3rd Brigade is officially home!

Yesterday I left work for a few hours to attend our brigade's Welcome Home and Uncasing the Colors ceremony. I know I would probably think differently if I were the one wearing the green uniform and standing in a field for two hours, but I really enjoy military ceremonies. They make me feel especially proud to be an American and an Army wife.

1-23 Battalion, the "Tomahawks"

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The band, which also recently returned from a deployment to Iraq.

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So proud of these guys!

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Gen. Johnson and Col. Funk take a ride in a Stryker to inspect the troops.

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Fortunately no small children ran out into the field in front of the stryker this year.

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Parading out the colors

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Uncasing the colors

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Flag of 3rd Brigade

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Close-up of the Tomahawks

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I had to get a picture with my hubby, of course!

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Bake-N-Blog

So, a group of friends and I decided to carry out an idea that Jesstagirl and Her Officer came up with: "Bake-N-Blog"! All of us picked a cupcake recipe from Ming Makes Cupcakes and baked them, taking pictures of the process. I chose the "Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Ganache" because I knew my peanut butter-adoring husband would definitely help me eat them. =)

Anyway, with that introduction, let's get started!

Here's all the ingredients:

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The dry ingredients mixed up, and my cup of peanut butter (I absolutely love this measuring cup from Pampered Chef for messy solids like peanut butter!):

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Mixing up the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla:

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Then I added part of the milk:

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And part of the dry mixture:

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And repeated that until the wet and dry mixtures were all mixed in and the batter looked deliciously silky and luscious like this:

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Of course I followed it up by licking the beater...who wouldn't??

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I lined the cupcake pan and filled each one:

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Then they went into the preheated 350-degree oven to bake up into yumminess.

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After 20 minutes, I wanted one RIGHT THEN.

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But first they needed icing, so I mixed up more peanut butter and vanilla:

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Then I added some milk:

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And powdered sugar.

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Then I started the ganache, which is just cream and chocolate chips. I did not own a traditional double boiler, and they were much too expensive to buy, so I put a metal bowl into a pan full of water and it worked perfectly!

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The finished icing looks amazing.

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The chocolate is melting:

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It's all melted after a very short time, so I took it out of the simmering water.

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Then I iced the cupcakes!

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And drizzled on the ganache:

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Ahhhh there is NO way these can NOT be amazing.

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I prepare to dig in!

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So, my official review: I give these cupcakes 5 stars. The cake is soft, rich, and peanut-buttery, and together with the icing, it melts in your mouth. The ganache was super easy and the perfect finishing touch. I will definitely make these again!

Here's the actual recipe:


P.S. Taking pictures while baking/cooking is an interesting process--I felt rather stressed about it. How does the Pioneer Woman do it almost every day??

Zucchini

Zucchini is one of my very favorite veggies. I had a zucchini dish at a friend's house once that consisted of roasted zucchini topped with basil and mozzarella cheese that I loved, and since I wasn't quite sure how she'd made it, I decided I'd come up with my own version. I have no idea what to call this recipe...several people I've made them for call them, "those zucchini things," so I guess that will have to do. ;)

Sarah's Zucchini Things

First you preheat your oven to 375 and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Then you slice the zucchini (I used a yellow squash this time too since I had one) lengthwise and put them on the baking sheet, like this:

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To keep the slices from rolling all over the place, cut a sliver of the peel off any rounded edges:

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Brush each piece with olive oil (or grapeseed oil, which is a staple in my kitchen--it's so healthy!):

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Sprinkle the pieces with salt and lemon pepper (or just plain pepper, but I love lemon pepper), and top with basil. I was blessed enough to find fresh basil at the store for once, but if not dried basil just has to do.

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Small slices of fresh tomato comes next--I had plum tomatoes this week, which were the perfect size, but if you are using large tomatoes, cut the slices in half.

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Now pop the pan in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. You want to start checking them at about 6 minutes--poke one with a fork to see if they are starting to soften. You want them tender but not mushy! While they are in the oven, slice up some fresh mozzarella cheese, the thicker the better.
Yummy roastedness:

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NOW for the delicious part. Top each zucchini slice with mozzarella. It's hard to resist eating them at this point!

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Put them back in the oven for about one minute. You do not want the cheese to melt and run all over the pan; you just want it warmed and softened, like this:

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Serve them right away! I enjoyed mine with a filet of baked fish. =)

Note: These would be prettier for a fancy dinner party with a bit more preparation, ie, choosing zucchini with a straight, uniform size; not running out of tomato (like I did, resulting in random little pieces stuck on); and not running out of cheese (like I did, resulting in some thick pieces and some thin pieces). Haha.

You know what I love? Biting into a perfect peach. Firm, but not hard; juicy and sweet but not overripe. It's like happiness exploded in your mouth.

I am eating just such a peach. It was from a local fruit stand (with the farm it was grown on just behind it), and I can't wait to go back this weekend and get more. One of my biggest frustrations is buying fresh fruit that turns out to be bad. It should be, like, a crime or something.

Camping!

So, our trip last week was fantastic! I will sum it up in pictures:

We camped.

From 2010-08-21

We marveled at the Grand Tetons.

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We marveled at Lake Jackson.

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We hiked.

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We spent hours sitting by the lake.

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We saw geysers.

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We saw moose.

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And bison.

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And adorable little rodents.

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We didn't want to leave, but we had to.

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The End!

Sap and Sexism

I finished two books last week. One I liked, one I did not.

Book #1:

Description of book: In the wake of his bestselling Christmas Jars comes a sweetly crafted story from Wright, a Virginia businessman. Jack and Laurel Cooper are two hardworking, loving Christian pillars of the community who die in each other's arms one night in the bed-and-breakfast that they own and operate. The event calls their three grown children home for the funeral, including their youngest son, a fugitive from the law who must face an outstanding warrant for his arrest and confront his one true love, now engaged to another man. As events unfold around the funeral, the three children discover a treasure trove of family history in the form of Wednesday letters-notes that Jack wrote to his wife every single week of their married lives. As they read, the children brush across the fabric of a devoted marriage that survived a devastating event kept secret all these years. It's a lovely story: heartening, wholesome, humorous, suspenseful and redemptive. It resonates with the true meaning of family and the life-healing power of forgiveness all wrapped up in a satisfying ending.

Perhaps I'm not a good judge since I am not easily impressed by fiction, but the fact is that I was not impressed by this book. Everything about it was completely implausible, to the point where I was not feeling any of the emotions I was being expected to feel by the author. It is supposed to be sad but heartwarming, but I just rolled my eyes. The emotions were way too forced and unbelievable. The way the big plot twist was wrapped up made me angry. I'm sorry, but maybe in a perfect world where all of us are completely God-like would we be able to forgive a horrible act done to us in what seems like a moment. I'm not saying forgiveness is impossible; I'm saying forgiveness and then forgetting without much of a struggle is impossible. We're humans, and when we are deeply hurt by something, it takes us awhile to get over it. We are not machines. So I don't find a book that depicts super-humans to be very heartwarming and relatable.
Little bit of a spoiler here: I think one reason I had such a problem with this book is that I get extremely outraged over violence against women. And I'm willing to bet a thousand bucks that if some strange man attacked me, my husband would never want him around me again, no matter how much the guy apologized. He might eventually forgive him, but he would not become best buds with him. =P

Anyway, I am giving it 2 stars even though I hated it because other people probably would like it more than I did.

Book #2:

Description of book: Readers with an eye on European politics will recognize Ali as the Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim women with controversial director Theo van Gogh (who was himself assassinated). Even before then, her attacks on Islamic culture as "brutal, bigoted, [and] fixated on controlling women" had generated much controversy. In this suspenseful account of her life and her internal struggle with her Muslim faith, she discusses how these views were shaped by her experiences amid the political chaos of Somalia and other African nations, where she was subjected to genital mutilation and later forced into an unwanted marriage.
I first heard about Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the talk radio program I listen to on my way home from work. The talk show host was interviewing her, and I found what she had to say to be fascinating, so I checked out her first book. She is an extremely impressive woman. At first I was a little disappointed in the story she had to tell because I didn't realize she was from a non-Arabic country, so her Muslim experience was a little non-typical of what we usually hear about. For instance, it was her grandmother who was responsible for her genital mutilation--her father wasn't even around for most of her life. She was also exposed to a lot of Western influences that most Muslim children do not get. But towards the end of the book, I realized that this did not invalidate her experience and knowledge of Islam, and that if it hadn't been for those influences, she wouldn't have tried to escape. She is definitely very politically incorrect when it comes to Islam. She believes strongly that the Muslims who are peaceful and do not believe in jihad are following a very light, watered-down interpretation of the Koran, whereas the strict fundamental Muslims are actually following Islam as the Prophet Muhammed desired. It's a very bold statement to make in a world that is dominated by liberal "tolerance." One of the most interesting points that caught my eye was her belief that all people are equal, but all cultures are NOT equal. In her opinion, some cultures, like the Islamic culture, should be discouraged and done away with because of its vile treatment of certain types of people (such as women, Jews, Westerners, homesexuals, etc.) and their utter disregard for some of the most basic human rights. She believes that these cultures should not be pandered to by the governments of other countries, such as the U.S. Again, a very bold statement...but I think she is right. Why do we condone/ignore a culture where women have zero rights?? Her experiences with the horrific treatment of women under Islam is very chilling. Yet where is the outrage from the feminists over it? Are they too afraid to defend these abused women (Ayaan Hirsi Ali has to have constant security protection because of the many threats made against her life by Islamic fundamentalists--that's pretty scary), or do they simply not care?

This book gets 5 stars from me, and I'm very much looking forward to reading more of her writings.

Family Day

It seems I have been ordered to update this thing. ;) I've actually had several posts I've been mulling over the past couple days but never got around to actually composing them. Oh well.

Today was a good day. I started it off by getting a two-hour massage at Hand and Stone in Lacey, where I have a membership which gives me a massage a month at a really good discount, but which I have not had a chance to use up for the past two months. So when the receptionist suggested I get two sessions back to back, I decided that sounded good. Aaaand, would you know it, their "MOST-requested therapist," Adam, happened to be working in that location today. It was rather amusing to walk in for my appointment this morning and get jealous looks and "Oooh, you lucky girl!" from the women in the spa. I have not had enough massages in my lifetime to know if I was really lucky or not, hence my amusement. But he definitely did a great job on my tight back muscles! =)

This afternoon we went to the Battalion Family Day, which was a very enjoyable event as always. I spent most of the day helping to man the fundraiser table, denying I was actually married to the guy in the pink Hawaiian shirt (*facepalms* I really wish my husband would listen when I say, "Please don't wear that!" heheh), and getting roasted in the sun like a pig on a spit. The most fun part of the day though is definitely seeing all my battalion friends! It's amazing the amount of people I know now compared to this time last year. So many awesome people! But the sad thing is that in a few months, the majority will be gone and off to new duty stations. I hate losing people when I've just barely gotten to know them. Unfortunately that's military life for you...always a goodbye just around the corner.

Sometimes I worry that we've gotten the best of everything on our first round of Army life. Awesome duty station, awesome battalion, awesome friends, awesome church, awesome area...it is highly possible that things have to be worse at our next place. LOL But there's no point to thinking like that, right?

Someone pass me the aloe vera....

Going camping!

This, my friends, is where Andrew and I will be heading in about 12 days! Awhile back, I had asked him what he wanted to do on block leave. He said, "road trip." I said, "Okay!" Then I found out that Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park are about 14 hours from where we live, and the plan was made.

Just to warn you, though, we might not come back from this trip alive because:
1) I might have a heart attack and die from the beauty of it all.
2) We have never camped before, much less for a week out in the wilderness, so we might end up killing each other.

Haha. No we won't. But it is a fact that we are both as pigheaded as can possibly be, so let's all hope the tent goes up with no hitches. ;-)

I am ridiculously excited about a week of getting away from it all. No email, no TV, no internet, no incessant texting, no computer games, nothing. Just the two of us hanging out, having quality time in the middle of the mountains. I am also looking forward to all the weight I will lose, since I always look extremely slim and trim when we do a lot of hiking. I love hiking, and we haven't done any this year. I am also going to make a game of seeing how few personal items I actually need to live. The current plan is to pack nothing but shampoo/conditioner, cleanser/moisturizer, contacts solution, soap, razor (granted, this could be done without, but there's a difference between "roughing it" and "turning into Sasquatch"), deodorant, and toothbrush/toothpaste. No makeup, no delightfully-scented body washes, and no hair styling products. We'll see how that goes. Haha