mon petit chou

My little cabbage! What a fantastic little termofendearment.

birds and squirrels

I give up. I've tried to keep the squirrels off the feeder and it's just not working. They shimmy up the beam on the porch and leap onto the feeder with such grace that it seems almost rude to run out there and scare them off. Wait a minute ... BIRD feeder not SQUIRREL feeder. [Runs outside and chases squirrel away ...] The birds do seem to be okay with landing on the feeder at the same time as the squirrels are there, but this is bird seed we're buying, not squirrel seed. Rascals.

So I coated the seeds with this spicy squirrel repellant that was in the garage. It involves mixing the bird seed with a tiny bit of oil and some spicy stuff (like cayenne pepper) and then filling the feeder with that. Granted, it does say on the container of spicy stuff that it takes some time to get the squirrels to stop coming back to eat the spicy seeds, but I just watched one sit there and feast and he definitely didn't run off with smoke coming out of his ears like I hoped! The spicy doesn't bother the birds, thank goodness, but it's supposed to bother the squirrels! I'll give it some more time and see if they stop coming back, but so far today has been a feast day for those fat little buggers. Ah well ... they have to eat too I suppose.

The battle continues.

for the love of food: homemade guacamole

We made guacamole today! I haven't made guacamole since being in Chile, so it made me reminisce a bit about that. Mind you, whilst in Chile we at so many avocados that they will forever remind me of that trip. In our Spanish classes we learned that "aquacate" means avocado ... but in Chile we were corrected. "Palta" is avocado in Chile. Important things to know when you go to the supermarket down there. I miss Chile. What a beautiful country.

Anyway. We made guacamole today and it was delicious. Two avocados, half a tomato, some fresh garlic, a dash of salt and pepper, and some mixing! We had it with some black bean salsa mixed with cream cheese (this is something I was introduced to in this family ... it's amazing, you should try it).

Re: Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day ... the so-called "Hallmark Holiday." And I'm feeling loved. Emotions flying here, there, and everywhere. Geesh! Wonders if it was something in the water, or the coffee I drank this morning. Valentine's Day usually means lots of candy and little folded up "Valentine's" that were bought at the drug store or supermarket and then addressed to various friends. I suppose that was more middle school, but the memory is clearly very solid. Now that I actually have a valentine, it's not quite as chocolate-centered as it used to be. (Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate.)

Today was our fourth Valentine's Day together. It wasn't a particularly remarkable day, so to speak. And because he's working third shift, he's sleeping during the day. But it was still a lovely day. We spent some of this morning together. And I baked him some brownies that I cut into heart shapes. And of course, there were countless hugs and kisses while he was not sleeping. And it was perfect.

Things I've been thinking about today: As cliche as it is, I'm unbelievably lucky. I am so loved, by such a wonderfully patient person, with so much to offer, who loves me for who I am, and who tells me I'm beautiful even when I've just gotten out of bed and my hair is going everywhichway and I'm not feeling particularly beautiful. But he makes me smile and feel warmfuzzies inside when I burrow my face into his wooly sweater for a hug. Patience is a virtue not to be toyed with. It must be acknowledged and nurtured. Philosophical blah-blah-blah-ing. Patience, virtue, etc, etc. But really, it's worth being patient to see what happens when we're not so in limbo. This time is a transitional one. One in which we're waiting until we can move on to the next phase of our life together. And I'm so excited!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.

baking: banana bread!

I bought some bananas several days ago, and that very same day Scott's mom also bought some bananas. Needless to say, we had a LOT of bananas. We didn't really expect to be able to eat all of them. And then when some of them started turning funny colors at the top, I decided they would make great banana bread! They weren't quite as ripe as I would usually consider "overripe bananas" for banana bread to be, but I couldn't wait anymore ... I needed to bake!

Add to those bananas some flour and butter (I used my new-to-me Pyrex mixing bowls too!):

I used two different recipes and made two different loaves - one had sour cream, one had brown sugar, one had walnuts, I added chocolate chips to the other, etc. It's hard for me to follow a recipe exactly ... I like to improvise a little.

So one with walnuts. 

One that I added chocolate chips to. 

Makes two lovely loaves of banana bread! And you've put those funny looking bananas to good use! You don't even know they were funny looking to begin with! We think they got cold at the top ... note: do not refrigerate bananas. 

I love baking. Especially when I have no agenda for the day and can thoroughly enjoy myself. However, that being said, I would love to bake all the time! Maybe one day I'll have a cafe that I can bake delicious things for. Definitely on my list of things to do. If you want to try these recipes, let me know! I can send them along. I found them on allrecipes.com and tweaked them a little bit. They're super easy and quick!

And a small side note here at the end: Jacob, the dog I posted about, is entirely unpredictable. I can't wait to have my own dog.

cute sometimes-grumpy old man dog

Jacob. Scott's family dog. He is a lab mutt with perky ears and a sometimes-grumpy personality. He's an old man, to say the least. He likes a couple of friendly pats and then he sometimes growls to let you know not to touch him. He's a little moody. I think he's trying to figure out why I'm still here. Needless to say, we're getting there. He likes that I share my banana-slathered-with-peanut-butter with him sometimes. And lets him lick the leftover peanut butter from the spoon off my finger. He doesn't like it when I pet him too many times. He's more my friend when we're outside playing in the snow. He comes trotting over to my car when I get home, tail wagging, presumably excited to see me. Just don't look at him funny. Or touch his tennis balls. Ever.

Right now Jacob is about as close to me as he possibly can be. Closer than I think he's ever been. We've introduced a new subwoofer to the speaker family and he doesn't so much dig the new beats. Thunder-esque sounds? Sort of. He's a little afraid I think, so he's curled up under my feet. It's pretty cute. I think we're friends for now. We'll see what happens later ... hopefully we'll stay friends.