rediscovering the classics

well, i'm single for the weekend. the husband man is in st. louis drafting a fake football team and i am here - eating things without meat and watching old movies that happen to come on t.v. The first thing i did that is noteworthy is to make pioneer woman's lemon pasta. it is incredible. go make it right now, because the leftovers are even better.

the second thing i've done is watch a couple old movies. now, i'm not super into old movies, but these last two have been stellar. the first stars Dolly Parton (aka grandma dolly) and Burt Reynolds and it came out one month after i was born. If any of you are above the age of 21 you've got to check out "the best little whorehouse in texas" - its just so fun. yes, i realize that i have major moral issues with the premise but its burt and dolly in a musical! i stayed up til almost 2 am just to finish watching it. sigh. i wish she were really my grandma.

movie number two - bonnie and clyde. did you know that warren beatty used to be hot? yeah. its true, and faye dunaway in this movie could be my fashion inspiration. (and she kind of makes me want to wear fake eyelashes). i'm actually still watching it. i'll let you know how i feel about it when its over.

oh, and i saw julie and julia and in julia child's honor sara, jana and i are going to conquer julia's boef bourginion. it will take at least 4 hours and probably just as many bottles of wine. i'll let you know how that goes too.

ahhh, the single life.

if your life were a movie. . .

who would play you? it's one of my favorite questions to ask at dinner, road trips, awkward silences and during forced conversation. i don't know why i'm so fascinated with it (because seriously, like my life is movie worthy) but i am. so a couple nights ago i was at a movie - (500) days of summer - with the husband man and it clicked. Zooey Deschanel (who i love) would play a great Kelley Kirker!

so with that revelation i just thought i would give you all a window into my twisted mind. and of course, give you the ok to dream up who would play you in a movie. Here's another good example. charlotte botsford. . . .

tina fey.

feel free to leave your thoughts on the comment page (or, i mean, who would play me. but whatever, things don't always have to be all about me.)

a little of this, a little of that

I'm sorry I've been away for so long. Those of you that know me well know how crazy our schedule gets in the summer and those of you who don't - wow, thanks for reading my blog. I'll try to give you a brief but witty update.

Summer was great, we managed to make it to the Dominican, Chattanooga, South Carolina, the Lake, the Gulf, and Pisgah, Alabama. I've stayed mostly in one piece and i'm pretty sure i still have a husband and he's one of the people that is always in my apartment - it's gotten a little crazy in there but in a way that i love.

I have no new recipes unless someone needs to know how to prepare kraft mac and cheese, make scrambled eggs or order at a restaurant.

I'm just now getting back into music that DIDN'T come from a disney channel or american idol star. So no good music recommendations.

I did get some reading done (Julie and Julia, the last Harry Potter book, and a lot of tweets - because those count).

And we still don't have a dog. That's about it. Hopefully things will pick up and as students are back in school i will have more time for blogging. Here's to the fall. . .

dog days of summer

I finally feel like i have something noteworthy to write about. Before today, my only story possibilities have been centered around youth trips, failed culinary attempts and how flippin exhuasted i am. But today, today has not one but TWO real stories. both about dogs (which is a total coincidence).  

First, lets talk about the new dent in my car. i know how much my readers like a visual, so

 check this out: 

Yep, the paint is gone and there is a real dent in the bottom.  Now, the Protege is no stranger to dents - its the story behind this one that makes it fun. This humdinger was caused by a "skitish" boxer whose owner had thought it prudent to tie her fully grown 40 pound dog to a metal chair outside a coffee shop. I mean, I am known to make some bad judgement calls but this was ridiculous.  Our youth staff was sitting outside and this lady left her dog near us while she ran in to get some water. No sooner had Lauren said "hey emily, there's a free dog" than the dog got spooked by a particularly loud car and bolted. Yes, bolted, dragging the chair behind her, right in between the Protege and Lauren's car. She ran into the street, into a parking lot - hitting cars and more cars in the process. We started to chase her but about that time a fireman emerged from nowhere (yes, a fireman - how good does this get?) and took over.  The fireman and the owner of the dog finally caught her after she was slowed by her chair catching on a giant blue postal service mail drop. Chair - ruined, scratches in at least two cars, and a nasty gash in the dogs tongue.  It was quite the scene. 

Story number two. Chris got a dog!!!! And since I can't have one I shall have to live vicariously through him. We spent a good 2 hours at the humane society today picking this guy out: How cute is he?!

Ps - both pictures courtesy of my new iphone. yes, i love it.  

summers booty

i mean bounty (wink wink).

the past two days have been FULL of the fruits of summer. yesterday we went blackberry and blueberry picking with some sweet jr. high girls. two words: yummy and hot.  seriously, i sweated buckets as we picked the sweetest, plumpest blueberries and blackberries. when was the last time you ate a juicy blackberry warmed by the sun, right off the vine? for me - yesterday. before that - probably a solid 10 years. it was such a garden of eden kind of experience, if that's not going too far.

then this morning me and the husband man headed over to the farmers market at Pepper place. It's like a farmers market for over the mountain people. local organic farmers and gourmet restaurants all in one place. its really fun. and we got some good looking squash and chilton county peaches.  also, it was really hot. welcome to june in the south.  i like it. 

It would be a disservice to my 3 readers for me NOT to post this.

So, last night was one of those "surprise, we're both home for dinner" nights. and due to the fact that my pantry is filled to the brim with odds and ends AND i've maxed out my made up grocery budget. If it were just me? Pasta and frozen pesto (my mom's homemade frozen pesto, straight from the s.c.)  The only problem was, i'm married to a meat eater. What meat did i have in the house? a jar of dried beef and one frozen pork tenderloin.  The true miracle part of this story is that i realized i needed to take the pork out of the freezer at 3:30 pm.  And it was thawed by 7! Now, let me tell you what you need to do with a pork tenderloin. it turned out so well, and was so easy, and my husband man said it was wonderful (i thought it was too).

Typical Pork Tenderloin

1. preheat your oven to 400 and get out either 1 ovenproof skillet OR one skillet plus one roasting pan or baking sheet. 

2.Take a pork tenderloin, try to cut off the silvery skin ( i never really succeed at this part, but i got off enough of it. Wash your hands, and combine the following in a little tiny bowl: 

1 tsp of dried thyme

1 Tbsp of kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 clove of garlic, minced

3.  Take that stuff in the little bowl and rub it all over the pork tenderloin. All the sides, you can even make a couple slits in it and stuff the garlic pieces down in there. 

4. Put about a tablespoon of olive oil in your skillet and heat it up over medium high heat.  Use your kitchen tongs (if you don't have tongs, go buy some). And brown the pork on every side: bottom, side, top, side. This should only take a couple minutes per side.  Then, using potholders (because i didn't) move your ovenproof skillet into the preheated oven. If you're using a baking sheet or roasting pan - move the pork tenderloin to that and put it in the oven.  

5. Bake at 400 for about 14 minutes - or until you can stick a thermometer in it and it says 155 degrees. Take it out and just let it sit there for 5 minutes.  It'll keep cooking (seriously, its weird - the pink part will actually get not pink as it sits there).  

6. Slice and serve!! Last night mine happened to be kept company by cous cous and a wedge salad. But do what you want.  

You can also change up the seasoning - but i would suggest keeping salt in there no matter what.  I'll let you know if i try any other variations that are particularly good.  

Quick, easy, and satisfies the meat lover. Done. 

and then THIS GUY appeared. . . .

These alien bugs keep just appearing, out of nowhere, in my sink.  They scare the crap out of me and when i smash them their little legs keep wiggling. It grosses me out. And i'm not easily grossed out. Plus, every time they appear Justin isn't even at home.  So i call him. And let him know that the bug has appeared and that i trapped it and that i took a picture of it and that i will kill it with HIS flip flop.  (and maybe one time i just left it there so he could see it)