Deva by Definition

A long (birthday) weekend

This weekend, The Boy and I took a few extra days off to celebrate my birthday – which fell today. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend, visiting with my parents, going to see The Secret World of Arrietty, picking up some new supplies to support my running habit, and taking a trip to Sephora so I could get some new foundation, bronzer, makeup brushes, and my Sephora birthday gift – some mini Fresh Sugar lip balms!

We also enjoyed some chocolate cake and cookies and crème ice cream, dinner at Montgomery Inn, and a trip to Jungle Jim’s to pick up some Meiji chocolate, soba noodles, and Japanese curry mix. It has been a very fun and relaxing long weekend and I am glad I took the time off to enjoy it. I’ve been able to sleep past nine almost every day I’ve been off, and even got to enjoy two very nice runs in forty and fifty-degree temperatures!

I am eager to get back to regular blogging as the week continues, and will be back tomorrow with another half marathon vlog. For now, though, I think I am going to wrap up my birthday weekend with some more cake and perhaps some Fraggle Rock on DVD.

What did you do this weekend?

“We should try to make Japanese-style curry sometime.”

Back when The Boy went to Japan, he texted me lots of pictures of the various foods he was eating while there. He ate a lot of sashimi, sushi, Okonomiyaki, Oyakodon, ramen, and curry. Yes, curry.

Since his return, I’ve definitely made efforts to recreate some of his favorite Japanese dishes. I’ve had a lot of success with Oyakodon, and it has become a regular addition to our weekly grocery rotation. Eventually I want to try to make some ramen, as he described it as very different from the ramen I buy in the grocery store – full of big medallions of beef or pork.

Most recently, though, we’ve been enjoying Japanese-style curry. You see, not too long after The Boy got back, I made Indian-style curry for dinner, and after we finished, he said to me “we should try to make Japanese-style curry sometime.”

I was very intrigued, and after asking him dozens of questions about the Japanese curry he enjoyed while away, he told me about Coco Ichibanya, the curry restaurant he went to. Upon Googling, I discovered that their curry looked very different from the curry I was used to – it looked more stew-like, less tomatoey, and very good.

More searching led me to discover that there are several brands of Japanese curry mixes on the market, and I was eager to see if we could find one at the grocery store to give it a try. We were both excited when we found some, and a few days later, we made an attempt at making the curry.

The instructions were simple: saute together a pound of chicken or beef cubes and diced onion, simmer with two-and-a-half cups of water, add the curry, and serve over rice. The curry mix was interesting to me because it came as a bar – not a powder – and once added to the water and simmered, it would thicken into a rich, smoky and spicy sauce.

Following the directions on the box carefully, a half hour later we had thick, rich curry, ready to serve over sticky rice. We each filled our bowls with rice and a generous helping of the curried chicken, and, using spoons, dove in.

It was delicious, salty, smoky, with a hint of spice. The onions added a depth to the sauce flavor, and each chicken-and-rice filled bite burst with warm, comforting flavor. It was like the pictures suggested: stew-like and definitely different than the curries I grew up enjoying. We had lots of leftovers once our bellies were full, and reheated they were just as delicious as they were fresh off the stove.

If you can find Japanese Curry Sauce mix in your supermarket, I highly recommend you try it out. It’s delicious, filling, and incredibly easy to prepare. The medium-spiced curry has enough spice to give it heat, but it’s not overwhelming. I’m happy to have this dish in my meal-time rotation.

What is your favorite way to enjoy curry?

Cooking from Everyday Food

My mom recently got us a subscription to Everyday Food Magazine. I love it because it's basically like a small cookbook in my mailbox every month. In fact, my favorite cookbook is an Everyday Food compilation, and I'd say we use it more often than any of our other cookbooks. The pages throughout my cookbook are spattered from cooking, and the book often falls open to our most-frequently-made dishes.

Our first issue of Everyday Food arrived not too long ago, and after I eagerly read through it, I bookmarked a few recipes for us to try. The most recent issue is filled with a plethora of lighter recipes, which I am finding perfect for after-the-holidays (and going into Valentine's Day!). The recipes that stood out to me were a Chicken Tortilla Soup, Braised Chicken Thighs, and a few recipes for desserts!

The Boy and I decided last week that we wanted to try one of the bookmarked recipes, and settled on this one: Braised Chicken Thighs with Winter Vegetables. The recipe looked fairly easy, and even though the cooking time was a bit longer than I'd prefer, it sounded like a good and filling one-pot meal.

When we went grocery shopping, we were able to find all but one of the ingredients: the savoy cabbage. We made the decision to make the recipe without, rather than change plans. Because of the amount of time needed to put this meal together, we made it for Sunday dinner, after I got back from a seven-mile run.

The recipe was easy enough to follow, and I was lucky to have an oven-proof skillet. There was a lot of sautéing and taking the pan in and out of the oven, but overall, I found the recipe to be more hands-off than anything else. While the chicken was braising in the oven, the house smelled incredible: like bacon and chicken, onions and carrots, mustard and garlic. We couldn't wait to dig in once the pan was out of the oven and on the table.

My first bites were incredible: the chicken was tender and flavorful, with a hint of the Dijon mustard used in the braising liquid. The potatoes and carrots were perfectly cooked - soft, without being mushy. Neither The Boy or I liked the apples - they seemed to absorb a lot of the Dijon flavor, to the point of being overwhelmingly mustardy, but everything else was lightly flavored. The bacon added a rich, almost smoky quality to the chicken and vegetables, and was a nice compliment to the chicken. I would absolutely make this recipe again.

Have you made any fun recipes lately?

What else would be making that noise?

I was standing in our bathroom, bundled up in pants and a hoodie and had just finished drying my hair when our heat kicked on. Through the ductwork, I could hear this odd scraping and banging noise. My first thought was that something was wrong with our furnace – because what else would be making that noise through the ductwork?

Making my way downstairs, I poked my head into the toasty living room. The Boy had the pocket doors pulled closed and a space heater on, making our living room the warmest room in our house. Leaning in, I asked him what the noise was. He thought it was someone scraping their car of the ice that had accumulated over the weekend, until I told him that I was pretty sure it was coming from the basement.

Curious, we both set off downstairs, where the dryer was running – and scraping and clanging. We immediately turned it off, pulled all of the still-damp clothing out of it, and attempted to work out the issue. While I was grateful it wasn’t our furnace, I was a little taken aback that it was my dryer: all of my socks were in the basket full of still-damp clothing, and we had no clue what was wrong.

The Boy popped the top off of the dryer, exposing the drum. Looking inside the dryer housing offered no clues, and neither did looking inside of the dryer itself. Rotating the drum manually led us to determine that something was scraping the side of the drum, but we couldn’t figure out what – or where it was being scraped. After a half hour of investigating, we decided to let it be for the night, to Google, and to see what we could to do fix it on Monday. I knew I’d have to rewash the clothing that was in our dryer, but I didn’t want to risk further damage trying to repair the dryer without first determining how.

Monday came and The Boy and I spent a good bit of time on Google, searching for solutions. After dinner, The Boy set off downstairs with his laptop and our toolbox to see what he could do to repair it. After an hour passed, he came upstairs, where I was napping, and asked if I wanted to come down to assist – he’d found the problem and needed to put our dryer back together so we could finish our laundry.

I quickly gathered up what I needed to go downstairs to help out, and as I was heading into the basement, I saw just how much the dryer had been disassembled, and just how simple of a machine the dryer actually is. The dryer was completely opened up, with the drum gingerly placed on the mat by the washer. The Boy was double-checking the reassembly before putting everything back together again.

When I asked what the problem was, I was told that a screw had managed to go through the washer, and got stuck between the drum and the side-wall of the dryer, which was what was causing the scraping as the dryer tumbled. Fortunately, we caught the issue before it caused any damage, so all we had to do was remove the screw and put everything back together.

Reassembly was a little more complicated than I thought, but eventually we had the dryer all back together. Finally, we were able to plug it in, and then, it was time for the final test: turning it on. We were both thrilled when it turned on and there was no scraping and no wobbling. It sounded exactly how a dryer is supposed to sound.

I’m eager to finish up the last of my laundry for the week – I need some clean kitchen towels and socks! I’m grateful that the repair was something relatively simple, and not something more involved. Mostly, I’m learning just how much we can do on our own – with the help of Google.

La Mexicana: A Review of some Tasty Food

Ever since The Boy and I bought our house, we have been exploring our new area. Our exploration has included running routes for me, and entertainment and food spots for us to enjoy. I've already found a fun coffee shop that I love, and we've discovered two delicious pizza spots within walking distance of the house, as well.

This weekend, after getting up early to run five miles, followed by a lot of errands to get our license plates and driver's licenses updated to reflect our move, we were famished and wanting something to eat. I didn't care what we had, as long as it was food and it was edible, I was okay. Granted, I was somewhat craving pancakes, but really wanted something protein-rich, dense, and filling.

The Boy and I sat in our dining room, flipping through the Urban Spoon app on our phones before finally deciding that we wanted Mexican food, and that we wanted to give a Mexican restaurant called La Mexicana a try. Their menu was simple, but all of the food sounded delicious, so we set out for the restaurant, hoping to find one that would quickly become a favorite.

Once at La Mexicana, The Boy and I took our seats, and were quickly given a basket of chips and a spicy green salsa. While perusing the menu, we dove into the chips, which tasted fresh and nutty and weren't overly salty at all. I was excited to see that the restaurant offered more than 8 different types of meat, including goat and tripe, to allow you to customize your meal.

The service was fabulous, and within five minutes of placing our order, our plates were in front of us, filled with fresh, hot, delicious-looking food. The Boy ordered a quesadilla, which was enormous, filled with pork, cheese and lettuce. The tortilla was fried and crispy and when he offered me a bite, I was glad to accept. His quesadilla was delicious - full of flavor but not heavy, with lots of stretchy cheese.
I opted to try a different dish, one that I discovered while visiting San Antonio two years ago: the flautas. The first time I tried flautas I loved every rich and delicious bite – fried tortillas stuffed with chicken or beef, smothered in cheese? Amazing.

The flautas at La Mexicana were deep fried and filled with my choice of meat - shredded beef. They were topped with crumbled cheese, cream, fresh-sliced avocado, lettuce, and tomato. Served with sides of rice and beans, this was a huge meal - and I had a huge appetite. I tried my first flauta (there were four), without adding any of the toppings beyond the cheese and cream. It was incredibly delicious - the deep-fried tortilla was crispy without being greasy, and the cheese and cream enhanced the rich flavors of the beef.

I actually found that I loved eating my flautas with the slices of avocado and some of the tomato/lettuce mixture, which added some amazing flavor and texture. I loved the addition of the avocado, for it added a mildness without overpowering the beef and corn tortilla. The rice and beans were equally as amazing, with the rice being well-seasoned without being overdone, and filled with all sorts of vegetables, including green beans.

After devouring half of my plate, I was full, and even though I was eating fried food covered in cheese, I did not feel heavy at all. My insatiable post five-mile run appetite was satiated, and we found a restaurant we cannot wait to go back to.

What is your favorite cuisine? Restaurant?

Bits and Pieces

When we began looking at listings for houses earlier this year, we knew we wanted an older home – one with character. We wanted hard wood floors, fun wood work, a big kitchen, and a good neighborhood to walk around in.

Those were just a few of the things we fell in love with when we decided to make an offer on our house. The layout, the location, the floors – the kitchen. All of it makes me – makes us – happy. Rather than take you on a tour of the house, I thought I’d show you some of those things – bits and pieces - that made us want this house from the moment we first set foot inside.

The dining room chandelier. It’s stained glass and absolutely gorgeous. It puts off just enough light for us, without being overpoweringly bright.

The hardware, as a lot of it is original to the house – or at least to the age of the house (100+). It has so much character to it, and you don’t see knobs like this much anymore, especially in newer homes.

The fireplace. It’s non-operational, hence the candles, but it is gorgeous. This photo does not do it justice – the fireplace is truly the focal point of our living room. It is huge – taking up almost one entire wall – but it is not overwhelming. I love it more and more each day.

The woodwork. While I have seen woodwork similar in newer homes, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the woodwork in our house. We have 10-inch baseboards, and woodwork like above around every window in our house. The whole house, with the exceptions of the kitchen and bathrooms, has honey-colored hardwood floors. I love every inch of my house, and am loving filling it with little touches of “us.”

I am sure there will be more posts about the house in the future, especially as we start to finish our second floor.

What do you love about your home? What do you want in your dream house? What are your “musts” for where you want to live?

House/Home: Moving at the Holidays

The first winter that The Boy and I spent in our second apartment was an odd, long one. Within weeks of Christmas, our first floor flooded, necessitating three long weeks of repairs. During that time, our first floor was completely unusable, and we spent the majority of our time at home in our room, watching movies and trying to entertain the cats.

Our complex was able to get our first floor back together just a few days before Christmas, and as soon as the new carpet was laid, it seemed that our next-door neighbors were moving out. On Christmas Eve, The Boy and I were headed out to visit family as they were loading their belongings into a u-haul. I remember at the time understanding why they would be moving: their apartment, like ours, had flooded, but they had a very young child. I imagine had I been in their position, I might have done the same. I remember thinking about how odd it must have been, to be moving the day before Christmas – or in the month of December in general, and wondered how I would handle it if I were the one who was moving.

Then – we bought a house. Our timing for purchasing our home was a little different than we originally thought it would be, and we ended up buying right after Thanksgiving – with our move-in date slated for two weeks before Christmas. I wondered if this was how our neighbors felt, as the pressure to pack, clean, paint, move, decorate for the holidays, light the menorah, and shop for Christmas gifts was very overwhelming! I honestly didn’t know how we were going to do it all by Christmas, or even by the new year. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t have to be hard, either. I mean, we were (are still, really) moving from a nine-hundred square foot apartment into a house that is nearly twice the size. Easy peasy, right?

Well, moving has been almost as easy as I thought, but there have been some catches. Our first night in the apartment, my treadmill sat in our backyard. Our 100+ year-old house’s doors were not wide enough for us to get it inside without some serious disassembling. We had to get rid of one of my bookshelves when we moved, so until yesterday, half my books were sitting unpacked. Our love seat wouldn’t fit up the stairs, so the room we were hoping to use as a combination office and all-purpose/game room sits full of boxes – because it’s a convenient place to put them.

My priorities definitely shifted our first weekend here. My goals have changed from having the whole house unpacked by the first of January, to having it all unpacked and in place by mid-January. My first floor is entirely set up, and is absolutely amazing. The second floor can be assembled over the coming weeks. Ultimately, I wanted to be able to come home from work, fix dinner, and be able to sit down in the living room with The Boy and enjoy a movie – without wondering where the DVDs were, or where our USB cables got packed away.

It is and will be a process. But our living room is assembled, our bedroom has everything in place. The tree is up and decorated and my menorahs have their homes. Sure, we’re still in the process of making our house into a home, but we’re ready for the holidays – and that’s all I wanted when we got the keys.

Have you ever had to move during the holidays or another busy time of year? How did you handle it? What were your worries?

One of Many Big Decisions

Today, I left work halfway through my day. We had an appointment this afternoon that I couldn’t miss – we’d been planning for this day since the end of October.

Today, The Boy left work early and met me at our apartment. From our apartment, we made our way to the bank, preparing to complete a lot of paperwork.

Today, I signed my name more times than I can remember. That’s because, today, we became homeowners.

I haven’t written about this journey at all before now, because The Boy and I felt it better to keep everything quiet until all the paperwork was signed. At at the end of October, we made an offer on a house – an old house with gorgeous hard wood floors, an updated kitchen, and lots of space. It was the fifth house we had seen in our house hunt, and I fell in love. Soon, we found ourselves under contract for the house, and discovered just how quickly one month can go by. November was a whirlwind, and I am sure December will fly by as well.

We get the keys to our house on Saturday. I cannot wait to get in there and start figuring out where everything goes. I’m excited to have a basement, a third bedroom, a HUGE dining room, and a kitchen that we can both be in at the same time.

Buying a house was one big decision. One that I was very happy to make. I can’t wait to get into the house and really start making it our own.

I did it… Or–My First 5k

I’ve been planning and training to run this 5k for a couple months now, and today was the day I was going to go out and rock it. I couldn’t believe it last night when I was gathering my things together to get ready for the race. It was finally time for me to run my FIRST 5k race.

I was nervous and I was excited. This morning I rolled out of bed and got dressed for a chilly, mid-morning run. I layered a pullover over a light-weight long-sleeved shirt, yanked on some pants, grabbed my gloves and fleece headwrap, and was ready to go. I should point out here that my ears and hands get cold when I am running in temperatures under 45 degrees. It was projected to be 43 degrees and windy at race start time, and I didn’t want to chance having painfully cold ears.

My friend Erica was running the race along with me, and she arrived at our apartment around eight-thirty this morning. After pulling on my shoes, I was ready to go and we were out the door – headed for the Girls on the Run 5k.

When we got to Sawyer Point, the area was brimming with girls, their families, and other race participants. Erica and I picked up our bibs, pinned them on, and walked around the area to see where the start was. There was music booming and girls dancing everywhere. The energy in the air was palpable and energizing and I was excited to get the race started.

Right before we made our way to the starting line, I asked The Boy to snap a photo – I was so excited to get running!

Before I knew it, we were waiting in the tunnel, counting down to start, and then – we were off! I had my iPod with me so I could keep track of my pace (the race was untimed) and not overdo it. We were running with a variety of runners of all abilities and ages, and we were surrounded by cheering spectators for the first half-mile.

The group we were in spread out quite a bit within a few minutes of the start, and Erica and I were left weaving in-and-out of runners, working to maintain a steady pace. We ran past the ballpark and the football stadium, before reaching our halfway point near the Bengals’ practice field. At this point, I was feeling awesome – I stopped to walk briefly, but after about 100 feet, was off and running again – I didn’t want to stop!

Erica and I chatted off and on throughout the race. Our goal was to finish in under 40 minutes, and I kept an eye on our pace as we continued back toward Sawyer point, passing the awesome cheer zones that had been organized by GOTR Cincinnati. It was incredible to have spectators’ energy to help keep me going, especially when I was hit with a side stitch and had to focus to keep moving.

The race was an out-and-back course, so we passed all of my favorite parts of downtown again on the way back, and before I knew it, we were running back through the tunnels, passing the three-mile marker, and running through the largest group of spectators I had seen since we had started the race. Erica spotted The Boy, who snapped a picture as we raced past him along the course.

(we’re on the right, in the teal top and blue-striped pants)

The spectators at the end of the race were INCREDIBLE. Lots of screaming, encouragement, noise-making, and high-fives. It took everything in me not to sprint the last tenth of a mile, I was so excited to be finishing! The finish line came up quickly, and the time clock set up at the finish showed 35:00 as we crossed it. I almost cried out of happiness when I realized that not only had I just finished my first 5k – I had run it in thirty-five minutes. Checking my pacing app confirmed it, and I had the biggest grin on my face as we walked through the finisher’s area to get our goodie-bags, t-shirts, snacks and water.

I was so proud of my finish, and so thankful I got to run my first race with Erica. All day today I’ve been thanking The Boy for coming out to see me race – it meant so much to me that he was there. I am beyond proud of myself for sticking to it and finishing, and have hardly stopped smiling all day.

I think GOTR of Cincinnati put on a GREAT race today, and think the organizers and volunteers did a wonderful job of keeping us on course, encouraging all of the participants to keep going to the finish line, and offering up a variety of entertainment to get us ready for the race. I had such a great experience with this race that I am already looking for another one to run.

I think I’m hooked – on racing.

Just a Bowl of Coffee

Our weekend was a busy one! We went to the mall and Crate + Barrel Saturday, where I was able to replace one of my tiny ceramic spoons and get a new coffee mug! We also got a print to hang in our living room, as well as some new coat hooks – which I am very excited to put up! Sunday was a relaxing day. I started the day at church, and after we had lunch, we made our way to Newport to see The Rum Diary. It was an amusing, light, and interesting movie – one I’d watch again. We spent Sunday night chilling out at home, watching The Simpsons start a food blog and entertaining the cats.

I was excited to find a giant coffee mug at Crate + Barrel because I love bowl-sized coffee mugs. I have ever since Gilmore Girls was on the air. I mean – a coffee mug that will hold the entire contents of my four-cup coffee pot? Amazing. I had to use it this morning – I just couldn’t resist making a yummy, milk-and-sugar laced cup of coffee to enjoy with my cookie dough cereal.

Even with a hefty pour of milk, the contents of my French Press didn’t even come close to filling up this big mug! It was definitely yummy coffee, and I can’t wait to enjoy oatmeal, cereal, and even soup out of it as well. I still have my big mug like this one from college, and it was one of the most-used dishes in my dorm room. I imagine that this mug will become a well-used dish, too.

Now, I think I am going to sign off – I have some zucchini bread in the oven, and a cat who wants to play.

What did you get into this weekend?