Lake Murray Camping Trip - June 2013

View from our campsite.  We paid for a corner RV site and it was no waste of money! Beautiful and pretty secluded for car camping. Perfect place to have a few friends along next time.

Look at that beautiful blue water! This can't be in Oklahoma!? Lake Murray is so clear and blue!

View from the little cliff by our campsite. Did some fishing but didn't have any luck here.

Our tent.  We hunkered down to wait out a storm the penultimate day.  Pretty crazy lighting storm with a tornado warning.  Though it was the most frightened I've been inside of a tent, our rain cover worked perfectly and the post storm nap was amazing.

For car camping, this is paradise in Oklahoma.

View from the shore of Brandy relaxing.

Dinner table.

Dusk.

Marshmallows!

Gear.

Canadian goose hanging out with the giant, tame carp around the marina.

Happy Brandy.

Impromptu steak warmer. 

Free range, organic chicken molested with rosemary and garlic.

No one in the history of camping has enjoyed a better steak burrito.

Brandy getting prepped for scuba time.

Scuba gear/with tank is so stupid heavy. Still no sure why anyone would want to do that?

But once she was in the water she seemed pretty happy!

Turtle rescued from the road.

The "sensitive plant" mimosa pudica. Look it up because this plant is awesome.

WPA bridge and little building.

Tame carp (that you could reach down and pet) at the marine on Lake Murray. They were huge!

Custom Design + Oklahoma State Wallet

Vibrant red Oklahoma wallet on etsy.com. Click here for the listing!

iknuckles

Iphone brass knuckles for kicking some serious ass.

Raw Brussel Sprout Amazingness

Best salad I've made in a long time.  I added some minced garlic and red chilli flakes to the dressing just to be different.  I was not aware that brussel sprouts could taste so delicious raw.  This has convinced me to add them to the backyard garden this spring. Johnny's Selected Seeds has some beautiful looking varieties.

"Ingredients

• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (1 teaspoon) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed, leaves separated
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 1 avocado, sliced

Directions

1. Whisk lemon zest and juice and mustard in a small bowl. Gradually add oil, whisking to emulsify, and season with salt and pepper.
   
2. Toss dressing with brussels sprout leaves and pumpkin seeds. Gently stir in avocado and adjust seasoning.
   

Cook's Note

Change It Up
Brighten the salad by adding blood-orange segments and swapping toasted pecans for the pumpkin seeds; toss the salad with shaved fennel and celery root for heartiness."

The photo and recipe above were taken directly from wholeliving.com Here is the link!

Tryptophan Funtimes

Our post Thanksgiving party was a massive success.  There was barely room to fit all the people that showed up.  Tons of delicious food and great company. Thanks everyone!  I was too busy to take many pictures but I did pause to get a few.

TYLER!!!! and friends:)

Yay! Seth was in town!  Hugs with Sasha and Nicole.

Rare Tish sighting. Was great to meet your lovely wife!

What a great smile. 

That is the face of a woman who just successfully fired two whole free-range, hormone free turkeys!  Glad she fried two because we barely had leftovers as it was.

Main man Mitch and Hanna.

Blurry smiles.

Christmas Day Swan Treat

 Every single day on our way to work I pester my wife about how much I love the swan and how I want to go meet him/her and how beautiful it is.  I'm sure she is sick of hearing about this stupid swan! But she patiently honored my one Christmas wish: to feed the swan.  It was disgustingly cold out so we only stayed a few minutes.

 Maybe I'm a "little touched" but watching that swan makes me so happy.  He/she really enjoyed the bread but, contrary to internet advice, swans don't like greens.  At least not iceberg lettuce.  Maybe the Nichols Hills swan doesn't want any peasant fodder?

 

I'm so outrageously lucky to have someone who puts up with my childlike idiosyncrasies.

Matcha Mayhem!

Picked up a few ounces of sweet matcha at t, an urban teahouse before Christmas.  Love that place.  So minimalist and chill. This cookbook: "New Tastes in Green Tea" had been tempting me for awhile so I just had to try some experimenting with a new ingredient.

 Matcha butter. Simply butter blended with matcha. It didn't have a strong flavor. Just left the butter tasting a little bitter and slightly of green tea.  I've enjoyed it on toast in the mornings.  I imagine that it would compliment a mildly sweet scone or muffin because it needs a little sugar.

Spinach, marinated tofu, carrot and red onion salad with matcha dressing.  This was so simple but one of the best salads I've ever made  You'll have to pick up the book for this amazing tangy matcha dressing recipe!