Laura comes to town...

This is Laura. We've gone to school together since the 1st grade and we actually knew about each other since the 3rd grade. We have proof - since we both crossed out the other's face in our respective yearbooks. Apparently, we weren't on good terms at the time. Then 7th grade band rolled around and we've been close friends ever since.

We've kept in touch through the years, sometimes only talking once every couple of months to talking every week. What never changed was how much I love having her in my life and how rich our long friendship has become. So, to celebrate 20 plus years of friendship and to just plain old hang out, Laura drove all the way over to St. Louis from Tulsa last weekend and we had us a grand ol'time.

I promised Laura a long time ago that when she visited, we would go on a ghost tour. Now, ghost tours are actually more like historical walking tours and can be super fun. Unfortunately, March is still considered iffy weather-wise for outdoor walking tours, so I came up with the next best thing - a haunted tour of St. Louis' Lemp Mansion. It's actually very well documented as a haunted house and I was excited if somewhat apprehensive about seeing an actual ghost.

Well, we really didn't need to be worried. The mansion itself is, of course, super spooky and full of creaking boards, creepy paintings and stuffy rooms. The "orb" above is the only ghost-ish thing we caught on camera. Now, we photographed a ton of them though, so make of that what you will. Apparently, the guides didn't think much of it since they just shrugged when we showed them.

So, while we didn't actually see anything scary it was fun nonetheless to walk around a dark creepy house for a few hours!

Potential visitors be warned: I will fill your entire day with kitschy tourist activities, since that is pretty much what we have to offer in St. Louis. Starting with the fabulous (and non-kitschy) Soulard Farmer's Market. It's the oldest Farmer's Market west of the Mississippi, having been established in 1779. And it is just so much fun!

It's still a traditional market, with a butcher's shop, spice shop and cute grocery in the interior.

And the produce! Oh my, everything looked delicious!

We met a local soap maker and had a great time picking out various bars. I bought a "shampoo" soap, which I have yet to try but have high hopes for.

Laura and I most enjoyed this tiny, adorable little spice shop. I bought a large bottle of imported extra virgin olive oil (for $11!!) and some chicory coffee. Laura nabbed some chicken spices and some coffee as well.

Many of the sellers informed me that the best shopping days are Saturdays and Sundays, so I will be making another visit very soon!

After our visit to the market, I dragged Laura to the St. Louis Arch. She had never been and is scared of heights...PERFECT! Apparently, rides to the top are much in demand since they were sold out for the next two days. Meh, that was fine with us.

After lunch at Laclede's Landing, we decided to visit a wax museum. I had only ever been to a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum and so I was curious what this one would be all about.

Apparently not much. It was quite the kooky place.

After relaxing a bit from our day, Laura and I met went out to Sasha's with my sister, Caroline and her friend Lauren. Sasha's is a lovely little wine bar that offers tappas to go with the wine...

like this delicious "cheese from around the world" plate. The cheese was gone in about 5 minutes.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and just talking with friends. The following day Laura I spent hanging out with my family and enjoyed a very low-key evening.

Laura, I love you lots! Thanks to Brent and Avery for letting you go for a few days and I hope that we can make this a yearly tradition!!

7 reasons to go to the Zoo

1. Holding hands with a 20 month old while crossing the street.

2. Watching Meerkats watch you.

3. Seeing sea otters swim.

4. Hello, funnel cake!

5. Long, meaningful talks.

6. Riding the train.

7. Coming home with new, stuffed friends.

Away in a manger

My 4 year old niece, Mara, created an impromptu manger scene last Sunday. In case you were wondering, Mary is the Lizard sitting on top of the mouse and Joseph is the caramel horse in the middle. Also pictured, my favorite purple haired My Little Pony - she came with the ice cream shop I received as a birthday gift when I was 10 years old. I had no idea it was still here. I suppose children can sniff out toys like bloodhounds!

Remembering

Meh. I'm going to apologize for not blogging much - I've been busy and uninspired to take out the camera. It's been a good friend to me, but we're hitting that part of winter where I just don't think I can take any more cold days and I was beginning to feel like a zombie. Thankfully, it's 57 degrees today and I've been reading outside and enjoying the sunshine. Which made me remember warmer days...vacation days and I decided to photograph the mementos I have bought or received as gifts and displayed in my home from various trips, large and small.

Below is a photo in my hallway of a huge family trip to Costa Rica. We are posing beneath to the entrance of a church in the town my grandmother grew up in.

Above is a series of postcards I collected on my first (as in completely self-funded) mini-vacation with my best friend, Shalyn. We visited New Orleans and stayed the French Quarter for a few days over spring break. Goodness, I miss beignets and coffee.

Above is a series of watercolors my sister bought for me while she lived in Germany for 6 months. These were from a visit to Venice and were painted by an artist she met on the street.

These tiny tea cups are from China. My dad spent six months there for his job and he brought back some truly lovely things for his myself and my sisters.

This is probably one of my favorite mementos. It's a small replica of one of Rodin's sculptures that I bought at the Rodin Museum in Paris. Don't let its diminuitive size fool you, it weighs a ton, at least 10-13 pounds which will feel like 75 when you carry it around for about 15 hours while walking around Paris. I also had to hand carry it home, since adding it to my luggage made it too heavy and would have added a $150 fine. So, yeah, it's my favorite - since it's covered in my blood, sweat and tears. ha!

What kind of mementos do you have?

The search is over

I've found my little place! The owner accepted my offer this Sunday while I was hanging out with the family, so we celebrated by going out to Sears and looking at ovens. ha! Goodness, I have a lot to do between now and April.

Baby it's cold outside...

When the snow is falling and the wind is a blowin - homemade hot chocolate always hits the spot! Things around here have been pretty busy. I've decided to purchase a little home for myself and have been occupied with looking at places on the weekends and getting everything together for homeownership. The good news is that I've found a lovely condo in midtown and will be making an offer this week, the bad news is my nerves are going to be going crazy waiting to see if my offer will be accepted. So...anyone have a friend who works at Lowe's and who's loose with the employee discount??

Word to the wise...

In non-photo related news, I would like to recommend Things Mean A Lot an absolutely marvelous book blog for my fellow bibliophiles. Her name is Nymeth, she's an aspiring librarian and I would love to have a cup of coffee with her. So, if you're looking for a new book to add to your "to read" list, check her blog out and enjoy her book reviews. I've added about 25 books so far and counting...

Foggy, Foggy Night

Snow Day!!

So, St. Louis has been experiencing the coldest weather we've had in a decade (as is much of the rest of the country). Add strong winds and sticky snow and you've got a bonus snow day from heaven. I love working in education! Anyways, I was happily baking some homemade blueberry muffins and Caroline was reading on the couch when we received a phone call from our land lord letting us know that a major water main had burst up our street and that we should move our cars.

We scrambled about, putting on our winter gear over our pajammas. Hey - you'd still be in your pjs if you got a bonus day off work too! Thankfully my car was already parked on the other side of the street. Caroline was not so lucky and had to drive it out of the mini-river we had going and through the wet, slick snow. It actually took her a while to get out!

Here's Caroline fording the water. It was actually quite deep! Well, now that that little kerfuffle is over, we'll just get back to our lazy day routine...

Christmas!

One of the many things I love about my job is that I still get a Christmas break along with the students. I had a wonderful holiday and had many wonderful dinners with friends and time with family. I did not however, remember to bring my camera with me on most days. So here's a tiny bit of my Christmas break - beginning with my two favorite holiday ornaments.

On Christmas eve, my family traditonally attends my parent's church to attend their candlelight service.

And what's cuter than seeing a one and a half year old in pink pants learning to ice skate...or really just being held over the ice by her dad. It was great going out to the skating rink and watching the kids learn to skate!

It was a lovely break. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

The Pear and Almond Tart

For those of you who read this blog, I promise, this is not turning in to an exclusive baking blog. I just can't seem to help it! It's all I've been doing lately that would warrant a photo as it's been quite cold outside. So bear with me please and I will try to take some non-foodie photos in the near future.

My parents were hosting a large Christmas party at their home this past weekend and with all the other dishes my mom was making she had no time for dessert, so she asked me to make a Pear tart to "go with" the pork loin she was fix'n. I went in to deep research mode and found a recipe for a pear and almond tart through, you guessed it, Cook's Illustrated. It was quite the process and I learned quite a bit about what to do and not do when making tarts. Yes, this tart required an entire bottle of white wine to poach the pears.

Add in a cinnamon stick, whole cloves, lemon rind and peppercorns and you have a delicious juice soaking in to the pears. I was sad I had to throw it away and it seemed like a waste. I think you should be able to add some gelatin to the wine and use it as a glaze at the least.

Here's the what the tart looks like when the shortbread dough is being par-baked. It's kind of like catching someone with rollers in their hair and face cream on, right?!

The frangipane is made up of pureed almonds, butter, eggs and sugar. And it tastes awesome.

After the pears had soaked in the juice, you take 'em out pat their little bottoms dry and slice them up.

Here it is - and all I can see when I look at it is the HUGE space between the pears since I miscalculated the spacing when setting this pears in to the frangipane. And freinds, let me tell you, there is no going back once those pears have been placed. Believe me, I tried. From all reports, though, everyone enjoyed the tart! ya!

Sur La Table

Oh. No. I am in trouble.