I made these little egg thingies...check it out! And let me know if there's a recipe you think I should make on my next "episode"...and maybe I'll give it a try!
ALSO, it might be best for you to actually watch the video on YouTube so that it's not cut off on the right hand side...and you can do that by double-clicking the video itself. The weird thing is that it's going to open a new window and start playing the video automatically in that one, but it'll also play in the blog one, so be sure to pause it so you don't have a lame echo. Cool? Cool.
So the cupcakes were wonderful! I ended up bringing most of them to softball practice on Thursday night, and I brought the rest to Bruster's (the ice cream place where one of my kids works) and gave a cupcake to everyone who was working there.
OH YEAH, did I mention that I'm an assistant to the outfield coach on the St. T's youth summer softball team? I know, right?! I told one of my mentors from college that I'm doing this, and he said (and this is a direct quote), "You will be an awesome softball coach. Or at least comic relief, which you do pretty well." Yup...that about sums it up. Moving on...
Today, I tried a recipe for homemade flour tortillas. They're super easy to make and super delicious! I'm really loving this foray into the world of cookin' stuff I've never cooked before! Maybe I'll try some exciting crock pot concoction next. The thing is, I have to be very calculated whenever I take the time to actually cook stuff, because there's only one of me...so whatever I make has to be easily refrigerate-able (is there a better word for that?) and/or freezable so I don't end up wasting a bunch of food and money! Because wasting food and money is LAMESAUCE to the EXTREME!
Here's the recipe for...
Flour Tortillas!
2 1/4 c flour (I used the regular all-purpose stuff, but I'd be interested in trying a wheat flour of some sort just for funzies)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I thought this was a bit too much, though, so maybe cut a little)
2 tsp vegetable oil
a titch over 3/4 c. hot milk
Put the milk in the microwave for 60 seconds and leave it until you need it.
Measure out all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add in vegetable oil and mix it all together a bit.
Slowly mix in the hot milk until the dough ball comes away clean. Adjust with more or less milk and/or additional flour (but not too much!).
Mix the dough for 3-4 minutes, then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it once or twice to shape it some. [I actually overlooked that entire sentence when I made them, so I didn't mix it for a full 3-4 minutes or knead it at all...no wonder it was so sticky! Oh well...ZOOPSIES!]
Divide the dough into 12 equal balls. Roll each ball into a 6-inch circle on a lightly floured surface (I don't have a roller, though, so I just pinched them out until they were thin enough) and cook them on a griddle (or a frying pan--that's what I used and it worked just fine!), roughly 30 seconds for each side.
Voila! And there's so much you can do with these little guys! You can make open faced sandwiches or a little flatbread salad, or you can slap some peanut butter on there for a little afternoon snack! I'm going to experiment and see if it would work for a grilled cheese sandwich or even just straight-up toast. We'll see!
Coolio...well, I'm going to go be awesome now (or should I say, keep being awesome, since I'm always in a state of awesomeness...HAHA). Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!
Tonight at about 11:00, I decided that I wanted to make some chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. So...I did. The last batch actually just came out of the oven! I'm going to let them cool overnight and then whip up some peanut butter frosting in the morning...and bring a dozen to the office. Because let's be honest--there's only so much baked goodness that one person can take!
I found two spiders in my apartment today. When I find a creepy-crawly in the place where I live, I always put them outside because I can't handle the sound bugs make when you step on/squish them. Now, you may (or may not) have heard about my little run-in with the GIANT DEMON CENTIPEDE last week...honestly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but OH WELL! Something had to be done, so I manned up and took care of the situation...with a good bit of screaming and shuddering and jumping about. Okay, so when I went outside with the GDC last week, there was a guy coming in from his car or something...I had seen him before coming and going with his two small children (creepy like bugs...children, that is). So anyway, this dude that I don't know at all got to see firsthand how a pansy like me deals with the scary GDC situation. Well, tonight when I brought the first spider out, Random Dude was there again! He actually said to me, "Another one, huh?" and then commented on how it wasn't nearly as big as the last one. God bless him! If I knew which apartment he lives in, I would leave a cupcake at his door in the morning. But alas, like so many saints, he goes unnamed. And alas, if the ants are as big a problem throughout the whole building as I they are in my apartment, that might be terribly disastrous. Or at least very sad. Well, happy for the ants (until I crush them)...so you get the idea.
Okay, that's all for now. I'm actually really tired from all this cupcakin'...so I'm going to do my dishes and then go to bed! But before I do any of that, I would like to show you a very random video:
The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride. ~The Exultet
I'm off to church soon, but I've got a video in the final stages of the uploading process on YouTube, so hopefully by the time you read this, it'll be all processed and ready to go (though I say "hopefully" because sometimes YouTube is on the fritz and randomly stops uploading, so...we'll see).
It's been a while since I wrote about anything really substantial. It's one part "I kind of forgot about the blog" and two parts "I've been pretty busy"...the result is that I'm here, with lots to say and not much time in which to say it. So let's just dive right in, shall we?
It goes without saying that I've been up to my eyeballs in ministry stuff. Last Sunday was a successful night about the Trinity--complete with an extreme three-legged race because...well, why not do an extreme three-legged race on a night about the Trinity? It was super fun, but the teens were also able to take the topic seriously (and it's a really intense topic!) and reflect on what our response should be as people made in the image of the Triune God. I was really impressed with how well the youth did, and I'm very optimistic for how to go about covering those more serious topics in the future.
I saw my second production of Beauty and the Beast on Thursday night. It was really great, but I've noticed that the auditoriums (auditoria? Hmm...) in this area are very small. Like, you could probably fit four or five of the ones here into the one back at my high school. No wonder they're always bragging about having sold out shows--the venues are super small!
This afternoon, I'm going to another play. (I know, right?!) This one is called The Wiz. Should be good, I think--apparently it's a different take on The Wizard of Oz or something. I've got a couple of kids in it, so I figured I'd make an appearance at this play too, so as not to show favoritism.
On Tuesday, my good pal (Pasutti) came through the Burgh on her way to Virginia, so she and her mom stayed here overnight. It was so good to see her again, and to spend time with some people I know! It was a pretty chill couple of days, mostly watching movies and eating food and catching up on life and that kind of thing. It was just so good to see her again!
I can't recall if I've talked about this before, but talking about Pasutti's visit made me think of it. I'm a fairly touch-oriented person. I love hugs and just being close to people. I thrive on it. So when I moved out here to Pittsburgh, that aspect of my life was pretty much eliminated completely. I mean, I get the occasional hug from some of my "adoptive moms" here, and sometimes from my youth group kids...but other than that, I am pretty much starved of physical touch. At first, I didn't really notice it, but after a couple of months, it dawned on me that if there's one thing I miss about home, it's being able to hug the people I love--my mom and dad, my friends, even my dog! It really started to be real to me when I was working at the fish fry about a month ago. I was standing around talking to someone, and for some reason, they put their hand on my shoulder for a second. Not even kidding: I jumped because I was so startled by something so simple as physical touch.
I don't know, it's just little things like that that jolt me back to the reality that I'm very much alone here. I mean, of course I have people here who care about me and who I'm fairly close to, but there's just something different about having those relationships that have taken years to grow, where a hug contains within it all of the memories and experiences and late night conversations and resolved arguments and pain and joy of being together.
Sorry about all the short, random posts lately...but not really. You wouldn't read if you didn't want to.
BUT! I'm a bit short on time, and I just found something really cool. If you've never seen the Sistine Chapel in person, go to this link! It takes a while to load, but it's totally worth it, and there's even pretty music!
1. I have this cool thing for when I'm bored. It's called StumbleUpon, and basically, you click a button on your browser and it will randomly take you to a website (based on things you identified as your interests when you registered with the site). Well, today, I stumbled upon a website and made this:
How cool is that? You just click a bunch of squares on this grid and it creates a little musical loop for you...so check it out! (Also, if you don't want to listen to it the whole time, you can click the little 'Play' button down in the right-hand corner. I think you can also edit the one I created by clicking the little squares on any of the eight grids...I think.)
2. This week has been absolutely beautiful in the Burgh...the sun has been shining and it's been really warm (like, 70 degrees) and everyone has been in an exceptionally good mood. I've worn a skirt three days this week! I love spring!
3. Yesterday was a great day in Ministry-Land. I met one of my youth group girls at Starbucks and we got to hang out a bit, which was lovely! (I haven't seen her much lately, so I thought it would be good to catch up over a Frappuccino.) Afterward, I went back to St. T's and worked at the fish fry for a bit...and then I randomly went to see Avatar with a couple youth group girls. (It was one of those things like, "Man, I still haven't seen Avatar..." "Me either!" "Hmm. Want to go?" "YES.") It was really awesome. I mean, all those folks who said the plotline is the same as Pocahontas were absolutely correct...but the 3D awesomeness made up for it. We literally sat in the theater for a couple of minutes afterward, just staring at each other in amazement.
That's about it, I think. Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!
Okay, so this probably shouldn't go under a tag which includes the word "health," but it definitely has to do with food, so...whatever. But you know what? I think that the occasional happy sweet thing is a very necessary part of one's health! Thus, my very favorite recipe for...
Ultra Delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!
Ingredients:
1/2 c oil
1 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 bananas, mashed
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
mini chocolate chips (however much you want--I usually go with about half of a normal bag...and make sure they're the MINI kind! It spreads out the happiness better! I can't stress that enough--use the minis!)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Beat oil and sugar in a good-sized bowl (how Minnesotan is that, "good-sized"...haha). Add eggs and bananas, beating well. Blend in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (I don't know if it makes a difference or not...but I usually do this in two steps: first, I put in 1 cup flour with the soda and the powder and stir it all in really well, and then I put in the other cup of flour and the salt and stir that in really well). Add milk and vanilla and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake for about an hour (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
***This recipe is also pretty delicious without the chocolate chips, but I wouldn't recommend leaving them out because, well, where's the fun in that? You will notice that without the chocolate chips, I downgraded it from "Ultra Delicious" to "Pretty Delicious." But don't let me influence you too much. Do what you want...
Well...enjoy! I'd love to hear some of your favorite recipes too, so leave a comment!
Somewhere between Minnesota and Pennsylvania, five of my Harry Potter books went missing. I first noticed it when I got my new red bookshelf, but I figured they were probably just in another box around my apartment, and I'd find them eventually...so what's the big deal?
And then one day, bored out of my mind, I said to myself, "Self, I think it's time for a Harry Potter book marathon." I was super excited...like, jump-in-a-giant-pool-of-spaghetti excited. Except for one small problem: I still hadn't found the books. That's when my search began in earnest.
I looked everywhere. I checked my storage locker, my closets, under my bed, even the drawers in my kitchen, but it was all to no avail. The books were nowhere to be found. When I went back to Minnesota for Christmas, I searched high and low all over my mom and dad's house for them...no luck.
I was telling someone about this mystery, and they said, "Well, can you get them from the library?" I suppose the obvious answer is yes, but that's entirely beside the point, which is...
Where in the stuff are my Harry Potter books? I mean, we're talking over $100 worth of delicious, magical fiction here! It's just the strangest thing, and it's really starting to drive me crazy. Books don't just disappear like that. Maybe someone used their stupid wizard magic and went all "Accio five out of Jessie's seven Harry Potter books, and be sure they are the ones that are most expensive" on me. I wouldn't doubt it. Stupid jerkface wizards and their stupid jerky magic. Maybe I'll get a Dark Mark for my next tattoo. That'll show 'em.
Imagine, if you will, a beautiful day. All the elements are there--it's warm but not too warm, there's a bit of a breeze but it's not too windy, the birds are singing, there's not a cloud in the sky.
Now imagine, with all those elements in place, that you are walking up a mountain in Italy.
I honestly couldn't have asked for a more perfect day when I went to Subiaco on Sunday. My parents stayed in Rome that day, which meant that I was by myself for the first time in about a week...so here's what I did:
I woke up at 6:00 and caught the Metro to St. Peter's Basilica for 7:00 Mass. Basically, starting at 7:00am, there's Mass going on all day at St. Peter's. When it's not the big Sunday Mass that a bunch of bishops and cardinals attend, there are smaller Masses going on in all the side chapels throughout the place. The one I went to was in Italian, but luckily (okay, not luckily--very deliberately and strategically) I brought my iPod with me, which has an app on it called iMissal. iMissal has all the readings and prayers of the Mass and everything right on it, so I could still follow along, even without knowing the language. I love going to Mass in different countries and languages and stuff. It speaks so well to the truly catholic (think "universal") nature of our Church...but I talk about that in the video a bit, so you can just watch that.
So after Mass, I caught a bus out of Rome to a town called Subiaco. For those who might not be familiar, Subiaco is home to the cave where St. Benedict went as a teenager to retreat from the city life, and where he lived as a hermit for three years before starting up a bunch of monasteries and moving to Montecassino (probably his most famous monastery, where he eventually died). While he was in the cave (known as the "Sacro Speco"), a monk named Romanus would actually lower food down to him in a basket several times a week. Basically, it's really cool...like, the place where Benedict's monastic movement began. So of course, with my Benedictine roots (holla back CSB/SJU!), this was a very meaningful trip for me.
I mention this briefly toward the end of the first video, but it bears repeating: St. Benedict definitely knew what he was doing when he decided to go out to the middle of nowhere to be in solitude. It was an intense walk up the side of the mountain, let me tell you! For the first time on the whole trip, I actually felt like I was on a pilgrimage! And as much as I loved spending time with my parents (haven't seen them since Christmas, after all, and probably won't see them again until July), it was nice to give myself the space to reflect without all the distractions of the city and being a tourist and always having my guard up.
So when I got to the top, I found my friend Andy in the gift shop and he gave me a tour and all that. Andy and I had a class together last year at CSB/SJU, and after graduation, he applied to spend a year with the Benedictine Volunteer Corps. He ended up getting placed at the monastery up at the Sacro Speco and prays and eats with the monks there, gives tours, works at the gift shop, and does other random stuff (...and his Italian is really good!). So it was fun to spend a litte bit of time with him and the lovely monks up there. I even got to eat lunch with them--and have some delicious cake afterward!--before catching a ride back to Rome with one of the monks (who is actually from St. John's Abbey in Minnesota).
Upon my return to the city, I was dropped off at a metro station which I took to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. It's a huge, beautiful church with some sweet frescoes and terrible bathrooms. There is a set of stairs on either side of the high altar which lead down to the "Bethlehem Crypt," a small area with benches, facing a relic of the Holy Crib of Baby Jesus. I spent some quality time down there--even taking a walk around the rest of the basilica before feeling pulled back there to pray a Rosary for everyone back home.
That night, we had a fancy schmancy closing dinner with the folks from my dad's company. It was actually really fun, mostly because they had a little band (accordion and all) and some girls who were dancing around in pretty dresses while playing the tambourine. The food wasn't bad either, haha...
All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend my last day in Italy. I already miss it there...in fact, I even went online today to try and find some airline tickets for a trip next year. But maybe I'll wait a bit--I spent plenty of money this last week, and I need to do things like pay off loans and buy groceries and pay my rent and other fun stuff...so perhaps I'll wait a couple of years before I jet off to the Eternal City again. All I know is...I'll be back someday!
Here are the videos from my last day in Italy:
Please know that I was thinking of you and praying for you throughout my entire pilgrimage to Italy...it was truly my privilege to bring you and your prayer intentions along with me! I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers throughout the rest of this Lenten season--may it be blessed and fruitful for you!
