Progress Note: September 2012

Monday, September 24, 2012

Three Month Wedding Anniversary

We have been married for 3 months!

In the picture above, I photoshopped the grass into green oblivion (it was yellowy prior to that).

Our wonderful bridal party...consisting of sibs, cozes, and close friends.

(Psst, one of the aforementioned sibs just got engaged!)

My dear Ba.

Photo credits: Paul Meyer Photography (1,2) and cousin Ben (3)

Weather Shift

Um, who turned down the thermostat on this part of the planet?? I had to wear a sweater AND a wool coat this morning. I hope I make it through this winter, because I've never endured any winter while utterly unarmed with thyroid hormone.

In the meantime, I can dream about the kind of weather that permitted these outfits:

Top and Pants: J.Crew, Shoes: Target, Belt: Gap, Necklace: H&M

Top: Marshall's, Pants: H&M, Shoes: Target

1. Top: ?, Skirt: Target, Shoes: Banana Republic
2. Dress: Anthropologie, Boots: Etienne Aigner
3. Top: Romeo and Juliet Couture, Skirt: J.Crew, Shoes: Talbots, Belt: thrifted

A word on the Anthropologie Pieced Column Dress....I scored this from Gabe's for $20!!!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Fern Friends

Mike and I went on a walk in the park/woods yesterday.

I saw some fern dotting the woodsy landscape and was 'naturally' inspired to carve a fern stamp!

Fern are graceful and refreshing. Bright and lush!

Of course, I then proceeded to make a series of thank you cards out of these. One day, I may start a business out of these crazy thank you cards. For now, I call this the Fern Period.

In case anyone is wondering, the recipients of these cards are the folks who interviewed me for a fellowship training position in pulmonary/critical care medicine.

I can't help but make them different from one another--there are a million ways to create a design using just one stamp and a pallete of ferny colors. I felt pretty good about myself when I came up with the idea to make ghostly gold ferns with a bold fern on top! I get attached to these cards for their uniqueness and happy-accidental good results... and I just want to hoard them.

Look at the pretty sheen from the gold stamp ink and the slubby texture of the paper, such is joy.

I hope the people who receive them experience the ferny feeling that I got when creating them!

But juuuust to be sure, I slapped this stamp on the back ;)

And a big thank you to you, if you are out there reading about my fern friends!

Lemon Meringue Pieeee

Another installment of my Pie Chronicles. Today, I wax poetic about lemon meringue pie, a treat not lost upon my poor lactose-intolerant husband because I made it sans dairy! He, of course, was given the most essential task of zesting and juicing lemons.

This pie only took about an hour to prepare, but must be refrigerated overnight. The delayed gratification is worth it! Butter-flavored Crisco, a mysterious and delicious entity, underscores a perfectly crisp crust that gives easily to the pressure of a fork. Calming meringue balances out the sharp tartness of lemon filling flavored with bright lemons. It is a perfect summer dessert....or breakfast? And we all know there are only 4 days left of summer. That means only 4 more days of lemon meringue pie!

I adapted the recipe from here, with some adjustments (minus the dairy and scale down the sugar!)

Lemon filling:
3/4 c white sugar
2 T flour
3 T cornstarch
1 c water
1/2 c soymilk
2 lemons, juiced and zested
4 egg yolks

Whisk together dry ingredients, stir in liquid and lemon zest + juice.
Bring to a boil in a sauce pan on medium heat. After the mixture boils and thickens, take it off heat.
Whisk egg yolks, temper them with a small amount of hot sugar mixture, then mix them back with the sugar mixture and continue to heat and stir.

Meringue:
4 egg whites
6 T white sugar

Whip egg whites into soft peaks and slowly add sugar.

Spread lemon filling onto pre-baked pie crust. Then spread egg whites on top. Bake at 350-375 until meringue is lightly browned at the tips (tops?).