It Really Is Moving Time...

http://hoothootwoof.blogspot.com

Shall be shutting this blog down soon!

Stayin' Alive...

(Doo, doo, doo! Ok. The Bees Gees?? Who thought of that? Hm.)
Hello Blog,

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I kept promising to come back and document all the adventures I've had at college thus far.
I had planned to write about Torrientation, and about locking myself out of my room on my first night.
I thought about introducing you to my dear bike, Shrimpy Prawn, and comparing my very first twelve-mile ride with Dante's journey into Hell. (It's getting better, I promise you. I think I'm climbing Mount Purgatory right now....)
I was going to show you pictures of my room, my bicycle, the trees on campus, and so forth, and tell you all about the strange things served in the Caf.

But I never did.

You know why?

Two Words: Music Performance.
Actually, more like seven words: I'm changing my major to Music Performance.

Am I crazy? Aren't there posts saved somewhere on this blog about how I decided to take a long hiatus from violin? Am I not the girl who hates performing and never practiced for more than an hour a day for the past twelve years? (And even that hour was like pulling teeth.)

Yes. Yes. Yes, and Yes.

I suppose it's natural to ask what changed. And I suppose I would have to reply that I don't entirely know. But I'm most definitely in the process of finding out, and when I do, you'll get to read all about it.

For the meanwhile, please keep me (and all other college kinfolk/chumlets) in your prayers, if you would be so kind. I think we're all reaching the time in the semester where we are undergoing the death, or darkness, that precedes the dawn. Three hours of practice never feels like enough. Rehearsing, writing, revising, reading, re-reading, etc. Nothing feels like "enough", whatever that "enough" is, and I am being confronted with my finiteness. Oh, I am so very human. I am not even immortal like the Greek gods described by Homer. I am mortal. I am an "eater of bread", and I need sustenance and sleep. More importantly, I need to learn how care for my soul as I struggle to become a whole soul.
It is frustrating, and I feel like I am a very dead seed that will never sprout. But maybe the only thing to do right now is to acknowledge all the frustration, discouragement, and fear that I feel. I'm scared about Don Rags, and I'm even more scared about juries. I am weary, and the thought of four or five more years of this makes me feel even wearier.

But I musn't grow gloomy. As the weather grows frigid and the trees lose all their leaves, all of creation hopes for the coming of Spring. I, too, shall hope for Spring. (I certainly hope for the warmth of Spring when I'm saying hullo to the bitterly cold air during my morning rides.) Yet I also must work on enjoying winter, and maybe even enjoying the process of "dying". I don't know whether death in itself is a good thing, but I am realizing how much I need grace, and how very little I am willing to accept grace.

All shall be most well. Four weeks until finals. We shall all take it one day at a time, right?
(How very cliché...Oh. Arg. Frustration again.)

I really do want to introduce you all to Shrimpy Prawn sometime....Maybe over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

I miss you all!

Er, Nevermind

Indecision has rendered me quite Hamlet again. After much waffling (not literally, I'm afraid), I have decided to keep this blog and use it for my embarrassing attempts at writing about subjects besides food and wooly creatures. (I suppose this comes after reading Jane Eyre and wanting so badly to dialogue with someone about it...)

Because I plan to make it a private blog, I was wondering if you good blogger-sphere folk would be kind enough to furnish me with your e-mail address so I can add you to the reading list. If you do not know my e-mail address, just leave a comment and I will send you a private message to obtain the said information.

:)

Thanks!

"'Cause we're moving into a new house...."

Dear Friends,

The time has come to switch blogs.
You can find me (and a variety of other creatures) here!

See you there! :)

-Paulie Blip.

(First person to tell me where the title quote is from ((without looking it up)) wins a cookie! Well, you can win a cookie even if you look it up. Actually, please just come over and eat cookies!)

To My Neighborhood Trader Joe's

Dear Trader Joe's,

Why are you so awesome?
It probably has to do with the fact that you sell me a bag of baby-spinach for $1.99 every week. Or maybe because I can find a quart of milk for a dollar? Or perhaps it's because you now stock both regular-rummy-vanilla and chocolate Canneles de Bordeaux?

(And who can forget the yogurt and hummus selections? There are just enough options to render me quite "Hamlet".)

Your array of chicken broth always makes my heart sing. (Actually, it makes me sing. And then I get stared at. And then I desperately attempt to look like I have just sneezed an incredible song-like sneeze. Yes, it would be very incredible.) Low-Sodium? Check. Organic and Gluten-free? Check, check. The-Regular-Discreetly-Named-WITH-SODIUM--style? Check, check, check!

And then there's your chocolate section......Let's not go there. Too much goodness in one aisle!

Oh and the cheese!
One of your very friendly employees introduced me to Saint André today and I think I have fallen quite madly in love. Who could resist such a wonderful triple-cream? (Actually, I was a bit skeptical when I first tasted it; but then I discovered that it is very similar to Brie, the god of all soft cheeses, and that made it quite all right.) Saint André triple-cream is taller than a Brie and has a very fun consistency: crumbly towards the middle and more spreadably soft nearer to the outer skin. (Perfect for those who enjoy the texture of goat cheese but not the flavor. Though I suppose I should learn to like the flavor of goat cheese...) It is an exceedingly rich cheese (75% milkfat?) that tastes oh-so-buttery and the tiniest bit tangy.
Mmm.
Trader Joe's, thank you for selling Saint Andrés triple-cream.
We enjoyed it with our Hobbity-supper this evening. (Crispy fried potato-bacon-thyme patties, anyone? Oh, and some of that spinach.)

Yes, Trader Joe's, I will admit that I often seek relief from end-of-the-term-stress by perusing your shelves and air-violining to whatever classical piece you have playing. (Great choice in music, by the way. Especially on a Saturday morning.) I probably frighten your Hawaiian-shirt-clad employees even though they are kind enough not to mention it.
Send them all a box of Joe's O's. (And a dollar to buy the accompanying milk.)

I will be seeing you again soon.
Very soon.

With much love,
-Miss P. McGillies

A Lentilian* Revelation

A delightful conversation with sweet Jane one morning at school:

Me: Jane, I love lentils!

Jane: Me too! They provide that wonderful something you always need.

Me: Nutrition?

Jane: No, yumminess!

:-)

I love you, Jane!

*Lentilian probably refers all things of the Lentil-nature...

Merry Christmastide!

From Jo-Jo and Lettie.

Kitty--The Mighty Huntress

She sneaks...

...and creeps

...and pokes

Boing!

Whap!

Pow?

:-) 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hurrah!

We survived the first quarter of school, friends! Faith of our Fathers combined with Shakespeare is definitely rigorous and leaves you feeling rather breathless--but breathless in a good way, if that makes any sense. I'm incredibly blessed to have an amazing tutor and wonderful peers, both in and out of class, who make me think harder than I ever have before. All of my classmates display an eagerness and willingness to learn that never ceases to both inspire and humble me. Thank you, dear classmates, for never allowing me to stop thinking or caring. (And thank you for putting up with me even when I'm being a pill.) 

I wonder if we continue learning even when we rest? (How very silly that sounds!) Even when we're not actively reading something or trying to formulate arguments and string sentences, maybe our mind continues to process and sort through all the different ideas and thoughts. I find that the "epiphany moments" come more often when I'm not actively looking for them. Perhaps resting and playing gives us time to absorb everything we've been taught. 

Hmm.

In light of all this, I think I'm going take a moment to catch my breath by spending the evening with non-school books, some scarps of fabric and a sewing machine, and Rachmaninov's  (or Rachmaninoff's) Vespers. 

Have a good weekend!

Pow!

:)
Any guesses?
Be back in a few weeks.

Comfort In A Spoon

There really is something incredibly comforting about baking. Maybe it's the knowledge that there is something yummy is in the making, or perhaps whipping eggs and beating butter and sugar together somehow gives some kind of odd, sadistic satisfaction--though I have no idea how that is at all comforting and I doubt that this is the source of any comfort. Perhaps the comfort is all in eating.

Either way, after spending the morning slowly reading my way through Ignatius' letters to various churches--which, by the way, has been very interesting--I knew, just as Pooh often does, that I needed something sweet and deliciously rich to beckon me to hurry with my reading.

 (Well, Pooh just eats his honey. I would eat my honey, too, but I really do enjoy honey with toast, and there is no toast in this house. :( )

In between paragraphs, I pondered what sort of pudding would deliver top-class comfort on a reading-filled, rather gloomy day as today. Then I found this website with a recipe for vanilla pot de creme and crumbly chocolate shortbread. This sounded suitable--creamy, vanilla custard accented with the dark tones and crumbly texture of the shortbread.  

The pot de cremes were surprisingly easy to assemble, and after baking, I set them in the fridge to cool. They had plenty of time to chill, since I promised to abstain from eating them until the majority of today's text had been read. 

Some hours later and some chapters later, I made the chocolate biscuits to go along with the custards.

And here is where I make my confession: I was going to try to finish all of the assigned letters for Ignatius, but I gave into temptation at three chapters left and went downstairs to indulge in the sweet pleasure of dessert. I fear I do not regret this, since I probably would not have finished those three chapters until eleven or so this evening, and I never like to eat right before bed.

The custard was quite divine, if I can dare say that without being too heretical? When baked in the waterbath, it had formed a bit of a thicker crust of cream on the very top, which cracked slightly as I dove in with my spoon. It was very reminiscent of creme brulee, sans the crispy sugar topping, of course, and a tinsy bit less extravagant since I had used half cream and 

half whole milk. The biscuits were wonderful with the custard, as well. Crumbly, buttery dark chocolate biscuits with the cool creaminess of the custard.

This was pudding well worth every minute spent away from my reading, and it definitely delivered much comfort in each spoonful. :)

(Sorry for the poor quality of the photo! My camera was missing so I used the camera built-in my laptop. Cameras in computers? What will they think of next? Built in showers? That might come in handy while on the road.....)

Have your fungi...and eat a few, too?

While browsing wedding cake ideas on..er..*hides behind couch* Martha Stewart.com, I came across her series of Woodland Wedding Cakes and was very much intrigued. A mushroom laden wedding cake? Having an odd fear of those real-deal, spongy, watching-you-in-the-forest-mushrooms, I couldn't quite decide what to think of the cake. However, after a bit of thought, I finally decided that it must be a Hobbit wedding cake, and is therefore not so very disturbing! (Although something makes me think that Hobbits would put real mushrooms on their cake instead of meringue mushrooms, and it probably wouldn't be a white-frosted cake. Perhaps more like this?).

Hehe.

While Martha Stewart seems to have some conspiracy (along with Starbucks) for taking over the world, I have to admit that her website and magazines are very helpful when it comes to ideas, recipes, random house-keeping tips and tid-bits. Plus, the photography is amazing! Her wedding cake ideas are phenomenal, too. Of course, there are some not-so-great cakes out there, too. (The kind that make Martha Stewartians shrivel up and die [of laughter]. ...Not that I'm promoting the death of Martha-Stewartians, since I, er, myself might be one of them. Eep!) Heh, most of my cakes end up looking like this. (Please browse this site with caution, since some of the cakes are a bit on the scandalous side. :-( )

Anyways, it's time for synopsizing!

Have a good weekend!

Picture Post!

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Chocolate Maven cake! (Very, very, very tasty...mmm)

The back of my papasan reading nest.
The view from my papasan reading nest.
Katherine the marmalade catHehe. We passed this on the drive home.
:)

More to come!

Happy Goosie!

Winnie the Pooh+four girls+a grassy lawn+a swimming pool to soak toes in=a wonderful, wonderful afternoon (and a very happy Goosie!).

"You can never tell with bees."
:D

Hurrah for Food and Rain! [Boo for a lack of a better title]

Hurrah for the glorious, refreshing rain after a week of incessant heat! Gloomy, rainy days seem to add to the coziness of a restful weekend following a whirlwindish week of term papers and tests. April showers in May? It works for me! Hot lentil potato soup for lunch and chocolate bread pudding in the oven--it's a bit reminiscent of the hearty stews and puddings of wintertime. However, I am ready for summer. Summer is the time for lighter fare--fresh and simple, yet full of flavour. Summer is the time for alfresco dining. Summer is the season for cherries and peaches, vine ripened tomatoes and sweet basil, and spontaneous picnics. There's nothing like packing a picnic basket full of cheeses, fresh fruit, some nuts, and a crusty baguette and heading to the park to read, paint, and eat. (Don't eat paint, however, or else you might start doing odd things). I used to dislike summer because of the hot weather, but I'm starting to realize that summer brings so many wonderful and good things that far outweigh the heat. So hurrah for the coming of summer! And hurrah for the good food!

Hurrah!

The post man left a brown parcel on my doorstep this morning! I was very excited to find it. It's always a lovely surprise, particularly when you're home sick, to find a package with your name on it on your doorstep.
:)
There is a camel in the box. At least, that is what I think.
All of us in the upstairs room are planning a welcome party involving some sort of cake for the supposed camel, since we heard that camels like cake.

"So long, farewell..."

As of last Sunday, I have officially started my not-sure-how-long hiatus from playing the violin. (It's not exactly official...I suppose it's simply "decided"? Decided and put into practice?) As much as it feels rather sad stopping something I have done for so long, the relief I feel from not having to worry about violin and practicing seems to outweigh all else--for now at least. I haven't stopped playing violin for good, though, and I hope to play a bit every week or so to keep my fingers from getting too stiff and forgetful. In the meantime, I shall try to focus more on piano.
Liszt.
Lissssszzzt!
I am very, very excited!
There shall be much finger dexterity training this summer. March, little soldiers, march!
I suppose they must also learn to march lightly? Is that even possible? Perhaps they fly!
Wheee! (glissando...buuuurrrrrrrrriiinggg!)
Or if it is done badly (from personal experience): *bumpbumpbump"ouchouch"bumpbump"ouch"bump"ouch!"bumpbumpbink!"

Hehe.
Speaking of summer, I will also be bridesmaiding as a little yellow buttercup in my friend's wedding this June. Hopefully, sister and I will spend two or so weeks in beautiful NM to take part in the festivities, visit old friends, and breathe the wonderful, clean air of the desert. It is the desert with piercingly blue skies and the yummiest chocolate cake. :-) If ever you visit Santa Fe, make sure to stop by the Chocolate Maven and try their chocolate cake. It is dense and moist, and oh so very chocolate-y. Sometimes they serve it up with dollops of chantilly cream and it's almost a bit like heaven. (Perhaps? Can food taste divine? Well, it's delicious and marvelous combination of flavours and textures, whatever it is.)

I'm also plotting to journey up North with family in July to obtain some pot de creme pots (sans creme, since I will most likely eat before I take them home) from Miette. I'm quite enchanted by their jolly little pot de creme pots...Hopefully they will still be making them from glass by the time I visit.

Enough of silly Goosie's summer plans! Time for bed and a bit of resting before the SAT this weekend.
I shall be glad when it is over..
Have a good weekend!

Spring!

Hello friends! Spring is here! It's time to go outside and enjoy the flowers, listen to the birds, and feast on the delicate yet delicious offerings of the season. How refreshing are all the flavours and textures of spring bounty! The crisp snow peas with delicious cold cream; Sweet Vidalia onions; artichokes, asparagus (baked atop a puff pastry shell with some Gruyere...mmm), the crisp baby lettuce mixes, and even rhubarb and strawberries for pies.
This evening I picked up some leeks and new potatoes to make potato soup. I love potato soup--especially homemade potato soup. It's creamy and velvety but not overly milky, and the leeks and shallots add a mild sweetness. (An oniony taste. What is an onion? What does an onion taste like? Gah!) This was my first time cooking with leeks. ...I think I like them... :-) Be sure to smell them before you cook them, and smell them while you cook them, and of course, smell them as you're eating them. I suppose you could smell all your food..But what about raw meats and poultry? Hmm..

I hope you are all enjoying the wonderful things of Spring!

I hope I shall learn to enjoy the things that I ought to enjoy...

Good night! (And be sure to listen for the birds. :-D)

You know Spring is near...

...when you can hear the birdies twittering away at 11:04 P.M.
:-)
Twitter on, dear birdies.
Continue your lovely lullabies!

I hope you find some big, juicy worms.

P is for Pasta!

Pooh for silly, rambly, emo-istic blogposts.
Do different shapes of pasta taste different? I don't know very much about pasta, or even what it's made of, but I've always wondered why there are so many different pasta-shapes. Perhaps it has something to do with what each kind is used for, such as lasagna or macaroni and cheese (mmm...oooey-gooey-cheese-filled-elbows).
I'm very glad that the creative-pasta-shape-inspired folks have developed numerous ways to make and shape pasta.
I love pasta.
:-)

Hurrah for pasta!
Hurrah for orecchiette!
Hurrah for orecchiette with broccoli!
Hurrah for olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and pesto.

Food is very wonderful.
Sleep is very wonderful.
This blog is not so wonderful.

Good night!