These colors are pretty sweet too, they don’t have the blue that Jesse wore to our wedding last year though, but this is pretty close. Christmas, perhaps?

This wall paper from Hygge & West is so sweet. I would love to have it on a wall in our house.This sheep mobile from BlaBla Kids is darling … I love the idea of “counting sheep” Ever since my blog giveaway win, I have been peeking around at some cute nursery stuff, you know, so when we are ready to have a baby, I will be prepared …

I love, love, love these Frye boots. Embarrassingly, I tried a different model on at Nordstrom one day and couldn’t get my foot into them. I don’t know if I should try again, or just search out a new brand. For the price though, they would have to last for the rest of my life. I want to wear them with skinny jeans, though I haven’t convinced myself that I can pull them off, or maybe I just haven’t found the perfect pair.

Mockingjay is the final book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins that came out today! I re-read Hunger Games and am almost done with Catching Fire, so I can actually remember what happened when I start Mockingjay, hopefully this weekend!

Unexpectedly, when Jesse picked out a fabric similar to this for use in our latest project, I loved it. Hoping to finish the project by tomorrow, can’t wait to use it and to post the “before” and “after” pictures.

A couple of weeks ago, we were at church and prayed for a little boy by the name of Zeb Smith. He is about 8 weeks old and has cancer in his stomach. I searched out his caringbridge site and have continued praying for him and his family, and have kept up with his journey. The above statement was made by his parents, on their caringbridge site, about their marriage, the importance of it, even during the midst of these circumstances.

I was blown away … Jesse and I made the same commitment almost a year ago – but serving doesn’t always come easily, putting him first is sometimes hard,  it is a daily choice – sometimes we fail, sometimes we are selfish and on those days, in those moments, I need Grace from both my husband and Christ for my shortcomings, but in the end, our marriage is the most important thing in our life other than Christ, the relationship that most closely resembles the love that Christ has for us, and it is the biggest blessing I have ever received.  The statement above, just reminded me, of my daily choice, and serves as a reminder, of how great our commitment/our marriage is, even in the midst of whatever joys, hardships, and circumstances we are facing. It challenged me as well, to be a better servant.

2. the Gospel: Jesus paid it all and for that I am so thankful.

3. Marriage. Enough said.

4. Blog giveaways and of course winning a giveaway.

5. Mad Money.

6. Grandparents. Thankful for the time we can spend with them now, though seeing them age is tough.

7. Mom. Unconditional Love, Support, Encouragement and Guidance. I hope I can love my children as well as my parents have loved me.

8. Paisley & Zhor and our evening walks.

9. Bangs. A new haircut is freeing, exciting and scary all at once. Luckily I took the plunge and love it!

10. Winter, Christmas, Hot Chocolate snuggled under a warm blanket. Snowboarding, Hats, Gloves and Scarves.

Hi Rachel,

Congratulations! We at Layla Grayce are pleased to announce that you are the lucky winner of the Olli & Lime crib set! You may choose either Billie, Charlie or George. Just let me know your choice and provide your full name and shipping address and I’ll have it sent.

Thanks again for reading the Layla Grayce Backroom Blog!

Now before you freak out, no Jesse and I are not pregnant, and even though we won’t be pregnant for a while, I love planning our future nursery! I love the Layla Grace website and blog. They have  beautiful and amazing things!

This is the crib set we picked.

I think it might go into Nana’s future baby room when they move to Dallas. Yay!

The last two weeks have been insane. I have billed more hours in the last 2 weeks, than I probably ever have during a 2 week period, and Jesse has been just as busy with work, school, weddings, shoots, etc. Last week, however, we had a major scare when Jesse got home from work and Paisley’s face was swelled up like a balloon. Jesse rushed her to the vet as soon as he saw her where they gave her a steroid and benadryl injection. Luckily, this seemed to do the trick and it went down while she was under observation at the vet, and then as the night went on and morning came, she was starting to look normal again. Jesse gets all the credit, as I was at a recruiting dinner and did not hear my phone ringing when he was calling me freaking out. I had my  moment of freak out though and Paisley slept right next to me all night so I could make sure she was still breathing. We still don’t know what she is allergic too, as we never found any bites on her and she is our little billy goat and tries to eat everything that is in her path. This past Sunday, however, she started panting excessively, and that is not normal for her. We took her temperature and heart rate, and then realized that she had hives all over her chest. She had been outside while Jesse and I were working in the garden, so other than playing in the grass, she didn’t get in to anything else. Benadryl, again, worked amazingly well and fast. We are starting to think that she is either allergic to grass, or maybe the pollen or some allergen that presents itself in the grass. What a mess! We are watching her very carefully and have plenty of benadryl on hand, but the vet said there isn’t much they can do, and even a vet dermatologist, who will perform allergy tests, may be able to give us a list of things that she “might” be allergic to, but they won’t be able to know for sure. So, we are hoping it is just a seasonal allergy, and that these episodes will go away soon. They sure are scaring us, as her parents!

On a side note, we miss our little puppy. At sixty pounds, she can’t sleep in my lap like she used to, but she still does try. This picture is with Paisley, in the front, and a puppy we named Tiger Lily, in the back. I tried to convince Jesse to let us get two puppies, but unfortunately, he said no.

And we can’t leave out Zhor, our first pride and joy. He is handsome, hysterical, loves his mommy, and the best dog one could ever ask for.

]]> http://www.equipoleos.com/?feed=rss2&p=1095 1 http://www.equipoleos.com/?p=1091 http://www.equipoleos.com/?p=1091#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 19:11:04 +0000 rach http://www.equipoleos.com/?p=1091 Some girlfriends and I started a cooking blog, Six Degrees of Supperation, it has been really fun to try out new recipes, some of which have gone straight in the trash (wheat apple bread = brick = trash), but some have been a success. Jesse and I always have a laugh and the kitchen always gets dirty, but it is a fun adventure trying out new things. We have gotten some great recipes and good ideas from my fellow friends/bloggers as well. So go check it out, and make some meringue, while you’re at it.

P.S. after making this pie on Thursday, I made a chocolate meringue pie last night, but cheated and used instant chocolate pudding instead of making homemade chocolate pudding b/c I only had about 30 minutes to throw together a dessert. My husband was a fan, and Lane got it all over his shirt, so I think it was a success, even though I tried to rush it by putting it into the fridge much too fast after it was done baking.

Jesse and I joined an organic fruit and vegetable co-op a couple of months ago. We have gotten some really wonderful lemons with our last several pick-ups. They smell heavenly, and we have been using them with everything we can think of. I love the tartness of lemons, and have been craving lemon curd. It’s random, I know. My mom loves tart things too, so for Mother’s day, to satisfy my own craving, and the one my mom didn’t know she had, I made a Lemon Meringue Pie. It was yummy, my husband even really enjoyed it and he isn’t a big lemon pie fan.

Lemon Curd – Filling

1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes
1 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (~ 8 smallish lemons)
zest of 3 lemons
10 egg yolks (reserve 5 egg whites for meringue)

1. Add 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a wide saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

2. In your stand mixer (a hand mixer would be fine as well) combine the 10 egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Slowly temper the boiling lemon juice mixture into the egg yolk mixture by having the mixer whisking on medium speed and dropping in the hot liquid one small ladle at a time. It’s important not to rush this process – you don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs (which I personally can not stand), therefore I probably went a little slower than necessary.

3. When fully combined, return the mixture to the wide saucepan and continue to cook and whisk as the mixture thickens. When the whisk leaves a trail in the mixture remove from the heat.

4. Optional: Using a cheesecloth (or other gadget) strain the curd. I did not strain my curd, the lemon zest, after it cooked did not bother me and I am fairly picky about texture. The lemon curd was just the right amount of tartness right after I cooked it, we were literally eating it out of the bowl, however, as the pie sat in the fridge, it got more and more tart. It still tasted wonderful when combined with the meringue, but I think the extreme tartness was the result of leaving the lemon zest in the curd, therefore next time, I will probably strain the curd.

You could also use the curd for parfaits, scone toppings, or for a number of other desserts.

Meringue

5 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
2 pinches cream of tarter

1. Put your egg whites in your mixer bowl with the whisk attachment and turn mixer on high. While mixing, add in sugar and cream of tarter. Leave the mixer on high until stiff peaks form.

Lemon Meringue Pie – Putting it all together

Pie Crust – I used Graham Cracker
Lemon Curd – Cooled
Meringue

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Fill the pie crust ¾ full with lemon curd. I reserved some of the lemon curd for future use, but you could use all of it in the pie. Cover lemon curd with a generous amount of meringue. In my opinion, the more the better. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until top of pie is browned.

Cool pie on countertop for 15 – 20 minutes, and then refrigerate until chilled.

Difficulty: Medium (I recruited help in squeezing the lemons, if you have a stand mixer, the pie seemed fairly easy to make, especially since this was my first try at both the lemon curd and meringue, it might be a little more cumbersome with a hand mixer, but shouldn’t be any harder.)

Make Again: Definitely

Next Time: I will probably strain my lemon curd so it isn’t quite as tart.

Time: 30 minutes, then time to cool and chill.

Jesse rode the MS150 from Houston to Austin in mid April (blog post to come), and although he is not much of a soda drinker (he does like a good Rootbeer every now and then), he drank a bottled Pepsi Throwback and told me how good it was when he finished the ride. So, we set out to find some Throwback in Dallas, which is really hard to do, since they apparently only made them for a limited time. Luckily, we found some at Fiesta, although I started dry heaving in the store b/c it smelled like gross fish and Jesse got quite a laugh out of that, I do admit that Fiesta has some good products, including the Throwback Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

Anyway, if you love sugar (like me), or think soda in Europe, Argentina, or other countries that don’t use high fructrose corn syrup in their sodas are wonderful, then you have to try the Throwback. It is so yummy, plus it has about 1/3 of the ingredients that normal pepsi does and I can read all of them without needing Webster’s dictionary for translation. I am still trying to stick to only drinking 1 (maybe 2) sodas a week, but these are really yummy, and definitely a new favorite in the Leos household. They are best ice cold!

Rachel’s List:

1. Jesse, I couldn’t have married a better man, he is amazing!

2. Paisley & Zhor- they make me laugh every day.

3. Family

4. 9 by Design – Bravo has found greatness with the Novogratz family.

5. Cool Thursdays at the Arboretum, totally relaxing and fun, a great time spent with family and friends.

6. My garden & the picket fence around it – we used basil from the garden this week to make a delicious Strawberry Basil Lemonade and Jesse did an amazing job with the fence.

7. Garage Sales & Thrift Stores – I am searching for a “beautiful” (or one that I can turn into beautiful) chandelier and some chairs for our office.

8. Our home – I love that it feels like a safe place, a place where you can just be yourself and relax.

9. New Recipes – I love cooking and trying out new recipes – though last week I did throw away an apple cake I attempted, it was truly terrible – it did make for a good laugh though.

10. Coffee

Jesse’s List:

10. Two spaces after a period

9. Good set of padded bike shorts

8. The delete button on my dvr remote (so I can delete rachel’s shows without her knowing)

7. Chips and queso

6. Uncle julios

5. BB guns

4. Homemade meals

3. Sitting on the couch with (see #1) as much as we can

2. The most awesome roof over our heads

1. The raddest family in the whole entire world. My sexy wife, our crazy puppy, and our old man withers

I encourage you to think of the things that you are thankful for, especially when you have had a long week at work, had some bumps in the road, etc. It definitely adds a new, and refreshing perspective towards your day.

Without further ado, here is the Review from the New York Times -

Restaurant Review: Tegui in Buenos Aires

By: Michael T. Luongo, Published: April 25, 2010

Usually, restaurants vie for attention in Buenos Aires’s Palermo Viejo neighborhood. Tegui, which the star chef Germán Martitegui opened in January 2009, tries a different approach. With its graffiti-covered facade and tiny lettering on an ugly security door, it’s easy to miss. But that would be a shame, given what awaits inside.

The narrow space seats only 45 and is a change from Mr. Martitegui’s other ventures in the city, including the glamorous Casa Cruz, which serves Mediterranean cuisine and feels like a nightclub, and Olsen, a split-level Scandinavian seafood restaurant with a 1960s Brady Bunch-style décor.

Mr. Martitegui wanted Tegui to be under the radar. “Casa Cruz is a place to be seen,” he said. “I think people need to be hidden. That was the idea with this place.” He added that he had not advertised, relying solely on word of mouth.

Like the interior, the menu is minimalist: it offers only five choices for both starters and entrees, which change weekly, repeating over time, but each selection emphasizes Mr. Martitegui’s skills with Mediterranean-style seafood. Starters like seared red tuna in almond gazpacho garnished with raspberries and arugula sprouts, or oysters topped with trout roe and green apples, display a complex mix of flavors — savory, sweet and tart — and textures.

Some entrees take Argentine comfort food up a notch, like veal tenderloin served with potatoes and chimichurri, layered with an egg and Brazilian manioc flour. That savory-sweet mix was also present in the shrimp ravioli, covered with a tangy scallop-based foam and playful chunks of mango.

Desserts include a sophisticated banana split with coconut ice cream, gingerbread flakes and cream infused with Cognac, for example.

Tegui’s open kitchen, a brilliantly lit steel and glass block space at the end of the ebony and cream dining area, lends a theatrical tone. Patrons watch with anticipation as meals are prepared, and members of the staff can catch diners’ expressions as their work makes its way to tables. The only outdoor space is a tiny interior patio, where smokers puff amid banana trees.

Tegui, Costa Rica 5852, Buenos Aires; (54-11) 5291-3333; tegui.com.ar. Three courses, without beverages or tip, are 180 Argentine pesos, or about $48 at 3.80 pesos to the dollar. Reservations recommended.