Four ingredient cookies

Somehow last week, I found myself presented with these two, very similar recipes. You better believe I made myself some of these. My four ingredients were peanut butter, powdered sugar, one egg, and chopped chocolate. And I baked them for 8 minutes. And I used natural peanut butter, even though that second recipe advises against it. I don't know about you, but I feel like, there just comes a time in your life when you join the adult table and start eating real maple syrup and real peanut butter. Although I concede that creamy peanut butter would have been better for this recipe than the crunchy that I had.

Also, I remember when it was decided that there would only be one space after a period, instead of two. I remember thinking it would take me forever to get used to doing that, if I ever did at all. And I just realized that it seems perfectly natural, so I guess that transition worked.

So the cookies ended up looking exactly the same after baking as they looked before baking. I actually think the insides just got warmed and nothing more.

These cookies are like the quick and easy version of these peanut butter balls that I adore. Actually, that makes me realize that these cookies would benefit from a pinch of salt. I guess a lot of peanut butters will have a little salt, but my recipe is totally lacking that 'flavor carrier' which is a bit of a shame. Although adding salt would probably make me want to eat these all in one day (instead of a more respectable two day).

And that is all I have to say about that.

seven!

Seven Quick Takes with Jen and Friends

- 1 -

Greg just told me about Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire last weekend, and I am smitten! I can't believe I never knew about this!

- 2 -

I rent a fully furnished apartment, except that fully furnished does not include a microwave. Even though I have never lived without a microwave, I (somehow) wasn't too concerned. I've gotten really good at re-heating foods in the oven or on the stove. Sometimes laziness wins though, and then I just eat cold food. Alternately, I bring my nice leftovers to the office for lunch and eat a sandwich for dinner. Perfect.

- 3 -

Just this week I realized that the cashiers at the grocery store often ask me if I want my receipt. In Swedish. They say "kvitto?" which just sounds like "K toe." to me. Questions don't have a rising tone, so you just know it is a question based on word order or context. I really don't know how many times I basically ignored this question due to a complete lack of realizing it was being asked of me. The thing is, the receipt always prints, so you either take it or they throw it in a bin. And I always smile and take it and say 'tack', so that is almost like giving an answer right? Goal for the future: reply "ja tack".

- 4 -

Fat Tuesday is called Fettisdag. In Sweden you celebrate by eating semlor buns. Don't mind if I do.

- 5 -

I've been thinking about things I should do or give up for Lent. I am usually really bad at Lent. This year I keep thinking of practical things that will make my life simpler. Then I realize that I should already be doing these things, and then force myself to start immediately instead of waiting for Lent to start. Exhibit A: no more snoozing through the second alarm. (That is a serious issue for me.) Exhibit B: wash bowl from breakfast immediately because I hate not having a clean bowl for breakfast in the morning. Needing to wash dishes before eating is my least favorite, but I do that to myself all the time.

- 6 -

When I started my new job I switched from programming in IDL to Matlab. (thrilling!) I am also now using immense amounts of data instead of just a small amount. So I have a need for greater computing power. Just this week I got things sorted so that I can run some of my stuff on the big research computer. And all that is to say, now I have dueling matlabs! (Also I sit in my office with the sounds of dueling banjos in my head... ddin din din din din din din din diinnn)

- 7 -

I am continually amazed that children here often know as many languages as their age. A co-worker and her husband were not from here, and not from the same country as each other, and their three year old son spoke both of their languages plus Swedish, which he learned at daycare. He might have known some English on top of those as well.

On solitude

"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."
― Albert Einstein 


“Who hears music, feels his solitude
Peopled at once.” 
― Robert Browning, The complete poetical works of Browning

“I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” 
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory


"My solitude, however, is not my own, for I see now how much it belongs to them — and that I have a responsibility for it in their regard, not just in my own…it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are….There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun."
― Thomas Merton

Accessorizing (in a more traditional way)

Alternately titled: A post in which Meghan wear's her husbands scarf!

It happened that my dad and step-mom sent some Christmas gifts for us. It also happened that shipping things to Sweden takes a really incredibly long time. So by the time they got here, Greg had already gone back to the States. We opened our presents via Skype. And then a few weeks later I went ahead and wore the scarf that Greg got. I decided that if I wrap it in a way that looks girly, then it won't matter that it is a man-scarf. A scarf is a really good accessory for me, mainly because I am always freezing.

Ta daa.

Liebster Award!

It is like the chain letter of blogging, and I am a winner! I was so surprised to see that I was one of the luckies that Julie decided to pass the award along to. At first, the skeptical side of me wanted to do a bit of searching to see just what this award was. Is this real? But self, don't be ridiculous! (I say to myself.) Julie has an awesome blog and she chose me, and that is as real as real can be!

So there we go. Thank you Julie!

___________________

The Rules:
Thank the person who nominated you and link your post to their blog.
List 11 facts about yourself then answer the 11 questions given to you.
Create 11 more questions for your 9 nominees, all of whom have 200 or less followers.
Comment on their blogs informing them of their Liebster Award nomination.

___________________

Facts about me:

1. I really want to re-read The Little House on the Prairie books, except that I can't get it for free on my kindle, and I don't have a library membership.

2. I'll drink my coffee when it is either hot or after it has gone completely cold. Lukewarm coffee bothers me though.

3. My confirmation name is Theda. Or maybe it is actually Theta. I don't know if it is more terrible that I don't remember or more terrible that the confirmation teacher let me get away with that one.

4. I recently found out that my mother's father didn't have a middle name, and my husband's mother's father didn't have a middle name.

5. Here is a list of things I remember winning in life:
    - a box of crayons for a coloring contest in which I used a cotton ball for a bunny's tail
    - a medal for jumping rope for the longest time of a whole gymful of little girls at a Jump Rope for Heart event
    - a math bowl trophy and medal (I think our 8th grade team got 3rd in the 9th grade math bowl?)
    - some t-shirts from Toothpaste for Dinner because the first time I tried slacklining I was wearing a TfD shirt, and so I submitted the photo to a photo contest they had
    - this Liebster Award!

6. I spent two summers as a nanny for my little cousins. My aunt likes to joke that I potty-trained both of her kids, one each summer.

7. I also knew every word to The Lorax after those summers.

8. And at one point in my life, I could perfectly mimic the anti-smoking radio commercial that started off with: "I used to love cigarette ads. The cowboy sitting tall on his horse, riding off into the sunset. Then the cowboy died. How do I know this? His name was ___ ____, and he was my brother. [...]"

9. When I ride a bicycle, I always start with my left foot on the pedal first. If I try to start out with the right foot, it is really challenging and I almost fall over.

10. See that book called Bob's Big Book of Waltzes? I took that photo! I was pretty excited when asked if they could use my photo(:

11. I keep deodorant in my office. Smartest move ever, because sometimes you just forget before you head out of the house in the morning.

___________________

Questions from Julie:

1. What is your favorite part of the day?
    A 9 am sunrise in Sweden is a pretty nice time of day.

2. What is your favorite cereal?
    Oatmeal Squares (miss them dearly, in Sweden I eat a lot of müsli crunchy)

3. Are you named after anyone?
    Not that I know of.

4. What is your dream career?
    Obviously the one I am doing now! But if a law banned me from space science, then I'd migrate to a contra dance related career. For sure.

5. Where is your favorite place on earth?
    Lake Willoughby in northern Vermont.
    Or, in Alaska at the auroral observatory they have these glass domes in the roof, usually meant to put a camera under, but under one of them they installed this little bench, and that was a really nice cozy little place for viewing aurora.

6. What is your least favorite fashion trend right now and why?
    peplum. I actually kind of think it can look quite cute, but I hate the word, and also there is a link-up called 'Everybody, Everywhere' which was started to show how different people style the staples that nearly everyone would have in their wardrobe, and one month everyone was trying to vote for peplum, which I had to google since it was a word I had never heard of, which, in my mind makes it the exact opposite of a staple. Anyhow.

7. Morning person or night owl?
    Neither really? I just really like to sleep a lot and rarely see early mornings or late nights.

8. What is your guilty pleasure?
    I don't even know how to answer this question. Sometimes I just eat candy as a meal, but I rarely feel guilty about that.

9. Would you like to have lived in any other decade?
   No. I do like to talk about my desire to be an old world woman, but basically this involves bringing my favorite aspects of other decades into this one.

10. How did you and your best friend meet?
    Too many best friends, so I'll just choose my favorite story: On one of my first days of college I complimented Malory's shoelaces, "I like your shoelaces." And she said "thanks" and walked away. And we probably didn't talk again for several weeks.

11. What is your most cherished possession?
    my wedding rings, which were Greg's grandmother's

___________________

NOW

Questions for my nominees:

1. What is the best book you've read lately?

2. Do you have a favorite painting/piece of artwork, and if so, what is it?

3. How do you feel about Tuesday?

4. Do you have any wilderness survival skills, and if so, what are they?

5. How many (and which) languages do you speak?

6. Got any funny stories you'd like to share?

7. What is the weirdest recipe you've made and loved?

8. Are you right-handed or left-handed?

9. What would be your ideal vacation?

10. What is the age from which you have your earliest memory?

11. Can you separate an egg without using some sort of man-made egg separator?

___________________

(phew, getting so close to the end of this, my longest blog post ever in the world)

Those I would like to nominate for the Liebster Award (also, I will not at all be offended if you are not interested in making your own big long post like this. But either way, I still wanted to let you know that your blogging is appreciated. Also, if you are not one of these people but feel like answering any of those questions in the comment section, I'd be all in favor of that)!

1. Natalie

2. Sarah

3. Julie

4. Sara

5. Ana

6. Mary

7. Jenny

8. Allison

9. Sarah

A recipe from Ellen?

Call me crazy, but I am now getting cooking advice from Ellen. I may have a small addiction to watching the clips of Ellen that are posted on youtube. And while I was watching this one, I happened to have a stack of post-its and a pen next to me, so I made a quick grocery list.

I love lentils and I was so excited to try out this recipe. And it was super delicious!

7QT - my heart will go on

- 1 -

Last weekend my doorbell rang, which has only happened once before. So I went downstairs and there was no one there. Fifteen minutes later it rang again. I didn't bother to go down, but instead ran to the window to see if I could see anyone (I don't actually have a view of my door, but I can see a bit of the surrounding area). Mainly I was checking to see if I could see any neighbor kids sprinting away or something. This happened maybe four or five times.

THEN.

One morning I hear some sort of elevator version of My Heart Will Go On? I didn't know where it was coming from, but the second time it happened I realized that it was the doorbell! So strange (in a fantastical way). I am guessing this is the doorbell's way of letting me know it's batteries are dying?

- 2 -

On Wednesday I got to go to the regular folk dance session (not just the newbie course I usually go to) because they were learning a kadrilj (quadrille) that no one knew. This is the most Pride and Prejudice-like dance that I have ever done and it was Awesome!

- 3 -

I've been making hummus a lot lately. Most people eat it as a 'dip' but for me it is dinner. One batch of hummus, plus some pita, and a few small tomatoes, maybe an avocado if I really want to live it up. And in all this hummus making, I somehow always fail to remember that the immersion blender never further chops the coursely chopped garlic. Makes for some pretty potent bites.

- 4 -

I usually start my 'quick takes' early in the week and add a take as it comes to mind. I'm just going to go ahead and say that I wrote all of take #2 on Tuesday. Before I ever even went to the dance. But I really had no reason to believe there would be any bit of un-truth in it.

- 5 -

- 6 -

I heard it, and kind of saw it, and gathered the evidence! What's all this about?

I have this plant that I am plant-sitting. And I really love it. The best part is that it populates by firing seeds off. I've been waiting around to see this happen. The other day I thought I got one. I picked up some paper and some sort of seed-shaped thing fell out. So I gathered it up, intending to put it in dirt at some point to see if it grew. This is not the first time I've collected small things that could potentially be the seeds of this plant. But just now, I heard the seed 'pop!' and then across the room I heard a small 'tink' and looked over to see a seed sitting on a chair that is at least 5 feet from the plant. The good news is that it looks identical to the one from the other day.

So hopefully by April when my plant-sitting duties are over, I'll have my own little baby plant (or two) growing happily!

- 7 -

I just found out about this experiment in which bugs were sent to space.