October 11, 2003. I was nineteen and drunk. In a haze of loud music and swirling bodies, I came to the conclusion that I really loved the boy I was standing next to, and I decided to tell him. With a light laugh and an ecstatic smile, I grabbed him by the arm and we quickly walked outside to lean against the building and kiss. People were walking by, so we ran to the back of the building.

Six weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I'd had a suspicion -- no, I'd known. I'd known the instant it happened. I just didn't want to believe it was possible.

Neither did he. A week after I told him, he disappeared. Gone. Didn't answer my phone calls. I didn't have an address for him because he was in the Marine Corps for training, moving around, and since I talked to him every night on the phone for hours, I didn't really think an address was all that necessary. I called his mom, but she wouldn't talk to me.

A month later I found out he was home on leave. I called his mom's house and threw a raging pregnant fit on the phone, cursing her out for not letting me talk to him. She conceded. He got on the phone and agreed to a meeting.

At the meeting he told me he wasn't interested in being with me, he wasn't interested in being dad.

I'm thankful that at that pivotal moment in my life, barely four weeks after my best friend died of a heart attack, I made the right decision. I made the decision that an abortion was out of the question (boy, did he look crushed). I made the decision to not seek adoption. I made the decision that I was going to do right by my unborn child.

And I have.



I don't regret a single moment. Well, I lie. I regret the countless nights that I spent crying myself to sleep over
him. He was never worth it. Too bad it took me nearly two years to figure that out.

-----------------------------------------------------

Thankful Thursday hosted by Lois at Life is Just a Stitch in Time.

Labels: thankful thursday

Today, my son and I took a side-trip to Target while we were in town. We very rarely get to spend time alone together, at least not since I met Aaron. (Yes, I was a single parent for one year and seven months.) I rather miss the sound of his bright and happy chatter as we look at all the colors and shapes together in the store. Since the last time we shopped alone, nearly two and a half years ago at a guess, he wasn't able to talk, this trip seemed a little different. He pattered on about the numbers on the checkout lanes and the colors of the peaches.

While he was seemingly impressed by everything in the aisles, I was struck by one object. Now, this teapot was not expensive. If it is a brand name, it is one I've never heard of before (although this would not be unusual as I've never kept up with trends, but I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say it isn't). However, this simple little teapot is beautiful. It's elegant, even. So, what's a girl to do when she finds a teapot with a glass infuser (which she's been searching for over the past several weeks)? Well, buy it, of course. And as soon as I get my birthday present, I'll be sure to take several (hundred) pictures of it.

What other products do I have to share? Well, I've got the pot, but I'm still waiting for my tea to arrive. Jory, my friend of ten years for whom I have ridiculous nicknames like Mein Joryschnitzel, or Jorykins, introduced me to genmai cha from Adagio. I like. I like a lot.

Last, when a girl is sipping tea that makes her tastebuds sing from her beautiful elegant teapot, she must do it in style. My mother procured a $50 gift certificate to Uncommon Goods and gave it to me for Christmas. Wow. What a gift. (No, really. I love it.) It took me two months, but I found something I really wanted. And then something else I really wanted. But what I actually ended up getting... well, that's this. (The blue and green earrings, only, although I really like that necklace too.) What I love the most about Uncommon Goods is that a lot of their products are hand made by crafters using recycled materials. Pretty neat!

Wrapping up my product highlights, all I have to say is 'Th-th-th-that's all folks!"

Labels: environment, product reviews

We're edging close to February now, which means only two - three more months of snow, after which the green grass will start popping up. About this time of year all I can think about, dream about, and imagine, is the brief flickers of lightning bugs and the muggy sweat of summer. I can't wait to dig in the patio in my back yard, planting mint around each square stone, and placing our plastic table and chairs on top of it. I can't wait to crack open one of our homebrewed beers and put my feet up on the raised-bed planters we'll install in the next two years. I can't wait to grill up some freshly picked vegetables from our garden on our new built-in grill in the next three years. I can't wait to install that hot tub on the corner of the patio in the next ten years.

Maybe I'm imagining too far ahead now.

Or maybe I'm imagining just far enough ahead to make it through each day with a smile on my face and a light feeling around my heart.

Labels: gardening, random

Some people say that having kids will make or break a marriage. The additional stress from having new bodies to take care of, the lack of sleep, the arguing over types of punishment or perhaps whether Johnny will be in tee-ball, and the added financial considerations. Aaron and I have made it past that one as I already had a child when we started dating, and then we had one together. We're still on the track for a wedding in June.

Some people say that finances will end a marriage, that money is one of the biggest things people argue about. After two and a half years, Aaron and I are finally in a position where we rarely argue over money. We've figured out what role each people play in our financial situation, and we've modified it until we're both content. Still getting married in June.

Some people say that an individual person's quirks will make or break the union. I've already covered some of mine in an earlier blog, and I know quite a few of Aaron's after living together for the aforementioned two and a half years. I accept his oddities, and I think he accepts most of mine.

Now, what I think will halt the train on our marriage track is Calculus.

That's right. I said Calculus.

This semester I have taken it upon myself to teach myself Calculus, Classical Mythology, and Intermediate German II. What I didn't tell Aaron before I signed up for these online do-it-yourself courses is that I was going to be pestering him every five minutes, on the verge of tears, yanking my hair out, and wanting to burn my calculus book.

Poor guy.

I sure hope he has the internal fortitude to deal with my whimpering and whining for the next three months. I don't want to lose him over such a ridiculously unimportant math subject. (Well, it's unimportant to me. To my psychology degree, it is of the utmost importance. In fact, I still have to take Calculus II, too. [Hehe, two-too.])

Here's my plea, Aaron. We can make it. We can. I know it'll be hard when we have arguments over weird squiggly line things and areas under curves and limits and... all the other stupid @#%)( things in Calculus. But we're strong. And united. We shall defeat the Calculus monster. Together. Whether you like it or not.

Labels: marriage

I have three rather large fears.

One. I'm terrified that people are going to laugh at me when I get lost on my way en route somewhere. I could be driving some place new or trying to meet people in a restaurant.
Two. Tornadoes make me crawl into a corner, shuddering, with my hands over my ears.
Three. Any type of formal gathering of people such as a wedding, reception, or family reunion.

You can see that these would be a problem for several reasons. First, I live in Iowa. Iowa has tornadoes. Iowa has lots of tornadoes. Second, I'm getting married in June. My reception is in August. Third, I have children and they like to leave the house occasionally, which means I have to drive somewhere new occasionally.

Great.

So far we've established that I have to face my fears if I'm going to continue to live in Iowa, make it to my wedding, and let my children have a normal life. Luckily, though, Aaron (remember him?) knows all about my irrational weird fears. He even embraces them supports me.

One major way in which he's been understanding of my fears is our mutual decision to get married in a private ceremony on St. Lucia this summer, instead of having the huge formal wedding he and his loved ones were envisioning. I am very thankful of him for supporting me in this even through pressure from others to walk the line and do what is traditional and expected. Now I don't have to worry that I'll get gas, pass out, bleed through my dress (yeah, I said it), have a booger, kiss him crappily, forget to say "I do", get a frog in my throat so I can't say "I do", get an itchy butt, or a multitude of other things that were sending me into a panic attack.

Now I can just concentrate on him and our love for each other.

Phew.

If only I could eliminate tornadoes or bad driving directions as easily.

Labels: random

And cookies are delivered. These cookies are incredibly sinful, and I normally eat much healthier food. For some reason on Wednesday, I just had a craving and jumped right in.


Double Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies*
1 - 18.5 ounce package moist yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chip cookies
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sliced almonds (divided: 1/4 and 3/4)

1) Heat oven at 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2) Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat. Pour butter into bowl, add egg and cake mix, combine.
3) Stir in chocolate chips, pecans, and 1/4 cup of almonds.
4) Shape dough into balls, press top of ball into remaining almonds (3/4 cup) - (I didn't do this in the above picture because I was feeling lazy. I just added the entire cup of almonds into the mix in step three.)
5) Place on cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes until lightly browned.

Per serving approximate: 409 calories, 24.9 grams total fat, 39 mg cholesterol, 368 mg sodium, 44.7 grams carboyhydrates, 2.6 g dietary fiber, 5.2 grams protein.

*I have no idea where my sister got the recipe for these cookies.

Labels: cooking

Another Chance Ranch is hosting Thankful Thursday.

I have so many things to be thankful for that it is hard for me to think of just one on this first attempt of mine to join Thankful Thursday. Nate seems to be mostly potty trained now. He takes off his diaper and pants in the morning by himself to go potty, then goes potty throughout the day on the chair with few accidents. That's certainly something in which I'm thankful.

I started this school semester yesterday by my first day working in the psychology lab. The opportunity to work in this lab certainly makes me thankful. It's experience I need to look better to graduate schools, and I'm working with a truly talented professor.

Mostly, though, I'd say I'm thankful for Aaron. He is aware of my neuroses and helps me to either overcome them or deal with them in daily life. He accepts my oddities, and doesn't tease me or make fun of me for them. His eyes light up when he sees me, he laughs at my (crappy) jokes, and he doesn't mind that I don't wear makeup or shop for fancy clothes. He makes my life more fulfilled and complete. He amps the amplitude of my life.

I'm also grateful for two nut chocolate chip cookies. Wow. So good. Maybe I'll post the recipe tomorrow. Or, I can talk about those oddities and neuroses. Hmm. Something to think about.

Labels: thankful thursday

I've always been a bit of a rebel. Really, I'm not making this up. My family and friends will probably snort upon reading this, knowing how obsessive I can be about my schedule (yes, I do indeed make a menu of our meals every week), and how I can be rather compulsive in my behavior. Oh, and how I nearly always follow rules or the law. Because, of course, it would be naughty to break a rule.

But inside, deep down inside, I'm a bit of a rebel.

Don't believe me?

When I was in daycare or preschool (I don't really remember which; I was young), I was leaning up against a wall with a bunch of the other kids. We'd been practicing braiding (you take three shoestrings or pieces of yarn and tape them to a wall and then kids go around to different stations and braid), but I wasn't too interested. I had a crayon or a pencil in my pocket, and while the teacher was looking the other way, I quickly scrawled the letters "s", "e", and... you know, it really doesn't matter what the word was. Just know it was naughty. Anyway, so I wrote these letters on the wall behind the child standing next to me.

Yeah, that's right.

A while later when we all moved and the teacher saw it, I had to undergo some serious questioning. I don't recall ever being busted or punished, so they must have believed my quick lie of, "It wasn't me! It was Susie!"

That's right. I'm a rebel. And a liar. And a rule-breaker. And while at that young age, I had no clue what the naughty word meant... I was still obsessed with (writing) it.

Labels: random

When I was taking my shower this morning, I started to ponder my fascination with scents both vanilla and citrus. For the first 21 years of my life, I wore vanilla and vanilla only. It drove the boys crazy in advanced individual training (AIT) training (oh, yes, even then) when I was starting off my Army National Guard career. It inspired the sergeants to refer to me as "The Stripper" when I worked security for the Guard. I promise, I didn't actually do any stripping. Well, at least, not for the men all at once. I may or may not have dated one of them, and in that case, there may or may not have been some stripping.

I'm not saying.

Moving right along, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I all of a sudden became obsessed with all scents citrus. Our handsoap was citrus, my shampoo and conditioner were citrus, my lotion became citrus, and I bought up all the citrus candles in the marketplace. I probably should have owned citrus stock.

After she was born, I maintained my obsession with citrus, but part of my heart felt like I was cheating on vanilla. Now I maintain between the two. This is interesting (really, it is) enough, but in the shower this morning I started pondering why I don't wear my full bottle of Lucky perfume that is sitting on my bathroom cabinet shelf. Why? It smells good. I like it. It makes me feel nice.

Then it hit me. I feel like perfume is what "women" wear. I have two children, I spent six years serving my country in the National Guard, and I'm nearly finished with my first BS (I was a late education-goer). I'll be 24 in eleven days. (I heard that's Superbowl Sunday. How exciting.) I'm not a woman. I'm a little girl. Perhaps a teenager. And what do we wear? Victoria's Secret lotion. Not perfume.

Perfume is for women who are self-confident and gainfully employed, but I still feel like a little girl inside.

Labels: random

For the last three weeks, I have been taking the kids to the story hour at the local library. Nate has really been into picking out library books and reading two stories every night before bed. (I read them. He listens intently.) The normal story time routine seems to be a song, a book, a body play (you know, like I'm a Little Teapot), two books, and an activity. Sammi runs around like a mad woman and Nate alternates standing and jumping with sitting down and staring so hard I'm afraid there will be holes burnt into the book.

Several months ago I bought the book Simple Cooking Fun for Nate and I to bond over. The concept is that you read a book, then discuss the book and the cooking project, create a snack or meal together, then have some activities. They follow it up with some additional books that are somewhat related to the book you just read or meal you just made.

Last week I thought I'd combine the two activities and get a library book from the list in the activity book, get the groceries, and do one of the exercises. Unfortunately, as I mentioned yesterday, I have a little problem with getting to the grocery store sometimes. Improvising, I realized that we had Miss Spider's Tea Party checked out. I asked Nate if he wanted to have a tea party, and since he hasn't yet realized what his gender role is, he was more than happy to contemplate drinking tea and eating muffins.

Scrambling through the cupboards, I found a box of lemon-glazed muffin mix. Nate and I measured and poured, sipped tea, and read the book. When it was all over, Nate asked me if we could have another tea party.








Whenever you want, honey.

Labels: cooking

Parents everywhere know what a problem it is when you just haven't had the time to go grocery shopping because the laundry had to be done, or homework had to be supervised, or the weather outside was and is not conducive to dragging two little kids around. This particular afternoon the problem reared its head when I realized that I was nearly out of everything except organic creamy peanut butter and a variety of jellies. In the last few weeks I have had at least four different kinds of PB&J sandwiches, but, alas, a PB&J is still pretty much the same regardless of what kind of jelly is on it. (I particularly enjoy orange marmalade.)



However, there would be no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today. I put my foot down; I refused.



Unfortunately, all I seemed to see in my fridge was that collection of jelly. I took a deep breath, and readied myself for the tastes of a classic PB&J. But.. But, wait! What was that in the crisper?



Thoughts started spinning in my head too fast for me to catch. Maybe, maybe I could pull it off. It would never end up on the Food Network's reality show The Next Food Network Star. But, would the kids eat it?



Jen's Daily Dilemma Surprise
1/2 can of Progressive's Vegetarian Tomato Basil soup (give the other 1/2 can to your kids, because if you are like me, you can't stand it, but they'll lap it up)
~ 1.5 cups of chik'n strips (made from soy or something)
1/3 bag of broccoli slaw (use the other 2/3 for a stirfry)
2/3 cup of mozzarella cheese (use the rest of the bag on Pita Pizzas)
4 small whole wheat tortillas (mmMMM good)

Yes. Yes, the kids would eat it. I'd have pictures but just as I was getting ready to take one, Nate informed me he'd pooped on the chair.

Exciting.

Labels: cooking

Local Foods Connection caught my eye about a month ago. I've been looking for a good place to volunteer after not enjoying my time with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the one day I put in at Miracles in Motion (how I loved the horses). LFC uses volunteers to earn credits on local CSA Farms, gets cash from families and some grants, and then turns around to donate shares from the CSA Farms to local low-income families. In short, they support the local agricultural economy while simultaneously helping low-income families receive fresh fruits and vegetables most likely grown in an organic sustainable manner.

How cool is that?

I know that I plan to spend a lot of time helping LFC in any way I can. Helping on the farms? Sure - it'll help me gain insight on how to manage my own backyard garden. Helping in the office? Why not - I am bored most of the day. I was even told if necessary I could bring my kids with me. Score! Right now I'm volunteering from home, helping update some of the website.

And once I get some cash on the side, I will definitely be donating to this organization.

Does anyone else know of any organizations like this in their local community?

Labels: cooking, environment, volunteering

Two months ago I weighed 185 pounds. My goal weight is 145. That means I was 40 pounds overweight. Today I weighed 173.8. My lowest in the past year and a half was 171.4, and that was a week ago. By June, I want to be down to 145. In two weeks, I want to be below 165. It's a gradual process, but I want to be fit and healthy again. The number 145 doesn't mean as much as the phrase "to be able to run one mile". By June, I want to be able to run one mile.

Nate's concern isn't weight loss. It's being able to potty on the potty chair. He's three and a half years old and yesterday, he still wore diapers. Today? Diaper free and wearing Thomas the Train underpants. So far this morning he has pottied on his potty chair twice, with no accidents.

Sammi is lagging a little behind on the changes bandwagon. She is a year and a half and still doesn't talk. She says "HI!!" She grunts. That's it. The doctor says if she doesn't start talking in the next six months, she'll need speech therapy.

Well, two out of three of us are working towards our goals. That's better than none.

Labels: random

I thought I would point out the proven fact that etching glass is sweet. It produces the same effect as frosting glass but it's a permanent change unlike frosting which can usually be scraped or polished off. The etching process actually changes the chemical structure of the glass unlike frosting which is applied on top of the glass.


The product Jen used (Armour Etch®) uses a "special formula" but it's mainly hydrofluoric acid which, when applied to the glass (SiO2), combines with the glass molecules to yield silicon tetraflouride and water (4HF + SiO2 -> SiF4 + 2H20) which both rinse away. The other result of the reaction is a disruption in the crystalline structure of the glass which turns it from transparent to semi-transparent.


Totally sweet.

Labels: random

I plan out our family's menu a week in advance in order to ensure that we have a variety of foods, and so I can plan ahead for sales and fruits and veggies that are in season. Cooking has transcended just the "necessary" to a true hobby in my life and I have accordingly started branching out in different genres from macaroni and cheese and hamburger helper (is that truly cooking?). I have at least seven cookbooks on my kitchen shelf that I use in constant rotation (that picture is old). One of my favorite resources is the Food Network.

I take it even a step further, though. I don't just willy-nilly plan out our menus - I strategize. One night we'll have tex-mex, the next a stirfry of sorts, followed up by some good ole American burgers, then perhaps a Deutsch dish (German, not Dutch), some curried vegetables and meat, and lastly a nice light pasta. Every week I vary what cultural identity our food has to ensure that our children have eaten a wide range of the food available to them. Eventually, my sushi isn't going to look disgusting, but for now I practice on myself only.

Last night we had Giada's lovely Lemon Spaghetti. Aaron had a look of surprise on his face when he bit in and tasted all of the flavor (I cheated and doubled the amount of lemon). The kids scarfed it down. I almost swooned. It was amazing. It was also the first time I used real lemons and not the concentrated lemon juice. I have no idea if it made a difference or not (and will have to experiment later), but I'm definitely sold on the recipe.



The entire ensemble included white zinfandel from Barefoot, a rosemary-topped french bread, and blackened chicken (I had blackened chik'n strips). Wow. Just.. wow.

Labels: cooking

We unfortunately had two large incidents which have decimated half the population in the Lettuce Project: Operation Pinenut and Operation Granola. Due to strategic incompetence, the organizer of the Lettuce Project placed the open tank under a kitchen cupboard. Because of operator error, two large bags of pinenuts and granola fell on the lettuce sprouts at varying times of growth, eliminating half the competition.

The organizer of the Lettuce Project fully admits to her moronic actions and has removed the project from underneath the kitchen cupboards. The move to the living room shelf took less than five minutes and hopefully did not traumatize the sprouts too much.

Organizer over and out.

Labels: gardening, lettuce project

The November - January issue of Organic Gardening Magazine has an article about creating your own lighted herb bookcase. As I was reading the article, I remembered that when Aaron and I moved into our house, Aaron's mother gave us a bookcase her husband had made for her. It has a fluorescent light fixture built-in to the bookcase and is an attractive feature in our living room. Half-way through the article I looked up at the bookcase and realized that this perfect space for my herbs is currently being dominated by a stack of Aaron's notebooks from college. Since I'm a smart individual, I think I'll find a new location for those notebooks and replant some herbs! I had sown mine outdoors, but they died off weeks ago when the heavy snow came in.

This particular issue also highlighted keeping chickens in your backyard, which is a concept that was first brought to my attention by the Garden Girl, Patti Moreno. While my father raised chickens (and pigeons I believed), I've had no experience with keeping animals other than the family dog in my backyard. I'm still contemplating beginning this experience, but I'm also paranoid that I'll receive complaints from my neighbors. I definitely need to do more research and perhaps read some books.

Labels: gardening

This project took me a little under sixty minutes. You can see the project via five photos on our Flickr site, but I'll also describe the steps briefly here.

1) Wash the glass thoroughly and dry.
2) Grab a stencil, place it on a regular piece of computer paper, and mark the picture. Apply non-permanent adhesive to the back of the piece of paper.
3) Cut out the picture and apply it to the glass.
4) Brush Armour Etch on in a thick coat. Wait 5 minutes.
5) Wash off Armour Etch with warm water. Let dry.

Easy!

I have a ton of old glass jars and candle holders that I can turn into unique gifts (and gift wrapping) by etching neat designs on them. This was my first foray into glass etching, and I know that I didn't take a lot of time on it. It certainly isn't perfect. However, it was a great test project and I can't wait to do more. :)

The pattern I re-used is one that I painted on our kitchen wall above our window a month or two ago. I figure I'll use this quite a few times in different ways throughout our house, because I really like it! Right now I'm just hoping to find the perfect glass containers for our flour, sugar, coffee, and other such staples. I can't wait to etch 'em!

Labels: cooking, crafts

Patti Moreno, Garden Girl, has released parts four and five of her indoor gardening series.

Thanks Patti!

Labels: gardening

For Christmas, Aaron bought me tickets to see Trans Siberian Orchestra on Friday. I didn't know much about them, other than they were like a Mannheim Steamroller. I'd never really heard their music, so I set out with no expectations. I had a really good time. Aaron had planned on getting me a nice weather radio for Christmas (I am terrified by tornadoes), but ended up not finding what he wanted. The tickets were a last minute gift, so while we weren't at the complete highest location in the stadium, we certainly weren't on the ground floor either. This gave us a tiny bit of a problem because I'm also nervous when I'm far up (particularly in a situation like stadium seating where there is nothing to catch my fall or to grab on to). However, I sucked it up, and really enjoyed myself.

On Saturday, I drove the five hours up to Minneapolis to see my friend Jory. Seven people from a website I frequent all gathered up in the Twin Cities for a mini-party. We ate at Pizza Luce, played DDR (and other games) at Gameworks, then went back to Jory's condo, played catch phrase, and went to sleep. Pizza Luce has fabulous garlic mashed potatoes pizza. I need to figure out how to recreate it at home. I sucked at DDR, after being so out of shape, and now I'm determined to get a pad and the game for my playstation 2. What a great workout!

On Sunday, we went out to eat at a diner for breakfast, then Jory and I just hung out all day. I wrapped the trip up by scoring my steak (we had a bet that if I showed up he had to buy me steak) at Origami. Wow. Fabulous.

All in all, I'm back and relaxed. Thanks everyone for so much fun - and thank you Aaron for helping me out while I was gone with everything that you did in the house and also for watching the kids. I love you! :)

Labels: random

This morning the children and I drove over to the library for the weekly story hour. This was the first one we've gone to even though we've lived in the area for over a year now. The topic of choice was snowmen, with two books being read, a cute dance about a melting snowman, and a craft where the kids pulled apart cotton balls and glued them on a piece of paper. We checked out five children's books (one of which Nate has already thoroughly enjoyed - about pirates) and Kathy Reich's Deja Dead. So far I'm only at chapter three, but I'm really enjoying the book. Anyone out there a member of Good Reads? I enjoy that I can keep track of what books I've read and possibly scope out new authors. I'm also a member of Book Swim, which is nice because I can get books quicker from them then I can from the library here (as it is a small town library). I'm possibly ashamed to also admit that I adore Netflix, and am currently watching The Highlander Season One.

Do you know what I would like? An unbiased report of which activities weigh out heavier in terms of environmental-related issues. I'd like to know which is worse - purchasing a DVD from Wal-Mart or renting a movie from Netflix. When I purchase a DVD from Wal-Mart I have all of the production pollution square on my own head, plus the transportation around the country to my Wal-Mart, then my transportation to purchase it, and then it sits on my shelf. With Netflix, the production pollution is shared among everyone who watches that movie, the transportation from the factory to my house is square on my head, and the housing it comes in (paper) is recyclable.

Now - which is better? How about with Book Swim? Purchasing or renting via Book Swim? Probably even better is when I buy movies on iTunes and download them to my computer, or when I go to the library. But really, where is the objective scientific proof? Numbers? Quantifiable data? I'm curious!

Anyway, the other major event on today's platter is the caucus tonight. Myself, my sister, and Aaron are all going to have a part in the country's political process. I was informed by someone official that I can take the kids with me. Let's see how that goes down... I'm looking forward to the event.

And, on the menu tonight? Couscous Shepard's Pie from Robin. Mmm, sounds like a good day all around!

Labels: cooking, news

I received some very nice gifts this year, but I'm not going to list them all. However, I am going to briefly discuss two books I received from my aunt: Quick-Fix Vegetarian by Robin Robertson and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

Robin Robertson has written a very concise cookbook with few illustrations of the food with easy recipes. The title Quick-Fix Vegetarian: Healthy Home-Cooked Meals in 30 Minutes or Less is a realistic claim. I've completed Chipotle-Kissed Black Bean Soup and Linguini with Edamame Pesto. Both were tasty (although Aaron decided that the linguini with edamame pesto needed more pepper) although since we've grown up with the staples of spaghetti, casserole dishes, steak and potatoes, tacos, etc, the colors were new! Chipotle-Kissed Black Bean Soup is black-grey with splashes of other color from the other ingedients in it and Linguini with Edamame Pesto is very lime green. Of course, they should be (black beans and edamame?) but it was still novel!

I'm only on page 125 out of approximately 730 pages in Deborah Madison's cookbook. I haven't tried any recipes yet, and I'm fairly excited to check them out - perhaps next week.

And, as I sit here reading these books, I realize that I'm only 1/4 of the way through my CIA text book: The Professional Chef, 8th Edition. Now that I have some time again, I need to finish it up!

Labels: cooking