Merry Christmas from The Cooks!

Hopefully you're reading our blog because you got our Christmas card in the mail this week! You may have noticed that our return address was a little different; big announcement-we're moving to Austin! We're really looking forward to exploring a new city together for the first time and couldn't be more excited that our new city is right in the middle of the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

For the past several months we've been packing, traveling, interviewing, etc. Finally, everything is in place for our big move. Our official date is January 5, 2011. Right before that we'll have our family Christmas celebrations and then we'll be in Denver celebrating New Years with some close friends!

Thank you for checking up on us! We'll try and update more from Austin than we did living in Houston; I have a feeling that learning a new city will provide us with lots of opportunities to do that. I've attached some pictures of what we've been up to over the last few months. Come back and I promise to show you all the highlights of our move!

Some New Treats!

Dish: Fish Tacos
From the kitchen of: Christie Cook

Ingredients:
2-4 white fish filets (Mahi Mahi)
2 Avocados
1/3 cup red onion-diced
1-2T Fresh cilantro
2 jalapeños (red or green)
4 limes
1 Blood orange
Minced garlic
Corn tortillas

Preparation:
Marinate fish with minced garlic, juice of 2 limes, and cilantro. Bake until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F.
Chop onion, cilantro, and jalapeño-combine. Cube avocado and mix in. Separate orange segments- mix in.
Serve with black beans and rice mixed with fresh cilantro.

Servings: 4 tacos per filet

 
Dish: Spinach Salad with Variations
From the kitchen of: Christie Cook

Ingredients:
Baby Spinach
2 pieces Turkey Bacon
2 Eggs-Hardboiled
¼c Toasted Almonds
1 Chicken Breast
Cheese: Blue, Feta, Cheddar, etc.
Red Onion- thinly sliced
Sliced Fruit: Pears, Green Apple, Oranges, or Strawberries.

Dressing:
3-5T Olive Oil
2T Fresh Lemon Juice
2T Mustard
1T Spicy Mustard
Salt & Pepper

Preparation:
Season Chicken breast with Salt & Pepper. Cook until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F.
Combine Lemon juice, mustard, salt & pepper in a glass bowl. Whisk in Olive oil until dressing emulsifies.
In two large salad bowls divide the spinach and ½ of the dressing and chicken breast. Finish with desired toppings.
Toss immediately before serving to combine.

Servings: 2 bowls A perfect lunch!

This is long overdue.

I never thought I would have a hard time keeping up with this blog, but I so obviously do. Sorry. We're in the season of weddings and every time we go to one we're so happy that it isn't ours-they're so much more relaxing when you aren't the bride and groom. Most recently we were in Beaver Creek, Colorado, for Nick and Kristin's and I just have to say that it was so beautiful! They got married with the most incredible mountian scene behind them, and if Kristin wasn't so gorgeous everyone would have just stared at God's creation of a mountian. Anyway, we had a fantastic time and loved catching up with old friends that we don't get to see all that often!

Right before that wedding trip Cody and I spent the week in Washington, DC, and New York City to celebrate our six month wedding anniversary and Cody getting his CPA liscense. We were on top of the world! We also saw one of our favorite bands, Goldfrapp, who never tour in America, twice. I guess that makes us groupies. It was so fun to get to be on vacation with just each other and relax. AND right after that trip I got to spend the weekend with my best friends from highschool in the beautiful Fredericksburg, Texas! I seriously don't remember the last time I've laughed so hard. It was so good to see everyone and amazing to see how we're exactly the same.

I've been working with Betco for about 6 months now and I've even sold some buildings-Whoop! I'm still trying to figure out my goal in life...maybe it will magically appear to me soon, but for now it's great to have a job and make some money.

The OTHER thing that I've been doing for fun-is writing a cookbook. Ok, don't laugh! But it's so different to live with a guy and want to cook. I remember when I was in college, my fridge contained Diet Coke, Cheese and Crackers...and that was pretty much it. Apparently guys, or at least mine, like to eat 3 "square" meals a day. I've had so much fun making up things and changing recipies I've gotten from friends, family, and the food network. Cody has been a great sport about eating all of my creations. I've decided to post some on here, let me know what you think! Who knows, maybe I'm not the only new wife that's discovered the amazing eating capacity of their new husbands. Of course, Cody does have the Nickname, "Windjammer" from the buffet on our cruise that he enjoyed so very much. Bon Appetite!

Much love!

Christie

Dish: Healthy Eggs Benedict
From the kitchen of: Christie Cook
Ingredients:
Turkey Bacon
Orowheat sandwich thins
Spinach
4 eggs
Hollandaise Sauce:
3 egg yolks
2T butter-melted
1 ½ T fresh lemon juice
½ t salt
1/3 cup boiling water
½ t cayenne pepper

Preparation:
Cook turkey bacon, sauté spinach, and toast sandwich thins. Keep warm.
For the sauce: Set up a double boiler and whisk egg yolks together until they thicken. Add in boiling water one tablespoon at a time while continuing to whisk. Turn burner off. Add in lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt, and melted butter. Whisk together. Sauce will thicken.
In a large pan bring salted water to a boil. Add in the 4 eggs one at a time, poach for 3-5 minutes each.
Assemble: toast, spinach, turkey bacon, top with poached egg, and pour desired amount of sauce.
Servings: 2

Dish: Stuffed Burgers & Fries

From the kitchen of: Christie Cook
Ingredients:
Orowheat Sandwich thins
1lb extra lean ground beef
2 cloves of garlic-minced
2T Worcestershire sauce
3T Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Feta cheese
Optional Toppings:
Avocado, Cheese, Turkey Bacon, lettuce

Fries:
Red Potatoes-cut in to wedges
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Preparation:
Combine beef, garlic, Worcestershire, olive oil, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat large non-stick skillet. Divide beef in to 8 equal parts. Form small patties from the first four and make a small dent in the middle. Place 1-2T of feta cheese; place other patties on top and seal. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side. Finish in a 350 degree oven until desired doneness. Toast bread and assemble.

Fries: Place potato wedges on a greased baking sheet. Cover in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat oven to highest setting (550) for about 30 minutes.

Servings: 4 ¼ pound burgers & 4-6 fries per potato

Brighter than Sunshine

So...what I thought would be a daily, maybe weekly blog has turned into a monthly-if I get around to it update. Sorry! We've been spending a lot of time hanging out with friends and continuing to explore Houston. Most recently, we've adopted somewhat of a "couples game night" between a group of friends. I insist that it should remain a secret...trying to fight the married and no crazy fun stereotype I guess. Anyway, it's been AWESOME...cooking steaks at friends houses and drinking wine, makes me glad to be a grown up.

On another note, I spent a few days at the beginning of this month in Vegas with my mom working the ISS trade show. I've started a new position as a BETCO, inc. sales representative and hopefully it works out. Vegas was great though, we saw the Beatle's Love cirque & Fab 4 shows, played some 21, and ate really good food!

We've had a lot of friends get engaged recently so we're looking forward to all of their weddings! Most recently Scott and Lindsey tied the knot; Chris and Nathan rode along with us and after the ceremony we made a quick Martini stop at Benjy's-great idea. The reception was really fun for us since we could dance together and see some old friends. Afterwards, the four of us made it a very late night at club drake-which I've dubbed, "Asia". Good times.

Speaking of International, I've been craving the use of my passport. Christina and I used to say that we know we had it made when we could use the word, Summer, as a verb. ie, "I can't wait to summer in Europe." With that in mind, I haven't been back to Europe since Cody and I went backpacking after graduation. Might be time to cash in some of those frequent flyer miles.

We've been trying to figure out where God want's us in Church. We started our life in Houston at Second Baptist and love it, but we're looking for a good young marrieds group and don't know if Second is where we should stay. Let us know if you have any suggestions!

Thanks for checking up on us. We're loving life and it's been so fun to be married! I'll try to write again, sooner this time! (The title is a song by Aqualung-enjoy)

Time out from The World

I promised finished pictures of our place and here they are! We've been loving living in the Montrose area; trying new restaurants and finding cool places. We also have a new addition to our family with Lauren! She loves going to the dog park and running all over. She's getting used to sleeping in her dog bed instead of our bed, but jumps up under the covers as soon as Cody leaves for work in the morning! We've had so much fun hanging out with our Houston friends and having others come to visit! We'll write again soon! Oh, and the title is the name of a Goldfrapp song I'm loving right now, Enjoy! 

Hello 404 West Polk Avenue!

We are finally back in America after a honeymoon and Christmas cruise! We've been moving and slowly unpacking all of our clothes and wedding presents into the new place. Finished pictures to come soon. Right now... it looks like a crime was committed in our bathroom since we decided to paint it red; I guess it might need another coat?

All the thank you notes have been mailed, thank you very much. We're so blessed to have been given so many nice things, and I'm having a lot of fun opening boxes and finding places for all of our new gadgets. When will we need a lazy susan fondue pot? Immediately I say!

Since we've been home Cody has been hard at work at Deloitte and when I'm finished unpacking I'll be looking for that career move as well. Let me know if you have my dream job!

All of our love to everyone! Thanks for checking up on us; we'll post again soon. XOXO