My amazing husband's amazing cooking!

I gave my husband a fun cookbook called, Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking, for Christmas and I'm so happy that I did. 

Source: amazon.com via Emily on Pinterest

 Tonight, Mr. F made mussels in fennel pernod broth. It was delicious and we ate almost two pounds of mussels! I also love the smell of licorice from the pernod!

A few weeks ago, Mr. F made scallops with cilantro oil. Until this year, I had no idea that I love scallops. Thank you Emeril and Mr. F for introducing me to more seafood! It is so awesome and healthy!! 

Since we are on a healthy kick, we're trying not to eat simple carbs, except on Saturday. For breakfast, Mr. F made fried eggs with cilantro, tomatoes, and sweet peppers on a pita. Yum!

We've been eating more shrimp recently too. I used to think that I hated it but it's actually quite tasty when prepared well. My husband likes to use Emeril's Essence Creole seasoning on nearly everything and it's sooo tasty, especially with shrimp, fresh avocado, black beans and Mexican queso blanco.

My favorite recipe is fried okra (with olive oil, salt and pepper), creole pork chops and creole white beans. 

If you like cooking, or are lucky to have a chef in the house, check out this wonderful cookbook!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is the image I left work with, as I walked in the snow to the bus. I'm so happy to have a four day weekend! It got even better when I came home to my new Born "Yolanda" boots! They just arrived in the mail from Nordstrom! 

PLUS,

 Mr. F worked from home and made an amazing Beer Braised Brisket! It was so delicious I forgot to take a picture!

Here's the recipe he used by Emeril:

INGREDIENTS

• 4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1 (2-pound) beef brisket
• Emeril's Original Essence
• 2 large onions, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle beer (not dark)
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 carrots, cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch-thick pieces
• 1 boiling potato, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 turnip, cut into 1-inch pieces
• Cooked buttered noodles, as accompaniment
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a Dutch oven, cook bacon in 1 tablespoon water over moderate heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Pat brisket dry and season with salt, pepper and Essence. Brown in bacon fat. Transfer brisket to platter. Add the onions to the Dutch oven and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook 1 minute more. Add beer, broth, and bacon bits. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Braise the brisket, covered, in the oven for 2 to 3 hours. Add carrots, potatoes, and turnips for the last 45 minutes.

Transfer the brisket and vegetables with a slotted spoon to a plate and keep warm, covered. Bring the braising liquid to a boil. Let sauce reduce over high heat until thickened. Season sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Slice the brisket and arrange it and the vegetables with the noodles on a platter. Spoon some of the sauce over the brisket and the vegetables, sprinkle the dish of parsley, and serve the remaining sauce separately.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My walk to work this morning!

This morning I was inspired to snow shoe to work. When I got outside, there was only an inch of snow on the ground, so I strapped my snow shoes to my pack instead. It was a good thing I brought my trekking poles though, it was an icy morning, even though I waited until the sun was up!I couldn't stop taking pictures of Christmas colored leaves. I love their striking contrast to the snow!

The sun was rising over Capitol Hill and just peeking around Queen Anne. I love these trees and their light, on the Ship Canal Trail near Seattle Pacific University. 

 The houseboats start at the North end of Queen Anne and they looked particularly charming covered in snow.  The Aurora Bridge is majestic at all times of the day too.
 I walked by one of the houseboats used in the movie, Sleepless in Seattle and enjoyed South Lake Union's new park. 

The best part of the walk was seeing this crane by the Center of Wooden Boats! I could not believe I was this close to it. 

Did you get a chance to enjoy snow today?

I love my house!

Here are a few sunlit photos of my home in the afternoon! Seattle is beautiful today with bright blue skies and a few fluffy clouds.

Lily Thomas loves the sun too! Our mantle is pretty in the late afternoon sunlight too!

Lily and Lyra in the hallway, posing for me!

Country memories

When I was a child, I would escape chores to read in the tall grass at our farm. Sometimes I would build fairy huts in the grass, or wait quietly to spy on wild rabbits that would venture out of the blackberry bushes. When I saw this painting by Albrecht Durer, on my iGoogle art of the day homepage, it instantly transported me back to reading Little House on the Praire, Nancy Drew, and the Phillip Pullman books in the hay fields.

Do you have favorite pieces of art that remind you of a particular memory?

Cat coffee table!

Wow, I'm coveting this cat hammock and coffee table that I just saw on jaeve + things via Spoon & Tamago!! The CASE-REAL website is mostly in Japanese, but check out their concept drawing here!

I think this would be perfect for our living room! We could watch movies with the kitties watching in their own personal seats!