Undercover Blogging

At the time of this writing, I'm under two quilts and surrounded by pillows. That's right, my iPod Touch 4G allows me to blog without ever leaving my bed. A lot of people would consider this a great achievement in the field of modern conveniences. I consider it to be pretty lazy. But the bedroom is cold, and cold bedrooms only motivate me to not get up.

I don't want this to sound like an elongated status update, but things have been pretty uneventful lately. Just school and the usual stuff at home. My classes have been great so far. And I found out that the only books I need for my theater class are a couple of novels I can get very easily. Score. I've been working on my latest cross-stitch project, and it's coming along nicely. I can't wait to see the end result.

I hate to make this such a short post, but my eyes are starting to get tired from staring at my iPod screen in the dark. And I have to make breakfast for a certain someone.

Gross Excess

Things have been pretty quiet for the past two or three days.  Not much has happened.  For some reason, I keep going to bed early but waking up late.  I guess ten hours of sleep never hurt anybody.  It's been nice getting up before Josh and getting to make him breakfast, though.  He really digs waking up to a hot bowl of breakfast rice.  For those who don't know, it's cooked white rice mixed with milk, butter, and sugar.  I'm not a huge fan, but it's really easy to make and he sure loves it.  He also loved the berry melon sorbet I made a few days ago, finishing the whole thing in about ten minutes.

Also, I've been receiving packages.  Things I got to pick out and order, paid for by an Amazon.com gift card (thanks again, Dad and Jenise).  I got a yard of eggplant-print fabric, and I was able to replace three cross-stitch books I lost last February.  I also replaced a book I had a long time ago (The New England Ghost Files by Charles Turek Robinson).  Right now, I'm waiting for my last two packages to get here.  Two plastic canvas tissue topper books also lost last February.  It feels good to know my collection of craft books is getting close to being completed once again.

There's one thing I ordered, though, that has been especially amusing.  For under twenty bucks, I got ten silicone iPod Touch 4G cover in different colors.  Call me an ignorant, overindulgent American swine, but I'm totally loving the way I can match my iPod's wallpaper and lock screens with whatever skin I've chosen.  For example, right now I've got the purple cover on it.  The lock screen is a painting of eggplants and the wallpaper is solid purple.  I certainly hope I'm not crossing the line from "hip coordinator" to "stupid," but I guess some have to learn the hard way.

Apple pie.  Get it?

As for those ballin' craft books, they're being put to good use as well.  I'm working on a cross-stitch bookmark for Josh (he already knows).  I've really missed the three cross-stitch books I replaced, because they all have really neat borders and motifs (Morgan:  MOTIFS!).  I'm also working on a vegetable-themed cup for Mom (she knows, too).  It's like one of those mugs you can cram pictures into, except for cross-stitch.  After those are completed, I'll be working on a few other little projects (which I don't even know about).

As for the eggplant fabric, I'm not sure what to do with it yet.  It'll have to be something really cool.  Maybe curtains or a laptop sleeve?

Blender's Game #2

I can have a one-track mind at times.  This morning, the only word on my mind was "sorbet."  After browsing for some iPod Touch wallpapers (another mini-obsession) and making breakfast for Josh, I jumped right into the kitchen and began my work.  The fruit that I was going to use was fresh as opposed to frozen, so I had to put the container in the freezer overnight.  The container in question held strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapes.  It should be noted right here and now that I've always hated cantaloupe and honeydew with a passion.  However, all the containers of fruit at the store had some sort of melon, and I wasn't about to let something bought for me out of love and kindness go to waste.

Sort of lonely.

I opened the container and carefully picked out the strawberries and the blueberries.  Berries are delicious and I can totally tolerate them.  Except for poisonous berries, but I'm sure we can all agree on that topic.  I tossed the berries in the blender and decided to skip adding the water the recipe called for, just to see how much sorbet a tiny amount of berries such as this could yield.

About this much.

Intriguing.  Definitely an interesting color.  Despite my distaste for melons, I went ahead and dropped the rest of the fruit into the blender, including the grapes.  I added water as the recipe called for, about a cup, and a generous sprinkling of sugar.  About ten minutes of vigorous blender-shaking and shredding noises passed until I opened the blender to taste-test the sorbet.

Sorbet-baybay!

The sorbet was surprisingly thick and delicious.  I never thought it was going to be terrible, but the initial use of the melon pieces sort of put me off.  The berries and the melon complemented each other nicely.  To top it all off, the whole concoction was a gorgeous pink color.  In the words of Ina Garten, "How great is that?"  I don't know if Ina Garten actually said those exact words, but she totally would.

Blender's Game #1

I'm up way past my bedtime, but for good reason:  I've been experimenting with my lovely new Magic Bullet blender.  I had been wanting to try out some of the recipes that came with the blender.  Tonight, my boyfriend was kind enough to swing by the store after work and pick me up a few ingredients I had been meaning to get for a couple of weeks now.  He's nice like that.  Before I began my work, I thought it would be nice to blog about my most recent adventures in Magic Bullet ownership.

I got my nifty little blender for Christmas.  I made jerky chew with it the very first day, followed by cashew butter.  I pulverized about thirty-six Oreos to make Oreo balls.  I even made a "hand treatment" for Josh out of oatmeal, nutmeg, sugar, and olive oil, as his hands get horribly chapped in the winter.  Each of these little experiments turned out great.  So far, my blender hasn't contributed to any major kitchen disasters.  It sits there, all dark and sleek, like some sort of culinary monolith.

"ONE OF US!  ONE OF US!"

For my first recipe book experiment, I chose to try my hand at making chocolate mousse.  This recipe employs the whipping blade that came with the blender, and I used the smaller of the two cups.  All I used was heavy whipping cream and Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.  I poured the cream and squeezed out the syrup and proceeded to try and whip it all up.

Yep, that's mousse.

I took the blade off the cup and was seriously impressed.  It may sound dumb, but the ability to make mousse was the thing that convinced me about five years ago that I desperately needed a Magic Bullet blender one day.  I wondered if it was too good to be true.  But, lo and behold, the cream was whipped into a perfectly moussey consistency.  The mousse was pale, but the chocolate could definitely be tasted without being overpowering.  At some point, I think some chocolate coffee mousse should happen.

Next, I used the tall cup to make salsa.  I used a whole tomato, a good bit of onion, and a handful of jalapenos.  I believe the original recipe called for cherry tomatoes, but I think that's to put a greater focus on the lack of cutting that supposedly makes the blender so convenient.  I also used pickled jalapenos, as opposed to fresh ones.

So, I cut the tomato into wedges and decided to use only about half the original chunk of onion.  Of course, the onion was really strong, and it's awfully hard to put things in a blender with one eye squinted nearly shut because of the fumes.  I tossed it all into the blender along with a dash of garlic powder and a little parsley for flavoring.

It was strangely pretty.

The outcome was not so pretty.

I stared at the result through the side of the clear cup.  To be honest, I was a more than a little put off by the color of the salsa.  I had never seen salsa that consistency or color before.  I also didn't like the sound it made as it plopped into the Tupperware dish I poured it into, but maybe that's just me.  I dipped a cracker in it, gearing myself up to be disgusted.  Amazingly, the salsa was delicious.  It was a bit pulpy, but the tomato flavor really came out and it had a great lingering heat. Believe it or not, this is definitely a recipe I'll be making again.

So far, the Magic Bullet blender is my favorite kitchen appliance.  There's some fruit in the freezer, and tomorrow I'll post the result of my attempt at sorbet-making.  I want to create new recipes for this particular appliance, and I would love to hear about other "ten-second recipes" developed by Magic Bullet cultists owners out there.

Semester Preview

Today was the first day of spring semester.  The whole day was very good, despite my initial nervousness.  I woke up a few times last night and had trouble getting back to sleep.  I felt better as the morning went on, though.  I got my schedule printed out and got to wear my favorite yellow shirt (the one I coordinate with my pointy yellow shades, because I'm cool like that).

My first class of the day was developmental psychology.  It's not exactly "second-level" as I had described it, but it is my second psychology class and it's more in-depth.  I really dig the professor and my classmates seem really friendly.  The same also applied to my second class, accounting.  I can tell the professor really loves accounting.  The sort of love that says, "If loving accounting is wrong, I don't want to be right."  All in all, both classes should prove to be challenging, fun, and fruitful.

I had a few minutes between classes to eat my lunch.  It was tasty.  After my classes were over, I still had to wait for Josh to get out of his English class.  I spent the following hour and twenty minutes taking pictures of myself with my iPod and manipulating them with various photo-editing apps, because that's what all good students do their first day.  Josh had a great day, too, and with that we headed to a nice little Chinese restaurant in Oak Ridge.  Countless pieces of shrimp and several Altoids later, we're just relaxing at home.  Neither of us have school on Fridays, and we're going to be off Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Today was just a little "preview" of the rest of the semester.

Despite the tempting idea of playing The Sims 3 until my eyes melt out of their sockets, I should probably get to bed.  I'm usually a night person, but going to bed early and getting up early is the chillest feeling ever.  I like to make breakfast for Josh first thing, then follow it up with doing laundry or the dishes.  Everyone should try to do even a minor accomplishment first thing in the morning.  I don't know about you, but it always puts me in a relatively good mood.

Hello, Spring Semester

Well, it's the last day of winter break.  I think it went very well.  Sometimes not being mentally busy can be a bad thing.  Breaks are always welcome, but I'm ready to get back to school.  I freakin' love school.  It keeps me busy and I get to learn stuff.  How cool is that?  I even get to carpool with my dearest Josh, which is an added bonus.

Tomorrow, I get to rise and shine and attend my second-level psychology and first "Principles of Accounting" classes.  I'm so excited, I've already packed a snack: a pouch of tuna, a container of light balsamic vinaigrette dressing, some flax crackers, and a bottle of water.  I call it a "snack" because Josh and I plan to go out to eat tomorrow afternoon.  It's our little ritual to eat somewhere after the first day of the semester.  I usually never eat breakfast, but I do get hungry, and we won't be eating until around 2:00 or 2:30.

I also love packing lunches for school.  In case you couldn't tell, I try to put together freakishly healthy lunches.  It's like a challenge and mini-obsession. I usually pack salads, because we all know salads are totally boss.  Not to mention versatile.  More on my lunch obsession later.

Like I said, the break was nice but it's time for school.  My first semester was great, and I think this one will be the same.  One class I'm looking forward to in particular is my second-level western civilization class.  I tend to be more interested in history after the 1300s.  But that's just me.

A Brief History of the Purple Ghost

I've always found starting a blog to be really awkward.  I never really know where to start.  If I make a reference to something I've not written about before, my readers would be all like, "What?"  So, to put a stop to all that before it starts, I'm going to give you a little background information.  That way, you guys will know what the eff I'm talking about.  At least, most of the time, anyway.

I was born on June 7th in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I lived in Oak Ridge with my father and his parents.  In 2003, my beloved grandparents passed away.  About a year later, my father and I moved to Florida.  We lived there for about a year and a half, and then I moved back to Tennessee and Dad moved out west.  I came to live with my mom, stepfather, and aunt in August 2006, in a nice little house surrounded by scary woods and cats.  During high school, I was very involved in NJROTC and journalism.  I learned how to cook and do various crafts.  My junior year, I met a remarkably smart and sweet young man by the name of Josh, and we began dating in May 2009.  Sadly, my family and I lost our home in a fire in February 2010.  No one was hurt, not even our cats.  Josh and his mom took me in immediately, and I've been living with them ever since.  I was able to finish my high school education at the same school and I'm now pursuing a college degree.

That should clear up any confusion.  That being said, welcome to my humble little blog.  Thank you very much for taking the time to read about my daily adventures.