I found out what in my heart I knew all along: we're expecting a baby boy. I got an early ultrasound before Christmas to surprise our parents. I'll be 22 weeks pregnant on Sunday. This is likely (VERY likely!) our last pregnancy - if we want any more children, we will adopt them. So far I've not had any rude comments. Before finding out, some people had expressed a preference for us to have a girl - that I'm not offended by, even my own husband wanted a girl! - but so far, no one has said anything like "So are you gonna try again?" "Sad you're not having a girl?" or anything like that.
To be honest, I'm kinda thrilled about having another boy. I just can't wait to meet little Henry James. I think he's going to really bring something to our family. I worried about missing out on the experience of having a girl, or having a mother-daughter bond, or not seeing Daniel become a father to a little girl. But all that's sort of gender stereotyping anyway, right? I firmly believe some aspects of our brain/personality are hardwired into us via our biological sex organs, but not having a girl doesn't mean I'm going to miss out on sweet, even-tempered, empathetic, tender-hearted children. Donovan is already a very sensitive soul who cares about people's feelings. That's really what I care about the most. I want to raise kids with good self-esteem and a healthy level of independence. My mom used to always say that niceness is more important than smartness, and I absolutely agree with that statement, even though sadly, I don't live it. That's what's important - much more important than what's between their legs.
This pregnancy is different from my last. With your second baby, you feel kicks earlier. I was surprised how much earlier. With Donovan, my placenta was anterior, so I didn't feel him move until almost 23 weeks! It was longer for Daniel to feel him, too. This time, my placenta is posterior and I've been feeling flutters on and off since 14-15 weeks, and since about 17 weeks, I've been feeling it with certainty. Henry moves fairly often and kicks HARD! Even Daniel has felt him move already on and off. I wonder if that's a sign of things to come. My mom told me that maybe Donovan was my "calm" child, and Henry will be my wild one. Um... what? Donovan, calm? Say it ain't so!
We had some Christmas cash so I went ahead and purchased $200 worth of NICE cloth diapers to go along with the ones we already have, and an Ergo carrier and infant insert. Still saving up to buy a GOOD quality breast pump; I had to buy about five different ones last time, and they still weren't effective. Luckily insurance will cover it this time, hopefully. I'm already signed up to be a hippie!
1.15.2013
12.13.2012
Christmas Cooking (and letting go of weight gain and loss)
So I'm pregnant with our second child. We'll be finding out the sex of the baby relatively soon. I think it's another boy. I'll be shocked if it's a girl! But either way, I'll be happy. And either way, the journey of two children will end, permanently, after this. I'm not up to more than that. So if I get another boy, I'm dreading the comments of "Will you try for a girl?" Nope, I don't need the whole collection in order to be fulfilled in life. I'll be equally happy with two boys as a boy and a girl. In some ways, having two of the same sex might be easier. Or not, because my love for my child isn't dependent on what's between their legs.
In fact, for a little bit, I thought Donovan might be an only child. We were totally blown away by all the medical issues he had - despite the fact that none of them were life-threatening in any way - and I was dreading going through that again. Of course, the costs, too. But I have some plans set in place, and I really feel like our family is complete at four, not three.
I've been cooking up this baby since September. And I've posted previously about my weight loss - however, I gained ten pounds within the first six weeks after finding out I was pregnant. I was pretty devastated to gain back that weight so quickly, especially since I was still eating healthfully and exercising. I didn't mind gaining weight during my first pregnancy - even though I was 20 pounds heavier starting out! - because I was already fat, I guess. It was much harder to lose weight and then gain it all back quickly for a second pregnancy.
But now, thankfully, my weight gain has completely stalled, even throughout Christmas cooking and Thanksgiving. I'm continuing to exercise and trying to stay active. I'm trying to put good things in my body. That's all I can do. And if I lost the weight once, I can lose it again. Hopefully the journey will be made a bit easier with breastfeeding! Maybe I can lose even more weight than before.
So, in the meantime, I've been baking up some goodies with my AllRecipes/Ladies' Home Journal Cookie Swap. I made these: White Chip Orange Cookies for a community dinner with Bradley Initiative for Church and Community. I'm not the biggest fan of white chocolate (I like it DARK) but these were pretty good. At least the people thought so - among all the desserts, my cookies were completely gone by time I went to go pick up my container.
Tonight I have a cookie swap party with my church's moms group. YES, I'm going to a moms' group. Most of their meetings are in the mornings, when I'm working. They have evening meetings once every few months, but I usually have something come up. It's really hard for me to get out on weeknights after work! However, I am dragging my sorry self to the meeting tonight, come hell or high water.
What am I making for the cookie swap? Fudge, of course. Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge. I have to be a contrarian and bring fudge to a cookie swap. But I couldn't just stop there. I had to bring actual cookies as well! So I wanted to bring something different and unique, but not TOO different and unique. I went with these Cardamom Snaps, which are not from my beloved AllRecipes site, but looked good nonetheless. I haven't tried the fudge yet, but I did try the cardamom snaps. They are sort of like a mix between ginger snaps and chai cookies. A nice little bite, but a slightly smoky aftertaste.
I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else brings to this cookie swap tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing what other people are cooking. I'm not sure how my life is going to turn out right now, but I have to trust my instincts and what I feel like God wants for my children, my life, for ME. I'm just sitting here, cooking up a plan, and hopefully things will move forward soon.
In fact, for a little bit, I thought Donovan might be an only child. We were totally blown away by all the medical issues he had - despite the fact that none of them were life-threatening in any way - and I was dreading going through that again. Of course, the costs, too. But I have some plans set in place, and I really feel like our family is complete at four, not three.
I've been cooking up this baby since September. And I've posted previously about my weight loss - however, I gained ten pounds within the first six weeks after finding out I was pregnant. I was pretty devastated to gain back that weight so quickly, especially since I was still eating healthfully and exercising. I didn't mind gaining weight during my first pregnancy - even though I was 20 pounds heavier starting out! - because I was already fat, I guess. It was much harder to lose weight and then gain it all back quickly for a second pregnancy.
But now, thankfully, my weight gain has completely stalled, even throughout Christmas cooking and Thanksgiving. I'm continuing to exercise and trying to stay active. I'm trying to put good things in my body. That's all I can do. And if I lost the weight once, I can lose it again. Hopefully the journey will be made a bit easier with breastfeeding! Maybe I can lose even more weight than before.
So, in the meantime, I've been baking up some goodies with my AllRecipes/Ladies' Home Journal Cookie Swap. I made these: White Chip Orange Cookies for a community dinner with Bradley Initiative for Church and Community. I'm not the biggest fan of white chocolate (I like it DARK) but these were pretty good. At least the people thought so - among all the desserts, my cookies were completely gone by time I went to go pick up my container.
Tonight I have a cookie swap party with my church's moms group. YES, I'm going to a moms' group. Most of their meetings are in the mornings, when I'm working. They have evening meetings once every few months, but I usually have something come up. It's really hard for me to get out on weeknights after work! However, I am dragging my sorry self to the meeting tonight, come hell or high water.
What am I making for the cookie swap? Fudge, of course. Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge. I have to be a contrarian and bring fudge to a cookie swap. But I couldn't just stop there. I had to bring actual cookies as well! So I wanted to bring something different and unique, but not TOO different and unique. I went with these Cardamom Snaps, which are not from my beloved AllRecipes site, but looked good nonetheless. I haven't tried the fudge yet, but I did try the cardamom snaps. They are sort of like a mix between ginger snaps and chai cookies. A nice little bite, but a slightly smoky aftertaste.
I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else brings to this cookie swap tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing what other people are cooking. I'm not sure how my life is going to turn out right now, but I have to trust my instincts and what I feel like God wants for my children, my life, for ME. I'm just sitting here, cooking up a plan, and hopefully things will move forward soon.
11.08.2012
Long time.
I haven't posted in a long time.
Not because I haven't had anything to say. I have lots to say. I just don't really connect with this blog so much any longer. Maybe I should revamp it. I have too much inside me, and the experts say your blog should be specific. A mom blog should be about your babies. A food blog should be about food. Eco-friendly blogs should be eco-friendly. Theology blogs should be about theology. Diary type blogs should be in diary format. A fiction blog should be fiction.
There is no overlap if you want your blog to be successful. If you want to garner an audience that attaches itself to you. I have too much inside me to be that specific.
I write in marketingese every day at work. I read constantly and wish I were writing in something else. (not that I'm not grateful for a job.) I'm bursting inside with words that are itching at my fingertips to get out, and I can't make myself do it. Lack of energy, lack of time, lack of creativity, lack of intelligence. I give myself plenty of excuses.
I want to share love, recipes, mothering, and creativity with the world, and I just seem to be unable to do it.
I have so much more to say, but it's a ramble. My whole life is sort of a rambling mess. Moving forward and forward but never quite organized.
I used to have specific desires for the way I wanted my life to go, and I still do. I don't see the path to get there.
Maybe my next post will be a fun recipe. I should probably organize this blog better. I should probably keep writing or I'm going to find myself unable to ever write again.
I couldn't even bring myself to do "22 days of Thankfulness" thing on Facebook, even though I have so much to be thankful for. I really, really do. I do not want for love, family, food, shelter, a job, or clothing. I am extremely fulfilled by my life and religion and friends. Most of the time, anyway. I appreciate my struggles with theology and love reconsidering them over and over again. The personal hurdles I feel aren't anything like the hurdles most people face. I should be grateful. I've always had trouble showing how grateful I am.
Not because I haven't had anything to say. I have lots to say. I just don't really connect with this blog so much any longer. Maybe I should revamp it. I have too much inside me, and the experts say your blog should be specific. A mom blog should be about your babies. A food blog should be about food. Eco-friendly blogs should be eco-friendly. Theology blogs should be about theology. Diary type blogs should be in diary format. A fiction blog should be fiction.
There is no overlap if you want your blog to be successful. If you want to garner an audience that attaches itself to you. I have too much inside me to be that specific.
I write in marketingese every day at work. I read constantly and wish I were writing in something else. (not that I'm not grateful for a job.) I'm bursting inside with words that are itching at my fingertips to get out, and I can't make myself do it. Lack of energy, lack of time, lack of creativity, lack of intelligence. I give myself plenty of excuses.
I want to share love, recipes, mothering, and creativity with the world, and I just seem to be unable to do it.
I have so much more to say, but it's a ramble. My whole life is sort of a rambling mess. Moving forward and forward but never quite organized.
I used to have specific desires for the way I wanted my life to go, and I still do. I don't see the path to get there.
Maybe my next post will be a fun recipe. I should probably organize this blog better. I should probably keep writing or I'm going to find myself unable to ever write again.
I couldn't even bring myself to do "22 days of Thankfulness" thing on Facebook, even though I have so much to be thankful for. I really, really do. I do not want for love, family, food, shelter, a job, or clothing. I am extremely fulfilled by my life and religion and friends. Most of the time, anyway. I appreciate my struggles with theology and love reconsidering them over and over again. The personal hurdles I feel aren't anything like the hurdles most people face. I should be grateful. I've always had trouble showing how grateful I am.
6.20.2012
Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
Stolen from the list here, I'm putting myself on a reading challenge. I haven't read good books in a while, and I've been itching for a new obsession.
I've never seen the show Gilmore Girls and I don't even know what it's about. But this is a pretty good list, and actually, I haven't read most of these books! If I haven't read the book in the past 5ish years, I'm going to reread. Rereads are in blue, and books I've read in the past five yearswill be crossed out. I also straight up deleted some "collection" books listed here... and there were a few repeats as well. Also, I'm not a big Stephen King fan, but.... maybe I'll give it a shot. I did however delete many political non-fiction opinion commentary pieces. Of all walks of politics. I grew up on political non-fiction and I'm sick of it. But I left some of the historical, educational true political books on here. I would have deleted all the children's books, except that having a child, I figure I'll have to reread them all again anyway, and Donovan being passionate about reading like I am would be a dream come true.
Maybe I'll have to give in and get an e-Reader to buy all these. I have no more room on my bookshelf. Or maybe I'll start going to the library... -_-
1984 by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Babe by Dick King-Smith
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Bhagava Gita
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
Candide by Voltaire
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (uuuugh if I have to)
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Christine by Stephen King
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Cujo by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
Don Quijote by Cervantes
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
Emma by Jane Austen
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Ethics by Spinoza
Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extravagance by Gary Krist
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (haha, I can't wait to hear my Biblical historian husband rant about Elaine Pagels some more)
The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Group by Mary McCarthy
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry (TBR)
Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Iliad by Homer
I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Love Story by Erich Segal
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Night by Elie Wiesel
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Old School by Tobias Wolff
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Othello by Shakespeare
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (can't wait for the hipster movie to come out, lulz)
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Property by Valerie Martin
Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Quattrocento by James Mckean
A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert
Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition
Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James
The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Sexus by Henry Miller
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shane by Jack Shaefer
The Shining by Stephen King
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Ulysses by James Joyce (Daniel will have to hear ME rant about James Joyce...)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
What Colour is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles
What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee – read
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire – started and not finished
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
I've never seen the show Gilmore Girls and I don't even know what it's about. But this is a pretty good list, and actually, I haven't read most of these books! If I haven't read the book in the past 5ish years, I'm going to reread. Rereads are in blue, and books I've read in the past five years
Maybe I'll have to give in and get an e-Reader to buy all these. I have no more room on my bookshelf. Or maybe I'll start going to the library... -_-
1984 by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
Babe by Dick King-Smith
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Bhagava Gita
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (uuuugh if I have to)
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Christine by Stephen King
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Cujo by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
Don Quijote by Cervantes
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
Emma by Jane Austen
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Ethics by Spinoza
Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extravagance by Gary Krist
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (haha, I can't wait to hear my Biblical historian husband rant about Elaine Pagels some more)
The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Group by Mary McCarthy
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry (TBR)
Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Iliad by Homer
I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Love Story by Erich Segal
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Old School by Tobias Wolff
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
Property by Valerie Martin
Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Quattrocento by James Mckean
A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert
Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition
Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James
The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Sexus by Henry Miller
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shane by Jack Shaefer
The Shining by Stephen King
S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Ulysses by James Joyce (Daniel will have to hear ME rant about James Joyce...)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
What Colour is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles
What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee – read
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
5.03.2012
Hot dog mac & cheese! Made healthy and light.
Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. It's a cheap meal, classic in the south. But usually it's made by just throwing some Oscar Meyer wieners into prepared Kraft mac & cheese. That's okay, but you can make your own... and make it better. (And as far as processed mac & cheese goes, I was always a Velveeta gal anyway. Take that, Kraft!)
So I present to you an original recipe. Don't let the ingredients fool you. It was good. Even my husband thought so. And so did Donovan, who didn't know he was having a full serving of cauliflower.
Baked Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese with Turkey Hot Dogs.(!!!)
You'll need:
You'll need:
1 medium sauce pot
1 large sauce pot
1 non-stick skillet
1 9x13 baking dish
1 colander
A stick blender, food processor, or blender
Knife
Cutting board
Cutting board
Ingredients:
12 oz. box Smart Taste Ronzoni or whole wheat elbow macaroni
12 oz. box Smart Taste Ronzoni or whole wheat elbow macaroni
6 turkey hot dogs
1 head cauliflower, core removed
12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. smoked or sweet paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 cup reduced fat extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (if you can't find a cheese that's both reduced fat and extra sharp, go for the extra sharp. You need the tang!)
1 tsp. butter
1 dash hot sauce
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tbs. Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (I always salt my boiling water, but that's up to you.) Meanwhile, core and roughly chop the florets of a head of cauliflower. Add cauliflower to boiling water and let cook on medium-high heat for 25 minutes.
While the cauliflower is boiling, cook the six hot dogs on a nonstick skillet, about 2-3 minutes on each side. I used the Applegate brand, because I was feeling fancy and figured if the turkey hot dog was going to be the main ingredient for a meal I was going to feed to my child, I'd be able to splurge. (I hardly ever let him have hot dogs except on special occasions, but that's a different story...) Any turkey hot dog brand will do.
While the hot dogs and cauliflower are cooking, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. There's some multi-tasking involved!
When hot dogs are finished cooking, set aside and let cool.
When cauliflower is done cooking, turn off the oven eye, drain, and return it to the pot. Add entire box of macaroni into the medium-sized pot of boiling water and let cook on medium-high heat until al dente, 6-8 minutes.
While macaroni is cooking, add can of evaporated milk, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and Dijon mustard on top of the cauliflower inside of the pot. At this point you have three options: transfer small batches into a blender, blend, and transfer each batch into a large bowl (good) transfer the entire mixture into a food processor and blend (better) or just plug up a stick blender and blend it right there in the pot itself (best!)
While macaroni is cooking, add can of evaporated milk, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and Dijon mustard on top of the cauliflower inside of the pot. At this point you have three options: transfer small batches into a blender, blend, and transfer each batch into a large bowl (good) transfer the entire mixture into a food processor and blend (better) or just plug up a stick blender and blend it right there in the pot itself (best!)
If you really had no other option, I imagine you COULD use a potato hand masher, or electric beaters... but it would take a lot longer and wouldn't be as smooth.
Forgot about the macaroni? Don't! Drain and it and let it rest in the colander for just a sec, mmkay?
 |
| See the velvety cauliflower sauce mix underneath all that cheese? |
So back to the cheese sauce... you'll have a delicious, velvety smooth cheese sauce... BUT WAIT?! Where is the cheese...? Oh yeah. Return the mix to the pot if you didn't use a stick blender, and set the oven eye on low. Add a cup of cheese, a tsp. of butter, and a dash of hot sauce (we used Texas Pete's) and mix together until the cheese is melted.
Mmmm. Oh, go ahead a preheat the oven to 400. Are you keeping up?
Now, slice the hot dogs into quarters, or lengthwise and then across if you have little ones like I do. (Hot dogs are the biggest choking hazard PERIOD for children under five!) Grease up a 9x13 cooking pan with a little butter, and toss in the macaroni and turkey hot dog slices into it, and mix 'em up.
Add the cauliflower cheese sauce all over the macaroni/hot dog mix. Just smother it. If you're like "noooo it's too much sauce" then it's JUST RIGHT.
Mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs together. I actually had three leftover slices of toasted French bread that had been drizzled with pepper and olive oil the night before.... so I used that. Sprinkle the mixture over the macaroni, stick it in the oven and bake for 22 minutes.
After it's done cooking, remove and let cool for as long as you can stand it, at least 5-10 minutes.
Then you can eat it.
Top with fresh parsley if you want. Salt and pepper to taste (I can never have enough salt and pepper!) and enjoy!
You can make so many variations on this recipe. If you're a vegan, just use tofu dogs, coconut milk in place of evaporated, daiya cheese, and nutritional yeast in place of Parmesan. Lighten it up even more by adding spinach or other veggies instead of hot dogs. If you're not into carbs, just spoon this cheese sauce over broccoli or chicken. Add a packet of taco seasoning and fresh peppers and cooked ground beef for taco mac. The cauliflower is so versatile with the cheese sauce. You can't even taste it.
Which is good, because guess what? Psst... I don't even like cauliflower that much.
4.29.2012
If you say Jesus backwards, it sounds like sausage.
I like sausage, but it's far from being my favorite meat. I'm pretty picky about mixed meats in general. I like pepperoni on pizza. I like hot dogs. I like ground sausage for breakfast. Sometimes I like linked sausage, but not much. I hate pastrami, salami, iffy on corned beef, bologna, and most other types of mixed deli meats.
However, this month I prepared and made three recipes for the AllRecipes AllStars program:
Chicken Sausage with Tomato-Cream Sauce over Linguine
Grilled Mediterranean Greek Pizza
Italian Chicken Sausage and Tortellini Soup
Al Fresco was kind enough to send me a package of chicken sausage since it's not commercially available in my area, but unfortunately, that wasn't enough for three recipes. So I used plain regular Italian sausage for the last two recipes.
The chicken sausage with tomato-cream sauce recipe was followed to the tee, with the exception that I used whole milk instead of cream. It was great, and the fresh oregano from our garden really made the recipe, so don't leave it out. We liked this recipe a lot.
I made a lot of changes to the grilled Mediterranean Greek Pizza - first of all, I baked it instead of grilling it. I cooked this meal while Daniel was at work and I had no desire to watch Donovan while he was outside in our non-fenced-in backyard while I started and cooked on the grill. So I used a Pillsbury crust, and used Italian sausage instead. To make up for the lack of sun-dried tomatoes in the sausage, I put actual sun-dried tomatoes on top of the pizza, which was a good decision. I liked the flavors... except for the sausage. I'm more of a pepperoni girl for pizza.
The only change I made to the soup was using regular Italian sausage, but I was disappointed in the recipe on its own. It needed a lot more spice and pizzazz than what it called for, so we added Italian seasoning and pepper, which helped a little. Oh, also, I only made half the recipe and it was plenty for my family and still made for leftovers.
While sausage still isn't my favorite meat, I've definitely seen how versatile it can be in different recipes. Maybe I won't pick it up all the time, but if it's on sale, I wouldn't be opposed to getting some and cooking with it more often.
What are your favorite sausage recipes?
However, this month I prepared and made three recipes for the AllRecipes AllStars program:
Chicken Sausage with Tomato-Cream Sauce over Linguine
Grilled Mediterranean Greek Pizza
Italian Chicken Sausage and Tortellini Soup
 |
| Chicken Sausage with Tomato- Cream Sauce over Linguine |
The chicken sausage with tomato-cream sauce recipe was followed to the tee, with the exception that I used whole milk instead of cream. It was great, and the fresh oregano from our garden really made the recipe, so don't leave it out. We liked this recipe a lot.
 |
| Grilled Mediterranean Greek Pizza |
 |
| Sausage & tortellini soup |
While sausage still isn't my favorite meat, I've definitely seen how versatile it can be in different recipes. Maybe I won't pick it up all the time, but if it's on sale, I wouldn't be opposed to getting some and cooking with it more often.
What are your favorite sausage recipes?
4.24.2012
Cinnamon Toast Scones
I made these divine cinnamon toast scones from the "Go Bold With Butter" pinterest board on a Saturday morning where my child decided to wake up at 6:30 instead of his usual 8:00. Bleary eyed, I stumbled through the instructions and used my food processor to mix everything together instead of using my hands or two separate bowls, as the instructions below tell you. Which was nice, because the raisins were sort of finely chopped instead of making for a chunky scone. Maybe you like chunky scones. Either way, I can attest that if you choose just to mix the dry ingredients, add butter, add raisins, then add the liquids together in a food processor, it'll all turn out fine.
Ingredients:
2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into 6 pieces)
3/4 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and work into the flour mixture, using your hands or a pastry blender, until the butter and flour form pea size balls. Add raisins and stir.
Add vanilla, egg and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Mix together. If the dough is too dry, continue mixing and adding more cream in small increments until a pliable dough has formed.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and form into about an inch tall rectangle. Cut into triangles. Brush the tops with more heavy cream. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle mixture on top of scones.
Place on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. Top with your favorite icing.
The icing recipe I used was just 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, a tsp. of vanilla, and a tbs. of milk. That's about the right consistency for me, but you may need more or less milk.
I can't even begin to tell you how good these were. I ate way more of these than I care to admit. I ate them for breakfast and lunch. Luckily, I took at two-and-a-half hour walk after eating *coughthreeandahalfcough* some, so maybe it undid some of the damage.
Do not try to healthy up this recipe. Use real cream and butter and sugar and white flour. Please. If you want to eat something healthy and cinnamon-y and sugary, I recommend eating a serving of oatmeal made with unsweetened applesauce, a tsp. of cinnamon, skim milk, and sprinkled with a few pecans. Don't waste your ingredients on this recipe if you're going to use fake ingredients! It won't taste as decadent.
Ingredients:
2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into 6 pieces)
3/4 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
 |
| Sprinkling cinnamon on top of cream- brushed scones. |
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and work into the flour mixture, using your hands or a pastry blender, until the butter and flour form pea size balls. Add raisins and stir.
Add vanilla, egg and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Mix together. If the dough is too dry, continue mixing and adding more cream in small increments until a pliable dough has formed.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and form into about an inch tall rectangle. Cut into triangles. Brush the tops with more heavy cream. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle mixture on top of scones.
Place on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. Top with your favorite icing.
The icing recipe I used was just 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, a tsp. of vanilla, and a tbs. of milk. That's about the right consistency for me, but you may need more or less milk.
I can't even begin to tell you how good these were. I ate way more of these than I care to admit. I ate them for breakfast and lunch. Luckily, I took at two-and-a-half hour walk after eating *coughthreeandahalfcough* some, so maybe it undid some of the damage.
Do not try to healthy up this recipe. Use real cream and butter and sugar and white flour. Please. If you want to eat something healthy and cinnamon-y and sugary, I recommend eating a serving of oatmeal made with unsweetened applesauce, a tsp. of cinnamon, skim milk, and sprinkled with a few pecans. Don't waste your ingredients on this recipe if you're going to use fake ingredients! It won't taste as decadent.
The final result, drizzled with icing. Donovan, who had most certainly not been waiting patiently for his second breakfast, despite the fact that he was served milk, scrambled eggs, and orange slices before he was given a scone - was also pleased with the result. And when Daniel got home, he ate the remainder of the scones himself, happy to oblige my "Get these out of my house or I'm going to be 400 pounds!" comment.
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