TWD~Arborio Rice Pudding

disclaimer****There is not really a good way to photog rice pudding... it just looks kinda gross.

I had no intentions of making this recipe. First of all I do not like rice in liquid, and especially not in pudding (ick) and second of all it is a lot harder to bring rice pudding into work than it is to bring oh lets say, Cupcakes.

But when I told my taste testers that I would be taking a break this week they had a complete cow man! bart simpson. moo.

They said, But we will eat anything you make.

Oh really? Fine then you can get icky rice pudding.

I read on the TWD website today where Ms. Dorie Greenspan herself! said, The recipe is wrong! Cook the pudding for 55 minutes not 30 like the book says.

I completely ignored her and followed the recipe in the book. She said it would look soupy, mine looked soupy. So i put in the fridge that way. Left for the evening. When I got home and I said, This still looks like disgusting rice soup! So i dumped it back into the pot and then it thickened rightup. And I realized that I should've listened to Internet Dorie. Not Cookbook Dorie.

Now the rice pudding is resting in the fridge all nice and thick.

I made 2 flavors too.

The first one is with vanilla, raisins and a few cinnamon chips.

The second batch is Chocolate and vanilla.

I doubt I will try them.

I will save eating Arborio Rice when it's in some delicious Risotto!

Tiny Dancer

1. Put your iPod or other Mp3 player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!



IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY? I'm Yours (Jason Mraz)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? Christmas Time is Here (Sarah McLachlan) so true!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? Everloving (Moby)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? A Lack of Color (Death Cab for Cutie)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Redemption (Switchfoot) amen!

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Tangled Up In Blue (Indigo Girls)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Lost Ones (Lauryn Hill) woah..deep.

SERIOUSLY!!!WHAT IS 2+2? Ocean Breathes Salty (Modest Mouse)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? Lilac Wine (Jeff Buckley)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Jackson (Johnny Cash)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? Expectations (Belle & Sebastion) if you only knew...

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? The Scientist (Coldplay) ugh no!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Bus Driver (Caedmon's Call) take me away...

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Hey There Delilah (Plain Whote Ts) they never could remember my name!

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? White Trash Wedding!!! (Dixie Chicks) I swear that was the song that came up! how fitting!!!!

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?t Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus) So perfect!!!!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Natural Anthem (The Postal Service)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? Which Will (Nick Drake)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? Trading My Sorrows ...awwww

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? The Quiet Wonder (Waterdeep)

HOW WILL YOU DIE? Rocket Man (Elton John) Brilliant!!!!

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?Pull up the People (M.I.A.)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? Everyday Down (Joan Jones)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? When Can I See You (Babyface) that song does make me sad!

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED? A Lifetime (Better than Ezra) what does that mean???

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST? The Holly and the Ivy (George Winston) nightmares!

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU? White Ladder (David Gray)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? Anyone else but you (Juno soundtrack) truth hurts.

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW? Try a Little Tenderness (Otis Redding) yes, please do.

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS? Tiny Dancer! (Elton John)

Old Spinster Stew

I made real, homemade, beef stew today. Not the kind in the can, not the kind in plastic packaging that has fake meat, but the whole sha-bang meaty beefy stew.

I also made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

And did dishes

and laundry.

Just call me domesticated. I'm practicing. Because according to Mary and her comments on her blog today, women that are librarians are naturally old spinsters. Hello, It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite movie of all time. I know what happens if George was never born, no one was there to save Mary from being an old spinster.

So in spite of the fact that I am one who works in a library, I'm practicing my domestic skills so I do not end up an old spinster.

Then again, I do just fine on my own. Thank you very much. Actually, now that I come to think of it, Old Spinsters are bringing sexy back. I think that is what J.T. was singing about. Yes! I think it was!

Shabby Chic for the Bathroom

If you don't know it by now I am Ms. Shabby Chic... third after Joolee, who is second after Rachel Ashwell.

I found these framed prints that i oh so badly want for my bathroom... So when you are doing your bizzness you can read this:

These can be found here at the Shabby Chic store. Where I can afford nothing.

Yippy! Skippy! Christmas Movies!

Shannon Someone said to me, "Last night I went home and listened to Christmas music." What! Christmas is light years away. Until it hit me... By Golly its almost a month away! Hurray!
It's the most wonderful time of the year. Actually July is because:

a) It's finally HOT in Minnesota
b) I get the whole month off from work



But I do like Christmas time for realizies. One of my FAVORITE Sabro holiday traditions is watching a Christmas themed movie every weekend starting the weekend after Thanksgiving, all the way up until the night before Christmas....

So here is my Christmas movie countdown list:



Family Stone (SJP is uptight hot tranny mess, family is dysfunctional! love love love the feel of it all)

ELF (Could Zooey Deschanel get any cuter as Jovie! What a voice too! Will Ferrel is hilarious. Love that his name is Buddy, just like by Bro Buddy!)

Miracle of 34th Street (Santa+Macy's+crabby Maureen O'Hara+Natalie Woods+Christmas Spirit=I BELIEVE!

White Christmas (The singing, the dancing, the costumes, vermont, the General, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, the other lady who was way too thin, plus snow snow snow, marvelous!)

It's a Wonderful Life (where do i begin~ball my eyes out every time! Jimmy Stewart THE BEST! Donna Reed, gorgeous! friends and angels and bells and happy endings!)



Runners up:

Love Actually and Little Women (Winona Ryder version) it's not really a Christmas movie is it? well kinda.



What are your favorite Christmas movies?

Twilight

Overheard in the Media Center today between a girl and boy:

G: Have you read Twilight?
B: No.
G: But its such a good book!
B: It's not a book, its an epidemic.


so true. so very very true.

TWD~Kugelhopf

I have a love hate relationship with yeast! It all started when I worked in a kitchen at a crisis care facility in the mountains of New Hampshire. Almost everyday at one point in the day I had to make some sort of dinner rolls, and they all used yeast. Some days the yeast would rise beautifully. Other days it just fell flat. My friend Rachel always seemed to have the worst time with yeast. Go Pull Bread! Anyway, once i got the hang of using yeast, I could make just about any kind of dinner rolls and they were scrumpdilicious! That was over 10 years ago. Once i didn't have to make dinner rolls everyday, I stopped using yeast.

So here I am faced with the challenge of making Kugelhopf and I seem to be failing miserably. My dough is not rising. UGH!!!!! I lost my magic touch.

The one thing that got my undies in a bunch was that the recipe didn't call for me to proof the yeast first. That is all I've ever done and now, no proofing. I feel strange inside.
I do not own a Kugelhopf pan. I am using a bundt pan. I did not put raisins in the mix. I put dried currants and cinnamon chips. I'm still sitting here waiting for my dough to rise. I am going to go watch Gossip Girl. I'll be back. Gosh I hope i didn't just sound like the Terminator. But I do sometimes have an Austrian accent. And I love to Govern my kitchen.

So while I was watching GG I got inspired. To take pictures of myself artfully pretend sleeping and my cute pink shoes. And I broke one of my favorite pepper shakers. What is that they say, A broken bird in the hand is... well it's just that... a broken bird in the hand.

All while my Kugelhopf was doing this:

And then when that was done it looked like this:




And tasted like this:

Oh well, I tried. No more Kugelhopf for me.
I take that back, it didn't taste like cardboard. It was buttery and brioche-y. I just was expecting it to be sweeter. Like me, on a really good day.