When you work nights...well, okay...not really nights.  It's more like part-time swing shift?  Is there such a thing?  Anyway, when you don't get home from work until at least 7:30 every night, someone like me who loves cooking for my co-habitors is frustrated at best when it's 7:30, you haven't been to the store and you're starving.  I know, I know..."Meg, why don't you plan ahead and shop for the week?" you may ask.  Well, to you I say, "ppbbthththtth."  What if I plan to make farro with mushrooms and kale on Wednesday and I get home Wednesday and don't want to eat that?  I'm far too fickle to decide what I want to eat for an entire week..it's probably one of the highlights of my day to login to my food network recipe box and peruse anyway!  

So, long story short I love Mondays because I don't have to go in to work until 2:00. Given my new resolve to eat only out of Cooking Light until after Nutcracker I awoke and fired up the old Apple Jack Mac and went to work.  I threw together a lovely Beef Daube Provencale...yes, Daube.  I really don't know what it means and haven't taken the time to figure out but it promises to be delicious AND nutritious.  I put it in the crock pot and simmered it all day so it would be aromatic and delicious by the time I got home.  So for my devoted readers I give you Beef Daube Provencale:

2 teaspoons olive oil 

12 garlic cloves, crushed 

1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 

2-inch cubes 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided 

1 cup red wine 

2 cups chopped carrot 

1 1/2 cups chopped onion 

1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth 

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary 

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 

Dash of ground cloves 

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes 

1 bay leaf 

3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles) 

Preheat oven to 300°. 

Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is 

fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Increase heat 

to medium-high. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan; bring to a 

boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon 

pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf), and bring to a boil. 

Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over 

noodles. 

Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow 

cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours. 

Friday Night Blog Party

An ode to Muddy Bears...Muddy Bears you may ask?  Ah you chocolaty gummy morsel of goodness you beguile me causing me to subconsciously keep practicing my hand to mouth skills.  Commodus said it best, "It vexes me, I'm terribly vexed."

This problem is compounded by the fact that I am trying my best to avoid sugar right now...thus, it was probably not a good idea to walk through the bulk candy section of the Vashon Island Thriftway at 7:00pm PRIOR to eating dinner when I hadn't eaten since noon.  BLARG.

It's all in prelude to my weekend solo with The Hound.  The Wienk has "gone fishin'" therefore The Hound and I are breaking all the rules...as evidence here:

Is The Hound on the couch?  Why, no...what would give you that idea?!?!  

Alright, now my love of Glee is coming between my love of muddy bears...MUST WATCH GLEE!!!

I have a new favorite quote:

"Having a dog is like having a child.  Having a cat is like having a slightly eccentric roommate" Today, my slightly eccentric roommate, one of The Boys, and I are enjoying doing a little work from home.  Note: slightly eccentric may be an understatement:

Also note: yes this feline friend is nearly as long as the couch when stretched to his maximum capacity...he's big.

Why am I home instead of plie-ing my way to good shape working hard in class?  Having  dog is like having a child.  We are scheduled to visit some friends tonight for an anniversary dinner with my oldest friend which means we won't catch the ferry home until 10:15.  Long story short, The Hound's trustworthy-ness in the house when left unattended is non-existent.  He is therefore crate trained.

He loves his crate so much that sometimes The Wienk and I will actually mis-place our 120lb bundle of furry joy only to find him sound asleep in his crate with the door open, clutching a kong in his thumbless little paws.  Despite his vast love of his crate, he is still unable to stay in there for longer than about 8-9 hours at a time before his teeth start to float and his eyeballs turn yellow.  Hence, my 9:40 boat in to the city to take ballet class has turned in to a 12:50 boat to save The Hound from a 13 hour day in his crate....ahhh I'm such a benevolent dog-mom.

I have to say it's kind of nice to work the schedule that I do...not to mention my friend/boss is the best.  I can call and say, "I think I will come in at 1:30 today." and she says, "Ah-kee, tanks Miieeeg."  (this is my best phonetic spelling of her extremely cute Russian accent.)  Here she is looking extremely cute and Russian:

In case you couldn't tell, the behemoth tranny looking individual standing next to her is me.  

So, at any rate, I'm home doing some work and helping my dear friend Giada DiLaurentiis prepare some delicious culinary delights while we visit a vineyard...wait, I mean, I'm "helping" when I give my best encouragement to the Samsung hanging on the wall, "oh Giada, you've done it again, BRAVA!"  Even though she doesn't really acknowledge my help and presence, I know she appreciates my efforts.

Well, alas it's go time to hit the shower and pull myself together for the day!  Adieu eccentric roomate, until next time!

Welcome to Blogg-Ville

So let us start at the beginning.  I am one lucky soul.  Not only do I have a pretty stellar existence right now, I get to blog about it.  Soooo... CONGRATULATIONS!  You are reading my very first ever blog post.  As such, you are now subject to the ramblings of my brain and the adventures of me.  These subjects may include, but are no limited to: ballet, dance, So You Think You Can Dance, dogs, Mastiffs, The Wienk, funny things kids say ("Teacher, I frowed up last night!") and more!  

So now that we have established that everything I do should be of the utmost importance to you, we can continue :-)  

Yeah, I can't even re-read the previous sentence with a straight face...really I'm just a super lucky gal that is happy with life.

I actually live on an island,  yup a REAL island that you have to take a boat to.  Don't get too mystified by this fact, it's not like I'm sunbathing on a private yacht, having grapes fed to me one by one byAgador from The Birdcage while on my way to work daily.  Most days I'm huddled in my car with a wet head, a vat of coffee at my side, a pillow within reach and my nose in a book.  Riding the Washington State Ferry System is what I guess can only be equated to the West Coast version of some kind of train or elevated mass transit system.  Except, you get to maintain your level of personal space and you can drink a beer if you wish.  Not to mention there's a nice view!

The Pacific Northwest is so far superior to any other region, it's staggering...even the public transportation is pretty.  

So, I live on this island with The Wienk and The Hound...see below.

                                                                         The Wienk

                                                                              The Hound

Two quite handsome house mates indeed.  Then there are The Boys:

Their Badd-assery is exceeded by none and they are feared by many...especially Ms. Erin.

When I'm not tending my flock, you'll find me HERE!  I have the best job in the world.  The day after I got laid off from my desk job, my friend Viktoria called and needed a school administrator and teacher.  I get to teach, manage the school and write marketing materials for EBT.  It's not very often you find a dance teaching gig that offers enough hours to make ends meet...while it's a struggle, it's totally worth it and I'll NEVER find another job like it.  This makes it totally worth it for me to spend a lot of time HERE.

Sidenote: As much as I can't stand Kim from Real Housewives of Atlanta, her wig is fierce!

So, The Wienk and I have lots of projects on board.  Nutcracker's coming up, there are places to go, funny quotes from my kids at the studio and we've got home improvement projects into perpetuity so I'll do my best to keep this page up to date...especially since as previously stated, this page is now the center of your universe (insert Jedi mind trick here).