Spruced Up Sidebar
November 30, 2008 Posted by: ERIN
I probably don't have to explain the minute changes I made to the layout of our sidebar, but I put a lot of thought into it, so bear with me.
When we started this site last fall, I insisted to Tom that we group all the photosets together on their own pages, rather than posting them within a given post. I liked the concept of someone who just wanted to see photos being able to find them all in one place. But for someone reading an individual post, this meant that he or she had to follow a link to see the photos on a separate page. Somehow I thought this was a more organized way of doing things. I was mistaken. Over time it became apparent that having to link to the separate photo pages was illogical, disjointed, and awkward. I'm sure you agree. I'm happy to announce that from now on all photosets will be directly embedded within posts. Being the perfectionist that I am, I went back and made it so in the archives aswell.
What I foolishly failed to realize earlier is that my Flickr page (where the photosets come from) is already exactly what I was envisioning as a collection of my photos all in one place. Those people at Flickr are so smart! So as of today clicking on the 'Photos' link in the sidebar will take you there. Plus you get a random sampling of photos in the sidebar too.
Now isn't that so much better? I have no idea how we managed to function before. If you're still reading this, thanks for indulging me and I hope you haven't been bored to tears.
Turkey Day for Two
November 28, 2008 Posted by: ERIN
These radishes were my Thanksgiving harvest. I really wanted to include something fresh from the garden with our dinner yesterday, but since radishes are currently the only things ready to pick, I had to go on a recipe hunt. The pickled radishes I found actually fit in perfectly with the "non-traditional" Thanksgiving dinner I decided to do this year. Since it was just going to be the two of us, I decided to forgo the turkey in favor of a chicken and make some new/different side dishes. (I'm saving the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings for Christmas, when my sister Meredith and her family will be here. Yay!) We had an artichoke dip appetizer, followed by roast chicken with pan gravy, cornbread stuffing, squash casserole, and pickled radishes. Dessert was pumpkin cupcakes. At the last minute I decided to make some mashed potatoes too, because what is Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes? The gravy would be lonely.
Check out these recipes from the highlights of the meal:
Pickled Radishes
Adapted from Recipezaar.com
I love pickled beets, so I thought these sounded great. They added a light, fresh crunch to table and were pretty to boot. The recipe I found online noted that the "radish mixture will have a very pungent aroma", and they weren't kidding. It makes for quite an eye-opener whenever you open the refrigerator.
2 cups sliced radishes
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges and separated
1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Place radish slices and onions in a bowl. In another bowl, stir together vinegar, sugar, and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over radish mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.
Erin's Notes:
I don't have seasoned rice vinegar in my pantry, but regular white vinegar worked just fine. And I wouldn't recommend making much more than you can finish in one meal, because after sitting for more than a day the leftovers become quite tart! Serves 2 to 4.
Rubbed Roast Chicken with Pan Gravy
Adapted from AllRecipes.com
You can't miss with this chicken. I've made it several times and it always comes out juicy, flavorful, and fall-off-the-bone tender. And I used to be afriad to make gravy, but not anymore!
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 onion, quartered
1 whole chicken, approximately 4 pounds
1 3/4 cup chicken stock or broth, divided
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper, to taste
In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.
Remove and discard giblets from the chicken. Rinse the chicken cavity, and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub the chicken inside and out with the spice mixture. Place the onion in the chicken cavity. Wrap the chicken in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Unwrap the chicken and place it in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 2 to 3 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and let stand 10 minutes before carving.
While chicken is standing, place the roasting pan containing the chicken drippings on the stovetop over medium heat. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and mix to release the browned bits stuck to the pan. Whisk remaining 3/4 cup stock and flour together into a paste. Whisk the paste into the roasting pan liquid. Bring to a bubbled to thicken, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 4.
Erin's Notes:
I would highly recommend using a continuous-read meat thermometer, since the chicken is slow roasted at a relatively low oven temperature. Also, the amount of chicken stock can be increased or decreased for a thinner or thicker gravy, depending on personal preference.
Squash Casserole
Adapted from Recipezaar.com
A month ago I wouldn't have been able to make this, because yellow squash and zucchini aren't carried by the local food stores and I've been unsuccessful at growing them in this climate. But in the past few weeks the field station cafeteria has undergone a menu make-over, and to my extreme pleasure we now get cases of the squashes in on a regular basis. This casserole is not exactly healthy (butter, cheese, AND mayo), but it really is incredibly tasty.
3 cups diced yellow squash and/or zucchini
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
3/4 cup cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Saute squash and onion in olive oil until tender. Drain any remaining liquid and put hot mixture into a bowl.
Add egg, butter, mayonnaise, sugar, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cracker crumbs, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
Put mixture in greased dish and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.
Erin's Notes:
I used Club crackers to make crumbs, but Ritz or another buttery cracker would work well too.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Sprinkles Cupcakes
The pumpkin cupcakes we had for dessert came from a "cupcake kit" that I had received as a gift. The cake itself wasn't bad, but the frosting was the real standout. I had to stop myself from eating the leftover with a spoon.
8 ounces cold cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter, firm but not cold
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
In the bowl of an electric mixer with a flat beater, beat the cream cheese, butter, salt, and cinnamon on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, gradually add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat just until incorporated
Do not overmix or the frosting will incorporate too much air. It should be creamy and dense. Add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if frosting doesn not have a spreadable consistency.
Erin's Notes:
The original recipe said this would make enough frosting for 12 cupcakes, but I had a lot leftover, even after adding extra to each cupcake. I think it could definitely handle a batch of 18 and probably even 24 cupcakes.
It was a delicious dinner, and we're especially thankful for Zipper, who was happy to help with the dishes.
Phenomenon
November 28, 2008 Posted by: ERIN
Then, moments later, just to the right of where the water spout had been, there was this:
It's a little hard to make out again the dark clouds in the background, but it's a rainbow that ended up arching completely across the sky. Seeing rainbows is pretty common here, and water spouts do happen on occasion (I've seen one other). But seeing both at once? That's got to be something special.
The Pawpaw
November 25, 2008 Posted by: ERIN
One of the coolest things about nearly living in the tropics (we're a mere half-degree latitude away) is tropical fruit! Here on the field station campus we have guava, sour orange, and pomegranate plants. But the most prolific plants by far are our papaya trees. Known locally as pawpaws, these bright orange fruits tend to be bigger than a grapefruit but smaller than a cantaloupe, and they have a soft, peach-like consistency. Fresh papayas have a very mild flavor and actually aren't all that sweet, so we prefer to blend them into shakes or smoothies, but I've seen locals boil them and eat them almost like squash. I found a recipe for Pawpaw Tarts a few weeks ago, so I'm thinking I'll give that a try soon.
Here are a few shots of the papaya trees in our backyard. We always have to pick the fruits before they are quite ripe, or else the birds and lizards will get to them.
And here are a few papayas brought indoors for milkshakes. They have these big, black, bubbly seeds that remind me of fish eggs.
Each seed has its own little juice sack around it, similar to a pomegranate. However, the seeds are not at all delicious like a pomegranate. They are very bitter and gross. Take my word for it.
Two Things I Like
November 10, 2008 Posted by: TOM
We don't have a satellite dish for watching "live" TV for a variety of reasons (I won't go into the details right now), and cable doesn't extend to this part of the island. This bit of information often leads to shock, confusion, and amazment in those we come in contact with. Really, its not a problem, and for the most part I don't think it bothers either one of us. In fact, I would say that I prefer not having "live" TV for the following reasons: Satellite Radio and DVDs.
Satellite Radio. The one thing I do miss about not having TV channels is watching sports. Over the last two years I'd tried a few internet options for listening to games (all the major sports have monthly rates for listening to broadcasts over the internet). Because of limitations with our satellite internet service these weren't great options--in bad weather (and even in not bad weather) there could be skips and jumps and breaks; and often it would be several minutes behind (my parents once called during a Bears game, to say "did you hear that?!?", which caused a fair bit of confusion until we realized that I was about 5 minutes behind "live"). So far with our Sirius Satellite Radio, we've had no reception problems at all (nearly always ten of ten bars). For NFL games we can listen to the home or away broadcasts of any game being played in good quality. This is great because I don't always have to listen to the Bears announcers (former offensive linemen should not be allowed near a microphone), although in retrospect, it seems almost every team in the country has the combination of a decent play-by-play guy and one or more ex-players who are terrible color commentators. With the merger of Sirius and XM, we now get NHL and NBA games too, which is cool since the 'Hawks have become relevant again. Slightly random aside: I must say, thanks to "Dollar Bill" keeping home games off TV all through my youth--the last time the 'Hawks were relevant--listening to hockey is a much better experience than it would have been had I grown up able to see all the games on TV. My Dad's constant flipping between one game on TV and another on the Radio ('Hawks and Bulls in the late 80's early 90's) also helped a great deal with my listening skills. Besides sports, the satellite radio has been great for allowing us to keep up with current music that is not Rake n' Scrape (not that there is anything wrong with music that has lines resembling "one gin, one rum, one glass of wine, I've got something on my mind" and "that goat skin stinks"), as well as listening to the Presidential Debates, US News, NPR, and the Martha Stewart Channel (Erin, not me, well sometimes by accident).
Watching Full seasons of TV shows on DVD. Waiting a full week to see the next episode is for suckers. Never again. I think I get much more out of a show watching all the episodes in rather quick succession. Plus you notice all sorts of things, like "last episode that extra was a cop, now he's a mechanic". The biggest problem with viewing this way is that great shows like The Wire and Firefly (check it out, FOX really screwed things up with cancelling this one), go by way too fast. On the bright side, things I'm not sure I like, but Erin is into ("Lost", Erin is a fan) become tolerable.
So there.
Yes We Can
November 5, 2008 Posted by: ERIN
"And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, ... to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, ... a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."
That's us! Obama is talking to us!
At least that's what I tried to convince Tom as we huddled around our radio. Okay, so maybe Americans temporarily living abroad on a tiny island aren't exactly who he was addressing there, but it still made me feel a little less like we were missing out on all the history and excitement.
This is the first time the candidate I voted for actually won the presidency, and Tom is no longer threatening to apply for Bahamian citizenship, so we're pretty happy here on San Salvador.
Beachcombing
November 2, 2008 Posted by: ERIN
Yesterday Tom and I set out to do a little beachcombing. I needed some more milk crates to support my container gardens, so we decided to go "shopping" on a stretch of beach along Dim Bay. We hadn't really explored that area before, so we were hoping for some pretty spectacular flotsam.
While this bulldozer probably didn't float in from elsewhere, it was a cool find.
Tom decided to protest the unjust destruction of the beach.
A little way down the shoreline, we came across this mystery object. Any guesses as to what it might be?
Then Tom found this really long piece of bamboo. He tried use it to pole vault over the mystery object, but it didn't really work.
Despite being a pretty gloomy day, there was lots of nice scenery along the beach too.
Along our walk we managed to collect some useful items, including six crates. I posed with our haul when we got home.
My favorite is the big red-algae-encrusted seashell I found, and Tom is quite fond of the nearly new gas can. You never know what you'll find washed up on the beach!