Sam, the Ranger

Sunday, the Lumberjack and I had plans to see his parents for a late lunch. When the doorbell rang, I opened the door and got a fantastic surprise:

My brother-in-law, Sam, who serves in the Army, was standing in my doorway. The last time we saw Sam was last summer, before his tour in Iraq, which he recently returned from.

This photo doesn't do him justice. My Lumberjack is 6'2", so that gives a better idea how big this kid is.

Sam is 6'9" and I feel like a shrimp standing next to him.

He's an Army Ranger, and I couldn't be more proud of him.

Something you should know about all of the men in the Lumberjack's family is they stick their tongues out when they're deep in thought.

It entertains me.

Sunday, after we went out to our favorite Mexican food joint, Jalapenos, the Lumberjack and I took Sam to Fred's in Old Town San Diego for some margaritas. He told us about his experience in Iraq and, despite what the media says about the war, Sam had a very different take.

He told us how he didn't mind being over there. Granted, he was only there for four months--the Rangers' mission are generally more intense, so they are stationed abroad for shorter periods--Sam generally had a positive outlook on his travels.

He told us he had learned to speak some Iraqi, got to play video games, went on some missions, and got shot at but remained safe. He said Iraq seemed to be turning around and their efforts there seemed very positive....a very different take than we often hear.

Thursday, he goes to Georgia for more Ranger school and then will potentially be deployed again. The thing that really stinks about his deployment is we never know where he will be until he gets back. Last time, we knew he was somewhere overseas "in the sandbox" but didn't know it was Iraq until he was safely on American soil.

But, until then, we all enjoyed having Sam back. And, you can see how proud my in-laws and husband are of their Army Ranger.

We will miss you, Sammy.

Hoorah!

The Bread Roll Blunder

OK, I can admit when I fail. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good cook. In fact, there was only one incident I could recall where something I made for the Lumberjack went horribly wrong before the Bread Roll Blunder. (I made some barbecue steak and onion quesadillas that burnt onto the pan because I didn't use enough butter. In my defense, I was using my mother-in-laws pans that are not Teflon. And, the Lumberjack ate them without hesitation.)

Last week, I decided it's finally time for me to try to make bread. It can't be that hard, right?

I overestimated the difficulty of making bread from scratch.

I started off with the ingredients and followed the directions to make Kitchen Aid Sixty-Minute Dinner Rolls.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons butter

3 packages of dry active yeast (This equals 6 3/4 teaspoons if you use yeast from a jar)

1 1/2 cups warm water (105F – 115F)

5– 6 cups all-purpose flour

And I followed the directions:

"In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and place in a greased muffin pan. Using kitchen shears or a pizza cutter (a knife will also work), cut each ball in half, then in quarters, and replace in the muffin pan. (Erin’s Note: Alternatively you can simply shape the dough into 24 balls and set them into a greased 9 by 13 baking dish. If you make the full recipe you will only be able to fit around 12 rolls in the baking dish at a time). Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake at 425ºF for 12 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks."

But the recipe I used was copied from the original and missing two important sentences:

"1. Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature before you start;

2. After you heat the milk/sugar/butter mixture, make sure that it's not hot, not cold, but LUKEWARM when you add it to the yeast mixture - forgetting or ignoring this step will result in bread that does not rise."

And that's exactly what happened. The rolls didn't rise at all. Instead of looking like this:

*Photo courtesy of The Bumbling Baker

I ended up with 30 rolls that were rock-hard dough balls cooked through. They only served one purpose: breaking windows. And, they were so horrible, I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of them.

Maybe I'll try making bread again sometime. But I may need some time to recover and prepare for the next bread challenge.

Ginger Steak Salad

Every time I make one of The Pioneer Woman's recipes, the Lumberjack professes his love for me all over again. Thursday night, he even overlooked my "Dinner Roll Debacle" because he had a mouthful of Ginger Steak Salad, and that was all that mattered.

The salad is complex with flavors and filling thanks to the steak. Here's what you'll need:

For the steak marinade:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sherry

2 minced garlic cloves (Get a Pampered Chef food chopper if you use garlic often)

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Combined all ingredients in a large sealable plastic bag and mash gently. Add steak (I've used ribeye or a strip steak) and marinate for 30 minutes to two hours.

In the meantime, make the salad dressing. You will need:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 finely diced garlic cloves

1 generous tablespoon of fresh ginger, minced

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mix and set aside.

When the steak is done marinating, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a hot skillet (preferably cast iron) and cook steak about 1 1/2 minutes per side until it is medium rare. Remove from skillet when done and allow the steak to cool for a minute or two.

While the steak is cooling, toss about 1/2 pound salad greens with 3/4 of your dressing. Slice steak thinly. Place a mound of salad greens and a few slices of steak on a plate, then pour the remaining dressing over both. Add green onions or cherry tomatoes if you want, but I think it's perfect as is. Enjoy!

*Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

The Adventures of Dutch: Episode Two

So I have to apologize for the extended week long sabbatical I've taken from updating my blog. OK, it wasn't really a sabbatical, or even a vacation, it was a crazy, sleepless, emergency-filled week. And it all started about three weeks ago.

Over Memorial Day, the Lumberjack and I went on vacation for Las Vegas. Since we couldn't bring our little furkid Dutch with us, we had a very good friend of ours stay at our house. When we returned from vacation, Dutch started throwing up in the middle of the night, every night. He seemed normal otherwise, so we didn't think much of it, though we did switch his food and started feeding him smaller meals more often.

Last Friday, he threw up at about 5 a.m. and TWO PEACH PITS came out. I immediately panicked. Not only do peach pits contain cyanide, which can kill a dog, they can also easily become lodged in their intestines and kill as well.

Turns out, over Memorial Day, my friend took Dutch over to her house and let him play in the backyard, where she has peach trees. Somehow, he ate some.

So Friday, I took Dutch to the vet for an x-ray. Two-hundred dollars later, they tell me there is something wrong, but they can't actually see the pits, so we need to wait until the pitts make him sick and then do an ultrasound.

Saturday and Sunday, Dutch was miserable. He didn't want to play or go for a walk. He just wanted to sleep, and even that was challenging. He was getting up between four and eight times each night because he was so uncomfortable. Monday night, I called the vet and told them that he was very lethargic and throwing up even more often, and we scheduled an ultrasound for Tuesday. Dutch, above, over the weekend, moping on the sofa with his duck comforting him.

Tuesday morning, he was even sicker and clearly in pain. Luckily (or not, I guess), the $700 ultrasound showed a peach pit in his stomach that was basically acting like a plug to his intestines (hence the vomiting) AND making his stomach hemorrhage because of the roughness of the pit.

That afternoon, Dutch had emergency surgery and was anesthetized. The animal internist stuck a camera down his throat into his stomach and pulled out not one, but TWO peach pits. Apparently, the going rate for peach pit removal surgery is a cool $1,000--making Dutch's peach pit ordeal cost $1,900, and all for a few mouthfuls of peaches.

Within three hours of the anesthesia wearing off, our Little Dutch was back to 100% and causing trouble as if nothing had happened to him.

Luckily, we have pet insurance, which will help with some of the ridiculous cost, but we will still owe a pretty penny for this accident. Next time we go on vacation, we're putting him in daycare!

Pioneer Woman's Quick & Easy Apple Tart

Baking has always been my stress relief. Last night, after a long day at work, I made the Pioneer Woman's Quick & Easy Apple Tart. Yum!

Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 sheet puffed pastry, cut into half
3 to 4 apples, cored, halved, and sliced (but not peeled)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

"Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Add sugar and salt to apples in bowl. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes.

Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from pan immediately and place on a serving platter. Serve plain, with caramel topping, whipped cream, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar."

After sprinkling with powdered sugar, I sliced each tart into thick slices.

When ready to serve, I drizzled carmel sauce over the top, and the Lumberjack asked, "Do you know how much I love you?" He's easy like that....then again, it's a good apple tart!

A Reflection: Dating

Over Christmas of 2007, the Lumberjack and I spent five days together visiting each other's respective families. It was those five days that solidified what I wanted in my life--him.

When I was 15, I started a journal. It wasn't just any journal; it was a journal to my "future husband." I wrote in it monthly, sometimes daily, expressing the hope I had for the man I knew God would one day bring to me. Perhaps it was naive, but at 15 I knew that five or 10 years later, it could be an invaluable gift for the man I waited for. I also knew that the man I would feel comfortable with giving something so raw and unedited would be the man for me.

After the five days that the Lumberjack and I spent together, I started addressing my journal to him. He was the first man I could ever picture myself growing old with, and the only one since then. He was the only man I could ever imagine giving my journal to. He was the first and only man I ever wrote to in the journal and when he proposed to me, I gave it to him.

One week after our Christmas together, he told me he loved me. And I loved him back.

The following months flew by. Our freshman year was nearly over and we had "the talk," the one that determines where "this is going." That May, we both agreed we were serious, and we could make the three months of long distance work.

Long distance was hard. We were only an hour and a half away from each other, but we only saw each other on weekends, sometimes every other week, which was a big change from every single day. But, distance does make the heart grow fonder, and my time apart from him made me realize that I always wanted to be with him.

There were so many things that made me fall in love with the Lumberjack. He's like no one I'd ever met before. The Lumberjack has a tough, manly exterior--he loves sports, rock music, beer and UFC. But, there's a softer side to him that loves fancy dinners, shopping, sunsets on the beach and romantic comedies. He'd suggest watching the movie "Underworld" together and then sing Tim McGraw's "Barbecue Stain" song to me. One night we'd watch a fight together, and the next he'd take my out to a five-star restaurant and surprise me with Tiffany's jewelry. He is one of the most well-rounded people I've ever met, and that made me fall even more in love with him.

The second reason I fell madly in love with the Lumberjack was his 100% acceptance of who I was. I never felt like I had to put on an act for him to like me. I could be me--goofy, crazy, nerdy, studious, food-loving, emotional, passionate me--without having to worry that he wouldn't like it. The truth was, he loved me as madly as I loved him, and there was and is very little that could keep us apart.

By July, he took me engagement ring shopping. I picked out a beautiful platinum-set, octagon-shaped solitaire diamond in a cathedral setting. But I wouldn't get it from him until nearly one year later.
Above, our sophomore year of college before our engagement: one of my favorite pictures, despite my poorly chosen perm.

Peach Pie Perfection

I love making pies. Even better, the Lumberjack loves eating pies. Apple is my specialty--apple crumb, to be specific--though I have dabbled with blackberry a bit. However, I've never made peach pie, despite my love of peaches. Since I regularly bake semi-homemade, I cheated and used a pre-made pie crust--but hey, it tastes good and is so easy!


I then filled the crust with the following ingredients after mixing them all together in a big bowl:


5 cups fresh peaches, sliced
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar


After covering with the top crust on, I cut a few slits into the pie and baked it at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, covering the crust with foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent it from burning.


I couldn't believe how good my house smelled with peach pie baking.

Fresh from the oven, I cut a big slice and covered it with Fat Free ReddiWip for the Lumberjack. Peach perfection. :)