With the aid of the internet, I taught myself how to make homemade bread tonight. The only trick involved convincing my dough to rise, as it turns out that “green”* decisions about heat are not conducive to dough rising. Apparently yeast isn’t a big fan of 63. We compromised: I stuck a towel in the dryer and wrapped my bowl up in it, and then placed the bundled bowl near a space heater. It rose beautifully and baked up deliciously.
*cheap
clearly he has some nordic heritage
I like clean, although I like the state of clean a lot more than I like the activity of cleaning. Last Saturday, I invited some friends over for a potluck dinner (more on that another day, probably with pictures). Unfortunately for me, it’s the time of year of snow and slush and salt and sand; all of which are pretty much hell on my floors. Just as guests often bring wine or treats, their shoes often bring the quadruple floor assault. Fortunately for me, my friends are considerate and I am tricky-smart.
I know I can simply ask people to remove their shoes at the door. Unfortunately, that is kind of boring and not fun, two adjectives I strive not to have associated with myself. While I doubt no-shoes-at-my-house is news to any of my buddies, I still like to warn them ahead of time as some of my friends are fancy and coordinated and do things like think about what shoes they ought to wear with an outfit –a nd then actually remember to wear them. Enter the sock contest.
It’s important to have goals in life. I think having goals – and working towards them – can be more important than the details of what the actual goals are. Last April, I decided I needed a goal. I also needed more fun in my life. I married the two and created a FUN GOAL for myself, which I christened “Brewery Tourery, Ten in ’10″ as it involved going on ten tours of beer breweries before 2010 ended. It was tight, but I made it. Several of my friends went on brewery tours as well; some even joined me more than once. I’ve been asked by a few people what my goal is going to be for this year. I’m still a fan of increasing the fun in my life, so 2011′s quest needs to be supportive of that.
In 2011, I am going to watch eleven sports/competitions of some physical/athletic nature and then either play or try some aspect of the skill or sport – possibly adapted for practicality or increased fun. For example, I could go to the roller derby and then roller skating (ala my seventh birthday party) or to a basketball game and then hit a court at the local park with some friends. Each sport only counts once, but I am counting any level – i.e. for baseball I could go to a Little League game or an MLB game.
First event is next week! (Starting in April was a poor choice, particularly when I experienced lapses in time and/or motivation.)
I don’t spend much time with elementary school kids. It’s not a big nanny demographic and my own family is both plus and minus a decade from that age group. Personally, my top two go-to gifts for the elder munchkins are Legos and magazine subscriptions (especially National Geographic for Kids). Those are my go-tos because I like all of the parents of elementary school kids whom I know.
Continue reading ‘Toys That Are Not Fun For Adults…Elementary Edition’
Yesterday was the 25th time I’ve title a post “Five Good Things.” Initially – and intermittantly - I tried/try to be sassy with my titles so that was the 48th 5GT overall. FORTY EIGHT! That’s 240 good things.
It’s not that bad to be me.
1.) I have had this blog for over a year and have yet to get in trouble for having it or anything on it. Additionally, I also am still writing on le blog. Yay committment!
2.) Copying (the most sincere form of flattery) a challenge KTB issued herself, I decided to crock once per week while home this winter. This week was my third consecutive week of crockery.
3.) I’m going to see my college friends in less than one week and my family in just over one week.
4.) I got a new computer cord! My old one broke, meaning computer down, meaning that’s why I’ve been so quiet.
5.) I bought new hair conditioner tonight. It’s medium fancy and smells pretty great. As much as I hate mornings, I’m almost excited to get up and shower.
These are leftovers, because I forgot to snap a picture during the original eating
The following is part recipe and part confession. The recipe part is super easy and yields delicious bread pudding. The confession aspect is more complicated…see, it turns out I am a total nana. Technically, I’m only nana-like, but if I started a promiscuous line or lived back in, say, Tudor England, I’m technically old enough to be an actual nana. Like, the sort of nana with grandchildren – the real sort. In actuality, I have two houseplants (one dead) and neither child nor grandchild. Scattered throughout this process were moments akin to what a grandmother might do, for which I (cringingly) awarded myself “nana points.”
I’m not exactly sure what compelled me to make bread pudding, but the need was strong. I’m not even a huge fan of bread pudding and I lack any emotional attachment to it. Growing up, we rarely had it as my mother classified it as soggy, old bread. That is a true statement, except you then cook – or crock – the soggy, old bread. Conveniently, I had a little over one-third of a baguette left over from earlier in the week. Completely stale, bread pudding or bread crumbs were probably the only practical purposes for it. If you are keeping track, that’s two nana points: one for bread pudding and one for salvaging old bread.
Continue reading ‘Crock Pot Bread Pudding, Recipe and Ramble’
I live in the tundra, where winters are long, cold, and harsh. The lack of daylight, biting winds, and frigid temperatures are hard on both my complexion and my emotional state. One of my former coaches would likely refer to this extended season as “an exercise in mental toughness.” However, always lived in places where I spend way more on snowboots than swimsuits and scarves are for function versus fashion. I believe this makes me qualified to dole out some advice – a WINTER SURVIVAL TIP, likely the first of many I will share. Let me be your “Get Through This Guru.”
This week’s weather report for my zip code is rather depressing. Basically, if at any point, I walk outside with wet hair, my hair will freeze. This does not put me in my happy place. This puts me in a place where I question why I do not own a hairdryer and potentially puts me in a place that sells hairdryers.* I tell myself this also means I could totally flood my backyard and go ice skating; but I also need a bit more.
1.) The reason for my silence is that I was on vacation. VACATION WAS GREAT!
2.) I finally, finally, finally saw a real football game played live. It was super fun and ultra great.
3.) I’m getting a new winter coat. I am totally going to upgrade the warmth factor. I also might attempt to buy a jacket that is not blue. (I accidentally keep buying blue outerwear.)
4.) Improv tomorrow night! I am already ready to laugh.
5.) I did not gain ten million pounds over Thanksgiving and vacation, despite eating a lot of junk. I probably gained more like two.
No Smoking, Yes Chestbumping
Tags: adventures, chestbump, fun for me, I win!, public service, random, saving the world, smoking, tundra living
On Friday night, I spent a spontaneous and spirited moment as a public-service announcement. I left a bar (with my friend – “Safety is no accident!”) and there were two guys smoking outside of it, with their non-smoking friend. Being me, I probably said hello and must have made some comment about smoking or something or maybe Friend did, because one guy spiked his cigarette into the remnants snow.* The other guy said, “Well, I haven’t had a cigarette in five weeks.” To which Friend said, “Well why start now?” But! I promptly quipped, “George Bush wants you to smoke.” Well! He threw it right down and smiled. So, I cheered him “YEAH!” and we immediately knew we had to chestbump for that. Then I chestbumped his buddy who previously threw down his smoke. And then I chestbumped the guy who doesn’t smoke, because hey, non-smoker! The last guy told me he was going to go all in for our bump. I embraced it, committing my total mass as well, and did not vomit all over him. And then we had a happy walk home.
The End.
*Littering is a secondary issue