Marriage Conference

This weekend, our church had a marriage conference that Jonathan and I went to. We met up with several couples from our small group and just had the greatest weekend worshiping Jesus and learning how to have a better marriage. We just LOVE our church!! Here's a funny picture from that:

I cooked some dijon chicken with green beans tonight. This recipe for green beans is the BEST! It is so much better than the canned variety, and it's a yummy, quick way to snazzy up some fresh green beans. Here's a picture of the beans ready to be put into the saucepan (don't you just love that bright green?! It reminds me of summer.)

Here's the recipe (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cooked ham (don't leave this out...it's where the flavor comes from)
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup water (or chicken broth)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes or until beans are tender.

Here's the finished product:

Dunkin' Donuts!!!

Today, I had my first Dunkin' Donut EVER! They opened one right down the street from the dental school, and my rotation partner and good friend, Vaishali, and I walked over there this morning. Now, you must understand that I normally do NOT like donuts. But, I had never had a cake donut. I know, I know, true southerners should prefer Krispy Kreme, but let me tell you, that cinnamon cake donut was to die for. I washed it down with a cup of their famous coffee, and my tummy was satisfied :) Here's a picture to celebrate the occasion.

I Survived!!!

I made it! I took the first part of my licensing exam yesterday, and I made it out alive :) I was at the school from 6:30 am to 5:00 pm, drilling my heart out. I've never been so exhausted. The day before, I had assisted a senior with part 2 of this same exam (I'll be taking that part next year), so this weekend has been crazy! I'm so happy I made it, though, and I feel really good about my performance. I should find out in about 2 weeks if I passed. Eek...I'm nervous!

Hopefully, I'll be able to post some recipes soon. I've been so swamped that when I do cook, there's no time to post about it. Bye for now!

What a Weekend

Who spent nearly her entire weekend at the dental school? This girl :( I'm taking part 1 of my licensure board in 2 weeks, and this weekend we had a mock board put on by the professors at our school. It was from 8-5 both Friday and Saturday. I have to say I wasn't too excited about it, but I really did learn A LOT of great tips, and I feel much more confident now that I can do well on this exam. It's on a manikin, and I have to do a couple of root canals and a few crown preps. This is an example of what I was working on:

(Image credit: http://img239.imageshack.us/i/img0011ot4.jpg/sr=1)

Since my Saturday was completely gone, Sunday was my "catching up" day. I've really enjoyed the day, though. Jonathan and I went to our church, where we were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the church. It was so exciting to remember what God has done in the 10 years since the church first opened!

We really don't care much for either team in the Super Bowl this year, but we figured we'd watch it anyway. Jonathan is in mourning about the end of football season :) I made a new dip that is similar to one served at one of our favorite restaurants. It was Baked Goat Cheese Marinara from this guy's cooking blog. WOW! It was so good. I served it with slices of french bread topped with garlic butter. Check out the picture on the link above because I didn't have time to snap a picture before we dug in! I cooked it in my beautiful new Le Creuset au gratin dish that I received from my fabulous sister as a Christmas present:
I'm also cooking some taco soup right now. I'll share the recipe with you if it turns out well :) Bye for now!

Update

Since my last post, we've been pretty busy around here. I did a poster presentation at a Geriatric Conference. Here's a pic of me and my partner, Ashley:


That same afternoon, I had the pleasure of delivering 6 crowns to my favorite patient. They went from canine to canine in the upper arch. I was super excited to do such an esthetic case, and it turned out beautifully. The patient was so happy, and I was floating on air.

Earlier this week, Jonathan's mom came into town and took us out to one of our favorite spots, PF Chang's. It was delicious, and it's always good to see family :)

This weekend, I've been a busy bee in the kitchen. First, I made a light version of a no-bake cheesecake, then chocolate chip cookies my patient coordinator has been begging me for, and I finished off with bleu cheese burgers for my man. Jonathan has a new OBSESSION with all things bleu cheese. He's been asking me to make bleu cheese burgers, so tonight I gave it a shot. I made some caramelized onions to go with them, and they were delish. Thanks to Our Best Bites cooking blog, I figured out the secret to caramelized onions. I'll summarize for you:

First, you need to slice your onions so that they're uniform in size. You're going to want about 3 large sweet onions, because these babies disintegrate into basically nothing as they cook. Heat about 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil in a skillet, then add the onions and cook on medium-low for 10 minutes. Add about 1/4 tsp. of salt and cook about 30 minutes longer or until amber in color. I added about1/2 tsp. of sugar after about 15 minutes of cooking for extra caramelization.

Now, they key here is PATIENCE. I'm bad about wanting immediate results, and I had to stir those onions for about 1 hour before I got them the way I wanted them. THEN, I was so distraught at how little it actually made. Here it is in pictures:

BEFORE (look how many onions that is!)

After (there's nothing left!)

The onions pictured above aren't quite as amber in color as I wanted them, but it was getting close to the time for us to go to small group, and I needed to get dinner on the table.

That's all for now! Have a great week :)

It Ain't Pretty...

Let me share a little secret with y'all. My momma KNOWS how to cook. I credit my love of all things food to her. I have so many memories of sitting in the kitchen watching my mom cook and her sharing with me all of her secrets to good southern meals. As I got older, she would involve me in the cooking process. This recipe I'm about to share is what she calls the "It ain't pretty but it sure is good" coconut cake. The name says it all. This cake is so good, but the secret is preparing it and letting it sit about 2 days in the refrigerator before you serve it. Trust me on this one...the moisture from the frosting seeps into the cake, but not in a "mushy" sort of way. It just gives it this amazing deliciousness that makes you want to "slap" said momma, lol :)

Now, I know what you're thinking..."Erin, why didn't you ice the sides of the cake? It might look prettier that way!" This coconut cake has a frosting that isn't what you think of when you think of cake frosting. It's made from sour cream, coconut, and sugar, and it doesn't have enough body to hold onto the sides of the cake. If you frost the sides of this cake, it's all going to end up as soup on the bottom of your cake plate. So, you have to live with the fact that your cake is ugly. But, trust me, once a morsel of this hops into your mouth, you'll have no complaints about how it looks.

So, in summary, this is not a cake you make when trying to impress somebody. It's a cake you make when you're crazing something homemade and oh-so-sweet.

Here's the recipe:

1 box Duncan Hines Butter Cake mix
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 (16 oz.) carton of sour cream (I used light)
2 packages frozen coconut

Cook cake mix according to box directions. This will make 2 round cake layers. When cooled, slice cake layers in half (end up with 4 layers).

Mix sour cream and frozen coconut together to thaw. When thawed, mix in sugar and put the frosting between the layers of cake. Do NOT frost the sides of the cake. Refrigerate. Cake is best if covered and refrigerated 2-3 days before serving.

Do What We Do

Yesterday, we had a snow day because the roads were iced over. Here's a picture (for you, mom!).

Jonathan and I lounged around on the couch all day, walked to the grocery store to get some snacks for the big game, and settled in to watch the National Championship game. I made my Hot Pizza Dip (adapted from allrecipes.com). Here's a picture of that:

Jonathan loves this dip. Here's the recipe:

8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. (or more) pizza sauce
1/4 of a green bell pepper, diced
2 oz. turkey pepperoni sausage, chopped
2 Tbsp. sliced black olives
French bread

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, oregano, parsley, basil, and Italian seasoning. Spread mixture in the bottom of a 9" pie plate of shallow dish. Seal and refrigerate overnight (or a couple of hours if you don't have time). Spread 1/2 cup of the mozzarella and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan on top of the cream cheese mixture; spread the pizza sauce over all. Cook the pepperoni in the microwave for about 20 seconds and wring out the fat with a paper towel. Sprinkle pizza sauce with remaining cheese, top with green pepper, olives, and pepperoni. Cover and cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serve with french bread slices that are toasted with butter and garlic powder.
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Then, it was time for the big game. I couldn't stand all of the build-up...I just wanted it to be here! It was so special to us that Auburn WON!! Jonathan and I met at Auburn, and it is a very dear place to us. We were so excited that they won the National Championship the same year that we got married! It is something that we will never forget. In honor of Toomer's corner, we felt the need to roll something. Since we had already taken our Christmas tree down, we had to settle for the ceiling fan :)

I took a few pictures of the TV:

Gene saying "War Eagle!"Cam soaking it all in

I LOVE my Auburn family :) WAR EAGLE!!!!!