Finally! French Onion Soup!

I have never been a fan of French Onion soup for as long as I can remember.

One of the earliest times I could taste the disappointment was back in about 2006 when I started working at Outback and it had always smelled so good...but did not live up to my expectations. Since then, I have been on a mission to give it a taste whenever I have the opportunity and until this weekend, I had almost given up.

On Sunday, H.M. decided to paint our kitchen wall so we ran out to get some paint. In the process our bellies began to growl and I was excited to use the Panera giftcards I had been accumulating (for giving blood - totally worth it!). We both ordered soup and a sammie, but H.M. had ordered the French Onion. Oh boy, did it smell good! Luckily, I was able to swipe a most amazing scoop o'soup...and the rest is history.

Of course he wouldn't share the rest (I wouldn't have either!) so I  had no choice but to look up this great recipe to make for dinner tonight.

Making it from scratch was easier than I thought, minus the fact that my eyes were burning for about an hour because of the whole carmelization process. What I did for love!

I did use slices of Wheaty Wheat from Avalon instead of french bread and I used Better Than Bouillon's veggie-friendly beef broth substitute...instead of beef broth. Aaaaand then I may or may not have used rosemary instead of thyme and Muenster instead of Swiss/Gruyere, but hey, I finally like it!

Now I can't wait to get cute little soup bowls that I plan on stealing from my Mother's house for the next time I make a batch!

Is there a new food you've decided to test out? Something you used to detest but now crave?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't know about you, but I sure love my NPR. So, if you love NPR and you know someone else who loves NPR, you should send them one of these cute valentines.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I was sure to send this one to H.M. because one day, I am going to be a contestant on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and I will get Carl Kassell's voice on my home answering machine!

Now I'm off to finish cooking dinner and then it's time to hit the books for my Math midterm. We are more 365 Lovey-dovers so we don't do too much on Valentine's Day...besides send dorky valentines, of course!

Do you listen to NPR? What is your favorite show?

(Wait, Wait and This American Life are tied for first place, personally)

Super Sunday!

We interrupt Super Bowl XLV for a brief blog update!

Wow, this week flew by! To get in the Valentine's Day spirit, I attached paper hearts to embroidery thread and looped the ends to the antlers above the walkway into the kitchen. I can't wait to hear what H.M.'s Dad has to say about it! H.M. seemed rather impressed with my crating skills, if I do say so myself.

Also, I am totally in love with the bottle opener H.M. got for his birthday - it truly is my pleasure to open a bottle for you. Even if it is a twist-off.

With only a few more moments to go, this is a sneak peek at our Super Bowl party. Just keeping it low key with some chips and salsa from Honey Bee Market (in Mexican Town) and some Negra Modelo to wash it down. Which may or may not have been opened with the Coca-Cola opener. Loooove it!

I'm going to root for the underdogs (Steelers) because watching them get sacked by Green Bay is making my back hurt! I personally am a little disappointed with the half-time performance considering the past three years have had Sir Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and The Who as the half-time entertainment. I guess I can't complain because I don't know the Black Eyed Peas very well - maybe I just gotta get that boom-boom-boom...

First to Bat

Hello, is anybody home? I finally am and oh, how I have missed you!

I had to take a few days month or so off blogging because H.M. and I were getting situated in our new digs and it took us a while to get internet in the new apartment. To be honest, it was kind of nice for a while - I read a book or two and just felt rather productive for once. But once I found out I could start working from home in February, it didn't take long for me to sign back up for service.

Plus, I don't need people in the campus library glaring at me while I'm in hysterics because I was looking at LOL cats again, H.M. already does that at home.

Besides the usual holiday shenanigans, we finally have gotten into the groove of our new neighborhood and the things it has to offer. I'll try not to bombard you with all the nifty little gems all at once, so I'll start off with Avalon Bakery. For H.M.'s birthday this weekend, instead of getting our standard loaf of Wheaty Wheat we opted for two of their scrumptious breakfast sandwiches. Of course, because it was yesterday, I can't remember the names of either, but that means you'll just have to go check it out for yourself!

Breakfast - This is the best picture I could get - H.M. almost ate his in one foul swoop!

I also went over to Curl Up and Dye and decided I wanted to get a set of sassy lashes! I know I could have done it myself at home, but I was too nervous to do it myself because I could only imagine it ending in tears...if I didn't manage to super glue my eyes closed! I am so glad I went - I feel so pretty! 

Not only is the staff there super friendly, but they have great deals, whether it's a monthly special or just for being a Wayne State Student. There was also the most adorable St. Bernard, Bandit, that I had the pleasure of meeting while I was there...too bad Adelaide is more of an "only child" cat.

pearls - Claire's | heart on a chain - Kohl's | crystals - me | shirt - Levi's

For H.M.'s birthday, we then headed out to The Levi's Store where I finally managed to score myself a denim shirt (he also got some cords, I mean, it was his birthday). I've always wanted one but some of my, umm, measurements *cough*bust*cough* do not make me the best candidate for button-ups so I was super excited that it a) fit and b) was on clearaaaaance!

hat - Target | shirt - Levi's | pants - Target | belt - Heritage 1981 | flats - F21

Now that I've brought you up to date, I should probably get back to the outline for my speech for my Communications class...it's an introduction of myself and my love for food. I can't wait to make a treat or two for some "brownie points"!

C'mon. You know you missed me.

Seven Things

Unfortunately for me, along with the first real snow (that stuck) in Michigan, came quite the stinkybummer of a cold that had me down for the count form the week. Now that I am feeling better and have caught up on reading everyone else's blog, I thought I'd jump back in with seven things about myself (an opportunity from a fellow blogger and remixer, Dotty).

1. One of my favorite words to use is stinkybummer. It is from a Judy Blume(?) book and has nothing to do with stinky butts, just unfortunate circumstances.
2. Until this year, I had been cutting my own hair since 2005. This was economical, but often times disastrous.
3. My arms bend backward at the elbow and apparently, people find it offensive.
4. I live next door to one of our senators, Carl Levin. He is a sweetheart!
5. I cannot play a musical instrument to save my life, nor can I bake a cake. I can really only handle cookies and sing the occasional tune, other than that, count me out.
6. I too, am an IKEA addict. I will go any place, any time, with anyone. In August, they actually have a shuttle that comes to Campus Martius to bring you to the IKEA in Canton. Loooove it!
7. Mexican Fiesta is my all time favorite restaurant. The one in Dearborn is my favorite out of the two, mainly because I've know most of the waitstaff my whole life.

Here are some cookies I made this weekend at my Grama's. The cookies were pre-made and it was our job to decorate them. I prefer to make them as pretty as possible. H.M. prefers to get my siblings and cousin in on having a "Ugly Cookie Contest" which sometimes involves smearing or sandwiching my cookies. Gotta love 'em!

 My Red-Hot Christmas tree cookie.

This year, prior to the Ugly Cookie Contest, he decided to dabble in what he called watercolor cookies. And he ate those ones because they did not have enough frosting on them (and quite frankly, no one wanted his man-handled cookies).



All together now!

Do you decorate cookies? Do you keep them yourself or do you give them out as gifts?

Hope you had a great week!

Before You Hit the Hay...

Oh, Hi. So nice to see you again, and so soon! Before I retire to Snugglesville with H.M. and Adelaide, I thought I should share my recipe for a most special cold weather nightcap. Formally known as a Hot Toddy, this cup of warm goodness has helped me through many a good night of sniffles, sore throats and cold toesies.

Ingredients:

Hot water

Slice of lemon

Tbsp. sugar

Shot of whiskey

Decaffeinated Chai tea (or other tea flavor, I like Chamomile and Black tea too!)

1. Pour a shot of whiskey in your mug.

2. Squeeze the slice of lemon into your mug and then drop in mug.

3. Add sugar.

4. Pour hot water into mug and stir.

5. Add tea bag and let steep for 5 minutes (more or less depending on how strong you like your tea and how much you want to taste the whiskey).

6. Enjoy!

 

This is an alternative to the traditional Hot Toddy (I'm sure my professors would cringe if they saw my Wiki citation), but nontheless my version does the trick, and is rather tasty, if I do say so myself.

Sweet dreams!

What I Have Learned

So. It's been a week since my last post and I am sorry to say that this time I do not have a weeks worth of 30-for-30 outfits to share. I normally wouldn't consider myself a quitter, but this week was chock full of last-minute surprises including a possible break in our lease to snatch up a new apartment in Midtown and a big project that is due before Christmas break.

Because I do feel bad for not making it all the way through, I decided that to possible make up for it, for each day I was not able to participate in the remix challenge (9 days) I would donate that many articles of winter gear. Two coats, five scarves and two pairs of gloves later, I feel a little better about things. When I was donating my items, I found it to be harder than I thought to find a place besides Salvation Army or Purple Hear to donate; a lot of places are looking for men's clothing as it is less frequently donated and Women's shelters are looking for new items. I ended up donating my items to a church in our neighborhood, so all is well.

I am really glad that I participated in the 30 for 30 challenge though because it taught me quite a bit. Here are a few things that I learned along the way:

1. Take risks. While I was rather impressed with myself for wearing a shirt under my strapless dress, I also surprised myself by wearing my dress as a shirt! Also, I wish I would have had a wider variety of colors in my wardrobe.

2. Dress appropriately. The mini skirt I selected for the remix was not considered work appropriate so it limited the occasions in which I could wear it (until I wore it as a shirt!). Furthermore, I should have considered the approaching colder weather that was headed our way here in Michigan. Wearing cropped pants, skirts and dresses can be a bit nippy when you know you have a looooooong walk across campus!

3. Patience is a virtue. In hindsight, I should have taken more time to make sure the lighting was correct and sought out various locations in which to take the pictures if possible. I was really happy with the pictures that were taken over the Thanksgiving holiday and in the future I hope to showcase more of my surroundings here in Detroit. Keeping in mind, this may only be on weekends or Spring-Autumn because if you consider the following:

work/school schedule + Michigan days in the Winter = pictures in the apartment

I just haven't mastered the outdoor nighttime photo, so in the meantime, bear with me!

4. Don't sweat the small stuff. Life happens. And apparently when it hands you lemons, you bake a most amazing blueberry lemon crumble. Or throw it in Sangria. But honestly, I got back into washing my clothes by hand to make sure I had all options on hand at all times, which saved me quite a pretty penny, And as I have learned, that just as you should not cry over spilled milk, you should not cry over last minute remixes vs. being late for work. I did actually remix on Wednesday and Friday, but I did not have a H.M. to document this most amazing feat and I wasn't about to go into a Helter Skelter panic about it. Instead, I caught up on homework, a few episodes of Glee and then hit the hay early (for once).

5. This is a great idea. Especially for me around the holidays. My mom is always telling me to stop buying things for myself around the holidays and to put it on a list for other people, but honestly a girl can only wear her Patient Pants for so long. not being able to buy new things, let alone wear things outside of my 30 items allowed my creative juices to flow, thinking of new outfits to wear at various gatherings even after the challenge had ended. It also helped me save monies to really splurge on my loved ones!

All in all, I am glad I participated and look forward to doing it again in the future now knowing what I know. I t was a great way for me to meet other bloggers, and I look forward to seeing the remainder of your remix choices!

Best of luck!