It's been a while since I posted and a whole bunch of stuff has happened so it's time for a recap.

1. I finished school!! *dances like a crazy person* Almost 20 years of school (including kindergarten) are finally over and done with and I plan on never, ever, ever returning unless it is for something fun like cooking or learning a new language. Either way, I'm done with anything related to a classroom or homework or tests for at least a couple of years. It feels SOOO good to re-enter the normal world of responsibilities. SO good to not be a full-time employee AND part-time student and it will feel even BETTER to have less stress and more time. So yes, I can go out for a drink after work and yes, I can go out for coffee, and yes, I can hang out in the middle of the week and yes, I can be more irresponsible than I have been for the last almost 3 years. It feels delicious!
2. Finished book #2 of the Game of Thrones Series (A Song of Fire and Ice) A Clash of Kings - so much drama! and war! and fighting! and intrigue! Don't let the page count scare you, it's a fantastic series
3. Started book #3 of the Game of Thrones Series, A Storm of Swords - excited to see how the drama and fighting play out!
4. Watched The Descendants last night with Matt. I cried a lot. Definitely a really good movie and highly recommended!
5. It's been freezing lately, or is it just me and my immune system that just sucks. I've felt like I've had a cold for weeks now. Matt and I went out shopping this weekend and I bought myself a pair of booties and an electric blanket to keep me warm in his house. He bought a mini space heater for the bedroom because it's always freezing in there. I'm now spoiled in warmth and sitting in my cold office feels like torture.
I've never had an electric blanket before, even in college, so I was definitely aware of what I had been missing out on with that thing. It's so toasty and warm and comfy. It heats you up right away and is seriously one of the best things ever invented...besides central heating.
6. My mom borrowed my stand mixer to make bread, which gave me the excuse to not bake or cook for a while, and has now given it back to me, which has eliminated my excuse to not bake or cook. So now I have to figure out what to give my coworkers as treats for the holidays. I bought some mini loaf pans so my plan was to make some mini lemon poundcakes, like the lemon-poppyseed poundcake from The Kind Diet. I only bought 4 mini loafs so I don't know when my patience will run out, maybe after only 2 batches. I'm also searching for a few tasty cookie recipes too like the vegan peanut butter cups from The Kind Diet or these delicious looking nutmeg maple butter cookies or these adorable gingerbread men macarons. Now, I'm getting too carried away, I might not even make it back from the grocery store.
7. Matt requested Coq au Vin this Wednesday so I'm rolling up my sleeves and sticking to the original Julia Child way of making this dish in all of its luxurious and delicious fattiness. The recipe includes bacon and searing and braising and butter. This is definitely not going to help me reach my, "I need to lose 50 pounds" goal, but oh well. I can be a fatty for one more week.
8. On Saturday, my family and I did a big crab feast with Matt. He was really excited about the whole crab fishing season that he wanted to try crab, even though he doesn't particularly like the texture or the effort involved. We bought 4 crabs (for 5 people) from Maxim market in Cupertino along with some tasty french bread, french butter, clam chowder, salad and chocolate for dessert.

The crabbies had to soak in fresh water so they would spit out all of the ickiness that they had swallowed in from the tanks and sea. In the understatement of the year, they were not happy. After they soaked, we boiled them in beer and water along with some ginger and thyme. Then my dad hacked apart one of them live to stirfry in ginger and green onions. He didn't really want to take a cleaver to a live crab but he did a fantastic job of powering through it. We were rewarded with some SUPER delicious crab. YUM!
9. Hm, I need to clean my house
10. Now I'm just making stuff up because my OCD requires me to hit the number 10 for my list.

Happy December!

-Janine