Mozzarella Sticks and A New Kitchen

In August of 2004, I had a miscarriage. I was hanging out and not working for a couple days, depressed and just watching TV. I stopped at the Food Network on "Everyday Italian". Now, it is important to note that I rarely cooked. We did alot of ordering out in the early years of our marriage. Anyhow, as I watched Giada De Laurentiis I had an epiphany, "I can cook", "I can made that" and more importantly "I want to cook". So what was she making? Mozzarella sticks.

I leaned over to David and I said "I need a gourmet kitchen, if you get me one I will cook all the time". Next I said, "I want to make Mozzarella sticks". So, David went off to the grocery store and picked up all the ingredients and I made the best mozzarella sticks ever! Oh and 5 months later our kitchen had been transformed from this:









to this:










Thanks for the kitchen, honey! P.S. If you want to make the best mozzarella sticks at home, here is Giada's great recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Italian-style dried breadcrumbs
1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon salt
2 (16-ounce) blocks pasteurized mozzarella cut into 4 by 1/2-inch sticks
4 large eggs, beaten to blend
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups Marinara Sauce

Directions
Stir the bread crumbs, 1 cup of Parmesan and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl to blend. Dip the cheese in the eggs to coat completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the cheese in the bread crumb mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely. Place the cheese sticks on a baking sheet. Repeat dipping the cheese sticks in the egg and bread crumb mixture to coat a second time. Cover and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the fried cheese to plates. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve with the Marinara Sauce.

Life's Lessons Caught On Camera

Happy Halloween!!!!

When Kim Speaks...........

Psalm 91-A Reminder

Psalm 91-King James Version There is Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a] And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

Oregano's

Tonight before I flew home I went to Oregano's for dinner. Oregano's is a casual Italian restaurant in Scottsdale and it is super super good. Dora's team always goes there, this is my 3rd time.

When dinner was complete they brought us dessert. Fortune Cookies. What part of Italian restaurant do they not get? (incidentally in my fortune cookie one of my lucky. Numbers was 22)

Next I went to the restroom and the bathroom names are in German! The pictures on the doors are also German.

They do not have a full bar but they do serve Margarita's and a Mai Tai like drink. Again, not Italian!

Bottom line Oregano's has great food and an identity crisis.

KT's Office Tour

I have been saying for months that I am going to do a blog tour of my office. Queen B finally beat me to it so today I brought my camera in to do my office tour. Here goes:

Wall/Corner 1: Here we see the west wall which showcases my three work photo frames. Each of the frames is full of people I have worked with over the years. (No family photos). In the distance is my book shelf with the "Starbucks coffee" sign on top. Other than books there is Sydney's 6 month photo, the photo of Sydney, Elizabeth and Joshua in their bathing suits and a Star Trek wood sculpture that Larry made. (Other than his laptop and drinks it's his only contribution to the office-poor Larry) The door is next to the window on that wall.













Wall 2: This wall basically just consists of my white board, filing cabinet and autographed photos. Thanks to all those that have submitted or purchased these autographs for me. I am quite lucky to have the Queen's 8x10, the one that baffles everybody and Kiefer.













Wall 3: This wall consists of large windows which gives me a great view of Lake Avenue and the Pasadena area. On the desk you will find several items: (1) The Team Leadership Development Program "boat", (2) The most improved ticket count award the FSO team got last year even though we shouldn't have gotten it since we were always "the best" and not the "most improved", (3) My associate of the month award. By the way, I was the first associate to ever receive this (in case you were wondering) (4) My stewardship award from San Gabriel (5) A Dell clock (6) My PSC 5 years of service (7) A thank you for working on the virus remediation of 2003 (8) A Starbucks mug from Phoenix that I use to keep pens in (9) A picture of Sydney in her Halloween costume













Wall 4: Sydney's Halloween picture, A stack of leadership and devotional type books that I reference often for reflections and ideas. My docking station, laptop and monitor. On top of the docking station is my "bat" phone that I use for extended conference calls. There is a mug from "Jackson Hole" that I keep my change in as well as other peoples business cards. Next to that is a demotivater that Dawn gave me in 2006 for Christmas and lastly there is my regular desk phone.














The only thing missing from these photos is my international Starbucks mug collection. It includes London (Thanks, Larry), Guadalajara (Thanks, Jose), Berlin and Bangkok (Thanks, Brian) . These mugs will be placed on the bookcase. (They came down when my office was painted two weeks ago and I forgot to put them back)

Flashback Friday (22)

Since it's dressed as your loved one week. We flashback to 1990, twins day. Good Times and check out our hair! Remember, you can always win with your twin!

Secure Gallons of Milk

Yesterday, after I passed through security I noticed the two "carry ons" that had passed through before me. Several thoughts followed:

*Sir, I think that is more than 3.4 ounces
*I never thought that everything that goes into the airport passes through security. It must take a long time to stock the stores.
*I am glad to see that both non-fat and 2% are offered in the cafe
*Definitely the strangest thing I have seen go through security

Sleeping On Flights

You would think with all the flights I take that I would sleep with no problem on a plane. Well, that isn't the case. I think I have may have napped on 5 flights my entire life, 3 of which were when I was pregnant and the 2 others were red eyes.

Here are some tips on how to sleep (from a flight attendant over at Yahoo):

-the window seat is the best choice if you actually want to sleep
-visit the restroom before trying. Don't be woken up by a full bladder
-eye shades
-WAX ear plugs.
-ONE glass of wine. You can try beer but wine, from both experience and medical research, works better. Alcohol makes you sleepy but too much can keep you awake or disrupt what sleep you get. Plus, remember the restroom tip above!-
Buy a bottle of water *after* security and bring it on board. It wont be allowed past security so wait till you're through that. Keep it in your seat pocket and then, if you wake up thirsty, you wont have to climb out of your seat or flag down a F/A to get a drink. Take a sip and go back to slumber land.
-Bring some sort of pain killer. Don't have a slight headache or sore back keep you awake. Normally, I'm not a big pill popper and I'm happy to carry on without but heck, you don't fly every day! Give yourself a break and at least bring them with, even if you don't need them.

The 5 times I slept I was on the window seat.....

This was the scene today on my flight from Birmingham to Phoenix:

Sarah Palin Was Number 22

Thanks, Jenn Ann for this piece of information.....

The Kim Show-Episode 2

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! (Flashback Friday (21))

Today, we flashback one year ago today! Elizabeth is the cutest little girl! I wonder what Becca would say if we asked her a year ago how tired she would be next October? I promise that Sydney's best friend will be sleeping better a year from now. Happy 1st Birthday, Elizabeth! We love you! (P.S. I am really sorry that I am going to miss your party this weekend.)

Not So Discreet Photography...Oops

Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy Birthday to the best sister-in-law, I hope you have a fabulous day! P.S. Happy Birthday to Kelly too! P.S.S. Thanks to Facebook for the awesome pics!

Secret Agent Man (Part 2)

So....I know you have all been dying to know.

He had a banana and a plastic to-go container. In the plastic to-go container there was a piece of what appeared to be banana bread in aluminum foil. He did the following:

(1) ate the banana bread
(2) put the to-go container back in the briefcase
(3) took out the banana
(4) locked the briefcase
(5) ate the banana.

ODD

Happy Anniversary Becca and Jason!!!!

Congratulations on 8 great years!

Secret Agent Man (Part 1)

This morning Sydney and I were sitting alone at Starbucks when this man (note photo below) came in, placed his briefcase next to the chair and went to order his drink. I was looking at the briefcase and then wondered if it could be a suitcase bomb. When he came back what would I do if he opened it and I saw what looked like a bomb inside?

So after the man orders his drink he comes back (with his drink so it must have been a coffee of the day) , sets it down and puts the briefcase on his lap. The briefcase is locked with a combination and as he begins to enter the combination I wonder, "If there actually is a bomb inside since I am Wonder Woman, what should I do?". (I think the answer is definitely run) The briefcase opens up and there are two items inside. Any guesses on what they are?

Oil Independence-Thanks Long Beach

Every time I am in Long Beach I think the Oil Wells are funny. They are in the most random locations. Yesterday, I was taking a different route and saw one in the center court of what looked like an apartment building, on the next block there was one well on each corner, but my favorite was this one:

















Thank you city of Long Beach for your part in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. :)

Pierre Cardin's New Line

Really...... Jane is the only person I know that could pull this crap off.