Savory Sundays: Mojito Chicken Salad

The weather down here has been really hot and summery, which has had me thinking about grilling, eating out on the patio table, and drinking yummy mojitos in the warm summer air. And even though it’s still April, and despite the fact that we have are having the sweltering summer days with chilly spring evenings, I know that this salad with it’s mandarin orange pieces, tangy/sweet dressing, and sweet grilled chicken will definitely get you ready for the summer evenings that are sure to come in the next few months.

Happy pseudo-summer everyone

<3 and harp strings,
Kate

Sweet Saturdays: Peach Cobbler

Ack! I am so excited! I finally have my computer back up so now I get to share with you all a new blog post (because it has been weeks… darn you move/school) and I get to start one of my goals, which is Sweet Saturdays!!

Before I get to the recipe, let me delve into a little (and by little I secretly mean a lot) of what’s been going on in my crazy-busy-hectic life as of late.

5 weeks ago I started 16 credits of classes at my local junior college. I am currently taking:

Music Fundamentals (Mus 101) -I have been in the world of music since I was 4 years old. So all of this stuff is really REALLY easy to me, but in some places my theory skills are lacking, so I would really like to make those places where I am lacking second nature for when I move onto Music Theory 1. That’s not to say that I couldn’t be in Music Theory 1 and succeed, because I totally could. It’s just that they quickly go over all of the things you learned in fundamentals in one week, then jump right into it. I was looking for an easier class to review my basics (and so I wouldn’t have to work so hard on this class so I could put more time into my other classes ).

Intro to Psychology (Psyc 101) -This class is… interesting. I absolutely love my professor, and she keeps the class pretty interesting (thankfully). We had our first exam in the class (that I happened to be until 3:45am that morning working on my cheat sheet that we’re allowed to have — 8 1/2″ x 11″, hand written, both sides — the tip of my pointer finger was flat for the whole next day because of how quickly/small I was writing to cram every possible thing I could need on that cheat sheet) and I did really well! I got a 96% on the exam, and my professor even used my essay as an example of what to do in order to get full credit!!! I was so happy

Physical Anthropology (Anth 101) – I am still a little worried about this class because it is one I definitely have to work a little harder in, but so far I have a 90% in the class, so that’s a good thing!! I do enjoy going to lectures though because it’s pretty interesting, plus I met someone in there who I know is going to be one of my best friends! She is so much like me it’s kind of scary (the most impressive is that her parents had her when they were in their 40s just like mine, so all of her siblings are considerably older too! I haven’t met anyone else in that situation before lol), and on this coming Friday she and I are going to Disneyland! Yay

Elementary Algebra (Math 090) -Another stupidly easy class for me I tested into Intermediate Algebra (Math 096), but there were 2 issues with that. 1)The computer system for my school said I “didn’t meet the prerequisites for that course” even though I tested into the damn class, and 2)The professor I wanted for math had his Math 096 class completely waitlisted, but I could still get into his Math 090 class, so… just like in Music Fundamentals, I’m using this class as a way to “review” everything before moving on to Intermediate Algebra, plus it is another really freaking easy class so I can focus my studies elsewhere.

Plus, my professor is HILARIOUS. Seriously. Not like, in a dorky math-joke kind of way. But in the actual, he is dorky and funny and you learn stuff about the real world at the same time kind of way. He ROCKS and makes me actually want to come to math. Which is weird. Because it’s math. Ew. But yay for my professor! lol

and History of World Civilization to 1500 – I am really liking this class! I had this professor last semester (before I had to withdraw from all of my classes because of mom passing ) and I loved him! For anyone reading this that went to high school with me and remembers Mr. Green, my professor seriously looks like he could be his twin, and talks the same way, cussing and all (minus the British accent). It’s really kind of weird, but I like it because Mr. Green was amazing. I am also lucking out in this class because we have SI (Supplemental Instruction) for it, so an hour before class starts, SI begins and is led by a student at the school who has taken the class before and aced it, and is familiar with the professor. We play learning games (like memory) and it’s really helping because with the move, we haven’t had the money to actually buy my history book… >_> lol We have our first exam on Tuesday, so hopefully I will get an A!

Alright, I know that took forever, but if you’re still with me, I’m almost ready for the Peach Cobbler, I promise!

Mixed Berry Tart

Last Sunday was our first family dinner that we had had in a while. Sad, I know. Everyone’s just been so extremely busy lately, and my dad has hardly been home on weekends because he’s been going out with friends and eating out (less cleanup for me! LOL). But finally I put my foot down and insisted that he stay home on Sunday night since I was going to be trying out 2 new recipes on him and Carrie, Jeff, and the boys.

The first was this yummy crockpot recipe which turned out super yummy!

The second was a Mixed Berry Tart that I had found at the Williams-Sonoma website.

This tart was amazing. I swear it.

The crust was like shortbread. Carrie actually suggested that I could make the crust dough and just put it in pan, bake it, and slice it up to eat on its own.

*Lightbulb!!*

I will definitely be trying this at some point

Farmers Market Trip

Today I decided that I wanted to go to our local Farmers Market. I hadn’t been to one in a few years; the last one I went to was within walking distance of my old house, but we would usually stop there on Sunday’s after mass on our way back home. Unfortunately, I wasn’t interested in anything about it, other than getting out of there so I could get back home as soon as possible because I was b-o-r-e-d.

Gosh I led such an exciting life a few years ago…

TJ and I got to the market at about noon, which really isn’t the best time to go. It was already really hot (almost 90 degrees F), so walking around was not so much fun because I was starting to sweat like a pig (yuck!). It was totally worth it though. Check out what they had!