From our Kitchen: Curds & Whey

UPDATED per Jay's comments:

Jay and I watched an episode of Good Eats last week featuring milk recipes. Jay was inspired by Alton Brown's creation of curds and whey (just like the nursery rhyme!), so much that he decided to try it out.

All you need is a gallon of milk, 3/4 cup of white vinegar and 1/4 cup of half and half.

He started by heating up the milk to 120 degrees:

Once it hit the right temperature, turn off the heat & add vinegar. Not even 20 seconds later, the curds and whey started separating from each other.
You are supposed to let it sit for about 30 minutes to finish the process. Afterwards, Jay drained the liquid into cheesecloth and was left with the chunky curd.
The next step was to rinse it:
And then crumble it into a bowl, mix with half and half and a sprinkle of salt:

To answer the questions I'm sure you have:
*Yes, Jay liked it. He said it tasted like a better version of cottage cheese.
*No, I did not try it. I do not like cottage cheese and the smell of vinegar during this process further deterred me from a tasting.
*Yes, I followed my husband around the kitchen taking pictures of him making this.
*A tuffet is "a low stool; footstool" according to Dictionary.com

Weekend Update

Jay and I drove out to San Diego this weekend to surprise Tori in celebration of her 40th birthday. Below is our weekend in photos:

Surprised Tori

Jay and I

The Westwind Crew at the party. Tori and I found our husbands in flight school and love to reminisce about when it all started! Perkins Family - Serena, Tori & Noah, Adam, and Isabel Pineapple & Coconut Bowling - so fun, especially when the coconut cracks and the milk spatters all over the spectators!Noah getting into trouble. Look at that innocent face!
Headed to my weekend surprise in Julian, CA
Jay took me to an Art & Music Festival! It was a great time. Below I'm getting my psychic portrait done by the lady in the funny hat.
This is my psychic portrait. For $5, I got this ugly picture plus a summary of my past "troubled waters", current "calm seas (with lurking shark)" and future "troubled waters (with dry land)". I figure if the economy gets really bad, I can try out this "art" to make some dough. I mean, my pictures would be at least prettier than this!
One of my favorite parts about driving to San Diego is Dateland, Arizona. It's in the middle of nowhere, but a great place to stop! The date trees are the backdrop of picture of me sipping on one of their world famous Date Milkshakes. I know it sounds weird, but man is it good!!
I'm already looking forward to what next weekend will bring!

Honeymoon in Review

We still have so many photos and stories to share with you from our wedding! I figured it was time to give a quick overview of our wonderful honeymoon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

This is our first resort in Playacar, just south of downtown:

We had a pretty nice view of the ocean at this all-inclusive resort. Plenty of food and lots of drinks as we soaked up the rays on the beach!

On our second day there, we headed over to Cozumel on this boat:
It was a quick 30 minute trip to the island. Jay and I were amazed at how we could see the gigantic cruise ships from the mainland - getting even bigger as we approached the island. Having arrived, we picked up our scooter which is the main form of transportation on Cozumel. Check out this hottie:
I must say I was a bit nervous riding on the back of this thing. Having never been on a motorcycle or anything like this before, it took me a while to feel comfortable. Jay liked speeding along the very edge of the road which made me nervous that we'd grab the side of the lip and crash! Of course, that didn't happen and by the end of the day, I was quite comfortable.

The great thing about Cozumel is that it is much less developed than the mainland cities of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Playa is very laid back, but Cozumel feels like a true escape. Here is a picture of the beach on the very east side of the island.
Back on the mainland, we enjoyed a Mexican dinner at the resort. Jay and I were both hesitant about taking the shot of tequila we were greeted with, but afterwards were pleasantly surprised. It was some sort of spiced tequila with a nice cinnamony flavor that made it go down very easy! Here is a pic of us at dinner (the server said that a dinner there was not complete without donning these lovely sombreros):

We also played a nice game of chess. It was a cool life-sized board and offered a nice amount of shade on this hot day. Who do you think won this game?!
Having checked out of the first resort while it was too early to check into the second, we decided to have a few beers downtown. The bartender was very entertaining and I just loved the fact that you sit in swings!
By the time we were able to check in, we were more than ready. It was a very sweaty day and we wanted a shower! Here is a photo of our second resort. We had this lovely cabana on the beach all to ourselves. It was so nice to be this close to the water!
Here is the view we woke up to every morning (Jay is out having a morning dip):
We spent most of our time here either in our hammocks on the patio or on the beach reading. It was so relaxing and the food was delicious.

On our last day, Jay treated me to a massage which was such a treat! Look at where it was! It was so peaceful - the ocean breeze was blowing through the thin drapes (which were closed during my session of course). What a great way to end a trip :) We have a ton of wedding photos to still post and I promise they are coming soon!

From our Kitchen: Hummus

Jay purchased some tahini at Sunflower Market this week so we could make our own hummus. Thanks to our new mini Cuisinart, we are able to make it easily and quickly! Here is how we (ok, Jay) threw a batch together to enjoy with our dinner. 

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas, saving 1/4c of the liquid

1 1/2T tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

garlic to taste

pepper to taste

1-2T olive oil

Blend together first 5 ingredients, then slowly drizzle in olive oil until smooth and at desired consistency. 

I myself prefer flavored hummus, so for my batch (1/2 of the above base mix), we added about 1/4t cumin and a handful of cilantro. 

Check out the final result (mine is the green stuff on the right). It was delicious!!!

Oh How I Miss Our Day!

This is both my mom and dad's favorite photo from the

slideshow that Joe played at the reception.

Lounging on a bench outside the church

Handsome husband on the boat

In front of the Lang House

where we spent our wedding night

Wedding Photos Have Arrived!

Jay and I had our friend and wedding photographer Joseph Blech and his wife Kiera over for lunch yesterday to take a look at our lovely wedding photos! It was a great time and there are sooo many great pictures we are excited to share!! Turns out we have over 1300 photos to go through. Over the next few weeks I'll post some of our favorites here while Joe is working on a slideshow that I'll be able to post soon as well! 

Here is a teaser pic for you from our wedding day. Jay is lifting me over the rope at the end of Church Street. Look at that sunshine!!! More to come, so stay tuned!

Just Around the Corner

Fall is making its way into the Davis home. Apple pies for Labor Day, and just this past week the gourds have arrived! My matron of honor Julie included one in a package we received from her and her husband this week (the one on the bottom right - they grew it in their garden) and the others were there to greet me when I came home from work on Thursday night. Its one thing that I really miss about Vermont - the cool days of apple picking, corn stalks tied to people's lamp posts, and the sweaters coming out of storage.

Here in Arizona, it just cools down to reasonable temperatures for a month or two :) Regardless, we are looking forward to cooler temperatures and more outside activities as daytime temperatures dip below the three-digit mark!

The Clouds are Calling...

It may come as no surprise to you readers, but I cried today. This time it was due to realizing that I have lost a lot of my flying knowledge over the past few years. Its not that I have forgotten how to fly - I feel that I probably could do a decent job getting back in the left seat, but its that I can't read charts properly anymore. I forget many of the FARs (Federal Aviation Regulations). I struggle to remember the details of all of the mechanics of flight and airplanes. 

It's really sad. Flying is what brought my husband and I together, and though I know I made the right decision in not continuing to pursue it as a career, it makes me sad that it has escaped my daily life. I look back to 2002 when I would wake up most days at 5am to fly before it got over 110. I think about going to Jay's place after school to study and ask him endless questions about airspace, FARs (he was and is still quite versed in them), and technique. And I think about the sights, smells, sounds, and overall feeling I embraced with love (yes, love) every day at the airport. I miss that. 

While talking on the phone tonight Jay heard the sadness in my voice and offered to sit down with me this weekend to go over the charts a bit together just for old times sake. It makes me happy that flying is something that we can share and that I know will always be a part of our lives together. I just hope that I get back up to visit those clouds again soon...they are certainly calling my name...

Not to Brag But....

I have the best husband ever! Today I got home from work and was greeted by the following:

*Freshly mopped floor (our whole downstairs is tile, so it's a big task!)

*Perfectly cleaned bathroom

*Organized storage closet

*Husband cooking me dinner

Jay is going to see his parents in Colorado this weekend and knew that I had these tasks on my weekend to-do list. How absolutely amazing of him to do this for me so that I too can enjoy my weekend and find time to relax! 

aaahhhh...married bliss....

Labor Day Weekend Recap

We had a very busy, fun-filled Labor Day weekend. It started with me getting out of work early on Friday afternoon which was very nice! That evening, we headed to the movie theatre and finally saw The Dark Knight. It was a great movie and we both enjoyed it. Saturday I attended Tara's shower (see previous post) while Jay had a checkride. After the shower, I met Jay at the nearest "Nebraska Bar" which happens to be conveniently just down the street from our house! We ate some junk food while Nebraska won their first game of the season 47-24. Check out this photo of all the red-wearing Cornhusker fans:

Saturday night after a quick nap, we headed to Scottsdale. Yep, you heard it right, the Davis' went to Axis Radius to help a friend celebrate his birthday. I must admit that I was not looking forward to spending a late night out in "da club", especially since it has been years since we've "gone out", but it ended up being a good time. Our friend had rented out a VIP room in the bar so we had our own space, server, and balcony to the outside! Very nice for us old-timers :) There was a very small turnout for the "party", so Jay felt quite obligated to help our friend drink the 2 large bottles of Grey Goose vodka that came with the room. Lets just say that Sunday morning someone wasn't feeling so well and it wasn't me!!

Sunday we both slept in pretty late, and then made 2 apple pies to take to our friend's going away party that evening. This one tool that my mom purchased for us for well under $10 makes apple pie-making very enjoyable and quick!

Our friends that are moving - Rachel and Foye - love Thanksgiving, so their friends threw them a Thanksgiving in August party! Jay and I were psyched to have the favorites that we usually only get once a year - turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing....mmmmmm. Check out the spread:

Here is a photo of Rachel and I:

And the lovely centerpiece of the evening!!

Today we attended a very low-key barbecue at our friends house. We hung out at the pool and just relaxed and caught up. It was a really nice way to end the long weekend.

I'd say that other than our wedding weekend, this comes in 2nd for busiest one of the year! It was wonderful spending it with friends and being able to finally unwind after months and months of wedding on the brain!