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.