Today I made recipe #2 from the vast Pioneer Woman recipe collection. (I’d previously made the chocolate cake and not been overwhelmingly impressed.) Actually I think maybe this one is Jamie Oliver’s recipe, maybe tweaked just a little…and then tweaked again by me. I put off making her Asian Noodle Salad until I had a potluck to prepare for, seeing as I couldn’t pay any of the other members of my family to eat this salad. And it’s a good thing I did, because the salad bowl required to accomodate the sheer quantity of goodness in this salad is a behemoth! I should have guessed that going in, having had to shop for all the ingredients (2 kinds of cabbages, spinach, two kinds of bell peppers, cucumbers, and onions, plus a pkg of linguine), but it didn’t occur to me that it would be this huge. Or that I’d make such a huge mess.

Then, once I got everything in the bowl, I pulled a Barefoot Contessa ‘clean hands’ and just decided to toss it with my bare hands. That is a seriously bad move when your hands are chapped and there are two chopped jalepenos in the salad dressing. Stinging!!! Anyway, it’s marinating overnight, and tomorrow, I’m hoping, it will be really srumptious and delicious for the teachers’ Thanksgiving potluck at Mother’s Day Out.

I give you an ‘After’ photo of my kitchen island, and a picture of the Beast of a salad.

Don’t get me wrong–I love books for adults–light and funny books for adults (I’m not grown up enough yet for the literary drearies)–but I am finding that I get more excited about books for Young Adults. An obvious example is the Twilight series, but I also very much enjoyed The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray, I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart…and on and on.

I’m currently reading my third Maureen Johnson novel, Suite Scarlett, and I am loving it–the characters and humor are awesome, and the setting, a ‘jewel box of a hotel’ in NYC is eclectic and fun. I’ve heard blogging rumors that there’ll be a sequel, and all I can say is that I hope so.

My other new favorite literary heroine is Kiki Strike, a totally original, kick-butt teenage girl with a very interesting past. In book one of the series, she manages, with minimal effort, to corral a posse of talented girls (Girl Scout rejects who adopt the name The Irregulars) to explore a secret underground city beneath NYC and use their skills to fight the sort of crimes that baffle the local authorities. Creator Kirsten Miller is, in my opinion, a genius–and an elusive one at that. Kiki Strike has a blog, but Ms. Miller is keeping a very low profile.

I’m beginning to think that I like YA so much because there’s so much room for possibility. Lives are wide-open, and oddball happenings don’t seem nearly so far-fetched in the life of a teen–more the norm. I’m actually starting to wonder if there’s anything I could do with this obsession (other than start a blog reviewing YA, which doesn’t actually sound so bad…)

Thanks for the good wishes. I’m still slightly queasy and there’s been a headache lurking ever since Monday, but I am sooo much better! And, I was talking with a mom on the playground today who’d said she’d had headaches and been queasy for the past few days. This makes me think it’s some weird bug going around, but that headache Monday was probably the worst one I have ever had.

But despite my lingering sickness, I headed off to the annual Nutcracker Market this morning, toting a bottle of 7up in my purse (to ward of queasiness). It was as crowded as ever, but this year it seemed so much more tame. I didn’t see a single boa or any kitten heels, but there were ladies drinking cocktails at 10:30 in the morning (and they weren’t Bloody Mary’s). I wasn’t overwhelmed this year and I didn’t purchase but a few things, but there were a couple of things that really caught my eye (and interest).

One my mom bought me for Christmas (after this I swear I’ll forget all about it, Mom), and it was a little card (which I plan to frame) from Curly Girl Designs. The calendar image was the only one I could grab. Mine won’t have the calendar graphics on it (obviously), and I think it’s just perfect. But then I liked all of their designs.

I walked away without the second item, but I’ve already been hinting to my husband that I might like to have it for Christmas. It’s a t-shirt that sums up a lot in my life. And maybe it would help people understand why sometimes I forget to use my indoor voice.

P.S. Ironically, I just commented on Alyson’s blog that I wouldn’t trust a woman (or man) in a cape. To clarify, I’d trust myself implicitly in a cape. And a tiara would just cement the image of good taste and sound judgment.