adventures of raquel & reed: part 4

I haven't posted in over two weeks and I'm literally forcing myself to do it now. it seems like all I've done lately is work (my job at the radio station and then my new marketing internship) and I'm not sure that anyone wants to read about that right now.
I have had a few times in the last few weeks where reed and I have had some time to do fun things together and I thought I'd focus on those. 

reed and I caught up with robyn and ellie a few weeks ago for some yolo midtown and reed opted for something from the bakery rather than the self-serve frozen yogurt.

clearly, he thought it best to just dive right in. 

that's pretty much the best face ever. 

we've frequented a few memphis redbirds games so far this season, a summer favorite of reed's. he doesn't so much care that baseball is happening as much as he likes rockey redbird, the playground and the food.

and here's a throwback picture of one of his first meetings with rockey. note the crazy faced woman in the crowd.

back in the day, adam and his older brother andrew had a fort in their parents back yard.

reed has since claimed it in the name of thomas the tank engine.

during yesterdays trip out to Collierville to register for this years St. Jude Dream House, reed fell in love with the boys room set up in the house.

just in case anyone thinks i have adam locked in a basement, we did manage to sneak away a few weekends ago for a movie and lunch, our first date in a few weeks (and come to think of it, we haven't had one since) and of course, we saw Thor.
(side note: 5 days until X-Men First Class,  19 days until The Green Lantern, 47 days until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II and  54 days until Captain America. it's going to be a summer of nerd movie heaven for me & adam).


adam with mjolnir (thor's hammer).

and lastly, and in related movie news, i saw Bridesmaids with robyn last week and it was pretty funny and definitely not a chick flick. 

happy memorial day weekend everyone :)

healthy & yummy aren't mutually exclusive

when i'm feeling less that inspired to blog but somehow have the time and the inclination, i have a few fall back topics to whip out: celebrities, babies (and any combination of the two), memphis happenings and food.
guess what? tonight i'm facing a writers block so we're talking about the latter: food!

i posted some weeks ago here about how i've never been very good at dieting so my best bet lately has been to make what i love healthier. and frankly, it's just ridiculous not to share if you've managed to do that so here are some recipes for dishes that i've modified.

guacamole

america should apologize to the avocado for ruining its signature dish with sour cream, particularly when it's really unnecessary to make the dish yummy. 

this recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups. i recently made it for a girls night of eight girls and i tripled it (but i should have made more).

two avocados
a quarter cup of chopped fresh tomato
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped red onion

2 teaspoons of lime juice

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

half a teaspoon of black pepper

three quarters of a teaspoon of any hot sauce

three quarters of a teaspoon of salt

combine in a bowl. if your avocados are ripe enough, you shouldn't need to bother with a food processor, a fork and the strength of a four year old should be all you need. i also chopped up some extra cilantro to use as a garnish for the girls night but it's not totally necessary. 

french toast

one of the best things my mom ever taught me how to cook was french toast. i makes really awesome french toast. trust me. but back in the day, powdered sugar and syrup being a topping on breakfast wasn't a huge concern and now i figure, cut the corners where i'm not really sacrificing flavor. so here it is, healthier. oh and adam and reed love this and don't really know the difference.

four egg whites
a teaspoon of vanilla extract

a teaspoon of maple syrup

4 slices of whole or multi grain bread (it helps if it's a tad stale, but it's fine if it isn't)

combine the first three ingredients in a (shallow) bowl and whisk
coat bread on both sides in the egg white mixture

cook on a nonstick pan on medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side.
top with fresh fruit (anything in the berry variety is my favorite) and a little bit more (real) maple syrup.

another pasta recipe

it's no secret, i love pasta. 

this love affair began when i used to actually need carbohydrates because i was so physically active. now i need carbs because i have an inner fat woman that gets pissed off when she isn't fed. however, not every pot of boiling water needs to end up being white fettuccine noodles with alfredo sauce made with heavy whipping cream. 

there are healthy alternatives. 

i made this particular recipe (same portions) for ellie and i a few weeks ago and it passed muster for her and i always figure if I please a Haire, well then now i can breathe again. 

8 ounces of whole wheat/grain pasta (i used angel hair)

two cups of bell peppers in a combination of colors, sliced in thin strips

half a cup of chopped onion

a cup of halved grape tomatoes 

basil

olive oil

two teaspoons of salt and pepper each

teaspoon of crushed red peppers
a quarter cup of parmesean cheese

(i'm not going to explain how to make pasta but do know that the whole grain/whole wheat variety take a minute of two longer to become tender).

saute onion and peppers in olive oil over medium heat and season with salt and pepper

add tomatoes, crushed red pepper and more salt/pepper if necessary. 

add noodles, top with parmesean cheese and sprinkle basil on top. 

i hope someone enjoyed that because my stomach is growling now and it's 11:30pm so it's officially too late to eat anything :)

And Baby Makes Five

Yesterday my dearest friend, Heather & her husband Ryan had a gender revealment cook out to unveil and announce the gender of the newest addition to their family.

they're already parents to these two handsome fellas, who are Reed's BFF's for life:

Buchanan (Buck) Bates & Theodore Earl 
Buck is 3 and will be 4 in September. Theodore is 2 and will be 3 in December. 

Heather & Ryan are mine and Adam's best friends as a couple. Honestly. Ryan was a groomsmen in our wedding and Heather would've been a bridesmaid if she weren't so ridiculous. with Buck ten months older than reed, they very graciously let us experiment with parenting by babysitting baby Buck, always doling out parental advice without being condescending like the women in the grocery store who like giving out assholish unsolicited advice on how to raise my child.
we love them. very much. 

Anywhoo, for those of you that don't know the concept of a gender revealment party (i thought everyone did until I told my friend Megan while she was in town and she questioned the sanity of the practice) it's where you have a cake and when you cut the cake open, if there's blue cake, it's a boy and if there's pink cake, it's a girl.
here is Ryan & Heather's cake:

aside from looking amazing, it was also delicious. 

since I found out that she was pregnant, my money had been on baby number 3 being a girl. I predicted a boy with theodore and I'd been right so I felt pretty confident in my gender pick. Adam disagreed with me but where's the news there.

here's heather with an inside slice of the cake:

it's a tiny picture but it's definitely pink so it's a girl! 

proving, once again, that adam should stop betting against me.

Ryan reacting to the happy news that he's finally getting a daddy's girl.
heather told me afterwards that the only reason she was disappointed in finding out it was a girl was because that meant Ryan was right. Ah, maturity :)

with buck, reed & theodore constantly running around, playing in mud, sword fighting and the like, a little girl will be nice to have around. although knowing that pennel blood, she'll probably kick their asses in sword fighting at some point.

but BIG congratulations to heather, ryan, buck & theodore on the sweet baby girl!

and this has nothing to do with the above post but how bout them Memphis Grizzlies!! Grizznation!!

this week in Memphis

As part of my job on the morning show, I'm up to date on the things that are of interest to Memphians in general (particularly females 18-34).
with Memphis in May, this month is always pretty happening for the Bluff City but this year things are just plain ridiculous. 

You'll see what I mean.

MemFlood

if you're on "the twitter" you have probably seen this hashtag, along with the MemStorm during all the tornado watches/warnings. Things are getting serious. with all the rain fall we've been having the missisippi, loosahatchie and wolf rivers have no where to go but up. As of noon today the mississippi was at 42.3 feet & rising ahead of the predicted schedule as are the wolf & loosahatchie rivers. Follow @memflood on twitter and go to staysafeshelby.us for the latest information. 

ps thank you weather lords for holding off on the floods over Music Fest weekend. I still needed rain boots & the tornado sirens did go off on Sunday but otherwise, it was all good. I'd hate to see what it looks like today after 86 thousand people (maybe more?) stomped around for three days.

Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis is a basketball town, there's really no doubt about it. In years past, the Tigers have been the root of the basketball fandom but the Memphis Grizzlies have come from the bottom with a vengeance. Over the weekend, the Grizz defeated the Spurs in the first round of NBA playoffs and won game 1 of the second round against the oklahoma city thunder. grizz fever is literally contagious in the city of Memphis, with the home games 3 & 4 already sold out.

if you're ready to hop on the bandwagon, the radio station I intern for, the Q is having a game 2 watch party at Maria's Cantina in Southaven tomorrow night. 

Memphis In May Celebrate International Week

supposedly this is a huge point of Memphis In May, to pay tribute to an international county. this year Memphis is honoring Belgium. though fellow blogger amanda referred to me in high school as "a rolling scroll of information" I don't know tons about Belgium so if you're interested in partaking, trot on over to the i love memphis blog where Kerry Crawford has all kinds of ways you can celebrate all things Belgian. 

in other Memphis In May News...
all of the flooding leads the powers that be to thing that Tom Lee Park, where most of the MIM festivities are hosted, will be underwater in the new few weeks. our pretty famous, and awesomely tasty, barbecue fest is going to be moved for this reason. word on the street is that it'll be moved to Tiger Lane, where University of Memphis students tailgate for football games (as seen below).

anything else in Memphis going on that I left out?

Five Things

1. Save Davis-Kidd Booksellers.

If you're a Memphian, you may or may not have heard about how the building which currently houses Davis-Kidd is up for auction. It's my understanding that the auction has already taken place but there is apparently some chance of keeping the bookstore at its current location according to the stores facebook page if the Laurelwood Shopping Center can help the stores owners.
Davis-Kidd is currently the only non-used bookstore left in Memphis proper after the closing of Bookstar in January. Write an email, help save a book store. 

2. It's Music Time in Memphis

Abandon all hope for non-frizzy hair and put on your rain boots because it's almost time for the Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival. Or for the people who actually live here, it's almost Music Fest Weekend. I have a unique opportunity this year since I'm interning for one of the sponsoring radio stations, I shall essentially be living in Tom Lee Park next weekend. This is one of the most anticipated Music Fests since I've been old enough to go forth and hear music in the mud with thousands of Memphians. The full line-up is here and if you're going, stop by the Q tent!


3. Speaking of Internships...
I have no picture for this but in case we aren't facebook friends, I thought i'd whore my blog out to solicit for summer interns. if you're interested in radio and can get school credit, email me your resume at rmiranda@memphis.edu. 

4. Harry Potter Mania

I've been what some people refer to as a Potterhead since about the seventh grade. The first time I read each of the books, I finished them in one day. I even went to the midnight release of Half-Blood Prince with some girls that lived on my dorm floor. It seems fitting that leading up to the release of the final film chapter of the saga (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2) I'd be knee deep in the books and films all over again. I'm writing a 15 page research paper on the books & films for my Children's Literature final. 
If there's a single person reading this blog that hasn't read Harry Potter, do it. If you live in Memphis, I will lend you the books. Asap.

5. The Chewbacca Dog

I'm quite certain that this is the only dog Adam would let me have and we would call him Chewie (of course). Life as a nerdy couple would nearly be complete, save for when we have millions of dollars and get a boat and name it The Millennium Falcon. 

Celebrity Baby Boom

I love babies, I love celebrity gossip and I love my blog. 

Seldom am I happier than when I can meld the three into one, particularly when I'm lacking inspiration to write as I have been the last week or so.

There's been a fresh wave of pregnant celebrities as of late and since my friends (Robyn) literally count on me to update my blog about this stuff so they can be aware I'm more than happy to do this public service. 

Bones is Having a Baby

the stunning older sister of Zooey Deschanel, Emily, and her husband, writer-actor David Hornsby are expecting a baby later this year. I think all Bones fans are hoping this will force a Booth-Bones baby and subsequent relationship into the works. Or maybe it's just me. Emily Deschanel is one of the only first time mommies on my list so an extra mazel tov to them. 

Put On Your Bossy Maternity Pants

30 Rock Actress-Writer-Producer Tina Fey announced last week on an Oprah taping that she was five months pregnant with her second child with husband, Jeff Richmond. I was pretty jazzed about this, their little girl Alice is so adorable and plus anything that makes Tina Fey (or Liz Lemon) happy makes me happy. 

I'm Honored to be a Big Sister!

Jessica Alba and her hubby Cash Warren are having another baby later this year. The picture is of her first pregnancy, with her now 3 year old daughter Honor Marie but I loved it so I used it. Next pregnancy, I'm definitely finding an excuse to wear a few gowns. Also, I'll be doing Nicole Richie's maternity fashion program of wearing maxi dresses & super enormous sunglasses. 

Other Celebrity Pregnancies: 

Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott are having their third child together and keeping the sex of the baby a suprise as they already have a boy & a girl (Liam is 4 & Stella is 2). 

i'm always a little weirded out by this coupling since Dean left his wife of 12 years (and their son) out of nowhere and took up with the also-married Tori. Ehh who am I to judge?

In other SNL-alum news, Maya Rudolph is expecting her third child with director Paul Thomas Anderson. They have two daughters, Pearl, 5, and Lucille, 1. Ever since I saw Away We Go with her & John Krasinksi, I love seeing her preggers in magazines so definitely excited about this one. 

In women-everywhere-please-stop-screwing-this-man news, Britney Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline, is now expecting his fifth child. Five children. Three baby mommas. One marriage. 

that's pretty much all i have to say on that one. 

And lastly, the WTF moment in the celebrity baby boom:

"Actress"-Model Kimberly Stewart, daughter of rocker Rod Stewart is expecting Benicio del Toro's baby. they released a statement saying that although they aren't a couple, they are both excited about the baby. 

ummm what?

Celebrities of the world (who are obviously reading this blog) go forth and procreate so that when I am lacking anything to discuss, there is always a filler blog waiting in the wings. 

Bluff City Dining

this week the Hinson family has done an inordinate amount of eating out.

we've had some fairly good excuses: catching up with friends, using coupons and gift certificates before they expire and the fact that Adam & I have way too exhausted to cook/grocery shop. 

We tried out a few new places and I thought I'd share them for the Memphian blog readers. 

Tao Too Asian Eatery

I had a craving for Thai food and since I didn't have plans to go to my sister-in-law's parents house any time soon, I had to go out to get it. Thanks to urbanspoon, I happened upon this little place located in Germantown at 2072 West Street in The Shops of Saddle Creek. I had the coconut chicken curry with rice and vegetables. 

It was delicious. 

Adam enjoyed the chicken fried rice and the crab wontons. Reed picked off of both of our plates as there was no kids menu and loved everything we gave him. 

A lack of a kids menu aside, it was actually very kid friendly. High chairs and booster seats were offered as were crayons to color on the paper table cloth. It was small & quiet with decor beautiful enough that manly man Adam felt the need to comment on it. Stop in if you're in the Germantown area (I'm trying the Lo Mein next time) for dine-in or take-out or if you live in the surrounding zip codes, they deliver. 

Majestic Grill

this morning reed & I had a downtown brunch with Ellie, Robyn & Bekah. I'd never been to this little Memphis treasure but I shall definitely be going back, particularly for the french toast. the Majestic is located in my favorite part of downtown Memphis, at 145 South Main Street.

while we played a game of musical chairs at the beginning of our meal, all was soon forgotten with the help of a bottle of champagne, a bottle of orange juice and a nice sized bloody mary (for me, the other three ladies enjoyed mimosas). 

Bekah got the pancakes. Don't they look yummy?

the Majestic has a nice patio that it was sadly too windy for us to enjoy today and often have events showcasing local artists & performers. 

 Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

I actually ate here for the first time a few weeks ago with my dearest Alexis but I didn't blog about it then and I really should have. And the other places Adam, Reed &/or I ate out were the standard Memphis Pizza Cafe and Rain Sushi Bar & Bistro. And really, who hasn't eaten there?

Anyhungryhungryhippo, Gus's was amazing. The kind of amazing where you can only eat there every once in a while (mostly because it's fried food and who wants to get a heart attack?) because otherwise your taste buds will reject all other foods. 

Alexis & I each had fried chicken, obviously, with her opting for the white meat and me liking my meat dark (makes no sense if you've seen my husband) with fries & baked beans. I'll warn you, everything is on the spicy side. Adam's not a fan, he really can't handle more than two shakes of pepper though. 

And in case you're already a fan of Gus's, they're opening one in East Memphis on Mendenhall near Poplar. 

the other 3 locations are downtown (where Alexis & I dined) at 310 South Front Street, in Bartlett at 2965 North Germantown Road and in Collierville at 215 South Center Street.

All of that deliciousness aside, the best meal I had was at Heather & Ryan Pennel's house on Saturday night. Thanks Ryan & Allen.

fellow Memphians & blog readers, what's your favorite local spot to dine?