2011 does nature, part 3

2011 does nature, part 2

"Miracle on 34th Street" on Santa Claus

"Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles."
_ Miracle on 34th Street, 1947


"I'm not just a whimsical figure who wears a charming suit and affects a jolly demeanor. You know, I... I'm a symbol. I'm a symbol of the human ability to be able to suppress the selfish and hateful tendencies that rule the major part of our lives. If you can't believe, if you can't accept anything on faith, then you're doomed for a life dominated by doubt."
_ Miracle on 34th Street, 1994

Count your blessings

"If you're worried and you can't sleep,
Just count your blessings instead of sheep,
And you'll fall asleep, counting your blessings."
_ White Christmas

2011 does nature

And I'll post my favorite images from Boston.com to celebrate the almost-2012.

Can I get her outfit by New Year's Eve?

All my friends

I know. Lately it's been video central up in here. But there is no way, repeat, NO WAY I couldn't share this. My darling Rachel has made my day, even more so than "The Hobbit" trailer made my day (who knew that was even possible?). This little video that Miss Rachel compiled just makes me smile to no end! No, I wasn't privy to all of the moments in this compilation, but I was present for many — they are memories caught on film, and I'm just so in love with nostalgia right now. Here's a toast to all my friends!

Merry Christmas, hobbitses!

What is it with the animals lately?

Guilty pleasure alert

I can't help it. I only like hippopotamuses.
((Click the picture for the audio!))

Your daily smile

Some of the best things ever: a baby seal,
sneaking into someone's house, and taking
a nap on the couch. This is real life, people!
I wish Wisconsin was prone to baby seals
sneaking into its homes and napping on its
couches. Don't you?

Fa la la la la

That's it. I'm officially getting excited. This past weekend was highly Christmas-y, and its left me feeling glow-y, despite the many things that need doing which aren't at all Christmas-y (work). But back to the Christmas-y things! Saturday evening, I saw a dear friend of mine channel Rosemary Clooney in a local production of "White Christmas" — I won't lie to you. The dancing would make even Bing Crosby, the non-dancer, turn over in his grave. It was the worst. My lovely Caitlin, however? Little miss Betty Haynes? Oh — she knocked it out of the park! You sell that bitter older sister bit, girl! And her voice? Spot on. Perfection. Love it, love her, love it all! And to top it all off? It snowed over the audience during the slam-bang finish. Here's to dreaming of a white Christmas!





And then there's the cookies. On Sunday, Mom and I baked and baked — and somehow we only came out with three types of cookies. There will be more to come, of course, but for now, we've got Mexican wedding cakes (my favorite!), a failed attempt at Spritz cookies (even though they taste okay, they're not so very pretty), and some chocolate crackle cookies courtesy of Martha Stewart — a total successs! What a fun, productive day — to say the least. Hanging out with Mom isn't so bad either. :-)








Now Pippin. Pippin's First Christmas. I'm psyched out of my mind for Pippin's First Christmas! I bought him some puppy cookies dipped in white chocolate and some antlers to wear, assuming we get him to keep them on long enough to snap a picture. He's been so good — not pestering us during all the trimming, trapping, and baking. Just content to lay at our feet in hopes of catching any morsels that fall from the counter-top above. What a sweetheart — what a doll!








And last night, Mom and I took time to wrap gifts. We played "A Child's Christmas in Wales" in the background and followed it up with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" — the perfect shorts to listen to, but not entirely watch. The wrapping? I must say, I'm mighty proud of my wrapping this year. I found the most adorable paper at World Market the other day — and glitter and red velvet ribbon makes a picture-perfect accent. As for my gift tags, I'm bending festive pipe-cleaners into the recipient's initials or name, and it looks pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself. I can't wait to keep wrapping! (Yep, I've definitely got the Christmas bug!) But that's enough of that for one day. I'm off to do some shopping here and there — happy hall-decking, world!

Relationship advice

This little blog of mine isn't one to preach about relationships and such — but sometimes, when relationships in all their roller-coaster-ness are on the down, it's important to have a pick-me-up. Sure, recipes, pretty things, a song, a dance, a stumbling — all these pick me up. But wise words about the realities of relationships that can not be stuff&nonsensed away are just as beneficial.

Take this excerpt from Time – "How to get and stay married: Know that the grass ain't greener."

"Don’t look at other couples and think they have it all together while you and your mate don’t. That’ll just make you feel bad about your relationship and drag you down. Those smiling people who look like they have it all do have it all — including problems. You just have no idea what they are. And don’t look at individuals you’re not with and think you could have a better relationship with them. It’s easy to fantasize that the sexy acquaintance with whom you have a buzzy rapport with would make a hot, fun, trouble-free [boyfriend], but [he’s] just someone whose problems you don’t know yet. Love the one you’re with, and work through the problems you know."

Chicken tikka masala

I love me some chicken tikka masala! I want to eat all the chicken tikka masala right now! (I didn't bring a lunch today. Sigh.) For Sunday night dinner, I made the allrecipes.com version of this recipe, with some changes.

Changes for the marinade:
-- 1 teaspoon cayenne
-- 1 teaspoon black pepper (otherwise it would be way spicy, in my opinion.)
-- 1 teaspoon of salt (4 would be crazy-overkill!)

Changes for the sauce:
-- Add 1 teaspoon cardamon
-- Add 1 teaspoon masala seasoning
-- Used just one jalapeno (but next time, two might not be so bad)
-- Add a scant 1/2 teaspoon of salt, then mix the sauce all together. Once simmering, taste it and see what you think — if it needs more salt, add it 1/4 teaspoon at a time.

For three packages of chicken breast tenders, I doubled the sauce — but next time, I would triple it. Three packages of chicken breast tenders would have fed 4-5 people, without leftovers. If I wanted to feed 5 people and for sure have leftovers (enough for multiple people to enjoy for dinner the following night), I would up it to 4 packages of chicken breast tenders and (what the hey!) do the sauce times 4. With all the rice we eat with our chicken tikka masala, I believe you can never have too much sauce!

I also made coconut rice to go with the chicken, but I think that next time I would do just normally cooked Basmati rice — no coconut milk. The sauce is thick enough that you don't really need a thicker rice (whereas, I really like coconut rice with coconut curry chicken — but the sauce isn't as thick as chicken tikka masala). Oh I am hungry now! Enjoy, and make 4 packages of chicken — so that I can come join you for leftovers. :-)

"The Bishop's Wife"

"The only people who grow old
were born old to begin with."
_ Dudley, The Bishop's Wife

Fettuccine alfredo forever!

Can't lie: this the "Ultimate Fettuccine Alfredo" courtesy of cbsop.com uses oodles of butter and parmesan cheese — and is the easiest most delicious thing out! Really, you just cook the noodles and add butter and cheese to make a sauce — no heavy cream needed. One key thing to remember: Get finely grated parmesan cheese! I used some grated and some shredded (because that's all my grocery store had in stock), and I'm sure that if you use only grated, the sauce will turn out all the more creamy — no clumps of cheese. Not that clumps of cheese are really a bad thing... but you know. My dad scoffed at the amount of butter and cheese I had waiting in the wings for my fettuccine noodles... and then proceeded to have a heaping plate of seconds. So try this!
A crowd-pleaser (and cook-pleaser) if I ever made one!

I like life, life likes me.

"There is never enough time to do or say all the
things that we would wish. The thing is to try to
do as much as you can in the time that you have.
Remember, Scrooge: time is short. And suddenly,
you're not here any more."
_The Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

Friday pretty, courtesy of Vogue

Borrow your boyfriend's shirt... now!

"A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas

Excerpt on: "The Useless Presents"

"Bags of moist and many-colored jelly babies and a folded flag and a false nose and a tram-conductor's cap and a machine that punched tickets and rang a bell; never a catapult; once, by mistake that no one could explain, a little hatchet; and a celluloid duck that made, when you pressed it, a most unducklike sound, a mewing moo that an ambitious cat might make who wished to be a cow; and a painting book in which I could make the grass, the trees, the sea and the animals any colour I pleased, and still the dazzling sky-blue sheep are grazing in the red field under the rainbow-billed and pea-green birds. Hardboileds, toffee, fudge and allsorts, crunches, cracknels, humbugs, glaciers, marzipan, and butterwelsh for the Welsh. And troops of bright tin soldiers who, if they could not fight, could always run. And Snakes-and-Families and Happy Ladders. And Easy Hobbi-Games for Little Engineers, complete with instructions. Oh, easy for Leonardo! And a whistle to make the dogs bark to wake up the old man next door to make him beat on the wall with his stick to shake our picture off the wall. And a packet of cigarettes: you put one in your mouth and you stood at the corner of the street and you waited for hours, in vain, for an old lady to scold you for smoking a cigarette, and then with a smirk you ate it. And then it was breakfast under the balloons."