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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Not-Friday Five – Reading Boosts

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Mental Health, Reading Challenges on July 21, 2024| 2 Comments »

I know it’s not Friday, but it’s July so all weekdays – Fridays especially – are out of control. So here we are on a calm, rainy Sunday, coffee in hand, eating maple whipped cream out of a bowl with graham crackers, leisurely letting you in on what I meant to post Friday.

A busy schedule means I need to be more intentional about downtime than I usually am, and nothing relaxes me and puts my whole life in perspective more than reading. So this week, I have been drawn to ways to boost my reading and give myself a little extra challenge. Maybe your reading needs a boost, too? If so, see below!

  • “Gratitude is not a solution to the problem of pain.” I love that quote from this short clip of Kate Bowler. Gratitude is a useful tool for perspective, but it is not The Answer. Also, enforced gratitude is the worst. Even if telling other people how to feel could make them magically feel that way, it’s still controlling and manipulative and I hate it so much. A while ago, a friend recommended Bowler’s book Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day! (specifically for coping with cancer treatments). And now I’ve bought it. It’s been refreshing and comforting.
  • I love musings about friendship, and this one on the medium friend is particularly good. I especially like this part – “Medium friends can thus be seen not as inferior to best friends but as delightful and beneficial on their own terms: a well-matched tennis partnership; a bond over breast cancer; a mentoring dynamic; a rediscovered childhood chum; a gamer buddy abroad. Relieved of the pressure to be ‘good,’ the friendship can flourish and serve each person as it is.” 
  • The National Book Foundation has a summer reading adventure. You click on the things that you do, fill out the short form below it, and submit by August 31, 2024. Since most of these activities fall under what I’m already doing, I’m in! Are you?
  • Also, if you love audiobooks, Libro.fm is hosting an audiobook challenge that goes until the end of this month. I am always up for winning more books and perhaps a mug, so I’m pretty stoked about it.
  • I always wanted a solid layer of pineapple on my pineapple upside-down cake, and this one delivers. My favorite line in this whole piece is “Like revenge, it’s a cake best served cold.” For the record, I would buy her cookbook so fast.

I hope you are having a fantastic weekend!

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Friday Five – Delight

Posted in Beauty, Books, Food, Friday Five, Music, Nostalgia on June 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

This week has been hectic both at work and in my personal life, but there have been so many things that have delighted and pleased me. Here are a few:

  • I am fascinated that such a thing as a happiness expert exists (I’m a fan, to be clear), and I enjoyed this article on their daily habits. 
  • Roxane Gay is saying goodbye to her column Work Friend, and she wrote a beautiful send-off to it. 
  • Dorie Greenspan of World Peace Cookies fame (and baking in general – the cookies are just how I was introduced to her) wrote a lovely piece on getting out of a personal rut/funk entitled “A book that’s bigger than you are.” 
  • Speaking of books, my favorite book I’ve read this week is The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff. It’s the follow-up to 84, Charing Cross Road, and it is just as charming. 
  • I love the Gaia Music Collective (I want to sing with 100+ people!!) but I especially loved this arrangement. I played this song for my piano recital the same month my childhood friend Ginger died, and it always reminds me of her. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of all your favorite things and people!

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Summer To-Do List

Posted in Books, Food, Health, Mental Health, Seasons on June 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I could eat my weight in cherries. I won’t (probably). But I could.

When I typed the title of this post, my gut reaction was “Nothing. Not a damn thing.” I feel like my plate is already full for this summer. So rather than come up with a lot of extra things to do to feel like I’m getting the most out of this season (the worst season, to be clear…it’s so, so hot…I just want to lie in a bucket of ice), I decided to limit myself to four doable things as a reminder that there’s no need to get ambitious.

  • Finish radiation treatments – When they start in the next week or two, this is going to be a 5-days-a-week-for-7-weeks ordeal. The silver lining is that it’s paid for, thanks to the generous (and fast!) funding of my GoFundMe!
  • Eat low-maintenance meals – We’re talking meals that look like small charcuterie boards (fruit, raw veggies, cheese, nuts, crackers, bread, jam, pickled things), sandwiches, and salads. Maybe the occasional breakfast burrito or fried egg on toast. Sometimes pasta or a quick stir fry. But if it takes more than 10 minutes to make it, I don’t want it.
  • Indulge my sweet tooth – I’ve been so careful with sugar this year to give myself the best chance of feeling good and not crashing. But sometimes, I just want something sweet, so I’m going to give in a little bit now that feeling-good days are happening more consistently. I’ve already ordered the key lime bundt from Nothing Bundt Cakes to pick up this afternoon.
  • Read and attend book clubs – I missed all my book clubs in May due to health issues, and it definitely put a damper on the month. I also haven’t read as much this year as I intended, due to a lack of focus, which is understandable, I guess. My goal for summer is to keep feeling good enough that I can get back to my usual bookish self (or a close approximation).

This reminder to slow my roll was technically for me, but maybe you need it, too? If so, consider this a gentle, caring nudge from me to you to confirm that you are already doing enough so maybe just sit in front of the fan and relax for a minute.

Hope you’re having a good day!

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June 2024 TBR

Posted in Beauty, Books, Food, Health, Home, Mental Health, Quiet, Reading Challenges, Resolutions on June 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Happy June! I am nearing the end of my post-surgery convalescence. I have had a few doctor’s appointments and dealt with a nasty bout of nausea last week, but otherwise, I’ve pretty much been spending the past two weeks eating, sleeping, and reading. In other words, living my best life. I won’t go so far as to say it’s been a vacation – healing from surgery isn’t my idea of a good time – but it’s definitely been restful and quiet.

I’ve become a fan of DoorDash. I just ordered an omelet this morning, and it was on my doorstep by the time I put in a load of laundry and made coffee. I could get used to this. 

Another wonderful thing is that I’ve regained some of the focus I lost during chemo. I’ve already finished several books this month, and I have ambitions to finish many more. My reading lately has been cozy and homey with a nod to Pride Month sprinkled in, and most of my selections for this month seem to continue this trend. 

Book Clubs (which I may actually be able to attend again soon!)

Reading Challenges

I’m definitely making up for my lost year with the number of reading challenges I’m attempting. It’s been a fun way to choose what to read next. This month, I’m mostly focusing my efforts on the summer reading challenges. My yearly favorite is Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Summer Reading Guide. As a Patreon supporter, I have access to the whole guide in all its glory, but I’m working through the books that are out so far from the Minimalist list first:

  • Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
  • skin & bones by Renée Watson
  • The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
  • There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Adurraqib
  • Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan (already read and…maybe my last Kevin Kwan. Or maybe I try reading only print copies, because I really did not enjoy the audio of this one or Crazy Rich Asians. Or does he write any books about people whose biggest problems aren’t gaining or maintaining ungodly wealth and prestige? Because he’s a good writer – I might enjoy a story of his if he wrote about characters I could actually sympathize with or if I could care at all whether they get what they want in the end.)

In addition to its year-long challenge, the 52 Book Club also has a summer mini-challenge. For extra kicks, I’m going to try finishing off these prompts in the order they’re listed. June’s selections include:

  1. Set in Paris – The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery 
  2. Flame on the cover – How Can I Help You? by Laura Sims
  3. Go for gold – Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis (I get a little thrill when books satisfy more than one challenge)
  4. 100 M Spring (a short story collection) – Bobcat by Rebecca Lee
  5. Longjump (audiobook is 15+ hours) – The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
  6. Steeplechase (character is a spiritual leader) – The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  7. Boxing (a strong opening hook) – The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
  8. Wrestling (a heavy read) – The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde
  9. Fencing (dialogue with witty banter) – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

A lot of these also fit prompts from some of my year-long challenges, so bonus!

Miscellaneous Reads

As with every month, there are books that I’m reading either because I’ve borrowed them from a friend, they’re due at the library soon, or I just couldn’t resist picking them up. 

I realize this is quite an ambitious list, but at the rate I’ve been reading, it’s not impossible. This is, of course, assuming that my attention span doesn’t crash and burn again, but there’s really no predicting these things. I prefer to keep my plan pretty optimistic anyway.

I hope you are having a great June so far!

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Friday Five – Happy Birthday Weekend to Me!

Posted in Alive, Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Health, Home, Writing on March 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

My good friends Maggie and Michelle are coming into town today and spending my birthday weekend with me, and I’m so excited!! We are going to eat cupcakes, binge-watch comfort TV, and just bask in each other’s presence all weekend. 

Up until very recently (i.e., a couple of days ago), I have been operating under the assumption that I will have the energy to do everything I really want to do. I mean, I knew in my head that this was not probable. But I cling to the idea that I’m extraordinary. Well, I am. Extraordinarily sensitive to treatment in that I have had almost every one of the milder side effects of chemo so far. Apparently, that means it’s working, so I’ll take it. But still. 

Could it also mean that maybe I don’t stretch myself to the very end of my energy every single day? I think so. I think that would be a good thing to stop doing. Every week, I find more and more that I usually love to do that I just don’t have the energy for, and that’s going to have to be ok for now. The things I love will still be there when I’m well.

In the meantime, here are some things I love that take relatively little bandwidth.

  • Oh, gosh. Ruth Reichl, Laurie Ochoa, and Nancy Silverton have a podcast together. It’s called Three Ingredients and I am obsessed (with a PODCAST?! I know, right?!). 
  • Five ways to trick yourself into decluttering. The timer works really well for me. I can do anything for five minutes, and I can get a surprising amount of things done in that time.
  • Dorie Greenspan has a new book coming out, and it’s about simple cakes. I feel like I need to pre-order it, because simple cakes are my favorites. Give me anything I can throw in a bundt pan and maybe not even ice, and I’m happy.
  • My writing is hitting a slump, so I’m going to refresh a little next week with the Healing Through Writing Festival. It’s all online, and most of the sessions are free. You can upgrade for a pretty reasonable price to get All Access, but per my energy level, I may just need to stick to the other sessions. But if you are a creative and need a boost, too, you may want to check it out. The presenters I recognize are top-notch, so I’m excited to learn what everyone else has to say.
  • Finally, a very helpful product that my friend Steph introduced me to. My skin has been so sensitive – to heat, allergens, etc.  More than usual, I mean. It is a mess. Enter Active Skin Repair Hydrogel. I can put it on cuts, burns, allergy rashes…anything. And it soothes and heals. It has been a godsend and if this product were a person I would marry it. Highly recommend if you are similarly afflicted.

I hope you have a great weekend!

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Friday Five – Sort of Normal

Posted in Beauty, Church, Denton, Food, Friday Five, Home, Quiet, Work on March 2, 2024| 1 Comment »

This week has been a mix of ups and downs, but it has felt like the most normal week I’ve had so far this year. I got to see some friends and had enough energy to put in almost a full week of work. I’m about to hunker down with a book and a cup of tea for the evening, but I thought I’d share a few things with you first.

  • One of the main things on my mind this week is the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle. My parents live a few hours south of where most of the blazes happened. So much loss, and here is how you can help.
  • The title “Warm House on a Quiet Day” stuck out as a cozy invitation in my inbox, but when I clicked to read it, it was so much more. Laura Grace Weldon’s words read like my constant internal monologue. 
  • I’ve been trying to find a small, portable snack and ran across this little gem – savory oatmeal cookies. I made the rosemary/parmesan ones. This weekend, I may experiment with subbing thyme, adding dried cherries, and leaving out all the dairy for the next batch. I feel like the possibilities are endless, and I am committed to exploring them with reckless abandon.
  • This piece by Lisa Bartelt is beautiful. My church is coming through for me in lovely, astounding ways these days, and it’s been a good reminder of why I picked them and why I choose to keep coming back. But even during more normal seasons, the rituals and the community I have there work wonders in my soul. 
  • And finally, I got to go to a vigil for Nex Benedict last night, and it was lovely. Following up a bit from last week, here is a list of resources from OUTreach Denton that can help you learn about how to get more involved in advocating for LGBTQ+ folk, particularly youth. Most of these are based in the DFW area, but I encourage you to look for resources around where you live if you’re not local to me.

I hope you’ve had a good week, and I hope you have an even better weekend!

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Friday Five – Birthdays and Other Updates

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Health, Reading Challenges, Work on February 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Happy Friday! I’ve mostly been reading about chemotherapy this week, so not a lot from the web to share. But I still have some exciting things and updates. 

  • This Friday is a special one. One of my very best friends turns 40 today! Happy birthday, Michelle! I require you to live at least another 40. More, if possible. But just go ahead and plan on at least another 40. You make the world better and brighter and more badass and I love you so much.
  • I had my first treatment yesterday and other than being a little tired (probably more from the steroid keeping me awake most of the night than the actual chemo), I am mostly good. My skin is BIG mad so I’m being extra nice to it today.
  • I’m super excited about seeing The Taste of Things. I’m not really doing large public things like going to movie theaters these days, so I will wait until it streams to see it. But ever since Chocolat, Juliette Binoche is my foodie movie fave, and the trailer looks amazing.
  • Our team at work is reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni, to discuss in a few weeks, so I’m probably going to start reading that today. In related news, I may need to stock up on popcorn and tea for the entertaining show that this discussion is likely to be.
  • Finally, I’m going to do book reviews a little differently this year. I’m going to be participating in Modern Mrs. Darcy’s monthly Quick Lit, so I’ll have a separate post somewhere around the ides of each month to catch up. I think it will be easier to do it all in one post a month, and I’m all about making every single thing I can easier these days. But the MMD community always has great suggestions, so if you’re looking for something to read over the weekend, you can get recommendations galore at that link!

I hope you have a great weekend!

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Friday Five – YAY WEEKEND

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Home, Mental Health, Quiet on February 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Next week is gonna be…something. Chemo is starting, and I’m hella nervous (and super angry about billing, but more on that later, probably in the next few days). Even more reason for this weekend to be a lot of staying in and resting and nesting and reading all the preparation materials. 

Knowledge is power, even when it’s scary.

Some great things to add to your weekend reads:

  • My friend Beth published a story, and it’s just 0.99! Click over and buy it and give it a read. 
  • We Are Not Okay by Roxane Gay – As you know if you’ve been here long at all, I love Roxane Gay, and I love this piece. In related news, the Sesame Street responses on social media and the reminder of how much I adore Tracy Chapman’s music (I love watching how much Fast Car means to so many performers – give yourself a five-minute break to enjoy Chapman and Combs’s Grammy performance) were a couple of uplifts that I desperately needed this week. Super grateful for that.
  • One of the things I love about Susan Cain (other than Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, which is easily one of my top five favorite book titles ever) is how well she tackles finding the balance between taking care of your soul (specifically if you are an introvert, but I think the general premise applies to everyone) and contributing to the world in the unique way that only you can. This post is a great example of addressing the tension between those two values that many of us feel.
  • I’m starting to wrap my head around replacing my beloved bean-shaped loveseat (like, within the next year. Not now. My proverbial plate and my literal stack of bills is full right now). I think I want a loveseat like this. A sofa that I can rearrange that can serve not only as guest bedding but also as storage? In pretty peacock blue (or ooh- blue or green velvet)? Yes, please. On the other hand, this is also very cute and looks similar to what I have and love now.
  • And finally, I have been feeling pretty sugar-averse these days. It’s funny how eating less of it for just a short amount of time can make most desserts seem too sweet. It’s almost as if my body is relieved I’m eating less sugar. Ahem. Rude, but ok, body. I guess I can continue to listen. Whatever. Anyway, I would make an exception for this Ding Dong cake. I bet it’s DELICIOUS. 

I hope your weekend is fun/restful/exciting. Have a good one – whatever that looks like for you!

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Friday Five – The Hyperfocus Is In

Posted in Denton, Food, Friday Five, Getting It Together, Health, Home, Mental Health, Quiet, Reading Challenges, Work on February 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a nutty couple of weeks. I feel more settled at work than I did in early-to-mid-January, probably because the semester is getting underway and everyone is falling back to their routines. Either that, or I have successfully adopted a more relaxed, whatever-gets-done-is-enough attitude (less likely, but still remotely possible). Also, I’m getting more done, so it may just be that that feels good. Regardless of the reason, I’ll take it. 

Meanwhile, I am super focused on a few key things. At home, I am nesting like I’m expecting a new baby. I am constructing an elaborate meal plan that I may actually use occasionally when I feel up to it in the next few months. And the information-sponge part (erm, majority?) of my personality is in overdrive. About everything. Mostly health stuff, but it’s hard to turn it off when it’s time to talk about something else. Yesterday at an appointment the nurse said, “This may be too much information.” No such thing, friend. No. Such. Thing.

However, I am enjoying super easy weekends and shall continue to do so while I’m going through treatment so as not to tax my system any more than necessary or cause any delays. In the perfect world, I would take this opportunity to learn how absolutely essential easy weekends are to my life and general well-being and keep them indefinitely. One can hope.

Here are some things I’m enjoying lately:

  • One of the wonderful things about reading challenges is that I get prompts that remind me of things I love. Nowhere Bookshop’s challenge encourages us to read our “Roman Empire” book – a book about any topic that lives a solid rent-free existence in our heads. One of my proverbial Roman Empires is architecture, specifically house plans. I think about how building homes could not only be useful as a career but also make opportunities to provide shelter and safety for others as well as build communities. I think about it a lot. I have several rough sketches for houses – everything from small bungalows to large spaces with full libraries and indoor pools. Also, I LOVE BLUEPRINTS. This prompt has me deep-diving into this topic that gives me so much joy. Look at these tiny house plans! How cute are they? And I adore the whimsy of this one. I mean, I would need a whole second tiny house just for my books, but I love the creative, economical use of space. Anyway, I put a lot of books on hold at the library about this, so I think I will have this prompt more than covered.
  • Also…I like this article. Not making any plans (for now or in the near future). I just like it.
  • I love cottagecore. Not so much the clothing or decorating style (although I do love roses and carnations and tend to decorate with both, even after they’re dead), but the lifestyle elements. Container gardens, reusing scraps, knitting my own blankets, slow food. Focusing on less waste and more creativity. Great quote – “We can choose to create a world for ourselves filled with gentle moments, while also considering how we can make our homes a place of cultivation instead of a place to store ‘things.’” This also slides right in line with my current nesting habits.
  • I’ve been looking for recipes recently that are high in protein and fiber. I’ve been in a bit of a food rut, but most of these and these look good to me. Perhaps I’ll try one or two of them this weekend (lookin’ at you, sweet potato).
  • I know they’ve reached their goal already, but these are some of the most talented baristas in Denton, and I want them to have all they need and more while they look for their next gig. So if you have a little love (and by love, I do mean cash) to throw their way, please do. Also, there’s going to be a fundraiser at Rubber Gloves, so swing by if you’re in Denton on February 10.

Take care this weekend (and all the time, really), friends. I hope it’s relaxing and fun and everything you want it to be!

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Friday Five – What’s Going On These Days

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Health, Home, Mental Health, Quiet on January 19, 2024| 2 Comments »

This week. Whew. Glad it’s almost over and that my weekend is mostly relaxing. I’m really leaning into my quiet theme as much as I can. That’s been helpful.

Here are some things from this week:

  • In health news – I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I also have a gastro issue that will eventually require surgery and I’m trying to get my unruly cholesterol under control, but cancer is the prime target right now. Treatment looks like a few months of chemo, then surgery, then probably more chemo and radiation to finish up. Beyond the basic updates, I still don’t know how much I’m going to talk about it here. This is one of my happy places on the internet (although I may have a rant for you at some point about the medical billing process as I have experienced it because…wow), so I think I mostly want to keep it that way. But I wanted to let you know so that if I am not posting here as often, you’ll know why. Or I could post more often because I tend to get chatty when I’m stressed. Who knows how it will actually go. In either case, that is likely the reason. 
  • The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy – This one was slow to start for me, but overall I really enjoyed it. What’s not to love about a book set in Ireland about a somewhat curmudgeonly librarian who joins forces with her community to save the library and local businesses. And also she is restoring an old house that her aunt left to her on the side. This storyline checks a lot of my favorite cozy boxes. Can I just move my own self into that scenario? Because it sounds lovely.
  • Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin – This was not my favorite of her books. It may just be because I listened to it instead of reading it. The reader wasn’t necessarily bad, but I think I would have preferred the voice in my head. It was hard to maintain focus and I had to rewind a lot. Of course, it’s also possible that I just am not focusing well in general right now, and that isn’t really a reflection of the book. So maybe I’ll give it another chance at some point.
  • This article on the concept of bookshelf wealth is wild. I still don’t really get what the term means. It seems others also can’t agree about what constitutes true wealth when it comes to book collections and the shelves on which they reside. I feel like I’m firmly in the “who cares about being wealthy – just give me all the books and places to keep them” camp. Occasional dramatic treasures like this, however, are the whole reason I keep my NYT subscription (although I advise waiting to sign up when it’s discounted – then when you call to cancel after the trial year, they’ll often offer you a similar low price for the next year). 
  • I haven’t had much of an appetite, and I’ve been adjusting my diet lately (because all the reasons) to help me feel my best and have the most energy I possibly can. For me, that mostly looks like limiting sugar, dairy, soy, and fatty meats but getting more protein and drinking lots of water. I’ve also noticed that I’ll find a certain food that tastes good and ONLY want that for several days in a row, so apparently my neurospiciness is in full control of the appetite. I’m on a pretty serious persimmon kick these days. But almost everything on this Food 52 vegan list looks DELICIOUS. I’ll be trying a few of these recipes in the next few weeks for sure. 

I hope you’re having a good day and that your weekend is exactly what you want it to be!

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