Big Old Jet Airliner....

Well.. today it is time for a ranting email. So if you are in a good mood today and don't need any negative comments.. stop reading.
Today.. right about now, Jason and I were SUPPOSED to be landing at LaGuardia Airport in NYC. However, we received a call at 2am saying that our flight was canceled. After being on hold for over an hour (Jason was on hold.. I went back to sleep), we found that the only flight we could get is tomorrow, it leaves earlier in the morning but we get to NY later because it isn't a direct flight (which we paid extra for).
What is the reason for this ridiculousness? According to the airline, the storms in the Northeast yesterday were bad enough and so many flights were canceled that they had to cancel flights today to ease pressure on the already congested airways. I understand that safety must be considered first and foremost, however, I don't understand how we will still be paying for a direct flight (which we are no longer getting) and that there is no way to get us to NY still today. We were offered the option of flying to Newark this afternoon but as I have learned.. Newark is not the easiest place to get to from Long Island. So I am building up the stamina to be on hold with the airlines and argue some more but it seems that we will be here in Wisconsin for the day. I guess that gives me time to post some other things in other, more positive posts.

Baseball Musings

I hadn't planned on writing much for the next few days until I get things with work wrapped up. I haven't done the Friday feast, posted pictures of all of our tomatoes, food, or the going away party that my lab had for me.
However, I feel like I should write something today. I don't consider myself a hardcore baseball fan, I love sports and I don't mind going to a few games and keeping score. When it comes to following team standings or remembering many players names, that is not my specialty.
Today's sports headline on msn was that Rod Beck was dead at 38. Now I know that he was an All-Star and many people know him but he is one of those names and faces that always stuck with me. Everyone remembers the 1998 baseball season because of Mark McGwire's home run record.. some may have already forgotten the crazy race between McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Although I liked McGwire, the Cubs fan inside of me was cheering for Sammy. If my memory serves me correctly, the Cubs were a wild card team in 1998.... even though McGwire had hit so many home runs.. there wasn't much that could be done to boost the Cardinals into the postseason.
I can remember watching the end of the season (and the resulting postseason) and laughing to myself that Mark might have his record.. but at least Sammy still had a team to play on. And then there was this crazy pitcher who had a perfect mullet and mustache, the most intimidating stare from the mound in addition to this crazy arm swing before his pitch. I usually referred to him as crazy arm pitcher. He was entertaining and a great pitcher and then the season ended (as it always does) for the Cubs.
Then in 2003 I heard stories of Beck again.. granted I would see him play from time to time in games or ESPN highlights but Rod Beck was working his way back to the big leagues with the Iowa Cubs. Being from Iowa, I am familiar with the Des Moines area and Sec Taylor Stadium. Rod Beck became a legend in Des Moines. You see, instead of buying or renting a condo or apartment to live in, Rod decided to buy a Winnebago (also made in Iowa) and live in it in the Stadiums parking lot. He always had beer and loved his fans.. and the game. He was eventually signed by the Giants and moved from Des Moines but you still hear stories about Rod and his life in the Winnie. Maybe my sensitivity is heightened today because I watched "For the Love of the Game" this morning or maybe I am turned off by baseball's whining overpaid players and almost obvious blind eye to steroids... but the stories of Rod were always about a regular old guy just doing what he loved.. playing baseball. If we all could be so lucky.



As a disclaimer, I am no sports writer or baseball fanatic so if I have any details listed incorrectly, I apologize

Friday Feast number 149

Appetizer
Name a funny habit you have.

I am sure that I probably have lots of funny habits. I sometimes say sorry often.. I dno't know if that is necessarily funny.

Soup
If you could instantly know how to play a musical instrument, which one would you pick?

French horn. I don't know how to play it but I always thought it sounded so beautiful.

Salad
How long is your hair?

About 4 inches below my shoulder.

Main Course
When was the last time you forgave someone, and who was it?

In the last day or two.. probably Jason or myself.

Dessert
What is your favorite kitchen appliance?

My Kitchenaid Mixer.

Broccoli-Cheese Corn Bread

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup butter, cubed
2 pkg corn bread muffin mix
2 cups (8 oz) shredded monterrey jack
6 eggs
1-1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 pkg (9oz) frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
1 cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
2 tbsp canned jalapeno slices, chopped

In a large skillet, saute onions in butter until tender; set aside. In a large bowl, combine corn bread mix and shredded cheese. In another bowl, beat the eggs, cottage cheese and onion mixture. Stir into cornbread mixture just until moistened. Fold in broccoli, corn, and jalapeno.
Transfer to a greased 13-in x 9-in pan. Bake at 400 for 35-40 min until lightly browned and edges pull away from sides of pan. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-15 servings.

Very good cornbread recipe.. of course with a whole cup of butter, how could it be bad? Yet another recipe from the July/August 2007 issue of Simple and Delicious.

Deluxe Strawberry Shortcake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

FILLING:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 carton (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 cups chopped fresh strawberries

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 2 min. Pour into two greased and floured 9-in round baking pans.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 min until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 min before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Place one cake on serving platter top with half of the cream cheese mixture and strawberries. Repeat layers, store in fridge.
Yield:12 servings

This was SO good. I will definitely keep it in mind for future gatherings. Also a recipe from the July/August issue of Simple and Delicious.

Pesto Cheese Tarts

2/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup mayo
1/4 cup shredded mozerella cheese
3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tsp prepared pesto
1/8 tsp pepper
1 package frozen mini phyllo tart shells

In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, mayo, cheeses, pesto, and pepper. Spoon heaping teaspoonfuls into tart shells. Place on an ungreased baking sheet . Bake at 350 for 8-12 min or until lightly browned. Yield: 15 appetizers.

These little tarts were so easy to make.. they literally took 15 mintues to throw together... and they disappeared almost as quickly. Our guests requested the recipe to take with them. From the July/August 2007 issue of Simple and Delicious.

Weekend

I can't believe it is Sunday already. I have been working quite a bit the past two weeks since I am trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible at my job. I planned to go to work yesterday for 2 hours or less and I didn't go at all. It was a nice change. We had some friends Pallavi (who we know from grad school at Missouri) and her boyfriend Akhil. It was a beautiful day outside so we grilled some pork chops and Italian Sausages that our guests brought. Looking for cooking inspiration, I looked though the Simple and Delicious issue that I recieved this week. I made some pesto cheese tarts, broccoli cheese corn bread, and deluxe strawberry shortcake. I also threw together a salad.. I don't think anyone needed dinner last night!
I will post pictures and recipes for the things I made. It was nice to see our friends.. even though we all work at UW, we don't see each other often.
We had a surprise visitor come on Thursday. Our friend Rich, a high school friend of Jason's, flew to Madison Thursday afternoon. I was pretty busy with work so I will let Jason post more details of the visit. I know that they ate about 5000 calories each between brats and beer at the memorial union, more brats and beer at State Street Brats, cheese curds at Big 10, and a butterburger basket with a frozen custard concrete from Culvers. The kicker is that Rich was still hungry when he got to our house so Jason made him a frozen pizza.
As for my plants, I picked my first tomato this week.. or I should say that I touched it and it feel off the plant.



Here are some pictures of the plants that I took last week.. the herbs still look great but the cilantro is starting to bolt. I think I need to make some salsa. The tomato plant is still loaded and there are only about 3 little tomatoes that are turning red.



I hope everyone had a good weekend. This week will be mosty more work for me. My lab is having a party for me on Thursday and I will play my last softball game with our Friday team if it doesn't rain.