Inspiration: Don't Get Arrested

I'm not this crazy... thank goodness. But this is a good thing for ranch addicts like me to keep in mind:

via

One Week In

Ok, 9 days in. (This is the first year since I learned how to read that I didn't get a calendar for xmas... looks like I need to drag my butt out and buy one.)

Anyway. 9 days in to the new year. Here is my obligatory resolution update:

1. I talked with a musician friend and now have an idea of where to start looking for a ukulele. Progress!

2. I've made lots of bad decisions, mostly regarding all of the gross (and delicious) food I've been eating. Like the buffalo wings I had today. And the buffalo wings I had yesterday. And the buffalo wings I had on Wednesday.... yeah. At what point do I admit that I have an addiction....? What is rock bottom when it comes to buffalo wings?

In other news. Well. I've been meaning to get new plants in my apartment. The one I had since 2003 (Herb) died last year so I'm trying to decide what I should get. Does anyone have any beloved houseplants they want to give me a cutting of? I'm not wild about buying them at Home Depot.

So... sorry I don't have much other news. Lots of changes happening at work. It's going to be tough but I'm looking forward do it. Because it might end up being awesome.

You Guessed It! (Insert Obligatory New Years Resolution Post Here)

Well, you should have come to expect this from me by now. Every year I list the same resolutions with newfound resolve that I really will lose weight, and save money, and read for 2 hours a day, and save the world, and learn to fly, and on and on and... bleh. I actually decided a few weeks ago that I wasn't going to do that again this year. I was going to keep it simple. So here you go:

2011 Resolutions:

1. Obtain and learn to play a ukulele

2. Don't make bad decisions

Seems pretty easy, right? I thought so. The first one is pretty self-explanatory.

The second, however, has drawn some controversy from the few folks I have disclosed this to. They immediately struck back with the "rules" about making a goal measurable, and trying to define it, and bla bla bla.

Yes, I thought about that. And I thought that my resolution would be easier to apply. For example: instead of saying that I want to lose 10 lbs, and limit my ranch dressing consumption, and go to the gym 3 times a week, I will instead say that I'll try not to make bad decisions. I already have a pretty decent gym routine established; skipping would be a bad decision. I'm not dumb, I know what a healthy meal is; gorging myself on buffalo wings and ranch and tacos and whatever else I can find is a bad decision. So instead of always staring at the scale or the mile count or whatever measurement I can find and feeling lost and disheartened at my apparent lack of progress, I can instead manage this on a micro level, and (hopefully) gain some more confidence. And a side effect of this whole process would be losing 10 lbs or whatever the heck is the underlying thing I'm trying to get at.

And it can apply to other things too. But that's between me and a future blog post, and whomever I may or may not text message in the wee hours of the morning. wait. what?

At any rate, I wish myself luck. I appreciate any help/encouragement from friends (as well as being called out when I DO make bad decisions, because I already know a few of them are coming....). So. Here goes nothing!

Bacon Cake with Maple Bacon Buttercream Frosting

Yes, I know, you've been dying for me to turn this into a cooking blog. And what better recipe to start with than one that contains a pound of BACON?!?!?? You're excited, I can tell.

Anyway. Last night, for New Year's Eve, we planned a bacon-themed soiree before heading out to shows/bars/wherever we ended up. It was also a dear friend's birthday, and apparently I'm becoming known as a "bakestress" of sorts (I say that mostly in jest), so I was nominated to make a bacon-themed cake. So here's what I did.

First, I made the bacon. I bought 1 lb of Oscar Mayer Hickory smoked something or other deliciousness. I like to make my bacon in the oven - put a cooling rack in a jelly roll pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place strips of bacon on the cooling rack and bake for 30 mins, turning once after 15 mins. This makes the bacon chewy but also slightly crispy -

just how I like it! It also helps drain off a decent amount of fat.

Then, I used the google to find a white cake recipe: click

Though it doesn't say to, I would recommend using clear vanilla extract for a true white cake. I also added an extra 1/2 c. of flour because I anticipated the bacon grease messing with the consistency of the cake... not sure I'd do that again. Then I took 1/2 lb of bacon and cut it into pieces about 1/2" square and folded them into the batter before I put into the 2 pans. This makes a somewhat dense cake. I might try and find a new recipe for a fluffier cake in the future... or just use a box mix.

After the rounds cooled, I made this:

Maple Bacon Butterceam Frosting

5 T. butter, softened

3 - 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. maple syrup

1-2 T. milk

1/2 c. cooked bacon, cooled - chop into "bacon bits" size in food processor

Using electric mixer, cream butter. Alternate adding powdered sugar and maple syrup. Add milk to attain desired texture. Blend in about 1/3 c. bacon. Frost away!

I then sprinkled (most) of the remaining bacon bits on the top of the cake. (I ate the rest.)

Anyway, the result was a pretty savory cake. I personally would have liked it to be a little more maple-y, perhaps even with adding maple syrup to the cake mix. Definitely worth playing around with some more. Also, the frosting sort of looks like a bad case of acne. I seriously considered making another batch of plain buttercream frosting to go on top, but I thought that might be overkill. It looked better when I put the bacon bits on top.

Here are two beautiful models, and the cake is somewhere in the background. Thanks to Megs for the pic!

And so this is xmas

And what have you done? I always find myself saying that this time of year. Then I play through the whole song in my head, and basically end up being sad that John Lennon isn't around anymore. Weird, I know.

Anyway, it's Christmas Eve. I'm glad I'm here. I've had a rough last few months (and especially last two weeks), but I feel better about it all now. I just needed some time to step back and revel in the simplicity and the silence that is Kewaunee. For as much as I know I'm going to be annoyed with this place in another 36 hours, I'm really happy to be here right now. There's more snow up here than there is in Milwaukee, and even though I don't have my snowboard (or anywhere nearby to actually go snowboarding), it makes me really happy. It's also way more quiet up here. Yes, I'm used to it from growing up here, but it's just relaxing to think about it (unlike a few months ago when the power went out in my neighborhood and I woke up cuz it was too quiet).

At any rate... I just realized in the last 3 hours or so that I'm pretty sure I can recite" 'Twas The Night Before Christmas" by heart. That's not weird, right?

Other learnings from today: my brother Andy actually can read (he got the new Tucker Max book) [this is a joke, we always knew he could read...], you need to stagger your baking pans in the oven, we must have tipped my mom off about the Kindle and she was actually visibly upset when we didn't give it to her right away (we hid it... don't worry, we gave it to her eventually), my cat goes nuts for catnip and attacks me (although she never used to), and my sis and I both stuff our cash in our bras. Awesome, I know! And you know how they say your family becomes more tolerable with age? Well, that's definitely true. If you would have told me that 10 years ago, I would have probably argued with you for a good long time. But now I'm OK with it.

Anyway, I suppose it's time for bed. I hope I don't have any weird dreams like I had last night. I don't remember what they were or who was in them, but they were supremely messed up. Not cool, subconscious. Not cool.

Happy xmas everybody!

Back by popular (?) demand

First off, the main reason for my writing today (other than the fact that I can't sleep) is that someone actually asked why I haven't updated my blog in a while. You like me! You really like me! Anyway....

Today started off on kind of a bad note. I texted mom to see when xmas #1 was. It's usually the Sunday before the 25th, but sometimes it changes if regular xmas is on a weekend like it is this year. So mom informed me that it was today, and also that she already told Grandma I wasn't coming. Except she forgot to inform me. Until that point, of course, which was an hour before the party started. And given that it was a 2 hour drive and I was still in bed, well, you can see why this is becoming less and less possible by the minute. So I was bummed that I missed out, but me and sis can go see Grandma next weekend.

But then, as I continued to stumble through my Sunday routine (i.e. drag myself out of bed and move to the couch), my friend and former (x2) coworker Andy made a wonderful suggestion: SNOWBOARDING! I know by this point that if you're reading my blog and are unaware of the fact that I love snowboarding, you must be lost. I suggest you navigate away from this page immediately, or better yet, just walk away from your computer and find a book go read. You'd be much better off.

Anyway. Yes. Snowboarding. We went to Cascade. It wasn't too full, which was nice. And here's a fun tip: If you get there after 3:30 (which we did), lift tix are only $26! Since Andy and I both love being cheap, this was truly a wondrous discovery. So we bought our tickets and took a couple of pulls of Jamo out of the flask on the lift on the way up and had a grand old time. Conditions were pretty good, and all the runs were open. I also would like to point out that I haven't been to the gym in a week, and I haven't been lifting nearly as much as I have in years past to prep for snowboarding, but I still think I did pretty well. I only actually fell once, and it wasn't even from catching an edge... it was from going too slow! hah!

And so, for today, I have declared myself the winner.

Other updates: work... is work. I'm excited for our white elephant exchange tomorrow. I usually suck at these coworker gift things quite terribly, but I think that at least part of my gift will be appreciated, in some strange demented way. I'm also looking forward to New Year's so I can start on my resolutions. I'm sure I'll have another meaningful blubbering post about those come 1/1/11, because I usually do. I suppose if you're looking for something regular about this blog, you can always count on a new years resolution post, and another one for lent complaining about how I've been sucking at my new year's resolutions for the last 3 months and i'm giving myself a do-over.

ALSO. Since I think I'm far enough away from Halloween to be out of the woods: I have gone the entire length of the Halloween season WITHOUT CONSUMING CANDY CORN! Not a single one! I'm really proud of myself because said corn is usually responsible for about 2 lbs of life-ruining "holiday cheer." So go me on that.

I would also like to tell you that I had an all-Milwaukee dining weekend. Dinner Friday was the Lakefront Fish Fry with Jason, which was delicious as usual. Our server, Max, was quite awesome and deserving of 3 high-5s. Saturday's dinner was Cafe La Scala at the Italian Community Center, which I had heard rumors of but had never witnessed until this day, and let me tell you, it was AMAZING. Definitely undervalued within the city of Milwaukee. Thanks to Tony and Ross for being my hott dates. I will surely be back. (And stop calling me Shirley!)

Other stuff: I don't deal well with change, but some of it seems to be looming on the horizon. Does anybody have a "how to suck it up and deal with change for dummies" book I can borrow? And no, it's not the fun exciting new car type of change either... grr...

Anyway, it's an hour after I got in bed and I'm still pretty much wide awake. I suppose falling asleep might be more easily facilitated if I'd actually close my laptop and turn out the light, but I'm not sure that will work, given how last week went. Oh well.... here goes nothing!

Look at me!

I ran 2 miles (and ran the whole time), I had a somewhat healthy dinner, I deleted all the duplicate songs on my iTunes and my apartment is relatively clean! Wow! It's starting to seem like I've got my act together!

Ok, it's not all roses, but still, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm really proud that I was able to run all 2.02 miles without stopping. Now I have something to build on! I'm also very excited to figure out more routes around here and to run more frequently. I suppose I should tell you that this is momentous because I think the last time I ran two consecutive miles without stopping to walk was in high school, which was a whopping 9 years ago and I was 30 lbs lighter. yick. So needless to say, this makes me a little giddy. And when I set out to run today, I had every intention of walking up the Brady street hill... but did I? No! I felt really good, so I kept running! And I ran all the way back home! And sped up at the end! Ok, I sound so perky that I'm making myself sick. I'll stop.

Anyway... hm. What is new? Not much here. I'm hoping that life will slow down just a teeny bit for the fall. Summer is fun and all, but I feel so spent, and I'm so busy every weekend that it's hard just to find time to relax and catch up on me time. I was basking in the glory that was my thoughts of fall and how it will be relaxing and calming, and then I recalled that the Milwaukee Film Festival is Sept. 23 - Oct. 3. So much for relaxing! But I must say, I'm very excited for the film fest to roll around again. It really is a great experience, and I hope that everyone has a chance to get out and see at least one film, because it's really good stuff that won't get a screening at your typical AMC.

So, maybe I'll relax in October?

In other news, my bday is coming up, a week from tomorrow. I have no concrete plans as it's a Wednesday. Boo Wednesday birthdays. The last time my bday was on a Wednesday, it was my 21st, and let's just say that it wasn't the most pleasant experience... anyway. Probs looking to grab some cocktails after work. Maybe I'll do the Buckley's thing like I did last year. We shall see.

Speaking of birthdays, it was a coworker's birthday today and he brought some Italian version of creme brulee, which was DELICIOUS. Needless to say, looks like I'm going to have to step up my game. Apparently chocolate cupcakes won't cut it this year, even if they DO have homemade chocolate butter cream frosting. Suggestions (and offers to bake for me) are welcome.

At any rate, I think I'm going to go read my book for as long as I can and then hit the hay. I'm really looking forward to girls night tomorrow at Izumi's. I'm really not looking forward to my muscles being sore when I wake up tomorrow. But I suppose it's something that I'm happy to deal with. :)