Kitchen Adventures

As I believe I've mentioned before, I like to experiment with new recipes. But I also don't like to follow recipes. In the last couple weeks, I have made some awesome impromptu meals! I am so proud of them, I have to share them with you.

Pasta with spicy mushroom sauce:
Noodles, whatever kind you want.
the sauce is the fun part:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Dab of olive oil (extra virgin)
maybe 1/3 cup of milk
add whatever vegetables or meat you see fit.
We added mushrooms, tomatoes, and italian sausage
You do need to brown the meat separately then add it to the sauce and vegetables
mix the noodles and sauce when both are done and add whatever seasonings you see fit. I prefer oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
If you use italian sausage, it will be spicy. But you can substitute in a non-spicy meat for a milder version.

The amount I made could have stuffed 3 people, maybe four.

Thai rice and mango dessert:
make some rice in a rice cooker, but add some extra elements:
add slightly less water than usual, then add milk to make up the difference.
add a tablespoon or two of sugar
add a 1/3 of a can of coconut milk (sold at grocery stores everywhere)
cut up a few mangos (1 mango for every two people you're feeding)
When the rice is almost done, combine the rest of the can of coconut milk with a little regular milk and
1/3 cup of  sugar in a sauce pan and cook that till you have a desirable gravy consistency.

divide the rice into equal portions, top it with mango slices, and put the sauce on top of that.
you can serve it chilled or slightly warm. If you like rice pudding warm, you'll like this dish warm.
Then indulge in mellow goodness.

Hot Pink Crock pot Stew:
1 can of cream of celery/mushroom/chicken (and a can of water)
Stew veggies, whatever kind you want.
We used potatoes, onions, this weird thing we aren't sure what it is, and beats. If you want the stew to be hot pink, you must add beats.
For extra broth, use milk and LOTS of cheese.
Add tons of seasonings: pepper, seasoned salt, garlic salt, oregano, basil, more cheese.
Leave it in your crock pot till the potatoes are soft.

Words of Wisdom from Dr. Scheer

My studying for my last final has turned to nostalgia as I look over a semester's notes. Though these pages include copious amounts of factoids and cultural generalizations, I have also been keeping track of the plethora of entertaining things that pop our of my professors mouth. Here is what I really learned this semester:

Dr. Scheer quotes:

"I haven't lost my graduate student foraging instinct."

"No questions? I must be brilliant!"

"I don't know if you know this about me, but I kind of really like food...don't know if you can tell."

"I'm really more of a Severus Snape kind of character."

"Perfect attendance is, as you know, a reward unto itself."

"Now I turn the time over to our favorite narrator: the disinterested British guy."

[referring to fellow professor and "arch nemesis"] "Vaclavik and his purple sweater today."

[referring to a Javanese instrument] "Saron. Not the evil Lord."

[still referring to Javanese instrument] "It can be a mighty racket."

"We've been together for a while...it's not you, it's me."

"I would like to state publicly that this does not constitute as a bribe."

"I will occasionally throw things for emphasis."

"having pitched battles of the West Side Story type."

[referring to a harp] "mechanical workings that break constantly and cost a fortune to fix!"**

"I love how the DVD player always welcomes me...and then asks me to wait."

**I understand his wife is a harpist, so this statement should be read vehemently, as only a venting spouse can.

Baby Names

It seems as if our family has positively exploded with new life in the past month. Possibly it seems that way because the Burnett clan has, in fact, produced two new adorable children for me to brag about. In honor of these two tiny tots, I wish to impart some of my "wisdom" on the subject of babies, specifically my knowledge of how to name the little suckers.

I have long since explored the world of baby names that can be found in a medical dictionary, in what I affectionately call "The Diabetes List," I now choose to explore some of the other great resources at our disposal.

The Bible:

This has been the Christian go-to book on many topics, including baby names, for a millennia. John, David, Ruth, Isaac, Potiphar, and other classic names have their roots in a Biblical tradition. May I suggest searching the Bible Dictionary where one can find such gems as Achan, Eleazer, and Nimrod. They're creative AND traditional!!

Geology and Geography:

Our family has briefly touched on this approach (Rivers: plural for river OR a really cute/sneaky little boy!) But I feel there are more...unique ways to use geography and geology in baby naming.

A. Rock names: Ruby, Crystal, Cole (coal), Opal, Granite, Igneous...

B. Place Names: Paris, Georgia, Euphrates, Nile, Munich, Amazon...

C. Geologic/Geographic features: Cliff, Rocky, Fjord, Forest...

Namesakes:

Whether ancestor, friend, or historic figure, naming your child after someone is a beautiful gesture! Here are some namesake recommendations (I will insert my own last name so you can get the feel for it): Ronald McDonald...Phillips, Glen Yarborough Phillips, George Washington Carver Phillips, Whitney Houston Phillips, Ringo Starr Phillips, Audrey Hepburn Phillips, Wolfgang Amadeus Phillips, Johannes Sebastian Phillips, etc..

Harry Potter:

Reading novels gives one exposure to a huge variety of names. I am going to recommend, however, that you use only names of the peripheral characters in the Harry Potter series: Xenophelious, Cornelius, Piers Polkiss, Griphook, Ludo, Elphias, Aberforth, Gellert, Hokey, Travers, Griselda, Seamus, Salazaar, Terry...

Happy baby naming one and all! If you've already named all your kids, no worries. It can't be that hard to change their name legally to Fjord!

Without a Phone

While we were eating tacos and fixing up the truck--again--I accidentally left my phone in the Phillips' family car. Then the Phillips' family car went back to Ogden (with members of the Phillips' family in it of course) and it wasn't until about twenty minutes later that I asked, "Lee, where is my phone? Will you call it for me?"
The good news: Yes, they found my phone. It will be returned to me on Friday.
The bad news: I have spent my whole week very disconnected, unable to communicate, and I've had to plan much more carefully.

Here are some of the perks of being phone-less:
1. No one can bother you.
2. You can honestly say you weren't ignoring people on purpose.

Here are some of the problems I ran into:
1. I had no idea what time it was 70% of this week.
2. I couldn't call anyone to make my walk home more enjoyable.
3. I never knew when Lee would be home from work because I couldn't ask or receive a response.
4. Furthermore, when I had something specific I needed to do, I couldn't find out whether he'd be home in time or if I should find some other ride.
5. I had no way to ask for a ride anyway.

I don't think this would have been a remotely challenging situation if we also had a landline phone, but hey, we aren't made of money!

I leave my phone home, I forget to charge it, I don't look at it for a whole day, but not even having the option of calling 911 when I am home alone is...bad.

Pictures of My Recital

Some of you already noticed these on facebook, so here they are for the rest of you!

 Cassie, Michelle, Grace and I. Grace kept petting my dress and asking if I would keep my hair and make-up for when we went to dinner. At her insistence I did just that.

 Lee and I in Performance Hall with the lovely flowers he gave me.

 Here I am singing something.

 That is me and Grace I think that back belongs to Becky and the people behind us are the Phillips.

 Lee brought me my flowers at the end of the recital when I had finished bowing and all that.

[Insert funny caption of what Mom and I are talking about here]

This picture is the best in my opinion, which is why I saved it for last. And seriously, if you can think of a funny caption for the picture of Mom and I, share it in the comments. I will...write a crappy song for the person who comes up with the best one.

Music from my Recital

The following lines are all links to the the music from my recital that you probably missed. You may download the tracks by right clicking on the link and selecting the option 'download linked file' or you can just click on it regular style and listen to it:

Songs of Perfect Propriety
La bonne cuisine
Berlin im Licht
Barbara Song
It Never Was You
Must the Winter Come So Soon?
A Slumber Song of the Madonna
A Nun Takes the Veil
Hermit Songs
Siete Canciones
Pueblito, mi pueblo
When I have Sung my Songs
Clouds
Let My Song Fill Your Heart (The Viennese Waltz)

For those of you who really want to stay on my good side, you should look at the following PDF files and presentations. In these you will find the program (so you will know what song is what) the translations (so you will know what each song is saying) as well as great information about the pieces, composers, and poets.

Recital Poster
Program [interior]
Program [exterior]
Translation Slides
Wondrous, exciting, intriguing, educational slides

Eventually I will post some photos of the event, but I wasn't the photographer, so who knows when that will happen.

Sorry if you checked my original link, I didn't realize that dropbox only allows the sharing of individual files, not whole folders. So here is the whole folder separated out into individual files.

Hollerdays

The holiday season has been a much needed reprieve from the intensity of last semester. We've spent our break filling up on the things we don't have time to do during school. Reading books, watching netflix, playing games, and cooking real meals.

I know nobody will read what I say, so I guess I'll include pictures so at least you'll scan through those.

Here we are after church by the tree. I am wearing my new scarf. For those of you who live in a warm climate, you may not realize that even a thin or decorative scarf makes the difference between alive and frozen to death in Logan Utah.












We go some fun winter hats as well. Here is Karen Phillips in her beautiful new mo-hawk hat!

 

Christmas morning we woke up bright and early to open presents. From left to right: Laura, Natalie, Jordan, Kody, Lee, and Claire.

 I got a rather fantastic raccoon hat, Lee is wearing Natalie's new hat. Mostly, I think Lee liked the little paw pockets.








We woke up around five in the morning and stayed up to go to church. By the end of the day, everyone was taking naps.

 Here are the Stockings all filled after Santa's visit.
 And here is the Christmas tree surrounded by gifts.

Lee, the hat thief, is borrowing his mom's hat for this picture. I think he was secretly jealous of my new raccoon...









Well, that is Christmas for ya!

For New Years Eve, we visited our friends, the Bruns' and had dinner dessert, played Hand a Foot (but quite differently than our family is used to) and watched a movie. It was a really fun night and now we have a couple to play games with.

Along with getting ready for the new semester, I've been getting ready for my Senior Recital, which is a week from Saturday. I'll try to get some video or at least audio and post them on this blog so those of you who live a plane ticket away can still enjoy the music.

What we are most excited about right now is for Lee to start his new job! He put in his notice at Convergys, and starting in two weeks he'll be working at the Space Dynamics lab! We are so excited, we busted out our last bottle of sparkling cider yesterday and drank all of it.

A final announcement: If you got an individual family picture taken at our wedding, they all turned out great, I want to get you a copy. If you want larger group photos, or just any wedding photos at all, E-MAIL ME! phillips.claire89@gmail.com and let me know. That way I have an up to date e-mail address to send the pictures to and you get a free, high quality family photo. Seriously, the pictures turned out so well!! Happy 2012!!