Luck o' the Irish

Although I haven't yet felt very homesick during my time down here in Colombia, this time of year seems to be bringing it on.  In Chicago, the weather is just starting to warm up and it makes you want to enjoy the time out side again: reading a book on the patio, grabbing a cold beer after work with the roommates and even running or biking along the Lakefront.  And there is no better feeling than that first afternoon you realize you no longer need a coat.  Blissful.  While I do not miss winter I am really missing spring.  Sure, Cali is pretty much eternal summer, offering plenty of time outside and poolside, and I get the springtime rain twice a year, but its not even close to being the same.  The other thing that always makes this time of year so great is St. Patrick's Day; I may only be 1/8 Irish (I think), but everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's day, and luckily I still got to celebrate this year.  There may not have been a parade or dying the river green, but we made the best of it.

With a little persuasion from Sam, Kelsi and Kristin decided to have some people over to celebrate Saturday night.  I had been hoping someone would have a get together as all of my Pinning gave me some great St. Patrick's Day themed foods and recipes to try.  After spending the morning and afternoon baking and putting some things together, the girls headed to San Fernando to work on some crafty St. Patrick's Day shirts.  "Bésame, soy Iralandésa" was a favorite amongst the group.  I learned that my T-shirt making skills are not what they used to be, but I managed.  With my rainbow cupcake in hand it was time for the photo op.  Of course all I could think of was Muffins!, an oldie but a goodie. 



These cupcakes were more about looks than taste if you ask me; I didn't love the taste and texture, but everyone seemed to enjoy them.  I adapted the recipe from Our Best Bites:



I might have overfilled some...



1 white cake mix

2 eggs

1 C low fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 C milk

1/3 C sugar free applesauce



Pot o' gold

 

They looked pretty darn cool inside.

So they may not have been my favorite tasting, but they were at least healthier than usual and looked pretty awesome.  I was on the hunt for a better for you frosting too.  Most recipes usually call for butter and 5-6 cups of powdered sugar.  Delicious?  Usually.  Healthy?  Not even close.  So when I found this recipe on the same site, I decided to give it a try.  I'll admit, I was a bit very skeptical as I started to cook up milk and flour mush, but in the end it turned out pretty good.  Still a decent amount of butter, but far less sugar.  I would like to try this again, but with a fit of flavoring of some sort, I think it could really use a little something more. 

 

I also threw together rainbow fruit plates.  Yummy!

Kristin and Kelsi made grasshopper drink which were fabulous.  It was like drinking a Thin Mint cookie.  Mmmmmmm.  There was guacamole, Spanish tortilla with green eggs and a Oreo peanut butter green ice cream cake from Sam.  We had quite the spread.  When the boys finally decided to show up, we watched some college basketball, took some more pictures and then when on the hunt for a bar with Guinness.  The bar we were counting on, Talbert's (which I always thought was Talbot's) turned out to be closed.  Bourbon Street which was across the way had Guinness, but was also packed with people.  And students.  And that's just awkward for everyone.  We tried Hooters, but it was a no go, so we finally settled on the Beer Lounge, which didn't have Guinness (like their menu says), but they did have Murphy's Irish Red which I tried for the first time.  Didn't love it. 

The night was more tranquilo than most St. Patrick's days I have had, but I was perfectly OK with it.  It was nice to have a relaxing night where we could enjoy some crafts and food and the company of friends without the massive crowds that I normally deal with during such celebrations. 

 

Where Does One Find an Ewok?

As you may have read on my To-Do List, I've been wanting to watch the Star Wars movies.  Given that I am 25 and have NEVER seen one the whole way through, I found it necessary.  I have a distinct memory of one of the movies being played when we were visiting my aunt and uncle in Vegas when I was in grade school, but I'm pretty sure at the time I thought it was lame and either fell asleep or went outside.  Who knows.  Nevertheless, clearly I have grown up and can now appreciate some of the finer things in life. 

When my mom saw this on my list, she tried to help by buying the complete set for Christmas.  Unfortunately, it was the Blu Ray set and as it turns out, the DVD set is nowhere to be found.  Bah humbug.  Luckily, ever since we got our Wii at Christmas David has become very technologically savvy and errr, ummm..."found" all six movies for me!  In the last week we have finished episodes 4-6, those are the ones that came out in '77, '80 and '83.  Half way there!  Here are my thoughts so far:

Ewok!

• As predicted by David, episode VI was my favorite for one simple reason: Ewoks.  Have you seen these little guys?!  How cute are they?!  I couldn't stop laughing and giggling at there little antics and saying "I want one!".  I'm pretty sure any respectable Star Wars fan has now stopped reading.  So be it.  They are damn cute and I want one.  Mom if your reading, this year's Christmas list has "Ewok" on it.  Good luck.
• I would have fallen in love with Harrison Ford sooner if I had watched Star Wars.  Han Solo > Indiana Jones?  Close call. 
• Jabba the Hutt is  d i s g u s t i n g.
• In case you have lived in a hole since 1977, be warned the following bullet points contain spoilers.

I wish I didn't already know...

• Leia and Luke kiss AND they are brother and sister.  Also, why does no one point that out in the movie!?  I mean c'mon Han, don't act like that wasn't the first thing that came to your head!
• "Luuuuke (heavy breathing) I am your father"
• The Emperor and Darth Vader die.  Expected yes, but still spoils the intensity of the scene.
• The cute little kid I saw in the previews for episodes 1/2/3 turns into Darth Vader

because I kept asking "Is this the one where...", "When do we find out..." instead of just enjoying the movies.  My bad. 

OK, some real thoughts:

• Intricate plot and story line, but some of the lines and scenes I couldn't take seriously.  Young Luke could have used some acting classes if you ask me.  (Ensue hateful blog comments)
• Special effects came a long way in just 6 years, and MUCH further since then.
• All of the languages confuse me. C3PO translates for Jabba to the bounty hunter, but talks to both of them in English. And Han talks to Chewbaca in English, but understands his garbles. So does everyone understand English, but not everyone can speak it?  I need to do some research.
• I am eagerly awaiting the next time we have a free night to watch the next episode.

More Star Wars insights to come as we watch the last first last three episodes.  Can't wait to scratch it off my list!

 

Pinterest, I Think I Love You

I know a lot of people have a lot of complaints about this new social media, but I don't care.  I have tried so many new things in the last few weeks and I have loved every minute of it.  Here are some things I have made from recipes I found on Pinterest:

Sugar Free Homemade Apple Sauce

http://whippedtheblog.com/2009/10/25/applesauce-simple-homemade-sugar-free/

I made this one mostly for baking, but its a great snack too.  Its nice to keep a store of it in the fridge so when I need it as an oil replacement I don't have to make a new batch every time.

Easy Mac & Cheese

http://www.macaroniandcheesecake.com/2011/09/revolutionary-mac-cheese.html

Not to be confused with "Easy Mac", gross.  I came home from work and saw this recipe pop up, realized I had everything I needed and immediately made my way to the kitchen to whip it up for dinner.  The trick is cooking your noodles in milk.  You don't have to drain it and the milk serves as the base for the cheese sauce.  Genius.  This does require serious pot baby sitting and the milk will boil over if you aren't careful.  And if you don't learn our lesson the first time it will boil over 2-3 more times.  Oops. 

I used Monterrey Jack cheese because it was what he had already.  After cooking the noodles, I put it in a pan and topped it with some freshly sliced tomatoes and baked it for about 10-15 minutes.  While the blog suggests it as a side dish, I enjoy Mac & Cheese all on its own, and I definitely don't think this made 4 servings, so next time I'll be making more.  Also, its great leftover. 

Spicy Crab Stuffed Cucumbers

http://domesticfits.blog.com/2011/07/07/cucumber-cups-stuffed-with-spicy-crab/

I made this when we had people over for David's birthday.  I wasn't in love, but everyone seemed to really enjoy them.  While Colombia has a wide variety of canned fish (squid, salmon, oysters, cuttlefish among others) crab isn't one of them.  I used frozen crab sticks.  I think I would have enjoyed them more.  Still call this one a success though.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

http://www.soveryblessed.com/2012/02/quinoa-pizza-bites.html

I didn't use any onions, but did throw in a couple dashes of onion powder.  No fresh basil either.  I made some with pepperoni and some with mushroom, both delicious.  I didn't have mini muffin pans so I used regular sized ones; they fell apart a bit more, so I would highly recommend the mini pans if you have them.

And last, but certainly not least...

Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal

http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/personal-sized-baked-oatmeal-with-individual-toppings-gluten-free-diabetic-friendly/

These are a new favorite in our apartment.  I have made them 3 or 4 times now and David even offered to make them this weekend because he wanted them so bad!  This is also the original reason I made that homemade applesauce.  I've probably made the most edits to this recipe, so here's what I used:

 

2 eggs

2 cups sugar free applesauce

5 cups rolled oats

1 over ripened banana, mashed

2 cups milk

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

You know that 1 or 2 bananas that always gets left uneaten at the end of the week and starts to turn gross and brown?  Instead of throwing it out, put it in the freezer.  These bananas are great for baking and if you have enough you can make some yummy banana bread too.  I used less milk because mine just seemed a bit too moist.  As for the flaxseed in the original recipe?  Yeah right, like I'm going to go on the hunt for that here.  I just left it out and it seems to work just fine.  I also learned my lesson the first two times with the cupcake liners: NOT worth it.  It's a waste of liners and they stick to the oatmeal; we've eaten a lot of paper with our oatmeal. 

I usually make a 3-4 different varieties with each batch.  Some include: banana and peanut butter for David, banana topped with a bit of brown sugar, apple cinnamon, strawberry and chocolate chip.  We keep them in the fridge and can grab 1 or 2 for a breakfast on the way to school, or a small snack when we need something to tie us over.  If you like oatmeal, you HAVE to try these.  Huge success.

BINGO! Casí...

Remember when I shared with you that my name in Spanish is pretty much the same as the word for "almost"?  The more and more I think about it, I have to say, my mom did a pretty good job naming me, at least if she was the Spanish dictionary as a guide.  While I wouldn't say my life is full of "almosts", the word seems appropriate in plenty of situations.  Like the time I almost won a huge Bingo prize at Bolivar Day at school.

Bolivar is a huge celebration at school with many food vendors and whats turns out to me a small amusement park for the kids.  There is music and dancers among other things, but the highlight (for most adults at least) is the intense Bingo game.  I'm not kidding, the Bingo ladies from Annunciata were put to shame.  The outdoor cafeteria was packed to the brim with those ready to win.  Bingo cards were sold for $10.000 each and got you 4 rounds, with 8 games total.  Each round included a letter to be completed (L,X,C and U) followed by a full card or carta blanca.  Now, I never win anything.  I mean anything, so I wasn't getting my hopes up and wasn't too confident that my two cards would get me very far.  The first and second rounds were a bust, but the third round brought me some luck.  The "C" prize had already been claimed, but my card was pretty full until I was down to the O 67 that had been haunting me all afternoon.  I squealed "one more!" when Kristin noticed that Kelsi and I both needed that troublesome O 67.  In other words, if it was called we would have to fight to the death for the prize as they only allow one winner, kind of like the Hunger Games.  Sure enough O 67 was pulled and we danced our way to the front to have our cards read, both convinced we had a number wrong as we didn't double check our card, ad sesentas and setentas can be easily confused.  We both had legitimate BINGOs and so to break the tie, the Bingo guy pulled one more ball from the numbers left for each of us; whoever had the higher number would be the sole winner.  I quickly looked at the numbers not yet lit up on the board: most of O was gone, with the highest number left being 70.  Of course, the number he pulled for Kelsi was 70 so I didn't stand a chance.  He pulled another anyway for show and I think it was 48, but I hardly bothered to listen. 

Teachers playing Bingo at Bolivar Day!

A full card Bingo and I got nada.  Kelsi's prize included highlights of a new watch, shirt, bathing suit, a partially paid cruise for one, in addition to some dental work and laser hair removal and a bag of Colombian candy.  Now while the watch and clothing may have been the only things I probably would have wanted, its the principle of the matter; I almost won.  Kelsi offered up the hair removal and dental work too, but it just wasn't the same.  It didn't really belong to me.  I may have considered that cruise for one.  Who am I kidding, I'm not bold enough for that.  Casí, Cassie, casí.  Maybe next year.  Looking forward to Bolivar Bingo 2013.