New Recipe of a Few Weeks Ago – Gingerbread and Lemon Curd Trifle with Blackberry Sauce January 29, 2010
Yes, I’m a procrastinator. I made this yummy trifle on Christmas day. It was delicious but a lot of dessert. I would make it again, but only for a large gathering. We were a small group this Christmas and when didn’t manage to finish the whole thing, even after a week. I love the intense red color of the blackberry sauce. Also the lemon curd filling would work great as a replacement for whipped cream on, well, lots of things, lots and lots of yummy things, like maybe berries or pie or jello, I like jello. The recipe is from Bobby Flay’s show Boy Meets Grill.
Non sequitur: Doesn’t it seem like trifle should be spelled with two Fs instead of one? Like dessert has two Ss cause you need more dessert not less? More triffle for desert not less.
Kansas State Fair 2009 January 26, 2010
Another post from last September. We went to the Kansas State Fair where Grandpa showed a few of his calves.
Testing out a combine
The biggest pumpkin
Grandpa
Grandpa’s ribbons
2010 Resolutions January 22, 2010
- Exercise 16,000 minutes
- Read 52 books
- Train my dogs to sleep on a dog bed instead of my bed – this will be the most challenging
- Learn to play the ukulele
Hmm, that seems sufficient, dontcha think? I usually only have one New Year’s resolution, so four seems like a lot.
In lieu of sunshine . . . January 22, 2010
. . . send fog?
It has been cloudy the past week, cloudy most of the past month. Depressing. Also foggy, which is weird, fog is pretty rare around here. One morning it was below freezing and there was this amazing frost all over everything. It made me wish I had a much better camera.
The sun finally came out today! WOOHOO!
Favorite books – 2009 January 21, 2010
For the past few years, I’ve made one New Year’s resolution: Read 52 books this year. I was successful at it for a couple of years but the last two? Not so much. Anyway, I did read 25 books last year, which isn’t so bad. Here’s my top 10:
- An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage – You get to eat, be very grateful. It doesn’t taste like crap. We have it easy.
- Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – The first in a post-apocalyptic young adult fiction trilogy. Bloody but amazing. Give a copy to your favorite Libertarian.
- Marley and Me by John Grogan – Deciding to love a dog is knowing someday your heart will break.
- I Love You, Miss Huddleston: And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood by Philip Gulley – Silly stories about growing up, written by a Quaker minister. Hilarious, read when you are in the bed with the flu, it will cheer you up.
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – The second in a post-apocalyptic young adult fiction trilogy. Bloody but amazing. Give a copy to your favorite Libertarian. I’m anxiously awaiting the third book.
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer – The second in the Twilight Saga. I think that Bella and Edward are two of the most annoying characters ever. I want to slap them both but mysteriously I really liked this book, probably because Edward was absent for half of it.
- Holy Fools by Joanne Harris – She is one of my favorite authors, she also wrote Chocolat. Excellent as always.
- Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King – From the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. Some period fiction is awful but King spent her time in the library to make it good. Also, Sherlock Holmes! I love that dude! If you start the series read the first, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, first.
- The Language of Bees by Laurie R King – Another from the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. Like all of them, it is a great combo of action and interesting characters.
- It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather B. Armstrong – This book definitely has some rough patches but it made me laugh out loud a lot so onto the list it goes! You should read it for her definition of marriage alone, which somehow involves demolishing mailboxes with baseball bats.
And you? What were the best books you read last year?
December 24 – Municipal Waterworks December 24, 2009
A mystery adventure to Salina, KS last night:
This will be my last December Photo Project post as I’m headed for my parents’ who only have a very slow, dial-up connection. Merry Christmas!
December 22 – Who’s back? December 22, 2009
Nostalgia rears it head.
If she doesn’t play with it, I will.
December 21 – Sad parsley December 21, 2009
One of my gardening goals this winter was to keep parsley alive and edible, outside, all winter. November was warmish and lulled me into believing that I might actually be able to pull it off. Now, I’m not so sure. Before the cold weather hit, I covered the parsley up with a towel, then there was some freezing rain, next, eight inches of snow. The snow is gone and the towel removed, the parsley looks sad now and also pooped upon. Thanks, doggies! We will see if it recovers. Due to sneaky November I didn’t even cut any for myself, I just assumed it would keep truckin along in the cool, but not, cold weather. Foolishness, I say! FOOLISHNESS! I’m a foolish gardener.
Also, I’m a delusional gardener. I was going to try to keep some petunia plants alive through the winter too. HA! I just keep remembering that ONE winter, way back when, that my roommate kept passionflower vines (yes, plural) alive, in the ground, outdoors. In Omaha. OMAHA. One of those winters is gonna happen again someday and me and my parsley, we’ll be ready.
December 20 – Saturnalia December 20, 2009
Meat, on a stick.
It is actually flat-iron steak on a stick, my favorite cut of beef. It was amazing. AMAZING! My friend Gwethalyn (that’s us in the pic) and her friend Rachel throw a Saturnalia party every year. We dress up snazzy and eat and drink. This year there was A LOT of delicious food. Since I obviously didn’t take that picture here is my official DPP picture that I did take . . .
Once you’re done with your steak, on a stick, what do you do with the stick? Skewer a few olives and stick it in a martini, Gwethalyn demonstrates:
