Meaty Halloween

Happy Halloween!! 

I hope everyone has had a great weekend! I've had a blast!  Halloween is a big event in Austin. Mostly, because my friend Katie goes pretty overboard about it.  We've been having weekly "committee" meetings for about the past month.  Really these were just an excuse to get together.  Last week we carved pumpkins, and this week we decorated cookies and cupcakes for Katie's party last night. 

I wasn't sure what I was going to dress up as this year.  It was going to be hard to top the tacky tourist of last year.  Then Lady Gaga gave me the most perfect costume! If you didn't hear, Lady Gaga wore a meat dress at the MTV Video Awards this year.  It was made of actual dried meat, complete with meat shoes, a meat hat, and a meat purse.  She had some weird political reasoning behind the dress, but being the meat lover that I am, I loved it for the mere fact it was made of meat! So I set out to recreat the meat dress.  I actually found a do it yourself video on youtube.  Sadly, my costume was not made of actual meat.  We had talks at work about how I could use real meat, but I figured it would be too messy :)  So here is the finished product. It turned out awesome! I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. It looks much better in person. 

What do you think compared with the real deal??

Katie the Lady Bug, Joni the Donkey, Lady Gaga, and Holly as Pippi Longstocking

Katie's boyfriend Brad as a Gnome, if he turned his hat around he also doubled as a wizard

 KISS Army

 Kim Jong-Il

 Pumpkin Carving!!

 My cute front porch (there's an orange mum between the pumpkins

In other news, I caught a second mouse.  I'm really really hoping that's the end of the mice.  It's too stressful getting rid of them...

I'll also be home this weekend for Katie Steber's wedding.  I'll be home late Thursday/sometime on Friday for the rehearsal dinner then I'll have to go back on Sunday.  It will be a quick trip, but I'm excited to be home for a few days! Mom and Dad recently bought a hot tub and I'm excited to try it out! 

Mouse

I caught a mouse today.  It was a major triumphant, and my mother was not supportive.

I discovered this mouse on Sunday after being gone all weekend.  My loaf of bread had a large hole burrowed in it.  So Monday I went a little overboard and bought six mouse traps.  I decided I would only set four of the traps and keep the other two.  Tuesday went by with no mice sightings.  I came home today from being in Osceola for work overnight and found this.

He was stuck, but still alive.  The stuff in the middle is the large glob of peanut butter I smeared on the trap to lure him in.  I discarded of my house guest with minimal screaming/freaking out.  I've decided to leave the other traps out in case he has any friends.  Thanks again for being supportive, Mom.

In other news, it's cold.  Winter has caught up to me once again.  Ugh.

That's all I've got for now.....

It's a brand new car!!!

Like I said in an earlier post, I bought my first brand new car a few weeks ago!!  I must say the whole process wasn't as painful as I thought it would be.  It doesn't hurt that I somewhat fell in love with my salesman, Dave.  He was really straight with me, and didn't try to sell me something I didn't need.  I just got a letter from Dave thanking me and how much fun he had during the process. I know this is probably standard operating procedure at Rochester Toyota, but I like to think that I'm Dave's favorite customer of all time! I now have all the fun things that come along with a brand new car like the new car smell, it's shiny, everything in it is clean, it starts everytime (the Solara is starting to have an issue), and debt. Ok, so maybe the debt part is not so much fun, but now I suppose I'm like everyone else in the country! I also forgot how much work it is to keep a dark car clean.  I've had my gold car for long that I've been oblivious to just how dirty cars can get.  So far, I've had my new car for about 3 weeks, and I've taken it through the car wash 3 times already.  It doesn't help that they have my road completely tore up and the dust from the construction is horrible.  I've started driving completely out of my way just to avoid it! I'm becoming quite obsessive about keeping it clean.  I feel like this is going to be a problem once winter gets here and it's covered in salt all the time.  Ugh! However, at least the car is all wheel drive so hopefully I won't have to worry about being stuck in snow drifts this year!  Thanks Dave!

Happenings

I realize I’m behind the times again. Here is a quick list of new happenings in the world of Rachel:
1. I bought a new car. This is maybe the most exciting news. It’s a 2010 Toyota Venza and I love it. It’s black, with leather, and a sunroof. I also currently have a 2000 Toyota Solara for sale if you’re interested……

2. I ran a half marathon. Yes, I’m crazy. I ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 59 minutes. I was pretty excited, because I set my goal as 2 hours 10 minutes. I was extremely excited to come in (barely) under 2 hours!

3. Cody took me to see Wicked for my birthday in the cities and it was awesome! We also ate at this Ah-Mazing restaurant called Fogo De Chao. It’s a Brazilian steak house where they bring you all the meat you can eat to your table. I highly recommend it!

4. We also went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival the weekend of my birthday. There were all these people dressed in costumes and a lot of food stands and shops. It was really unique and fun.

5. I traveled home for 5 glorious days over Labor Day weekend. I need to get on the ball and update with pictures.

6. I traveled to Iowa City, IA to visit Adam and Jessie and tailgate for the Iowa vs. Iowa State game. They recently moved into a house in the country and are finding out about the joys of country living and the critters that come with it…..More on this later.

7. Then, I traveled to Kansas for work for a week. I’m glad those tests are behind me. Working in a different plant for the first time is always nerve racking. I’m thankful when there are such helpful and nice people in plants that help tests run smoothly.

8. It’s fall which means that it’s almost winter. This makes me sad.

9. I may never learn to wear gloves when handling liquid smoke at work. My hands are going to become permanently orange colored if I’m not careful.

10. My legs are sore (see #2) and I’ve been walking around the office like an 80 year old lady.

I think that about does it. I will get pictures of the new car and such up soon!

By the time you read this....

....I will be on the better side of the Mississippi.  Where the sun shines a little brighter.  And the grass is just that much greener.  Yes, I'll be in Illinois tonight and will stay there for 5 glorious days!!  And that my friends makes me very, very, ridiculously happy.

Back To The Future

I was going through posts on my blog today.  I'm really trying to be better about updating it.  Last summer when I was an intern, our apartment had horrible internet connection.  I spent about an hour writing the following post and lost connection when I tried to publish it.  I thought I had lost the entire thing.  Well, I came across that post today.  It wasn't lost, just hidden in the draft section where you edit posts. I thought about deleting it, but I'm just going to post it. I think it's fun after being here a year to see what I thought about Hormel when I first started.  So enjoy this blast from the past!

Hello all from beautiful Austin, Minnesota! (a hint of sarcasm may be included)..

But, while Austin might not make the cut for the most exciting of towns, it's been really good here so far. After my first full week of work I think I'm really going to like it. I'm getting to help with some really cool projects they have going on, and I really like the people I work with. Everyone at Hormel is so friendly and helpful. They are always willing to answer my questions and explain what's going on. My roommates are really nice, and so are the other interns. It's really nice because they plan events for us to do and we all live at the same apartment complex so we can all hang out together. The only downfall of the job is that I'm probably going to gain 50 pounds this summer because there is always food around! I won't ever need to buy groceries because I'm never hungry by the time I make it home. So I've been running extra miles to cover it!

In other news, I made a flying trip home this weekend for my cousin Matt's wedding. While I was home, I stopped by Grandma Betty's to visit for awhile. While I was there Clayton discovered a little lizard that had wondered into the house and was screaming about an iguana in the house. Of course we all thought he was full of it until it came running out and sure enough it was a lizard! I didn't even know we had lizards around home. Janette, Justin, Clayton, and I bravely tried to catch it and we failed miserably! So it's still in Grandma's house somewhere......

But, I was so glad that I was able to make it home even if it was a short trip. Since Matt and I are the same age we grew up doing a lot of things together, but since I've been in college I don't get to see much of him. Matt and Lori have been dating since high school so this has been a long time coming. Congrats Matt and Lori!!

That's it for now. My defense is one week from Wednesday, and my boss set up a practice defense for me at work on Friday....in front of the entire R&D group! Gulp! Wish me luck!!

*The Lizard - it may look small but it was very scary :) *

*Dad and Rob stopped planting just long enough to go to the wedding and take this picture*

*Lori & Matt*

*The slideshow had a picture of us like this when we were probably 5 and Grandma wanted to re-enact. The old one was much cuter. Lol!*


*Trevor - Best looking guy at the wedding*

Move over Betty Crocker!

Since I've living on my own for the past year, I really feel like I’ve been channeling Betty Crocker, or probably more like Grandma Betty Smith, (and it's not so much channeling as it is calling her and asking her what to do- Thanks Grandma!). I’ve branched out and tried cooking much more than I did in college. I attribute this to the fact that I have more time now, and I also cook a lot for Cody. He gets to try out my new dishes I invent. However, he will eat pretty much anything.  I could make him a cheese sandwich, and he would declare it the best cheese sandwich he’s ever had. The first thing I made for him was lasagna, and when he came over he was confused as to why the lasagna was not frozen and there were mixing bowls involved. Poor kid, he didn’t have a Grandma Betty. Anyway, I’m proud to say there have been many successes, very few failures, and nothing that has been truly inedible. I’ve been really impressed with my ability to make stuff up on the fly. I’ve also made conscious efforts to eat more vegetables. Much to my family’s disbelief I’ve even started to eat green beans. I’ve also grilled a lot of asparagus. However, many of my failed dishes have to do with some sort of vegetable….

Some of the failures include:

• Green beans – Maybe it’s because I still don’t really like them, but I can’t ever cook them to where I think they’re right. The texture is always off.
• Stuffed green peppers – These weren’t bad, but not that good. I went through a “cream cheese would be good in everything” phase, and I thought that if I filled a hollowed out green pepper with some cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ground beef, and a bunch of spices it would be really delicious. It was just really weird, and I need to look up an appropriate recipe for stuffed peppers and try again.

Luckily, the success list is much longer!

• Cuban pork sandwiches – my mouth just waters thinking about it. I’ve really come to love mustard and pickles lately.
• Pie Crust - although it still needs some tweaks
• Baked Pasta - This is frequently called Rachel’s Surprise because I usually end up using leftover meats/cheeses/whatever is left in the fridge, but it’s always been yummy!
• Mayonnaise bread – this sounds completely disgusting but believe me it is the most delicious cheese bread I’ve ever sank my teeth into. I started out trying to recreate cheese bread I have had before (Corineah if you read this, I was trying to make your bread). I couldn’t remember the ingredients. so I just guessed. It started with cream cheese, because it seemed like that should work (plus it was during my cream cheese phase). It was good, but just not quite right. Thanks to The Pioneer Woman I came across this recipe and found the missing puzzle piece was mayonnaise! Who woulda thunk? Make it if you have a few extra calories to spare…..
• Whiskey cream sauce – another Pioneer Woman recipe, but I tweaked it some, and it’s soooo yummy on a nice, thick ribeye steak.

• Alfredo sauce – so delicious and yet oh so bad for you

Wow it really sounds like I’ve just been loading up on calories doesn’t it??

• Banana cream pie – I don’t know if I’ve ever had banana cream pie, but it is Cody’s favorite so I attempted it for his birthday. He said it was good. I think it could be better.
• Enchiladas - again thanks to Pioneer Woman.
• Shrimp pasta - Maybe my most favorite dish lately. Just cook up some shrimp in some olive oil and then toss with peas and pasta.
• Beef Brisket - in my crock pot

The list goes on. My most recent successes happened a few weeks ago. I had a lazy Sunday and decided it was the day I would tackle homemade rolls. I had only tried this completely on my own a few times, and the previous tests had not turned out well. This time I was determined to be triumphant! Cody had also never had ham and noodles so I made those as well. The food was as good as my kitchen was dirty….

I bet Betty Crocker never made as big of a mess as I do though, and she probably remembers to take pictures of the final product. Making bread and noodles was an all day affair, and by the time both were ready to eat I was much too hungry to be bothered with pictures. I also demonstrated just how much like my mom I am. I had flour everywhere, complete with two flour handprints on my behind. Thanks for teaching me that, Mom. The rolls were definitely a success this go around. The only thing I would change next time is that I made them much too big and they spread into more of a loaf than a roll so they didn’t raise as high as they should have. This did not stop the two of us from eating 4 pans (small pans) in less than a week. I definitely ran a few extra miles that week!