Okay, this was 2 minutes with a book (Mastering Sauces by Susan Volland), and then Donald was out of class!
What I got was that it has a large array of recipes, a lot of instruction on techniques, and not nearly enough photos of food. Also, I am hungry.
Conclusion: I want to pick this up again and try some different recipes. I’d write more, but Donald is waiting and I have the car keys. See you soon!
Since I’m frequently at the library after work, waiting for Donald to finish class, I came up with a challenge for myself:
I will read a book for 10 minutes, then give myself 5 minutes to write a “first impression.” I think this should be fun!
I choose two books for today’s challenge:
3… 2… 1… GO!
Okay…. So, huge caveat – I literally, just skimmed through and read paragraphs here and there in different chapters. A lot of what I read were first- or second-hand accounts of women being sexually abused/manipulated by clergy (among many other issues in the vein of feminism vs. traditional Catholic teaching). She is pointing out all that is wrong and how some people are working towards reform.
TRUE, there is sexual sin and abuse found in the Catholic church. Among its members and those in positions of authority. And that is awful and not to be tolerated.
However, I think that the author fails to adequately explain and explore what the Catholic church actually teaches regarding sex and sexuality and the reasons why the Church is not conducive to the types of reform she envisions (E.g. Allowing women to be priests, etc.).
Conclusion: It is interesting, and compelling writing; however, it does not have a balanced approach to the issues at hand and is a poor representation of what the Church really professes and believes, so I do not think that I would like to continue reading this book.
After work/school, I wanted to take Donald to a restaurant that I had been meaning to share with him for a while, but it was still a bit early. I decided to drive around UM campus for a bit and show him some of central campus.
We got a parking spot on State St. (summer semesters are always lighter volume, but some luck was involved as well), and first tried the Museum of Art, but it was closed. We walked across the street to the Michigan Union, poked around for a bit, and spent the last few minutes in the Tech Center dreaming of our next computing device purchase.
Outside, I introduced Donald to the Cube.
Next stop, Pizza e Vino in Plymouth!
I had gone to this restaurant about 10-15 years ago with my Alpha small group and remembered that it was delicious! When we came back to Michigan, it has always been my intention to take Donald here, but we hadn’t gotten around to it. Until today.
There was a wait for a table, but it ended up being a shorter wait than originally stated, and we were soon seated near the wood-burning oven. So, our spot was a little warmer than other places in the restaurant, but not uncomfortably so. Definitely the best spot in the house for chilly days!
We ordered the Spiedini, which is fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto. So amazingly good!
I’m going to leave you lots of photos, so you get hungry. You’re welcome!
They come on skewers, so we pushed them off, cut them into bite-sized pieces and ate them with the bread. Yum! I wish all mozzarella sticks were like this.
Here’s where our order modifications started. Donald is a fan of goat cheese, so we added some on to our Mista salad.
There was plenty of salad to share, and everything was fresh and delicious!
What pizza to pick? Ugh, this was SUCH a difficult choice! Everything sounded good!
We went with the Pozzuoli (Italian Fennel Sausage, Old-World Pepperoni, Red Onions, Fresh Basil, Portobello Mushrooms, Fior di Latte Mozzarella), and took off the mushrooms and onions, and added goat cheese and prosciutto.
It was amazing!
The crust is thin and foldable and made the pizza very light. You didn’t feel like you’ve just eaten a ton of bread or get over full. It really let the toppings shine. The best surprise for me was the fresh basil – it was so good!
It’s almost lunch-time as I’m writing this, and I am making myself hungry! I’ll add another photo of the pizza, so you can drool over the screen with me:
We generally enjoy going on a light walk after dinner, and Kellogg Park was just steps away from Pizza e Vino. It was a gorgeous evening: warm with a breeze. Lots of people were also enjoying the park and the fountain.
We really enjoyed our evening in Plymouth! Donald even tried to get me to agree to making Pizza e Vino a weekly event! If you are in the area, we highly recommend it!
For the past couple years, I have been binge-watching/-listening to stories of aviation disasters on YouTube and Apple Podcasts. I like technical details and analysis and I think, in general, that it is very comforting to know *why* a disaster happened, so that you are more prepared for the next time similar circumstances arise. So, I watch disaster stories to relax. And, yes, I’ve watched airplane disaster investigations while on a flight. (On my phone, with AirPods, and not next to nervous flyers.)
In no particular order, here are some of the creators I have been enjoying:
If you have any recommendations for podcasts/videos in this genre, please send them my way! Thanks!
Father’s Day weekend started off deliciously! We slept in, then Donald treated us with the most amazing breakfast sandwiches. He basically make a sausage and cheese omelet that he put between two slices of toasted bread. Decadent and yummy! Even Acey wanted in on that action!
While we were finishing up breakfast, we could hear a great clattering outside … and traveling down our driveway. I knew what it was, but wanted to sustain the surprise for Donald. Once the delivery driver had left, we went out to take a look at his Father’s Day present: a new grill!
There was a whole SNAFU that happened (and which took most of the day to rectify), but by 3 pm, we had a brand-new, completely functional grill to use (and bellies full of Baskin Robbins sundaes)! Even better, we had already planned on having shish kebobs for dinner, so we had all the ingredients on hand! We made a quick stop at Mom & Dad’s to get a full propane tank, then Donald went to work!
The kebobs and grilled corn were delicious!
Another leisurely morning and another delicious breakfast! Today, Donald made for us our “classic” breakfast burritos and served it with our favorite salsa in all the world: Desert Pepper Cantina Salsa (red) in Medium. During breakfast, we made sure to call Donald’s dad, Jim, to wish him a Happy Father’s Day, as well as message a few other friends and family.
We went to the 12 pm Mass at St. Anastasia, then had lattes and pastries at Street Sweet Cafe. We borrowed a pen and paper and did our meal planning for the week. We challenged ourselves to stick to ONLY those items which we had added to the grocery list, then walked over to the Kroger Marketplace.
We have been trying for months to find a grocery store here in Troy that we like as much as we loved the Publix in Tallahassee, but it’s a very hard act to follow! We love our Publix! Maybe I’ll do another post some time about our grocery store experiences. Anyways…. We thought this one was pretty good and we may start shopping here more regularly.
We came home and put away the groceries, then took a few minutes to lay down and relax before heading to Mom & Dad’s to celebrate Father’s Day.
They also had shish kebab’s on the menu! But also taco salad, potato (with sweet potato!) salad, and hamburgers, with ice cream sandwiches for dessert.
We helped Dad take the picnic table and grill off the deck (so they could have it re-stained tomorrow) and picked up a few items Mom has been holding for us while our kitchen was under reconstruction. Too soon, it felt, it was time to head home so we could get ready for the work week.
ALAS! There was still some work for me to do before bedtime! Dishes, laundry, shower, insulin pump and CGM sensor change…. I didn’t actually get to bed until well after 12 am.
It was worth it, though! Such a nice weekend! I hope all of the fathers, would-be-fathers, step-fathers, foster fathers, father-figures, and all had a fantastic Father’s Day and felt the love and appreciation that we all have for the love and support and guidance you give your families each and every day!
To my Dad: I can’t possibly thank you enough for all of the wisdom, support, and love you have given Clint and I over the years. I will always strive to be someone you are proud of and I will always think that my Daddy knows about everything and can fix any problem. I love you!
To Jim: Thank you for raising a wonderful son! And thank you for all of your support and encouragement and guidance that you have given us both!
To Donald: Thank you for being the best father to our stuffed animals (Acey and Zoey) and our plant-kids (Buddy and Sport)! You make life a fun adventure every day!
To my priest-friends: Thank you for all of your prayers and love! Thank you for being amazing role-models and staunch supporters. I hope you find particular joy this Father’s Day!
And, as always, my gratitude and love to Jesus and God the Father Almighty. The very definition of “a good father.” 🙂
With our kitchen reconstruction almost finished (!!), we are slowly starting to form morning routines.
First – of course – was coffee in the morning. We dismantled our “morning kitchen” in the bedroom and let the coffee maker assume its rightful place on the kitchen counter. At lunchtime, we clean the carafe and filter. At bedtime, we set up the coffee maker to make a pot about 10 minutes before we want to wake up. Then, some unspecified time after the alarm (and X number of snoozes), we will come out to the kitchen table and enjoy!
With our coffee, Donald catches up on world events with the “Morning Joe,” while I remind us of past adventures using the “Timehop” app. We have our planners at the table in the mornings and evenings so that we can plan and prep for our days together. (At the evening planner checks, we annotate each other’s planner – it’s cute to see what thoughts the other has about the events of our day!)
We like watching something while we have our meals, so my iPad is generally on the table. This makes it easy for me to grab it and dash off a quick post (like I’m doing right now, while Donald makes us some yummy breakfast sandwiches)!
As you can see, we still have boxes to unpack and figure out where things will live in the new space, but we are excited to have a bit of normalcy back in our mornings!
Happy Tuesday!
— Jenn & Donald
Paroxysm of Giggles / Critical Mass 