World Vegetarian Day

I'm not one to go pushing my lifestyle on others, in fact, that really drives me nuts when people try to do that! However, I will just take this opportunity to mention that World Vegetarian Day is coming up on October 1.

World Vegetarian Day is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about vegetarianism and try out some recipe(s) you've had in the back of your mind for a while. I have tons of yummy recipes on here that are totally meatless. You may also like to take a trip to the library to check out a vegetarian cookbook or look through a magazine for ideas.
Here's a website you might also like to look at: www.worldvegetarianday.org
Here is their welcome page for non-vegetarians :) http://www.worldvegetarianday.org/nonvegetarians/

For those who are more interested in eating meatless more often, October is Vegetarian Awareness Month (cracks me up how everything has an "awareness month") so it's a great time to do a little research to find out about going meatless in a healthy manner and the benefits (to your health and the planet) of vegetarianism.

I'm trying to come up with something I can do that day - maybe an entirely vegan day or something (I have some vegan ice-"cream" recipes I've been dying to try out!) I'd love to hear comments from veg. and non-veg. people who have neat ideas of how to celebrate!

Enjoy! :)

True Blood (HBO)

So I got sucked into this vampire show on HBO. I'm not much of a TV person at all but I do enjoy those HBO series (and some BBC America stuff but I think that's a given). Since they seem to not be brining back Big Love anytime soon, at least I have this and Entourage (oh, and Bill Maher!) to make up for it ;)

Anyway, I was just watching the last episode again and I had a bit of a revelation. I *think* I have figured out the dog! :) I think it's Sam.
Here you go:
*After she gets called in to Sam's office towards the end of episode 2, it flashes to a picture on the wall. It's a dog with a girl. After I saw that this second time I thought "oh! The dog! There is something with Sam and that dog." Well, then I started thinking about the rest of the episode...
*After she is attacked by the Ratrays and Bill comes and lets her drink his blood, the dog is around. When he walks back to her car, she says "oh, Sam's still up" (or something along those lines). Hmm...
*Have we ever seen Sam out during the day? Um, I think not! :)
So there you have it... I think Sam is some sort of shape-shifter (God, I sound like some Dungeons and Dragons nerd) who changes into that dog.

I'm really interested in seeing where they take this show! I loved loved loved Six Feet Under so I'm hoping this one doesn't just fizzle away (or get too cheesy which I'm a bit afraid of! lol)

Just for the record.. there is something with her grandma, too. I noticed something with that grandma in the first episode and it's still nagging at me. Hopefully they'll give me more clues soon!

Yes, some of you are like "Oh please, I had that dog figured out in the first five minutes of the first episode!" I'm naturally blond and feeling rather proud of myself for catching all this so please excuse me if this is old news! lol ;) Now I hope it works out to be correct so I don't feel like a huge doofus...

Hurray for good fall TV! :) (And HBO East so I don't have to stay up late for all this... heh)

Funny observation...

Why do they sell vegan shoes on a website called "The Tannery"? lol

I went looking for these cute J-41 Aquarius shoes that I found in a vegetarian magazine and one of the websites they gave me as a shop online place was The Tannery. That name conjures up all sorts of not very vegan images for me...! ;)

Think I'll get the shoes.. they look so comfy - great for work!

Recipe coming soon (provided my dinner is yummy, that is! lol) :)
I am so sick of looking at my thesis so I'm giving myself a bit of a break from it... my break involves writing on my blog so not really sure how much of a break that is... heh
I have it pretty much done - just revising a couple sections and working on my appendices as well as the PowerPoint presentation I have to do as part of it.
Yeay! :) The end of this Masters degree is so close now, I can touch it! I had totally forgotten what a great feeling that is!
<Pomp and Circumstance>>

The Beginning of the End...

...of grad school! Well, at least for now... lol ;)
It has begun, I officially started writing my Masters thesis this afternoon. So far, so good. All my research is done (well, we don't really have to do *research* but I have read TONS of articles and a couple books on my topic) and I've started in on my review of the literature.
Hopefully I can keep up the pace and have this sucker done soon so I can work on revising it (aka: totally starting over... heh)

This does mean I may not be blogging much (trying to stick to old stand-by/easy/quick dinners) but I only have until September 27 (which just and so happens to be my birthday!) to get this paper written and submitted so I won't be gone too long. :)

Wish me luck!

Tagged!

So Kayte tagged me about a gazillion years ago and I just never finished answering it.. then I was tagged again by Annie. Since the Olympics coverage is SUCKING right now (just show the damn gymnastics! Nobody really cares about anything else..! Well, maybe Phelps but you get the idea..), I figured I'd sit down and actually finish this tagged thingy this time. ;) Thank NBC and Bob Costas' crap show... (I wasn't going to watch any Olympics this year for, well to be honest, mostly political reasons, but as usual the gymnastics sucked me in! Sigh...)

Here you go:

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?

Well, let's see... I was just about to turn 21 so I can imagine I was having a good old time! Um, I was quite the little party girl in college. Who wasn't?! Please...
I was a senior in college and I worked on campus.
I can't remember yesterday so getting any more details out of me about 10 years ago would be like getting blood from a stone..! ;)

What are five (non-work) things on m to-do list for today?

I think I'll do tomorrow since today is just about over..
1. Laundry - wow! That makes for a thrilling Friday! :)
2. Get stuff for party I'm throwing on Saturday.
3. Do some more research for my MA thesis (oh joy!)
4. Clean the house.
5. Workout - I went on vacation and completely forgot the tai chi form I'd been working on... oops! ;)
Well, darn good thing I have something to look forward to on Saturday because tomorrow is not looking like much fun!
Ooh, I do have vacation photos to go through... that can be my *highlight*

Five Snacks I enjoy:

1. Fruit (seriously, I'm not just saying that to make myself look good!)
2. Hummus & pita chips
3. Guacamole - I could quite possibly live on avocados...
4. Dark chocolate (I love British and European chocolate, too - Hershey's sucks.. sorry!)
5. Cheese and crackers

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:

This must have been where I gave up last time I tried to fill this in! lol :) I really don't have the foggiest idea what I'd do with all that money! Adopt a bunch of dogs or something daft like that...
1. Fix this crap Olympics coverage... heh, couldn't resist! I would change the channel but then, knowing me, I'd miss the only reason I have it on to begin with. And is there really anything else on? I seriously need to convince DH that we need to get BBC America ;)
2. Clean up the planet... don't ask how but I'm sure with $1B, I could think of something!
3. Buy a house closer to the coast (I know, I'm in San Diego, how much closer do I need to be?! Well, we live like 10/15 miles inland and I'd rather be walking distance from the beach... too conservative for me out here in the valleys! heh).
4. Build myself the kitchen of my dreams in that house on the coast ;)
5. Give a bunch of money to some worthy causes (environment, animal rights, human rights, education, etc)

Five Places I've lived:

1. Thornhill, Cumbria, England
2. Rancho Bernardo, California (San Diego)
3. Escondido, California (N. San Diego)
4. San Diego, California (right smack in the middle of San Diego county this time)
5. er, that's it... oh wait! I lived in Egremont, Cumbria (England) for a year when I was a very brand new baby :)

Five Jobs I've had:

1. 2nd grade teacher.
2. Student Orientation Director - when I was in college. Talk about a cushy job! :) I had a corner office!
3. I was a waitress at a really nice retirement home when I was in high school/a couple years in college.
4. Pre-kindergarten teacher.
5. "Education Specialist" - fancy title, huh? :) That's my current job. I work with students who are home-schooled through a public charter school. It's really more "guidance" than teaching since I work a lot on helping with curriculum, getting courses squared away for the high school kids, making sure everyone is on-track with state standards, stuff like that. This year, I'll also be teaching a couple enrichment classes for the K-6 kids which I'm really looking forward to! I have a horrible case of classroom withdrawals... I also (as if all that is not enough) work as a mentor teacher to new (1st- and 2nd-year) teachers at the school. That's a really fun part of my job. :)

London Calling...

..."Yeah, I was there, too..."
well, I will be in a week and a bit! woo hoo! :)

And, yes, I am a massive fan of The Clash... I actually believe they strip you of your British citizenship if you say you're not... lol ;) Same with the Beatles, Queen, the Stones, you know, all those other iconic English bands... (*sigh*... new music sucks!)
OK, so maybe in the case of bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols, the government actually likes you better if you say you don't like them! heh... However, I will argue that dissent is the highest form of patriotism, so... ;)
Just don't let on to the Queen if you don't care for Sir Paul!

So, back to the point of this blog post! ;) Check out these other fabulous things I found to do while we're in the motherland! lol... (couldn't resist)

First, I should probably tell you where we'll be. DH has never been and I haven't been back in 11 years (homesick much..?) so we are doing a bit of the touristy stuff and trying to see a bit more of the country than I normally would.
*We're starting out with 3 nights in London (I'm not a city person so any longer and I think I'd probably implode). I have not been to London since 1986 (when my dad ran the London Marathon) so it's been a while! Think it's changed much? lol :)
*After London, we're heading to Bath which is one of my favourite places on the planet. We're having 2 nights there.
*Next stop, Caernarfon (don't worry, I can't pronounce that either!) which is a lovely little coastal town in North Wales. Just one night there (I wasn't kidding about *little* town...)
*After that, it's up to York for 2 nights. York is just so bloody lovely. No trip to England is complete without a stop in York.
*Finally, we'll be spending the last week and a half in the Lake District which is my home. :) You think a trip to England is not complete without a stop in York... well, it's even less complete if you don't get to go up to the Lakes! ;) No, not biased... it really is a gorgeous area and full of history (um, the whole country is..) Plus, it's right on the Scottish border so you can have a quick hop up there while you're at it!
We're staying in bed and breakfasts (which is really the way to do it if you go to the UK) in London, Bath, Caernarfon, and York. In the Lakes (since there will be quite a few of us), we've actually rented a house which will be great!

No, I will not be driving..! lol :)

Here are my finds:
**London:
Well, it's basically all the obvious stuff... however, some *not so obvious* things on my must-do list are the Tate to Tate Cruise on the Thames (that would be pronounced Tems, not Thaymes...! heh) which goes between really great museums and also makes stops at the London Eye and the Tower.
There is a restaurant called the Wapping Project which I'd like to check out. For whatever reason, eating dinner in a converted power station is strangely enticing to me...
Get really lost on the Tube... (actually, I love the Tube! And it's really hard to get lost on it... great, just jinxed that!)
Oh, and a trip to London without going to Harrod's is absolutely out of the question! ;)

**Bath:
Oh my gosh! So, I was reading more about the glass-blowing thing (I did post about that in my vacation post below, right?) and found they have this thing where you can blow glass with Mr. Darcy! lol :) How funny... great idea for a bachelorette party or a girls' night out!
Yes, I was very tempted to make a dirty comment about that blowing glass with Mr. Darcy sentence but I'll leave that to your imaginations... ;)
There is a museum of costume in Bath - a fashion museum! How fun! :) I'm not, by any means, into fashion but I do love the history of it so that's on the list!

**Caernarfon:
So the big pull of Caernarfon is the castle. It's a great castle that's still in very good condition. It's also the place where the Prince of Wales is crowned. Read: Tourist Trap but whatever... :) Should be worth a look around.
Caernarfon is also in the Snowdonia National Park. Excuse my ignorance on this, but Mount Snowdon is something like the tallest peak in Great Britain... oh bugger! Now I have to look that up :) OK, well, I was *almost* correct - it's the highest peak in Wales and the highest in Britain south of the Scottish Highlands.
Figured I'd enlighten you all with that piece of useless information... You'll thank me if you're ever on Jeopardy!

**York:
So there's obviously the stuff like York Minster but here's the other goodies I found...
Jorvik - it's a viking centre! I'm pretty darn sure I have quite a bit of viking running through my veins so this is on my list for sure!
The York Brewery Tour. I won't deny the fact that I love my beer! :) Well, look where I'm from! I think beer makes up the remainder of what's in my veins..
They have a river cruise I'd like to take as well as a walking tour through all these haunted places in York. Yorkshire is known as one of the most haunted areas of England so that should be, um, chilling! :)
Oh! And the golden nugget of my York research - I found this York Pass thingy that gives free or reduced admissions to a ton of attractions. Obviously you pay up front for it but it pays for itself in no time!

**The Lakes:
Um, yeah, I'm just excited about going home for the first time in 11 bloody years! There are some touristy things we definitely have to do but it will be mostly about catching up with family and my best friend who I haven't seen in, you guessed it, 11 bloody years!

And, for your listening pleasure, here you go ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqO1b-5RsAs

Yes, I realise the song is maybe just a bit *anti-London* but whatever... it was the punk/anarchy era! What do you expect?!
And I can still use it in my post about being excited about going to London! So there... heh :)

"I never felt so much a' like..."
(so that's what he says at the end... lol)

Jealous yet? :)

Vacation All I Ever Wanted...

*Great, now that bloody song will be in my head all weekend...*

In just 11 days, we'll be on a plane to England! I am so beyond excited, you have no idea! :)
For those who don't know, I actually grew up in England (The Lake District) and lived there the first 13 years of my life. Yes, that means I've lived in San Diego quite a bit longer than that but I'm still a British citizen (and don't plan on giving that up!)

Anyway, I'm sitting here doing some holiday research and just found this really great deal in Bath. As you know, Bath is home to the historic Roman bath houses. Well, there is a thing you can do where you have a 2-hour session at the Thermae Bath Spa, a ticket to tour the Roman Baths, and a 3-course lunch at the Pump House restaurant. It's only 55 pounds per person which is about $100-$110. Might sound pricey but everything in Europe is pricey! I think that's a really good deal, and really, when the hell will we ever have the opportunity to do that again? :)
Hopefully hubby will go for it...

Wonder if he'll also go for a trip through the Jane Austen Centre with me... lol ;) Right... Might be doing that one alone..!

More on my trip later... I just got so silly excited about that spa deal that I had to share! :)

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Mmmm... nothing says summer like fresh blueberries! These muffins are vegan (and soy-free), low-fat, and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids due to the addition of ground flax seeds. They are also full of blueberries which makes them a great source of antioxidant vitamins! They totally feel like cheating, though ;)

I really don't think the flax seeds affect the taste at all (they do make the muffins look darker) but if you choose to leave them out, use 2 cups of flour instead of only 1 2/3 cups. Flax seeds can be found at health/natural food stores (I get the Bob's Red Mill ones - they can often be found in bulk bins, too). If you have a decent regular grocery store in your area, you may be able to find them there, too.

My changes from the original recipe are in purple. One additional change I will make in the future will be to use fresh lemon juice in place of the lemon extract.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup ground flax seeds (I buy the whole flax seeds and grind them in the coffee grinder. They won't provide the nutritional benefits if they are un-ground).
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Zest of 2 organic lemons (my Microplane is my best friend!)
3/4 cup agave nectar (or 1 cup granulated sugar)
1 cup non-dairy milk (rice, soy, almond)
1/3 cup canola oil or applesauce (this serves as the "egg")
1 tsp. pure lemon extract
1 tbsp. white distilled vinegar
1 1/2 cups fresh organic blueberries

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, flax seeds, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon zest.

3. In a large bowl, combine the agave nectar, "milk", oil or applesauce, lemon extract, and vinegar. Mix well. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture until just blended (you may have to work out a few lumps). Gently fold in the blueberries.

4. Fill muffin tins about two-thirds full. Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Feel free to lick the spoon - there's no egg so you won't get sick (and the batter is super-yummy!)

5. Let sit for 5 minutes after removing from the oven. Remove the muffins from the tin and cool completely.















Reference:
This recipe was found in the book The Joy of Vegan Baking which was a gift from Nestie Widdel22 so thanks to her. :)
In my opinion, the joy of vegan baking is being able to lick the spoon/bowl/etc... ;) Plus it's so darn yummy - you'd never guess these were egg- and dairy-free!

1st Blog-i-Versary!

Tomorrow is my blog's first anniversary... awww :) Since I have a gazillion things going on tomorrow, I'm sure I'll forget! Now I have to go plan something good for dinner so I can have a fabulous post for the blog-i-versary! heh..

Reusable Bags!

**I had some comments asking for links for the bags... here they are :)
Envirosax - reusable grocery bags.

DaisyDots - Etsy store with reusable nylon produce bags.

Reusablebags.com - They sell reusable organic cotton produce bags (and larger grocery bags).

This is sort of a two-part post :) First, a vent about supermarket checkers and then a great new find!

Vent:
I've had my reusable grocery bags for quite a while - just added some really cute Envirosax to the collection (they have the Retro Kitchen designs - fun!)
Anyway, I was at the store today just picking up a few things I'd forgotten earlier in the week and placed two Envirosax bags on top of my groceries. These things are bright blue and yellow - hard to miss! Well, the checker starts bagging my stuff in plastic! I told her "Oh, I brought my own bags but I can re-bag the stuff for you." She replied "Oh really, I didn't see them!" and then added some silly little giggle. Ugh.. how the hell could you not see them? Are you blind? I spared her the snark and went on to re-bag my stuff. I did comment on how she could then re-use the plastic bags I was giving back... heh, had to slip some passive-agressiveness in there somehow ;)
To make matters worse, I'd gotten a small package of tortillas for my enchiladas for Saturday... she had put the 1 small, thin package of tortillas in its own personal plastic bag! Aye...! Do people really not get it that plastics are clogging up the planet faster than we can say plastic? So sad...
BTW, for my not-so-green-obsessed readers (do I have any of those?!), even my conservative DH shook his head at this (or was that at me venting about this?!) He applauds my break-up with plastics :) It's not just for us hippie liberals! :) I do think he believes I go a bit overboard in other areas of my greeniness but whatever... he knew what I was like before he married me. ;)

Great new find:
This is related to the reusable bags.
I have recently been feeling a bit hypocritical for using all these great reusable bags for groceries and other shopping but then putting produce in plastic! LOL :) Seems a bit silly when you think about it, doesn't it?
I have long been one of those who does not bag things with their own natural packaging (oranges, bananas, potatoes, onions, garlic, etc) but wanted a solution for the things like green onions that don't have a protective shell (especially since I have not been able to come up with a way to reuse those cheesy little produce bags and my area will not take them for recycling... grrr!)
Well, after asking on the What's Cooking? board and the new Eco-Friendly Family Board (yes, I'm child-free but my DH and I count as a family and I was raised in cloth diapers so I *get* all the cloth diaper talk! lol), I found some Etsy sites for people who make and sell these great produce bags!
I ordered some nylon reusable produce bags on Wednesday and had them in my mailbox yesterday! Woot! :) I found out the girl I ordered from is actually fairly local (less than 100 miles from me) so that makes it even more exciting. Can't wait to try them out.
I was also referred to a site which sells organic cotton mesh bags for produce so I'll be getting some of those, too (because really, isn't a nylon bag just a plastic bag? :) I have issues with my Envirosax for the same reasons - they're polyester - but at least these *plastic* bags will last me a long time!)

Yeay!
I'm sure I'll get some funny looks for these mesh produce bags (you should see the scowls I get from checkers when I place my loose oranges/whatever on the conveyor!) but oh well.. good thing I do most of my shopping at a local market (well, it's a chain but not a big-box chain) - they give discounts for bringing in your own bags :)

Now I just have to find an eco-friendly solution for lining the trash cans in the bathrooms (I used to use plastic grocery bags!) :)

The beginnings of my herb garden!

I got a mint plant last night! yeay :) So excited - I've been looking forward to really starting a small herb collection this year so this will really help get that in motion.
I had gone over to my parents' house last night to drop off some things I had borrowed and to pick some fresh rosemary and my mom says "oh, do you want one of these mints?" Lol - I thought she was offering me a piece of candy. ;) They had 4 or 5 big mint plants so I was not about to say no to free mint! Hurray!

Now I have to search for recipes to use it all with!
Don't worry, I won't be planting it - I know how it will take over the entire garden... we only have a small yard but I'm having a heck of a time coming up with ways to use this pot of mint... there is no way I want to deal with 100 square feet of it! ;)

Guess it's mojitos with dinner tonight :)

New Cooking Toys!

Hooray! I love kitchen gadgets - it's really a bit nuts but I do use them all, and on a regular basis, I might add! :) Try and pester me about them all you want hubby, it won't work! hee hee... and really, who's kitchen is it anyway?! ;)

I've had this Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card in my wallet for almost a year and a half now... good thing those don't expire! Finally figured out what to get with it. I had been toying with the idea of getting a slow cooker but really couldn't figure out what the heck to make in it so I went with a mandoline and a Microplane grater. Yeay! I really think I could do everything that I can do with these tools using my blender, food processor, and various types of graters but oh well - I had a gift card to get rid of!

Can't wait to use them! I'm making myself this margherita sandwich panini thing for dinner so I'll use that as excuse to baptize the mandoline with my tomato. ;) And maybe I'll use the Microplane to grate some Parm for my split pea and lentil soup that I'll be having with the sandwich... yum! :)

Reason #2,000,357 Why I'm a Mac ;)

Photos! Look - I have photos on my blog again! Stupid POS work laptop (Dell) wouldn't let me use the card from my camera with the printer. No problem on my MacBook... plus, downloading and installing my printer driver on this thing was so much easier.
This really should come as no surprise to me but my Mac always makes my day :)

Oh, and reason #2,000,358 - their yoga commercial CRACKS me up! lol :)
"Breathe out and expel that bad Vista energy..."

Tagged!

I got tagged by two different people :) Does that mean I have to come up with ten things about myself instead of just five?! I'm sure I could :) Hee hee
I've probably said all these same things every time I've been tagged.. oh well :)

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

1. I grew up in England which is why you may see words spelled funny on here :) Yes, I know the American spellings, I just prefer to stick to my roots when it's not something I'm being graded on! hee hee! I actually get to go back to the UK for the first time in 11 years (I've been living in San Diego for 17) in July. I am super excited about it! It has been way too long since I've been back!

2. I'm a teacher but I don't actually teach in a classroom anymore! I work for a public charter school and my students are all home-schooled. Even though my teaching credential is for K-6, I get to work with kids in grades K-12 since it's considered "self-contained." It's so much fun - really flexible and I really get to know each of the students. Plus, it's so nice to actually feel appreciated by their parents! :)

3. Speaking of teaching, I'm working on my Masters degree in teaching with an emphasis in educational technology. I love school and it's a good thing since this is a LOT of work! I'm a little more than halfway done - I have 2 more classes after the 1 I'm currently in (done at the end of Feb) and then my thesis class which is some 3-month hellish thing. Yeay - looking forward to that! lol :) I actually really like writing so it shouldn't be too bad... I hope! The ed. tech. classes are my favourites - I've done stuff like build course websites (full online courses!) and create web-quests which are so fun to use with elementary and middle-school kids! So practical :)

4. When I'm not working or doing school stuff (or cooking!) one of my favourite hobbies is photography. I took a couple classes years ago at the community college level (just for the heck of it sort of thing) and fell in love with it! I've actually had cameras since I was very young and have always enjoyed screwing around with them but never really did anything serious with it until I was in high school. My school had a great dark room and I actually learned to develop my own film - that's an experience I recommend you have before you die! :) Totally smelly (and I'm sure those chemicals aren't good for you!) but fun!
A couple years after I finished my BA/teaching credential, I took 2 community college photography classes. One was just a basic 35mm class and the other was creative photography. We used slide film for both classes so I have all this trivia in the back of my head about which films are good for which environments! lol
I actually shot a friend's wedding about a year before my own (totally shocked at how well the prints came out!) and like to do lots of artsy-fartsy stuff.. I really need to start getting back into that!
Oh, and on a side note - I can't stand digital photography! I'm such an old-fashioned film gal! :) I think it's half related to my lack of a decent digital camera... I'm sure my blog would look a gazillion times better if I had that Nikon D80 I've had my eye on ;)
Sigh...

Forgot what number I was on ;)
5. I would seriously love to learn to make my own home-brewed beer! No, I'm not kidding! :) I love wine but have never been accused of knowing anything about it - I can never distinguish flavours in wine or any of that. I do like drinking it, though! Beer, on the other hand... I am quite the beer snob! I love local beers and all those artsy micro-brews and I totally think fizzy yellow beer (ie: Bud, Miller, Coors.. you know, college beer!) is just nasty! Totally un-drinkable... in fact, I'm not even sure I drank that crap in college! lol ;) See... beer snob! Maybe it's the Brit in me - I think I have beer running through my veins but I just think it's hard to beat a really good pint!

I wasn't kidding when I said I like to write, was I?! :)

I have no idea who I'm going to tag... Let me check my blog list and I'll come back and add some names and links!

Cheers! ;)

Mmmmm... :)

Wow, I have to say a HUGE thank you to my sister!!! :) For my birthday, she brought me a big supply of British chocolate/other goodies. I just took a bite out of a Walnut Whip - haven't had one of those in 11 years! Dang, it was like heaven!! Makes me even more home-sick but I do get to go back in July so I guess I have even more to look forward to (some decent chocolate! lol)

Yum :) It's like "lunch dessert" heaven...

Tagged... once again!

Tagged again by Trisha and Jennyfer this time :) Let me see if I can come up with another 8 things about myself...!

1. I just had my wisdom teeth pulled - only interesting since most people get them out while they're a teenager and I'm almost 30! I was all worked up that it was going to be really gnarly - didn't phase me a bit! :) Either I'm one tough chicky or I just have a really good dentist! I do have to say I am so sick of eating bland soft food! Thank God this is healing really quickly - it will be nice to be able to eat an apple again!

2. My car is about to hit 100,000 miles! Not sure if I'm happy about that or not... I have to drive a lot for work so I put tons of miles on it.

3. I just started running again (I've tried this a bunch of times and just keep falling off the wagon!) and am really enjoying it this time! I've been able to get up to a 5K and have actually gone a little over the 3.1 miles. Trying to get up to 4 miles without stopping and then I'll sign up to run an actual 5K sometime this fall.

4. I'm currently working on my Masters in Teaching with an emphasis on educational technology. As much as I bitch and complain about the classes, I do really love them (I'm a school junkie!) and I'm now considering going back after this one to get another Masters in counseling or something! Maybe something like the National Board certification (I can call myself "uber teacher" lol) :)

5. Continuing the teacher geek stuff, I'm a huge science nerd and would love to get a thing that would allow me to teach middle school science. I know, how many people do you know who actually like working with middle school kids?! I think they're great - they are really some of my favourite students at my current job and I think it would be awesome to keep those young women interested in the sciences. :)

6. Sometimes I think I'm a bit too liberal for my own good! lol I think it gets me in trouble ;) It's funny, too, because my hubby is totally on the other side of the fence - we get into some very interesting political debates! (I'm Dharma, he's Greg...lol) Good thing I don't believe in judging people on who they are/what their beliefs are... I'd have no friends! I'm also a total greeny which he likes to make fun of me for (yes, I pick aluminum cans and paper out of the trash after he throws them in there!)

7. 98% of people mispronounce my name. It really irritates me... how hard is it?! Really people... give it a little effort! lol ;) Actually, when I first moved out here to San Diego from very rural northern England (yeah, I'll tell you about a culture shock!) and went with my mom (mum!) to register for 8th grade (crappy time to move - do not do that to your kids, please!) the secretary at the school office insisted on pronouncing my name incorrectly despite my mom correcting her multiple times. Idiot! My mom is still pissed about that... lol ;) The woman had the nerve to tell my mother she was pronouncing my name incorrectly! Who the F does that?! Honestly...
On that note, as a teacher, I really do my best to always pronounce names correctly or I ask the children how they pronounce it then make a note so I won't forget/screw it up!

8. I think it would be so much fun to drive a drag race car! Just once for the 1/4 mile... what a rush! I know, those things cannot be doing the earth a favour at all so I probably sound like a bit of a hypocrite! Maybe they can rig one to run on bio-fuel for me! lol - it will be the slowest 1/4 mile the Pomona drag strip has ever seen ;) My father-in-law is a huge race car guy (he used to drag race and currently works on his friend's stock car) and used to own a '55 Chevy that he converted to a dragster. It was awesome. Unfortunately he sold it, but he did buy the sweet '39 Chevy that we used as our wedding car after selling the '55 so I really can't complain :)

That's it... Fascinating, huh?! ;)

Amaretto Brownies, Take II (Fudge)

Those amaretto brownies I made last week were really good but I do really prefer fudge brownies to the more cake-like ones :) So, I have decided to give them another shot! I was actually going to make them tonight but discovered I had frozen my leftover almond paste so those will have to wait! I'm just going to do some kind of combination of my regular brownie recipe and the amaretto brownie recipe and see what I come up with. I hope they turn out OK! I'll come back tomorrow after I make them and let you know how they turn out/post the recipe if they are actually blog-worthy! And if not, then I still have the good cake amaretto brownies :)

Update (Wednesday): They worked!! Woohoo!! :) These are so good, even better than the cake ones which is what I hoped/suspected.
Here is the recipe I used/created for the fudge amaretto brownies:

Ingredients:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, cut up
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup almond paste
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tbsp. amaretto
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. aluminium-free baking powder
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square pan.

2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate, and almond paste over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

3. Blend in sugar, vanilla, and amaretto. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in salt, baking powder, and flour.

4. Bake 20-25 minutes until the brownies are set in the center (test with a toothpick). Be sure not to overbake them. Allow the brownies to cool and cut into squares. If desired, you can spread or drizzle the cooled brownies with the fudge glaze.

Enjoy! I bet these would be really good with a cup of coffee that has some amaretto stirred into it!

I finally tried....

...a bloody Mary! Guess I can cross that off my list of things to do before I'm 30! lol, don't worry, that was not on the list! I actually don't have a list and since I'm turning 30 at the end of September I really don't see any point in worrying about that :)

So, finally tried one. I never thought I'd like it. I love tomatoes but have just never had anything tomato juice-y (like V-8 or whatever)... we were out to breakfast on Sunday at a place on the pier in Santa Barbara (oops, forgot the name of the restaurant) and the people I was with ordered the bloody Mary's. I almost did it but chickened out and got a mimosa instead :) Well, they looked so good so I had to have a sip. Dang! Think my brunch mimosas have been replaced! lol
So spicy - it was great! And the huge shrimp hanging on the glass looked really yummy, too! lol...
Next time we're up there (um, next August), I'm definitely going to have to remember to order one of those! Yum yum...

Tagged again!

I was tagged two more times recently so let me see if I can come up with 7 more random things about myself... lol :)

1. I'm a bit hooked on that "Big Love" show on HBO.... I started watching it last season and got reeled in during the first episode. It's so interesting - I never really knew anything about polygamy before it (not that what's on the show is necessarily true!) except for the little bit I learned in some sociology classes in college (I was a soc minor). Just one thing I still don't get - why on earth would any man want more than one wife?! Isn't one nagging him all day enough?! ;) Just kidding!
DH keeps asking me what the heck is going on and how so-and-so is related to this other person - gets a bit annoying! He needs to just watch it! lol

2. I don't think I ever want to have children so I'm not one of those people with "baby fever"; however, lately I've had a really bad case of "puppy fever"! I really really want to get a dog but DH keeps saying "no." He's not being mean - he wants a dog, too. It's just that we both work full-time and only have a small yard. Since we both like bigger dogs we'd feel cruel leaving a dog outside in the teeny yard. Plus, the only access to our "yard" is through the master bedroom and the door is a sliding glass door so we couldn't put in a dog door. Oh well, guess we have to move! lol

3. I get along really well with my mother-in-law. How many people can say that?! It's really a great thing - we get together quite often to go to horse shows and stuff and always end up with a bottle of wine (or two...) between us! As a related little tidbit, my parents and my in-laws also get along really well. Weird... but in a very good way! :)

4. I will put dried cranberries on just about anything...! Cereal, plain yogurt, in cookies, on salads. I love them so much! Hey, there are worse things to put on just about anything!

5. I hate driving. I seriously have a major dislike for it. I'm not sure what it is - probably the traffic and the huge number of idiot drivers in San Diego - I just do not like it at all! In fact, when I was in my early teens (13/14) I absolutely did not want to learn to drive! lol I obviously did (got my license at 16) and enjoyed it for a couple years but now it's just a pain!
Honestly, I think it's because people are just so rude on the roads - how hard is it to use your signals/not cut people off/not flip me off when I use my signal and leave plenty of space when passing you/not insist on sitting in my blind spot?? Really, not that hard! lol What can you do though, huh?!

6. I just started that FlyLady thing where you get daily cleaning assignments... So weird for me since I HATE being told what to do and how to do it! Lol, just another thing for me to rebel against..! And really, it's not Mayberry so it's not like people just pop over for a spot of tea (the whole idea of this FlyLady thing is that your house is always ready for unexpected guests)... not that I'd complain - I love tea and I love having people over! Some of it's a bit silly but it will hopefully keep me from wasting time cleaning on the weekends... we'll see how long I can keep it up for!

7. I'm dying for a vacation... We haven't had a "real" vacation since our honeymoon (April 2005!) so it's been a while. We did go to Wisconsin for a weekend last summer but that doesn't count as a real vacation. Hopefully when DH is done with school at the end of this year (yeay!) we can go somewhere to celebrate! Now - where to go?! I did realize the other day that it has officially been 10 years since I've been home (to England)... so sad. I'm having major withdrawals. That also means it's been 10 years since I've seen my best friend (talk about sad!) She's engaged but hasn't set a date (long, sad story) but I'm hoping she will set one soon so I'll have a good excuse to go over there (not like I need one!) :)

I think we've officially ran out of people to tag so you're all free from being re-tagged! :)

Best $5 I Ever Spent

Well, maybe not the best, but it definitely comes close!


I used to think "why the heck does anyone need that?! Use a potato peeler for goodness sake...!" and then I broke down and bought one because I realized how cheap they were and I was feeling like I needed a new gadget. Well, my goodness! What a revelation! These have to be one of the greatest inventions of my lifetime! I'm really not sure how I managed without it...!