A Day Off, A New Home, and Fontina Cheese

Thursday, Shane took the day off so he could take the pup to the spay/neuter clinic and to take care of some other things.  I had been in Dallas so I drove in to Grapevine to meet him for lunch.  We met at Flip's in Grapevine, which at one point was labeled as our "second home" back in the day.  It was so close to my old apartment in Grapevine and they have great food and cheap drinks.  After lunch we decided, on a whim, to go look at some townhouses.  They are in a complex where I lived a few years ago when I first moved to Grapevine.  The complex was super old, but very clean, well managed, and well kept.  I remembered them having 2-story townhouses and I was curious what the rent was.  I assumed it would be outrageous and/or none would be available, but we are absolutely DESPERATE to find a place to live in Grapevine and the longer we stay here in our current apartment, the  more money we throw away in month-to-month rent and the more traffic Shane is forced to sit in.  We have been hoping and searching and waiting for a rent house to pop up.  We even considered buying for awhile, but once our lease ended here in Ft Worth, we realized time was running out and rushing to BUY a home was probably the stupidest thing we could ever do.  And even though people LOVE living in a house and I do look forward to the day when we do purchase our very first home together, I am forced to list the WONDERFUL things about apartment life:

• No yard work (not that I would be doing it, but still...)
• You pay rent and utilities and that's it! (no property taxes, no mortgage, no refinancing, no school taxes, etc.)
• If something breaks, someone else fixes it...and pays for it!
• If it's terrible, you just wait till your lease is up and move somewhere else! 
• Did I mention no yard work?
• Amenities like a pool and workout center (which I realize apartment pools can sometimes be crappy, but when you don't have a house with a pool you will take anything!)

So with that being said, Shane and I have found our next home.  It's a two-story 1300 sq foot townhome in the heart of Grapevine.  The location is PERFECT and will put him barely 30-35 minutes away from work and I'll be 30-35 minutes away as well.  I will have zero traffic both coming and going and he will have just a little bit coming home.  We'll also be closer to my family, not too far from his, and close to many of our friends!  This was really a fabulous find and we are excited.  Our official move-in date is May 18th, but we will have access to the FW apartment until May 31st.  This will be nice since moving is so stressful, time-consuming, and we will both be very busy during that time with end of year activities at school and Shane possibly traveling for work.  We appreciate your prayers as we start to slowly pack up our things to get ready for this next chapter!  

Onto the "cooking" portion of my post....which is what this entire blog is intended for in the first place...Thursday night I tried out a Rachel Ray recipe that has been in my recipe drawer for probably 2+ years.  Drunken Pork Chops and Savory Green Rice with Fontina. I'd never tried it because one of the ingredients in the side dish was unfamiliar to me and I am usually turned off by "scary", unfamiliar ingredients....What ingredient is it, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you and you will probably laugh at why it was unfamiliar to me....It was Fontina cheese!  And yes I HAD heard of it, but I had never actually seen it and I also assumed it was outrageously expensive.  But alas, I decided to get adventurous and set out to cook this delicious dish.  The pork chops were EXTREMELY easy.  I will also mention that one of the ingredients in the pork chops, anchovy paste, was also "scary", but I actually left it out.  Truth to tell I probably would've bought it, but I forgot about it when making my grocery list!  Next time I will definitely be trying it with the paste....why not, right?  Not sure what it would do to the flavor though....Oh and I used dried rosemary, not fresh.  The dry red wine I used was also very delicious, which brings me to my next raving.....Fontina cheese....a fabulous discovery....

Fontina cheese is actually a cheese meant for fondue because it melts very quickly and easily.  It has a mild flavor, but it is very creamy and DELICIOUS.  I could probably eat an entire block.  One small bite of this cheese and a sip of wine, just before you swallow the cheese.....you will float away on a cloud to Fontina Paradise.