Chili, Ceviche, and Strawberries! Oh my!

I wasn't quite as quick with my trigger finger camera-wise on Saturday, so I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I went to the Annual JSC Chili Cook-Off and it was a blast!  The chili was good, the drinks were plentiful (buttery nipple pudding shots are my new favorite novelty drink...), and the weather was perfect.  We wound up crashing pretty early on Saturday night though due to a very full day of food and sunshine.  On Sunday we woke up and headed out the door fairly early to grab brunch at Latin Bites Cafe (I had a coupon deal that was about to expire).  We splurged on a mango smoothie, mint limonada, some of the best ceviche I've ever had, and delicious Latin inspired sandwiches.  It was one of those places that we'd gladly go back to, but probably more so for a special occasion as the prices were a bit steep.  Very good, though!

After brunch we made our way to Froberg Farm where I FINALLY got to pick some strawberries!!!  Due to an unfortunate cross of signals we were unable to meet up with our friends, which I was pretty bummed about.  But I did have a good time stomping around in my pretty purple rainboots with S and filling up a bucket with ripe strawberries (that smelled INCREDIBLE).

We spent about an hour picking around in the strawberry field searching for the perfect berries and then we headed home to make use of our bucket o' berries.  I whipped up a quick strawberry tart that, although delicious, was horribly disfigured.  It was not photo-worthy.  I also concocted a pseudo strawberry shortcake to tide us over mid-day.  I used a whole wheat english muffin spread with some of the pineapple preserves we picked up at Froberg's market.  That was topped with a heaping pile of sliced strawberries and then finished off with a dollop of homemade whipped cream.  It was heavenly.

Those two treats took me through only about 1/3 of my strawberries.  Next recipe I have planned?  Strawberry grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight (this or maybe this) with a side salad (naturally topped with strawberries as well).  And tomorrow I plan to make some of my absolute favorite strawberry frozen yogurt.  YUM!

Have a Tasty Weekend!

Well this weekend is going to have a lot of food-related activities and I couldn't be more excited!  Tomorrow is JSC's Annual Chili Cook-Off and I'm going to go for the first time!  I have a handful of friends that are actually competing on some of the teams.  And I happen to know that B is supplementing J's team with jello shots, so it will definitely be an entertaining afternoon!  Apparently it's just meat-based chili, no beans allowed, and I'm not a fan of super spicy.  But I feel this is just so quintessentially Texan...

On Sunday we're hitting up a Peruvian restaurant for brunch (I have a Groupon that's about to expire and I've been really excited to try this place - it's on my "list") and then I'm FINALLY heading out to Froberg Farm to do some strawberry picking!  I've been talking about this forever and this weekend it will definitely be happening.  Expect lots of awesome strawberry recipes to follow...

(picture from here)

NASA - Increasing the Awesome in 2014

The Fiscal Year 2014 budget for NASA was released today (see first video).  You can get more data on NASA's site here.  

The big news?  Researching a mission to first capture and relocate an asteroid!  If all goes well, astronauts could visit the captured asteroid in the early 2020s using NASA's Orion crew capsule and the agency's new Space Launch System heavy lift rocket.

This is finally a clear vision for NASA's future that I've been waiting to hear!  Let's hope the funding is sufficient and we can accomplish these goals!

(top image from here)

Ups and Downs

Things have been busy around here.  I'm planning for multiple trips in the next couple of months, I'm finally finishing up decorating around the house (pictures coming soon), I've been trying to cook and exercise more to counterbalance all of the eating out and drinking I've been doing, and I'm helping S look for a new place.  Not to mention I'm supporting on console this week, which always means I'm going to have a super busy week at work.

On the plus side, this past weekend I got a TON of stuff done around the house, I made it to the gym twice last week and once already this week, I've made some excellent food recently including a mushroom and truffle risotto and a batch of turkey chili (see S's very first chili cheese omelet above!), and I've gotten some serious planning done on upcoming trips.

On the down side, it turns out S got outbid on the house we really liked, being a hardware lead at work is starting to overwhelm me a bit, and those trips aren't cheap...

One day at a time, right?

Have a Beautiful Weekend!

It's supposed to be a lovely weekend here in Houston - sunny, in the 70's, and wild flowers (including this year's bluebonnets) blooming everywhere.  I actually don't have much planned this weekend and I'm reveling in it.  S and I have a date night tonight, where we plan to explore more of the city's fantastic food and bar scene.  Tomorrow I have NO PLANS!!!  I'm hoping to sleep in then meander down the road to the local farmers market (if I wake up in time...) and take in some fresh air and good, fresh food.  The rest of the day is completely free, though I do hope to get a couple of things crossed off my to-do list that have been piling up over the last couple of weeks.  Sunday afternoon we're headed to the Rienzi house for Viva Italia!, a leisurely afternoon of hors d'oeuvres, music, and impeccable vintage architecture and design (yeah, we're classy like that...).  So yes, we have plans, but it's all pretty low key, which I'm looking forward to.

Do you have any plans for the weekend?

Has Dark Matter Been Discovered???

Today's Increasing the Awesome post is about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which was brought up to the International Space Station back on STS-134, the second to last shuttle mission.  The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, is an incredible piece of machinery that was mounted on the exterior of the ISS with the intent of measuring cosmic rays in space.  It was built to help researches study the formation of the universe and look for dark matter and antimatter.  Well after recording data for over a year and a half, the AMS scientists are finally reporting the machine has obtained signals that might actually be attributed to dark matter (about 400,000 positrons, which is the antimatter partner particle to electrons)!!!  Of course scientists are not willing to commit to anything concrete yet.  And work here on earth with particle accelerators will be required to justify that these particles are indeed result of dark matter.  But how exciting is it that this pieces of equipment is functioning so beautifully and actually living up to its intent?!?  This is truly NASA and the scientific community working to Increase the Awesome!!!

(photo of AMS from here and some data from here)

Living Room Updates

The room isn't ready to be unveiled yet - it still requires a few finishing touches.  One of which I need your advice on!   But first, here are a few sneak peaks:

Zoe has a new chair to cover in fur...

And I have succesfully swiss cheese-d the wall with nail holes...

As for the advice I need, that new chair (which I bought last week from a craigslist ad and which I'm completely and totally in love with) needs a little side table so whomever is reclining in it has a place to set their drink.  It needs to fit into a tight, wonky shaped space, so I'm thinking I want something small and round.  I've found these options and need help deciding.  The tables in the upper left and lower right I would probably cover with a glossy, lacquered paint - maybe in a yellow or chartreuse.  What do you think?

Clockwise from upper left: curvy pedestal table | orange tray table | simple pedestal table | wood and brass campaign table

 

Weekend In Review

Another fun weekend in the books!  I got to spend a lot of time with my brother, attend a friend's birthday party, hang out with my girlfriends, drive a go kart, caress a Lamborghini, and play a lot of Rummikub!  (Not surprisingly, I play Rummikub a lot better when I haven't consumed large quantities of wine.  My record drunk: 0-2.  My record sober: 5-2...)  In honor of Passover and at my brother's request, I also tried making Matzo Brei for the very first time this weekend.  The verdict: good, but not as good as grandma's.  Nothing ever is...

Masquerade-themed birthday party!

Boots galore at Texas Junk Co.  I didn't find a pair this trip, but I'm trying again in a couple of weeks!

First solo attempt at Matzo Brei! 

Go karting is a workout!  My shoulders were sore today!

Whipping around the curve!

Pretty, pretty, pretty Lambo.....