Other than all that, school ends in a couple weeks...just 4 more of each class to go. I'm so ready for a break--I'm ready to read some books of my choosing, and I'm ready for evening classes next quarter. My schedule is looking so good come January 6th. I'm going to buy a bike by February and start looking for some Triathlons to do. WOohoo!
Gunter, Beca and I went to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago...
Good news readers (mom and dad), the boyfriend and I are organizing ourselves to get internet at home. This means a few things: 1. I will be able to do most of my homework at home instead of at work late at night. 2. I will be able to update my netflix queue...not very important to you of course... but most importantly 3. I can play with my blog again!
The only project that seems to be in the works is my damn homework. As much as I enjoy going to school and giving my brain a workout, I'm having a little trouble adjusting to the schedule of class, study, class, work, study, work each day...it's a tad maddening. I know I will get used to it. The classes are really pretty cool (even for a community college--not really what I expected), and I met one nice classmate (mostly in the first weeks I'm finding no one wants to talk to you unless you'll let them copy your notes) named Nikita from India. My anthropology teacher is the most inspiring of them all, she'll be talking about this or that and then interrupt herself and giddily sigh "oh anthropology is just SO great." This makes me smile and really puts us all at ease. ...I will try to refrain from talking about school too much...I think it's a lot like new parents and it's hard not to talk about something that seems to consume all of your time and energy.
Other than that, I am starting to think about my Christmas projects. It's going to be another "Homemade Christmas." Not only because of funding, but because I enjoyed it so much last year (except the flu I got during the homestretch...) I thought I'd do it again. So, look forward to some more hilarious "Hannah in the kitchen" posts in the next few months.
Does anyone have interesting Halloween costume ideas? I am not even going to go into my rants about working in a costume store this time of year...I'm trying to be positive. I am going to be the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons I think.
Summer is winding to a close and it's been a freakishly productive one for an infamous stop start-stopper you all know.
I never knew I'd become a "plant lady." I used to kill plants all the time. Part of it was just me being so busy I'd forget to water them, and the other part was pure A.D.D...just plum forgetting them. With a lot of patience, care and attention, I have mended my ways and now enjoy a houseful of plants. I also never knew you could become addicted to plant-collecting. I have been looking forward to our weekly Saturday Farmer's Market trips for a new reason--succulents. Tony has (logically) advised me to only buy ONE succulent plant a week--tricky, but it gives me something to look forward to. When I get my new plant home, I have to decide which of my 1950s animal planters will be the most attractive home for the succulent. This is also something to look forward to. Here are some I've done in the last few weeks:
I've also discovered that they make a nice gift for my very special friends. 
Vladimir loves his new backyard...every night when we finally manage to drag him back inside, he passes out in his favorite chair and is comatose the rest of the evening...this is a good thing.
Tony bought and potted a Chocolate Mint plant...the only thing I can come up with to do with this is put it in some sort of sweet bread. Any other ideas?
Herbs handy at the back door
The tomato patch. Basically, I knew I needed to get the plants in STAT, so I really only planted tomatoes because I can't live without them. We planted 11 varieties of heirloom tomatoes including: 2 black brandywines, orange oxheart, red zebra, green zebra, mortgage lifter, rainbow, and Nebraska wedding...the other 3 I can't remember off the top of my head. Hopefully they thrive--since the garden is in my backyard this year, I think I'll have time to weed and water accordingly. I also planted a bunch more basil in there for pesto, and I'm trying a row of heirloom squash seeds a friend gave me (though it might be too late this year for seeds, we'll see).
This crazy vine (above) takes over the back fence, and since we moved in we've noticed a lot of the back neighbors (mostly immigrants from here and there) picking the leaves. Once Tony was back there and a lady asked "is it okay that we pick these?" and Tony of course told her that it was fine and asked her what she did with them. 
This morning the doorbell rang and there was a light knocking, so I answered it. A sweet-faced woman stood there with a plate wrapped in foil. "For you and husband" she said to me. I asked what it was and she told me "wraps, for you and your husband." I didn't correct her, but I did ask her name (Dula) and thanked her a bunch of times.
We'll get there. At least my flowers are looking good, the herbs are up and the garden is planted--more on that later.
Prettiest Google image search = "rainbow chard"
It's slightly nutty with a really nice texture. I'll be bummed when it's all gone...which is soon.
So, as usual, I'm sorry that my posts aren't frequent but my laptop is "in the shop" for a while and I only have internet access while at work. Soon I'll have it back though, and I'll be back on it.
My composition class is stupid and boring, what did I expect? I'll get through it.
What I'm really excited about though, is my newest art project. "Swarm" is still a plan, but I don't have the space right now to work on it. Currently I've been dutifully turning out what I call my "coaster people." (pen and ink, some watercolor...people I've drawn on the backs of coasters from the bars) I have a date set in stone at the Zoo Bar for my art show: Sunday August 9th. Mark your calendars because I'm going to have about 3,000 of my little friends and I'd love all of you to come see what I've been (and will be doing) manically drawing for weeks now. Pictures soon...I did a Zombie Series I'm pretty proud of.
That's all I've got for now. Things are going really well, I'm happy and having a good time with everything I'm doing (even the apartment shopping Tony and I are doing is fun) and I look forward to sharing it all with you.
Hey Readers! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my blog! I have been a busy busy girl for the last few weeks. I haven't played in the kitchen in so long!
Okay, this is an awful picture-Tony was so hungry he was rushing me-but I had to include it anyway because my fish dishes are my favorites. Since we didn't really get to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday (stuck working), Tony and I made some badass fish tacos. Mostly Tony made them, but I was sous chef. First we made a chipotle mayonnaise out of 1/2 a beaten egg, adobe sauce and peppers, salt, lime juice and olive oil. We mixed that in with shredded cabbage, red onion and green onion and put it in the fridge to get all delicious. Then Tony taught me how to make a tempura batter (flour and club soda, which makes the air bubbles!) and we fried mahi mahi. Then we layered the slaw, fish and fresh avocado on a tortilla and squeezed some more lime on it. Voila! Delicious!
This silicon frying screen is a must by the way.
Sunday was my first day off in quite some time. So, how did I spend my day? In the kitchen. It wasn't one of those beautiful 50-60 degree days we've been having, so I didn't feel guilty hanging around the oven. I'm pretty proud of these loaves even if they are malformed and still dusty from the flour. My next bread undertaking will be a whole wheat flax seed. Possibly next Sunday. After baking my bread I cooked up some curried peanut soup. It was creamy, coconutty, spicy and our dinner guests loved it. I would have posted a picture, but we ate it all.
A sampling of winter recipes included: Golden Carrot Bake, Vegetable Vindaloo, Marrakesh Lamb Stew, Stuffed Beets, Maple Parsnip Soup (which I plan on trying next week) and many others. It is written by a group of Mennonites in British Columbia and does wax spiritual at times, but I don't have a problem with that--eating good food is a kind of spiritual connection. Anyhow, I've been enjoying this cookbook and plan on buying a few of the others should the recipes stack up in the kitchen.
Last week I was freaking out (unneccessarily I guess) about my placement tests. I did fine...great in English (didn't miss any) and so-so in math (placed higher than I thought-don't have to take "math for dummies"). Now I'm just waiting for my SCC letter to get in the mail with the go-ahead to register...and my w-2 from the Zoobar so I can get my taxes done/FAFSA done. So many hoops to jump through...makes you wonder. Classes start in April, here's hoping the Government will give me some money.
I'm having small anxiety attacks today about the tests I'm going to take tomorrow. I know they're just placement tests, but that doesn't mean I don't want to do well... and I don't want to test into the lowest levels of math and spanish. I guess we'll just see. I'm reviewing today and going in tomorrow morning, wish me luck. (I just wanted to air my anxieties and hopefully let them go)
For the last few weeks I've been in an "Organic Gardening" class at SCC and it's proving to be the highlight of my weeks. Taught by one of the owners of a local organic farm--a few miles Northwest of Lincoln, certified organic and biodynamic) who knows pretty much everything about organic. Among many interesting things I'm picking up (cover crops and composting have been our main topics thus far, pest control next week) I learned about compost teas and the very cool, horsetail.
When I find myself with a day off anymore I just spend the afternoon in the kitchen concocting things. This has become what relaxes me. Funny because it used to be, when I thought of the kitchen I felt stressed and overwhelmed. It helps to have a huge kitchen. 
Asian Rice and Lentils
1/2 c. rice
1/2 c. lentils
2 T. butter
2 1/2 c. water
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 golden delicious apple, chopped (if you want)
1/2 tsp. each of: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cayenne, salt
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
(Forgive me, I've forgotten how to do this stovetop, and I feel like everyone should have a rice cooker anyway...) Plop the butter in the rice cooker on warm and let it melt, add all ingredients except for water, stir around and let them absorb some butter for a few minutes, then add your water, close the lid and push "cook." Boom. Delicious, high protein lunch or dinner. Tony really likes it with cheddar cheese grated on top. I like it any way and everyday.
In the last month, Tony and I have been host (for about a week each dog) to a golden retriever (Kirby), a 100 lb labrador (Jaffy) and this week it's my friend Matel's sharpay-pug-rat terrier (Edith). Everyone is going on trips but us. It's always funny to see how Vladimir (Tony's boxer-lab above) reacts to different dogs being around for extended periods of time. With Kirby, he wouldnt' stop trying to hump him. With Jaffy, Vlad was the object of hump and now with Edith they don't try to hump each other so much, but they wrestle for hours on end. When we go to bed, we make them sleep in the kennel together otherwise one will cry allll night and if they're not kenneled they wrestle allll night. To add to the challenges of double-dog-duty, I have enough trouble walking Vlad alone so I have to walk them separately which is kind of tedious (Tony's got a cold or something so he's little help). It's going to be a crazy week. 
Unlike the snow crab Tony and I made last time (my first time eating crab), the king crab we made this time has pokey legs, and we had to use pliers to crush them. To accompany the delicious sea creatures, we roasted some buttercream potatoes, carrots and onion with some olive oil, salt, pepper and sage. It was a lovely meal--as you can see.
And I'd like to make a shout out to the ceramic peeler. Go out and get one if you haven't already.
And on a completely unrelated note, I found a lovely, Technicolor Harvard dream sweatshirt at the Family Thrift Center today, and I think I'm going to send it to my cousin Nora (who attends said University) and let her do with it as she sees fit because it is a glorious thing to behold.
After work and swimming tonight, Tony and I have grand plans to cook shrimp and king crab legs and watch a bad action movie. I can't wait. The above strange Japanese squeeze toys sit in our chives and watch us do dishes. Tony isn't fond of them, but I could never part with them. 
A cast-iron panini grill press. Tony is pretty excited to cook steaks on it, but I actually LOVE panini sandwiches and can't wait to make up lots of fun combinations.
The other awesome new addition is the counter-top bottle opener. It suctions to the counter with a little lever, and the rest is pretty obvious. So easy and also attractive. 
