question

what does it say about me that i play better pool with a partner than i do solo?

i love my mom

I just got an email from my mom detailing what she's "been up to" around the house while the persistently cold Missouri weather has been keeping her in doors. She shared these pics of her various home improvement projects and I was suitably impressed. Now thinking my previous feeling of success at (nearly) completing a load of laundry earlier this evening seems a little pathetic:)

I am so acutely homesick right now it's ridiculous.

third time not so charming

Got that first big kitchen mess-up out of the way. End result (chunky baked potato soup, spinach salad with homemade mustard vinaigrette, and all-the-way-from-scratch cornbread) was excellent. But there was a very regrettable incident with a slab of bacon.

"What the hell do you think Leona really puts in that pizza?"

Cooking adventure number due took place last Saturday night - right before I took off for Key West. Pretty sure it'll go down in history as the rowdiest pizza making effort ever. Well. At least in my little corner of the world:) We started, once again, from scratch. Went to the Dallas Farmer's Market and bought some great Italian sausage from a local farm. Found some beautiful peppers and tomatoes. I even bought a sweet marjoram plant to use in our sauce in place of dried oregano. Shockingly, the herb is actually thriving in my kitchen. We'll see how long that can possibly last! We made a super tasty honey whole wheat dough that everyone loved. And our pizza sauce should be bottled and sold. Seriously! Autumn and I included Julie and Gigi in the prep work this time around and we had so much fun:) Then we invited lots of tasters over to inundate us with compliments regarding our culinary genius. Which they did with great skill:) The picture documentation leaned towards the non-cooking craziness that ensued but I did remember to snap this shot of our last pizza as it came out of the oven. Haven't yet decided what is on the menu for tonight but I'm adamant that it will have absolutely nothing to do with any kind of dough . . . :)

old and tired

So, I decided something. Nights are a lot more fun these days when you're not awake for 'em. Just my opinion.

i feel fine

am blogging soundtrack: The Beatles, 1
am blogging sustenance: Allegro Organic Guatemala La Magnolia Light Roast

I was conflicted last night when going to bed - to set an alarm or not to set an alarm? You see, today was my first day off (actually just switching to the night shift) after 14 days of doing my busy little bee routine at work. While sleeping in until I could sleep no more sounded like heaven, there just was so much that I either needed or wanted to do! I'm pretty sure I fell asleep while still contemplating the dilemma, woke this morning well-rested and in desperate need for coffee:)

So here I sit, drinking that first life-saving cup and mentally planning the next few hours of my day . . .

At some point I'll need to exchange the pajamas for grown-up clothing but pretty sure that will still be down the road a bit. I also need to do the laundry thing. Not quite feeling that just now either. Food may become important as well. Confident that my current caffeine consumption will keep me satisfied for a while though. Am embarrassingly past-due for a pedicure. Should really start planning out the packing for Key West next week. Have a teetering stack of books begging for some love and affection. Despite the marathon at Whole Foods yesterday, the refrigerator is laughingly bare save some leftover sweet potato puree and assorted condiments. Oh. Crap. I also need to drop by work and pick up the call pager for tonight.

And so here I sit, drinking that second life-postponing cup . . .

noches de empanadas

My first culinary adventure - part of the year of Amy, the sequel - was a huge success!

Autumn and I spent what felt like a month and a half of our lives at Whole Foods this afternoon buying everything we needed for the making of our soon-to-be famous sweet potato empanadas. Erica: remember the empanadas we made for Laura's New Year's party a few years back? Well I stepped it up and started from scratch this time around. You can actually make pastry dough from flour! Who knew? :)

We had, possibly, a little too much fun in the making of said empanadas. There may have been margaritas involved. And guacamole. But everything turned out in the end. No huge kitchen disasters. No chance of food poisoning (I don't think). We even had 2 impartial judges (thanks Gigi and Eidi!) that refrained from gagging at the table.

Ok, seriously? They were really, really good. I believe I have been compelled to mention this before but I think it bears repeating: I suspect I may be a genius:)