Greek Yogurt + Strawberries + Brown Sugar = YUM + a crazy morning

I ate this on the day of the school barbecue. Let's just say I was VERY hyper during homeroom. And my friend had a VERY hard time trying to keep me from dancing around the room. She sighed when I told her I'd had a whole packet of brown sugar with my yogurt that morning. Oh well, I crashed pretty soon after.

Anyway, I love Greek yogurt. It's so creamy and tangy. I love the first scoop out of a fresh container. The first time I tried it I was nervous because I'd been excited about trying something I'd heard about for a long time before, and that hadn't ended too well. That something was buttermilk. I thought it'd taste like butterscotch pudding. Don't ask me why...I suppose I just saw the word "butter" and thought they were the same thing. I WAS SOOO WRONG. I took a big gulp of the stuff. It's an acquired taste. I don't think I managed to choke it down. And I'm not too sure what my mum did with the rest of the carton. Darn. If that had happened this year I would've been able to try out so many recipes! Oh well, I've found substitutes for buttermilk. :) I'm going to try out so many new things this summer!

Wait a minute, how did we come to this? Oh yes. The first scoop of Greek yogurt. It was cool, creamy, delicious. I thought it was ice cream! So yummy. I was hooked.

Then one day as I was browsing Tastespotting, I saw Greek yogurt with strawberries and brown sugar and I thought YESSSSS a new variation to try! I always put honey in my yogurt but I'd gotten a tiny bit sick of it after having it for breakfast for 3 months straight.

Those are socials notes in the background. I am so glad exams are over! 

This was a yummy way to start my day (whoaa that rhymed...), but I think I still prefer the honey variation. The honey just enhances the creamy texture, which I LOVE. The brown sugar gave it a slight crunch factor and was pretty before I mixed it all up, but definitely not as sweet. I'm not sure why though, since I think there was more brown sugar than the amount of honey I usually add...maybe because honey tends to clump up in extreme sweet spots? YUMMMM. Okay. I think maybe I should start having this for dinner as well.

Summer Blues

Yesterday was the last day of school. I can't even believe it. It doesn't seem like the end at all. I didn't even realize that Thursday was the last Day 2 of Grade 11, nor did I realize that yesterday was the last Day 1. I didn't realize that yesterday I had my last Biology and Chemistry classes ever. (two of my favourite courses...NOOO :'(.....) No wonder most of my teachers looked at us kind of sadly. Or maybe that was just my imagination. This year, it was weird. No one except the grads really said much about school ending.

And this is not even funny...I'm freakin' SAD because school ended yesterday. Yes, I don't want to take finals exams, but that's not the biggest thing. I think it's that this year felt so quick and so slow at the same time. I feel like I wasted a lot of time, like I never really got into the flow of things before it all ended.
I'm sad because a lot of my friends are graduating this year. I won't see them in the halls come September, I won't be able to ask them about things, I won't be able to reminisce about the past with them.
I'm sad because I liked my classes this year. I'm sad because I'll have to forget my timetable and relearn a new one. I'm sad because I finally figured out everything, but during the summer I'll be sure to forget. I'm sad because I didn't get to say or do a ton of things that I should have done. I'm sad because we finally found out how to talk, but one of us will forget by September.
I'm sad thinking about yearbooks. I'm sad thinking about the year-end BBQ. I'm sad thinking about how I'll miss yet another awards assembly (whatever, I'd rather help rip 600 hot dogs out of their individually wrapped plastic packages anyway...which is A LOT of unnecessary waste, if you ask me.)
I'm sad that I won't be able to see my friends for five of my precious summer weeks. I'm sad that I won't be able to go sailing or to the beach or go camping or just go to the movies with them.
I'm sad thinking about Grade 12. I don't want high school to end. Next year, this time of year, we'll all be saying goodbye, some forever, and we'll all go our own ways. We may not see each other again for months or years, or ever. That's terrifying. I'm sad that next year, starting from Term 1, everyone will be so busy with university applications (SCARY) that we won't have time for each other (or that's what I'm afraid of anyway). I'm sad that next Term 2, we'll be working like crazy to keep our grades up. And then it'll be over too soon. I saw what happened to the grads this year. First two terms, they were too busy to notice much. Then it was term 3...they never knew what hit them. It was like, WHOOSH and then ZOMG it's June and now it's all over. Oh man. It's gonna hurt.

I would've thought I'd be shooting fireworks out my ears with school over already, but somehow they've been extinguished before they could light.
I think one part of it is that I've been waitingandwaitingandwaiting for summer since September...and then now that it's finally here it's like I've built up all this excitement for it, like what I'm going to do and how I'm going to do it and ohhh I have SOOOO much time now it's gonna be great. And then I got accepted into this program to go to Quebec for half the summer, so now I realize there's actually not that much time. So now I guess...I guess I feel a bit like I'm missing out on summer with my friends. Although, don't get me wrong, I AM FREAKING EXCITED FOR QUEBEC. It's my first time travelling alone, budgeting my own food, doing my own laundry, keeping everything organized...basically, it's my first time being away from home for more than two weeks. And back then, it was a homestay. This time it's in university dorms! Oh man, this is going to rock.
But... I MAY not be able to post anything while I'm there since I have to do everything in French, and I may not have a laptop there...which is going to SUCK. I am not happy with my current internet arrangements while in Quebec, which is basically 'no internet'. I can't live without it. Geez, I've never gone five weeks without talking to my friends, even if it's just chatting online for 5 minutes. I cannot. Nope. Not possible. So I'm going to get internet no matter what. Yes. I will. I am determined. And I am hardly ever like this so you can bet your bottom dollar that I am GOING TO GET INTERNET. Just watch me.

Anyway, I hope this sad feeling goes away soon because it's threatening to suffocate me. Maybe I should go and throw myself into my studies and I'll forget everything. Hopefully.

Um. My Spring Break in a Nutshell.

Oh man. I pause in my endless shuffling of papers. This overwhelming feeling of nostalgia...I know it well. It washes over me in waves both painful and calming. Bittersweet.
I'm going through my stacks of past proud projects and thick, bent binders; they go back to Grade 1 and span seven years' worth of work. Some of these things, I've forgotten completely. Others, I recognize with just one glance. And then there are some that need time to conjure up old memories, such as this small, blue certificate with the words 'CONGRATULATIONS Scribbles for 50 nights of reading: Dec 14, 1999' written in curly writing on it. It's from Grade 1, my very first certificate for reading 50 nights in a row. There was some sort of ongoing contest in the Grade 1 classes at my school, I think, and I was so happy to have finally achieved this trophy. I think back to those nights I spent reading word by word with my Dad beside me, saying the unfamiliar words aloud, slowly picking up on the pronunciations and spellings and meanings. I remember how, after a while, I got annoyed with my Dad's accent and told him I'd read it all by myself. Maybe I shouldn't have, but he read way too slow for my liking.
I keep flipping through the piles of papers, looking for things I can maybe throw out. Mum's in her throw-everything-away-so-there's-room-for-new-stuff mode and if I don't get rid of some of my things she's going to go nuts. She gets like this about once every couple months, and especially right before summer...she just bulldozes through the house and shakes out EVERYTHING. She even gets to the stuff I hide away, so there's no point in trying to smuggle some long-lost treasure out of her grasp. She'll find it, and if she thinks we don't need it (and especially if I'm not there to wrest it out of her hand) she'll just dump it in the dreaded white plastic bag. Sometimes I even have to rummage through the garbage to find stuff...but usually these bags of garbage are dry, and only contain my own things, so they're not dirty at all. So she goes and puts the kitchen garbage on top of my stuff, so I won't be able to rummage. Those days are really sad.

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This is just something I wrote during Spring Break, when we went to our Gran's place and had to throw out a bunch of stuff because the mice had got into the house. YUCK. We disinfected and vaccuumed and wiped down everything though, so don't worry, it's all clean now. Thank goodness that's over.

Anyway, I just felt like I had to write about that feeling you get when you look at the things that were special to you when you were small, but have forgotten over the years. I hadn't looked at those things for almost a decade (BOY does time fly fast!!), and was overwhelmed by everything that came back to me as soon as I saw them. It was like my mind went "click!" and an onrush of memories came crashing down on my head. You should try it sometime...I think it was a little fun and a little sad, but definitely a pretty good way to spend a rainy day.

Lovely Ginger Cookies

My dad LOVES ginger cookies. They're like, the only type of cookies he eats. So he was very excited when I told him I'd found a butterless recipe on allrecipes.com. (There are some awesome recipes on that site by the way...I found a sweet potato bread recipe on there too, I'll be posting that one later once I get some photos of it.) Anyway, Dad loves ginger. He likes the chewy texture (they're REALLY chewy) of these cookies, and of course he loves that they don't have any butter in them. He can eat as many as he wants without a guilty conscience. Errr..I guess he doesn't want to think about how much sugar's in them. Oh well, you can't have everything, can you? I tried reducing the sugar by a third or so one time, and they tasted a bit bitter...cookies are supposed to be treats, so I'm not gonna try that again!

When I make these, they never last more than two days. So I tend to make them every weekend...they're really easy to make, plus the dough is easy to work with. I think. I haven't made too many types of cookies yet but so far this is my favourite cookie to make. (Plus, they're pretty and smell so nice!)

There's just one thing weird about them though. As you can see in the photos below, the very first time I made them they came out nice and puffy. But after that, every time I made them they came out completely flat and very spread out. A bit chewier, too. I have no idea why. I thought maybe it was because the egg was too cold or something, so the last time I made them I made sure the egg was at room temperature before mixing it in, but they still came out really flat. Dunno why. Maybe I'm mixing the dough too much??

Anyway, here's the recipe!

Butterless Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 cup (250mL) (300 mL) granulated sugar
2/3 2/3 cup vegetable o2/ 322/3cup cup(150 mL) (150 mL) vegetable oil
¼ 1/4 cup fancy molasses ¼ 1/4cup cup(50 mL) (50 mL) fancy molasses  (I substituted honey.)
1 egg 1 1egg (make sure it isn’t too cold)  eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 ¾  1-3/4cups cups(425 mL) (425 mL) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 ½ 1-1/2tsp tsp(7 mL) (7 mL) ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon 1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) (5 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder 1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) (5 mL) baking powder
1 tsp baking soda 1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) (5 mL) baking soda
½ 1/2 tsp salt ½ 1/2tsp tsp(2 mL) (2 mL) salt

More sugar for rolling cookie dough balls before baking

(optional: chopped up crystallized ginger...about 1/2 a cup? Depends on how much ginger you want in the cookie)

Here's the little ball of dough right before it went into the hothot oven...I stuck a piece of crystallized ginger on top and sprinkled on some extra sugar.

Preparation:

1.   Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper (or grease it).

2.   In large bowl, whisk together 1 cup (250 mL) of the sugar, oil, molasses and egg until smooth.

3.   In separate bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into sugar mixture. Add crystallized ginger.

4.   Shape by rounded tablespoonfuls (15 mL) into balls; roll in remaining sugar to coat. Place 2 inches (5 cm) apart on baking sheet. Stick a couple pieces of crystallized ginger on top to make it pretty, along with some extra sugar.

5.   Bake in top and bottom thirds of oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until cookies spread out and tops crack, about 12 minutes. Let cool on pans on racks for 10 minutes; transfer to racks and let cool completely. Be careful...they crack easily when they're hot!

(Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and store for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.)

Here are the pretty cookies all spread out and stuck to each other...man, I never realized how puffy they were the first time I made them!

Compare the thickness of these two cookies...same recipe but completely different shape and texture. I made them exactly the same way too! So weird...gotta figure out why.

These are quite sweet...they pair really well with a nice hot cup of tea or a cold glass of milk..mmm I think I need to go make them again now...

Two Awesome *Butterless* Cookie Recipes

As promised, here are the recipes to the two types of cookies I made this afternoon (it took me 3 hours to bake 56 cookies...is that normal??) I actually started baking as soon as I got up...a full 10 hours of sleep sure does wonders...

Pictures were taken by my sister..who promptly ate half a plate of cookies as she snapped away. Oh well, they were meant for her anyway... (I tried to get her to wake up to the smell of fresh-baked cookies, but she woke up too soon...darn. Next time!)

Spring Break Cooking Challenge

Helloooo
Well, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I am going to learn how to cook....even without a recipe card in front of me. I've always said how I love cooking, how it's my hobby, blablabla but...I never DO it. I haven't made anything by meself since Grade 9 foods class. So, this Spring Break I am going to learn to cook a full meal by myself, AND wash the dishes. Won't that be a sight to see? :)
I haven't got an exact plan or anything, just a bunch of recipes I've wanted to try for ages and one goal: to cook dinner for my family on the last evening of Spring Break. No wait, I've got one more goal: to find an awesome butterless cookie recipe, because I hate the guilt that comes with eating a lump of butter and suger. Oil and sugar is so much better, at least in my world.
So far, so good. I've made two types of butterless cookies (the first was my own recipe, made up from a mish-mash of researched cookie recipes. It was kind of a Chocolate Cake Mix Cookie...straight out of the oven it was pretty good but after a day not so much. The second, I just finished baking. Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookies! THESE were AWESOME. I forget where I got the recipe from, so I'll post it up once I find the blog. Fresh out of the oven, piping hot and with a crisp crust...MMMM). I've made chocolate pudding too, which was a nice, cool treat to have instead of ice cream. I've also learned how to make Korean omelette things, Korean egg custard, and doenjang jjigae (Korean miso soup); I do this by watching my mum cook while she explains what she's doing, not by a recipe, so it's really fun. No measuring. Heh.

My sis took some photos, but she's being lazy and doesn't want to put them into her computer at the moment, so they'll be up later with the cookie recipe I guess.

One other thing I've been doing a lot of is browsing food blogs...and boy, are there some awesome people out there! Food blogs are fun to drool over :P

Just Kidding- Sonnet

cartoon: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUivhati6M_e3Cg5moizEb4AEcS_ULXNR8BNw5N-KXXDMpbtV3P6Mfjc_hrLn9xoo291ku9iTCwiCb4Ys6XeDxeJpCNyZr3uYnQRa7xlvG51oF2Gg7l6sc9KrAj0i38AGRTmw4QAtc9Yn3/s1600/broken-heart.jpg

I know that a couple lines don't really work...they sound a little weird or the grammar is off. But it was a sonnet piece, so it was pretty hard to find the right rhymes and make sure the iambic pentameter was right. And I also don't like the ending because it seems a little cliche and cheesy...but it was like, 2 in the morning and it was due the next morning so I had to just go with it.

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend...the weather cleared up a little earlier so I was happy :)

And the cartoon was just cute...and kind of fit with the poem.

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That half-smile you sport when it’s all just jokes,

I know so well now; should not be surprised.

Yet it appears, and happiness evokes;

I discover it’s hard keeping disguised.

No matter how much I try to go sleep,

I cannot seem to keep my eyes to shore.

Your jokes have touched too far and much too deep

Each time you make me laugh, it hurts the more,

Since I know you don’t ever really mean

The sweet things you say to me when we meet

Are not to be felt, only to be seen.

To be with you is rather bittersweet.

Yet I’m not so unhappy; my torn heart

Will find another; from you, grow apart.

Hope for Japan

I'll bet that by now, almost everyone's heard about the massive earthquake that hit Japan this weekend. 8.9! And afterschocks are still occurring. I saw some footage on the news, and boy, it's pretty bad. Cracks as wide as people have appeared on roads and sidewalks, highways have split and made wall-like barriers, stores are complete messes, books and electrical appliances were shaken off shelves, and where the tsunami hit, it's awful. Masses of cars have piled up in parking lots, and boats and ships have been overturned. Part of a bridge fell into the water, along with a few cars. A boat full of prechool children was rescued, and many others are being rescued at this moment. People in their neighbourhoods go around picking up corpses and lay them all out in one area to be buried later.

I found it admirable that no one stole anything from the unattended stores or went completely hysterical. These people were quite calm and practical. For instance, a sky train full of passengers was stopped and a warning was broadcasted. They were told to not leave the train until the shaking stopped, and they did exactly that; no one screamed crazily or anything. They just all waited until someone came up into the train and let them off. I guess a lot of them would be used to it, since Japan is in the Ring of Fire, where earthquakes are rather frequent.

But what's really scary is that (I think) 4 nuclear power plants are in danger of full/partial meltdown and thus leaking radioactivity. Their cooling systems didn't function properly. I believe one of them have already started to leak. Now THAT'S scary, because it has many terrible aftereffects that not only include cancer but birth defects and such. People are also saying it may reach Canada as well.

I'm just really worried about an aunt I have who lives in Japan with her two sons. As of now, they seem alright, but I really want to send over a package or something. Do you think it would reach them in time though?

Let's just all take a moment to pray for the Japanese...it doesn't matter if you're religious or not, just send your thoughts to them because I believe that at least one person will hear you.

The City of Books Part 4

Last short story post. Gosh, this weekend seems really long...I can't believe midterms ended only a couple days ago. Well, I guess I should be glad for that, but I think I let my guard down...so now I'm sick..or something. I'm not quite sure, actually. I keep sneezing and my eyes feel like they've been swollen shut. Ew. Anyway, I have a paper to write this weekend for socials class. We have to watch two films from the 50s (during the Cold War) and then analyze them. Who on earth makes a paper due on the first day 2 back after midterms? Horrid stuff.

Well, as usual, feel free to leave feedback!

Oh, and Happy Single Awareness Day. It would have been more fun if we'd spent it at school...oh well. Maybe next year the break won't fall on V-day.
Hopefully, there won't be any midterms either. Keep your fingers crossed.

The City of Books Part 3

Urgh. Another boring weekend.
Although, I must say, the weather today is absolutely stunning. Perfect running weather! Which is just what I did earlier this afternoon. The sun was bright but not too warm, there was a slight breeze, and the sky was blueblueblue. I wanted to go sailing, but since I haven't actually done any sailing since summertime, I think I've forgotten most of what I learned.
I wish I had more time to practice that kind of thing; sailing, snowboarding, skating, etc. Every season I get a hang of it, then lose it over the rest of the year. Pretty sad to think I'll only ever be in beginner classes...

Anyway, here's the next part of the story. I don't even know if anyone's reading this stuff but oh well, I promised I'd post it and so I am.

pic: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_fHdthPwkv1k/SGLOgl9gy5I/AAAAAAAAAZg/1mln_z9-Eas/San+marino+castle+1.jpg

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