And furthermore…

So besides making up random abbreviations, I did have other things to say to you today.

For example, I have five words for you: Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake.

Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake.

Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake.

Okay, I’ll stop. But seriously, doesn’t this look gooooood?

It looks easy, too, so I will probably make one soon. If my dad gets off his health-food kick and stops grousing every time anyone even suggests dessert. Luckily there is a perfect excuse for dessert in one week…

And then there is this hotel in Dubai. Do I want to go to Dubai? Yeah, kinda. I don’t know that I could point it out to you on a map without a lot of searching first, but I’ve seen it in a couple of movies and it looks like a fun place.

And really, I’d go anywhere to walk into a hotel with a courtyard like this:

While we’re talking about travel destinations, how much do I want to go on a cruise down the Nile? Quite a lot, if it’s on one of these boats.

Yes, please.

Update, with Recipes

I feel very anti-social lately, but somehow I also crave company and conversation. Just not the company and conversation that is available to me.

So I took a book with me to the baptism/church cookout the other night, because I always end up sitting there bored (because everyone I sit with runs off to join the football/frisbee games they get going, and I generally avoid activities where things are thrown at my head) and wishing I had something to read. Why is it so hard to believe that I might have been enjoying myself, watching the sunset and eating my potato salad and reading a book? People kept coming up to me saying things like, “Why are you reading? Go talk to people.” Does that strike no one else as ironic? If you’re so concerned about me talking to someone, why not ask me about my book or try to have a conversation with me, instead of suggesting that I go find some vague “someone”. It’s so insulting and makes me feel like I’m 12 years old.

I did a lot of cooking on Saturday. I recommend these recipes:

BLT Mac and Cheese from Rachael Ray’s magazine. I left out the turmeric because I don’t really like it, and substituted a drained can of diced tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes, and it was wonderful, if slightly less yellow than in the picture.

Also, these cupcakes are pretty much the best cake ever. If you don’t want to fiddle around with the mini muffin tin and mini loaf pans, you could just make regular-sized cupcakes (bake ‘em for about 18-20 minutes instead of 10). This cake is so moist and light and chocolatey, even after a couple of days, and the frosting…I’m not even a fan of frosting, but I would happily have licked the bowl clean if I’d been able to get my head that far into it. I left out the espresso powder – not a fan of coffee, either – but if you like that sort of thing, I’m sure it would be great. I saved the mini loaves for myself and took the baby cupcakes to a friend’s house for movie night, and her husband ate about 10 of them, even though he’d just had dinner. They’re addictive.

17. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

Probably Anna Karenina. I think I was too young for it when I was obsessed with Russia in high school, but I read it anyway. I love parts of it, like Kitty and Levin’s courtship – the ice skating scene is so cute! – but there’s so much about farming and politics that puts me straight to sleep.

18. Your favorite book series & your favorite book out of that series.

Harry Potter. My favorite book within the series is probably Prisoner of Azkaban, because it’s when the wizarding world really starts to take shape. You get hints in the first two books, but PoA is when Harry starts to find out more about places besides Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. Oh, and two of my favorite characters are introduced in this one – Professor Lupin and Sirius Black. I used to be so in love with Sirius Black. I even wrote a cheesy romance novel fanfiction about him. It was epically bad; be glad you never read it.

19. Your favorite picture, junior fiction and Young Adult books.

Picture book: it’s a 3-way tie. There’s Skippyjon Jones, the Siamese kitten who pretends he’s a chihuahua:

Olivia, the little pig with a huge sense of style:

and McDuff, the most adorable Westie ever:

Junior fiction…I don’t think I have any. I don’t tend to read a lot of books in this category.

YA: the Twilight series, Collen Houck’s Tiger series, Harry Potter

Weekend

For a change from my usual Friday night, which involves me, a pizza (since Little Caesars opened down the street I eat a lot more pizza) and either a book or a Bollywood movie, last night I actually Went Out and Did Things.

The first Thing was going to Rib Crib with my brother and sister and our friend Jackie to watch the KU game, since none of us have cable. Well, Jackie does, but her parents had friends over and she didn’t want to hang out with them. Our frustration that KU didn’t just come out and stomp all over the 16-seed team they were playing provided a lot of amusement to the K-State fan sitting near us…with his Missouri fan girlfriend. (Both K-State and Missouri are KU rivals, if you didn’t know.) (And we know they were fans because they were both decked out in team sweatshirts.) Well, I’m glad they had fun. KU ended up winning, so their scorn was a bit premature.

Carrie and I left early for the second Thing, which was seeing Beastly with a bunch of other friends. There were 10 of us, we took up an entire row, and I’m pretty sure the high school girls in front of us wished we would just leave, since we kept cracking up at random things like how strangely the “Beast” guy ran, and the really really horrible dialogue. Oh, and the song, during what was supposed to be a sweet little moment between the main characters, with lyrics about skinny-dipping and “I want to touch your wet lips”. I thought Katie was going to die laughing at that part! We all agreed we’d rather not have spent $9.50 to see it.

Today has been very cozy. It rained for a while in the afternoon – I got home from the grocery store about 5 minutes before it started really pouring – and I’ve stayed in and made the sweet and sour chicken my friend Elena mentioned a couple of weeks ago, and a banana split pie (it’s originally from a crazy cookbook called “Cooking Healthy With A Man In Mind”, which uses lots of convenience foods you can’t get anymore, but I love this pie so much I’ve adapted it to use ingredients that are still available):

Banana Split Pie

1 Keebler or Nabisco chocolate pie crust
1 medium banana, sliced
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1 4-serving package chocolate or vanilla instant pudding mix
2 cups milk
1 cup sliced strawberries
Cool Whip or whipped cream
chocolate syrup
maraschino cherries, if desired

Put bananas in bottom of pie crust. Sprinkle pineapple on top. In a medium bowl, whisk pudding mix with milk until combined, then pour over bananas and pineapple. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Top with sliced strawberries. Spread Cool Whip over the top, drizzle with chocolate syrup, and garnish with maraschino cherries, to taste. Refrigerate for at least 1 more hour before serving.

I love this because it’s so easy to make and tastes so good. I’m sure it would be even better if you made the crust and pudding from scratch, but sometimes you’re feeling lazy and don’t want extra dishes to wash!