10 for 2019

I think I use this every year, but I love it, so here it is again

Hello,

It's once again Resolution time here..........

and once again, when I finished there were ten.  At this point, I think it will be that way every year.  :)

2019 Resolutions....

(in no particular order)

1.  15 Minutes a day Lettering

In 2018, I learned how to, now I need to practice, practice, practice...and find my own style.  The only way to do this is consistency...hence the 15 minutes a day

2.  15 minutes a day Yoga

'If you practice yoga once a week you will change your mind.

If you practice twice a week, you will change your body.

If you practice every day, you will change your life."

This quote was the catalyst, and I'm curious to see this unfold.  Some days my practice will not be an Asana practice, but one of the other limbs of yoga.  I will let my heart and body guide me....  This is not about perfecting a pose, but something so much deeper....

3.  Finish the "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust (it's a novel in seven volumes with a total page count of 4.215 pages....I read the first one and LOVED it) and the 51-100 Best Novel list I have been working on for the past few years (I have 6 left)

4.  Gratitude Journal...  

I have kept one for years where every day write down 5 things that happened that I am grateful for, but for the last year and a half to two years, I have been MASSIVELY inconsistent.  I want that to change.

5.  Bucket List items...

This should be no surprise.  The surprise of this are the ones I complete, it's never the ones I thought it would be

6.  Continue with practices set up in 2018. (water goals, novel, meditation, etc)

This has everything to do with the progress I made in 2018 and want to keep going....

7.  Put myself out there more.

I've recently come to realize that I've lost a little of my bravery and for lack of a better phrase, my right to be seen...  I've been hiding to a certain extent and it's all on me, so it's on me to change that.

8.  Let go of the things I no longer need (physically, emotionally or mentally)

Clean it out, let it go, so I can live the life I want.

9.  Travel somewhere I've never been before.

Travel is essential to me.

10.  Practice better self care and love.

A lot of the other resolutions build into this but the adage of putting your own oxygen mask on first is vital to a well lived life....

Oh, if you are interested in how 2018 turned out, I've updated my 2018 Resolution Blog..

Here's to a fantastic 2019 for all of us...

Melissa

Julying...

Hi..

I have been in a very punny mood lately, so when I saw the following, I knew it had to be the title of this post.....

June's over?

Julying...

har..har...har...

Main July news, Red Butte concert shows are in full swing!!!  The Avett Brothers, Counting Crows, Retro Night (which had a ton of bands from the 80's),  TajMo, Chris Isaak, and Toad the Wet Sprocket..  I've moved up the totem pole a bit, so I'm doing a variety of jobs, including ticket taking.  So if you attend a concert, I might scan your ticket.....

I also helped out at Red Butte at a Monday Night event, cause I hadn't been there enough in July.  They are actually really fun events, free to members or with your admission to the Garden.  They are held in the courtyard and feature a local band or cultural group, plus there are crafts......

On the 19th, I took a major step forward in a New Year's Resolution, I took a 4 hour workshop on lettering/calligraphy.  I learned how to correctly work the tip of the brush pen and realized that my work is going to have a slightly different slant than everyone else's.  It's going to set me apart when I get it consistent, so practice, practice, practice is my motto now.

Are you melting yet?  SLC has been roasting this July.  I get very excited when I see a temperature below 95, because it hasn't  happened a whole lot.  ugh.

I had the opportunity to finally see "Phantom of the Opera" when it was here.  WOW was it good!  I really enjoy my season tickets, paying for them always makes me wince, but all throughout the year, I appreciate them.

I am currently in the middle of another Oprah and Deepak Chopra Meditation event.  It's a nice habit former to do it for 21 days straight..and it keeps me on track with my New Year's resolution.

Miss Bacall, or Super B, as she is now known, had a rough patch and went to the vet where her heart and lungs were pronounced clear and she is still good.  It's soooooo hard when your fur-family member is getting up there in years.

I continue to read, go to my art group, knit and row...  I think you would go into shock at this point if I said I wasn't doing one of those things.   :)

a page in my big Art Journal that I did in July..

Hope your July was happy and healthy.....

and I'm not Julying..... har har har

Melissa

Fly By February....

If I thought January went fast,  February upped the game and went warp speed.....

my view of February as it flew on by...

I kind of had a head down, nose to the grindstone attitude this month and while I did things I enjoyed, if you weren't apart of the schedule, I didn't see or talk to you...  I am very sorry about that.  In fact, in the last two days, I've had three messages or voicemails saying "Are you alive?  I haven't heard from you in a bit..."  I need to be better about the balance thing when life is busy or I get behind and am in catch up mode.

Now for the reasons why I went AWOL sorta speak...
Remember last month how I said I had a dental issue, well I had a massive infection along with it, and it has taken a bit to recover from, in terms of getting all of my energy back.  GRRRRRR.  I had to make up client visits at work and study time for my upcoming certification exam, so work has been busier than normal.  Ya and grrr.  The best part about it all, my boss has proven once again that I am working at work nirvana.

I missed a few Winter Training sessions with my Rowing club, but continued to go, even if I was the SLOWEST on the ERGs, which DROVE ME INSANE!!!  I am just about back to my normal pace, however, so it was the right decision to dial it back.  My instructor told me that 1 week of missed rowing takes a minimum of 2 weeks to get back and that's if you just missed sessions, if you were sick or injured, it takes a bit longer.  Using over a hundred muscles at an intense aerobic rate is not for wimps.......

This is how out of sorts life has been, I only read 3 books during February.  I just looked up the books I read and was shocked how low my total was.  :(  However, I did read 'The Dollmaker' by Harriette Simpson Arnow, which is a masterpiece of Appalachian storytelling.  It is, however, one of the most depressing books I have ever read, so be forewarned..

In New Year's Resolution land, I started a 10-15 minute daily practice of Hand Lettering using the template of last month's Creating for Happiness challenge that I did and it was the right decision to tackle something that quite frankly intimidated me.  I made HUGE strides in my lettering and am now really enjoying it.  I still want to take a live class to move me along, but I'm learning and having fun.   I also kept to my water challenge upping my daily goal to 60 ounces of water a day, which I met all but 2 days and even then it was still in the 48 ounces range.  My penny challenge is fun, which I never thought I say about a money goal, but it is...  Progress not Perfection is my motto these days..

I know many of you who read this blog and are in my live are big fans of Miss Bacall, my basset hound, and I wanted to give you a bit of a head's up and a warning.  My girl is getting old, in fact she is the oldest Basset Hound I have ever had and with that age comes some complications.......  She is suffering from congestive heart failure.  She has the reverse sneezing as they call it and it is getting worse.  She is still the happy-go-lucky goofball she has always been, with a bit of added sass these days, but during her fits of reverse sneezing, or wheezing as I call it, she seems a bit uncomfortable.  I'm trying not to be paranoid, but trying to be responsible if she is suffering.  The hardest part of it, knowing my time with this bundle of love wrapped in a basset body is coming to an end.........  This is the only sucky thing about dogs, they don't live as long as humans.....

I hope February found you in a calmer place than it did me.....
and if it didn't I hope you have an end to the crazy soon.
Melissa

First one is on the Books...

Hello,

Are you in shock that you didn't have to wait for 9 months for the next blog?  :)

I thought I would try something this year to keep the posts coming in a consistent manner, a month in review post.  It will be a book review, resolution update and life in review kind of a thing.  It sounded like a good idea in my head so I'm doing it.....

First, did January fly by really fast for you as well?????  It's like I blinked and January was over, however, I did get a lot accomplished.

I signed up thru Salt Lake School District Community Education in partnership with my Rowing Club for Winter Training.  It started on January 17th and it will run thru late March.  On Monday and Wednesday evenings, I go to West High School for ERG/rowing machine training and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training,  or as I call it weights on speed).  It's kicking my butt in a very good way and more importantly getting me ready to hit the water in late March when the Rowing Season begins.  It's been really fun to reconnect with my rowing buds and has also reminded me how much I LOVE to row.  Resolution, Get outside more.......

In late December, a friend of mine brought to my attention a program called 'Creating for Happiness' which is a creative challenge to get you to form a daily practice.  I have a ton of supplies that I wasn't really using at home or truthfully, at all, so I initially thought this would be a great way to bring value into something I already own.  It turned into something quite a bit more and I'm going to be incredibly brave soon and do a post about my art, including pictures to share more about this 30 day challenge I did in January.   Resolution, Try Something New a Month...

I also challenged myself to drink at least 48 oz of water a day in January (I figured I would start small and set myself up for success) and did not have one day where I did not make my goal and on Rowing training days, it was WAY more.  I did two 'Something to Think About' Journal entries.  I chose them at random and they were very appropriate for the things going on in my life, so Ya a resolution that is being more than I thought it would be.  I am still on schedule for my Penny Savings Challenge, doing 1 week from January, a week from December, and two weeks from March.  Remember my plan was to be flexible on the route, but not on the destination.....  Resolutions, More water, At least 26 'Something to Think About' Journal entries,  Penny savings challenge

Now onto other things....
I read Les Miserable by Victor Hugo in January.  HUGE, HUGE book and could of used a bit of editing (I really could of done without the extensive information and history of the Paris sewers), but if you love the musical, do yourself a favor and read this book.   After that 1300 page plus book, I read a few others, but as I write this none of them are jumping out at me to say, recommend me, so I guess that's the end of that.

Work continues to be Nirvana and I am diligently studying and preparing for my new certification I am undertaking.  So WAHOO!  A happy work life!

I am in shock about the weird, warm, dry winter we are having.  It's quite honestly scaring me about our future water.  By the way, have you heard about the situation in Cape Town, South Africa?  They are running out of water!!  They actually have an end date for water.  It's scary.

I hope you have avoided the flu that has been ravaging the country!  I had a bit of a dental adventure but thanks to a very good dentist/oral surgeon I am well and good now and have avoided the flu, so I can't complain....

I hope 2018 is off to a good start for you...
Melissa

Resolute....updated...

A couple of days ago on Facebook, a friend of mine defended New Year's Resolutions in a succinct and powerful way.  She posted,

 "It has become fashionable to put down the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions.  To be cynical ('you won't stick to them').  To be judgmental ('why do you need a date on the calendar to decide to change?').  No.  Make your best New Year's Resolutions ever.  Infuse them with resolute sacred intention.  Claim them:  "You know what?  THIS is the year that I will....."  And then lean in.  Right now.  This is a ritual that we actually need.  Love your resolutions and encourage those of your loved ones.  xo"

That post summed up better than I have ever been able to express why I still make Resolutions.  It's a chance to challenge, grow, explore and build upon my experiences in my life.  People ask 'Why?', and I say 'WHY NOT?'  Because even in the missed attempts and errors, you will still learn and move forward.

So with that, I hereby present my 2017 New Year's Resolutions.....

1.  Limit social media and screen time.

Facebook, Instagram, apps and all of that have a place, but throughout 2016 I felt them going a bit sideways sometimes and it made me realize that at times, I was not in control of it and it was starting to control me.  Not good.  With a lot of my groups that I get together in real life communicating and organizing things on Facebook, I can't leave, but I can make sure that I set limits and involvement.

Update:  I set limits and found my balance with social media.  I found my reason for being on them and just as importantly I found I can be without them.

2.  Write letters, cards, in my journals, etc.

Picking up a pen and writing....what a concept!  This came out of a realization from a 2016 resolution that I found really value something hand written, so why shouldn't I spread this to others?

Update:  As you know my absence from this blog, I found my voice off line this year.  I also found that I LOVE drawing little doodles on envelopes I send, so now I look for a reason to send a card to someone.

3.  A New (to me) Restaurant a Month

I live in an insanely wonderful neighborhood for food!  The local and healthy options outnumber fast food options.  While I eat at the local options, I still have a tendency to eat at the same one over and over again.....  Eating good food and supporting local businesses, sounds like a good deal to me...

Update:  I missed a couple of months, but had multiple restaurants in others, so this was a success.  I am working off of a list I found and will continue this in 2018.

4.  Be a tourist in my town and state

This one started simmering in my mind in July when some family came to visit and I had done NONE of the things we were suggesting for the group to do.  Really?  Not only will I have a better idea on what is worth it and what is not, I will break up the mundane of day to day life.

Update:  I went to more museums, attractions and events this year than I have in multiple years.  What I found, SLC has a lot to offer.  What I learned, if you want to attend an attraction (zoo, aquarium, etc) more than once in a calendar year, a membership will pay for itself and then you can go more than once!

5.  Take time for self care

I admit I am not always the best at this.....  I don't mean taking a spa day, I mean taking 5 minutes to breathe or turning off my phone during the day or any of the other little things we can do for ourselves to calm, protect, energize or whatever else we need.   My resolution of last year of a daily walk started this realization, so I decided to expand a bit.  The reasoning behind this is the classic airplane safety instruction, 'Put your own oxygen mask on before helping others.'  No matter our situation in life, married or single, with children or without, young or old, we all need to take care of ourselves.

Update:  Just having this as a reminder this year helped.  I journaled.  I rested.  I knitted.  I let go.  I hung on.  Self care took many different forms and really didn't take time away from other things, in fact, I think it opened up time, because it helps you figure out what is important.

6.  Do at least 3 30 Day Challenges

I consider 30 Day Challenges mini resolutions.  I have a couple picked out-- a cardio/exercise one, a photography one, and a self care one and will probably add another.  It's a way to focus and make a jump forward in things in my life.

Update:  I LOVED this! I did a couple of exercise ones, a gratitude one, a happiness one and considered all of them successes!  They ended up being jumpstarts for new habits.

7.  Travel solo

There is something freeing in travel to begin with, but to do it on my own (not meeting a friend or family member somewhere, but knowing absolutely no one) seems both freeing and comfort zone pushing at the same time.  I have an idea where I am going to go, but am still working on the details.

Update:  didn't happen, but I'm ok with it.  In 2018, more solid plans are in place.

8.  Reduce my throwaways...one and done, straws, bags, etc.

I'm pretty good about using reusable grocery bags, but I wanted to do something tangible for the earth and environment and reducing my plastic use seems like a good place to start.

Update:  I changed my toilet paper, it's no longer made from trees and everything about it is better for the environment.  I have pretty much eliminated ziplock bags thanks to Bee's Wrap and food grade silicone bags.  I do not use disposable utensils, I keep a set of recycled bamboo utensils in my purse along with a glass straw.  This was a mind set change and it was a daily thought pattern of "What can I do to eliminate my throwaways?'  and it is now a habit that I will continue.

9.  Do something once a month out of my comfort zone.

I have a pretty eclectic life, but still have a tendency to stay within my comfort zone.  I'll probably vary the way I do this, but if you never try something, you'll never know....

Update:  Every month, something cropped up that challenged me a bit.  Some were easier than others, but others took a bit of courage.

10.  Bucket List items (shocker I know, as this has been on the list for the past 4 years)

It always surprises me which items get done each year and which ones that I had planned to do don't, but every year, I have crossed items off my list.

Update:  A trip to Rocky Mountain National Park was the only one that I really expected to do, but it wasn't the only one that was completed.  I love having a list of things I want to accomplish in life...

It's funny, I say that I need 10 Resolutions, but the last couple of years, I have ended up at 10.

Here's to another trip around the sun...
Melissa

ps.
If you are really curious about how last year's turned out, I updated my post laying them out with the results.  You can read it HERE

Rumbly in my Tummy...

As the year comes to a close, I am realizing that I didn't quite finish my food challenge.  :(  But I have a plan for the 6 items I didn't complete, they will be done in January.  I never tried a food that scared me...I didn't make a layer cake from scratch...I haven't taken my tour, but I did buy the groupon to do so...I didn't make mac and cheese....so, January is going to be a good food month.

But I did do a lot of things, very yummy things....
Instead of going thru all of them, I thought I would just hit some of my adventures.  As you will see, some were wonderful, but others are a work in progress....


49.  More dutch oven cooking, especially during the summer

May 14th, I got the charcoal out and had the first of what I plan to be many dutch oven meals.   The smell alone of it cooking just made my saliva pool.  I ended up using my dutch oven almost once a week during the summer.....

18. Make a condiment from scratch.

May 16th, I blended up the blend that had been marinating for lack of a better word for two days and viola, I had made mustard.  I also made ketchup, in my crockpot and then canned it!

21. Make a soufflé.

It turned out pretty well, but I think it could of been fluffier....

23. Cook a steak to perfect doneness.

I think I eat steak once a year, but I managed to grill it to the exact doneness I prefer and to the preference of those I was cooking for...  YA!!!

42.  Cheesecakes without the cracking

Well, I'm going to have to do this one again.....  I did not have the right size pan for my water bath and it went dry, so my cheesecake got dry and dry cheesecakes crack....  It tasted fine, but grrrrrrrr...
oh, well, I make another one down the road...

27. Feast on an ethnic food you've never had before.

Groupon helped me with this one, I now can say I have eaten Ethiopian food at Mahinder Restaurant here in SLC.

33. Make homemade pasta.

I actually took a class at The Salt Lake Culinary Center and learned how to do it, and let me tell you the difference between fresh made homemade pasta and dried pasta is MASSIVE!!!  The best part, it is soooo easy to make!

5.  Make tomato sauce from scratch.

Tomato Basil Simmer Sauce...trust me it's good, and the bonus, I canned it so I will be able to enjoy it year round.

34. Flip pancakes without them folding.

Here's what I learn with pancakes and eggs and flipping, control and speed help, but as folding prone flipper, size matters....  make your pancakes a little smaller so that they fit with little overlap on your spatula, you'll gain confidence and no more folding...


20. Visit your neighborhood farmers market.

I went to my mid week Sugarhouse Farmer's Market!!!  Not as much as I wanted but I did go this year!

I have no regrets attempting this challenge and not accomplishing all of them.  It pushed me to try new recipes and got me more aware of my food and my approach to it...

Melissa

The Home Stretch...

or Part 4 of my Literary Challenge....


#38 . The Aeneid by Virgil

I have a bit of a confession on this one, I scanned some sections.  I am on my third variation of the Trojan War this year with The Odyssey and The Iliad already completed.  I started it and then recognized a weird underlying theme....so I did some research into the Aeneid and found that one of its criticisms is that it is a not so veiled pro Augustus, the Roman emperor, tale.  I then realized why I was not enjoying it...we are having our current political season shoved down our throats and I can take no more.  I may put this on my reading list in the future when I can read it without the two other poems so fresh in my mind and also without the politics so fresh in my mind....

#46 . Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

As you may remember, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is one of my least favorite books EVER!  So I approached Jane Eyre with trepidation and very quickly found that having a different Bronte sister as the author makes a world of difference.  I LOVED this book!  The descriptive words, the gentle, yet never boring, pace, and tale of knowing your own worth, even when others do not, and standing by your principles.  I cannot recommend this book enough!!!


#11. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

There are books that even though you really didn't enjoy or like reading, you can appreciate what the author is doing, 'The Brothers Karamazov' falls into this camp for me.  As much as my reading challenge has taught me that I love French authors, I am realizing that Russian authors are not my favorites.  I found this book to be rambling and overly dramatic at times.  It poses a valid questions of how to balance religious and a secular life.   I have friends, whose opinions and preferences I respect and generally agree with, that have this and other Dostoyevsky novels as their all time favorites.  I now can say I have read him and appreciated the experience, but have no plan to do it again.

#42 . The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

I have started the first Tale multiple times due to the fact that the version I am reading is in Middle English and it has taken me a bit to get used to it.   Once you get past the language, it flies and is quite entertaining with humor and lessons abounding (even women's rights)...the best tip I received, read it aloud.  It helps you find the rhythm and helps with the comprehension too.

#49 . The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka

I have read more short stories this year than I have in my entire life this year due to this challenge.  As with the other collections I have read this year, some stick out and some you just read and leave.  The surprise of this collection was the unexpected humor, granted a bit dark and sarcastic at times, but humor none the less.....

#39 . David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Well, I read it...and it was good, but I wasn't wowed by it.  David Copperfield is believed to be an a thinly veiled autobiography story of Dicken's life.   It is his most popular book, but it isn't mine.  It's going to end up one of those books that I read, but don't really remember.......

#50 . Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

We all have someone in our life that when telling a story gets sidetracked at the slightest distraction and as a result you often don't always get the whole story from them but it is generally entertaining.  Tristram Shandy is like that person, it is supposed to be his life story, but when you haven't even gotten to his birth over a third of the way thru the book, you know you're in for an adventure.  It is laugh out loud funny and quite the satire with profound wisdom scattered throughout.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable way to end this year's challenge.

Still reading...
Melissa

A Literary Discussion, Part Three

Can you believe how fast this year is flying by?  Here are links to the full challenge, part one, and part two.

#9.  The Divine Comedy by Dante Alleghieri

There are some books in which you know that while you may get the gist of it when you read it for the first time, you probably won't get all of the complexities of it, The Divine Comedy falls into that for me.  Scholars spend their whole careers studying this book;  I spent a week and a half reading it....

So, here is my take...  It's basically a mid life crisis book that ends up giving us a guide for life.  Dante has reached the mid point of his life and is asking and pondering some pretty deep questions.  He is taken through Hell, and gives a pretty gruesome and gory vision of it and some say, our idea of hell,  Purgatory and Heaven.  I found things to take from each section to incorporate into my life...

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown (a book club's selection)

This book robbed me of sleep!  What a fun, light, yet never lame summer read!  A chef is taken hostage by a female pirate....the bad guys turn out not to be such bad guys and as for the 'good guys' just read and find out...

#30 . The Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov

A collection of absolutely amazing short stories!  You are taken to Czarist Russia and given glimpses into everyday life with mastery of plot and the execution of words.  Some stories are only a few pages long, but others are 20.  He knew how to stop, not give to much, but at the same time, not to have a story feel incomplete.  Ironically, I had meant to read a couple of stories a night and then read something else, but I inhaled this collection of Anton Chekhov's....

#40 . Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

For the first little bit of the book, you feel like you are on a merry-go-round with characters jumping on and off and feeling a little lost, but then you see through the chaos and once again the brillance and gift of Virginia Woolf shines through.  Simple moments, like a walk through a park, can trigger a thousand and one memories and choices taken or not taken.....

The Food of a Young Land:  The WPA's Portrait of Food in Pre-WWII America
           (a food challenge item) by Mark Kurlansky

Did you know that FDR's New Deal had a provision in it to help writers get back to work as well?  It was know as the Federal Writer's Project (FWP).  Their first task was to complete guidebooks about the entire United States and some of them are still in use today.  Their second was never completed, a documentation of what Americans were really eating in 1940, not the flashy, trendy food, but what they were having dinner every week.  The organizers sent writers out to find out but the beginning of WWII ended the project and it was lost to oblivion until the author stumbled upon a box in the Library of Congress.....


#43 . Collected Fiction by Jorge Luis Borges

Another collection of short stories for this challenge, but this one I did not speed through, but slowly absorbed and contemplated.  Jorge Luis Borges is a master of words and of the short story.  I would only read one a night because they took all of my concentration and I didn't want to miss a word.  There were some stories I liked better than others, but I think that is the case in most collections....

#4.  Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Call me Ishmael, nope, I'll call you someone who ignores all signs and warnings.  Captain Ahab, take some advice from Elsa and 'Let it Go!!'.  The Whale, maybe you could take some anger management classes.  I read the true story last year that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick and enjoyed it soooooooooooooooooooo  much more than this.  I was actively cheering for the whale....  Moral of the story, vengeance never ends well, pay attention to signs, and if you're a whale avoid big boats...


#26 . Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

Pull up a chair, relax, sip an iced tea or a cocktail on the porch and enjoy this Southern masterpiece.  There are multiple narrators with varying degrees of fact, but each tell their own truths and isn't it interesting that a person's truth may not always be fact.  Faulkner's gift (or the thing that drives non Faulkner fans crazy) is his ability to tell a story in an non linear sense...you jump all around the time line of this story of a man who wanted to build an empire without learning from not only his mistakes from the the past, but a collective community's .


#31 . The Red and the Black by Stendhal

A tale of a young man who doesn't fit into his family, he is teased for reading, and has ambitions for a different life.  He is taken in by his town's mayor as a tudor and proceeds to make some questionable decision, like starting an affair with the mayor's wife.  There are times you are very angry at the main character, but as the book progresses you become more sympathetic, even as he commits a very surprising crime, because you see that the rules of the life he wants don't apply to him because he wasn't born into that life.....

I have to admit that reading these classics one right after another has been more challenging than I thought....it has slowed my reading down quite a bit.

A Literary Discussion, Part Two..

It was a bit of hit and miss for my reading time this quarter, but I still managed to get some good books in....

Links to First Quarter and the Challenge List


#45.  Candide by Voltaire

Oh what a fun read!!!  A little over 100 page satire about suffering, it was a hilarious and quick read.  I knew nothing about it going in and couldn't of been more surprised and happy about this book.   Voltaire accomplished in such a short amount of pages something that I'm not sure that no one else could of, he left out all of the fluff and left only substance.

#18 . Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

One of the hardest challenges of reading books that are so well known and have adaptations of them is to let go and not try to put parts of a movie into a book, having said that, however, this short first entry into the Alice series was enjoyable and confusing, easy yet deep, fun and thought provoking.  I will be continuing on with Alice as soon as I have time.

#35 . Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Prepare to be uncomfortable, really uncomfortable, but just buckle down and read...Make it through the violence of the first chapter and take a breath and continue and read...Cringe at the cruelty both in your face and the more subtle but just as damaging cruelty of not seeing someone...Read on, and make it through this heartbreaking book about a man who becomes invisible due to the fact that society only sees one thing, the color of his skin.   This is probably a book that needs to be read more than once to truly appreciate everything in it, but I'm not sure I can read it again, but I'm glad I made it through once.

#32 . Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

When is an adventure book not just an adventure book?  When it's a top 50 book....then it becomes a satire on travel books (everything is perfect, even though we are stranded in a strange land), politics, society, education, and religion.  It's short but packs a lot in as Gulliver starts out as an idealistic travel and ends up a bit bitter and having little faith in people.

#33 . Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Absurd, yet entertaining...  This is either the most brilliant book I've ever read or the dumbest and I'm not sure I'll ever make up my mind about it.  There is a crazy cast of characters and a plot that takes a while to figure out and you are introduced to the origin of a phrase that I'm pretty sure that you've used before...Catch-22...

#21 . The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

My first thought about Holden Caulfield is that he is a spinning top reaching the end of its run and is wobbling trying to hang on.  You know it's all about to fall apart and even Holden is aware that sometimes he is a bit too much.  The book is a fascinating read of teenage angst and pain that made me react in two very distinct ways.. first, I was drawn back into my teenage years and struggling to find my way and I was right there with him, although my experiences were quite different from his....and then second, I wanted to look him in the eyes and tell him to for just a second breathe and realize it may not be as bad as it may seem...  This book has been loved and controversial since it was published, and I found that I am a fan of this coming of age story....

#23 . Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell

War is Peace.  That line alone scares me the most, because it was written a long time ago, yet it is the phrase that is used over and over again to justify wars today.  War is the path to Peace.  No, not really.  Somehow peace isn't popping up after the bombs drop.  This book is just chilling because it show what happens when you just go with the status quo and follow like sheep.  Pay attention and speak up!  Horror flicks don't scare me, but books like this do....

#25 . To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Chaotic beauty describes the first 30 or so pages of a dense, yet never boring, 200 page novel.  It's a novel of detail of the mundane, yet never boring, lives that we live, and the unexpected consequences of losing someone.  I LOVED the beauty of the prose, it almost read like a poem and the celebration and understanding that life is truly lived in the little moments of life....

#36 . The Stranger by Albert Camus

What an utterly baffling book for me.....  The main character is both sympathetic and completely dislikable.  It's a weird balance of feeling sympathy and wanting him to be anything other than he is.  It's also a book about the meaning of life and finding peace where ever you might be and what ever your circumstances are, but the theme that is resonating for me the most is this, 'what happens when you don't react in a way that society expects?'  Are you judged and condemned for simply not following societal norms?  A short novel of less than 150 pages that packs a punch.

#6.  War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Well, I finished it... By the end, I felt like I was reading two separate books, one I really enjoyed and the other, I could not wait for it to be over.  Tolstoy said back in the day that he did not consider this a novel, and I agree with him.  There were aspects of a novel, but the other part was like a droll, boring history teacher....  Ironically, it's not a hard read, so don't let that intimidate you when you see that it has over 1300 pages.  I'm glad I read it, but doubt I'll read it again.

#28 . The Trial by Franz Kafka

What would you do if you were arrested for a crime, but never told what you are accused of?  What would you do if the people that are charging you with that crime are not a normal court, but have the power to destroy your life?  What would you do with the unrelenting pressure that goes along with all of this?  Would you give into paranoia?  All of this and more are brought into question into this dense novel.  I had always been a bit intimidated by Kafka, but found 'The Trial' to be deep and thought provoking, but readable.

#15 . Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

DID NOT FINISH...  I couldn't read this book.  I gave it 100 pages, but felt sick to my stomach as the narrator, Hubert Humphrey laid out his reasoning for finding a 14 year old girl sexually attractive.  .  ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?  Life is too short to feel like you need to take a shower after you read.  The ironic part in all of this, Nabokov's writing is amazing and I am going to find another of his books to read, but I can not stomach Lolita.

#1.  In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
       Swann's Way (book 1)

I had never heard of Proust or this book, so I am immensely grateful for this challenge for bringing it to my literary life.  I ADORE this book!  And the more French authors I read, the more I come to realization I love their writing style.  This is a subtle, slow moving novel about memories and time.  I cannot recommend it enough.  I cannot wait to continue this 7 part series of novels...


#29 . One Thousand and One Nights by India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt

I read it over the span of a month and really liked taking a tale or two a night.  I loved all the creative and smart women who outwitted arrogant, and sometimes mean, men.  I loved the learning that both the men and women did.  Fables and tales hold a great place in our history and it was fun to read ones from another part of the world.

It was an interesting 2nd quarter of reading.  I was introduced to authors I had never read before, books that challenged me, and once again, books that I fell in love with....

Still reading,
Melissa

National Hug Your Cat Day....

June 4, 2016 NATIONAL HUG YOUR CAT DAY!
When I saw this holiday on my list of odd/weird holidays, I knew I was going to celebrate it...
Meeko's opinion, however, was a bit different than mine....

First, I had to hunt up the lazy furball.  She was napping on the bench she has claimed as her own.

as I woke her up

My mere presence in front of her woke her up, a major crime in her book.  She was in the middle of her mid afternoon, pre meal nap and should not of been disturbed.

are you feeling the joy?

I informed her of my intention and the fact that it was National Hug Your Cat Day and how could I, as a responsible and loving owner, not partake...  She didn't care, and still said no...

Prepare for the hug, and the murder she will be committing tonight.

I continued on and picked her up and still her enthusiasm lagged, but then she cuddled for a brief moment before demanding to be freed from my love so she could continue with more important things...

Back to her nap...

like napping....

As for Bacall, she observed it all with her usual excitement level and is patiently waiting for National Hug Your Hound Day on September 13th...

Contain your excitement, Bacall....

Loving these fun holidays,

Melissa

Foodie Adventures...

I figured since I gave updates about my reading challenge that I would do it as well for my 2016 Food Challenge as well....  Here is a link to the Full Challenge

2.  Learn a new cooking technique.

     I made Baked Alaska in February for Baked Alaska Day, February 1st if you were wondering.  It was adventure!  The new technique came with the meringue that would be topping the dessert.  This is what I learned, sometimes the right tool can make all the difference!  I had two batches of mini Baked Alaskans and with the first one I used a hand mixer to whip up the heated egg whites and sugar.  I mixed and mixed and mixed and finally got it to what I thought was the right consistency and applied it to the ice cream and cake.  When they came out of the oven, they looked like bunny slopes, not mountain peaks......  Round two, I figured out a way to heat up the egg whites and sugar in my bowl of my kitchen aid mixer and then used the whisk attachment and whipped up the meringue in no time flat and when they came out of the oven, mountain peaks!!!!  If you want a more details and photos, here's MORE

3.  Go meatless on Monday for a month.

     In January, I made a point of eating more vegetarian meals, not just going meatless on Mondays, but at least 2 other times a week as well.   I continued this in February, March, and April...

40. Do a pantry clean out challenge.  (Don't buy anything except fresh veggies for a month)

      The month of February was when I tackled this and will do this once a year...  Details about it are here....

19. Learn how to sharpen a knife.

24. Learn a new French knife skill.

       On March 9th, I took a Knife Skills class at Harmon's, who knew they had a cooking school, but they do and it's AMAZING!  I learned how to sharpen knives and a whole lot of other great tips.  It turns out that the way I had been holding my knife was not the safest and the difference in the grip while cutting is huge!  I got a new knife out of the class, plus I got to take all of the veggies I had chopped up while learning home....  A great experience.

1.   Clean out and reorganize your fridge.

      This has been  on going and was also partnered with my Pantry challenge.  I found I had 7 different bottles of salad dressing in my fridge.  One of them had solidified....  I now have one and am working on eliminating that one by finding a homemade version I love.  I used up items and really thought about my preferences and tastes.  The best part about it, I know exactly where everything is in my fridge at the moment...

7.  Slow cook something.

     Even though I do not eat a lot of meat, I still find on holidays that I go with the traditional meal, which is generally founded on meat.  St. Patrick's Day with its corned beef and cabbage is no different and I make mine in the crock pot.  Throw it all in the morning and 8 hours later, dinner!  That is why I love slow cookers and use them often!  And if you are a vegetarian, don't feel left out, there are a ton of cookbooks for slow cooking vegetarian.

41.  Master pie crusts

     I made a HUGE step forward in this on pi day, March 14th, when my crust turned out both delicate and flaky!  It was a big improvement from my last attempt.  I found a recipe on Pinterest, of course, that walked me through the consistency part (how much water to add so you have enough to hold it together and not crack, but not so wet that it gets tough).  The other thing that I did was a 1/2 ratio of cold water and cold Vodka.  The vodka keeps gluten from going berserk when beginner crust makers like myself work dough.  I'll make another one this year and see if it holds, but this just makes me happy!

31. Create a well-stocked pantry.

     My pantry challenge made me realize what I want and need in my well-stocked pantry.  This was an eye opener, but now I can make multiple dinners with items I keep on hand.
 
15. Cook dinner at home at least three nights a week for a month

     I view going out to dinner as an event or gathering with friends, so on a daily basis, I cook and eat at home, so this really is not much of a challenge for me.  I achieved this in January, February, March and April and will probably achieve it all the rest of the months of the year.

16. Make perfectly poached eggs.

      Eggs Benedict, here I come....April 16th was Eggs Benedict Day, so that's what I had for dinner and poached eggs are necessary to that meal.  I can't say they were perfect, but they were pretty well formed and were cooked to the right consistency.  :)  Tip of the day...don't crowd the pan, do them in batches...

25. Pack your own lunch for a week.
35. Follow a recipe to the T without making any changes.
47. A salad for dinner at least once a week

     I won't go into details on these as it would be a bit boring, but they were done.

14. Deep-fry something

      This is something that I do not do often, but I have frozen mozzarella steaks in my freezer that I made that need to be fried, so viola, I deep fried something.  It's a quick easy meal that I pare with a salad.

36. Grow something.

    My early garden is in with peas, carrots, lettuce, radishes, kale, and broccoli thriving, and with May here, my other veggies will be going in

This has been an interesting adventure that has made me think more about the food I buy and prepare.  I still have quite a few to go but if you are looking to mix up your eating and food routines, try a food challenge....

Still cooking,
Melissa

A Literary Discussion, Part One...

As I approached my book challenge this year and chose the classics, I knew that I would be reading some pretty heavy books, however, the benefit of doing this for fun is that I don't have to analyze the books to death, unless I want to, and can just read and enjoy or survive the books.   This year I thought I would also include in these posts books that are not on the list that I read for my book club or just for fun.....

Here we go again!

--Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

I am not going to lie, the first 200 hundred pages were so slow and hard to read that I really did not think I would finish my book club's selection, and then something happened that I can't really explain and  I inhaled the remaining 600 pages, yes it's a long one.  A story based in history with magic woven in as if it was real.  Two magicians battle egos, misconceptions and politics in this engaging book.  Characters grow, plotlines are taken to completion and the footnotes are just really fun.

#12 . One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

What a crazy, wonderful book!!  It mixes magic and tradition with tragedy and change.  What happens if generation after generation keeps making the same mistake?  If we never learn from the mistakes of the past?   I am surprised how much I ended up enjoying this book and when I have time will read others by this author.

--The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and read this book and now I can't say that I'm happy that I did.  The paradox of it is this, by page 20 I knew I would dislike and loathe most if not all of the characters by the end and I KEPT READING.  It is well written, for the style, but I am going to be very happy when the 'Gone Girl' replicas and homages are done.....

#24.  Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

After I finished this novella of about 120 pages, I did something I normally do not do and searched the internet for information about it.  I understood the allegory of it, but I wanted to see why critics loved it so much when I couldn't wait for it to be over......and then I found the piece of information that made me go 'aha!'and it was this, one of the more famous adaptations based on it is the movie 'Apocalypse Now' that I have suffered through as a part of my top 100 movie bucket list adventure. I can now say I read it and never have to again.

#3.  Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Have you ever lost yourself in a book?  I do, all the time.  I lose time and I leave my reality and live in the characters' world, but what happens if when you emerge back into your life, your sense of reality is changed?  For Don Quixote, the allure of romantic knight tales becomes real and he begins his quest of becoming a Knight and to be honest it doesn't really go that well.   His vision that allows him to see the best in things, like a castle instead of a ramshackle old inn, also causes grief when he sees dangers in things that are innocent.  The other characters also cause troubles by playing jokes on Don Quixote and Sancho, and for that reason the following line from the book sums it up the best.... 'For jests that cause pain are not jests, and entertainments are not worthwhile if they injure another.'

A fool can be wise; a wise man can be a fool; a simpleton can have the best answer for a complex problem; and an expert can cause all sorts of trouble, so go deeper and find out the truth of what is being presented...

--H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Three books in one?  How in the world will this ever work?  Just trust me when I say that just does.  Part book about grief, part hawk training adventure, and part biography of author T.H. White rolled into one.   I know nothing about hawks, but was thoroughly intrigued about the goshawk that Helen trains.  I knew little about T.H. White, but was immediately drawn in to his life.  I've been through grief and know that it's a deeply personal process and was surprised how deep she was willing to share.  I inhaled this book and can not recommend it enough..

#14.  The Iliad by Homer

Throw in a family that does not put the fun in 'dysfunctional' (Zeus and Hera, euwwww) with
men at war who trash talk and sulk like moody teenagers (with Achilles leading that list) and add a dash of blood and gore (splattering brains and pierced organs with spears)

and you have the Iliad....

A classic poem that may or may not of been written by Homer that may or may not of been based on actual events.

It was more interesting to read than I had thought it would be and I found that it ended up mocking the glory of war it set out to portray.  The Gods, Kings, and Commanders of the rank and file come of as petulant, whiny, and stubborn when innocent lives are on the line....  The rank and file as they are listed off are honest men who were called to arms by their leaders.

#8.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This book starts out as fluff....the roaring twenties, youth, and parties, but by the end it turns into a deep and thoughtful examination of the way we treat others and judge their actions and what is acceptable within society.  Extraordinary writing!!!

#7.  The Odyssey by Homer

aka  The Iliad, the attempt to return home.....  Every time Odysseus is mentioned in the Iliad, the phrase 'A Brilliant Tactician' or the like is used, but on the way home from war, the phrase did not apply.  Follow him into war, yes....  Go on a road trip, can't recommend as he is the only one to make it home, everyone that left with him from the war, DIED...

Characters from the Iliad pop up through out this tale of woe and struggle.  My personal favorites, Helen's 'my Bad for starting a war' dialogue and the I don't want to be dead group in the underworld.   We are also introduced to Odysseus's long suffering wife, Penelope, who has a group of suitors to deal with, and his son who just can't wait to be king (sorry couldn't help myself) but really just needs some answers about his Dad...

I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it either....  I won't be reading it again, but I will recommend it to read as an experience...


#17 . Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This is not a read in one evening book....  It forced me to slow down my reading by A LOT, by that I mean I read a chapter a night if that.  It is a book that makes you think and ponder and challenges your perceptions.  It was definitely not an easy read, but by the end I came to appreciate it.

#44.  Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

I read about a poem a night over the span of a couple of months.  Some resonated, others not so much, and some I could see where the controversy came from back in the day....

#37.  Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, but this is once again why I do these types of challenges, to discover books that I may not of read otherwise.  A cautionary tale of being careful of what you wish for and what you turn your back on, but what stuck with me the most is that your experience can harmfully impact another if you choose to believe that is the only possibility...

As this first quarter comes to a close, I have to admit that reading all of these heavy, dense, thinking novels is a little taxing at times and I have taken breaks and read 'fluff' books just to not have to think or pay attention to the plot.....

Still with my nose in a book,
Melissa

Pantry Challenge...

During the month of February I completed a  pantry challenge...
in a world of buy, buy, buy, I took a break.

The goal:

To see what I really use and what is just wasting my money and space by sitting in the cabinets and in the fridge.

The Rules:

The only purchases allowed are fresh produce and dairy products.

The plan:

To clean out and use things in my pantry and freezer.  I had a menu plan that didn't assign days, but listed recipes to make during the month.  I made favorites and new recipes and even made snacks and desserts.

The most surprising thing was this...

my cooking habits have changed, a lot.  I don't eat a lot of meat now, so even after not buying any meat for a month, I still have quite a bit in my freezer.  I use black beans at almost a 3 to 1 ratio to  kidney beans, who knew?  Condensed soups have now been banned since I have found a healthier, less processed, version that I can make from scratch with ease.   I love popcorn as a snack or dessert, coconut oil and dill.

I learned the following....

I would rather spend a bit of time to make something from scratch and know all of the ingredients instead of buying a pre-packaged options.  The breakfast and lunch burritos that routinely fill my freezer are cases in point.

I love to cook.

I love being creative to vary a menu and in finding new recipes to try.

I even had food to eat when I went down with a flu for almost a week....

The Results....

There was a little cheating when my favorite brand of herbs and spices went on sale at 50% off and when I ran out of yeast and couldn't make bread.


In terms of saving money, I did, but I used it to get ahead and do some extra things this month, which was very nice!

I am very glad I did this and will do it again in the future!

Off to plan my next meal...
Melissa

A change in behavior....

If you recall, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to break a bad habit or two...

This is about breaking one of them.

Carbonation in the form of Diet Cokes or Cokes....

I have stopped before

and





then







started back up....when I got stressed or to be honest,  just forgot that I had stopped.

I want to end this habit for GOOD!

So, I've been working on a new approach and plan.

Instead of quitting, I have been working on replacing it with a better option.

Why is this different, you ask?

Well, in my past attempts, I quit and then tried to fill the void.  A situation that set up for a sense of deprivation and loss.

My new approach is to not quit, but have other things in my life that replace it.  Basically, let it go out of love and not needing it anymore.

I have set goals for myself to increase my water intake, drink more tea and find options and by doing this I have already made progress.

I am in for the marathon, not the sprint, of this endeavor, so I am not there yet, but I am loving the direction I am going..

Being kinder to myself,
Melissa

February 1st....

Did you know that February 1st is Baked Alaska Day?

It is and since I'm celebrating weird/unknown holidays this year, I decided to celebrate it!  :)  As an added bonus, it fulfills a Food Challenge item as well as I have never made a meringue before.

The first documented Baked Alaska was made in 1876, to honor the recently acquired territory of Alaska, by chef-de-cuisine Charles Ranhofer of Delmonico's Restaurant.  It consists of a sponge cake topped with ice cream and coated with meringue and then baked at a high temperature to firm and lightly brown the meringue.  Yum......

Before I continue any further about my adventures in making this dessert, I first need to say that I now have mad respect for food bloggers and those who style and take pictures of food.  WOW, it is difficult to do the work and take pictures!  One armed photography is an adventure, or maybe I need a staff to help me out...  Also, combating the lighting in my kitchen was not fun.

To get started, it's time to gather our ingredients....

Remember the first time you were home alone as a kid and found this and dug in and well, let's just say it wasn't good

ok, now we're getting to the good stuff!

You Scream!  I Scream!  It's Ice Cream!

You also need eggs, sugar, flour, baking soda, unsweetened cocoa powder, and butter, but they are not as fun and I also forgot to take their pictures.  :(

First off, let's melt the chocolate with the butter.

oh, my....

Now it's time to mix up the eggs with the sugar...

 Then add the melted chocolate mixture in... I tempered it a bit just to be on the safe side..

 So, I forgot to take photos of the next couple of steps, remember how I said I needed help and that food bloggers are talented?  This is why!!!  Remembering to show all steps, etc....

The cake is made by adding the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa then baked  cooled and cut into circles.
The ice cream is put on the top and frozen.
A meringue is whipped up and put on top and then frozen.

light and fluffy meringue on top!  Thanks Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer!

The long slow slide of non fluffy meringue mixed with a hand mixer.

 This is where having the right equipment can make a HUGE difference!  I made two batches of meringue and in the first one I use a hand mixer and mixed and mixed and mixed and mixed and got a somewhat fluffy concoction.  I applied it to the brownie/ice cream and then put it in the freezer and then the long slow slide began....

Batch two, I used my Kitchen Aid Stand mixer with the whisk attachment... two minutes later, fluffy and light and no sliding occurred...

Lesson learned.  :)

Right out of the oven!  YUMMM....

Needless to say, the picture above is of the second batch!  You bake the frozen dessert in a preheated 500F oven, then turned on broil right before you put them in for a couple of minutes, and then you devour the yumminess!

It was fun to try a new technique and a new to me dessert!
Here's to fun New Year's Resolutions!!!

Melissa

Food, Glorious, Food!!!!

I enjoyed the concept of my book challenge so much that when I stumbled on a Food Challenge on Pinterest, I thought why not?

As I read the list, I soon realized some of them are not really challenges for me, like make a recipe from your Pinterest boards (I do this at least 3-4 times a week), so I thought I would swap them out for ones I come up with.....

Here is a link to the ORIGINAL...

So, here we go...

1.  Clean out and reorganize your fridge.  Complete.

     I'll probably do this at least a couple of times this year...

2.  Learn a new cooking technique.  Complete.

     I'm going to be baking a Baked Alaska in February for Baked Alaska Day, February 1st if you were wondering.

3.  Go meatless on Monday for a month.  Complete.

     I eat meatless generally once a week anyway, but this will make it more of a focus.

4.  Flip over a fried egg without the yolk breaking.  Complete

      I am horrible at this, a big ole' mess...

5.  Make tomato sauce from scratch.  Complete

6.  Read a nonfiction food book.  Complete

      I'm going to have to do some research for this one.  Any ideas?

7.  Slow cook something.  Complete.

8.  Visit a winery and/or brewery.

      I'm actually hunting for one in Utah...

9.  Organize (and purge) your cookbook collection.  Complete

      This was my first item done and it turned into a massive project.  I am embarrassed and somewhat astonished by how many never opened cookbooks that I had.  I'm donating a lot of them and giving some to my art group for altered books.  I organized my remaining books finding recipes that I used to make all of the time and have been lost in the clutter.  This was a very good thing to do and will help me tremendously as I continue on in this challenge.  1/5/16

10. Cook a new-to-you whole grain.  Complete

      Millet wins the prize

11. Master a family recipe.

      Cinnamon Rolls, my mom is a master at them....

12. Make a layer cake from scratch.

      A homemade dessert, I like this challenge....

13. Invent your own cocktail.
      It turns out that I have no desire to do this....  maybe in the future, I'll want too...  1/1/17
      Cheers...

14. Deep-fry something.  Complete

15. Cook dinner at home at least three nights a week for a month.   Complete and Repeated

16. Make perfectly poached eggs.  Complete

      Eggs Benedict, here I come....

17. Host a dinner party.  I had people over, but I'm not sure it was a dinner party....

      I'm thinking in the early summer, just as the weather gets warm....

18. Make a condiment from scratch.  Complete

     Mustard will be made, and maybe even mayo

19. Learn how to sharpen a knife.  Complete

20. Visit your neighborhood farmers market.  Complete

      I did not visit the Farmer's Market once last year....  grrrrr....

21. Make a soufflé.  Complete

      I have a sweet and a savory soufflé picked out..

22. Try at least one food that scares you.  1/1/17  I need to go to Whole Foods and buy some Kombucha and then try it....been planning on doing it for a while and STILL HAVE NOT DONE IT!

       Gonna have to think about this one...

23. Cook a steak to perfect doneness.  Complete

      Due to the fact that I can not remember the last time I had a steak, this might be leaving the challenge and a replacement will be found.

24. Learn a new French knife skill.  Complete

25. Pack your own lunch for a week.  Complete

26. Make homemade mac and cheese.

27. Feast on an ethnic food you've never had before.  Complete

      Dinner out, anyone?

28. Make hummus from scratch.

29. Organize your tupperware containers.  Complete

       They are organized as of the first week of January, thanks to my cleaning binge to start the New Year off, so I'll check periodically in the year to see if they are staying that way.

30. Pack a mason jar salad.  Complete

31. Create a well-stocked pantry.  Complete

32. Can/preserve something.  Complete

     This gives me the excuse to finally get the pressure cooker that has been on my Amazon Wishlist for a while now...

33.Make homemade pasta.  Complete

34. Flip pancakes without them folding.  Complete

     See my egg problem above, it's applies to pancakes as well.  :(

35. Follow a recipe to the T without making any changes.  Complete

      This is going to be hard....I generally tweak recipes for all matter of reasons

36. Grow something.  Complete and ongoing

37. Ferment something.  1/1/17  I've decided not to do this....

      I'm a little worried about this one...  Fermented food and I are not really buds, I find them icky...  Any ideas?  Help?  Recipes?

38. Make an on-point French omelet.  1/1/17  I eat maybe one omelet a year and I have a great breakfast place near my house that does them very well....  I'll stick to frittatas.....

39. Clean and put away dishes immediately for a month.  Complete

My Personal Additions...

40. Do a pantry clean out challenge.  (Don't buy anything except fresh veggies for a month) COMPLETED in February

      In this world of buy, buy, buy, how often do I ignore items I already have?  Plus this will help me realize what I really use and what I don't.

41. Master pie crusts  Complete  :)

      I can make a pie crust, but it can be A LOT better....it's time to practice and get the 'feel' that good pie crust makers have.

42.  Cheesecakes without the cracking  Attempted, will need to try again.

      Poor tortured me, I have to have a cheesecake this year.  How will I ever survive?  Maybe I'll serve it as dessert at the dinner party I've been challenge to have, so I can't overindulge.

43.  Use it or lose it....  Complete  My cooking gadget drawer is full, but it is full of things I use!

       I've switched the hangers in my clothing closet to see what I wear and what just takes up space in there, why not with my gadgets/small appliances?  At the end of the year, I'll donate what I don't use.

44. Come up with 5 ready in under 30 minutes meals  Complete!  and they are really good!

       They can be meals that I make ahead and hang out in the freezer or can be put together with ingredients I keep on hand.

45. 5 items that I currently buy and replace with healthier options (hopefully homemade)

      The more natural I eat, the better I feel..shocking I know, but there are some sneaky things that have added sugar, salt, and preservatives that have easy homemade options.  It's time to seek them out and change...

46. NO FAST FOOD!!!!  (Jamba Juice and healthy options excluded)  I think I ate at a fast food chain twice!!

      I periodically just don't want to cook or don't have time and I fall back on fast food, not often, but I want to eliminate this from my life....  If traveling or out with others, I will choose the best option.

47. A salad for dinner at least once a week  Complete

      Getting more veggies is is never a bad idea

48.  A new recipe a month  Complete

       Who knows, I may find a new favorite or one that I can plug into #44...

49.  More dutch over cooking, especially during the summer  Complete

        This style of cooking is in my heritage and I love it and during the summer, it has the added benefit of not heating up the house....

50.  A cup a tea a day  Update:  I drank more tea in 2016, but not everyday, but I still think this was a success

       I love tea, but have fallen out of the habit of drinking it.  As I am trying to eliminate a bad habit (carbonation), this is a healthy and tasty alternative.

51.  Take a cooking class.  Complete

        Learn something new and get yummy food in the process, I'm in...

Here are the rest of the items that I took off my list and the reason why:

-Perfectly roast a whole chicken..  I have an amazing terra-cotta roasting pan that roasts chicken like you can not believe.  I've had this skill for a while now.

-Break down a chicken...  By roasting chickens periodically and destroying them, I found a video online and learned a while ago.  The key, a very sharp knife.

-Bake bread from scratch..  I very seldom buy bread from the store anymore, because I make it from scratch

-Clean out your spice rack...  As part of a New Year cleaning binge, I just did this not realizing it was on the list

-Learn to cut a whole pineapple...  Pineapple makes my mouth itch and tongue swell..staying away for health issues, plus I hear there is a handy item from The Pampered Chef that does an amazing job.

-Perfectly steam rice...  My rice cooker!  This is an item that I will never be without.  It takes the stress away, plus mine cooks other things as well.

-Make Chicken or Vegetable stock..  I have a gallon of homemade veggie stock in my freezer at the moment.  I take the scraps as I cut veggies and put them in a freezer gallon bag and when it gets full, I use that and add herbs and spices.  It cuts down on my trash and it tastes so much better than store bought.

-Make your coffee at home for a month...  I don't drink coffee, never have, and just don't like it.

-Learn to caramelize onions... Another staple in my freezer, I make a big batch and them portion them out and put them freezer.  If dinner is looking a little boring, defrost and ta-da fancy dinner.

-Churn homemade ice cream...  I got an ice cream maker a couple of years ago and have never looked back.  SO MUCH BETTER than store bought.

I'll keep you updated on how this is going and if anyone wants to join me in the cooking class or trying the ethnic food, let me know....

Rumbly in my Tummy...

Melissa

            

2016 Reading Challenge

My reading challenge of 2015 was one of my favorite adventures of the year and as I approached the end I knew that I had to find another one this year.  I decided pretty quick to read the 'Best Novels Ever Written', but soon found that there are A LOT of book list that do not agree.  There were common denominators on every list, and then I stumbled upon a website called 'The Greatest Books'. It takes 107 different lists and crunched the numbers and came up with a compilation of the Top Books list.  You can even break it down by decades if you choose.  Below is a link if you are curious and want to check it out....

http://thegreatestbooks.org

Now, onto my challenge, I decided that if I had read the book in the last 5 years, I did not need to read it again.  My challenge of last year added to the list of the book I do not need to read now.  :)  I'm going to continue my 'book reports' of last year as well....

#1.  In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust  COMPLETED 6/25

#2.  Ulysses by James Joyce     COMPLETED
 
        Since I finished my challenge early last year, I started in on this list and chose this to start me out, and realized something really quick, it's a LONG book, but not that hard to read.  I ended up describing it this way, it's the Seinfeld of books.  There are episodes you love and quote and think are hilarious, there are some that are ok and you think it could of been better, and then there are the episodes that you just slog through.  I probably won't ever read it again, but it was a mostly enjoyable 900 plus page read.

#3.  Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes COMPLETED 1/26

#4.  Moby Dick by Herman Melville  COMPLETE 8/27

      I read 'In the Heart of the Sea' last year that was the true story that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick, so it's a nice continuation this year.

#5.  Hamlet by William Shakespeare       COMPLETED

       I read Hamlet periodically, for reasons I don't really understand, so I am counting it read.  I can quote parts of Hamlet's speech that I learned in high school, so needless to say this play has impacted my life.

#6.  War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy  COMPLETED 6/7

#7.  The Odyssey by Homer    COMPLETED 2/21

#8.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald  COMPLETED 2/14
     
        I can't believe it's been over 5 years since I read this book!!!  I put it on the list happily.

#9.  The Divine Comedy by Dante Alleghieri  COMPLETED 7/20

#10.  Madame Bovery by Gustave Flaubert      COMPLETED

        Read during my challenge last year.  :)

#11. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky  COMPLETED 10/30

#12 . One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez COMPLETED 1/11

#13 . The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain  COMPLETED

         I might reread this for the challenge if I have time.  I love this book...

#14 . The Iliad by Homer  COMPLETED 2/13

#15 . Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov DID NOT FINISH, NOR WILL I EVER attempted 6/10

#16 . Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy     COMPLETED

         Read during the 2015 challenge

#17 . Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky  COMPLETED 3/17

#18 . Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll  COMPLETED 4/16

#19 . The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner   COMPLETED

          My first Faulkner read that made me a fan of his.  I just read this again two years ago..

#20 . Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen     COMPLETED

         Love the book, Love the adaptation with Kiera Knightley, Love Jane Austen....

#21 . The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger  COMPLETED 5/3

#22 . Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë   COMPLETED

          I unaffectionately call this book, 'Moping Thru the Moors' and tried it again a couple of years ago to see if my opinion had changed, it hadn't....  This book is the reason behind the 5 year rule, I couldn't bear the thought of having to read it again.  The only acceptable version of this book is by Monty Python and is done with nautical flags (trust me, it's hilarious)....

#23 . Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell  COMPLETED 5/4

#24 . Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad  COMPLETED 1/17

#25 . To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf  COMPLETED 5/17

#26 . Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner  COMPLETED 9/14

       Wait a Faulkner book I haven't read?  This is the reason I do these things...

#27 . Middlemarch by George Eliot     COMPLETED

         Another 2015 Challenge book.

#28 . The Trial by Franz Kafka  COMPLETED 6/8

#29 . One Thousand and One Nights by India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt  COMPLETED 6/26

#30 . The Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov  COMPLETED 7/23

#31 . The Red and the Black by Stendhal  COMPLETED 9/29

#32 . Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift  COMPLETED 4/23

#33 . Catch-22 by Joseph Heller  COMPLETED 4/29

#34 . The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck      COMPLETED

        The first paragraph of this book is one of the best, in my opinion, descriptive paragraph in literature.  You can feel the dryness and hopelessness of an area destroyed by drought.

#35 . Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison  COMPLETED 4/17

#36 . The Stranger by Albert Camus  COMPLETED 5/30

#37 . Great Expectations by Charles Dickens  COMPLETED 3/31

#38 . The Aeneid by Virgil  COMPLETED 10/10

#39 . David Copperfield by Charles Dickens  COMPLETED 12/23

#40 . Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf  COMPLETED 8/5

#41 . Beloved by Toni Morrison          COMPLETED

         Oprah either gets the blame or credit, depending on how you look at, for my reading this already.  Before I found challenges, I tried to read all of the Oprah Book Club books.  I am strangely ambivalent about this book...

#42 . The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer COMPLETE 11/10

#43 . Collected Fiction by Jorge Luis Borges  COMPLETED  8/16

#44 . Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman  COMPLETED 3/31

#45 . Candide by Voltaire  COMPLETED 4/2

#46 . Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë  COMPLETED 10/18

         I read this a long time ago, so it's on the list to read....

#47 . As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner     COMPLETED

         A third Faulkner book and an incredible read...  If I have time, I'll read this again.

#48 . The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway      COMPLETED

         When I visited Key West in January of 2014, my first priority was to go to Sloppy Joe's and then to the Hemingway House, so yes, I've read this book and yes, multiple times.

#49 . The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka  COMPLETED 11/21

#50 . Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne  COMPLETED 12/26



If you did the math and subtracted the completed books, you know that I have 37 books on the list to read.  I will be reading other books this year as well, since I should have the time, with H is for Hawk leading that to read list.  I thought I would put them in the book reports as well...

It's an intriguing list to me.  There are some books that are long, but others are pretty short...  I have a feeling I will discover some new loves and put others on my why is this a classic list, but that's the whole point of reading, to me, to discover what you love.....

Well,  I'm off to read....
see you at the end of the first quarter!

Melissa