Today will be short and sweet. I’m having an amazing lazy day and want to continue it. If nothing else, this should act as proof I’m writing these daily and not cheating by scheduling…yet.
Personality Traits I’m Proud Of
1. Stubbornness
2. Empathetic Heart
3. Trusting
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Sports movies.
There you have it. I think most people would add this to their “cute facts about me” list, but not me. I’m too much of a badass. I was the bad cop with my kids and barely flinched. I broke a leg and walked on it for nine days before I thought I should go see a doctor. I come from a long line of awesome Irish women. Needless to say I don’t cry at movies.
Old Yeller– dog was put out of his misery.
Marley and Me– that dog was a handful.
It’s a Wonderful Life– Ya, it is.
Steel Magnolias– Disease happens.
Toy Story– Um…they aren’t real people; they’re toys.
But sports movies? Yes, this girl cries. Sometimes she ugly cries. It could be We Are Marshal and I cry because the team dies in a plane crash, and the new team overcomes everything and I cry again. It could also be Miracle where I cry because of the fabulous win at the Olympics. And don’t even get me started on Rudy. (Remembering major scenes and biting my knuckle now.)
Worse is no one my family is the same. They cry at those other movies I mentioned and make me feel bad about not crying. Then when I cry, they stare at me as though I have the strangest soul on Earth.
I think it’s cool to appreciate a beautiful workout montage or painful team building scenarios including burpees. Don’t you?
I share this information sparingly, until now, to insure my “street cred”. I had to share it now because I love a challenge… no correlation to sport movie worship, I’m sure.
-Slàinte
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Hello dear readers. This is an easy one. “The Sunken Cake” stems from my ability to do most things incorrectly and with lots of laughter. I’m super awkward and lack basic coordination so even if I’ve successfully done something before, that doesn’t mean I’ll do it right again…ever. There’s no telling with me.
So…I bake fairly well. I also get a sunken cake every now and again that needs a little extra icing to be presentable. But then, don’t we all need a little extra icing sometimes?
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Day two is here and so am I. I’m a blogging success already! I will proceed with the 20 facts shortly, but first a home-building rant.
Everyone is smarter than me but somehow dumber than each other. Our general contractor, who has a tendency to “require” fancy finishes, says we need XYZ to pass inspection. Our sub-contractor says we only need ABC to pass. I’m going to have to call the municipality, and my gut says they’ll want XAYC. This project has really stressed my firm “work humbly with smart people” rule.
Thanks dear readers. I needed to get that out. Now for the facts you came for:
1. I’m Irish/English American. 23andMe says 74% Irish
2. I have two daughters in college
3. I believe cursing is using the English language well (see fact 1)
4. I live in Alaska
5. I am happily married (most days…see fact 1)
6. I have a BA & MA
7. I truly enjoy beer & whiskey
8. Fashion is a weakness although I don’t have any great skills
9. My parents live in FL part-time; it’s called snow-birding
10. I am building a log home with my hubs because we’re insane
11. TikTok proves people are mostly good- no really, go watch
12. I’m new to audiobooks but I’m really liking them
13. I appreciate art but have no abilities
14. I only have a small group of friends but they’re good stock
15. I really really hate talking on the phone
16. I’m introverted to the max
17. Apres sport only although oddly competitive
18. Three dogs live with me
19. I am a snow lover
20. I think streaming is a problem. I like it too much.
Hi all! This is Traci Hollowell again.
So why am I introducing myself when I have a perfectly good “About Me” page AND my blog isn’t new? I fell off the blog wagon and it sucked because writing and sharing adventures make me pretty damned happy.
The solution? A 31-day blog challenge! (Shout out to Baby J & Little A.) That’s right, I’m going to go from slow, inconsistent posts to every single day posts. I’m sure there’s a successful blogger somewhere who just got goosebumps and a sense of something very very ominous.
I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
-Lily Tomlin
Oh well. This girl’s gotta do something. To make things even better, I’m building a house and preparing to move. Stress and boxed up blogging tools are helpful. (Say it like a mantra.)
I can’t promise great content, but I can promise this Stella is working on getting her groove back.
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I ordered a new cookbook from Amazon called “Smitten Kitchen Every Day” by Deb Perelman. Here’s Amazon’s description:
“Deb Perelman, award-winning blogger and New York Times best-selling author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, understands that a happy discovery in the kitchen has the ability to completely change the course of your day. Whether we’re cooking for ourselves, for a date night in, for a Sunday supper with friends, or for family on a busy weeknight, we all want recipes that are unfussy to make with triumphant results.”
I love unfussy meals and triumphant results, so I readily flipped through the pages immediately after receiving the book. There were so many meals that sounded delicious and flavor packed. More than one recipe called for lemon to stand out as the star flavor. I love dishes with lemon highlighted. I began to ponder how I could make a lemon-centered meal even more lemon-y without the pucker.
Lemon preserves! Yes, the intense yet smooth taste of a preserve. The problem? I had no idea where to get them. The solution? Make them. How did I make them? Pinterest! I found a recipe on Serious Eats that seemed simple enough. I would just need three ingredients and a canning jar. (I will let you travel to their site for the recipe as I didn’t change it at all.)
The lemons were prepared quickly, needing only minor trimming and cutting. I then added sugar and salt and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. The next day they looked so pretty! It was almost like they had been coated in a sweet glaze. The step that followed was to simply jam them into a jar with their liquid. Done, and done.
Finally, I had to wait two weeks. This was the hardest part as I am not patient in any way. Seriously, Derek can back me up on this.
Those who are loyal readers will know I have problems with commiting to food and drink. I love experimenting. So, when I received a new cookbook days before my lemon preserves would be ready, and there was a delicious sounding recipe which included them, I had to run with it. It was a sign! (“The Smitten Kitchen” did provide other tasty meals over the two-week waiting period though.) The meal I picked was Pasta with Summer Squash, Sardines and Lemon Preserve. My new cookbook was “Back Pocket Pasta” by Colu Henry. Here’s Amazon’s description:
“As much a mindset as it is a cookbook, Back Pocket Pasta shows how a well-stocked kitchen and a few seasonal ingredients can be the driving force behind delicious, simply prepared meals. Pantry staples—a handful of items to help you up your dinner game—give you a head start come 6pm, so you can start cooking in your head on the way home from work.”
The recipe included a few simple ingredients that would, I hoped, highlight the extra pleasant flavor of lemon. My only holdup were the sardines. I remembered eating them from the tin when I was little. (My dad and I would try to gross out my mom with those and spray-can cheese…I know…ick.) At the time, the shock was way more important than whether I actually liked them. At 39, I couldn’t remember the actual flavor at all, so I was letting the tiny little fish creep me out a smidge.
Remembering adventure is worth it, even if it results in failure, I jumped into preparation with gusto. I also hid the tin from my family. They aren’t as adventurous as me all the time. I figured surprising them would be more than ok.
The lemon preserves themselves had turned into glossy lemons with a bit of a gelatinous texture. The peel and meat had melded into a yellow slice that could still be diced with a knife. I tasted a piece and it was lemon, salt, and sweet- a perfect balance on my palate with lemon that really lingered. I felt the first feelings of success.
The meal came together easily. The finished product was a light pasta dish perfect for springtime. The sardines added a saltiness, and the squash and lemon preserves were the stars of the show. I would make it again, and my family even encouraged it. (And this was after they were in on the “surprise”.)
OMG I did it. I made gnocchi.
I don’t make pasta from hand, and I don’t make things that look like pasta but aren’t from hand either. So what led to this unusual event? More like who: supermodel Chrissy Teigan. Ok, so it’s not as though she personally taught me how, but I feel like we’re sorta buds since she’s amazingly funny, smart, and gorgeous and I’m clearly the same just paid way less. (Hey, my husband is very flattering.)
Her book, Cravings, hasn’t let me down yet, but I had a lot of scepticism toward this recipe. Sweet potato gnocchi from scratch was a big ask, even though I really enjoy the delicacy of hand-made pasta and gnocchi. I can truly tell the difference between a dish made by hand and a dish boiled from a bag. I eat the later primarily, but wouldn’t it be cool if the former could be found in my house too?
What made this dish even scarier was its lack of complexity. Fresh, clean ingredients are used. Hands fold them together and roll them out. A small knife cuts them into tiny pillows. By the time I was done, I thought there was no way they would taste good. I was messy, but it was just too easy. I still wasn’t trusting Chrissy.
I had thought ahead and doubled the batch. (If the task was extremely hard, but worth it, I’d have another dinner ready.) One went into the freezer, and one went into a pot of boiling water. I nervously waited for the gnocchi to clump together like a popcorn ball, but no, it stayed separate and cooked nicely.
The sauce was a delicious brown butter, sage. It took minutes to prepare while the gnocchi cooked. Once drained, a quick toss was all it took to get the meal ready. At this point, having tasted success, I got a bit catty with Derek. He was gaming and didn’t jump up quite quick enough when I said dinner was ready. Apparently you don’t mess with me and gnocchi.
I loved it. Derek loved it. Most importantly, Chrissy isn’t a liar!
In hindsight, I’d cook the double batch. It’s that or have a big salad too. Derek is a meat and potatoes guy, so he was left wanting.
I wasn’t the least bit confident, and there were certainly cringe moments, but I survived and fed my family. (They were ready to order in if necessary.) It’s also worth noting that the moscato I was drinking while I cooked went exceptionally well with the sweet potato gnocchi.
