Donut Muffins

Yesterday, Justin and I checked out Scratch in downtown Durham. Justin has been wanting to check out this place for a couple months now. Scratch is a new, local bakery in Durham that features local ingredients and unique baked goods. Justin was really looking forward to trying a donut muffin. Unfortunately, we got there too late in the day and they had sold out. He was super bummed :(

We have had horrible weather down here all weekend. It has been cold and rainy all day, so it put me in the mood to bake something. Justin suggested that I try making homemade donut muffins. I whipped up a batch this afternoon. I really don't think that they taste too much like donuts, but they are still tasty nonetheless and I'm sure I will enjoy eating one on my way to work tomorrow.



Recipe: Donut Muffins

Garden Redux

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted to go back to Duke Gardens to see the wisteria adorned gazebo. For a couple weeks now I have had my eyes peeled open and on the watch for wisteria. Well, this week it was spotted! I noticed the first sighting of it on my way to work, along the freeway. Ever since then, Justin and I both have seen wisteria popping up. We decided to go back to Duke Gardens to see what the gazebo looked like.

Here it is....


Womp. Womp. The wisteria had just stared to bloom on the gazebo and it wasn't much of a sight. If you look very closely, you can see a few blooms near the edges of the roof. Although it was a bummer that the gazebo was not in bloom, there were some new flowers that had popped up since the last time we were there and we still had fun walking in the cold (44 degrees!) and cloudy weather.



We even spotted a dog wearing shoes!


Maybe next week the wisteria will be in full bloom. Yes, we will be back at Duke Gardens next Sunday. An intern at Justin's work is from Japan and she is hosting a Japanese Tea Ceremony at the gardens and invited us. Let's hope that next week, I'll have a more exciting picture to share!

Crepes

Last night for dinner, I made these:

Lemon-Ricotta Crepes with Strawberry Topping

I had actually planned on making them for dinner on Wednesday night. I had smashed the strawberries and blended the ricotta cheese and lemon juice. It wasn't until I started making the crepe batter that I realized I made a mistake. The batter was suppose to chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Since it was 8:00pm by the time I started dinner, I did not feel like waiting around until 10:00 to eat. I continued to prepare all the components and let them chill the the fridge for a day. Our back-up dinner: spaghetti with tomato sauce and garlic bread. This should teach me to read the FULL recipe including cooking time before I start.

We enjoyed the crepes last night for dinner (healthy dinner, right?) while watching a netflix. It was my first time making crepes and it took me one or two tries to get the pattern down. They sure are very thin and fragile things! I did enjoy this mixture, but honestly, the consistency of the ricotta was a little off for me. If I were to make crepes again, I would take more of the dessert route and have a chocolate or nutella filling with some fruit.

If you want the recipe, just leave a comment! It is from one of my cookbooks and I honestly don't feel like tying the whole thing out, sorry!

Blogger's Block

Sorry readers, but I have been experiencing what I like to call, 'Blogger's Block.' Not too much has been happening for me to blog about. Justin and I had planned on taking a day trip to the beach on Saturday. We had our cooler packed, beach chairs out, bathing suites on and were in route to the beach, until we turned around. On Friday afternoon, I started experiencing some eye problems. I was hoping that my eye would feel better by Saturday but it did not. My eye was still bloodshot, it felt like it was bruised/sore and it was very sensitive to the light. It was so bad that I could barely open my eye. So instead of the beach, we went to the eye doctor. It turns out that my eye was inflamed due to some bacteria or virus. I went back to the eye doctor yesterday and he said that my eye was healing great!

Yesterday Jen stated that I was letting my readers down since I had not blogged in a couple of days. She suggested that I should write about my job and let everyone know what I've been up to.

I am a Teacher Assistant for third grade. My day is divided into about hour-long chunks. The first chunk is Math. During this time, I usually take a small group to a different classroom and teach/ reinforce the concept that is being taught. My third graders are currently learning about elapsed time, fractions, mixed fractions, improper fractions, multiplication and division. The second chunk is spent making copies for all six teachers. Boy, these teachers sure do need lots of copies! I have probably killed so many trees just in the two months that I have worked at the school. I have also grown very close to the copy machine. This one machine is probably going to give me 10 gray hairs and give me a heart attack. I pray for it to work EVERY SINGLE time I make a copy. That is how terrible this machine is. [Side note- making copies is my least favorite part of my job]. The third chunk is lunch duty. I stand around for 45 minutes getting spoons and napkins for students, opening go-gurt and pudding packages and reminding students that they are still on 'red' and not allowed to talk. [Actually this is my least favorite part of the day. As you can see my least favorite parts of the day are when I am not involved with the academics and teaching]. After lunch duty is literacy, where I either have students read with me to help build their fluency or help other students with their assignments. The third graders have been learning about different kinds of fiction: fantasy, fable, short story, novel etc. Then it is lunch. After lunch is social studies/ science. Third graders are learning about the solar system, soil properties and the colonial times. After lunch is recess! The last chunk of the day is writing. During this time, I conference with students to discuss their writing and see how they can enhance their writing.

Honestly, some days are better than others. My best days are when teachers have me take groups out and teach. I guess I truly am meant to be a teacher ;) The days that drag on for me are the ones in which I am simply in the room, roaming around to see if any students need help. I would much rather be in front of a group or the whole class teaching. Although I am feeling more comfortable with third grade and could teach it myself, today I was bunting heads with my third graders. Third graders love to be involved in each others business. Today on the playground, I probably had ten students come up to me and say, "So and so has to go to the bathroom really bad." My response: "If so and so has to go to the bathroom that badly, she can come and tell me. Go play." Today I was really missing my younger first graders.

Although I think this job is a good transition for me right now, I cannot WAIT to have my own classroom. This job is allowing me to get used to the school/ school system. I have had the opportunity to see other teachers teach and get more experience in third grade. However, I am ready to be a teacher. I have had enough sitting back and watch other people take the wheel. We continue to pray for the perfect teaching job to be opened up for me next year. Please pray for me as well!

FINALLY!!

My Teaching License has FINALLY arrived!! I have been earnestly checking the mailbox for the past month and a half, eagerly anticipating its arrival. Each trip to the mailbox has been a huge disappointment, except for TODAY! It just arrived literally two minutes ago! Since I am home alone and have no one to share it with, I naturally updated my facebook status and then decided to blog about it :)

The reason why I have been looking forward to this day is because I am OFFICIALLY a licensed teacher. Up until today, I had completed my coursework and received my diploma, but I did not have the proof that I needed to show that I am a certified teacher. NOW I AM!

Now, I just need a teaching job..... :)

Baking Wardrobe

While my sister, Jen, was here visiting a couple weeks ago she bought me something that she said, "I just had to have." Want to see it? Here it is!

She actually saw this cupcake apron on a mannequin in the store and went searching to find it. When it was no where to be found, she asked the store clerk if she could buy the one off the mannequin. So now whenever I bake away in my kitchen, I put on my very colorful cupcake apron!

Thanks Jen!

Fruit Tart

This week I am tracked out of school, AGAIN! With all my spare time, I am able to bake and blog more :) For months and months now, I have been wanting to make a Fruit Tart. The only problem, I didn't have a tart pan. That problem was solved at Christmas! Justin's brother and his wife gave us a gift card to a kitchen store. I knew right away what I wanted to get, my beloved tart pan.

Yesterday I finally broke in the tart pan an created this AMAZING fruit tart. I had made this before while I still lived in Ohio, and have been craving it for some time now.




We invited our pretty cool neighbors down for dessert and had some great conversations. (Neighbors- you should feel very special that you are getting your second shout-out!)

Here is the recipe (by Paula Deen):
Fruit Tart

Shamrock Shakes

As everyone knows, March brings about a specialty drink at the Golden Arches (also known as McDonalds). The beloved drink is the Shamrock Shake- a green, mint-flavored milkshake. The sad part is that down here in the South, McDonalds does not sell them. Justin even went on a website, shamrockshake.com, to see where the latest Shamrock Shake was spotted in North Carolina. The closest one was found in Charlotte. As much as we like these scrumptious drinks, we were not about to drive 3 hours to get one. The only solution: make our own. So, last night after going to the $1.50 movie theater, we made our own Shamrock Shakes.


Homemade Shamrock Shakes:
2 Servings

4 cups vanilla ice cream
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
Green food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
* I added green sprinkles to the top to make it more festive :)

Honestly these did not compare to the original. We were forced to use peppermint extract which did not result in the same flavor. We went to two different grocery stores and could only find peppermint.

Have fun making your own Shamrock Shake or hop onto the shamrockshake.com website to see where a McDonalds near you is serving up these milkshakes!

Date in Durham

With the warmer weather and the sun shining, Justin and I have been able to get back to our "Spontaneous Saturdays." When we were first married, we would use Saturdays to explore our new home. However, Spontaneous Saturdays began to disappear as I started summer school and student teaching. Now that I have more free time and with the Spring weather, we have been taking advantage of our Saturdays.

Today we decided to break out of Raleigh and make our way over to Durham. We ate lunch at a small local place in downtown called Toast. After lunch we made our way over to Duke University and went to one of my favorite places in this area, Duke Gardens. If you ever come to visit us, especially during the Spring or Summer, you can bet that we will take you to Duke Gardens. This was our first of many trips there this year. He had a great time enjoying the 70 degree weather and strolling through the gardens to see what was in bloom. Here is a peak at what we saw:

Lots of Camellias in bloom.
This picture is for my mom :)

Daffodils!

Blooming Tulip trees.

Weeping Willow tree on the lawn.
(Or as Justin likes to call them, "Rebecca Willow").

These fun flowers.

Beautiful Hyacinth

Us :)

HUGE Magnolia blossoms.

I'm excited to go back in a couple of weeks. One of my favorite spots in the garden is this gazebo that is covered in Wisteria. I have never seen the gazebo in bloom with the Wisteria, so it is my goal to go back and see that this Spring. After we spent some time at the gardens, we drove around the Duke campus for a little bit and came across the Duke Chapel. This was my first time seeing it. The chapel was very grand and had the Gothic architecture that can be found all throughout the Duke campus.


Tomorrow the forecast is showing a high of 75 degrees so we are hoping to take a little bike ride! Hope you all are enjoying the sunshine :)

Made You Look....

In my last post I hinted that I was getting a new car. Well.... I spoke a little too soon. Justin and I had planned on picking up my new car yesterday, but due to some recent occurrences, it did not happen. Sorry for the false alarm! We are hoping and praying that we can get one soon. Maybe next month? For now it is still the two of us working out our busy schedules with one car and waking up at the same time in the morning. As much as it was a disappointment to not get one yesterday, I do cherish my morning and afternoon commute to and from work with Justin. I love that I am able to pray for my day with him in the car as we drive to work and that he is there waiting for me in the parking lot at 4:00 pm!

Dessert

One of our new favorite dessert spots is an- new world cuisine. an is a new trendy restaurant with an Asian-fusion theme. We had read an article about the best desserts in Raleigh, and an was one of the restaurants that was listed. While my sister, Jen, was in town, we took her there for dessert. This was our 4th time there for dessert. Although we have only ever been there for dessert, we would like to check out the dinner menu sometime. The reason why we enjoy this restaurant is because the desserts are very unique and intricate and the plating is fabulous as well!

Here is what we ordered:

Justin: Vietnamese Coffee Creme Caramel with seasonal fruit and candied pecans.


Me: Lemon White Chocolate Terrine with graham cracker crust and raspberry ice cream.


Jennifer: Flourless Molten Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream and sesame seed tuile.


Yum!!

Stay tuned for my Monday update! Here's a hint as to what it will be about- Justin and I test drove a car today..... ;)