Panera at Home

Apple, Marscapone Cheese and Honey Tartlet

This past weekend, Justin, Jen and I made our way up to Washington DC for the last weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Jen's birthday is in a week, and for an early celebration she wanted to go to DC. I know you are all anticipating pictures from our trip, and I will put them up tomorrow and give the the details about our trip.

We woke up early Saturday morning and left at 6:30 am. While making our way up to DC, we made a pit stop at Panera Bread and got a little breakfast. I got an Apple and Cheese Danish. While I was eating it, a light bulb went off in my head and I realized that I wanted to try to make my own Danishes, so tonight I made them!

The recipe I used was originally for Apple and Goat Cheese. I substituted the Goat Cheese for Marscapone Cheese. The recipe also called for FROZEN puff pastry [which I did use..] So ashamed. I am big on homemade. I have never used store-bought pie crust, and I never plan on using it either. Next time I make these, I will for sure look up a homemade puff pastry recipe. Although it did save time ;) I can not give the verdict for how they tasted because I am waiting to have one for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Recipe: Apple, Goat Cheese and Honey Tartlet
*Substitute Goat Cheese for Marscapone Cheese

Coming Soon....

I had a GREAT week at work this past week. I was very involved with the students and was able to teach math, poetry and science. And.... I have the next 2 weeks off!! It is my last large track-out for this school year and I am loading it up with things to do. My sister Jen just arrived and we are leaving for Washington DC tomorrow morning. While she is in town we are also planning on hitting up the beach. Then next week I am going to Charleston to see one of my best friends, Rachel!!

Until I post about our adventures, here are some pictures from my first trip to DC last year with Justin.

Cherry Blossoms with Jefferson Memorial in the background.

Justin and I under the Cherry Blossoms.

On the steps of the Senate with the Washington Monument in the background.

On the steps of the National Archives after seeing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Bread Pudding

Recently I have been into this show called 'The Take Home Chef.' Justin and I do not have cable and our antenna only allows for 3 TV stations to come through. Basically, the only TV we watch is through Hulu, Instant Stream Netflix or whatever we catch at the gym. Since we don't have the Food Network, I have missed all the cooking shows that I used to watch. When I saw that 'The Take Home Chef' was available through Instant Stream on Netflix, I started to watch it, to get my cooking fix. The show has actually inspired me with meal and baking ideas. On one episode, the chef made Bread Pudding. I decided to whip up my own Bread Pudding yesterday with a caramel sauce [although I may have slightly burned to caramel sauce!] The advantage to this Bread Pudding is that it can not only be eaten for dessert but also for breakfast. I caught Justin eating a large slice this morning for breakfast!

Southern Precipitation

The South may not get too much snow, but there is another form of 'precipitation' that is in abundance down here: POLLEN. Although Spring is my favorite month, it also blankets everything outside with a yellowish/green hue. All the cars, doors, stairwells etc. are covered in pollen. You never really realize how bad it is until you have experienced it down here. Up North, this type of thing does not exist. It is a good thing that I do not have allergies because I would not be able to survive the Southern Spring if I did.

So it appears that I bought my car at the perfect timing. I came outside this morning to see my beautiful, shiny, clean car COVERED in yellow. While Justin and I drove to the grocery store this morning, as I looked out at the hood of my car or in my side mirrors, the only color I could see was yellow. What happened to my liquid silver?

Want to see what it looked like?


These pictures don't really do it justice. Justin wrote 'pollen' on the hood of the car, just so you could see that it was thick enough to write in. Since my husband is so wonderful, he was willing to wash down my car to make it all shiny again :)

Zoom! Zoom!

After 1 1/2 years of:

• Justin and I having to collaborate our schedules.
• Justin having to leave work early to pick me up.
• A ridiculous amount of miles put on our car.
  
• A lot of wasted gas money.
• Me being embarrassed if Justin was late to pick me up and I had to wait around in the parking lot.
  
• Having us both wake up at the crack of dawn, when it was only necessary that I had to.
• Having a hubby taxi who dropped me off and picked me up from school and work.
  

It is all over. Because.....

I got a NEW CAR!!

Ta-Da! Say hello to the pumpkin in the background!

In an earlier post I indicated that we were going to get my car about a month ago. Due to some events and circumstances, we were unable to get it then. This past month has kind of been a roller coaster in terms of this car. After the first disappointment, I was not excited at all to get my car. Even yesterday when we were walking into the dealership, I was not excited because I didn't want to get my hopes up and have everything fall through again.

However, once they handed me the keys, all the forms were signed and I was actually able to drive off with it, I was super excited [as many of you know because I sent you a picture text of it!] This is my first very own car. I am excited that this will allow both Justin and I to save time and gas on not having him transport me to work. I am also excited that this will allow me a new kind of freedom. Since Justin's job depends on his car, I was used to just being at home and not having any means of transportation. Now, when I have days off, I will be able to go out, run errands and do things on my own!

The Lord has truly blessed us throughout this whole process. He has taught me patience and to wait until the timing is right. One blessing that came through waiting longer to get the car is that the dealership actually lowered the price to make the deal actually work! So, since we waited, we ended up getting the car for a lower price! Praise the Lord :)



Oh- by the way, it is a liquid silver Mazda 3!!
Zoom. Zoom!

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!