DATE NIGHT 10/11

Today is Friday here - the end of a long, long week. Today, Laura says "I plan a wonderful date for us." Shuh dooz.
"It'll be a secret date. I am putting a lot of thought into it" Shuh dooz. Shuh gooz to Sprouts and gets secret ingredients for our secret date. Shuh dooz.
Six o' clock rolls around, and shuh asps muh, "Mataitai, yuh ready for our secret date?" I says "Yoss!"
Wuh start drivin', and wuh gooz to Utah Lake for a wonderful picnic. Whadda surprise! Laura brought Camambert (muh favorite cheese), Salame (I told her I was a salame fiend when I was a tidgin toddler) baguette, grapes, and chocolate. Wuh make ourselves comf by the lake and snack and watch the sun goo doon. Bangalore Jack! The bogadaidai! Laura plans ngyewd dates! Shuh dooz! I love her. I dooz.

LETTER TO BEN, #1

Dear Elder Binyamin Schinn,

This is your brother Mattisyahu Schinn. It was nice to get a little email from you. You are missed. Both Laura and I miss you very much.

As you requested, here is an update on my life. It has been full of experiments.

Experiment #1.

Have you ever had a mango sticky rice dessert at a Thai restaurant? I decided make it a shake. A mango rice shake! I thought it was a brilliant twist. I got some fresh mango and rice and put it through our food processor. Then I blended it with milk and coconut milk. It turned out OK. Lots of things were slightly off because it was my first time winging it.
The biggest thing was the texture. The blended rice still gave it a slightly chunky texture. Next time I'm going to let the rice sit in coconut milk in the fridge, so it gets really nice and soft.


Experiment #2.

Well, Laura had made some eggplant parmagian (which was a great experiment in its own right!), and I got some black soy bean paste (짜장) from Christine. I refried the egg plant with the jjajang, and it tasted quite good. The crispy thin layer of parmaggiano cheese worked surprisingly well with the paste.  Laura didn't like it though; she doesn't like greasy frying business. I'd make it again, but would try to make it less greasy.


Experiment #3.

Remember those grapes you and Jessica loved? Well I read somewhere that a common mistake people make when cooking is that they leave the sour taste out. Lots of times when you think you need more salt, you actually need more acid - balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, whatever. So I decide to make a tart garden grape vinaigrette for a nice spinach salad.
It was OK. Like a 'meh'. Or a 'bleh'. Too tart, too strong. I don't know what I can do here. It might have worked better with normal grapes. I keep looking for opportunities to use them instead of vinegar though. Haha.

Experiment #4.

Had another great idea: a Mexican chocolate cake. You know how those Aztecs drank cocoa with chili (they called it cacahoaquahuitl; they were so bad-a)? I decided to make a cake like that - sweet and spicy - something more interesting than just a sugar dump. Well, it didn't turn out how I wanted it to. But I was still proud. I pretty much winged the whole thing, not following really a recipe, and it came out edible, even enjoyable with whipped cream. The chili peppers I crushed were nowhere to be found. I don't know if putting more peppers is a solution though, so I will have to research and experiment. I will keep you posted.

Experimenting is great fun. It's like exploring your little uncharted territory. Both Laura and I are exploring, and it has taken us out of our comfort zones. Laura has recently started her job at the state prison. She works with sex offenders, and it has taken some emotional toll on her. She has been very resilient though, and she is taking the challenge head on.
I am starting my PhD program this week. I have been reading up a ton about the pharmaceutical industry and the job market, as well as potential research areas. I have to make a decision with which professor I will work with for the next five years. It has been stressful and rewarding. It's great to venture into a new world.

That is exactly what you are doing, right? Congratulations on your first week in the field. I remember the first lesson I taught. It was like a chicken with its head cut off, only on a roller coaster. I hope you have a lot of fun - I did. Love your trainer and be easy on him - it's pretty tricky to train another missionary. I didn't appreciate mine as much when I was a greenie, haha. I'm sure you are doing great - befriending people, loving them and bringing the Spirit wherever you go. Tell me all about it.

Your brother,

Mattisyahu

DATE NIGHT 8/16

This date night, Laura made black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, complete with enchilada sauce from scratch, and an avocado cream to put on top. (And it was free from all animal products!) It was delicious, fresh, and filling- just one enchilada had us satisfied. We also had a small amount of chocolate non-dairy ice cream made with almond milk, which was also delicious.

We then walked to DI to just browse, but of course, came back with 4 plastic bags worth of stuff. We got drapes for our sliding glass door in the kitchen, 3 baskets for fruit and other storage, 5 picture frames to put up, a t shirt for Matt, a cool National Park book from the 1960's for Laura, and a version of Trivial Pursuit called Celestial Pursuit, with all LDS questions. This all sounds like a lot...and it was, but it only came to $18.00.

Laura then worked on decorating and organizing, while Matt decided to cut his hair himself. Laura felt this was a bad idea, but she lets Matt make his own decisions. 30 minutes in, she goes to check on him. It is very uneven and Laura is getting concerned. She suggests just stopping for the night and paying 5 dollars to get it cut tomorrow so he doesn't ruin it further. He refuses. She leaves. 15 minutes later, Laura hears a scream coming from the bathroom, and the word "No" uttered repeatedly. She walks over,  but already knows what has happened. Turned out Matt forgot to put the 4 inch plastic guard on the razor, so he cut nearly all the hair off in one spot. Laura refrained from saying, "told you so," even though she did, in fact, tell him so. Matt kept saying all night, "What am I doing to do, Laura?" But all he can do is wait for it to grow...

TODAY

Today at work, Laura's been....

Reading this book...

doing this Rosetta Stone demo...

cause she just loves this cute Korean guy.

WHAT'S COOKING

Matt and I have always loved to cook (and eat!) Add that to also having our own home, with new dishes, and discovering that Chopped is free on Amazon Prime, we have now started to enjoy taking pictures of our food. Just with an iPhone, so you know, no photography prizes will be found here...

 Matt made an amazing tomato and fresh basil soup from scratch...served with one eyed jack (Laura's specialty) and a few strawberries for a Saturday brunch.

 Matt saw this recipe for Cuban Black Beans on Reddit of all places and has been wanting to make them ever since. Laura was skeptical, but they were absolutely delicious. We ate them with rice and some spiced chicken thighs, and plan on making them many more times.

Not a great picture, but Laura's homemade chunky guacamole with a Cuban black bean quesadilla that we shared after church one Sunday...

Even though we love to eat, we try to eat small portions and Matt is often going on runs (sometimes Laura goes too, but she really prefers spin classes and doesn't have a gym pass anymore.) After reading parts of The China Study, a gift from Laura's best friend from high school Amelia, we are toying with the idea of going vegan for a month. We want to eat a diet of more plant based foods. We already don't eat too much meat, but adjusting to life without dairy products would be more difficult. We want to do all things in moderation, and we don't intend on living our lives strictly and never indulging. But the health benefits of a lifestyle that focuses on plant based whole foods just can't be disputed. We think a month of eating vegan would give us a kickstart in eating more this way than we already do, and help us learn recipes and find even more things we love that are the most beneficial for our bodies. After the month, we think we would still have dairy and meats occasionally and in small portions, but consciously build our diet on plant based and whole foods daily. But who knows until we get there!

BLACK SHEEP REVIEW

Matt and I have always consulted Yelp when choosing where to eat, and we did this especially on our honeymoon in Seattle. We never go to a place with less that 4 stars and usually only places have a fair amount of reviews. However, when we researched Yelp more thoroughly, we were disappointed that it may not be as accurate as it could be. (Here and here) We then got the idea of rating places on our own just for fun, and posting about it on our blog with our date nights and other recipes we make. So, here is our first review.

Matt: Grilled Quail

A duo of quail marinated in a mixture of traditional Navajo spices, grilled and served with cotija-roasted potatoes, spinach, and a spicy mole sauce. 

Two birds, spinach, potatoes and sauce. 
First, I loved the birds. Never got over the quails. I was intrigued the whole time by these miniature chicken. It was just different enough from a chicken in size and texture that it felt unique. Tender and juicy too. I couldn't really tell too much of the birds' natural flavor because of all the marination and sauce. Overall it was great. I was kept intrigued by this different bird. It reminded me when we used to have boiled quail eggs as little kids. Also reminded me of how me and Lee always talked of trapping some of the quails we saw by our apartment. 

Most impressive was the sauce. It really brought everything together into something cohesive. The menu talked about traditional Navajo spices and a spicy mole sauce. Didn't really get that, as the sauce was more sweet/nutty than spicy, somehow familiar but different. It was on the tip of my tongue the whole time. That tease sorta added to the intrigue. 

Overall, the dish was a fulfilling exploration. Unique and thought provoking. I don't know if I'd get it again though. And I love the artwork! 4.5/5

source

Laura: Navajo Taco Trio

Three tapas style Navajo tacos, The Black Sheep Pinto served with pinto beans that have been slow cooked in pork au jus, an adobo puree, and a ranchero salsa. The Red Chile Beef with olives and cotija cheese. The Green Chile Pork with cilantro. All with menonita cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, crema and onions.

I loved the concept of this dish and style of this dish. While all utilized the same formula of a frybread as a base loaded with a protein and toppings, the flavors were all surprisingly unique, yet complementary. I was very impressed with the wide variety of flavors they were able to bring out in all of them. 

The Black Sheep Pinto beans had an especially complex flavor; a great balance of spicy, sweet, and savory elements. The Red Chile Beef was the most similar to a typical Navajo taco from a street cart or fair, but of course a step above in quality. I would have to say the Green Chile Pork was my favorite of the three. It was the spiciest, which I loved, but not so much that the heat overpowered the other flavors. It also was the most simply topped, adding only cilantro to the list of standard toppings, of menonita cheese, lettuce, crema, tomatoes, and onions. I liked this because it really highlighted the green chile and pork, and let it speak for itself without adding too much noise. It was a rich, satisfying dish and I couldn't finish it all. 

However, since Black Sheep tries to provide a very fine dining experience, and all plates are 20 dollars plus, I think the presentation could have been a little cleaner. The toppings were fairly haphazardly placed on top, especially on the Red Chile Beef, and it just looked sloppy. (Picture above is not of my actual dish). Overall, I would give this dish 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For the rest of our date night, we strolled around downtown Provo for a bit. We then walked over to Smiths to get an Alpine Milk Chocolate Rittersport. (Laura has been craving milk chocolate lately, when usually she prefers dark, so this was noteworthy.) We have determined that Rittersport is having a supply chain problem on the Wasatch Front however, because all the places that usually carry them are out of stock. It's a travesty. So we setteled for a Lindt and Sprungli Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate bar. Matt ended up preferring it, but Laura still misses her Rittersports. We ended the evening watching some episodes of Chopped All Stars Tournament on Amazon Prime, because it's free, and why not?

DATE NIGHT 7/26 & 8/2

There are many more things we need to update on...but I want to make sure I record our Friday night date nights before I forget!

Our first Friday night date night as a married couple, (7/26/13), we decided to make a bolognese sauce together from scratch. We served it over fettuccine and had a spinach salad on the side. Laura loved it, since she always likes bolognese, and Matt was surprised at how good it was too. Our pictures really don't do it justice. We love cooking together and plan to do it a lot for date nights, as it's cheap and fun.

We then headed over to target to buy some things for our apartment, using our gift cards we got as wedding presents (thanks everyone!) We got a microwave, a knife set, a shower curtain liner, and some other things. We spent the rest of the evening trying to organize and get our home together. 

Last Friday night (8/2/13), we started our date night by jogging on the provo river trail. We stopped at some parks and enjoyed exploring our neighborhood and surrounding area more. Since our house is so close to the river, we plan on taking a lot more walks and runs on it while we live here.

By the time we got home, we were so hungry we didn't feel like spending the time to cook a thai curry like we planned, so we took some frozen tortellini we had, and Matt whipped up some nice tomato sauce and spinach salad to go with it. We then accidentally fell asleep on the couch after dinner because we were just so exhausted. Earlier in the week Laura saw on Facebook that Red Mango, a frozen yogurt place, was having a free yogurt day on the 2nd, so we had been planning on that all week. We woke up disoriented from our nap, and headed out for our free yogurt. Laura loved their peanut butter frozen yogurt, and we got some  free coupons to use the next time we go for date night.

To end the evening, we watched Capote, which we both really liked and were impressed with. Laura had been wanting to watch it for awhile since Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Capote won him Best Actor, and Matt was on board. In the first few minutes, Matt was saying how much he liked it. We both ended up really enjoying it- there is of course more we could say about it, but suffice it to say: it was really well done.

A SURPRISE AT WORK

sorry for the poor quality iphone photos. but i really love matt.

WHY LAURA LIKES MATT

I think it’s always a little trite when people ask me what it is that I like about Matt. If I could say one word about him, just identify one quality that makes me love him, wouldn’t that mean that our relationship is very one-dimensional? 

My next instinct is to then respond that I like everything about Matt. But again, that isn’t  giving the asker any real information. It’s a cop-out.

So what I usually end up saying is this.

From early on, I had a good feeling about Matt. I felt very interested and drawn to him, but if you had asked me why, I would have had no answer except that I had a good feeling. Somehow I just knew he was special, unique, and good for me. 

After only a few conversations, I was able to identify what it was I liked about Matt. To me, Matt is this perfect balance of so many things. I am honestly in awe of him every day.  He is so hard working, logical, and intelligent (you don’t just get into phD programs for Chemical Engineering by looking cute). But at the same time, he is one of the goofiest, kindest, most loving people I’ve ever known. He genuinely cares about others, and you can feel it- it’s tangible. He is always trying to be his best self; no matter what situation he’s in. He loves the art of Cezanne, but also taught himself Calculus- he just simply is everything; this balance of it all that I think is so difficult to achieve. Ever since the beginning of our relationship, I’ve found this dichotomy of interests and personality in him just absolutely fascinating. I love it.

Matt makes me want to be better, try harder, and love more. He accepts me at my worst, and encourages me to be my best.  I had a good feeling about him from the beginning, and while time has passed since then, that feeling still remains.

WHY MATT LIKES LAURA

Ever since I’ve liked Laura, I have been often asked what about Laura I like so much. I dread this question because there is no clear simple response. The answer probably lies in a mélange of the conscious and subconscious - common interests, shared experiences, hormones, intuition and whatever – that I don’t even am aware of. Thus, any answer is doomed to be trite and impotent. After much thought, I have decided to address this troublesome question with a long and unrelated story.

Sometime in mid-February, everybody around us was worried about a girl named 'Coriander'. Coriander usually livened up the neighbourhood with her eclectic sassyness, but at this time she had stopped coming to social events or church, and ostracised herself from everyone else. She stopped answering her phone and door. Nobody knew why. It was unfamiliar and troubling to us all.

One evening, Laura and I decided to visit Coriander. I remember the road was grim and miserably frosted still.  At that time, our relationship was in ambiguous limbo – we were spending a lot of time together but hadn’t officially called it dating yet – so I don’t remember if we had held hands.

When Coriander opened the door, the tension was immediately tangible. Despite this, Coriander let us in when we asked if we could come in. We started chatting on the couch but the uneasiness did not abate. Coriander was agitated and I didn't know how to react. I tried some goofy humor but it exacerbated the anxiety in the room. I thought everything was going south.

It was then that Laura came into the conversation. She expressed empathy and lent a listening ear. As I have since come to know, Laura’s listening –the attentiveness and sincerity - often soothes and calms. Composed and reflective, she rarely commands the crowd but often meets the need of an individual – a primal need to be understood. She considers and contemplates upon the person - she sees the lone tree in the forest. Such feat requires one to find and hold on to a genuine, non-trivial common ground between two psyches – some impressive emotional gymnastics. Laura often musters simple and sincere empathy from little common ground. The tension soon melted, and Coriander openly talked to us for a long time, until we had to finally excuse ourselves.

I reckon Laura doesn't fully appreciate her own gift, not only because she can be a harsh self-critic, but also simple because it is simply who she is (koala bears don’t know what it is like to be not cute. Laura was probably never emotionally deaf). I remember noticing it right away though, and appreciated deeply. It was one of the first moments when my feelings for her three-dimensionalized. 

THE PRODUCT OF A RAINY WALK

We're official! 

PICTURES IN THE FOREST

TOP TEN MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Matt and Laura have been dating for 3 months. What are the top 10 memorable moments so far?

According to Matt:
In chronological order 

1. First date: When our paths unexpectedly crossed - when the first domino piece awkwardly fell, and we had no idea what was to follow.

2. Skyfall: disappointments sting. I decide to go watch a movie I'm not in the mood for, which is longer than the wall of China, only because Laura is going, and I don't get to even see her.

3. Second date: clever invitation -> can't find minigolf place -> we go bowling instead, but laura sits on a puddle -> dinner in a trolley

4. A random school day evening: just stopped by coming from campus - Laura was making freestyle tika masala, and invited me to join. Bought a lot of Laura stock that evening.

5. Indian restaurants: I treated Laura to Bombay House for Valentines Day. Laura treated me to Banana Leaf for getting her a copy of War & Peace.

6. My birthday: Laura treated me to Black Sheep, and also made me really, really good Tika masala. She is the best.

7. General Conference: Where we hoped to be featured in the Ensign as an interracial couple, were excited to hear Elder Scott speak, and ate Nepalese food in the Himalayan Kitchen afterwards.

8. Sweet potatos by the lake: watch the sun go down by Utah Lake eating Guru's sweet potato fries - but we ate too much.

9. Saturday thrift: Went on a thrifting spree with Laura. It is when thrifting when you get to witness Laura in her natural habitat, full of instinct

10. Clean/move date: We cleaned Chelsea #5 all night, and moved her stuff to the Labyrinthe house in the morning. I don't know why, but I had a lot of fun.

According to Laura:

10.  General conference weekend. We watched all of the sessions together, and went up to Salt Lake for the Saturday afternoon session. My favorite apostle is Richard G. Scott, and I was so excited that he spoke while we were in the conference center. I remember feeling like a real couple there; and realized that we could be married someday, and could always watching conference together. After the Priesthood session we went out to Himalayan Kitchen and walked around Salt Lake at night, and it was just an awesome day. 

9.      Sitting at the lake eating sweet potato fries. One of my favorite dates was when we got sweet potato fries to go at Guru’s, and just sat at Utah Lake together. It was after the stress of finals and moving, and it was so good to relax with Matt; so simple but so fun. I loved just laying in the grass, looking at the mountains and water, and talking. I realized then that I really love doing anything with him.

8.     Matt's birthday. I wanted to make Matt's birthday special and fun. We went out to Black Sheep with a bunch of our friends the day before, and on the actual day I made him Chicken Tikka Masala. I also got several silly little gifts at the dollar tree, and a dinosaur balloon. We didn’t do much but just spend time together cooking, eating, watching Amelie, and cuddling. I remember how important it was to me that he felt appreciated and special, and realized how much I cared about him.

7. Our snowshoe date. Our first date was a double date snowshoeing in Rock Canyon Park. I was so nervous about what to wear, because I wanted to look cute, which seemed absolutely impossible while snowshoeing. With snowshoeing, it is obviously cold out so you need to dress warmly, but also it's very aerobic so you get warm quickly. I was nervous about the date, but I  really enjoyed talking to him. I just felt that I wanted to get to know him better. For some reason, Matt made me feel good and happy, and I wanted to keep feeling that.

6.      Our second date. Our second date sparked from Matt and his roommate Lee re-creating my profile picture. They dressed up and posed like my friend and I, and photo shopped them in the same background. The date got changed, but we ended up bowling and going out to eat. At the bowling alley I accidentally sat in a puddle of water; I was slightly horrified but I tried to play it cool. After the date, I was worried that he wasn't into me. I post-date texted him (which I hardly ever do) and  he didn’t use as many emoticons and exclamation marks as usual, so I thought he was letting me down easy. But, I was wrong, and he did want to spend more time with me I came to find out.

  5.      Valentine’s Day. On Valentine’s Day, I woke up in my top bunk as usual. I had the thought run through my mind, “If I was to get a gift today, I’d want to get it in the morning when I woke up. That would be so exciting.” I rubbed my eyes and saw some vintage books on my desk with a rose on it. I asked Eden where they came from, and she said they were left outside our apartment late last night when she came home. I opened up the books and there was a cut out inside with chocolates. In the book he highlighted  a quote about friends making life worth living, and added in a quote from my favorite movie, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” with an invitation to Bombay House for that evening. I was so surprised, and realized that he was a very thoughtful, caring person.

4. After the Women in Psychology Conference. One Friday I spent the day up in Salt Lake at a conference. Matt stopped by before I went up to wish me luck, and I remember feeling like I just wanted to stay home and spend the day with him. While there, I realized that I couldn’t wait to get home and make pizza and watch a foreign film like we planned. I got stuck in traffic driving back to Provo, and it was so frustrating because I just wanted so badly to get home and spend time with him. It was a turning point for me, because it made me realize just how much I liked spending time with him, and how happy he made me.

3.      The time he said he more than liked me. One night we were cuddling on the tan, sunken couch in Chelsea 5 after a long day as usual. I said something along the lines of, “I like you,” as we had many times before. He paused and didn’t say anything for a minute. After what seemed like forever, Matt said, “I think that I more than like you.” I realized that I more than liked him too, but I didn’t say it then. A few days later, we were on that same couch again, and after he told me he loved me, I said that I loved him too.

 2. Sitting outside the temple discussing our life together. When I finally told Matt that I would definitely say yes if he proposed, I think we were both a little shell shocked, even though we had been discussing it for awhile. We already had plans to go to the temple that afternoon, so we decided to go. We ended up just sitting on the beautiful temple grounds, talking about our future life together and how we felt. I felt so perfectly calm and peaceful. I told Matt about that feeling, and he said he was glad it felt that way- that he didn’t want a fairytale, but a happy reality. I just loved that. I love our happy reality.

1. The day Matt stopped by in mid-January that started it all… It was a Thursday morning, and I had slept in because I had already finished my hospice hours for the week, so I didn't need to go in. I was laying on my top bunk bed and talking with my mom about how school, work, and my internship was going, and we talked about how happy I was to not be dating anyone, that I felt content and full in my life. Later that morning Matt knocked on the door to set up an appointment to get together for our calling in church. I felt that I needed to be extra friendly and witty, because I was embarrassed to be in front of him, who I was interested in and didn't know why, in my sweatpants, with no make-up on, and unshowered. I guess I made a good enough impression with my personality, because he called me later that afternoon and invited me on a group date that Saturday. And it all started from there...

WHO ARE WE?

This is Laura. Laura is awesome. She is the greatest. She is cute like a Koala bear (kahhh-YOOT). Laura loves long, intricate Russian novels. She loves old people and babies, and everyone in between as well.  She loves rainy days when she can wear her bright green raincoat. She plans on continuing being kick-a.

This is Matt. He is cute, but not as cute. He likes animal crackers. Matt is a man of many talents. He cooks excellent meals, draws adorable pictures, and speaks 4 languages. Matt is a cuddler. He is the best friend that a girl could ask for. He will be starting his PhD in the fall.

Together they....


Matt and Laura love Indian food. They love going to garage sales, and watching foreign films. They love to sit on the porch at night and talk while looking at the mountains. But most of all they love each other.