"I think I have something to say to you!"

As a lot of you know, Maggielicious has arrived. She's a Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier and her official name is Ch. Andover Magic Maid. So far she's doing quite well, although she's still not eating as much as I would like her to. I can tell her Wheaten temperament is starting to poke through, this morning I was greeted with more kisses than I was prepared for. Also, she's bonding to me a lot more as opposed to Brandon since Brandon works, but I can see her make progress with him too.
I have to say she's the doggiest dog we know. She didn't know how to climb stairs, she didn't know how to climb on furniture, and she doesn't know what to do with toys, although I have an idea as to how to remedy that. She doesn't even know how to play with other dogs. Hopefully the Gunderson's dogs will teach her how to play, when she stops growling at them. I'm not happy about the growling thing at all, and we're teaching her that it's not ok to growl, I'm just hoping it passes when she becomes more secure. Right now she's lazily laying in bed staring at me. All in all, we're really happy we got her.

 
This is Maggie at the dog park by the Temple, which is by our house
 
On the way to the dog park, deciding what you do with grass
 
She's so cute!
 
I love this thing. "Bring it, dog"

Ode to Me

Well, it's not exactly an ode, but I do have to say that I'm fairly smart, witty, funny, and cute.

Ok, my latest accomplishment in the kitchen has been...drum roll... vegetarian tacos!!!
I know it doesn't sound all that appealing but they were really yummy. And I know they're nothing new but I was quite proud of myself for "inventing" them.

It all came about because of our vegetarian stint. Being a fake vegetarian is all fun and games until you have to start cooking like one and then you realize that having some sort of protein on the plate is just an excuse to not be creative. So I got my rusty creative juices going and vegetarian tacos came out. Instead of salsa I served them with chimichurri (the Argentine version of salsa) which by the way you can stick on anything. Make a big batch of chimichurri and you have marinade for everything. For the sides I made homemade chips and sauteed kale with cumin and garlic. Use any vegetable that roasts well, as always, these are just the ones that happened to be in my fridge/pantry.

Veggie Tacos serves 2

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into big bite-size squares
1 red pepper
1/2 onion, pick a color, any color
some eggplant, cut as squash
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grab a baking pan (I used 9x13). Put all your vegetables in there. Add olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss the veggies with oil, salt, pepper.
3. Stick them in the oven for about 25 minutes, maybe more, until they are well roasted and everything looks nice and soft.
4. Serve with corn tortillas and yummy chimichurri. Hmm...

Newsflash

So I've been working on a post for a few days, but I haven't gotten it to flow properly, so it just sounds like a lot of babble. I don't know if I'm going to post it.

Ok quick overview of the top 10 things at the Jacobsen household:

1. Brandon still has a job.
2. I still have a job. And I get a discount.
3. I finally took Anne's surfboard out and I had lots of fun even though I only got up 1.5 times and it was freezing.
4. Maggie is coming on Sunday. We are STOKED.
5. We are so excited for Thanksgiving, I'm already planning what part of the turkey I want.
6. We may change Maggie's name but we haven't decided to what. Lupe is a strong contender.
7. The internet is my new TV. Thank you webisodes. Screw you writers.
8. 30 Rock is really good. Everyone should watch.
9. Brandon is looking pretty buff (thus hot) from all the surfing.
10.We're going vegetarian this week, at least until we leave Wednesday night for St. George (which is where we're spending Thanksgiving). I know, it's a stretch for us, but Brandon has always been an advocate for less meat in the house and I've started yoga again so I crave less meat. Maybe we'll pick it up as a way of life. Except for national holidays, religious holidays, weekends, and whenever we pass an In'n'Out.

Confession of a Mad(ly in love) Woman

Allow me to be cheesy. Strong feelings need outlets. The longer I'm married to Brandon the more I see that there is no one out there more well-suited for me than him. It's corny but it's true. And sometimes love needs to be recognized, good hell, the world would be a better place if we were all more sincerely cheesy. None of this "I'm dedicating a star to you before you die." Please, save it for the Nicholas Sparks novels. I mean letting him/her have the last piece of pie, letting someone be themselves, or just reminding your significant other that you're still glad they haven't willingly jumped overboard.

In any case, all I know is that I'm really blessed to have Brandon in my life. In marrying him I didn't have to make a single compromise. Sometimes I even wonder why he hasn't run to save himself, but everyday I'm grateful that he's still around. So there - report me to the cheesy police.

Baby blues

I feel bad but I have a confession to make. I'm not all that crazy about babies. They don't really do anything. I like toddlers though. I like it when kids are older and they start doing funny things and you can actually start having conversations with them. Besides babies and I have very little in common. There are some babies I like. For example Lucy, our niece, she's cute and small and fluffy(plus we're related). I imagine I'll like my own babies better than everyone else's but then again, you always like your own things better.

"Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion..."

I thought the camera was charged since I had taken pictures of the hot-dog worm things we had made for the party but alas I was wrong. Now Brandon and I have no pictures to show of our Halloween costumes. But I have to say that they did turn out quite cool. We were Grease people, or rather, people from Grease. More like extras from Grease, we weren't any of the main characters, we were just dressed in the style of the 50s. But I did pop in Grease for inspiration, much to Brandon's misery.

I forgot to mention that Brandon plays on a basketball team with his work people. They play every Monday and so far they're 1-1, we'll see what happens at the game tonight. So everyone root for him.

Oh! Brandon and I took a day-trip up to Temecula. They have an Old Town, actually more of a street. The Old Town street wasn't terribly exciting except for two things: The Temecula Olive Oil Co. and the Cheese Factory. The olive oil store was sssooo cool!! They have an olive farm abut 20 miles from the store and all their products come from that farm. Including the plates they sell. So they've invented all sorts of yummy oils. There was an olive oil tasting bar so we got to taste a few oils, some blends, and the best balsamic I have ever (and probably will ever) had. If it weren't for that bar we probably would have perused and left. But after we tasted the oils and vinegars, we came away spending more than we should have. But can we really put too high of a price on that blissful "Hmm...." moment, when you find yourself only thinking about flavor? Only thinking about how good it tastes? About how happy you suddenly are? No. No, you can't. So I made a pasta last night with the oil we bought, which is called Citrus. They put blood oranges and olives in the same press and the result is heaven. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I've posted the recipe below.

Clean out the Fridge Pasta
Throw whatever sounds good in there (so it's not actually a recipe so much as an idea). This is just what I happened to have in the fridge last night. We usually have this once a week since once a week I'm at a loss for what to make for dinner. There's a lot of room to maneuver and it's a good last minute quick-to-make meal. Serve with bread or salad. This is good for only 2 people.

Butter
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Zucchini
1 Leek
Oven-dried tomatoes
Left-over chicken breast (or whatever you want - you can just make it vegetarian)
Package of whatever pasta you have (I had fettuccine)
About a tablespoon of some fresh herb (I had thyme)
Olive oil (I used the Citrus oil)
Lemon (optional, I would have added this if I didn't have the Citrus Oil)
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package. DON'T add oil to the boiling water, otherwise the pasta won't pick up on flavors of the other ingredients when tossed together.
2. In a non-stick big pan throw in little bit of the butter, all of the red pepper, zucchini, and leek. Sprinkle some salt in there and cook until the veggies are a little tender. Remember to stir frequently.
3. Add chicken breast (if using raw meat cook that first then add veggies) and oven dried tomatoes. Add Pepper. Keep warm until pasta is ready.
4. When pasta is ready, drain and pour into the pan with all the other ingredients. Turn off heat. At this point add olive oil (just enough so pasta and veggies are shiny, err on the side of too little then you can keep adding if needs be). Toss a few times.
5. Add juice of half a lemon, your fresh herb and more salt and pepper if it needs it. Toss a little to mix.
6. Serve hot with parmesan cheese on the side. Enjoy!