{Non-Traditional & New Traditions}

Happy January! I could say "Happy New Year," but it would probably be silly since the new year is fifteen days old. However, it would still be okay, because technically our (Megan, Mary, and my) schedules are about the same amount of days behind. We all survived finals week and went home for Christmas break. It was a good, albeit long and somewhat lonely, break for all of us, I think. Skype and cell phones and Facebook helped a lot!

But soon Christmas was over, 2011 had been ushered out, and it was January! I started the first leg of a quasi-relay to Wisconsin: I drove three hours to Mary's house. The next day, Mary and I travelled to a gas station near Eau Claire, where we met Megan and her mother! We spent the next few days at their wonderful home in the North Woods. We toured the towns, went bowling, drank coffee (even me), watched movies, laughed, hugged, and celebrated Christmas.

Christmas = We also cooked!

Yayyy cooking again. :)

The menu for the night was something with chicken and a really long name. It also wasn't exactly a "traditional" holiday meal. But it was super fun to make and wonderful to eat!

Megan started--well, she started with the green beans. But as far as the main dish goes, she started by tenderizing/pulverizing the chicken. The best part was the way she talked to it, trying to get it to cooperate with her! Mary and I are thankful that she doesn't use a meat tenderizer on all of her "friends."

She did a lot of other stuff with the chicken, which I suppose she can tell you about herself. I was useful and got her lots of paper towels, though! :) She rubbed salt and pepper into them and what not. Then she washed spinach and tried to squeeze all the water out. THAT was funny!

The spinach was for the stuff that was supposed to go in the chicken. There was other stuff in the mix...not that I know what it all was (I don't remember) but I did "help" a little! :)

The next part was putting the paste in the chicken and rolling the chicken up. (And that is a verb particle, not a preposition at the end of my sentence!)

The chicken was then dipped in something and rolled in something else that had breadcrumbs in it to give it texture.

Marinara sauce was the next step. It smelled sooo good by this time, and we were hungry!

And, really, what meal would be truly Wisconsonian (or semi-Italian) without cheese?

Megan was a little exited to be cooking. :)

By the time the dish was done, we all had watering mouths! It smelled--and tasted--super delicious!

Oh, and we also spent a lot of time making faces at Megan's new fish. But we decided not to cook him. :)

{Tis The Season}

Where did life go? It seems like we just got back from Thanksgiving, and now it's finals week! The time has passed all too quickly, aided by the homework monster and various seasonal activities like Christmas at Northwestern, our school's massive, amazing, five-ensemble Christmas program.

Buuut mostly homework. :)

Plus it's been so pathetically unlike Christmas around here, with the sad lack of snow and general Christmas-y-ness that its hard to realize which season we're in. Erica and I finally got our dorm decorated, but it's only a step up from a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and some purple lights. So since none of us even saw the last few weeks as they rushed by, we made a date for Sunday night (last night). We put down our books and stepped away from our computers (so that no one would get hurt), and had a Christmas party!

More than five people can fit in Megan's kitchen!

As for fare, the menu was relatively unimpressive, but delicious nonetheless. Mary's mother sent her a finals week care package that contained, among other things, a peppermint-chocolate-chip scone mix! (Thank you, Momma Cline!) So we made scones and our good friend Poppin' Fresh provided some snowman cookies. There was a wide array of drink choices, and we even had Christmas-coordinating teakettles!

Yummy scones are done!

Mary had had lots of sugar Sunday afternoon and was super hyper, but we were all pretty excited to get away from our books and have a party! Mary and I deemed ourselves the welcoming committee and let people in the door. Erica came, and so did our friend Hannah. Then we were joined by Megan's lovely roommates Kelsey and Laticia.

How many people can we fit on the Jesus couch? L to R: Laticia, Hannah, Megan, Mary, Erica, Kelsey

Our party wasn't anything fancy--we watched Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (yes, the classic claymation one!) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Then we cleaned up our mess and went home to our books. But it was a much-need break to celebrate, even in a small way, our Savior's birth with friends. :)

Stress Relief

Dear Reader:

If you haven't figured this one out yet... I love food... a lot. But to me food and cooking has become so much more than that. I've realized how much of a gift from God the ability to cook and bake is. (And it also has other little gifts attached-- You're friends stay happy ;) ) But in all seriousness, cooking/baking has become something that I can turn to for some stress relief.

Yesterday was time for just that. Meaning: Time in the Kitchen!

The Menu:

Cheesecake Brownies 

Ingredients:

Your roommates eggs 

A lot of spray... since the last time I made brownies they didn't want to come out of the pan.... 

An Arabic Class and Friends/Roommate to share with

I guess I should mention that it was just a box mix but still.. I baked :) and they were delicious.

I would offer some sort of photo proof, but my dear Christal was not around to take the pictures. 

Anyways, immediately after finishing off the brownies... Our Arabic Class set off to an Arabic Deli/Super store. Guess what?! That means more food! Huge gyros with chicken and lamb, tantalizingly delicious baklava, guava and mango juice and talking about how to make Arabic coffee-- something that shall be attempted in the near future as I know have my qahwah (coffee) and rakweh (the special pot). 

And then comes Thanksgiving... I hope you enjoy a wonderful meal tomorrow, stuffed full with good food, family times, and giving thanks to the God who provides us with all that is needed. 

Psalm 107:1
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." 

Toodles for now,

Megan

{Whatever Works}

Megan made pancakes after church on Sunday afternoon. We had our customary kitchen fun--her making a mess trying to cook the food, me making a mess attempting to wash the dishes. We giggled at the smiley face in the syrup bottle, cleaned up the water I spilled on the floor, and had a little after-dinner relaxation listening to Il Divo while our friend Hannah gave Megan a backrub--which you would think would be relaxing, but it nearly sent her through the roof.  

Hannah and I left to return to dorms and life and homework, full stomachs and smiling faces.

Pancakes = happy food. (Yes, Dad, you were right...)

However.

The rest of the afternoon was not quite as happy as lunchtime had been. Homework ended up being a long and boring undertaking, and by the end of the night, Mary, Megan, and I needed some time away. We had a pow-wow in Mary's room that included a lot of crying, laughing, and eating frozen chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter.

Hey. When you're having a kind of night like we were, you just have to go with whatever works.

|fo͞od|

My dear reader:

food |fo͞od|
noun
any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth

You may ask why I would choose to start off with a definition to a word so commonly used and universally understood, and that would be a valid question. I can say I know what prompted me to look up the actual definition, but I'm glad I did for the last little phrase in there. 

"In order to maintain life and growth"

I think we all know we need food in order to live, in order to grow, in order to be healthy. But food is not the only thing that sustains us in this manner. Being a Christian can switch one's views on a lot of things on this earth, but what about food. 

Genesis 1:29
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

Genesis 2:9(a)
The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

Genesis 9:3
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

Matthew 6:25
[ Do Not Worry ] “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Luke 12:23
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

John 4:32
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

John 4:34
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 6:55
For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

Acts 14:17
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 

This is just a short list of verses that speak of food in the Bible. From the first chapter of Genesis all the way through to Revelation, food is mentioned.  Not only is food a gift from God and completely necessary for our survival, the Bible goes further to say life is much more than to have food or clothes. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, also tells us that He provides us with a new kind of food-- "My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." Christ gives up His body and gave us communion through His body and blood. He is the ultimate sustenance in life and provides for all of our needs. The definition of food fits in exactly with this. The body and blood of Christ, working to do the will of God, this should be our extravagant cuisine in order to maintain life and to grow. 

Plus, food really is a blessing! And, I like food a lot... :) 

On Friday, I was able to eat at Big Bowl with my big sister and enjoyed this wonderful meal of Ginger Chicken, and then had potato pancakes from Perkins at approximately 10:30/11 pm Friday night after band concert. So no cooking for me on Friday, but I love eating as much if not more than cooking and I enjoy seeing what else can be done with food! Then on Saturday I did make an impromptu lunch for Christal and I, but I'll come back to that in a second. And then my family and I got to enjoy a wonderful dinner together-- again appreciation for what other people can cook and the many many different ways that food can be prepared. This morning, I made a pancake brunch for Christal and Hannah, another one of our friends. Nothing to special for either yesterday's lunch or this morning's brunch, but simple food is still delicious food.

What was on the menu:

Ham and Cheese Quesadillas

&

Pancakes with Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

Big skillet... really hot for pancakes and not so much for quesadillas

Ham and cheese

Salsa jar that doesn't want to open

Peanut Butter

Friends 

Laughter

Yo-Yo Ma & Il Divo Music 

First, for quesadillas, throw your stuff in a tortilla and put it in the pan. The ultimate goal is to remember not to have your pan too hot, otherwise, you will burn your tortilla-- Oops! (Even though I burnt the first one it still tasted good!!) Make sure to load up on sour cream and salsa-- if you can open the salsa jar. You may need to sets of hands, hot water, and a bit of banging on the floor to get the lid off though :) Then watch your friends eat and enjoy laughing at the sour cream and salsa dripping down their faces! I think messy food constitutes as good food, and as Christal mentioned in her post, at least she didn't have me taking pictures!

Pancake time! I didn't really ever make pancakes before coming to college but now this is one of my favorite things to make on Sundays. 1) They're really easy to make 2) Even though it's kind of easy to burn them (which I didn't today!!) they are really easy to make and doesn't take a ton of effort 3) They're a wonderful, after-church, feel-good food!

I hope you have a wonderful day and look to Christ for your ultimate sustenance, and enjoy the blessing of food too! 

Days since last cooked meal: 0.083 days.... Translation: couple hours :) 

Toodles for now,

Megan

{Whip Something Up}

Happy Saturday, all! I spent most of the day in the library, and Megan joined me at noon. We gave up on homework at 2:00 (because we were hungry and because we were doing homework, and homework should NEVER trump food!) and decided to finally eat some lunch. We packed up our stuff, checked out eight books apiece, and headed to Megan's room.

Just a little background information on the dorms here: I live in a residence hall called KnuHa, which is the third floor over Knutson (boys dorms) and Hartill (girls dorms). We have a mini kitchenette, a bathroom, a main room, and ZERO counter space. I have two other roommates. Megan lives with three roommates in the residence hall called South, because it's on the south side of the street Lydia. (*cough*NP:App*cough*) She has more of an apartment style of room, with a bedroom, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen--albeit a small one, but a kitchen nonetheless.

This picture (from pizza party night) somewhat indicates how small Megan's kitchen is!

Since making lunch wasn't in the plan for the day, we didn't have a plan for what to make. Megan took a look in her (full sized) refrigerator (that I am very jealous of) and decided to make ham and cheese quesadillas.

More Mexican food, anyone?

Yes, please!

We actually tease a lot that we can read each others minds, because we end up saying the same thing at the same time a lot. The other night after our jazz band concert, we went to Perkins and did it twice--just in the time we were at Perkins! I had to laugh when she asked me if quesadillas sounded good, because I had just been thinking that, hmm, we could make quesadillas!

Me being not the world's best cook and all, I'd never made quesadillas (and yes, I am aware that they are super simple to make--I just have never made them). So I watched as Megan went to work. But I also felt pretty justified, because she burned the first one. (Read: I am not the only one who burns stuff in the kitchen, like this!)

She made a second quesadilla--without burning it this time--and ate the burned one herself. They were very delicious! I made a mess of mine--and I guess it's a good thing I'm the one who takes the pictures...

Ahh, the adventures of cooking in college and the beauty of being able to whip something up.

Bon appetit!

{Comida, Comida, Comida!}

I forgot to mention yesterday how we (Megan, Mary, and I) are also multi-lingual. We often modulate among English, Spanish, French, Arabic, grammar, and a few other minor languages such as Swahili and Norweigan. We also have made Minnesotan accents into an art form.

Oui. Cuenta verdad.

Comida, in case you didn't know, is the Spanish word for food.

Why is this relevent? Megan made Mexican chicken pizza tonight.

And mashed potato pizza. Sound wierd? Yeah, it is. But it isn't bad!

So I guess if I'm chronicling these adventures, I have to start at the beginning. That would be this morning. Case in point of how much I can't cook/appliances hate me: I was up early and tried toasting two mini-bagels at about 7:13. Our toaster is possessed, though, and can't think very hard. It barely toasted one side and let go. The other side it burned to a crisp. And set the fire alarm off.

My roommate got back at 4:30 in the morning. She loved me a lot at 7:13 for setting the fire alarm off.

The really sad part? It's the fifth time I've done it. We have a tally count going.

This is why I let Megan cook.

Anyway. The beginning of our combined cooking adventure starts at about 1:00 in the afternoon. We went to Target to get food. Our adventure was a slight (but only slight!) variation of this:

And, PS, when Mary comes with us to Target, we really are going to do this. :)

Then, we started cooking about 3:45. First, we had an adventure trying to open cans of chicken. Erica, my roommate who decided to join us, broke the can opener. Although she shouldn't feel bad, because I bent ours on Sunday....

Then, with a lot of elbow grease and Megan's fancy knife, they were opened! Megan got down to business right away, while we solicited her small kitchen and made each other claustrophobic.

In addition to making three pizzas, we stuck two pieces of frozen cardboard in the oven. This is my wonderful roomie, Erica!

Mashed Potato Pizza in the oven!

Dove chocolate is an essential part to every gathering, with or without other food!

We drove over to the student center, five pizzas in tow, to share our tantilizing goodness with friends (and make everyone in the Stud jealous!)

Mexican Chicken pizza!

This kind of defines our relationship. Mary giving Megan wierd looks, because Megan looks wierd.

Success! Our little party consisted of ten people, and the pizza was polished off. We were left with two pieces of cardboard and pawned them off to two desperate college boys in passing. They were grateful. :)

Mary approves!