Almond Rice Pudding (tart)

I'm not sure why this is called a tart, but it is good. A twist on your traditional rice pudding, my mom found this recipe after starting a diet program. We made it the other night, and I'm making it again right now, and oh my goodness is it delicious!
We actually ended up changing the recipe around a bit to fit what ingredients we had, so here it is:

Ingredients

	3 tbsp slivered or shopped almonds, toasted
	4 cups) low-fat milk
	1 cups uncooked white, long-grain rice
	1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, or 1 cinnamon stick
	1/2 cups sugar
	1/2 tsp almond extract
	1/2 cup raisins
	cherries for garnish (optional)

Instructions

• Coat bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Spread almonds in a single layer in bottom of pan. Set aside.
  
  
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat milk to boiling. Stir in rice and cinnamon. Reduce to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Add sugar, raisins, and almond extract and cook, stirring often, 12 to 15 minutes longer or until rice is cooked through and mixture is thick.
  
  
• Gently spoon rice mixture into pan and spread evenly, keeping almonds intact on bottom. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate just until firm, about 40 minutes.
  
  
• To serve, remove sides of pan and invert tart onto serving plate. Lift off bottom of pan (almonds will now be embedded on top of tart). Garnish with fresh cherries if desired, and serve.

Hotel California

I got really bored, so I decided to write up some tabs from my most favorite song ever! Hotel California, which is also on the playlist on the side of the page.
I've only got part of the intro done, but I think I'm gonna post it anyway.


The Eagles – Hotel California Intro Tabs

-------2-------------------2--------------------0-------------------------0-----------------------------
-------3-----5-----7-------5------3-----2-------2-------3------5----------0-----------------------------
-------4-------------------3--------------------2-------------------------1-----------------------------
-------0-------------------4--------------------2-------------------------2-----------------------------
------------------------------------------------0-------------------------2-----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------0-----------------------------




------3-----------------------2-------2-----------------0--------2------3-------2-----------------------
------0------2------3---------3---------------3---------0-----------------------2-----------------------
------0-----------------------2-------------------------0-----------------------3-----------------------
------0-----------------------0-------------------------2-----------------------4-----------------------
------2-------------------------------------------------2-----------------------------------------------
------3-------------------------------------------------0-----------------------------------------------

for some odd reason it comes out all messed up and un-aligned when I publish it, and I can't figure out why....
I guess that's something I'll have to fix later on....

changing of the seasons....

At last! The snow and ice has finally begun to melt, and the wonder that we call spring is beginning to unfold! Crocuses are popping up in our front garden, and the evergreen hedges are shaking off that white coverlet they've been wearing since November.

Spring is my favorite season, and for good reason. In spring, the breeze is warm and cool at the same time, and it feels so refreshing! Under our deck we get at least one nest filled with little blue eggs, that will soon open to chirping baby robins! And the flowers! Daffodils, lavender, daisies, lilies, crocuses, tulips, the list goes on and on! A few weeks into the season I usually like to head out to Holland, check out the beach and Windmill Island.

Now, my excitement may be premature, but my local weather forecast predicts nothing but temperatures in the 40's, a few scattered showers, and sun! I can already see the snow melting away! I can only hope that the weatherman is right, for once. After all, I'm quite sure that we're all familiar the the infamous accuracy of the weatherman....

All I can say is, I'm through with winter, with staying inside. I want to get out, get my hands in the earth, listen to the birds sing and the breeze whisper through the newly-formed leaves! I now begin to cross my fingers for the end to this year's winter.

ithil tengwer - moon letters

I have finally decided to do something I have been fantasizing about for ages. I am writing a RP journal, on my new blog. It's all about my made up adventures in Middle Earth, towards the end of the third age, around the time of the war of the ring. Pretty much when all the action with Frodo is taking place. Pretty cool, huh? Okay, I guess 'geeky' would be a better word choice, but hey, whatever.
I got the inspiration after stumbling across this site, which is now posted in the side bar under the "sites of interest" section.
My new (well, first) RP journal is at this site. The name of the URL (ithil tengwer) translates into 'moon letters', which is something that pops up in the book a few times. And the title of the blog/RP journal itself is 'tengwa' or 'writing(s)'. Something I feel is appropriate. I have littered the site with LotR soundtrack music and faery artwork, but for the most part kept it simple. I guess littered is the wrong term, too. Ah well....
So, if you would like, feel free to check it out, follow, or even subscribe to it. It's nothing special, yet, but hopefully it soon will be. Just use the link above or the one on my sidebar.
:) G'night! (it's well past 10 pm over here)

sleeping in mid-air...

I don't know exactly what I was doing at the time... probably just searching random things on google, my favorite pass-time. But then I stumbled upon this picture of a heavenly looking bed, and I decided I wanted one.

Doesn't it look lovely? But when I started scoping this bed out, and found the sight where it's sold, I changed my mind. A 'youth' bed cost $2795.00, just a little bit too pricey.
So I used some different wording in my search, and wa-la! I found something that looked a bit more wallet friendly, here.
Much better, but perhaps not quite what I'm looking for. What I liked about the round, $3000 bed is that it seemed that it would have a nice, soothing motion to it. Somehow I ended up finding another post on the same site, here, and I decided that this looked easy (and cheap) enough to DIY, as well as looking very zen and simple, kind of what my room is right now. Besides the bookshelves cluttered with books and knick-knacks.
Peaceful.... It looks so comfy.... I want one so badly.... I think I'm starting to fall asleep....
But then again, I never considered how much room there is (or isn't) in my room. The problem is, my book filled bedroom doubles as my workroom. On the longest wall I have set up a very long, low dresser where I store my supplies and make jewelry. Ah well, I guess my dream floating bed will have to wait for my dream elven house in the woods.... *sigh*

If

So yesterday after my friend Tori and I finished our exams (yes, it's that time of year, again!), we began an interesting discussion on 'if'. Mostly it was a debate on whether or not "if" is real. Despite the fact that we both had good arguments, neither of us could be swayed.
Tori resolutely insists that "if" is non-existent. Apparently when we say 'if', we are either contradicting ourselves (or so I interpreted from her speech), or we are trying to state something (an event, in most cases) that does not exist or will never occur. To try and make me understand, Tori asked me "What if we had had this conversation yesterday". I replied that we very well could have, but why did it matter? 'If' isn't real, right? I said this intending to show her how ridiculous she sounded, asking 'if' when she didn't believe in it. But she only said "Exactly". We didn't have our discussion the day before, so 'if' wasn't real.
"But," I told her, "that's the whole point of 'if'. 'If' is us humans trying to predict the future, being unsure of what will come, and making plans for whatever does come."
"So 'if'' is not knowing." Not a question, but not agreeing either.
"Right. We cannot possibly know the outcome of our choices, so we try to cover all the bases in our planning" I told her. Well, something along the lines of that. My memory for dialogue isn't all that great. So she asked me to say a sentence with 'if' in it, so she could show me how unreal it is. So I used a hypothesis form, "if this, then this" kinda thing, that I just randomly made up.
"If the ball rolls down the ramp, it will move at five miles an hour". So she told me that there can only be one outcome, we can't have both (either the ball rolls, or it doesn't), which is when I told her that by saying 'if' we are just trying to figure out what could happen, not what will. For we know, the ball could just sit at the top of the ramp, motionless. Or someone could come along and push it down. But we are still saying what could happen, that if (or when) the ball rolled down the ramp of its own accord, it would roll at a certain speed, proportional to the angle and length of the ramp, and the force of gravity on the ball. I actually think that it was after this that Tori said "So 'if' is not knowing". Like I said, my memory for dialogue is horrid.
Well, that's about it. At the point class got out and we went off to our next exams. Tori to Spanish, and myself to guitar.
Personally, I still resolutely believe that 'if' is real, but perhaps I am afraid of a world without 'if'. Without it, our world would be much more empty, and the void would grow larger. Funny how I can seem to tie everything to the void....
But, may I inquire as to what your opinion may be

?

Mint Tea

Sometimes, after nights like last night (Winterfest, I'll explain later), I just like to sit back and relax with a nice hot cup of tea. Currently my favorite tea is black currant, but sometimes a more traditional tea is what I need. I found this altered recipe a few months ago and I was very excited to get a chance to try it out.

Marvelously Different Mint Tea
Juice of 2 lemons
3-4 1/2 inch coins of fresh Ginger
1 clove of garlic (trust me on this)
3 sprigs of Mint (approx. 7-10 leaves)
2L. Filtered water, boiling
Honey

Place Ginger, Mint and Garlic (peeled, but not crushed!) in a cheesecloth and tie off. Add to boiling water and cook for 5-7 min. Turn off heat and add lemon juice. Remove spices and transfer to an insulated tea pot. Into each cup, add a tsp. of honey (or to taste).

I got this recipe from Middle Earth Recipes, where it is originally called Aragorn's Athelas Tea, but for the sake of all the non-obsessed out there I changed the name.

There's No Place Like Home

I realize that it's been a good long time since I've posted, but the past few weeks I've hardly been at home, due to the fact that the past three nights I've been performing in "The Wizard of Oz". Oh, it was fun! So gloriously, unbelievably fun! Even though my role was small--talking tree, flying monkey, Munchkin and Ozian--it was amazing to part of such a big production with my school!

Of course I will miss staying after school for hectic rehearsals, I will miss the entire cast and crew, they are all so wonderful! Of course we will see each other at school still, but it won't be the same. Yesterday between performances everyone was crying, our last show was soon to begin, and after that it would all be over.

The play was amazing, and very fun. We had a lively cast, and when it was all over we headed over to the cast party. That lasted until about one o'clock this morning, we all had fun dancing and playing improv games.

Later today I'm headed back to the school to help strike--cleanup--what's left of the sets and props. I'm hoping that most of the cast will be there, as I did not get everyone's signatures yet.

The first picture is of Kevin, our Scarecrow, the second is me wearing my Munchkin dress and Tree hat. Next is Ryan, who played Zeke, I think, and Chris, who was in the Lollipop Guild and was also Niko or Miko (something like that!), the captain of the Flying Monkeys (thus the brown face). Doesn't Ryan look pretty in make up?

So now all is done, and I am sad. I have more pictures coming soon, and I will post them separately when I get them up!