Vacation number two

Perdido Key, Florida. 2011. Hoffmann family vacation - that is, with Matt's parents and brother.
Pictures mostly, I don't have time to write.


at Lulu's. Lucy Buffet's resturant in Gulf Shores. It was fun, but so stinking hot that I will probably pass next time.

Looks familiar? This is not Mexico, but a pool in Perdido. I studied. Matt swam.

Matt and Little Boy Blue went fishing. They caught several trout (and other, non-edible fish) which we had for supper. Matt cooked them too, of course.

A dolphin? A shark? A little boy in cool googles? No one really knows.

Look! LBB actually smiled!!! Still no teeth, but we're working on that.

The end. No more Perdido. Back to studying.

Adventures of MedMan and Le Gal. Dinner for Two

On a hot and sunny day in June, 2011, MedMan and Le Gal promised to journey through life together and do all they could do fight off the evils and hardships of everyday life. Their exciting exploits have been recorded for sharing in the hopes that others learn from their experiences.

The first struggle - cooking a real meal. Together.

The culprit: Frozen chicken drumsticks (that never should have been purchased by MedMan).

The scene: The kitchen, Gilbert Drive, Shreveport, Louisiana

Tool of destruction: Cast-iron grill pan

The story: Most people that know Le Gal know that she has recently discovered a cooking blog. Our Best Bites is a treasure trove of simple, but delicious recipes with plenty of snarky comments that add just the perfect amount of smirks. Le Gal took it upon herself to clean out MedMan's freezer which is full of freezer-burned and unlabeled packages of unknown date. The two things she could identify - chicken drumsticks and dressing. Her plan: log on to OBB and find a chicken recipe and defrost some dressing. Of course, OBB didn't disappoint and Le Gal found the perfect recipe: Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken. Recipe can be found at http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/06/spicy-honey-chicken/. The happy couple had all the ingredients on hand. The outside grill was at the gadget guy's shop for repairs so MedMan pulled out his trusty, but-never-been-used grill pan. Sounds oxymoronic doesn't it? I'm right for two reasons. First, it is cast iron. Pretty much perfect in every way. Second, it's a grill pan. The next best thing to a grill. Sometimes the best thing. Like when it is raining or super cold. Therefore, not so oxymoronic after all. So there.

Now, the rest of the story.

Here's the chicken all spice rubbed up and ready to go. The spice rub has about 15,421 spices in it, but so worth it. I think.

The sauce. You know, made of honey. Well, honey and cider vinegar. It was delicious. I'd make that just to drink on cold days. Or hot days. Or perfect days like April 25th. Name that reference?

There that beautiful chicken is on the smokin' grill pan. Why all the smoke? Because of the honey. Oddly enough, honey has sugar in it. When sugar gets hot, it burns. When things burn, smoke is created. In this case, it was eye-watering, open the door smoke. But, we were expecting it, so no real tears or break-downs. Tip of the day from MedMan and Le Gal: Be prepared for anything. And disconnect your smoke detector before using a grill pan and sugar based sauces.

Ta da! The chicken. Nice char from the grill pan and the honey. Carmel colored. End result: delicious.

The whole plate. Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken, crock pot macaroni and cheese, a steamable vegetable medley, and dressing. The chicken was finally edible and THREE whole items were removed from the freezer. MedMan and Le Gal: 1, freezer 0.

Truth and justice win again.

Something to Make You Smile

Get ready for cuteness. It's all I got today, but posts full of words later. Maybe too many words - I tend to babble when I am tired. Later, as in later this week or next, I'm going to start a new adventure series. That's, right. Get excited!!

For now, watch the video. The cuteness factor is when Charlie smiles. He only smiled when the camera wasn't in front of my face. I'd like to think that was because he smiled when he saw me, but I know it was just that the camera was more interesting than I was. That's okay, Charlie, my feelings aren't hurt. At all. Okay, maybe a little. Or maybe a lot.

Oh well. Here goes.

Where I Come From

After I finished law school, I was homeless. Well, not really. What really happened is that I moved out of my apartment in Baton Rouge and back in with my parents. Boomerang child? I think not. Mom and Dad's was mainly for convenience. I could have stayed in BR until Matt and I got married but it really wasn't practical. Since I am a practical person, moving to good ol' Jottemtown is what I did.





To help fill my days I went walking every evening down Rushing Road - the road that my parents live on and on which I grew up. A few days before I moved away, I took my camera so that I could share the things that I was able to enjoy as a kid and even now, as an adult. (Yep, I am an adult now.)









Rushing Road was not always gravel. Well, it started out as gravel, then got paved. A few months ago, the parish broke up the asphalt, scrapped it all off and made the road gravel again. Some day soon (according to the police jury), it will be paved again. I'm not going to hold my breathe.





I always thought these pretty yellow flowers were pretty. I know, clever. I have no clue what they are named officially. Growing up, they had a less than politically correct name. And no, I don't use that word.

My brothers, sister, and I shimmied under that (or one like it) barbed-wire fence more times than I could possibly remember. Our yard was surrounded on all four sides to keep the cows from getting out of their pastures. We chased after escaped softballs long into our teenage years.

Now, since I am always pressed for time while studying for the bar exam and seem to have lost most of my wit, here's just pictures with no captions. Feel free to choose your own adventure and make up your own.

Adjustments

I'm sure that the few people who regularly read my blog know that on the Saturday before last, my beau and I got married. Proof:

Yep, that's us. Looking all kinds of spiffy. A couple of days after THE big day, we left for our honeymoon (had a blast, more later). After that amazing trip, we made it back to his home, now our home, to begin our life together. Though we have only been here for two days, we've already had to make several adjustments. For example:

1. If we hear a creaking noise, chances are that it isn't an intruder - just one of us. What? Well, neither of us have had roommates for quite awhile and had gotten used to living alone. Now that there is always someone (or something, hello puppy) in the house, we've had to learn to be less jumpy.

2. Two people make more of a mess than just one person. True story. We've gone through two trash bags in two days. The washing machine has been going non-stop and the dishwasher is always full.

3. Merging two households into one (small) house is frustrating.

4. Matt is especially attached to weird things. It took us thirty minutes to "decide" to eliminate some of our plastic kitchen storage (and by "decide" I mean that it took me thirty minutes to talk him into letting me get rid of them and then he insisted that we go through each piece separately and talk about it). Seriously. I mean, how many leftovers containers does one need? Not as many as we had. I should have take pictures. It was crazy. Speaking of crazy, Matt graduated from high school in 2002. Yesterday he allowed me to toss his prom glasses. Yesterday - nearly ten years later. He refuses to rid himself of one particular bowl. He says it is the perfect size for cereal. I tell him that I want our dishes to match. He's still holding out, but I'm going to keep wearing him down.

5. Studying for the bar while trying to merge those two households and the gifts that we have received is nearly impossible. Something has got to give. For now, it is the house. It may change tomorrow. I am having trouble coping with the huge mess that is our house.

6. I can't just have cereal for supper anymore. He can't just eat a can of chili.

7. His dog, Giselle, knows that I am going to usurp her and she is doing all that she can to prevent it. Example, yesterday we all went for a walk. She would only walk by Matt's side. Cute right? No. Not cute at all. Specifically, she would only walk on the side that I was walking on. If I changed sides, she would too. End result, I was forced about three steps behind the two of them. Like an outcast.

8. I'm a pusher. I think I already knew that, but now it is for certain. Poor Matt doesn't stand a chance. Nor does his Phil Mickelson shrine on top of the dresser.

9. Matt watches odd things on television that I didn't know about before we got married. American Choppers. Really? No thank you.

10. Being able to see each other (basically) any time we want is better than I imagined. I am so excited about today. And tomorrow. And the next day. Things are only going to get better.

Now, it is back to the bar. That's studying for the bar, not a drinking bar. It's far too early in the morning for that nonsense.

A Soldier Comes Home... For a Little While

You know when you watch the news and they show a story about a soldier coming back from overseas and rejoining his family? When those bits of happiness come on the television, I have to change the channel or leave the room. I cry every time. Like a baby. It doesn't matter that I don't know the people; I still bawl. Yesterday, after eight months of deployment to Afghanistan, a friend of ours, Josh Rux, came home for his R and R. That's right, not even home for good, but home for a little while. It will be hard for him and his family in a few weeks when he has to go back, but they will be okay. They are a military family and sacrificing for their country is what they do best.

What makes Josh's return especially poignant is that while he was away, his wife, Hanna, of three years gave birth to their first child. Little Charlie is six weeks old and as precious as a June bug. He sleeps a lot but I'll take a sleeping baby over a crying baby any day of the week. While Josh and Charlie (and Hanna, of course) have seen each other via the internet, Josh had not gotten to hold him or give him a sweet little kiss. Yesterday, he got to do both. I am so glad that he is back for a visit and that he will get to spend some much needed time with his family. Hopefully, he'll be back on American GRASS for good soon and away from those Afghani deserts. Until then, we will enjoy him while he is home and pray for his safety while he is away. Thank you for helping to protect our freedom, Josh.

http://myarklamiss.com/search-fulltext?nxd_id=93057

look at the baby toes under his arm...

Little Boy Blue Graduated!!

Yep, I've decided to give Matt's brother, Drew, a nickname. From hence forth, he shall be known as Little Boy Blue or LBB or Little B, for short. Along with LBB, Whitney (LBB's girlfriend) and K Rob also walked across the stage. K Rob for his master's!! Anyway, I am extremely proud of all of them and happen to possess an amazing amount of pictures from this momentous occasion. I've selected a few of my favorites for you to enjoy. So here: enjoy!

This picture depicts (seriously, that's the best word I could come up with - i need a nap) how Matt and Little B feel about each other. Seems like Matt is ambivalent and LBB is a bit angry. Maybe LBB is just angry about his lips. I dunno.

That kid should never really be allowed to have a knife that large. Someone didn't have on their thinking cap.

The puffy face is catching on!!!

Whitney's family listened way better than the Hoffmann clan. It looks like they are having a BLAST!! You know it does.

This group tried, but didn't quite make it. Matt does have a big mouth, but I don't think my head is going to fit inside of it. Next time, Whit and I are going to have different poses. She does something funny with her eyes. I've got to work on that.

Now, I'm off for a nap. I promise to post more soon. Really. Cross my heart.