Muffins

Have I ever posted about my insane love of breakfast carbohydrates?  Somehow I don't think that this has ever come up before, but just to let you know. I Love Breakfast, and I love the carbs that go with it. If I had a choice of going out to dinner or going to brunch, I think that I might choose brunch.

This weekend, I am going to attempt to make muffins.

In my kitchen I have: apples, oatmeal, candied ginger, and almonds.  Maybe I can make something good tasting out of these things, however, I will probably forgo the almonds... I don't think that they would go overly well with ginger, or apple.   I will make sure to post pictures and my recipe.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Last night I danced to Etta James

Last night, my husband decided to work late, so I was left to my own devices. I did what every woman should do when her husband is working late. I opened a bottle of red, turned on Etta James, and ate inordinate amounts of buttered french bread as I shimmied around the kitchen pretending to be the sex goddess I know that I am not.                     I hope no one saw me...              I will never pass as anyone cool, not if you see me in my natural environment, like the kitchen, when no one else is home. Oh well, at least i know the truth. Even if no one else does...

That crazy lady in the kitchen

Here it comes...

The fatigue that inevitably sets in around midterms. I don't know why it happens, but it always does, and guess what, my behavior often becomes erratic and unpredictable.

One moment I will be happy, stirring some veggies that are sauteing pleasantly in a pan, the next I will be a crazy person flinging a knife around angrily wondering why the heck my kitchen gets so greasy and grimy , even though I am obsessive about keeping things clean. Yes, I know that I am probably a crazy person, but its just the way I am, especially around midterms.

So, this semester, I have decided to go with it, I am going to try to channel that crazy, obsessiveness into something creative.

What exactly that creative thing is though, well, we shall have to wait see.

Probably daydreaming, some cooking, I aspire to dig out my watercolors and do little sketches of armchairs, and of course, blogging.

I need to go to bed

Its midnight, and I didn't even realize till just now when I got up to put on a pot of water for tea.

I love tea, in all of its various forms. Green, Oolong, Black, Herbal, and all of the many mixing that can occur between these few basic categories.

Right now I could really go for a robust Earl Grey, but I am all out, I really need to go grocery shopping soon, maybe tomorrow...

I think that I am going to be trying out some recipes that use tea as a main liquid ingredient...rice pudding anyone?

What do I make for dinner after working all day?

With the weather getting colder, and fall colors fading to browns and greys, my mood starts get greyer and I start cooking starchier foods with richer flavours. This of course has the inevitable effect of making me gain 5-10 lb. over the winter; I don't want that to happen this year so I am trying to watch what I make for meals.

However, my life is trying to undermine me, I go to school in the morning five days a week and work afternoons and evenings several times a week and nothing is easier than putting on pasta when I get home. Let me say that there is nothing wrong with eating pasta, but on nights like these, that is all that I eat. Boring, I know.

So, I am trying to combat this pasta obsession of mine by modulating it with seasonal vegetables. If I deign to make pasta, I also have to make a veggie (opening a can of peas doesn't count), and I have to make them taste Awesome(or else I won't want to eat them at all). So I have started buying some frozen veggies, not as bad as I first thought, I add frozen peas to my pasta water, and I use frozen green beans often. But the best way to eat my veggies when they are roasted in the oven or pan steamed. I roast everything from carrots and parsnips to squashes and cabbages. Brushed with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper they are so good, a tad caramelized, bursting with flavor and so easy to do when I get home at night from work. I also pan steam veggies(cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts), I heat some olive oil in a pan and saute some minced garlic and a sardine or crushed red pepper flakes then I add my veg and a half cup of water and its done when all the water steams away(lid on).

I think a lot of people over think the veg portion of the meal(I know I always did), but its not that bad once you learn a few cooking techniques, who knew?

Poached eggs

I have recently mastered the art of poaching an egg.  It wasn't easy, I have ruined many an egg in my day, but I am here to tell you. Its not that hard!?

Start with a FRESH egg, put a pot of cold water on the stove and splash in some vinegar(it helps the egg white congeal), then let it come to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat so that the water is slowly simmering and swirl the water with a spoon( make a little whirpool in the center), crack your egg into the center of the pan and let it poach for about three minutes. Easy peasy and delicious!

Carrot and Parsnip Purree

Yesterday was Columbas Day, and my honey and I had the day off from both school and work. We went to our local farmstand/ farmers market and stocked up on winter squashes. You should see the large box of acorn, butternut,ect...that we brought home. We also found parsnips and carrots galore, which is what inspired this dish, the parsnips lend a spicy bite to the carrots natural sweetness.

Carrot & Parsnip Purree

Take 5 or 6 carrots to 2 parsnips, peel and chop. Put into pan of boiling water and cook until soft.

Drain and put into blender or food processor, add pinch of nutmeg and ginger, a pat of butter and splash of milk or cream, add 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and blend untill creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.

This should serve about four people or so.

again i promise

This time last year, life was confusning and stressful and fun and exciting and it was just. a whirlwind.
This year, a year into my marriage, working a new job, truly seeking God's will. I am very glad that it is this fall and not last.








ps. i promise to try and make a concerted effort to haveing a blog that i actually update.

dont you hate it.

dont you hate it when you find that shirt, the perfect shirt, chambrey, large block plaid print, light blue; then you dont end up buying it, because you dont want to spend the extra cash, but you knowthat you will think about it for quite a while. agggh why didn ti get it, it wouldlook amazing with my black skinnies. then you know, as i do, that you will probably go ack two days later andtry and find again. sigh

I am glad that this summer was spent with friends :)

ok

I promise, that i will update more often. after all i should have the time in a week or so.
this is the last week of factory for me. thats right. i quit.
next week is the first day back at school. back to good old bcc.
laborday is sam's and my first aniversery(well the 5th).
we are going to washington dc for that weekend.
i got a job as a barista in wegmans(pending my backgroundcheck... but i have never done anythingso that should clear). although my nervousness is getting the best of me because they havent called me yet about that... anyways
everything is workingout.

warfare

my plants are disapearing at an alarming rate. the basil especially. well, i will not stand for that, and have since declared all out war on the slug population in my garden and flowerbeds. i am armed with cups of stale beer, salt shakers and crushed eggshell and used coffee grounds. this is War!

aggghhh

so school starts in a month or so, and i am really starting to freak out as to how the heck i am going to pay for it, how are sam and i going to be able to survive on one income slash one and a partime income. its tight already wth both of us working full time, but when i go back to school its going to be even harder. i have to keep reminding myself that God is in control and that the won't let us down even though things don't have to work out how we want them to.
The Lord knows that i am not content with my job, so i believe that he has opened up a path for me, so that i can go back to school, get a bachelors degree in human development, get my masters in special education, use this knowledge to help people. but He has not shoen me so clearl;y as He revealed this careerath howe the money sid of things was going to work out. i think that is the faith side of things. if i have the faith to quit my job(which makes me miserable) and go back to school and do what He has told me to do(i.e. given me great peace about) then i believe that it will all work out. hiowever, i need all the prayer that i can get because this is not going to be very easy.

Get Me Out Of Here!
i really need a vacation. like now.

i know

it has been awhile since i have posted anything, and i feel pretty bad about that, but do not fear, my laptop will be up and running soon , so i can finaly post the pictures i have been taking.
so lately, i have:
been working,  a LOT.
been lazy (as in after work collapsing into a blubbering heap and doing nothing but drinking tea, huddling underneath blankets and dreaming of the seaside and quiet art musuems).
been cooking (and baking!)
been struggling with the fact that this is the way i am formed by God(how dare i question his design)
been dealing with my frizzy red hair (it doesnt help that i am trying to grow out my bangs).
been missing my friends although i have seen them lately...
so thats been most of my time, just normal me.

1week of art works

Every Painting in the MoMA on 10 April 2010

Watching this video brought back the memory of my first trip to NYC with Hannah, and our adventures in the MOMA.

i did it again...

this time, i thought the laptop was securely set on the chair, but as i got up, it fell, and now the screen will not light up when i turn it on.
needless to say, my music, photos, and everything else is on that computer, so my posts may be a bit more stretched out than of late...

All I can ask for

is that you would pray for me.

16: Moments

Saterday Morning

Today I went to the local Farmer's Market, although you might call it an open air grocery, because it is open everyday and runs from April or May to October. It also has employees instead of vendors, however for the sake of arguement, I will call it a Farmer's Market.

I bought some wonderful aspergus that I shaved and added as a topping to pizza. I have noticed that summerness has decreased my palate to only desiring salads made with fresh tomatoes, runny mozzerala and fresh basil leaves drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsimic vinigar.

Breakfast

4 peaches

2 tbsp balsimic vinager

6 sprigs lemonbalm

1 carton of plain yogurt

Slice peaches and place in bowl, add vinager. Chop the lemonbalm and add. stir the mixture. ladle into bowls and top with yogurt.

Crousant and Brie

16 Bean Soup
1 cup Goya 16 Bean mix
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
4-6 basil leaves
6 oregeno leaves
6 large rough chopped tomatoes
6 cups broth (chicken or vegitable)
1 carton feta cheese
1/2 cup dry red wine
Salt and pepper

Cover beans with water and let soak overnight, drain and rinse.
Saute garlic and onion untill soft, add rough chopped tomatoes and herbs. Add wine and let cook 5-10 minutes. Stir in beans and let soak up sauce. Add broth and let simmer until the beans are soft.
Take half of soup and puree in blender, add back to soup and feta cheese.

Fresh Cherries over FrenchVanilla Ice Cream
One cup Cherries
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp white wine
Vanilla Ice Cream

Halve and discard cherry pits. Place in bowl and mix the wine and sugar in. Let sit for an hour, then pour over ice cream and serve.

Lancaster Farmers Market

I dont

have time to post what i really want to...
pictures of my kitchen redo, because when you are a creative person and somewhat brave. You can wake up on a saterday morning and decide over coffee that, you are really quite fed up with your kitchen and decide to mix old colors of paint to redo everything... then do it.
and have it come out looking amazing.
pictures, soon to come.

i am thinking of doing something new with my hair, the last haircut was quite a disaster and i only made it through with bobby pins. pretty much i am just yearning for the confidence to wear my hair down morw often. I wore it looses this weekend and went to a party, and everyone commented on it, asking if i got my haircut. which i havent, last haircut was monthes ago. but that shows how often i waer it down in public...

and

the days go marching on

i have the bestest friends ever

i really do, they are always there for me, fun, God loving, and most of.. well, they are the best.

rainy days are my fav.

birthday

My twentyfirst birthday is on tuesday. Here is the plan: Drag myself out of bed at 5am(yes, I still have to go to work), work all day. Stop on the way home at the liquor store and buy myself a bottle of merlot or pinot noir, stop at The Spot and but some sort of delicious greek desert. Head home, watch a movie and eat desert for dinner and go to bed early. Oh yeah, I am a real party girl. The thing is, I know I have to get up at 5 am the next morning, for three more days. So really, going out and partying is so completly out of the picture, for like ever.
So, I plan to have my birthday the way I want, quietly, peacefully, and maybe on the weekend, I will have a party at the house or something, a last minute, everyone come over and we will have a bbq and it will be awesome.

so. what?

I like to entertain. I really do, in fact when i entertain, I usually go a little nuts and freak out if anything is out of place, or if I haven't cleaned every single surface. I know that it is a tad mental, but, well, its just the way I am, oh, and as for people just dropping by.
You have a cell, about ten minutes before you get here, please call. because, well, I hate to bring this up. Buuuut, I am still within the first year of my marriage. So call, or text that you are on your way.
Anyways. I clean, usually enlisting the help of a sibling. I light candles all throughout the house. I cut flowers and bring them inside and arrange them in pretty vases. I prep food, tyen I sit back and try to relax before people get the house. Then as the are pulling up, I notice something glaringly horrible that I should have noticed, but didn't. o yeah, so much for prep.
I don't even know why I am writing this.
I probably should go to bed, too many early mornings and long nights.... so yeah, umm goodnight.

Pool water, in which several sisters and one unnamed brother have confessed to peeing in last summer. ewww.
Now I know why I felt the urge to not swim with  little siblings, other than the fact that they insist on piggyback rides and hair pulling. I will miss coming home from working all day in a hot, dusty factory and climbing into the frigid pool. But this recent revelation makes it okay, not to need a swim... I will just run through the sprinkler.

sisters

mushrooms

Lately I have been obsessed with all things shroomy. no, I do drugs, at all, ever.
 that said.
Mushrooms, they are delicious and thier flavor can range from subtle to ostentatious. The other night I made my first successful risoto, a mushroom risoto. It turned out creamy and delicious.
Yesterday I visited Iriquio's Antiques, and stopped in at Frog Pond( a local farmers market) on my way home; I purchased some portobello mushrooms, I marinated then in a rosmary balsimic marinade for an hour then grilled them. They made an excellent panini paired with munster and chopped artichoke hearts.
I really would like to indulge in purchasing a bottle of black truffle oil to drizzle over every thing that I make, but i would have to live on oatmeal for a week to justify the purchase. My birthday is coming though, and we all know that presents to oneself are perfectly acceptable under those kind of circumstances.
I think that I shall make the risoto again soon, maybe this week, and I will be on the lookout for other mushroom recipes... if you happen to have any, please pass them along.

Bogus holidays

earth day, really. how about mars day, or saturn. if we are going to arbitrarily celebrate things that we experiance love for everyday, how about air day, or rain day, or chocolate day, there is one that i could really get behind...
yes, i know that i am being cynical. and that i should be a better person and build a compost bin already, but really i do the best that i can under thecircumstances to save money, buy locally, and be earth friendly.
but unfortunatly it is not always friendly on my wallet to be earth friendly because buying organic and nature happy products takes a serious chunk of change from my wallet. i already work ten hour days to be able to make ends meet.
recently i have taken up carpooling with my husband to save money, and yes, it also reduces the "carbon footprint" the real reason that we are doing it is to save money.
sorry earth, for the non-rich, saving money will likely trump saving you.

lime lake; machias, ny

honeymoon flowers

the truth

the simple and shameful truth is that all of us are beautiful, everyone. In our varying shapes and sizes, we all are unique and georgous. there is something in each of us tha  make us who we are. tonight i had over a friend that i havent seen in six monthes as she has been abroad. and to be honest, i have always been envious of her english beauty and her style. but tonight i realized that i was no longer jealous, i didnt feel self concious as if i had to measure up. it wasnt a change in her, it was in me. i felt like an equal. not a little kid copycat.  felt as if i was me, ashley, and i was beautiful in my own unique way, my hair wasnt perfect, but thats just the way my hair is, my clothes weren't over the top fashionista, i wore a black gap tshirt and dark demin skinnies and a gray cardi, and that was it. no fussing, i looked and felt like me.
I used to leave the presence of my friends feeling self conscience, like i failed the fashion test, miserably at best. but i realize now, a simple and shameful truth.
every girl feels as if she is too fat or at the least chubby in certain places, our tummies all gurgle and embarress us, hair will never be pefect, clothing as hard as we try will never look as great as it did in the mirror before we left the house. what makes the difference is self confidence. and that is all a girl needs to be the prettiest female in the room. a smile and confidence.

French onion Soup

To make french onion soup, slice thinly three or so onions and saute them in an oil untill they are mush, a creamed mush, 20 min?

salt and pepper.

Once onions are done, stir in a little fresh chopped garlic, saute one minute then add 4-6 cups beef broth, add favorite herbs...

fresh is best.

Dill is a must.

Let simmer, covered for 20-30 min.

Pour into bowls and take a piece of toast, place on top of bowl and top with a slice of swiss cheese.

Broil untill cheese is bubbly.

Serve and enjoy.

marmelade.

 blue jeans,yellow sweater

exhaustion

She sighed, as if in realization that this was life's inexorable course. Nothing said, no vain promises whispered in wishful fits of dreaming would change the fact that this was all she had to look forward to in this life.
A struggle, a minimum wage job that relied not on her creative abilities, or her schooling; but on the sheer strength of her willpower and the sturdy relaibility of her body.
She had told herself time and time again that this was only temporay, but the bitter truth is that no one will hire you if you are already employed. Its not fair to the others in this life.
So each and every thankless day, when the alarm went off at four forty am. She pulled herself out of her husband's sleeping embrace to prepare for another day where colors where muted with greys and overexposed by floruesant lighting. Yes, she sighed, this is what I have come to expect. Forget the trips to the shore, I am too busy trying to make enough to make ends meet. Forget exploring the vinyards and art musuems of european countrys. I can barely spring for and eight dollar bottle of wine. This is what I am, I girl, or am I a woman? who tries her best to rely on His grace, but in her human failings finds that she is wishing for a higher calling. Patiance is best left to those who have not had a taste of what could be.
Or is it. Because in all my vain and desperate longings, it is almost a jewel in a place where the height of sophistication is left to those who trash talk the gay community the best, who has the biggest phallus and who has the most tricked out car, which is no one. They all drive shit cars that were mass produced on an assembly line much like the one where thier brains were probably also manufactured. Basic model, nothing fancey. Make me blue collar?
Never.

Tomorrow: French onion soup. Pictures and recipe to follow.

too tired

i am too tired to write tonight...
worked all day, made dinner that took two hours to create. finally ate. entertained three little sisters while my hubbie and dad hammered on metal stuff in the basement... i declare it bedtime.

Nostalgia

This is a picture of my lovely ladies selecting our bundles of gerbers from a bin of water meant to keep them fresh. Since this wonderful day, we have all gone our seperate ways, I of course got married. I had a school to go back to, a job, buying, cleaning and moving into my house; and of course being married.
Alissa, my beatiful sister is in her senior year, graduating in June, and is currently enjoying the fleeting moments that being a carefree teenager entails.
Emily, my dear friend from community college is away at school studying art and such, at times i am so jealous that she is in school right now and I am not.
And of course, Hannah, the graceful beauty that brings to mind Audrey Hepburn. She has taken a leave from the U.S. and gone abroad. She has split the school year between England and South Africa. Needless to say, we all miss her dreadfully and are counting the days untill we have her safely home.
With all of my friends gone their seperate ways, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have them. The absence has made me long for this summer, when we will all be home and able to gather together, a tea party, dinner parties, cookouts, just hanging out. I truly cannot wait for the warmth of summer and my friend's company...

wintry blues

My furnace is broken, and sad. So my house is subsequently freezing cold. I am home alone today, which usually would inspire me to scurry around cleaning, baking, cooking, painting, being creative and the like. But today I am just lonely. I miss my friends, I miss my sisters. I miss warmth. I miss not worrying about money. I want to be warmed in the lovelyness of another persons company.

A change

It has come time in my winter routine to make a change in how I do things. Usually my days and weeks follow the same sort of pattern that is efficiant and yet discouraging.
Mornings with the exception of saterday sunday and monday. I am awake before the sun has even poked her head out from under the covers, and I scurry around for aproxamatly twenty minutes getting ready for a ten hour day at work. I eat half a bagel and drink my coffee on my half hour drive in.
To change this morning routine, instead of making my drip coffee, I am going to make myself a triple shot cappicino to lovingly sip as I drive in.
My workday usually goes like this, work 6.30 am till 8.15 am then break and eat yogurt with homemade granola. another break at 10.05 then a half hour lunch at nooners. I get a fifteen minute break at 2.30pm then work work work untill 4.30-5.pm.
Okay, nothing about this can really be changed, except for the fact that my ipod"s playlist has gotten a little old, so I have decided to refresh it with lots of thought provoking podcasts that range from entertaining to educational, to be honest most of them are from NPR. Currently on my ipod are episodes of This American Life, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Garison Keillor's musical voice reading poetry, and The Moth to name a few.
In the evening, if I don't have a coffee date or errand to run its a half an hour drive home which I usually spend on the phone(shame on me) talking to my Mum or a sibling or my hubbie, because I am eceptionally bored when I drive that half hour home. I think that I actually pay more atention when I talk on the phone than not as I am paying closer atention to my surroundings( to avoid coppers)... plus isn't it a restiction on my constitutional right to free speach???
At home I assess whether or not I want to start dinner or take a hot shower, the shower usually wins. After all of that I make dinner, check Facebook, blogs and watch something mind rotting on hulu, the pass out on the couch and do nothing productive untill I go to bed at 9 o clock.
My evening routine needs to change, but I am so tired when I get home that all I want to do is shower then collapse into a pile of pillows and snooze.  So, as my hubbie gets home before I do, he is now instructed to make me coffee so that I will have a boost of lifegiving caffiene to help me stay productive untill at least ten thirty. Well, thats what I am hoping for at least. Mostly, I just want a change. I am bored to tears during the day, and in the evning I am too tired to do anything fun. Any thoughts about what I could change to make my day better?

A photo of Niagara Falls from my honeymoon. It was fun being carefree, if only for a week. Every meal costing more than $30, visiting winerys at Niagara on the Lake, tasting icewine, going to a butterfly conservatory, visiting the botanical gardens. Being a tourist, sipping bubble tea with my new husband, wandering around casino floors really not seeing the point in all of it. It was a good time.

I miss you spring

spring? are you ever going to come back to me? I would write you a love poem, but I know that you would think that it was a pathetic attempt to win back your affections. I miss you spring, why are you cheating on me? I know you are visiting the southern hemisphere because you need your space and all, but what about me? I think this seperation is just an excuse you make to be with others. Without you spring, my world is blanketed in snow. Frigid winds bite to the bone, the sun is feeble and weak, hiding its face behind gray clouds, without you... its just winter.

My family

My family is the most important thing in the world to me. I was looking through photos today and feeling nostalgic.                               I wish that I had understood then how fleeting and precoius these moments are.