Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Pretty shots of the Christmas tree... and presents.

Whatever you are celebrating, I hope you have an amazing holiday season! Thanks for checking out my blog, and for your great comments... You're wonderful!

Last Exam Itch

Ahh, 13 days into December, and I have breezed through two exams this week, finished up a masterpiece of an essay, and now I wait til Monday for the last exam of the (first half of) school year. More studying than waiting, rather (and blogging, as a means of distraction). On Tuesday, I'm heading home! Such a thrilling thought. I must say, I'm excited to see my family and friends once I'm home, and I can't, can't wait to see the dogs.

Now that it's December, it has been starting to feel more like winter here in Halifax. Today, it was super cold outside! We have gotten more snow (which often turned to rain), and it has been quite cold outside. It conveniently started to snow the night of my English exam, and when I came out of it, it was raining and the winds were turned up high. I was also feeling a bit achy afterwards (mentally and physically, haha), so the weather suited my mood, some what. But that's ok, for it's done!

I made myself a nice loaf of banana bread the other afternoon! I haven't made banana bread in a long time, but I woke up with a craving for it. I used a recipe that my Grandma had in her recipe box, but I added my own few little touches to it. She certainly put it straight forward on the card she wrote it on:

½ cup butter (melted)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups mashed bananas

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

A pinch of salt

Bake at 350 50-65 minutes

The touches I added were a tsp. of cinnamon, vanilla extract, and sour cream (to keep it moist, but my friend tells me applesauce works nicely, too). Just mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, and fold in the wet with the dry, but not so much that the batter is lump-free. And there you have it! The kitchen (and the rest of the house) will smell fantastic.

*Update: Upon trying it, I thought it was pretty good--but dense. I looked up alternative recipes, and came across this one. Either that, I'll try out my Grandma's recipe again, and leave out the sour cream!

Other than that of papers and exams, I have been pondering what I want for Christmas. People have been asking me, and I have been having a hard time coming up with ideas. As I've gotten older, it's become slightly more difficult. When I was a kid, it was so easy! But I do have some ideas of what I want:

Either the soundtrack or movie

I'm surprised I even considered this, but I want to see if it's any good!

Something I'd love to recieve....

Thinking a little bigger here... (I used to play the violin back in grade school)

Good, good movie!

And probably anything from Club Monaco. Their stuff is lovely! But I think the best present I can ever remember getting was from when I was about 5 or 6:

Unless I get something like a Nikon camera, this one will still be near the top of my best gift ever list! (Crazy, I know, but at the time it was so awesome!)

Happy shopping....

A pause between essays

Phew. My last essay of the week is COMPLETE; I have been concentrating on nothing but Queen Christina of Sweden and sustainability for the past two weeks. (But not at the same time of course.) So after my week of continuous writing, research and late nights, I'm spending the rest of the day doing nothing and going to bed early tonight.

As expected, my life has revolved around school this month, and a sense of impending doom is coming up with the realization that exams are in a few weeks. But I can't think of exams right now. Only of more papers and Christmas and cookies I'd absolutely love to try baking. But before I go into my shpiel about X-mas and what not, I could not go without mentioning two incredibly important and thought provoking documentaries.

One was Sharkwater, which was about a photographer-turned filmmaker who took his life into his hands by attempting to stop the illegal hunting and killing of sharks off the coasts of South America. (Yes, he's that passionate about rescuing sharks.) What are they being hunted for? Their fins, for shark-fin soup (a popular dish in Chinese cuisine). He emphasized the fact that they are closer to extinction than we realize and if this hunting continues, they will be gone. Some parts of the movie were hard to watch, but they were necessary to get the point across about what was happening to them. And it made me really sad.

Really, sharks aren't the man devouring predators they're made out to be, despite what you hear in the media. In the documentary they are seen as entirely differently creatures. To help make a difference, you can go here and take a pledge to save the sharks. And of course you can watch the movie which also makes a difference!

The other documentary I saw was FLOW (For the Love Of Water) which opened my eyes to the water crisis in under developed countries around the world, and how communities' right to clean water is being taken away by corporate companies. That's not right! This film opened my eyes for sure. Also, you'll find out some things you never knew about the Nestle Company. That's right, Nestle. But do check out Article 31, and sign the petition for the rights to fresh water, because it's for everyone.

Alrighty. Important issues discussed, and time for the significantly lesser important issues of my existence.

I have about two weeks before school is over. Yay! Almost Christmas. Yay! But there isn't any snow here in Halifax, and it's as warm as spring time. Slightly depressed at this. But perhaps for the best, because I'm lacking a pair of decent snow boots anyway. There was snow at one point this month though! It only lasted for a day and a half, but there was, and it was lovely to wake up to.

I was thinking about making cookies this weekend. Preferably gingersnap cookies, because I have been craving them lately. Or chocolate chip cookies. But wait! I was browsing on Emily's Cupcakes and Cashmere blog a week or so ago and she put up a recipe for these chocolate peppermint wafers; I must say, her spin on them looked delicious! She has an extraordinary gift of making things look flawless. Oooh, so many cookie options...

But in the mean time, I shall be prodding away at my next essay, while using youtube as a distraction. A tea break in the next little while? I think so.

Ratatouille!* (The recipe, that is)

Do you ever get nostalgia for foods that completely define a certain season for you? For me, it's ratatouille in the fall. I remember the first time my Mom made it a couple years ago as a part of Thanksgiving dinner; it was a sensation to eat! For me, it simply tasted like autumn. Since then, it has been a must-make for the autumn/winter season. (Thus my reason for adding it to my Thanksgiving meal this year.) I also used canned diced tomatoes--not only easier, but the liquid adds a certain something to it!

Autumn Ratatouille

½ cup olive oil

2 unions, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced

4 tomatoes, peeled and diced

2 zucchinis, peeled and diced

1 stick celery, diced

2 tbsp fresh basil

1 tbsp oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, lightly brown unions and garlic in olive oil. This should take 6 to 8 minutes.

Next, add the eggplant and tomatoes and continue to cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.

Then add the remaining ingredients, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 1 hour, stirring from time to time. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6

*Note: The vegetables should be cut to the size of small walnuts and you may wish to add other vegetables of your choice, such as sweet peppers, hot peppers, and squash. This ratatouille is an excellent accompaniment to lamb, chicken, turkey or roast pork. I often have it as a vegetarian meal served with cornmeal bread drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled liberally with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It is best to make one day ahead and will keep well refrigerated for up to one week.

(*Disclaimer: I have never actually seen Ratatouille the movie)

ps: Like the new layout? I've been looking around for a more suitable one, and I figured this one will do me fine for now. But I may switch things up again, should I find one that I like. Stay tuned...

Homemade Chicken Soup

Happy November! Whew, 58 days left in 2009 (and 52 til Christmas!), if you can believe it. Hope your Halloween was--well, spooky. I spent mine indoors this year, handing out candy, eating candy, and watching "The Orphanage", or El orfanato, to be accurate--a really good Spanish movie that will definitely give you the heeby-jeebies.

To summarize my October (since Thanksgiving), it has been a steady stream of deadlines, with little time to do much else, other than eat, sleep, and go to class. I did, however, get a smidge of time last weekend to put together chicken soup! First time, too. I got it from my Mom, who absolutely prides herself on it. It's a great recipe to turn to when the weather gets cold, and way easy to put together. Once you have it, it's just so.... warming! (I personally think it was as good as my Mama's.)

***For removing the chicken neck, I found this blog most helpful. Be sure to save it and add it to your chicken, because it will give your broth flavour :)

Homemade Chicken Soup

1 Whole Chicken (I use a fryer, but any whole chicken will do)

Enough Water to Cover Chicken in Large Pot

The quantities for the ingredients below are up to you, really.

3 Cups, Carrots, Chopped

2 Cups, Celery, Chopped

2 Cups, Onions, Chopped

Fresh Dill, Chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced

3 Tbsp. Salt to taste (if you don’t use enough salt, it will taste like dish

detergent, according to Ina Garten!)

2 Tbsp. Pepper to taste

Wash chicken thoroughly and remove innards (giblet, neck, etc.)

Place in large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil, skimming the surface.

Lower heat to a simmer.

Add vegetables and seasonings. Simmer approximately 4 hours.

When cool, take out the chicken and refrigerate he next day, remove surface fat. Use immediately or pack into containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

"The bottom line is if you take a chance in life, sometimes good things happen, sometimes bad things happen. But honey, if you don't take a chance nothing happens."

~Dorothy Zbornak, Golden Girls

Post Thanksgiving Weekend

My Thanksgiving weekend was pretty good; despite having not been home (school work bound!) to enjoy a lovely home cooked meal of Turkey, a lovely home cooked meal was made here between me and my supa cool friend/housemate N! (Also credited for the drawing above. I get credit for the the words coming from the Irish(?) turkey)

Instead of cooking a turkey, we decided on a roast, because it was simpler to make, and there was only two of us having it. Along with the roast we had ratatouille, mashed turnip, carrots and to top it off, a fantastic apple crisp for dessert! Oh yes, and a nice local wine from a little place called Grand Pre.

On the Saturday, we decided to go to the Farmer's Market for locally grown veggies and fruits that we needed. Always a nice idea if you want to go sustainable/local! If I had time on Saturday mornings (and the will to get up early enough), I'd be heading down to the Market every time.

But on Sunday, we created our Thanksgiving masterpiece!

My wondrous ratatouille

Our fine roast, with turnip and carrots

My dinner plate (the ratatouille has grated parmesan cheese on it)

And lastly, my dessert of apple crisp, dolloped(!) with whipped cream

And following is the recipe used (Credit going to N)! We highly recommend it :) Enjoy!

• 3 pounds tart apples
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preparation:

Peel, core and chop the apples; toss in a bowl with lemon juice. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; add to the apples and toss to combine.

In another bowl combine flour, sugar and oats. Cut butter into 8 small pieces, and cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly. Stir in the chopped nuts.

Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Spread apple mixture in bottom of baking dish then sprinkle with flour mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 to 45 minutes, or until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or a little heavy cream, if desired.

For the link, go here!

The most recent torrential downpour in my neck of the woods

"For after all, the best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Finding Yourself

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer.

~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Possibly just the prettiest thing I've seen in a while

I am in awe of it.

Awesome things I can imagine happening this week, but most likely won't

I think it's about time I created a list about something interesting to take my mind off of schoolwork! Maybe I could make this weekly? Well, as the title states, awesome things I can imagine happening this week, ranging from the fascinating to the absolute ridiculous. Sooo, here goes:

1. Getting a package from home! That would by far make my week. Containing magazines, chocolate, letters, clothing, pictures.... Oh yes.

2. Something stupid and hilarious occurring in the middle of one of my classes, or a busy place I just happened to be in at the right time... Like this.

3. Taking a day off to myself for no reason, and without missing anything important at school.

4. A tray of cupcakes magically appearing before me at my craving

5. Finding a little door that leads to another place

6. My papers starting to write themselves

7. The weekend coming sooner?

8. A celebrity wandering around campus!

9. Doing a cartwheel when I feel the urge (Though I couldn't do one if my life depended on it)

10. Finding a 20 dollar bill on the ground.

Aaaaaaand your turn :)

~M.

Birthday Weekend

It was my birthday this past weekend; I'm now officially a 20s girl! I still feel nineteen, but if someone were to ask me my age within the next week or so, it would be strange saying, "Oh, I'm 20". Hmm. Because that is when it will really sink in! (Little Maddy is growing up... Sniff sniff.) Any how, the night was celebrated with a lovely Mediterranean dinner, and going out dancing later on. It was much fun.

I love reading up on my astrological sign around this time of month--or any time of month, for that matter. I'm a Libra; I therefore like aesthetically pleasing things, indulgent goodies, peace keeping, and things balanced. If there's one downside to a Libra, odds are it is indecisiveness. Which is my problem, haha. I recently found a wicked astrological chart site that was mentioned on the Stylish Wanderer's blog a few months back. I thought it was awesome because it was very much spot on with my swingy personality! Wanna try it?

Well, I have been unfortunately lacking in posts due to the copious amounts of school I have been given. As glad as I am to be kept busy again, I would enjoy some down time! Zeesh. And I can't believe it's October! Where in heaven's name does the time go? But I'm kind of glad, because I like it. Tis a pretty month, no?

Courtesy of the Doors of Conception, link here

And magical, no doubt! As sad as I am to see summer go, I do look forward to the cooler and longer days. And those nice hot drinks for times when I can't seem to warm up enough.

And on a final note, I finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife earlier this month! It was a really nice read, especially seeing as it was a romance novel, which I rarely bother for. This one I found, though, was one of those rare reads I think I can come back to frequently in the future.

Have a nice weekend! Will be sure to post... Soon. If school doesn't eat me alive first!

~M.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

Parmesan Chicken sticks

Ok, folks, my cooking and baking experiments have begun! I have started out with simple recipes, mainly with chicken. My first self cooked dinner here was a faux fried chicken (as seen in the previous post), which was easy enough. But what wooed me over even more was the chicken dinner I had a few nights ago:

It was divine!

It's a recipe of Ina Garten's (aka The Barefoot Contessa), and even though this is my first recipe made from her, I'm going to go out on a limb and say I have most faith in her recipes... Even if you substitute ingredients (as I did!).

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts (3 to 4)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• Unsalted butter
• Good olive oil
• Bamboo skewers (6 to 10 inches long) or ice-cream sticks

Directions

Lay the chicken breasts on a cutting board and slice each diagonally into 4 or 5 large strips.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. Beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water on a second plate. Combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan on a third plate. Dredge the chicken breasts on both sides in the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and roll in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly to coat.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook the chicken strips on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes on each side, until just cooked through. Don't crowd the pan. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Serve each strip on a skewer or stick.

You can keep the chicken breasts warm for about 15 minutes on a sheet pan in a preheated 200 degree F oven.

And I took some pictures along the way for my own amusement...

E voila!

*Note: -As you can see, I didn't cut the chicken up into pieces as Ina instructed; if you prefer to do them as I did, I'd recommend frying them for about five-seven minutes on both sides. Be sure to cut into them to see if they're done!

-I didn't have any seasoned bread crumbs on hand (as I only found this recipe spur the moment), so I substituted it with... crushed cornflakes! It was a fine substitution.

Buon appetito!

~M.

Second day back to schooooool, soon to be third... Then fourth...

Hellos!

It was just last Monday that I flew the nest to Halifax, back to the cozy little flat that is currently my home away from home for the next couple of months. And now it's the weekend once again! School started last Thursday, and I'm not sure whether to laugh or weep about it... Preferably weep. (But I won't). It went fine, although perhaps a bit intimidating for all the work we'll be doing this term. I'll have to do my best not to worry about it too much and try and hope it all just fall into place.

You know what I recently saw?? The 1939 version of The Women, starring Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. And you know what?? I quite liked it. It appears I will have to see the most recent version of it, though I am rather reluctant... And I also saw Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder, with the ever lovely Grace Kelly. This was a good movie, but I didn't like it as much as Rear Window or To Catch a Thief.

Soooooo I've been working on this blog since... Last Wednesday. I'm considerably slower than usual, due to all the changes this week. I was originally intending to create a list of handy cooking materials that could go in your fridge/cupboard. I still could, and may, but it probably won't be for a while. Instead, I think I will introduce you to a series of pictures I have taken around, because I haven't taken too many here.

My chicken dinner I made last week. Despite having set off the fire alarm in the process (and proceeded to wail for 10 minutes), it turned out very nicely. And not burned, obviously.

My favourite picture of the moment, hanging on my wall. Ahh, old Hollywood glamour!

My favourite boots of the moment! I love them even more than my red ones.

The view from outside my window... Kind of a crummy day though.

My pointe shoes with ribbons, sewn on as of this weekend. It surprisingly went well, although slowly. So did the first dance class, which I had last night. (Only quicker, as it was half an hour.)

This is my cupboard in the kitchen, nicely stocked with relatively healthy items; not the most interesting thing, but I'm pleased with it none the less.

Ok, these aren't recent at all; I took them in the aftermath of a big thunder kaboomer/hurricane that breezed through my area in the beginning of August. The sky went yellow and ominous. This last pic was on the other end of the sky.

I believe that is all the homemade pics for this post... But in other news, I was quite sad to hear that Patrick Swayze had passed away the other day! :( In truth, I haven't really seen too many of his movies (aside from Dirty Dancing), and I hadn't really been a fan of his, but it's quite sad that it was cancer he passed away from.

Rip, Patrick!

As for the rest of what I have been doing for the past week, I have been doing readings for school, and watching youtube. I know, that's the sure sign of a slacker... But seeing as it's the beginning of the year, I think I'll let myself off the hook! At least til tonight. But the latest discovery I have made was the Step In Time routine from Mary Poppins. Actually, it should be "rediscovery", as I haven't seen Mary Poppins since I was six, at least. (I can't help it, it's just so fun to watch!) And further along the line of Mary Poppins, I came across this video; you may have seen it, but guaranteed it will change the way you see Mary Poppins.

Alrighty, time for me to finish up and get started on my English homework... But before I do, get a load of this picture. I like to imagine the squirrel went fleeing after that.

Have a wonderful week!! :)

~M.