Nemocón, Colombia and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello guys,

I realized that we still hadn't posted pictures from Nemocón, Colombia. So, aptly, here are a few of us eating with Tavo's family. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Mac and cheese, peanut butter cookies and little animals

We went to the gas station on Friday night with a very modest request. We both wanted macaroni and cheese. Kraft, fluorescent orange mac and cheese. We didn't feel like going all the way to the grocery store, so if it wasn't at the gas station, we were out of luck.

Gas station didn't have it. BUT!!! They did have macaroni noodles, with a recipe on the box. Hmm...after I quick gander, I discerned we had enough of the ingredients to make do, and we set off to have a very nutritious dinner of Mac and Cheese.
We halved the below recipe, because we barely had a cup of cheese. It still worked well, and between four of us, it was gone before it even cooled down.

8 oz elbow macaroni

1/4 cup butter

3 T. flour

1/8 t. dry mustard

1/8 t. pepper

2 cups milk

2 cups cheddar (or a mix)

panko for the topping

**we also added a good 1/4 cup chopped jalapeños
-cook noodles until barely al dente, drain

-melt butter in saucepan, add flour, mustard and pepper

-cook mixture until bubbly and smooth, gradually add milk

-gradually mix in cheese

-add pasta, mix and pour into casserole

-top with panko and bake for 25 minutes at 350.


What goes with macaroni cheese? Peanut butter cookies :) So much bad-for-you food, but so delicious! We only ate a couple of these, sent the rest home with friends.

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. baking powder

3/4 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

375 for 10-12 minutes

Do you guys remember Sculpey? (Or Fimo?) Its the clay that you can bake in the oven. It was on sale at the local art store, so we grabbed a couple packs to play around with. I forgot how fun this is!!

Frog!
Scale shot--I'm no hand model.
Reindeer!


We made an army of critters to protect us.

Hooray for Tavo!!

Celebrating :)

Like many, the recession had hit us hard. After some years in the business, Tavo was laid off from his position with a small GPS / Laser company in late summer. In the last few months, he has diligently applied, interviewed, and studied for every available position in his field. His hard work has paid off.

Tavo accepted an offer today as a technician for an international company. His fluency in Spanish, technical know-how, and overall work ethic has landed him an excellent position in a growing company. Bravo, babe! You deserve this.

Cheers to Tavo and his new job!

In other good news, we will be puppy-sitting for Tavo's parents this weekend. Say hello to Sombra :)

(he's not really keen on holding still...)

a beautiful autumn..and azaleas (!!)

It has been ridiculously gorgeous here! We had such a cold and rainy October--I definitely wasn't expecting hot and sunny weekends in November. To celebrate, I ran another race on Saturday. This was was the "Run for Justice" to support the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. A few of my friends are attorneys at Atlanta Legal Aid (and they also both won their age group!) I came in about 5 minutes behind them ;) Here are some photos, I didn't include my friends because you know how gorgeous running photos are..

(notice the AWESOME paint steez)
beauty queen :)


Look at the dog!!

We aren't the only ones surprised by the sudden warm weather--everyone's azaleas are blooming!! I have never seen them bloom in the fall before...have you?
The can man makes a cameo ;)

Butternut Squash Curry...a work in progress

I haven't quite decided if I like this curry or not...I'm waiting to see how it is tomorrow. Hope I like it because there is a veritable vat of it.

So, here is the creation of the mystery curry. Tavo found an enormous butternut at the market, and brought it home.

I puzzled with the whole peeling aspect...

Tavo's assistance was required, as always, to split the squash. He is the official squash halver.

Witness the master at his trade...

There was so much squash that we cubed and froze about half!
Lima beans, cooking.

Squash, onion, curry spices, tomato...
Mix together now. Hmmm...that looks suspiciously like frozen mixed vegetables...

Coconut milk

Verdict? It's decent. I really need to wait until tomorrow to see how the flavors blend, ultimately.

Just a ponder:

I probably shouldn't even talk about this here, but I'm watching the movie "Ballast" and thinking about crime. There is a ton of robberies around here--our neighborhood is the more affluent one in this area. We've even had our house broken into twice--luckily, there isn't much to steal (unless you like books). If you watch the news and such, you'll see that the vast majority of house robberies are done by teenagers. Usually, they're tried as adults, and their life is written for them. What is this? Why is this? Has it always been this way?