Happy Turkey Day!

As I was getting our feast ready today, I couldn't help but think of Amelia Bedilia...After rinsing and blotting the turkey, making sure the wings were tucked back, prepping to stuff the turkey, I couldn't help but recall an awesome childhood literacy moment...

Here was the menu (all recipes are linked):

Turkey with Brown-Sugar Glaze

Basic Bread Stuffing (with cranberries, pecans and brussel sprouts)

Glazed Carrots with thyme

Green beans with caramelized onions and tarragon

Karabelski Cheesy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce (a la Ocean Spray)

Biscuits (a la Grands)

As you can see, the November issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Cooking was a great inspiration.  I substituted all celery for Brussel sprouts since celery isn't really that special to either of us.  The Brussel sprouts added some delicious flavor to the turkey and stuffing.  Amir gave the whole meal two thumbs up, and I actually timed everything pretty perfectly!   Enjoy the photo-deliciousness! 

 

Getting the stuffing ready



How hot are you turkey?



I went all out with tablecloth & chair covers!

 

Our beautiful centerpiece (gracias mama por las flores)



Check out that turkey!!



Man of the house carves the turkey



A delicioso spread!



So, after a delicious feast, Amir and I had the traditional Thanksgiving "what are you thankful for" discussion.  Here is what we decided:

Each other (aww how cute, right?)

Our parents (Thanks moms & dads!)

My job ($$)

Law School (future $$)

Our friends

Having an apartment and more than enough food on the table

Vino (which made our dinner even more delicious)

West Wing Episode: Shibboleth (which we then watched in honor of the holiday)

Thanksgiving Eve

To continue along my journey to my first-ever, self-cooked, Thanksgiving dinner, I did as much "day before" prep as possible.

Veggies are chopped for soon-to-be delicious dishes...



Green beans with tarragon

Glazed carrots with tarragon



Brussel Sprouts for the stuffing



And then I made dessert for tomorrow...



melting chocolate like a cooking show



All the dry ingredients





 



 



I love you kitchen aide mixer!!



An hour and a half later....TA DA!

(well, actually, mine turned out as a less photogenic version of this, but I'm sure it tastes as delicious as this one looks)



Photo Credit: Joy the Baker





Exploring H-town

With our time off, Amir and I took the chance to explore our new city a little more.   We got a little "lost" on our way downtown, but our detour allowed us to take this pretty skyline picture.

Of course before heading downtown, Amir spent some time researching Houston buildings and architecture.  We spent most of our time at the JP Morgan tower.  Amir informed me it is the tallest building in Texas so that is kinda cool.  Amir took a serious picture, and then I jumped in and tried to do the" touch the top of the building" thing...but I only made it to the 10th floor.  Oh well!

We went inside to get a Starbucks, and discovered they had an observation deck on the 60th floor!  It was no Sears Tower experience, but still pretty cool!  From there we could see the 2nd and 3rd tallest building in Houston, and enjoy the sunset view.  (The 3rd tallest is far away on the horizon)

As a break from studying/lesson planning today, we trekked down to the museum distract in hopes to see the Jung Center (for those of you who don't understand my excitement, see how cool her is here) which I've wanted to see since we moved here.  However, they closed 20 minutes before our arrival so we'll have to reschedule.  Instead, we headed back downtown to the Public Library where some of my students' artwork was on display.  It was pretty awesome to see them "published" and on display!



Ready or not Thanksgiving... here I come!

Let it be known, I'm pretty stoked about making my first ever Thanksgiving Dinner! 

So, in preperation for this exciting 1st in my life, I have run full force into planning mode.  I chose all of the recipes I need to make dinner and dessert. I made one list of all the ingredients for each recipe that I did not already have in the house.  I made draft #2 of the shopping list by consolidating all of the amounts of each grocery I needed to buy.  The final draft included the item, the amount I needed, and the sale/coupon price for two different store. 

Amir watched silently throughout my furvent hunt for the best recipes, while making 3 versions of the grocery list and while clipping coupons/sale hunting.  His only comment as I was getting ready to leave for the grocery store was, "Have fun Paul."

For those of you who know my father, you will also recognize that I have already turned into him in many ways by the age of 25. 

 Anyway, I came home with everything needed for Thanksgiving 2011, and the preperation starts tomorrow!  Check back in for more Thanksgiving Adventures with Faye!

THANKFUL I'm not in law school

Since I have the week off, I went to school with Amir on Monday to see what this whole law school thing was about.  Let me tell you, I'm thankful I don't have to go every day.

Whose House? COOGS HOUSE!

The day started off with breakfast tacos!  Wait, correction: the day started with breakfast tacos because Amir and his entire 1L cohort had to turn in a 10 page memo that most of them have been working on for the entire semester.  As I delighted in my taco, I was happy to reap the benefits of their hard work!

Amir in his carrol

Amir's first class was Torts.  I think I follow the English-Spanish-Farsi conversations that happen across the  Roohi family dinner table better than whatever that professor was talking about.  I have no idea what happened, but I did finish 4 lesson plans for the week after Thanksgiving instead. (yay!)

Class number two was Civil Procedure.  The professor is infamous among UH law students and the bain of most of their first semester existence.  He doesn't allow computers and insults people when they don't know the answer correctly, so basically I learned about preclusion, diversity, forum shopping, loss of consortium and a 3 pronged rule that no one remembered.  I thought the guy was hilarious, but then again, he doesn't give me a grade at the end of the semester.

At the end of the day, I see why Amir is so exhausted.  Before this, I gave him a hard time because all he has to do is sit and learn (as compared to teaching 8th graders all day); however, law school is boring and draining and I wanted a nap afterward. 

So, I'm thankful my life isn't taking that path and kudos to Amir for sticking through that every day...

Week o' Thanks

One amazing perk of working at my school is having a whole week off for Thanksgiving.

Today, is day 1.  I slept in, spent time with Amir, planned our Thanksgiving feast/shopping list, and searched for black Friday electronic sales (replacement phone here I come).

Oh what a marvelous feeling to do utterly nothing!

To kick off this Week o' Thanks, here is a fabulous parting quote from one of my students:
Me: "Have a great break! Don't leave that packet until next Sunday!"
Student: "Miss, are you excited to see your husband's face more than you see ours?"

In Honor of Veterans Day...

http://austin.ynn.com/content/270733/red-cross-service-extends-to-men-and-women-in-service?ap=1&MP4

And cuz Amir had a crush on her...

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/good_day/Red-Cross-Helps-with-Japan-Relief-20110315-ktbcgd

Our Houston Lives

We have officially lived in Houston for 3 months now!  Amir is settling into law school and I'm settling into my teaching job.  Law school and middle school are keeping the Roohis extremely busy, but here is a little glimpse into what our lives have become!

Faye's Life: Inspiring kids to love math with my fellow 8th grade math teacher Courtney!

 This was the day of the Math trimester exam so we made shirts and operation headbands to pump the kids up!  "Beast mode" is a saying our 6th team uses a lot that we are trying to adopt more with 8th graders...it stands for Behave-Engage-Always 100%-Slant-Try your best...then we made the e and a into functional notation for the relationship where your Ability to rock this test is dependent upon your Excellence (Algebra joke!).  This pretty much sums up my life...

Amir's Life - This is Amir's study board...its the latest addition to our bedroom decor.  Yes, he literally hung his study guide on the wall across from our bed so that he can study as he is laying in bed, getting ready or just walking through the room...

I don't even know where to begin to explain this but this white board is where Amir writes the flow charts he has to memorize for Civil Procedure.  I don't know what they mean, but there are 3 so far and they are difficult to understand.  Everyone reading this should be lucky they aren't in law school.  As I'm typing this he is standing in front of it muttering to himself about how he'd rather still be on tv...

TAAAA-DAAAA!

So, just in time for the official end of summer, I have officially finished my Pinterest Summer Challenge!  Its been a 2 month journey but the frames are stocked, hung and being admired on our wall!

I took a page out of YHL's decor book blog and made templates for each of the frames (including a dot where the hanger on the back of the frame is so that you know where to pound the nail in).  By the way, this was the quickest and easiest hanging job ever!  

10 minutes later....TA DA! 

Everything was hung in the correct place with no extra "oopsy" holes in the wall!

Here are the close-ups of all the frames!

Did you know that Amir first proposed to me with a note?!?  Well, here's the proof!  (Actually its a really sweet story...if you want to know, I'll tell you sometime!)

 Here are the "states we call home" silhouettes I painted...I love how the red adds a bright splash of color!

  I hung the R that I painted white from a piece of tea-stained lace.

 This frame is a heart made of both of our thumb prints, with our important dates below.  A special hug goes out to Amir for helping me with this one because he gets queasy whenever he sees a hyper-flexed thumb.  This frame took two practice thumb prints and the real one for the wall...poor Amir!

 This is the willow tree I painted with the last two stanzas of Pablo Neruda's "and Because Love Battles" in the original Spanish.  The story behind this is that Amir loves willow trees (so I painted him one), and he gave me the entire "and Because Love Battles" poem and a mix tape CD for one of our early anniversaries!

 The credit for this frame goes to my dad and Amir who had the same brilliant idea!  The key (haha, get it?) to our success is the education we have gained...or something kinda cheesy like that.  So, we thought we'd give a nod to our high schools and universities via mascots for making us sooooooo smart! :)

  This frame is the text of our wedding reading in Farsi.  I really like the way it looks, but may re-print it in color so that it pops out a little more...I feel like it gets lost in the corner... :(

For my execution of a "silhouette with a twist," I took two of our engagement photos, cut us out, and used them to paint a void on the paper.  I included the original photo as well as the frame that is on our wall!

My White Wall Update!!

Remember how I took a Summer Pinterest Challenge?  (now its September...yikes)  Remember when I painted all those frames white?

Well, I have been feeling productive this week--and trying to cram all of my creative home tasks in before starting my teaching job next week!  So, here are my latest updates:

I painted a willow tree :)

I cut out two of my favorite engagement photos and
painted the space around it for a photo absence

Representin' Home!

I also included the Bible reading from our wedding in Farsi in one frame, and the note that Amir asked me to marry him with in another!  I'm still working on the 'R' and have 2 more frames to fill!  Any ideas?!?

Adventures in the Kitchen

Since my current job description is house wife, I have been spending my days cooking, cleaning and eating bon-bons.

Since I have the time, I've tried out a few new recipes...and my live-in food critic gave a few reviews along the way.  So, here they are...give them a try if you're hungry!

Potatoes Gratin with Goat Cheese & Tomatoes
The original recipe  called for olives too, but we made it without them since Amir's not the biggest fan.  It turned out really good, and the left overs were just as delicious as the day of servings!

putting together Potatoes Gratin a la Faye

 We paired it with spicy barbecue pot roast and a broccoli-apple-yogurt salad.  The pot roast is a recipe I made up a while back, and the salad was a spur of the moment invention.  It turned out okay, but could use some tweaking.  Amir wasn't a huge fan, but agreed that with some changes it could has potential

Delicious Dinner

 White Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Broccoli
Tonight I tried this recipe, which I discovered on Pinterest, but is originally from Craving Chronicles.  I paired it with herb chicken and the whole meal was quite delicious.  Amir wasn't a huge fan of the white cheddar, so maybe we'll try the mac&cheese with another kind of cheese in the future!

White Cheddar Mac n Cheese!

delish!

 I also made Cookies n' Cream cupcakes for dessert...no pictures though...I'm too busy eating them!

...and they lived happily ever after!

 I love a good wedding...actually, I love all weddings!  Weddings get bonus points when I love the people in them.  Let's just say that Colin & Yifan are pretty freakin' awesome in my book, so the wedding was bound to be a success!

The ceremony and reception were held at The Narnia Estate in Lemont, IL.  It was a gorgeous afternoon (luckily the thunderstorms cleared) and they were able to have the ceremony outside.

Vows

Mr. & Mrs. Clarke!!

 The reception was held in a tent alongside the building!  Tall centerpieces at tables of 8 with gold table clothes and sage green accents...absolutely beautiful!

Kim & Amir gettin' the dance on!

CK Alumni