Monday, December 10, 2012

Goober Family Visit Continues

I left off at Thanksgiving. But there was more fun to be had with Melissa, Mary Grace and Annabelle (aka the Goober Brigade) in tow.

On our way into the city

After looking at the weather forecast, we decided that Friday was a better day to traipse around Boston. We did part of the Freedom Trail, starting in the Boston Common, and making our way around the city. It was chillier and windier than just a few weeks earlier when my dad came to visit. I'm realizing that how we host visitors will greatly depend on the seasons and the weather up here. Walking around Salem or Boston on a crisp Autumn day is much more pleasant than walking around on a cloudy, windy, colder near-Winter day. We ate dinner in the city, in the North End, at an Italian restaurant we'd been to previously with some visitors back in August. After a lot of indulgent eating, we were more than ready to come home and relax.

In the Boston Common, near Park Street Church

At Paul Revere's House

A blurry picture of us at dinner in the North End

Saturday was a "tour our world" kinda day. We drove around Gordon College (we're still trying to convince MG that she should go to school there... and live in our spare room!). We walked around Gordon Conwell. We came home and relaxed a little until it was time to go see a movie-- Lincoln. Deciding on which movie was probably the hardest part of the whole visit. Wreck It Ralph? Lincoln? Twilight? (No Way) Lincoln won the vote, and most of us really enjoyed it. Will took a short nap. Mary Grace browsed Facebook. But Annabelle, Melissa and I were captivated.

Ready for church!

Sunday we ate at home and headed to church. We came home after church and had some leftovers for lunch before taking Melissa and Mary Grace into the city to catch the Amtrak back home. Annabelle, Will and I returned home. Will did some homework. Annabelle and I graded her high school students' tests while watching Home Alone. Perfectly restful evening.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

Sometimes, we have a "go big or go home" mentality around here.

Apparently, Thanksgiving was a good opportunity to adopt this mentality.

For our first Thanksgiving together, we hosted it for Will's mother and 2 sisters.

Now, a Thanksgiving meal for 5 people may not seem too extreme. Most families are around that size anyway, right?

Well, hosting Thanksgiving in a small apartment is a triumph in and of itself. Small kitchen. Minimal counter space. Small oven. Packed fridge. Making a complete meal is an accomplishment.

Add to that the fact that Will wanted to do most of the cooking. He wanted to brine his first turkey, so that was a new experience. He took some traditional Thanksgiving recipes and put his own spin on them. He did a lot from scratch (and let us talk him into a few short-cuts... for time/space/budget's sake).

And it was fabulous. The meal was outstanding.






















Turkey in the bucket with the brine... and the Turkey in our oven with the electric thermometer ready to tell us when he's done!

Menu
Appetizers
Brie
Cheddar Crackers with Pumpkin Seeds
Hot Apple Cider
Hummus

Main Course
Turkey in a Ginger, Sage, and All Spice Brine
(Will dubbed this the "Wise Ginger Turkey")



Sides
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
Green Bean Casserole
Crescent Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Pan Dripping Gravy
Cornbread Stuffing

Dessert
Buttermilk Pie
Pumpkin Pie

Will did an outstanding job. It was all delicious, was presented beautifully, and made the apartment smell heavenly.


Will's family arrived on Tuesday. Melissa and Mary Grace flew in from VA Tuesday afternoon, and Annabelle flew in from Tulsa later that night. They stayed in a hotel in Salem that night because I was scheduled to work Wednesday & Thursday and Will had classes early on Wednesday. To keep the morning routine relatively intact, they stayed elsewhere that night.

Then, to my pleasant surprise, early on Wednesday morning, the hospital called and said there weren't many patients and I could stay home if I wanted to. This has only happened once before, and it was the same day my dad was scheduled to fly into MA for his visit! What excellent timing! Thanks God!

So after Will returned from his class, we all met up in Salem and had lunch there. Then Will and Mary Grace split off to do homework and college apps, respectively. Melissa, Annabelle, and I wandered around Salem, took a tour of the house that inspired Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, and did a little shopping. We all met up at home after that, and went out to dinner that night in Beverly.

I left for work that morning, and apparently Will's sisters helped themselves to our comfy bed 

I worked Thanksgiving day. I'm used to working holidays, but in the past my schedule had always been 12 hour shifts, so that was pretty much my whole day. Not so in my current job! I spent the day with my patients, wore my turkey scrub top, and had a little free lunch provided by the hospital. My shift ended at 3, and I was home before 4 pm. I came home to a beautifully set table, a luscious smelling kitchen, and a football game on our TV. I asked how I could help, and was instructed to change clothes, sit down and relax... it was all taken care of!

My coworkers were pretty jealous of my set up. "You still get to enjoy a home-cooked Thanksgiving feast, and you didn't have to cook a thing??" Yup... my amazing husband took the reigns and amazed us all!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Our First Visitor! Part II


See Part I for Friday's drama and Saturday's tourist traps.

Sunday, we went to our church in the morning, and then made our way to Karl's Sausage Kitchen for dinner. It's a butchery/cafe with a little German grocery store inside. Since Dad spent so much time in Germany, I thought he'd enjoy some familiar tastes and exports. Just being inside that place makes me crave The Sound of Music...

That night we drove out to Gloucester, the seaport where The Perfect Storm story comes from. We walked along the boardwalk for a while, then settled in at a little seafood restaurant, Latitude 43*, for dinner. The food was pretty good, but didn't knock our socks off. We really drove out to Gloucester to enjoy beer at Cape Ann Brewing Company. We walked over to the Brewery and chatted over a couple of beers.

Will and me at the memorial for all of the fishermen lost at sea.

Then came Monday... BOSTON DAY! We planned a trip doing a few of our favorite and most-anticipated activities. We took the T into the city and started off with a brewery tour at the Sam Adams brewery. I'd heard great things about this tour, and it lived up to every expectation. The tour guides were knowledgeable and hilarious. Will and I have done several brewery tours, and this was probably the most entertaining. And the tour is free!


Will pouring the first tasting... get that 45* angle, babe!

After the tour, they recommend heading over to Doyle's Pub for lunch and drinks. Doyle's was the first bar to sell Sam Adams when they were getting started in the 1980s, so they get a special shout out from the brewery. There is a free trolley that takes you from Sam Adams to Doyle's, and the trolley driver was out of control. He was hysterical. He decked out this old trolley with disco balls and flashing lights, blasted "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)", and made the trolley bounce down the road as we headed to Doyle's. He was full of knowledge about Sam Adams and Doyle's, such as citing several movies with scenes in Doyle's, and entertained us as we took a 7 minute ride over to lunch. Good food, good beer, and it put us all in a very good mood. I highly recommend this if you're in the Boston area-- a free brewery tour and a cheap lunch is one of my favorite parts of this weekend. 


DOYLE'S 

After Doyle's, we headed over to the waterfront to see the New England Aquarium. Will and I went to the aquarium last year when I came to visit and it was phenomenal. I loved it so much that Will scheduled an aquarium trip for us on our honeymoon in Denver (although that aquarium wasn't nearly as impressive as this NE's Aquarium.) Unfortunately, the massive 200,000 gallon tank in the center was under construction, and all of the penguins had been moved to another facility during the construction, so the aquarium was much less impressive than our last visit. They included free IMAX tickets with the admission ticket because of the construction, so we enjoyed the fish and jellies and headed over to watch a movie about the Arctic and polar bears. Will took a nap during the movie. Dad seemed reasonably entertained. I was stressed out for much of the movie (the polar bear mama and her 2 cubs are being pursued for a good portion of this movie... spoiler alert: they make it out alive, but my anxiety for them didn't subside when the credits started rolling...)

We headed back home and ate some take out Thai while watching Sons of Anarchy on TV. It was a restful ending to a jam-packed weekend!


We did a little Facetime action with John & Rylie on Dad's iPad. She wasn't really sure what was happening, but we were thoroughly entertained by her questioning eyes.



Dad flew back this morning and made it home safe. Such a fun time with family!

Next up: Will's family joins us for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see what Hotel Killmer serves up for the holiday!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Our First Visitor! Part I

Look who came to visit!

Apparently Will and I tend to just look at ourselves in the camera instead of the camera lens. Oops.

My dad flew into Boston to visit us this past weekend. It was a great time for a visitor-- I had 3 scheduled days off in a row (a rarity), the weather had warmed up from the Nor'easter so walking around was pleasant, and Will's reading break is this week, so his school work could take a little vacation for a few days. 

The plan was for Will to pick up my dad from the airport on Friday while I was at work, and I would just join everyone after I got home. At 5:00 A.M., the hospital called & said they were overstaffed and would  I like to stay home. Usually I would say no to this incredibly tempting offer (so I don't use up my vacation time), but this just seemed like the perfect time to take it. Best 5 A.M. call ever! So now, I had four glorious days off. Such a gift!

We picked up dad from the airport and headed out to lunch near our home. And that brings me to a very strange story I would like to share with you.

Dad and I at a beach near my home. 

 I wanted to take Dad for a walk around our little town for 2 reasons: to show him our area, and to give Will some time to work on school before the fun weekend began. We reached the crosswalk near our home that would take us across the busy street and over into the neighborhoods. I inched out and was looking both ways for cars before crossing... and then I was hit by a car. Or rather, I was run over by a car. There was an Audi parked along the street, and she started to reverse without looking behind her. The back tires on this car are so close to the bumper that by the time I felt the bumper hit my thigh, my foot was already under the tire and I was being pulled under the car. She ran over my foot, ankle and knee before realizing what was going on. She stopped (thereby saving my hips and important organs...), and I just kinda sat there stunned. My dad had a few choice words for her (although, to his credit, I was impressed by his restraint with this girl who just ran over his daughter...), and then I stood up to see how my leg was. It was fine. I could move just fine, no broken bones (that I could notice), and no odd feelings or nerve damage. So... I said we should just keep on with our plans for our walk! We crossed the road, she drove away, and we made it to the beach in the above picture. You'd hardly know I was just the victim of a vehicular assault by my cheese grin above.

My knee did start hurting & swelling a while later, so we made a quick-ish trip to the ER for xrays, which confirmed no broken bones, and then we went on our merry way.

Dad has friends in Boston, so we took the T into the city and had dinner with them at Nico's in the North End. Excellent food! My only complaint is that there was a massive flat screen TV in the dining room that was playing an old mob movie. I understand the idea, but eating a nice meal and sipping a smooth wine while seeing a sex scene and mass murder in the background didn't really "set the tone" for my meal.

When asked if we wanted to get any dessert, I said, "I was run over by a car today. I want a cannoli." So we walked down to Modern Pastry for a sweet end to our trip into the city.

Dad and his friends in front of the store.

 With full bellies, we waddled back to the T and headed home.

On Saturday, we headed up to Marblehead for brunch. When Will's family came up last year to drop him off at school, we ate brunch at The Landing and it was phenomenal! It is still our favorite bowl of clam chowder (and we order that soup everywhere so that's a big compliment... we've tasted many bowls!) Well, the brunch is only served on Sundays. Whomp whomp. So we ate our lunch and headed over to Salem for some tourist time.
Will and me at The Landing. 
Look behind Will and you'll see a massive crane that
 takes ships in and out of that warehouse!

 We walked all around Salem. There's a harbor side with a lot of historical displays explaining the evolution of Salem as a seaport.

Here I am reading about using the angles of the shadows created by the Sun to decipher the time of day. I look confused because Will is standing directly where the Sun should have been creating my shadows...

Salem is most known for the Salem Witch Trials back in the 1600s. Interestingly, the first Witch Trial took place in Danvers, not in Salem. A servant woman was accused of being a witch by two young sisters, and she was told if she confessed, she would be released from her job with the family. Instead, they executed her. She confirmed the names of a few other "witches" (other women these two sisters were accusing), and they were also executed. Those executions all took place in Salem, but it all started in Danvers. There is a beautiful memorial for the 20 or so executed.

Salem uses this little bit of history to really attract tourists. There are legitimate historical sites (like the memorial and museums), but there is a hefty amount of cheesey, shameless tourist attractions based on witches. Think... Harry Potter stores, wax museums with witches and wizards, and large plywood witches with holes cut out for faces... like so...
The Bearded Witch

The Distressed/Windblown Witch

The Jolly/Can't-Contain-My-Height Witch

Boo!

We spent the rest of the time walking around Salem's pedestrian mall, all around the harbor, and through the stores and alleys of the city.

We ended Saturday with going to see 007: Skyfall at our local theater. Classic entertainment.

Part II will tell of Sunday and Monday's adventures...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Harvest Fest in Salem

Hello friends!

Long time, no blog. Sorry about that. Will & I have been easing into our routines up here with school and work. We've been keeping busy with cooking experiments (like apple cider pancakes and cheddar buttermilk biscuits and Will's original recipe for potato bacon chowder!), head colds, exploring new restaurants, and diving into church activities.

I have been particularly neglectful of blogging because I've been absorbed in Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. My mother-in-law gave it to me a while ago, and I finally sat down to read it a few weeks ago. I was pulled in immediately! I'm usually not a fan of non-fiction coming-of-age stories... they feel inauthentic and characters are usually polarizing... but I really liked this book! If you're at all familiar with medicine, you'll appreciate a lot of the details and circumstances in the storyline. It's about twin sons born in a  missionary hospital in Ethiopia, both of whom become doctors, although in different capacities. It paints a beautiful picture of cultural differences, family relations, and the results of harboring resentment/bitterness. The story is captivating and the writing is easy to read. I just finished it last night, so now I'm in that "now what do I read??" mourning phase.

I digress.

After work on Saturday, Will and I joined a few friends going to the Harvest Fest in Salem. It was advertised as primarily being a beer tasting, with a few other local artisans involved. Since we enjoyed the Portland Brewfest so much, we had high expectations for this one.


Not the best angle for a picture... but I was a little hurried to get inside!

Truthfully, it was underwhelming. It's not even fair to compare it to the beer tasting in Portland... but I'm going to compare it anyway, because that's my only real reference for beer tastings.

Portland: Inside a large, open building, during the day, lots of air and space to wander.
Salem: Inside a small gathering hall, in the evening with the doors closed and no windows, crowded from start to finish.


Portland: Primarily breweries from surrounding states with a few meaderies and cider houses mixed in.
Salem: Almost an equal mix of meaderies, cider houses, vineyards, and breweries represented.


Portland: The people at each table were enthusiastic about their product and happily spoke to people about recipes and strategies (well, to those kinds of people who care... like my husband.)
Salem: The music was too loud for any real dialogue to take place, and the representatives and servers didn't really seem that invested in their product.

On the plus side, it was fun to taste a few more meads and a couple of wines (although nothing compares to the vineyards surrounding Charlottesville), so if someone wasn't a huge beer fan, they could still have a good time.

But overall, it wasn't our favorite experience.



What was a good experience was walking from our little home in Beverly over the bridge into Salem. We all debated driving (too much traffic and parking would be a headache), taking a taxi (not a bad idea...), or walking. It was a beautiful fall day, 60* and sunny, and we were in no hurry. We planned to walk down to Salem and take a taxi home later that night.

The view over the bridge to Salem.

It's about a 2 mile walk one way. I was debating going to the festival at all. I had worked that day, and would work again the next day. The idea of walking after a full day of work was unappealing, but there is a perpetual voice in my mind that says, "Do things outside now before you are snowed in until April," so I conceded.

We ended up leaving the festival early enough to walk back home, too. We stopped at Bill & Bob's Roast Beef on the way home for dinner. Sidenote: Roast Beef places are to the North Shore what Fried Chicken places are to the South... plentiful and each with a slightly different flavor.

We sat and ate, talking about culture shock and the biggest differences we notice in comparing home to here. Will's friends were from Iowa and New York, so we had some interesting viewpoints on a lot of areas.

And here are a few pics of us, just because I'm a slacker and didn't take pictures of the beer tasting.

Not my best look, but Will's face made this picture post-worthy. 


The Killmers enjoying Roast Beef.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Epicuriosity #2: Pumpkin Spice Granola

It's crisp outside, and not just early in the morning or late at night. It's "sweater weather" for 80% of the day now. Boots. Scarves. Corduroys. Chai spices. Apple picking.

And pumpkin.

Lots and lots of pumpkin.

I actually made this granola a few weeks ago. I wanted some for snacking, and none of the store bought granolas were appealing enough for the price. So, naturally, I sought out Pinterest. Wa-la! Granola recipes galore at my fingertips.

I believe this recipe came from the blog My Baking Addiction. Below I have my adapted recipe based on what I had in my kitchen.

Pumpkin Spice Granola
Makes 4 cups, or 8-10 servings

Ingredients: in order of use
4 c old fashioned oats
3/4 c dried shredded coconut
1/2 c chopped/slivered nuts

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 c honey
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 c light brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c dried cranberries or raisins (or a combo of the two)


Almost all of the ingredients seen here... I forgot the pumpkin pie spice for the picture!


Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350*
2. Spray sheet pan or rimmed cookie sheet with oil. Just enough to coat.
3. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts and coconut. I used slivered almonds because it's what I had in my pantry. I think the original recipe calls for chopped pecans, which would be divine, but I only had almonds on hand. Alas.


Pecans or walnuts would be a wonderful substitute. Will doesn't really care for added nuts to things, but almonds he'll ususally tolerate. So at least I have that going for me...


4. In a small saucepan, combine vegetable oil through brown sugar. Whisk to combine over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.


At this point my camera battery died, so you'll have to enjoy the rest of this recipe sans-pictures (except for the final product). I'm sure you'll cope well enough.


5. Add vanilla extract to saucepan. Stir together. I also sprinkled in a little extra cinnamon. Pumpkin Pie spice by McCormick doesn't have enough cinnamon to stand up to the maple & honey, so I give it a little extra. But you can taste your granola at the end & decide for yourself how "spice-y" to make it.
6. Pour wet ingredients over oat mixture. Stir together with a spatula or spoon until evenly distributed.
7. Spread mixture in an even layer onto cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. The color will change dramatically between the 5 and 10 minute point. Don't worry if the granola isn't completely dried or crispy at the end of 17-20 minutes-- when you take it out to cool, it will dry out.


You can do a better job of distributing the Craisins than I did. I usually just shake my tupperware pretty well before I spoon out my portion for breakfast.


9. Add dried fruit. Again, the original recipe called for 1/2 c raisins and 1/2c Craisins. I don't really care for raisins, so Craisins all the way!
10. Let cool. Store in an air tight container.



Enjoy with yogurt, fruit, or on top of other fall favorites, like apple cider pancakes ... (coming next!)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Visiting Family in New Hampshire

This weekend, Will & I went to visit some of my family that live in the New England area. My mom came up to visit from Virginia with her boyfriend, so my brother & his family drove from their home in Maine to meet up with us all in my grandmother's house.

This was Will's first time meeting my grandmother, and the first time that either of us really got an opportunity to play with my brother's children. When Hugh & Sabrina moved to Maine, Caleb was just a baby, and Ellie was born up in Maine, so I met her for the first time the day before the wedding. Needless to say, "family time" around our wedding wasn't very abundant or quiet, so this was our first chance to interact and play with the little ones.

Hugh & Sabrina, and Ellie (on Sabrina's lap, 13 months) and Caleb (almost 3 years)


 My mom's family has a long history in the little historic town they live in, so anything new becomes big news in that area. My grandmother brought us all to an area with a large stone wall and a marble statue of a character from Greek mythology.

In true Guthrie/Killmer form, we mostly just took pictures at the site.




Statue of *Niobe shielding her child from attackers

My grandmother asked Will if he knew anything about Greek mythology, since he knew the Greek language. He was happy to give her the full story behind the statue. Will is working on schoolwork right now, otherwise I'd ask him for specifics, but what I understood of the story is that *Niobe was the daughter of Zeus and Diana, and she was very fertile and had around 14 kids. I'm not sure what made people want to attack her (and in Greek mythology, it really doesn't require much to induce an attack), but the story goes that all of *Niobe's children were shot with arrows in this attack. The statue is of a mother trying to protect her child.

... On a brighter note, I have lots of pictures of us playing with Ellie & Caleb at the playground!

(How does one transition to family photos after a Greek tragedy?...)

We left the statue and drove around the area, taking in the wonderful New Hampshire scenes of calm ponds and windy roads. We drove up to the "general store" which has several homemade/local foods and old school toys and candies. We left with some fudge, apple butter, and New Hampshire maple syrup.

We went home and had a cook-out lunch with the rest of the family, followed by a group outing to the nearby playground.

Most of the rest of our day can me summed up in these pictures and captions. Enjoy!

"Uncle Will" jumped right in with playing with the kids in the playground. Here he is helping Caleb climb into the slide.


This boy is the poster child for JOY. He is smiling 95% of the time he is awake, slide or no slide.


My brother Hugh and his daughter cheering on Caleb's adventures.


In true sibling form, if one child does it, the other must follow. Here's Ellie making her way up the slide...


... and Uncle Will catching her at the end. I've spared you the picture of the mega-meltdown Ellie had at the end of the slide.


Aunt Jenny's turn up the slide.


Patiently waiting my turn.


"Maybe she'll like the slide more if you're holding her..."


Nope. Still had an upset baby in my lap. But Caleb and I enjoyed the ride!


Uncle Will playing on his own on the "zip line" at the playground. The playgrounds near my home did not compare to this awesome space.


Uncle Will surprising Caleb as he makes his way down slide #2. Surprise!


My mom's attempts at the zip line. I wish I captured the audible screech she let out as she careened down the line. It was a show stopper.


Wherever Uncle Will went, that was the coolest toy of the moment. Helloooo tire swing!


"Get Ellie in there too..."
She looks traumatized.
Caleb looks confused.
Will looks gregarious.


My turn!


There was a massive rock near the playground, and we assumed it was meant for climbing and photo shoots. Here's my mom with her first grandbaby. Joy joy joy!


Sabrina was trotting around the playground documenting the fun, too.


Portrait of Uncle Will.
I couldn't resist.


This is what family pictures look like with two little ones... baby looking off in the other direction, and mom's head getting knocked by a dump truck. Smile!


New Hampshire.
He came.
He saw.
He Concord conquered.


Trapped in the tire swing. The stuff nightmares are made of.


The large yellow/white house in the background has been in my family since it was built in the 1860s. A lot of history in that home!

Mom was doing her own documenting with her fancy iPad.

The Killmers visit NH.

Fun weekend!!