Who is it?

If you comment anonymously on my blog, pretty please say your name in your comments cuz a lot of times I have no idea who it is. Pretty please, with a big ol' cherry and rainbow sprinkles on top? : D

Being Martha

"She feels it is her mission in life to make the world a more beautiful place."

That's a quote from the book. I'm learning a lot about Martha that I had never known, so I'm finding the book very fascinating. I'll be sad when I'm done reading it.

What stands out is the fact that she is such a perfectionist, and that she's always been that way. Flowers have to be cut perfectly from the garden and arranged just so in a vase...snap peas have to be trimmed just right...tart crusts have to be a very specific shade of brown before they come out of the oven.

Perfectionism can be annoying, but it isn't always a bad thing. I'm a perfectionist and I drive myself batty because of it. Another quote from the book, by Martha's brother George: "But the quest for perfection can lead to insanity -- I drive myself crazy trying to make things be a certain way. It eats at you, and if you've got fifty things going on all at once that all have to be perfect, you can go over the edge really easily."

At the same time, my perfectionism motivates me. And it comes through the most in anything that I make with my hands. When I'm baking a batch of cookies or a loaf of bread, it has to be perfect. Not only does it have to taste incredible, it has to look delicious. I want people to look at the things that I bake and say, "That looks amazing. I can't resist it."

Martha sucks the marrow out of the simple pleasures in life. That's another thing I have in common with her. She's interested and creative and extremely attentive to detail. Another quote: "One of her special abilities is to spot and appreciate talent and beauty and zest in everyday people and things. When Martha makes a great find, she wants to share it with the world." Is that why I love taking pictures of the things that I bake? I mean, if a cherry pie comes out looking beautiful, great. But eventually, all that will be left is a pan of crumbs. It's just a pie, after all. But in my mind, it's a work of art. It's something that I made out of flour and butter and sugar and cherries and I turned it into something lovely. And few things give me more pleasure than knowing something that I made has been enjoyed thoroughly by others. If someone takes a bite of that pie and it makes him close his eyes and grin, then I've accomplished a goal.

To me, the whole process of baking is photo-worthy. Not only for the sake of documentation, but even moreso for the sake of the earthy, rustic beauty. Put me in a Borders store and I'll beeline for the cooking section to find the book that has the most gorgeous baking photos in it. Every now and then I take my "Martha Stewart Baking Handbook" off its stand and just feast my eyes on the photos in its pages.

So, in reading "Being Martha," I am finding it interesting and eye-opening to discover that I am like her in many ways. I don't garden like she does. I don't host 100-guest dinner parties like she does. And I definitely don't function on three hours of sleep like she does. But she appreciates and relishes the simple beauty of timeworn practices like baking a pie. And that is splendid.

On that note, here are some photos of the biscotti-baking process that I thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend. To many, there is nothing alluring or noteworthy about these pictures. But to me, they're amazing.

Biscotti

A chocoholic's dream. It's the best I've ever tasted. It really is.
....FYI - there is a much longer, new entry just below this one. :)

I have to post a couple new pics of my silly girl, too. I love her pretty eyes!

PINK!

I got a new laptop today and it's PINK! It's so purty and I'm so excited!!! We were looking at laptops online this morning and then Scotty suggested we go to Best Buy and Circuit City to see if we could find a specific one that we picked out (I think it was an hp). So we get to Best Buy and the first one we see is the pink Sony Vaio - and it was like $400 less than it was online. So I got it!! Woohooooooooooooooooooeeeeee! It has a built-in webcam and a slot for my camera's memory card - two features that I know I'll love. My old laptop's been extremely flaky and unpredictible lately but I didn't think he'd let me get a new one already. I am just so psyched!! Now all I need is the Verizon Pink Pearl Blackberry and I'll be a really hip pink chick! That's not gonna happen til we renew our contract in December.....but a girl can dream. ;)

In other news, this afternoon I made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Biscotti for two friends and it turned out just perfect. I sugared the tops and drizzled them with chocolate. I hope they love them!! I'll post pics soon, so check back. I LOVE taking pictures of the baking process. Because I'm a nerd that way.

OH my gosh - this morning sucked. I pulled our bedroom blinds up, glanced outside and noticed a handwritten note under one of the wipers on the Durango's windshield. I was way curious, so I put on my slippers and Scotty's big winter coat and headed out there to check it out. The note said - and I quote - "Be respectful of your neighbors and pick up your garbage and your kid's dirty diapers. Thanks." I immediately felt confused and very awful. Then I looked at the end of the driveway and sure enough - there by the curb were two diapers and a couple pieces of old junk mail. I so totally had NOT noticed any of that. Then I felt even MORE awful. Whoever wrote the note was SO right. I ran into the house, grabbed a piece of paper and a pink marker and wrote "To Whomever Wrote the Note: I am truly sorry and thank you for bringing the trash to my attention. We will pay closer attention from now on and will write a note to the garbagemen to please make sure ALL our trash gets into their truck!" Went back outside and put that note under the back windshield wiper so it was easily seen from the street, pried the frozen, rock-hard diapers and papers out of the ice and put them in our trash can. I wish I would have noticed that stuff out there before some poor neighbor had to leave us a note about it. I am mortified. Probably the reason I didn't notice it is twofold:
1. Wednesday is garbage pickup day, and I was at my mom's on Thursday and Friday so wasn't home.
2. There is still a mountain (quite literally) of snow piled up in our front yard so I couldn't have seen it from the house even if I'd tried.
Pretty horrible, eh? The thought of being known as the-people-who-leave-their-kid's-dirty-diapers-at-the-curb-for-the-whole-culdesac-to-see is just......so uncool!!

And on that note, I hope you're having a good weekend. Check back soon for baking pictures from the Baking Nerd!

Geek

Does loving corny games like Super Mario Brothers and Tetris make me a video game geek? And another question: WHY have I been such a bottomless pit the last two days?!
But back to the video game question. I've loved Mario Bros. since my teenage Nintendo days. Then, two birthdays ago Scotty gave me a pink Nintendo DS. So I finished the DS version of Mario pretty quickly. I spent the last couple days down at Mom's and played Tetris on her DS during every free moment that I had (when I wasn't playing tug-o-war with Lissy for it - she thinks pressing the buttons is a great time)! I used to HATE Tetris back in the old Nintendo days but got very addicted to it on the DS. Now I'm trying to find a copy of it so I can play it on my own DS. Not much luck so far, but there are several for sale on ebay.

And yeah, my belly the last couple days has been insatiable! I suppose everybody has those phases where they just wanna eat, eat, eat, eat, and eat some more. Jeez. Girl Scout Tagalongs, Moose Tracks Ice Cream, Weight Watchers Lemon Cakes (hey, at least they were Weight Watchers....but that kinda doesn't matter when you eat five of them)......OINK. It's a good thing I'm planning to join Cardinal Fitness next week!

TGIF. Have a wonderful weekend!

Hm.

I feel like blogging, but I don't know what to blog about. So I'll copy what I've seen some friends do on their blogs and list 100 random facts about myself. No. 100 is just too many. I'll try for 50.

1. My middle name is Sue. I hate it.
2. My husband's middle name is Arthur.
3. I ate four Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for dessert tonight.
4. I adore baking.
5. I like knitting and crocheting very much, but haven't been into it lately.
6. I use my iPod almost every day.
7. I have such severe floaters in my right eye that the vision in it is very impaired.
8. Right now I'm under a very soft, warm blanket that Kenzie made me for Christmas.
9. Lissy's in bed and I just heard her say, "BaBa" loudly.
10. I use Bare Minerals makeup and it has cleared my face up tremendously.
11. I stopped using Max Factor foundation because the first ingredient in it is mineral oil and that clogs your pores something awful.
12. Daisies are my favorite flower.
13. I am head-over-heels in love with my little daughter.
14. I am head-over-heels in love with her daddy.
15. I want to get rid of our stupid cat.
16. My favorite color is pink. Pink used to be my least favorite color.
17. I am fixin' to join Cardinal Fitness so I can work out at least four times a week.
18. I love watching Oprah and find Dr. Oz very fascinating.
19. I am homophobic and not ashamed of it. The concept grosses me out hugely.
20. I'm somehow related to Mark-Paul Gosselaar, the guy who played Zach on "Saved by the Bell."
21. I like Taco Bell very much.
22. My favorite time of the day is bedtime. I love snuggling under the covers and just letting my mind wander and get sleepy.
23. My laptop is on life support. It's not gonna last much longer.
24. I want a Pink Pearl Blackberry.
25. I would much rather email than talk on the phone most of the time, except to my mom.
26. I love bananas.
27. I loooooooooooooooove chocolate.
28. If my laptop spontaneously shuts down before I publish this blog entry, I WILL scream.
29. When asked "Who's your best friend?", Liss points to me and says, "Mommy." Dang, I love that kid.
30. I tried to watch "No Reservations" tonight on iTunes but my flippin' computer won't let me.
31. I love dill pickles.
32. I very, very rarely wear skirts or dresses. I avoid them as much as humanly possible because I despise pantyhose.
33. Paula Deen totally cracks me up.
34. I love having friends. They make my world go 'round.
35. There are several people I know from online forums who I would love to meet in person.
36. Andrea from Oregon made Lissy's favorite blanket. She's one of my online friends who I would totally love to meet someday.
37. I would like to drink coffee more often.
38. The Starbucks they're building in my neighborhood is almost done and I'm so glad it looks like it's gonna have a drive-thru!
39. I like soft jazz music and often listen to it while I bake.
40. Scott hates coffee, but he will drink caramel fraps.
41. I pluck my chin hairs daily.
42. If I could change one thing about my body, I would get veneers on my top front teeth.
43. I would rather have a dozen root canals at once than give birth again.
44. I love Altoids Smalls.
45. I think Lissy finally fell asleep. :)
46. Last night I had a dream that I was at a party and Justin Timberlake was there, only he was mini (like two feet tall). He was wearing tiny little jeans. He was having major trouble breathing and I was rubbing his back while we waited for an ambulance to show up.
47. My subconscious mind is extremely bizarre.
48. Thank goodness I only have two more to go.
49. I went to Dominick's tonight and somebody near the checkout stand farted. It wasn't me - honest. But all of the sudden it smelled terrible. My guess is that it was the checker.
50. I wonder what the checker would've said if I had asked her if she farted.

Beautiful

Okay, that last entry was so depressing that I feel I need to write another one! So, two entries in one day. ZipadeedooDA! :P

So for the last two days when I went in Lissy's room in the morning to get her up, she raised her arms way up high and said, "MOMMY!" Oh my gosh. OH my gosh. There are no words.

We did a photo shoot with her this past Saturday and above are a few of the photos. Aren't they incredible? She is my beautiful girl!

I've been baking my buns off this week and am about to bake some more (layers for a birthday cake). Baked Valentine's cookies, a large cherry galette for my mom and Chocolate Truffle Crunch Bars for my sweet-toothed hubby. Pictures of all three are on my Sweet Lissy B's website!

Have a great weekend. I'm glad it's Friday!

WHAT?!?!

I don't know if you've heard about these incidents, but they both happened in Illinois this past week. I can't believe these things can happen. What is WRONG with people?? WHY do they think they can kill completely innocent people randomly? Last weekend a guy walked into a Lane Bryant store and shot five women dead. Yesterday at Northern Illinois University some freak walked onto the stage of a lecture hall and shot more than twenty students. Six of them died. WHAT is WRONG with people??????????? It makes me want to keep Lissy locked up in the house forever. Come on, people. STOP taking your anger out on innocent people. STOP!

Big

My girl is getting big. I can't believe what she can do already. Today she said, "Amul cacko peez" (animal cracker please), brushed her own teeth after lunch, and danced to the music while she was watching "Elmo". It goes by so fast, ya'll. In a flash, my tiny baby has become a little girl. I love her more every day.

My baking venture is going well. ....For those of you who don't know, Scott lost his job a couple of weeks ago and I got panicky and dropped my culinary class (figured we better get the tuition cost back). So unfortunately I am not taking the class currently but hope to take it next time it's offered. Scott got a new job a lot more quickly than we thought he would (thank you, faithful God!) so I could've stayed in the class but what's done is done. In the meantime, I've offered to bake for nearby friends, and have gotten several orders already. I am REALLY excited! This week alone I'm baking Valentine cookies, cherry galettes, a strawberry-banana layer cake, and strudel! I love, love, love it!! I made a little website if you care to take a peek: http://www.freewebs.com/sweetlissybs/

I'm looking forward to watching "Idol" tonight. It's finally Hollywood week!

The Big One

We are SNOWED in today! We were planning to go down to Mom and Dad's for the day but as soon as I saw the News this morning and they showed how horrible the roads were, I thought better of it. (As a result of being housebound, tho, I have gotten MAJOR cleaning and organizing done today!!) We very much hope we can go tomorrow instead if things are cleared up by then. This is more snow than we've had in a loooong time.

As you can see, Liss and I got a bowl of snow and brought it into the kitchen. We added food coloring to it (our hands are still a mess!) and stirred and played with the snow. My friend Kate gave us that idea. It was fun. :)

And the other pictures are some views from our back windows. I sooooo LOVE having a forest preserve twenty feet from our back door! Hope you enjoy the snowy pictures!