Match Day Results...

We're Going Home!!!!

.....That's the news in a nutshell. Stay tuned for the backstory. For now, my eyes are burning from the incessant scanning of Craigslist.

Blender Set To Puree

I just painted my toenails this funky gold orange color. They look cute and bright staring at me like I'm window shopping and they are the desired goods. I'll take them all. And as long as we're pretending, I'll go ahead and pay full price.

Yup. This is what I'm doing... painting my toes, driving my car to the gym, to the grocery store, to the gas station to clean the festival of bird dookie off my car, waiting for my soup to finish heating up, waiting out tornado warnings (right now as a matter of fact), waiting for the wedding to get here, and waiting, waiting, waiting, for Match Day.

*Cue Hitchcock soundtrack*

Dear SOSers, if you're like me and are waiting on your Match as well, I want to grab your hand so hard you'd think you're my Labor and Delivery Nurse. The last few months I've tried my best to stay preoccupied as we wait until this coming week, and let's just say IT'S BEEN REAL. And forgive me for keeping away from my writings. It's been tough to write recently. When I'm talking to you dear readers the anxiety looms ominously over me like the gray skies above me now. It's impossible for the topic not to pop up incessantly in my head like those freaky little chipmunks in that arcade game I find so pointless. Except in keeping with the metaphor, I'd forgo that measly rubber mallet and go all Caddyshack on their creepy plastic tails.

In the meantime, wedding plans are in full swing (78 days!) and Gannon is keeping busy in his Medicine Sub-I. I don't know what's worse: having your Medicine Sub-I at the end of you're 4th year or the limbo of Match itself. Here's what I do know: Enduring both at the same time leeches the life out of you like a dehydrator turns once luscious, Skittle-colored fruits and vegetables to driftwood-colored cardboard remnants. It sucks.

But - like a champ - he endures. And then he assures me that having a dehydrator on our registry list is a REALLY good idea. So it's possible we'll be that couple showing up at your potluck party with astronaut food.

MOVING ON.

We've had good stuff to keep us occupied these last couple months also... lots of it having to do with some high calorie intake courtesy of good cheese, outstanding crepes, fruity risotto, and Lebanese food. (All just GREAT for the bride-to-be body, I swear.) It's the latter food selection I'd like to expound upon at this time... and I'll save the other items for their own well-deserved posts.

So SOSer Rachael and her hubby, Nick (a great future Opthamologist), are reputed as some downright stellar chefs, and they've indulged us on many an occasion. (Stay tuned for the crepe post. It's oh so much more than crepes.) Knowing Gannon and I are both half-Lebanese, they've lately inquired about our Lebanese food repertoire and we decided it was high time to give them a spread that would make our Sittos proud.

It was the day of our Lebanese dinner and knowing Gannon wouldn't have time to help me make everything I started by making hummus that morning. Now my homemade hummus is (amazingly awesome) super thick, therefore making it a force to be reckoned with facing even the industrial-strength VitaMix my parents have at home. But since I'm not at my parents, I my options are one really crappy blender, and one really REALLY crappy blender. Tahini, garlic, and garbanzos in hand, I tentatively approached the singularly crappy blender like a lioness circling her prey. I will conquer you, Crappy Blender! You and your sticky buttons and motor fit for a desk fan!

Ingredients in, I blend tentatively and genially in hopes the motor won't burn out and leave me with chunky garbanzo vomit. Adding lemon juice, dashes of olive oil, stirring with the prowess of someone who has mastered the hummus and the machine. No dying motor, not even a hint of burning rubber. Finally, the time has come for that last step to smooth consistency and perfect hummus. Puree.

I slap on the button and it kicks into gear like the Little Engine That Could. Well it could. And it did. It pureed it's little heart out. It pureed so much that the thickness of the hummus plus the momentum of the blade actually BEGAN UNSCREWING THE PITCHER FROM ITSELF. Before I knew it, the glass pitcher with all my hummus in it began spinning on it's axis at warp speed Linda Blair-style. POSSESSED! POSSESSED! SAVE THE HUMMUS!

My killer instincts told me to grab the handle and take the pitcher off the blender... but unfortunately forgot to mention that the pitcher was completely unscrewed and and my perfect appetizer was now oozing out the bottom of the glass onto the counter making sure to get between all the already-sticky buttons on the way down. I didn't have garbanzo vomit. I had garbanzo diarrhea.

*Sigh*

After a moment to regain composure. I lifted my head high, salvaged the hummus clinging to the walls of the pitcher, and began again. Though the process was somewhat tumultuous, I now have a decent story to tell of overcoming the blender battle. Plus, the final product turned out fantastic.

Making hummus. That's another thing I'm doing to try and keep my mind off Match. And you can too. Just follow the recipe below. Still, if you're like me, for the next few days my stomach will feel a whole lot like that blender set to puree. But when it's all over, my wish for you is that you're served a plate that you truly enjoy.

HUMMUS

• 1 Tbsp Coarse Salt
• 8 Clove Garlic
• 3 Cans Garbanzo beans
• 1/3 C Tahini
• 2 Lemons
• 1/4 C Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp Cumin

1. Peel and chop garlic into bits. Blend garlic with half of your olive oil (1/8 C), salt (1/2 Tbsp), and lemon juice (1 lemon).
2. Add 1 can of garbanzo beans with its liquid. (Do not drain beans.) Blend well.
3. Gradually add up to half of your tahini. Blend more.
4. Drain the keep the liquid from the other two cans of garbanzo beans. As you blend, add more of the drained beans and the rest of your lemon juice and olive oil.
5. Add the rest of your tahini. (The rest of the liquid from the canned beans should be used only if your blender is having a rough time of it.)
6. Add last bit of salt and all of your cumin.
7. Taste...
8. Taste again...
9. Maybe add some more lemon? More garlic? Cumin? Knock yourself out!
10. When you serve, garnish with olive oil drizzle and a flourish of paprika.
11. ENJOY!

Serves 6 people at a dinner party with plenty for leftovers.

Note: Ideally, I recommend you use a food processor for this hummus motherlode. But if it must be a blender, avoid PBS (Possessed Blender Syndrome) by making sure your blender is screwed in TIGHT!

SOS Quote of the Day

"Happiness is best when shared."

~ SOS Superstar, Meredith B. via Facebook status

Best comment of the day following her update: "so is wine!"

*Cheers #1 to both statements. Apparently, Trader Joe's picked up on the perfect pairing and chose to sell this smiley Project Happniess Wine. So brilliant are our California winemakers. Has anyone gulped happiness in the form of this California Syrah or Chardonnay?

*Cheers #2 to that label! Happy is right on the bottle! Rumor has it, that label is repurposable. Now you can stick happy all over your house. :)

*Cheers #3 to what makes me even happier.... pricetag of $5.99. Boom. Just one reason why I mandate living within a 5-mile radius of TJ's when we move to our residency program.

.....I believe this calls for a THREE CHEERS!

If you can't share wine and happiness (or both, courtesy of Project Happiness Wine) with your one and only tonight, remember you're never too far from an SO who's looking for a buddy just like your sensational self. Share it with someone tonight... They, and we, are better together!

::flikr

Nigella for a Day

Tasting: Part 1

One of the last hurrahs of 2009 was Gannon and my wedding food+cake tasting. When it comes to planning the wedding, Gannon's not too picky. He's confident I won't make our marital flower the cactus or register for Laura Ashley bedding. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But if he was not in attendance for our food tasting - in the words of his TV crush, Tina Fay - Dealbreaker.

So praise the MS 4 gods that 1) Gannon had a couple weeks off from his Geriatrics rotation for the holidays and 2) that our Catering Manager allowed the tasting to occur on Dec 30th, really the only day during the end of the year vortex that could be set aside exclusively for choosing the food that we will delicately feed each other from golden flatware come our wedding day. Ha, yeah, and Ray Charles will hiatus from his current gig in the afterlife to serenade us with a melodious rendition of "I Got A Woman."

To my understanding, we'll be lucky if we get to eat any of our carefully selected hors d'oeurves, salads, and entrees during the reception, much less have them hit our tongues during the scarfing process. Apparently, there's actual socializing to be done and this takes precedence over sharing dainty spoonfulls. It's probably for the best, since this reduces the probability that I'll end up with remnants of basil sauce or wilted organic spinach on my dress and in my teeth. Good thing champagne travels well.

Still, this most remarkable of days was high on the list of once-in-a-lifetime experiences as we had the opportunity to perform such elitist acts as turning up our noses at an Orange Blossom Vinaigrette or shunning a artfully mastered carrot and morel risotto if we were so inclined. As we commenced the food festivities, I was thiiiiis close to busting out an English accent because obviously any criticisms are significantly more credible if it sounds like they're rolling from the tongue of Dame Judy Dench.

Yet, as we both expected, Gannon and I could criticize neither in Shakespearean meter or plain ol' Engligh colloquial as not a speck of this food was nothing short of OH MY GOODNESS HAVE I EXPERIENCED THE SECOND COMING OF GOD BECAUSE THIS IS AMAZING. It pretty much was all that and a bag of Terra Chips.

The salad above it not the one of the selections we chose, but it did have the Orange Blossom Vinaigrette - and it was simply delightful. For the record, I recommend always having Orange Blossom water in your fridge for a graceful hint of citrus without getting orange peel under your nails. Also for the record... if you "accidentally" took home your 3D glasses after seeing Avatar, leave them out of arms reach while looking at this photo. That breadstick could do some real retinal damage.

Just a Blur

This photo pretty much sums up what 2009 felt like for me. Thanks to my brother for taking it, and I thank him also for being born on January 1st, 1989 so his 21st birthday party coincides beautifully with my last New Year's as a single lady. (Read: My last New Year's before marrying a doctor and never knowing if my New Year's will be at our new home somewhere out there or in the on-call room waiting for my husband's return from surgerizing a still-drunk 42-year-old who almost blew his arm off trying to show his kid how to use a firework.)

My, what a New Year's Eve to remember. My whole family - Mom, Dad, Dr. Big Sis, Bro-In-Law, Brother, and *YES* even Gannon - was there. Oh, and Cali, our inexplicably adorable, sometimes spastic, pooch. It was the first time ever that has happened on New Year's Eve, and one of the rare occasions it's happened, EVER.

Regardless of the 3-day-long celebration held to commemorate my brother's turning of legal drinking age (you may recall, the Barracks take every opportunity to throw a party), the fact that the wave of 2010 is already crashing ashore still boggles my mind.

It's been a year of ups, downs, and more ups. Many of those ups are those once-in-a-lifetime occurrences that have now passed to make way for the even more uppity ups of 2010. My closest girlfriends from Santa Clara (Go Broncos!) and I email each other highlights once every month or so... and now, if I could invite into our inner sanctum, here's a few of my highlights from 2009.

• I quit my high paying job that I despised,
• was blessed with the most wonderful fiancee (and most beautiful ring!),
• immediately began planning our wedding,
• began flexing my writing muscles again and loved it,
• actually started getting paid to flex those muscles,
• began SOS!!!
• was my big sister's Maid-of-Honor,
• gained an awesome brother-in-law,
• narrowed our residency options (ensuring we won't be in East St. Dakota),
• booked our Honeymoon,
• got a most marvelous penpal in SE Asia,
• was gifted a red KitchenAid Mixer (ahem, below),
• and smooched my fiancee on NYE at midnight!

All in all... a good year. How did your year stack up?

:*D

Need I say more?

Wishes that your Christmas was just as magical!

How were your SOS holidays?? Tell me! Tell me!

*Season's Joy*

...or, as they say at my house ~ Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of your SOSers and your dearest ones a joyful holiday season full of

peace, love, and gingerbread to last all year.

My thoughts are with those loved ones who are tending to our hospitals on Christmas,

and with those who are missing them. Our hearts are with you.

We, and your patients, are so thankful.

I can't express how grateful I am for all of your support this year,

and for the support you give each other every day!

(*Secular holiday greeting taken from Costco wrapping paper.)

Contact Sugar High

Before Rachael, a veritable Martha Stewart with ringlets, took off with her optho-researcher hubby, Nick, to snowy Pennsylvania (through a BLIZZARD, I might add... seriously they are hardcore to the max and you can't get much more hard core than that), she hosted a marvelous Holiday Cookie Party that not only left me with a pleasant sugar high but also hooked me into the Christmas season faster than you can say "Charge it."  And nothing says Christmas more than maxxing our your AMEX.  

Caitlin's Seven Layer Bars

These treats were simply to die for.  Trying one of these bad boys was probably not the best idea, though.  Caitlin mentioned that they're called Seven Layer Bars because they use seven main ingredients... but really I think that they're so sinfully good you may just dip into the seventh layer of hell after you eat one.  (It's worth it.  Trust me.)

Rachael's Cream Cheese Christmas Trees

Leave it to Rachael to:

1) hold such our seasonal sugary shindig the day of her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!),

2) actually make cookies herself in addition to supplying a lovely backdrop to our holiday soiree, and 

3) making the simply charming egg-free delights above with the help of a batter squirting apparatus that formed the cookies into little trees.  

THAT, my friends, is Christmas magic.

Andrea's Peppermint Chocolate Chip Scones

I, on the other hand, made some Peppermint Scones from a box.  Well, a bag actually.  Recently, my Mom and Dad took a day trip to the delightfully charming town of Julian where they picked up some legendary Julian Apple Pies and a bag of Sticky Fingers Peppermint Chocolate Chip Scones.  She passed them onto me to take back to Miami and help get into the Christmas spirit using my favorite festive activity: baking.  

Is adding water to a scrumptious powdery mix before tossing them in the oven really baking?  Maybe not.  Can you feel the love in the gently sifted powdered sugar on top?  Perhaps.  But did cooking seasonal scones to share at Rachael's Holiday Cookie Party make me feel all warm and fuzzy with Christmas cheer?  You bet your Santa boots!

*If anyone would like the recipes for the cookies above, or the recipe for a duo of delicacies provided by the amazing SO, Neha - Ginger Carrot Cookies and Peppermint Brownies - let me know!  As part of the cookie exchange, the brilliant Rachael suggested we all bring our holiday cookie recipes to share with the other SOs**.  Good thing, cause I'm thinking those Seven Layer Bars may have to be a monthly occurrence!  To the seventh layer of hell I go!  Wheeeee.....!

**And to answer your question, No, I did not bring a recipe that said "Add water to Sticky Fingers Peppermint Chocolate Chip Mix, roll into balls, and bake at 375."  I distributed this fantastic peppermint scone recipe courtesy of The Good Neighbor.  Enjoy!

For a Chilly SOS Night In

Tell me, tell me you have played this highly entertaining game of Apples to Apples.  Gannon and I break out this laugh factory at practically every gathering with 3 or more people.  (For the record, I think 4-5 folks are an ideal group number.)  Picking up this box o' word wonder is as easy as hitting your local Target (which, of course, at this time of year is only "easy" if you don't have to hijack a sled to get there).

Apples to Apples is far from your typical board game, as there's really no other board game or card game to which I can compare it.  So to learn the game, you'll just have to play.  It's one of those games where instead of trying to explain the rules people say, "We'll just play and you'll understand as we go." (Which, by the way, totally annoys me because I usually end up holding about half the deck when I should only have 7 cards, or breaking under the four and a half thousand cubic pounds of pressure when it comes time for my turn and, thus, needing to excuse myself because no, of course I'm not crying because I feel more stupid than a parakeet trying to work a Rubix Cube, I just have to remove a speck of nothingness from my EYE!)

It is, however, similar to many other board games in that it's exponentially more fun when a splash of citrus infused vodka is involved.  Luckily, our dear friend, Mer, is wise to this fact and supplied a carafe of said martini-ready bevvie as a birthday gift for Gannon (sharing vodka, of course) for any random glamorous game night of Apples to Apples joy.  

Hark! The Peanuts...

When I'm away from my family around Christmastime - and living where I need SPF 50 to walk to the grocery store IN DECEMBER, while other normal parts of the world are getting snow days and frolicking in powder softness while making snow angels and snow men and getting into snowball fights and then sipping on hot cocoa while chestnuts roast on an open fire - it's easy to forgo the whole "getting into the spirit" of the holidays.  And no, "Jingle Bells" at Walgreen's does not do it for me.  Especially because they started playing that music before Halloween and it was just wretched.  Nothing screams Happy Holidays like a screaming bowl of Milky Way minis.  

So you cannot even begin to understand my joy when - while at home by my lonesome, with my SO busy with research and my roomie in the Northeast on interviews - "A Charlie Brown Christmas" came on last night.  My festive holiday potential energy came unleashed.  I started feeling a smidge homesick as it's not unusual for my pre-med bro and Dr. Big Sis - in our infinite silliness - to randomly break out into the Peanut's Christmas pageant dance and break out in hysterical laughter as we, in fact, end up looking like defective cheerleaders with a habit.

When Linus (my favorite Peanut, I'll have you know) made his annual Christmas shpiel, I simply took pause and listened to his "tidings of good news and great joy".  But I couldn't help but drift off into the land of wonder... does his mother regularly wash that blue blanket?  Cause it must get pretty nasty draggin' on the ground all day.  And in "A Charlie Brown Christmas: The College Years" will a spectacled 20-year-old nerdy adorable Linus traipse home from Middlebury College with that tattered blue blanket dragging on (or near, as I assume Peanuts grow post-puberty) the ground?  And will his voice sound increasingly more trumpet-like?  

In any case, it wasn't until the tender scene above that I could help but shed a tear or two.  I won't go into the details as I may short out my keyboard from emotional overflow, but I will admit that the Peanut Christmas Love melted my heart faster than a popsicle on my front porch.  (In DECEMBER.)  

If you've never seen this precious Christmas TV Special, I beg you to do so... especially if you're far from home and searching for those little joys that make the holidays a little more magical.

Be Big Today

Whatever that means to you.

Pumpkin Pie Pride

Happy December SOSers!  I hope you all had fabulous Thanksgivings... anything to report?  Any super fantastic menu items you'd like to share with your fellow SOS members?  I, for one, had a glorious time making some pumpkin pies from scratch - including homemade crust! (additional crust got cookie-cut into festive edible leaves covered in cinnamon and sugar!) - and, might I say, they got quite a delightful reception.  I think I earned my KitchenAid Mixer!

Here's a couple hints to make your own pumpkin pie.  (For the record, I know Thanksgiving is over, but seriously, when is pumpkin pie not the answer to any of life's problems?!??)

Crust: 

Take practically any recipe for pumpkin pie crust online; where they say to use butter, use Crisco, and where they say to use ice water, use cold 2% milk.  Other thank that you should be good.  Oh, and once you make the transfer to the pie plate (which, by the way, does NOT need to be coated in Pam), punch the base of the crust with a fork in five different spots.  This li'l trick helps each pie slice release more easily from the pan.  Fun Fact!

Filling:  

Take the recipe from your good ol' can of Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie.  Follow that recipe... BUT!  With the spices, also add 1/2 tsp of nutmeg.  Oh, it makes all the difference.  And then you're beating your eggs, just beat the heck outta them - like on the highest setting your fancy KitchenAid Mixer will beat - until their really bubbly and fluffy.  Yes, just like that... makes all the difference.  Lastly, add an extra half can of evaporated milk.  Oh. It makes all the difference.

I'd like to add that, no, this insight did not come to me in a dream from the Angel of Nom or any Sugar Plum Fairies.  I do, however, have my Mama to thank for passing onto me all her years of experience in pumpkin pie and crust baking!

It's

easy

as

pumpkin

pie

:)

Thanks Givers

Today I wish you all the peace and joy of Thanksgiving.  I hope you can spend it with your loved ones - whomever and wherever they may be.  

What are you SOSers doing for Turkey Day?!??  I hope a food coma is involved.

Let's remember all those people - especially our amazing SOSers - who cannot be with their families today.  Many cannot even be with their husbands, wives, or significant other - the people they are most thankful for.  Take my dear friend, Meredith, for example.  Here's her recent facebook status...

Meredith Is thankful that her husband is saving lives right now. He is truely a remarkable person. 

Yesterday at 6:25pm via Facebook for iPhone · Comment · 

You like this.

Yes, that I like.  The tough part, though, is that this is yet another Thanksgiving away from home for her and, Dr. B., her surgeon husband... but Mer always has the best attitude at these times.  What I also gathered from Facebook is that this gorgeous southern belle has conjured up some homemade cookies and cranberry sauce for festivities tonight with local friends and her hubby (whenever he gets home).  Three Cheers for this SOS lovely!  Have a beautiful Miami Thanksgiving, Mer!  

More Three Cheers for my wonderful friend, Rachael, and an amazing Sigma Omega SOSer, Caitlin (who's been without her externing and interviewing hubby for many of the past months!), who have orchestrated their own Thanksgiving with their husbands in Miami since they also cannot be with their families this year.  Maybe we can get a rundown of their imminently delectable evening goodies :)   

As for me, I'm back in San Diego for a sunny turkey day, and Gannon was able to rearrange his ER schedule (his current rotation) to make it home to his parents also.  

I did make some pumpkin pies this year.  From scratch.  By myself.  EVEN THE CRUST.  Before I know if they're worthy of a photo here, I want to make sure they're actually taste ok.  We will find out tonight at - *gulp* - Grandma's house.  I'm a little nervous.  Pies at Grandmas = BIG DEAL.  Like, a bigger deal than the white-gloved Up with People performance during the parade.  Maybe... maybe... a bigger deal than the SpongeBob balloon.  Maybe.  It was risky, I know.  Stay tuned to see if I've earned that KitchenAid Mixer I'm jonesing for.

I Am So, Very Thankful for my family for their undying love and support, Gannon for loving me so much he actually asked me to marry him (!!!!), my friends all over the world, and all the blessings of this past year... especially my spectacular SOS family!  

*Gold Star*

Gannon has been especially deserving of a gold star lately.

This one is for him. 

What he should keep doing: 

Demonstrating his near perfect manual dexterity with his new video game.

Making unbelievably scrumptious and savory steak marinades.

Working unbelievably hard to be an extraordinary surgeon.

Being awesome.*

What he should start doing:

Put his gold star where he can see it all the time.

***

If your SO deserves a gold star, tell them!

Everyone loves a gold star!

*Courtesy of Jenn

:::pic

Vroom Vroom

Saturday was Gannon's birfday, and though he spent the majority of it improving his already stellar manual dexterity (aka. playing video games), I did make him his favorite breakfast and he opened a couple gifts.  In the gifty above (from me) was a racecar alarm clock to help him wake up on those very early mornings with one of his favorite sounds - a revving engine. 

Yeah... just chew on that for a second.

It wasn't until after Hammacher and Schlemmer sent me the product that I though maybe I should have chosen an alarm clock a little better considering, you know, soon enough it could also be my alarm.  This means, of course, that I'll likely wake up thinking I've sleepwalked onto a racetrack or perhaps NASCAR is happening in our East Saint Dakota (or wherever we match) living room.  Upon further inspection I realize the new race car alarm clock does NOT have a setting for "cruise control in the dewey rainforest", so we'll see how long it lasts before a mysterious disappearance.

I also made Gannon a li'l (alright, quite hefty, actually) ice cream cake that our friends helped us scarf down after a monster of a BBQ.  See cake below: layer of mint choc chip, layer of double chocolate, and then many more layers of mint choc chip covered in Cool Hwip and Mike 'n' Ikes.  

Those colorful yummies just happen to be Gannon's favorite sweet (other than me, naturally).

Why I Miss San Diego

I am back in Miami now - until the week of Thanksgiving at least - and thus finished possibly the last extended stay until I move home before the wedding.  With the big day just under 7 months away (and match just over 5), my parents and I are starting to settle in to the idea that the hourglass trickling towards empty before I become a resident's wifey.

Our time was glorious, and I captured one of my particularly favorite evenings with this snapshot from our patio dining table at George's Ocean Terrace overlooking La Jolla Cove.  This outstanding eatery is always a spectacular dining experience, and the fresh, innovative menu never fails to tantalize my taste buds to their fullest.  Not only was the food as delectable as usual, but sharing the beautiful Southern California evening with my Mom and Dad made this evening a memory for the ages.

Cheers to Mom for ordering her al fresco fave, the Lemon Drop.  And no, I doubt they have views like this in East Saint Dakota (or wherever we match).

Sugar Rush

The cake slices that once were on that plate were purely delectable.  There was a chocolate mousse, pumpkin chocolate, mint chocolate, lemon chiffon, berries and cream, and about 10 other scrumptious morsels.  That plate there is the aftermath of the cake tasting my Mom and I had while trying to choose Gannon and my wedding cake baker.  The before and after of the cake eating experience was in short, bizarre. The kind of bizarre where you ask yourself "Did that just happen?" about a dozen times a day for the next week.  

Actually, I don't think I've told anyone outside my family and Gannon about the encounter at the cake shop.  It was the kind of bizarre, it turned out, that happens when you realize the person to whom you are speaking and from whom you are considering purchasing your wedding cake used to be a gun-wielding, trench coat wearing, cap-popping, undercover drug buster.

 Yes sir, before his days of pastel fondant and cake flavors named “Bridal Chiffon”, our cake baker earned a reputation as one of the most, let’s say, “effective”, undercover narcotics officers in his day.  And we heard all about his days working coke recon over the Americas among twenty pastel-clad, foo foo wedding cakes with sugary seashells and roses.  I don't know if it was the sugar rush from the 16 cakes we tasted or his tales of talking his way of narrowly escaping death when his wire went dead, but I was so gripped I was physically shaking.

All the while, I'm thinking, I'm here to taste my potential wedding cake and you're telling be about all the "evil" in which you partook during three of the druggies decades in history?  WHO DOES THAT?!?? 

Still, Kinda hard to segway to the question of fondant vs. buttercream.

That's Doctor to You

Don't mind the dog food and bed on the ground in this photo.  The important part is my 100% authentic surgeon's Halloween costume.  (And my brother's flip flop tan.)

Ok, so I didn't go big on Halloween this year, but I did see some Miami med school friends in San Diego while they were visiting on a nephrology (in normal people terms, "kidney") conference, and it was fun to prance around in a surgeon's outfit for a day.  While I was parading as a surgeon, a couple of my med school friends (and lovebirds, by the way) went as Bacon & Eggs.  Bacon & Eggs!  Like the meal, their costumes were just yummy.  

The irony here being that out of all my friends, and my brother, and my fiancee, I'm the only one who doesn't deserve to ever wear scrubs... and look at me wearing them!  Woo Hoo!  In Yo Face!   I suddenly want to significantly decrease the readability of my handwriting.

One item I do need to pass along to you dear readers.  Before I met up with the med students, I opened the door for one, just one, group of trick or treaters.  All costumed in my SURGEON'S garb, I greeted some - let's say, older than normal - kids.  Maybe 11 or 12 years old.  The problem here is not that the kids were on the oldish end of the candy soliciting spectrum, but when I opened the door, this kid yell, "OH LOOK!  SHE'S A NURSE!"

Holy gender stereotypes Batman!!  What the WHAT?!??  If you think it's at all ok to look at a woman in surgeon scrubs and call her a nurse, well then just be prepared to have your pillowcase of Resse's Peanut Butter Cups all over my front lawn.

Plumpykins

I carved him all by myself. 

Happy Halloween!

May I Present

The Apple Pancake Masterpiece from The Original Pancake House.

I nom nom nommed on this glorious concoction of granny smiths, 

Sinkiang cinnamon, sugar, and butter on Halloween morning.

Just another way I'm embracing fall.