NEW miracle health product!

That's right!  We're finally getting a Halloween recap around here, as well as a mind-blowing health tip!

CURIOUS?

Raisin Brahms!!

Watch here for the hilarious Brahms-osity that inspired my costume for this year!

Johannes says: "For a healthy and fun life, make sure you get at least 2 servings of the Arts each day!"

Let's get real here folks: the arts are awesome.  They inspire us, they challenge us, they bring us together, and help foster creativity, dedication, and humor in those who partake in them.  The arts can provide much needed human-connection in communities, families, institutions, and even whole nations!  The arts allow us to escape, but they can also wake us up to the world around us.  They can be as irrelevant and old, or as fascinating and cutting-edge as our imaginations allow them to be.

Basically...whether it be forms of textiles, theatre, music, etc etc etc - the arts rock and everyone should have access to them in their life and community!

So go ahead - get your full serving of Arts each day and everyday!  You'll be glad you did, I promise.

(or Brahms will be quite upset with you...and you don't want that now do you?)

For those of you wondering, YES OF COURSE I burst into my Jazz theory class yelling "GUTEN TAGGGggggggggg!!!!!" and was greeted by a chorus of "JOHANNES BRAHMS!?!"

(I admit, I made sure that at least 3 people knew I was coming so that I would have a few responders)

To my immense delight, I actually got a bunch of unsuspecting class-goers to to yell back in total spontaneity!!  I also got a "you are officially my favorite" and a "everyone around the school of music is talking about you - in a good way!" which made me feel very proud indeed.

Also, check out the Pumpkin the H-roomie and I carved!

So remember folks - get your arts in for a good healthy life, and if you every hear anyone yell "guten tag" the only appropriate response is:

Johannes Brahms!!

Sunday Sustenance

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR...

I actually think this might be the most delicious dish I have ever made in my life.  Well maybe that's an over-statement, but BELIEVE me when I say this things is DELICIOUS!

(just look at this bite...)

Now are you ready for the kicker?

THERE ARE NO NOODLES IN THIS DISH.

Terrifying right?  Well fear not, because one man's empty pantry is another man's full stomach!  (In this case I was both of those men...)

Now before you dismiss this as your average boring ol' souped-up lasagna recipe trying to fit a load of veggies in a perfectly good dish - here me out!  Not only is this dish full of meaty, cheesy, warm goodness, it is also simply put - delicious (have I said that already?)

The story is as follows:  I had not a noodle to be found, and a serious lasagna-on-the-brain.  I also had a fridge full of eggplant from 2 weeks ago that needed a happy home before they went bad.  With the help of the internet, I learned that both zucchini and eggplant could make wonderful lasagna noodles...so off I went!

Should you wish to experiment, my very crude details are below:

1.)  Slice your zucchini or eggplant into very thin strips or rounds (I used a combo of both).  You want them to be approximately noodle thickness, but a little more or less really won't matter.

2.)  Do something to your "noodles" to take some of the moisture out.  Here's where I didn't do a very good job, and ended up pouring off the entire Atlantic ocean from my finish lasagna before I ate it.  It still turned out amazingly, and none of the flavor was sacrificed - still I would recommend trying to reduce the water if possible.  Here are some ideas that have floated around:

- baking the "noodles" for a few mins while your oven is pre-heating

- crisping them up a bit on a hot pan

You don't want them to be crispy, just a bit less water-filled.  If you don't do any of these, don't worry to much, you'll just have to pour off a lot of liquid after the baking stages.

3.)  Brown your meat and slice up all the fixings for your layers that you desire

4.)  Artistically assemble your layers.  Mine consisted of: Classico tomato basil sauce, mushrooms, ground beef cooked with parsley basil and fennel seed, more basil, red pepper, purple pepper, cottage cheese, Parmigian-Reggiano (gettin' fancy I know!), and of course your "noodles" in-between!

5.)  Bake for about 35 mins.  My oven was at 375 I believe (in a 4-serving glass pan).

6.)  Force yourself to let it sit for about 10 mins and ENJOY!

Who says you can't make absolutely awesome food at college?  All you need is a little farmers market love, and about 30 mins of prep on a weekend!

Also, a personal preferance note: I think I enjoyed the combo of zucchini AND eggplant, because sometimes eggplant can just get so...I don't know...eggplanty!  You know, that taste that's just slightly too much eggplant than you really wanted?  This dish however, struck the perfect balance!

What do you think?  Are veggies (although eggplant is technically a berry!) a viable noodle-option, or is this a disturbing attack on the classic dish?

LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW IF YOU DARE...

For the Love of October

It's certainly been a while hasn't it?

I am currently blaming the lack of blog-o-sphere action on the fact that I actually thought I was forever locked out of my account due to google owning every email service on the planet.  Let's just say things got rather complicated and I now have to log in with an address that includes % signs and words that don't make sense...(oh technology)

In case you've been in a box for the last few weeks, I am here to inform you that it is gloriously, and most officially AUTUMN.

Let's take a look, shall we?

It smelled like fall today.  That crispy, comforting smell of fallen leaves beginning their transition back into dirt.  I'm tellin' you - I love it! (although my unenthused face in this picture would beg to differ...)

What's another thing I love might you ask?  Why it's this absurdly bat-winged-flowy shirt that I plucked from a heaping clothes dumpster pile at the end of last year!

(Just look at how it immediately improves my otherwise hopeless attempts at modern dance!)

And looking stoic.  I'm telling you, if you ever need to look stoic, nothing will do it like loopy-shoulder-cut-outs.

Also, there were many lovely trees with many gnarly roots that were just begging for me to creepily smash my face of them.  I mean, it's almost Halloween right?

But enough of me...let's get back to this autumn I'm talking about!

These next two pictures were taken from opposite sides of the same bridge.  One side is the more metropolis-view, the other a much more natural one.  It's quite amazing really.

So happy continued autumn and October! 

Take all the paths that intrigue you, and don't forget to crunch around in some leaves!

Jersey knit & Tennis skirts

 Wheee.. Another 98˚ day with a heat index of over 100!

The day was only  just bearable after 9pm, hence the dusky photographs.  Luckily, it's a pretty great time of day for accidentally ghostin' out in pictures!

oooOOOooo

What dimension was this photo taken in?  In what layer of the universe?  We'll never know!

Quizzical human questions your scientific reasonings.

(and shows off her bracelets recently made with some old t-shirt scraps lying about)

Internet, meet my lucky penny necklace, penny necklace, meet the internet.

Also, I love this shirt my lovely friend painted upon before letting me snatch it from her!

But back to the bracelets!

They are the simplest things in the world, and sure they may not look as swanky as some of those crazy finger-knitted-contraptions out there, but I like 'em.  If you can braid you can make them.  If you can tie a knot, you can make them.  If you can sew literally 3 stitches with a needle and thread, you can make them.

(oh and you need some old t-shirt fabric too!)

Mine are attached only by a mere fabric loop and knot, but you could do buttons, snaps, whatever really!

If anyone makes any, let me know, I want to see your creations!

Until next time -

don't die of heat, and keep stepping where the grass is green!

Under Wide Open Skies

Q: what do you get when you pour rain on a hot, dry plain?

A: a high temp of 92 with a max humidity of 94%

(summer dresses are required.)

On my way back from ballroom lessons, the sky was absolutely fantastic! That's fantastic to the point that the neighbors saw a girl wizzing down the street on a bicycle shouting out things like

"wowahweewah!" and "now that's what I call a sky!"

Behold the sky à la 9:15pm!

My dad said it looked like two dogs kissing...

What do YOU see?

Luckily I remembered to turn the ISO waaaaaay down.  I don't really know anything about photography, but I'm glad I remembered that, because it makes such a difference! (above)

There's really nothing like a sweeping mid-western summer sky to make you want to kick off your shoes and dance!