Sunday, September 1, 2013

The Journey of Our World Map App

My Clemson grad student husband is having a lot of fun developing his first Android app! His app is called World Map App. He saw the need for such an app when we were in China this past summer. We would try to show people a map of where we were from and it would take forever to download a map. He decided to create an app that allows people to download an app with maps on it when they have a good internet connection so that when they don't they can still have easy, fast access to maps. He just released Version 5 of World Map App which allows users to download additional maps. The app has been traveling around the world. World Map App Version 3 update included me the wife translating the app into Russian. World Map App Version 4 involved Anthony translating the .xml file into Spanish. Below is a link to my husband's blog article with more information concerning World Map App Version 5 as well as an update on the tremendous success that World Map App is currently having in Russia. Underneath the link to Anthony's blog article is a Google play button you can hit to access our World Map App. Just look it up and download.










Garland Family Tradition

So today I made something that Anthony has been wanting me to make for a long time- corn chowder and sweet potato biscuits, a Garland family tradition. Of course I changed things up a bit.

I started cooking a bag of frozen yellow sweet corn on the stove. Then I got started on my biscuits. I dumped 3 cups of Bisquick in a glass bowl with a can of pumpkin. Back to the soup, next I dumped leftover rustic spicy New England clam chowder from yesterday in with the frozen corn. I softened 1/2 a stick of cream cheese in the microwave and added it to the pot. Returning to the biscuits, I mixed Bisquick and pumpkin together with a spatula, dropped dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet, and baked the biscuits at 450 degrees for 8 minutes while stirring the soup occasionally. We loved the cream cheese in the soup! Anthony and I could not have been more pleased with my rendition of the Garland tradition of corn chowder and sweet potato biscuits.


Saturday, August 31, 2013

Fabulous Fresh Fruit

I love fresh fruit. Whether it's a side of fresh pineapple to go with a lunch plate, fresh orange slices on an entree luncheon salad, or fresh fruit salad for a dessert, there is hardly anything as sweet and refreshing as fresh fruit.




Grown Ups Gourmet Mac & Cheese

I made up a new recipe tonight. We liked it. All the ingredients just happened to be around. They included:

-1/2 box whole wheat rotini pasta
-2 Tb butter
-1/2 stick cream cheese
-1 can evaporated milk
-salt
-pepper
-cornmeal (for thickener)
-grated Parmesan cheese












Rustic Spicy New England Clam Chowder

Today's lunch plan- use up the spicy potatoes left over from a few nights ago. I decided to combine them with a can of New England clam chowder I had gotten for sixty-two cents at Rite Aid. I thought I'd add some fresh onion as well. The green olives that were with the spicy potatoes would be a nice asset to the soup as well. I just needed to chop up the huge potato chunks, dice the olives and onions, and get things cooking. I thought about adding some celery but didn't want to overkill. Somehow chopping a couple random leftover ingredients and combing them with a couple other miscellaneous ingredients reminded me of one of Anthony's and my favorite TV shows on the Food Network- Chopped. On the show, each chef is given a basket with four ingredients in it. The chefs must prepare something for the judges to eat using each of the basket ingredients plus whatever they want from the pantry.

In the end, Anthony and I loved the rustic spicy New England clam chowder that I came up with. It reminded Anthony of his childhood. He said his family would make corn chowder and sweet potato biscuits sometimes. He always enjoyed that meal.





 

Clemson Parade

Anthony invited me on a date to the parade. We had a lot of fun. It was the first Clemson parade that either of us had been to. I hear there's going to be a big game tomorrow.


























Friday, August 30, 2013

Sticking With Our Food Budget

I'm a stickler for goals and budgets (so glad Anthony doesn't mind). My plan lately has been to go grocery shopping every two weeks, and we are at the end of the second week. Sometimes my stubbornness with a food budget leaves a few things to be desired in the kitchen. Today for instance, we had some leftovers in the fridge however Anthony and I are both sick of those at present, and we are out of eggs and about out of milk.

We may have been short on a few ingredients but I could still make a frappe. I decided to make a mocha frappe for us for a snack before dinner, but at the last minute, I remembered seeing a pumpkin spice frappe on Pinterest that I've been wanting to make. I decided to do that instead. I put some leftover coffee in the blending cup, ice, pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, powdered sugar, and the end of the milk. I couldn't start the blender, but Anthony was kind enough to help me. Did I mention it was the very end of the milk? Maybe an 1/8 of a cup. We tried the concoction. Hmm. It was a little strong. We drank a little more. I exclaimed, "Nasty! Not going over well with this pregnant lady. I think I'll stick with mocha frappes for now." I did actually pour the rest down the sink. I may stick to my budget, but I don't torture myself with nasty food or beverages. We would just have to forgo a frappe this afternoon.

"Now what to make for dinner," I thought. I couldn't make pancakes, no eggs or milk. "Biscuits? Pumpkin biscuits?" And that is what I made. I followed my biscuit recipe but substituted pumpkin for milk. The biscuits were soft and flavorful. On my first helping, I spread honey nut cream cheese on my biscuits, and poured maple syrup over them. On my second helping, I spooned homemade peach butter from Anthony's family. "Yum . . ." Food budgeting can be rewarding and delicious.





Fried Noodles Du Jour

Anthony was home for lunch today so I made fried noodles du jour. Some people have a sandwich for lunch every day. Why not noodles? The ingredients I used today were:

ramen noodles
beef seasonings
vegetable oil
Worcestershire sauce
1/2 a vidalia onion
2 gourmet cucumbers
1 can yellow sweet corn with liquid
whole cashews





Thursday, August 29, 2013

Love Chinese Architecture

We also climbed the Linggu Pagoda while we were on Purple Mountain in Nanjing. What a picturesque pagoda. It was fun climbing the stairs. The interior was painted flamboyantly. It was there that I learned my Chinese numbers 1-10, including hand symbols. Some of our Chinese friends were so kind to teach us a number each flight of stairs/floor.










Mountain Top Tourist

The first place we toured in Nanjing was Purple Mountain. We went to Dr. Sun Yatsen's Mausoleum. It was quite the complex of buildings and stairs. Very beautiful and impressive. Very popular tourist site.
 









Pasta Primavera Casserole

I combined last night's leftovers from carbonara light with steamed vegetables leftover from a couple of nights ago and let them heat up on the stove. I broke up tortilla chips on top for a layer of crunch. Not bad.