Jacksonville Bucket List

This week we hope to enjoy exploring Jacksonville before the pace of life speeds up! Some of the things we'd like to set out to do are:

Go for a ride on the downtown trolley
Go for a tour at the Busch/Budweiser brewery
Make a stop at the Peterbrooke Chocolatiere factory to taste test some of their chocolates and take a tour
Attend the "Art Walk" downtown (a self-guided tour of art galleries from 5pm-9pm the first Wednesday of each month)
Attend a concert at "The Landing"
and, Make a stop at the Maritime Museum

What's the greatest thing about all of these places? They are all FREE!

In other news, we are really enjoying settling into life here in Jacksonville. Whitney is all set to start work on the 11th of January and Josh will officially begin flight training again on the 11th as well (however, this week he will have a few briefs and other miscellaneous things to take care of). Teddy LOVES having his parents around- and although Edgar is happy no matter who feeds him- he seems to be pretty happy to have us back as well :)

The Trendy Hummus: Muhammara

Tonight we went out to a restaurant around the block called "Brick". It had all kinds of food! An interesting appetizer we shared was a platter of Hummus and Muhammara with Pita bread. I think I will try to make some of my own soon- it was so tasty!

Here's one of a few recipes available on Epicurious.com:

Muhammara Bon Appétit | November 2008

by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

A Syrian roasted-pepper and walnut spread, muhammara is a great alternative to hummus. 1 12-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers in olive oil with garlic, drained. Yield: Makes about 2 cups 1 12-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers in olive oil with garlic, drained 1 cup walnuts 1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses or fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Pita chips Blend all ingredients except pita chips in processor until coarse puree forms. Season with salt. Transfer to bowl; serve with chips. * Available in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets. Per serving (1/ 4 cup and 4 pita chips): 203.4 calories (kcal), 63.8 % calories from fat, 14.4 fat, 1.0 g saturated fat , 0 mg cholesterol , 14.1 g carbohydrates, 1.3 g dietary fiber, 2.8 g total sugars, 12.8 g net carbohydrates, 6.3 g protein. Nutritional analysis provided by Bon Appétit

Happy New Year, Happy New Grill!

We have arrived back to Jacksonville and we are enjoying settling into our routines. One of those routines is cooking in our own kitchen! Thanks to Mom and Dad Gropp our "kitchen" has expanded to include a beautiful, new grill! After two hours of assembly, we excitedly got a propane tank and cooked up some grilled chicken breasts. Other than that, we have been trying to adjust to normal life- laundry, doggy walks, cleaning, food shopping, errands, etc.

In other news, one of Josh's classmates has asked to live in our loft while he tries to close on a foreclosed house in the area. We are enjoying having Paul around! He was nice enough to watch over Edgar while we were in CT for Christmas.






That's all for now! We hope you have a healthy and happy new 2K10!