Muse of the Month

Well, I've created a post sooner than expected! This week has been my busy week (like I said), with essay proposals, group presentation meetings, and dance practice. I've been meaning to try out an oatmeal pie recipe, but that hasn't resolved yet. Hopefully I will have by next weekend, for I will need something of that sort. And speaking of pie, for the past week or so I've been following Jezebel's Cake vs Pie Tournament; quite amusing because people are getting quite into it! It's coming close to the end now, so vote for your preferences while you can... In the meantime, here's something I created earlier by means of distraction and fascination (if that makes sense):

Every so often for me someone (whether it's a celebrity, fictional or non fictional person) comes along and I am struck with admiration and awe of them. These days it has been Carey Mulligan. I think she's pretty cool and sophisticated, not to mention she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Also, I wish I could pull off her haircut.

Image from here.

Here.

Telegraph.co.uk

Sundance, 2009

She was awesome in "Blink" (Doctor Who)

Image from The Huffington Post

And of course, one from An Education. Have yet to see the movie, but I've heard it's excellent.

Switcharoo number... Three? Or Four?

Yeah, I changed the layout around again the other day, but I'm quite satisfied with it this time. Oddly enough, I think the font I'm using makes a huge difference. If I were to switch things up again, it would be only with the colour, but right now I'm happy with it. Thank goodness! (I want to actually stick with something.)

Will be back soon--I'm in for a busy week/end!

Ps, I recently got into a biscotti kick, and I really want to make these. Ahhhmmm.

Pizza Meatloaf (Or Meatloaf in-the-Round)

Gah! A few posts ago I said I would put up the pizza meatloaf recipe in a few posts, and well... It has been a few posts. Ok, so there's meatloaf... And then there is pizza meatloaf. Or if you prefer, pizza in-the-round. My mom used to make this often at our house, but it kind of fizzled off over time. For the last couple of months, I had been kind of craving it, and I had been waiting for my mother to email me the recipe. FINALLY she did, after a couple of weeks, so I gave it a go. It turned out quite nicely; moist and flavourful. Although it shrunk a bit in the dish. Therefore when draining, make sure you keep it from slipping into the sink!

Ingredients:

-1 egg

-1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

-2/3 cup spaghetti sauce

-1 lb. lean or medium ground beef

-1-1/2 cups grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese

-1 clove garlic, minced

-1 tsp. dried basil

-1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat overn to 425 F. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie place. Lightly beat egg. Stir in breadcrumbs and 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce. Crumble in beef. Add 1/2 cup cheese, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Work mixture until combined. Evenly pat into pie plate. Bake uncovered in center of oven for 20 minutes. Drain off any juices (don't let meatloaf slip out!). Spread with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Continue baking until cheese is golden, from 10-15 more minutes. Makes 8 wedges.

Aaaand if you want a side dish to go along with it (or just by themselves) here's a recipe for golden potato wedges:

-4 medium potatoes

-1 tsp. olive or vegetable oil

-Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425 F. Use a non stick baking sheet or coat with oil. Cut potatoes into eighths, forming think wedges. Dry with paper towel. Place on baking sheet in a heap and drizzle with oil. Toss until glistening, then spread in a single layer. Bake on a shelf below meat loaf for 15 minutes. Turn potatoes and continue baking until golden, from 15-20 more minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Makes 4-6 servings.

In like a lamb, and out like a...

Hello, hello; back from reading week! I was mostly at home working on a paper (ho-hum), but that didn't entirely stop me from venturing outside. On the first Sunday back, I went to see the new Little House on the Prairie musical, with Melissa Gilbert (the original Laura from the tv show!), and it was cute.

Image from the Examiner: this pic and more of the play can be seen here

Generally aimed at younger kids, but still good. However, we (my parents and I) discovered that someone else was filling in for Melissa Gilbert that day! Bah. It would have been interesting to hear her sing, but her understudy was quite good. Having said that, seeing the play kind of made me want to get back in touch with my Little House books.

Then on the same day, my Dad and I saw two classic rock gods perform: Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck! It was a pretty good show, and both guys were quite at ease in their performances, which was nice. I may even go as far as saying that Beck kind of outdid Clapton? The only downer about the show was the seat mix up; shortly after Clapton got on stage, these people snuck in saying that we were sitting in their seats. We checked out their tickets, and sure enough they were right. So we went to find our other seats, but alas, could not find them. Standing wasn't bad at all--we could still see them, plus there was a big screen to help us out. But still... What a pain! Word to the wise: If you come to a concert after the opener and find someone in your seat, at least come while the big band is setting up, and not in the middle of the first song. Then at least the person(s) sitting in your seat can hurry off and find his/her right seat without fumbling around in the darkened stands. Zeesh.

It managed to snow while I was home. So nicely, in fact, it could have been Narnia. Oh yes. Here in Halifax, on the other hand, no snow outside, and it's not that bad.

I managed to be home for the last couple of days my pooch Beau had a cone around his head; he had stitches over his eye, so he was wearing the cone so he wouldn't scratch.

On the right is Sandy, Beau is on the left (in an earlier photo, clearly). Imagine him with a lampshade around his head, and you get a pitifully cute dog. He kept banging into the walls, which was kind of funny.

Ahh, the Winter Olympics have come to end, and now it's back to less interesting things on television. My goodness, those two weeks certainly flew by! I have to say I'm pretty pleased with Canada's end results.

Loved loved loved the skating!

Really, all of them were incredible; it makes me wish I could skate like that. And oh, that hockey game... But I really didn't find the closing ceremonies as great as the opening. Sure, they were going for the whole stereotypical "Canadian, eh?" thing, but some parts kind of made me cringe (such as inflated beavers and mounties). Um--sorry, world?

Well, I believe that's all for now. New recipes coming soon, and have a great rest of week!

Alas, alas

The school work rush has kicked in. The first month back at school was lovely and relatively leisurely--now it's getting to be quite the opposite. However, it is significantly less stressful than my last semester. For that I am quite thankful! But wow, it is going by quick. Didn't I just get back here last week?

One other thing to be thankful about is reading week, which is coming up next week. Meaning I'll be jetting back to Toronto for some chill time (maybe) and some fine home cooked dining. I'll probably even find myself spending my evenings (and maybe free afternoons) plugging away on my history essay, which is due the week afterwards... Ugh. Therefore this week I shall do as much as can to get a good start on it.

Having said that, the Olympics are finally here! Yahoo! If you watched the opening ceremonies, I dare say they were pretty spectacular, weren't they? So exciting. Although it's thrilling to watch practically everything that goes on, I'd say my favourite sport to watch would be figure skating. Ok ok, being the Canadian I am, hockey is too, but on a different level.

But of course, it was so so sad to learn of the death of the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during his training. To think that he was readying himself for so long to get to the Olympics, only to have a fatal accident on the eve of the opening ceremonies. How sad that life has to work out like that sometimes. My condolences go out to his family and his teammates, and I wish them the best of luck in these games.

I haven't really made anything of great significance these past few weeks--although I found a great recipe for making roasted carrots and onions, which you can find here, and I made a pizza meatloaf recipe. It turned out quite good! Although when I was draining the juices from the pan, part of it fell into the sink. Oops. I'll be posting the recipe in a few days, and I'll add a little note about that.

One of the many, many delicious recipes I came across. Photo credit goes to Les Gourmandises d'Isa

I did, however, come across Tastespotting this weekend. Oh my goodness, how can I have gone without looking at this for so long??? Since it was Valentines Day weekend, there were so many good looking things on there. Like these (which I've never tried, in fact), these, and THIS.

Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was spent doing research, sport-watching, and celebrating (albeit quietly) in singlehood.

And just to conclude, I present to you one of the loveliest, most touching scenes out there ever.

Holy Moses it's cold!

Now I've commented about the cold weather here before, but this is cold. I had soup for lunch and I'm still cold.

And the wind chill factor certainly doesn't help! I have come to the conclusion that the only thing better than a cup (or more) of tea on a cold day is a cup of cocoa. Although I do love a good (real!) hot chocolate every once in a while, I'm a bigger fan of hot cocoa. I particularly like that it's not as heavy and sweet as the former, and that it has that deeper dark chocolatey (sp.?) taste. Plus, it's good for you! Full of antioxidants. I found a recipe for it a couple years ago, but I can't remember where from--it's not really necessary, anyway, it's dead easy:

1 tbsp. cocoa

2 tsp. sugar

A bit of milk

Mix together the cocoa, sugar and milk until well mixed in your mug. Add your hot water and stir well (I have to say I love the foam that collects on top once you start stirring). Then add your desired toppings :)

Also, the measurements of the milk/sugar don't have to be approximate; just go by your taste.

Photo taken by aso2008.

Springtime comes to Halifax for a day

Today was so lovely outside, I could have sworn it was March. I didn't even need to wear a hat or a heavy scarf! It brought me back to that delightfully nostalgic state of mind with the day's warmth, scent in the air, the sun, yadi-yada... But then I heard that we are supposed to go into a deep freeze in a few days. Ahh, that's January for you!

Last week was considerably more proactive for me than usual, and I'm feeling quite pleased with myself. It's only four things, but just the fact that they were accomplished made me happy:

1. I booked an emergency first aid course for this past Saturday

2. I made a spontaneous late night batch of banana cookies (see below)

3. I completed my emergency first aid course and am now qualified for my summer job (and of course qualified to save someone's life)!

4. Caught up on my school readings

And there you have it. So far this week is going well (less proactive), but next week will (hopefully) be even better. Particularly, next Thursday:

YES YES YES YES YES FINALLY!!!!!!

Whew. I am sooooooo excited for it to start up again. I just wish they had better promos on television! All the better to tease us with, heh heh heh. If you're a Lostie also, I'll meet you in spirit on the couch with the popcorn.

Another show I'm excited for?

Click here for link

Ahh yes, I mentioned it in a recent post, but I've been really into it lately! I think it's the new Lost for me.

Speaking of food, last week I was letting my curiosity go browsing on the super cool Alicia's blog Bread and Honey, and it wandered on to what she had labeled under "banana". Lo and behold, the recipe for banana cookies was the first thing posted. Naturally, I had to try them out. And they were quite good! They tasted like banana bread... Only in the form of a cookie, and much lighter and chewier. Plus, the cinnamon and nutmeg added to the flavour. I would make them again most definitely!

Banana Cookies

Ingredients:



1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature


1 cup of sugar
1 egg, room temperature


1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 large bananas)


1 teaspoon of baking soda


2 cups of flour
pinch of salt


1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon


1/2 teaspoon of ground mace or nutmeg


1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves


1 cup of pecans (walnuts and chocolate chips are good alternatives)



Directions:
1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.



Fold into the batter the pecans or chocolate chips if using. Drop in dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

*If you don’t have any baking soda on hand, you can substitute with baking powder; just use two teaspoons.

This recipe is also from the Simply Recipes website.

**Teeny error: I thought Lost would be on Thursday, like it usually is, but it turns out that it is premiering on Tuesday. Oopsy-doodles. But on the other hand, huzzah!