Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Saturday, December 26, 2009

View from the Pont Neuf

Francois and his Paella truck

Delicious.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Lazy Sunday

Today we had a lazy Sunday. We went to a Christmas party last night which made us (unfortunately!) oversleep for church, and left me feeling rather stale. The best way I've found to endure a post-party day is to drink lots of water, eat a carb-heavy meal with some protein and fat, and then watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies in a row, while trying to stray from the couch as little as possible, except when going into the kitchen.

Today I decided to try making Carbonara, because we're going out of town for a few weeks and have got practically nothing in our fridge.

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta- I used fusilli, because I think it's fun to eat the spirals)
Olive oil- to coat pan
2-3 T Minced Garlic
1-2 T crushed red pepper flakes
6 slices of Canadian bacon (or whatever bacon is around)
2 eggs, beaten
Chicken broth
grated parmesan

Directions: boil water for pasta. As pasta is cooking, begin sauce
Coat a big giant pan with olive oil. Add garlic and crushed red pepper, and heat until fragrant and pretty. Slice up bacon into slivers and add to oil mixture. Add some chicken broth (maybe 1/2 cup)

When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, reserving some liquid. Put drained pasta into big pan with oil mixture and stir up.

Use reserved liquid to temper eggs; stir about 1/4 cup of hot liquid into beaten eggs and stir. Pour egg mixture over pasta and stir.

Dump on about 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan. Stir pasta until sauce begins to thicken and stick to the noodles. Add salt/pepper as desired.

Eat immediately. Feel better.

Note: I think if you're using bacon that's not Canadian (uncooked bacon) then you should add that before the garlic and red pepper, as that type of bacon will take longer to cook than the Canadian.

I didn't take a picture of the food because I was too busy eating it. Here's a picture of Reagan instead:

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Colorado and back again

Ethan and I just got back from an interview trip/ mini family reunion in Colorado. We drove up last Wednesday and intended to come back Monday; however, snow storms prevented us from driving back until yesterday. I I liked both programs and Denver was BEAUTIFUL so they are definitely on my short list. Also a plus was the fact that at the applicant welcome dinner there were local microbrews instead of the typical Michelob Ultra and Coors light. Since beginning Med school (and having more male than female friends) I began to understand the subtleties of different types of beers; Ethan is a beer afficionado and has taught me even more about beer and how to enjoy it and describe it. (I can never get tired of hops, but too much malt makes me feel like I'm drinking soy sauce).

We were well taken care of by my cousin Debbie and her mom Nancy, and it was great to know that we had a third city ( besides Dallas and Austin) where we have some supportive family.

Driving to Colorado from Dallas is not for the faint of heart, but we got to see a lot of the country; on the way there I discovered that northern Oklahoma looks much like southern Kansas, and Western Kansas looks similar to Eastern Colorado (in other words, there are a lot of fields and abandoned gas stations)
The highlight of Kansas- A wind farm.

Eastern Colorado
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Driving through the Rocky Mountains along I-70:


At the Falling Rock Tap House--They had almost 100 beers on tap, plus more in bottles

During the snow storm in Denver:


Driving back from Colorado



Moose Crossing!


Driving across the country takes a while (especially if the weather is bad), but you have much more flexibility with travel plans, you don't have to plan your packing very well, you don't have to worry about renting a car, and it's also kind of awesome because we were able to see beautiful parts of the country that I've never seen before. Plus, My darling husband fortunately likes to drive so he does it ALL and I just get to sit back and relax! We got back at 1:30 this morning and fell straight into bed. It was good to be home.