Scrumptious Recipes

Here is where I share some quite delightful recipes I have collected.

This classic Lebanese recipe for Tabouli salad from my hippy cookbook "The New Laurel's Kitchen" by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal. It's gotta' be one of the most refreshing tastes I've ever had in my mouth and one of my all-time favorite foods (and....it's dang good for you, too!)

Tabouli

Ingredients:
3 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups raw bulgur wheat
1/2 cup cooked white beans
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 teaspoons chopped
fresh mint leaves
juice of at least 2 lemons
1/4-1/2 cups chopped parsley

Directions:
Bring water to boil with salt. Add bulgar and return to boil. Remove from heat, cover pot tightly, and set aside for 15 minutes.
Drain off any excess water and chill the grain. Toss thoroughly with all ingredients, adjusting salt and lemon if needed.
Makes 6 generous servings.
I like to spoon some onto crisp romaine lettuce leaves and eat it that way.


Since Christmas is now over and y'all might just have some leftover cranberries a hangin' on your tree (that really ought to be down by now...I mean, come on...), I have a recipe for cranberry salsa that I just love. It's spicy and sweet and tangy all at the same time, and it is quite wonderful to look at that beautiful cranberry color! (It's really a Brannon-found recipe, but me being the second oldest in the family, I just have to steal his thunder and glory and share his secret recipe with the world.) So, here it is. It is super-simple to make if you have a blender that works or especially a veggie automatic chopper thingy, but it's not even that hard if you have to chop by hand (and it feels more quaint and old-fashionedly cozy doing it on a cutting board, anyway). Oh, and I was just teasin' about using your yucky tree cranberries...but you'll see...
CRANBERRY SALSA:
INGREDIENTS:
One 12-oz. bag of FRESH cranberries
2 green onions
3 Tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 medium, fresh jalapeno
DIRECTIONS:
Chop up all the ingredients (probably one ingredient at a time), and then mix them all together. Then, refridgerate overnight to allow the flavors to mix and settle. Serve with your choice of corn chips (I like the white or blue ones, personally).

Lola's Lit.

This is where I share my writing projects with you all!

My Haikus:

The tall, lone pine tree
Caresses the mountainside,
Swaying in the breeze
~

A rainbow is a
Glorious array of hues
Painted in the sky
~

Eagles soar up high
On wings of golden feathers
A majestic scene
~

The crisp cotton sheets
Flap back and forth in the sun
Over the green grass
~

The sunflower is
Happy to soak up the sun
Against the blue sky
~

Warm sun on my hair
Lights up in copper and gold
Glittering wildly
~

Regular Poetry~ (*WARNING: It may not rhyme!!!*)

"The Window"

I looked around and saw
Myself
My dreams
My passions
All trapped inside my reclusive frame

And then I saw
A window
To the outside world
A hope for a better future
It was just out of reach from my grasp

So I desperately looked and saw
Yourself
Near me
Near the window
You covered the distance between us and carried me through

When I looked back I saw
A stranger
It was me
But a different me
Because you changed me for the better when you helped me

I looked ahead and saw
Great things
My dreams
My passions
Achieved and trials and roadblocks surpassed thanks to you

"Ode to a Sunny Riverside Day"

Sunshine streams across the sky
Above the green and turquoise sparkling stream.
Back and forth the butterflies tickle the riverbank.
A bumbling bee connects with some dandelions.
Ants all around push and pull to their little antish homes.
Each small stone underneath the water lay
A brighter color than when kissed by the sun
A free mind soars underneath the puffy white clouds
Floating across the blue sky
The warm soft sands blanket my toes
The breeze whispers peace into my ears
The waves come again and again in a soothing, rushing rhythm
All around speaks of peace, beauty, joy
The land is singing, is happy to live!

"A.B.U.S.E."

Alleviate your anger-
Bully the boy. Your
Unbalanced mind makes him
Suffer the
Egregious effects of your blunders.

(I wrote the following poem when I was in junior high~ it's actually about a shark!)
"The Guillotine"

It’s a lean, mean, killing machine-
The scariest thing you’ve ever seen.
Smashing and crashing through liquid it goes.
Who its next victim will be, nobody knows.
Though beautifully smooth and silvery grey
Its clever endeavor captures its prey.
SNAP!
Another head floats away…

"Wave Riders"

Listen to the surfer boys
They know the beat of living
Spend their days swimming
Through the sea of time
Every wave their friend or foe
They take them as they come and go
Half-naked most of the day
As they take on the world their own way
I wish I was one of them
So wild and so free
Some day I’m gonna’ ride those waves

On the crazy and beautiful sea

"Playing with Music"

Playing my guitar
Playing it quick
Strumming the chords
With my shiny new pick

Playing for people
Playing for me
Feeling the songs
Cuz we’re trying to be free

Playing for children
Playing with toys
Hearing the message
Through all of the noise

Playing with heartache
Playing with joys
Singing the stories
Of my favorite boys

Playing my guitar
Playing it quick
Strumming the chords
With my worn-out old pick

Bucket List

This is where I write down things I want to do before I "kick the bucket" (may it be long from now) and where I check them off upon completion!!!

~Visit Norway, Italy, Greece, Canada, Alaska, Washington and Oregon (and maybe live there, too), Peru, Mexico, Russia, Japan, Ireland, The Eastern Coast of US, Andrew Wyeth's house, Southern Utah, India, Native American reservation

~Learn to knit and knit a granny square quilt; make a full, awesome patchwork quilt, like the kind my great-grandma Kennington used to make; set up an etsy account and sell my stuff online (or host a boutique); have a craft carnival in my backyard in the summertime

~Learn to speak Spanish, Norwegian, Russian, French, Italiano

~Write a novel, write a how-to craft book, write an advice book for teenage girls, write and illustrate at least one children's picture book, write a song

~Learn to play the trumpet, mandolin and violin (and be really, really good at the piano); join a band and play for fun at least

~Become a teacher and an advocate for young children and help many kids grow up to be happy, healthy people

~Plant a garden all by myself...learn to take care of plants

~Try rock climbing, kayaking, backpacking, snowboarding, and run a marathon

~Learn to fly fish

~Make a stop-motion animation movie

~MORE TO FOLLOW....

What I like mostest: A List of my favorites

Here is where I make lists of things I like.

Movies: Amelie, Little Women, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (and Bogus Journey), Better Off Dead, Matilda, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Oklahoma, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Beatles' Yellow Submarine, Howl's Moving Castle, Paint Your Wagon, The Great Race, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, etc.

Television: Flight of the Conchords, The Office, 30 Rock, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, South Park, The Colbert Report, Futurama, Little House on the Prairie, etc.

Novels: Ender's Game saga, I Capture the Castle, Coraline, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Roald Dahl books, Les Miserables, A River Runs Through it, Little House on the Prairie Books, The Book of Dave, Brave New World, Atlas Shrugged, A Little Bit of Magic,

Picture Books: anything by David Shannon, Shel Silverstein, Maurice Sendak, Lane Smith and John Scieszka, Alexis Deacon, Tricia Tusa, etc.

Artists: Andrew Wyeth, Georgia O'Keefe, Frida Kahlo, Carravagio, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Albrecht Durer, Albert Beirstadt, Norman Rockwell,

Musical Artists: Beatles, Chicago, Jim Croce, Flight of the Conchords, Regina Spektor, Gillian Welch, the Be Good Tanyas, Nickel Creek, Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, White Stripes, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Marty Robbins, Allison Krauss (and Robert Plant), Dolly Parton, Streetlight Manifesto, Sublime, Johnny Cash, Debussey, Eagles, Bob Dylan, Chris LeDeaux, Frank Zappa, Ella Fitzgerald, Smashing Pumpkins, Presidents of the United States of America, the Mammas and the Pappas, the Greatful Dead, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Heart, etc.

Foods: Tabouli, Rhubarb pie, barbecue ribs, Mom's cookies, sour patch kids watermelons, Diet Coke, veggies and dip, frozen strawberry fruit bars, spiced almonds, Panda Express orange chicken with chow mein noodles, Cafe Rio chicken salad

Color combos: Sea Green/olive green/turqoise/beige/white; fire engine red/creme yellow/turqoise/sienna; sky blue/red rock colors/sage green; purple/bright mossy greens/yellow orange; forest green/brown/burgundy/blue

Things to do: sleep

Heroes:

Songs: "Song to the Siren" by Robert Plant, "Moonlight Mile" by Rolling Stones, "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd, "Raggle-Taggle Gypsy-O" and "The Lighthouse" by Nickel Creek, "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor, "Saturday in the Park" by Chicago, "Vincent" by Josh Groban, "The Muffin Man" by Frank Zappa, etc.....

Stores to Shoppe: The D.I., Anthropologie (I haven't ever bought anything there, but it's cool inside), Etsy.com, Target, Harmon's (it feels small town there), REI, Maurices, Barnes and Noble, antique shops, etc...

Places to visit (so far):
J-Hole, Ranch House, Moab, Disneyland, Oregon, Great Salt Lake (I don't go many places yet...)

Memories:

My dearest Fam-dam-ily

This is where I write about my family (mostly good stuff~don't worry! But I am sure there will be at least a few juicy articles in here...;)

Captain's Log

This is where I keep my journal of my wanderings about in the world.

5/10/2009
I am done with school for the semester, done with Salt Lake Community College forever! I graduated last week and have been in hog heaven since then. I've been taking more than a full schedule of classes for the past four semesters, so I can be ready for the U of U this fall. Now I plan on spending the summer working for a kids' day camp or substitute teaching at year-round elementary schools. We'll see what I can get- I may end up working at the Burger King instead (but at least I'd get to see my dad 3 times a night, since that is his hangout spot/feedbag while he works at ABF trucking)! My house is going to be awesome this summer- just me, Trey and Hunter will be there with my parents, since the rest of my siblings (minus the married Brannon) will be working away at the Teton High Adventure Base as river guides the whole summer! I am thinking of taking up gardening in our yard this summer, planting drought-resistant/perennial/edible plants and flowers. We'll see if I even get one thing planted before moving on to another project! So far though, I'm totally getting into it and excited to learn more about plant life. Another project I am considering taking on is teaching kids art lessons from my home. We'll see if that takes off as well! and... I just realized I am writing in the wrong section. Ooops! I can tell you that trips to Jackson Hole on the 4th of July and the Moab sometime later are planned, though I don't know if they are for sure since I have no clue what I'll get as far as employment goes. Hopefully I'll at least get to drop my bros off at camp again.

News Brief~New Briefs!

This is where I keep you updated about my goings on.

Okay, so school is finally out for the semester (on December 9th, for me), and although I worked like a madman throughout the past month (I sure have missed spending countless hours with reality shows on t.v....actually, no, I haven't), I got really good grades and some awesome feedback from my teachers! It is great to finally know what I want out of my life and to be working towards acheiving it and having an end in sight! For a few years there, I was not so proud of myself or happy with my life, but now I just feel great most of the time! Yea! Okay, so I think I've used enough exclamation points, now! Oh, maybe not....! Alright, I promise that's the last one for this paragraph at least;) But then, I might have to recruit some emoticon smiley faces...No, I won't do that to ya'~ oh, man, I really want an exclamation point right there :( Well, anyway, I think if I work my tail-end off this coming semester (taking seven classes) then I will be finished at SLCC and ready to move on to the UofU in the fall (and I won't have to go this summer). If I can do that, I might decide to work at the Teton High Adventure Base in Jackson, Wyoming again (and if I can get healthy and strong, maybe I can be a river guide...I'd settle for cook or bus driver again, though). So, anyway, I am working like crazy at the moment, doing things I love to do (like crafts and blogging) and also getting my things in order and clean so I can fully focus on my massive amounts of schoolwork this spring. I have until January 12th until I have to start digging out of the deep, dark tunnel of homework I will have with the semester of school. I actually like my education classes a lot though, so it will be a lot of work, but at least it will be enjoyable! (I give up on the no exclamation point rule!!!!!!!!)

Artsy-fartsy Lola

Here is where I showcase my arts. I haven't done much since I decided to go into Elementary Education, but you can be assured that I have not quit for good. My goal this year is to help myself relax through painting and doodling, rather than through yucky cable television. I eventually want to go to school for art and create lots of children's books after I have been teaching at least five years. I want the best of both worlds, really, and I believe it is possible. Below are just some of my paintings, drawings, etc. from a few years ago. I will definately add more later!

"Great Grandpa's Garage" (pastel, 2006)

"August Still Life" (2006, acrylic, 11"x14")

"Crash of the Similarities" (marker, 2006)

"Stairway from Heaven" (2006, acrylic, 11"x14")

"Geeky Halloween Owl" (2006, acrylic, 11"x14")

"Egyptian Kitty" (graphite, 2003, 24"x30")

I guess I will end with one of my favorites and one that I spent the longest, most enjoyable time on. It's is called "Gabrielle's Vase" (oil, 2004, 18" x 24")

Partaaaayyyy!!!

Here is where I write down ideas for party themes, decor, tips, activities, games, whatever. Because I like parties.

Mother's Day:

For Mother's Day this year, my brothers and I bought my mom a bunch of petunias and vegetables for her garden, and then planted them the night before while I decorated the backyard with crepe paper and balloons. I also stayed up that night preparing a feast for the family in her honor for after they got home from church the next afternoon. We had lemon-herb grilled chicken tenders, tabouli salad, baked potatoes, broccoli salad, fresh pineapple, grapes and strawberries, and lemon and mint infused ice water. I must say the mingling of tastes was near perfection on the palate. For desert, we had blackberry cobbler, which was also pretty good. Lots of fun. After cooking the whole meal and setting up for the party practically by myself I now have a much greater appreciation for my mom and the feasts she prepares for us on Sundays. I still really enjoyed cooking, though, and think I might have to do it more often now!

Sleepovers:

These past few years I started having sleepover parties for the Kennington girl cousins, feeling like it would be good for us to have something fun to bond us together. Our first one was at Grandma's house in the summer. We watched Hairspray in the theaters, ordered pizza and hung out for the rest of the night. Mostly lame, but I did dress up my youngest brother as a girl and almost successfully passed him off as my cousin Treyna from my dad's side of the family to those there (it was pretty funny). Also, as you can see below, we took a picture of us in the backyard to give to grandma and grandpa for Christmas that year.

We had a sleepover last summer at Aunt Lisa's house in Eagle Mountain, where we went shopping, had the best pizza ever, play pranks on her wierd neighbor, gossipped til the sun came up and watched, at loooots of candy, and watched chick flicks to our hearts' content.

In October we had a Halloween sleepover in grandma's basement, which I had decorated with many spooky accessories. The girls arrived in costume (I was a nightowl), and we yet again had the traditional pizza and pop, and we then went to the basement. Sophie even got in the Halloween spirit. She fully participated in the party until she passed out in a pile of feather boas around midnight.

I had prepared for us to make one tied quilt per sleepover, so that eventually each girl would have her own quilt to bring to future sleepovers. It was a good activity for us to talk during and watch movies to. I also got all of Tim Burton's kid-appropriate movies for us to watch that night. We actually went through all the movies and tied a total of four quilts that night!Of course, due must be given to Aunt Annette and Daniela (my sister-in-law) who were pretty much fully responsible for tying the last quilt or two. The other girls were too intrigued by their spoooky makeovers and Beetlejuice and Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

It was crazy! Those little girls were up all night long- waaay past us teenagers and grownups! I had a lot of fun taking pictures this night, because of all the props from the costumes, decor and freaky makeovers. The next day, I took a picture of the 2 little girls fake sleeping in a pile of blankets, and later this year I completely a drawing of the scene, which won an award of excellence at SLCC's art show. I laugh to think that they were totally posing for that serene picture of them fake-sleeping!This is the morning after, in October! It looked and felt like summer then! We were so tired, the girls on the swing sat there for a very long time, staring off into space and not moving a single part of their bodies. I think that means that they had fun.

The last sleep over we had was in December. I've always loved the Nutcracker ballet and even collect nutcrackers, so I thought it would be fun to go see the ballet and have a sleepover afterwards, at my house in my studio which I'd decorated for the holidays. The ballet we went to actually sucked, so I felt bad that I dragged all those people to it. But, the sleepover was way fun! I made them little felt stockings, filled with candy for the movies, and some walnuts from our tree and a little $1 nutcracker ornament, as a sort of memento for the evening at the ballet. I had promised the mothers that I would make sure the kids didn't stay up all night long again and I was pretty darn tired, myself, but around 1 in the morning, the little girls decided they weren't tired and they wanted to do crafts. Sooo... I decided we could go ahead and make a huge mess. We made clothespin dolls and then unicorn/pegasus gloves (horse's head is middle finger, other fingers are it's legs).

They spent a while just playing with their gloves and dolls, and then we watched "The Brother's Grimm", which it turned out was muuuch scarier than I'd thought it was. It was especially terrifying when, at 3 in the morning, my 18-year-old bro Casey arrived home and I saw his face appear out of the darkness right before he pounded on the door to the side of the house, also right up again the mattresses the girls were laying on. We scared him pretty badly, too, with our screams, though!

Yep, so we've had fun. I'm getting excited for summer, because we can have a little campout in my backyard. Kailey just suggested we have a scrapbooking sleepover to scrapbook our sleepover adventures. I've got lots of supplies from previous stints at scrapbooking, so it is on!

The Future Files

Here is where I write about things I am interesting in for my future.

Hmmm... I just joined the blogging generation!

Hey, It's me, Lola.

Welcome to my new home. I am trying this blogging thing out for real, now, since most people I know would most likely prefer to stalking me online rather then actually paying me a visit...I feel the same way... :) Oh, I added my thanksgiving painting above, because Thanksgiving was just here less than a week ago and I didn't want to have to wait a whole other year to use my turkey painting. My New Year's resolution is definitely going to be to do more art in my spare time- I'm getting so rusty! So, I think I will be posting my drawings and such on here to keep me motivated (please be kind) and so you don't have to ask to see my portfolio when you come to visit!

So, anyway, I like this blog site much better than one I had to use for an English portfolio (it seems more user-friendly, but I'm sure it has some trickery up its sleeve, yet!). I might actually write on this on a consistent basis, so be sure to check back. I'm sure most of it will be random, but I will share what's going on in my life for those of you who might be interested, quirky little things I find interesting, and maybe some artwork or craft ideas I come up with. We'll see how it goes, as I do not think I am feeling too ambitious at the moment.

Ciao, for now!