spiker trio: July 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It all comes down to this....

Chris begins the oh-so-anticipated bar exam today, tomorrow, & thursday. Three straight days of 8hr testing. He has been studying for two straight months, non-stop. I barely even know him anymore! All of this, for one goal, to pass the bar exam.

He is nervous. Although he has absolutely no reason to be. He has put in the time and is a great test taker. I admire Chris' dedication & ability to focus. Eating, Breathing, Sleeping the bar. I could NEVER do that. He amazes me. Even though I know all this, I am nervous too! Probably because I know how important it is to him.

Ahhhh this freaking test needs to be over so I can have my husband back, so he can sleep at night, so I can sleep at night, and so life can consist of more than just this photo above! (our apartment really does look like that)

Good luck babe, I know you wont need it, and you probably wont even see this til after the fact. But you are gonna do great....as long as you dont pass out, cry, or study so much you burn out...(no really, people start crying when they take this test)....WOWZA!

Friday, July 17, 2009

chicken penne pasta

Lately I have had this itch to experiment in the kitchen. I am no 5star chef, don't get any ideas. I just wanted to try new things! See here for my experiment with Quinoa, which you will NOT regret making! I am telling you--you will have a hard time believe it's healthy!

This week I decided to create a pasta. I have never made a Marsala cream sauce before, so I thought I'd give it a whirl! It was delicious! (see below for the sauce recipe) I made a whole wheat penne pasta with asparagus, sun dried tomatoes, organic chicken breast, pine nuts, & a bit of mozerella all in a Marsala cream sauce. Chris loved it! It's packed with flavor, so I recommend an ice cold lemon water with it.

Here's a simple recipe of how to make it yourself: Start making sauce (see below), when you have about 8min left start pasta. Cook pasta according to package instructions (only use 8-10oz of the pasta). While pasta is cooking cut asparagus into 1.5inch pieces (cutting off end), toast your pine nuts, and dice your sin dried tomatoes into whatever size you want. When pasta has about 2-3min left throw in asparagus pieces to blanch them. Strain once time is up. Put pasta back in pot & add sauce-stir. Stir in pine nuts & sun dried tomatoes. (also throw in chicken pieces & cubed mozerella if you're feeling like making it a meal!) Salt to taste.

Marsala Cream Sauce

1Shallot - minced
1 tb Unsalted butter
1 c Dry marsala wine
1 t Fresh thyme
1 c Heavy cream
2 tb Unsalted butter -- cubed
Salt and white pepper -- to taste
1/2 c Grated parmesan

Saute shallot in the butter, covered, for 5 min. Add
wine and thyme and reduce until only about 2 tbsp of
liquid remain. Add cream and simmer until reduced by
half. Add butter and stir continuously until fully
emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in parmesan. keep warm until ready to serve

Happy Cooking!

Friday, July 10, 2009

summer sampler

hope you are all enjoying your summer

here are a few photos of how our summer has been thus far
(chris studying & my work not included)

Linda & I went to Gigi's Farmers Market held at the Americana. I loved it! Who doesn't like a farmer's market? Fresh flowers, organic vegetables, happy healthy people supporting their community.

the Americana is gorgeous, one of my favorite things there is this enormous outdoor chandelier

One of Chris' closest friends, Mark, came for a visit. We love Mark.

...we also discovered Chris can do this freakish thing with his freakishly long toes...
click to enhance...notice the toe next to his big toe, double knuckle bend? what the..