Food for thought 2

What have we been eating these days?? Let's find out!!!!!

Trent and I auctioned off a dinner for 6 (which became 16) to help fundraise for the new Class of 2011. We had our party several weeks ago and it was a blast. Elaine and Patrick also stopped by for the fun.  I prepared most of the food the night before and had the oven cooking 6 trays of yummy goodness the day of the party. Trent also helped by sampling each product and finalizing the menu.

Roasted veggies- 4 pounds of squash, red and green peppers, asparagus, zuchinni, mushrooms and broccoli

6 pounds of mashed potatoes.

My favorite!! Homemade Mac and cheese with monterey, cheddar, and heavy cream. This is a real artery clogger.

Trent's Favorite- Beef stew with carrots, tomatoes, celery, and onion

2 pans of spinach lasagna.

Kristina made this wonderful bread pudding and we served it with ice cream.

In addition, we have been experimenting with several new recipes.

This is becoming our new favorite meal. Fresh baked salmon marinated with sesame terayaki sauce and a side of sauteed shitake mushrooms, onions, and asparagus.

We had this 4 hours ago. Shrimp ravioli with peapods.

I found the recipe for this dish on the NY Times. Shrimp with tomatoes over fresh pasta.

Pic of Tia when she visited this summer. Trent made us steak with Kraft's mac & cheese. 

Chicken quesadillas (You have to try this Tom) with spinach ravioli.

 I just heard a rumor that Trent has the most athletic body in our class and has been nicknamed "3% body fat." It is nice that Trent has such admirable qualities!  : ) 

Chicken curry with carrots and potatoes over rice

More chicken and avocado quesadillas with store made salsa.

Spinach ravioli with a mushroom sauce.

MMmmmmmmmm. Our favorite. Trent ran to Whole Foods and swordfish was on SALE!!!!!! He grilled it on the George Foreman and I made some Mac and Cheese.

Updates......................

Hope you all are doing well!!!! We had some cold and nasty weather in NY this week so we busted out our winter clothes. Catching a cold from my patient this Monday made me really lethargic and I am so glad I finally stopped sniffling and coughing this morning. It doesn't help that the workload of papers, exams, research, and patients keeps piling up on us but hopefully, things will slow down after Thanksgiving. 

Elaine is doing great and is settling into her new apartment; she is loving her job and hating her taxes. Lily and Chris are visiting next weekend (so very excited about it)! We are glad Tom's surgery was uneventful  and we he makes a speedy recovery.

 Trent will be posting tomorrow (hopefully).

Asian pear picking pics

Trent and I went pear picking last Sunday in South Jersey and we have many pictures to share.  If you are unfamiliar with the fruit, here is a short description from Wikipedia, our modern day dictionary. 

"Nashi pears is sometimes called the Asian pear. They are generally not baked in pies or made into jams because they have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, very different from the buttery Europen varieties. Also, the pears are not intensely sweet, having a more refreshing, light taste."

The rules of the farm is that you can eat as many fruits as you want at the grove, but they are $2 a pound (about $2 each) if you want to buy them. Obviously after hearing that, Elaine, Patrick, Trent, and I thought it would be funny to have a pear eating contest. The girls were stuffed after 1.25 pears and I think the boys managed to eat 2 per person. 

Here is a beautiful view of the grove
 This was our transportation to the pear grove. We think the owners of the farm are Korean since the words on the vehicle is written in Korean. I think we had 30-40 people on this thing. When Emily asked me where we were going I joked that we were crossing the border.

Patrick and Elaine. This picture was taken by Emily, take note of the angle from below.

It is a tad early for Halloween faces
Emily and I are both asking Trent to bring home a dog for Christmas. Yes, it is more convincing with of two nagging females.

Aunt Sue shows off  her perfect pear
Emily gives Trent a hand
Patrick and Elaine 
Yummy, this thing is bigger than my palm
Uncle Bo, Aunt Sophie, Ethan, and Emily. I think Ethan is hungry, look at his gaze

Aunt Sue jumps like a mad woman in the background

Trent leaps up in the Garden of Eden

Ethan's favorite fishing hat
Oooh, this looks like a professional photo
Elaine turns 23. 

Update

I know its been a while and we don't really have a good excuse except our pure laziness. We have a lot to share so let's get to it.

Elaine started her orientation this week and is staying with us until her apartment in Brooklyn is ready. We spent the last two weekends cleaning her kitchen and fixing up her floor with new panel wood and things are looking good. Her shipment of furniture which includes a sofa, dining table, mattress, frame, and dresser arrived tonight and we will be checking it out on Saturday.

Trent hard at work
Before pic
We love Aunt Sue, she spoils us here
The girls hard at work
Check out the finished product

Aunt Barb sent us several batches of wonderful cookies and candy in some neat OSU containers. The cookies were so delicious they vanished in a few days. We wanted to share them with our lovely friends but we had no willpower to beat our sugar cravings and ended up devouring the entire package. Elaine also helped us eat the cookies so I guess we feel a little less guilty.

The cookie monsters
GO Buckeyes!

Trent and I have been running a good 10-15 miles a week. I am on a mission to look great for Lily's wedding and is trying to adhere to a daily exercise regimen and a healthier diet. Let me tell you, training with Trent sucks! It's only been 3 weeks and I already so tired I could barely walk to class. I know Tia got a treadmill recently, I should start a bet with her to motivate us to run more.

Trent ran in several races this month, inlcuding a 15 miler in Queens and the Fifth avenue mile in Manhattan. We woke up at 4:30am to catch the train and bus to Queens for the 7:30am race and we were still late. Trent ran it anyways but will not be able to use it as a qualifying event for the NYC marathon next year. He ran the mile in 5:05 seconds and hopes to train for it next year. The person in the 20-29 year old age group won the race in 4:17. We also watched Alan Webb compete in the professional event. Webb holds the American record in the mile, with a time of 3:46:91. I don't think he counts as a celebrity sighting, contrary to Trent's opinion.

Look at all the people waiting for the bus.
The horse actually crossed the finish line first
Poor Trent

We watched two Mets games last month, one with our friend Jon and one with our class. They lost both times but that wasn't important. The important thing was that I ate a  foot-long dog and a corn dog!!!!!!! The Yankees is definitely a much better team to watch and we need Tom and Judy to take us to their games instead. 

GO Buckeyes
My poor batting skills

So Emily went "asian pear" picking last weekend and she gave me 4 fruits to divide amongst ourselves. According to her we should have "2 for Betty, 2 for Trent, and 2 for Elaine." Her math is a little spotty but we forgive her for being 2.

Ethan tearing up his play mat
Emily is cute

We will be celebrating Elaine's and Grandpa Huang's birthdays this weekend. I will try to remember to take more pictures to upload.

Complaint of the Month:   Milk now costs $5.00 a gallon!!!!! and 20% of our weekly grocery budget goes toward purchasing it. The price is a little ridiculous and Trent wishes that I am lactose intolerant. LOL.

Walking Broadway (170th to China Town)

One Sunday we decided to take advantage of the nice weather before it starts to get cold and take a long walk across manhattan. We started at 170th and went all the way to Chinatown then back to West 4th before taking the subway back home. In all we probably walked about 12-15 miles if I had to guess.

Starting our walk in Front of Bard Hall on Columbia Medical Campus.

The corner of Broadway and 168th by our medical campus.

Betty on the upper west side.

Sidewalk chalk on the upper west side.

Snack time and a stop for a Jumbo slice at Koronet by Columbia's main campus.

Betty catching some flava on the upper west side.

Getting all the food groups to go with the pizza at Fairway.

Trent and Betty stopping at WFMI @ Columbus Circle for some sushi and indian for lunch.

Betty in mid town with Times Square in the background.

Trent in Times Square.

Betty outside of the Mars restaurant.

Betty and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup @ Times Square.

Lady Liberty and Betty on the sidewalks of Manhattan.

Sitting at Union Square 14th street.

Finally in Little Italy and it is dark outside, next stop China Town and dinner time.