On Nicola's blog I read the 10 simple things that make her happy. She got the idea from Heather, and I'm carrying on the chain (in no particular order)!
1. Cheese (especially the goat and smoked gouda varieties), basil, mint, sweets...
2. When my husband does something sweet
3. When I get a good grade on something I worked really hard on
4. My daddy's weekly phone calls
5. A few minutes to just play on Facebook/let my brain escape
6. Text messages
7. Goddaughters, two nieces and one nephew
8. My cousins, near and far
9. When my dog rests his head on my shoulder
10.Compliments from a prof, friend, co-worker
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Lent
Do you give up anything for lent? Do you try, the same way you might a New Year's Resolution? Do you even think about it or give a hoot or know what it is?
I used to be good about giving things up, mostly because it was around me so much in school and with my mostly Catholic friends, who were especially big on this and not eating meat on Fridays. I'm not Catholic, but I still like the idea of sacrifice for the reasons most people undertake this 40-day challenge. If nothing else, it's a reason to become a little more aware.
So, as Mardi Gras was Tuesday (I'm a Louisiana girl-- it's a celebration even away from home!), Ash Wednesday then kicked off the Lenten season. A girlfriend of mine is giving up complaining. She's been in a funk and decided that warding off negative energy will help her get out of it. Another friend won't give anything up, but she'll donate her time and her money to causes she believes in.
I'm thinking I will give up passive aggressive comments because they don't help anything. I think I'll also make an effort to give up slothfulness toward tasks that don't interest me-- you know how you sorta loathe doing a task for longer than it takes to do it, instead of just starting? This should be a good opportunity to work on both of those areas. Here goes!
What are you going to forgo until Easter?
I used to be good about giving things up, mostly because it was around me so much in school and with my mostly Catholic friends, who were especially big on this and not eating meat on Fridays. I'm not Catholic, but I still like the idea of sacrifice for the reasons most people undertake this 40-day challenge. If nothing else, it's a reason to become a little more aware.
So, as Mardi Gras was Tuesday (I'm a Louisiana girl-- it's a celebration even away from home!), Ash Wednesday then kicked off the Lenten season. A girlfriend of mine is giving up complaining. She's been in a funk and decided that warding off negative energy will help her get out of it. Another friend won't give anything up, but she'll donate her time and her money to causes she believes in.
I'm thinking I will give up passive aggressive comments because they don't help anything. I think I'll also make an effort to give up slothfulness toward tasks that don't interest me-- you know how you sorta loathe doing a task for longer than it takes to do it, instead of just starting? This should be a good opportunity to work on both of those areas. Here goes!
What are you going to forgo until Easter?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Corner View : Wisdom from an elder
My grandmother's last words were, "People are the only thing that matter." She died after a short battle with cancer two weeks before my 7th birthday, and I try to remember what she said when I'm feeling overwhelmed and neglecting important folks in my life.
On the left is my dad's paternal grandmother, who
lived to be 99, and my grannie there between my parents.
Also note my older brother's excitement with
taking photos after my baptism.
Which brings me to an Army chaplain (the one who married us, in fact). At our pre-marital counseling, he said something that I often think about and remind my husband of when either of us is getting too far away from the mean. It's simple and straight to the point, "At the end of your career, you either have a family or you don't." And that's it! You either do what it takes to keep your family around even when you have heaps going on, or you don't. The measure of that? A family still around at the end who has been there since the beginning.
My dad is full of these little one-liner pearls. Some of my favorite include, "Make all your agreements while you're still friends." He's owned his own business for 30 years and that one undoubtedly comes from experience, which is why he'll tell you to get that agreement in writing, too. He'll also drop, "A good cowboy never looks back" every now and then. Make your choices and move on, don't dwell on things that don't matter.
Daddy and me, before many of those pearls of wisdom ;o)
And a couple other favorites (can you tell I like this topic?!!, Thanks, Theresa :) that I think are meaningful are, "You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: tangled Christmas tree lights, lost luggage, and a rainy day" and "Character is what you do when you think no one is looking." I suppose I like things that make you think about who people really are and how you determine what's important to them. A girlfriend of mine who is a counselor reminds me that, "You can't want more for someone than they want for themselves." So the friends who won't get out of a bad relationship, the student who just won't study... it applies to so much! If they don't want it, don't get your panties in a wad trying to get them to want it and work for it (obviously little people are the exception to this), you just have to hope they want it for themselves.
To check out other nuggets of wisdom, click on the folks below. Pay special attention to the very last one-- my friend and fabulous photographer Marcie has just been added to CV!
On the left is my dad's paternal grandmother, who
lived to be 99, and my grannie there between my parents.
Also note my older brother's excitement with
taking photos after my baptism.
Daddy and me, before many of those pearls of wisdom ;o)
To check out other nuggets of wisdom, click on the folks below. Pay special attention to the very last one-- my friend and fabulous photographer Marcie has just been added to CV!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Snow Days
We had a few snow days courtesy of the 3+ feet of white fluffy stuff that landed around the city lately. Neither my husband nor I had regularly scheduled classes, I didn't have work, so we stayed home and studied, played with the pup, and watched what I called a frozen hurricane take place outside, over and over again. It was pretty at some points watching what looked like tornadoes of snowflakes whip around, and other times like a bad movie. It took 3 hours to dig our car out, but we did so in time to see most of the Super Bowl game. GEAUX SAINTS! Here are some photos of the first round of excitement after it was over.
This one's my favorite! Such a pretty pattern.________________________ Wow, hope that driver has a window scraper ;)
So Christmas-ey!
This one's my favorite! Such a pretty pattern.________________________ Wow, hope that driver has a window scraper ;)
So Christmas-ey!
How can you not just love this one?!! Yeah Drew! WHO DAT!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Corner View : Repurposed
Today's CV topic is "One object in your house for which you´ve found another use."
This is definitely one I had to think about. I use my lamp as a collection point for my hair clips...
Man, I should either think longer or be more creative.
Maybe some other folks around the world have better ideas! Let's see:
This is definitely one I had to think about. I use my lamp as a collection point for my hair clips...
Maybe some other folks around the world have better ideas! Let's see:
Monday, February 8, 2010
Winter warmup meals
Organic may be the "thing" that everyone wants to buy and eat, but it isn't always worth it. And the white wine you have with dinner? That may be just as likely to leave your teeth susceptible to stains as red wine. Whatever you eat, cook, or drink with your food, here are some recipes I've made recently that work either way!
Spicy Beef Vegetable Stew
Well... I think I missed the point of the "spicy" here. I somehow lost (didn't get home from the store with?!!) the can of tomatoes and chilies, so they just didn't get put in. If you don't add the water and bouillon cubes, this is definitely something you could serve over rice-- almost like a chili. I doubled the frozen mixed veggies and we enjoyed this one on cold winter nights.
Shrimp Etouffee
Dee-licious. A bit of home while I'm away from it! The recipe I've made before recommends cream of mushroom soup, but this was just fine. The cooking at a higher temp for a few minutes is key, otherwise it'll just be runny. Leave the tail shell part on the shrimp to keep more flavor in, serve over rice. It smells amazing and tastes quite good!
Chess Cake
I made this for a friend's dinner party and all really liked it. I certainly wouldn't make anything with this much butter regularly (and I used at least 1/3 less than recommended). You know that bite of peach cobbler you get sometimes that may or may not have any peaches in it, but is crispy, sweet, and just the right mix of flavors? That's what this whole cake tastes like. I might serve it with fruit or even cook some in if you like that kind of thing, just to mix it up a little!
BBQ Chicken
Now a lot of the comments on this one warned that it tastes too much like ketchup and that it's pretty likely to burn. So I used salsa instead, and basted about 30 minutes through. The edge of where the sauce was definitely browned, but the chicken itself didn't burn. Very good! I made it with both wings and tenders, which made it easy to put together nachos with cheese, avocado, tomatoes, sour cream- a fun treat! I also did some tenders in the same mix and then served them over rice for some variety. Pretty yummy!
Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas
These were surprisingly good. There was a little too much spinach-- you could probably make another one or two quesadillas instead of piling this all on just four tortillas (or maybe make 8 small tortillas). It could have had something to do with the mushroom caps being smaller than I would've liked, too. (Side note: Did you know that you aren't supposed to soak mushrooms? They absorb water so easily that you should wipe them clean with a damp cloth for cleaning). I would also probably add more cheese... but then again, I eyeballed what I thought was a half cup anyway. In fact, I think I would mix the cheese into the spinach and mushroom mixture so that it's spread throughout. I used about half the butter recommended, and when I heated each in the skillet, I didn't use anything. Overall, a great quick, hot meal.
Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Almonds
I thought this would taste much better after I refrigerated it overnight, and it was still good, but not as strong as I wanted the flavors. Also, I didn't have cashews, so I used sliced almonds. It was pretty good for several meals and I even sent it back to my cooking class coordinator as a suggestion for future options!
Spicy Beef Vegetable Stew
Well... I think I missed the point of the "spicy" here. I somehow lost (didn't get home from the store with?!!) the can of tomatoes and chilies, so they just didn't get put in. If you don't add the water and bouillon cubes, this is definitely something you could serve over rice-- almost like a chili. I doubled the frozen mixed veggies and we enjoyed this one on cold winter nights.
Shrimp Etouffee
Dee-licious. A bit of home while I'm away from it! The recipe I've made before recommends cream of mushroom soup, but this was just fine. The cooking at a higher temp for a few minutes is key, otherwise it'll just be runny. Leave the tail shell part on the shrimp to keep more flavor in, serve over rice. It smells amazing and tastes quite good!
Chess Cake
I made this for a friend's dinner party and all really liked it. I certainly wouldn't make anything with this much butter regularly (and I used at least 1/3 less than recommended). You know that bite of peach cobbler you get sometimes that may or may not have any peaches in it, but is crispy, sweet, and just the right mix of flavors? That's what this whole cake tastes like. I might serve it with fruit or even cook some in if you like that kind of thing, just to mix it up a little!
BBQ Chicken
Now a lot of the comments on this one warned that it tastes too much like ketchup and that it's pretty likely to burn. So I used salsa instead, and basted about 30 minutes through. The edge of where the sauce was definitely browned, but the chicken itself didn't burn. Very good! I made it with both wings and tenders, which made it easy to put together nachos with cheese, avocado, tomatoes, sour cream- a fun treat! I also did some tenders in the same mix and then served them over rice for some variety. Pretty yummy!
Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas
These were surprisingly good. There was a little too much spinach-- you could probably make another one or two quesadillas instead of piling this all on just four tortillas (or maybe make 8 small tortillas). It could have had something to do with the mushroom caps being smaller than I would've liked, too. (Side note: Did you know that you aren't supposed to soak mushrooms? They absorb water so easily that you should wipe them clean with a damp cloth for cleaning). I would also probably add more cheese... but then again, I eyeballed what I thought was a half cup anyway. In fact, I think I would mix the cheese into the spinach and mushroom mixture so that it's spread throughout. I used about half the butter recommended, and when I heated each in the skillet, I didn't use anything. Overall, a great quick, hot meal.
Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Almonds
I thought this would taste much better after I refrigerated it overnight, and it was still good, but not as strong as I wanted the flavors. Also, I didn't have cashews, so I used sliced almonds. It was pretty good for several meals and I even sent it back to my cooking class coordinator as a suggestion for future options!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Corner View : Sweets
Deeeeeeeelicious! You know those people who'd pick chips over a piece of cake any day? I'm not one of them. Sweets are my favorite, favorite thing-- gummy worms, yellow cake with chocolate icing, ice cream, mint-flavored almost anything, and all sorts of other tasty delights that might make me diabetic if I ate them nearly as often as I'd like... which is nearly every time I study... so I chew gum instead! It keeps me occupied and not thinking about the sour patch kids I'd rather have melting in my mouth. But if you look at my upcoming list of recipes and their reviews, check out the one for Chess Cake if you need ideas for yummy, easy dessert!
Other things that I've found sweet lately:
To check out all the sugary goodness around the world, click:
Other things that I've found sweet lately:
- My husband! I whined one night about having a square spatula that didn't dip as far into the ricotta as I needed it to without dirtying my hands, and he surprised me with a jazzy new one from Williams Sonoma the very next day. WOOHOO!
- My dog. Always sweet and cuddly, and pouty when I'm leaving him to go to class or work.
- Our new nephew! Isn't he THE cutest little tyke you've ever seen? His sisters love him and enjoy playing with and holding him-- so sweet! Hope we get to meet him soon!
- King cake! My dad sent me some last week for Mardi Gras. Makes me miss being in Louisiana for the festivities!
- Brad Paisley's "I thought I loved you then" song. Wish I could find a better video for you, but the lyrics are what's best anyway. Even if you don't care for country music, you can't deny that this is really sweet :)
To check out all the sugary goodness around the world, click:
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