Cookies and Cab

Disclaimer:  I wrote this post on a Saturday, and true to form I'm releasing it late!  Open your mind's eye and head back in time to a Saturday and THEN read this blog post and it will all make sense, if your Saturday was, say September 15th that could be even better :)

Today the Boy and I had a couple more new adventures.  Together we made it through our overbooked Saturday.  Let me start by stating that I have a much larger family situation than the Boy does, and so far, I’ve been successful at keeping the wolves (so to speak) at bay.  Don’t get me wrong, we’ve exposed each other to our dark sides in the past, but as many of you may already know, visiting grandparents on Thanksgiving and delivering a joint gift to my niece on her 5th birthday fall a little far apart on the dating timeline.

OK, not the best pic. of us, his eyes closed and my crazy hair.

The Birthday Gal

As I’ve involved myself with an only child it stands to reason that my family is a little more demanding than his, so today when he mentioned making an appearance at a shindig on his side I politely obliged.  And in turn, his presence was duly noted at the aforementioned cinco de nina celebration.








I said all that to say that our Saturday was totally booked!  We actually ended up having a good time at each gathering and afterward (because we are in our late 20s) we turned our attention to ourselves.  What to do for our evening entertainment? Well, bake cookies, of course!

We trucked ourselves over to the grocery and picked out all the ingredients to re-create a much loved childhood favorite of the C-man.  He casually asked, “what kind of wine goes with Nieman Marcus Cookies?”

We made the cookies, well, I did, while he graciously folded all the laundry that was covering the couch and picked out a movie.  Then I broached the subject of wine.  The cookies are heavily laden with chocolate chips and chunks, butter and nuts.  I chose an American cabernet sauvignon because of the acidity, the fact that it was given to me (free), and lets be honest, because an all American cookie would certainly pair with a domestic wine, right? Sure!







The crispy little buttery cookies worked out beautifully with the acidity in the wine.  This cab was full of jammy blackberry and a little dark dried plum and walnutty flavor bringing out the chocolate.  The smooth sandy tannins make this a nice light pair for a late night dessert.  I should mention here I was informed that good 'ole "American milk" is also a "perfect pair."





The Details:

If you'd like to pick one up this is what it looks like!

Name: Justin Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles California

Price:  $25.00, WHAT??  I know, but you see, I didn’t know because this was a gift. so I opened a $25 bottle of wine to eat with cookies and looked up the price online to share with you all just now. My apologies for the sticker shock!  This one would probably go very well with something more substantial, but come on, the cookies needed something, and this was it.



Note:  I did not drink the entire bottle, so maybe this will be used with meat later :)

My Apologies, Tech Grads ;)

A Love Letter to West Texas (haha)

Lubbock: for those of you who are not familiar with this place, I’ll enlighten you.  As you make your way to this slight oasis in the wasteland that is the panhandle of Texas you will smell it.  I mean that.  At every spoke into the “hub city” as it were, you will find a feedlot to welcome you.  The smell is nauseating and the sight is sad. Beyond that, I’m sure you’re waiting for me to tell you there lies beautiful pasture lands studded by a university, art galleries filled with rugged contemporary styles of barbed wire, and the great Buddy Holly Museum alongside meadows speckled with cute little neighborhoods reminiscent of the 1950s,  and schools with crossing guards, but what I’m here to tell you is, it’s flat.  That’s basically it.  If you think I’m exaggerating please head west from DFW, turn north when you see an entire train on the horizon, and bypass the first feedlot you see, “the LBK” will spread out before you and all the things I’ve just mentioned will make perfect sense.

We arrived in the LBK via I40 East and in keeping with MOP throughout this whole trip we checked into our hotel, took naps, then got ready to hit the town. 

Mom and I were on a mission to visit a restaurant with a wine list (there are probably only 2 in town).  So with Dad in tow, we headed for a place we’d heard good things about before called La Diosa. Because this is not a restaurant review or travel blog (I’m sure I’m confusing you now) I won’t go into too much detail about my impressions of the food, location, live music feature, and/or the service but I will touch on the things that influenced my wine choices.

The restaurant featured tapas, so we ordered a few small plates including baked crab dip, shrimp with a lime vinaigrette, and smoked oysters with a tapenade of sorts.  Because I was presented with the wine list (as usual, I’m the one making this decision) I'll take you through my thought process.

1.  I’m not paying.  So I better evaluate the price situation and not make a definitive selection without mentioning my choice to the party that the bill will be presented to before I order.
2.  In my opinion, the wine should either compliment or contrast the food.  I also look to the region from which the wine comes and think about what is typical in the food around that area.
3. What do the people I’m sharing the wine find appealing? What’s the point of ordering a buttery chardonnay when I know they’ll hate it, even if it would pair perfectly with the food?

$25 is not what I would pay retail; restaurants are different.

In this case, I chose a bottle of Montgravet from Cotes De Gascogne ($25).  While I’m not super familiar with the region I did know that this wine is from southwestern France near Bordeaux so I was thinking the wine could be similar to another grape  typically grown around that area: sauvignon blanc. Regardless of the regional cuisine I would pair an acidic wine like sauvignon blanc with seafood any day. This one in particular was a great match for the food we chose, with the lemon, limey, mineral/chalky characteristics Mom, Dad, and I talked about as we ate and drank reassured me of the selection.   The smoked oysters went spectacularly with the wine. Something about the smokiness of the oysters brought out the fruitiness in the wine.  The bacon in the crab “casserole” worked to contrast the acidity in the wine, and the lime vinaigrette with the shrimp complimented the lemon/lime situation we found so delicious.  Somehow we ended up with a contrast, and a couple compliments in the mix.  I should note that my parents have similar tastes to mine when it comes to wine, so the mineral/citrus number was a pretty safe bet.  I guess you could say I cheated on this one!

*The funny part of this whole thing is that I would serve sauvnignon blanc with fish, but I wouldn’t normally order fish in a landlocked area (lubbock) and in researching the wine I chose, the people from the region would probably not be eating seafood, but the rich food I should have picked from the LBK in the first place, HA!  I guess you live and learn :)


I ended up topping off the evening on a high note.  To be honest I’m a HUGE sucker for port, and since we’d just come off a hot hot summer in the metroplex, a breezy 68 degree day in Lubbock seemed like a blustery cold front I talked the ‘rents into a wintry treat!  We ended the evening with a ganache torte, and a glass (bottle) of port.  I chose a tawny port even though normally I would pair a ruby with chocolate and a tawny with a nutty pie or something with dried fruit this worked for us.  I chose the port that suited our tastes, and the food that we like, and let the idea of a classic pair go out the window in favor of OUR perfect pair.  It. Was. Divine.

I know, the Boy would say this is too dark, but the glasses

 were soo cute!

Ending the night with chocolate and port brought our trip to a beautiful and delicious close.  The next day we meandered our way home.  There was one final stop we had to make, with no wine selection needed.  Only true Texans know on a return trip home the place to go that welcomes you back into our great state is..say it with me..WHATABURGER!

 

New Mexican Adventure Parte Dos

We left Albuquerque the next morning and headed into Santa Fe.  After trickling through the mountains to the east and winding our way through desert passes we ended up in an urban area completely carved from stucco/adobe.  I’d never seen an "earthen" looking Starbucks, but now I can tell you they do indeed exist.

Our arrival into Santa Fe was a bit turbulent as I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and by 2:30 I was exhausted and irritable.  We headed into the arts district near the capitol and quickly realized there was a festival going on, and between my irritability, street closures for the festival, and the crowds of pedestrians we retreated to a little dive serving “mexican” food just off the main drag for lunch and then slept off the ginormous portions the rest of the afternoon in the hotel.

As I’ve mentioned before, my dad was a bit incapacitated on this trip due to a rotator cuff surgery and subsequent Breg (sling apparatus), so he chose to sit the rest of the evening out.  Mom and I decided to give the arts district another chance, so we braved the one way streets and traffic, dropped a pin at our parking spot and headed out on foot.

We did find the festival with music, food, and dancing...

From there we sidewalk shopped up a hill and found beautiful Cathedral Bacillica of St. Francis of Assisi where we tried out my forward facing camera...

And finally proceeded to a quaint little wine bar/restaurant for a glass of wine, even though the menu sounded spectacular!

I don’t have too many notes about the wines that we tried at the restaurant other than I remember we each had 2 different glasses (so, not “bottle only” ie, less expensive) and tried them all (a server’s nightmare).  We started with a Sancerre (French sauvignon Blanc) and an Albarino (citrusy, mineral situation with a slight effervescence from Spain).  Then we moved on to a Pinot Blanc from Alsace (which I thought would be sweet based on the region, but because Alsace is cold, and these grapes probably didn’t get completely ripe, the wine was acidic and delicious) and then a dry Rose.  After wine, bread and butter we walked along the streets and decided we really enjoy Santa Fe and should return with friends soon.

**Dad was not left out!  We popped by Trader Joe’s and grabbed an eggplant parmesan for him to enjoy along with a hazelnut chocolate bar for us :)

The next day we ventured out into the largest farmer’s market I’ve ever seen and had a wonderful morning, well, aside from the rain...and the cold...and the parking, but then, I’ve said too much.

Joking aside, the market was super!  We found flowers, smelled roasting chiles, ate bread with grasses baked right in, bought some apples, cider squeezed from those apples, preserves with chiles, and so many other things!  

 I couldn't believe that after all the driving through desserts and seeing no farm land at all there was a cornucopia of produce available, even things that are out of season at home all grown locally at the same time.  What a strange growing season they must have, but then again we are in the high desert, where weather is variable...surely it affects the veggies.

I should mention the people here were as interesting to look at as the produce.  Watching people being one of my favorite pastimes, I could hardly force myself into the car, but alas, our time in Santa Fe had come to an end.  We headed east toward Lubbock, TX munching on our FM finds and sipping coffee.

 Again, I'd call this a success.  From here the trips winds itself down, but Lubbock should not be slighted, so I'll post about our wine adventures there next!

New Mexican Adventure Part 1

  If you’ve noticed that I haven’t written in a few days I have a good excuse!  If you haven’t noticed...what’s yours? :)

I went on a little road trip with the ‘rents to visit my brother in Albuquerque, NM.  It was only possible because my workspace is being remodeled, and therefore was rendered useless for exactly (they say) 1 full work week.  So, voila!  Instant vacation (with many, many work related interruptions, and hunts for phone service).  We’ll try to only focus on the vacation part of what I just said.

The idea was to meander across Texas and into the great west stopping at wineries and any ‘ole place that struck our fancies, and that’s basically what we did, minus the wineries. And anything fancy (ha!). 

The short of it is - that’s a looong trip!  We ended up leaving the DFW area last Wednesday and venturing north toward beautiful Amarillo.  We spent the night in A-town and left the next morning for the ABQ.  Not as many wineries as expected littering the eastern portion of New Mexico (enter disappointment), but we did stop for a picnic in Santa Rosa near the pond, er, “Lake” at the State Park.  I was in charge of food, so I will mention that we had millet bread spread with Greek yogurt with fresh Hatch chile mozzarella and smoked ham.  I would have served this with a delicious Torrontes from Argentina that I had picked out but it was accidentally left at home.  I tried this combo later and it was super awesome, so I may blog that in the future.  We did not have any vino but that was OK because it would have made an already boring ride nap-worthy, and I was driving.

After lunch we braved I40 West into Albuquerque and made it to our destination.  We hung around my brother’s house until he had to go to work.  Since he’s a resident at the university hospital he works crazy hours and we knew we may need to entertain ourselves (enter wine).  Mom and I went for a scenic run around his house to make up for the dinner we were about to eat,

The patio was so nice, and so was this Sauv. Blanc

then we all showered and dressed for our night on the town.  We ended up stumbling upon a cute little place near the Sandia Crest and ate on the patio.  When the fare was chosen I was presented with the wine list to make a selection.  In this case I try to take into consideration the pair.  We ordered clams with liguine in cream sauce, river trout with hatch chile sauce, and a chicken with chevre.  As these things all seem to be classically paired with Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc, that’s exactly where I went on the wine list. Between pricing and availability we ended up enjoying a Marlborough Sauv. Blanc called Seven Terraces with a bird on the label that was flush with mineral, lemon/lime, and a creamy pea situation that matched beautifully with the cream  and the chevre in the entrees selected.  I would know. I tried them all.  This selection was $25 on the wine list, and as any former bistro owner would know probably means I could find this beauty on a grocery shelf for about $7.

We spilled a little...

We actually splurged (well, we had time to kill) for dessert!  a cute little almond butter chocolate tart was shared amongst and us when my Dad asked what our next wine would be, I gladly approached the list again.  I found myself in a bit of a conundrum just because we’d selected chocolate and most reds will do.  I went for the biggest bang for the buck on this one, and found Tilia Malbec from Argentina which I believe was also $25 on the list.  The chocolate and nutty aromas of the wine went swimmingly with the almond crust and the chocolate filling in the dessert. 

Altogether the first half of the trip went pretty well if I do say so myself.  Maybe another day we’ll touch on the parts where Dad was in a “Breg” from rotater cuff surgery, Mom’s crown came off the day before we left with our dentist on

They don't know I'm posting this.  Aren't they cute??

vacation, and/or the brother who prompted the visit being at work.  But not today.

Sausage Fest

Tonight was a big night.  I haven’t mentioned it too much but my guy and I recently chose the route of co-habitation (shocking I know!), and so we’re bravely weathering through many many “firsts” together.  Luckily I am very, well, lucky.  My guy is pretty cool, and tonight is a good example of that. 

It all started last night when I had a big deal at work and was up late, now today I find myself with what I can only describe as a tension headache.  I woke up with a sore jaw (possibly from clenching teeth a night), and stemming from that a sore neck and an aching head.  Cut to me laying on the couch all day watching Breaking Bad and romantic comedies on Netflix and you're starting to understand. 

Until now, I’ve been the cook (a job I’ve happily taken on) in the apartment, but today, it’s not gonna happen.  I was shocked when the announcement was made that not only would I not be cooking, but I could expect a house made concoction from the guy. Amazing.  So I watched from the sidelines.

The Ingredients Purchased:

• 1 package sausages
• 1 package Sara Lee (yes, he spared no expense) buns
• 2 cans of chili - 2 brands, 1 with beans, 1 without (he covers all bases)
• 1 pound of potatoes (yes, that’s the vegetable)
• 1 box caramel filled Nestle Drumsticks (the boy’s a genius)
• 1 box Therma Care wraps for neck, back, wrist etc. (Gotta love Him)

The Preparation
As far as I can tell, he combined the chilis, grilled the sausages, fried the potatoes, wrapped the oh so lovely Therma Care on my neck, handed me a computer, ignored my sappy Netflix situation and made my night. 

Side Note: He’s a rockstar, but we may have to work on portion control (we totally couldn’t eat all he prepared!). 

The Wine
What goes with chili dogs you ask?? Well, I answered that with Rose.  It was suggested I have some wine, as it may have possibly been the most healthy thing all evening :)

I happened to have a French rose on hand of which I believe I spent a whopping $7.99 on at the local market.  Bieler Pere et Fils which is, from what I can tell, a blend of grapes from the northern Rhone the color is a beautiful pink, but the wine is no white zin.  It has a delicious strawberry and watermelon characteristic, but the acid is high enough to combat that fatty chili sausage combo.  This wine would be delicious on a hot summer day near the pool with some melon as well, don’t think “sweet” when you see this cute pink number on the shelf, and don’t be scared by the Frenchy French French label either!

Because dinner was not completely revealed to me, I was glad to have such a nice pair on hand.  Remember, most of wine pairing is drinking something you’ll enjoy,  you don’t have to fret over each and every pairing, you may discover something new that way!

Whirlwind

What a busy day today was.  Surprised this morning by news that I’d be attending a visitation I was thinking this post wouldn’t be possible.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not cold and unfeeling, but I live a little far from my former hometown now, and in turn the funeral home.  The only saving grace (no pun intended here, really):  I have a quick dinner in the bag.

Here’s the schedule:
4:30pm: leave work
4:50pm: Arrive @ the gym
5:30pm: Leave the gym (no comments on how brief that stint was please)
5:40pm: Arrive home, shower and get dinner in the oven
6:15pm: Leave home
7:00pm: Visitation
7:15pm: Hit the “liquor depot” in the hometown
7:30pm: Hope the guy pulls the dinner from the oven
7:50pm: Arrive home, finish dinner and enjoy with a glass of vino purchased @ the aforementioned “liquor depot”

The kicker - the plan worked!  It’s now 9:23pm, my guy is at the gym, I’ve got a clean kitchen, I’m eating cookie dough, writing a blog, and listening to Seinfeld reruns!  Planning is genius.

The down-low on the din-din:
Pre seasoned “applewood smoked” turkey tenderloin $6.99 at Target
Frozen whole green beans $1.28
Mushroom flavored Uncle Ben’s Rice $1.68

I did cook the turkey wrapped in foil, then at the last minute I rubbed it with butter and broiled for color, toss the green beans in garlic, olive oil, and salt...I must admit I did not however tweak the mushroom rice :)

As for the wine:

I caved under the pressure, peer pressure that is.  Minus the occasional turkey burger I’ve not dabbled in the turkey-outside-turkey-day thing much in the past.  Couple that with the liquor depot in the the hometown scenario, and that outrageous label, and you see how I ended up with a beaujolais nouveau.  I know, please don’t judge. 

George Duboeuf knows what’s up the guy just knows how to get the juice from the grape into the bottle and on the shelf so the money gets into his pocket quickly!  This leaves me with a chillable red wine that is light enough for my everyday poultry.

Money Talks:  
The wine was $8.99, the dinner was $9.95 (including leftovers) and I would say altogether a good match on the flavor profile as well.  The super fuchsia vino was practially tannin-less with strawberry candy, pepper, and raspberry jelly on the nose which complimented the salty, slightly smokey turkey in the same way apple sauce and a smoked pork chop are a match made in heaven.  I’d say for the price and time, the dinner was a success.

Weeknight Winner

It’s Wednesday and that means only one thing to me and the man:  Pizza.

Why, you ask?
The first time we met is a story on it’s own, but for now I’ll only scratch the surface.  He wanted to know where he could take a chef out to dinner, and I casually mentioned that I’m just like everyone else, in fact, I looove pizza.  Every week since then (well, almost) we’ve met up at a hole in the wall pizza joint (a meet in the middle kinda place) that has free refills for the guy and is BYOB for me.

I usually always get the same thing and so does he, Wednesday happens to be BOGO night at the pizza joint, and so we each get our own small.  I would say we only do that because it’s the special, but really we’d be the half/half people anyway because of our topping choices, and this just makes things easier.  But tonight I have a wine that I wanted to try that’s a little big for my “usual” so I branched out.  I had a blend from the southern part of the northern Rhone that’s big and bold so I’m going to gamble on a BBQ pizza (crazy, right?!). 

When the pizza is half off, I can make an exception so this one was a splurge, but the pair actually worked out really well!

Famille Perrin Reserve Cotes Du Rhone Rouge
Somewhere around $13-14 a bottle at the local market.  I lost the receipt, but I know it was more than I normally spend (but not more than 14 lol).   I matched the complexity of the wine with a complex pizza - a gamble that actually worked.  Fatty bacon, with astringent tannins, medium acid, and jammy fruit.  Sweet, tangy BBQ sauce with high alcohol, and black pepper spice come together to make this pairing sing.  Pretty good for a $12.00 pizza date if I do say so myself.

Vinho Verde

When planning dinner tonight I was thinking about 3 things:
1. I’ve got hamburger meat thawed out.
2. I’m trying to be “good.”
3. It’s hot and I’m going to be tired.

Taking those things into consideration I hopped over to one of my favorite blogs and checked in on a “skinny” dinner, which I would thoroughly contaminate with my own poor choices I’m sure.  So here I am facing a zucchini boat of a dinner utilizing low fat sausage when I only have sad ground beef.  This doesn’t sound promising.  Here’s something to learn about me: when faced with a food decision:  I. Always. Choose. Mexican.  That is all.

So here’s how dinner went down:

Ingredients for Taco Stuffed Zucchini

• 3 medium sized zucchinis
• 1# ground beef
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 2/3 C Water
• 1 6oz can of el pato tomato sauce
• 1 small can of sliced black olives
• 1/2 C shredded cheese
• 1 box whole grain (yes, they make that) couscous, cooked according to box instructions

Preparation

• Cut the zucchini in half length wise; remove guts.
• saute onion and bell pepper in a pan, all the ground beef, and cook until brown, then drain.
• Add the seasoning packet to the meat situation and stir in the water, cook until most of the water is gone.
• Fill the zucchini with the taco mixture, top with tomato sauce, olives, and cheese.
• Bake in the oven covered at 350 for like 15 minutes, uncover for like 10 minutes and voila!
• Serve with the couscous, or as my guy found out: little tiny pasta.

Now for the good stuff:

I purchased a bottle of wine last night to go with a take out Tex Mex feast which was delicious.  The aforementioned wine was also muy delicioso with this dinner.  I’m breaking several rules on this one guys, but it’s hot outside and I’m not about to go all Tempranillo on this dinner. 

Nobilis Vinho Verde $5.95 at Central Market

It’s a light, highly acidic, somewhat sparking wine made using the Alvarinho grape from the Vinho Verde region in Portugal.  Hopefully that geography lesson wasn’t too boring!  The wine had a slight sweetness and when paired with the “Hot and Spicy” taco seasoning packet, totally eased the fire in my mouth.  Now dinner wasn’t too robust, and the lower meat-to-vegetable ratio made the meal seam lighter so I found this to be a good pairing.  The fat in the ground beef was also cut nicely with the acidity in the wine, and the olives did something really cool with the chalky undertones I noted.  Did I mention is was $5.95 and totally didn’t taste/smell like lighter fluid??

Would it have been better had I paired it with a traditional salt cod dinner of the region? Maybe, but I’m in Texas and Tex Mex was on the menu and this little baby rocked it.

Cut to the Chase-r

I like to drink.  I’m just throwing that out there.  Judge me.

Here’s the thing:
Sometimes I drink for fun socially, sometimes I drink to relax and chill out at home after a long day at work, and sometimes I don’t need a reason!  Honestly, I imbibe wine and usually bright citrus numbers, especially in the summer.  I typically try to keep a $7-14 price range, especially on weeknights, but I’m working up an experiment.  One could go as far as calling it a challenge... 

I’ve recently moved in with my guy, my very very sober guy.  In doing so I’ve taken on cooking dinner for the two of us on a fairly narrow budget just about every evening.  I’ve also realized how very stagnant my vino choices have become. So, here’s my challenge: pair affordable wine with my modest weeknight dinners, keeping budget and enjoyment in mind, make a quick tasting note on the wines, and jot down a couple high points about the food pairing choice.  How many should I shoot for a week?  3 sounds good to me...  The wine budget and selection could get a little dicey, but it’s possible my trusty HEB (grocery store) or the Goody Goody Liquor just down the street will suffice.

The Backstory. Honestly.

Honesty is a good policy, and in keeping with that very cliche adage, I’d like to start this blog off honestly.  I am a girl who enthusiastically enjoys food, wine, cooking, and eating.  I like to go out, “ooh” and “aah” over expensive dinners (occasionally) with friends or my guy and then (inspired) go home and try desperately to recreate not only the food but the experience.  Is that wrong? I think not.  I’m someone who knows what she likes...well, maybe just has a general idea of said likes.  I’ve taken myself to culinary school, then another college where I followed my dream of attempting to become a food writer, then on to sommelier school.  See what I mean about generalizing my likes?

In an effort to fully disclose I’ll mention that I’ve owned a restaurant that I would consider somewhat successful.  Maybe success isn’t measured in the same way for everyone.  I consider it a success because it happened.  I lived my dream of owning a restaurant - a place where people came to have a good time, share conversation, “ooh” and “aah” over pricey dishes, celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, and where they too were inspired to go to their homes and recreate the experience.  I’ve also closed that place and moved on; one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  Luckily for me I have a most amazing family that supports every whim each of us has, and always will.  So many things changed in my life when I took the giant leap of faith into sole proprietorship: I found myself in charge, I learned to make decisions, I discovered hard work, humility, reality, and in the midst of struggle and success...my guy found me. Here is where the blog begins (sounds a little cheesy, I know, better get used to it!).

And so the stage is set!  the goal here is to explore the things I’m passionate about.  I’m not checking my grammar, or putting any pressure on myself to make this space perfect in any way, because otherwise this might as well be work!  I’m going to share what I will when I have time and, honestly, have fun with it! In doing so I’m hoping to maintain/increase my wine and food knowledge, and to dabble in writing a bit more.  I hope this is a stimulating process for you, but mostly, I can’t wait to read this in 20 years and see how life has changed....here we go...