Babies

You will want to watch this even if you are not

normally a "baby person".

Bonus, the music on the preview is Sufjan Stevens...

Go here if you don't want the side cut off.

You mean pumpkins are not just for carving

I don't know why I'm resisting writing so much lately. I know that I feel better once I do it, but why is it so hard to get started. Julia Cameron would say..."Don't call it laziness, call it fear." Well Julia, what exactly do you think I'm afraid of? I don't really know.

What has life looked like lately? Well, the sky has gotten quite gray here in Chi-town and old man winter is tapping all of us on the shoulder. It's pretty depressing when it feels like 6 o'clock at 2:30. My saving grace has been the gym and particularly the sauna at the gym. The dry heat keeps my denial alive and well.

Although I consider myself more of cook, I've been attempting some baking projects. So far I've baked two loaves of bread this week, one pumpkin and the other a whole wheat. My mother gave me a sweet pumpkin and I felt obliged to use it. Mostly, I think of pumpkins only as a form of decoration and something to carve into interesting designs. Using it to actually cook with required a small stretch in my brain to reconsider its original purpose as a vegetable. The

whole wheat bread was the first "real" loaf of bread that I've ever baked. There are a few things that scare me when working in the kitchen, one is meat and the other is yeast. I don't know why it's so frightening. I think I'm afraid of putting a lot of energy into something that turns into the consistency of a hockey puck. That would break my heart. It was supposed to be a "no knead" recipe, but it asked you to use an electric mixer (Kitchenaid), which I don't own. I ended up needing to knead it. Despite it all, both loaves turned out really well...surprisingly. There will be more to come. I would like to check out the Enchanted Broccoli Forest or the Tassajara Bread book to get some more insight.

ode to the coffee house

In an attempt to be productive, Lynn and I agreed to meet at the Perfect Cup this morning. She has been attempting to finish some school work and I just needed to get out of the house. I've desperately needing a morning to write and this was the perfect opportunity. I've been feeling a bit stuck lately. I've been needing a little inspiration.

After sitting here for nearly two hours it occurred to me that I've been missing the one thing that gets me through long winters (not that it's winter yet!), coffee shops. They are my saving grace. When I feel claustrophobic on melancholy, gray days, I can escape to a land of tables of full people vigorously typing on laptops, listen to soothing music, and sip my coffee slowly enough that it will last for at least part of the duration of my visit. I need this in my life.

When it rains, it pours.

I thought I would share my awesome halloween costume. I've been wanting to be the Morton Salt Girl for awhile, but never pulled it together. This year I made it happen. I was fairly pleased.

I guess it's official

I quietly entered the massage world today...it was my first official day on the job. It was quite uneventful, don't worry I'm not complaining.

home for the weekend

I'm in Michigan for the weekend, I haven't been to my parent's house since my sister's graduation in May (the summer was pretty intense as I was finishing school). I woke up this morning to my mom bringing me a big mug of coffee, inviting me to wake up. We spent the morning visiting the remains of her garden, she still has some beets in the ground, and meeting her supposedly well behaved chickens. She made me a warm bowl of oatmeal and we discussed and schemed our dinner plans (my parents are always talking about dinner for hours if not days before they make it). We are headed to Ann Arbor to do some resale shopping. Then head back home and make some homemade butternut squash ravioli. It's good to be home.

beets me

I attempted to make chocolate beet cake last night. Yes folks, this is what you do when you don't have a television. You start becoming delusional and begin to imagine vegetables in desserts. Don't put your nose up just yet. I've heard good things about this combination. I found a great, and simple, recipe. I prepared the beets until they were a smooth, magenta puree. I melted the chocolate via double broiler and whipped my sugar and egg until fluffy. Putting all the ingredients together was so satisfying and put them into two mini loaf pans, a cake pan, and some cupcake cups. After I had attempted to preheat the oven for what seemed like two hours. Long story short...The oven never heated up past 200°. I put the cake in the oven for practically 3 hours and it never heated up past warm batter. So, I can't tell you how good beet cake is...Our oven is lousy. I will make a second attempt as soon as our landlord can remedy the oven situation.