bkr water intake template

Whoa. Has it really been over a year since I updated this?? And how many posts start with a similar beginning? I've no excuses...although I will place some of the blame on Instagram. I'm kind of infatuated with Instie.

One of my goals for 2014 was to increase my water intake. This hasn't been scientifically proven, but I suspect that I've been sorely dehydrated since 1993. I've drastically reduced my consumption of other drinks including my beloved diet Coke. We've been best buddies since about 1993. Hmm. Coincidence? Dunno, but I've finally figured out how to quit you! And the answer is water.

Ho hum. I know, not very exciting. But, I've determined that I do not like the taste of water from a plastic cup. But I really love the taste of filtered water from glass. So...I did a little research which lead me to bkr (pronounced beeker).

I LOVE bkr!! The glass bottle and silicone sleeve are so pretty, and environmentally sound, and awesome to the touch, and did I mention pretty? I went with the milk heart design which is sadly sold out, but don't be too disappointed because they have a bunch of lovely other designs. It took me several minutes over several days spent perusing their beautiful bottles before making my final decision. The cost is a little steep (about $36 - $42 when you add in shipping), but you won't mind once you feel this bottle. I really love the size of the opening. No dribbles!! I keep one on my desk at the office, and I plan to buy another for the home/car. I'm waiting for a really bright orange like this book cover.

I started my water routine in March, and now I'm drinking so much water that I can't keep track. I made a groovy bkr milk inspired water intake template. You can access it here. And remember, I'm a librarian not a graphic designer! It looks better if you print it in color even though it's white, black and grey.

Hey, bkr. If you're listening, how about designing a template that is equally as cool as your bottles??

Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby

I adored this movie. And yes, at the end, I balled great big splashy tears. Ignore the critics who don't value it. I suspect that this movie will take a few years to gain critical traction...as did the novel which sold poorly and was greeted with lukewarm reviews waaay back in 1925. It's like they can't appreciate the movie because they hold the novel in such high esteem which renders it totally unattainable in some sort of ironic fashion.

Why did I love this movie? The actors, the soundtrack (more on this in a later post), the vivid beautiful gaudy colors that start to fade after the vibrant party scenes. The movie takes on a blue'ish tint once Daisy and Gatsby reconnect. Leo's pink suit in the devastating hotel room scene. Elizabeth Debicki who brought a certain substance to Jordan Baker which I wasn't able to quite get a vivid mental view of from the book. Isla Fisher (the girl in Confessions of a Shopholic?? Shut. Up.) as Myrtle. The young actors portraying Gatsby actually look like Leo (does it drive anyone else bonkers that the actors portraying the young Don Draper during the depression flashbacks on Mad Men look absolutely nothing like Jon Hamm??). Carey Mulligan's big sad eyes lend an air of soulfullness to Daisy. You keep rooting for her to make the right decision.

Luhrmann borrows heavily from the language of the novel. And really, why not? If you're starting with such lyrical prose, why not use it? I had chills each time I recognized a line pulled directly from the novel. Luhrmann places Nick Carraway in a sanitarium recovering form "morbid alcoholism" which frames the film, and gives the movie a dream-like quality. The saturated colors, for me, exemplify this dream-like quality...because memories are brighter and bolder than reality, right?

Luhrmann brought to life two scenes that I found hard to visualize from the novel. First, his depiction of the Valley of the Ashes. Maybe I'm not a careful reader, but I didn't get that the Valley of the Ashes is the coal mine that fuels the fire of New York City. You could feel the heat.

The second scene is when Gatsby starts to shower Daisy with the finest shirts as he gives her and Nick a tour of his bedroom. I didn't grasp the magnitude of the room, and that Gatsby is essentially on the balcony above which is lined by row after row after row after row of closest space.

Leo DiCaprio is Gatsby. He managed to capture the vulnerability of someone who's trying to be something he is not. In this case, a blueblood. The scene when he first meets up with Daisy at Nick's cottage is heartbreakingly sweet and dorky. The devastatingly hotel scene will blow you away as Tom relentlessly chips away at Gatsby's confidence and facade and hope just as the hotel clerk chipped away at the giant block of ice to serve with Tom's whiskey. And the final scene. What can you say about it? The everlasting hope in Gatsby's quest to envelope Daisy is brilliantly displayed across Leo's face as he hears the phone ring.

What didn't I like? To be honest, I'm really searching, but I didn't like the portrayal of Myrtle's husband, Wilson. I thought he was played too dim witted. He reminded me of Lennie from Of Mice and Men ("can I tend the rabbits, George?").

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I read The Great Gatsby again in preparation for the Baz Luhrmann movie. I giggled at the reviews that called it out for being a spectacle. Uh, isn't that what you watch a Baz movie for?? One reviewer went so far as to claim that Leo is too old. I did a little google search, and discovered that Leo is approximately 39. Robert Redford was 38 in 1974 when he played Gatsby. Pish. Posh.

This isn't a regular review because really, what can you say about this masterpiece that hasn't been said already?? Here are a few of my favorite lines from the first five chapters:

Chapter 1
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.

If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.

Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.

Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.

Chapter 2
I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

Chapter 3
He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irrestible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished--and I was looking at an elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.

"Anyhow, he gives large parties," said Jordan, changing the subject with an urban distaste for the concrete. "And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy."

Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honeset peole that I have ever known.

Chapter 4
A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages drawn blinds, and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of southeastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gastby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haught rivalry.
"Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all...."
Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder.

A phrase began to beat in my ears with a sort of heady excitement: "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired."

Chapter 5
They were sitting at either end of the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air, and every vestige of embarrassment was gone. Daisy's face was smeared with tears, and wehn I cane in she jumped up and began wiping at it with her handkerchief before a mirroe. But there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room.

He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he started around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. One he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs.

Mother's Day 2013

We hosted Mother's Day this year for about two dozen people!! That is a huge amount when you consider that we live in a dollhouse. Luckily, the weather was amazing so we were able to use the patio. This year we decided to go with a bee theme. My sister came over the night before to help prepare the desserts. We prepared the Pioneer Woman's French toast casserole (a perennial crowd favorite). We used challah bread instead of sourdough. You pop it into the oven for about an hour before your guests arrive. Your house will smell like a cinnamon roll factory. Absolute perfection. My siblings all contributed something: breakfast burritos, roasted potatoes with green peppers and onions, pasta salad, biscuits, fruit, and mimosas!!

But really, we only care about the desserts! We made the Amy Atlas' beehive cake (you can buy the Nordic beehive pan here), bee sugar cookie pops, honeycomb 3D sugar cookies (check out Haniela's tutorial), Amy Atlas' marzipan bees, and SprinkleBake's honey cupcakes (with a simple vanilla buttercream). We wanted to make SprinkBake's divine poured fondant, but I let the syrup cool too much before processing in the food processor. It turned out really stiff...but super tasty. I will make these cool cupcakes with the chocolate bee stamps another day!!

We finished the table with bit o' honey, tiny flower candies, and sticks of lemon honey.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

I didn't get excited about this book until I saw the season finale of Bunheads. Sutton Foster's character plops down and starts reading it to pass time while waiting in line for an audition. Sold!! If it's good enough for Sutton, it's good enough for me. #girlcrush

Remember the powerpoint chapter in Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad? The chapter that somehow nailed what it's like to be a tween-aged girl all while constrained by the restrictions of powerpoint? The format of Bernadette reminds me of that. It consists of emails, FBI reports, an emergency room bill, school notices to parents, magazine articles, and psychiatrist reports. You might think that's gimmicky, but Semple keeps it together and makes it work. The story is tight. The characters are smart, outlandish, and right on. The book is social satire (look out Seattle-ites) and absurd comedy, but at the center is the relationship between Bernadette and her daughter, Bee.

A fun, summer read.

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler

I just started reading An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. My head is luxuriating in the logical simplicity of Adler's approach to cooking. I'll admit to making food too complicated which leads to poorly planned meals and general grumpiness. I don't know how to cook so I'm always cooking directly from a recipe. That's tough.

Blogger App

This is my first post using the Blogger app. I'm drafting this on an iPod. That's just crazy beans!! Looking forward to exploring this to see if it will increase my blogging output.

Star and Butterfly Sugar Cookies

Halle, Stella's neighborhood friend, recently turned 10! Stella and I decided to give her a box of homemade sugar cookies. We kept it a total surprise, but I did manage to ask her about her favorite colors, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she loves baby blue and lime green. I was totally prepared to make purple and pink cookies!

We decided to make star and butterfly cookies. Halle's name adorns her bedroom door on a super cute star sign. We thought it would be cool to mimic that design element. Stella insisted on adding butterflies. I think she's got great instincts!

Overnight Oats...or turning myself into a reluctant oatmeal eater

On Monday, I started to make myself eat rolled oats every day. Normally, I would use them to bake awesome oatmeal cookies. But, sadly, this time I'm using them to fill my belly with goodness. It's all connected to my desire to become a runner.

Waaay back in November, I broke my foot which seriously hindered everything including my ability to bake. I'm almost totally healed so I hope to resume baking and more regular blogging. A few days before I broke my foot, I was gearing up to become that runner girl who've I envisioned in my head for years. Who knew a broken foot could dismantle so many goals??

Anyway, I'm almost to the point to try to run. BUT...I gained 6 pounds whilst in a cast on crutches...then a boot on crutches...then just a boot...and now I'm in (really sad) flats. I can hear the siren call of my beloved heels. Maybe early summer?? The heels can wait, but the extra 6 pounds need to go. Seriously, like now.

Forcing myself to eat oatmeal is an effort to lost those 6 pounds, and to curb my ridiculous craving for sweets. Warm oatmeal in the morning just does not appeal to me on so many levels: who has the time?, who likes mushy warm globs?, seriously, the texture is just WRONG! But then I stumbled on something called Overnight Oats...served cold. Hmm. Let's give it a try.

I found a recipe posted at Peanut Butter Fingers that includes several ingredients I like: Greek yogurt (LOVE plain Fage 0%), almond milk (I'm slowly adjusting to), oats (which I really want to love) and Chia seeds (a new love??). I whipped up a batch on Sunday night. You can make it in about 5 minutes, and the majority of that time is spent gathering the ingredients. On Monday morning I added in extra almond milk, then put it in a mason jar because I wanted the lid to be tight. I topped it off with frozen, no sugar added blueberries, then went to the office. I let it sit out at room temperature because I love the sour-ness of warm Greek yogurt.

At lunch time, I gleefully took a giant spoonful...then almost gagged. Aaaaaaaacccck! *cough cough*

I somehow managed to choke it down, but decided it needed sugar. The next morning, I added vanilla paste (What, you don't buy the giant 32 oz. vanilla? Don't judge.), then I layered the oats with blueberries. I sprinkled just a touch of sugar on the blueberries. PB Fingers suggests you add in peanut butter, maple syrup, or marmalade, and do not SKIP the Chia seeds. They add bulk, plus anti-oxidants. The secret is you need to customize it to fit your tastes.

I've eaten Overnight Oats four days in a row. I'm really enjoying the flavor, and I'm starting to adjust to the texture. Maybe it's an acquired texture??

Who let Sammy the cat in? Get off the counter now, junk bunny cat!

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

I've wanted to read an Anne Tyler novel for years. For whatever reason, other books have always jumped ahead on the every expanding "to be read" list. I skipped my book club's pick for October which presented an opportunity to select a title. I landed on Ladder of Years after seeing a recommendation by Hellogiggles.com (if you don't already read it, then you MUST start reading Hellogiggles.com). The book was published in 1995.

Tyler is a master storyteller of the domestic tale. She can focus in on the tiniest details because her word selection is exquisite. Delia Grinstead just turned 40. She's married to an older man, and the mother to three young adults. Her father recently passed away. The story starts with a delightful, flirty scene set in a grocery store. A younger man approaches Delia, and asks Delia to step in as his date. Delia is not accustomed to any kind of attention so she is immediately weary (yet smitten) by the man. It's a breezy opening scene that sets the right tone for the novel.

As the family prepares for its annual vacation at a rental summer home, Delia pursue a demure relationship with the younger man which ends in a comic confrontation at dinner time (of course!). I won't spoil the scene, but let's just say her family doesn't believe for a moment that Delia would stray from her marriage. The family heads for the vacation, and Delia proceeds to walk home from the beach...but she keeps going...catching a ride with a local handy man...she keeps going. She leaves her family to start a new life.

I enjoyed the cast of crazy characters and the snapshot look at the intimate scenes from a marriage. The novel is funny (and absurd), heartbreaking, and sometimes unbelievable. Tyler weaves the characters around Delia. There are hints of King Lear throughout including the name of the main character who's also the youngest daughter and she's tossed out like King Lear (although she does the tossing).



Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

First thing first: Liza Klaussmann is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Herman Melville. How freakin' awesome is that?? It says so in the author biography on the back flap.

I've mentioned before that I adore stories set in summer homes. I've never visited let alone owned a summer home, but I find them fascinating. It may stem from the yearning to hang out with my siblings. You see your siblings every day for the first several years of your life, then everyone goes their own way. Kind of sad...but I think a summer home would provide a great excuse to hang out.

I have a huge crush on Nick. She's stylish, strong, smart, a reader. I wish the story focused only on Nick. She could be BFF's with Kate from Rules of Civility. I found Nick's cousin, Helena, to be a not so fully developed character. She seemed like a wisp of a character. The story starts at the end of World War II as the cousins separate and go their own ways. Helena to California to get involved with a loser. Nick moves South with her husband...who's living with a lie that doesn't quite ring true.

Their summers progress through the years. Eventually, they each have a child. The story spirals into a who-dun-it mystery which I could have lived without. The story of Nick doesn't need a distraction. She's a character who has great potential, but Klaussmann doesn't allow her to reach it.

Pink Bake Sale

We held an office bake sale this week for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

*steps onto soap box*

I was bitterly mad at SGK earlier this year when they chose to politicize women's health. They've since restored grants to Planned Parenthood, the founder stepped down, and they let go of a few of the extreme right conservatives who were offering nothing but negative guidance. I know that other organizations are keeping their eyes on SGK, so I reserve the right to change my find if they return to their evil ways. It's just not cool to mess with women's health.

*jumps off soap box*

Let's talk cookies. Our bake sale organizer decided that all baked goods should be pink. At first I'll admit that I was a little bummed since we are within 2 weeks of Halloween. I wanted to bake with the colors of Fall. Oranges and yellows and rich reds. But then  I was totally inspired by Glorious Treats' riff on traditional pumpkins. A chevron orange and white pumpkin! Yes. More, please.

I decided to make pumpkins, bats, "pink" cats and ghosts. I made the pumpkins and ghosts with regular sugar cookie dough. I decided to mix it up by making the "pink" cats and bats with chocolate cookie dough. I thought it would make the pink icing POP, and it really did. I added a teaspoon of King Arthur Flour's Espresso Powder. Don't worry. It does not add coffee flavor, but it really enhances the cocoa by giving new depth to the flavor of the cocoa. I used Trader Joe's natural cocoa...trust me, it wasn't fancy!

I love packaging sugar cookies as favors. They're lovely little treats. I used these adorable tags by hey love designs. Everyone went bonkers for the "fight like a girl" tag.

Yellow Ribbon Sugar Cookies (aka Cancer Sux!)

I made over 180 cookies for my sister's party to celebrate her 10-year battle with brain cancer. She requested cookies to give as favors. How could I resist? I used a ribbon cookie cutter that I bought at Pryde's Old Westport many years ago. If you are ever in the Kansas City area, then you must visit Pryde's. Be sure to plan a few hours to explore. I placed 2 cookies back-to-back in clear cello bags from Michael's. I attached these lovely tags from Vintage Indie which tied into my sister's theme of LIVE LOVE LAUGH!

This is the piping order I used to create the ribbon's tie. It was hard for my brain to get a grip on this to make it look more like a ribbon. I think the end result is kind of fantastic.

This is the biggest batch of cookies I've ever baked and decorated. Cookies took over my freezer, kitchen, house, and life...but it was definitely worth it! Now that's a lot of cookies.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is the perfect read for a long hot summer. I'm not a huge fan of suspense/thrillers, but Flynn is a master. Her characters are so developed. You feel like you know them. So much has already been said about this book. It's a huge hit. What's left to say?

I'll keep this short. I loved the alternating chapters between Nick's present (in Summer 2012 no less!) and Amy's diary entries. This is where Flynn's skills at character development are in full glory. Flynn's portrayal of Amy's parents is so clever. You understand how Amy is the way she is...how could she NOT be who she is with parents who exploit her childhood to make Perfect Amy children's books??

I wasn't too keen on the final quarter of the book. I thought Flynn lost her way a bit, as the story veered into an almost comical farce (even pushing to absurd maybe?) about true crime and Nancy Grace-esque "news" programs and whodunit territory. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it...I just wished Flynn had taken a different route.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

I'm still reeling from reading this novel. This isn't so much a review, but more like a collection of my thoughts.

Esch is a female protagonist unlike any other. She's growing up in rural Louisiana surrounded by boys and men. The theme of motherhood is thread throughout the story which starts while China, Skeet's prized pit bull, is giving birth to her first litter. We learn that Esch's mother died giving birth to Junior. Then we learn that Esch is pregnant as Hurricane Katrina swirls around in the background. As the hurricane warnings build, life goes on. I've lived in the Midwest my entire life. You don't go to the basement when you first hear the tornado warnings. The warnings slowly build while you go about your life.

One of my favorite elements of this book is the relationships between the siblings. Skeet, Randall, Junior and Esch stick together. They're loyal. They look out for each other as their Dad is adrift in alcohol and grief. Esch's romantic obsession with the myth of Medea and Jason permeates the story as she becomes obsessed with Manny.

There are several dreamlike scenes: looking for chicken eggs from chickens who roost everywhere but the dilapidated chicken coop, the dog fight involving China and 2 other pit bulls in the eerily silent woods as the sun light filters down while the hurricane winds pick up above, Skeet and Esch's journey through the woods to the white farmer's medicine, Randall and Esch's journey through the woods for supplies.

Violence and tenderness are woven together throughout the story. When Esch watches Skeet skin a squirrel, she thinks of her love for Manny as she watches the pulsating heart. China is a majestic character. She is Medea. Skeet's devotion to China makes Esch crave Manny's attention more.

I'm adding Jesmyn Ward to my list of must read authors. Her storytelling skills are major. She often uses one two many metaphors, but I can adjust to that. I anxiously await her next novel.

Flower Power

I'm on a sugar cookie kick. Everywhere I look I see inspiration for cute sugar cookies. I've been thinking about the '70's lately so of course this obsession lead into my sugar cookie obsession. Robin Gibb, Donna Summers, gone all too soon. This is my small little tribute to all things '70's.

I use Bake at 350's royal icing recipe. It never fails me. As you can see, I really dig a rather wide outline. I made these for a Memorial Day party. I know, mushroom cookies for Memorial Day? How random?

Happy Mother's Day, Moms

Paul and I hosted a Mother's Day brunch for my family which included about 20 guests. Stella and I made this kind of artsy sign. It originally said Mom, but Paul commented that there would be more than one Mom present! So true. And even if you're not technically a mother, we all mother somebody. We used letter stencils from Amy Atlas' Sweet Designs: Bake It, Craft It, Style It (buy this book, trust me, you will LOVE it). We taped the letters to a mirror which isn't the best design choice but it looked kind of cute in person!

My Mom loves lemon so we decided to give her a lemon dessert table including a Vanilla Sixlet Cake with Lemon Custard Buttercream and Vanilla Buttercream, Vanilla Sugar Cookies, Lemon Shooters, and Tangy Lemon Bars. We added lemon drop candies plus a jar of sixlets. Guests were encouraged to take home sixlets, lemon jelly belly beans, lemons, and limes.

The Vanilla Sixlet Cake with Lemon Custard Buttercream and Vanilla Buttercream was dreamy. I used Amy Atlas' Vanilla Butter Cake recipe (p. 11) and vanilla buttercream recipe. I added Trader Joe's Lemon Custard to about one cup of buttercream. I used this for the filling. This cake cuts like wedding cake...perfect slices every time. The texture is sturdy, but delicate and so good. Stella helped by separating the sixlets by color since we were only able to find bags of yellow/green/white. The top looks a little lonely. Mental note: decorate the top next time!

Stella helped me stack the Vanilla Sugar Cookies. I decided to decorate with yellow and green polka dots to mimic the sixlets. Stella really enjoyed placing the cookies on a bed of lemon jelly belly beans.

The Lemon Shooters were the star of the party. Everyone loved the refreshing sweet and tangy flavor. I made the vanilla pastry cream from the recipe for Boston Cream Pie Cake found in BAKED Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented (p. 135-137). I used a pastry bag to add the pastry cream, then a layer of Trader Joe's Lemon Custard, then I topped it with fresh homemade whipped cream. I served them in shooters with adorable little spoons. I wanted to sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps, but decided to pass since I associate gingersnaps with the Fall.

I didn't take pictures of the food (apologies, but I'm a dessert girl!), but we also served bacon/sausage, Roasted Potatoes with Green Peppers, Shutterbean's Baked Artichoke Squares, Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast with Blackberry Butter, fresh fruit, Biscuits and Gravy, and mimosas.

Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater by Gail Simmons

I absolutely adore Gail Simmons on TopChef and TopChef Just Desserts. She's the only judge who is capable of routinely giving constructive criticism without sounding mean spirited. It's a great life skill. You can tell that she truly cares about food and the chefs who cook it.

I don't read very many biographies, but I devoured this memoir because I wanted to learn how she scored such a great job. Talking With My Mouth Full does not disappoint. I anticipated the TopChef chapters the most, but I discovered that the first chapters are much more illuminating. Perhaps the more recent past needs more time to marinate to develop.

Ms. Simmons sprinkles recipes throughout the book. I cannot wait to try this simple salad (p. 64). I'm waiting for summer when the tomatoes are more in season:

"And every single day for breakfast and dinner, I would eat the same salad. The Israeli kids taught me how to make this kibbutz staple. Dice a tomato and a whole cucumber. Mix them with cottage cheese, salt, and pepper. I also would mix in a little mustard, with a fried or hard-boiled egg."

I recommend this book to anyone obsessed with Gail. She's lived a very interesting life from Canada to New York, from working with Jeffrey Steingarten to TopChef, and she even includes a photo of the menu she used at her wedding! She includes useful infographics like a list of those who work the front of the restaurant and the kitchen (p. 126-7). The sketches are darling. She also lists the 12 courses served in general order (p. 99). Simply amazing.

Books I Crave

Amy Atlas is smart, clever, and oh so crafty. She invented the dessert table phenom that's kind of sweeping the nation. Her blog provides more inspiration in a single post then one girl can handle. I can spend hours sifting through the details on her blog, so you can imagine how excited I am to buy the book! Sweet Designs: Bake It, Craft It, Style It will be published on April 24th...and you know I already pre-ordered a copy. The anticipation is killing me!

SprinkleBakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist is another book that I'm really looking forward to. I like how Heather Baird combines sweets with art. Baking is an art. It takes a certain level of skill to make a dessert look really great.

I. need. these. books.

March Madness Basketball Sugar Cookies

I love the NCAA Tournament. The Kansas Jayhawks are my team. Every year I root for them, and sometimes they win. This is the first time in years that I failed to get my picks entered into the office pool. That's a huge bummer, but these cookies are my excuse. I baked them on Monday and my master plan included outlining and flooding the orange on Tuesday, then adding the lines on Wednesday which would give them plenty of time to dry by Thursday's office party. Unfortunately, I crashed early on Tuesday night. Seriously, I was out by 9:30pm. Chaos ensued. Not really...but kind of.

I decided to pipe the outline for the lines first, then flood with the orange. I thought this would lend them that "puffy" look some baker's manage to attain. The other option would be to pipe the outline, flood it with orange, then add the black lines. I was hoping they would dry in time, but they didn't. Amazingly, even though we're only in mid-March, the weather did not cooperate. It was very humid which really slowed down the drying time. Oh well, they'll make a lovely addition to Friday's office party!

 

Hey, who let the hippie in? I just couldn't resist turning a few of the basketballs into peace signs. The University of Kansas is located in Lawrence, KS. It's like one giant hippie commune which is a hard habit to lose once you're into it.

I need to work on piping, but it really takes a lot of practice. It's getting better, but there's lots of room for improvement. I'm planning on making bunnies and chicks for Easter which will give me more practice opportunies. I think I'll write the kids' names on their cookies. Stay tuned!

This is the very first cookie that I've used black icing for the outline. I used AmeriColor's Super Black, but it still took several squirts to reach this level of black-ness.