Finally... pictures!

It has been ages since I've done anything with the blog and a lot has happened as well! There has been a lot of cooking going on and I will be putting up more posts soon with those. But first, we are finally in our own apartment and I have my own kitchen!! It is so nice knowing where everything is and not wondering whose things are whose. Our oven/stove is probably from the 80's so it can be a bit difficult to work with sometimes when trying to use the oven but it does the job. Also, we had some sealing issues with our fridge and freezer. We turned in a request to get it fixed, they looked at it, and we came home one day to a new fridge in our kitchen!! It is really nice and hopefully it will help be saving some energy since the other one was probably as old as our oven. So that is the big excitement around here. We have had a few people over for meals and many over as company that we end up enjoying the use of our kitchen. And it wouldn't be complete without a few mishaps as well... I of course, taking full advantage of the kitchen, try to cook/make things as much as possible. In doing so, I tried to cut off the tip of my thumb and also tried to grate my knuckle off. Needless to say, they weren't anything more than a bandaide could take care of. I have the scars to remind myself to be more careful! Anyhooter, we love using all of our new utensils and appliances that we received from the wedding shower and the wedding itself. So far, there have only been a few minor things that we have needed but not had in our kitchen. That being said, we have learned to compromise as best as we can.

The pictures I'm adding to this are off the kitchen and of some omelets we made shortly after we moved in. They were just regular old eggs, meat, cheese, and veggies but still tasty! I don't even like eggs but as you can probably see in the pictures, there is probably more other stuff than egg in them... And I finally have sorted through all my pictures of other meals we have done so I will be trying to add some of those in the next week or so and hopefully start to post more regularly! Thanks for sticking with me!

Flank Steak and Grilled Corn/Veggies

Wowza, so obviously it is going to be a bit before I get into the hang of blogging regularly since it has already been a few weeks. But Derek and I did have a few friends over before Adam's wedding for a grill out. We had some flank steaks in the freezer so we thawed those out and I got a steak rub that turned out great! I rubbed the meat like an hour ahead of time so it had more time to sit before we grilled it. I didn't put as much paprika in it though because I wasn't sure our guests spiciness levels. And I think we left it on the grill a little too long while we were talking because I think it could have been a bit juicier than it was...
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/FLANK-STEAK-WITH-DRY-RUB-1204825
We also had grilled corn and veggies. To grill the corn I took all the husking off except the layer that was closest to the corn and clipped of the hairs on the end. Then we grilled it right like that. I guess some people open the last husk a bit and put some butter in each one but I just figured people could butter it when they ate it. This worked best when the coals were almost going out and they basically smoked/slowly cooked. The first batch was a bit too hot and cooked too fast so the corn was a bit tough but the second batch was great because we left it on there longer at the lower heat. For the veggies, I cut up some potatos, green peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, onions, garlic, and had some cherry tomatos. I mixed all the veggies up in an Italian/honey marinade that I first used on shrimp but found that it also works great with veggies (I cut the recipe way down using only about 1/4 a bottle of dressing). After that I put them in a foil pouch and grilled them. I took them off when the potatos were about done and took it into the oven to stay warm and that is when I tossed the tomatos in the pouch. All the veggies were completely done, a few were a bit mushy, when the meat was finshed grilling.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Honey-Grilled-Shrimp
With all of this we had fresh watermelon to continue the summer foods. I think it turned out to be great because we didn't have too many left overs! I did learn that you should let your meat sit for about 5 minutes before cutting it because it allows the juices to redistribute throughout the piece rather than being in the middle as it is when you are cooking it. Cool, right??!?!

Lemon Broccoli with Garlic

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Lemon-Broccoli-with-Garlic

Here is the first recipe, nothing fancy but something to get us started. This recipe was nice (and easy!) because I get tired of just plain steamed broccoli or just cheese on it. I would probably say that you could double the amount of broccoli and cut the amount of olive oil in half. I am not a huge person for lots of sauce on my vegetables because I like them fresh!! Derek and I had it warm right after I made it and then I had some cold as left overs the next couple of days and both ways were good!!

A few other things that came up since I put up the first post. I will try to post the link right to the website that I got the recipe from, if it's from online. I understand that for some sites you have to be a "member" to see the content though. If you are not able to see the recipe and don't want to become a member of the site, just let me know and I will just send you the recipe! Also, by posting the link on here, you will get to see all the extras that go along with the recipe that I may not add if I was just typing the recipe on here. These usually include detailed descriptions/directions, pictures, nutritional facts, different changes others have made, and much more. If there is something interesting/weird, I will also try to take pictures so you can all see my process. (if I remember of course!!) If you have any other tips/ideas for posting recipes or any other information you may need, let me know!

Starting Out

This blog is finally the response to many of the requests for all the recipes that I have talked about collecting through websites and my wedding shower. Of course, I figured I would just add a bit to it so it would be more exciting besides just a random recipe here and there. So this will not only be the recipes as I use them but I plan to share all the activities that happen in the kitchen. Both Derek and I had homes that the kitchen was one of the centers of attention and not just for the food. Granted there was always good food around, but it seemed to be a central location for all the crazy happenings in our lives. Enjoying this as we both grew up, I am hoping we can continue that in our household as we are starting our life together.
So here goes nothing! Please feel free to add comments as you try some of the recipes or throw out new ideas for things to try! And I may also post questions as I am starting out with a kitchen of my own and will probably run into some unknown things along the way... :)