Christmastime is Here!

I have been a terrible blogger. There are no excuses - I know med students with blogs posting far more often than I! I guess my excuse is that I am not allowed to post information online about my kids and work, so with that being the majority of my days - I have only a few noteworthy things to blog about when I do remember that this exists.

On to my topic - Christmas cookies! I learned from Eric that I have a new family tradition to carry on - make a lot of Christmas cookies! In my house growing up, we had peppernuts and candy canes sitting around always - but other than occasional other baking (normally for a specific event) no other cookies were kept around the house. Eric informed me that in his house and at his grandmas house -  a plentiful plateful of a variety of Christmas cookies was available at all times. Talk about high standards!

So I made a batch of peppernuts. And red and green frosted sugar cookies....and then came to a standstill. I had no other cookie ideas. So last night I perused the internet for ideas. Here is my list of cookies that I want to make in these upcoming weeks:

1. More pfefferneuse. That is, Peppernuts. The ultimate Mennonite Christmas cookie. To get the true experience, they must include anise. This is a point of contention, as the Funks have non-anise peppernuts (can it be a true peppernut without anise? I think not.) Opinions?

2. Fudge. Even though Eric doesn't eat chocolate. Because I LOVE chocolate. And therefore - I love fudge.

3. Decorated Sugar Cookies. Here, I have a lot of options. Check out my favorites:

Melted Snowman Cookies

Decorated snowflake cookies

4. Reindeer Cookies!

5. Homemade Gumdrops

6. Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies

and last but not least:

7. Chocolate Peppermint Cookies!

Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie to recommend?

I'm a good Mennonite!

Problem #1: Eric does not eat the heels of the bread we buy, and I don't eat sandwich bread often enough to eat them for him.

Problem #2: Eric loves croutons on his salad (which I don't) and store-bought croutons are an expensive habit to keep up.

Solution: Make homemade croutons!

It was easy! I cut up the bread heels into little cubes, tossed them around with a little olive oil, doused them in garlic and onion powder and misc. Italian seasonings and spices, and baked them in the oven until they were slightly brown and crispy. It was super easy. I felt so resourceful.


I have also felt very arsty and resourceful this weekend as I knit one wool scarf (while catching up on my episodes of The Mentalist, The Office, and New Girl) and made a scarf (tutorial here) and fabric flower pins (tutorial here) out of an old t-shirt.

Let me say it again. An old t-shirt. I know, right? Super cheap and thrifty, and super cute! Plus - no sewing involved! (Although I sewed a little. The tutorials call for fabric glue....I found it easier to quickly sew it by hand...)

Pictures are below. They also highlight my new mustard yellow peacoat - a 6 dollar thrift store find! I love it so much. I love the color, love the warmth. I am beginning to realize - I love dressing for cold, and I hate the cold itself. I hate the need to dress in such clothes, but I love the boots, the scarves, the mittens, the hats...the boots....

Tabor College Homecoming!

Alumni.

I've always connected that word to older people. Gray-haired grandparents coming back to visit their alma mater.

Well, this weekend was my first homecoming as part of the alumni crowd and no longer a student. The big 1. First year back.

It was a little strange to start off with, because it really hasn't been a year since graduation. It hasn't even been a half year. It has been a whole 4 months and 3 weeks since I walked across that stage, and so I just didn't feel very far removed. Especially because I still have friends there. And I've been back for weekend visits.

That being said - I had a blast! It was great to catch up with Tabor friends, from my class and others. And for some reason, Hillsboro still feels like home more than Fresno or Kansas City at this point in my life.

Here are some pictures of the football game and the young alumni reunion!

Saturday evening we went to see the musical Oliver. It was really good. I'll be honest and say it's not my favorite musical in the world (too depressing) but everyone did a really good job. The costuming and make-up was excellent, and a HUGE shout-out to the pit for doing a great job with the music. 

Maybe I'll retire in Hillsboro...

Fall is here! And so Are Pumpkin Spice Latte...Cupcakes!

So I KNOW I always post about cupcakes...so brace yourself for one more post on cupcakes. I had a staff meeting this past week, and I had signed up to bring a dessert. Being the October staff meeting, I wanted to bring something seasonally appropriate and homemade. I came across this blog post on made-from-scratch pumpkin spice latte cupcakes. They sounded so good, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make them. I did, and they turned out wonderful! They are chocolate-free, so Eric can eat them, and definitely very delicious.

For all of you interested, heres the recipe:

My life is filled with cupcakes

So after the amazing twin gave me some neon food coloring, I couldn't wait to try it out. So I whipped up a batch of half chocolate (for me, of course) and half funfetti (for the husband) cupcakes to decorate. Eric had agreed to help, but he only decorated one and left to watch football. (That's what I get for trying this project on a weekend.)

Soon thereafter, Eric informed me that he had signed "us" up to make cupcakes for a bake sale for a KU kids program. So, with the previous cupcakes not even cold in their graves (or....should I say not yet digested) we set out to make even more cupcakes. This time, the wonderful husband helped out a lot. He helped bake AND decorate half of them. What a guy. And they turned out so well! I was almost late to work the morning we dropped them off because the ladies who were running it could not stop talking about how cute they looked. Mission: accomplished.

PS. These cool-looking flower cupcakes are super easy. You cut mini marshmallows in half diagonally and put them in colored sugar (easily made the night before by putting a drop or two of food coloring in a small plastic bag or container of sugar and mixing it up. Then let it sit out overnight to dry.) The sugar only sticks to the sticky cut ends of the marshmallows, and viola! - you place the marshmallow petals on a freshly-frosted cupcake. We mixed it up a bit by making big and small flowers and using sprinkles to decorate. This is a really impressive yet easy project to whip out to show you know your way around the kitchen. Trust me. And who doesn't like cupcakes!?!

New Job :)

As some of you might already know, I got a job!! It all happened so quickly - Wednesday late afternoon I got a call, Thursday I was interviewing, Friday I was training, and this week I worked a full week!

I am working at a Preschool in Olathe with a class of 4 and 5 year olds (pre-K). 20 kids. It is not something I thought I would ever be doing, and who knew that teaching piano lessons qualifies as experience?

It is both fun and frustrating. My class has mostly boys, and we all know what that means. I am constantly telling them to keep their hands to themselves, and they are constantly doing just the opposite of that. I have had to deal with blood at least once per day thus far. Kinda crazy. On the other hand, the kids are great. I love seeing them connect things that they are learning.

I come home tired every day, but it's very worth it. And it's a job, which I had been searching for for over a month.

Besides work, some of my last two weeks activities consisted of: making freezer strawberry jam, baking my first loaf of homemade bread, hosting our first get-together for our (fairly) new kansas city friends (mostly med students and their wives), and going to a US women's soccer game at the LiveStrong stadium here in KC with some Tabor friends.

Concert in the Park

Today, after Eric and I got back from a lovely labor-day weekend in Arkansas with the Funk family, we got to experience a little of Kansas City.

We went to the KC Symphony annual free concert in the park, and it was delightful!

Notes for future concerts in the park: arrive a lot earlier. We ended up being late because of the traffic and parking situation, and then we were sitting waaaaaay in the back and couldn't even see the stage over a hill until people left and we moved up. However, because we were one of the last cars to park, it was super easy to leave! Glass half full.

The symphony played selections that included classical pieces as well as movie themes such as Pirates and Star Wars. My favorite was Elgar's Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, Movement 9: Moderato.

Plus - I just checked the website - student tickets for normal KC symphony concerts are only 8-10 dollars with a current student ID for any concerts that aren't sold out! That's a good deal all you Kansas City music lovers....or music loving friends who would love an excuse to come to Kansas City...

Muffin Tin Madness

Being that this is my second post, I'm not quite sure yet what I'll be blogging about. I don't have a job, I don't get out much except to exercise and run wifely errands, Eric is always studying, and I can count my new friends on two hands (and they all have jobs or school). So that leaves only one topic for this post.....my cooking.

I've got to admit - I've been getting pretty good at cooking since I have so much free time on my hands (just ask Eric! About the free time AND the cooking!)  I am always looking for new things to try. I recently discovered a new cooking obsession - making meals in muffin tins. It all started when I saw this recipe on Lisa's cooking blog. I thought, "Mini servings made in muffin tins! How cute!"...and thus, it begun.

It makes sense, really. Shorter baking time, easy to serve, built-in portions, looks adorable....

So last night, I made meatloaf. I didn't plan ahead, and when I got to the baking time (over an hour!) I thought, "Dinners going to be a bit late tonight..." BUT WAIT! Muffin tins to the rescue! It cut the baking time in half...and look at the result:

Perfect little mini meatloaves. Tasted delicious.

Try it. You'll never go back. (Just make sure you grease them well before you bake....I had an unfortunate incident earlier with baked on egg and no grease...my muffin tin will never be the same...)

The Start of Something

Well, here we are. My new blog.

At the urging of many, I have finally caved and committed to writing about myself, my life, and my thoughts. I can understand - recently graduated and in a new city - who wouldn't want to keep up with my witty stories and amazing day-to-day events, right?...RIGHT?

That's just the thing: why I've avoided this blog thing in the past. I sincerely enjoy reading other people's blogs, but for some reason when I thought about writing one myself, it made me squeamish. I didn't want to get a big head and think everyone cared what I was doing day to day. But thats what makes blogs work. If people care - they'll read it. If they don't - they won't. So....read if you want; I can't promise there will be anything interesting...but I'll sure try!