Saturday, November 20, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Vampire Garlic Soup
Evan brought me home a new bundle of mutt on his lunch break Wednesday. His name is Jacques Cousteau and is a super cute monster from a local rescue. Rascal Binx and Ponce de
Leon are loving their new little brother, and so are we. I can't wait for everyone to meet him.
We got the dogs Halloween costumes. Ponce is the Headless Horseman's horse and Jacques is
wearing a glow in the dark ghost shirt. Super cute. Ponce keeps eating the pumpkin head from his, but Jacques was obviously dressed often in his past life because he wears shirts like a champ.
We both woke up today a bit... yucky? So we've decided our Halloween costumes today are PJs. We're trying to catch up on our 31 horror movies, but I don't think we'll quite make it.
For Halloween, I'm making another of my favorite soups, so I am going to post it as well. If you like garlic and have any possible fears of vampires, I recommend it.
Vampire Garlic Soup:
Start by roasting 4-5 garlic bulbs. We found a fast way to roast full bulbs without peeling them. Chop the bulbs in half and put them cut side down in a oven safe dish or skillet and add enough olive oil for them to the happily sit in. Roast them at 350°F for 45 minutes. Then when you pull them out, you can just lift the skin of the garlic bulbs and PRESTO the cloves stay in the pan. This really only works for the top halves of the bulb. You have to pry out the cloves from the bottom halves.
Okay, so now you have a bunch of garlic cloves in a dish of oil. Next, add the garlic and oil into a food processor and process until it's smooth. (You can also just leave it in the pan and use a potato ricer to mash it all up, but we don't have one and the food processor makes it really smooth.)Then transfer the mush into a soup pot and add enough flour for the oil to absorb (like 3 Tablespoons or so). Once you have a good rue, turn on the heat and fry it for a minute.
Then start adding 1 quart of heated stock. Whisk in a couple of cups at a time to keep things smooth.
Add some thyme, salt, and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes.
Break up a handful of super thin noodles (we just used some angel hair) into super small bits (think Lipton noodle soup size) and toss them in. Simmer for a few more minutes, just until the noodles are cooked, and you're done!
I planned on making a loaf of French bread to go with it, but I'm out of flour, so we'll do without tonight. Okay, time to watch "P2" with my Tootsies. I'll post our final 31 movies once the day's over!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
31 days
In preparation for Halloween, we intend to average one horror movie per day in October. We're not quite making pace at the moment, but we plan to go see a late movie tonight, and then we'll only need 13 from Sunday through month-end. Our taste ranges from well known to ridiculous to fairly new and obscure, and I'll try to say something about those falling in the latter category:
2. (& 3?) Ernest Scared Stupid (We're debating counting this as two.)
3. An American Werewolf in London (If you haven't seen this, you should. It's probably in my top ten horror movies of all time, and that's saying a lot. What it lacks in terrifying it makes up for in funny, nontraditional, and overall fun to watch.)
4. Lake Mungo (Evan fell asleep during this, but I thought it was scary. It's about girls and ghosts, or something, so he probably would have hated it anyway.)
5. The Last House on the Left
6. Jason Goes to Hell (If you haven't seen this, keep it that way.)
7. The Burrowers (Weird movie about monsters who live underground and attack frontiersman.)
8. Creepshow
9. Zombieland (You've probably already seen this, but if not, it's a lot of fun.)
10. Ghost Busters
11. Shaun of the Dead
12. Tales from the Crypt (Not a movie, but we watched a bunch of episodes, so we're counting it.)
13. Inside (A French gore movie. One of the goriest movies ever, if you're into that sort of thing.)
14. The Omen
15. Tales from the Hood
16. Shrooms (Terrible, but extra funny since I went to high school with one of the actors in it. I didn't know that going into it.)
17. Deadgirl (Extremely weird and creepy movie about a couple of high school losers who find an weird, naked, hot undead chick in an abandoned mental hospital and turn her into a sex slave. Antics ensue--but don't think that means this movie is funny.)
18. Paranormal Activity 2
19. House on Haunted Hill (original)
20. Frankenweenie
21. Vincent
-updated monday of halloween
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sick Day
Another short Friday at work. We've been working hard on our work-through at another Atlanta Urban, so I was happy to hit my 40 hours at 1pm today and peace out. Evan called just as I was leaving to let me know that he was also heading home, but sadly because he is sick. Although it's really sad that my boo's sick, I am excited to be making my favorite soup for us tonight so we can enjoy our Friday night full and on the couch with some good (bad) horror movies. Because I have never written down this recipe because I am convinced I fully remember it, but always have to try to find it because I think I have forgotten something, I'm going to post it so I can find it easily. It's amazing and really great to make for a bunch of people or just a sick husband. I found the recipe in GreenWise magazine in October of 2008 and think it's a good'n.
Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
Nonstick cooking spray*
2⁄3 cup finely shredded carrots* ( I always put way more than that.)
1⁄3 cup finely chopped green onions*
2 cloves garlic,* minced
3 cups chicken broth
1⁄3 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms* ( I have to hide these in the soup so Evan doesn't know about them.)
2 tablespoons butter,* softened
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups Plain Soymilk*
ONE Lightly coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. In the saucepan cook carrots, green onions and garlic over medium heat until tender (about 5 minutes).
TWO Add broth and wild rice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Add mushrooms; simmer, covered, for 10 minutes more or until rice is tender.
THREE In a small bowl stir together butter, flour, salt and pepper to make a paste. Stir the flour mixture into the rice mixture in saucepan. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Add the soymilk. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through (do not boil). Ladle soup into warm bowls. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
Well, I'm off to add the secret mushrooms to tonight's pot.
-The new Rowe
Friday, September 3, 2010
Day Three
Day Three began with breakfast, oddly enough, and we brought the camera to get a picture of the owl-man. We'll share our photos as soon as we get back. Right after breakfast and the owl-man's close-up, we hopped in a van on the way to our first zipline tour. We were teamed up with a pair of large, middle-aged gay men (also from Atlanta), and an older woman who flew solo because her girlfriend was too afraid of heights.
The ziplines were a lot of fun, but we're just considering them a warm-up for the crazy all-day zipline adventure that awaits us in Arenal. Rachel was very brave, and the zipline boys seemed to fancy her, so she flew "superwoman"-style, and upside down with them. A couple of the lines were very long and fast, and we look forward to jungling it up in the coming days.
Right now we're in the lobby of the Riu. We just checked out and we're waiting for our car to pick us up, but it's been pouring rain all morning--actually, not ALL morning: it waited for us to be kayaking in ocean near a craggy cliffside. I hear that the trip to Arenal is long and bumpy and winding, something like four hours, so I'm sure with the gravel roads, mountainous landscape, and pour drainage we're in for quite an adventure this morning.
The ziplines were a lot of fun, but we're just considering them a warm-up for the crazy all-day zipline adventure that awaits us in Arenal. Rachel was very brave, and the zipline boys seemed to fancy her, so she flew "superwoman"-style, and upside down with them. A couple of the lines were very long and fast, and we look forward to jungling it up in the coming days.
Right now we're in the lobby of the Riu. We just checked out and we're waiting for our car to pick us up, but it's been pouring rain all morning--actually, not ALL morning: it waited for us to be kayaking in ocean near a craggy cliffside. I hear that the trip to Arenal is long and bumpy and winding, something like four hours, so I'm sure with the gravel roads, mountainous landscape, and pour drainage we're in for quite an adventure this morning.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Costa Rica, Day Two
We got up just as the rain was clearing, and the morning was misty and gorgeous. We went down to the breakfast buffet, which has at least one of everything that anyone from any culture might eat for breakfast: fresh fruit, fried bananas, beans and rice, a variety of meats, sandwiches, omelets. I got a huge plate of melon. Rachel waffled up.
As we got coffee we noticed something odd. To the left of our outdoor seating, in the cloister, a man was walking around carrying a long stick with a fake owl on the end. This was presumably to keep the birds away from breakfasters, but I think it only served to make the howler monkeys in the distance laugh at us. Actually, it might have worked, because I didn’t notice any birds lurking, as they had been at lunch the previous day. Probably a coincidence, though.
After breakfast we got massages. After that, we went and spoke to salespeople with some local tour companies about things to do the next day. We ended up booking a canopy/zipline tour, where you walk on tree-to-tree rope bridges, look at local wildlife, and go down ziplines. It is not the epic, middle-of-the-rainforest zipline tour we intend to do when we get to Arenal, but it’s a good warm up.
We changed, hit the pool and had a couple of drinks. Then lunch. Then came Nap #6. I wonder if they’re putting something in the drinks here.
As we got coffee we noticed something odd. To the left of our outdoor seating, in the cloister, a man was walking around carrying a long stick with a fake owl on the end. This was presumably to keep the birds away from breakfasters, but I think it only served to make the howler monkeys in the distance laugh at us. Actually, it might have worked, because I didn’t notice any birds lurking, as they had been at lunch the previous day. Probably a coincidence, though.
After breakfast we got massages. After that, we went and spoke to salespeople with some local tour companies about things to do the next day. We ended up booking a canopy/zipline tour, where you walk on tree-to-tree rope bridges, look at local wildlife, and go down ziplines. It is not the epic, middle-of-the-rainforest zipline tour we intend to do when we get to Arenal, but it’s a good warm up.
We changed, hit the pool and had a couple of drinks. Then lunch. Then came Nap #6. I wonder if they’re putting something in the drinks here.
Costa Rica, Day One
Day One was a blur of airplanes, cocktails, and a triple-dose of naps.
We got up at five a.m—exactly the time I’d asked the car service to pick us up. We put on whatever clothes were within arm’s reach and raced to the car. At the airport, we said goodbye to Alex, who would be stuck in there until her mid-afternoon flight back to France, the poor girl. We got through check-in and security quickly, and before we knew it were in the air, sleeping again.
We had a change in Miami, where we bought a couple of books (who knew Thomas Pynchon had a new novel out?) and hopped on another plane where I quickly fell asleep again. We landed in Liberia, Costa Rica, where I finally opened my eyes.
The Liberia aiport was about the size of a Wal-Mart. It’s a converted hangar filled with immigration guys who didn’t like the fact that we knew the city—but not the name of the resort—where we were headed. After a few sideways glances, we were finally free to go.
A young man holding a sign that said—now inaccurately—Evan Rowe & Rachel Gainer, led us to a little 5-speed camper van that was to become our first adventure. Most of the roads from Liberia airport to the Riu Guanacanaste resort are unpaved, and we bounced around the Costa Rica countryside like popcorn for the next 45 minutes, passing tiny towns and makeshift rainforest houses. I remember seeing a fence made entirely out of cacti, but we were still in too much of a haze to think to pull out the camera.
The Riu Guanacanaste is a huge resort on the water. It looks a little garish in the afternoon, especially after driving through the desolate countryside on the way there. It can probably hold several thousand, but there are, for whatever reason, only a handful of people here now. We were handed a cocktail while in line to check-in, which I think was the first liquid I’d put in my mouth all day.
We got settled into the room for a bit, learning how to work the safe and the patio door and the lights, before going to explore the premises and find some lunch.
We discovered lunch at a huge cafeteria by the pool. It was kind of like Golden Corral in its attempt to cater to every conceivable desire—pizza, quesadillas, sandwiches, fountain drinks, and beer on tap. We ate quickly and took a walking tour of the premises. There’s a giant, heated, winding pool that overlooks the ocean, with pool-soccer and volleyball, and a swim-up bar. By the way, the Riu is all-inclusive, which means we get three meals a day and all the cocktails we can drink for free. This was not the time for cocktails, though, so we went back to the room for Nap #3.
We woke up around three, and decided to put on our vacation gear and hit the pool. We jumped in straight at the pool-bar, and got some mojitos and found a nice seat in one of the hot-tubs. We were expecting rain, but the weather was gorgeous, and we admired the scenery for a while, occasionally hearing the drunken shouts of other couples, all of whom were married on the same day as us. We had a couple of drinks and decided to head back to the room and grab some money to buy sunscreen, which we didn’t bring for fear of being confiscated at the airport. But this plan only led to Nap #4.
We woke up around six thirty. It was a bit darker, and we walked around the resort, which was now less garish, and in fact, absolutely beautiful at dusk. There was a bit of cloud cover and lightning off in the distance. We went to the pan-asian restaurant (one of about five restaurants at the resort) and got some sushi and fried rice and various other semi-thematic foods for dinner. Then we popped in at the “Sport Bar,” equipped with a dozen flatscreens, air hockey, and pool. We had a drink there and toured the premises more, discovering the casino and a shop that will gladly sell you sunscreen for $25. We passed on that, had another drink at the Sport Bar, and then the rain came.
It poured like I imagine it only pours in tropical climates. We went back up to the room to recuperate. Rachel asked if she could take a little nap. “Wake me up in a little while,” she said. Nap #5 lasted until morning. It rained all night.
We got up at five a.m—exactly the time I’d asked the car service to pick us up. We put on whatever clothes were within arm’s reach and raced to the car. At the airport, we said goodbye to Alex, who would be stuck in there until her mid-afternoon flight back to France, the poor girl. We got through check-in and security quickly, and before we knew it were in the air, sleeping again.
We had a change in Miami, where we bought a couple of books (who knew Thomas Pynchon had a new novel out?) and hopped on another plane where I quickly fell asleep again. We landed in Liberia, Costa Rica, where I finally opened my eyes.
The Liberia aiport was about the size of a Wal-Mart. It’s a converted hangar filled with immigration guys who didn’t like the fact that we knew the city—but not the name of the resort—where we were headed. After a few sideways glances, we were finally free to go.
A young man holding a sign that said—now inaccurately—Evan Rowe & Rachel Gainer, led us to a little 5-speed camper van that was to become our first adventure. Most of the roads from Liberia airport to the Riu Guanacanaste resort are unpaved, and we bounced around the Costa Rica countryside like popcorn for the next 45 minutes, passing tiny towns and makeshift rainforest houses. I remember seeing a fence made entirely out of cacti, but we were still in too much of a haze to think to pull out the camera.
The Riu Guanacanaste is a huge resort on the water. It looks a little garish in the afternoon, especially after driving through the desolate countryside on the way there. It can probably hold several thousand, but there are, for whatever reason, only a handful of people here now. We were handed a cocktail while in line to check-in, which I think was the first liquid I’d put in my mouth all day.
We got settled into the room for a bit, learning how to work the safe and the patio door and the lights, before going to explore the premises and find some lunch.
We discovered lunch at a huge cafeteria by the pool. It was kind of like Golden Corral in its attempt to cater to every conceivable desire—pizza, quesadillas, sandwiches, fountain drinks, and beer on tap. We ate quickly and took a walking tour of the premises. There’s a giant, heated, winding pool that overlooks the ocean, with pool-soccer and volleyball, and a swim-up bar. By the way, the Riu is all-inclusive, which means we get three meals a day and all the cocktails we can drink for free. This was not the time for cocktails, though, so we went back to the room for Nap #3.
We woke up around three, and decided to put on our vacation gear and hit the pool. We jumped in straight at the pool-bar, and got some mojitos and found a nice seat in one of the hot-tubs. We were expecting rain, but the weather was gorgeous, and we admired the scenery for a while, occasionally hearing the drunken shouts of other couples, all of whom were married on the same day as us. We had a couple of drinks and decided to head back to the room and grab some money to buy sunscreen, which we didn’t bring for fear of being confiscated at the airport. But this plan only led to Nap #4.
We woke up around six thirty. It was a bit darker, and we walked around the resort, which was now less garish, and in fact, absolutely beautiful at dusk. There was a bit of cloud cover and lightning off in the distance. We went to the pan-asian restaurant (one of about five restaurants at the resort) and got some sushi and fried rice and various other semi-thematic foods for dinner. Then we popped in at the “Sport Bar,” equipped with a dozen flatscreens, air hockey, and pool. We had a drink there and toured the premises more, discovering the casino and a shop that will gladly sell you sunscreen for $25. We passed on that, had another drink at the Sport Bar, and then the rain came.
It poured like I imagine it only pours in tropical climates. We went back up to the room to recuperate. Rachel asked if she could take a little nap. “Wake me up in a little while,” she said. Nap #5 lasted until morning. It rained all night.
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