A Cookbook for Tali

Veggies are so cute. I'd totally be a vegetarian if I didn't love (good) hamburgers so much.

Speaking of veggies, I bought a head of cabbage and a package of mushrooms the other day, so this afternoon I am searching Google for some scrumptious recipe that will combine the two. At this point I'm thinking: stuffed cabbage. But when I recollect the groans of horror Jessie and I used to utter when her Mom served stuffed peppers, I feel like I'm betraying my inner child. Besides, Caroline, who still IS her inner child, won't be very pleased. I'll probably make them anyway...

All this recipe-researching has finally inspired me to make a binder for the plethora of recipes I print out. I'm designing a "title page" for each type of food, which is how I came across the above picture. It's going to be super nice to have a spot to keep the various recipes I find in. Up to this point I have been stuffing them in drawers, or crumpling them into the cookbook drawer, or just tossing them out. No more!

Bicyclists

Yesterday I saw a man riding a bike that looked like this, but not so pretty--it was clearly homemade.
Once I saw a man pedaling along with a pig in his bike's basket.

When I was in Colorado, I saw an old man in a suit biking along with a guitar strapped to his back.

I like having eyes.

Green Onions

Sorry for the onslaught on posts, but I simply must tell you about my latest culinary efforts. While eating at the W's recently, Mrs. told me that she was "growing" green onions in her kitchen. You simply put the white, root-like ends into a cup of water--and wait. I've been waiting for a little over a week now, and my onions have already completely regrown themselves!

My happy little onions. Don't they look lovely?
(If you're wondering what the red-fire-hydrant- looking thing is, it's my counter-top compost bin. <3)

This is the pizza that I topped with my very own green onions, which, I just realized, are also organic. [Please excuse the poor quality of these pictures; I took them on my brother's macbook.]

And this is me, smiling brilliantly because it's like I just won a life-time supply of green onions. We'll see how they taste in the chicken and dumplings I'm making tonight...

The Virginian

I just read Owen Wister's classic, The Virginian. I loved it. Set in the wide plains and rugged mountains of Wyoming, the novel intertwines descriptions of the landscape with stories of the characters who live in it. It is a tale of strength and courage and freedom--the essence of true America. Although the hero of the tale has no name other than "The Virginian," he is so clearly portrayed that I half believe he is of blood and breath.

The more I read American literature, the more I love it. I love its raw, gritty, earthy, almost vulgar nature. I love that the heroes are often not well-bred--yet still noble--and that the struggles are usually those of man against the land. Most of all, I love the freedom of American literature, how it takes me outside, and fills me with wonder.

LOST, again.

On Thursday night, Chris came over to hang out with the family. As we were sitting around chatting, somebody mentioned that the next season of the TV show Lost was out. Immediately all of us kids piled into the car and drove to Blockbuster. Now, I'd like to assert that I'm not a TV watcher. At all. But when it comes to Lost on DVD, I'm totally hooked.

The show is so intriguing it's impossible not to get irretrievably caught up in the story. My favorite part about the show is the character building. After five seasons, I feel like these characters are people I actually know. While I am watching them hunt wild boar and fight a giant smoke monster and travel through time, my heart is at my throat, my pulses pounding, my palms sweating. Because I know these people. It's like I'm right there with them. Anyway... Chris and Mollie both came over Friday night, too. We watched Lost again.

Saturday night I babysat, got cremed at Monopoly by a seventh grader, beat that seventh grader in a foot race, and sat by a crackling fire soaking in the warmth of the flames. Although it was almost 11 by the time I got home, Jessie and I decided it was high time to have a sleepover. Re-bundling, I dove headlong into the cold and went to pick her up (oh, the beauty of in-neighborhood besties!). Since it was so cold, we both burrowed under the covers in my bed, and then proceeded to stay up half the night "whispering" (in other words, laughing hysterically but trying to be quiet). After three late nights in a row, I'm pretty kapooped. But they were all worth it. :)

Back to speaking of Lost...I got lost today. (Just pretend that was a smooth transition. Just do.) After church, Macy, Tori and I loaded into Mirabelle to go to the Young Conservatives of Central Florida cook-out. Earlier this morning, I wrote down the directions to the park where the cook-out was. I forgot to bring the directions with me. But everything was going to be okay; I could remember! Well, we drove down I-4 and exited onto OBT. Things were great. Then suddenly I wasn't sure which way to go on OBT. I pulled over. Now, in case you didn't know, OBT is not exactly a choice place to be stopped on the side of the road-especially for three young girls. I made a quick phone call and got directions.

The directions were wrong. Or maybe I just misunderstood them. Whatever the case, we drove down OBT for about 15 minutes-in the wrong direction! OBT is really sketch. Getting lost on OBT is even sketcher. Eventually we realized our error, turned around, and finally arrived at the party. While most of the people played Ultimate Frisbee, my sisters, a few other girls, and I wandered down to the lake. The others continued on to a dock, but I stretched out in the grass, closing my eyes into the brilliant sunshine.

Although it is FREEZING COLD today, I was warm lying there in the sun. Of course, that might have had something to do with the fact that I was wearing: tights, knee-highs, jeans, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a jacket, a coat, and a scarf. Don't laugh; this weather is cold. And don't ask how I'm going to survive in Idaho next winter; I really don't know.

Well, my brother just returned from squirrel hunting in SC, and I am being bidden to come see his catch (tail and all!). Adieu.

It's A New Year

Happy New Year, my friends!

My "resolution" this year is to not eat sweets until I graduate high school (woot woot!). Over the holidays, I allowed myself to indulge in ever sort of sugary, high-fructose-corn-syrup-filled, artificial-perservative-stuffed, fake-dye-colored goody imaginable. No more! It'll be fruits and veggies and frozen yogurt for me now. :)

In that Car

Spending hours on end cramped in a little mini-van with six other people can get a little tiresome. So Caroline and I decided to have a some fun...

When you're in the car all day long, there really isn't much to do but eat. Apparently Caroline had one pretzel too many.

So did I.

It's so squashy in the backseat our heads grew together.

Drew took care of that by severing us apart with a crayon. We were pretty excited.

So excited, in fact, that we embraced the tight-quarters and decided to be friends. :)

Once Jessie and I taped our noses to our foreheads and went around like that for hours. Nobody thought to bring tape on the road trip, so Caro and I had to use our fingers.

This seemed to upset the aliens; they abducted our entire van.

When they realized seven people in a mini-van are more trouble than they're worth, the spit us back to earth. We glowed.

Then Daddy joined the fun!

Things got really crazy from there...