New Years Oyster Roast

Stuart rode the Amtrak into town for New Year's Eve.  It was a night of MSU football, but being as he was a bit upset with the Bulldogs toward the end of their season (and because I asked to go on a date), we forfeited the television and headed downtown for a nice dinner out.  We went to a Japanese/Sushi place called Ten.  It's supposedly frequented by the C'ville famous, but instead it was just us and a bunch of half-dressed gals out for the new year.  The food though, was fantastic.  We had everything from avocado tempura to wagyu beef rolls (cooked of course).  After we got home we decided to be festive and watch the NYE celebration on TV, and made it all 'til 1030pm and fell asleep.

On New Years Day our friend Will, a fine Southern boy, threw an oyster roast.  Now I love a good social event involving food, but am unsure about those slimy bivalves.  But since January is right in the midst of oyster season, and you can pick up these guys nearby, I thought I would give it a try.  Stuart has always loved oysters, and I have to say I'm surprised that I enjoyed them right along with him!  It was called a roast but they were more of steamed I guess you'd say.  Given that you cook a lot at once, you can imagine some are almost raw and some are more done.  I liked them most somewhere in between, where just a nudge would slip it out of the shell and onto your cracker.

A lot of people came to the occasion, fortunately mostly doctors and nurses, as it turned out shucking oysters is pretty difficult and you can cut yourself pretty bad!  I think Stuart and I may have to fashion us an oyster shucking/crawfish and shrimp peeling table for future shindigs!

Steve, already with an injured wrist, gives shucking a try

Oops!  Oyster 1, Josh 0

An iPhone really can be used for about anything; here it doubles as a flashlight to check the doneness of the oysters

Will dumping out the steaming shells

Tacky Christmas

I've lost count of exactly how many Tacky Sweater Parties we've had.  Probably at least 5 by now.  I'd like to think that Stuart and I are famous for them, but I don't know if that's exactly the case.  Regardless, we're usually able to convince lots of folks to come due to the lore of the deep fryer and all kinds of delicious things getting dunked in there.  Add a Dirty Santa gift swap and a prize for best dressed, and there's not many more better ways to throw a party!

Turns out Reese's are not fryer compatible. They just dissolve.

Winston got a lot of love while wearing his tacky sweater.

Deep in discussion of frying strategy

These Northern boys discovered Rotel dip!

Dr and Mrs Love in their finest Christmas attire.

Exhausted from all the fun

Dr Churchill won best dressed!  I think those earrings made the outfit

Quite the gift - Spam!  Upon opening everyone exclaimed "lets fry it"!

Watching Dirty Santa

Dr Le received a "cowboy-scented" candle and some glue sticks; exactly what he wanted!

A green Buddha head to match the big white one given at the last tacky party.  Now both proudly displayed in the resident library at UVA.

Jess got a hand-written poem from Rich

And the prize for best dressed?!  Hot guys and baby animals calendar!

It wasn't long after the gift swap that the Spam made its way over to the fryer.

Pondering the fried Spam.  The consensus was that it tasted like bacon, but soggier

Rich's poem

Third years!

Prashant and Winston

Family photo

Friendsgiving!

I can't believe we had the third annual Saulters Friendsgiving just a couple of weeks ago!  Fortunately Stuart was able to come to this one!  I had the day off after an exciting 28-hour call day in the MICU.  Stuart and I started early by preparing 2 turkeys to roast, and then he got worn out and took a nap while I made homemade cranberry sauce and lots (and lots) of cornbread.  I tried my hand at a pumpkin pie but did something wrong and it turned out more like pumpkin pudding.  Oh well!

Mardi was interested in the poultry activities.  No worries, we cleaned the counter afterwards.

I gave Stu the experience of stuffing butter and herbs under the skin.

Whew!  Making turkey is hard work!

The party started at 7:30.  We had about 30 friends come over, each bringing sides and/or dessert!  I was originally afraid we wouldn't have enough food but boy was I wrong!  I had about a gallon of mashed potatoes left over in my fridge!  I think everyone had a good time.  If you can't be with family for Thanksgiving at least you can be with great friends!

Ted had the turkey carving honors - he did a great job!

Friendsgiving is always cozy in a small apartment

ohhhh yeah ... dessert table!

Winston got a new bow tie for the occasion

Andre stayed up past his bedtime to come eat with us!

A strong intern showing

(part of) the third year class 

Crabtree Falls

Stuart and I have come up with a small "Charlottesville Bucket List" of things to do before I graduate at the end of June (... how did time go by so fast?)

There's a hiking section of the list with two famous C-ville area hikes we haven't done.  A few weeks ago we decided to mark off Crabtree Falls.  These are the tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, and you get a good view of them for most of the hike.  It was about 4 miles if I remember correctly, which isn't too bad, but the first half is mostly switchbacks up the mountain.  A good work-out!

Unfortunately most of the fall leaves had already fallen since we were at a bit higher elevation; but the views were still beautiful!  Here are some photos ...

Winston tried to play in the water some

Unfortunately it was like an act of Congress trying to get him to go up these open stairs.  He usually defaulted to just going in the leaves and then would slip and slide and fall down the hill.  Stuart carried him most of the staircases.

Winston blazing a trail

Next hike on the bucket list: Old Rag!