Cornmeal Pizza Dough

This is a staple in our family. Takes about 25 minutes, start to finish.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour (or 1/2 cup white + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Combine by gradually incorporating the flour into the olive oil and water, adding a little extra water if necessary. (Alternatively, combine the mixture in a food processor.)

Transfer the dough to a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes.

Roll to 1/4-1/2 in. thick. Load up with sauce, veggies and cheese (we prefer pesto to tomato sauce). Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Butternut Squash Soup

Stole this from Barefoot Contessa. Easy and delicious!

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 2 tablespoons good olive oil
* 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
* 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
* 5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
* 1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 2 cups water
* 2 cups good apple cider or juice

Directions

Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

And Baby Will Make 3!

So the last couple of months have brought lots of changes to our lives. After a year recruiting for Teach For America in Seattle, we decided to look for jobs closer to home (i.e. somewhere in the south). Amidst the job search, we found out we were having a baby! Over the past few weeks, the little baby has been growing (I'm 10 weeks along at this point) and I was offered a job with Teach For America as a Program Director in New Orleans.

When I got the offer, we decided to go for it and quickly made plans to move down to New Orleans. Our movers came today leaving us in a pretty empty apartment. We'll be flying to New Orleans on Sunday and moving into the bottom floor of an adorable, recently remodeled house in the Irish Channel (near the Garden District). It has 2 bedrooms, so in a few months we'll be turning one into a nursery.

Baby Landry is due on December 12th and we are both really excited about this new development. The ultrasound picture is from 9 1/2 weeks and though it's hard to tell in the picture, I was able to see arms, legs, a strong heartbeat, and an active little baby-to-be moving around.

Jake is in the midst of applying and interviewing for jobs in New Orleans and hopes to line something up around the time our recruitment jobs end at the end of this month. We could not be more excited about being closer to family and actually getting to live IN a city, as opposed to traveling all the time, like we did this year.

We definitely welcome all visitors and of course will want to share our little one when he/she gets here!

A Day in the Life

Family Christmas Highlights

Wedding Highlights

Our Apartment in Seattle

I've gotten some feedback from a few friends recently about not updating the blog. As you can probably imagine, our roadtrip this summer did not end in South Dakota! One of these days I'll chronicle the rest. Our new job has been pretty hairy - 80-90 hour weeks were the norm for the past couple of months. Lately we've managed to get them down to about 70, but that leaves little time to write.

I was able to take a video of our place here in Seattle, though. It's pretty grainy - I guess because it was done on my phone. Hope you enjoy!