I made oatmeal sesame bread today... partly out of necessity (something for dinner) and partly out of procrastination (don't really want to work on those final papers). It came out really well. Great taste, although I think the bubbles were bigger and more uneven than they're supposed to be. 

Tsuki's my baking companion. 

I'm posting this at the risk of being labeled "one of those weird dog people." I saw this in the store while getting dog food, and the package had a shiba on it, which I thought was too funny (they're known more for being devils than angels). Tsuki didn't really like it--she kept catching it out of the corner of her eye and turning around to try to see it. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends. We celebrated at our apartment this year and decided to venture out into the world of holiday food. How did it turn out? Here's the general report card:

Salad (greens with walnuts, carrots, gorgonzola, pomegranate seeds, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing): Really good. Almost as good as the salad at Quivey's Grove in Madison.

Turkey breast: Amazing, moist. I don't know if it was really truly amazing, or just far better than we thought we could do on our first try. Those oven roasting bags really work.

Roasted red potatoes with rosemary and thyme: Kind of boring.

Sauteed artichokes with thyme and lemon: Generally pronounced the flop of the meal. All that work and money for such a tiny bit of edible product. Oh well, we learned more about the anatomy of a fresh artichoke anyway.

Rye and Dried Cherry Bread: Considered the biggest question mark of the meal, and it turned out really well for bread I made myself. The texture was almost right, with good flavor. Braden pronounced it "almost as good as my dad's" which is an extremely high compliment.

Pumpkin Pie: Still too full to try it, but it smells good, so we'll leave it at that for now.

Hope all of you are well and enjoying the day!

Braden hard at work carving his first turkey breast.

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner--we moved the table into the living room for that festive flair. 

Rye and dried cherry bread (with some phone consulatation from Braden's dad)

 

Sarah's Visit

Sarah and her parents came out to visit relatives in Rochester, so she got to spend Wednesday with us. We did lunch, walked around campus, made dinner, and generally caught up on each other's lives. Much fun!! 

 

Snow!

Our first snow of the season fell last night and this morning--lake effect, so it probably won't last long. Tsuki loved prancing and sniffing around in it. The comparison between these pictures and the ones below from a few days ago reminds me of how quickly the weather in upstate NY changes!

 

 

 

A New Fall Passtime

Tsuki has a new obsession--leaves. One day at the park by our apartment, I started kicking the leaf piles, and she started chasing them. Now every single time we go outside, she attempts to drag us to the park. Even if it's raining out and all the leaves are plastered to the ground. So I dragged out my old SLR camera with the big lens (found an old roll of Cardinal film in the case...not to worry--it was from our frugal days when we would only shoot what we needed on a roll and roll the rest back up, so it only had six frames left on it), and we took some leaf pictures.

It should also be noted that Braden found in his old camera case a mysterious finished roll of film. We developed it, and found it to contain pictures from our initial visit to Syracuse and Niagara falls in March 2003, a few shots of the little girls and I playing red-light green-light and croquet at our wedding, and some shots of the state park near here from Fall 2003. Fun!

 

 

Tsuki...looking devilish. 

Tsuki...looking alert. 

Tsuki...looking happy. 

Tsuki...looking pensive. 

Soccer Night

Last night we went to Braden's intramural soccer game. The other team never showed (score!), so his team scrimaged itself. It was very cold out--there was frost on the turf. It was cool to play under the lights, though. Unfortunately my camera doesn't do very well with low light/high action, but I think you get the idea.

Braden going for the ball. (He's the one in the navy long-sleeved shirt and shorts.)

Braden's back...

Tsuki and I try to keep Braden from playing too much xbox. (Note the new jeans!!)

This morning Tsuki is "helping" me work.

Tsuki examining the coding tree...

Tsuki laying like a cat in the sun yesterday afternoon.

Braden holding Tsuki at the Wine Country Dog Show today. She was a spectator, not a contestant. She couldn't figure out why none of the dogs would stop to play with her (or even acknowledge her existence), but by the end she was getting pretty comfortable. And many people liked to pet the "fox."

A shiba class at the dog show.

Weekend in Wisconsin

We went back to Wisconsin for my high-school friend Cory's wedding. We got to see my good friends Paul and Kelly, too. We spent time at my parents', and my dad had just gotten back from a trip to Moldova to help set up a community beef cow project. (Hence the photos of the great souvenirs.) We also took in Meghan's soccer game and had lunch with Braden's parents at Trocadero, generally prounounced a great find in Milwuakee.

Meghan and I in our Modovan blouses... who could tell we're sisters?

Matt and Braden looking fierce in their Moldovan army hats.

Meghan gives a big kick as Erin and the goalie look on.

Braden enjoys watching cold, rainy soccer.

Kelly and I at the wedding.

Us at the wedding.

Ah, late Sunday afternoon in the sun.

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