Catching Up (finally)

Camel Sugar Cookies, using Jayne's Secret Plugra recipe + the new camel cookie cutter my Mom sent me. :) Now I have time to bake!

Well, now that school has been out for almost two weeks, I am back into my quieter routine of tutoring part-time at Sylvan and working out regularly (I LOVE swimming, not sure why I never got into it before, but it's probably the best exercise option ever when you have easy access to a chilled pool and it's 110 degrees everyday. And I am actually quite proud of myself. I am up to swimming for 45 minutes 3-4 days a week on top of my other cardio.). So nice to finally have time on my hands again. And since my blog has been pretty far behind for awhile, I thought I would do a little catch-up with all the things we've been up to in the last month or so, that aren't hosting guests and moving libraries.

In the last two weeks, we've been (or should I say Jared has been) completely consumed with World Cup Fever. So much so, that I will definitely be doing a whole post on it. Since the summer heat has truly set in (highs of up to 110 degrees almost everyday, and very high humidity a lot of the time), watching the World Cup is actually a great (and time consuming) indoor activity. Most of the big bars have set up giant air-conditioned indoor stadiums with huge screens, bar food, and buckets of beer for endless hours of viewing. Quite enjoyable.

We have also been taking the time to catch up with friends who we haven't seen in awhile, due to being so busy hosting and working (Jared and I were both very tied up with work for the last two months of the school year, both of us working a lot of 12-hour days). We went to a cards and fondue party at our friends Melissa and Dom's a couple weeks ago (Dom is German and made delicious Swiss Fondue. Probably the best cheese fondue I've ever had. Yum.). We have also become regulars at a Trivia (they call it a "Quiz") Night at a restaurant/bar called the Jebel Ali Club with my tutor friends, going pretty much every week for the month before World Cup started. The Jebel Ali Club is a fun place with super cheap food and drinks and reminds me of a 1970's US gentleman's club. The furniture is very retro, the smoke clouds are super thick (Smoking is still allowed inside bars here. Probably one of my least favorite things about Dubai. Yuck.), and groups of older men are always gathered drinking for hours on end. To me it feels like the kind of place that should have Keno and darts. We absolutely love it! Since we've been going with my tutor friends, our team name was the "Tutor Posse" (which was later trans-mutated into "Totem Possum" by a drunken and might I add crass replacement Trivia man). We actually do pretty well though, but have never been able come in the top 3rd and keep getting 4th place by 2 points!

And if you know us at all, you know that food is our next priority after friends. So since food is such an important part of our lives, we've actually been pretty good about keeping our New Years Resolution of cooking a new recipe or trying a new food every week. It's not difficult to continuously try new foods here, since this is such an international place, and exotic ingredients and spices are relatively easy to find. Some of our experiments have included: Homemade Pad Thai from scratch -- very yummy but some of the ingredients that go in are kind of nasty and/or questionable (fish sauce and tamarind paste). Various Beef and Chicken Stir-fries. And a new variation on Shepherd's Pie (you mash the carrots, otherwise much the same as a normal Shepherd's Pie, but I think this one was better). I've also been baking up a storm since school ended. I've made sugar cookies (using Jayne's amazing recipe... no Plugra here, but Lurpak Danish butter gives it the same rich and buttery taste), Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Cranberry-Oat Scones (out of my Boston cookbook!), and most recently Apple Crisp in support of the US Soccer team (I didn't feel like making homemade pie crust so avoided apple pie, and apple crisp seemed like the next most American dessert I could think of).

So, we've pretty much just been exercising, cooking/baking, catching up with friends, and watching TONS of soccer. That really sums up our last month or so. Fun and relaxing before we begin planning our summer travels (looks like it's going to be London, then Paris, then home. Very excited, but still not finalized). Seems like there will be lots of summer fun to look forward to!