This morning I woke up with a sore throat and I felt like my head was in a fish bowl. So a sick day it was. It really was a pretty good day for it. It's terribly stormy outside so I was able to just sleep and listen to the rain and not have to go outside. I always feel very guilty about skipping work though. But I don't suppose anyone wants to catch it from me. And I thought if I take care of myself, and get some rest, I'll probably get over it sooner. Hopefully, I'll be taking less days off in the long run. Today, I ended up sleeping until ten o'clock, then I read all of "Of Mice and Men" and then I took a nap from two-four. Now I'm finally feeling a little bit better, so I'm making dinner and while that cooks I figured I post a blog.
I'm afraid my blogging will be more sporadic in the coming months, because I've finally started redesigning my website. I haven't touched it in the past four years since I graduated school and it's long over due for an update. Since I no longer have the files to update it, and never really liked the design all that well anyhow, I decided to just start over with something new. I'm very excited for it and my Adobe CS3 update is in the mail. (I know CS4 just came out, but it's a lot cheaper this way.)
Here's a look at the French onion soup I made Monday. It turned out amazing! It's possibly the best French onion soup I've ever had. But I think I just liked it because I made it myself. Food always tastes better when I make it myself. And I don't think it has anything to do with the food actually tasting that great. It's just when I put the time and effort into making something from scratch I appreciate it more. However I'm not sure I'll be making this soup again. It was a LOT of work. And it took nearly two hours just to caramelize the onions. I was a teary mess after cutting up all those onions. Then I happened to get a headache and by the time I finished making it I was too sick to even eat it. But it was really good for lunch the next day. I even pan toasted some French bread and melted Swiss cheese on top.
French Onion Soup Recipe:
3 large onions, thinly sliced
2 T. butter (I used more)
1 T. oil (I also used more)
3 T. flour
5 cups beef broth (I used 4)
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste (nutmeg is the secret ingredient)
1/2" thick slices of French bread
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
Cook onions in butter and oil on med. heat 'til soft and dark brown. (I can see this working really well in a crock pot. It took me about two hours.) Stir in flour and cook stirring 'til flour is light brown. Gradually stir in stock. Cook over low head about 20 min. stirring. Season to taste, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cut bread slices into cubes. Brown bread in melted butter in frying pan. Ladle soup in bowls. Top each with bread cubes and cheese. Broil in oven until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.
I also was thrilled at finally finishing my Dr. Who scarf on Sunday. It took me nearly nine months to knit. And it's so long and wide it's like wearing a coat and a scarf all at the same time. I didn't realize it was so iconic when I first started it. I'm really surprised how many people recognize it. But I suppose it takes on to know one. If you want your own Dr. Who scarf you can get the pattern
here. I'll take a picture of me wearing it when I feel better. This one is from when I first started it.
T
I finally finished Frankenstein last week. And I'm rediscovering the joys of a public library. I'd forgotten just how many books they have. Hopefully I can save a little money by not buying the book I want to read, (unless it's something really special) and just check it out from the library. I wanted to get Phantom of the Opera, but it's always out, so I went with Frankenstein as a scary alternative. I was actually somewhat surprised by how unlike the movie it is. It's a much better story. The monster (not named Frankenstein) is actually very intelligent, and I must admit, he has a better vocabulary than me! Overall, it was a very good book. And it had some deep moral principles as well, such as, "Bad things happen when man plays God." and "If you create a monster you are responsible for what you made. Don't let it go around terrorizing the country side. Don't make it fend for itself. Don't just pretend it never happened. Take care of your monster. Teach him right from wrong and how to be kind to others. Then your monster won't hate you and want to destroy everything you care about." Anyhow, good book.
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