Holy scheiße.
I haven't posted on here in a long time. But I've still been blogging! I got a new "job" (lol) writing blog posts for admissions here at school. Which is why I've been neglecting my original blog baby (blaby? no. never). However, if you're interested in hearing about my life in great detail for the last few weeks, please feel free to click here for the Wes blog posts.
Anyway.
I'm currently on the couch in the new room (which my mom insists on calling Bali), finishing up some last-minute work. Why am I home when Thanksgiving break doesn't start until today after classes, you may ask (you don't)? Because I came home on Thursday. That's right--one by one, all the things that needed to happen for me to go home early...happened.
It started with me realizing that my Tuesday class wasn't attendance mandatory for today. So I was like screw that I'm going home earlier. And then I realized that I'm allowed to have 2 absences in each of my Monday classes (none of which I've used), and decided that I'd use those absences to have an extra few days at home. Still, I was hesitant. But that all changed when I got the email from my Arabic professor saying he canceled class on Friday. When that happened, I knew it was a sign. I was gonna go home early and surprise my parents. And I did! I arrived on Thursday around 2 PM, right when my mom was coming home from lunch. I called her while she was 5 minutes away and made it seem like I was at school, until she pulled up to the house (while still on the phone with me) and saw me standing in the front yard! She was in disbelief. Not only that....I brought homemade knots. (I am the best daughter ever).
My dad was a little less surprised. One, I was napping when he came home, and two, he saw my car in the driveway.
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| Sheena's sprite |
Anyway, OKAY. Uh....what have I done the last month and a half? Geez. Well, there was hurricane Sandy, which for us was thankfully nothing like snowpocalypse last year except for the awesome fact that we got two days off. And then there was Halloween--I ended up being Sheena from Tales of Symphonia, but I wore her formal outfit! Ellen made me a costume that looks almost identical to the original. See?
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| The sashes are there! I promise. |
Okay, let's see. What else happened. What happened after Halloween....oh yeah! We randomly got a bunch of snow. Unexciting, except that while driving it was freakishly reminiscent of snowpocalypse.
Oh! Right! I remember now. The weekend of the 9th, a bunch of my cousins and I went up to our house in Vermont for our second Caligiuri Girls' Weekend (#CGW)! It was great. The entire weekend basically consisted of chatting, drinking wine, eating pizza, cawffee tawk, walking (them, not me), and, of course, dancing to the playlist Keeks had made.
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| It's a shame we could only get one pizza. #scarcasm |
Anyway, blah blah blah, my life, it's time to get to the good stuff. Aka food. Aka baked goods (in this case). You see, loyal reader[s], the last few weeks I have been attempting to recreate traditional Italian sweets that my Nonna (my mom's grandma--all the cousins still called her Nonna though) would make back in the day. She was a traditional Italian woman. She made everything from scratch, made food weekly for a family of 12, and.....left cryptic instructions in her recipes. I swear to God, one of the recipes says "Bake. You'll know when they're done." Because of this, I've had to improvise on a few of the instructions, but the ingredients are all still the same. So far, I've made cuccidati, biscotti, and knots.
(Yes, I like chai tea lattes).
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| Chai tea latte with Nonna's knots |
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| Chai tea latte with biscotti |
But....I can't share the recipes. Family secret, you know? Don't worry, though, I've got another recipe for you. This one is perfect for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin peanut ginger soup. Man, just reading that made my mouth water a little. This soup is SO good. My mom found the recipe in a random cooking magazine at the grocery store when she was visiting me at school. She made it and I fell in love. With the soup. I fell in love with my mama a long time ago.
The combination of pumpkin, peanut, and ginger sounds weird, doesn't it? Especially when you throw mango nectar into the mix. But I promise you, this soup will make your taste buds sing. Just add some Sriracha if you're a fan of spicy foods and you're good to go. I also recommend eating this soup with a side of bread. But it's also extremely delicious on its own.
Pumpkin Peanut Ginger Soup
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| I bet your taste buds are singing already. |
Ingredients
- two 15oz. cans pumpkin
- two 14.5oz. cans vegetable broth
- 2.5c mango nectar
- 2 T grated fresh ginger (or you can sub 1/2tsp ground/dried)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/3c canned unsweetened coconut milk (I use light)
- 1/2c creamy peanut butter
- 1/4c rice vinegar
- fresh cilantro
- hot sauce! (Sriracha goes really well with it)
- In a large pot, combine pumpkin, broth, nectar, ginger, and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk in coconut milk, peanut butter, and vinegar until smooth. Stir in cilantro.
Das it! It's the easiest soup in the world. The original recipe barely makes enough for two people, so I doubled it for your convenience because you will be making this soup a lot. I promise.
Anyway, Debbie's here now and we just made knots and now it's time to devour them :D
Happy early Thanksgiving!! Have a wonderful break, wherever you are.
Song of the Day-- Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground. I used to be obsessed with them in high school, and Venus in Furs randomly popped into my head the other day.
Recovery Quote of the Day-- "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found the way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Nonna-ly,
Carina
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