annie blog

Ah!! How can it be Friday?  Well, yahoo!

Anyway, I need these three songs today.  They are my prescription, it seems.  So, weariness, take that.

First up is an acoustic version of “Ashes and Fire” from Ryan Adams’s new album.  I was not a Ryan Adams fan until this song.  It is awesome.  He is awesome.  Put me in the fan category.

I know nothing about this band, The Vaccines, except to say that their name makes me visualize a syringe, (Yik!), and that this song, “If You Wanna”, is a good one.  It climbed into my noggin a few days ago and has been knocking around ever since.

Finally, Surfer Blood.  I really like this band.  This song, “Miranda”, is off their newest album. See what y’all think.

Okay, y’all, I’m off to slay my to-do list.  Happy Friday, everybody!!

No, I don’t have a problem with spelling — most of the time.

Let me explain.

Homework time is a busy, busy time around here.  I have these capable sons, but they aren’t motivated to do work at home.  So, most of the time,  I’m the motivator and the homework partner.

Last week, I was helping my youngest son with a line plot graph. Now, he was tired.  He was just done in. He was done with caring about which direction letters should face.  He was done with even explaining how he came up with his answers, as you can see from answer number  5 where he answers the question, “How do you know?”

As you can see, he didn’t try to explain his mathematical reasoning, no.  He just said:

I bib it all with my avrij mom.

(Translation:  I did it all with my average mom.)

Way to really affirm me, son.  Really.  It was simultaneously hilarious and a bit humiliating to read this answer after that buster had gone to bed.

My only thought is that he was trying to estimate me mathematically?  Because, in that case, sometimes I think average would be shooting a little high.

Anyway, I hope that y’all had a good weekend and that it was way better than avrij……

that, if I continue to buy and consume sweet potato chips (very addictive…), I will never be skinny.

Oh, well.

I realize that I’ve been too busy try new things in the kitchen lately, so, when N suggested that we try to make churros sometime, I immediately decided that we’d have them for breakfast.

I realize that the males of the household will probably rejoice.  Rightly so, I say.  Rejoicing is necessary when fried sweet cinnamony dough is in the house.

I realize that I really like Downton Abbey.  It is taking all of my resolve not to hunt down illegal copies online just to see what happens.

I realize that I’m sort of addicted, too, to happily ever afters.  Silly, I know.

I realize that I’m not very up on the news.  So, it always comes as a surprise to me when I hear about something the day that it happens.  Etta James died today, y’all.  Let’s all listen to At Last…..just because.

I realize it is late and Friday.  I hope y’all have had a good week!

Here’s to weekends and churros for breakfast and sweet potato chips and happily ever afters and fabulous singers who did the Blues just right!

Stay warm, y’all!

I make lunches for all of the males in my household.  Yes, I know that it would be good if they made their own lunches.

1)  Because, then, they would (all) know how.  (That’s right, some already know and I still pack them a lunch, anyway.)

2)  They’d be more independent.

3)  And, then, I wouldn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to do it myself.

Oh, but the problems that would ensue, y’all.  Tiny kitchen, distracted males, school tardies, frazzled/frustrated mother….it’d be an ugly thing.

Therefore, I will continue to pack lunches….and thereby keep my sanity, sort of.

You can imagine my reaction when a lunch is forgotten.  It is sort of a ball-up-my-fists-and-stomp-my-foot kind of moment.  This little (mostly interior) outburst is immediately followed by the,  Oh, of course, he left his lunch, thought.

But, I did learn something last week when someone forgot his lunch.

You see, I had made the guilty lunch-forgetter a delicious turkey sandwich with mayo, tomato, cheese and Dijon.  The thought of sending the same sandwich the next day didn’t appeal to me — too soggy.   So, I ripped the sandwich apart, threw away the bread (remember my crummy diet?  It’s still going….) and made myself an omelet.

It was good.  Very, very good.  Do you know what really made it sing?  The Dijon.  So, I suppose that you know what is going in my cheese and turkey omelets from now on.

Try it,  you might really like it!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!

Well, a belated Happy New Year to y’all!  Sorry to take off for so long…..the days since the turning of the new year have just flown.

I’ve got two things to share on this Music Monday, and, both of them have to do with a concert that I got to see last night.

As a result of a friend’s kindness, I got to see The Civil Wars.  Wow, y’all, they were really great!  I had not really heard much from them before but I really enjoyed their music.

Here, you can check them out singing their song, “Barton Hollow”.

Now,that alone was a treat, but their opening band, The Staves, was great, too. The band is comprised of three sisters from north London.  This is the first time for them to tour the United States. I feel really happy that I was able to hear them. This is a song called “Mexico” from their debut EP.  Here you can read about them in Vogue.  Fabulous!

There are some talented people in this world.

Y’all have a good Monday!!

Today is so busy.  Yikes.  I feel like my to-do list is a bazillion items long.  Your day is probably looking similarly busy.  But, if you don’t have a bazillion things to do, or if you want a break from doing your bazillion things, you should check out the blog, Roost.  It is a beautiful food blog written by a girl from Birmingham.  It has gorgeous food photos.  I’ve not made any of the actual recipes yet, but I will, as soon as my to-do list is a little bit shorter.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!

Well, I hope that y’all have had a good start to your week!  This week promises to be hectic and fun and long and wonderful and lots of other things, right?

Today, this song, sung by Ben Kweller, has been running through my head.  I couldn’t find a performance on YouTube to embed so I’ll just link to the song, here.  (Click on the link, scroll down and click on the orange play button — it’ll redirect you to Jango.  A hassle, I know, but you won’t have to download an illegal mp3 just to hear the song.)  It’s Rock of Ages (Maos Tzur) and is particularly relevant since Hanukkah starts tomorrow.

Click on over.  I bet that you’ll like it!

Happy Monday, eveyone!!

I think that I’ve spoken more than once on here about my crummy diet.  This diet is one for health and not (necessarily) one that will help with weight reduction, etc.  When I first started, I’d have to admit that I was feeling sort of deprived.  I missed sugar, I missed flour, I was a lunatic dreaming about peanut butter.

All of that faded significantly when I ran across the recipe for this soup.

This recipe is adapted from one of Heidi Swansons’ recipes.  Sadly, I don’t remember the specific cookbook….maybe it was Super Natural Cooking.  Have y’all been to Heidi’s site?  I think that every food lover on the internet has probably visited over there — but, just in case you haven’t — please visit her beautiful blog and recipe site, at www.101cookbooks.com.  She is a wonderful photographer in addition to all of the artistry that she employs in putting together her simply wonderful recipes.  Check out her cookbooks, too.  They are probably at your library.

But back to the soup.

This soup has most of my favorite things in it — so it is a winner all around for me.  I love curry.  I love coconut milk.  I love coconut oil.  I love wild rice.  I love red curry paste and tamari and sweet potatoes.  So, when all of these loves come together in one soup then I’m a very happy girl.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Sweet Potato Croutons

• 1 cup rinsed wild rice (not wild rice mix!  You should have only the black rice grains and nothing else…it won’t work with a blend.)
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T. coconut oil
• 4 cups of water, divided (you may need more)
• 1 1/2 T. red curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 T. curry powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1 T. sweeetner (stick with something mild like natural cane sugar or agave nectar)
• 1 T. tamari or soy sauce
• Cubed roasted (in coconut oil, seasoned with salt and pepper) sweet potatoes for garnish.  (I usually do 3 pounds or so, but that’s just to save time making more later and it provides extra — for snacking! )

In a Dutch oven, melt the coconut oil over low medium heat.  Add the onion when the pan has warmed and saute until soft but not browned.  Add the garlic and saute for about a minute more.  Add the red curry paste and stir until it is very well distributed.  Then, add the rice and stir so that it is mixed with the aromatics.  Now, add 3 cups of the water and bring to a low boil and immediately reduce the heat to keep the rice simmering gently.  Wild rice takes a range of time to cook, this usually takes at least 40 minutes for me.  I partially cover the pan and check the rice periodically, stirring and adding extra water (usually a cup or so, total) until the rice grains split and show their pale interiors and are tender.  At this point, add the additional reserved cup of water, the coconut milk (shake the can before opening), the salt, sweetener, the tamari, the curry powder.  Stir it all together and let it cook another 10 or so minutes over low heat so that the flavors can meld.  Serve topped with the sweet potatoes and a squirt of fresh lime juice, if you have it.

Happy Thursday, y’all!

Y’all might want to check out HearYa today, because they’ve put up their 50 Best Albums of 2011.  There’s lots of great stuff on there. Many of the albums listed have mp3s available, also.  And, some of the song selections are from the live sessions that HearYa puts on.

I’m going to listen to these and try to catch up on some that I missed.

I hope that y’all are having a good Tuesday!

Hi y’all, well, things are hectic, right?  This is such a fun time of year.

Okay, before I go any further, I want to link to that chocolate cake that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.  It is the Everyday Chocolate Cake on Smitten Kitchen.  Talk about  yummy and easy.  This cake is super simple and only takes one bowl to get it done.  I made it twice in one week — it’s that good!  So, give it a try if you need a (nearly) effortless, delicious dessert.

Speaking of easy, Pam Anderson knows how to do an easy recipe very well.  This is a great dish for this time of year when we are all busy but would like something filling and tasty.  Shove It In the Oven Chicken Stew will be made very soon around here.  Her recipes always rock.

Finally, I haven’t forgotten about today being Music Monday.  This is a great time of the year, musically speaking, because so many of those “best of 2011″ lists are coming out.  Basically it is a great opportunity to hear something that you may have missed earlier in the year.  So, be on the lookout for those lists….meanwhile, this selection today you will not find on any list anywhere. But it will forever be on my list — especially this time of year.

Five years ago…..

Happy Monday, y’all!!