Party!

Wanna crash an anniversary party?  Well, technically I guess it wouldn’t be crashing, because you would be warmly welcomed, but it would be a little like crashing because you may not yet know the party-givers.  I’m hoping this post changes that!  If you don’t read this blog on a feed, you may have noticed the extra little box I added in the sidebar last week, linking to Austen Authors.  I am happy to announce here on my own blog that I am joining the Austen Authors!  I will still maintain my own blog, with its spotty spots on questionable topics, but I will also post once a month (or so) over there as well on a medley of Jane Austen-related topics.  My official introductory post is this Friday, September 9th, and I’d love to see you over there!

However, between now and then, you should definitely click over to Austen Authors for their One Year Anniversary Celebration!  Austen Authors is a collaborative blog hosted by a diverse group of authors who take at least a portion of their inspiration from Jane Austen.  Some authors’ books are reimaginings of Ms. Austen’s six classic novels.  Others are sequels and side stories about characters you may have always wondered about.  There are vampire tales, modern day romantic comedies, and even a western!  Simply put, there is something (lots of somethings, in fact!) for every fan of Ms. Austen.  And this week, there are giveaways galore!

Once upon a time, Jane said, “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”  Well, she would have found the Austen Authors to be very agreeable intend.   And so will you!

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Posted in austentatious on 09/05/2011 02:50 am | 2 Comments

Recipes Galore

I like to cook and bake, but it almost always seems stressful.  I feel like I need to hurry with a particularly long or involved recipe, because there are so many other things I could be doing.  And then there is a good chance that no one else likes it but me (or not even me!), and much of it goes to waste (which is rough with expensive gluten-free ingredients). Last week I spent two and half hours in the kitchen making green chile stew.  De-fatting the pork shoulder, browning the meat, chopping the vegetables, de-skinning and de-seeding the green chiles before chopping them up…  It was a LOT.  It turned out deliciously (and we ate it for four dinners in a row, but it was a LOT).  Oh the things I could have done with that 2.5 hours…

There are so many new recipes I want to try…so many glossy-paged cookbooks and gorgeously food-styled blogs, that I now have recipes on a waiting list.  Plus I’m experimenting with gluten-free cookbooks.  We have such a weird combination of tastes and diets in this house, it’s amazing I’m not in the kitchen all the time.  Butters doesn’t like most vegetables but loves Mexican and other spicy foods.  GFB can’t have gluten and dislikes spicyness of any sort, not to mention any dip but ketchup.  PFB can’t have nuts and doesn’t much like meat.  He doesn’t like Mexican food, but he does like salsa.  I like everything (mostly), and dessert is a must for me.  So we hobble along. I’m hoping it gets easier, and I try to actively search out new recipes that–just maybe–we’ll all like.

I visit Joy the Baker’s blog almost everyday.  Not only do her recipes generally look scrumptious and unique, but I love how she styles everything, not to mention her sassy attitude and complete zest for life.  She doesn’t take herself to seriously, but she takes food VERY seriously.  She has a cookbook coming out next February, and I will be all over that!

I page slowly through each issue of Sweet Paul Magazine, making notes, and now I’m also fawning over the new digital magazine Easy Eats, which is dedicated to gluten free living.

I also love looking at the latest recipes from They Draw and Cook, which is a really fun site showcasing recipes illustrated by artists around the world.  Here is an adorable sample.
Plus, candy sushi sounds like an awesome idea!  I just ordered the cookbook, which is sure to be a fun read!

Where do you go for good recipes?

Posted in cooking on 09/02/2011 02:26 am | 2 Comments

Obsession

I don’t know if you have Sonic where you live, but here, it’s something of an OBSESSION.  And, oh yes, those caps are warranted.  Sonic, for the uninitiated, is basically an old fashioned drive-up…the sort you might see in old episodes of Happy Days.  They sell burgers, fries, hot dogs, tater tots, etc.  Their main appeal, even in my uncorrupted mind, is their drinks.  They serve them in insulating styrofoam, with bunny-pellet ice, and the flavor options are insane.  Cherry Vanilla Rootbeer?  Pineapple Dr. Pepper?  Diet Cranberry Limeade?  They’ve got ’em all.  And they serve them in 44 oz. cups.  This simple thing has caused an obsession in these parts.  A day without a Sonic drink can never be a perfect day.

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I am, I think, the only stand-out in a group of my friends who are in LOVE with their Sonic drinks.  And most of them are not even taking advantage of the flavor options!  They’re just getting a uninspired Diet Coke.  Gah!  Here’s how bad it is… one friend washed out a Sonic Route 44 drink cup for me, complete with lid and straw, and brought it to me empty, to be filled with my choice of non-Sonic beverage, just so I wouldn’t feel left out.  (The sentiment was appreciated, but that went right in the trash.)

I know people–multiple–that go everyday.  I’ve known people to go twice in one day.  If someone goes, they get everyone’s order and come in toting gigantic drink carriers of mostly Diet Cokes.  Top-heavy Sonic cups can be seen in the hands of women everywhere.  Men seem immune to the appeal…maybe that makes me a tom-boy of sorts, because I’m definitely immune.  It’s like a cult following, with more and more getting sucked in everyday.  Soon I’ll be the only clear-thinking, Dr. Pepper can-drinking  woman in the ‘hood.  I will go down fighting.

 

Posted in life on 08/31/2011 02:49 pm | 8 Comments
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