A Lot to Be Thankful For!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends! We had a a great holiday here in California, but of course we missed everyone at home too. It was my first holiday not being in Michigan, and also the first time that I've ever cooked anything for the feast. We were in charge of making a green bean casserole and pecan pies, plus we decided to make some snacks to have during the day as well. I was lucky that Jordan didn't have to work all week, so he could avoid the crowds and do all the grocery shopping for us. We were pretty good about prepping early. Sunday we made the meatballs and black bean roll ups and stuck those in the freezer. On Wednesday I made both the pies and we got all the ingredients measured out and ready to go to take the next

morning.

We had to get up bright and early on Thursday morning, since we were participating in the 5k/10k Turkey Trot family challenge! I did indeed finish the 5k with a time of roughly 31 minutes! Nothing to write home about, but I was pretty proud of myself :) Jordan ran the 10k and of course finished first among the guys, even though he claims he's out of shape. I might regret saying this in a few months, but I'd like to try to run a 10k next spring/summer and maybe, just maybe, I'll sign up for a half marathon sometime after that.

After we got home from the race and got cleaned up, it was time to eat, eat, eat! There were so many snacks around to munch on that by the time the meal was ready, I wasn't even that hungry. But ohhh was it good. I've never been a huge fan of turkey so it's all about the sides for me. There were three kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, yummy green beans (if I do say so myself), brussel sprouts, deviled eggs, and probably several other things that I'm forgetting. It was so good. We also were not lacking in the dessert department - there were four pies, two cheesecakes, and a pumpkin roll to share between 9 people. Good Lord. It must have literally caused a food coma for me because I fell asleep on the couch before we even pulled out any games for the night!

Yummy.

The BEST part of the holiday weekend though was Saturday, when we got to watch the boys in blue beat OSU. HALLELUJAH! Jordan and I are a bit bitter that we just happened to be students during the dark years at UofM, so this was a sweet victory for us. And, it will give me bragging rights at the Freels Christmas, which is much appreciated. We had everyone over to our place for the game, including Jordan's cousins and aunt & uncle, and even 2 dogs! I'm crossing my fingers that we get in a good bowl game. But either way, Brady Hoke is my new favorite person and I'm looking forward to next year's season already. We're really going to try to make it back for a game!

Happy for the win!

The only bad thing about the holiday break was that it had to end :( Only a few more weeks until Christmas and we'll be making our way back to Michigan!

I'm Practically a Chef Now..

Two weeks ago I took a cooking class at Sur La Table in Palo Alto. My mom had given me a gift certificate for my birthday, and I finally signed up for the class called "Updated Steakhouse Favorites". I feel fairly comfortable cooking most things except for meat. I'm always worried about how it's cooked and whether or not it's done - so taking a class on cooking steak appealed to me! The menu for the class included:

• Vodka-poached shrimp cocktail with bloody mary sauce
• Pancetta, chive, and cheddar gratin
• Pan-seared strip steak with cabernet-shiitake sauce
• Espresso-caramel creme brulee
  

YUM! Everything was so delicious. Even the shrimp was decent, and I don't really like shrimp. I could eat the potato dish all day every day, and the steak wasn't even that hard to make! The class was group oriented so we all sort of split up and worked on different things at the same time. I focused on the gratin, the bloody mary sauce, and I got to be in charge of searing the steaks. I learned that you want to pat the steaks dry and season them very well before cooking them on high heat in an oiled pan. And, you only want to cook them until they are browned and don't stick to the pan anymore. Then, you finish them off in the oven until they're cooked the way you want them! The creme brulee was also delicious, but probably a little involved for an every day dessert. Plus I don't have a hand held blow torch (which are awesome by the way). I'll stick with cookies and cakes for now!

If there are any potential visitors out there, I'm going to go ahead and promise to make you a nice home cooked meal with my new found cooking skills when you come! AND, we can now have more than one guest over because we finally got a new dining room table and chairs! It's beautiful :) The only problem is..we're sort of afraid to use it. It looks so pretty and perfect that I don't want to risk scratching it or spilling something on it! We're going to invest in some new table linens to help protect it, and eventually will just have to get over it. Here she is:

I was a little busy this week because I had to stay up in Santa Rosa all week for work, so now we just have a few days to get ready for Thanksgiving and our Michigan v. Ohio State game watching party! We're planning on making a green bean casserole, a few pies, and some snacks to have during the Lions game. We also need to start thinking about getting a Christmas tree. The holidays will be here before we know it!

A Medley of Happenings

This is the Palace of Fine Arts, just a few blocks from our apartment. I took this on an early morning run a few weeks ago. I've been trying to run more often so Jordan and I joined the 24 Hour Fitness gym that's close to our place. We've gone together a few mornings since I'm just too exhausted after work to go. But I have to continue training..there's a big race coming up at the end of the month! Jordan and I will be challenging the Pickens, Sokoloffs, and Stephensons at the Walnut Creek Turkey Trot on the morning of Thanksgiving. I'll only be running a 5K, but that's about 2.5K longer than my normal run right now, so it's a big step for me :)

We've had a few "normal" weekends now without any studying, traveling, or big things going on. It's nice to finally get into a rhythm. A few times now we've headed over to Fort Mason where there's a giant field and tons of people hanging out on a nice day. It's hard to see but there are views of the Golden Gate Bridge!

We've gotten in the habit of making pancakes on a weekend morning. Well, Jordan makes them. I just consume them. And they're delicious! The favorite combination is banana walnut but last weekend he allowed me to pick the add-in - chocolate chips!

And on Friday nights we've been making dinner at home. Last week it was Mexican stuffed peppers. They were a little too spicy, but I would definitely make them again (and maybe drain the chipotle peppers that it called for, first).

Yum!

Continuing on with the foodie pictures, we had some birthdays to celebrate last weekend! Jordan's parents visited for the weekend and we all got to hang out at Kimberly and Jason's in Walnut Creek on Saturday. It was his mom's birthday that week, but we also celebrated his dad's since no one was home for the real thing. Jordan and I were in charge of making banana cupcakes. They turned out okay - very dense and a not like your normal fluffy cupcake. Although, I realized a few days later that I had used baking powder instead of baking soda, so that probably contributed to the problem. Oops! We also got to have dinner with Jordan's parents in our neighborhood that week. We accidently ended up watching Game 6 of the World Series at the restaurant we went to, which was such a crazy game!

We've also been doing a bit of furniture shopping lately. We got a new coffee table this week (and literally rolled it down the street on a cart from the Pottery Barn a few blocks away). And we ordered a new dining room table which should be delivered on Saturday. We're going to take a little decorating break but then I'd like to get some more wall art and accessories to make the place feel warm and homey! Pretty soon Christmas is coming, and I can't wait to decorate for that :)

And finally, the good news..I PASSED MY LAST CPA EXAM! Woo hoo! No more studying! It feels awesome to have that over with.

Next week I'll have an update on a little cooking class I took today. Hope you all have a great week!