Starting the brisket

Theron is impressed.

Night out with old friend

My buddy from the Flotown experience came to town this weekend, Theron. We're having a great time and we to introduce each other to our beautiful brides. Last night the four of us plus Josh and Morgan had dinner at Burwells and drinks at Wet Willies. Both were underwhelming but the company was great. Josh is headed back to DC but the rest of us will continue to hang out with some grilling involved and a reasonable amount of studying for K and I. We spent several hours in Starbucks today greeting ready for the big test this coming Friday. Great weekend so far.

Thankful Thursday - Take 67

1315. An extremely productive weekend last weekend.

 

1316. Encouragement between me and Beau to keep one another going with our school work and studying.

1317. Sunshine is here!

1318. A great time with Sara last night at Starbucks. So good to spend time with her.

1319. Bootcamp. It’s really kicking my tail and I can see differences!

1320. Ingenuity with meals this week.

 

1321. 3-day weekend that is soon to be ours!

1322. Resolution among co-workers.

1323. Mentoring and coaching from individuals at work

1324. Sound wisdom and advice

1325. Funny phone calls with my brother.

 

Don't Eat These

These are new to the market. But don't buy them. They're gross. FYI.

Yuck

Look at the tick that FELL off of Argos and was waiting for me on my rug. I am totally grossed out!

Weakness

Just ate a little bag of these. I have a small amount of guilt, but I was starving and just could not bring myself to eat ANOTHER piece of fruit. I needed that cheese! And, I love Cheetos. Has to be my favorite “chip”/snack food. My guilty pleasure. (Like  I don’t have enough of those.) Wasn’t it just Friday that I ate a Take Five? What is happening? It must be summer fever. Must be.

The Best

Take 5. My favorite candy bar. It's every great candy bar rolled into one. Peanut Butter. Yes. Chocolate.Yes. Caramel. Yes. Pretzels. Yes. Peanuts. Yes.

I was studying for an exam I have in two weeks, feeling really bad about how I was going to do on it. To cheer me up, Beau went and got me this!

Backpacking 2013

Beau and I went backpacking this past weekend with Dad and Chris, as I mentioned earlier. Here are some more pics from our weekend.

 

It was a very eventful trip with more wildlife than I’ve ever seen at one given time. We saw:

·         A black bear cup (which means mom wasn’t far away)

·         A copperhead snake

·         An English Box Turtle

·         A Black Rat Snake eating a toad

·         Salamanders

·         A Garter Snake

·         Squirrels, Ants, Mosquitos, etc. ;)

 

Super fun time. And as you can see, we took the dogs. They always have so much fun and I feel much better knowing they’re with us. A protection thing…

 

Our Indian friend, Joy Thomas, came to town yesterday. Dad brought him. And because I know that man loves vegetables and fish, I made this! It’s a very yummy and filling dish of herbed rice, all sorts of fresh vegetables and fried fish. Now, I’m not usually one to fry fish. In fact, I usually ignore that part of a recipe and just bake or broil it. But on this, I went all the way. A little flour, some egg and some delicious panko. It was worth it. The fish was cooked perfectly and the crunch from the panko was divine. Everyone loved it. We finished off the night with crème brulee.

 

It was nice to see Joy. He and his wife, Mary, live in Delhi. Joy comes over about every two years trying to raise money for his ministry in India. He and his wife are strong believers trying to share the love of Christ with Indians throughout their country while providing them free  medical care, housing and food. He is loved by many, including us. And as Beau said last night, “He is one praying man.” That’s true. J

 

Bass with Herbed Rice and Coconut Vegetable Chowder

 

*Adapted from Bon Appetit

 

CHOWDER

1 T vegetable oil

¾ c chopped onion

3 kaffir lime leaves

3 large fresh basil leaves

1 T minced fresh ginger

1 T chopped jalapeno chile with seeds

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 c coconut milk

2 c vegetable broth

15.2 oz bottle fresh carrot juice

¼ c finely chopped palm sugar or packed dark brown sugar

2 T fish sauce

2 ½ c ½ inch cubes peeled red skinned sweet potato

2 c baby Yukon Gold or baby Dutch yellow potatoes, halved lengthwise, then crosswise

2 c stringless sugar snap peas, cut into ½ inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, cut into ½ inch cubes

1 large carrot, peeled, cut into matchstick size strips

 

FISH

1 c flour

½ c water

1 egg

2 c panko

6 4x2 inch pieces striped bass or halibut fillets (*I used Cod)

Vegetable oil for frying

Herbed Rice

Fresh basil sprigs and/or arugula

Lime wedges

 

CHOWDER

 Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add next 6 ingredients. Cover and cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add coconut milk and next 4 ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered 1 hour. Strain into large saucepan, pressing on solids in strainer. If necessary, simmer broth until reduced to 4 cups.

 

Meanwhile, cook yam cubes in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, 6-8 minutes. Using skimmer, transfer yam to bowl. Add potatoes to same saucepan and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain; add to bowl with yam.

 

Bring coconut-carrot broth to simmer over medium heat. Add all cooked potatoes, sugar snap peas, red bell pepper, and carrot. Simmer until all vegetables are tender, 5-6 minutes.

 

FISH

Place flour in shallow bowl. Combine ½ c water and egg in another shallow bowl; whisk to blend. Place panko in third shallow bowl. Sprinkle fish pieces with salt and pepper. Coat in flour, then egg mixture, then panko.

 

Pour enough oil into large skillet to coat bottom. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add fish to skillet. Cook until golden and crisp and just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side.

 

Pack warm Herbed Rice into ½ c measure. Turn out rice into center of large shallow soup bowl. Repeat 5 more times. Ladle chowder around rice. Top rice with fish. Garnish with basil and/or arugula. Serve, passing lime wedges.

 

HERBED RICE

2 c Japanese rice or Calrose medium grain white rice

2 c water

½ tsp salt

1 T very thinly sliced fresh cilantro leaves

1 T very thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1 T very thinly sliced fresh mint leaves

 

Place rice in medium bowl. Add enough cold water to cover an stir. Drain. Repeat until water drained from rice is clear, 3-4 more times. Bring 2 c water to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Stir in rice and ½ tsp salt. Cover; reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 18-20 minutes. Mix in herbs and season with salt, if desired.

 

 

Thankful Thursday - Take 66

1295. Heading into the woods today to go camping with the love of my life and my other two best guys, Chris and Dad!

 

1296. Last semester of school has started and we have one week down. Six to go!

1297. Kickball has started and we have a very fun team!

1298. Meeting new friends (hopefully) through the sharing of food.

1299. A wonderful graduation weekend with family and friends.

1300. Bootcamp that is kicking my butt! Sore muscles has to be a sign of some strength building right?!?!

 

1301. Body fat percentage down by 5 pts! That’s some serious progress!

1302. May means warm weather and I’ve been waiting for this for months!

1303. Snuggles

1304. Steak tacos made with leftover Ribeye from Grill 225. THE best steak tacos I’ve put in my mouth thank you very much!

1305. Plans for a very busy summer!

 

1306. New opportunities at work.

1307. Mothers! It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday! Celebrate that woman in your life! I’m surely thankful for my mother! And my mother-in-law. Two women that love me and Beau…and Argos to death! These two women have shaped our lives in ways that we’re only starting to be able to see. And we’re so very thankful! We love you both!

1308. Leaving work early today. J Yippee!

1309. Emergency snack drawer. As you can see from the photo. It’s quite full. And before you go judging me for the giant Ziploc of chocolate, know that I didn’t buy any of that. I come into work on Monday mornings and there’s chocolate waiting for me. I can’t help it. But I must say it’s nice to have for an emergency. Notice there’s stuff from Easter so it’s obviously not going that fast!

1310. Planning for trips. Some people don’t get to go on trips. We’re blessed and thankful.

 

1311.Graduating from my dad’s alma mater. Very special.

1312. Tiny little tangerines. They’re delicious. But so small. Perfect for babies, not for adults. It’s kind of a tease. You need, like, five!

1313. Marital bliss!

1314. Going away for the weekend with the kitchen and bedroom in scrambles (haven’t even looked upstairs yet after a house full of guests left) and not even being worried about it. It will get done when it gets done. There’s nothing we can do about it at this point.

Stinky

Well, we're out of the woods! Been there since Thursday night! We had a great time and walked 20 miles through Table Rock State Park and Jones Gap State Park. But We. Are. Stinky.

Graduation Weekend - Party!

Beau and I invited family and friends to celebrate with us. So Sunday afternoon we braved the weather and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Let them eat cake! Aunt Beverly made the cake with a big blue “C” on the top. Obviously for The Citadel. We were thrilled at everyone who came out and we had a super time! The weather wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated and everyone just mingled and laughed and ate and talked. It was so much fun!

 

Before we left for graduation mom wanted a little photo shoot at the house.

 

Isn’t the hubster handsome?!?! Love that bowtie and his smile!

 

Graduation Weekend -

Celebrating with my parents after the ceremony.

 

Graduation Weekend - The Class

Our professors wanted the whole Project Management Department to meet by the bulldog for a picture after the ceremony. So here we are! The whole clan! What a great group. Beau and I talked about how sad we were that just when we’re getting to be good friends with these people, the program is over. Hoping to stay in touch… We enjoyed them!

Graduation Weekend - the big day!

Beau and I were sat at the end of the row, which allowed Donna and Mom to get some good pictures really close. And there is Beau receiving his diploma from General Rosa and me receiving mine from my dad.

 

At The Citadel, if you have a family member (e.g. father, mother, grandparent, spouse, sibling) who has graduated from The Citadel, either from the Corps of Cadets or from the CGC, they can give you your diploma. So that’s exactly what my dad did! It was very special for both of us!

 

Beau joked that he technically could have given me mine since he went before me in the line-up. “Beau Evans class of 2013 is giving Kathryn Evans her diploma.” Would have been pretty funny I think. J

Graduation Weekend - Capstone Presentation

Beware! We have a lot of pictures to share!

 

But let me first say that it was a wonderful weekend! Between the Capstone Presentations on Thursday, Graduation on Saturday with a fabulous dinner and the party on Sunday, it was great!

 

I had a few more pictures from Capstone night. It was great to have Donna, Mom, Dad and Chris there to participate as well. We had a table full when Wendy and Eric joined us. It was wonderful.

 

It was so nice of Dr. Charles Skipper to pose with Jess, Wendy and me.

 

Grandma at grad party

She is the last of my grandparents and I very thankful she could make it.

Mom at graduation

I love her so much and am thankful she was there. She is the largest contributor to the man I am today. Thank you for all you've done for me. Tate

Pictures of graduation from Beau's camera