Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Afraid of yeast --

I stumbled upon this recipe on Allrecipes.com -- the concept sounds simple and I was going to give it a try.

I have all the ingredients ready (went to the supermarket and got them) -- but I can't find the ... courage to make them.

I'm a little intimidated by the whole yeast rising thing.  (What if it doesn't rise?  What if I bake it wrong?)

The ingredients and the recipe have been waiting patiently for over a month now -- initially, I reasoned that I didn't have enough time.

This afternoon, I had already asked my sister to watch Anya while she was sleeping so I could start on the dough.

And then I decided not to.

So I'm sitting here, with the recipe in the window tab beside this blog entry, wondering when I'll have the confidence to make them.

* * *

Jealous of my younger brother  --


My youngest brother came home from Japan (for good) bringing with him all sorts of yummy gadgets -- he has this wonderful breadmaker that can make bread in 4 hours.

When I was in Manila, he baked a loaf for our parents and they raved about how good it was.

I have a friend who works in the same department at their university who mentioned my brother's bread no less than 3 times in the span of a 2-hour conversation.  (A conversation where we were supposed to catch up on our lives and not discuss my brother's bread.  Grumblegrumblegrumble.)

He also has this amazing microwave/"real oven" combo that sits on the counter.  It's that small -- but it can bake things properly.  Like pizza!

And he's making his own yogurt.

~sigh~

Meanwhile, I've subjected the people in our house to a really chewy dinner of beef stir-fry.  The beef was so, so tough that the table was so, so quiet because everybody was just focusing on chewing it.

Movies --

Movies we've missed --
1.  Toy Story 3
2.  The Karate Kid
3.  The A-Team <-- though I am NOT a fan of Bradley Cooper
4.  Shrek Forever After
5.  Prince of Persia <-- I really wanted to watch this one
6.  Robin Hood

Movies I'd like to watch but we'll most likely miss watching on the big screen --
1.  Eclipse
2.  The Last Airbender
3.  The Sorcerer's Apprentice
4.  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

In the meantime, we are busy watching the first 4 seasons of Doctor Who.  And we are still busy debating about whether we like David Tennant or Matt Smith better.  (No question on the sidekick -- we both like Amy Pond.)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sort of back --

When your child gets sick and you are stuck in the hospital for days on end, life changes somewhat --

Your entire being is focused on one space -- and on one tiny little being in the process of recovering.

And even when you get out of the hospital, one forgets to breathe during the countless days of watching and waiting for things to either get better or to get worse.

I'd like to think that we're over that obstacle/gigantic mountain/impenetrable fog and now we are moving on --

And I am always and eternally thankful for the people I have around me -- for my husband who knows that I need to go out and have time for myself, for my sister who knows that helping me with my books is helping me with my life, for my children who know that silly dancing can improve everyone's mood, and for friends near and far who touch base now and then.

* * *

Cute site --

Thanks, C, for sharing this --

Hot Guys Reading Books

I discovered a new words, thanks to the site -- adorkable -- =^_^=

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Book buying --

It amuses my friends that I read romance novels almost full time.

Yesterday, I surprised one of them by actually going to National Bookstore and buying a *gasp!* non-romance novel title --

I've been curious about Stieg Larsson's series and, with my National Bookstore discount card, I was able to purchase the first book in the series cheaply.

It's going to be my airport reading later -- and I'm wondering if I should cover the book up in my lovely Ouran High School Host Club book cover or display it proudly to the world.

In romance novel news, I just finished 2 books from Patricia Rice's Magic series (Malcolm Women + Ives Men):  Merely Magic and The Trouble with Magic.  I have the last book in the series waiting for me in Iloilo.

I'm glad she has a new book slated for release this coming July.




Thursday, June 03, 2010

Current guilty pleasure: Magazines --

It started late last year, when I received an email from Amazon.com informing me that the subscription to Real Simple was on sale for $5 -- (that's less than $0.50 per issue) --

Real Simple (1-year)

Shipping is restricted to the United States but, if you have someone who can receive the issues for you, it's really worth it.

Right now, the sale is for game magazines:
$5 for a one-year subscription to Nintendo Power or to the X-Box or Playstation magazine!