Confession

I am obsessed with a certain kind of TV show of late.  I’m not sure I can totally identify why, but here it is:  Those shows that put on display various psychological disorders/physical barriers.  Specifically shows like “Hoarders”, “Animal Hoarders”, and “Heavy.”

It’s these kinds of shows…the ones that are almost too difficult to watch.  I find them compelling to the point that if they have a marathon, I’ll have a problem.

I think part of my fascination with these shows is that these are normal people who hit a major roadblock in their life.  No different from you or me, but for some reason there is something that prevents them from fully functioning in our society.  I find that fascinating because it makes me wonder what it would take in my life for me to start feeling the compulsion to keep 30 cats in my house.  What would it take for me to allow myself to weigh 400 lbs?  What is it that snaps in their heads that keeps them from throwing things away?

Perhaps the greatest benefit to me personally of watching these shows is that I then end up doing  a lot of cleaning and exercising.

Another thing I truly love about these shows is that they are not just portraits of these people.  These shows are proactive, and really reach out to these people in every way possible to try to help them.  They send in professional therapists, personal trainers (depending on the show), large volume trash/organization gurus (also depending on the show).  All the people necessary to get these lost individuals back on track.  Then the shows track their progress.  I don’t equate these shows with most other “reality” shows because the show does not set them up for failure.  It truly wants and implores these people to become their best selves.

I’m not advocating more of these shows, because I’m not sure I could handle it.  I’m just saying I really enjoy them.  There you go.

Snow Happy

It is snowing outside.  Heavy, sticky, glorious snow.  It is accumulating, and the more it accumulates the giddier I become.  I can’t deny that it helps a lot that I have absolutely no reason to drive in this weather.   My heart goes out to those of you out there who were troopers and had to make the abnormally long commutes this evening.  I hope that once you made it home you treated yourself to a piping hot cup of cocoa and built a fire (assuming you have a fireplace) or at the very least lit a candle.

To try to convey how happy snow makes me is difficult.  For the sake of writing a little bit more, I will give it my best shot though 🙂  It makes things quiet.  The world slows down (figuratively and literally) and everything is just a little bit softer.  People retreat into their homes to enjoy the warmth they bring.  Sleds finally have a purpose other than playing home to spiders in that corner of the basement that is only visited once a year.  I’m fairly certain tomorrow will make for an excellent sledding day.  For those of you in the mountains, you know how much better fresh powder is on any ski/snow boarding slope.  There is nothing to compare.  Plus, you can throw it at people, and for the most part they don’t get mad.  They just get even.

I love snow.  I hope you do too.

ps-  this image was taken today here in KC!  Crazy snow!  Its looking like we might get up to 7 inches!

Recent Recipe Request

I received a letter recently asking me to post the recipes I’m using to accompany the food I’m showing pictures of.

I suppose I could do that, but first…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, moving on.

The most recent thing I made was on December 30th, the day my brother turned 23.  He requested a lemon pie — but NOT a meringue.  I obliged and this was the result:

In case you can’t read that for some reason, one pie says “BEN” and the other says “23.”  I’m pretty sure I explained why they say that above.  Feel free to scroll back up above the picture if you need to refresh your recollection.

Also, there is a subtle difference between these two pies.  Take a minute and see if you can tell what it is.  I’ll wait.

 

It’s the crusts.  The “Ben” pie has a much nicer looking crust that also happens to be in a foil tin.  This is because that one is store-bought, and the “23” pie crust I made.  Making 2 pies was not my original intent, but the recipe I used ended up making too much filling for the small, weakling store crust to handle.  Both are made with graham crackers though.  I also have yet to taste test the store bought crust and so should probably not be casting aspersions on it until I have.

Anyway, the pie is called a Keys Style Lemon Pie.  I got it from ThePioneerWoman.com’s Tasty Kitchen blog.  I believe it was submitted by a contributer, but you should be able to find the recipe by clicking on that link.  It turned out delicious.  I base this largely on the fact that despite our house being full of all sorts of confectionery delights, my brother and dad are requesting the lemon pie.  Huzzah for successfully addicting others to yet another sweet thing!

For New Year’s Eve…I guess that was just yesterday, already feels like a long time ago…I made Cioppino.  Pronouned “Cha-pee-no” this is a Seafood Stew.  I also got the recipe for this at Pioneer Woman.  It wasn’t really that labor-intensive.  However, my mother aptly called this stew “the million-dollar meal.”  This is because it is a seafood stew.  Seafood is rarely cheap.  Especially in the midwest.  And if you want to make this thing x to the max, you definitely want to get some good stuff to throw in there.  I ended up going to McGonigles to get some really nice stuff, including: jumbo shrimp, mussels, crab claws, and scallops.  We already had some salmon at home that I could add.  Did you know that mussels need to breathe?  Apparently you want them to stay alive until right before you want to eat them, or right before you cook them.  Otherwise they die, and I guess once it dies it loses all its flavor.  Weird.

It was also delicious.  I’ve sort of been in love with soups this winter.  Even though it has been a fairly mild winter.  Still…oh, and my pops made some delicious french bread to go along with the soup.  Complimented it perfectly!

Alright, that’s enough for now.  Happy cooking!