LOVE THESE COOKIES!

A while back (before I had my surgery) I went to Trader Joes and per usual bought a ton of dried fruit.  Their stock is constantly changing.  At that time they had dried crystalized ginger.  I thought it would be a tasty snack - like a chip.  However, upon tasting I realized it bites into your tongue like eating pure ginger.  Since then it's been sitting in our cabinet calling to me to make something delicious.  Last night I could not resist anymore!  A google search produced this recipe from a foodie blog.

Crystallized Ginger Cookies
makes 24 cookies

¾ cup (6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 oz crystallized ginger, chopped into bite sized pieces (I put the whole 3.5oz of TG's dried ginger chips while it looked like a lot, it was just the right amount)

3 tbsp granulated sugar (for optional rolling)

Cream butter and 1 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add molasses and egg, mixing after each addition.
Sift together dry ingredients (not ginger chips).
Add to creamed mixture.
Mix until the flour is almost incorporated.
Stir in chopped ginger.
Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Form 1 inch balls.
Roll in granulated sugar (optional)
Place on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake 8-10 minutes (not more!)

The best part is that these are chewy. I-love-chewy-cookies!! And Nathan loved them too.  The only thing is that I skimped on the chillin' time and they did not spread on the cookie sheet (at least that's why I think they didn't spread).  So the cookies turned out a little more round then anticipated, but that did not change how yummy they were! 

Underwater Galapagos pictures

We got back our underwater camera pictures from the Galapagos. Unfortunately only a few came out good, but they were fun to look at. I'm working on editing them to get them to their best. To see all pictures go here. This has also re-energized me to post a day by day itinerary with pictures and all our photos up on Fotki. Be on the look out!

A sea turtle

Nathan playing with a sea lion

Amanda underwater

Jesse underwater

A busy saturday

Yesterday we had a busy day! It started off with an estate sale in what I thought was going to be an historic home... but ended up being a tiny house built in the 70's. Nothing worth purchasing, and the architecture was pretty awful. Afterwards Nathan and I went to the Durham farmer's market to get some of the late season tomatoes, basil, arugula, pea shoots, beans, and eggplant. We also treated ourselves to breakfast. I had a plum ricotta roll and Nathan had a okra feta tart. We also took home a sweet potato chorizo empanada (which was delicious!). After our early morning, Nathan dropped me off at home and headed to Manball (basketball with men). And I waited for Michelle and Alex. They came to visit us since last time we were in Charlotte we only got to visit with Lily.

Our visit with Lily and Michelle

We had lunch at Toast and then went to the Duke Homestead Harvest and Hornworm festival. We watched the most pathetic moonpie eating contest - I think they only at 2. Then we walked around the homestead. It was such a beautiful weekend and it was nice to get outside. My leg is starting to feel so much better and it was almost like I was normal. Here are pictures from the visit:

Hornworm Alex and Hornworm Nathan

Hornworm Alex and Hornworm Amanda

Actual horn worms... they were really BIG!

Alex throwing a hand made ball through a hole ("just one more time"). Amanda and Michelle looking lost.

This tractor had a name: Kate. The man with the tractors said the others he brought had names too but not fit for kids ears... Alex seemed to enjoy Kate.

Michelle, Amanda, Alex, and the sun!

After Michelle and Alex headed home, Nathan and I went over to Ben and Sarah's to have dinner at S&T soda shoppe. Everyone splurged and out did ourselves on diner food. Ben and I had a chocolate shakes that we decided tasted like liquid coco puffs... this was not a good thing. To top it all off we all got ice cream... and they do not skimp! You order a milk shake and you get enough for three people. You order 1 scope of ice cream you get three. Needless to say all of us ate every bite.

Here is Laurel and Ben with their single scoop ice cream.

The whole table with our insane milkshakes.

Poor Tom Brady!

I just heard that Tom Brady may have torn his ACL. I would not wish this injury and recovery upon anyone let alone, the Patriots' star QB!

ACL surgery - day 16 Thursday

My leg feels like a big log (with nails being hammered into the knee sometimes) that has been stuck to my hip. I can move it ok in PT and pretty well while walking around, but while trying to get to sleep or trying get work done (that's a joke) it feels like a log.

Last night was the worst! I am off my narcotics and I am on regular advil and extra strength tylenol. I still have my ice cuff but that does not bring me as much pleasure as it used to. It just makes my leg cold and does not ease the nagging dull/sometimes sharp pain. I have had to sleep on my back for the last 15 nights and that stinks! since I love to curl up and sleep on my side. I wake up and my log is cold and in pain. I try to readjust - taking off or putting on my ACE wrap, changing my pillow set-up, taking off or putting on my ice cuff, sitting up, nothing really works. I get at most two hours of full sleep before I am awakened by the loggy-ness of my leg and try again to readjust. I can only imagine what having a baby will be like (no we are not pregnant! that would be awful right now!), but hopefully then all my appendages will be working and not in pain.

Speaking of work I have tried to start doing some... but it is horrible. I get all sweaty because my computer is really hot. It takes me 30 minutes to do something that used to take me 30 seconds. Did the medications do something to my brain? I can't concentrate!!! And there is really nothing much to distract me here. I have my stereo remote and I'm listening to NPR. This is something that I used to do at work. When I turn the radio off, I doze off. Sometimes I turn the TV on, but today nothing was appealing. We have DVR and all the shows which were so interesting only days before (ie Jon and Kate plus eight; Janice Dickenson's Modeling Agency - please don't cringe) can no longer hold my interest. The dog loves being out all day but he's not very distracting either. I am starting to not feel bad that we put him in a crate while we are gone during the day, because all he does is lay in his little bed in front of me. Sometimes he barks at the mail person... but only sometimes (not much of a guard dog), and he can do that in his crate.

Tonight's outing is going to the dog park. It is actually very pretty here, and I hear on the radio that tomorrow will be rainy! Boo! Rain is good, but I do like looking at the sunny outdoors. I am afraid rain may make me more depressed than I am with my current state.

ACL surgery - day 15 Wednesday

Today was like so many other days - boring.
These days are starting to run together... so I've decided to write highlights. You know the day is boring when two of the highlights are meals that most people have every day.

1. Had lunch outside on the porch with Nathan. The weather was beautiful! I tried a new soup from Trader Joe's the apple butternut squash. Very tasty.

2. Tried to start back at work. I've been thinking about work and so I thought it was time to start back since I was off my narcotics and my head was a little clear. I wrote a couple of emails, signed onto my computer at work, and chatted with Kyle via Google chat. I moved a few files around... and this took almost all afternoon. What I did should have only taken 15 - 20 minutes. I could not concentrate. I even forgot how to log onto my computer... It's only been 15 days! I really need to get going because not this coming weekend, but the weekend after, we have the Genetics Department retreat at Atlantic Beach where I have to present a poster. It is only to the department so I'm not stressed. But I still need to get something together!

3. We cooked dinner (1st time in a while). Tuna tacos - yum! I say "we" because I helped slice up the onions and peppers before my leg started hurting. We ate outside again. I love fall weather here! I think Nathan doesn't like cooking when I can't help because we usually cook together. I also think he likes using my leg as an excuse to get out and eat at different restaurants. Going out to eat is a good way to get out of the house in the evening too.

4. We went over to Michelle and Mark's to pick up some stuff we had left at their house on Monday. While this visit was only for about 5 minutes, it meant I got to get out of the house, and I got to see little Camden!

5. I walked around Kroger and people stared at me. This is the first time I have gotten so many stares... it was weird. Do I look like the Bionic Woman? The security guard offered the jazzy, but I am through with those! I needed to just walk around a little while Nathan picked up ice, yogurt, and prune juice... my new favorite juice since I've been on narcotics - you get the picture.

6. I did PT. It went well. I am able to do many of the moves by myself, which is nice for me and for Nathan because he doesn't have to assist me for ~45 minutes of the evening.

7. I took a shower by myself! I even got in the shower without assistance. Nathan did, however, help me get out. I am afraid that I will slip with my wet feet.

ACL surgery - day 14 Tuesday

Today was a big day! I had two appointments which meant I spent a lot of my day outside of the house.

It started off with an 8am PT appointment. We schedule them early so Nathan can get me there and home and then be at work at a reasonable hour. Today was so much different then just one week prior. I was able to dress myself, with only Nathan helping me with my sock and shoe on my bad leg. I even grabbed my own breakfast and crammed it in my pocket. The week before I was very helpless.

PT went really well. I am making progress, but was told to expect things to go slowly. The big news is that I can pretend to walk normally because they changed my brace so it bends 70*. I am pretty good at walking with my crutches. We came home and I was so tired. I took a nap and watched some TV while Nathan went to work for a few hours.

Around 2, Nathan came home to take me to my cardiology appointment. When I made the appointment I was so surprised that I could see Dr. Blazing so soon! Before when I have seen him it has taken several months to get into the office. We went to talk about why I had so many complications after the surgery and if this is to be expect if I were to have any other surgeries or stresses on my body. All in all it was a good appointment. I really felt like the doctors listened to what I had to say and I didn't feel like I was rushing them, which is so often the case when you go to the doctor.

After my appointment we headed over to Old Navy and World Market and I used some gift cards that I had from God only knows when... Unfortunately I can't wear any of the clothes for a while because my outfits consist of athletic shorts (to fit over my brace) - none of those cute shirts match Carolina blue.

On our way home Nathan suggested we go to Guglhupf and get take out. What a great suggestion! We had the roasted beet sandwhich with blue cheese and a side of German potato salad, cold leak and potato soup, and the scallop nicoise salad. All were very very tasty! - I want to give a shout out to Naomi for her gift of several nights out!

What a long afternoon! I took a nap on the couch and later that evening I got up on our kitchen counter and started doing some of the PT moves that I had learned that morning. Some of them required my leg hanging off and that was not possible on the extra soft bed or couch. Nathan cleaned off the counter and it looked like the PT bed... just a little harder. Here is me on the counter:

ACL surgery - day 13 Monday

Today is labor day, and Nathan has to work. He had to take off 2 hours on Friday to take the dog to the vet because of his ear infection and he has to take off most of the afternoon tomorrow to take me to the cardiologist. I was dreading sitting at home all day while I knew that others would be out at spending their day off at the beach.

I contacted Michelle and Mark and they were so kind to have me sit on their couch during the day even though they were preparing for a picnic and taking care of Camden. Nathan packed me up a bag full of all the things I need during the day. I also came with a cooler full of ice and my little cooler cuff machine. It was like I was moving in!

I had a lot of fun watching Camden. He wasn't so much into me holding him because I was stationary and he likes to move. But I did get to play with him a little bit and just watch him. I also had some good conversation with Michelle and Mark. Towards the end of the day I even got up and moved to the kitchen and helped chop up figs. We had bought a ton of figs at Costco that Saturday and we contributed figs for a salad and a fig pesto. It was yummy, although Mark and Michelle did the brunt of the work for both of these dishes.

The picnic was nice, and we were joined by Nathan, Andy, Laurel, and Christian. Michelle and Mark made beer can chicken, the best homemade bread ever, and banana ice cream. We had shrimp, fig pesto, and spinach artichoke dip for apps and pasta and potato salad with the fig salad for dinner. Yum! This made me get an appetite back. Here's a pic of Christian holding Camden while we were outside playing ladder golf:
Today was a great day, indeed!

ACL surgery - day 12 Sunday

The crip can settle!

This morning Nathan and I got to sleep in! I listened to NPR while Nathan snoozed. He went to manball (basketball with men) from 11 to 1 while I sat on my couch. When he came home I had what I termed the "Ellisfield blues". I have been home for only a week and I am tired of being at home all the time. I am tired of not being me. I consider myself very independent, but I can't do much for myself and this is really frustrating. Nathan let me cry a little and then he was loving enough to suggest a thousand things for us to do until I decided what I wanted. We went for some coffee and then out to eat. Afterwards, Erin and Keith were kind enough to invite us over to play some games.

For dinner we went to Rockwood Filling Station, a new pizzaria in Durham. (side note: I love Durham and all the great places to eat!) We had the antipasta plate which features a great deviled egg, a yummy cheese, a roasted garlic head (delicious but bad for the breath), and other Italian specialty meats and salads. We also had the eggplant pizza. Then we headed over to Carrboro to be the first visitors to Erin and Keith's apartment. We talked for a while, catching up on the happenings of the new teachers and then we moved to the dinning room table to settle into our favorite game of Settlers of Catan. At first it looked like Erin may be taking a lead. Then it was Keith and Nathan's turn to lead. No one was keeping an eye out for me and I came from behind and won! Go gimp!

ACL surgery - day 10 Friday

I've been meaning to write a blog post ever day out of surgery, but the pain pills have made me a little loopy and I find that when I spend more than five minutes in front of the computer I start to fall asleep. I'm going to try to work backwards: first tackle today and then go backwards with many days as I can before my eyelids drop.

Today has been like many of the other days this week. Nathan got up and got ready for work, then he spent 15 minutes helping me get ready to live on the couch for the day. We moved my leg-wrap-cooler, pillows, covers, computer, socks, and pills. He filled my leg-wrap-cooler up with ice for the day, and set the cooler up so that I could empty the melted water into a bowl and fill it up with ice from a mini cooler where I stored my breakfast and my protein shake. It is so heavy that I can't carry it from the kitchen to the living room by myself.

Today no one is visiting me for lunch so Nathan planned on coming home at lunch, however around 11 I started noticing that Pancake was itching his left ear. His ears are usually perky, but his left ear was droopy and he kept itching it. I had him come over towards the couch and it was really red. I think he has an ear infection. I called his doctor and they said he could come in at 3. So instead of eating lunch with me, Nathan has to take Pancake to the doctor. He was not excited to add this task on top of all the other things he has to do.

While sitting on the couch I started to notice that the outside underneath of my knee was killing me. I twisted myself so that I could see it, and realized I have a GIANT bruise there. Nathan has been seeing my leg while helping me shower and doing PT, but he thought I knew this was there. It was shocking! Here is a picture. To orient yourself: the blue thing on the right is my sock, the round undefined thing on the top middle is my knee, the blinding white thing on the left is my ghostly thigh, and the yellow-purple thing in the bottom middle is the nasty bruise.
I do have something to look forward to. Tonight Sarah and Ben are coming over bringing dinner! We are having Shepard's pie - yumm.

We have to think of something to do this weekend. Maybe I can go to the mall and ride a jazzy! Michelle mentioned doing some sewing. It would also be nice to something outside if it's not too hot. We'll see.

ACL surgery - day 5 Sunday

Today was my first whole day home. Nathan and mom got to sleep in while I was still on the hospital schedule and woke up at 7am. I listened to my ipod while they slept. When mom got up I used the walkie talkies and had her come to help me out of bed. She assisted my move to the couch and fixed me breakfast of steel cut oats and coffee; my appetite was slowly getting back to normal. My pain was under control, and I was quite comfortable.

Around 10, I made mom wake up Nathan. I was really in the mood to take a real shower! As the last time my hair had been washed was Wednesday morning. Needless to say it was looking gross! Mom had brought all her paraphernalia from when she had her total knee replacement so we made good use of these products. We arranged my leg so it was propped out of the shower on the shower stool. We used the uplifted toilet in the shower because it had handles and was more like a chair. Nathan had installed a hand held shower nozzle which was perfect! He got in the shower and helped me. I ended up washing my hair twice because it felt so dirty. After this I felt 100% better! I lounged on the bed napping while catching up on some NPR.

Later that afternoon Michelle, Mark, and Camden came over for a visit. I was feeling some Camden withdrawal and my mom had never met him. He was so good! and entertained himself on the play mat that my sister gave us as a hand-me-down.

Big smile!

We had banana peppers stuffed with a mix of cream cheese, spinach, and mushrooms in addition to salmon for dinner. My mom brought us tons of banana peppers and this is a good way to consume them. I ended the evening by watching the Olympic closing ceremony. I became a little loopy by 9ish and my mom and Nathan sent me to bed. Loopy consisted of me thinking thoughts clearly in my head, but nothing coherent coming out of my mouth.

ACL surgery - day 1

This morning I had to arrive at UNC's Memorial Hospital at 6:30am. Nathan and my mom accompanied me. They deserve a shout out for getting up that early to just sit around and wait. I checked in, which included signing some papers and getting my blue identification bracelet. And then I went to the PCS (post care stay)B where I had to take off my clothes and don a lovely Carolina blue gown, booties, and hairnet. After that, things moved pretty fast. I was bombarded by nurses, doctors, and anesthesiologists who were asking me questions about my history and poking me getting BP and other baseline measurements.Around 7:30, which seemed to come really fast, I was ushered to a curtained "room" to get my nerve block. I was given the "I don't care" medicine and remember very little of what happened after. I gleaned from Nathan and my mom and from the marks on my body that they marked up the right side of my body and stuck with me with two needles aimed at my femoral nerves. Making me not be able to feel my right leg, butt, and foot. While this sounds inconvenient it was the best thing that happened all day! Nathan and mom tell me they took some pictures (see above with me laying in the bed), I talked to the doctors, and we just hung out until it was time for my surgery. At 8:15 I was wheeled into the surgical room. I do remember a few things from this. I remember that it was really cold in the room and they strapped me onto the table like I was going to go crazy. They wrapped a belt around my waist and put my arms out wide like I was flying and strapped those down to. I evidently did not go under general anesthesia, which seems so bizarre to me! I know I was not fully under, but I have no idea exactly what that entailed. I do not remember anything, which is good.

I choose to do the patellar ligament as my new ACL graft. There are generally three options for the ACL reconstruction all of which have their drawbacks.

• Patellar Ligament
• Hamstring Tendons
• Allograft (Donor Tissue)

If I get bored I might describe all of them at some point and find a good description on the web, but I'm going to try to keep describing the day's events.

The surgery went well and I went to the recovery room where I slept. Nathan came and sat with me until I woke up when I was moved

ACL surgery - Before

Here are two pictures of my legs before surgery. The right leg is the one going under the knife! As you can tell, obviously there are no scars and the legs are the same shape and size (albeit they are quite white and ghostly looking). The top one is me laying on our bed - a place where I anticipate spending many many hours the next few weeks. The bottom one is me standing; this is something I anticipate NOT doing alot of for the next few months.



To note: I am wearing shorts - I'm not naked.

Pictures have been uploaded!

We uploaded 150 pictures from our Galapagos trip onto our photo website. Currently we posted just the "best of" and they are in chronological order. I will try to make day by day albums and also hope to post on here a day by day itinerary with some pictures.

We're Back!

We've returned from the Galapagos. Needless to say we had a wonderful time!

Above is a picture of the group that traveled with us on our boat. We will post pictures on our photo website soon!

Grilled Peaches

We went to South Carolina to hang out with Kim and Brian. South Carolina is known for it's peaches... it even has a huge peach (aka butt) on I-85 see pic below. On our way back into NC we picked up a peck of peaches (no they were not pickled :)
We had so many peaches! So we had to find a way to eat all of them. My sister suggested we grill them.
Here is the recipe we made up:

Cut peaches in half and remove pit
Sprinkle with sugar
Place halved peaches on the grill and grill until caramelized
Remove skin (it should be very easy)
Cut peaches into slices and place in a bowl
Drizzle with honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and fresh mint
Crumble feta cheese
Serve warm - and enjoy!

Babies!

All the spring babies are here and boy are they cute! We have another wave coming in the fall with Sarah Birken having a girl, Stephanie White TBA, Andrea O'Hara having a girl, Adrienne Abramson TBA, and Kathy DeBree TBA.

Here are some of the latest pictures of all the little ones.

Michelle and Mark's baby, Camden Ross Leslie born May 10th. Now at 12 weeks old and laughing. More pics on our photo website.
Seth and Anne's baby, Daniel Mordecai Kotch born May 18th. Pictured below at 7 weeks. Elese is holding Daniel on the left and Anne is holding Graham (2 weeks old) on the right.
Elese and Christoph's baby, Graham William Stutts born June 21. In this picture he is 1.5 weeks old playing his first game of Settlers of Catan... with a mom like Elese this boy is going to be a gamer. More pics here.

Heather and Jeff's baby, Jackson Jeffery Petursa born June 30th. Here he is tiny (~5lbs) at 2 weeks old. More pics here.

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

New York Times recently published an article about easy to find foods that are extremely healthy. Here's the list.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
   
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
   
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties..
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.

I hope to go to the Farmer's market when we return from our trip and stock up on some of these items. We've been eating Swiss chard out of Michelle and Mark's garden and it's delicious! also tons of blueberries that Michelle, Camden, and I picked fresh from frog pond farm. Although I am not sure if I am down with #8 Sardines... I think I will focus on the other 10.

A new music genre

This is what I am coining "lab boy band" music. Go here to see a music video and listen.

You can even download the MP3 and listen to it on your ipod while pipetting.

What are you waiting for? go listen already :)

Things I like right now

Toast paninoteca
Sandwhich (yes there is supposed to be an extra 'H')
Locopops
Cookout's chocolate and peanut butter milk shakes
Decorating with birds
Riding my bike
Todays weather
Tomatoes from the framer's market