#37. Eat at Boise Fry Company

Okay, so some of the items on my list aren't really a big challenge and are more for enjoyment.  I'm fine with that though.  Who wants to complete a huge laundry list of hard things? 

I'm a proud Boise-an.  I think it is a great place: not too big, not too small, more fun cultural activities than you might expect, great food, growing college football team, etc.  Did I mention the food?  I know you can find great food pretty much anywhere, but some of my very favorite places to eat are local restaurants in Boise.

A new place in town is Boise Fry Company.  Their slogan is, "Burgers on the side."  That is my idea of a burger joint!  We went over Christmas break for the first time and thought it was fun.  They have several types of fries (russet, golden, sweet, yams, purple), cuts, sauces, and seasonings.  It is a little overwhelming for an indecisive person like me to choose what to get, so we basically tried everything we could.  The picture shows all of the sauces.  My favorite was the blueberry ketchup.  I was a little disappointed in a few of the sauces because they tasted a little too much like plain mayonnaise.  I think my overall favorite thing I tried were the yams with vanilla salt and blueberry ketchup.  I also had a buffalo burger for the first time and thought it was pretty good.

Overall, we had a fun time, the food was great, and I would like to go back again.  If you happen to be in Boise, try it out! 

Corny Pasta

The worst part about coming back from a 3-week Christmas vacation at my parents' house is realizing I have to plan and prepare meals again.  I enjoy cooking, it's the planning and shopping I don't care for as much.  I'm not sure how my mother (and women everywhere) has been planning and preparing meals for years and years.  Maybe it gets easier with experience?  I hope so.  Nevertheless, I feel so satisfied when I make a successful meal.  And this one was! I just changed a few minor things from Rachel Ray's Summer Corn Fettuccine, so I can't take credit for the idea.  I haven't tried many of her recipes but this one hit the spot.  If you like corn chowder, you will love this dish.  Here's the recipe.

Corny Pasta
Adapted from Rachel Ray

1 lb. fettuccine or other pasta
6 slices of bacon, chopped
2 cups of corn (fresh or frozen)
3 shallots, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
a few shakes of cayenne pepper
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano 
1/4 cup basil leaves, cut in ribbons

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until rendered, golden, and crisp.  Remove the bacon and save for later.  Add the shallots, bell pepper, and 1.5 cups of corn to the bacon drippings.  Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender.  
3. Combine the remaining corn and half-and-half in a food processor and puree until smooth.
4. Add the chicken broth to the veggies and let simmer for a minute or two to reduce.  Add the corn mixture and thyme.  Stir often and let the mixture thicken.  Add the cayenne pepper and stir.
5. Add the drained pasta to a serving bowl and grate the Pecorino Romano on top.  Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to coat.  Top the pasta with bacon and basil and serve. Enjoy!

A Challenge

Landon issued me a challenge this week:

Take one photo each day.

I have only been doing it a couple of days but thought I could share my favorite from each week.  Here is this week's favorite.

I may be biased, but I think this girl is a beauty.

#1. Make a Quilt

I've mentioned this project before, but now that Christmas has passed, I can finally tell you that I completed it. Hallelujah! It was not an easy task, but still a lot of fun. I learned a lot and do not think it will be my last quilt.

All along, the quilt was intended for my newest niece, Lucy. She is my sister's fourth child and she arrived in November. My sister did a lot of sewing for my baby's nursery since I lacked the time and skills. So this project was the least I could do to say, "thanks."

I forgot to take photos of the finished product (doh!), but luckily my sister took a few for me. Here is Lucy showing it off.

Here it is!   

I got my inspiration from Cluck Cluck Sew.  I did three sizes of rectangles/squares and arranged them randomly.  For the quilting I just picked some rectangles that were equally spaced throughout the quilt  and stitched in the ditch around the perimeter of each rectangle.  The binding was probably the most frustrating part.  I just used the backing fabric and wanted to machine sew it down.  I thought it would be a breeze.  I was wrong.  The machine (or rather I) kept pulling it funny so it was just a mess.  I only got about half way down one side when I decided it wasn't worth it.  I ended up hand stitching it, which didn't take as long as I thought it might.  I'm glad I did it that way.  It looked just the way I wanted it to.  I'm not even sure if I would attempt to machine sew a binding in the future, but we'll see.  Hooray for finishing my first quilt that I did every cut and stitch on!

The New Year

Have you seen/heard all of those ads for gyms, lipo, exercise equipment, diet books, etc. this past week? Health goals and the new year go together like peas and carrots. The new year is a great time when most people feel motivated to change. I loved working at the new year because we were always busy with new clients. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm doesn't always last long. Gyms are typically much less crowded in February. I think this often happens because people make goals that are a little too hard to keep up with. With that in mind, I just wanted to remind you of SMART Goals. Here is a link to the posts I did a few months ago.

Here is another bit of advice I want to share. Weight loss is typically a common goal with the new year. Instead of obsessing over the number on the scale, expand your goal. Try keeping track of body measurements every month or so, or get a body composition test. If you live close to a university, it may have equipment to do a body composition test.

#8. Make Christmas Stockings: Abby's

I finally came up with an idea for Abby's stocking.  I had an image in my head, but couldn't decide how it would actually turn out.  Landon told me to just go with it and see what happened.  So I did.  And I think it turned out just the way I wanted it.

This picture isn't the best, but it gives you the basic idea.  I promise the toe and cuff look better in person. 

My original plan was to put her name on the cuff, but now I can't decide.  What do you think?  And if I do it, how should I do it? 

I'm not sure what I'll do, but for now I am calling it good.  I need to get going on Landon's and my other projects.  I'm so glad I can cross this off my list and do it with something I am proud of. 

Abby's A

Here is one of my homemade Christmas presents.  It is for my baby girl, so I figured I could share it on here.  These types of projects are nothing new, but it was my first time making one.  I used pinking shears to cut the letter out so that I wouldn't have to cut the paper to fit exactly on the letter.  I think it looks cute that way, and seemed a lot easier in my mind.  I plan to hang it in her room with red ribbon.  It was only a few dollars and makes a great gift.