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Monday, March 29, 2010

Lenten Love Song

Sometimes,
I have plans to write
blogposts
that are wonderfully insightful.

Most of the time,
I have those plans
in the middle of the night.

But now,
it is in the middle of the day,
so this is all I've got ;)

My nephew,
Judah Emerson,
was born yesterday!

He's a sweet little thing,
& he looks a lot like Kohen did;
though, I think he's got
more of Chason (dad) in him
than Kohen, so that will be fun to see!
Look at 'im! :)


What a sweetie :) I miss him already.

In other news,
LENT
is winding down...
only 2 more days to go.
A friend inspired me to
really practice Lent this year,
so I've given up something new
every week of Lent,
and it's been really awesome
to notice how much more
I've noticed God
doing things around me,
and in me,
during these weeks.
I've been as excited for Easter to come
as I always am for Christmas!
Some friends and I have been meeting
everyday
this week at 6a.m.
for morning prayer
to start the day.
Yes.
It's very early.
No.
I most definitely usually
don't get up that early.
But I have a re-awakened love for the
early morning now.
I was such an early bird
when I was younger..
Until college...
But it's funny- I usually
have a very hectic class schedule,
but this week,
one of my classes has been cancelled
for the entire week,
giving me time to study,
or rest between classes!
It's really as if God is rewarding
me decision to get up so early this week...
SO.
I can't WAIT for Sunday.
Easter is completely one of my
new favorite holidays.
And not even because of the
chocolate that I will be consuming...

And finally:
I've tried a few new recipes
that are definite winners
and I thought I'd share them with you!

Red Pepper-Carrot Soup
(I modified the recipe a bit,
since I was only cooking for myself)
INGREDIENTS:
2 Large Red Bell Peppers (plus slices for garnish, opt.)
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1 Bay Leaf
I Large Onion, sliced (2c.)
2 Large Carrots, sliced (1/2lb.)
4 cloves Garlic, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bell peppers on baking sheet, and roast 1 hour, or until skin is wrinkled and blackened all over, turning peppers occasionally with tongs. Transfer to bowl, and cover with plastic wrap 10 minutes to steam. When peppers are cool enough to handle, rub off blackened peel, and remove seeds.
2. Heat oil in 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add curry powder and bay leaf, and stir 10 seconds. Add onion, carrots, garlic, and salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
3. Add 4 cups water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 25 minutes.
4. Transfer carrot mixture to blender, add bell peppers, and purée until smooth. Stir in lemon juice. Garnish servings with bell pepper slices, if using.
(I used 1.5 peppers, 2 cloves Garlic, and no Lemon Juice.
I also sliced the peppers and baked them spread out on a pan for 10-15 minutes, until soft.
I didn't bother to take off the skins, since they were soft and blended well- saves time and effort ;)
Be warned- while boiling, this mix looks kinda iffy, but it blends really well, and is quite tasty!
A little extra salt helps, since it can be a bit bland for some tastes.
I imagine that it would be quite yummy with an added dollop of sour cream on top, too!
ALSO, I imagine that being liberal with ingredients would be good, if possible.
I think the 6 servings it's supposed to make would be little servings. I'd probably add at least 1 pepper & a few carrots...)

Honey Curry Chicken
INGREDIENTS:
6 chicken Thighs or boneless breasts
1/4 c. melted butter
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 package froz. Stir Fry Veggies
(or any fresh ones you like- I've used mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, WITH the stir fry ones)
(Rice)
DIRECTIONS:
(Prepare rice, either in pot, or by rice cooker.)
Cook the chicken in water, so it will be cooked but tender. Small pieces are best.
In a pan, combine all sauce ingredients, stir, and then add all remaining ingredients.
Let it simmer until veggies are to desired crunchiness/softness.
Serve over rice (or on it's own- I love it over Jasmine Rice!!!!)


And there you have it!
2 really good recipes to try.
I've been cooking a lot lately,
so I'll keep you updated with more recipes!

Have a wonderful day, my friends :)


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Side Note (no pun intended)

(Ok,
so I feel like I ought to somehow
justify my choices of songs
that play in my little player in the sidebar.
Here's my only justification to the completely
random mix.
These songs make me ridiculously happy.
That's it.
Really.
If you come to this page, and don't smile when
Riders in the Sky
start singing,
PLEASE.
Tell me.
I will try my darndest to talk some sense into you.
okiloveyoubyebye.)

Confession:

I judge books by their cover.

Ruthlessly.

Hello, my name is Annie, & I am a judger.


But you know you do it, too.

And if you don't, congratulations.

I hope to never attain your level of benevolence towards books.


I tell ya,

if they made a math book that

had the perfect pages that

felt & smelled good,

AND had amazing illustrations that

I'd like to look at,

I'd do math everyday.

And we all know how I dislike math.

*********************************


Adult books.

Children's books.

I love them equally.

Although,

when someone asks me what I'm reading right now,

I'm not sure if I ought to tell them that

I'm enjoying Adventures in Odyssey books.

No, not Homer's Odyssey.

Adventures in Odyssey.

The whole series.

Or that I searched online for them & bought the last three so that

I could finish them all,

because I'm completely entrenched.

I highly recommend them for any teenagers that you know.

Or even for yourself.

You can read all 6 in a week, easy peasy.

Other kid's books I have are:

I haven't read this yet,

but hey,

it's Tolkien,

so it's GOT to be good.


This little jewel I got for free at a local free bookstore

(a good reason for you all to come visit me here-

just bring extra luggage for all the cooks you will pick up :)

It has amazing illustrations,

& is filled with all kinds of stories & rhymes

for young boys & girls.

I'm going to keep this one for myself,

to read whenever my nephews & nieces (someday?)

come to visit me.
(Love it- "Ye done all right fer a gal" )
This group of books I've collected over the past year or two,
& while I haven't yet read them all,
they're perfect little old books.
~Bad Little Hannah
~The Bad Little Boy
~Captain Courageous
~The Night Riders
~Der Buch Gestalten (german poetry book)
Now to bridge into Adult books.
"The Gentleman from Indianapolis"
looks like it's gonna' be a great western drama,
though I can't figure out which age group .
& then "The Melancholy Tale of "Me".
I got this book PURELY for the amazingness that
is that title.
I haven't read past the first page, but I can tell already:
G o l d e n .
Now I have a rather odd mixing of titles.
~ The Hawk & the Dove Trilogy
This is a fantastic book! It's so good &
is a perfect read for this Easter Season.
GO BUY IT.
~Oui, Je parle Francais!
This french instruction book is so wonderfully 60's. Love it.
~Sarah Morgan: The Civil War diary of a Southern Woman.
I haven't read this yet, but there's a possibility that I
am related to her.
Civil War stories + Possible Relative= Win.
& finally.
For Christmas, I was given a bit of money.
Instead of saving it for school, I decided to treat my self to some Goudge.
That's Elizabeth Goudge.
A wonderful authoress,
referred to me by my wonderful friend (and authoress, herself)
So I bought 7 of her books, & I'm OH so excited to start reading them.



So there you have it. A little book fun.
Now I'm off to practice the new opera
that is being written for me.
(How many people get to say that?! :)

Avez un bel jour, mes amies!
Toujours amour