Wednesday, October 25, 2017

October Music





*enter two random songs that have absolutely nothing in common with any of the others*

I guess it was Broadway Discovery Month or something, but anyhow I ended up with three new shows.

Seriously, I had no idea these were adapted to stage.

What's one new song you found this month?
Or a song you ended up listening to a bunch?

Friday, October 20, 2017

Photo Friday

Throwback to a time I tried shooting with the lens not connected to the camera.
Super shallow depth of field!

From when I baked.

We had a sunset that just got better and better as it went on.





Ginger posed for me.




Dawn.

One of the barn cats at work.
Most of these were taken with my phone for convenience's sake, however the goal of this is for me to use my camera and be more creative- and to not post every single photo I take on instagram.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Unnecessarily Complex Chocolate Chip Cookies / / / My Recipe


We arrived home yesterday, and after 36 hours of no sleep to speak of, we finally hit the hay.

But this has nothing to do with baking.

Anyways, I wanted to DO something today.

So I checked the pantry and decided to make cookies.

So. Here you are.


(Forewarnings: there is absolutely nothing healthy about these, and I don't make small batches of cookies, this one makes 24 small cookies, plus 9 big ones.)

2 sticks of butter, softened.
1/2 cup of sugar, plus a few drizzles of molasses.
1 cup sugar.
1/2 tablespoon of baking soda.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon.
1/2 tablespoon of vanilla.

Ok, so with the 1/2 cup of sugar and the molasses, you're going to make brown sugar. (if you already have brown sugar, use that instead, we didn't so I improvised.) Add the molasses in small increments until it looks and tastes ok to you. When you first start, it will look weird and clumpy, don't worry just keep stirring.






Mix very well!



 3 eggs. Add the yolks one at a time, and keep the whites back so you can whip them until they are frothy. (I was going to try whipping them until peaks formed, but I decided it wasn't worth it.)


 Mix for several minutes toggling between medium and low speeds. The end result will have the consistency of pudding.

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. Or you could add more or less, it depends on how chocolatey you like your cookies.

Mix again, just to even out.

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour.
1 cup of whole wheat flour. 
(I don't have any particular reason behind this, I was just using up what we had around the kitchen.)

Mix well, adding the flour gradually. The end result will look and feel similar to peanut butter, in fact, that would probably be a tasty addition (note for next time!)


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, fahrenheit.

Start scooping out the cookies and decide 2/3 of the way in that you want some big ones too.


Bake for 10 minutes, check on them, then keep baking them and check every 3 minutes until they are done to your liking.

Mine were still a bit soft in the middle, but they finished cooking while they cooled on the pan and ended up the perfect amount of crisp around the edges and soft in the middle.




Well, I've upheld the baking part of the title.
What is your favorite thing to make in the kitchen?

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

swimming around the rock

(obviously not this *exact* rock)

Not just any rock.

Black Rock.

Your brother has been gushing about how awesome the swim is, how beautiful the coral is.

Seeing colorful fish. Rumours of swimming with sea turtles and manta rays.

Getting to jump off a ledge on the other side.

The current just whips you all the way around- if it's going the right direction.

So after two years of listening to this, you decide to swim it with a group.

Nobody told you how deep it was. You don't like swimming in water more than 12 feet deep.

Nobody told you that the water would get blurry and you wouldn't be able to see clearly for a few minutes as you passed the part where the stream emptied into the ocean. A prime area for a shark to look for his next meal, you think to yourself and you start breathing heavier and swimming faster.

Everyone else is swimming so slowly.

You cast nervous glances to the open water on your right, waiting for something to materialize out of the calm blue.

You look up above the water to try and find out where everyone else is. They are close to the rocks. You don't like swimming that close to rocks- you don't want a wave to come and dash you against them.

Nobody told you it was this long of a swim.

You try and enjoy the scenery, but are still focused on looking out for the sharks your brain insists are just around the corner.

Everyone finally reaches the point. The water is shallower here, as the reef gradually slopes out from the rock to the floor. There are a lot more fish. You start settling down- the water not being so deep helps.

And then, you are on the other side! You give a sigh of relief. Everyone pops their head above the water.

Then somebody asks "Who's gonna jump off?" They point up to a natural platform in the rock, about fifteen to twenty feet above the water. "Absolutely not!" You are adamant.

You aren't confident enough in your climbing abilities to get up there in the first place, neither are you confident enough to climb back down after you chicken out up there.

Others jump off, and appear to have a good time. You enjoy alternating between watching them jump and looking at the coral and such.

Finally, everyone heads for the beach.

Everyone gets out and makes their way back to the other side of the rock via land, as swimming against the current does not appeal to anyone.

The sidewalk is hot from being in the sun.

You are pretty much shot and end up reading for most of the rest of the day.

Next year, you try again.

It's a little bit better. You don't freak out when the water blurs. You still are scared of the possibility of sharks. And you still don't like swimming as close to the rocks as everyone else.

You aren't as tired when you get back to the cabana at the end.

You still refuse to jump.

The next day, your brother goes out with one other person, and they do bump into a couple of sharks.

The sharks leave them alone, but your brother said that he was still freaking out.

You decide that you don't need to swim around that day. You joke and say you won't go out the next day, but you do anyways because it will be the last time for most of the group you go with.

It's almost as scary as the first time.

The water is extra choppy, and you can feel the current dragging  you. You stay as close to the others as possible.

The blurry water seems to go on forever.

You are almost hyperventilating.

Even on the other side, you still are on the lookout for the sharks. "They aren't around," someone says, "There are too many fish out. If there were a shark they would be hiding."

You settle slightly. Nobody really jumps that day.

You are so tired from internally freaking out the entire time that you are done for the day in terms of being out in the water.

All of that aside, it really is a gorgeous swim!

Until next year, Black Rock!




I burned my face because I was stupid and bobbed out in the waves for five hours without sunscreen on it. It's not tomato red anymore, but it's started peeling. I was hoping it would skip that part. Blegh.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Well, This is Exciting


A new blog!


Being away for a while sure gives a new perspective to the blogging world. I've missed it!

After five months with only two blogposts (though both of them ended up being monstrously long) I felt like a change needed to happen. But no, I couldn't just go and use the blog I already had, I went and made a new one.

Anyways, welcome back, and if by chance you are new- hi, I'm glad you're here!

Rustling Thoughts was a fantastic blog to start with, I learned so much with it, now I'm ready to go deeper.

At this point, I don't have any hugely drastic differences planned for this blog, except that I want it to be simpler. I got bogged down writing the super long posts on Rustling Thoughts, and I imagine their lengths were a potential turn-off to anyone reading them.

I want to get back into the groove of writing more, baking more, and reading more, and I hope that with this new motivation I will be able to do so instead of lazing around like I've grown used to after coming home from work.

So what say you? Ready for this new adventure?