It feels weird to write a pictureless post but I can't find my camera link. It's too bad too because I have some fun ones to share but I will clean my room soon and it will turn up. Just wanted to let ya'll know that I booked my ticket to come home, December 20th at 11:58 I will arrive...
And for all you Washington people I will be coming in December 27th, just in time for the new year.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
My Virginia Family
Beanie keeps commenting to me that we haven't taken any pictures together so last weekend I finally remembered my camera and took a few. Without further ado, here they are...
On the left is Beanie's new "daughter" Jessie who just moved it. The girl in red is beanies actual daughter and her boyfriend. And bean's is the short one in the back. I think you all know my roommate Miranda by now...
On the left is Beanie's new "daughter" Jessie who just moved it. The girl in red is beanies actual daughter and her boyfriend. And bean's is the short one in the back. I think you all know my roommate Miranda by now...
Beans!
And again with me!Wednesday, September 23, 2009
My Mantel
I am currently taking a pottery class, or rather I have been for the last seven months. I don't get to go very often, sometimes I make good things, but by the time they go through the drying, firing, glazing, and firing process they usually break or just turns out terrible. If I look at them singularly, I am not too happy with my pieces, but collectively on my mantel, I think they look awesome! Check it out...
Some of these lids don't come off...but I am not gonna tell which ones.
But it might be one of these...These are my two favorites.
The end.
Some of these lids don't come off...but I am not gonna tell which ones.
But it might be one of these...These are my two favorites.The end.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Black Sheep Restaurant
So my friend Megan came to visit this last weekend and her friend James who is from Utah but served his mission in Richmond told us to go to this restaurant. Following me?
We went for Saturday brunch and it was the best place ever. Just sitting in there made me want to open my own restaurant. From the unique/random salt and pepper shakers to the artwork on the walls, everything was just so adorable! I also got a kick out of the chef's who kept walking out of the kitchen. They were young, very bearded looking hippies, with bandanas on their heads. I wanted to go back and check the kitchen out. Maybe next time I will ask, I almost always have a hairnet in my pocket these days.
Unfortunately I am not the best at remembering to take pictures so when I go back, and I will soon, I will snap some more. Here is what I got:
This is the delicious french toast that Megan got. I was told this was the best thing to get but as usual I chose the food with bacon and cheese. Salty vs sweet? Salty for sure! But anywho, this was huge slices of french bread french toast with hazelnut spread and a banana and homemade orange syrup. I ate some of hers, it was delicious.
When I requested my daily diet coke, the waitress offered me their alternative to diet cola, diet Cheerwine. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it came in a bottle, and that it is a product of the south and a local favorite. Here are some random facts about it from the ever trustworthy Wikipedia. "Cheerwine has a very sweet cherry flavor and an unusually high degree of carbonation compared with many other soft drinks. Cheerwine is available in most of the southeastern United States, from West Virginia south to Georgia, but is better known and has been a longtime favorite in the Carolinas and Virginia. The "Retro Cheerwine" variant is sold in glass bottles and is sweetened with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup."
And lastly this is what I got. The sandwich is called "Ms E" I think. It had bacon, avacado, cheese, and some horseradish spread. It was spicey and delicious. It came with a side of corn pudding. I never had corn pudding until I moved to Virginia but I am hooked, it is weird looking and an ineresting combination but it is slightly sweet and gives the appearance of being healthy.
Miss you Megan! Thanks for coming. Anyone else coming to visit?
We went for Saturday brunch and it was the best place ever. Just sitting in there made me want to open my own restaurant. From the unique/random salt and pepper shakers to the artwork on the walls, everything was just so adorable! I also got a kick out of the chef's who kept walking out of the kitchen. They were young, very bearded looking hippies, with bandanas on their heads. I wanted to go back and check the kitchen out. Maybe next time I will ask, I almost always have a hairnet in my pocket these days.
Unfortunately I am not the best at remembering to take pictures so when I go back, and I will soon, I will snap some more. Here is what I got:
This is the delicious french toast that Megan got. I was told this was the best thing to get but as usual I chose the food with bacon and cheese. Salty vs sweet? Salty for sure! But anywho, this was huge slices of french bread french toast with hazelnut spread and a banana and homemade orange syrup. I ate some of hers, it was delicious.
When I requested my daily diet coke, the waitress offered me their alternative to diet cola, diet Cheerwine. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it came in a bottle, and that it is a product of the south and a local favorite. Here are some random facts about it from the ever trustworthy Wikipedia. "Cheerwine has a very sweet cherry flavor and an unusually high degree of carbonation compared with many other soft drinks. Cheerwine is available in most of the southeastern United States, from West Virginia south to Georgia, but is better known and has been a longtime favorite in the Carolinas and Virginia. The "Retro Cheerwine" variant is sold in glass bottles and is sweetened with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup."
And lastly this is what I got. The sandwich is called "Ms E" I think. It had bacon, avacado, cheese, and some horseradish spread. It was spicey and delicious. It came with a side of corn pudding. I never had corn pudding until I moved to Virginia but I am hooked, it is weird looking and an ineresting combination but it is slightly sweet and gives the appearance of being healthy. 
Miss you Megan! Thanks for coming. Anyone else coming to visit?Sarbear
Monday, August 10, 2009
I can't Resist
So you know those parents that all they do is talk about their kids all the time. Well I am that parent with but with my kitty cats. Please humor me by looking at yet another kitty picture.
Whenever I got to the bathroom, Fritz comes running in first. Once I flush, Giuseppe is next to follow. They can't get enough of it!
Whenever I got to the bathroom, Fritz comes running in first. Once I flush, Giuseppe is next to follow. They can't get enough of it!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I hate what Virginia does to me...
This picture does not accurately show the itchy torture I have suffered this week.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Just Some of My Current Favorite Pictures
I really like this picture because it looks like something from "Saved By The Bell" and that we have all been friends forever. Really most of these people just met, but they are all my friends I got together with when I came home.
Just waiting for me to get home from work
Headed for a night out in DC
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Love it!
I had a kind of rotten past 24 hours and one of the major stresses that was included in this was the kitty cats (cough mine cough) keep going to the bathroom in my room minus the litter box. Part of the reason this keeps happening is because none of the doors in our apartment actually
close for various reasons, mine being that it does not have a knob. So I chipped off the paint that had cemented it on, took out the screws, took off all the hardware, and ran down to Pleasants, the neighborhood hardware store.
After telling the man that I need a door knob, and finding out there is more to it than just the knob, he so politely tells me that I am going to need tools to do it. Duh man! He doesn't know I have a pink tool set. But he also told me it wouldn't be easy and maybe I should ask someone (like a boy) to help me do it. Being the wonderfully pleasant but headstrong person that I am, I told him I was getting the door knob set and would install it and that was that. And 20 minutes later, this is what happened:
The video clip is a little sideways but you get the gist. It even has an old school key hole (shown above) and an old school key to lock and unlock it. Love it!
Thank you hardware store man for that little push. And eat that landlord who doesn't fix anything! I will be sending you the bill including parts and labor.
close for various reasons, mine being that it does not have a knob. So I chipped off the paint that had cemented it on, took out the screws, took off all the hardware, and ran down to Pleasants, the neighborhood hardware store.
After telling the man that I need a door knob, and finding out there is more to it than just the knob, he so politely tells me that I am going to need tools to do it. Duh man! He doesn't know I have a pink tool set. But he also told me it wouldn't be easy and maybe I should ask someone (like a boy) to help me do it. Being the wonderfully pleasant but headstrong person that I am, I told him I was getting the door knob set and would install it and that was that. And 20 minutes later, this is what happened:
The video clip is a little sideways but you get the gist. It even has an old school key hole (shown above) and an old school key to lock and unlock it. Love it!
Thank you hardware store man for that little push. And eat that landlord who doesn't fix anything! I will be sending you the bill including parts and labor.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
New Recipe
I am currently on a new rotation that is very easy and I like to refer to it as "vacation rotation." This means I have a lot of time to sit and ponder things of my liking but still look like I am doing something related to nutrition, so I usually look up recipes. I also am currently working on a project with a farmer's market developing recipes for current produce that needs to sell, so things are working quite nicely. One of the vegetables that I am working on is cabbage. I will admit that I don't eat much cabbage but not because I dislike it, just because I don't know what to do with it.
I have a favorite Rachel Ray recipe that I have made but I don't know what it is called, or exactly what is in it but it has chicken broth, green onions, egg noodles, ground turkey meatballs, and lots of paprika. It is some kind of Scandinavian soup, I think. Anyway the point is I got the brilliant idea to substitute the egg noodles with cabbage shreds and my new recipe was born. It probably has already been done but this was my own little epiphany for today so I came home from work to make it, and I am taking partial credit for it. I don't like to think of cutsie names so I am just going to call it what it is. The recipe was quite simple, and this is how it went:
Sarah's Turkey Meatball Cabbage Soup
Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (approx 4 links)
Plain Bread Crumbs (approx 1 cup)
1 egg
Fresh Garlic (approx 1 tsp)
Green Onions (approx a small bunch)
Half a Medium Cabbage
Paprika
Pepper
Bay Leaf
1. It's all about the pre-preparation in this recipe. Cut your scallions on a diagonal and set aside. Slice cabbage into thin ribbons and set aside.
2. Remove turkey sausage from casing and mix with fresh garlic, egg, and bread crumbs. I added pepper and paprika at this point but no salt is really needed. Form into meatballs the size of a ping pong ball and set aside.
3. Bring chicken broth to a boil and add bay leaf. Add meatballs and cook for 2 or 3 minutes and then add cabbage and onion. Add some paprika to the broth. This helps add a little flavor and also a great color. Cook until meatballs are cooked through and cabbage is to desired softness.
Notes: It doesn't sound like much but it really is delicious. I added some orzo too because I love my carbohydrates. Some potato cubes could be good too. I also thought about adding yellow squash at the end for color, or maybe purple cabbage too. I also think red pepper flakes would be good to add some more spice.
It may be really hot because it is summer but you should try it sometime. And tell me if you like it...
I have a favorite Rachel Ray recipe that I have made but I don't know what it is called, or exactly what is in it but it has chicken broth, green onions, egg noodles, ground turkey meatballs, and lots of paprika. It is some kind of Scandinavian soup, I think. Anyway the point is I got the brilliant idea to substitute the egg noodles with cabbage shreds and my new recipe was born. It probably has already been done but this was my own little epiphany for today so I came home from work to make it, and I am taking partial credit for it. I don't like to think of cutsie names so I am just going to call it what it is. The recipe was quite simple, and this is how it went:
Sarah's Turkey Meatball Cabbage Soup
Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (approx 4 links)
Plain Bread Crumbs (approx 1 cup)
1 egg
Fresh Garlic (approx 1 tsp)
Green Onions (approx a small bunch)
Half a Medium Cabbage
Paprika
Pepper
Bay Leaf
1. It's all about the pre-preparation in this recipe. Cut your scallions on a diagonal and set aside. Slice cabbage into thin ribbons and set aside.
2. Remove turkey sausage from casing and mix with fresh garlic, egg, and bread crumbs. I added pepper and paprika at this point but no salt is really needed. Form into meatballs the size of a ping pong ball and set aside.
3. Bring chicken broth to a boil and add bay leaf. Add meatballs and cook for 2 or 3 minutes and then add cabbage and onion. Add some paprika to the broth. This helps add a little flavor and also a great color. Cook until meatballs are cooked through and cabbage is to desired softness.
Notes: It doesn't sound like much but it really is delicious. I added some orzo too because I love my carbohydrates. Some potato cubes could be good too. I also thought about adding yellow squash at the end for color, or maybe purple cabbage too. I also think red pepper flakes would be good to add some more spice.
It may be really hot because it is summer but you should try it sometime. And tell me if you like it...
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Diary of a Mad Vegan Girl
My roommate has to eat like a vegan for a month and then do a gluten free diet for a month as one of her intern projects. I told her I would do vegan for a week with her just casually but now I am kinda getting into it. While we are on the subject, I am not entirely sure how you say vegan in a politically correct way. Is someone a vegan? Do they eat vegan? Is vegan considered a diet or a lifestyle or both? I am not sure. For some reason I feel like it sounds almost like a swear word, not sure why. Anywho...I think you get what I am trying to say...kinda.
So yesterday was the first day of my venture. It started out pretty easy. An apple for breakfast, and veggie salad for lunch. But around 4 o'clock I started to get hungry. I headed over to the neighborhoood natural food market, Ellewood Thompson's, and browsed around for my foods. After half an hour I had a small basket and a 26$ bill. Being vegan is kinda expensive. I ended up with dried soybeans and lentils, roasted pumpkin seeds, vegetable broth, chick peas, tortilla chips, and rice milk. And dinner was born...pumpkin seeds with hummus and tortilla chips, with cherries on the side. I was mildly satisfied.
Later that night at Beanies house she let me know that Miranda can do this diet just fine, but I was going to have some trouble... what the beep?! I guess she does know by now that I can eat like a football player so she wasn't completely unwarranted in saying that But for those of you who know me really well, you know I like a challenge. Now I have extra incentive.
Today at work I browsed the cafeteria looking for something to eat besides raw vegetables. I always assumed being vegan= being healthy, but also a little crazy. Now I am starting to doubt this as I filled my plate with potatoes and bread and ketchup. I am definitely going to be getting my fill of carbs. The chef assured me the bread had no animal products but I did detect a delicious buttery taste. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but I am going to have to be more careful. Fruits and veggies and seeds, fruits and veggies and seeds. Stay tuned for more vegan adventures, and possibly some recipes.
So yesterday was the first day of my venture. It started out pretty easy. An apple for breakfast, and veggie salad for lunch. But around 4 o'clock I started to get hungry. I headed over to the neighborhoood natural food market, Ellewood Thompson's, and browsed around for my foods. After half an hour I had a small basket and a 26$ bill. Being vegan is kinda expensive. I ended up with dried soybeans and lentils, roasted pumpkin seeds, vegetable broth, chick peas, tortilla chips, and rice milk. And dinner was born...pumpkin seeds with hummus and tortilla chips, with cherries on the side. I was mildly satisfied.
Later that night at Beanies house she let me know that Miranda can do this diet just fine, but I was going to have some trouble... what the beep?! I guess she does know by now that I can eat like a football player so she wasn't completely unwarranted in saying that But for those of you who know me really well, you know I like a challenge. Now I have extra incentive.
Today at work I browsed the cafeteria looking for something to eat besides raw vegetables. I always assumed being vegan= being healthy, but also a little crazy. Now I am starting to doubt this as I filled my plate with potatoes and bread and ketchup. I am definitely going to be getting my fill of carbs. The chef assured me the bread had no animal products but I did detect a delicious buttery taste. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but I am going to have to be more careful. Fruits and veggies and seeds, fruits and veggies and seeds. Stay tuned for more vegan adventures, and possibly some recipes.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Duck Beach, North Carolina
So I started this post a long time ago and never sent it. I am too lazy to finish it now but for those of you who haven't seen my duck beaach pictures... here they are, minus picture captions.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I can't think of a title for this one
Tonight was awesome because I got to spend the whole time cooking for our relay for life event on friday. I made two pasta salads and then tried to turn my perfect cookie recipe into a healthy one...that was a big mistake. I think cookies weren't meant to be that way and I angered the cookie gods. Note: Applesauce ≠ butter, less sugar ≠goodness. So if anyone is out there, please continue to make the cookie recipe as previously recorded a few posts back.
Amanda, here is the pasta salad I was telling you about.
French lentils
couscous
flat leaf parsley
tomatoes
cucumbers
lemon juice
lemon zest
oil
salt n peppa
Directions: I don't measure anything. The lentils I just simmer in water til soft. Once I made it with the big fat couscous but can't remember what they are called. Also, instead of cucumbers sometimes I put pine nuts, and by sometimes I mean one out of the two times I made it.
Good night!
P.S. This is what was occuring as I was cooking my little heart out...
Amanda, here is the pasta salad I was telling you about.
French lentils
couscous
flat leaf parsley
tomatoes
cucumbers
lemon juice
lemon zest
oil
salt n peppa
Directions: I don't measure anything. The lentils I just simmer in water til soft. Once I made it with the big fat couscous but can't remember what they are called. Also, instead of cucumbers sometimes I put pine nuts, and by sometimes I mean one out of the two times I made it.
Good night!
P.S. This is what was occuring as I was cooking my little heart out...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Virginia Beach Weekend
This last weekend my Mom came to visit so we decided to get out of Richmond for a weekend getaway. Pretty much everyone I have talked to here has told me that Virginia Beach is not the greatest beach to go but it is the closest and most convenient to get to so we chose that to save some time. Compared to San Diego beaches I think Virginia Beach is way nice...but it is also the off season still and not that crowded...oh yea and it rained the whole weekend. Even still I was just happy to be doing anything. Thanks for a fun weekend mom! Here are the pictures:
Waiting for her turn to get her butterfly.
Walking along the beach...it was very cold water
Getting Henna Tattoos with mamasita!
Sweet!
We ended up getting Henna all over the hotel room somehow...I still haven't received a charge for it yet.
Getting Henna Tattoos with mamasita!
Sweet!
We ended up getting Henna all over the hotel room somehow...I still haven't received a charge for it yet.
Waiting for her turn to get her butterfly.
My Life Is a (little bit more) Complete
After many years of putting a little bit of effort into finding the perfect cookie recipe I have finally found it. I discovered all this time that I had been looking for the wrong thing. I mistakenly would tell google that I wanted "soft" cookies when in fact I wanted "chewy" cookies. If anyone knows me very well they would know I am somewhat of a food purist. I don't like when my pizza has anything exotic on it, I am happy with just plain old pepperoni. This is the same with my cookies.
Christmas time brings wonderful foods and feelings but it also comes with some interesting cookies that people make so that it makes the holiday seem extra special. A note to coconut, apricot, and pumpkin...you can just stay out of my cookies! I don't need these thrills and flashiness, I just want my chocolate chip. So without further ado here is the most wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe ever in the world (slightly modified by me). It looks so simple but just give them a try...
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
2. Cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookie dough 1 heaping tablespoon at a time onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately to cool.
Christmas time brings wonderful foods and feelings but it also comes with some interesting cookies that people make so that it makes the holiday seem extra special. A note to coconut, apricot, and pumpkin...you can just stay out of my cookies! I don't need these thrills and flashiness, I just want my chocolate chip. So without further ado here is the most wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe ever in the world (slightly modified by me). It looks so simple but just give them a try...
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
2. Cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookie dough 1 heaping tablespoon at a time onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately to cool.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
House Tour
Introduction
The beginning
The Middle
The End!
Ps. This took me 2 hours to upload so don't expect many more videos...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Mother's Day
I stole this text from Wikipedia and thought it was interesting but also kinda sad...this is just a part of the story...
"Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mother's Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors."
"When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. In 1907, she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia—one for each mother in the congregation. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day."
Now I will think twice about purchasing an already made greeting card
"Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mother's Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors."
"When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. In 1907, she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia—one for each mother in the congregation. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day."
"Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration."
"Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mother's Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time. She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the commercialization of Mother's Day, and she finally said that she "wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control ..."."Now I will think twice about purchasing an already made greeting card
This ones for my ladies...Amanda and Tiffany
Amanda and Tiffany have sent out strong requests for me to blog something. I kinda feel like I don't have anything interesting to say so I am just going to post pictures for now...
p.s. I already put them on facebook so you might have already seen them.
This is at Tori's engagement party..she is one of the senior interns. It was an unbearably hot day in Richmond so we are all a little shiny faced.
p.s. I already put them on facebook so you might have already seen them.
This is at Tori's engagement party..she is one of the senior interns. It was an unbearably hot day in Richmond so we are all a little shiny faced.
These are the rings they had on the dessert table for decoration so Miranda and I took the opportunity to become engaged...Can you tell which hand is mine?
This was at a party one of our managers had. He had all this delicious food but I had already eaten a hamburger...
But I found a way to eat some anyway...Even the big shirt couldn't hide all the cannoli and shrimp cocktail.
This was at a party one of our managers had. He had all this delicious food but I had already eaten a hamburger...
But I found a way to eat some anyway...Even the big shirt couldn't hide all the cannoli and shrimp cocktail.
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