Come to me...2010

Aw, so it's coming, and coming fast. The new year, 2010. A time to make new decisions, to make a fresh start, to make your life better. I didn't care much for the '09. There was nothing very special about it. So to make '10 better than '09, I have some...drum roll please.....NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS!!!!

1. To become healthier, as in eating better and exercising. More fruits and veggies, and less junk. Goodbye junior mints and pizza, hello apples and bananas. Bring on the wii fit.

2. Become more active in school functions. I need to join more clubs and be on at least one sports team. I love to run, so I'm thinking along the lines of track.

3. Blog and journal more often.

4. Develop better speech habits. a.k.a. lose the curse words.

5. Start doing yoga.

Goodbye 2009, and welcome the big 2010.

Curry Powder

I just love the smell and taste of Curry. It has got to be my number one favorite spice. I could eat curry dishes anytime and I would never get sick of the taste. One time when we were prepping for a catering, the chef made Curry chicken salad, and it was absolutely delicious!

Stuffed mushrooms

I'm making them as an appetizer for Christmas Eve, but I had to look up a recipe online. It came down to two choices. One had crab meat and the other didn't. I asked my mom and my sister what they thought I should pick, but all they said was, "It's up to you," and, "You're the chef, use you're best judgement."


Hello? I'm a chef in training. I've never had stuffed mushrooms before. I don't know what one would taste better! Crab meat or cream cheese?


Anyways, I finally exited out of the crab meat and stuck with this bad boy.


Ingredients:

12 whole fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
2.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
3. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.


Hopefully, he won't disappoint.

Untitled.

My great-grandmother came down from Pennsylvania. She's so hilarious! She's 'in a relationship' with my sister's boyfriend's grandfather. Old people are funny when they date. My great-grandmother is talking the guy's ear off as I'm sitting here typing this. <3

Alexis is a fantastic knitter! I haven't started yet, but tomorrow my mom is going to teach me.

I want to ride

The more time passes by, the more I feel like I'll never go riding again. I want to go so bad, but we moved and we don't have the horses in our reach so I can never go now. We're boarding them at this lady's house, that my mom works with. And it's so far away!

I've literally only gone out there once in this past two months.

This is why I need to drive! That way, right as school got out I could speed on down there and spend time with Jewel and Red.

Royal Blood

The 6th book in the Vampire Kisses series. It was really funny, and slightly cheesy. But for some reason I still end up reading and loving the books.

Christmas wish list

Alright, Santa please listen up while I make my list.

• Straight As and As on my exams.
• Books, books, and even more BOOKS
• The kindle
• New stockings
• cheese making kit
• Clothes, of any sort, as long as they're cute and stylish.
• All the White Stripes albums.
• Some bins for me to start composting.
• More time to ride.

Actually, half this stuff I would be fine with not getting, but the books, grades, and riding are a must.

Creamy Tomato Soup

I made it last night for dinner. I didn't particularly like it, although Alexis seemed to. I thought it was too rich, which made my stomach rebel.

All it took was tomatoes, onions, carrots, parsley, and butter. You throw it on the pot and after 20 minutes you mash it up in a vegetable mill (Which I don't have). Don't forget the half and half and the heavy cream.

Oh, and thyme, but we didn't have it so that was out of the recipe.

Again, this recipe = Not good!

Gaylord Palms

Monday the ice carving club took a field trip down to Orlando, Florida, to the Gaylord Palms hotel. We bought tickets for the ice carving event that the hotel was hosting. It was amazing.

Forty Chinese ice carvers came from China to carve 200,000 million tons of ice. They created a multitude of different sculptures, and everything was life size. There were polar bears, statues of people, angels, snow flakes, even a giant slide that you could ride down. It was nine degrees. You had to wear parkas. My fingers were burning. I had an amazing time!