Me oh My!

Peru. One of my top regional preferences.

P.S.

I've already made it to the next step- I've been asked to come in for an interview with the local Peace Corps recruiter. Eeeeeek!!!

Wish me luck!

Rockin' Thanksgiving

Volunteering for project turkey made me feel all warm inside. All of the food boxes were decorated by children- sooo cute. There were TONS of volunteers and I'm glad I did my little part. 

I have a whole new appreciation for all of the work my mother does every Turkey day. 

All of the foods I made were a success and yum-yum-yummy. 

           

One pumpkin pie

One pecan pie

One broccoli and rice casserole (My favorite evah!)

Stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with love, of course)

Homemade cranberry sauce

Chipotle deviled eggs (Thanks, Noah)

Mashed potaters

Jess made the turkey, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, and brought sweet potatoes to bake. 

                                                         

The only things I missed out on was Karen Chesnut's chexy/peanut butter goodness, my mom's millionaire pie, and giblet gravy. 

                                                                                                                     Animal apron worn ALL DAY!

                                                         

My helper pal Noah (with apron) did the eggs and cleaned the shrooms.

I was glad that the boys we cooked for were really really appreciative. (They gave us a round of applause and ate 'til they wanted to puke).  Five of the boys came in from Portland to play shows in Dallas and Austin with their band, The Dead Trees. On Saturday they will be playing at The Parish, and you should check them out! 

Table cloth and everything! We're so fancy!

It's funny, at my family thanksgivings, everybody eats and then the guys all sit around and watch football. This year wasn't so different, only these boys sat around playing rock band and the wii. 

(His yeller shirt says "Eat Turkey, feel perky!"...love it!)

It's quite entertaining watching actual musicians play games like Rock Band. (Breezing through songs on expert level) It made me feel really un-talented. 

We all played Scene It twice in teams. The boys were serious about winning. I didn't contribute much, as I hadn't seen 80% of the movies. 

Then we ate more turkey. (Leona ate her giant bone)

And my belly and I went to sleep. 

But now it's a new day! My pal Cavason who works at Paggi House brought me some of their bread pudding and OH MY GAWD it's the best bread pudding I've ever had in my life. I want to cry. So now I've got an itching to try their food food. mmmmmm. Can't get enough. 

Let yer food settle and have a happy, restful weekend!

Gobble Gobble!!

Happy Gobble-Gobble Day!!!

Let us all have a moment of silence, and reflect on what we are thankful for. 

Also, let us look back and learn from our past mistakes. 

The scene of a Turkey Fry gone wrong. 

My stepdad Mike post-hospital visit. 

Thanksgiving can be dangerous even the most experienced turkey friers. 

Cherish your loved ones. 

Be Safe!

Unzip your pants- 

and Chow down!!

Gobbles-o-plenty

I will be in Austin for Thanksgiving break this year.
I will be trying to finish all school work. Exemplar party anyone??
I will try to volunteer at this on Thanksgiving morning. I think it'll make me feel all warm inside.
I will be having Gobble-Gobble meal with these people. I can't wait!!

Planes and Trains and Lion Manes

Sunday: Adventure Day!!

A Balsa wood flyer just for me. Some assembly required.

It was awfully windy. I was nervous for my little guy.

It took a spirally nose dive

It's final resting place

A gourd was found!! And named Hairy. And added to my collection.

My Dinner

Ahhh, the life of a college student. 

At least it's not Ramen?

At least I'm being productive, giving me no time to care. 

I finished my initial Peace Corps application. 

I will be working my tail off the next (and last) two weeks of school. 

Bah!!

Edible Happiness

An ongoing list of my favorite foods and restaurants.  Better buttermilk biscuits by SHAELA NAY- Odessa/Albany Texas :) Sushi- all types, colors, shapes and sizes- Various Locations Bread pudding from Eddie V's- Austin, Texas Fajita with queso or chips and queso from Rosa's- Odessa,Texas (BEST queso EVER) Fried green tomatoes and fried pickles from Jo-Jo's- Odessa, Texas Brunch from Moonshine- Austin, Texas BBQ from Cooper's- Llano, Texas Longhorn rolls at Kyoto- Austin, Texas (I know, NOT sushi, but they have their place!) Breakfast BURRITOS from Fajitas and More- Odessa, Texas My mother's Tortilla soup and beef rouladin tuna and avacado tartare movie theatre popcorn with butter (a guilty pleasure, really) Sam's aka Stouffer's party-sized meat lasagna fresh baked semi-gooey banana bread avocados, asparagus, raw green beans, purple grapes, watermelon raw oysters on the half shell grandma's food= chicken fried steak, fried okra (corn meal batter), potato cakes my grandma's red velvet cake buttermilk iced cookies from DJ's- Odessa, Texas gnocchi from Starlite- Austin, Texas Chocolate cake from Johnny Carinos- most cities cheesy garlicky corny grits homemade pickles from Starlite- Austin, Texas Homemade Ciabatta by Chef Boy- Austin, Texas Hambooger from the meat market- Odessa, Texas Bread pudding from Paggi House- Austin, Texas to be continued.....

When life hands you lemons

Make Leona-Lemon.

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

I'm in a bit of a funk. 

I think it's the stoo-pid weather. (40 in the morning 75 in the afternoon?!?)

I think it's the semester coming to a close. 

I think it's a lot of things. 

But I really just think I'm going to post some pictures I took last year. 

Em and I, Florida

My MeeMaw

Wildflower Center, Austin

Florida

I want to try Remember When buttermilk. 

I want this for Christmas. 

Sweet Street Beats

Friday:  Indian food at Swad and a trip to the Indian grocery next door. I wanted to buy EVERYTHING.... I will be returning. Swad has never let me down, and is definitely my favorite Indian food restaurant in town. I'm not sure if it is on the menu, but the servers carried out crepes folded into a tube shape that were over 3 feet long! Wowsuh!

Saturday: Got a ticket while parked in the C-lot on campus. Had to go do a paper at the PCL and there was NO parking. Boo. Being a good student cost me $25.00.

Volunteered at Art from the Streets. I was shocked at the amount of work there. And the amount of art I wanted to purchase. I limited myself to $100. 

Debbie Vargas

Jeremiah- I had to get some food related art. 

I talked to several of the artists, my favorite was Mr. Sauvage, AKA Ms. Sauvage, Mr. Wild, and Ms. Wild. "Drummer, Artist and Fashion Diva."

He didn't actually talk, so we had a conversation with she/he writing on a piece of paper. I asked if I could take a picture of the work with him in front- he kindly agreed and made sure to carefully adjust his bosoms before I snapped the photo. 

Art I bought by Mr. Wild-It has "Wrestling, WWE, Jackie, and 2004 written on it. 

Don't think I'll be able to  hang it in my classroom.

Another artist and I had a long conversation about Mexico and salsa dancing. And another, who actually is pretty well off and has shows every now and then around town (he charged over $500 for his work) talked about art at the University and how hard it is to 'make it' as an artist.

 Sergio Rodriguez

I'd really like to volunteer at Arch. And was mildly amused as I walked to my car at all of the overt harassment I received from the men in line to get into the shelter for the night. 

I haven't eaten all day. I think I'm going to eat some Phở, yo. 

More O-My-Gawds.

I am Jennifer.
I am a "student technician" at U.T.
I use my cubicle time to find images on other's blogs to make your day.

Who doesn't want happy lunch meat??

Krispy Creme Luther Burgers

Organic Bacon Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake

Have a wonderful, happy-schnappy weekend!

It don't mean a thing, if it Aint got that swing!

Oh my gawd this is funny.

http://cooktobang.com/

Almost as funny as this one.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

I'm going swing dancing now. Haven't been in months so I'm a little rusty. Everyone in Austin should try this at least once. Free lessons at 8:15!!

Help me Help you!

Everybody in my classroom management class is basically guaranteed a B. 

There is an optional, completely open project that is due at the end of the semester if we want to try and earn an A. 

I'm going to earn my A. 

But I need your help. 

If you would like to help me and my grade, please send your SNAIL mail address to:

Passivepastry@yahoo.com

You may or may not receive something cooler than this foil sculpture of a golfing snail.

You will not be disappointed. :)

Love and Scholars, 

Jennifer

The Magic of Cookies.

Meet Gabe. 

I babysit him on some Wednesdays while his mom does (or teaches) yoga. Sometimes I also babysit his older brother Max. We typically play in Shipe Park a while, walk around Hyde Park, and then meet up with his dad at Quacks. 

Here is a story of a boy and his orange sprinkled, shortbread, leaf-shaped cookie: