Change of Command

My husband, T., took command of his district today. It was a very nice ceremony, with the longest receiving line ever. And while I did enjoy it very much, it was an interesting change of events to be "someone's wife" for the first time. Everyone was very nice, and very welcoming. But it is quite a shift from being an engineer, solo career, go anywhere in the world to being the commander's wife, in pearls and working on making the right social scene and impression. But it will be a good experience, I think. T did such a great job of being supportive and making me feel like I was a partner not an accessory. It makes me so happy to have such an amazing husband.

The flip side of the experience was that his parents were here, staying in our new house that isn't quite ready for guests yet. I was so nervous about the change of command, and them being here, and other family coming that I have been feverishly cleaning out my fridge by making random dishes out of extra ingredients. Below is the Hollandaise recipe that I made from my Grandmother's cooking school cook book. It made me feel a little better to be holding her cookbook and making something that she probably would have made (she made the richest food I've ever had). It made me feel like even if it was just through a worn, tattered cookbook, I had a constant connection with my history and it made me feel just a little more grounded.

And of course, successfully creating a beautiful hollandaise sauce made me feel successful. I might not get the big contract, but I can make some darn good buttery sauces!

Hollandaise
4 egg yolks
1 C butter
2 T Lemon juice
pinch salt
pinch pepper
2 pinches chipotle pepper

Whip egg yolks by hand until light yellow. Place in double boiler with 1/2 cup of butter. Wisk until smooth. Wisk in the rest of the butter until smooth. Wisk in salt, pepper, and chipotle pepper. Serve or refrigerate until use.

Oysters and Olive Oil

I find it strange that the first word in the title of this blog is a food I actually don't like very much. And I suppose if I was more of a writer I would be able to come up with something that fits me more. But the more I look at the words, the more they make sense, in an obscure and rather personal way. My two passions are travel and cooking, and trying to think up a name for the blog the cliche that kept coming into my head was "the world is your oyster." And somehow the rest of it just rolled from there.

Its a little late to start a travel blog, since I spent 3 years in Germany, traveling all over Europe and hardly posted a thing. And now I've moved back to the states and will not be able to travel as much. But perhaps I'll get a chance to start to experience the US. On the flip side, I now have a kitchen larger than the previous one (broomcloset size and about as well lighted and accessible) and access to much more fresh seafood.

While I have had a blog before, I'm terrible at posting things. I think it has more to do with preferring to put effort into one-on-one interactions. But since this is something everyone seems to be doing, I'll give it a try. For now, off to play with Google homepage more....