hobby, recipe, website, YouTube

30 day blog challenge 20, 21, 22 & 23/30

I got behind on the blog challenge this weekend, so I'm going to catch up here.

my hobby

I haven't met many hobbies that I don't like, except scrapbooking.  The one that I do the most is cooking.  I love to cook for my husband and try new foods.  I would go to culinary school if I felt like I would be happy with the food industry working environment.  I have a little idea that I'm tinkering with that involves food and may also provide a small income.  I'll let you know if it works out.  I also sew a little, knit, draw silly cartoons, play board games, play video games, work logic puzzles, and read.

a recipe

I picked this recipe because my sister and I were just talking about making these last night.  One day I'm going to have a signature recipe.  Maybe it will even be a secret recipe, don't know yet.

Potato Cakes

Ingredients

2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup ap flour
salt to taste
1 pinch of garlic salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup shredded cheddar

Directions

1. Combine potatoes, egg, flour, salt, and garlic in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. Melt butter in frying pan over low heat, drop lumps of the potato mixture into the pan, enough to make the cakes the size of a pancake when flattened to 1/2 an inch thick.  Sprinkle the top with cheese and cover with a little more potato mixture.
3. flip the potato cake over when browned on one side about 7-10 minutes, then brown on the other side.

a website

I've been checking The Daily Dragon a lot lately.  Only 10 days to go!  I can't believe I am leaving Lucas for four nights!  I'm going to miss him so much, I just hope I can relax and have a good time.  I really didn't think this would be a problem when I booked the room last year, just a week before he was born.  I'm still excited, though!

a YouTube video

I've never been able to get into watching YouTube videos.  I have friends and family that watch one thing after another and then want me to watch it with them.  I get bored easily.  I don't really have that problem when watching television though. I love Tosh.0, I even tried to get tickets to his stand-up tour but all of the decent seats were sold out.  This one is old but it is still funny.  Poor little guy, I've felt like that before.




Is this real life?

for tomorrow: tickle #4

a talent of mine

30 day blog challenge 19/30

I don't think I have a talent, but I do have a superpower.  My nose, I have the best smeller around.  I can always trust it to help me find the stinky, smell smoke, or let me know what's for dinner (assuming I didn't cook it, which is rare).  You know how one sense gets better when you start losing one, like Daredevil.  I figure my nose works really well because my eyes are really terrible.  I hope my nose gets a lot better in case I go totally blind.  I need to figure out what on-coming traffic and cliffs smell like.

for tomorrow: a hobby of mine

tickle #3

30 day blog challenge 18/30

I detest recliners.  I believe that they belong in nursing homes.  Guess what my husband wants more than anything?  Yup, a recliner.  I've always managed to talk him out of it, I even talked him into saving the funds for a reclining armchair that I don't love but wouldn't make me want to hurl each day.  I finally got new sofas this year and I love their clean angles and straight lines.  He sent me a text this morning asking me if I mind if he brings home a recliner that his parents are getting rid of.  I haven't replied, but I can't say no.  I love him and he works super hard while I stay home and play with Lucas.  If he feels like he needs to recline after work, who am I to stop him?  I hope the jumbo-sized, round, puffy recliner makes him happy.

At least it doesn't look like this one.

next:  a talent of mine

an artpiece

30 day blog challenge 17/30

I've always loved Japanese woodblock prints. I have a favorite one that is an autumn landscape but I couldn't find the image.  This one is very close.

found here.

for tomorrow: whatever tickles my fancy again!

a song that makes me cry

30 day blog challenge 16/30

This song is the same one that I posted on day one of this challenge. Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin.
so sad.

for tomorrow: An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)

fanfic

30 day blog challenge 15/30

Okay, I know that I enjoy most geeky things but I can honestly say that I do not have a favorite fanfic.  That is not to say that I couldn't get one if I tried, I just think I need to leave this one alone.

for tomorrow:  a song that makes me cry

A non-fictional book

30 day blog challenge 14/30

This is my favorite non-fiction book right now. I especially love the photos and the jars with colorful lids.  I think I am starting to hoard jars after buying this book.  Now I just need a surplus of food to put up.

for tomorrow: a fanfic (ugh)

A Fictional Book

30 Day Blog Challenge 13 of 30

I have two fictional books on my bedside table, The Sword of Truth and Under the Dome.  I started The Sword of Truth first and it didn't feel like it had been long enough since I watched the Legend of the Seeker so I lost interest and picked up Under the Dome.  Now I'm in the mood for some Richard and Kahlan so I'm going to pick it back up.

for tomorrow:  a non-fictional book

Tickle #2

30 Day Blog Challenge 12/30

This website is tickling my fancy all over the place!  According to the blogger's profile, she is 19 and man can she bake!  I stumbled across the site while looking for birthday cake ideas for Lucas and I think I found it.

TA DA!

She calls it the Super Epic Rainbow Cake.  I'm calling it Lucas' first birthday cake.

TAKE THE RAINBOW BACK!

for tomorrow: a fictional book

A Photo of Me Taken Recently

30 Day Blog Challenge 11/30

I haven't had my picture taken alone since right before Lucas was born, unless you count this goofy cell phone pic that I sent Alex today.

That's my kissy face.

for tomorrow (or later today): whatever tickles my fancy

A Photo of Me Taken Over Ten Years Ago

30 Blog Challenge 10/30

This was probably taken in 1998, I think I was 19.  Notice the hemp necklace, black hair, and my lady-like leg position. I am posting this photo of me and Alex for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is that today is Alex's 32nd birthday.  He and I spent the day at Carowinds riding roller coasters and having loads of fun, just like we did back when this photo was taken.  The second reason is that it was easily available.  I'm really tired after all the theme parkin' we've been doing and I don't want to scan anything so I took this from Alex's facebook album. 

Happy Birthday Alex!  I love you!










for tomorrow:  a photo of me taken recently

A Photo That I Took

30 Day Blog Challenge 9/30

I took this photo while we were lost in DC this past July.  Alex and I were both very upset because the phones and GPS were dead, the baby was crying, it was after midnight, and all the 7-11 workers had no idea where they were much less how we could get back to Rosslyn.  We were even the targets of a few rude cabby hand gestures. My wonderful husband didn't give up until we were back in our room cozy and comfortable.  I love him.



for tomorrow:  a photo of me taken over ten years ago and it's Alex's birthday!

A Photo That Makes Me Angry or Sad

I chose angry instead of sad.  Wet dogs generally make me angry.  This wet dog in particular digs out of our fence just to get in the muddy creek and track dirt into the house.  He also ate a dozen of the softest, tastiest, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies while we were away today.  I really was looking forward one of those.
Grrrrr. . .

For tomorrow:  a photo that I took  Oops! I was already doing that.

A Photo That Makes Me Happy

30 Day Blog Challenge 7/30

I've been really busy today and I almost went to bed without posting this.  I had to pick it fast but this photo of Lucas eating corn really makes me smile.  He kept making yum noises. 

For tomorrow:  a photo that makes me angry or sad

Tickles

30 Day Blog Challenge 6 of 30

I have a lot tickling my fancy right now, but the 30 day challenge requires that I post about my fancy five times so I will save the others for later instead of making a list.

This is what I was thinking about last night after reading an article in an old Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine that I was trying to purge. 

Being from the area, I have always heard of Thomas Wolfe, especially after his childhood home nearly burned down several years ago, but I've never read Look Homeward, Angel.  It's not a wonder that I haven't read it.  The book doesn't really seem like my thing.  According to the article it caused quite the stink around Asheville when it was written and that interests me.  My plan is to read the book and then visit his restored home.  Apparently, it was a boarding house and the backdrop for many of the stories in the book.  Since this wouldn't be any fun to do alone, I am going to ask Jennifer to join me.  It will be perfect since she moved to Tennessee and we've been planning to meet each other in the middle for a visit.  That reminds me, I need to ask her.  I hope she's down with the Thomas Wolfe Challenge and this isn't another Our Mutual Friend repeat.

For tomorrow:  A photo that makes me happy

My Favorite Quote

30 Day Blog Challenge 5/30

Wow, this is the easiest "favorite" of all!  I had it posted on my refrigerator for all the world to see.

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants."  Esther De Wall, SEEKING GOD: THE WAY OF ST. BENEDICT

and that, thankfully, is the last of the favorites in the 30 day blog challenge.  I'm glad, all that decision making was wearing me out.

For tomorrow:  Whatever Tickles My Fancy

My Favorite Book

30 Day Blog Challenge 4/30

Okay, I guess this blog challenge has prepared me to admit that I can't pick just one favorite anything.  That may have something to do with my inability to make decisions. Our bedroom is covered in books and picking a favorite one is like trying to pick a favorite child or pet.

When I was a kid, my mama and I visited the library a lot.  It was fun for both of us and I really enjoyed leaving with the maximum number of books allowed.  My favorites were The Boxcar Children, Anne of Green Gables and Little House series.  I devoured any and all Judy Blume, especially the Fudge books, Blubber, and It's Not the End of the World.  I also made sure that I had a non-fiction book of some kind.  This was usually a craft or joke book.  When I was a little older I started reading the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins, just like every other tween in the late 80s and early 90s.
My favorite book from this time in my life was the Sweet Valley Saga.  I read it over and over, it was like some kind of pre-teen, historical soap opera.  Really sickening and dramatic, right up my bratty alley.

When I entered seventh grade I discovered Christopher Pike and R L Stine.  I loved the Remember Me trilogy, what's better than a dead girl trying to find her killer?  I amassed quite the collection of young adult horror books.  Fast forward to the present and I still enjoy reading these stories the most, just with more adult themes and language. This is where everything gets blurry and all the sci-fi and horror books start piling up and blending together.  I still love a good series.  I also love the feeling of being upset when a good book comes to an end and the world inside shuts you out.  I still throw in some non-fiction every once in a while to keep things interesting.  I've always considered the books that make the most impact on my life and way of thinking to be my favorites.  The most recent book that I have read that made an impression on me was Into the Wild.  It wasn't the best book but reading it, a few years ago, activated dormant rebellious feelings and started me on a new reading path filled with books about wanderlust and anti consumerism. 

I'm not happy with this entry and not being able to pick a favorite book.  I also wish that I could just list The Bible as my favorite book like a good Christian, but I've always struggled with it and I know that God loves me anyway.

Right now I am reading Under the Dome. It's not going to be my favorite but it is entertaining.

I loved Big Dog ...Little Dog when I was very small.  My mama read it to me before I could read myself and now I read it to Lucas.  I think I will say that it is my favorite book.

For tomorrow:  My Favorite Quote

My Favorite Television Program

30 Day Blog Challenge 3/30

Again, I can't pick just one but this one was easier since most of the shows I like get canceled (RIP Legend of the Seeker, Firefly, and Dollhouse).

1.  Good Eats

I have such a girly crush on Alton Brown.  He's smart, funny, he cooks, and hangs out with puppets.  What more can a girl ask for?  I don't think Alex minds either because AB makes me want to cook and Alex likes to eat.  Good Eats comes on everyday and my DVR hooks me up.  The show only last about thirty minutes, perfect length for eating lunch or sitting on the couch relaxing while the baby's napping.    

2.  Dr Who 

Every time we get a new doctor, I worry that I won't like him as much as the last one but somehow the geniuses at the BBC have me loving the new doc by the end of his first episode.  Dr Who is good, clean entertainment.  I don't have to think about it, I just enjoy it.

For tomorrow:  My Favorite Book

My Favorite Movie

30 Day Blog Challenge 2/30

This one is hard too.  I can't pick just one favorite movie so I am going to make a top five list.  I rarely watch a movie more than once but I have seen all of these multiple times.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Goonies - I wanted to be a Goonie when I was a kid.  I'll bet most of our generation wanted the same thing but I'll also bet that no other kid had the elaborate Goonie daydreams that I had.  If this list had been my favorite movies as an adult, I'm not sure Goonies would make the cut.  "Amy, you Goonie!"

2. Star Wars (original trilogy) - I know it's actually three movies but it's my list so I'm making/breaking the rules.  I love all films about space and I have many favorites that I could list but Star Wars is, of course, the best.  The worlds, storylines, and characters are so imaginative and endless.  I love it.

3. Dark City - This one has moved down the list over the years but it is still visually my favorite.  I think about this movie often.

4. Pulp Fiction - This is the most quoted film around our house.  I just wish the language was a bit milder so that more people could enjoy it, but then it probably wouldn't be as good.

5. 12 Monkeys - I used to be obsessed with this movie, such a great story.  Still my favorite Brad Pitt role, he looks so crazy!

Ok, so my list is a little sci-fi heavy but I have rules about movies.  I don't watch things that make me cry.  The more realistic the film, the more pointless it is in my book.  To me, movies are an escape.  I can cry and ride an emotional roller coaster by watching the news.

Phew, this was hard and there are at least three other movies that I feel bad about not mentioning.  That's so silly.

For tomorrow:  My Favorite TV Show

My Favorite Song

30 Day Blog Challenge 1/30

I wish that I had just one favorite song.

I didn't have a lot of food cravings when I was pregnant with Lucas but one thing that I did enjoy on a daily basis was classic country music. The Highwaymen, David Allan Coe, June Carter, Merle Haggard, Hank Jr, etc. This is the music, along with various southern rock artists, that was the soundtrack for my childhood and I craved it. For the past year, I've been listening to two songs more than others so I am going to call them my current favorites.

1. Pancho and Lefty - Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

cause I like songs that tell a story



2. Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin

cause sometimes sad songs are the best songs



My husband can't wait for this music phase to end. He hates it!

For tomorrow, My Favorite Movie.