In the past month or so...

I think it's time for another update. I haven't been doing the kind of cooking that I was expecting to do; however, I have pictures to share!

Starting with the most recent meal:  cheese tortellini and a sweet salad.

So. Cheese tortellini with a little butter. Simple and delicious. It's hard to tell, but I used a head of romaine lettuce and added walnuts, dried cranberries, and raw sunflower seeds. I made a honey mustard dressing using olive oil, balsamic, dijon mustard, and honey. Lots of honey--I like sweet dressings.

My delicious dinner together in a bowl. Bon Appetite!

A couple days ago I walked down to a local New Orleans Style restaurant and had yet another delicious dinner. I ordered Blackened Voodoo Chicken over a warm salad with a savory and sweet sauce on it. It's one of my favorite sauces and I didn't find anything that was comparable on my recent trip to New Orleans over spring break.

Additionally there's a side of cornbread (it was rather dry and not very sweet--my mom makes a better cornbread) and some collard greens. Aside from spinach, collard greens are my favorite kind of greens. Delicious.

Finally, I've ordered lemonade every time I've gone to this restaurant--save one time when they ran out--thus, you see lemonade on my table with my main meal (and a glass of water). Over all it was a great meal.



Alright. About a week ago I went to my first Tiger's game ever (they won) and of course we had to have some hotdogs. Nothing less than a Hebrew National kosher hotdog with some onions and ketchup. Mmm, good. (Some other time I'll talk more about my relationship with hotdogs in general...)

Finally, a number of weeks ago my mom made a homemade pizza. It was a whole-wheat dough that we added pesto sauce, tomato sauce, red peppers, some Labneh (it's like a cross between yogurt and cream cheese), and some pine nuts. This pizza blows frozen pizza--or commercial pizza for that matter--miles out of the water.













When all is said and done I'm trying to get better about making my own food so I can survive in the fall when I have a shared apartment (!) in Amsterdam. I don't want to be that fool that just knows how to use a microwave and always eats out. Speaking of Amsterdam, I've been talking to some family friends, reading blogs, and reading my guidebook(s) in preparing a list of place I must visit and explore.

As you can see, I've got a Rough Guide guidebook, a streetwise map, and a Dutch phrase book/dictionary to keep me busy for the rest of summer until my trip.



I've picked out a preliminary class schedule and won't hear about my roommate or any other specific details of the trip (like field trips and whatnot) until a few weeks before I leave in August. *sigh*


Until next time, friends.


Peace.

Summer Update

I think it's time for an update--it's been a while since my last post.

1) I've completed my sophomore year of college! Hurray!
2) I like first person narrative books. If you have any recommendations, feel free to let me know.
3) Breaking Bad is a really addictive television show.

4) My parents have created a new rule: while I'm home for the summer I will be responsible for making dinner once a week. Great. I love food, but I'm not so confident in my cooking skills. My last meal for the family (salad and noodle kugel) was an all-day affair. I guess I should practice my cooking skills before having to fend for myself in a foreign country. Yeah, that sounds good.

So... this means that once a week I'll be updating my blog with pictures (!) of the dinners I make as well as any news about preparing for Amsterdam. I'm not sure what day of the week it'll be yet, so be sure to keep checking in!

Hope your summer is off to a great start.

-Rachel