Dining Table

We got our new dining table!

The saying that you find something when you're not looking for it was so true in this case. The weekend before last we went to a few furniture stores looking for a small table for Kevin's study. We decided to stop into a consignment shop to see if they had anything. While there, we were talking to the owner and mentioned that we were also looking for a dining table. She said that a man had come in recently wanting to bring his table there and she had photos of it.

We looked at the photos and both thought that it looked like what we were looking for. We talked about it more on the way home and called the woman back to find out more about it (dimensions, price). She gave us the owner's phone number and we contacted him to find out more about it. We made arrangements to go and see it on Sunday and liked it even more! It was just what we wanted - classic style, seats 8, and with cushioned seats. Even better than that it looks well made, with cherry wood and designs inlaid in the table and patterns carved on the chairs. It is gorgeous. We decided then and there that we wanted it, and made a deal with the owner.

Arrangements were made for delivery and we got the table on Saturday. Just like the day we moved into this house, we just beat the rain! On the drive back to the house (with the delivery truck following) there was lightning and lots of wind, but the table and chairs were safely in the house before it started to rain.

We plan to have lots of dinners and game nights on this table!

More pictures available here.

Cooking class

I attended a cooking class through Leisure Learning on Monday, and it went really well! It was my first hands-on class, and I didn't really know what to expect. It was held at a house, but this is no ordinary house. The house has a large kitchen with the stove arranged so that it overlooks the next room where there were two long tables set up for us to sit at. Surrounding the stove is a HUGE counter, great for prep work. Above the stove and work space are mirrors set so that we can see what is happening in the kitchen from our seats. It is a demonstration kitchen owned by a chef and rented for such classes by our chef-instructor.

I love Asian food so chose to take a class called "Spring Roll Workshop" and I was not disappointed. First we made four different sauces (one person made each of the sauces). I made a sweet and sour sauce, someone else made a peanut sauce, classic sauce, and an oriental sauce. We did the sauces first so that when we made each of the dishes we could eat them with one or all of the dipping sauces. I tried all four sauces, and my favorites were the sweet and sour and the classic sauce.

Once the sauces were made we moved onto the food - we made spring rolls and also made classic Chinese eggrolls, and dumplings. I definitely need to practice the rolling, but was pleased with how well they turned out, and they tasted great too. I love that this food is forgiving, especially the spring rolls its really put in it whatever you like (glass noodles, shrimp, cucumber, carrot, etc). Here is a twitpic of the last of the spring rolls that I made: http://twitpic.com/251po4 I was so pleased with how they looked and tasted.

It took me til the end of the night, but I finally realized that the oriental sauce reminded me of the sauec they serve with dumplings at this great dumpling place in downtown Houston. mmmm, dumplings

I will definitely be practicing these dishes at home!

Sesame Chicken Fingers

I haven't been posting any recipes lately. Never fear, we've been eating (probably more than we should). Today I dug out my Cooking Light cookbook and made a recipe from it for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out, though next time we'll try a different dipping sauce. The next time we have it we may be able to eat it on a new dining table! We found a table through a consignment shop and hope to have it at the house in a week or two.

Sesame Chicken Fingers

Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup stone-ground mustard
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons lime juice

Chicken
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb skinned, boned chicken breast - cut into strips
1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow bowl.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken.
Combine sesame seeds and breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in eggwhites and dredge in seeds/breadcrumbs mixture.
Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
Arrange chicken in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, turning once.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Mother Nature is so strange. They've been talking on the radio about being on watch for the 'corpse flower'. It looks like it will bloom this weekend at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Until I read about it I had no idea they were so rare - it will be only the second bloom in Texas and the 29th in the United States. I think I'll be happy just looking at the photos, but I am sure there are people out there who will brave the smell, described as "smelling like a decomposing carcass" to see this rare flower.

http://blog.hmns.org/?p=7119

I have to wonder why it developed this smell and also why it is so rare.....

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. Our friends came over for brisket and we had a good time hanging out. Nearly everyone brought a dish to share so I think we ended up with more food than we started with! For all the rain we had Friday and Saturday, it was a beautiful day - great for all the BBQs and fireworks displays.

It is our first 4th in the neighborhood and I wasn't sure if I'd get to see fireworks. I should not have worried! We're not in the city, so its legal to do fireworks (even though our HOA frowns on it) and I had NO idea how much everyone got into it.

On Saturday night (July 3), we watched the neighbors across the street set off some fireworks. They reminded me of what my family set off when I was growing up - roman candles, fountains, and a few that shot off into the air. I was surprised not to see sparklers, but they did have the little white ones that you toss to the ground and they pop. Half the fun was watching the kids and their reactions and interactions, there were several families together so it was about 6 or 7 kids and there were the usual fights - its my turn, no mine - and even a girl stomping off to pout...

It turns out that night was just a taste of what we were going to see. On the 4th, after everyone had gone home from our BBQ we sat on the back patio to enjoy the evening and started to hear and see some large fireworks being set off in the neighborhood behind us. To get a better view we brought our folding chairs out to the front yard and were able to see quite a show. Families all around the neighborhoods had some really wonderful, professional quality fireworks that they'd set off all over the area. With the echos it was hard to know which way to look, there was so much to see. I would just decide on a direction to look and watch that way until I'd hear the launch of something in some other direction. We even saw some guys with what looked like saw horses (fireworks launchers?) drive by on their way along the gully and they told us to look in a specific direction. We could tell when they set theirs off...I can't even describe how beautiful they all were...I love fireworks, and the smell and the smoke made for a great evening. I don't have to worry about not seeing fireworks as long as we live here, and when we were tired of watching we could just walk inside, no having to fight traffic or anything.

A great way to end a wonderful day.