oh.my.goodness.

 photo by *Cinnamon

You guys. I don't know how many of you already have a stand mixer, but up until last Wednesday, I did not.   And as I'm sure you've guessed, now I do!  This is amazing.  I've joined the club!  No, I didn't buy it.  I didn't win it either.  My mom sent me her old one, because somehow she'd acquired two kitchenaid mixers.   Gift, gladly taken! 

I used to try to make recipes that called for a stand mixer, without a stand mixer.  My thought process went something like this, "My grandmother didn't have a stand mixer, and she made all sorts of amazing goodies! So there."  Maybe my arm isn't strong enough, maybe my whip isn't fast enough, but the recipes never turn out!  Never, ever.  So I began to pass on any recipes needing a mixer (which is a ton of recipes!).  But no longer!  Now, I'll be a mixer extraordinaire.  Just you watch! :)  Any suggestions for recipes I must try?

I've been working in the field a bunch lately, and am heading out again on Monday (have I told you I'm an archaeologist?  Well, I am.) so I won't have time to use it just yet, but soon.  Very soon.  And I'll surely show pictures. 

photo by yoshiart.com

P.S. June 5, Mario Kart Pub Crawl.  I'm going to be Yoshi.  I can't wait to show you my costume.

 

photo by netmen!

P.P.S. The Lost Series Finale is on tonight.  Goodbye friend.  You were a good one, and a super confusing one, too.

i finally baked bread.

I've been talking about baking bread for a long while.  Back in January I saw this no-knead bread recipe on honey&jam and went out immediately to gather the ingredients (yes, I know, there are only 4 ingredients and all are basics.  Don't judge my unstocked kitchen!).  But then, the ingredients just sat there day after day, and I continued to make excuses about what little time I had to mix ingredients and wait for it to rise.  Pish posh. 

But I've finally done it!  This weekend was the perfect storm of a bum knee and cabin trip (that I didn't get to go on, but my pals and bf did) so I had oodles of time at home alone.  On Saturday I made the dough, let it rise, and sat it in the fridge and then this morning I pulled a lump of the dough out, let it sit for about an hour, and popped it into the oven.  And now I have this!

 

photo by yours truly

Cooking and baking is like magic!  I vow to bake much more often.  Not only do you get to pull a magically formed loaf out of your oven, but the smells...THE SMELLS!  I still have a bunch of dough in the fridge so at the very least, I'll be baking the rest of this week. Yum!

happy easter, friends.

photo by {tribal} photography

I hope your day is filled with friends, family, and jelly beans.  

Mine is going to be filled with triple ginger cookies (which is the best way to fill a day, I assure you).

Happy Easter!

oh gelato.

 photo by josh.liba

I forgot to mention our stop at a yummy gelato shop in Vail.  I had the coconut and lemon gelato and combined it was delicious.  Of course, it was super chilly out, but the gelato was worth it!  Are you a fan of gelato?  

everyone is irish on march 17th.

photo by cobalt123

 Happy St. Patrick's Day folks.  I hope you're wearing green!  Enjoy some green beer, corned beef and cabbage and keep your eyes peeled for any tricky leprechauns. 

photo by James Jordan

I have a friend who is an Irish Dancer and surely we'll be seeing her dance tonight.  If you have the chance to see Irish Dancers, do it.  It's an awesome thing to see.

grab your cup. it's time for tea.

photo by visualdensity

What's so great about tea?  Besides being awesome, there's not too much caffeine, plenty of flavor, and choices(!), so many choices!  My go-to tea is Good Earth Original.  It's robust and spicy and it doesn't need any sweetening whatsoever.  Some may say that tea doesn't need ever need sweetening (hmm, the bf might say that...) but I disagree.  Sometimes teas need a little sugar to bring out the full flavor.  What do you think?  Are you a tea drinker?  If so, to sweeten or not to sweeten?  What say you?

delicious, delicious crepes.

 

photo by yours truly

Two weekends ago (and during last week...and this weekend), I finally made crepes.  I love crepes, but before last weekend, the only way I'd had them was when someone else made them.  Maybe it was their fancy name that intimidated me, but I found that they couldn't be simpler!  And let's not forget, delicious.  The recipe I used is found here.  We topped our crepes with cottage cheese and jam, and sugar and lemon juice.  I liked both, but the simplicity of the latter really hit the spot.  Do you make crepes?  When you eat them, what are your favorite toppings?

The photo at the top was my breakfast last Saturday.  So good.