Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Goals, Challenges, and Books, oh my!

I'm pretty sure I'm borderline insane. I've made a list of new recipes to try, 25 books to read, three quilts to make, and the goal of a 5k. I may walk or crawl the 5k, but I'd like to finally check that off my list.

My quilting classes begin tomorrow! I'm soooo excited and I just can't hide it! Every time I think of that song, I think of this:


Moving on....

I love to read. I have such strong childhood memories linked to books. I think books not only entertain, but they give your mind a chance to grow, dream, and expect more. Kathleen Kelly agrees.

Anyway, with school taking over my life, my personal reading has sadly dwindled. I'm making 2011 my year to pick up books for fun. I've chosen some classics, fiction, nonfiction, the entire Harry Potter series years after everyone else has finished them, and a couple by authors that have made me laugh.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows- J.K. Rowling
The Guinea Pig Diaries- A.J. Jacobs
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible- A.J. Jacobs
I Am America (And So Can You!)- Stephen Colbert
The Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis
Wicked- Gregory Maguire
We Were the Mulvaneys- Joyce Carol Oates
Anne of Green Gables- Lucy Maud Montgomery
To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- Betty Smith
Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
Crazy Love- Francis Chan
Hector and the Search for Happiness- François Lelord
The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd
The Time Traveler’s Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis
Moby Dick- Herman Melville
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl- Anne Frank
Bless Your Heart, Tramp and Other Southern Endearments- Celia Rivenbark

It's a quirky little mixture, but I think we've determined that I like quirky.

My recipe list is a combination of main dishes, side dishes, desserts, breads, breakfasts.... and general yummy-ness.

Apple Dumplings
Baked Lemon Pasta
Billie's Italian Cream Cake
Chicken Tikka Masala
Cheddar Puffs
French Breakfast Puffs
French silk pie
Raspberry Cobbler
Ivy's Prune Cake
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Perfect Pancakes
Vanilla Bean Scones
Quiche (PW's)
Apple Tart
Spaghetti Squash with Maple Syrup and Shallots
Spicy Shredded Pork
Tres Leches Cake (unless this ends up grossing me out)
White Chili
Hearty Tomato Soup (FINISHED!)
NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies (FINISHED!)
Orangette's Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (FINISHED!)
Mile High Popovers
Red Velvet Cupcakes & Frosting
Banana Cake
Caramels (I'm scared. Candy is hard to make!)
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Noodle Soup
Spicy Vegetable Soup
Chicken and Corn Quesadillas
Tomato & Thyme Soup
Mac & Cheese
Penne with Tomato and Olive Sauce
Hummus
Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
Lemon & Poppy seed Drizzle Cake
Panna cotta with raspberries
Cheese & Onion tart
Quiche Lorraine
Lasagna with Homemade sauce
Roast Chicken
Soft Pretzels
Lemon Cake with Lemon Meringue frosting
Mexican-style Lime & Cilantro whole chicken
Bunny's Turkey Breast
Swiss Steak
Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread
Cardamom Vanilla Pound Cake
Homemade Smores
Pizza Bites
Zebra Cake
Bread Pudding
Chicken 'n Dumplings
Caramel Corn

I'll also be experimenting with different spices for chicken, pork, and beef. But I'll mostly be making those up. There are also a few recipes that I'll be trying, but that I'm not at liberty to share. Sorry. But if I want to benefit, I have to keep promises of confidentiality. Either that or I'll have to fork over a kidney in exchange for blabbering. Well, a kidney and $25,000. I don't have that kind of cash, so the secrets will go to my grave. Plus, I like my kidneys.

So, those are the recipes you can look forward to seeing. I may succeed, I may fail, but by golly I'm going for it. I will guarantee you that I will not be taking caffeine pills like Jessi. I don't even want to see myself that loaded. Yikes.

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