Sore Ticker.

My heart is sore. And it's not my murmur. 

Luckily, I have two awesome friends to cheer me up, even if it causes motion sickness. 

Explanation:

Yesterday we all went out swinging. Yes, swinging. In Shipe Park. Because it's beautiful out. (NOT January)

There was a man playing guitar, and not too shabily. 

The sun was setting. We swang. Laughed. Took off our shoes and my heart was instantly tingly and warm again. 

Thanks Evelyn and Marny. 

Today I went with Evelyn to two dog parks. As I put in an earlier post, Goose occasionally knocks me down when he walks in between my legs. 

Today was one of those days. 

I have a scrape on my elbow and a cut on my finger to show for it. But I gave some people at the lake (and Evelyn) a good laugh.

Thanks Goose. 

Green Adventures

Today was beautiful. Is it really January?? Rather than sit in bed and watch Battle Star Galactica (Marny gave me the entire series so I can join the other BSG nerdy birds of the world), I decided to call up Emmanuel and ask him to take me to Greenbelt, as I have never been there in my 5 years as an Austinite. 

We bought some sustenance at the store and were off! 

I was pumped!

And that is how I spent my afternoon, hiking the belt. I was pretty clumbsy at first, and I could tell the thought of having to haul a broken-legged Jennifer out of the place crossed Em's mind several times. 

I climbed up to a hole in the side of some rocks to peer inside, something Emmanuel later told me he was surprised I did. (with the possibility of critters and such)

We looked at rock sculptures and I added to one of them. 

We walked over a waterfall!

We climbed the dreadful Hill of Life, something people would be insane to try and mountain bike up or down... but they do. 

The beginning of the hill of misery. We had a snack break at the top.

Going for an "N'Sync pose"

We tried to find poison ivy, and Emmanuel got the bright idea to rub the leaves of these plants on both of our arms so we could experience poison ivy firsthand....I probably shouldn't tell anybody we did that. Is all respect lost? It was his idea. :)  Thank god the plants we thought might be poisonous really weren't.... I managed to stay relatively itch free the entire 3ish hours of hiking. 

I am convinced that if I hadn't been doing yoga my legs would not have survived. 

But they did. And it was fun. I can't wait to go again when the weather is warm and there is plenty of water for swimming. 

Hooray for Greenbelt!

Buon appetite! (il mio italiano è orribile.)

I think risotto will be my food of 2009. The food I crave, the food that will cure my pain, bring a smile to my face and warmth into my heart. No, really!

My love of this dish began pretty late in my life. Two winters ago, my mom took me on a birthday trip to Hershey Pennsylvania and to Hyde Park, New York where I toured the Culinary Institute of America. We ate at two of the school's restaurants and I remember ordering risotto dishes twice. Both were perfect as far as I was concerned. Rich. Perfectly cooked. A meal within itself. I should hope so- it IS the CIA. 

I did not eat any risotto while in Italy as it was not a food of Tuscany. 

Fast forward to 2009. 

This is Cavason.  (the human)

Congratulations Cavason, you have made it on to my list of all time favorite foods!!

Cavason whipped me up some artichoke risotto with salmon (maybe?) Obviously the fish wasn't that important (although it was good).... my mind, taste buds, and stummy were melting away with the risotto. 

Next day. 

I not-so-subtly hinted at being hungry *cough* risotto leftovers *cough*. 

Cavason worked his magic again- making the risotto dish that deserves a spot on my list. It had chicken. and the artichoke heart risotto from before. and cheese grated on top. I'm not sure what other magic was in it, but I felt completely warm inside eating it. Like everything was alright in the world. As far as I'm concerned,  a good comfort food should do that. If I hadn't made myself an absurdly rich cup of hot cocoa before eating this creamy concoction, I could have eaten my weight in the stuff. And then promptly explode. But I'd be a happy explosion. 

And that brings us to Today:

I found red pepper leek BOXED risotto at Target of all places. Their lovely Archer Farms brand. Apparently the four cheese variety was recalled a while back. This doesn't concern me. 

So today as I was craving the chickeny cheesey goodness that was Cavason's risotto, and since it was not available I decided to give this boxed version a shot. 

I added the suggested butter.. Maaaaybe a little extra. And grated some of that three milk cheese from the Wheatesville (which I can not think of the name and it's driving me mad) on top. And I must say it was sooooooo good. Two giant-sized thumbs way up. As far as boxed meals go, and risotto at that, I would take this to making my own any day. (Shhhh, don't tell)

But given the choice, I still prefer the chicken homemade variety I had the pleasure of enjoying the other night.  Big thanks to the chef... you can make it for me any time you'd like. 

My belly is smiling. Make yours smile too!