Ok, so in one of my previous posts, where I was waxing all poetic about the wonders of Ms. Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I mention that I was all fired up because I bought a kit to make my own mozzarella, but since then I haven't talked about it.
I kinda forgot and got all not fired up and I've been too busy.
But yesterday, the fiancé was coming home from spending 3 days in Vegas, and I was all excited to see him, and I had a bunch of tomatoes from the garden lining my kitchen window - so I stuck some chardonney in the fridge to chill and decided to make the cheese so we could eat a caprese salad when he got home.
Well, I tried to do it. It supposedly only takes 30 minutes. First off, let me tell you that it takes longer than 30 minutes. Though, if you don't screw up the first batch and have to wash everything, run out to the store to get ANOTHER gallon of milk, and then restart, it might take like 45 minutes to an hour. Took me over an hour and a half :P
I think I didn't dissolve the citric acid enough in the first batch, and then heated it too much, so it didn't hold together at all.
There's something wrong when your mozzarella looks like ricotta.
So, for the second batch, I was super diligent and careful. The curds will not be holding together after you heat the milk, but you have to try to scoop them out into a bowl and remove as much of the whey (liquid stuff) as you can. It took me like 15 minutes to just do that part.
Then you microwave, drain, knead, microwave, drain, knead, microwave, knead, stretch, microwave, stretch, shape - and then you drop it in ice water and you're done! It's when you microwave it that it starts to actually look like mozzarella. The ice water is key too. Gotta leave it in there for longer than 5 minutes (learned that one real quick).
So we dined on our most homemade meal to date - basil and tomatoes we'd grown along with mozzarella that I made and damn it was good! We drizzled some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper on it and I was so impressed with myself. It tasted almost like the store bought stuff, and I only ruined one batch before I got it right!
They also say that whey is pretty good plant food, so we strained it and dumped it on the plants in the hope that it will help them grow.
This weekend the fiancé's parents are coming down for dinner, so I think I will make fresh mozzarella since his mom always has to prove she can do stuff better than me - but she's never made her own cheese! HAH!
Yeah, it's petty, what can I say? It's the little things :P
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Dress shopping
This weekend, Ding and Loud dragged me down to Verona to go wedding dress shopping. While there, I quickly realized how ignorant I am about wedding dresses. Apparently, you can get pretty much any dress altered in any way you want.
Seriously! And if you go somewhere like Vera's or David's, you try on sample dresses, decide which one you want, and then they send an order off and the dress is made just for you. It takes like 4 months!
The place we went to was sort of like a consignment shop where the dresses they had were the only dresses. I actually tried on 2 dresses, and amazingly, they both looked pretty good. I think I have a better idea of what I want now - simple white, with bright crayola-red accents. That would go with the whole red/white/black color scheme we're thinking about.
Though, standing in front of the mirror dressed in a wedding dress and veil was quite possibly the weirdest event of my life. It was like seeing someone else, and the fact that my brain kept trying to deal with the fact that the person in the mirror was actually ME left me emotionally and mentally exhausted.
I guess it's a good thing that I have such a long time to get used to it :)
Seriously! And if you go somewhere like Vera's or David's, you try on sample dresses, decide which one you want, and then they send an order off and the dress is made just for you. It takes like 4 months!
The place we went to was sort of like a consignment shop where the dresses they had were the only dresses. I actually tried on 2 dresses, and amazingly, they both looked pretty good. I think I have a better idea of what I want now - simple white, with bright crayola-red accents. That would go with the whole red/white/black color scheme we're thinking about.
Though, standing in front of the mirror dressed in a wedding dress and veil was quite possibly the weirdest event of my life. It was like seeing someone else, and the fact that my brain kept trying to deal with the fact that the person in the mirror was actually ME left me emotionally and mentally exhausted.
I guess it's a good thing that I have such a long time to get used to it :)
Monday, July 23, 2007
Fun and not so fun
This weekend rocked. We went on a canoe trip down the WI River and camped out one night. The highlight was the 9am constitutional of shotgunning a beer each day before we started out. Of course, I was then drunk by noon on Saturday (earliest ever, amazing) and me and the fiancé went to bed by like 9pm or so. Everyone else was in bed by 10pm. I figure that we technically partied all day so I don't feel bad about retiring so early.
The next day was pretty funny since everyone had somehow missed some part of their back when applying sunscreen and we were all pretty red/white splotchy. I think that, all in all, the trip rocked (pictures to come) and was worth the ouchiness that I now go through every time I put on a bra.
On the not-so-fun note, this afternoon was the sentencing for the OWI in January. Part of the sentence I've mostly already done, and a lot of the parts I still have to do. I'm hoping to avoid jail time and am praying that since my foot still doesn't work we can get in a loophole and I'll be able to just do about 3 months of home confinement without actually being in jail (the last time I was in jail it was the suckiest time EVEREVEREVEREVER, and I'm not looking forward to repeating it). I'd be able to go to work and that's it, like last time, only way longer. I'm not sure what the alcohol policy is - if it's pretty lax, I'll be hosting a lot more events at my place between 9/1 and 12/1. License revoked for a year and then I can get an occupational (only drive to work and back at certain times or something I think), and I have to get an ignition interlock device installed on any car I own for the next 2 years until I can get my normal license back (36 month total suspension). But again we're hoping to do some shifting and get through a loophole to avoid the IID at least.
It means that Damon will have to drive for the wedding, but while I'm in RI for that I'm hoping to hit up the DMV in Pawtucket and pay them $100 to officially remove the first DUI from my record (since it's been over 5 years and I think that's the time limit).
Yes, it's basically bribery and it's legal. What do you expect from a mob-run state? But at least my insurance would probably go down a bit once that's off the record. I'll have to see if it's now more money than what I thought - I think the last time I heard about that was like 4 years ago now. Yey inflation.
The next day was pretty funny since everyone had somehow missed some part of their back when applying sunscreen and we were all pretty red/white splotchy. I think that, all in all, the trip rocked (pictures to come) and was worth the ouchiness that I now go through every time I put on a bra.
On the not-so-fun note, this afternoon was the sentencing for the OWI in January. Part of the sentence I've mostly already done, and a lot of the parts I still have to do. I'm hoping to avoid jail time and am praying that since my foot still doesn't work we can get in a loophole and I'll be able to just do about 3 months of home confinement without actually being in jail (the last time I was in jail it was the suckiest time EVEREVEREVEREVER, and I'm not looking forward to repeating it). I'd be able to go to work and that's it, like last time, only way longer. I'm not sure what the alcohol policy is - if it's pretty lax, I'll be hosting a lot more events at my place between 9/1 and 12/1. License revoked for a year and then I can get an occupational (only drive to work and back at certain times or something I think), and I have to get an ignition interlock device installed on any car I own for the next 2 years until I can get my normal license back (36 month total suspension). But again we're hoping to do some shifting and get through a loophole to avoid the IID at least.
It means that Damon will have to drive for the wedding, but while I'm in RI for that I'm hoping to hit up the DMV in Pawtucket and pay them $100 to officially remove the first DUI from my record (since it's been over 5 years and I think that's the time limit).
Yes, it's basically bribery and it's legal. What do you expect from a mob-run state? But at least my insurance would probably go down a bit once that's off the record. I'll have to see if it's now more money than what I thought - I think the last time I heard about that was like 4 years ago now. Yey inflation.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Recent activities (and pics!)
Busy busy lately!
The 4th was spent at Lucia's house, drinking, eating, and then generally carousing at the Monona 4th of July Festival. The highlight of that, of course, was the wife carry. While no one in our group actually participated (that would involve serious training, people), the 2 engaged couples were forced to prove that they could, in fact, at least show proper form if need be:
Other pics that led up to this, and of M also being subjected to this (and almost wiping out!):
Awesome.
The weekend after that was spent shotgunning cheap beer, playing flippy cup and washers, sitting around a campfire, and otherwise partying an hour east of Madison at Roswell's parent's house.
We had healthy eating night at Ding's on that Tuesday, during which I promised to hold the next healthy eating night at my place - theme: French cooking. Get ideas ready ladies, I will be holding that sometime within in the next month.
Last weekend was the Second Annual Deep Fry Extravaganza. Oh fried foods, how do we love thee (just not for another week or so at least). But more about that on the WI Roaming blog :)
Monday, July 2, 2007
Wedding planning sucks
So, I got up early again yesterday (10:30am or so), because I again spent a large chunk of Saturday sleeping. I was trying to get in touch with the place back in Rhode Island where the fiancé and I were thinking of having the wedding.
Well, I finally get in touch with them and find out that because our wedding will be so tiny (12-15 people) we can't rent their outdoor on-the-beach patio. They won't rent for less than 60-70 people. Boo!!
So then we had to go online to try to find new venues and I called all of them and had to leave messages and such, and that took like over 2 hours. I swear to god, I hate this wedding planning stuff. I want to elope, but noooooooooo, the fiancé wants a wedding.
I haven't even really gotten down the nitty-gritty of it and I already want to give up. That's not good, is it? I'm thinking of pairing down the wedding party too, to just a few people, and just having it in my parent's backyard. It's pretty and we could rent a tent and such and just have a dinner/small reception there and then hang out. The fiancé likes that idea (it actually was his idea) and my Dad seemed ok with it, but as predicted, it gave my Mom a grade A first class heart attack, *sigh*.
Eloping is the key. Maybe Hawaii. Just me and the boy. No fancy-smancy wedding, just elope, honeymoon, reception.
Anyways, since that's not an option, I'm looking for ways to make this smaller/simpler/etc. I am, perhaps, the only person that I know that doesn't want people around when I get married. I'm fine with celebrating with people, but I want the actual ceremony to be private. I can't be the only bride-to-be who's thought that, and yet, every venue we looked at yesterday were all for like 150-400 guests. Who has that many friends and relatives that they want to invite to their wedding???
Well, I finally get in touch with them and find out that because our wedding will be so tiny (12-15 people) we can't rent their outdoor on-the-beach patio. They won't rent for less than 60-70 people. Boo!!
So then we had to go online to try to find new venues and I called all of them and had to leave messages and such, and that took like over 2 hours. I swear to god, I hate this wedding planning stuff. I want to elope, but noooooooooo, the fiancé wants a wedding.
I haven't even really gotten down the nitty-gritty of it and I already want to give up. That's not good, is it? I'm thinking of pairing down the wedding party too, to just a few people, and just having it in my parent's backyard. It's pretty and we could rent a tent and such and just have a dinner/small reception there and then hang out. The fiancé likes that idea (it actually was his idea) and my Dad seemed ok with it, but as predicted, it gave my Mom a grade A first class heart attack, *sigh*.
Eloping is the key. Maybe Hawaii. Just me and the boy. No fancy-smancy wedding, just elope, honeymoon, reception.
Anyways, since that's not an option, I'm looking for ways to make this smaller/simpler/etc. I am, perhaps, the only person that I know that doesn't want people around when I get married. I'm fine with celebrating with people, but I want the actual ceremony to be private. I can't be the only bride-to-be who's thought that, and yet, every venue we looked at yesterday were all for like 150-400 guests. Who has that many friends and relatives that they want to invite to their wedding???
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