I am working on some site administrative stuff, and first up is an update to the “Yummy” category of links.  It’s about time I share all the blogs that I read, keeping me from updating my own blog.  Sheesh.  Every blog on that list is one I read on a regular basis, most of them via RSS – daily.

So yeah…I definitely recommend them!

Also also! I’m updating the weekly menu! I always forget to do that…so if you’re interested in what kind of food we’re eating this week (you stalker!), go take a look!

Posted by Valerie 
Category: In the news

No Comments »

Since I decided to stop writing about my daily life, I find myself unable to write very often.  I’ve also found myself unable to read other peoples’ blogs hardly ever.  There’s just so much going on…so much stress….and at the end of a long work day I just want to get home, eat the dinner my fiancé has made, relax with him, then go to bed exhausted and do it all again the next day.

One month after having set our wedding date, we have had to postpone the wedding indefinitely.  It was a very painful decision but we have a much more important matter right now that will require all our time, energy, and money.  The stress of the last few weeks months has left me too drained to blog very often.  I intend to keep doing it, but not feeling guilty that I haven’t been keeping up like I “should.”  You all know how it is.  Typing words on a website is not a should.  Spending time with my family and dealing with life is.  I just need to let go of my self-criticism and grasp that more fully.

Now that the irksome stuff is out of the way….we’re in Southern California! We’ve been planning this trip for over a year and we’ve finally made it out to The Grump’s homeland to see his family and – most importantly – his children.  Our first day here was yesterday and we did get to see the kids, and it was wonderful.  We’re looking forward to another visit with them sooo much.

We also got to see my brother who is stationed at Camp Pendleton right now, and that was great too.  We went out to lunch at In-N-Out, a place TG has been insisting for pretty much ever that I try.  Well I finally got to and yes, it was better than any fast food in New England! But still not as good as the place we used to frequent when I was a kid in Virginia.  I don’t remember the name of that place but the flavor of their burgers will stay with me forever.

We went to Lucille’s Bar-B-Que for dinner and I got their Louisiana Pasta.  I barely ate any because I was still full from a late lunch that I ate while still full from a late breakfast.  So I finished it, cold, just now for breakfast and it was still so good! I am looking forward to recreating this recipe at home later.

I hope to share some photos and more food experiences with you as the week and trip progress, but we’ll see how much time I have.  I have a life to keep living. 

Posted by Valerie 
Category: In the news, Love & Dating

1 Comment »

Oh man, what a week.  I finally got things situated with my webhost today, and now I have to reupload and reinstall and reconfigure everything! Apparently my blog backup did not include links, so I guess I am going to be forced to do what I have been meaning to do for a while now and update my blogroll.

I hope everyone is well! Please forgive me for such a long delay in getting my site back up, but business will be back to normal around here in a few days.  I do in fact have at least one post already written and ready to go in a few days!

Edit: I was smart enough to back up my blog AND its database separately, so I got my links back! I’ll still update them soon though.  In the meantime, my photos were NOT backed up in either format, so now I have to manually reupload all of those.  Ugh.

Posted by Valerie 
Category: In the news

1 Comment »

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!

It’s time for another theme week in the SFRR household.  Theme week is where we pick a nationality and all our dinners (and some desserts and maybe breakfasts) come from that nationality’s cuisine.  Last month was Middle Eastern food and this week’s theme is Irish food! Here is our menu for the week:

Tonight: Chicken, ham, and leek pie with colcannon (mashed potatoes and sautéed kale)
Monday: Baked pasta with cheese and stout + Irish glazed carrots
Tuesday: Beef & Guinness pie with roasted sweet potatoes
Wednesday: Cod cobbler with roasted parsnips
Thursday: Toad in the Hole with an undetermined side dish, probably something with fruit
Friday: Irish meatloaf + mustard roasted potatoes
Saturday: Irish onion soup and soda bread.

Yes, these are actually Irish recipes I found while researching! Tonight’s dinner was pretty tasty (at least I thought so…), so expect the recipe in a couple days (re: whenever I get the photo off my camera).  I know I love Beef & Guinness Pie, having made it a couple times before, so that one will definitely be gracing this little blog.  The others…I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

This was such a good weekend.  I got a lot of stuff done that I needed to do, and we got to have Brian’s daughter, Ali, over today.  She got to “meet” my mom (who is hereby dubbed “Grammy”) on Skype today and she was really excited to show off her new book and her drawings.  Way too stinkin’ cute! It made my mom so happy, because she can’t wait to actually meet her soon-to-be stepgranddaughter and spoil her freakin’ rotten.  How did everyone else’s go? Are you able to enjoy nice autumn weather with your families?

Posted by Valerie 
Category: Culinary cravings, In the news

2 Comments »

• Pioneer Woman’s Welsh Rarebit.  When I first heard about Welsh Rarebit years ago, I thought, “cheese on toast? What’s so special about that??” Then I saw PW’s recipe and thought, “dang…cheese.  On toast.  With beer….” I suddenly had to try it, and I just made it for the 4th time for dinner.  It’s nowhere near as boring as “cheese on toast” sounds.
• Spinach sautéed in olive oil with minced garlic – it makes my soul sing.  The spinach must be fresh though.  Frozen spinach is sacreliege.
• Cinnamon rum ice cream – it’s so creamy, and the flavor only gets better as it sits.  Bonus! This recipe makes a lot more than most ice cream recipes, so it’s lasted the two of us a while.
• The fact that colder weather means I can start making soups on a regular basis again.  HELLO split pea and ham soup! I can’t wait to have you for dinner tomorrow night.  And chili? Welcome to my menu for this week.  Brian has been longing for you to grace his palate again.

Now for the update.  My computer is back up and running, now on Windows 7 (previously XP).  I have access to a card reader again, and have already taken some photos for upcoming posts! Hooray! I’m so excited.  But even more exciting…

I’ve been holding out.  I haven’t mentioned it yet, first because it was hush hush until my family knew, but then because I just got so busy I forgot to actually blog about it.  But…Brian and I are getting married! He proposed to be suddenly and without forethought (he was planning on asking me, but hadn’t decided when or where yet) about a month ago, and of course I said yes.  How could I turn down the man who every day tells me how much he loves my cooking? So we have been busy looking at potential wedding venues this last month, Japanese gardens with nearby accommodations for friends and family, and figuring out the small details of our very small wedding.  It’s exhausting! But so much fun.  Although we’ve not set a definite date, it will be sometime in May 2012.  It seems so far away! But May ’11 is just too close to plan it the way I want (nevermind save up money…weddings are not something you can just throw into the budget with the bills and groceries!).

I hope everyone is having a great weekend, enjoying the last vestiges of truly warm weather, or the beginning of the cooler days.

Posted by Valerie 
Category: Culinary cravings, In the news

5 Comments »