title: willow
year: 1988
rating: ★★★1/2
22.5.10
books and biscuits: muffins with candied orange
more little women food! more! go over to books and biscuits to find out how to make amy's favorite breakfast treat-- muffins with candied orange peel.
20.5.10
in the kitchen: bacon enchiladas
okay, so the words "bacon enchilada" really did float into my head one night just as i was falling asleep. i decided that i needed to make this (almost) dream a reality. but how to go about creating this mystical meal? i could have taken the easy way and gone the breakfast-burrito route, but that seemed too simple for me. i wanted something closer to a typical enchilada, except... baconfied.
behold, gentle readers: the bacon enchilada.
spicy bacony deliciousness in a tortilla. it was huevos rancheros-inspired, minus the eggs, which means a dose of smoked paprika in honor of the chorizo traditionally used in huevos rancheros, sweet corn instead of a crisp corn tortilla, and a spicy ranchero sauce over top. omnomnomnom.
behold, gentle readers: the bacon enchilada.
spicy bacony deliciousness in a tortilla. it was huevos rancheros-inspired, minus the eggs, which means a dose of smoked paprika in honor of the chorizo traditionally used in huevos rancheros, sweet corn instead of a crisp corn tortilla, and a spicy ranchero sauce over top. omnomnomnom.
19.5.10
recipe preview
alright, i know that today is recipe day. i've actually been really excited about recipe day, because this is one i've been working on for a while. however, i've come down with a case of Stomach Evil, so the recipe will have to wait for some time when the smell of food doesn't make me want to die. i thought i'd give you a preview, though-- the two mystical words that drifted into my head one night just as i fell asleep and inspired this (hopefully) delightful concoction:
bacon. enchiladas.
bacon. enchiladas.
18.5.10
photos: eureka trip
17.5.10
update: adventure! for reals, this time!
the beginning of last week was brain-wrackingly frustrating, so in order to keep my sanity i took this past friday off. hooray for three-day weekends! i think three days is pretty ideal for me-- just right to get everything done that i need to get done, plus time to do things with friends, plus time to relax. just perfect.
friday was a day of indulgence, for the most part. i went on a trek to a lovely little french pastry shop for breakfast, then went to an adorable little bookstore that i would live in if i could. i'd gotten a gift certificate from friends for this little bookstore, but i'd, of course, forgotten it at home. i bought the books anyway. (welcome to my expanding library, the little prince and the princess bride.) this just means that now i have to go back and use my gift certificate to get more books. i have no idea what i'm going to spend it on, and i'm sure i'll agonize about it for a while, but this means my little library will grow even more!
friday evening, i went out to dinner with some friends. one friend brought her boyfriend's son, who was four and adorable and took quite the liking to me. i'm absolutely certain that the waitress thought he was my son, and she could hardly be blamed for it. partway through the meal, he decided he was done and instead leaned up against me and pulled my arm around him. he was cute as a button, so i was okay with it.
saturday, my friend chelsey and i went on a field trip to eureka, a little mining town out west. adventure! for reals! eureka is what's called a half ghost town, meaning that parts of it are abandoned and creepy as all get-out, but the town is still technically active. people still live there. why? i have absolutely no idea, because heebidy jeebidy. i'll give you more information about the town tomorrow, including pictures that i took during our adventure. for now, here's a teaser.
that bird was real. there were, in fact, a lot of black birds hopping and swooping around the cemetery, as well as a few deer. chels and i started down one path and there were two black birds in the road right in front of us. i said in a very ominous tone that there was one for each of us. she didn't think i was very funny.
saturday night, i went to a wedding reception for one of my coworkers. it was really, really pretty and really well put-together. her family is a wedding-planning powerhouse. she has a sister who's a florist, a sister who's a pastry cook, a sister who's a graphic designer, a sister who's an amazing cook/style diva, and her parents are caterers. seriously. this family was made for weddings.
at the reception, my friend britt (who is the amazing cook/style diva in the above family) introduced me to one of her friends who she's been telling me about for a while now. the minute he turned around, there was this slow-motion moment of oh my gosh. (no, not in a romantic way, so don't even think that. barking up the wrong tree there.) i worked with him five years ago at the borders cafe! i'm constantly amazed at how small this area really is. britt and i actually dated the same guy six years ago and were at the same parties without ever having actually met. she's friends with this boy who i worked with at borders, who also happens to be good friends with the girl who was my college roommate when i was a freshman. (also, my CEO's daughter-in-law is the daughter of my parents' good friends, and one of my best friends in high school had a desperate crush on her son. iiiit's a small world aaaafteraaaall...)
this week's goals: stay positive, be happy, and drink water. also... yoga didn't really happen last week, but it will this week. dang it.
friday was a day of indulgence, for the most part. i went on a trek to a lovely little french pastry shop for breakfast, then went to an adorable little bookstore that i would live in if i could. i'd gotten a gift certificate from friends for this little bookstore, but i'd, of course, forgotten it at home. i bought the books anyway. (welcome to my expanding library, the little prince and the princess bride.) this just means that now i have to go back and use my gift certificate to get more books. i have no idea what i'm going to spend it on, and i'm sure i'll agonize about it for a while, but this means my little library will grow even more!
friday evening, i went out to dinner with some friends. one friend brought her boyfriend's son, who was four and adorable and took quite the liking to me. i'm absolutely certain that the waitress thought he was my son, and she could hardly be blamed for it. partway through the meal, he decided he was done and instead leaned up against me and pulled my arm around him. he was cute as a button, so i was okay with it.
saturday, my friend chelsey and i went on a field trip to eureka, a little mining town out west. adventure! for reals! eureka is what's called a half ghost town, meaning that parts of it are abandoned and creepy as all get-out, but the town is still technically active. people still live there. why? i have absolutely no idea, because heebidy jeebidy. i'll give you more information about the town tomorrow, including pictures that i took during our adventure. for now, here's a teaser.
that bird was real. there were, in fact, a lot of black birds hopping and swooping around the cemetery, as well as a few deer. chels and i started down one path and there were two black birds in the road right in front of us. i said in a very ominous tone that there was one for each of us. she didn't think i was very funny.
saturday night, i went to a wedding reception for one of my coworkers. it was really, really pretty and really well put-together. her family is a wedding-planning powerhouse. she has a sister who's a florist, a sister who's a pastry cook, a sister who's a graphic designer, a sister who's an amazing cook/style diva, and her parents are caterers. seriously. this family was made for weddings.
at the reception, my friend britt (who is the amazing cook/style diva in the above family) introduced me to one of her friends who she's been telling me about for a while now. the minute he turned around, there was this slow-motion moment of oh my gosh. (no, not in a romantic way, so don't even think that. barking up the wrong tree there.) i worked with him five years ago at the borders cafe! i'm constantly amazed at how small this area really is. britt and i actually dated the same guy six years ago and were at the same parties without ever having actually met. she's friends with this boy who i worked with at borders, who also happens to be good friends with the girl who was my college roommate when i was a freshman. (also, my CEO's daughter-in-law is the daughter of my parents' good friends, and one of my best friends in high school had a desperate crush on her son. iiiit's a small world aaaafteraaaall...)
this week's goals: stay positive, be happy, and drink water. also... yoga didn't really happen last week, but it will this week. dang it.
16.5.10
retro movie flashback: 10 things i hate about you (1999)
title: 10 things i hate about you
year: 1999
rating: ★★1/2
year: 1999
rating: ★★1/2
15.5.10
books and biscuits: blancmange
head over to books and biscuits for a recipe for a fluffy almondy cloud of deliciousness, also known as blancmange. (so amazingly delicious it's a little ridiculous.)
14.5.10
wild card: strawberry rhubarb pie
sooo goooood. (no pictures, but trust me. it looked as good as it tasted.) tis the season for rhubarb! go buy some! post-haste!
top fiveish: retro commercials that get stuck in my head
these are the commercial jingles that pop into my head every so often. (or every... extremely often for the top few.) sometimes all it takes is a word or a few familiar notes, and there it is. (there's another one that i couldn't find a clip for. it was a cover girl nailslicks commercial for like... ice cream colors. "chocolate marshmallow toes... lemon freeze SO cool... i nearly froze. grape ice is nice, strawberry shakes me too. don't freeze me out, i'm meltin'... over you.")
in the kitchen: sweet potato fries
i really don't think that a recipe can get easier than this one. and oh, the rewards are glorious. behold, the homemade sweet potato fry.
11.5.10
update: it's an update-newsday two-for-one deal!
okay, so i'm kind of failing at posting every day. but i'm still a good person. right? right?
work has been continuing to eat my face, but it's let up for just a little bit. more big projects coming my way, but i'm just taking a moment to breathe right now and find my happy place. because i worked this past weekend, i'm planning on taking this friday off, which will be nice. yay for three-day weekends!
i made strawberry rhubarb pie this weekend. i'd never had it before, and tis the season for rhubarb, so i decided to just go for it. oh my holy deliciousness. i don't know how i've survived twenty-six years without ever becoming acquainted with strawberry rhubarb pie (or, as i just decided that i like to call it, strizzle ru-pizzle*). so maybe you should be expecting a pie recipe coming up at some point this week, either for my usual wednesday(ish) recipe or friday's wild card.
also, here's the newsday part of today's post. saturday night, there was a shooting at an area grocery store. i'm not going to link to the exact article because i don't really want creepy internet people to figure out where i live and show up at my door one day, but the summary is as follows:
at 8:40pm on saturday night, police responded to a call from security guards at a local grocery store. the guards had restrained a man who was being disorderly and were holding him in the store office. when the police arrived, the man pulled a gun on them and pointed it at one of the police officers, who then shot the man in self defense. the man was pronounced dead at the scene. no customers witnessed the incident. after the customers left, the entrances to the store were closed and the police began their investigation into the incident.
see, here's the thing. remember how i said i worked this weekend? i was in the office until about eight. then i drove home. on the way home, i stopped by the store to pick up some things for my mom's special mother's day dinner. i wandered around the store for a bit before i figured out what i wanted, then purchased it and left. around, say, 8:30. and yes, it was this exact grocery store.
heebidy jeebidy.
on a better subject, goals for this week: remember to eat breakfast. remember to bring lunch to work. maybe try some yoga in the morning.
hope you're all having a good week!
* i need more sleep. seriously.
work has been continuing to eat my face, but it's let up for just a little bit. more big projects coming my way, but i'm just taking a moment to breathe right now and find my happy place. because i worked this past weekend, i'm planning on taking this friday off, which will be nice. yay for three-day weekends!
i made strawberry rhubarb pie this weekend. i'd never had it before, and tis the season for rhubarb, so i decided to just go for it. oh my holy deliciousness. i don't know how i've survived twenty-six years without ever becoming acquainted with strawberry rhubarb pie (or, as i just decided that i like to call it, strizzle ru-pizzle*). so maybe you should be expecting a pie recipe coming up at some point this week, either for my usual wednesday(ish) recipe or friday's wild card.
also, here's the newsday part of today's post. saturday night, there was a shooting at an area grocery store. i'm not going to link to the exact article because i don't really want creepy internet people to figure out where i live and show up at my door one day, but the summary is as follows:
at 8:40pm on saturday night, police responded to a call from security guards at a local grocery store. the guards had restrained a man who was being disorderly and were holding him in the store office. when the police arrived, the man pulled a gun on them and pointed it at one of the police officers, who then shot the man in self defense. the man was pronounced dead at the scene. no customers witnessed the incident. after the customers left, the entrances to the store were closed and the police began their investigation into the incident.
see, here's the thing. remember how i said i worked this weekend? i was in the office until about eight. then i drove home. on the way home, i stopped by the store to pick up some things for my mom's special mother's day dinner. i wandered around the store for a bit before i figured out what i wanted, then purchased it and left. around, say, 8:30. and yes, it was this exact grocery store.
heebidy jeebidy.
on a better subject, goals for this week: remember to eat breakfast. remember to bring lunch to work. maybe try some yoga in the morning.
hope you're all having a good week!
* i need more sleep. seriously.
10.5.10
books and biscuits: little women review
go look over at books and biscuits for a rambly review of little women! (whoooo's excited for blancmange next week? i am, i am!)
7.5.10
wild card: the little prince
this book didn't really fit in over at books and biscuits, because there's no food, but i've had this book on the brain for a while now. so here you go!
Title: the little prince
Author: antoine de saint-exupery
Genre: fantasy
Audience: technically it's a children's book, but i recommend it for adults
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: the little prince
Author: antoine de saint-exupery
Genre: fantasy
Audience: technically it's a children's book, but i recommend it for adults
Rating: ★★★★★
in the kitchen: beet and carrot puree with nutmeg cream
ooo, that sounds fancy, doesn't it? well, it's basically a fluffy, creamy version of borscht, minus the potatoes. i came up with it last night as a way to use up some of my sad vegetables that i've been neglecting and some other bits and pieces that needed to be used up in the fridge. veeery tasty. because i made this up and am really awful at measuring, the following measurements are estimated. adjust it to suit your tastes. i also made a panini with ciabatta, provolone, gorgonzola, and caramelized onions. mmmmm. match made in heaven. (sorry this is late, by the way. but better late than never!)
4.5.10
newsday: apartment awesomeness
this isn't exactly news, per se, but it is extremely awesome. this is a tiny one-room apartment (i think they say 300 square feet) that can be transformed into 24 different rooms. completely brilliant.
3.5.10
update: danger! intigue! (or: another dull week in the life of a brenda)
i had this dream last night, i was in brazil, doing something work-related. i was outside, beneath a canopy of trees, and i suddenly realized that the trees were full of snakes-- big, fat, bright-yellow snakes that were draped over the branches. very scary. lots of hissing. i kept calling them asps, even though i knew they weren't asps. i climbed a vine to get away from the snakes, but i needed to get inside of this little house. getting inside meant walking under the snakes, though. so i created a distraction by knocking over a box of grape kool-aid packets. all of the snakes attacked the box and i ran inside. one of the snakes-- a particularly long, fat one-- followed me into the house. i slammed the door and cut it in half, but the half with the head stayed alive and kept following me, so i dropped a stack of books on it.
hmm.
other than that, nothing particularly interesting is going on right now in my life. alas! i have a few big projects i'm working on at work that i'm trying to balance and wrap my brain around. i feel like i really need a vacation, but then i realize that i just had a vacation a month ago and should really be fine.
sigh. woe is me. i can hear you playing your little violins.
on wednesday i had a talk with jules, who is... my... therapist? kind of? okay, technically she does "energy work and emotional release," which is like therapy, only it has less to do with jung and freud and the dsm IV and more to do with the ideas of eastern medicine. think chi and chakras and balancing the elements. a session with jules is extremely hard to explain, so i won't even really try. she is, however, amazing. amazing. i love talking with her.
i also got to spend time with quite a few friends this week. i attended a bridal shower for a coworker with some of my friends from work. it was very nice to be out with all of them. i really do love my coworkers, and i feel lucky to be able to say that. i am avoiding even thinking about the upcoming day in july when one of my work friends will be moving to california. this is why i need to learn how to apparate post-haste. (also, that would make vacation a lot more feasable. dear j.k. rowling: can adults attend hogwarts? is there a correspondence course setup of some sort?) i also went out with some friends to a lovely little sushi place that was both cheap and delicious. afterward, i spent several hours talking my friend's ear off, reapplying it, and then talking it off again. poor thing. (but you can't tell it ever fell off, really. still quite natural-looking.)
this coming week, i'm going to try and keep my life generally organized at home-- a good dinner made every night, keeping things nice and tidy. it's interesting how much easier it is to concentrate on hard tasks when everything else is in order.
hope you all have a lovely week!
hmm.
other than that, nothing particularly interesting is going on right now in my life. alas! i have a few big projects i'm working on at work that i'm trying to balance and wrap my brain around. i feel like i really need a vacation, but then i realize that i just had a vacation a month ago and should really be fine.
sigh. woe is me. i can hear you playing your little violins.
on wednesday i had a talk with jules, who is... my... therapist? kind of? okay, technically she does "energy work and emotional release," which is like therapy, only it has less to do with jung and freud and the dsm IV and more to do with the ideas of eastern medicine. think chi and chakras and balancing the elements. a session with jules is extremely hard to explain, so i won't even really try. she is, however, amazing. amazing. i love talking with her.
i also got to spend time with quite a few friends this week. i attended a bridal shower for a coworker with some of my friends from work. it was very nice to be out with all of them. i really do love my coworkers, and i feel lucky to be able to say that. i am avoiding even thinking about the upcoming day in july when one of my work friends will be moving to california. this is why i need to learn how to apparate post-haste. (also, that would make vacation a lot more feasable. dear j.k. rowling: can adults attend hogwarts? is there a correspondence course setup of some sort?) i also went out with some friends to a lovely little sushi place that was both cheap and delicious. afterward, i spent several hours talking my friend's ear off, reapplying it, and then talking it off again. poor thing. (but you can't tell it ever fell off, really. still quite natural-looking.)
this coming week, i'm going to try and keep my life generally organized at home-- a good dinner made every night, keeping things nice and tidy. it's interesting how much easier it is to concentrate on hard tasks when everything else is in order.
hope you all have a lovely week!
2.5.10
1.5.10
books and biscuits: rich damp cake with green sugar (peter pan)
He stood for a long time lost in thought, and at last a curdling smile lit up his swarthy face. Smee had been waiting for it. "Unrip your plan, captain," he cried eagerly.head over to books and biscuits for a recipe for rich damp (chocolate!) cake with green sugar. nine out of ten lost boys agree, it's completely delicious. (and no one really cares what slightly thinks, anyway.)
"To return to the ship," Hook replied slowly through his teeth, "and cook a large rich cake of a jolly thickness with green sugar on it. There can be but one room below, for there is but one chimney. The silly moles had not the sense to see that they did not need a door apiece. That shows they have no mother. We will leave the cake on the shore of the Mermaids' Lagoon. These boys are always swimming about there, playing with the mermaids. They will find the cake and they will gobble it up, because, having no mother, they don't know how dangerous 'tis to eat rich damp cake." He burst into laughter, not hollow laughter now, but honest laughter. "Aha, they will die."
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