Pinspiration.

All via Pinterest.

FOOD.

Acorn Squash Ravioli with Cranberry Walnut Sauce

I used this recipe.  So, if you go to the link, it's all about climbing those culinary mountains and attempting recipes that seem really hard, etc. etc.  Well, I climbed that mountain, got to the top, and thought, "Ummm... someone get me the hell down from here."  It took a good 3 hours to make this, which isn't too bad when you think about it, except that it's a pretty strenuous 3 hours.

So, when I first attempted to roll out the dough with my "rolling pin"* I thought "wtf" because it all stuck to the pin.  Anytime you see that you have to use a "lightly floured" or "slightly floured" surface when working with dough, that's a flat out lie in my opinion.  The only way I got through making this was by having a pile of flour next to me to slap the dough with any time it got sassy with me.  Flour: use it often and much.  I forgot to wet the edges before sealing them, which doesn't seem like it was too much of a problem.  I think I may have just overstuffed a couple of them that didn't seal properly and they opened up when I was cooking them.  I got 15 pieces out of the recipe.

Anyway, I was exhausted and frustrated up to the very end when I was making the sauce and thinking, "I don't smell any sage! All I smell is butter! My whole house smells like butter! ARRRG!!! Why didn't I just pick up some cold buffalo wings at Vons?!!"  Then I just poured the sauce on the ravioli.  And I took a bite.  And the recipe makes for some pretty damn tasty ravioli.

Bon appetit.

*I don't own a rolling pin.  I used a tall glass that's the same circumference throughout.  Then I used the opening of the glass to make the circles in the dough.  Genius, I know.

FOOD.

Coconut Crusted French Toast with Bananas and Berries

I used this recipe.  I've only ever seen Hawaiian bread in the form of dinner rolls, so that's what I used.  Turned out fine, but the coconut only sticks to the cut side of the bread.  I didn't use any coconut syrup... just served it with maple syrup.  I only made one serving, and used one egg and a dash of vanilla almond milk instead of regular milk.  I hear it tasted delicious. 

Bon appetit.

Things That Boggle the Mind.

The Stop Sign at the End of Ocean Avenue (Ocean and San Vicente)
Seriously.  No one ever looks like they have any idea what the hell is going on at that spot.  Not drivers, not pedestrians, not bicyclists... no one.  It's as if everyone approaching that intersection simultaneously thinks, "UHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... ok whatever.  I'm going."


These Thingees (bobby pins?)

I've had this and thinner versions of this put in my hair when I've gotten updos done at salons.  I don't get it.

The Cast of Bachelor Pad 2 (minus those two who got eliminated)
Ames: Mouth is perpetually open in a half-smile/half-sneeze position; resembles a cockatiel.

Blake: Yes please.

Ella: Did this with Smirky McSmirkster for about half an hour, and every time she wanted to give up, she would just think of her child.  That's right.  She did it for her CHILD.  So stfu.

Erica:  Glorious trainwreck.  I hope they do an episode just showing her going about her day.  That would be fun.  People at home could make a drinking game out of every time she... well... has a drink.

Gia:  Love her.  Gorgeous and sounds like she just woke up and drank a glass of cough syrup.

Graham: Planet of the Apes.

Holly:  Meh.

Jackie:  So cute and sweet... not sure why she's on this show.  I'm afraid she's going to soil herself.  By being on the show, I mean.  As in have her innocence corrupted.  Not, like, literally.  Nvm.

Jake:  Tool.  Or Mr. Clean + hair.

Kasey:  Apparently always has a mouthful of cake and a bubble in his throat but insists on trying to talk his way through it.

Kirk: who?

Melissa: Psycho in a bad way, looks like a hawk that's about ready to kill something

Michael:  Meh.

Michelle:  Psycho in an awesome way, hilarious, last name is Money.

Vienna:  The camera added 10 pounds... apparently all in her buttocks.

William: Uh... I don't know.  Teeth and dimples.

Pinspiration.

In this series of beautiful-pics-to-remind-you-that-life-is-incredible: femininity, flying, floating, flowers, spinning, singing, helping, hopping, hoping, growing, feeling, fighting, freeing. 

(All images via Pinterest)

Hay, eye reed, two!

The Zahir by Paolo Coelho

Random picture I took in Paris a few years ago.  (A lot of the story takes place in Paris.  I thought it fitting.)

 My first Paolo Coelho book... I read somewhere that it's pretty autobiographical.  Not sure how I feel about this book.  Definitely has a lot of Persian mysticism undertones, which I wasn't really expecting.  I want to read some of his other works.  Anyway... here are some quotes in the order that they appear in the book.  Enjoy.

"Always keep Ithaca in your mind.

To arrive there is your ultimate goal.

But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for many years;

and to anchor at the island when you are old,

rich with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

. . .

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.

Wise as you have become, with so much experience,

you must already have understood what Ithacas mean."

-from Contantine Cavafy

"I fought for the socialist ideal, went to prison, came out and went on fighting, feeling like a working-class hero--until, that is, I heard the Beatles and decided that rock music was much more fun than Marx."

"I don't regret the painful times; I bear my scars as if they were medals.  I know that freedom has a high price, as high as that of slavery; the only difference is that you pay with pleasure and a smile, even when that smile is dimmed by tears."

"We humans have two great problems: the first is knowing when to begin; the second is knowing when to stop."

"Perhaps it is the name of the city: Vitoria--Victory.... Or perhaps it is the old saying of the conquistadors of the Americas: 'It is not life that matters, but the journey.'"

"And suddenly, in the middle of the central nave, I realized something very important: the cathedral is me, it is all of us.  We are all growing and changing shape, we notice certain weaknesses that need to be corrected, we don't always choose the best solution, but we carry on regardless, trying to remain upright and decent, in order to do honor not to the walls or the doors or the windows, but to the empty space inside, the space where we worship and venerate what is dearest and most important to us."

"On the contrary, I am pleased that she exists; she has shown me that I am capable of a love of which I myself knew nothing, and this leaves me in a state of grace."

"When I had nothing more to lose, I was given everything.  When I ceased to be who I am, I found myself.  When I experienced humiliation and yet kept on walking, I understood that I was free to choose my destiny."

"A fatally wounded soldier never asks the medical team: 'Please save me!'  His last words are usually: 'Tell my wife and my son that I love them.'  At the last moment, they speak of love."

"As Einstein said, God does not play dice with the universe; everything is interconnected and has a meaning.  That meaning may remain hidden nearly all the time, but we always know we are close to our true mission on earth when what we are doing is touched with the energy of enthusiasm."

"...and if I were to die then, despite all that had happened in my life. . . I had remained alive until the last moment, and could, with all certainty, affirm:  'My day was good, let night fall.'"

"Close the door, change the record, clean the house, get rid of the dust.  Stop being who you were and become who you are."

"I place one foot on the surface, the whole sheet of ice moves, but does not crack.  With one eye on the rising sun, I make a kind of wager with God: if I manage to reach the column and come back without the ice cracking, that will be a sign that I am on the right path, and that his hand is showing me where I should go." (See FOOTNOTE)

"I'm telling you all this because, although in Ecclesiastes it says there is a time to rend and a time to sew, sometimes the time to rend leaves deep scars.  Being with someone else and making that person feel as if they were of no importance in our life is far worse than feeling alone and miserable in the streets of Geneva.'

"Stupid people really should be issued their own special identity cards because they are the ones who feed the collective stupidity."

"I was not I, I was nothing--and that seemed to me quite marvelous."

"I had discovered that I was much better and much more capable than I myself had thought; age only slows down those who never had the courage to walk at their own pace."

"In the words of a Persian sage: Love is a disease no one wants to get rid of.  Those who catch it never try to get better, and those who suffer do not wish to be cured."

 FOOTNOTE:
This part of the book stuck out to me because it's basically what I do at least once a day when I approach a green light that has a red hand flashing for the pedestrians.  Seriously.  Tell me you've never made a mental bet when approaching a green light.

FOOD.

Lettuce Wraps and Cold Sesame Egg Noodles

"Sup."

This one was a team effort.  We used this recipe for the wraps and this recipe for the noodles, with some minor modifications.  For the wraps we used tofu instead of chicken, and used a bit more of the chili sauce stuff (it comes in a jar... you can find it in the Asian food section at the store... you know, right by the Mexican and other peoples' food).  Pretty tasty, had a nice little kick, and the ginger and garlic smelled great while cooking.  I used peanut butter for the pasta and it made for a nice peanut sauce.  Umm... yeah.  Not much else to say.  Just had a few minor mishaps, like accidentally boiling the honey in the microwave and having to go get new honey and then accidentally tossing out the sauce for the tofu mix because we thought it was the remnants of the boiled honey and not being able to figure out what the hell scallions are (We ultimately decided whatever, we'll just use green onions.  Guess what scallions are.  Yay!).  Oh yeah, and drinking.  That was a minor mishap, but perhaps a worthy one nonetheless.  Might make something that soaks up the booze a bit better for the next girls' night.

Bon appetit.