dancing

If you ever perused youTube you probably have seen this guy dancing. I have not seen his latest version until yesterday, though. It made me laugh and smile and totally made my day. You really should watch it if you haven't already. Click here to see it. My favorite are the people in Quebec dancing in the rain. [Thanks to Candace Faultline for bringing this to my attention!]

maple walnut spice cookies

My SIL Christie is one of the most inspiring cooks I know. Mark and I can't think of a single thing she has made that we didn't love. That being said, almost everything she makes (maybe everything) is healthy, lowfat, etc. I get to feed some pre-race half-marathoners this weekend and her maple walnut spice cookies came to mind for a light dessert (although they are seriously addictive so that could negate the lightness). They freeze really well (store between layers of parchment paper).

Cookies:
11/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. ground cloves
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 T. maple syrup
1 egg
1. Preheat 350. Combine flour through cloves in a medium bowl, whisk together well.
2. Beat brown sugar and butter with a mixer at high speed until light and fluffy (4 mins.)
3. Add syrup and egg. Beat until well blended. Beating at low speed, gradually add flour mixture until just combined.
4. Spoon batter evenly into 30 mounds, 2 in. apart on baking sheets.
5. Bake14 mins. or until lightly browned. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 T. maple syrup
1 T. fat-free milk
2 t. butter, softened
1/2 c. finely chopped, toasted walnuts
1. Combine sugar through butter with a whisk until smooth. Spread frosting evenly over cookies.
2. Working quickly, sprinkle cookies with nuts.

pansies

This weekend...lots and lots of much-needed yardwork. Out with the frost-bitten vinca, in with the pansies.

predictably irrational

Mark got this book for Christmas, and after one look at inside the front cover I was sneakily reading it whenever he put it down (much to his annoyance...I kept losing his place). It is fascinating. Rather than explain it myself, here is a little synopsis from the book's website:

Do you know why we sometimes find ourselves excitedly buying things we don’t really need?
Do you know why we still have a headache after taking a five-cent aspirin, but why that same headache vanishes when the aspirin costs 50 cents?
Do you know why people who have been asked to recall the Ten Commandments tend to be more honest (at least immediately afterward) than those who haven’t? Or why honor codes actually do reduce dishonesty in the workplace?
By the end of this book, you’ll know the answers to these and many other questions that have implications for the way you look at the world. As a bonus you will also learn how much fun social science can be, and how to see more clearly the causes for our everyday behaviors, including the many cases in which we are predictably irrational.

vegetable lasagna

This vegetable lasagna recipe has been a staple in our house since we've been married. It is a little time consuming to make but is so good that it is completely worth the effort, especially on a lazy day like yesterday when I had a lot of time to chop vegetables (and Meg took a really long nap!). Recipes that are this good make me almost believe I could be a vegetarian...almost. [note: omit the red pepper flakes if you don't like spicy, use the "no boil" lasagna noodles to lessen work, and be generous with the cheese on top!]

picnic

We got to have Mark home with us today so we packed a picnic and headed out to the Tallahassee Museum for a chilly but beautiful outdoors lunch and walk in the woods. Mark was a good sport and came with us even though he had just finished a 10-mile run and got a ticket (I won't tell you what it was for)!

cherry dress

Meg in her new dress!

date night

Mark and I got to go on a rare date night tonight - ate at Mozaik and learned yet another vocabulary word: gnudi (small, plump, lightly fried cheese dumplings). The "g" is silent so after a naked food joke or two I ordered it and it was great. We then went to see Slumdog Millionaire and it was one of the best movies I have seen. Everything about it is great - the plot, the scenery, the music, the actors - awesome!

simple toys

I just ran across a great article on deciding what toys are "classics" and what toys will just clutter up your house. Click here to read it. It sounds like the best toys are simple enough to allow kids to be creative with them and therefore return to them again and again...blocks, art supplies, a doll, dress-up, lots of books. I love this advice and will try to follow it! Clutter really does stress me out. (She also links to a lot of other great articles.)

g'ma tuzie

We had a great visit with my mom! I'm so glad for every time Meg gets to spend a grandparent (or any extended family, for that matter) and to have a bunch of unhurried time together was wonderful. Meg loves "Suzie" and would follow her around the house! [Please ignore Meg's black eye (!) and black feet - we really do love her and take care of her despite that evidence to the contrary.]

strawberry jam

My mom makes homemade strawberry jam every year and whenever she sends us home with a jar of it, it is gone in an embarrassingly short time - it is so good! So during her visit she showed me how to make it myself - very fun and very easy. I think I will make blueberry jam this summer if I have time to pick some.

You don't even need to buys jars if you are diligent about saving empty ones like peanut butter jars and sterilize them. Some of the finished product (below). This can be in the freezer for 1 year...we'll see if it lasts that long!

first dress

I finally finished sewing my first dress! It was much easier to do it with detailed, step-by-step instructions from my mom than trying to figure it out myself by reading books and watching youtube tutorials like I did for my first failed attempt at a sewing project. Thanks, Mom - you are a natural teacher! Now I want to make another dress before I forget everything I learned...

sewing lessons

My mom is here to visit and I am finally learning how to sew! I actually learned how to sew in 7th grade home ec. class but I didn't retain any of it. I love having my mom teach me because it is second nature to her...she barely looks at the instructions! Hopefully in a couple of days I'll have a finished little dress to post a blog about.

cradle

My mom gave this wood cradle and doll to Meg for Christmas - she found it at a garage sale, painted it, then sewed all the bedding! Her neighbor even contributed by knitting a little blanket for it. This is a perfect gift and I love that it is semi-homemade!

the big clean-out

Every year after the holidays are over I get the urge to clean, organize, and throw things out. I think I am extra-motivated this year because I need to make space in the house for a new person. Granted, it will be a small person, but she will come with a lot of stuff! I have been tackling one room per day...6 down, 4 to go! (I'm not a natural clean-freak so I need to hang on to this momentum while I have it going.)

homemade whipped cream

Tonight we got to have dinner with some of Mark's extended family who is in town, and Mark's aunt made derby pie and homemade whipped cream. I told her how amazed I was that she just made her own whipped cream and she said she wondered why anybody ever bought it at the store because it is so easy to make! This is how she did it: one little container of whipping cream (the liquid kind near the half & half in the grocery), plus 2 tablespoons of sugar. Whisk it for a few minutes (2 or 3, I think) and voila...it becomes thick and perfect! Apparently it is helpful to use a cold metal bowl and whisk and apparently it is good to add a little burbon to it (Mark's family is from Louisville and they believe in adding burbon to a lot of things).

three cups of tea

I recently read Three Cups of Tea, an amazing true story about a mountain climber who, after becoming lost on his way down from K-2 stumbles upon a remote village in the Pakistani mountains and befriends the villagers in the 1990's. He returns to the U.S., works as an ER nurse and saves every extra penny, even living in his car in his pursuit to build a school for this village. I won't give it all away, but he succeeds in a major way. This is also really fascinating because he was in the northern Pakistan mountains at the time the Taliban came into the international consciousness.

happy new year!

I am trying to keep my resolutions short and sweet this year:
1. Read through the Bible chronologically.
2. Learn how to sew little dresses before Baby arrives.
3. Learn how to really use my camera before Baby arrives (right now I can only turn it on and click the button...).