39 & Counting: January Poems

One of my 39&Counting goals was to read a poem a day and record which poems I read. So here are a few poems I read and a few of my favorite lines from each one.

 

1. “After Reading Lucretius, I Go To The Pond” by Mary Oliver

My heart dresses in black
and dances.

2. “Passers-by” by Carl Sandburg

Records of great wishes slept with,
Held long
And prayed and toiled for

3. “On Seeing a Tuft of Snowdrops in a Storm” by William Wordsworth

When haughty expectations prostrate lie,
And grandeur crouches like a guilty thing,

4. “Hurricane” by Mary Oliver

For some things
there are no wrong seasons.
Which is what I dream of for me.

5. “When You Are Old” by W.B. Yeats

one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face

6. “Vintage” by Amy Lowell

It will lap and scratch
As I swallow it down;
And I shall feel it as a serpent of fire,
Coiling and twisting in my belly.

7. “Barcarole” by Pablo Neruda

Do you want to be the lone ghost walking by the sea

8. “The Author and Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet

9. “A Valediction: Forbidding Morning” by John Donne

 

I read many more poems, but due to crazy things going on at work, I wasn’t able to record them. I’ll try to do better in February. 🙂  Enjoy!

39 & Counting: Recipe Challenge

One of my challenges for the year is to cook at least 6 new dishes. This is not too difficult to accomplish since I’m always trying something new, but here are three of my most recent experiments. Three more to go!

 

 

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting  OH MY GOODNESS!!! Do NOT make these cupcakes because if you do, I will come to your house and eat them ALL!  The frosting alone is absolutely delicious and worthy of any cake. The cupcakes were quite tasty. And together, they are a deadly duo.

 

 

 

 

Gyros with Greek Chicken Everyone said it was delicious! Even the pickiest of the kids ate it (without the sauce).

This is a simple meal, but it requires quite a bit of prep work. So if I make it again, I will probably cut up everything the night before (or earlier in the day) and then cook the chicken at dinner time.  I cooked the chicken under the broiler since we don’t have a grill at the moment. I didn’t make the pita bread for this dish, but even with the store bought bread, it was delicious.

 

 

Skillet Pork Chops with Pan Gravy

I can’t paste an image here from the website, but everything was fairly simple for this meal. Served it with green beans and mashed potatoes. And WOW…the kids devoured it. I  made my “secret weapon” mashed potatoes. I boil the potatoes with diced onions and some garlic and then mash them all up together and use Greek yogurt in place of the butter and some of the milk. Salt/Pepper to taste. Good stuff!

 

2015

39andCounting

This month, I will turn 39.

To celebrate the year I top the hill, I decided to make a list of some things I’d like to accomplish. My plan is to record this journey throughout the year, so follow along if you like. Click the link above to learn more about some of the items.