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Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
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6:36 pm - I can COOK!
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Okay so a few days ago ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bifemmefatale posted about her friend's blog that has little video clips of some pretty freakin awesome recipes. I love the idea of cooking but I never do. My cooking "experience" is limited to:
*A pretty awesome Italian pasta sauce that I can use for lasagna, spaghetti, etc.
*A pretty good beef stew
*A passable meatloaf
*Pot roast
*Chicken soup (that I need to tweak big time)
*A bunch of desserts including some of the best chocolate chip cookies you'll ever have! (I swiped the recipe from Paula Dean and switched it all to Ghirardelli chocolate...heh)
That's about it folks. When I have time to cook at all, which is rare, it's pretty much limited to that. Now, I can't really complain since each of the above recipes that I do usually lasts a few days and is good comfort food. But how BORING is that???
Anyways, I checked out Chef Patrick's blog here and figured I'd try his Noodle Love Recipe. After reading over the notes I jotted down and shopping for the ingredients I needed, I didn't even need to look at the recipe to cook this! The whole thing took MAYBE 40 minutes to make and that was because I was waiting for 2 pots of water to boil.
Holy freaking cow did it turn out great! The asparagus could have been blanched longer (it was my first time blanching/shocking *anything*), but the flavor....wow. It turned out beautifully and the fam loved it. Sean only likes canned asparagus (gross, I know) but he chowed on the rest of it. And Mike said it was just like the type of thing he always orders in a restaurant. I served it with some Asiago cheese crusty bread but think an herbed bread would be better.
Keep in mind that this is probably an 18 inch serving bowl.
I am SO proud of myself. Any time I do cook I love the feeling. There's something that I just love about bouncing around my kitchen, chopping veggies, peeling onions, stirring things on the stove that always puts me in a good space. I just don't know how to do much and have avoided it. Hell, if it's this easy to make something that rocks, I'm going to do it more often!!!
I've totally bookmarked his site and check it out almost daily. Unfortunately the recipes aren't the most "fitting" for my diet. (I'm down 52 pounds!) But it was worth it! I can't wait to try the Black Magic Fudgies.
current mood:  accomplished
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| Thursday, February 14th, 2008
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6:13 pm - Another shooting
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Another shooting.... Tinley Park...NIU.
So incredibly sad. When I went to NIU I never worried about gunmen opening fire in one of my lectures. Never.
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, January 7th, 2008
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7:26 pm - Presidential questionnaire
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So I expected Obama to be up there but I'm not as familiar with Chris Dodd....
84% Chris Dodd
84% Barack Obama
82% Hillary Clinton
80% John Edwards
80% Bill Richardson
78% Dennis Kucinich
77% Mike Gravel
75% Joe Biden
47% Rudy Giuliani
39% John McCain
32% Mike Huckabee
30% Mitt Romney
29% Ron Paul
25% Tom Tancredo
20% Fred Thompson
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
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7:00 am - Birthday!
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| Friday, December 28th, 2007
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2:53 pm - Benazir Bhutto assassination
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Taken from my email list from Circle Sanctuary...
Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, was assasinated yesterday. She was killed by gunfire and a suicide bomb after speaking at a Pakistan People's Party rally near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
Her funeral was held today and her body was buried next to that of her father in Naudero, their ancestral village.
Bhutto was the first Muslim woman to head a nation -- she was elected and served as Pakistan's Prime Minister twice. Trained at Harvard and Oxford, she had strong ties to champions of democracy in America and the UK as well as in other nations in addition to her native Pakistan. She was loved by many around the world. However, she also had enemies and faced many challenges in her life, including the execution of her father and problems with some who were part of her and other administrations, especially those who sought to oust her from power.
Benazir was a strong, courageous, and determined advocate for freedom, democracy, and human rights. She voiced her concerns for women's health and social issues and sought to repeal ordinances that curtailed women's
rights. She is survived by her husband and three children.
The nation of Pakistan is mourning her death as are many in the world today, ourselves included.
Some media coverage with more info:
Los Angeles Times: Thousands Throng Bhutto's Funeral http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bhutto29dec29,0,2681584.story?coll=la-home-center
Malaysian National News: The Fearless & Gutsy Benazir Bhutto http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_features.php?id=304858
Please join me and others in an Interfaith working today.
Kindle a candle in her memory, for the spirit of freedom, and for healing and peace in Pakistan and the world:
* Please remember Benazir Bhutto, her courage, her contributions, and her work for freedom, democracy, women's rights, support for the poor, and human rights.
* Please send healing to her family and to all who loved her.
* Please send peace, healing, and stability to Pakistan which is in political and social turmoil.
* Please send healing and peace to the world as a whole.
Thank you.
Rev. Selena Fox
Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary
writing from a snowy Oak forest
near Barneveld, Wisconsin, USA
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| Friday, November 30th, 2007
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9:23 pm - Disturbing
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| Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
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5:01 pm - Interests Meme
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On the twelfth day of Christmas,  nevarra sent to me... Twelve oceans singing Eleven poems writing Ten fairies a-drumming Nine books breathing Eight tears a-reading Seven faeries understanding Six isis a-loving Five dre-e-e-eams Four stories Three forests Two mountains ...and a music in a celtic mythology. |
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| Saturday, November 10th, 2007
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9:17 pm - Models
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I know I've said this before, and a few of y'all have offered yourselves up as photography models for me. I might start taking you up on that soon. I've been really itching to do some photography and want to start moving into human subjects instead of just landscape shots. I'm a total newb but really enjoy it. I want to show so many levels and kinds of beauty through the photos, and don't have the time or cash to take any classes on it right now. So it's mostly point and shoot with my cam.
For any of you on my flist who are interested in photos, what kind of environments/settings do you prefer? In home and private? Outdoorsy? Would my being a newb and somewhat unsure at times be annoying to participate in? Being completely new to it I'm not sure what the "protocol" is above and beyond saying, "Hey...wanna pose for me?"
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| Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
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11:49 pm - Animal rescue
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Copied over from bifemmefatale. Please cross post and if you can spare even a small amount, donate at the link on the bottom. They really need the help. There are so many animals that need help there right now. Check out the pictures too....they're encouraging...
****naamah_darling did a series of heart-wrenching posts about a year ago on a crazy cat-hoarding lady in her neighborhood, and Naamah's ultimately futile efforts to save one little diseased, malnourished kitten named Joey from her clutches.
My neighborhood now has the dubious distinction of a woman who makes Naamah's neighbor look like friggin' Doctor Doolittle. A woman living between DeKalb and Rochelle was arrested, committed for psychiatric testing and charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty after police and animal control officials discovered 230 live dogs, cats and birds on her property...and over 200 dead ones in freezers, burn pits and just scattered around the property.
http://www.wrex.com/News/index.php?ID=22454
This was animal hell. Dogs were found locked in abandoned cars, crowded 5 and 6 to a run meant for one, starving, covered in fleas. Some had had up to half of their ears eaten away by blackflies and horseflies. And believe it or not, the dogs had it good in comparison with the cats. They were found locked in the basement, swarms of them. "The (ammonia) smell in there is very overpowering, your eyes burn almost immediately and it takes a while to even get used to it to the point where you can breathe," describes Beth Drake, the Executive Director of TAILS Humane Society in DeKalb. "There's almost no electricity in the house. It's beyond filthy." Live cats were living off the carcasses of dead ones. "There were some cats in the basement that were in almost perpetual darkness and had no food or water. They had feces three or four inches thick on the bottom of their cages." one TAILS Humane Society member said.
All of the confiscated animals were taken into TAILS custody and have been moved to a vacant hangar at the DeKalb Municipal Airport. The community has responded overwhelmingly with donations of food, blankets, cleaning supplies and volunteer help. I myself went down there with a bag of supplies and volunteered for a couple of hours this afternoon. Even half-starved, these animals are beautiful, friendly, and almost all purebreds. TAILS expects to be caring for these furbabies for weeks or even months after the media circus has died down. They are urgently in need of monetary donations to help with the expenses of veterinary care and processing all these animals for adoption. If you can spare anything, *please* visit the TAILS website and make a donation.
http://www.tailshumanesociety.org/main.asp?id=27 *****
current mood:  shocked
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| Tuesday, August 21st, 2007
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5:54 pm - Brought to you by the letter M
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Song Meme:
anonymousblack gave me the letter M. If you want me to give you a letter, just respond and I'll give you one. Then YOU can dig through your music files/CDs/tapes/8tracks and find your favorite songs with that letter
Mine are behind the cut ( Read more... )
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| Wednesday, August 8th, 2007
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5:23 pm - Maeve Chronicles
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Did you read the Passion of Mary Magdalen? I think I posted about it way back when I read it. Well, I really enjoyed it and the prequel has come out. It's called Magdalen Rising. It wasn't that long ago tht I read the Passion of Mary Magdalen but I liked it enough to re-read it chronologically. There's a third book in the series that's forthcoming and I can't wait for that one.
This is a series I might just buy. There's something about the re-telling of the Yeshua / Mary Magdalen story here that I really like. I know it's fiction...fantasy whathaveyou. But I thought it was great.
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| Sunday, July 22nd, 2007
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7:27 pm - Harry Potter-Don't worry...no spoilers
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Well, I was worried that I'd hear the ending on some random radio station so I bought the book yesterday when I happened to see it on an endcap at Target and finished it by today. Probably the fastest I've ever read a book! (Why couldn't I do this when necessary in school???)
It's good. Not my favorite of the 7, I think. But good none the less. It makes me wonder how much *more* magical the series would have been, had I been a kid reading them.
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| Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
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6:06 pm - Tattoo help
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For those of you in the greater Chicagoland area, I need some tattoo help. I currently have two tattoos on my back and need one more. I have a lopsided back and it's driving me crazy. I know I'll need to wait until after swim season because the chlorine will do ickies to it but I need to find an artist who can recreate my current non-flash tattoo so that I can have it on the opposite shoulder blade. I currently have the sun in the center and the blue moon on the right. After literally YEARS of trying to figure out what to get on the left that will be delicate enough to balancce the right, and not being happy with various symbols and pictures, I decided why not just get a match to my right. I'm neurotic about symmetry though and it really really really needs to match...just face the opposite direction. If I have to get the 1st one retouched for color I'm fine with that. Or even make them different colors, as long as the picture is the same. Anyone know of a decently priced artist who can accomodate?
Pics beneath the cut.
( Read more... )
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| Thursday, May 17th, 2007
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8:38 pm - New imps
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My new imps have arrived! (without a click n ship so it was a pleasant surprise!)
I got, Titania, Nuit, Dublin, Yemaya, Tempest, Szepasszony, and a frimp of Twilight.
I need to start testing!!!
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| Thursday, May 10th, 2007
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9:37 pm - Books
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I just gobbled Dragonwyck by Anya Seton. I had forgotten that I read Green Darkness by her and enjoyed it. Both of them were quite good in a haunting sort of way. I didn't realize that they were older though. I assumed they were newer releases with the current trend of historical fiction. (I've read about 6-8 historical fiction books and I've really liked them.) Dragonwyck was written in the 40s and Green Darkness in the 70s. (The most recent) Anyways...a good read and I look forward to some of her others.
I just started Kushiel's Dart after hearing/reading about it on a few LJs. I'm looking for another series to get into this summer so hopefully that will be the next batch. I saw one of the newer books of the series at the library and went back to find the first.
It's sad because last year I went through a whirlwind of reading and gobbling books down in days. But I can't remember what the titles were...only the stories. I almost tried to read Green Darkeness again because I remembered "wanting" to read it, until I peeked inside and remembered I already had!
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| Sunday, May 6th, 2007
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7:15 pm - Back yard sanctuary
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The second of the photo heavy posts. (nothing artsy this time around) Behind the cut is the view of/from my bedroom deck. I did some decorating/planting today by adding 3 big pots of English Ivy, two deck boxes, and two hanging plants. It's a great cozy place to hang out and my aching feet and back are well worth it. A photo tour of the yard from my little sanctuary! :) ( Read more... )
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7:09 pm - Decoupage 1st
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| Friday, May 4th, 2007
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8:40 pm - Does it fit?
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| Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007
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6:40 am - Military Pagans success
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| Saturday, April 21st, 2007
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11:12 pm - 17 year Cicadas.
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tired
blah