I'm not a girly-girl. I don't do my nails or paint my face every day. It's not that I'm not a "marriage" girl. I'm just not a "wedding" girl. I like weddings. They're pretty. The flowers and the traditions (most of which are lost now-a-days anyway) and all of that stuff. When it comes down to my own wedding day, I just am not spending more than we spent on the down-payment of our house for a dress and a party. Not my style. I don't want everyone looking at me anyway so seriously. That's so awkward. (For me at least... I'm not judging you if you do it differently. I know I'm not normal.)

This being said, I want to point out that I have a folder in my bookmarks called "My Wedding." Yes, this is the folder where one would search for most girls' fairy princess dresses and wedding cake styles or whatever.

Not me. There's one website in that folder. Just one. It's titled Can a Jell-O Shot Be Classy?. The answer, my friends, is yes. And you can look at their photos to see just how classy they can be. Because, my friends, what's a party without some jello shots?


Cucumber-lime margarita shots tied with cucumber ribbons


That is all I wanted to share. Oh, secondly, Beck's Midnight Vultures album is phenom.

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats

Growing up, my mom trained me to become a choco-holic. Not that I will complain at all about my deep love for brownies, cakes, and other tasty treats, but I always went to the neighbors' houses to get simple desserts like rice krispie treats. Never in my life had I made them before yesterday when I embarked on a mission to fill Naomi's left-behind brownie pan with a tasty treat so I could finally return her cookware.



Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/4 cup yellow cake mix
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Method:

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows.
2. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined.
3. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture.
4. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix.
5. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting.

I almost doubled the recipe on the website above because I wanted to taste-test them since I had never before made rice krispie treats.
My tips are as follows:

1. Use lots of cake batter. I used an entire cup for a double batch. It's very sweet, but very tasty.
2. When doubling the recipe, don't add in double the rice krispies. There's not enough marshmallows to go over them. I used about 8-9 cups of cereal instead of 12.
3. Add a little extra butter. Everyone loves butter.
4. Use lots and lots of sprinkles. Sprinkles = happiness.

A farewell to arms

A tip for the day: look at the world with optimism and don't whine -- not only to keep your own spirits high, but so you post on your social sites your happy thoughts instead of your crappy thoughts. When you're dead and gone and the internet lives on and on, I think I'd like to be remembered as a pleasant, humorous individual, at least.

It's strange, really. Social sites. And death. I mean, the mix of the two of them. I say this as I wait for funeral arrangements to be posted by Nick Gidmark on his brother Ben's Facebook page. You see, my childhood friend, Ben -- the one who was so proud whenever his snake shed its skin, whom we made fun of for having a "secret kissing spot" behind the bushes of his house when he was a kid -- he died of a heart attack on Monday night, at home, alone. Some friends were waiting on him and were concerned when he didn't show. It's sad. He was a year older than myself.

Ben is one of those guys who had a way with people. He embroidered spirits together with sparkles. He never let anyone get too far away and, when he remembered that he had let you wander too far, he immediately reminded you that he was there and that he cared, and he'd pull your thread closer and weave you back into his fabric. I moved away from his neighborhood when I was still just a kid and didn't really talk to him for years. I'd hear stories of him because he hung out with a number of my friends, but I didn't see him again. Then there was Facebook and we'd send emails or write on each others' walls every so often just to catch up. We always said we'd get a beer sometime when I was home for a visit. And now his Facebook is a page of memories, a wall of graffiti, a quilt of stories of how he touched every single one of the 400 e-friends he has. And that's why you should always keep positive -- so the memory of you that's etched into this world wide web can be written down in history as silly or sweet instead of cold or querulous.

His last FB post was, "Today started off with Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus. All is well and nothing can be ill." And, really, I can't think of a better way to be e-membered. Or is it "iMembered?" I guess it depends if you are Mac or PC.

It's a strange day for me. I've been reminiscent of my childhood for the last 12 hours since I found out about it all because that's where my memories of Ben are woven. I want to think, "Oh, life is so precious," but I've never really thought that. My thoughts have always really bordered on how short and sweet life is. Because life just is... It's like a jar -- some people were handed huge jars and fill them with ugly things, or things that have little density, like soot-covered moth balls, I guess; some people just get small jars which they maybe chose to fill with richness and pack full with to the brim with things they cherish, things they love. We don't know how big of a jar we were dealt until we reach the top and overflow to the heavens. (That was maybe a silly analogy.) But, life just is until it's not. So, why not love until you can't? Why not share, build community, create moments that will far outlast your physical being? Why not?

". . . and throughout the career that will certainly and consistently remind you that we live in a world of too many pieces and not enough glue, I challenge you to be the arms that hold, to be the voice that soothes, and to be that contagious smile. . . " Ben Gidmark

With that, I'll leave you with a video of Ben's commencement address from which the previous quote was drawn, as it inspires and touches.

Me: How'd you know what I was going to say?
Juggles: 'Cuz I can read you like an RSS feed.

Nice work.

gr8ness

"You don't become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process."

& when the phone rang & I thought it was you & I sprung like a kid who just got out of school / but its almost, always never you

I've recently discovered this artist, Lissie, thanks to my favorite radio station, The Current. I love to share music, so check her out. She kind of reminds me of a female Ryan Adams in some of her songs (i.e. "Record Collector"). She's kind of soulful, yet energetic.




Listen, love, like her on Facebook if you're so inclined. =P

Heavy cream biscuits

In a previous post, I pondered what I should do with my extra cream from the panna cotta. Well, I started on Sunday morning with a delicious batch of cream biscuits.





Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-rising flour
  OR
  2 cups all purpose flour + 3 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Stir everything together until the dough forms a ball.
3. Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with additional flour. Fold dough in 1/2 and knead a bunch. (Add flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to your hands.)
4. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Or, if you're lazy like me, just knead it until you think it's about the right thickness.
5. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter coated with flour a glass coated with flour or, if you're me, an appropriately-sized metal measuring cup coated in flour, cut dough into biscuits.
6. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray, leaving at least 1-inch between each biscuit.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

You got served!


Nom. So, my one error is that I think I may have added too much salt and baking powder. I'd cut that by about 25% next time and I'd also use WHEAT flour next time.

Chocolate Buttermilk Panna Cotta

I couldn't find a recipe for chocolate buttermilk panna cotta, so I did my best to combine the chocolate recipe with the buttermilk recipe, and this is what I got:

Ingredients:

• 1 c + 2 tbsp heavy cream (I couldn't find heavy cream, so I used heavy whipping cream)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp cold water
• 1 package powdered, flavorless gelatin (vegetarian, if you can find it!)
• 1-2/3 c buttermilk
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt

1. Coat 5 or 6 ramekins or similar cup-type item lightly with flavorless oil. (I used small bowls.)
2. Place water into a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over it. (Do not stir.) Let stand 5-6 minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat: Bring cream and sugar to a boil (about 7 minutes).
4. Remove pan from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth.
   
5. Add gelatin mixture to chocolate mixture until melted.
6. Stir in buttermilk and salt.
7. Ladle mixture into ramekins.
8. Refrigerate, loosely covered, until set. (About 2 hrs.)

To serve:

• Run the tip of a small knife around the edge of the ramekins to loosen the panna cotta and unmold onto plates.
• Or, if you're me, just serve them right from the bowls in which they set
• Let stand until almost at room temperature (about 1 hr).
• Garnish with berries if you have them!

Now what do I do with all this extra cream...?

Chocolate Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Cookies

I bought buttermilk a bit ago to make Irish soda bread, which turned out pretty nicely. It had hints of nutmeg to spice it up a bit. Next time, I'd try some thyme and rosemary in it. Mmm...

Since, I've been trying to use the buttermilk up, so I've been making everything with it. Last weekend, I made delicious buttermilk pancakes last weekend, with a recipe claiming it's Al's Diner's recipe: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/510/Als_Diner_Buttermilk_Pancakes31323.shtml.

Then, I made buttermilk popovers the next day for breakfast. They didn't seem to want to pop over, so they ended up buttermilk biscuits, but they were still super tasty, and worked nicely with some raspberry preserves.



I made buttermilk French toast for breakfast this morning, where I just replaced most of the milk in the egg mixture with buttermilk and it was surprisingly delicious.

Then, today, I made very delicious chocolate-chip buttermilk cookies!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• For funsies, I added 1/3 c of Ghirardelli cocoa powder
• chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add dry ingredients until blended. Stir in chips. Drop by teaspoons onto baking sheet.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Pre-baking



DONE!




They are a really cake-y cookie -- soft and fluffy and chewy. So good.


Juggles says:
"These cookies are probably the most pretty cookies I've ever seen you make. They are totally decilicious. That's like a step above regular delicious"

H Two the Izzo

It was World Water Day a couple of days ago, and thus we are all reminded of the importance of a substance that is part of just about everything on this planet. We here in the U.S. are pretty lucky to have mostly clean water. Sure, Ann Arbor has been known to have a little arsenic in its water, and the Gulf Coast had a massive oil leak that affected it. In other countries, it's the norm to have water supplies polluted by lead, arsenic, and other harmful metals.

Because of this reminder, I wanted to share the following article about how banana peels (and other natural foods) can actually clean heavy metals out of water better than some of the commercial products.

The article is here:
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/banana-peel-can-purify-water-say-scientists.html

And abstract:

This article reports on an investigation into the ability of minced banana peel to extract lead and copper ions from water and the parameters involved in this process. The kinetics of copper and lead uptake reached equilibrium in 10 min and the extraction of metals ions was favorable above pH 3. The medium was characterized by FTIR, which showed absorption bands of carboxylic and amine groups at 1730 and 889 cm1, respectively. The adsorption isotherm fitted by Langmuir’s model showed maximum adsorption capacities of 0.33 and 0.20 mmol g−1 (or 20.97 and 41.44 mg g−1) for Cu(II) and Pb(II), respectively. Minced banana peel was applied in the preconcentration system and showed approximately 20-fold enrichment factor and the column was reused for 11 cycles without loss in the percentage of recovery. The proposed method was applied in the determination of Cu(II) and Pb(II) in a sample of raw river water and was validated by comparison with a standard reference material.

Sour Cream Banana Bread

I baked tonight. :)



Sour Cream Banana Bread
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Grease 1 large loaf pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
3. Stir in baking soda and salt, then add flour.
4. Add bananas, sour cream, then chocolate chips.
5. Mix well.
6. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour
   (I actually baked at 350 for an hour, then turned the oven to 325 and kept it in an extra 15 minutes or so because it was nice and dark around the edges, but the center wasn't quite done).

My conclusion: yum-tastic. It doesn't have as much of a sour cream taste as I was hoping, but it's still lightens the taste of the banana bread and makes it not quite as heavy as most traditional banana breads.

In the colors

I've heard this song about a gazillion times previously, but today the lyrics really hit me. I think part of it is that it's the end of a whole long year, with a new one setting sail slowly through the winter. Most people had pretty average years, but I know some amazing friends who had a rough year for some pretty big reasons. This song is my dedication to you guys -- sometimes there's not always something easy to say to make the bad go away, and sometimes that hurt lingers for a long time, but no matter what, whenever you're feeling down and out, I will be there in whatever ways I can be.

When your whole world is shaken from all the risks we have taken
Dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk

When you have awoken from all the dreams broken
Come and dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk
Dance with me in the colors of the dusk

The paths we're walking on, they crumble behind us
But if we leave now, they will never find us
And if this crazy world spins itself down to dust, I want to be with you in the colors

When you again start hoping with your arms wide open
Come on, dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk
And all will be right, dancing like water with the light
Dance with me, won't you dance with me into the colors of the dusk?

Happy 2011, friends and family. I hope this year brings joy within every movement and every song.

Not gonna get you a diamond ring / That sorta gift don't mean anything. / Not gonna get you a fancy car / Girl, ya' gotta know you're my shining star

A kitty's favorite part of Christmas is always the leftover boxes.

I had gotten Juggles some Sorel boots to keep his feet warm, and the box was sitting on the couch. Annabelle had made a home in it while we were watching some TV last night. This morning, I was messing around on my computer when I heard a rustling coming from the living room. I walked over to find that AB had knocked the box onto the floor and made a little fort from it. She even has a new kitty toy dragged inside of it.


Kitty in a box.

I don't want a lot for Christmas, there's just one thing I need / I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree . . .

The holiday season is a time of love, of compassion, of vibrant songs of mangers and trees. Because 'tis the season, I've decided to make a list of things I've learned to love since my arrival in Michigan.

1. Journey. Journey may not hail from the great state of Michigan, but they sure won Detroit's heart with their 1981 hit, "Don't Stop Believin'." Here's the cast of Glee performing the song:
   
   
2. Cherries. I never used to like cherries, mostly because of their pits. I guess I thought I was going to eat it and a cherry tree would grow in my tummy. You know, little kid things like that. But, I learned that I actually do love cherries. And Traverse City, Michigan is home of the National Cherry Festival, along with all of northwest Michigan being home to an abundance of cherries. Apparently Michigan grows 75% of the nation's tart cherries. Neat. There are cherry wines, vodkas, jams, etc. to be had here in Michigan. And it's fantastic!
   
   
3. Microbrews. Michigan has about a thousand-million-gazillion microbrews that are just amazing. Before I moved here, I actually didn't drink beer at all. A summer of club ultimate changed that, and now I'm a flip-cup master, and I've learned to appreciate some of the fine beers as well. Some of my favorites include:
   
   • Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Bier, hailing from the nearby town of Dexter
   • Bell's Oberon from K-zoo
   • Dark Horse Raspberry Ale, out of Marshall, MI
   • MBC's Screaming Pumpkin Spiced Ale, located near Lansing
   
   There are a lot more great microbreweries around the state, which all put out some interesting and tasty beers.
   
4. Michigan Football. Well, the team hasn't exactly been great under RichRod. In fact, it's been sometimes painful to watch over the last few years. But the experience of being at The Big House with 100,000+ fans cheering wildly is absolutely incredible! Unless you went to undergrad at State or OSU, once you get to school here at the U of M, you learn quickly to be a fan of the maize and blue. The Twin Cities is a lot more about professional sports, but here in Ann Arbor, the fans are more likely to tune in on a Saturday than a Sunday to football. So, I don my Michigan gear and go out to a bar, friend's house, or even to the stadium, and I cheer for the home team.
   
   
5. Frisbee! Now, I've played frisbee for a long time, but I hadn't really played competitively except a year way back in college, until I got here to Michigan. I joined a club team the first summer I was here, and, since then, I've been filling my summers with tournaments and traveling and practices and frisbee friends. I've even become semi-active in helping to organize our local league here. Along with the love of the game, I've definitely fallen in love with my friends on teams and throughout league, as they've become a family to me.
   
   
6. Juggles. I save the best for last. My move to Michigan has made me love many things, but the one I love the most is my fantastic boyfriend, Juggles. We've had a few years of bliss together now, with many adventures including getting a kitty, vacations around the USA and Caribbean, buying a house, and even just making dinner together (it can be an adventure!). He's truly an amazing man who teaches me new things constantly and always puts a smile on my face. I love the life we've built, and the direction we're traveling together. And every day, I am thankful to have him as a best friend and partner.
   

Happy Holidays!

I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter / I put my hand in my father's glove / I run off where the drifts get deeper

This neighborhood is a wonderful place in which to live, and our house really feels like home now.

Last weekend, we finally hung up all of our artwork around the house. This makes everything so much warmer. We also installed a new light fixture in the kitchen and did some other random tasks that make the house more "ours." This prepared us to host our first party, a holiday potluck, which went exceptionally well.

I wish I had pictures of Melissa and I prepping our turkey, Kirby, for the feast. But, two and a half bottles of wine makes us far too silly and forgetful to remember things like photographic evidence of our awesomeness. Anyhow, we brined Kirby on Friday night, as well as made and iced a bunch of sugar cookies, and also spent plenty of time being silly. Saturday morning, we stuffed Kirby in the oven and waited.

Folks came over later in the afternoon, sharing tasty dishes such as Frances' ricotta torte, Dean's amazing jambalaya, and Brett's pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake. Many hours, and some nearly innumerate amount of calories later, and we called it a successful party.

Overnight, a few inches of snow fell, meaning we had to shovel the way out of the driveway (which took a trip to Home Depot in order to buy shovels). I made a snow angel to celebrate the first real snow of the year.

And then we met our neighbor, Dale. He's the real reason for this post (since I don't have silly pictures from our party).

We saw him from a distance -- brown jacket, his face entirely masked by cold-weather gear, and a shining bright red snow-blower. He began across the street and a few driveways down and slowly made his way closer and closer to us. As I shoveled, I wondered who this masked stranger was. Would he come rescue us from the peril of the cold? And, like a knight with shiny snowblower, he did. He came to introduce himself as we were maybe half-finished with the driveway and explained that he and one of the other neighbors just always took care of it.

Chivalry may be close to dead in my own generation, but, in his, it's alive and well, and it shows in the brotherhood of this neighborhood. Whether it's a couple of old guys taking the time to plow their neighbors out of their driveways, or the way people take the time to stop and talk to each other when they see a neighbor out doing yardwork, this neighborhood is filled with hearts of gold, willingness to lend a hand, and a real neighborly feeling.

Juggles and I really do love it here. Though this may not be our home forever, it's certainly a place we'll always design our ideals for our future around, and a place where we'll build and learn together.