Kate Walsh Downloads are Always Good

Last spring, my obsession with the singer Kate Walsh hit a peak when I went to her small show in Philly. Amazing. She is terrific on her CDs, but even better live. At the show, she sang several songs from her upcoming album. I obsessed over them and searched the interwebs for them without success.

That was until another fan sent me a link where I could find THREE!!! new songs from Kate Walsh. The three songs are downloadable to itunes for free, my friends!

It's true. She isn't for everybody, but she is definitely for me with her soft guitar and emotional lyrics. See...in my own life, I am pragmatic. I am reasonable in thought and emotion, but in my listening life, the more heart-wrenching, the better. Kate does heart-wrenching very well. I find her lyrics startling and honest. I find her voice honest and pure.

Snow Day Revisited

You might have heard earlier in the week that the east coast had a snow storm. Everyone back in the midwest keeps saying to me, "It must have been bad, huh."

Well...it was bad for Philly. I have to remember that Philadelphia is very big and isn't as flat as the midwest. People live up hilly roads and there is a lot of traffic. A snow storm just affects people and their lives a little differently here. It's true that what I know as a big winter storm is very different than what people who were born and raised in Philadelphia know as a storm. That doesn't make me dismiss this as a winter storm. There are just a whole different set of circumstances to consider when it hits a city like Philadelphia.

When you look at the photos, I know you are thinking, "That is not a storm. That is a regular day here in North Dakota or Minnesota," and you would be right. My memories of blizzards that covered a third of my house would make me question whether this is an actual storm, but the weather people say it is a storm.

I like the snow and in honor of our March storm, I would like to make a list...

Things I Like About Snow Storms...
1. I like to brush off my car. I find it very satisfying. I think I have above average skills when it comes to defrosting and cleaning off a car covered in snow. This storm wasn't even a challenge. My car had about 6-8 inches of snow on it. I have memories of needing a shovel to actually dig out the car before I could brush it off.

2. I like to hold up in my house and do cozy things. I made some banana crumb muffins on Monday morning because I had the time and because they were warm and cozy.

3. As much as I like to hold up in my house, I like to cruise around in my CRV and see how things look. I like to give Tim a commentary on the conditions while he questions my judgement for being on the roads. Don't worry. I stay close to home.

4. I like snow days. I like late starts. I like to check the website of the school district in five minute intervals waiting for the bold letters that tell me that there will be no school! And, I don't have to make up the days. Hooray!

5. It gives me something to blog about.

6. I get to be reminded of my hearty midwestern nature. I get to think about the days in the midwest when a blizzard would take out the power for two days and you'd be left doing little more than playing cards in about five layers of clothing. Really, those are rare storms, but it does happen.

The Midwestern Cook

I spend at least thirty minutes of every day reading cooking and baking blogs. Although I adore a number of cooks on the Food Network, I find that the recipes on the food blogs are so much more manageable. Along with the commentary and hints that they give, I find that the recipes that I try rarely fail.

I may regret this, but....I am starting a food blog. I have been working on it for a few weeks. Instead of posting my recipes here at The Midwestern Position, I will be posting recipes at The Midwestern Cook. I hope that you will bookmark it and visit as often as you visit this blog. My only concern for my food blog is being able to post as often as I should. I want to keep people coming to my blog and if I have a busy week and cannot post new recipes, they might abandon The Midwestern Cook.

Cooking and baking is one of my passions and I love to talk and share about it. So, hopefully, people will want to see what is cooking in my kitchen!

Oh, well, we'll see how it goes. I hope to discuss recipes, cooking gadgets, favorite ingredients, and more.

My Nook

This is my new home office nook. It has been the mud room off of our kitchen that has done little more than store our bag of potatoes and step stool.

It is a small space, but when you think about, I think everyone should have their very own small space. Maybe it is because I grew up with my own room and could shut the door and just do whatever I wanted to do in that room, but I have always craved individual isolation in small doses. I like having a space to put things that are mine and mine alone.

I have my cookbooks, picture frames, and tech tools on the shelves. I have artifacts from my life mingling with the picture frames. Iris the ipod and Charlotte the Shuffle have their very own spot on the shelf too! When you walk into my nook, you will know that Sara lives here and checks her recipes, blogs, and more in this space. I feel blessed today.

I Believe...

1. That a look at someone's ipod is like a window into his/her soul. (I posted a picture of my first ipod, Greta the Green. She now plays kindergarten music for five year old souls.)
   
2. Personal rituals make life better.
   
3. That the Oscars don't matter. It's just a place for rich, self-absorbed people to pat themselves on the back while wearing insanely expensive clothes.
4. It is reasonable to buy the exact same Banana Republic white, black, and gray stretch t-shirt summer after summer.
   
5. It's old timey and fun to keep money in a jar for something interesting on a rainy day.
6. Peanut butter and sour cream are excellent foods...just not together.
7. That I am not taking advantage of as many things as I should in Philadelphia. I need to get cracking on that.
8. It's time to start wearing the puffy vests again.
9. That I have the same haircut that she had when she graduated high school and I didn't even try to do it.
10. A simple life is a good life.
    

Time Well Spent

President's Day weekend has turned out to be one of the reasons that I love working at my job. We get Friday and Monday off! I have made it a habit to travel and see friends during this time of the year or I like to plan for people to come and see me in Philadelphia.

This year, I traveled to Minneapolis to see some of my nearest and dearest friends in my life. So, in typical Midwestern Position fashion, I will give it to by the numbers...

2 - New babies born to my friends Jolene and Steve. Welcome to the world Lauryn and Emily! I am so glad that I was able to meet you and hold you in your first days.

5 - The number of Wall Street Journals that the man next to me read during the flight from Philly to Minneapolis. He insisted on reading it in the big, wide way...you know so his fist was in my face because he refused to fold his paper in half to read.

$140,000 - The amount of money that I won playing the DVD game of Deal or No Deal with five year old Julia. I thought that was pretty good.

10 - The number of children under the age of six at the Valentine's Day Dance Party. Very fun.

2 - The number of Caribou Coffee shops that I stopped at during my Minneapolis trip. I love the Caribou. I miss it.

Reading Twilight

I couldn't resist. I started reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. When someone handed me the book, I responded with, "I do not really like vampire books."

She asked, "Do you like steamy teenage love stories?" My response, was a simple "yes" as I grabbed the book from her hand.

I am finished with half of the novel and I wonder what is the matter with me sometimes. All I hear is how great the book is and how people beyond teenage girls love this book. There are grown women who love this series of books. The first three chapters were painful. The inner dialogue was cheesy and pretty typical. Without giving anything away, the main character Bella has this helpless, clumsy streak that makes Edward feel like he has to protect her. He reminds her to the point of nagging to "be careful" on every other page. This annoys me. I just don't empathize with Bella. If I had a guy telling me to be careful all of the time, he'd be history. Their entire relationship is so uneven. He has all of these reasons that he wants to be with her and she has one...he is dreamy.

Scammed at Starbucks

I have been accused of being naive before, but it was affirmed in midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon.

I was standing next to a man waiting for my drink at a Starbucks. When the woman barista asked him what he ordered, he replied with "Venti Caramel Machiatto".

In my mind, I thought, "ME TOO!"

So, the first Caramel Machiatto came up and he took it because he was there before I was. Then, a man barista asked me what I ordered. I told him and the barista said, "That guy just took your drink."

What? I realized in a half second that I was scammed. Or...Starbucks was scammed. Guys stand around and listen to orders and then belly up to the pick up counter and take other people's drinks. The barista stood there and I had a feeling like he was not going to make my drink so I had to explain to him that it is possible for people to order the same drink so it is not my responsibility to keep track of who ordered what. He made me another drink and I knew he would. It's Starbucks.

However, what is wrong with people? It's not like it was food. Maybe I would be more understanding if it was food and the person was starving, but it was coffee and a frilly girl drink at that.

Cuba Libre

Tim and I rarely venture into the city even though we live about ten minutes from the center of Philadelphia. We tend to stay in our little nook of the suburbs. However, we went into Philadelphia to take part in Restaurant Week where upscale restaurants offer a three-course meal for $35. Our friends, TC and Laura, joined us for an evening at Cuba Libre, a Cuban restaurant that I have been wanting to try.

First of all, I love mojitos. They are the kind of cocktail that I like to enjoy at restaurants rather than make my own, but after enjoying a passion fruit mojito and a cherry mojito at Cuba Libre, I am inspired to make my own at home. We'll wait for summer for that.

My appetizer was a plate stacked with pork ribs! It was smothered in a guava BBQ sauce. Just like all ribs should be, they were cooked well and had lots of tender meat to pull off of the bone. TC, Laura, and I all had the ribs as our first course. I followed the ribs with a lime-garlic marinated chicken dish on top of a black bean croquete...I have no idea what that means, but it was like a black bean crab cake sort of thing without the crab! It was covered in a mango sweet and sour gravy.

Finally, my third and final course was the dessert. Normally, I do not get dessert at restaurants because I am so full from my dish, but it was part of the experience. TC and I enjoyed Tres Leche de Banana which is a vanilla sponge cake soaked in three different kinds of banana milk and a chocolate-banana mousse on top. It had caramelized bananas on the side too.

I realized on my trip to Cuba Libre that I really shouldn't wait until restaurant week to enjoy the yummy food that Philadelphia has to offer. I should make it a goal to go to the city at least once a month and try a new restaurant.

January 20, 2009

No matter your politics, today matters.

This is going to be good for our country on so many levels. There is nothing that I can say that hasn't already been said about this moment, but it matters to us all.

Tales of the Grocery Store

Well, it is that time on Midwestern Position when I share my observations from the grocery store. I love grocery shopping, but my passion for groceries is slowly fading with my time in Philly. However, this morning was great. The following is a chronological list of events that took place at the grocery store.

1. A woman 'raced' me to the carts. I did not know that we were racing, but it was made clear to me when she put her hand on the cart that I had just grabbed. She said, "I'll take it."

What? Really? Okay. Because there are 35 more carts sitting here for me to take.

2. When I was choosing my bunch of bananas, a woman was muttering under her breathe about how they never have quality bananas. How "could it kill them to get the GD bananas out before they are all yellow?" I felt that she was addressing me, but I have always found it best to just walk away.

3. I was called "BABE" three times at the deli counter.
"What do you need, Babe?"
"Which turkey, Babe?"
"Have a good day, Babe."
I don't object to this term of endearment. It entertains me.

4. While waiting in line for my deli items, they had sample sandwiches on the counter. Even though I do not enjoy free samples of food at the grocery store, I observed a man eat three of them. Yes, the line was that long at the deli counter that I could see this man come back two more times for a sandwich while he shopped.

Midwestern Endorsement: William Fitzsimmons

My newest music obsession is a man named William Fitzsimmons. He is the kind of artist that one should listen to only if they are comfortable in the melancholy state. He sings songs about lost love, what could have been, and how it should feel when a person feels absolutely terrible with their heart cracking slowing. I love it. But, I am one of those people who enjoy a sad song more often than not. It is folky and nostalgic. Both things that I am prone to like. His story is interesting too. Now, I will stalk his website with hopes that he will make his way to Philadelphia.

Midwestern Recipe: Coconut Cake

I have tried many different recipes for coconut cake. I like my cake to be very flavorful and I think this recipe is the best I have tasted. I made this for a small dinner party on Saturday night and it was a crowd pleaser. I made it with two round cake pans, but it would be just as delicious in a 9x13, but you might not need to use as much whipping cream for the frosting.

1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 (14 ounce) can coconut cream
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoon white sugar
1 bag of coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, water and coconut flavoring. Beat for 2 minutes and pour into 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

In a medium bowl, combine coconut cream with sweetened condensed milk and stir until smooth. When cake comes out of the oven, poke holes into it in even rows using a large fork or chopsticks. Pour milk mixture over, allowing it to soak into the cake. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Store in the refrigerator.

Rock Band

Check us out! We almost look like a real band, but not quite. We are doing our best playing Rock Band with my friend's Play Station 3. Unlike Tim, who was good at all of the instruments, I found my groove on the bass. I was kicked off of the drums more than once.

We invited Laura, TC, and Stephen over for dinner and Stephen shared his Rock Band with us for the evening. My favorite song to sing was "When We Were Young" by The Killers. Tim impressed us with "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones. Now, I am going to do my best not to run out and buy Rock Band and a system to play it on.

101 Things

I am trying to think of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I know my friend Carmyn has developed a list, but there is something about right now in my life that inspires me to come up with this list.

It seems simple enough, but it has to be realistic. It has to be measurable. It has to be well-rounded. It can't just be all home improvement items. I am sure I could fill the list with that topic. I am afraid that if I write 101 goals on one topic, I will get bored. I do this every year. Last year, I had 12 goals in 12 months. I don't think I did any of them. However, I am ever hopeful and ever ready to attempt goals. AND...101 days is a long time. I have categorized it into the follow themes...

Home Improvement
Financial
Health
Food
Experiences
Relationships
Travel
Learning
Entertainment

With such a wide array of themes, it is important to have simple and more complex goals. Even though I have not completed the writing of the goals, I have started on my goals. The start date was December 13, 2008. The date for completion is September 10, 2011. Wow. That is a long time from now. I have already crossed two items off of my list.

9. Host a Holiday Party
12. Make a cheesecake.

Well on my way.

Virtual Night Stand

I've got a Borders gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I have a hard time using it because I have so many books in my night stand wanting to be read. I guess it doesn't hurt to buy a few more and add them to the pile. Currently, on my night stand...


Franny and Zooey
by J.D. Salinger

A friend of mine gave this to me on my birthday. He loves it and I know the book means a lot to him. I started to read it and had to put it down because I had to keep up with my books for the class that I took this fall. Now that I have sworn off all reading that is 'assigned' to me, I hope to get back to this book.

The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver

At my holiday party, a friend saw this on my bookshelf and was excited to talk to me about one of her favorite books. I hope she wasn't too disappointed, but I hadn't read a word of it. It sits on my shelf, lent to me by a friend who bought her copy in Ireland. She loves it too and when I finish it, I have two friends will want to chat about the book.

A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn

This is a reread for me. I read this book about 12 years ago and I was browsing my shelves a few weeks ago and pulled it out. Something about this time in our own American lives that made me think it was time to revisit some of the hard truths and stories that lie in our past. If you haven't read this book, you should.


These books should keep me busy for at least two months...(I'm kind of a slow reader)...but that doesn't stop me from wanting to browse the bookshelves at Borders and add these books to the pile...

The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
by Jonathan Alter

It could be that I like Jonathan Alter and think he is wicked smart when I watch him discuss politics on MSNBC. It could be that my grandfather couldn't talk about FDR without crying just a little. It could also be that Barack Obama was reading this book and I want to be a little like Barack Obama. Who knows, but I am going to buy this book tonight.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by David Sedaris

I bought Holidays on Ice for a friend for Christmas because I love to reread it each holiday season. It never fails to make me laugh, but it reminded me that I had not purchased David Sedaris's new book. It has been out for many months and I was very excited when it came out, but again, bogged down with 'assigned' reading.

So, these books should keep me busy for awhile. However, there is always the chance that I will be distracted and add some other books to this list.

Midwest Christmas: By the Numbers

7 - Days spent in the midwest to celebrate Christmas with our family.

163 - My highest wii bowling score this holiday season.

27 - Number of first and second cousins seen over my week in the midwest.

3 - Number of days that my shoulder ached after rolling cookies.

-22 - Degrees. Yes, that's right. That is negative 22 degrees. The temperature on my first morning in North Dakota.

5 - The number of years taken off of my life after the taxi cab ride home from the airport tonight. Scary. Fast. Worth it. Way better than parking at the airport.

8 - The number of Obama holiday cookies made. I come from an Obama-lovin' family and they just seemed right sitting on the holiday cookie tray.

6 - The number of days left until I return to kindergarten. It's going very fast.

2 - The number of people at our New Year's Eve party. Just the two of us. Just the way we like it.

Holiday Recap

The last two weeks have been busy with a capital B. Like all other teachers, the last two weeks of school before winter break are filled with special days at school and events planned with staff.

Last weekend, we hosted our first holiday party with people from my work. Tim and I spent the week before the party cleaning and cooking. I tried a lot of new recipes and some tried and true. Of course, I baked a number of holiday cookies too. Although I invited mostly people from work, I invited my cousin and his wife and my friends from Brooklyn too. It was great that they made the trip. I was a little worried that my house would not be able to hold everyone, but I was pleased with how everything went.

I put the drinks in the three-season porch and that helped with the flow of people. I served soda, waters, beer, and wine. We have a lot of drinks left over. Oh, well, we will just have to have another gathering.

We have a holiday party tonight too! All of the sudden, we have a social life. More than anything that I am looking forward to this season is traveling home to North Dakota to see my family. I am ready for the traditions of the past, the comfort that only your family can bring, and sharing the fun of Christmas with my parents, my brother and his wife, and my extended family in the frozen tundra of home.

Midwestern Recipe: Easy Turtle Pretzels

Holiday baking season is here again! I will be posting each of the recipes that I try for the first time and the tried and true recipes from my family. Today, I baked two cookies recipes and two candy recipes.

First, I made Easy Turtle Pretzels. It was so easy and they are good. I think they would make a great homemade gift for someone if they were put in a cute jar or bag.

Preheat your oven to 300.

Unwrap 50 individual rolo candies (a 12 ounce bag).

Spread out about 50 tiny twists rold gold pretzels on parchment paper lines cookie sheet. I can only fit 25 on my pan.

Place a rolo on each pretzel. I put them on upside down. It doesn't matter.

Put tray in oven for 4-6 minutes (enough to get the rolo soft and squishable).

Take tray out of oven and smoosh pecan halves on top of each rolo, pressing down to fill in the holes of the pretzel.

Let cool. Can refrigerate to cool. Sit out a little bit before eating, cause the caramel inside the rolo will get tough from being in the fridge.

Yum!

I know there are people who do not enjoy the holidays for lots of different reasons, but I love them. I cannot imagine a season without baking, music, and family. I love the idea of preparing for Christmas.

Things I Am Thinking About on Thursday Morning

I think it is interesting (weird) that the number one purchase on the folk section of itunes is "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. That song came out in 1988. Twenty years ago.

Why did I spend 20 minutes (I wish I was exaggerating) in the Dunkin' Donuts drive thru last night? It was one of those drive thru lines that once you are in it, you cannot get out unless you move through the line. Well, I think only one man was working in the shop and he was the new guy because it took five minutes for him to make coffee for people. Their coffee is not the 'fancy' coffee that takes steamed milk and espresso. The easy stuff, yet it took twenty minutes. Normally, I wouldn't care, but I was late for class after that. See...I hate to even complain about this because that guy has a frustrating job as it is and here I am complaining.

Gas is now $1.89 here in my neighborhood. That is nice. I don't fret when I pull up to the station when I see a number under two dollars. However, I worry about the rest of the economy. Groceries seemed a lot more expensive when I went for our weekly trip. Maybe it is the after holiday increase so they can make money back on all of the sales prior to Thanksgiving. I think I notice the price changes more because I buy so many of the same foods from week to week.

I have decided to not take a grad class next semester. I did not enjoy my class this fall and felt that I got very little out of it. I am starting to think that grad school is for your twenties or at least, my twenties. Now, I just want to work and go home. I want to spend my free time doing what I enjoy. I want to read the books that I want to read. I have one more class left.