2010 July « the doodle house

Indian food: a doodle house favorite

July 30th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

In an effort to recreate a dish we often order at favorite restaurant Clay Pit, I invented this very crude, completely unauthentic but incredibly delish Indian dish. It’s Heath’s favorite, so I thought I would share.

Chicken Coconut Curry, Serves 2-4

1 chicken breast fillet
1 can coconut milk
4-6 small red potatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion diced
[Amounts of the following ingredients should be determined according to taste. For strong, powerful dishes use more curry powder. For sweeter, increase ginger and brown sugar. And for spicier, go heavier on the red chili pepper]

brown sugar
ginger
yellow curry powder
dried bay leaves
crushed red chili pepper
olive oil

Sauté potatoes, onion and garlic in large skillet over medium high heat. When potatoes are nearly cooked add in chicken, brown sugar, ginger, curry powder, dried bay leaves and crushed red chili pepper. Cook about 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add coconut milk and let simmer on low for about 10 more minutes. Serve over rice.

It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s mighty fine.

A backyard wedding

July 28th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

My favorite photos from Joy and Adam’s wedding day.

Taste Test of Champions

July 28th, 2010 § 1 Comment

I suppose it’s time to shed some light on a recent event that caused both Heath and I to experience a hefty amount of shock and awe, The Cheap Beer Taste Test of 2010.

The taste test was the brain child of our friend Eric of Red River Lighthouse fame. As a part of his birthday festivities, he decided to organize a massive blind taste test of some of the cheaper beers we all shamefully indulge in from time to time. The competitors included the following:

Bud Light
Budweiser
Busch
Coors
Corona (no lime, as not to hinder the blind aspect of the test)
Icehouse
Keystone Light
Lone Star
Miller High Life
Miller Light
Natural Light
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Schlitz
Shiner Blonde (the most elite of the bunch)
Steel Reserve
Tecate

First, a panel of about 15 or so beer aficionados sampled the beverages, giving each a score between 1 and 5 based on body, overall flavor and other beery things. The scores were tallied and averaged out to provide us with a numerical winner (to be announced later). Then the testers stacked the 16 brewskies against each other through a bracket system to determine an additional favorite.

To say the results were shocking would be an understatement. Grown men looked to be on the verge of tears as the identity of each of the beers (originally labeled with names A through P) were revealed. Brands that people swore by were quickly outted as being some of the worst beers in the competition, while others surpassed the reputation that proceeded them.

“So what were the winners?” You ask.

The numerical winner, receiving a score of 3.25 was Schlitz.

And the beer that pulled ahead in our mini play off system? Barely edging out Texas’ favorite Lone Star, was the Rocky Mountain classic, Coors.

And in last place in both the play off and numerical systems was my fav, Corona. Although, without a lime, I can’t say that it was a fair fight (it’s like ordering chocolate milk without the chocolate). But those were our not-so-scientific findings of the Cheap Beer Taste Test: a night well-spent.

Luna de Miel

July 20th, 2010 § 2 Comments

It appears I broke the cardinal rule of blogging: not updating enough. Perhaps, though, I can be forgiven? In the hustle and bustle of bachelorette parties, auto break ins, rehearsal dinners, weddings and honeymoons, I fell behind on performing my internet duties. But never fear! I have returned and am ready to elaborate on the last of those aforementioned events, the honeymoon (or as they say in Mexico, luna de miel).

We ventured to the beautiful Puerto Vallarta for our week of post wedding relaxation. This was Heath’s first time out of the country, and my first opportunity to see interior Mexico, or rather, a Mexico other than what is on the other side of the Texas border. It. Was. Amazing.

We stayed at the all inclusive Grand Velas, an upscale, beach front resort with the friendliest (and maybe the most beautiful) staff ever who let us torture their ears with our terrible Spanish. In addition to butchering the Spanish language we also had the opportunity to do some eating.

There was no shortage of amazing dining options at the hotel. And since eating is one of Heath’s favorite hobbies, we were happy to indulge in all of them. We ordered amazing room service meals to our private terrace, dined in three upscale restaurants at the hotel: Lucca (specializing in Italian), Frida (Interior Mexican) and Piaf (French), ordered seafood delivered to us beach side on trays, and gorged ourselves from the expansive seaside buffet, Azul. Food ended up being one of the most exciting parts of the trip.

[Often, the restaurants would surprise us with honeymoon desserts. It was a delightful treat.]

In addition to eating we also enjoyed partaking in beach activities including boogie boarding (waves sometimes up to 10-15 feet), kayaking, beach volleyball, beach soccer and long beach walks. Beach, beach, beach! This was also our first beach trip together, (SHOCKING!) so we thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of beach life from the pink sunsets to the sand in your underpants.

While the hotel was amazing and had almost anything you could dream of needing during a seaside adventure, I couldn’t help but want to venture into the city. We ended up choosing the worst day to go because it was the same day a cruise ship docked in town. This not only means bigger crowds, but local merchants also drive up their prices because they know it’s the only chance the tourists will have to shop. Luckily my terrible Spanish wasn’t as terrible as I thought. I was able to barter and get a semi good deal on an awesome purse and earrings. Heath churned out the word “pelicano” to purchase, or “comprar,” a hand-carved pelican sculpture. We named him Angel-Miguel after our favorite staff members at the hotel who kept calling us Ken and Barbie.

Of course, after the city visit we were happy to spend the rest of the trip appreciating the beauty of the resort, getting massages and mingling with the other families taking in the beauty of Mexico. Viva la Luna de miel!

The rumors are true

July 18th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

We got our first batch of wedding pictures back from the photographer (Stacy Sodolak of SMS Photography)! They are awesome and we couldn’t be happier. Chew on these until we get to see the rest in the next week or two.