Category → Life

My Take on Valentine’s Day

12 February, 08:40, by Kim Toomey
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Oh Valentine’s Day – how people love to hate you. I feel like there are two camps in regards to Valentine’s day. The Folks who say that it’s stupid and why should you dedicate one day a year to telling the people you love how you feel. And then there are the people who Loooove valentine’s day, and are shunned by the first group for neglecting their loves all other 364 days of the year.  (Just the impression I get and spurred on by stupid Ashton Kutcher)

This year, Dylan and I will be spending Valentine’s day weekend in Seattle without dog/cat/houseprojects/cooking/cleaning/dvr etc. And we’re staying at a swanky downtown Seattle hotel and going out to sushi dinners and getting massages and my hair did – the whole nine yards. Of course, this is all taking place on the 12th and 13th and we’ll spend 3 hours in the car on actual Valentine’s day and probably not do much else (this is called cheating the Valentine’s day system). But I only see Dylan 3 days a week – which is equal to only 156 days out of the year (assuming he’s working 4-10′s out of town through 2010) So dang it, we’re going to celebrate Valentine’s day and enjoy every minute of it.

And I’ll probably tell him I love him the other 156 days I see him too :) That’s how Valentine’s day works at the Toomey house this year.

Love ya!

Indian Cooking Experiment

09 February, 18:38, by Kim Toomey
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Not that the Pioneer woman needs any more links or shout-outs as she was on the 25 most influential web people for the year,  but I’m making a recipe from her community cooking site that she provided step-by-step instructions on and I had to share.

Butter Chicken by the Pioneer Woman

My poor sheltered soul has never had Indian food before, let alone attempted to cook it. So I went over to Whole Paycheck, stocked up on some bulk spices that have never seen the inside of my kitchen before – Cardamom and Cumin and got at it. Let me tell you, Cumin and Lime are a distinct combination, and if it turns out you are not a fan of said combination, you’re going to hate your life. Because that smell is not leaving your kitchen for a while. Luckily, I am happy to be transported to some faraway – warmer – land.

I’m halfway through this cooking debauchery for the evening and it seems to be a fairly easy recipe. Don’t burn the onions – That’s what happens when you try to cook, chase the dog out of the kitchen, text your husband and blog all at the same time. Maybe someday I’ll get the hang of it!

But seriously, my kitchen smells amazing and I’m not sharing so make it yourself – you can do it!

A Little Bit of This and That

27 January, 21:12, by Kim Toomey
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Well hello again neglected blog – how are you?

Here are just a few things I thought I would share:

My spoiled animals – who have become ESPECIALLY spoiled during the week while Dylan is working out of town (aka, the dog thinks the people bed is now a doggy bed)

Please note that there is very little room for me when all is said and done here.

It’s January in Portland which means it should be cold and rainy and miserable. Instead we’ve been having some almost spring-like weather lately. So it probably won’t stop raining until July this year. But one morning a few weeks ago I had to grab my camera and take a picture of the most amazing sky as the sun was coming up. This was my favorite.

I loved the bare wiry trees against the pink sky.

And lastly way back when I made my 30 by 30 list. I crossed a few things off in 2009:

  • Grew Dahlias (and some even bloomed)
  • Took a train from Bridgeport CT into NYC (Amtrak, the real thing)
  • Made a quilt for someone
  • Went to a NCAA tournament basketball game (Go Zags!
  • Have a well trained dog (minus the whole sleeping on the bed thing)

I’ve had a few nice bottles of wine here and there, but I’m not sure I’m ready to cross it off my list. But most importantly, here is what I plan on tackling in 2010.

  • Read the Bible
  • Learn to drive a car with a manual transmission
  • Grow a vegetable garden

I think that is a good start for the year. Plus I’ll be chipping away at things like my Pulitzer reading list. And I turn 25 this year, so only 5 years to go!

Conversations with an Engineer

14 January, 19:37, by Kim Toomey
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Sometimes the conversations Dylan and I have are just too absurd not to share. And now they get to be documented over Google Chat, so they are even easier to share!

me: How it going

Dylan Toomey: good

i need some help

me: ok…

Dylan Toomey: can i start another blog under our blog package?

me: sure

Dylan Toomey: how

me: its just $10 or whatever for the domain

what do you need another blog for?

Dylan Toomey: amusement

me: what do you want to do with it?

Find a domain and I’ll set it up for you

Dylan Toomey: promote a crazy idea I have

me: this isn’t your burning people for energy idea is it?

Dylan Toomey: maybe

me: What were you talking to my aunt about? She says you are funny…

Dylan Toomey: burning people for energy

If you would like to know the details about Dylan’s burning* people for energy plan, I’ll send you the link to his blog.

*Technically he’s discussing cremating people for energy. These are the ideas that you come up with when you work in the middle of nowhere apparently.

My Quilting Project

31 December, 08:54, by Kim Toomey Tags: ,
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So I’ve secretly been working on a quilt since August that I didn’t want to share on here because it was a Christmas present for Dylan’s parents, and there is a slight chance they might read this once in a while.

But after countless hours scattered through several months of weekends (and a little help from my sew-tastic Momma) I got it done.

This is the third one I’ve done and I will say there were far fewer screw-ups along the way than previous attempts. And because I’m a total nutters, I can never start small with these things. In my head, quilts are only useful if you can surround yourself in all their snuggly glory. And there are no babies around in my life that my mom hasn’t already made a dozen quilts for, so I’ll continue to embark on these crazy huge projects.

Turkey Encounters of the Third Kind

25 November, 20:33, by Kim Toomey Tags: , ,
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So I think I mentioned this is my first Thanksgiving that I’m cooking. Which means my first attempt at Turkey. Now I’ve seen my family deal with Turkey each year, but it’s totally different when you have to deal with it on your own.

And I’m not one to do things half-heartedly when it comes to food, so I decided I should brine the turkey which NO ONE in my family has done before. We prefer the dried out version of Thanksgiving Turkey.

So tonight I unpacked my Turkey with Dylan’s help. There may have been some goofing around.

I don’t think there is much anyone can tell me that would convince me from serving Turkey neck in some fashion as opposed to feeding it to the dog. I really think it will make her Holiday (and celebrate her 1 year of life in our hands successfully)

Dylan preferred to be in charge of the brine and not touch raw turkey.

Hmmm, we really need to have a talk with him about the creepy mustache…

*Also, that is not enough brine to cover a 14lb turkey. I had to make a quick second batch. Lets keep our fingers crossed on this one.

Serendipity Pumpkin Pie

25 November, 20:24, by Kim Toomey Tags: , ,
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Sunday afternoon I began my pie baking adventure in preparation for Thanksgiving. Considering I haven’t actually eaten the pie yet, I think it turned out ok. It smells like pumpkin pie, and it looks edible – so I’ll call that a success.

I forgot to take pictures when I was making the crust, but it was pretty simple. Flour, butter, eggs, water mix up – pie crust. I’m sure the pie fanatics would have a cow about my lack of caring about the crust, but I’m sure it will be good enough for my family. I can tell you that if you have a dog that likes to stand directly underneath a cutting board that is covered in flour, and you have to roll out a pie crust and flour goes flying everywhere – this is what your dog will look like:

She likes to help out in the kitchen.

So besides the crust, pumpkin pie is pretty easy. You mix up some pumpkin filling, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, eggs, milk & molasses until it’s nice and liquidity.

I have a very well loved, hand-me-down KitchenAid Mixer. It’s not the prettiest thing out there, but it works. If you want to buy me a new one, I’ll make you a pumpkin pie, and maybe some cookies. But until then, I’ll keep trying to win one from the Pioneer Woman.

So it will look like this:

And if you’re lucky you will have your helper-dog underneath your feet for all of this.

Pour it into your pie crust – mine is not pretty. Thats what you get with homemade crust (at least mine)

Bake it for about 45 minutes and here’s what you’ll get:

It’s been very  difficult to not eat this.

I’ll let you know if it tastes as good as it looks!

Thanksgiving Day Menu

22 November, 09:13, by Kim Toomey
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I put myself in the driver’s seat of Thanksgiving this year, even though I’ll be cooking at my mom’s house. It’s mostly a logistics thing – our house doesn’t do big dinners well in our tiny kitchen.

Here’s what the days events will include – I’ll try and document anything interesting that happens along the way!

Appetizers

Salami Crisps with Sour Cream and Basil from Best of the Best – thanks Janine! These are a very cool series of cookbooks, so much variety in one book!

Artichoke Dip – Care of the Brendyl family for a fabulous wedding present. What new bride doesn’t want a few of someone else’s best family recipes!

Rosemary walnuts – also from the Brendyl family

Assorted cheese and crackers

I figure since I’ll be cooking all day I’ll get snacks set up early to munch on myself.

Dinner

Turkey – fresh from New Seasons. I’m also going to be trying their apple cider brine recipe before hand. Wish me luck.

Stuffing – Gonna wing this part of the dinner thanks again to New Seasons.

Mashed Potatoes with Pancetta and Rosemary

Roasted Carrots – Recipe from another great wedding cookbook present

Mom’s Squash and Pear casserole

Cranberry Sauce – Another recipe they were handing out at New Seaons but I can’t find it online. Yummy cranberries with orange, agave syrup and port wine.

Gravy & Rolls – nothing exciting here.

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie – all from scratch from a recipe from the best dessert place in the world – Serendipity

Thoughts on College Basketball

07 November, 08:38, by Kim Toomey Tags: ,
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Just wanted to share a typical Saturday morning conversation at the Toomey house…

Me: Hey! Guess what next Saturday is.

D: Uhhhh, Gonzaga basketball starts?

Me: YES! Well, we had an exhibition game last week…

D: How did you do?

(because I greatly influence a men’s basketball teams’s performance)

Me: Oh ya know, won by like 40 points.

D: Were you playing a high school girls team again?

Me: Yeah, they are called Oregon State.

Boo ya! Score 1 Kimmy.

Go Zags.

I know this is from last season. The thing is we have like 3 returning players and therefore no highlights…

Date Night Review & Halloween!

03 November, 18:18, by Kim Toomey
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So I never followed up with our cheap date. Here’s the deal:

Branch is awesome – go there and have the gnocchi, it will change your world.

The play: Was alright. But here is the deal. I don’t like Shakespeare. I want to like Shakespeare – I minored in English (without taking one Shakespeare class mind you) but I just don’t. We left at intermission.

Halloween has come and gone. My wonderful husband humiliated himself and dressed in drag to be Miss Piggy while I was an uber-adorable Kermit the frog. We had about three trick-or-treaters (up from 1 last year) which means we have about 5 pounds of candy to eat.

Consequently, I have joined a gym.

The dog also dressed up – she was a prisoner – K98URSHOOS – get it!