recipes, wine, mmm...

I have gotten very little done over break. And it's been fantastic :)

I've had a few fun adventures with friends, enjoyed time with my family, gone on some good walks (I'm determined to lose these darn holiday pounds before my birthday.. same goal as every year lol). But mostly, I've done bits and pieces of projects... things I've wanted to get done for awhile but haven't had a chance to do. Scrapbooks, photo frames, my last few little grad school apps.. that sort of thing. It's been nice to have time to work without any scary impending deadlines. They're coming soon, I know... but I need a few days :).

My favorite project has been putting together a cookbook, believe it or not. Cory and I have cooked a lot over the last -- what is it now? -- year and a half? And we keep saying we want to get our favorites down on paper. It's fun, sifting through the websites and cookbooks that lent us ideas.. but it's even more fun to remember the situations surrounding the things we made. Like the time he had to throw a piece of flaming pineapple chicken off of our apartment balcony to keep the smoke alarm from going off. And the enchiladas he surprised me with after a really stressful day at school. And the porkchops we made while we waited for his seven trick-or-treaters this year. And the pretzels my roommies and I made for Oktoberfest :)

The book is already 37 pages long!

I'm also adding a fun little "Bevy Cheat Sheet" in the back... just in time for new years :) I found some really yummy cranberry champagne cocktails that I look forward to entertaining with. I've heard, too, that if you pour champagne over minced ginger, the bubbles race up and down like a lava lamp. groovy, no?

Speaking of bevies, my parents had their annual work Christmas party, so I've enjoyed trying a different glass of leftover wine each night :) My favorite, so far, has been a yummy Shiraz.. which is surprising, because I don't usually do shiraz... but for any of you wine lovers, it's wonderful. And it's not so far out of the college budget that I'll never get to drink it again... it's listed as $12 in Nashville, so perhaps cheaper here? Anyways Nine Stones Barossa Shiraz 2003... try it :)

So I'm happy. I'm content. I'm relaxed. And we still have about two weeks of break left. We're not going to DC anymore, so I'll be able to get a lot of thesis work / grad school stuff done in between New Year's and Nashville.

Which means I can enjoy my last two days in Charleston :)