I returned to school in mid-April. I’m still fighting severe nausea, and dealing with my new lactose intolerance. But I got into Cornell! I’ll be attending in the fall.

APs are done. I am positive I got a 1 on Calc AB, but that’s alright. I’m sure I did fine on the others.

Andrew is home from college.

The language village is at the end of the week…I’m working one period in chinese, five in spanish. I’m dian ying yuan and la gitana. I also need to make two spanish tortillas.

We are having an AP Pool Party this week.

I’m almost caught up in all my classes, which is semi-impressive for the three months I was out.

Later,
Kelly

Pretty Penny has how to plant a natural grass Easter basket.
No Fuss Fabulous has this cute Goldfish carrot.
And I have this theory about making stuffed sock bunnies…

This is my great-grandmother’s Irish soda bread recipe. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Percival, her married name was Elizabeth Tomb, and to my mom, she was Big Gramma. She was an extremely tall lady, and this recipe does not come from Ireland proper. Although my great-grandmother was the first to move to America from seven generations born and died in Mohill, County Leitrim, this recipe comes from the New York Times in the early 20th century. However, my family has always traditionally had soda bread with anise, not caraway.

Sift together:
5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons anise seed
2 cups blanched raisins (Blanching: 1 minute in boiling
water, drain and let cool before
adding to flour)

Combine:
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups milk
1 egg

 Mix all dry ingredients together.  Make well in the middle, add wet mix and mix well. Bake in 10″ greased iron skillet (or 2 loaf pans) at 355^o F for 55 minutes.

I try to go meatless as often as possible during Lent, but as a hypoglycemic I often must resort to animal protein. However, I far prefer the proteins of beans and lentils or tofu to fish. I realize that this sacrifice is not supposed to be pleasant, but I simply can’t abide fish. We have it usually only during Lent. Maybe it’s because I never ate it as a young age, or maybe because I’m allergic to shellfish, but all seafood gives me the heebie jeebies.

As the family expert on meatless meals, Friday meals will most likely fall to me during this Lenten season, and hopefully be healthier than pizza, our normal meatless standby. My family are recent converts to tofu, and I’m hoping to expose them to more. Right now, they’re most comfortable with tofu camoflauged as sour cream, mayonaisse, or ricotta, but I hope to show them that it’s good for what it is. In a family with two hypoglycemics, it’s important that we always get the protein we need, and tofu is a wonderful way to do just that.

Tofu is an ingredient that many people are scared of. Coming out of the package, it’s white, squishy, and often oozing liquid. But if you know how to treat it, tofu can be good eats.

My current meal plans:
Zucchini spaghetti with a parmesan pepper cream sauce (No real protein here besides the parm)
Baked pierogi and green salad with tofu bleu cheese dressing
Parmesan risotto, spinach salad, and broiled mozzerella toasts
Tofu tacos and fixings
Tofu “meat sauce” and penne with garlic bread
Tofu shepherd’s pie

And for dessert, I want to try a tofu lemon pudding.

I’ll be posting recipes and techniques as I go. Stay tuned!

Make a dress for a toddler.

What I did today: studied physics. And sewed a stuffed whale. By hand, because my evil sewing machine broke.

I want to save all my vegetable peels in the freezer until I have enough to make stock. I also want to try kale. I’m afraid Mom may kill me if I go all health nut on her.  Other things I’m wanting to try: baba ganoush, roasted chickpeas, microwave potato chips.

How cute are these tiny crochet hearts from julie-k? I could just eat them up. Andrew is going to be at college for Valentine’s Day, which means I’m going to be hanging out with my best girls. I’m not sure what I would do with these hearts though…pins? Hair clips? Headbands? I have various pink and red yarns left from Andrew’s blanket, so those should be put to good use. Tomorrow I’m going to finish putting the face on Mari’s bunny, and hopefully Katie will take a picture of it for me with her snazzy new camera.

I must confess, I’m addicted to vintage valentines. I can’t help but love Valentine’s Day.  Logically, I know that this stems from pagan tradition and that St. Valentine was, in fact, the patron saint of shepherds, but I love any holiday where I can give people tiny gifts.

I also love hairstyles. I never allowed anyone to touch my hair, and it has taken nearly seventeen years to overcome that particular neurosis. However, this cute V-Day do from The Story of A Princess and Her Hair makes me wish I had a little girl to style. Or that I hadn’t scared away everyone who might actually do my hair…

I like this Paper Cup Packaging idea. I always need a way to use leftovers! Speaking of leftovers…as in leftover projects…my goal for tomorrow is to post my Nana’s decadent chocolate cake recipe, along with some recommendations for the Wilton Giant Cupcake pan.