So what if I'm a day late?!

Last year, I participated in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), a spin off a much larger movement that challenges bloggers to post every day for the month of November. It was crazy challenging, but I nailed it.

This year, I'm on to bigger and better things. My entire life I've always said I'd grow up to be a published author, in fact, people close to me continually fuel that fire saying I really do have the talent to write a book. It's one of my 101 goals even.

So today, without a job or really anything taking up the hours in my day, I pledge to join National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), in hopes of producing an unedited first draft of a book, not necessarily a novel, at the end of this month.

There I said it. You can track my progress here, or just wish me luck. I think I'll need it! Any time I've ever sat down to "try and write a book" my ADD gets the best of me and I never finish. The closest thing I got to book writing was starting a creative writing/short story blog a few years back. I think I've neglected it for close to a year now.

This is going to be a huge task, since I'm not even sure what I want to write about yet.... But trust me, some travel writing will be involved!

Happy Halloween!

...from Woodstock and yours truly!

For the second-straight year I dressed up as an SNL character :) Last year I was Robert Goulet's daughter from Red Ships of Spain, this year clearly I'm the Shake Weight Commercial DVD girl in the pink tank top! Actually, everyone ALWAYS tells me I look like Kristen Wiig. Do you see it??

(Source)

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend :)

Pumpkin Banana Bread to solve all life's problems

Lately I've been having a lot of worries -- from unemployment troubles, to dental freakouts and even waking up to a flooded garage this morning. I needed to do something to help me be in a better place.

Baking sort of did the trick. It easily went down my knot-laden stomach and helped satiate me for a bit. Earlier in the morning/week, I had several cavities filled which is only part 1 of a two part procedure. I'm pissed; I brush 2-3 times a day, floss often and rinse my mouth with flouride solution daily. Stupid genetics. Anyways, they had to take out an existing cracked filling, because a cavity had formed beneath it. When all was said and done, my dentist looked me in the eye and told me there's a chance the procedure killed my nerve. In that case I'd need a root canal scheduled next week. But only if the pain gets out of control in the coming days. I should have been worriedly thinking about how painful root canals can be, but instead I was in tears about maxing my credit card, which this will do if I have to get the work done.

And then this morning, when J.D. left to go golfing with his coworkers, he freaked out and told me the garage was flooded due to a crack in the hot water heater. We've already had issues with this FIVE YEAR OLD HOUSE in the past month. Our HOA hates us, with neighbors continually complaining about Woodstock's "bark" (he only barks three times and then stops and he's an indoor dog, so he only goes outside to do his business). One anonymous cowardly neighbor left a pleasant note that we had recently done yardwork (ourselves, can't afford a gardner) and needed to pick up all the leaves before they blew into their yard. A.) We picked up all the major branches and clippings... B.) it had been windy the night after, so lots of dead flowers and leaves naturally fell off our bushes in the first place. My solution? I stole rocks from their frontyard and buried what few leaves were still on the ground in our rocks. You want passive-aggressive? You got it! Then one of our sprinkler heads seemed to be broken and our water wasn't turning off. The landlord tried to make US pay for the repairs.... I'm over this house!!!

Anyways, while I wait for my water heater to be replaced and the return of hot water, I'm going to close my eyes and enjoy another piece of this tasty pumpkin banana nut bread. Pumpkin spice and banana nut bread are my two favorite muffin flavors, so clearly this was a good marriage.

PUMPKIN BANANA NUT BREAD

Ingredients:

• 4 c all-purpose flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 2 t ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t ground allspice
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
• 3 ripe mashed bananas
• 1 1/2 c vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 c applesauce
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 c granulated white sugar
• 3/4 c brown sugar, packed
• 1 c chopped walnuts

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and salt until combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, bananas, yogurt, oil, eggs, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the flour mixture, half at a time, and beat on medium until combined. Fold in walnuts.

Divide batter between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes NOTE: I used one large loaf pan and ended up needing about 63 minutes to cook it all. After the 45 minutes, poke the middle of your bread and check to make sure it's not crazy gooey inside.

The One That Got Away

Yesterday needed to be an exciting, busy day for me to get my mind off a phone call that started my morning. I received what I imagine would have been the perfect job for me and for where I'm at right now. Except.... it was in Nevada. I'm in Arizona. I interviewed over the phone and then was flown out to Reno to meet all the co-workers and coaches who would be working with this position. It was very enticing. I was sold immediately upon my flight out to Reno.

But the mind can play some gnarly tricks on you when you've steadily been unemployed for the better part of three months. I really wanted the job. I still do. However, it was not practical for me and my situation so I had a long inner struggle trying to figure out whether or not I should take the opportunity. In order to keep my mind from exploding, I tried to keep busy with J.D. and Woodstock, allowing a day to really explore the Phoenix area and what I would be missing if I took that job.

We spent the afternoon picnic-ing and hiking around South Mountain Park, a network of regional mountain trails that overlooks Downtown Phoenix and the entire Valley of the Sun.

Sometimes a girl just needs some time alone with her dog to think.

By the end of the day, I'd talked to enough people who've done the long distance thing in favor of a job, I spoke with former co-workers, friends and family. The results came back split. I needed a break for dinner. Spaghetti squash it was then, with a zucchini asparagus marinara sauce atop. As delicious as it was, I was too nervous to eat.

Eventually I went to bed, tossing and turning and dreading the call I'd have to make in the a.m. With a heavy heart, I decided to turn down the position this morning. But, I freaked out. When the director didn't answer, I left a voicemail. How cowardly was that?!? Who leaves a voicemail??? Either way, I'm still hopelessly unemployed and in search of the right opportunity. It's so hard when companies aren't hiring and the positions I've applied for online keep getting reposted in search of new candidates. I wonder if I'm going to find as good a job in this area as what Reno had promised me...

It's funny because I've up and left so many times in my life for jobs that promised very uncertain futures. I packed up and moved to France with no idea where I'd be living. After living in Europe, I jumped into a job in collegiate athletics, a career that would be extremely demanding, despite not really having any previous experience in the field. I up and left my job in Stockton to move to Arizona with no promise of employment anywhere on the horizon. I've seemed to land on my feet each time. But I decided not to take the leap in this specific situation.

I just hope I made the right call; it takes a lot of courage to say no to a job you really want. Now I'm going to drown my sorrows in an afternoon of baking. Sleeping in late didn't help elevate my confidence level today. Maybe pumpkin banana bread will do the trick.

100 Never Looked So Good

While I've struggled a lot this year, I guess I can finally say I made it to 100 miles since I picked up running again back in April. However, my struggles still continued into 100 miles. I really haven't ran more than three or four times since I injured my knee at the end of June. The last few attempts have been feeble at best. I like to call it more of an interval walk-jog effort. And it's going to stay that way until I find a job and can afford physical therapy to properly rehab my knee back to jogging comfortably.

Lucky for me, my most recent "run" that put me over the 100-mark was pretty leisurely. Last Sunday (10-10-10), a couple of my friends from Arizona State talked me into participating in the Tour de Fat's 'Stache Dash. I was feeling up for some costume action, free food, the alleged two bottles of free beer at the end to all who participate and of course, the donation to fund cancer research.

J.D. and I jog-walked the entire 3.1 mile course around Tempe Town "Lake" -- read here to get more information on why I've quoted that. The rest of our group sported a soundtrack of 70s and 80s rock hits that blared out loud along the entire course. It was glorious. The only thing about the day that really sucked (besides my old lady knee) was the lack of beer at the finish line. Apparently the website said nothing about Tempe's inability to secure a permit for alcohol on the race day. Too bad... A vanilla milkshake at lunch lifted my spirits pretty high in the absence of beer.

I think we finished around the 38-minute mark. Keep in mind the last time I entered a 5K race, I set a PR of just over 22 minutes. Quite the difference haha. The race was ugly, and I'm not talking about our time!! There were mullets, mustache ride signs, jean shorts (jorts) on men, nasty stains in inappropriate places and skin tight Reno 911 cop costumes. My eyes are still burning.

My outfit was pretty tame. Originally I was going to do the 'stache on the finger trick, but I was promised a fake 'stache when I arrived. However, it was a 2 p.m. run in nearly 100 degree heat -- a terrible idea if I you ask me! My faux facial hair didn't last very long. It got too sweaty and itchy and I'm pretty sure I inhaled some polyester fibers along the way.

Before

After, not a good look for me.

Ready at the starting line to get our 'stache dash on.

The race was actually the second time J.D. and I had explored Tempe Beach Park . The week prior, we made an appearance at Tempe Oktoberfest! It was kind of cheezy, but fun and we had some interesting food. And tasted some amazing beer, as would be expected.

Again we didn't stay too long due to the raging heat, but we were still able to enjoy the day's festivities. There was a cover band, midway with rides and games, German passport booth for the kiddies, large beer steins to be purchased and food and drinks galore.

A Belgian wheat, brat with sauerkraut and a really authentic.... ballpark pretzel.

J.D. enjoying his dog sans kraut. He also purchased a Sam Adam's Oktoberfest beer which we've been intent on finding in the grocery store to stock the fridge this month!

Eventually we couldn't take the heat, despite a cold beverage each. So we joined J.D.'s parents inside the air conditioned bar across the street, watched a little football and split a real authentic Bavarian seasonal beer for the low price of $2. If you ever find this at BevMo, purchase IMMEDIATELY:

We'd like to keep the German/beer theme going this month. Apparently in Glendale there is a restaurant very much like the Hofbräuhaus in Munich and Vegas -- both of which I have been to! It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and is having a seasonal festival this weekend and next weekend as well. I HAVE to check this place out!

Prost!!

leisurely

I'm Eight Again :)

I keep seeing commercials for a DVD that just came out this week.

And it takes me back to when I was eight years old and LOVED BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

(Source)

Seriously, I went crazy for this movie. I think I watched the VHS so much, it skipped in parts where the tape got messed up. I had a Beauty and the Beast sleeping bag, I think a tent, stickers, wall posters, you name it. I had it.

(I was even Belle for Halloween one year)

And now that the DVD is out and I don't have any Disney VHS tapes from my childhood (or the capability to play any of them), I kind of want this movie.

I might buy it and watch it soon :) ....Or steal it off the Internet....

What's your favorite Disney movie?

Lucky me

I've come to the conclusion that I've interviewed for at least 11 jobs now. Obviously none of those have materialized. (If you stick with me, there's a fancy dinner show towards the end...) When I first moved here, I had interviews for three jobs in the first two weeks alone. Some never called me back, but for a few I moved on to finalist status. Then a few weeks passed before I heard anything positive back from my applications. Mid-September, I had interviews for three jobs in one single week. Then I never heard back. Now, almost a month later, I have the potential for three more jobs..... (And a pending application to be a substitute teacher!!)

As J.D. says, when it rains it pours. On the other side of that, the desert can have some pretty brutal droughts. So I'm hoping I land some sort of employment soon. I'm still struggling to pay my monthly bills....

However, I did manage to have some luck gambling at an Indian casino this weekend (with someone else's money). I don't gamble. I prefer city lights to the artificial twinkle of smoke-filled casinos. But when I do gamble, $10 for example, I'll tell myself to quit if my losings dip below $5. It's all about setting limits. Especially when you don't have any money at all. Which is why I'm not going to go clothes shopping again until I have a job. Gambling $20 iIinherited from J.D.'s parents this weekend, I opted to only do the minimum on a video poker machine. Usually you have options of spending 5-10 times the $0.25 it takes to play. Obviously, the more you spend the more you could win. Figuring, what the heck, I'll go one over the minimum, I got a hand with two Aces. I held those cards and then suddenly, two more aces made their way into my next hand. Four aces. ♣♥♠♦ So with my one over the limit, I had three rows of four aces......

It's only the second time this has happened to me. (I've only gambled twice. I think in total I've spent 15 minutes gambling, spending only about $13 to get to my winnings.) So basically, I can afford some of the rent this month....

Back to my real life, I've been pretty lucky too. J.D. and I celebrated one of his days off with a fabulous tapas dinner about a week ago. Thanks to the Foodbuzz Challenge -- which I've been voted off *pouts* -- I've had the opportunity to expose my talents to international cooking. And I'm loving it. I want to keep cooking foods I've never made before. It's been such a blast! It's been a week in the making, but here's the line-up:

White Sangria with Grand Marnier! This concoction will be a whole separate post within itself :) So look for that in a future entry!

Pre-made Bruschetta -- on sale!!!

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes with Garlic and Shallots....

....From a tapas book!

Prosciutto-wrapped Cantaloupe

Tropical Spanish Salad

Honey Herb Roasted Chicken Bites

Gambas al Ajillo

All together now!

Someone was a little jealous.

All dressed up for a night in. So fun (and saved us some major spending).

And don't think I forgot about dessert. We finished the night with some fried dough.

Doesn't sound good? Well, how do Churros con Chocolate sound?! Because they were amazing... for the next three days haha.

Now I'm inspired by our new IKEA desk to start scrapbooking! I've never had a scrapbook set-up before and now it's on! Yay :)

Thanks for putting up with my crazy random update today :)

I'm not crazy

...right??

J.D. enjoyed a mixed drink after dinner last night and I got pretty excited. A far cry from the usual glass of wine or bottle of beer with a meal. I think I even cried out, "I didn't realize it was cocktail time!!" before springing for the stainless steel cocktail shaker in the kitchen.

Before I knew it, the Rosemary Bellinitini was born out of my crazed head. We had half a bottle of peach purée in the fridge, an entire bag of rosemary from the last time I trimmed the hedges in the yard, and a pretty untouched bottle of Swedish clementine vodka. Money.

I mixed up what I thought would be a winning combination before spitting it out into the sink. You see, I'm pretty sensitive to the strength of alcohol. Shoot, I'm good to go after two drinks, tops. So you can see how a regular martini could be a bit much for me.

Modifications were in order. And I whipped up my first ever batch of simple syrup. Here is the final product of my 30 minute laboring:

(In my haste this was the only picture of the concoction shot -- from my iPhone)

Rosemary Bellinitini

• 2 oz. Clementine vodka
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
• 1 oz. peach purée
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 2 sprigs of rosemary

Toss two sprigs of rosemary into a cocktail shaker, making sure the needles don't fall of the stems. Then add about two handfuls of ice, to ensure your drink stays nice and cold. Add in the remaining wet ingredients, cover and shake vigorously. Garnish with rosemary if you wish and enjoy.

Maybe next time I'll throw some sparkling wine into the mix...

(Source)

Oh yeah, during the next three days, voting is OPEN for Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog! Whether you're a member or not, please go here and help me move on to the next round :) Then I'll show you a celebration that puts this drink to shame.

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Before we dive into this, I sincerely wanted to thank everyone who read and voted for my first entry in the Project Food Blog Challenge! I am so humbled and excited to have made it to the next round. Me, an amateur cook! :)

With that being said, Round 2 prompts us to "tackle a classic dish from another culture" that is "outside of your comfort zone" -- uh oh.

Obviously French food is no-go for me in this round, given my French heritage and the fact that I grew up on crêpes! Italian would be way too easy. Lately I've been playing around with Asian dishes, so I think that, too, had been ruled out.

I fear that leaves me with Moroccan tagine, dear readers. Used by the nomadic Twarg people in the Moroccan desert, a tagine is typically a portable oven, conical pot and serving dish all-in-one. All the ingredients are cooked together in this vessel keeping all the flavor inside the dish. The name tagine also now refers to the combination of stewed meat with various vegetables, dried fruits and nuts.

(Source)

While my feet have never landed on Moroccan soil, I like to think I know a thing or two about its traditional cuisine. And hey, I'm a desert dweller myself! Although half of my dad's family is French, the other half is of Moroccan descent. Without a doubt, I want to dedicate this post to my French-Moroccan family, past and present. It is entirely because of them that I even have a second entry!

(Source)

Of Jewish heritage, my family fled European and African soil during and after WWII. They landed here, in America. Through the original members who immigrated here the branches of my family tree have spread from the East Coast, up into French Canada and to my direct family on the West Coast.

Whenever big milestones happened on my father's side of the family, we would always celebrate at Moroccan restaurants! The kind where you sit on pillows and eat with your hands. As a little girl, I dug that. I still do today.

The very first time I dined at a Moroccan restaurant was in California with my great-uncle, Maurice. We had a mini family reunion several years later to meet our Canadian family and guess where we ate? Would you believe me if I said a Moroccan restaurant in Montréal?? When my dad and I coincidentally moved to France to pursue separate jobs in 2007 we'd meet halfway in between our towns and catch up at swanky French restaurants and eateries owned by Moroccan and Algerian immigrants. Although I fancy myself an avid lover of Moroccan cuisine, I've never tackled it myself. I think I'm more apprehensive to make/ruin Moroccan food because I know how it should taste. And I want to do my family's heritage justice.

I watched my mom make it time and time again as a little girl and it's unfortunate I've waited 25 years to create my own Moroccan dish!

So here it goes. My first ever attempt at Moroccan Chicken Tagine.

It's really not as scary as it sounds! Moroccan food is lovely. It has far away spices with incredibly complex aromas and flavors that instantly wrap me in memories of my family.

And belly dancers.

My dad, the restaurant's belly dancer and my great-uncle -- in Montréal

But seriously. It really doesn't have to be that difficult to make. Most grocery stores already have boxed couscous with spice blends and marinades. Just fluff couscous up like rice, heat the sauce, add meat and voilà -- you have a semi-home made tagine with couscous. You don't even need a tagine to make the dish at home. Clean-up and prep are very simple because everything goes in one pan. Although, it wouldn't hurt to have a tagine dish to make it look absolutely beautiful and authentic ;) I should have "accidentally packed" my mom's tagine before I moved down to Arizona. Now if you're ready to try it entirely on your own...

Moroccan Chicken Tagine * adapted from Simply Recipes:

• 2 t paprika
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1 t tumeric
• 1 t curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 pieces of chicken (I used about 4 thighs)
• Salt
• 1 medium to large sweet potato
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• Lemon peels, cut into thin strips
• 1 c green olives, pitted
• 1 c water
• 1/2 c raisins
• 1/4 c dried black currants
• 1/4 c dried apricot
• 1/4 c chopped cilantro

Directions: Heat one cup of water on the stove. Once the water comes to a boil, add all the spices. Reduce heat and let simmer over a medium low flame until the mixture thickens. Thaw/dry chicken pieces and marinate in about half of the spice mixture for 35 minutes to an hour in the fridge.

While the chicken is marinating, peel and chop the sweet potato. In a large pan heat olive oil on medium high heat. After the meat is done marinating, add the chicken with the marinade to brown chicken for five minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic, sweet potato and onions. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

Turn chicken over. Add the lemon peels, olives, dried fruit and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender. When it is the meat should shred easily into bite-sized pieces.

Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serves 4 to 6. Serve atop a plate of couscous and enjoy!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To go with my tagine I made a quick Feggous and Tomato salad, the recipe for which can be found here.

As I said earlier, Moroccan food is not eaten with utensils! So serving the meal with a piece of flat bread offered a creative way of eating the veggie salad.

And of course, no Moroccan meal is complete without sweet mint tea!

This was such an amazing journey. Thank you to all the people at Foodbuzz, the judges and of course, my wonderful readers for giving me a chance to move to this round and explore my family's cuisine! Oh yeah, and also the excuse to purchase some beautifully-hand painted dishes for my collection.

Now it's your turn! Give it a try :) Morocco doesn't have to be as far off as it seems. I can almost smell the fruity hookah wafting through the air...

Like what you see? Then please vote for my entry at Foodbuzz (and sign up if you're not a member)! Voting runs from Sept. 27 to the 30th.

♥ This post is in memory of my Moroccan grandfather and my great-uncle. I miss them! Thank you for helping to bring me up with vast horizons. Someday, I would like to visit the land you once called home.

Thank you • merci • shukran • شكرا