we're debating between Long Beach Island, maybe Martha's Vineyard, or Bucks County. Here's a picture of the B&B we were looking at there:

They have sheep! Which you can see out the window of this room :o)

A Night of India

Yesterday evening Warren and I enjoyed a lovely dinner and a movie with Lloyd and his wife Elaine. We went to Udupi Village in Montclair, which is a vegetarian Indian restaurant, and had lots of delicious and just-spicy-enough dishes...notably eggplant and spinach in wonderful sauces. Then we walked across the street to the movie theater and saw Slumdog Millionaire. We all really liked the movie. It had a lot of depressing/disturbing spots involving life in the slums of India but there is a beautiful love story intertwined throughout and the overall tone was very uplifting. The Indian children they cast in it were adorable and did a nice job. I wouldn't mind doing the whole night again. :)

Bouchon and MoMA

My friend Carmelina and I planned a day in the city yesterday to have lunch and visit MoMA. On a recommendation from Jenn we went to the Bouchon bakery in the Time Warner building, which was awesome. Great food. Pretty view from our table as well looking onto a corner of Central Park. MoMA was smaller than I remembered so we actually went through it pretty fast, but we really enjoyed the paintings on the upper floors. It was also fun to see some of the more out-there stuff and speculate as to what could possibly qualify it as art. :) We had a great time and I think we'll plan another day to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maybe we'll work our way around all the cool museums. It was a fun day and over much too quickly.

Gruyere & Fontina Grilled Cheese and Roasted Tomato Soup

Carm

the view from our table

MoMA

Walruses from Brooklyn

Today I met up with two friends, the art teacher at my school and my friend Julia Torrant from high school, and we went to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. I had never been before, but saw their baby walrus advertised at the Bronx Zoo and wanted to see him. The subway takes quite a while from Manhattan to Brooklyn but it was fun to sit and chat with Lloyd on the way. When you get off at the aquarium stop, it's a cool change of scenery after the city- the beautiful view of the shore opens up and you can see the old Coney Island roller coaster and ferris wheel. The aquarium was on the smaller side but they had a few cool attractions; of course the walrus and his mother, an absolutely gigantic ray, and a very neat octopus. The baby walrus was 115 pounds when he was born! He apparently gains 2-3 pounds a day...I'm assuming at some point this weight gain stops, but they said his father weighed 3,000 pounds. The mother was pretty huge too. They were sunning themselves on a rock the whole time we were there, at one point blowing gigantic raspberries on each other...it was quite amusing. After we had our fill of aquatic life we found a Starbucks and had some tea and a nice talk, and Julia sent me on my way with a belated wedding gift which turned out to be a set of cute porcelain pasta bowls she brought all the way from Paris. (Her parents bought her a graduation gift of a European trip this past summer). How thoughtful of her- we will enjoy using them very much!

Warren's Masters Recital

Warren had his recital yesterday afternoon in Greenfield Hall at MSM. Both our parents obviously came, as well as his grandparents despite having 5 newborn calves at home. So we had a lot of fun hanging out with the family. Warren did a superb job of driving into the city whilst I held the GPS. Garmin how I love you. Warren sounded excellent- definitely his best recital to date. His voice has smoothed out a lot and everything sounds like it happens with ease. Il Pescatore Canta was definitely the favorite of the day with our family. Mark has really been awesome for him and I am so glad to see him progress so far in two short years. Afterwards we had a great time at an Italian restaurant in Rutherford talking and laughing. The fam is coming over this morning for breakfast before they leave. My pictures at the recital came out either blurry or unflattering so I'm going to wait until my mom puts some of hers on Flickr to post one on here.

My Favorite Pic of Baxter

A Post in Honor of Chloe

I just found out that Rachel and Frank had to have Chloe put to sleep this morning. She was blessed with a VERY long and pampered life, so there is not much to mourn other than how very much we will miss her. I hope right now she is leaping joyfully through a meadow in doggie paradise with a new spring in her step. We will miss her dearly and never forget her sleek little self jumping up to snuggle into the nearest crevice next to us. We love you Chloe!

Rachel and Chloe

Our sweet one