Dedication to My Best Little Hamster Friend

In memory of my little roborowski hamster, Lilo :'(

A Quick and Easy (that's what he said) Snack!

Here's a delicious, quick and healthy snack idea that I just invented:

Fresh ripe Calimyrna figs with brie and Wasa sesame crispbread.

Enjoy! :)

One of the Most Absurd Ideas Ever Heard

"Catholic Group Advocates Replacing Democracy With The Church"

My Artwork

I took two courses this summer, one of which was Equity in the School and Workplace.  It was an exit course, otherwise I probably never would have known about it or taken it.  In the class, we were assigned a project, which entailed a paper, a creative portion, and a presentation.  The cartoon below was my "creative" portion of the project.

One of My Favorite Recipes

Plum Cake

This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated, but I modified just a few things. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons raspberry jam

3 tablespoons brandy or wine 

1 pound Italian prune plums, halved and pitted 

1 cup flour (I use King Arthur all purpose)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup slivered almonds (crushed walnuts work nicely as a substitute)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter

1 egg and 1 yolk 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract 

Powdered sugar (optional)

Procedure:

1. Cook jam and brandy/wine in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until reduced to a thick syrup (2-3 minutes). Add plums, cut side down, and cook until they shed their syrup, about 5 minutes.  Cool in pan about 20 minutes. 
2. Preheat the oven to 350. Cover 9-inch springform pan (or cake pan) with butter to prevent sticking (or Pam with flour). Process sugar and nuts in food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Add flour, baking powder, salt and pulse to combine. Cube the butter, then add and pulse about ten 1-second pulses. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.  Process until smooth, about 5 seconds, scraping bowl once if needed.  Batter will be thick and heavy. 
3. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Using spatula, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Stir plums to coat with syrup.  Arrange plum slices evenly over the surface of the batter. Bake cake until golden brown, about 40-50 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan, and dust with powdered sugar and/or pour raspberry/brandy syrup on each slice.

Home for the Weekend

Next week my younger siblings will be starting a new school year, so I decided to come home for the weekend and hang out with them before they lose what little free-time they currently have.  While I was looking forward to going to Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the last week...about 3 minutes after I stepped in the door, I was told we weren't going due to the hot, rainy weather. Now...I knew it would be raining...which is why I brought my brand new rain boots with me...but since no one else wants to venture in the rain, I am left disappointed ::Heavy sigh::

On an even less happy note--my bedroom is ever so slowly being taken over by my youngest sister. All of the memory infused stuffed animals from my youth are residing in my closet...and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I will again be forced to either take them to my tiny apartment, or leave them and risk having someone sell them while I'm gone. I didn't know going to college deserved banishment, and I'm not sure why my family wants to erase all traces of me so much :(

My Fabulous Rain Boots Have Arrived!

I am thrilled to report that my Kamik 'Heidi' rain boots have just arrived :) . After an epic search to find them in my size, I finally succeeded, thanks to Amazon.  I went to Nordstrom (both in-store and online), eBay, Google Shopper, and several outdoors websites, and none of them had these boots in a size 8. Amazon, however, saved the day, and I even received free 2-day shipping because I signed up for the student membership. The boots are supposed to be plum, but appear much darker in real life. I have several cute rain ensembles lined up...now I just need some rain.

My First Post

Hello World,

So this is my first post of my first blog. I created this blog as a means of reflecting, venting, and possibly even sharing new things I discover about myself. I tend to stress over everything--whether it's an exam, a minor assignment, arriving somewhere on time, keeping my apartment organized, or even keeping up with a blog. I also tend to take my stress out on those around me...which hasn't been working out so well for me lately...hence this experimental blog.
I've never been one to keep a diary, instead I kept what I like to call a journal of important events in my life...which most would call a diary just because I'm a female. In any event, hopefully I will be able to keep up with this thing, and if anyone ever bothers to stop and read it, I would just like to say thank you now, and I always appreciate comments, advice, and new ideas.