Crispy tofu

My most recent pregnancy cravings have been for Asian food - namely dumplings and tofu, not necessarily together.  After a delightful visit to Li Ming's Global Mart, a local Asian food supermarket, I came home with many goodies including tofu and about four different types of frozen dumplings.

Tonight hubby was off to a basketball game with his buddies, which meant dinner on my own.  I decided that I'd prepare a tofu dish since hubby won't even get near the stuff.

The funny thing is that I searched through about five different cookbooks at our house, including a vegetarian one, and only came up with one recipe (which wasn't very appealing). I took my search to the web.

There I found "Crispy Tofu with Shiitakes and Chorizo." I'm far from a vegetarian - so forgoing meat in this dish was not my goal. Also, a friend of mine said that tofu is versatile because it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Chorizo and Shiitakes sound lovely, so there you have it.

Here's the final product - easy and quick to cook. The recipe calls for extra-firm tofu (which would have been better than the medium-firm tofu I had on hand), shiitake mushroom caps, chorizo, scallions, chicken stock/broth, soy sauce and dry sherry (of which I had none, so I substituted water).

Next time I will also cut the tofu even thinner, or press it for 30 minutes prior to cooking. I also might prepare a little more sauce. Overall, this was a winning recipe for a tofu first timer.

Holiday traditions

During the first few years of our marriage, hubby and I used to have this lovely holiday tradition of surprising each other with 20 gifts to unwrap on each of the 20 days before Christmas.  To prepare for this exciting event, we would set out on a secret shopping night at Walmart or Target on December 1st. We'd walk into the store together, each only allowed to spend $20 on the 20 gifts. It was all so secretive. We'd pay for our purchases, still in private, and lug them all home to wrap in newspaper.

Then on each night for 20 nights leading up to Christmas we'd each open a gift.  It was awesome.  We ended up with some ridiculous items, like stickers or sidewalk chalk or a bar of soap. Sometimes the gifts were great...like candy or a magazine. But they were all inexpensive and a good deal of fun to open.

Since becoming parents, this tradition has fizzled. I think back on it with love and as something to cherish.  I look forward to creating new traditions, as a whole family.

While visiting Southpoint Mall this past Saturday night with Grammie (Debbie) and Granddaddy (Pat), we encountered something tradition-worthy.  Just as we were leaving the mall, exiting by the sidewalk near Barnes & Noble, an amazing thing happened. "Snow" began falling from the sky.  It was shooting off the rooftop of Barnes & Noble.  As a silent blizzard came down on our heads, I saw the joy in Caleb's eyes and realized this is a great memory. I took a video for proof.  I assume the "snowstorm" is something that Barnes & Noble creates on a regular basis throughout the holiday season. And if so, that may just be our new tradition.

Duke Campus in the fall

As part of a family visit to Durham the other weekend, hubby and I got the opportunity to give a tour of Duke's campus. Hubby has become quite good at this task, as his new job is at the Divinity School on the campus.  It was a beautiful fall day, with 7 adults and 3 children as our official tour group.

Madeline, Grandpa (my dad), Caleb, and Joe

 My sister Michele and her boyfriend Joe

 

 Me and Hubby

 My sister Melissa and sleeping Maddox

 Madeline and Caleb

The family overlooking an empty Wallace Wade Stadium

 

Duke Chapel - it was super crowded that day

 The hallway leading up to Hubby's work

Some gorgeous stained glass at the Divinity School

Having out-of-town guests is always a great excuse to tour our local campus. These particular guests got the chance to see quite a bit about what makes Durham great - Parker and Otis, Pop's, Duke's campus, Foster's Market, Mez, Alivia's, and the list goes on and on.

Cornwallis Road Park

Caleb and I spent a lovely afternoon together at Cornwallis Road Park on a sunny day last week. It was after work hours but before dinner - the perfect time to burn off some energy before heading home to call it a day.

Cornwallis Park is awesome for many reasons. It has walking trails with exercise equipment, it has disc golf (for those so inclined), and it has an awesome playground with some unique exhibits like climbing walls and webs and other contraptions that I have no clue what to call but that children love.

See for yourself.

 

That contraption is just a slide, but Caleb sometimes prefers to use it as a pull-up bar.

 

 

 

Handsome even with his Elmo Band-aid adorning his face.

 

Caleb and I hitting one of the trails.

Caleb sword fighting me with sticks. What?! You mean he could poke an eye out doing something like that?!?!  I know, I know. It terrifies me, but I put on a brave mommy face and allow him to have fun since no other kiddos were around.

Downtown Durham skyline

My sister Michele is in town visiting from Los Angeles both for work and for pleasure. For the work portion of her visit, we spent a good part of the day today shooting film and still shots in downtown Durham. We went home for a brief afternoon break and then headed back out to capture a sunset over the Downtown Durham skyline. Michele was working on a time lapse scene of the city, while I sought out light trails from traffic against the skyline.

I've always wanted to park my car near the bridge on Fayetteville Street that crosses over the Durham Freeway and snap some photos, but I've been too terrified of the traffic and the potential safety issues.  I would have never considered shooting this alone, especially at dusk when we headed out.

 Michele positioned on the overpass on Fayetteville Street

Our adventure began at 5 pm as the sun began its descent.  We unloaded our equipment smack in the middle of the bridge (on the sidewalk) and began shooting with mild enthusiasm.  Closer to 6:30 pm is when the colors began to come alive in the sky.  Purples and blues were joined by city lights and headlights.  Our mission was accomplished by 6:40 when we headed back to the car for the quick commute home for dinner.  I've lived in Durham for six years and have always wanted to get this photo.  So proud to have finally attempted it!  Thanks Michele.

As the sun was still setting

 A shot that wasn't that great...so I upped the saturation and had some fun with it

 My favorite shot of the evening.  This is exactly what I was going for. It makes our little city look alive.