Pizza with Jon

The last weekend I spent with Jon before he went away, I decided to make pizza. While Jon packed, I made the dough. I used this recipe. After letting it rise the appropriate amount of time, it was time to make the actually pizzas. I did the first one by myself, opting not to use a rolling-pin. It was a margarita pizza, with sauce, mozzarella cheese, and tomatoes. It looked like this:

Jon came and saw it and he immediately asked me if I failed Geometry because apparently I don’t know my shapes. I gave him sass and asked if he could do better. His pizza was going to be a zucchini lemon goat cheese pizza. It came out like this.

Obviously, Jon should be the pizza assembler from now on. Apparently I stink at the actual assembly of the pizza. It didn’t matter what they looked like however, because in the end they were both delicious. The recipe was easy to follow and turned out great. Next time, we’ll try and grill it. It was pretty fun. I enjoy cooking with Jon, even if he can be a bit of a pizza shape snob.

What’s your favorite kind of pizza?

<3 Frank

Favorite Poem

i carry your heart with me (i carry it

in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e.cummings

Grounds for Sculpture

Last Friday night, Jon asked if he could take me to the Grounds for Sculpture on Saturday. Of course I said yes! We made sure to take a ton of pictures.

Panther statues. Jon in a vine-covered pathway. Me looking out at the water. Hand blown giant old school Coke bottle ( VERY IMPRESSIVE)

Monet’s Lily Garden Willow tree. My favorite sculpture. Daisies. Woman with a parasol surrounded by fake poppies.

Giant Lily from a Pond. Jon taking a picture of me taking a picture. Jon looking at a wood hanging sculpture. Peacock.

Monet painting. Statue I enjoy. View of what Monet is painting. Woman in a tub statue.

Hydrangea. Crazy wire and glass sculpture. Mini Sculpture with giraffes. Me making a face at this guy’s inappropriate actions.

Two pictures of my love. The first one was taken right after he ate all the cookie dough pieces out of my ice cream. The second at Teresa’s in Princeton, where we had lunch.

This sequence should be titled Frankie’s typical eating habits. I asked Jon to take a picture of me and my ice-cream. He told me mid photo I had some on my nose. I wiped it off. Then I was half sad to smile again because my ice cream was melting. This ice cream is from Halo Pub (also in Princeton), and let me tell you IT IS DELICIOUS. I had Tahiti Vanilla on top and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough on the Bottom. Both were amazing but if you only get one, get the Tahiti Vanilla (it’s the best vanilla ice cream ever.)

Overall it was a GREAT day, minus some overly hot weather!

<3 Frank

Reason Number 2 Why I am lucky to love Jon

Have you heard of the olive theory? Well, I don’t believe in this theory, mainly because Jon and I both really like olives. It works out well for us because when we’re at the store, and I say, “Should we get some olives?” I never have to hear Jon say, “Ew no. I hate olives.” Anyway while our mutual love of olives is pretty awesome, it’s not reason number 2 why I am lucky to love Jon. Instead this reason has to do with a mutual fear…

Last week, I was checking out the veggie garden at Dean’s house, and when I looked down, I saw a fake snake coiled around the base of a tomato plant. “Ah!” I said, then, to Dean’s nephew, “Did you put that fake snake there to try to scare me?” Then as he was saying “wha..” the snake’s head moved, and I immediately about faced, and ran (a la Richard Gere in Runaway Bride) towards the screened in porch, while yelling, “Oh my God EWWW there’s a snake in the garden!” Now, while my reaction was quite ridiculously cliché, I did have sandals on. Nobody wants a snake slithering across their bare feet- gross.

While, there’s nothing more cliché than a somewhat-girly girl being terrified of snakes, the significant part of the story is what happens next. Dean caught the snake, and he and his nephew carried it onto the patio, his nephew yelling, “Come on Frank, Face your fear!” So after my ridiculous reaction I had to go face to face with snake, and while doing that, take this picture.

Here’s the awesome part,  Jon was sitting on the sofa in the screened in porch, with his feet up and his toes curled under. No one noticed Jon’s quiet inconspicuous refusal to face his phobia, no one- except me. And can I tell you… I was smitten. Oscar Wilde said, “You don’t love a person for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.”  Jon was singing his song about being terrified of all things creepy crawly, and it was music to my heart.  I’m lucky to love Jon for our mutual fear of snakes, mine blazingly obvious and cliché, his not-so-much.

How about you?

Do you and your significant other have mutual fears?

Is there something totally non-cliche about him/her that you just adore?

I’d love to hear.

<3 Frank

Reason Number One I am Lucky to Love Jon

Introducing my love, Jon. We’ve been dating for nearly six years, and he never ceases to amaze me. I’m pretty lucky, though I don’t always act like it. To consistently remind myself of this fact, I plan on documenting some of the silly, maybe a few of the major, and a bunch of everyday reasons why I’m lucky to have Jon. Guess where? Here on the blog.

Jon and I before his cousins wedding last January

So here it goes. Reason Number 1.  The Best Black Bean Burger I Ever Tasted. ( Were you expecting some sappy reason? Of course this first one is about food… it may be the way to man’s heart, but it’s also the way to Frank’s heart, as I get pretty cranky when I’m not fed properly.)

The other day I was at work when I got a text from Jon; “Dean’s coming over around 5 for dinner, will you be here by then?”

My reply, “Yes.”

Jon, “Good what should we eat?”

Uh really, you plan to have dinner with your best friend and then ask me to figure out the food situation…(insert slightly annoyed face here) Anyway a series of texts later and I was on my way to the food store to pick up some ingredients that Jon would then cook.  While having to run into the Shop Rite in the rain did not exactly please me, the end result did. Oh did they. Jon made the most delicious black bean burger I have ever tasted. It is definitely the best burger I’ve had since I stopped eating meat, possibly the best ever. Sinanara Bocca Burgers, I will never eat you again. This recipe is relatively easy (I didn’t actual do anything so I can only take Jon’s word for it) and so, so, so good, I am sure we, he will be making it a bunch for barbecues this summer.

Without further adieu, here is the recipe for Jon’s Frankly Delicious Black Bean Burgers*

(*disclaimer: when I asked where he got the recipe from he said, “I just looked at a bunch of recipes and then made it up.” So in my mind, it’s mostly his recipe)

Jon’s Frankly Delicious Black Bean Burgers:

2 cans GOYA Black Bean Soup
1/2 Vidalia/ yellow onion
1/2 red pepper
1 cup corn
3 cloves of garlic
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1/2 tablespoon Cajun spiceChop up onions, garlic,  and red pepper in the food processor. Remove it from food processor. Rinse Goya black bean soup in a strainer under water. Then put them in food processor, and process. Take beans out, place in bowl, mix in eggs, chili powder, Cajun spice, and bread crumbs. Then add the veggies and the corn. Form burgers.  Place burgers on hot pan, cook on each side for about 4 minutes, Put cheddar cheese on top and then place in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Then put finished burgers on delicious whole wheat buns, that were previously toasted, Add baby arugula and tomato. Put hot sauce/mayo mixture on bread top, Bite into your delicious burger! YUMMMY.

This recipe makes about 6 burgers.