Meme!

I saw this on The Ice Floe, and thought it looked like fun.

1. My aunt once rescued me from a swimming pool.

2. Never in my life have I, or will I, go bungee jumping.

3. When I was five we had pictures taken of me to mirror pictures taken of my mother at that age.

4. High school was not a particularly enjoyable experience, and I walked away from it after graduation and never looked back.

5. I will never forget my wedding day.

6. Once I met Karen Kain.

7. There’s this boy I know who's magnificently full of sass.

8. Once, at a bar, I realized how much I don't like bars.

9. By noon, I have to get a huge amount of work done.

10. Last night I made my first-ever quiche.

11. If only I had a very large shoe budget.

12. Next time I go to church will be tonight for choir practice.

13. What worries me most... I have to identify just one thing?

14. When I turn my head left I see a blue jay in a sombrero.

15. When I turn my head right I see a picture of my husband in Prairie City's river valley.

16. You know I’m lying if my nose grows.

17. What I miss most about the Eighties is mismatched neon socks.

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be Virgilia.

19. By this time next year I hope that we live in a bigger house.

20. A better name for me would be the ANTI-CLUTTER!

21. I have a hard time understanding the difference between baroque style and renaissance style.

22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll do a Masters in Post-Secondary education.

23. You know I like you if if I invite you over for wine.

24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be my husband.

25. Take my advice, never wear silver earrings in -40 degree weather.

26. My ideal breakfast is Eggs Benedict.

27. A song I love but do not have is the ukulele version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow from the movie 50 First Dates.

28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest going to the Farmer's Market.

29. Why won’t people SIGNAL, for crying out loud.

30. If you spend a night at my house, you might have feline visitors in the middle of the night.

31. I’d stop my wedding for a family member in need.

32. The world could do without campaign ads.

33. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than ... I'm not sure there's anything that qualifies. Cockroaches are gross.

34. My favorite blondie is WonderHubby!

35. Paper clips are more useful than a punch in the nose.

36. If I do anything well it’s write lists and organize things.

37. I can’t help but eat candy.

38. I usually cry when I'm angry.

39. My advice to my nephew/niece is to look for opportunities to be happy, rather than opportunities to be unhappy.

40. And by the way the key question is, "Is this doing any real harm?" If not, then maybe it's not worth fussing about. Let it go.

Inevitabilities

There is a direct connection between the duet from the Pearl Fishers and my tear ducts.... I just can't help it.

Cold Sore Update and a Recipe

Cold sore update... doesn't that sound appetizing? Anyway, the cold sore is healing, but of course, tailing behind it is the inevitable cold itself. Nuts. So far, I'm not feeling too bad, though my throat is sore and my nose is running. I'm hoping to be able to hold it off for at least a couple of days until Thursday, when I don't have any meetings and could take the day off if I needed to. The sore throat was one of a number of factors, another being a four-legged feline with sharp teeth, that conspired to keep me from sleeping well last night, which probably won't help.

Anyway, on to more interesting topics, there are a number of bloggers out there who take advantage of Tuesdays to share recipes on their blogs (Trader Tuesdays). I have read many of these recipes with great interest, and thought that perhaps I should step up with the "sharing" part of the game, and provide some of my own too!

This is the recipe I use for Rack of Lamb, and I got it and adapted it from www.allrecipes.com.
WH and I make this when we feel like we have something to celebrate; it's lovely with a nice glass (or bottle) of red wine, and I usually make it with mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable I have on hand.

Roasted Rack of Lamb

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of fresh bread crumbs
Garlic Powder to taste (or fresh, if you prefer... I just tend to be lazy)
Rosemary to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 (7 bone) rack of lamb, trimmed and frenched
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

Preheat oven to 450F. (This is not a great recipe to make in the summer, as the kitchen gets hot!) In a bowl, mix bread crumbs, garlic powder, rosemary, salt and pepper. Toss in 2 Tbsp of olive oil to moisten and set aside.

Season the rack all over with salt and pepper. (It is possible to over-salt this dish, given the salt in the breadcrumb mixture too, so go easy!) Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in an oven-proof cast iron skillet over high heat. Sear the rack of lamb for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Remove from heat, and set aside for a few minutes. Brush rack of lamb with mustard, and roll it in the bread crumb mixture. Cover the ends of the bones with foil to prevent charring.

Lay the rack bone-side down in the skillet and roast it in the preheated oven for 12-18 minutes (I usually do about 15 or 16 minutes for medium rare.) Let it rest for 5 minutes before carving between the ribs. Enjoy with mint jelly!

An Update

Not much to report, really, but I thought I should throw something on the blog so that nobody would think that I'd disappeared entirely....

• I have a cold sore on my bottom lip. It is gross, and it hurts.
  
• Ever since CBC Radio 2 took all their good programming and threw it in the garbage in favour of... well... garbage, I've been listening to Concerts on Demand via the internet. Found a lovely Tafelmusik concert this morning!
  
• My new iPod Touch has introduced me to the wonderful world of baseball podcasts....
  
• Speaking of, how about the Jays, winners of 8 in a row!
• Chamber Choir starts tonight, and Orchestral Choir starts tomorrow. And then Pro Choir starts on Wednesday for WH. The only thing left to get going is curling for WH, which doesn't start until later in the fall.
  
• I am so happy to be singing again. It fills my heart and soul with joy.
• I have been hired to sing Ave Maria (Schubert) at a wedding in a couple of weeks. Yay!
  
• Considering how busy it is already, and how much busier it is going to get, I feel GREAT!

How are you doing?

Oh Dear...

So this was the scene on my way to work this morning at Very Busy Intersection on my route. I witnessed the scene unfold, but was not part of it, which I'm grateful for.

So, Car A is heading west straight through the intersection, Car B is turning left from the other direction to go north. I'm not sure how late Car A was, whether the light was yellow or red or what, but Car A and Car B ran into each other. The accident was not serious, as they made contact right on their respective noses, but enough to scratch. The driver of Car B, who was HUGE, screamed at the driver of Car A to back up, because both cars were now blocking oncoming traffic heading north. So Car A backed up, at which point Car B took off. (Bastard)

Car A was able to back up enough to let the oncoming traffic past her, which was good, but as we've all experienced, it's never a good feeling to have your nose even slightly protruding into a busy intersection. So understandably, when her light turned green, the driver of Car A put the gas pedal right down to the floor.

Except she was still in reverse.

So she charged backwards at a high rate of speed, right into the car behind her. SMASH.

This, I think, is a clear sign that once the situation is resolved, you should just go home and go back to bed.

A Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you for not naming me Bristol.

Love,

Chorus.

Farewell, Summer!!

The long days of summer have (un)officially passed...

WH teaches his first class this morning, a first-year survey course in Music History. Church Choir rehearsals start tomorrow evening (with two new members, and one returning after a year-long absence!), and Chamber Choir and Orchestral Choir will have their first rehearsals next week. WH also has rehearsals for Professional Choir starting next week. Before long, we'll be going full-tilt.

Wheeeeeeeeeee!