tomorrow . . . 

I am blogging from Starbucks this evening because our internet is already turned off!  Dang.

Duval County, we are swoopin to your town!

gift time

My days in Gainesville are coming to a close.  So is my time with some very special women.  These women I have met with weekly for the past few years.  They have weathered the storm of meeting with me and growing in the Lord during their college days.  They are all graduating and moving on to experience what the Lord has for them in the next season.  They have been my joy.  It reminds me of Psalm 16 which says, "As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." Saying goodbye to them has already held precious tears, more are to come I am sure as I reflect on our time together!  To love them well I made aprons for each of them.  Goodwill came through again and provided me with some cute fabric.

I tried them all on just to see what it would be like to have a head-to-toe apron.  I like what I see!

I LOVE them girls.  And I bet they will lovingly serve yummy dishes to care for so many people!

project pita

I am seeing a common theme in my life: food.  Most of my posts recently have revolved around eating.  Dang.  I am getting really good at it.

Back to pitas. I LOVE Gyros.  And it is not a gyro unless it is wrapped in a soft tasty warm pita.  Or flat bread.  That is my problem, I don't know which it is.  Pitas have pockets.   Flat bread doesn't?

Well since I have been grinding my own wheat for almost two years now I figured it was time to put the bread and scone making aside to embark on unchartered territory.  Mediterranean territory.  Flat bread land.  

Oops, I guess I forgot to tell you that I have tried this once before.  It is not something I like to remember, my flat bread turned into small hard discs the size of a makeup compact.  Not much gyro meat will fit in there.

So for this I turned to my handy Phylis Stanley cookbook (the mother of all whole wheat cooking)  rather then the internet.  She had a recipe for pitas, flat bread, leavened and unleavened bread.  I tried them all.  And the leavened bread takes the cake!  At least when cooking with whole wheat and using The Mother's cookbook, leavened is where it is at.  It was biblical.

I know it looks like a fried egg, but frying it rather than baking it gives it a toasty flavor.

On the horizon is my baking snack, coke zero and cheetos.  Right!

finally . . . pictures

my inspiration: Ivy's dress from The Exploding Girl

my medium:  $3 shower curtain from goodwill

my creation: 

it just took some sweat and tears, thats all.  

on dining in Gainesville

It is true, we like breakfast.  But if I were honest with myself, most of our out-of-the-home dining money is spent on dinner.  John and I date once a week.  For many couples a date is adventurous and fun and something radical.  For us, our hearts beat a little bit faster when we think of eating out.  It is truly a treat not to cook and to imagine all Saturday where we will eat (or sometimes friday depending on what sporting event is scheduled to air Saturday night, that is John's date with ol' Philips).

We like to try new things.  It is enough for me to get a little dolled up for my husband and pretend like I look that way all week.  Our search is always on for a local eatery that is both delicious and charming, inexpensive and hidden, scrumptious and leaving-us-dreaming-of-their-garlic-yogurt-dipping-sauce-all-night-long restaurant.

Oh wait, I must be talking about The Top, and how they have sweet potato fries that you dip in a finger-licking, creamy, drippy, garlic yummo sauce.  AND I cannot get enough.

Here are some of the selling points on this restaurant for us:

1.  It looks like it was decorated from a thrift stores collection.

2.  You can be sure that your waiter or waitress will have tattoos and a shaved portion of their head or        really long hair.

3.  There is a waitress who has a tattoo of a bird, and in place of the bird's head is her face!

4.  Organic and sometimes vegan food, if you are in to that sort of thing.

5.  Good beers

6. They have a photo booth!

This booth really caught us off-guard, which is evident in the first picture.  No countdown, no beeping sound . . . just "SNAP, you better look cute because we ain't stoppin".  Which is why I quickly made sure to smooch my husband before we ran out of film.   Wouldn't you do the same thing in that situation?  And then we do what we always do, smile awkwardly until someone stops taking pictures.

That said, if you live in Gainesville, go get you some fries.  If you don't go get you some photo booth pics.