When the store bought pie crust burns.....

while baking the pumpkin pie, what do you do?  Answer:  Make cut-out pie crust cookies with the spare crust.  I chose to make squirrels.  (But next year I am going back to making my crusts from scratch.)

There are two things my dad has always done to help my mom out during the Thanksgiving preparations; 1) clean all the dishes (even while she is still using them) and 2) make the cranberry sauce.  When it comes to cranberry sauce, my dad is a mad scientist; every year he experiments with different ingredients.  Some years the results turned out really yummy, but some years we were glad mom had a can of cranberry jelly in the cupboard.  Since I haven't been able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents for many years now, I feel it is my duty to make the cranberry sauce every year.  I've stayed pretty tame in my recipes, but this year I ventured out of my comfort zone.  I added dried figs, honey and ground cardamon to the boiling, popping cranberries (the recipe from Real Simple). It was very tasty; my dad would have approved.

Happy Halloween!

The Orange Green Man

Some Summer Insects

Common Buckeye Butterfly

(with a lot of pretty blue-ish "eyes")

Robber Fly

(yes, this is a fly and it is larger than 1 inch)

Long-horned Grasshopper

(it's antennas are longer than it's body)

Things to do When Louisville is in Triple Digits

Our second summer in Louisville, and it is even hotter this year.  What to do when it is too hot to do anything?  I came up with the following activities to ward off cabin fever.

1. Road Trip to Milwaukee
Now Milwaukee wasn't that much cooler, but the lake breezes sure helped.  Plus, it was something new and new is always distracting.

2. Go Underground
This is cave country; stalagmites, stalactites and a constant 52 degrees (Fahrenheit).

3. Early Morning Hiking
The earth has yet to be warmed and the dense trees keep the air cool.

4. Jigsaw Puzzles in the Kitchen
The distraction of a complicated puzzle and a cool tile floor under my feet is a great combination.

Summer Grilling Tips

Grilling Tip 1: Always remove the cleaning brush from the grill before ignition.

Grilling Tip 2: Manchego cheese is awesome on veggies.  So far I have tried it on asparagus, broccoli, summer squash/zucchini and it was fabulous.  It goes well with the steak too.

Random Thoughts on My Urban Meadow

Our backyard had not been mowed for six months.  As a result, an urban meadow sprouted.  Some people use the term weed in a negative way, but to me, weeds are beautiful.

The falling maple seeds look like butterflies or UFOs.

A sparrow chomping on a plump green caterpillar.  That caterpillar will not turn into a butterfly this summer, but it will help to create a baby bird.

Two wild bunnies binking with each other; jumping, playing, flipping.  It looked like so much fun.  Then they snacked on clovers and groomed themselves.  Very sweet bunny love.

Alas, my urban meadow has been mowed...so sad.

a weed that is no more

Happy Easter

 

my backyard, a local bunny, and a camera

(unaltered photo, bunny jumped at the perfect time)

Life Lessons

From Three Dog Bakery, a great local bakery just for dogs (and cats)

A Walk in the Park

Today I finally took my very first walk in Cherokee Park.  It was just a brief exploration walk to find the closest trail head to my home.  But even a brief walk can be great if you keep your eyes open.  I saw five turtles sun bathing on logs in the creek.  One of them was a juvenile (so cute!).  If I had been walking a little faster, I would not have seen them.  It was great to see that wildlife can still survive in Louisville's garbage infested waters.  I do not know if they were indigenous or not; they could be former pets or descendents of pets, but they could have been local turtles, like the Painted Turtle.  Next time I will be sure to take a camera with me.

Beautiful

Have you ever noticed how unhealthy food is brown looking; various shades of blah brown.  This plate of food (photographed off the TV from Eat, Pray, Love) is so beautiful looking with many bright colours; green, yellow, white, orange.  I find this plate of food so inspirational.  It inspires me to eat healthy.  I ate a beautiful yellow-orange mango today; the bright colour made me happy.

My mantra is working well.  My home is becoming less stressful and less cluttered every day.  It is even starting to change the way I think.  When I do have to bring something new into the home, I automatically think about where its place will be before I make the purchase.  Today I had to buy push-pins and this thought came into my head and I bought a little box for them so that I wouldn't have loose push-pins all over my home.  Sometimes I don't even purchase the item because as I think where to put it, I realize that I don't even need it.  Mantras are great.  Less stuff, Less stress!

Spring is Here

Happy Spring!

Balance

I wrote the following on the 18th:
I have been consumed by homework.  This has left me unbalanced.  How do I find balance in my life? How do I balance school, work, art, housework, exercise and fun?  I set the limit for myself that I am not allowed to have any fun until all my homework is finished.  But that just makes me resent my homework.  All work and no play makes Elissa go something, something.  I need to incorporate everything into my daily life, but how?  I have tried making schedules, but I quickly stop following them.  Scheduling fun doesn't really work for me.  What if I accidentally scheduled fun when it is raining?  So how do I achieve balance in my life?

Then today I wrote:
It just dawned on me that it is almost March and I have not done any fun actitiviites in Februray.  EeeGads! So I made a promise to myself that tonight I am going to a water colour exhibit.  My resolution was to help me find balance and not drown in homework.  But a whole month has gone by and I am suffocating.  That is why last weekend I made an important choice.  I chose a mantra; Less Stuff, Less Stress!  I am going room by room getting rid of stuff I do not really need.  Last weekend I tackled the bedroom; this weekend will be the office.  My goal is to have less housework and a more functional home to make my life easier and more fun.

Less Stuff, Less Stress

January Outings

To make sure that I keep my resolution this year, I will recap my outdoor and art outings at the end of each month.

My outdoor outing for January was a tour of the Islands of Adventure.  It was a very extensive hike in which I saw a lot of interesting flora and fauna, including wild ducks, a Lorax and mandrakes.  It was very memorable.

For my art outing I saw Rock of Ages; a cross between a rock concert and Broadway musical.  It was excellent.  I haven't laughed so much at a musical since I saw Spamalot.  If you have nostalgia for spandex, AquaNet and the power ballad, this is the show for you.  But if you thought Avenue Q was too crude and Tommy too loud, you're better off seeing the new Les Mis instead (which I will be seeing in March).

Resolutions

Last New Year I made my first resolution: to go on an outdoor outing once a week.  Reflecting on my activities this past year, I have to admit that I did not fulfill my resolution.  But it was not a complete failure; I did try to keep it and went on an outdoor outing once every other month.  This year, instead of being too far reaching, I resolve to go on an outdoor outing once a month and to a gallery, museum or theater once a month.  It takes a lot of effort to devote time to myself, but it is time worth spent.