I snapped this photo the other night while Dan was watching the Sharks vs Ducks hockey game on television. It was a tough game to watch (Sharks lost, bringing it to 3-1 in the series). But at this moment instead of angry and loud and excited, he was still and quiet and focused. And while I know the outcome of the game (and the series) was disheartening, I love the look in his eyes. He’s so intent and focused.
I sometimes have a hard time finding focus in my life. My mind whirls with ideas and a todo list 100 miles long. I can be very organized at times. And even diligent and momentarily focused, but long term focus is difficult for me. I need variety, but then too much variety and I get paralyzed: what should I do? I want to do abc and xyz and lmnop and… but I only have time to do abc. So instead of going and doing abc, I sit and fret and consider all of the options over and over until all of my time is gone.
This blog is an experiment in focus for me. I love writing, even if it’s just a little rambly account of how I made some cupcakes. And I love baking. But sewing and knitting and traveling and entertaining and green choices and reading and photography and guitar and finding a way to get back into shape without giving up baking are all high on my list as well. So the experiment for me has been to focus on 1 thing: baking (mostly). And it’s been successful so far. It’s still a new blog and I’m still enjoying it. But I’m feeling some of my focus fading.
I don’t mean to say that I’m going anywhere or that I’m not going to continue baking and bringing you treats. I fully intend to continue to do all of those things… and more. But my focus is getting a little blurry. So if I stray a bit off the cookie crumb trail, I hope you will still follow me. I promise to keep a good amount of treats and eats flowing through these pages (I mean, I do still have to eat after all).
What do you do to stay focused? How are you at setting goals and actually achieving them?
Tagged as:
focus,
sharks
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
I missed last month’s Daring Bakers Challenge which was a lovely looking lasagna with handmade noodles. It was a tough month in my world and while the lasagna sounded delicious, it looked like a lot of work. And I just wasn’t up for work.
So when this month approached and I saw the challenge was cheesecake, I was excited. I mean, cheesecake! Yeah, baby! But the month drew on. And on. And then I found myself almost out of time. Although I did have ideas… chai, chocolate, coffee, kahlua, matcha green tea, and lots of swirls. But then it was Sunday and the deadline was Monday… and I wasn’t in the mood to bake. I mean, I was excited about my ideas just 2 days ago. But today I… well, I just wasn’t feeling it.
Then I remembered last month. And then I remembered the guilt. So… I baked cheesecake. This cheesecake was baked with guilt, not love. It still tastes pretty good though.
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Tagged as:
cake,
chai,
cheesecake,
coffee,
daring bakers,
kahlua
If you’ve been reading along, by now you know I’m from the South. It’s not something I talk about that often typically, but my stomach seems to be a little homesick lately (Nothing some good BBQ wouldn’t cure, but I can’t find the kind of pulled pork I want around here). Anyhow, today I’m bringing you a quintessential Southern drink: the mint julep. Funny thing though, I never had a mint julep when I lived in Georgia. The first one I had was at a restaurant in San Francisco. Haha.
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Tagged as:
Alton Brown,
bourbon,
cocktail,
drinks,
mint julep,
southern
Dear Microplane, you are the best tool I think I’ve ever owned. Seriously, I never expected perfection and yet there you are with your perfect zest…
So, Dan recently bought me a Microplane Grater/Zester
. I’ve had it on my wish list for a while but never felt it was completely necessary because the little Oxo Good Grips Grater
I’ve been using did a fine job. Or so I thought. That is, until I tried out the microplane last night when I needed orange zest for a recipe. I think I’m in love. Seriously. Is that weird? I am completely blown away by the precision and ease of this zester. It took off only the top zest layer. None of the white pith. And it was effortless. No pressure needed. Just put it against the fruit and move it. And víola. perfecto zesto.
Dear old Grater, We’ve had some good times together. And you’ve stood by me for so many years. But I hope you will understand… it’s not you. It’s me…
I’m sure I’ll still use my trusty old grater… for something. But the microplane is the new hotness. (And I seriously cannot believe how gushy I am about this thing. I walked out to show Dan the orange twice as I was zesting it because I was so amazed. I’m not sure he was as impressed, then again he was watching the Sharks game at the time).
And now the roundup…
* Can I say I would welcome an invitation for brunch from Peabody any time? Chocolate waffles with banana fosters topping?! Are you serious? I am literally drooling. And in case that isn’t enough, she also made chocolate crumb cake muffins. That is my kind of brunch.
* I got so sidetracked by the Coca Cola Cake that I missed the Iron Cupcake deadline this month. But you should check out Clara’s Rum and Coke cupcakes over at I Heart Cuppycakes. They look and sound delicious. Coca cola cupcakes topped off with a brown sugar and rum icing? Sounds like grown up goodness.
* And these apple tartelettes from Tartelette (appropriate, no?) are beautiful and the homage to her grandmother is very sweet. They also remind me of an apple tartelette I had when I was in France last summer. I was in the South of France, wearing a flowy sundress, and eating an apple tartelette under a shade tree. It was heaven.. I am so happy to have found this recipe and can’t wait to try it out.
Tagged as:
culinary concoctions by peabody,
i heart cuppycakes,
microplane,
oxo grater,
tartelette,
zesting
I don’t usually do anything in particular to celebrate Earth Day, but I have been making small changes to my habits over the last few years to green my life. Things like using reusable shopping bags, reducing my consumer tendencies, and finding creative ways to reuse things. Like this bag. It’s made from fused plastic shopping bags. Originally it was meant to be my lunch bag, but it has become an all-purpose almost purse for me because it holds everything from my water bottle to a book to keys to pens and small notebooks and of course, my iphone. I keep thinking I’ll make more of these and put them on Etsy but I have been baking more than sewing lately. (Although with this heat wave that may be changing soon).
Anyhow, I had a small pile of Amazon boxes and Dan had several more unwanted boxes. And rather than throw them out or send them to be recycled, I decided to reuse them. I saw this project from Design Sponge a few months ago and decided to give it a shot. My cats love the corrugated cardboard scratchers from Trader Joe’s so why not? Honestly, I think my cats would have been happy if I had left the boxes intact. I mean, my cats love boxes.
But I broke the boxes down and cut them into 5″ strips.
Making sure to cut through the “honey comb” in the cardboard (not with it)…
Then I rolled it up, taped it. Rolled, taped. Rolled taped. And on and on. You really need to have a little OCD to work on a project like this. [ If I were to do it again, I would spread it across a few evenings rather than trying to get it all done in 1 sitting. ]
Once it was about the size of the cat bed that Cookie loves, I called it done and put some colorful paper along the outside to spruce it up.
Granted I know that making a cat scratcher from Amazon boxes is not the biggest thing one can do for Earth Day. But I like to think every little bit helps.
What are you doing for Earth Day?
Tagged as:
cardboard,
cat scratcher,
design sponge,
fused plastic bag,
reuse
