@*%@%#* Glitter!!!

I’m sure my faithful readers where wondering why I didn’t post yesterday. I’m sure you were pacing the floor and constantly refreshing your browser. I promise I have a good excuse. I was helping my mother with her Christmas decorations. I’m sure for most people it would require and afternoon or possibly even an entire day…for my mom it takes a week. Seriously I said a week. She loves Christmas and covers every square inch of her house in it. So we take it a room at a time. I offered to help her yesterday afternoon with her houses.

Sorry I have to start an entirely new paragraph to discuss the houses…and the process itself. We trek up 4 flights of stairs to the attic and pull down 3 boxes that weigh approx 100 lbs each. (Okay not really, but it feels like it on flight # 3) We get them all the way downstairs after a lot of grunting and make it to her living room. Then we begin unpacking the houses. It’s called the North Pole Village, which is code for glitter mess. These ceramic houses are designed to look like a miniature Santa’s village, which apparently is covered in glittery snow. Firstly, the Santa figurine is disproportionately larger than the door way to his home. Secondly they name the buildings so that the letters spell North Pole…I’m highly suspect that there is an elf running around named Elfie. Thirdly there are fake trees, snow and mountains involved. This tiny village took us all afternoon.

This is the first of many more Christmas decorating stories to come…she has like 7 more Christmas trees to go up, some of which are on balconies. After day 2 I am still finding glitter, some of which wound up in Catty’s eye. How did the glitter from those houses get all of the way from her house to my house and then on my dog’s face!?!?!?  Nothing like decorating to put you in a surly Christmas mood.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Finally a recipe! My sister was giving me a hard time because I hadn’t posted a recipe in forever. Well I finally got around to cooking on this rainy Monday.  (The Monday before Thanksgiving…I can’t believe it’s already here!) I decided I needed to whip up a long time favorite of mine, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. I know there are some of you out there are squash haters…but I must disagree. I heart squash. It’s delicious: soups, risottos, casseroles and pies it’s so versatile.  If you are in fact a squash hater, I hope that you will try this soup and give squash a chance.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 2 and 1/2 lb butternut squash

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, plus extra for brushing

1 Tablespoon Unsalted butter

1 Medium onion, chopped

1/2 Teaspoon Kosher salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

3 Tablespoons of Calvados or Brandy

3 1/2 Cups of Chicken Stock

3/4 Cup of Evaporated Milk

Pinch of Nutmeg

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half, lengthwise. Brush the squash flesh with olive oil, and place face down on  roasting pan. (Be sure to line with parchment paper so you won’t scorch your pan) Check the squash after 35-45 minutes, thought it could take over an hour. The squash should be squishy to the touch when it’s roasted through. When it’s cooked, remove from the oven and cool. It takes at least 30 minutes to cool.

Add olive oil and butter to a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful that the onion doesn’t color at all. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Add the brandy and cook until the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat.

Once the squash has cooled, remove the seeds and scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin. You’ll need about 3 cups of squash for the soup. Combine half of the squash, onion, chicken stock and evaporated milk in a blender. Blend until very smooth. Pour into your soup pot and repeat the process with the other half of the ingredients. Add the nutmeg and a little more salt and pepper to taste. Bring to simmer over medium-low heat.

Things I love

I am coming off of a great weekend that deserves its own post entirely. (Which I vow will happen very soon) Today I wanted to share with you a few things that I love. Why? Because it’s Monday…and no one likes Mondays. We need to focus on some good things to get us through the week. So here are some of my recent favorites and hopefully one of them might become your new favorite too:

Parks and Rec. By far one of the funniest shows on television. If you’re not already a fan, set your DVR. From the “Treat Yo self,” episode to Ron’s obsession with the Tammys… I laugh from beginning to end every week.

 Minnetonka  Moccasins. Simply the best. I know that their fringe boots are now in style…but you can’t go wrong with a Moc. They are my go-to shoes when ever I’m feeling slightly off my game. (So yes I wear them like every other day) I have them in grey and was just thinking this morning that I need to get them in another color so I can wear them even more.

My Fireplace. This is the first time I’ve had a real working fireplace in my home. Before I had the gas fireplaces that cost a fortune in bills to keep going. Now I have the real thing. I have been building fires during the day, at night and pretty much any time in between. I love the smell, the warmth and the crackle.  My problem now is that I’m running out of firewood…and my suppliers (my parent’s stash) are too.

The New Girl. I love Zooey Deschanel and this show is a perfect fit for her. It also happens to remind me a lot of my sister Slim. She sings, wears really cute skirts & dresses and is a teacher. She is lovably awkward and makes me laugh every week.

Revisiting books. I have been without book lately…which is code for I have nothing new to read. Here are a few I’ve polished off in recent weeks and been reminded how much I love them:

I’ve read the Harry Potter series tons of times, but I keep going back to it. J.K. Rowling is an amazing writer and I can never get enough of good writing.

History of Witches is a treat. It deals in a historical fantasy realm that I don’t think I would have read unless it was recommended to me. So I am recommending it to you, read it. It’s wonderful.

Gap Body Pajamas. They are the softest pajamas…ever. Since I look so much like the model (perception is reality right?) I decided to use her picture instead of my own night time-clad photo.  I love these pajamas and sigh every time I pull them on. They are such a comfort at the end of a long day. I also just really love any kind of soft fabric, so the fact that I get to sleep in something so soft is, to quote my sister, ” Magical.” They sell these at Gap Body and the Gap Outlet, so Treat yo’ self!

Last but not least…

Catty

The little white dog. She makes my day, what can I say. We’ve had a rough go of it since losing Fletch and I think we’ve come to depend on one another. It made my night to come home from my trip to see her hopping up and down to see me. She’s my little buddy and I’m so grateful to have her. She might snore with her eyes open or follow me around the house …but it’s our system now and I think we both love it more than ever.

I realize that not everyone can go out and get themselves their own little white dog, but maybe something on this list made you laugh or sigh a contented sigh on your Monday. That was my hope for sharing my long list of loves.

Cheers to a good week for one and all!

Happy Birthday Marie

Marie Curie

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
Marie Curie

I have decided to return to blogging after my unintended hiatus. Why today of all days to I begin to share my life with you again? Because it’s Marie Curie’s birthday. Some of you may know my middle name is Marie, not after the famous scientist, but after a family member. I have always held Marie Curie in such high esteem from reading a biography about her in elementary school to learning more about her life as I got older.  She is the only person to win 2 Noble Prizes for 2 different subjects: Chemistry and Physics.  She was denied a place at Krakow University, not to mention the Nobel Prize Committee didn’t want to give her the initial award…all because she was a woman. Marie persevered and continued her ground breaking work.  She was ahead of her time, but wasn’t going to give up what mattered most to her because society was behind in their thinking.  I admire her courage. I admire her strength. I admire this woman who didn’t let anyone else alter her path in life.

So tonight, I’ll have a class of wine for dear Marie…and maybe one more for me. It’s been a hard 5 months in Knoxville. The last two have included 70 hour work weeks, 6 graduate classes (there are only 10 in a term in my program), lots of Medieval History, more fast food eating in my car than I’ll ever admit to, little sleep and lastly, poor Fletch passing on.  Catfish and I spent some time taking care of each other in the last week, especially yesterday. We go on walks, she naps while I work on homework and she has taken up permanent residence in my bed at night.  (And she snores) The loss has taken some getting use to and we’re both doing the best we can.  So my life is settling and I am returning to things I love like blogging, reading, tv shows and even good food.

I appreciate many of you who have checked in on me these past months while my blog has been silent. So many of you have cared for me when I couldn’t care for myself. Cleaning my house, cooking me dinner, listening to me complain, sending text messages of love and also giving me space when I needed it. I just hope now that my life has settled down I can return the generosity that I’ve been shown the last year of my life. It’s because of so many courageous women that I am in a better place today.

Cheers to Marie Curie today and to all of you courageous women!