Things Lately...

School is in full swing and things are pretty busy, but life couldn't be better. Lately, my activities have been surrounding organization, watching Nigellissma with Nigella Lawson (my new kitcheneering idol), and thinking of ways to keep our 11-year-old Sunday School class entertained. One of our students has developed a fondness for Zac and is over regularly to play games and eat our candy.

Zac has been to several medical school interviews, his most recent being at Baylor Medical Center in Houston. We are hoping to get in somewhere in Texas since the tuition is so much cheaper!

My caramel popcorn obsession has persisted and evolved into a caramel corn puff obsession. I always have a freezer size bag of it around and, shamefully, in my backpack.

For date night this week we went to the dollar store with 10 bucks each and went wild finding Halloween decor. We only ended up spending 13 dollars, which I think rightly fits the spooky virtue of the holiday. When we got home, we put on some Monster Mash music, sipped on hot chocolate and apple cider and decorated away. Unfortunately, we did not coordinate our decorations and ended up having a living room doused in colors that no one in their right mind would ever put together, but hey it looked very...seasonal. It was a a little hard to give up the Easter bunny sign I keep up year round since I love Easter but now our home feels festive.

Some life changing kitchen discoveries have also occurred. A few weeks ago, I walked through the condiment aisle and found a new product: Balsamic glaze. I go through phases with vinegars and usually I get stuck on one kind for a while, and this phase has lingered for a while. I've tried reducing my own balsamic vinegar before to get it sweet and syrupy but there is absolutely NO WAY of doing that without avoiding the acrid, sour, pungent smell of the reducing balsamic vinegar that haunts your house for days! This glaze was a revelation that has completely changed the way I have been making all types of sauces and dressings. It's great over miso salmon, steamed bak choy, wheat berries, pasta salads, grilled chicken, margarita pizza, and the list goes on. I am not sure if I will be able to cope if my 7 oz. bottle runs out before I can buy it again, since I told my self I would only buy it once every 2 months.

Here are some pictures from our recent happenings

 organized pantry

 Every Wednesday Fatoush Salad

 Gingerbread cupcakes with Molasses and Buttercream frosting

 The Balsamic Glaze in action

 My first canning experience...using my makeshift canning pot

This is a very a big part of our addictions...having treats on hand.

This picture wasn't exactly very recent...but I saw it today and thought what a happy picture it was...and somehow I got tons of pictures on food and hardly any of us...isn't Zac so strong! He makes it look so effortless to carry me.