Ya’ll warned me, and you were right: I miss bread. I also had to do a lot of thinking about what I really meant by bread. Did this mean no pancakes until Easter? No cake? No cookies? Ultimately I decided on no sliced bread and no rolls, which meant no croissant today. Boo.
I wrote a haiku in honor of bread:
I adore fresh bread
Slathered in jam and butter
But it makes me fat.
And it does. I’ve already lost a pound by cutting out bread. So I guess I’ll try and hang in there until Easter.
Hey, look who finally learned how to use Polyvore!
Hot Librarian2 – by andreastaats on Polyvore.com
I applied for a job as an assistant librarian, and obviously if I get the job I need to look the part. Too bad I can’t afford anything on my little collage. I worked at the library when I lived in Utah and I LOVED it. I would be thrilled to work in a library again: so quiet, so peaceful, and so many glorious books.
Right now I’m reading Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen. What are you reading?
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which means that it’s time to stop living like this:
and start living like this gal:
Lent was never part of my life until I lived in Mexico, where I kind of didn’t have a choice. You couldn’t find a taco anywhere on Fridays. The main topic of conversation in February and March was what you were giving up for Lent and how difficult it was. I told everybody that I was going to give up smoking, the joke being that I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life. It’s easy to quit something you’ve never started.
Even though I’m not religious, I enjoy the experiment of trying to give something up for 40 days. Once I tried to give up swearing. That only lasted a few hours. This year I considered giving up chocolate or television, but I’ve a feeling it wouldn’t take long to give in and give up. So I’ve decided on something challenging yet possible: bread. I love bread. I love it in all its myriad forms. I like it toasted. I like it with peanut butter and jelly. I like it plain. I think I could subsist on bread and water and be relatively happy, as long as it was good bread.
We shall see where this experiment in breadlessness takes me. I’m kind of hoping a size 6.
What are you giving up, or what would you give up? What couldn’t you give up?
I googled “Alaskan fashion” and here’s what I found:
Utterly horrifying. And let me say, I’ve lived here pretty much my whole life, and I have never seen anybody wear something this atrocious. I hope I never do. If you are interested in owning a hat that is not only inhumane but a crime against good taste, you can find one here.
In other news, I’ve received an award from the lovely E. of Oniomania!
Thank you very much! And my dear E., I’ve been trying to comment on your blog for 3 days, and the InterWeb won’t let me, but just so you know I’m grateful for the award and I loved the outfit in your last post. = )
Raquel, maybe you can tell me what it means?
I’d like to pass the award on to Ana. Your blog rocks my world.
Further thoughts on crumpets: they are my new favorite snack. I put lemon curd on one half and raspberry jam on the other, smoosh them together like a sandwich, and oh my goodness… it’s like raspberry lemonade heaven.
The other day I awoke with one burning question in my mind: what is a crumpet? I know it’s a strange question, and I’ve no idea where it came from, but nonetheless I was consumed with the desire to know what exactly a crumpet was, and more importantly, what it tastes like.
I knew it was English. I knew it was something bread-y. I knew it was served with tea. I knew that it was impossible to say the word “crumpet” without adopting a fake English accent. Some words have that effect on me, like “badminton” and “Harry Potter”.
I wondered if, on the other side of the Atlantic, anyone is ever consumed with the question, “What is a tortilla?” Answer: a corn flatbread, tender and soft, hot off the comal, slathered with refried beans and cheese, ahh… I miss Mexico!
At any rate, I couldn’t get crumpets off the brain. I consulted every cookbook in the house. No luck. I asked my little sister. “It’s a crumpled trumpet.” She’s 15, so she says things like that sometimes. I asked my mother, who told me it was like a teacake. Well what is a teacake? I’m Alaskan, remember? I don’t know these things.
Finally I asked Martha. Martha knows everything, including how to make delicious crumpets. So I gathered all the necessary accoutrements, and got to work.
You cook them on a griddle like pancakes, but they taste nothing like pancakes.
Luckily it didn’t overflow.
Browning the other side. Aren’t they pretty?
The finished product, and various toppings.
Triple berry jam, lemon curd, marmalade, and honey butter.
My very first crumpet! It’s in between an English muffin and an Australian muffin, at least the American versions of English and Australian muffins. It was also my first time trying lemon curd, and OMG, lemon curd! Where have you been all my life?! I will definitely be making these again. As you can see from the photo, I’m very happy to have solved the crumpet mystery. If you’d like to join in the crumpetition, you can find the recipe here.
I’m slacking I know. I haven’t posted in THREE WHOLE DAYS and I’m sure that the blogosphere is really upset about it. Right? RIGHT?! Unfortunately, I don’t really have anything to post yet, so I’m going to distract you with puppies!
I love how Petunia’s like, “I’m so pretty, I love dressing up!” and Coco’s like, “Seriously? This sh*t again?!”
Anyway, the moral of the story is that I’m going to do a real blog post tomorrow, so please stop by. It’s gonna be good. It involves crumpets.