Holiday Cooking

Tony and I tried out a couple of new recipes for the holiday season and we were asked to pass them on so that must mean they were a success!  We even got to use one of our wedding presents - Duo Crock Pot Cooker - VERY happy Tony did not talk me out of including that item on our registry.

Corn and Bean Salad
Ingredients
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (8.75 ounce) can sweet corn, drained ( or use 10 oz of mexican corn)
• Optional:  1 chopped avocado, used as garnish

Directions
1. In a small bowl, mix together balsamic vinegar, oil, salt, sugar, black pepper, cumin, and chili powder.
2.In a medium bowl, stir together black beans and corn. Toss with vinegar and oil dressing, and garnish with cilantro. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving  Calories: 214 | Total Fat: 8.4g | Cholesterol: 0mg

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/corn-and-black-bean-salad/

Beer Meatballs
 Note:  Instead of making the meatballs, Tony and I used home-style frozen meatballs.  Works just as well and much easier!!

What You Need
• 1 can of beer
• 1 6-oz. can spicy V-8 juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1 cup chopped onions
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large bottle ketchup
• 1 teaspoon horseradish
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 to 3 pounds ground beef
• 2 to 3 eggs

What To Do
1. Combine ground beef, 1/2 cup onions, Italian bread crumbs and eggs.
2. Make the mixture into small meatballs and bake until browned.
3. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Put meatballs and sauce into crockpot (sauce should cover the meat).
5. Cook on low 6-10 hours, stirring occasionally.

http://www.allcrockpotrecipes.com/appetizers/beermeatballs.shtml

Ultimate Date

 The other weekend Tony and I had, what I would like to refer to as, the Ultimate Date Weekend.  We drove up to Madison to do a few of my favorite things.  First, we did a little crafting by making homemade cards - Tony was a VERY good helper.  Next, we went shopping.  Now granted, I am not a big fan of shopping but when it involves Tony buying we jewelry, there is not much to hate.  We have this little game we play where I point out several items I like, then I leave Tony alone to choose one I liked so I can be surprised on Christmas.  This year, however, Tony texted me while I was waiting in the car - "I am failing you, I didn't pay as close attention as I thought" - so I guess we will BOTH be surprised when I open the box :-)
Here is a picture of me looking happy at the mall.  But sorry girls, we didn't find a hat box for me to carry over my shoulder like Julia Roberts!

After shopping, we checked into our hotel to relax a bit.  Being the premium customer that I am, they showered us with free bottled water and fresh cookies.  Next we dressed up to go out for a nice dinner.  Unfortunately, our restaurant of choice was full - don't they know who we are!! :-) - so we went to our second choice, the Essen Haus.  Lots of great beers and beer decor for Tony to check out.

Then, for the grand finale of the evening, we went to Beauty and the Beast at the Overture Center.  It was nice to be in downtown Madison again, even though it was too cold to enjoy the short walk, we enjoyed the beautiful views!  (And check out my new, free coat from our neighbor Ginny!)

The show was very good.  My favorite parts were the choreographed townspeople dances and the wolf battles (gigantic "puppets" like they use in the Lion King).  Next time, however, I think we will splurge for something better than the nose bleed seats. 

All in all, it was a great little weekend trip.  And I almost forgot my favorite part - we got to eat at Chipotle!!! :-)

Videos from Thanksgiving

Ben

Cali

Thanksgiving Fun

As you can tell from the picture, Tony and I had a great Thanksgiving holiday :-)

We followed our Thanksgiving Day tradition of making homemade pizza.  Last year we found a recipe for pizza sauce that we really like and repeated this year.  We improved on it by blending it after cooking to make it nice and smooth. It is a recipe I highly recommend - a great way to bring complex flavors to the pizza without piling on the toppings, especially since Tony prefers to have just pepperoni.  Check it out for yourself!  But we are still looking for the perfect crust recipe....

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot or 1/2 large carrot, finely chopped
• 1 small stalk of celery, including the green tops, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, including the juice, or 1 3/4 pound of fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1) Heat olive oil in a large wide skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and parsley. Stir to coat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked through.
2) Remove cover and add the minced garlic. Increase the heat to medium high. Cook for garlic for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, including the juice and shredding them with your fingers if you are using canned whole tomatoes. Add the tomato paste and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a low simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered until thickened, about 15 minutes. If you want you can push the sauce through a food mill, or blend it with an immersion blender, to give it a smooth consistency.
Makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/basic_tomato_sauce/

First 5K Ever!

Back on Oct 29 I ran my first 5k!  It was the Scary Scamper in Dyersville.  A few runners dressed up for the occasion but it was funny to see how most of their costumes were gone by the end of the race.  Tony and I had been training for weeks based on a plan we found online.  My practice run on our normal course I finished in about 42 minutes but the race I finished in 45 minutes.  My two big goals were to 1) Not walk at all, and 2) finish the race before they tore down the finish line!  I met both goals and got to see my fireman Uncle Merlin holding back the traffic.  I have taken a (hopefully) short break from running but am hoping to practice in the winter on my elliptical and make an even better showing next year.  Notice #1 is my race number - must have been alphabetical, another advantage to hyphenating - I get to keep my "A" status :-)

Here is the plan we used.  It took us a few extra weeks but we got there. 

Football Bye Week - Oct 1

Since football season tends to mean the end of summer fun and the beginning of many weekends at Courtside, Tony and I try to take advantage of the few football bye weeks by going on a fall hike.  Instead of driving over to Devil's Lake like usual, this year we went to Governor Dodge in Dodgeville.  Great fall colors and nice beach area - I think we will be visiting again to check out the beach this summer!

Hawkeye Game

Back on Oct 15, Tony and I were lucky enough to go to the Iowa vs. Northwestern game -- Thanks to the Davids for their generous wedding gift!  Jen was kind enough to make us homemade pizza and we walked to the stadium from their house.  An added bonus was that we got to participate in the card stunt!  Luckily, Tony helped the drunk guy next to him show the correct side of the card for each stunt.

Recent Work Trips

Since I travel for work, I often get to go many places but unfortunately I don't often get to SEE many things other than the local airport, nearby hotel, and if we are lucky, a nice restaurant.  Tony asked me if I am keeping track of all the places I go so I can tell our kids one day.  I really haven't been so lately I have been trying to get out and take a picture of the places I go to help me remember them.  Here are some of my recent trips....
UTAH TRIP - Nov 15

Tony teased me because I didn't realize there would be mountains in Utah.  I thought the area would be more like Arizona than Oregon.  I got a chance to go for a walk after work in Sandy UT (outside of Salt Lake City).

FLORIDA TRIP - Nov 8

I was excited about the trip to Sarasota because I was traveling with someone I actually like to hang out with.  Our rental car ended up being a bright blue mustang which was quite hilarious since it made Brad look (and feel) like he was going through a mid-life crisis.  Brad knew the area and stopped by a beach so we could watch the sunset.   Not sure the name of the beach, somewhere near Siesta Key.

OREGON TRIP - Oct 26

After finishing our event in Woodburn OR, my co-workers wanted to go shopping.  I wanted nothing to do with such things so I went for a drive.  Since I was driving I had a hard time finding places to pull over and take pictures.  The pictures really don't do it any justice.  Some of the most beautiful scenes were driving past the tree farms and seeing rows and rows of trees in different fall colors.

Naming Our Blog

A while back Tony and I decided to start our own blog.  We threw around a couple of different name ideas like the "We don't need to have kids to blog" blog or the very original "Arnold-Kluesner family" blog.  We landed on this name because I thought it was clever and honored my chosen state of Wisconsin - and Tony agreed, probably because he wanted to stop discussing blog names :-)  Happy Reading!