Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Few Of My Favorite Things

In honor of The Sound of Music I'm going to list a few of my favorite things. On a side note, if you're ever in Salzburg, Austria I recommend the official movie tour.
And for those family members who read my blog, take note because my birthday and Christmas are fast approaching. Just kidding, but really, Mom, read carefully because I won't be sending you a birthday list this year. :)

Real Simple magazine

I was originally drawn to this publication because a good friend praised the graphic design, but I've also found the articles entertaining and useful. When I had a subscription, this was the one magazine I read cover to cover every month.

ELLE brand clothing at Kohl's

I love the simple details of these clothes, and when Kohl's has a sale, they have really great prices for quality clothing. Needless to say, I own several ELLE shirts, but I wouldn't turn down another one.

Games

There's no link for this one because you can buy a variety of games at a number of stores, and I support them all equally. Sam and I registered for several games when we got married, and we've already had so much fun playing Catch Phrase with friends and The Game of Life together. Pun intended. Many memories are yet to be made, and I love that we can spend time together without any electronic interference or recurring monetary cost.

That's all for now because I should be reading (I also love books, but currently have no time to indulge in reading for fun) and grocery shopping. I could add several other "things" to my list, but the title implies a select few, so maybe later I'll talk about recycling, coffee, and scarves. Hopefully a few of my favorite things might become yours, or maybe the list will just help you think about the little things in life that make you happy. Feel free to comment and share what some of those things might be so that I can share in your happiness.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Dessert Weekend


If you don't know who The Pioneer Woman is, stop reading this blog immediately, and go to her blog to be inspired and charmed into adoration.

Many thanks to my sister-in-law for introducing me to the witty writing and recipes of The Pioneer Woman.

Anyway, now that you've perused her cooking blog (and the rest of her blog), you know how she presents her recipes with full step-by-step instructions and color photos. I had good intentions of doing just that before I started this recipe for Mocha Truffle Tartlets, but then I got distracted by actually making them.

I did at least manage to take some pictures of the final product, and I can endorse these as easy to make and a crowd-pleaser. I took them to a surprise birthday party. Happy birthday, Alexis! Sam liked them, too. His ringing endorsement was, "They look like quiche, but they're dessert!" (The exclamation point was not evident in his tone of voice, but I used creative license to spice up his quote.)

I didn't use the full amount of the cream cheese topping, so don't make as much as it tells you to make, or do a better job of evenly dispersing it than I did. Also, these are really rich, so one or two per person is plenty. If I make them again I might half the recipe.

I love baking and making desserts of all kind, so this weekend is super fun for me because I get to make an Italian chocolate cake (from Giada's latest cookbook) for small group Sunday night, too.

I try not to make full sized desserts for just the two of us, so when I have the opportunity to bake for a group, I indulge my culinary creativity. And, maybe when I make the cake I'll try a bit more to emulate The Pioneer Woman and have a post full of pictures. For now, enjoy looking at the tartlets, and consider making them yourself.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Books




Last night I started reading Moby Dick for the first time. That's right. Feel sorry for me and moan a sympathetic "poor you."

Secretly, I'm kind of excited about reading it because it's one of those pieces of literature that unites our culture. It's "in the canon," so no matter how many generations of students complain about it, we still read and discuss it frequently. As a good English major, if you had prompted a discussion about this book a week ago, I could have kept up and thrown in my comments of "Melville," "whale," and "Call me Ishmael," but after this next couple weeks, I'll officially be a member of the club of people who have read (and possibly loathed) Moby Dick.

Confession time, dear reader(s). I assume there's more than one of you based on my stats. What other books can you quote perfunctory facts about but have never actually read? Comment about it. Go!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Christmas Craftiness




Sometimes I get a burst of creativity and want to design something crafty. This is the result of a sale at Hobby Lobby, several weekends, and a love of the holidays.


Don't worry Mom, my new friend will stay hidden until after Thanksgiving, when all educated people decorate for Christmas. :)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Word Power

So...I considered posting pictures of an awesome baking feat for my second entry because the Pioneer Woman so inspires me, but that will have to wait because I've been too busy thinking about other things this week to bake anything awesome. I did make some yummy cream cheese brownies last night, but that was stress baking, not a blog-worthy culinary feat.

Instead, I thought I'd ruminate about the power of the word. I've been pondering this for a while now. As a self-avowed lover of language, words have special potency with me. But my respect for the Word goes beyond my appreciation of well-crafted literature. I believe that Jesus is the Word, who became flesh and lived among us, and the metaphors used throughout the Word of God to describe how God exists in paradoxical proportions ring so true. Maybe it's a personal bias because of my obsession with language, but the words justice and mercy, righteousness and love provide such a multifaceted picture of God that gives me faith that He is not created. He is the Creator.

Communication is everything in relationships, and without intending it, I all too often lash out at people with my words. Rather than carefully choosing the right epithet, I become careless or intentionally select a word with a negative connotation. I could write a whole other entry about the mysteries of connotation, but for now, I'll leave you with a challenge to remember the power of your words and choose them wisely.

Maybe my next post will have a picture of something homemade just to redeem my blog from becoming too "preachy."

Monday, September 13, 2010

Welcome to My Mind

Should I be blogging right now? Probably not. I have several other things on my plate, but as an English major who has developed an aversion to writing, this is my foray into the digital world in which everyone feels the need to know everything about each other. Facebook statuses and term papers have failed to fill the need I have to explore my writing voice, and I enjoy reading other peoples' thoughts, so here is my contribution to the blogosphere. Although I do hope someone can enjoy reading my ramblings, this experiment is mainly one to satisfy a personal desire to find my voice. I promise not to divulge too much of myself in this blog. If you seek a deeper relationship with me, you will have to be what might be considered passe and actually spend time with me in person. And, along that vein, I will promise a few more things to any potential readers this project might attract.

1. I promise to edit my writing and minimize typographical errors.

2. I promise to be honest and keep what I consider to be a somewhat entertaining flow of thoughts.

3. I promise not to post every day because I am busy interacting with people through venues other than the world wide web and my cell phone.

On that note, here's a brief list of facts about me:

I am a newly wed graduate student whose ideas of fun are somewhat old-fashioned. I love to cook, play board games, and read. All of those activities are more fun with my husband. Maybe in a later post I'll share some thoughts about my studies, living on a budget, baking experiments, or whatever I feel passionate about. We shall see together, how this experiment in writing develops, my potential reader(s). Hopefully, future posts will have more coherence and follow a less scattered train of thought. No promises about that, though. :)