Pin It and Do It

Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity is hosting another Pin It and Do It Challenge. I've got more pins on Pinterest than I can count, so I decided to dive in! Everything below is my own photos of pins I completed along with a link to the original posts I pinned to my account and brief description. 

Broccoli Soup - The trick to this recipe is getting good white 
sharp cheddar. It makes the soup delicious! 
Also, I'm in love with my new immersion blender. 

Apple Crisp - We had tons of apples and weren't sure 
what to do with all of them! The crisps froze well too. 
You definitely need ice cream to serve with it!

Lattice Crust - The Huz helped me weave it. It would

have been much harder to do alone. We did an egg wash on 

top to hold everything together. This You Tube video 

was really helpful. 

Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli - Recipe calls for rice, but we 

used Udon noodles so it was a bit more like Lo Mein. A great 
way to use chuck roast without having another pot roast. 

Tomato, Basil, and Cheddar Soup - Probably the best 

thing we made. Greek yogurt makes it healthy too! 
Seriously so good! 

Roasted Portobello Mushrooms - A perfect side with steak.

Mushroom Soup - Oh my gosh, we loved this one!
I would highly recommend doubling the recipe.

We made a huge batch of Potato Soup, which I've
made before, but I wanted to work on freezing
extra meals for winter. We also made 5 apple crisps to
take to other people and to freeze. 

Washing your hair with baking soda and vinegar -
This one is still in the experimental phase for me.
After reading way too much about Sodium Lauryl/Laureth
Sulfate I've been trying different shampoos without that
chemical, but none seem to work well. I've been trying this
for a couple weeks and so far so good. I made a white
vinegar rinse with lavender oil. 

That's it for me this month. Thanks to Trish for once again 
encouraging me to actually try the things I pin! 
Check out Trish's original post here.

All photos by moi. 

Bookishness Around Town: Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library

This month's Where in the World Are You Reading theme is Bookishness Around Town, hosted by Trish. My town is Indianapolis and there aren’t too many famous authors who originated here. The most famous, by far is Kurt Vonnegut and a couple years ago the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library was opened in his honor. It’s really more of a small museum than a library, but anyway that’s what my bookish post is about! Above you can see the front of the building and Vonnegut’s actual typewriter.

The famously sarcastic author was taken by the Germans as a prisoner of war during World War II and survived the Dresden bombing. His fictional alter ego, Kilgore Trout famously said the line “Life is no way to treat an animal,” and Vonnegut included it in his ever-optimistic style… on a tombstone.

  

My favorite section has a recreation of his workspace; a low coffee table that he would slump over and his tapped away to create his novels. They included every detail, from his rooster lamp, to his choice of chair. There is also a gallery containing artwork drawn by Vonnegut and inspired by him. It has an interactive TV with interviews regarding Vonnegut’s life.

There’s a long mural timeline along one wall noting important dates throughout history. A couple glass exhibit cases include his war medals and family letters, photos and memorabilia.

  

So thanks to Trish for hosting Where in the World are you Reading. If any of you make it to my corner of the world I hope you’ll make sure to visit the Hoosier state’s ode to Vonnegut.

Here are the details: Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library: 340 N Senate Ave Indianapolis, IN 46204

Photos of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library by moi. 

Pin it and Do It: February Challenge

Ok, so I got to a few more of those pinned items I’d been meaning to try out. Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity is hosting another Pin It and Do It Challenge. Thanks for hosting this again and for encouraging me to actually try some of the things I pin Trish!

 (My potato soup on the left, Pinterest French Onion Soup is on the right)

I was trying to find a few good soup recipes and these were both great! The Baked Potato Soup is definitely my favorite, but it takes a long time to make. It was hearty and we sprinkled some green onions and shreeded cheese on top. The French Onion Soup was good, but I’m not a big onion fan. The Huz LOVED it though, so success. I used the leftover half of the French loaf of bread to make bread crumbs for a recipe for next week, so I felt all productive. 

 (The Pinterest example is on the left and my collection of postcards is on the right)

Apparently clogged dryer traps cause a ton of house fires each year, who knew? I decided to clean mine to try and avoid the whole burning down your house thing. I also finally put my Penguin postcards in frames in my library. I love how it turned out!

(My broquet for the Huz and my attempt at baking eggs)

I made the Huz a “broquet” for Valentine’s Day with a few fun things in it. He was a fan. I have the hardest time making hard-boiled eggs. I always over cook them or under cook them, I can’t seem to get the hang out it. So I tried baking them via a recipe on Pinterest and they turned out pretty good. They taste fine, but the do have an odd brownish tint because of the method of cooking and so I wouldn’t want to use them to make Deviled eggs for a party or something.

P.S. You can find me on Pinterest here. 

Photos by moi or from Pinterest and all items link to the article I originally pinned. 

Vanity Fair Readalong: Ten Reasons Why You Should Do It!

Get excited people! Trish of Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity and I are going to start reading Vanity Fair in the middle of February. So Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. Here are the top ten reasons you should read it with us!

1) Charlotte Bronte dedicated the second edition of Jane Eyre to William Makepeace Thackeray, seriously! 

2) It's on the list of 1,001 Books to Read Before You Die list 

3) Stanley Kubrick wanted to make a film version of it in the 1970s. Weird. 

4) The BBC's Big Read poll listed it as one of the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" in 2003. 

5) Trish is awesome and she's co-hosting with me! 

6) It has a magazine named after it. 

7) It was published in 1847 so it qualifies for any Victorian or 19th Century reading challenges you may have committed to. 

8) The hashtag is #YoureSoVain 

9) The author's middle name is Makepeace, which is a pretty sweet name. As in, make peace with the fact that you're going to do this readalong!

10) You know you want to do it and it will be super laid back (no weekly check-ins).

We will be starting February 15th, checking in once in the middle on March 1st and posting our final thoughts on March 15th. That's about as easy and simple as it gets! 

I hope you join in the fun! We'll have an official Linky post up on February 15th when we start. 

Pin it and Do It: Pinterest Challenge

I finally participated in one of Trish's Pinterest Challenges. The goal is to actually complete a few of the things you pin on Pinterest. I decided to dig in an do a bunch of them this month! Below are pictures of the actual Pinterest pin and then my completed version. 

You can find me on Pinterest here. 

(The Pinterest example is on the left and mine is on the right)

Au Gratin Potato casserole: It was perfect to take to Thanksgiving dinner! 

 

Apple Pie: This is the first time I baked a pie from scratch. It was really good!

I used photos for Christmas tags this year. 

I made this one as a Christmas gift for my sister-in law. 

She and my brother got married this year and the words 

on the tree are the lyrics to the song played for their first dance. 

Sugar Cream Pie: Also known as Hoosier pie, this was my favorite 

growing up and I made it for the first time for a Christmas get together. 

Very sweet, but great with coffee. 

The one of the right is pepperoni rolls. This was so 

easy and tasted really good for a quick dinner. 

The one on the left was another Christmas gift 

for a friend who is an elementary school teacher. 

Thanks to Trish for hosting this and encouraging me 

to actually do some of the things that I had pinned!

Photos by moi and from Pinterest.

Where in the World Are You Reading: Reading Companion

This month's Where in the World Are You Reading, hosted by Kailana, Lisa, and Trish is "Reading Companions."  I have one obvious reading companion, my big dog Oliver. Ollie will be two years old in December, but it's hard to remember what reading was like before we got him.

 

Whether he's curled up on my lap (which he is way too big to do, but still attempts) or playing fetch while I read with him outside, my big 75 lb baby keeps me company when I read. Ollie is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and has a ton of energy, so I enjoy the moments when he's tired and ready to curl up for a nap.

 

I especially appreciate him in the winter when it's freezing cold. He's the equivalent of a giant space heater! I've had cats in the past and love curling up with them as well, but they never keep you quite as warm.

Photos by moi.

Where in the World Are You Reading: Waiting

(Waiting for my hair cut appointment)

This month's Where in the World Are You Reading is "Waiting Reading" hosted by Lisa.

I’m one of those people who always has a book (or two) with me. I keep an extra in my car, I have a kindle app on my iPhone, I keep books by my bed, etc. I always have a back up of two, just in case I run out of reading material. 

So “Waiting Reading” is something I’m very familiar with. I read while waiting to get my hair cut, in the waiting room at the doctor or dentist, on my lunch break at work, at a restaurant while waiting to meet a friend. There are not many places I won’t read.
 

(Waiting for Shakespeare in the Park to start and for an oil change)

I’ve found that one of the best ways to read while you’re waiting is with audiobooks. I put a book on my phone and read while I’m in line at the grocery store, waiting for the ATM at the bank, and while I’m stuck in traffic at rush hour. 

The picture on the left is from our trip to Montana last week. I was reading on a beach in Glacier Park while waiting on the Huz to finish fishing. The picture on the right is waiting in downtown Indy for my tour of the city's old catacombs to start.

If you find that you never have time to read, you might be surprised by how many pages you can fit into a few 10 minute waiting periods each day!

Photos by moi.