Five *Good* things.

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This week has been uber stressful, what with being denied the apartment we wanted twice, and with finding out our lease is up in 11 days instead of a month and a half.

I need a little perspective.

FIVE GOOD THINGS:

1. Dinner tonight with three ladies who always make me smile and laugh

2. Thanksgiving dinner in 1 week that will be a sight to see, indeed

3. One party this weekend full of friends new and old, one show to see that will make me smile,

4. An empty Sunday to see houses with Jeff and enjoy each other’s company

5. Almost Christmas time. Almost Christmas card time…fa la la la la…

Something I should have never admitted: powdered potatoes.

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I did it. It was me. I promised myself I never would. I scoffed at the idea. But then, standing in my kitchen after cleaning the counter of rotted potato juice, damning boxed Pasta Roni to hell since we’ve been eating it once or twice a week lately, and wondering what on EARTH would fill my ever-hungry stomach, I realized it was time.

To make the bag-o-potato that Jeff had purchased once upon the time he claimed was delicious. I reasoned with myself–it was here, I shouldn’t waste, there ARE children starving in Africa, Asia, South America, and probably down the block from me. They are edible, and they have potatoes in them. Plus, as we are moving in a few weeks, I shouldn’t allow them into our new home. Right? We should just use them up…now. RIGHT?

bag_potatoes

This is the bag. The bag full of offensive powdered-potato. But I had exhausted my other options for sides. I had no choice. So I opened the bag, to investigate.
insidebag

The inside seemed OK. It was powdered, but smelled like potato. I wasn’t sure how large the potatoes would get, so I had to guesstimate which bowl size I would use. This one seemed to be the right size. I wasn’t sure how large powdered potatoes got. But I have seen those amazing meals they give to people in the army, when you add water and it becomes so hot you can’t even hold it. So I knew there was magical things that could happen when it says “Just add water.” Like sea monkeys. Just add water, and soon you have a family.

inbowl_potatoes

Anyways, I waited for the water to boil. I made a list of reasons I was justified in my head, and I when the water boiled I poured it into the bowl. The bowl, of course, DID burn my hand, because I wasn’t thinking that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to hold said bowl as I poured the water. But that’s another story. Then I poured the potato powder in and Voila!–

Potatoes.alldone_potatoes

I must say, they were not as bad as I thought they were going to be. I guess I have to take them off the “Absolutely not” list and put them onto the “Only in an Emergency” list.

Dually noted.

The hunt continues…

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We still haven’t found an apartment, and becuase of it I have spent the entire weekend eating my feelings in my weight of Milk Duds, JuJu Bees, and movie popcorn. I haven’t been able to slow myself. All I know is, this week is the week I need to find SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

I am sick of looking, but nothing we see is good enough. The location will be great, and then there is carpet. Or the floors are hardwood, but the street parking is awful. Or the street parking rocks, but I wouldn’t live in an apartment with wood-colored cabinets if my life depended on it. Etc., etc.

This is a crazy life. But I hope that something will be coming up this week–an offer, a beautiful apartment, my other roommates finally cleaning up dishes before I get to them out of anger, or magically I will come home one day to a non-sticky floor and dinner prepared for me.

Who knows? I can’t wait to see what happens…

The more you read, the more you know.

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My BFF Lauren always reminds me of a quote from our childhood:

The more you read, the more you know
The more you know, the smarter you grow
The smarter you grow, the stronger your voice
When speaking your mind, or making a choice

It was on a libary poster when we were in the 4th grade, and we’d spend lunch line time trying to memorize it. 12 years later, we still remember it, so it worked! In light of reading, here’s some information about my reading love…

*A book that made you laugh: Straight Man, by Richard Russo
*A book that made you cry: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
*A book that scared you: Scary Stories III, by Alvin Schwartz
*A book that disgusted you: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
*A book you loved in elementary school: Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
*A book you loved in middle/junior high school: The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
*A book you loved in high school: Night, by Elie Wiesel
*A book you loved in college: The Wall, by John Hersey
*A book that challenged your identity: Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
*A series that you love: Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
*Your favorite “coming of age” book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
*Your favorite classic: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
*Your favorite romantic novel: The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
*My favorite book (non-fiction): An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore

Adventures of Phyllo Dough 2: Going Greek

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This week, after I made the phyllo dough pie, I had so many leftover sheets of dough I decided I needed to tackle another recipe. I remembered my friend K using her extra dough to make baklava, so I asked her which recipe she used. Turns out, she used the “Simple Baklava” recipe from Giada. It’s a good one, but I’m not all for using too many ingredients. So here is the original alongside my final recipe.

Giada’s recipe

*1/2 cup almonds
*1/2 cup walnuts
*1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
*1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
*2 tablespoons sugar
*1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
*1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
*Pinch of salt
*1 stick butter, melted, divided
*3 tablespoons honey
*12 sheets phyllo dough

My take on it…

*1 cup almonds
*1/4 cup raisins
*2 tablespoons sugar
*1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
*Pinch of salt
*3/4 stick butter, melted, divided
*3 tablespoons honey
*6 sheets phyllo dough

Turn your over to 350. Then, all you have to do is stick the almonds in the blender with the cinnamon, blend, add the salt, blend and dump in a bowl. Then add your honey and sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and mix. It works itself into a nice little paste. Then you have to take your sheets of dough, layer 6 of them sheet, butter, sheet, butter, etc.

(I had WAY too much butter left over, so I would suggest starting with 3 tablespoons and melting more if you need it. Seriously. I made Jeff make popcorn so we could use the rest of the butter, and the popcorn tasted like movie popcorn–THAT is how much I had left over. And I can’t waste, so we ate baklava and popcorn.)

Then you cut it into squares (I did in half then made each half into three) and stick the sheets into a muffin tin. Giada says to use mini-muffin tins, but as I don’t have such things, I used a muffin tin, and they came out fine. Scoop your honey/almond mixture into each phyllo/butter-lined-muffin-hole and then fold the top of the phyllo dough over the top. Bake for about 25 minutes (or until they turn brown and smell delicious.)

Let them cool for 5 minutes. And devour! Voila!

baklava

They may not be beautiful, but they sure tasted good, and they were a hit in my office when I brought them to staff meeting!