Hey Good Lookin'...Whatcha' Got Cookin'??

FOUR years since my last blog post?? So, this blog has adapted A LOT  since I first started it. I started it for fun and then quickly forgot about it. Yes, yes, I hear you Italian people: forget about it!!! Then I had an assignment in college to post weekly on a blog for my summer BYU "Media and Adolescence" class. I dug up my old blog and posted silly, half-thoughts (...to get credit).
Now I will be using it to store recipes and notes to myself (note-to-self-s??).  Anyway, let's begin with these lovely recipes:

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Asparagus, mushroom, oranges, ginger...what's not to love? I love that the sauce is so REAL, the bright, orange flavor really comes through.  Next time I will serve the sauce on the side because it is a little rich. I think it will work better as a drizzle! I also added orange zest to the before juicing the oranges. YUM.

Taco Skillet

Ground beef or turkey, bell pepper, green chiles, corn, black beans...etc! I added 1/2 cup tomato sauce to give it a creamier texture. Lots of vitamins all in one dish and great to make or prep ahead. Can be served lots of ways, but it was fun to serve in these "scoop" tortilla chips! 

[media] Basketball

Although I don't usually love watching basketball, I love watching it with my husband.  He knows everything about sports, especially football and basketball.  I played soccer and ran track/XC in high school, but never really watched or understood football or basketball.  This is a form of media that we can watch together for fun.  Today I've been thinking about the random and probably annoying comments that I make which rarely have to do directly with the game.  If it bothers my husband, he has never said anything! We watched the last half of the Celtics vs Heat game last night and these are some of the things I brought up:

-Size of the players

-The tattoos

-The beards

-How mean/unlikable the ref looked

-"I wonder if referees and judges have similar personalities?"

-The court and the advantage the Celtics have since their floorboards were arranged differently than usual

-The team colors... "Does the jersey color affect the likelihood of winning?"

-"How old is that coach?"

-"James Lebron"

He is constantly making up fake rules to see if I believe him (Second OT: A shootout. A "roofer" in baseball: The ball hits the ceiling that team wins and everybody goes home...).  He keeps life fun and interesting!

[media] Media Article

I read an article in another class about the media written by Dr. Padilla-Walker.  I found the way she described media as shaping different areas of identity very interesting.  She said that adolescents want to differentiate themselves from their parents (not always in a rebellious way), and these adolescents look for social "norms" in the media.  The popular media's social norms are so skewed from real life.  It is important to keep close to our children (or future children/associations) and help them understand what is good advice and what is not.  They will be exposed to media throughout their entire lives!  I hope as a mother to help my children understand their worth and what really matters.  There are many great sources of media to teach them about too!

[Adolescence, Developmental Needs of, and Media--Dr. Laura M. Padilla-Walker]

[media] Discouragement

I'm the kind of girl who doesn't check her facebook enough and gets a headache from watching too much TV.  Oftentimes I get discouraged by what I see in popular advertisements, TV shows and movies.  Even all of the social networking sites can get me down.  I try to stay positive about the world, but when I see negative portrayals of marriage, major objectification of women, profanity, and constant sexual advertising, it's easy for me to get discouraged about the state of this crazy world.  

However, THIS song always seems to make me feel better and that I'm not alone in wishing for a slower-paced world. 

[media] Platform 9 3/4...

I grew up right along with Harry, reading the Harry Potter series.  The series holds a secret spot in my heart.  I used to dream I would get my Hogwarts letter...I still dream for that!!

Some Links...

THE BOOKS

THE FILMS

JK Rowling's website

Pottermore (JK's new awesome website...check it out!)

[media] Audrey Hepburn Speech

For a public speaking (TDA 150) assignment,  I chose to watch a speech given by Audrey Hepburn at a Golden Globe Award ceremony in 1990.  She won the Cecil B. Demille Award.  I love Audrey Hepburn (I guess most people do!).  She did so much good in her life, and her career as a ballerina, actress, singer (a few songs) and philanthropist is so inspiring.  I had to watch this speech and evaluate it.  The filming and posting of this speech online is a great example of the media and transferring a message from the speaker to the receiver.  Her speech was full of passion and done very genuinely.  Her eye contact with the audience is perfect.  Audrey did not use one filler word in her speech.  If she memorized her speech, I could not tell because it flowed so smoothly and her voice inflections were very animated.  Audrey did not sway and she kept very composed.  She also added humor to the speech, which added to the likableness of her speech.  HERE is her speech!

[media] COOKIE HEAVEN.

One magical day, I was told about a blissful cookie recipe.  It has CHANGED my life. ;)

I think that finding delicious dessert recipes online is one of my favorite uses of online media. Online media can answer all of my baking questions and provide great ideas and tips.  Even the shopping part of baking can be made simpler by finding online coupons!

HERE is the cookie recipe of my dreams.  I love making these, and I usually end up making a recipe which is sort of a mixture of my grandmother's "secret" recipe and this one. 

[media] Beautiful

Movies are probably one of my favorite forms of media.  I own a bunch of chick flicks and my sweet husband watches them with me and is a good sport about it (speaking of sports, I do watch those with him...).  One of my favorite movies is Life is Beautiful starring Roberto Benigni.  It is a classic tragicomedy, with a decisive switch from one to the other in the middle of the film.  I love this movie because it shows extremes of emotions.  It is a WWII film, but different than any WWII film I have seen.  A father, out of love for his son, shows complete optimism in the most dire of circumstances--he teaches us to remember that Life is Beautiful.

[Media] Book Assignment Excerpt

I did not have a specific favorite book growing up because I had so many favorite books.  I loved the Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger because the series was about a young, spunky girl whose parents were going/went through a divorce.  The books were humorous (Amber Brown, Don’t Eat Your Chicken Pox!) but also serious at times.  Another series I enjoyed was The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis.  I specifically loved the first book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because it was the first "big chapter book" I read as a girl.  This series is about a group of children entering a different land called Narnia, and becoming kings and queens there.  The series is full of deeper meaning and is imaginative and exciting.  As a girl, the books opened up a whole new world for me and taught me to think more abstractly.  Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling was one of my favorite series as a child, but I have grown up with Harry and truly love the series still!  This book is about a young orphan boy who realizes that he is a wizard and eventually saves the entire wizarding world.  Major themes in the story are friendship, good vs. evil, overcoming challenges, and living in circumstances presented by others.

[Media] Frank Sinatra-- Pandora

 Over the history of recorded time, music has been a large part of cultural formation.  I think the messages our media send say a lot about the culture we are a part of.  I love listening to music, but I especially love the classics.  I love them because they are usually full of simple themes of love and friendship.  I choose to listen to my Frank Sinatra station because it is rich with meaningful lyrics and the classic voices of the '40s to the '60s (and even the '80s in some cases!).  Music is a powerful source of media of which the listener has control of complete listening preference.

[Media] "Respect Yourself"???

 In my Adolescence class we were shown some advertisements on Monday which used women and their self-image issues to draw attention/purchasers to their product.  I tend to get discouraged when I see women objectified sexually/physically in advertisements (which happens in almost EVERY popular ad).  This advertisement really effected me because not only did it objectify women, but it strives to make women associate self-image with self-respect.  The reality is that eating a cinnamon roll does not mean you do not "respect yourself"! 

I find these advertisements to be very negative.  Personally, I feel that ads like this contribute to low self-esteem in young girls.  Young girls should grow with an understanding of the importance of health, but they should not measure their "health" by body type or size.  

 Show yourself true respect by taking care of your body and mind.  Value your body and the wonderful things it can do.  Exercise often and eat all foods in moderation--that is the key to health and feeling good about yourself.  

We see the advertisements are created in a fashion in which marketers hope women/girls 
will think, "I obviously do not respect myself and I am ashamed.  I should look like that, but I am fat because I ate a croissant... "

I wish I could reach every woman in the world and tell them that RESPECT for yourself comes from the inside.  It's okay to eat a doughnut every once in a while!

Gordon B. Hinckley--How Can I Become the Woman of Whom I Dream

http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,49-1-183-38,00.html

This is an awesome talk.

Make Someone Happy--- Jimmy Durante

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy;
Make just one heart the heart you sing to.
One smile that cheers you,
One face that lights when it nears you,
One girl you're ev'rything to.

Fame if you win it,
Comes and goes in a minute.
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to?
Love is the answer,
Someone to love is the answer.
Once you've found her, build your world around her.

Make someone happy,
Make just one someone happy,
And you will be happy, too.

~~~~

mystery

Uncertainty and mystery are the energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity. R.I. Fitzhenry 


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A FaVoRiTe PoEm...

 And Launcelot pass'd away among the flowers,
    For then was latter April, and return'd
    Among the flowers in May with Guinevere.




Like souls that balance joy and pain,
  With tears and smiles from heaven again
  The maiden Spring upon the plain
  Came in a sun-lit fall of rain.
  In crystal vapour everywhere
  Blue isles of heaven laugh'd between,
  And, far in forest-deeps unseen,
  The topmost elm-tree gather'd green
  From draughts of balmy air.



Sometimes the linnet piped his song:
  Sometimes the throstle whistled strong:
  Sometimes the sparhawk, wheel'd along,
  Hush'd all the groves from fear of wrong: 

By grassy capes with fuller sound
  In curves the yellowing river ran,
  And drooping chestnut-buds began
  To spread into the perfect fan,
  Above the teeming ground.



 Then, in the boyhood of the year,
  Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere
  Rode thro' the coverts of the deer,
  With blissful treble ringing clear.
  She seem'd a part of joyous Spring:
  A gown of grass-green silk she wore,
  Buckled with golden clasps before;
  A light-green tuft of plumes she bore
  Closed in a golden ring.



Now on some twisted ivy-net,
  Now by some tinkling rivulet,
  In mosses mixt with violet
  Her cream-white mule his pastern set:
  And fleeter now she skimm'd the plains
  Than she whose elfin prancer springs
  By night to eery warblings,
  When all the glimmering moorland rings
  With jingling bridle-reins.



As she fled fast thro' sun and shade,
  The happy winds upon her play'd,
  Blowing the ringlet from the braid:
  She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd
  The rein with dainty finger-tips,
  A man had given all other bliss,
  And all his worldly worth for this,
  To waste his whole heart in one kiss
  Upon her perfect lips.

~ Lord Alfred Tennyson 1842

Chocolate

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Seriously, is there anything more beautiful? I wish everything 
was made out of chocolate. Dark, milk, semi-sweet, 
bitter-sweet, couverture.  Mmmmmm.  
Chocolate is just the nectar of life, 
and what a wonderful life it is!!!!!  
So I think we all need to appreciate 
the simple, pure, creamy love I hold for it.  

Moment of silence please... Thank you. ;)


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I MAKE my Life.

One rainy day my grandma told me something that has seriously changed the way I think about my life.  

She said,
"Erin, Here's my advice to you: make your life."

What she meant by that is that when you truly think about life, you can be exactly who you want to become, but only if you are willing to work hard to become that person.  If you want your life to be how you hope it will be, make it that way. I make my life how I want to make it, because it's my attitude that determines my fate.  It's my job to make my life.  I have to take control and become who I want to be.    

"From the moment I fell down that rabbit hole I've been told what I must do and who I must be.  I've been shrunk, stretched, scratched, and stuffed into a teapot!  I've been accused of being Alice and of not being Alice, but this is MY dream.  I'LL decide where it goes from here."

"But, if you diverge from the path--"

"I make the path!!!"

(Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland)

GrAnDmA :) Gee I love her

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