Food and Fall

Anyone who knows Jason and I knows we love food!! Homemade, restaurant, slow food, fast food, we love it all. On Friday we tried a new restaurant in Phoenix, The Cornish Pasty Company. A pasty is a savory pastry, traditionally filled with meat and potatoes and comes from Cornwell, England. I ate pasties on our trips to England growing up, so it was a great treat for me. I ordered a Cheese and Onion pasty (my favorite) -- here's a picture:


They also had "mushy peas" and oven fries -- yummmmm.


Jason left from Phoenix for Valencia, Spain on Saturday. He had a very long day of travel, but made it safely. He is there for a conference this week; I will see him Friday in Fort Myers, Florida. We are having a mini-Bailey / Hemmer beach vacation while Tim competes in a soccer tournament.

With Jason gone and the house to myself I tried some new recipes and put out my fall decorations. The house smells like spiced pumpkin candles, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and tomato basil soup.

Here are the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. A healthier version of a traditional cookie with whole wheat flour, oats and natural peanut butter. The result was delicious, I totally recommend.


Maybe I'll put the recipe up on the blog sometime soon.

I also made Roasted Tomato Basil Bisque that I've wanted to try for ages. I LOVE grilled cheese and tomato soup, which I ate Sunday night:


Here's the soup simmering away...


It made enough for me to have 2 bowls and I froze enough for 4 more bowls. If you like soup definitely try this recipe!
3 lbs plum tomatoes, cut lengthwise
1 28oz. can of plum tomatoes, with juice
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 TB. olive oil
2 TB. butter
1 quart of vegetable stock
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 cups fresh basil leaves
1 tsp. thyme

Put plum tomatoes on a baking sheet, toss with olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. When you have about 20 minutes left on this, prep and begin cooking other ingredients. In a large soup pot saute onions, garlic, butter, olive oil and red pepper flakes -- about 10 minutes. Add roasted tomatoes (with all their juice), can of tomatoes, stock, basil, thyme. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Take the pot off heat, hit it with the immersion blender until blended smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, Get one! Seriously it has made making soup so much easier. But, if that isn't an option you can (in batches) pour the mixture into a blender. Once blended, stir in about 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Put the lid on the soup pot and simmer on low until heated through.

Now for the "fall" part of the blog post. Here is my mantle:


And the kitchen table. I have TONS of pine cones and random candles, this my fall creation...


I LOVE fall - pumpkin spice, warm coffee, falling leaves on a chilly evening, football -- it has always been my favorite season.

I'm off to finally pack for Florida...I'll post pictures of the trip when I return.
xoxo

Updates

This photo is up because today during my lunch hour I noticed that the aspen trees are starting to change color. They are a beautiful mix of greens, oranges, and yellows; soon they will turn solid yellow and fall. It feels like it happened overnight because I do not remember noticing this change until today. It has been so unseasonably warm here that my mind is a little confused about what to expect. Although I welcome the warmth for as long as possible, I do love watching the Aspens change in Flagstaff throughout the Fall. We truly do live in a beautiful town. I will make a conscious effort to remind myself of this every time I feel so far away from civilization in our snowy mountain town!

Anyway, back to my updates. We started Early Enrollment Advising for Spring 2011 this week so I've been pretty beat at the end of each day (hence my neglected blog posts)! It takes a few weeks to get my "advising stamina" back up.

Two weekends ago Jason came down with a little something so I went without him to a "sushi party" our friends Ryan and Katie Wessel threw. It was my first time making sushi; it was surprisingly easy! I put shrimp, cream cheese, cucumber and avocado in my roll. Here is our finished product:


Last week Jason was in New Hampshire from Wednesday - Friday. He spent the weekend with his parents, brother Erik, sister-in-law Cindy, and our two nieces Emelie and Juliette. Here is a great picture of Uncle Jason with his newest niece:


Pushing Emelie on the swing...


Apparently they also played a lot of tee-ball, football and hide-and-go-seek. I think Emelie is quite the athlete!

I worked Saturday at Discover NAU, a program for prospective students and their parents, and Sunday night I went to see Tosh.0 on NAU's campus. His set and two opening acts did not disappoint. A great way to end the weekend, doubled over with laughter.



I am still on campus Monday evening as I write. Jason is landing in Flagstaff soon and I'm giving a resume workshop tonight to a student organization. Looking forward to seeing my hubbie!

Car Show, Football, and a Little More...

It was a beautiful fall weekend in Flagstaff! We met some friends downtown on Saturday afternoon to watch football and take a walk around the vintage car show. As we speak we are watching the Patriots destroy the Bengals -- Cincinnati has plenty of reality t.v. stars but no one to make a play!

Not much activity to catch you up on so I thought I'd talk about some things Jason and I like right now. Do you ever find that you go through phases with certain music, food or interests? I know we do. Here is some stuff we're loving right now...

1. This song. Scala choir covers Radiohead's "Creep". Scala is an all girls choir from Belgium -- they are pretty amazing.

2. Cherub Tomatoes. Always delicious, good for snacks and salads.


3. Scarfs -- my favorite fall accessory...not so much Jason's;) I found World Market, H&M, and Marshall's never disappoint.

4. Jogging. That sounds simple, but for anyone who has ever heard my rant on running you know I am not a fan, nor is Jason. We did decide to give it a real try and are training for a 5K in Phoenix in December. Our training starts small...very small...Week 1 we went out 3 times and ran for 60 seconds, walked for 90 seconds, ran for 60 seconds, walked for 90 seconds... It was enough to start to find our stride, but short enough that I still feel confident going into next week. I think I had a bit of an epiphany that I used to run everyday before I went to college; I was on our soccer team, track team, and even ran cross country (believe it or not!). I think I need to prove to myself that I can still do it, and thankfully Jason is willing to come along for the ride.

5. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. Enough Said.

From Fall 2010 2

Here's the recipe:
* 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. cloves, 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 cup granulated sugar (I use Splenda)
* 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/4 cup No Sugar Added Apple Sauce, or Canola Oil
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup chocolate chip (I use Ghiradhelli 60% cocoa chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk flour with baking soda, spices & salt. In another bowl whisk together sugar, pumpkin, milk, apple sauce and egg.
Stir in dry ingredients to wet ingredients until completely incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into 12 lined muffin cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes.
Enjoy!

6. Kindle 3, Jason's 30th birthday present and newest toy.


7. I am still kickin' it old school with paper books. Currently reading (and highly recommend)...


8. T.V. When do we not love this? Our favorites right now?


I hate to admit this one, but we are addicted to the train wreck that is...


Speaking of T.V... I'm off to get something done so we can watch True Blood season finale tonight. Have a great week! XOXO

The Big 3-0.

As a new month began so did a new decade for Jason; September 1st was his 30th Birthday. On his actual Birthday Jason was at a conference in Sedona. I drove down after work to take him out to dinner at Fork in the Road. It was yummy! Unfortunately I forgot my phone in the hotel room so I don't have a picture. Friday night the celebration continued; I cooked Jason a steak dinner and he enjoyed a birthday brownie (see picture above).

On Saturday, after watching Clemson beat N. Texas, we went to a wedding ceremony for my friend and co-worker, Melanie. She and her (now) husband had a beautiful ceremony in Hart's Prairie, a gorgeous field with views of the San Francisco Peaks. This was the best picture I could get, but the light wasn't working with me...


We got a little family photo -- I love this picture! I think it's one of the best we've taken in awhile...and it feels very "Flagstaff" to me...haha...my Flagstaff readers will know what I mean.


The celebration continued at their ceremony at Zane Grey's, a bar in the historic Weatherford Hotel downtown. Me and the beautiful bride:


We are enjoying our Labor Day off of work. After 12 days of straight work I was certainly ready for this long weekend and some serious relaxation. Happy Labor Day!

Babies and Turning 21

I took my final long summer weekend to visit Caroline & Jimmy Hartley in Columbia, SC. Their son, William, was born about a month ago. What a great baby! He was amazingly calm, cuddly, and super sweet. I spent two days hanging around with Caroline and William. Here are a few pictures:
Caroline, William & I:


William wearing the baby hat I knitted for him:


William and I hanging out:


I also went to Greenville, SC for one night to see another baby, the Bailey family baby. Tim turned 21! Hard to believe, but we took him out for pizza & beer at Barley's in downtown Greenville.


With Tim at a bar!


May be the best picture ever of these two:


Tim & Mum:


I have the BEST brothers ever:


A good picture of Mum & Me:


We had SO much fun. I am so thankful that I was able to visit Caroline, meet her son William and celebrate a big birthday with my baby brother. I am always thankful for the technology and ability to fly across the country in less than 5 hours. Planes are full of annoying people and bad food, but they are my necessary evil and I am grateful for them!

Jason was also traveling while I was gone. He had a meeting in Portland, Oregon and then left for Canada last Sunday. We intersected in the Phoenix Airport on Sunday for dinner at the Terminal 4 Chili's...how romantic. He was flying out at 8:00 and I flew back in at 5:00. Caroline's mom, Polly, called us a 'couple of jet-setters'!

As if anyone could forget, Jason turns 30 this Wednesday. Hard to believe my husband will be 30 years old -- makes us sound old -- haha! He has to be in Sedona for work, so I'll be driving down to Sedona this Wednesday night to spend his birthday with him. We have a few other celebratory events planned for labor day weekend.

I am working this weekend, Transfer Orientation today and walk-in advising tomorrow. Classes at NAU begin on Monday -- let the fun begin! This past week was a mad house; mini-vans and U-hauls full of parents, new students and lots of stuff moving into the dorms. Let's hope I can get a parking space:)

Last but certainly not least, we welcomed our 2nd niece, Juliette Skye Hemmer, into the world this past Tuesday, August 24th. She weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces at birth, and is 20.5 inches long. We are extremely excited to have this new addition to the Hemmer family. Apparently, our niece Emelie is also very excited to be a big sister! Jason will have a chance to meet Juliette in person at the end of September when he'll be in New England for a business trip. Congratulations to Erik and Cindy for becoming parents for the second time! We'll certainly have more pics of Juliette available in the comings weeks and months, but for now we have 2 pics hot off the presses posted below.

Juliette's Birth Announcement

From Drop Box

Juliette Napping

From Drop Box

XOXO

Random Happenings

As predicted I spent much of the weekend in a cleaning frenzy. Laundry, dusting, vacuuming...I even got Jason to help me clean out the filing cabinet. Of course, we did some conventionally fun things also...

My friend and co-worker, Melanie, is getting married Labor Day weekend. I attended her wedding shower on Saturday afternoon. Here is a picture with myself, the bride-to-be, and another co-worker, Lisa.


While I did secret girl things are the wedding shower Jason and his friend David went for a bike ride. Jason snapped this picture by Walnut Canyon.


We also went out for dinner at Oregano's on Saturday night with one of Jason's co-workers and his family. It was actually our 2nd time at Oregano's that week. On Tuesday nigh we met an old Clemson friend, Keenan, and his wife Nicole there for dinner on their drive through town. They are driving across country from Florida to California and made a pit-stop in Flagstaff.

Jason is going to Portland, Oregon for a meeting on Thursday and I am off to South Carolina on Wednesday to meet the newest Hartley, William, and see Tim on his 21st -- can't wait!!!

xoxo

The Family

My family came into town last Friday and stayed for a long weekend. We only had one rainy day out of four and spent our time doing what we do best: eating, talking and laughing. We also had time to visit Sunset Crater & Wupatki National Monument, catch a movie and aimlessly wander around town.

Sunset Crater:


Mum taking a little rest in the shade:


Brunch at Martanne's:




Arizona Cardinals come to NAU campus each summer for preseason. Richard & Tim watching practice last Friday afternoon:


Richard rented a Tahoe so we could all drive around together. I was designated driver; I felt like a soccer mom taking my kids to practice. Here are all the boys riding in back on our way to Sunset Crater:

I miss my family so much some days and it was awesome to have all four Baileys--Mum, Dad, Rich & Tim in town together.

We are in town this weekend catching up on laundry and deflating air mattresses -- Happy Friday to all!
XOXO