Winter Approaching...

I have to say again...I stink at blogging. Waaaay back when I was a college freshman, I made entries on an almost daily basis (old blog still exists, but will not be revealed!). I'd really like to get into the habit, what with heading off to Singapore next year.

For now though, I'm still in Wisconsin, and the holidays are sneaking up on me. My family is getting together for Thanksgiving - I'm so glad I have off!! I volunteered to bring a cheese plate - we'll see if my cheese arranging skills are on par with the fruit-arranging abilities.

Tonight I got a head-start on my Christmas baking - I don't want to miss out this year! Next year I'll most likely be abroad during the hols, and apparently baking isn't all that common in Singapore - so best to enjoy it now! I tried a new recipe (Chocolate Mint Chip cookies) and one of my favorites - Russian teacakes/Mexican wedding cakes/whatever-you-want-to-call-them.

I've also been on a sock-knitting spree...right now I'm working on a pair for my dad that MUST be done by Christmas. They've been in progress for...well...over a year. I can't even remember when I bought the yarn, which is really bad.

That reminds me - there's now a yarn shop in M-field! Bummer that I really shouldn't buy anymore yarn. My mom and I were talking about the vast amounts of yarn and how that's going to work with travelling - the best route would probably be to choose a few projects and pack together the pattern, needles, and yarn for each.

We'll see if I actually manage to be that disciplined.

Accidental?

Edit (24 Aug 09): So apparently I made a completely blank entry by mistake a few days ago. Huh.

Life continues. The last month involved a few day trips to see friends, a day spent at the Minnesota Zoo, and various odds and ends. I have pictures, but am too lazy to post them. This last weekend my family had a back-to-school cookout involving a grilled turkey, s'mores, and deep-fried twinkies. I don't entirely understand it, but my family seems entirely unable to just eat twinkies. A few Easters ago, we decorated them to look like Easter eggs...and then blew one up with a mini-firework. A total twinkie-smearing fight resulted. The deep fried ones were edible, but intensely sweet and kind of sickening, really. I suggest lots of Cool Whip.

2+ Months?!

So yeah...I'm a horrible blogger. I think about blogging a lot, but don't actually do it. I'm always thinking, "Hmm, I don't want to post about stupid boring stuff" or "I'm going to have to take some pictures or something".


But anyway, plenty has happened since I last posted. The important stuff:


My kid sister Jamie graduated. This sort of freaks me out because we're seven years apart and it makes me feel OLD. Cripes, by the time Josie graduates I'll be ready to get behind the wheel of a mini-van. Jamie's party was a blast: it was awesome to chat with a bunch of people I haven't seen for years. I made her a scrapbook and a college survival kit as gifts, but haven't got decent pics of either.


Birthday parties! Both my dad and my brother-in-law turned another year older back in June. Jess made B a super-delicious cake...you know, the kind that necessitates eating more than one slice. Trust me on this one.


Speaking of cake, I tested out a yummy white chocolate cheesecake recipe the other week:



Okay, so the picture only shows off my killer skills in arranging fruit. The cheesecake itself was a little tricky but not too hard to make and had a really nice, mild flavor. If you want the recipe, shoot me an email (does anyone even read this thing anyway?).

Other unimportant things:

*I went to the dentist. I kind of like the dentist, because it makes me secretly giddy to be told that I'm doing a good job with flossing and whatever.

*I actually got to watch 4th of July fireworks. I forgot how much I love them.

*My hair has turned weird again. I swear, I think its purpose is to make my life more complicated. I'm probably going to regret posting this picture, but this is what it looks like if I leave it to its own devices:

Yeah, all those stories about the wonders of naturally wavy hair...umm, they don't apply to me. Luckily, I own a flat-iron. *Take note that I've followed magazine advertisement protocol and have made sure my expression in Photo #1 is totally unnatural.

I <3 Cashew Chicken (and other things...)

Friends: My dear friend Abi got married on Saturday (May 2) - and her and Kyle's wedding was fabulous and fit them so well. It was great to see a bunch of friends from college too! I wish them every happiness.

Fun: This is going to sound incredibly dorky, but I had a little excitement Sunday afternoon...I took my car through the carwash. I haven't gone through the automatic carwash in years, and I've never taken my own car through one. But the weather was sunny, the line was short, and there was a $2 off deal if you bought gasoline. I remember being a little kid and thinking the carwash was pretty stinkin' awesome...which it is.

Part of the reason I ended up going through the carwash was because my normal method of getting the car washed proved ineffective over the weekend - Josie, who's usually up for making a few bucks, said she was "too tired and lazy" to do the job this time around. : ) I could have done it myself when I got back to the apartment, but as far as I can tell, there's no place to hook up a hose at the building.

Food: Last night I got low-censused for the last four hours of work, so I made cashew chicken. This is one of my most favorite dishes and I love bringing it for a potluck. Although I have a recipe to make it from scratch, I've come to discover that dressing up a Wanchai Ferry kit from the grocery store works even better! I'm going to be in big trouble if General Mills ever quits making them...

Ingredients:

1 Wanchai Ferry Cashew Chicken kit

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons diced garlic

2 green bell peppers, sliced

Oil

1 can pineapple chunks, well-drained

Extra cashews, if desired (I always desire them!)

Lots of rice

Here you can see what the Wanchai Ferry kit looks like - you can find it in the Asian foods aisle. The rice in the kit is typical white rice (not Minute rice), so you can mix it with long-grain rice if you need more.

Get your rice going first - I cook mine in a rice cooker. Trust me, investing in one of those babies is so, so worth it - and you won't have to invest much. If you don't eat a lot of rice, you can always use it to steam veggies.


Next, stir fry the onion, garlic, and peppers in about 1 Tablespoon of oil until tender, then set aside. I like using a wok, but mine is getting junky...I ended up using a non-stick skillet for the rest of this recipe.



Mix the cubed chicken with the cornstarch in the kit, then stir fry it in another 1 Tablespoon of oil until it's cooked through. Add cashews, then the pineapple, and stir it around a few times. Reduce the heat and add the vegetables.



Yum! Add the cashew sauce packet and 1/2 cup of water, then simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, grab a plate of rice, and enjoy!!!

The Bad Blogger Returns...

It's true: I'm a bad blogger! I've had several online journals in the past and haven't posted regularly since I was in college.

What've I been doing lately? Well...

Food: Over the weekend, I made vegetarian lasagna! I'm not a vegetarian, but this is one of my most favorite recipes and it's realllly difficult to mess up. I also love the vast amounts of cheese in this stuff:

Honestly, who needs meat when you've got a tub each of ricotta and cottage cheese, plus a bunch of Italian herbs? And of course, SPINACH!

Yes, it is delicious stuff. However, I only like it raw and in pasta dishes and dip. Pay no attention to my goofy expression (especially now that I've pointed it out).

I've now been eating lasagna for at least one meal every day. I'm not sick of it...yet.

Speaking of food, my sister Jessi made a beautiful Serbian Easter cake for Orthodox Easter! She tells me it's called a "log cake"...and that thing contains a pound of butter and 10 eggs - whoa. Yummy! (I don't know how to say "really delicious!" in Serbian...actually, I don't know how to say anything in Serbian.)

Family: Last weekend, my sister Jamie and I took a mini-roadtrip to Eau Claire for her college placement tests. It was great to be in my college city again and to get some one-on-one chat time with her!

After our trip was over, we went back to my parents' and got facials from Jessi! Every now and again, I kind of wish I'd had a brother or two, but girly times like these remind me of how awesome it is to be blessed with a whole bunch of sisters!

SPINACH LASAGNA RECIPE:

The ingredient amounts in this recipe don't have to be exact - how awesome is that? Just keep in mind that you want A LOT of cheese.

Ingredients (estimates):

20 lasagna noodles

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 bag or 2 cups fresh spinach

1 large or 2 small tubs ricotta cheese (~3 cups)

1 small tub cottage cheese (~1 1/2 cups)

2 bags shredded mozerella or mixed Italian cheese (a total of 16 ounces)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 egg

3 cups tomato pasta sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Boil noodles for 8-10 minutes; drain. When my noodles are done, I set them on an oiled plate until I need them.

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender; drain, cool, and set aside. Boil spinach for 5 minutes. Drain, squeeze out excess liquid, and chop.

Combine ricotta, cottage cheese, and about 1 cup of shredded cheese. Add spinach, onion & garlic, egg, and all spices. Beat for one minute.

Lay 5 noodles on the bottom of an oiled or sprayed 9x13 inch pan. Spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle on one cup of shredded cheese and then cover with one cup of tomato sauce. Repeat these layers twice more.

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Allow to cool slightly and then enjoy!

Spring Has Sprung!

Or I hope it has...in Wisconsin, you can never be sure that you won't get hit with more snow until about mid-May.

Food: Possible snow aside, I've got big dreams of tomatoes and peppers and...well, mostly just tomatoes. A few weeks ago I set up three starter trays of them and they sprouted beautifully. And then I separated and re-potted them.

Sadly, they aren't doing so hot right now. Suffice it to say that you can't save every single plant and there's a reason the seed packet tells you to just do away with the wimpy looking ones. So...I've learned my lesson. Gladly, a hardy few survived my well-intentioned treatment - and will hopefully grow big enough to be transplanted to Mom's garden come late Spring!

If not, I've still got more seeds left. Wednesday and Thursday will probably be spent cleaning the starter trays and re-planting - hopefully with that packet of yellow pear tomatoes! I was thrilled to find the seeds...I first encountered yellow pears in college, when we grew them as part of a Bio/Med Club fundraiser. They're tiny and look delightful mixed in a salad...or accompanied with some cute cherry tomatoes for a summer snack.

Furniture: One of my goals for this year has been to buy more handcrafted or used items, and I've been needing a coffee table for my living room. Fortunately, I was able to get one completely handcrafted and it will arrive April 25th, delivered personally by the carpenter! I'm so excited to see it!

In an effort to get myself into the habit of posting...

Well, I finished my taxes. Good times, although this year's return is a lot smaller than last year's. It's kind of distressing to think of that tax money going towards billion dollar bailouts and such - but a little more encouraging to picture it going towards some of the things I do support.



Eat: This Saturday we had a family get-together at Pizza Hut - it seems like most meet-ups with my family seem to involve pizza at one point or another. It was kind of crazy with my entire family (sans Jess), my brother-in-law, my aunt & uncle, and Jamie's boyfriend/special friend/Werner. Crazy good, though. Follow that up with ice cream and Apples to Apples, and you've got some good times and good memories.

Shop: Today was do taxes/chill out day - which means shopping at at least one cosignment/bargain/thrift store. You know you've got thrifting down bad when you have a pattern in which you attack each store - but it pays off, because I got some awesome deals at GoodWill today! Brand new summer shorts (still with tags!), some awesome books, and a Wallace & Gromit DVD which might just be accompanying me & some knitting later tonight.



Mail: And to make today even more fun: I sent out some mail, which makes me a very happy person. Yay mail!