Two Hundred Cookies

It has been over a month since I've posted an entry. Shoot! The holidays were a blur, but very enjoyable. The highlight was the quality time I got to spend with my family. The picture above was taken after my nephew Jacob made 200 Christmas cookies! He was a machine and I was of very little help to him. I got to thinking that I haven't made 200 cookies collectively in my entire life, let alone in one day. It just goes to show that the youth of today do have functional attention spans. Although that was not the most humbling moment of the holidays. . .on Christmas day we played "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" and sadly I am not. Anyway, Happy New Year and I will try to be a more prolific blog poster.

Too Funny

Check out this story about rejected New Yorker cartoons.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

What do I love most about this time of year? Let's see, is it the decorations? No. Is it the presents? No. Is it the abundance of baked goods? Hmm, well no I guess not. The December tradition I love the most is the resurrection of my beautiful white down comforter. It is a wonder I can get out of bed each day. If my blog entries taper off a bit this winter, it could be because I'm luxuriously trapped under five pounds of goose feathers.

My First Visit to Westroads

Saturday morning I made my first trip back to Westroads after Wednesday's senseless tragedy. I was part of a cadre of American Red Cross staff and volunteers (from three chapters) who were there to provide coffee, comfort, and care to the staff and shoppers at the mall. To the left, is one of our volunteers, Sadie. Sadie was one of six trained therapy dogs that was at the mall day to reduce stress. Of course looking at an animal like Sadie is like looking through a window into the gentleness and innocence the world should be.

Within a half and hour, the entrance to Van Maur was covered in handmade paper snowflake tributes.

A Dream Come True- A Birthday Flashback

White chocolate cake + lemon curd filling + white chocolate icing + Charlie's Angels silhouette = the best birthday cake EVER!

As you can see from the big toothy smile. I'm loving it!!!!!! It was a shame to cut into it, but it was delish.

The beautiful cake artist Leslie and her daughter Shannon.

Just Bring It Cold Weather, I Found Myself a Good Book

I picked up my latest read, The Sisters: the Saga of the Mitford Family after hearing a story on npr. I had never heard of them prior to the interview. It chronicles the lives of six sisters which collide with major historical events and figures from the thirties and forties. Two sisters, Diana and Unity becomes a fascists and Unity moves to Germany and becomes friends with Hitler. Another sister, Decca becomes a communist, immigrates to the U.S. and was a civil rights activist. They were distant relatives of Winston Churchill, related through marriage to the Kennedys and one becomes good friends with Maya Angelou! Forrest Gump never sidled his way into as many formative events or people in the twentieth century as these fascinating women. These women were real, flawed and incredibly funny.

Norman Mailer is Dead

Norman Mailer died on Saturday. I'm not really interested in Mailer's work. However, an idea I heard in an interview he gave haunts me. He expressed concern that the novel might experience the same fate as poetry in the twentieth century- becoming more-or-less a fringe art form that doesn't have much relevance daily life.

Though I read novels all the time, as the years go by, I find that I challenge myself less and less with my choices. Reading has become pure Vegas for my psyche. "What happens between the pages, stays between the pages." Be that as it may- the short, hedonistic trips I take between the pages do bring life joy and I will continue to bring a book with me into the twenty first century. Let's hope the power of Oprah will trump Mailer's premonition and the novel will remain relevant to our lives.

Will I Ever Learn to Take My Contacts Out Before I Cut a Jalapeno Pepper Soup?

2 T vegetable or canola oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (optional)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2T ground cumin
1T ground coriander
1 C mild green salsa
4 C chicken stock
1 can (or more) great northern beans
1 handful fresh cilantro chopped
1 handful fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
juice of 1 lime
shredded jack cheese

Directions
Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat with the vegetable oil. Add chicken to the hot oil and season liberally w/ salt and pepper. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, cumin coriander and cook 3 - 4 minutes, continuing to stir. Add salsa and chicken stock. Bring chili to a simmer. Add half of the beans. With a fork, mash the other half of the beans and add to soup. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro, parsley and lime juice. Serve with jack cheese.

My eyes are still burning, but it was so worth it!

It's a Wild and Crazy Book!

Many of you may know of my long adoration of Steve Martin. Recent string of cheesy movies aside- he still got it! Check out the interview on npr.

The Race is On. . .

As of 6 pm on 10/13/2007 I still had an ever so slight height edge over Jacob, my oldest nephew. Although he would insist that I share with you that my thick and lustrous locks are the only thing that stands between him from reigning over his aunt stacy once and for all. The next height challenge will take place next weekend at Jamieson's soccer tournament, so stay tuned.

What I Did this Summer

It was the summer of music. According to Ben, we saw three out of the four alt. country queens here in our own backyard: Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch. By the way, if you haven't heard William's latest cd you should definately check it out. As Jim Morrison once said the "'West" is the best." Seriously, it is an amazing cd and I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to see her live.

And after the show Ben meets the legendary Charlie Louvin

My very own brush with greatness

I Don't Have a Tattoo But if I Did I Would Get One. . .

NOT at all like this one. Unfortunately seen in the flesh (eeeewww!) at my nephew's last soccer tournament. Let's just say some things are better left un-indelibly inked on the body.

My Obsession of the Day

On a recent trip to Chicago, Ben & I ate at a crepery. So delicious, so simple it inspired me to have the audacity to think- I can do this. Last night I mixed together eggs, milk, water, salt, butter and flour and voila almost every meal since then I have eaten some variation of the crepe. Wrap them up with savory or sweet things- this is the way life is meant to be.

So I've decided to start my very own blog

Desired historical influence to the production of this blog- Captain William Clark who's faithful chronicling of his expedition inspired countless books and documentaries of the famed journey west. Let's face it, he is the reason we know/care about the Lewis & Clark expedition. Ken Burns would have one less documentary under his belt if Capt. Clark decided that he would just "wait until he was back home to write about his trip."

Likely historical influence to the production of this blog- Captain Merriwhether Lewis who's bouts of melancholy led to apathy in writing which resulted in huge gaps in his entries. If it were Lewis' words alone that told the story, the word "expedition" would be introduced into school children's vocabulary lists much later than fourth grade.

When I was ten my grandma gave me a scrapbook. A place where I could have pasted over twenty years worth of postcards that I will never throw away and are stored in random places in my home. A place where I could have documented the concerts I have attended, but instead my ticket stubs' most exalted function was to use as makeshift bookmarks until they were lost forever.

I also have in my possession four beautiful blank books that have thirty written pages collectively among them. A blog is basically an electronic diary/scrapbook. So it is pure folly that I think that I can commit to posting entries on a fairly regular basis. But what the heck, I'll give it a shot. It will be different this time. I swear.