Resolutions, Plans, and Schemes...

I have already started on my resolutions for 2012.  This happens to me when I have a bit of time off from work, when I spend more time in my house and realize all of the things I let go when I am so consumed with teaching.  I am going to keep it simple again for this year - better chance of success.  Last year my big resolution was to start this blog.  I did not set any posting expectations on the resolution, which took some of the pressure off.  I wish I had posted more, but looking back I think that I did okay.  I am motivated to continue, and so resolution #1 is to post more frequently on my blog.  I don't want to set any quotas (once a week, etc.), my only blog goal for 2012 will be to post more than I did in 2011.

I also had a resolution to read more books.  I love to read.  It is one of the reasons I became an English teacher.  The big irony is, high school English teachers are so busy reading (grading) student work that we have no time to read anything else.  I joined Shelfari two years ago, and I set my goal to read more books in 2011 than I did in 2010.  I think I have beaten my 2010 total by one or two books.  I am hoping to knock one or two more off before the New Year.  Resolution #2 is to again read more books in 2012 than I did in 2011.

A third resolution I had was to exercise more.  I am a generally fit person, blessed with good genes and a racing metabolism; however, I know that this won't last forever.  Also, I know that regular exercise is good for my heart and good for my stress level.  I started walking regularly last summer and listening to audiobooks while I walked.  I joined Audible, and have continued with the audiobooks.  I have listened to seven books on audiobook since last spring.  I have not walked as much now that school started (so sad!), but I am doing better over break.  Cute puppy is big enough now to go for longer walks and she loves my fast pace.  She prances along next to me like a show dog.  I have also continued to listed to audiobooks in the car on the way to work in the morning.  I also take two dance classes during the school year, a tap class and a ballet/jazz combo class (one week ballet, one week jazz).  I love my dance classes and they are good for excercise and for flexibility.  I am hoping to add another class to my weekly routine to up the exercise factor for 2012.  I am thinking yoga.

So, my resolutions for 2012 are:

#1 - Continue blogging - more posts in 2012 than in 2011

#2 - Continue reading - more books in 2012 than in 2011

#3 - Continue exercising - add one more class to my weekly routine and keep up the walks

I am also going to add one more resolution for 2012.  Tackle the paper piles.  Sigh.  This is definitely a HUGE weakness of mine.  I am a horizontal filer.  I set papers in piles EVERYWHERE and it drives me crazy.  There is an awesome article in the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine that has inspired me.  I am going to set up a paper command center in my laundry room.  I have an awesome countertop in there that will be perfect for this.  You should see it right now.  I am trying to work up the nerve to actually take a picture of it in all of its glory (chaos) and confess openly to my problem.  Thinking about it...

Christmas Shopping

gets me in trouble!  I love Christmas shopping from catalogs.  I am up before dawn with this terribly cute but terribly early-rising puppy, and the only thing to do is shop!  (Well, okay, I could be grading...)  I have been looking through catalogs and browsing online and I have found quite a few gift ideas for people on my list.  I have also found quite a few gift ideas for myself...

I am addicted to a new website/clothing line that I would like to share with you.  It's called Shabby Apple, and I learned about it on another blog I read called Sewing in No Man's Land.  I just ordered a skirt from the Tinsel Town collection and I hope it gets here before next Saturday because the Darling Husband and I have a Christmas party to go to.

The site has mainly women's clothing and accessories.  It also has some kids and preteens stuff and some very, very cute maternity dresses that my friend Janelle would look adorable in!


Happy shopping!

Shameless...

I admit it.  I shamelessly allowed Shutterfly to embed a link on my blog so that I would get $10.00 off my next order.  Now if you look at my blog you will get a sneak peek at our Christmas card, which kind of takes the fun out of it.  But, I don't have that many blog readers so not too many people will be affected.  Ha ha.  Anyway, I do LOVE Shutterfly, and I just yelled to the Darling Husband about how much I love ordering my Christmas cards from Shutterfly and what a wonderfully easy website it is to use and how I was so happy because they also sent me a $10.00 off coupon which I was able to use on my card order and how I just think that it is about the easiest part of Christmas, so I guess they deserved the plug.

If you want to order your cards from Shutterfly, let me know.  I have two more $10.00 off coupons that I can give to a friend.  First come, first served.  Let me know!

Photo Card

Merry Bright Greeting Holiday

Create custom new year's invitations at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Wow

I honestly was starting to think that I would never find the time to post again.  What happened?  Well, school started, for one.  I love being a teacher, but holy cow - it gets more challenging every year.  This year, all of my classes are FULL.  And when I say full, I mean 29, 30, and 31 kids per class.  I teach 11th and 12th grade English, including AP Literature and Compostition and a senior writing class called Advanced Expository Writing.  That means I pretty much spend every waking minute grading essays.  Plus, I have more students than I have ever had in my 10 years as a teacher.  150.  With that many kids per class, it takes a long time to grade essays.  It's a love/hate thing.  I get so sick of it, but I can't imagine not doing it.

Here's one thing I have taken pictures of since I last posted.  (Not much, I admit.) It's a deliciously awesome fall recipe I made a couple weeks ago.  It is getting hard for me to take pictures of my cooking because it gets dark so darn early now.  By the time I am cooking dinner on a weeknight it is dark out and the food pictures look depressing, not appetizing.  I can only get good pics  if I am cooking on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  My life has been so busy, I haven't stopped cooking, but I have started forgetting to get out the camera! Argh.

Start with some russet potatoes.  (Don't you love this scale?  It belonged to my great aunt Florence (we called her Floozie, her nickname from WWII). 

You also need some onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste.  Notice how I am not using my homemade canned tomatoes?  Well, I just did.  Why did I buy tomatoes?  What was I thinking?  Obviously, I wasn't.  Which is the story of my life this fall.  Anyway...

Peel and slice the potatoes.  Not too thin, not too thick.  I just got this mandoline to make homemade potato chips.  I love it!  (I got it at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  It was not one of the expensive kinds, but it works just fine.) How did I live without it?

Slice up the onions.  (Notice the santoku knife I got last Christmas.  My favorite thing to slice with that knife is onions.  Weird.  Also wondering how I lived without that knife!)

Peel and chop a bunch of garlic.  So good.

Pour the tomatoes in a bowl with their juice and cut them into small pieces with a scissors.  (You can also do this while they are still in the can and then dump them into the bowl.) Then drain off the juice.

Mix together the potatoes, the onions, the garlic, and the tomatoes.

Whisk 1/2 cup olive oil with some tomato paste. (Notice my leopard nails?  Tiny Dancer painted those for me - freehand.   She is quite the artist!)

Add some oregano, water, salt, and pepper.  Pour the tomato and oil mixture over the potato mixture and mix well.

Place in a large casserole pan and bake.  It takes quite awhile to bake.  It will be too dark to take a picture of when it comes out of the oven because it is November now, after all.  Sigh.  Trust me - it is gorgeous and tastes delicious.  The onions are all carmelized and the tomato/potato mixture has a nice crust on top.  I made a pot roast in the crock pot to go with this.  I was an amazing meal.  Yum!

Here's the recipe:

6 medium (about 2 lbs.) potatoes, peeled, halved, and very thinly sliced
3 large onions, halved vertically and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced (I think I used more garlic.)
1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped and drained
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. dried oregano
salt to taste (a lot for my taste)
freshly ground black pepper to taste (ditto)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onions, garlic, and tomatoes.  In a small bowl, whisk together tomato paste, olive oil, water, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Pour liquid over potato mixture and toss to coat well.  Spread this mixture in a large baking dish.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake 45 - 60 minutes until potatoes are tender.  (I find that it takes closer to 60 minutes.)

Note: you can substitute Yukon Gold potatoes for russet potatoes.  This is very good as well.

Here is the other reason I have not posted in such a long time:

We got a puppy!  Her name is Maya, and she is a Samoyed.  This is me with Tiny Dancer, picking her up from the breeder's home in Traverse City on October 22.  She was 9 weeks old then.

She is super cute, amazingly affectionate, and we love her a ton.  But man, are puppies a TON of work.  I haven't slept more than 5 hours a night since we got her - and most nights those are not 5 hours in a row.  It is like having a newborn, but no maternity leave.

The Darling Husband has been an ultra good sport about this.  It was really Tiny Dancer and me who wanted the dog.  Youngest Boy is also pretty psyched, as you can see.  Darling Husband works out of a home office, so the majority of the potty training is falling on him.  She is doing pretty well, but we are not all the way trained yet.  Soon, I hope.  I also hope she starts sleeping through the night.  She does it every few nights.  She is only 13 weeks old.  A baby still, really.  She is so good, though.  She plays with her toys, gives lots of kisses, and loves to go for walks.  I have never seen a dog that likes people more than she does.

Right now she is sleeping next to the back door.  I think she likes the cool door - she is very furry and I am sure the house feels hot to a Siberean bred dog.  She also likes to sleep on the tile in front of the fireplace.

Could she be any cuter?  Seriously.

Salsa!

Look at what I made with tomatoes and peppers from my own garden!

First you have to core, seed, and chop a ton of tomatoes.

Then you have to core, seed, and chop up a bunch of peppers.  I used Hungarian Yellow Peppers, Jalepeno Peppers, and some red and orange bell peppers.  Wear gloves if you are chopping hot peppers. And don't shove all the cores and seeds down the drain at the same time and then turn on the disposal because you will be overcome with hot pepper fumes and won't be able to stop coughing.  Oops!

Then chop up a bunch of onions. (I forgot to take a picture of this step, but you have seen it before so you can just imagine it.)

Throw it all in a big pot.

Throw in some chopped garlic and add some vinegar.  Then stir it up, bring to a boil, and simmer.

Doesn't that look so good?

Cook and stir until it is the desired consistency.  I also add some tomato paste into the mixture to make the salsa a little thicker and less drippy.

When it is ready, ladle into hot, sterilized jars.  Seal and process and put away until winter!

Here is the actual recipe.  It is a combination of a recipe from my Gram and my own concoction.  I call it:

Josie's Garden Salsa

8 cups cored, seeded, chopped tomatoes
2 - 3 cups cored, seeded, chopped hot peppers
2 - 3 cups cored, seeded, chopped sweet peppers
2 cups chopped onion
3 tsp salt
5 - 6 cloves chopped garlic
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
2 - 6 ounce cans tomato paste

Combine all ingredients except tomato paste in a large stockpot.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Puree with a hand blender if you desire a smoother consistency.  Add tomato paste and simmer until desired thickness.  Pack into hot, sterilized jars.  Seal and process in a hot water bath for 30 minutes.

If you have never canned before, make sure you consult a friend who has or go online for more specific directions.  It is not hard.  Have fun! :)

What Should I Read Next?

I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's amazing novel, The Poisonwood Bible.  It has been on my shelf to read for years, and I am so glad I finally read it!  Last year, several of my students read it as part of their Independent Reading projects for my AP Literature class and suggested that I add it to the choices for summer AP reading.  I took their advice (they are really smart kids, after all!) and then because I added it to the summer reading list, I needed to read it too.  The novel is the story of the Price family and their mission trip to the Congo in the 1960s.  Nathan Price is a Baptist minister on a mission to bring Christianity to the Congo.  He and his wife and four daughters move to Africa for a one year mission trip.  But, as Brother Fowles once said, "there are Christians, and there are Christians" (435).  The story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Orleanna Price (the mother) and the four Price daughters: Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May, and follows the family for more than thirty years.  The novel provides a poignant and intelligent look at the complicated effects of colonialism and imperial rule on modern day Africa.  Ironically, Rachel, the most shallow of the characters sums it up best when she says, "You can't just sashay into the jungle aiming to change it all over to the Christian style, without expecting the jungle to change you right back" (515).



This is only the second book I have read about Africa.  The other, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is a book that I have taught for years to 10th and 11th grade students, and is one of my favorites.  Barbara Kingsolver said that she used Achebe's book as a source for writing The Poisonwood Bible.  I would like to read more books about Africa.  Any suggestions?

Now that I have finished a kind of "heavy" book, I need to jump back into my favorite genre: mystery!  I have three books sitting next to me, and I can't decide which one to start. 

The first choice is Faithful Place, by Tana French.  I posted about Tana French's first two books back in June.  I love her books!  The back cover of this one says it is her best book yet.  The teaser on the back of the book says: "Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was a nineteen-year-old kid with a dream of escaping his family's cramped flat on Faithful Place and running away to London with his girl, Rosie Daly.  But on the night they were supposed to leave, Rosie didn't show... Then, twenty-two years later, Rosie's suitcase shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place, and Frank, now a detective in the Dublin Undercover squad, is going home whether he likes it or not."


The second choice is a book called Still Life, by Louise Penny, and is the "First Chief Inspector Gamache Novel."  I LOVE series mysteries, so this one holds expectation and promise.  The description on the back of this book says: "Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team of investigators are called to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal and yet a world away.  Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, has been found dead in the woods on Thanksgiving morning.  The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul this holiday season..."



Wow, I just went to Louise Penny's website to get a picture of the book (mine has a different cover, and I could not find a picture of it!) and man is she popular.  Her books all get amazing reviews.  There are six books in the Chief Inspector Gamache series.  The latest just came out in paperback, Bury Your Dead, and is getting rave reviews.  Very tempting!

The third book is another mystery called The September Society, by Charles Finch.  The Library Journal said: "Even the most astute reader will be guessing to the end.  Another triumph."  This book's description reads: "In the small hours of the morning one fall day in 1866, a frantic widow visits detective Charles Lenox.  Lady Annabelle's problem is simple: her beloved son, George, has vanished from his room at Oxford.  When Lenox visits his alma mater to investigate he discovers a series of bizarre clues, including a murdered cat and a card cryptically referring to "The September Society."  Then, just as Lenox realizes that the case may be deeper than it appears, a student dies, the victim of foul play..."


Okay, I just may have eliminated The September Society, which is kind of too bad because I was leaning toward it as it is now September and so it sounded seasonal.  When I was looking for a picture of the cover, I realized that this is the second book in the Charles Lenox detective series.  The first is called A Beautiful Blue Death, and it was nominated for an Agatha Award.  For those of you who read detective mystery series, you know that you don't have to read them in order, but that the character development is better if you start at the beginning.  So, I will have to get a copy of A Beautiful Blue Death and start there.

After writing about all three, I have decided to read Faithful Place.  I think I will leave the Chief Inspector Gamache one for closer to Thanksgiving, since it takes place at that time, and I will hold off on the Charles Lenox one until I read the first in the series.

What books are you reading right now?  Anything good?