Fanciful Food Finds

And now I will introduce my new favorite food to you, the very exotic dragon tongue bean!

It's an heirloom type of snap pea, and it changes colors when you cook it. Pretty similar to a green bean, except there are no strings, and they taste a WHOLE lot better.

We got them at the Taylor Farmer's Market this Saturday because we thought they looked crazy, and I am so glad we did! I need a lifetime supply of these things. We grilled them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic and added fresh basil after they were done. The grill-y taste was amazing. If you can find some of these, buy them!!!!

heavenly

Another find at the farmer's market, a pearl cucumber:

Here it is next to a lemon cucumber... haven't tried that one yet.

It is a really light green color, and is just a little tastier than a regular cucumber.

It also had a lot more seeds. It was delicious!

We made a vinaigrette with Joe's beer mustard that the canning lady at the market makes and I loved it! Much better than regular old Dijon.

Don't have a pic of the beer mustard, but here is my purchase from the canning lady... spicy sauerkraut! I will put it on my doggies

Oh yeah... those steaks were pretty good too!!

Best.Dinner.Ever

If only every meal was this delicious! I think I need to be a farmer.

The Final Countdown...

I'm sure that you have all marked your calendars (or bought your midnight viewing tickets) for the last Harry Potter movie ever on Friday! I think Joe has been waiting on this day for the last ten years... His official wand is out, and he keeps asking me if we can dress in costumes to go to the movie theatre. He is what you call a hardcore fan of wizards.

O M G

As many of you know, I was completely in the dark about 'Arry and all of his crazy adventures until last year when I got invited to go to Hogwarts with the Granades! I crammed in all of the movies and read the first book in a few months, and look at me now:

STUPEFY!

Hogwarts is awesome, they even have a wand shop like in the movies where you can go and get your very own special wand!

Giddy as a school girl

Me and you-know-who being spooky

Brrrrrrrrr! (J/k, it was 110 degrees!)

Can't wait to see the new movie! The previews look SUPER scary! I'll be sure to snap a pic if Joe dresses up like Ron Weasley. Cheerio!

Kosher Monday

Someone (named Joseph) got the hankering for some good ole Jewish latkes tonight. I had no idea he was serious about making them until he went to the grocery store and bought the potatoes. He was not messing around. Of course, I documented his cooking.

Shredded potatoes

Frying his latkes

I got a pan, I got a plan

We googled a recipe for "tasty latkes"

They may not look beautiful, but they were quite tasty!

Aftermath: Joe's apartment smells like Captain D's. And so do we. Although it was a nice cultural experience, I do not recommend making your own latkes.

Memphis...

I think I can now say that I know what it would be like to go inside Club Atlantis on Dauphin Street in Mobile. Saturday night, we got back on our trusty party bus and cruised to Memphis to spend our night on Beale Street.

Yep, still no air conditioner on the party bus, and this time it was 105 degrees outside!

Please ignore our sweat and windy hair.

Tim being sooo awkward because he had to tinkle and couldn't move

whoaaaa sorry about this blurry pic

Here we are waiting in line to be frisked before we're allowed on Beale Street...

Weapon-free! They already took my mace at the Braves game last year

Club 151 - no idea about the mean faces

We got home at 4 am, I cant remember the last time I saw that time of day! Sunday was no fun at all.

Asian Delight

Prepare to be very jealous... Our Chinese friend Jianfeng made us some quite authentic Chinese food last Friday night. He came over at 7:20 and slaved for an hour and a half to cook four different dishes. He had planned to make two more! I'll be honest I was feeling a little questionable about the whole ordeal, especially since he claimed he had no idea what he was doing. WELP, turns out he is either a liar or just a natural chef! He should have his own cooking show. The second he started cooking the smells were DELICIOUS! He was super quick, and somehow only used one pan for all four dishes?

Some of the "ingredients"

Our personal chef for the night!

First dish: Beef Stir Fry

Unidentified ingredients

Second dish bubbling away...check out that crazy red pepper!

Joe holding dish #2

Second Dish: Tofu and ground beef/vegetables

The best dish of the night...Garlic shrimp

The plate is so empty because no one could stop popping them

(this picture refuses to turn, SORRY!)

Finishing touches

The spread!

YUM YUM

Happy customers!

BEACH TRIP!!!!

Over the 4th of July holiday, we took two of our new friends to Orange Beach with us. The weather didn't feel like cooperating, and it seems that I got quite nauseous from a questionable plate of mexican garbage, but besides that it was great to be back at the beach!! Way too short of a trip though. Already ready to go back!

So happy to arrive after a looooong day of traveling and 4th of July traffic

Flora Bama first timers! They loved it

NOT first timers

Tacky Jacks and bushwackers! During a lightning storm..

We made it back to Oxford late Sunday night and got to see a fireworks show over the baseball field.

Not sure how experienced the operators were...lets just say there were several fires on the ground!