For the last few days, Ben and I have been biking to and from work. Our new apartment is located at the top of the “bench” (ie. giant hill) so biking is a feasible and fun transportation option. During the week, parking is tight on campus and sometimes it takes as long to drive through the lots looking for parking spots than it takes to drive to work. I feel stronger (and sorer) after each of our bike rides. Yesterday, I spent $90 tuning up my bike. I got a new rear tire, brake cables, a new chain, and my gears are functioning beautifully. My bike is a safe, clean, well-oiled machine. The weather has been a bit spastic–generally between 35-45 degrees during the day and I’ve seen a bit of rain and snow, but generally it’s done by the time I’m ready to ride home. See my 2.3 mile route. There are bike lanes on every major street and the neighborhood streets and sidewalks on campus are wide and easy for biking. I hope I can keep up this good habit and build strength in my legs, butt and abs.
Archive for the ‘Salt Lake City’ Category
Biking to work
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Mary Jo’s sloppy jo’s
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012Yesterday, I followed my mother-in-law’s sloppy joe recipe and was quite pleased with the outcome. Her recipe isn’t very exact and somehow it always turns out just right. I used a fancy tomato soup from Whole Foods as I didn’t have time to shop at a “regular” grocery store. See below for an excerpt of her email:
“Here’s a shot at typical ingredients:
Ground Beef 1.5 lbs
Tomato Soup 1 can
Red (bell) pepper
Onion
Ketchup
Mustard
Brown sugar
Worcestershire sauce
Cinnamon
Garlic powder
All of the above are added to taste
Sorry I can’t be more precise, it’s pretty easy.”
Sweet Potato Bisque recipe
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012During Ben’s parents’ visit, we drove out to the “Sweet Tomatoes” restaurant in Sandy, UT about 10 miles away. We enjoyed a nice salad buffet for dinner. Sweet Tomatoes is a branch of “Souplantation” and their soups are excellent. One I especially enjoyed was a sweet potato bisque. I am not sure what Sweet Tomatoes restaurant puts in their bisque, but I was inspired to try to make one myself. Ben wanted to know what a “bisque” is. According to Wikipedia, a bisque is supposed to be a creamy soup based on seafood made in the French style. While my soup is not technically a bisque, it tasted very good and was a good way to consume the 3 sweet potatoes that have been sitting in my kitchen for the last three weeks. Here is the recipe.
SWEET POTATO BISQUE
This soup is simple, rich and easy to make.
1/4 cup butter (this is a LOT of butter, you can probably use less)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cup celery
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
5 cups chicken broth (I used a beef bone broth I made a few days earlier)
1/2 teaspoon cloves (can use less)
salt and pepper to taste.
Melt the butter in a 4 qt. saucepan. Add the onions and celery and saute for 10 minutes. Add the sweet diced potatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium, cover and cook for 90 minutes until the potatoes are very tender. Puree the potatoes in a blender (in small batches) or with a hand-held immersion blender (I have a fantastic hand blender that I use frequently!). Stir in the cloves. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Reheat and serve.
Ben’s parents’ visit
Thursday, January 26th, 2012I haven’t written a blog entry in a few days because Ben’s mom and dad came to visit last weekend. It was a fantastic time. We visited the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah campus, ate scones/coffee at Tulie Bakery near my old apartment, and enjoyed dinner at our favorite restaurant in SLC, Kyoto. Dave and Mary Jo helped me and Ben get settled into our new apartment. Dave installed new wall lights (sconces) for our bedroom. He (with the help of Comcast) also fixed our cable TV so now we can watch 150 channels on the free TV our friend Thomas gave us. We spent several hours at Sears and the mall getting new tired put on our car (Leslie, the Lumina) and purchased a brand new grill with 3 burners which cost $117 (including tax). Ben and I have eaten nearly every meal from this grill since Sunday afternoon. We made brats, bison burgers, steak, and mushroom kabobs. Looking forward to trying more exotic grill-able foods such as venison, lamb, brisket, ribs, corn, potatoes, chicken, onions and peppers.
During my parents’ in law’s visit, I did not watch too much TV–only a new episode of Modern Family and Big Bang Theory. I recently finished a new episode of Switched at Birth, which I am enjoying and yesterday evening, I watched 3 episodes (not the whole thing but I tuned in sporadically) of Top Chef (on Bravo)–the real TV episodes, not the Hulu version. It was weird because I couldn’t pause whenever I wanted to and watch more later. I got the jist of each show and learned the main points so that was all that was necessary. I also washed lots of dishes and cleaned up moving boxes while Ben took his bike to the gas station to get air in his tires. This morning, he biked to work for the first time. Very exciting! This morning, I judged a science fair in a neighboring city (Bountiful) and enjoyed talking with several (20+) 5th and 6th graders. Tonight, I am very tired and planning on enjoying a new episode of Good Wife by myself, while Ben showers and watches Badger basketball. We are truly enjoying our new home. The fireplace, patio (with grill!) and clean, modern kitchen, bathroom, living area. Great location–we can even bike to work without needing to chug up a big hill. Here are some photos from our weekend.
View from the Natural History Museum:
Dinner at Kyoto:
Univ. of Utah basketball game and dinner at MacCool’s with Ben’s cousin’s family:
Brunch at Ruth’s Diner in Emigration Canyon:
New grill:
Waverly loves the new carpet:
Shepherd’s Pie
Monday, January 16th, 2012This past week, Ben and I moved into a new apartment and I haven’t had much time for cooking. Last Monday night, I cooked my last meal in my old apartment–Chinese chicken wings (recipe from Ben’s mom). Essentially, I marinated chicken wings and drummettes in soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, mustard, and brown sugar over night. Then I baked the wings at 450 degrees F for about 1 hour (flipping them over once during the cooking process).
On Friday night, after a busy week, I decided to try a new recipe. I had a can of cream of mushroom soup that I was looking to get rid of. And, I was interested in making “shepherd’s pie” when my friend Rachel said she made one back in October from ground lamb. I chose a recipe that utilized ground beef, because it’s easier to find. I purchased most of my ingredients at the supermarket (Dan’s) that is walking distance from my new apartment. Here is the recipe and a photo of the final product.
Also, recent TV shows I’ve watched included the newest episodes of the Big Bang Theory (CBS), 30 Rock (NBC), Modern Family (ABC), and Saturday Night Live (with Charles Barkley, NBC).
Catching up on my TV shows
Thursday, January 12th, 2012Tonight, I am watching “The Good Wife,” a drama about a female lawyer on CBS. I watch it by myself because Ben thinks it’s silly. Last night, I watched “Last Man Standing” which is Tim Allen’s re-make of his 90s show “Home Improvement.” Ben said it’s a comedy about “gender roles” and I said “well, at least it’s about something. many TV shows aren’t about anything.” I am also looking forward to watching “Switched at Birth,” my ABC family drama.
New apartment
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012Yesterday, we received the keys to our new apartment. We decided to spend our first night there last night (even though we haven’t moved our furniture yet). We just slept on the floor. It was a little chilly because the blankets I moved were too short for Ben’s long legs. However, we wanted to move Waverly ASAP because our landlord at our old apartment is showing it during the day when we are out and we don’t want Waverly to cause trouble. We haven’t set up internet in our new place yet. Thus, I watched a (non-internet based, probably pirated) episode of Big Bang Theory with Ben last night. Tonight, Comcast said our internet should be working, so perhaps I can catch up on my weekly TV shows 
Can’t wait to post photos of our new apartment once we move our furniture.
Working on Sunday
Sunday, January 8th, 2012This morning, Ben and I went to Trolley Square (a shopping center in SLC) to purchase tickets to the Sundance Film Festival. Sometimes the director or actors in the movies attend some of the screenings during the festival. We got tickets for a thriller (scary) movie called “Black Rock.” We hope to take Mary Jo and Dave to see this movie when they come to visit. We also got tickets for a humorous movie called “Predisposed,” which plays the following weekend. I plan to write reviews of both movies in the upcoming weeks. The showings we chose are playing at the Tower Theater, which is about 2 blocks away from our current apartment.
After picking up the tickets and a few groceries at the Whole Foods in Trolley Square, Ben and I ate brunch at a new restaurant, Eggs in the City. It was very crowded and popular. Ben ate eggs benedict with crabmeat. I ordered the huevos rancheros. Both dishes were delicious. We sat at the “bar” which overlooked the kitchen and enjoyed the lively, colorful ambience.
This afternoon, I went to work for about 6 hours. It was painful and long, but I got one experiment completed. While waiting for my data collection to finish, I watched Youtube videos of some old episodes of the Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.” Specifically, I was interested in clips from Salt Lake City restaurants, Blue Plate Diner, Ruth’s Diner, and Pat’s BBQ. The show makes all these restaurants look quite tasty and I plan to visit each one someday.
Tonight, I am making a cornish hen soup with ginger, ginseng, Chinese cooking wine, and salt. I purchased the bird from Whole Foods this morning and got the recipe from my mama.
Playing with Waverly
Sunday, January 8th, 2012Tonight I watched an episode of “Unforgettable,” the new CBS show. It was an older episode about ghosts and an insane asylum. Not recommended but I was knitting and passing the time while Ben did some work on his laptop. We had a nice evening–ate gnocchi and salad for dinner after attending the Saturday night church service at Capital Church. Then I spent some time taunting the cat. She was in a fun, playful mood tonight so I teased her with a catnip-laced toy mouse and the yarn I was using for knitting.
Tomorrow morning, we will try to get tickets for the Sundance Film Festival at 9 am. Means we gotta go to bed early tonight. I am also planning on putting in a full day of lab experiments. It’s been a pretty busy time at work since my boss returned from paternity leave.
TV shows
Thursday, January 5th, 2012I watch quite a few shows regularly even though I do not own a TV. Thanks to hulu and CBS.com I am able to keep up with my favorites. I enjoy coming home from work and unwinding with my knitting, my cat and my husband in front of the computer. My favorites include Survivor, Amazing Race (both CBS), The Good Wife (CBS), Top Chef (Bravo, episodes are available about 1 month after it airs), Glee (Fox), Parks and Recreation (NBC), and Modern Family (ABC).
Tonight, I will be watching “Switched at Birth” a relatively new show from the cable network ABC Family. I find it entertaining but somewhat overly dramatic.