Recent Acquisitions

So things have not been all together entirely bad. I've made a bunch of delightful new discoveries:

• Ben Folds (Five) and Rufus Wainwright- The "Who Do You Think You Are" (a song from Elvis Costello's The Juliet Letters - Hello - male vocalists out there: Please arrange to do a concert of this suite of songs - they're available in print. Thank you.) station on my pandora.com account has yielded many musical goodies. I can hear on this station items ranging from Norah Jones (who, in my opinion is not overhyped at all, but quite the opposite - this girl is immensely talented), to wonderfully unique versions of Bjork songs backed by strings, to show tunes from Spring AwakeningThe Last 5 Years. Figuring prevalently in this cavalcade of musical powerhouses are Ben Folds (with and without Five) and Rufus Wainwright. I'd run away from home with my cello (and Lucas since he loves music too) and join either of them on tour. Ben Folds (who personally, is a little creepy as he's on his 4th marriage) writes songs with musical complexity and intelligence - dizzying piano lines and melodies. Rufus Wainwright writes and sings the most soulful crooning. He's so old-school that he replicated Judy Garland's 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall. (It's so cool, he's even imitated what her album cover looked like.) So I've been wrapping this music around me and letting it carry me through the day.
• Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes - I thought I had tried these and not liked them. So when I saw them at WalMart for $2, I figured I'd just give them a second chance and be happy if it worked and it would be no great loss if it didn't. Well. One bite and I was hooked. These are serious stuff for a chocolate/peanut butter freak like me. They're also on the smallish side which means either: a.) You don't feel horribly bad after eating one little pack or b.) You feel you have rights to eat many of said little packs. But they're just incredibly tasty and I think I'll have to keep a steady supply of them in my fridge. Luckily Luke is still not allowed to have nuts yet or I think there'd be a smackdown over these.
• Speaking of whom.....he's discovered how to use a straw. This is good in that it's helping with his speech. This is bad because now any time he sees a beverage with a straw, he wants in on it. So my iced coffees must now be sampled by Mr. Bear. I must remember to keep straws out of my jack and cokes and scotch.
• Cottony Dresses From Old Navy - I scored 2 of these at $15 each. One navy and white striped and one in a fuchsia type of pink. Both can be dressed up or down for summery comfort.
• Flavored Seltzer - I've been drinking this for a couple of months now, but I still can't get over how much I like it. Now that I've been guzzling it, I'm surprised at how sweet regular soda is. My favorite variety is Vintage Cherry Flavored Seltzer, but I'll drink the store brand stuff too.
• MAC Lip Liner in Spice - This is actually a re-discovery. I had a college roommate who gave me her pencil since she was getting a new one and raved about how it went with everything. And it does. It's my go-to when I'm running out the door. I carry it with me everywhere and slap it on under a shiny gloss.

So I've found a few new favorites, some tasty discoveries and some treasures.

More Baking

Since I tried an apple galette from Boston Market I've been dying to make one. So the other day I bought some gala apples and I had a refridgerated pie crust in my fridge. (Don't judge - I have insecurities in even attempting to make my own pie crusts. It's one that I will get over once I have a larger kitchen. And perhaps a food processor.) And the funny thing is, I'm so not a pie person. I'm not a fruit fan. I'm not for fruit in my desserts. My thinking is, if I'm having dessert, it better be gooey, chocolatey or decadant. And fruit doesn't fall into those categories.

Tonight I had the means and time to assemble it. I Frankensteined a few recipes together - added a layer of frangipane under the apples and popped in the oven.


It looks so pretty. I love how it looks so rustic because I pleated the crust around the filling. I'm actually quite proud of it.


It will be making its tasting debut during tonight's episode of Heroes. Which I wasn't loving last week because I was falling asleep during it, but after a second viewing, I'm hooked once again.

An Apple A Day

I'm so not a fruit person. According to my mother, I used to love it. Would eat orange slices left and right, loved apples and grapes. Now, I'm just real picky about the fruit I eat. I'll eat the occasional grapes, I still love bananas, and maybe the odd apple here and there.

But lately I've been digging apples like crazy. Maybe it's something inside me trying to stave off scurvy or something, but they've been delicious.

I had part of an apple gallette from Boston Market. Now, I'm not one to like pie-type desserts. To me, dessert doesn't mean eating fruit. If I'm going to do dessert, I'm going to eat something decadent and chocolatey. Something that makes it worth it. But this apple dessert was amazing. A buttery crust, lots of streussel topping and the apples weren't tart at all. (I think that's why I'm wary of fruit - sometimes it's so hit or miss as to if it's going to be sweet or tart or unripe - I don't like playing Russian roulette with my food.) I've been dying to eat another one for days now.

More recently, Luke and I went food shopping and on a whim I bought Gala apples. I've been buying sliced apples from Trader Joe's and I think they're sliced Gala apples. So I grabbed one today when running out to my concert, which had a rehearsal before it, so I'd have something to eat in between. (Plus, I figured the apple would cancel out the liverwurst sandwich I brought as well) Why didn't anyone tell me Gala apples were so tasty? It was sweet without being cloyingly so and not too crunchy and not mealy. I'm now hooked on apples. Which I guess is better than being hooked on something like Cheetos or Big Macs.

Mmmm...Food

Now, the story in my family goes, that when I was little, about 2 or so, I'd get the shakes when I'd see Peppermint Patties - they were my favorite. So, when you've got a young'un and you're on your way home after sitting in weather-related traffic for 2 hours and are hungry, and you pass a Burger King, you figure, "I'll get a salad." Which wasn't bad. But then you see your favorite word: "NEW!" and get suckered in to purchasing a York Peppermint Pie. And I have to say, I forsee myself making a detour to the BK in between the sitter's house and my house just to get a few more slices of this stuff. It was incredibly tasty - for a fast food dessert that is. Hey, for .99, you can't go wrong.

And then when you're on your way to work and realize that you haven't eaten anything much in the last 12-14 hours, McDonald's looks good. And again, the siren song of "NEW!" calls you. And you order a McSkillet Burrito. I like breakfast burritos. I like that my egg, cheese and other variables are snug in a little pocket for me to consume. The combo of egg, sausage, cheese, potato, pepper and hot sauce is a definite waker-upper. Delish.

St. Anne, Patron Saint of Mothers

Diane and I took one of our beloved road trips up to Sturbridge, MA to visit the shrine to St. Anne, who is the patron saint of mothers. It was suggested to me by a friend at work. So we figure what the hey, we're good for a ride. It was gorgeous. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there but it was easy driving (any time I DON'T have to go over the George Washington Bridge is a good thing) and the weather was just beautiful. The shrine and church are on these amazing grounds. There's a whole trail devoted to the stations of the cross, with sculptures of each station. I learned a little - I didn't know each station teaches some lesson. It was really interesting. I don't know why, but the stations of the cross just fascinate me - every time I'm in a new church, I look at them and how they're done. Every Easter I say I'm going to go to a live one.

Here's Diane at the entrance to the stations of the cross trail.

These are sacred steps that lead up to a sculpture of the cruxifiction.

The steps were pretty steep and I did indeed climb them. Not that I was a pretty sight when I reached the top. The view was lovely though. There were birds everywhere outside and they didn't stop singing once. I got some prayer cards and a little St. Anne medal to wear while I'm pregnant. I figure we can use any help we can get!

After the shrine we found a cute little restaurant that had a deck outside. Dining al fresco! And so inexpensive - I had a catfish dinner for $9. In the foyer of the restaurant was a CIGARETTE MACHINE! I haven't seen one of these in ages! I thought it hysterically funny so I took a photo. Then off to a candy store that's been around since like the early part of the 1900's where I had to purchase chocolate peanut butter fudge and a smores type thing and red licorice for Tommy. THEN to the bakery at the Publick House where I bought a delicious cookie (chocolate filled with peanut butter) and a whoopie pie. What's a whoopie pie? Surely you jest! It's like a big, huge, homemade devil dog except the cake part isn't dry and crumbly. Then home we went. We're planning another trip - we need to find Purgatory Chasm and check out the Polish Pottery.