A Trip Down Memory Lane

The travel bug hit us last weekend.

We didn't really plan ahead enough to fly anywhere. But we still wanted to get out of town.

Steven and I first met each other in a tiny little college town about three hours south of here. And this past weekend, for the first time in nearly 3 years, we decided to take a trip back.



Back to Lynchburg. Its like some sort of strange vortex that, once you've lived there for any amount of time and then move away, it starts itching at you to go back. You know, just to "see what its like." To see what's changed.

In some ways, it changed drastically. Like a younger sibling that suddenly grew up while you were away. You hardly recognize it.


Like this giant "LU" that they've carved onto what used to be lovingly referred to as "the Bald Spot". (Cue the collective gasp of horror from alumni...)

And that spot in the way back of the parking lot where you used to leave your junker car all summer, coming back in the fall to flat tires and a mouse in the exhaust? Yeah. Its a Barnes and Noble now. Ah, progress.



A Barnes and Noble with an unbelievable school-related merchandise section, I might add.



Also, a Barnes and Noble that sells my brother's band's CD.


Its on sale, too, apparently. :)

And, as if all of this grand improvement weren't enough, they are building a ski slope on the top of Candlers' Mountain. Wow.



Despite all this seeming change, in other ways, Lynchburg is still comforting and familiar. Like a favorite t-shirt. You know just how its going to feel, even before you put it on.



For example, Steven will forever be enshrined on the wall of his former workplace, O'Charley's.



See what I mean?



The Waffle House is still there, too. And its still trashy. We had either forgotten how bad it used to be, or we've gotten more demanding in our hygeine level requirements for dining establishments. (Steven sent his fork back and requested a clean one. Twice. And then he said he didn't want to finish the last half of his cup of coffee, because he "wasn't sure what was at the bottom of the cup." And he didn't want to find out.)


Mmm. E.Coli.

And our dorms are still right next to each other.



Steven used to walk me "home" to the front door of my dorm when I'd get back to campus after working late at the TV station. Come to think of it, I bet he was breaking curfew to do that. Ooh, I'm telling....



And the stairs that my roommate, Kera, fell down and broke her right arm the first week we lived together, requiring us to get REALLY comfortable with each other, REALLY fast, since I basically had to dress her every morning? Yep, the stairs are still there. I remember her big green cast like it was yesterday.



All in all, its looking a good bit more collegiate these days.



Although there was still randomness to be found. A giant paperclip made from PVC pipe. Why, LU? Why?



I told Steven they must've hired some good marketing/PR people. The branding has greatly improved.



As we meandered around the campus, I had visions of bringing my kids here someday, dragging grumpy pre-teens down the sidewalk by my old dorm room, and them being more interested in when they would be able to get back to their iPods in the family car than my next landmark sighting.

"Oh look, kids! This is the road where Dr. Falwell used to try to run over students in his giant black SUV! Isn't that great! Kids? Kids? Hello?"

The air was thick with memories as we walked around, and part of me felt like I could jump right back into classes as if it were yesterday. (That is, until I saw a couple of collegiate-aged kids sitting at the new campus bookstore. Oh dear Lord, I am practically ancient. Vintage, even. I was around when DeMoss was only one story tall. I know. Its shocking.)

There are still a few untouched corners that haven't been subjected to "improvements" yet. Here's the library, wherein I spent many an hour trying to make EBESCOhost work in my favor. (It was futile. EBESCOhost was doomed.)



We also took a little tour of all our old apartments. Little did I realize, but we must have lived in some sketchy places. I was afraid to unlock the door on a couple of stops.



In this lovely one-bedroom apartment, you can experience early AM ambulance visits, as a neighboring resident is carried out of his apartment on a stretcher. Presumably from some sort of chemical dependency issue. Delightful.



Similarly, in this beautiful old two-bedroom with wood floors and a cozy breakfast nook, make sure not to let your roommate lock you out, or you'll have to sit on the stairs and watch all the crazies walk by. And boy are they crazy.


Or perhaps you'd like a room in the suburbs, where the rednecks party until the wee hours and your roommates accidentally burn holes in the deck.

We visited downtown Lynchburg and our favorite restaurant. Yep, the one right next to the pawn shop. Jewelry, music, guns. Classy.



At the pawn shop, Steven showed me what he wants the basement to look like someday. (Keep dreaming, sweetheart.)



We checked out a couple of antique stores. Steven found a new friend.



Yeah, we spent some great years in this town. I started school in the Fall of 1999, and finally left town a week after we got married in 2004 (only to start law school a week after that! Oy vey...)



Here's where Steven bought my engagement ring.



And here it is, cleaned for the first time in five years.

We visited the church where we got married. I still think its the prettiest place in town.



And I struck a pose, just for old times' sake.



Hard to believe its been five whole years already.



A little older, a little wiser.



And just as much in love. Happy 5th Anniversary, dear!

(Aww, that was so sweet I nearly choked on all the cheesiness.) :)

Baking Extravaganza!

Ever since I got the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book, I've been itching to spend a weekend baking all manner of delicious things. The long July 4th weekend looked to be the perfect time to bake until I could bake no more.

Only, brilliant me, I loaned the book to someone at work on the day before the weekend started! Gosh, what was I thinking?



Luckily, I xeroxed one of the recipes before I gave him the book. (And in a further bout of good luck, the Artisan Bread website has the recipe for Brioche bread posted online.)

Bread #1: Herb and Sun-Dried Tomato Foccacia

I'd already made some Olive Oil dough from earlier in the week, so I used up the last of it to make myself some foccacia bread.



Steven decided to take a quick catnap on Saturday afternoon, so I baked myself the bread (with oregano from the garden! Woot!) and sat outside with a glass of sweet tea, some knitting, and a cookbook, listening to our white trash neighbors shout at their children and each other. It was just lovely.



After I finished up the last of the Olive Oil dough, I lined up all my ingredients to make Oatmeal Bread and Brioche dough.



Breads #2 and #3: Oatmeal Cinnamon-Raisin Bread and Brioche Cinnamon Bread

The Oatmeal Bread recipe required all sorts of unusual brans (oat bran, wheat bran?), and I couldn't find wheat bran, so we substituted wheat germ. I am hoping this decision won't come back to haunt me. The dough rose beautifully, so at least we're okay so far.



I made two sets of cinnamon bread loaves -- this one, with the Oatmeal Bread dough and brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, and a second, smaller loaf using the Brioche dough and omitting the raisins (because Someone-Picky-In-Our-House-Doesn't-Like-Raisins-In-His-Bread. But I won't name names...)



I can't fathom how you could resist the temptations of cinnamon raisin bread, but that's just me.



Also, for all of you that only get to see the extreme close-ups of the meals I make, I am about to show you why that is. Are you ready?

I am the world's messiest cook. (And, coincidentally, my laptop smells like cinnamon now...)



Here's Steven's raisin-free cinnamon loaf, rising in its pan:



And here's the larger, oatmeal-cinnamon-raisin loaf, also rising:



Baked Goods, #4 and #5: (Not bread, but I think it still counts) Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Oatmeal Bread recipe called for a cup of old-fashioned rolled oats. Once I bought a can of Quaker Oats, I fell prey to the siren call of oatmeal cookies. (Besides, the bread was taking too long to rise, and I needed instant gratification.)



Again, for the Raisin-Haters among us, I made a batch with raisins and another batch with chocolate chips. (Although it does take a little squinting and perhaps a sniff-test to tell them apart...)



Though, come to think of it, I may have resolved that issue by eating the last of the raisin cookies for breakfast this morning. (Oatmeal? Raisins? Its all breakfast food, right?)

Must Be Somebody's Birthday...

Clearly the word has gotten out that it's Steven's birthday today... He sent me a screenshot of his inbox from this morning:



Happy Birthday, dear!

Carrots, Sort-Of (Hard to call it a "Harvest")

I got tired of looking at the carrot-tops in the garden the other day. I'd been pulling out a few stray ones every now and then, and I had a feeling the entire carrot crop (Can we call 10 carrot plants a crop?) was rather doomed.



Turns out, I was right. These carrots are all leaves and no roots.



This little guy was the best of the bunch. I am slightly bummed, but they do smell delicious and sweet, so perhaps they will still taste good. All two bites of them.



I think this may have happened because of the way I set up the garden -- the soil was loose for the first 6 inches or so, but then its tightly-packed, rocky dirt underneath. I think once the carrot roots hit that lower ground, they just quit growing.



All you gardeners out there, any ideas? I planted some more carrot seeds recently, hoping for a more productive fall crop, but I have a feeling the same thing might happen again this fall. Ah, the joys of experimentation.

Good thing seeds are so cheap!

Pork and Apricot Kebabs

We've been trying to get more creative with the grill lately (mostly because I can't face the reality of ANOTHER hot dog, no matter how good it tastes). I like to take my old issues of Everyday Food for the month we're in (so the July/August issue) and see if I missed any gems the first time around.



Come to find out, there was a recipe for Pork and Apricot Kebabs in the July 2008 issue that looked fantastic.



We've only recently added pork to the Steele family "acceptable meats" list (which will never, unfortunately, include anything that swims. If it lives in water, Steven will not eat it.)



(Although I did get him to try a piece of shrimp one time. I had high hopes. He took it, gulped it down, grimaced, and said, "Yep, I never want to eat that again." Can't say I didn't try...)



The part of this recipe I especially liked was the apricot jam glaze. I got to use my fancy-shmancy new silicone brush for the glaze. (And no, I am not pouring vegetable oil onto the skewers. I was trying to oil the grill grates and needed a place to put some oil to dip the brush in. Leave me alone, I am still new at this whole "grilling" thing.)



I ran out of glaze about halfway through and had to run into the kitchen and whip up a second batch....



Which is precisely when I remembered to put on my apron. (Like it? Its new! Mom bought it for me while they were here - its from World Market and its my absolute favorite!)



I think I ended up making some rice to go with this -- we cooked the rice on the side burner right on the grill, which I found to be immensely fun (if also rather difficult).



And our resident Food Critic's review?

"The meat and onions are really good. I don't like that fruit stuff though."



:) Two out of three ain't bad...

Happy 4th of July!

(We didn't realize it until a few days ago, but it turns out our house is walking distance from the community fireworks show! Bonus!)