Ahhhh.... trees

The Martins had a very productive weekend. Betty and Freddie came to town Friday night, and we savored a wonderful dinner at Yocona River Inn (filets of course). Saturday started early with the direct tv dish getting blown off the house. Thankfully we were able to borrow a gas powered auger (i have no idea if this spelling is correct) which is basically a big gas powered drill for digging post holes. It made quick work of putting up a post to hold up our direct tv dish.

After stuffing ourselves with pancakes and bacon we made the trek to the nursery for 'landscaping ideas'. You might think that 'ideas' are things you jot down on a piece of paper. In actuality, they are truck loads of trees and shrubs that you spend tons of money on. Please keep in mind that we knew there was a 90% chance of rain on Saturday- not the best weather for landscaping. Thankfully, many hands make quick work. The four of us (but mainly Daniel and Freddie) were able to plant about 12 (please ignore any plant name spelling mistakes) Eleagnus (also known as Ugly Agnes and Ukulele), 3 azaleas, 2 Fostori hollies, 3 yaupons, 3 river birches, and 1 sweet olive in about 3 hours time in about 35 mph winds. Dealing with bags and bags of dry peet moss and potting soil in strong winds is not exactly fun or easy. I still find dirt in my ears when I clean them.

The rain finally ran us inside where we enjoyed cold beer (or crown for JC). For dinner I tried a new recipe for a parmesan pecan baked catfish. I absolutely hated this recipe and as such will not be posting pics or the recipe. We were able to enhance the crappy food with the soothing sounds of the weather radio blaring tornado warnings....a very relaxing and enjoyable evening after working in the yard all afternoon!!! Anyways, the storm passed quickly and amazingly our new plants/trees/shrubs survived!

I awoke early Sunday to a brilliantly blue and cloudless sky. After seeing Betty and Freddie on their way, Daniel and I continued our weekend o' landscaping with a trip to home depot. We stocked up on a few more plants and made our way home to continue our productivity. We planted 5 more azaleas, mulched all the beds and plants, potted 2 Ligustrums in urns by the front steps, planted a Forsythia, Camellia, and climbing jasmine. We plan to work on a bed for my roses and to plant our japanese magnolia this weekend. It is really amazing the difference some landscaping makes! We can't help but say how much we love our house and yard every time we pass by a window and see our new trees, etc. I, of course, keep forgetting to download the pictures I have taken thus far, but will add them to this post as soon as I remember. Hopefully after this weekend I will have even more to share with you all (usually I would use the term 'all' loosely, but since I have discovered my Mom has shared this blog link with everyone in Cleveland...hello Cleveland!).

Daniel is been out of town since Monday morning this week on a business trip. He drove down to New Orleans for 2 presentations and then over to Lake Charles for a third. It is the first time I have stayed alone at our new house. I haven't really been scared, but I have been bored without Daniel to talk to and play with. It is supposed to storm again tonight, but I'm hoping to sleep through all that. Daniel returns tomorrow, so only one more night as a single gal. I'll be very happy to have him back!

A big THANK YOU!!!!!!! to Mom and Freddie for all of their hard work and gardening expertise this past weekend! We literally could not have done it without you! We love you and owe you big time!

V-Day

Daniel and I celebrated our first V-day as a married couple on Wednesday. It was terribly cold, so we stayed in and cooked a 'fancy' dinner and dessert and watched LOST. There is a new fish market in town, so I bought some grade A1+ tuna steaks from there. It was not cheap, but was definitely delicious! I found a recipe on thenest.com for a peppercorn crusted seared ahi tuna with creamy wasabi sauce and it was sooooo easy and VERY good. I eat sushi very rarely, so I was a little worried about how I would like the seared tuna, but it was fantastic. It was so tender, and the spice from the peppercorn was a great contrast for the wasabi sauce. I served mashed potatos and a coleslaw salad with toasted almonds on the side. Although the fish about broke the bank, I would definitely make this recipe again. I also plan to use the wasabi sauce on salmon in the future. For dessert I made a weight watchers version of Brennan's bananas foster and served it over homemade crepes with fresh whipped cream. I, of course, forgot to take a picture of the desert, but it was very good. I will post both recipes for anyone wanting to give them a try. To top off this beautiful meal, Daniel surprised me with a single rose and a gift card to David Austin roses, so I can get some bushes for the yard! It was a very thoughtful and romantic gift, and I can't wait to get my roses ordered! I'll have to say....this was probably the best V-day I've ever had! I sure do love that man of mine! (and good food too)

Pan-Seared Ahi Tuna With Wasabi Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons black, white, or mixed whole peppercorns

3/4 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

2 pounds fresh ahi tuna fillets

1 cup Chardonnay

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt(or to taste)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 to 3 teaspoons wasabi powder (or more to taste) stirred into a paste in 1 or 2 teaspoons of water; or 2 to 3 teaspoons wasabi paste

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
Crack the peppercorns and coriander seeds and spread on a plate. Press the tuna steaks into them firmly on both sides to coat them with the spice mixture. Set the tuna steaks aside. Make the sauce. Bring the wine to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat and continue boiling until it has reduced by half its volume, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and continue boiling until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the lemon juice and kosher salt. Using a whisk, beat in the butter a piece at a time until the sauce is thick and glossy. Whisk in the wasabi paste and continue stirring until it is thoroughly combined with the sauce. Taste the sauce and, if necessary, add a little more salt or wasabi.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the tuna fillets and cook them until done rare to medium-rare as you like, 1 minute or a little longer on each side. Remove from the heat and cut crosswise into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spoon the sauce attractively onto individual heated serving plates or a platter. Arrange the slices of tuna overlapping on top of the sauce in the center of the plate. Serve immediately.

BANANAS FOSTER
This is our version of the classic dessert created at Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans.
1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons brown sugar Juice of 1 orange A healthy pinch of cinnamon 2 ripe but firm bananas, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices 2 tablespoons rum 2 scoops non-fat vanilla yogurt or ice cream
Put butter and sugar in a skillet over medium heat stirring with a wooden spoon until sugar starts to caramelize. Add orange juice, cinnamon and mix to smooth. Add bananas, coat well and cook 1 minute. Add rum, flame and cook, swirling mixture until flames subside and mixture begins to thicken. Spoon over frozen yogurt or ice cream in a goblet or cut glass dessert dish. Serves 2.
Cooking Tip: Flambéing isn't hard or dangerous as long as you follow a few simple rules: a)Use only the amount of alcohol called for in the dish, b)Don't wear loose clothing or have hair dangling, and c)Have a large cover close by to snuff out the flames if they get out of hand.

Happy Friday

What a wonderful surprise to wake up to a light dusting of snow on the ground this morning. I could tell instantly it wasn't enough to keep me home from work, but was still beautiful to see. I even took a picture of our house and neighborhood, although, it doesn't look quite as exciting in the photos as I was seeing it. I guess that means I'm a crappy photographer, but you can't be great at everything! (read 'anything' here- but i'm not bitter, no, not at all) So, I'm not going to take the time to download the pics to my computer so you can see it. I'm sure you'll survive the disappointment :). Anyway...

Big plans for the Martin clan this evening! We are headed to the Wally World. Only items currently on our list are beer (for Sunday) and potatoes and cheese. If you can't tell, this list was created by Daniel. He is newly addicted to a potatoes au gratin recipe I made last weekend, so I will be forced to make it again every week for the next month or so til he gets sick of it. Man cannot live on au gratin potatoes alone! We are very excited to have nothing on our weekend agenda except Super Bowl Sunday. Other than that, I plan to cook, clean and start my veggie seeds. I will also be finalizing the list of photos for our wedding album. I'm a tad behind on that...

Maybe Monday I will have something exciting for you to read about. Sorry if this was boring. Below is a fun tidbit. tid, tid, tid- "I know what a bit is, but what is a tid?" (from Scrubs)

New favorite song for your enjoyment: Regina Spektor - Fidelity
If this song doesn't make you nod your head or wag your foot....you must be dead inside ;)
http://www.myspace.com/reginaspektor (click on Fidelity on the right)