Time

An incredibly old clock at the Cluny (Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris.

There's never enough time to do all the things I want to do...

I want to start a business. (Not just any business, mind you. I've got two or three specific ideas in mind. Jennifer Johnsen, I'm blaming you. You're the one who got the wheels turning on the first idea, and it has just progessed from there.)
I want to go to culinary school.
I want to learn silversmithing.
I want to go hiking.
I want to learn Arabic.
I want to learn German.
I want to learn Italian.
I want to keep making jewelry.
I want to paint more often than I do.
I want to have perfectly organized belongings and surroundings.
I want to make healthy meals with fresh ingredients.
I want to go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning.
I want to read more non-fiction.
I want to learn how to take care of my car without having to ask my dad to do stuff for me all the time.
I want to understand politics.
I want to tell people how much I love, admire, and appreciate them more often.
I want to learn how to can food.
I want to learn how to sew.
I want to learn how to throw things away that I don't actually need.

In addition to all of the things I have to do... which I will not list for you. (Think work, school, working out, sleeping, etc; i.e., all of the boring things in life [except school, which is fascinating and awesome])

Wanting to do a million different things + having a generally impatient personality = some serious ADD.

I'm trying to learn how to put projects on the shelf that can wait, and focus my time on the things that I can do simultaneously (like developing business plans slowly as I work my way through school for the second time).

L'embarass du choix. I'm telling you. At some point it's got to stop.

I'm not Dead

Hi friends!
I'm not dead, I promise... just busy.

Right now these are the things that are taking priority over blogging:

1. work
2. school
3. re-organizing, filtering through all of my stuff, and throwing away/donating a bunch of it. Too much stuff.
1. Mostly I'm doing this because I moved home and right now my stuff is hijacking half of my parents' living space. But it will be good to just clear out the junk.
4. my attempts to exercise more

So, at some point I will return. I think I'll try to post a bunch of new earring photos this weekend. I've almost finished all of the photographs (of ALL my earrings--yes I have officially finished the "wearing" stage of that project), so it's just a matter of getting them all posted.

Be back soon with some more updates, photos, and thoughts about my upcoming research papers...

For My Next Birthday (in 6 months)...

... I'm giving myself the gift of being in the best shape of my life. 'Cause that birthday's a big-un. And because that's a far enough--but close enough--date (to motivate me to reach my goal, but give me time to see a significant change).

I registered for the Freedom Run 5K today, so I feel like that's a good place to start. A celebratory kick-off of my journey to a strong and healthy body.

Research Proposals

Since we've met a total of three times, it only seems natural that I would already have a research proposal due today for my art history class. Right? Because a week is definitely enough time for me to know which art objects in a span of 20,000 years I'd like to research.

All sarcasm aside, the real problem I face is narrowing down the things I want to research. My three possible topics were:
1. Comparing funerary masks of various cultures and the meaning/power that was attributed to them by that civilization.
2. Discovering (for myself--not all of humanity--obviously) what kind of link there is between abstraction in Mesopotamian art, and abstraction and pattern in Islamic art.
3. The iconography (meaning of the symbols) of Egyptian jewelry and cultures it was influenced by/influenced.

The second topic came to light because I asked a question last class period that my teacher didn't have a definitive answer to, so he said, "That would be a great research paper."

The third topic, though... is much more interesting to me. Hmmm, I wonder why...

So, I'm printing out #2 and #3 and taking both of them with me to class.

(Really, I'm turning in the Egyptian jewelry proposal, and keeping the Islamic art proposal as a backup in case my professor doesn't like my first submission. Wish me luck.)

Double-Coconut Macaroons (not quite pina colada...)

This recipe is adapted from a recipe for basic coconut macaroons I found on Tasty Kitchen.

Double-Coconut Macaroons

14 oz bag of shredded coconut
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 whole egg whites
1-2 tablespoons pina colada drink mix

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a baking sheet.
Mix all ingredients but the eggs and drink mix.
Add in egg whites and drink mix at the end.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.

I am not a fan of coconut, but I made these for a Hawaiian luau-themed potluck, and everyone really liked them. I had a couple, just to test them... and I have to say they were pretty tasty.

The intent was to create a pina colada macaroon, but the pineapple was missing. So next time I think I'll mix some finely diced pinapple into the cookie mix and see how it goes.

Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers

I'm just going to say this in advance: You're welcome.

My mouth is watering right now just thinking about this. You have to make it.

Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers
from Real Simple magazine, issue unknown

• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges (I used 2 medium shallots)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1.5 pounds flank steak, cut crosswise into thirds

• 1 cup long-grain qhite rice
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, oregano, cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Nestle the steak among the vegetables. Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
2. 25 minutes before serving, cook the rice.
3. Using two forks, shred the beef and mix it into the cooking liquid. Serve with the rice and top with avocado and cilantro.

That's it. Simple but incredibly flavorful and tender. The only change I made was to use shallots instead of onion--just because that's what I had on hand.

Sophie's Chopped Salad by Bobby Flay

This recipe was featured in Shape magazine in Aptil 2008.

• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 heaping tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 4 T canola oil
• 3 c finely chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 cup canned red beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup nicoise olived, pitted and coarsley chopped
• 3/4 cup mix of 1/2-inch cubes reduced-fat white cheddar cheese and 1/2-inch cubes reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese (3 oz total)
• White and blue corn tortilla chips for garnish
• Chopped fresh chives, for garnish (optional)

In a blender, blend the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil and blend until emulsified. Set aside.
In a large bowl add everything else except the chips and chives. Toss together.
Dress lightly with the vinaigrette and garnish with chips and chives.

In my humbe opinion, the chips shouldn't be optional. That crunch would be sad to miss out on.

Doesn't store well. Obviously. Serve it right away.