Oh hey there!

Is anyone still reading this? Ha. Well if you are still there I'm here to direct you to my new blog.

http://bobbinandcompany.wordpress.com/

This is the blog I will being using with my soon-to-be Etsy shop Bobbin and Company. It's definitely not perfect yet, but rather than wait until everything is perfect I figure I'll get things up a running. I've also got a Twitter and Instagram account for the shop @bobbinandco. Or find me on Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/bobbinandco/ A Facebook page is in the works, but nothing much going on there now.

Again nothing huge going on yet, but I figure I want to be comfortable with the new blog and social media stuff before I really start promoting when the shop opens.

I can't wait to show you some pictures of the finished products!

Visions of Etsy Danced in Her Head

About two weeks ago I got the idea to start seriously looking into opening an Etsy shop. This idea has been lurking in the back of my mind for quite a while now, but I have never been able to focus on what I would actually want to sell or taken time to get a solid action plan off the ground.  

Over the last year I have seen friends open Etsy shops and heard examples of people crafting all year and just selling at Christmas, for instance. Some of these stories have convinced me that Etsy is something I can do, and not some far out, unattainable goal.

With the Etsy selling model I can spend a relatively small amount of money creating a few items to have on hand, and if they sell, great, I'll continue making. If items don't sell, I will have nice gifts for birthdays and Christmas. I can't go wrong. 

Before you start raising eyebrows, the point of my starting an Etsy shop is not to get out of the traditional workforce, but to have fun and see what comes of it. 

I will be putting a lot of groundwork into this, and I'm almost looking at it like applying to a job you know you won't get. That sounds a little pessimistic, but hear me out. When you apply for a job that is a far reach, you still have to put time and effort into updating your resume, asking for references, and writing the perfect cover letter to highlight skills and qualities the employer is looking for. All that work takes time, and though you will probably not get the job, you do all you can to shrink the margin as much as possible. 

In the last few years the Etsy marketplace has grown enormously, making for stiff competition. Going into this, I am not looking to make a full time income, but I do want to be able to sell something. In order to sell I have to take the shop seriously. I will write a business plan, spend time marketing the shop via social media, follow pricing equations, and create items that I will be proud to sell. I plan to treat the shop like a part time job, and dedicate a no excuses number of hours each week to it's upkeep and maintenance. 

Be on the looking for a new blog and updates about these ideas in my head. This blog might be sparse until then, as I'll be focusing a lot of my time figuring out the world of Etsy. My current goal is to give myself about two months of prep time and then "open shop". 

Perhaps you are wondering exactly what I will be making? I'll give more details later as I finalize what I want to make, but the primary craft will be sewing. 

Soft Pretzel Heaven

Let me tell you, these soft pretzels are life changing.

I ate two in a row and had to force myself to stop before I accidentally polished all of them off.

Rumor has it, that somewhere on a road in Pennsylvania there is a woman who sells the world's best soft pretzels. She sells them out of the trunk of her car. My mom and aunt would always rave about these pretzels and would grab a couple every time they went to visit my grandmother. They knew the habit of this woman and could predict with shocking accuracy  if she would be selling pretzels that day based on how cloudy it was.

Since I was off getting a college education during most of what we'll call the Pretzel Phase I never actually saw this woman, thus keeping her in the category of myth and legend for the rest of my life. I think maybe one time I got to try a pretzel. Mom and Aunt Judy would sometimes bring extra pretzels home to freeze. That's how good they were. And I think it was one of these thawed pretzels that I got to sample.

Now I do not remember the exact taste of these legendary soft pretzels, but I would be so bold as to say that these pretzels rival those of pretzel lady. Only Mom and Aunt Judy can be the real judges of that.

The dough is easy to work with (not super sticky) and the taste is a little sweeter than the average soft pretzel. All good things in my book!

Ingredients: Water, active dry yeast, white sugar, flour, vegetable oil, baking soda, salt, and butter.

1. Start off by pouring 1 1/4 cups warm water over 1 tsp of white sugar and 4 tsp of active dry yeast. Just let this sit and get foamy while you mix the dry ingredients.

Side note: When I'm working with yeast I usually test the water for a good temperature by turning on the tap until the water is hot but not scalding. This is not the most scientific method, but it works for me. Water that is too hot kills the yeast, too cool and you'll be waiting forever for dough to rise.

2. Next, throw together 5 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp of salt.

3. Make a hole in the center of your flour mixture and add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and that yeast water mixture from the beginning. Mix components together and add another tablespoon of water or so if the mixture seems too dry. Knead the dough for a couple minutes until it has a smooth, even consistency.

4. Roll the dough into a ball and toss it in an oiled bowl. Roll the ball around once so it is covered in oil. I usually just spray a bowl with Pam. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it hang out and rise for about an hour. An oven or microwave turned off is a good place. Read a book, watch an episode of your favorite show, or make a quilt in the mean time.

6. Come back to your dough and get really excited when you find it has actually risen.

7. Pre-heat your oven to 450, and dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda into 4 cups of warm water.

8 Divide your dough into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a rope. Then twist it into a pretzel shape. Or your initial.

9. One at a time using your hands dip the pretzels into the baking soda/water mixture and put them on a baking sheet. The baking soda mixture gives pretzel that rich brown color. Don't skip this step.

10. Sprinkle some kosher salt on the pretzels and bake them for 8 minutes.

11. Melt about 1/2 stick of butter and using a pastry brush, cover the fronts and backs of the pretzels in a little butter.

I've halved this recipe successfully to make 6 pretzels. But why stop there, invite some friends over and enjoy 12 pretzels together.

Here is the link to the original recipe.

Aaaaaand we're back!

Hey there blog-land.

I apologize for the extended absence. I'm still here!

What has been going on with me lately? 

•  I've read some new books
•  For a while there work was on a weird schedule. Some evening tasks, some travel. I thrive on routine and find it difficult to do normal things if I don't get home at the same time every day. 
•  I turned a quarter century old
•  Weekends have been fun filled with lots of adventuring and time with new friends

Lately, I have been getting into the groove and have really been enjoying Florida life. Not that I was miserable before or anything, but in my last few moves I have found that it takes about a year for me to feel comfortable and at home in a new place. 

Who knows the exact formula for how this works, I think it has something to do with becoming comfortable with new traffic patterns, not needing a GPS to get around, finding and becoming part of a new church, and having a group of friends locally. 

This whole process could probably happen faster were I a bit more proactive. I could have jumped in with both feet, joined groups immediately, and invited people over for dinner or movie nights much sooner. For me, these steps are not always easy. I like to say that I enjoy having new friends, but I do not always enjoy making new friends. I wish I could get past that awkward stage of not knowing someone else's sense of humor and views, or wondering if they will understand your sarcasm, or even wondering if there is anything you have in common. 

Whenever and wherever we move next I think I will push myself to find community more quickly. Though I have to say, it is a relief to know that we are parked in the same place for several years. I love being able to put down some roots. And to be honest, I think it would be sad to leave a place that I wouldn't miss. 

Here's to contentment with life!

Life is sweet. And so is sugar.

Hi there folks! I'm back. Back in the world of sugar. This is day 6.

Photo from nourition.com

What I learned is still pretty similar to what I wrote in my mid-month reflection.

The biggest take-home for me was the aspect of sugar in breakfast foods. I do not want to be starting the day off with added sugar in my foods. No, I'm not going to be militant about this, but as a regular thing I will start paying more attention to sugars in yogurts, cereals, and other items.  A rare doughnut or pastry are okay for special breakfasts, but I'm not looking for something so sweet in the routine rotation.

Another change is that I'm still having tea without any sweetener. I've grown to like it this way, so why add anything else? .

This sugar month has brought home the importance of allowing myself to indulge. The main time that I missed sugar was on the weekend. During week days the lack of sugar was hardly noticeable. I know that recommendations often say you should not use food as a reward for eating well. And this makes sense, but when I eat copious amounts of fruits and vegetables throughout the week and watch portion sizes, I can enjoy a dessert because I ate well throughout the week. If I completely cut myself off from the more "fun" foods, I think I would go crazy and eat everything I missed a few months down the road.

Not having sugar was a bit of a saving grace. I had an excuse to say, "No" to candies and treats that came my way. Candy bowls at a conference I recently attended and leftover desserts that are routinely left out in the office were off limits. That saved me from food I did not need to be eating.

Now that I've gotten to try a few sweet things, what is my reaction?

I had a fun sized Snickers bar that was way too sweet.

Special K cereal, okay, but felt like I was eating dessert for breakfast.

David and I had a bit of a vacation day and shared a slice of key lime pie on a day trip. This was good.

I could have done without a girl scout cookie, it wasn't all that I hoped it would be.

And life changing news, I have never liked dark chocolate but I tried a little Dove square the other day and it was wonderful.

My experiment changed the way I taste sweetness and that is what I was hoping for. I no longer need quite as much sugar to satisfy a sweet craving and I am more aware of the sugar that is in some unexpected places. This was a great challenge for me and I look forward to trying other monthly challenges throughout the year.

Intention

On the Art of Simple blog the question was posed: What are you doing to live life slower and with more intention?

This is a link-up to The Art of Simple that coincides with the release of the blog's founder Tsh Oxenreider's new book Notes From a Blue Bike. Can't wait to get my hands on this one!

In response to Tsh's question here is something I'm working on:

Re-making the morning.

This idea is not new or creative, but actually following through with this is new to me. Having a job that requires me to be in the office by 8 is ideal. I find it hard to get out of bed if I do not have a place to go. Most of my undergrad years of college I was the type to wake up 15 minutes before I had to leave, throw on jeans and a hoodie, brush teeth, and grab a granola bar right before I ran out the door. Somewhere in my senior year I realized that I felt so much more alert and awake for the day if I had an hour or more to wake up before heading out into the world. This was spurred on by the fact that I had to read about a million books for an online class I was taking at the time and if I didn't push through those books in the morning, they would not get read.

As many have discovered, and I am trying to live out, a morning is the ideal slice of day to carve out some extra time. For the last week or so I have been waking up an extra 30 minutes early. The motivation for this came from a 6 week devotional David and I are doing as part of the membership class for our church. I really enjoy the devotions (5 days/week) but I was finding that I would do day 1 in a timely manner for the week, and then do days 2-5 about 30 minutes before we had to leave for the class. That is not exactly the way to get the most out of a study. Especially a reflective one.

Enter: Mornings.

With the help of a sample life coaching session from Candice (very soon she'll be a certified life coach running her own business!), I decided to challenge myself to wake up at 6am for 2.5 (but I'm thinking I'll actually do 3) weeks. Monday morning marked the start of week 2 and I am LOVING it. A slow morning with a little reading and prayer and a warm cup of tea is a beautiful way to start the day. With the extra 30 minutes I have time to not rush through the study, and I'm not staring at the clock the way I would if I did it the last 30 minutes before leaving. I even have time to sneak in a few quick chores (like emptying the dishwasher) so the apartment is that much more welcoming when I come home.

An ideal morning for me would consist of exercise, a short study, time to get ready without rushing, and since this is the dreaming stage, time carved out for blogging.

Tomorrow morning I will not be waking up at 4am to accomplish a half day's worth of tasks before starting with my job. Not realistic. But if I work towards it, maybe after the 3 week trial of 6am, I can try 3 weeks or waking up at 5:45 and throw in a few minutes of easy exercises. (And as a disclaimer, my goal will never be to wake up at 4am.)

Not changing the world over here, but it's the small mundane tasks that make up a life. As I work to make posititive changes (however big or small) in my life, I hope to be more helpful and uplifting to the people I interact with throughout the day.

January Beach Day

Florida living sure has it's perks. December-March around here are perfect. For the most part we had a lazy MLK weekend, though on Monday we made time to visit a local state park.

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park was a nice combo of beach and woods. Here are a few snapshots from my phone:

The water was so blue that day, and very cold. We noticed that over half the cars in the parking lot were from Quebec, so I'm sure they thought it was plenty warm.

This tree is magical. It's called a banyan tree. The large branches put down these root/vine things (sorry for my lacking botanical knowledge) which eventually hold up the rest of the tree. This thing is mind blowing. 

David had to climb :)

Walking around and exploring this tree made me feel like I should be inside some sort of fantasy novel. I think everyone needs to see a banyan tree at some point. 

Just a spoonful of sugar! Or not.

As mentioned previously I have decided to pursue monthly goals again. We have made it about halfway through January, let me update you on my latest challenge. 

With my friend Candice, I have decided to give up sugar for the month of January. 

Never will I be able to deny that I have a sweet tooth. It's not that I necessarily crave sweet treats regularly, but when something is in front of me I really struggle to not eat it. You know how that happens, at Christmas especially? Normally I wouldn't eat 10 cookies in a day but when they are just sitting out, I just kinda grab one every time I walk by. And there is no "kinda" about it. 

Christmas is a time for food splurging and I have no problems with that. A lot of the foods eaten around Christmas are only eaten once a year. Have fun, enjoy heavy foods, eat a few extra cookies. But for me, come January, it is time for a reset. And this year that re-set is sugar. 

Later in the month I will post final thoughts of the challenge but here are some things I have found so far:

1. Sugar is in everything, especially my breakfast foods. 

When I eat oatmeal, yogurt, or cereals like Special K or Raisin Bran I feel like I'm being healthy. But with all the added sugars in these foods (or the amount of maple syrup I normally put in oatmeal) it's like having a dessert for breakfast. As one who has gotten an embarrassing amount of cavities, sugar is probably something I should avoid as the first thing I eat in a day. 

2. I'm actually...liking things without sweetener?

For the month I am trying to avoid anything sweet other than fruit. (No honey, no maple, I've only used Truvia once.) The biggest things here that I have stopped sweetening are coffee and tea. I usually have a cup of tea 1-2 times a day and add a little sweetener. Now I don't add anything and I am loving it just as much, maybe even enjoying the flavor more. And recently I drank coffee black and didn't even want anything sweet. So strange. 

3. Sometimes it gets frustrating. 

For the first week or so, being off sugar was a bit of a relief. I didn't blow through all the chocolate and candy David and I received in Christmas stockings. But now I'm ready for a treat. During the week David and I eat pretty healthy but usually we are more relaxed during weekends. Frankly, it is getting annoying to have no splurge sweet treat throughout the week. 

15 days left of this thing, I can do it!

Book reviews for January

It's Twitterature time again on Modern Mrs. Darcy (quickly becoming my new favorite thing).

Slim(er) pickings for this month:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth. 2nd book in Divergent trilogy. Quick. Fast paced. Didn't like quite as much as the first.

On our road trip up to Maryland and Virginia to stay with family for the Christmas David and I read Divergent (a re-read for me) aloud on the way north and Insurgent on the trip back down south. These books helped the road trip go by quickly. 

The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas, Ann Voskamp. We probably only ended up completing about half the days in this advent devotion. The writing was very poetic and probably would have made a better individual study. David and I found it tough to get a lot out of this one reading aloud. I'll probably pick this one up again a few Christmases from now and try it out as more of a personal devotion. 

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays, Ree Drummond. This was a Christmas gift, I read it cover to cover. Funny stories, great step by step pictures, food that makes you drool...everything you have come to expect from the Pioneer Woman. I've already tried the Caesar salad, cheddar chive biscuits, and garlic rosemary roasted potatoes. Highly recommend. 

And a side note- I never really list my audio books, but I've been making my way through the Harry Potter series during exercise and work commutes. So that's fun. Earlier this month I finished up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I've read this book somewhere between 10-15 times. No shame. Most of those readings probably happened in middle school. Seriously, I waited my entire middle school career for a new Harry Potter book so I pretty much memorized this one during that wait. 

Books in the works- Allegiant by Veronica Roth and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I'm making Gone with the Wind my "project". Other than finishing Allegiant and whatever the next book club book will be, Gone with the Wind is the reading plan. 

Starting the New Year

We're ringing in another new year. I'm a little behind on the resolution-type posts but in the scheme of the year it's not so bad. 

In the New Year I am not always one to make resolutions. Normally I think about them New Year's Day and then they are long forgotten months later. 

For a few months last year I did monthly goals and that seemed to work very well for me. I am planning on doing that again. With the monthly goals I have enough  time to accomplish a project or try something new. Throughout the year I can plan what I really need to be working on at that time. Monthly updates to follow.

Some very general resolutions that I have not quite figured out how to go about include:

• Becoming more involved in the community and getting to know more people
• Becoming more involved with our Church here
• Continuing to workout and eat healthy
• Florida weekend and day trips with David

Now that the weekend is winding down it is time to re-visit those to-dos from Friday

• Hang pictures and anything else that belongs on the wall, not the floor pile where they currently reside
• Look into frames for one of said pictures 
• Finish up the last of the wedding thank-yous
• Reorganize kitchen, but only if I feel like it (this is probably the item on the list that will actually get done)
• Bring donation items to Goodwill

I added that last one, but I meant to write it on Friday's list. Thank you notes will be the project for the week. 

Ready for the weekend

Home. Home for the weekend. I've already got on my comfy loose jeans and favorite t-shirt. Redbox sent me a free rental code and I am ready to chill. A cup of tea is in order here shortly.

But first, brainstorming a few to-dos for this weekend

• Hang pictures and anything else that belongs on the wall, not the floor pile where they currently reside
• Look into frames for one of said pictures 
• Finish up the last of the wedding thank-yous
• Reorganize kitchen, but only if I feel like it (this is probably the item on the list that will actually get done)

Happy Friday to all! 

Me. On a weekend. A while ago. 

2013

2013 was a year full of changes.

The year I moved to Florida, started my first real job, and got married.

These new life events have brought about a lot of smaller changes. Naturally, transitioning from student life to working life brings about some lifestyle differences. Whether big or small, here are several aspects that were a prominent part of 2013 for me:

The Year of the Audio Book
One of my new loves of the year. I am now addicted to audio books. This started as entertainment for my long work drives, and now I listen to them when driving, exercising, and occasionally around the house. I download books directly to my phone so there is almost always a book to listen to close at hand. The final count (though a few might be missing) is 17 audio books.
Favorite: Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin
Runner Up: My Life in France by Julia Child
Least Favorite: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The Year of the Blog
Before 2013 I did some blog reading through feeds, now it is a regular part of my day and I really look forward to blog reading.
Favorite Blog: Modern Mrs. Darcy. You've seen me do link-ups to her blog before, so this was probably obvious. She writes about interests that generally pertain to women, be it fashion, relationships, or entertainment, and always keeps a heavy emphasis on books.
Runner Up: Rage Against the Minivan. The blogger is a mom and you hear a lot about her children's lives and how their family deals with various situations. She regularly post's stories submitted by readers that give a new point of view of sensitive topics. Her writing style is often sarcastic and humorous. Always a good read.
Other Runner Up: The Art of Simple. Simple living blog, what I really love most is the Art of Simple Podcast. Check it out.
And always asking challenging questions to Christians are Rachel Held Evans and Elizabeth Esther.
Some Standout Blogs By Friends:
Candice (a friend from Virginia Tech) does a great job documenting her and Alex's lives, shares recipes, thoughts, and workout woes.
Sarah (a friend from Texas A&M) mainly writes about topics pertaining to Christianity. She is a gifted writer and offers well thought out insights. I'm waiting for her to take the Christian writing world by storm!

The Year of the Workout
Ever since I went to Costa Rica in January of 2012 I have been more intentional about exercise. That semester my friend Lynn and I attended at least 3 classes a week at the gym. Cycling and yoga were favorites. The next summer and following semester that fizzled off a little bit but I would still do something active periodically. End off March/Early April of 2013 is when I really got serious about exercise. I started with a month of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and that upped my endurance significantly and brought about quick changes in my body. My next project was running. Unfortunately, quickly into running workouts a disc in my back popped out of place, forcing me to stick to lower impact workouts for months. Finally, (knock on wood) I can do higher impact workouts again and I'm 5 weeks into the Couch to 5K running plan. Exercise has really become a part of my life now. The second I get home from work I exercise. I've been pretty good about getting this in 5 days a week most of the time. I feel better, look better, and have an excuse to splurge on desserts guilt free during the weekends.

What sticks out to you as a change in 2013? Big or small, what was new?

Christmas is Coming!

So, how are we doing Christmas this year?

We have the milestone of our first married Christmas, and I'm relishing decorating our home and celebrating the season with out going overboard.

First things, first. Our tree.

Please enjoy the look of this tree. I think Charlie Brown would be proud. The story here...we were debating about our tree. At the apartment there isn't really space to store an artificial tree (plus I don't want an artificial tree) and the real ones are expensive, and again the space situation. So when we saw this Norfolk Island Pine we thought it was a perfect compromise. And it's a live tree, David thinks we can use it next year, ha! 

This plan seemed all well and good until I put the tree in our apartment. Suddenly this pine did not look so much like a Christmas tree. Alas. We decorated the tree, covered it in lights, and put on our ornaments. This was a great lesson in why the varieties of trees use for Christmas have been selected. This one cannot hold up ornaments to save it's life. Please note the droop of the tree. I love it anyway. Even if it won't get me on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens. 

I think this nativity is my favorite Christmas decoration. Growing up, a friend of my mom's gave me a new piece for Christmas each year. Not pictured: the shepherds and wisemen. 

I got the supplies to make a memory wreath at my bridal shower. My mom always put one out at Christmas in our house. The idea is that you add little trinkets from vacations, major events, or whatever else. I was gifted with a few quilted yo-yos in fabrics that relate to our interests so we started with that and we'll add another item or two each year. 

Right now I'm knitting my Christmas stocking. It won't be done in time, but I'm okay with that. I was going for a candy cane look, but when I look at this all I can see is Cat in the Hat. 

A couple years ago I made David this stocking and have been gifting things in it ever since. The stocking is my favorite gift part of Christmas so I love to make luxuriously large ones. 

This month we have been reading this devotional by Ann Voskamp most days. I tend to get swept up in all the other aspects of holiday cheer that sometimes I miss the fact that we are celebrating Christ's birth. The devotional has been helpful in keeping me a little more centered. As far as recommendations...this is written in a very poetic style. Sometimes it is difficult to process and challenging to read aloud. All the same, I am glad we are doing this together. 

This year I tried to get fancier with cookie decorating. I'm learning the in's and outs of royal icing. Be on the lookout for improved cookies next year.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our celebrations and decorations this season. Have a very merry Christmas!

My Latest Month of Reading

Linking up again with Modern Mrs. Darcy Twitterature to share my reads from mid-Nov to now.


Lady Almina and The Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle, Fiona J.M. Aitken

Really interesting! Loved learning about the culture of the time and getting a bit of a history lesson. Recommended for Downton fans, you'll come across some familiar names and events.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman

Not a huge fan of this one. While I appreciated the fantasy world that was created in such a short book, I felt like it had some of the strangeness of a fairy tale without lighter happy moments. 

The Maze Runner, James Dashner

The Scorch Trials, James Dashner

The Death Cure, James Dashner

Review of the series- Each book was like one giant action scene. The chapters were short but it was almost impossible to read one at a time. While I did enjoy these this series wasn't my favorite. The first two books are almost all action, while the last book was action with some more background information about what was actually going on. Definitely an entertaining read, but I could have done with more character development. The books are almost completely moved forward by dialogue, I would have liked a few more descriptive, thoughtful moments. These were young adult books, and I wouldn't recommend to kids until the older middle school age.  

Divergent, Veronica Roth

I began another post apocalypic young adult series. I really enjoyed this one. The author did a wonderful job painting a picture of a new society and creating memorable characters even if they were only in a few scenes. I'm working my way up on the library holds list, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World, Howard G. Buffet

Great book. Anyone wanting to learn more about agriculture should give this a read. Howard Buffet goes through 40 different stories about agriculture around the world. I pretty much agreed with everything he said and I was very interested in all of his stories. 

Million Little Ways, Emily Freeman

Book club pick for the month. Emily Freeman expounded upon the ways that we are God's art and talked about the ways we can live that out in our lives. Whether we are teachers, bakers, writers, we've all got an art to live out. I thought the book was a little repetitive by the end, but did have a good overall message. The writing style is very poetic. Biggest take home point for me would be: If you are living your life like you are God's artwork, how would this change the way you carry out both the mundane and exhilarating tasks of everyday life?

Thankful

This Thanksgiving was the first that I did not spend with extended family. Normally Thanksgiving is hosted at my parents house and I'll spend the day before and day of Thanksgiving cooking and prepping food with my mom. The day of, we watch the parade and shortly after, family members start to arrive. Then we drink mulled cider, snack on pumpkin bread, and generally catch up. Thanksgiving with family is one of my favorite days of the year.

This time around it wasn't in the cards to fly up to Maryland. We did get to spend the day cooking, parade watching, and spending time with new friends. This was also our first married Thanksgiving. Somewhat of a bitter-sweet Thanksgiving with more emphasis on the sweet.

Oddly, I didn't take any pictures of the food, but David and I made macaroni and cheese, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, an apple fig pie, and a pumpkin pie. Even though we weren't hosting, I also made a turkey breast specifically so we could have leftovers. We'll finally finish the thing off today.

Now, I have got to share what David was thankful for this year. We were invited to celebrate with one of David's co-workers. I've posted about the banana farming before and it's the same people. Recently for their farm they purchased a fire-weeder. If you are wondering exactly what this is, I didn't know either. But here are some pictures of David fire-weeding on Thanksgiving. He was definitely thankful for that.

Basically, it's a hose of fire that kills weeds

All the cars that passed by slowed down to see what we were doing. I suggested that they should sell tickets to let people use the fire-weeder

David with the assist

I love that he has a huge smile in every picture. Fire-weeding was definitely a Thanksgiving first for us.

Another family tradition is the annual Thanksgiving walk. We do a short stroll around the neighborhood between dinner and dessert. This year after dinner we walked through rows of banana trees. Keeping up family tradition with a bit of a Florida twist!

Eat a Sweet Potato: Cupcake Edition

As I mentioned before, last weekend was Susanna's birthday. Birthdays are great because it's an opportunity to bake. Not that an excuse is needed, but the event provides extra incentive. I have made these sweet potato cupcakes once before, I could not find the original recipe again, here is an updated one from Annie's Eats.

There are a couple extra steps involved with these cupcakes (pureeing the sweet potato, making the icing) so I wouldn't make these if pressed for time, but if you are in the mood to try something new and a little different go for this if you've got a slow afternoon. 

I do believe the toasted frosting makes the cupcake.

While the cupcakes are cooling make the frosting. This took me quite a while. You have to separate the yolks from whites and then heat the whites on the stove up to 160. If I make these again I'd just buy pasteurized egg whites to speed this step along. Then I whipped them up with some sugar, vanilla, and cream of tartar until I have fluffy marshmallow wonderfulness. 

I almost always use gallon sized ziploc bags to ice cupcakes and the work well to get a nice swirl on there.

Yum

If you are lucky enough to have a kitchen torch now is your big chance to use it. Have fun, and watch out for those cupcake papers, they burn. 

Cupcakes in full birthday glory. Along with whatever else was on the table at the grad student dorm. 

One more tip- definitely refrigerate over night because of the egg intensive frosting. Happy baking!

Florida Safari

This past weekend we went on a little adventure. Our friend Susanna (former grad student at David's station) was down and it ended up being her birthday weekend, so it was a perfect time to do something new. David, Susanna, other grad students, interns and I went to Lion Country Safari.

Lion Country Safari is one of those places where you could drive through and see different animals up close. The day was a little rainy and you had to keep windows closed, the pictures might not be the best, but we theorized that because it was a little rainy and hence cooler, the animals were a little more active than they might have been otherwise.

Water Buffalo

Some kind of large antelope

The Lions! I was hoping the wouldn't be behind a fence, but alas that was safest.

Two lions rolling around like little kitties. 

Gemsbok (I think)

Really cool cattle breed

This guy!

Could not miss the giraffe feeding opportunity

David of coarse did a little tug of war with his lettuce piece.

And who knew we would get to see an alpaca fight during the walk through part of the park?

WHAM

And finally, the ever popular strangle-you-with-my-own-neck technique. Don't worry about these guys, they survived and their fight cooled off by the time we left

Finally the sign for the park, probably would have made a great first picture. Ah well.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this place for a fun afternoon. The park was a little pricier than most activities we would do so it's probably not something we'll go to again, but for sure a fun one time thing. A season pass would be well worth it for families with kids. 

One time on vacation when I was younger (I think maybe Canada?) my family went to a safari park. Have you ever been to one of these? What did you think, cheesy? fun? better/worse than a zoo?