Where has all the romance gone?

Soap operas are a part of me. Like many other soap opera fans, I got hooked as a child while watching them at grandma's house. As I grew older, it was especially hard for me when school started because I was no longer at home when As The World Turns and Guiding Light came on. In high school, I got my own TV, and I learned how to record shows. And that was the start of my full-fledged addiction. It got worse in the middle of high school when I got a laptop and discovered the online world of soap opera fandom. I spent most of 11th and 12th grade reading soap opera message boards and even making music videos of my favorite couples. I was pretty good at it actually; one time another online fan paid me $50 to make her a Zach and Kendall music video using her favorite song!!! Oh, and in 12th grade I also created a website dedicated to my favorite couples. It was intense. But when college came around, I realized I had a problem and gave up the obsessing. I still kept up with a soap opera here and there, though.

And that brings me to now. As you've most likely heard, ABC announced that it will be cancelling not one but two soap operas within the next year: All My Children and One Life to Live. This news hit me hard. That makes 4 cancellations of 40+ year-running soap operas in the last couple years. Now I've never watched One Life to Live regularly, but I did watch All My Children for 5 years. I owe All My Children in particular for creating my fictional soulmate: Zach Slater. The two soap operas I watched since childhood, As The World Turns and Guiding Light, were the other two cancelled in the last two years.

So I was home alone one night this week trying to find something to watch, and I suddenly felt compelled to watch the final week episodes of As The World Turns, which ended last September. When the last episode originally aired, I bawled. Not teared up. Not cried. I bawled, my mother with me (once a soap opera fan, always a soap opera fan). And when I watched the episodes again this week, I bawled even more. But this time I was crying for a different reason. It wasn't that I missed the characters and the town, even though I do. I was crying because I realized that the death of soap operas evidences the death of romance in society. Soap operas used to be THE thing to watch, especially in the 80s. "Luke and Laura's November 17th 1981 wedding brought in 30 million viewers; it remains the highest rated soap opera episode in American daytime television history. Elizabeth Taylor made a cameo appearance during the event, and Princess Diana reportedly sent champagne." What made soap operas so popular then? Romance. Romance where an exchanged intimate glance between a couple would set fans on fire. Tales in which it would be months before a couple shared their first kiss. Stories in which the dialogue was so sweet and tender, you didn't even want the couple to kiss because that would stop the beautiful words. But somehow between then and now, romance is no longer cool. It's called "cliche" or "melodramatic" and people roll their eyes at it. I don't date alot, but I see this trend of no-romance in my friends' love lives. There seems to be this trend, "Let's make-out alot, and then maybe we'll go on a date." And I've even seen both my guy and girl friends be creeped out by acts of romance (ex. compliments and picnics). I, the seemingly ultimate romantic, have even been affected: I once stopped seeing a guy because he wrote me a poem. Why have we all become so cynical?! So that is why I bawled while watching old soap opera episodes the other night. The world is changing for the worse. The more it changes the less likely I am to ever find love because I NEED romance, a slow romance, a sweet romance. So next time you see something sappy, don't scoff at it. Embrace it. Who knows how much longer we will have that "sap."

Below are some of my favorite soap opera clips of my favorite couples. I feel like all of them really epitomize the old romantic ways of soap operas. I dare you to watch and not enjoy them.

1) Paul and Rosanna, As The World Turns.


2) Lucky and Elizabeth, General Hospital


3) Buzz and Jenna, Guiding Light
Heartbreaking scene:


Fun scene:


4) Dusty and Lucy, As The World Turns

Recipe - Black Bean Burgers

I created this recipe several years ago, and it has become one of my most comforting dishes. It's hearty, savory, sweet...it has it all! It's a slightly sloppy burger, but I think that makes it more fun. My mom tells me that it is her favorite of my recipes, and she's not usually a black bean lover. And about the frozen plantains: these things are wonderful! So easy to use, and so sweet and delicious. HEB often carries them.

Makes 5-6 burgers

For burger:

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 package frozen GOYA Baked Ripe Plantains (or 1.5 plantains), sliced

3/4 tsp. chili powder

1/2 cup breadcrumbs, plus 1/4 cup for coating

2.5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

salt

For garnish:

whole wheat hamburger buns

roasted poblano pepper, sliced*

onion, thinly sliced

lettuce

avocado, sliced

balsamic vinegar

cheddar cheese, sliced (optional)

Heat 1/2 Tbsp of the oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add the plantains, and cook until the plantains are heated through and golden on each side (a couple minutes on each side). Add the black beans to the pan, and cook (stirring occassionaly) a couple minutes until the beans are heated.

Move the plantains and black beans to large mixing bowl, and mash the mixture with a potato masher. Add the chili powder, salt, and 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs to the plantain-bean mash.

Wipe down the pan to remove any plantain or bean residue. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat in the pan. Form the mash-mixture into patties, coat with the additional breadcrumbs, and then place in pan. Cook several minutes on each side until the patties are golden.

*To roast a poblano pepper, turn a burner on your stove to medium-high and place the pepper directly on the burner. This works particularly well with an open-flame gas stove. Keep an eye on the pepper, turning it every couple of minutes, until a large majority of the pepper is charred. This WILL smell like something is burning; as the pepper chars it will make a popping sound. Then take the charred pepper and put it in a bowl with ice water. With your hands in the water, peel off the charred skin of the pepper. Then place the pepper on a chopping board. Remove the top and seeds of the pepper, and slice to desired thickness.

Baiden Mitten - Exfoliation product review

Why did I buy a Baiden Mitten? Earlier this month I was a bridesmaid in a wedding. Before the wedding, some of the other bridesmaids were talking about getting spray-on tans for themselves for the wedding. I've never gotten a professional spray-on tan before, so one day I was searching for information on them. What I kept reading was exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate before you get your spray tan. At one website, someone recommended using a Baiden Mitten to exfoliate, that it was miraculous. Well, I looked into it, and I suppose I was in an especially gullible mood, so I bought one. I have now used it over the course of a month, so I feel like I can finally speak authoritatively on the product.

What is a Baiden Mitten? It is a piece of fabric that fits on your hand like a mitten. The material is coarse, like a mild sand paper. What you do is soak in the tub for 10-15 mins, get out (don't dry off!), then rub your skin with the mitten. The mitten will exfoliate your skin. Then you hop back in the tub or shower, and wash off what the mitten exfoliated.





Do I like my Baiden Mitten? YES! A thousand times yes! Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I AM very pleased with it. I've used other exfoliation products that I thought were good, in which I could feel the results, the results being smoother skin. But what is so cool about the Baiden Mitten is that you can SEE the results. When I rub the Baiden Mitten against my damp skin, it forms these "rolls" of dead skin and impurities. Gross, yes, but also fascinating that all that ickiness could be on my skin and I not know it. And, yes, it is suppose to do that; I'm not especially dirty. Because all those impurity rolls come off, my skin feels incredibly smooth afterwards, smoother than any other exfoliation product I have tried. We're talking even my ankles, knees, elbows, and the back of my arms are significantly smoother. This especially impresses me because many other products have creams or oils in them which enhance the smooth feeling though temporary. But there is none of that with the Baiden Mitten, and yet it is still smoother.

Cons? The price. It costs $50. Again, I don't know what induced me to spend that much on an online product, but thank goodness I did. However, although it is on the pricey side, I'm assuming it will last a long time, unlike creams/scrubs which you have to replace frequently (plus scrubs don't work as well). So, I'm not too aghast at the price considering it's kind of an investment beauty item. The other con is that it is a rather long process, the soaking, the rubbing, then bathing/showering. But, you're not suppose to use the product more than once a week, so I guess it is a reasonable time commitment.

My tips: 1) Don't use it more than once a week. The second time I tried it only 5 days had passed, and I didn't get many impurity rolls. And while it still left my skin smoother, it was disappointing not to see the rolls as proof of it working. 2) The rolls get everywhere, so keep in mind where you stand in your bathroom when you scrub yourself with the mitten. 3) Careful when using it on your lips. Since lip skin is thinner, after I tried it on my lips, they were sensitive for a couple days.

Visit their website for more information, but keep in mind they have a very cheesy website: http://www.ancientexfoliation.com/.

Recipe - Tuscan White Bean Spread

From The Complete Vegan Kitchen

I tried this recipe on Thursday and was quite happy with how it turned out. It's the first recipe that I've tried from this cookbook. There are several other recipes I am anxious to try from the cookbook, especially their Sweet Potato Falafel.

I would call this recipe an Italian hummus. But, unlike hummus, white beans are softer and easier to blend than garbanzos. Plus, this spread doesn’t have any nuts/seeds in it (hummus has tahini/sesame seed paste), so according to my calculations, it is a lower calorie dip. The sage in this dip is what makes it. The cookbook suggests spreading this on Italian bread, topping it with roasted red peppers, fresh tomato slices, or grilled portabellos. I ate mine with Triscuits, and it was still very tasty.

Tuscan White Bean Spread

Makes about 2 cups

2 cups cooked white beans (Great Northern or cannellini)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 small onions, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

Sea salt

Puree the beans in a food processor. Put 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and stir constantly until the onions develop a light, golden brown color. To the pureed beans in the food processor, add the cooked onions and garlic, lemon juice, and remaining olive oil. Puree all the ingredients. Add sage and sea salt to taste. Adjust the seasonings. Adjust the thickness with water.

Tips:

1. Soak white beans overnight, and boil them yourself. Not only is it cheaper, the taste and texture is so much better, plus you avoid chemicals associated with canning.
2. The spread was easy to puree once I added the lemon juice and oil, so don’t feel like the beans have to be perfectly pureed at the beginning. They will have the opportunity to breakdown after you add the lemon juice and oil.

I wish I was in Carrickfergus...

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! And what a day it has been! I tried a delicious new recipe, got a surprise package in the mail, and ate some Shepherd’s Pie and a side of kale like the good Irish lass that I be.

I’ll post the new recipe tomorrow; it’s a Tuscan White Bean Spread.

As far as the surprise package, my uncle sent me a microphone!!!! How random is that?! I’ve fiddled around with it a little bit already. You plug it into your USB drive and then can record onto your computer. It looks pretty legit. I can’t wait until this weekend to really play around with it. Looks like I have a new hobby whether I like it or not. Haha.

And the Shepherd’s Pie…well, I was lazy so I just bought a frozen Amy’s Shepherd’s Pie; it was tolerable I suppose.

In honor of St. Patrick, I would like to share with you my current favorite Irish song (yes, I know more than one Irish song). At least, it sounds Irish; I'm not exactly sure if it is indeed Irish or not. It's "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw" by The Unthanks. The song tells of the horrors of a coal miner, a female coal miner. It's haunting. My brother Jef introduced me to the song a couple months ago. Listen below:

Also, in honor of today AND the new microphone, I thought it would be appropriate to share some silly recordings that my family and I made of Irish songs the day after Christmas. We had SO MUCH FUN singing them! I would highly recommend adding some Irish ballads to your family traditions.

“Black Velvet Band”

This one is hilarious; it definitely has the crowded pub sing-a-long sound. The chorus is five of us: Uncle Phillip, my grandma (Gigi), my mom, Jef, and me. Pay special attention to Jef. His drunken, heavy Irish brogue is hysterical!

“Carrickfergus”

This is me solo. Don’t judge me too harshly; this was just my second take, and I don’t know how to edit music yet.

Let's get some medieval clothes

Over my brother’s Christmas break, he showed my mother and me the television show Merlin. It’s a twist on the story of Merlin, King Arthur, and Camelot. In the series, Arthur isn’t king yet. He’s the heir to the Camelot throne, young, early 20s, and Merlin is around the same age. Magic is outlawed forcing Merlin to practice his skills undercover, all the while protecting Arthur from peril. Naturally, we’ve become obsessed with the show. But I’m not writing this post to recommend the show. To be quite honest, I’m not sure I would recommend it. It’s rather predictable, and every third or fourth episode is painful to watch. The show is more of a guilty pleasure for us (and I gave up soap operas this year, so I think I'm due a TV guilty pleasure). I am writing to tell you of and show you the phenomenal clothes in the show. My mother and I just drool over the dresses! We’ll be watching the show, and I’ll realize that I have no idea what’s going on in the episode because I’ve been staring incessantly as Morgana’s dresses. Take a look!

But our favorite dress of the series so far is the one below. It belongs to the sinister Morgause.

Aren’t they spectacular?! These dresses are making me think of taking up sewing. Maybe if I start soon I could have a whole wardrobe of medieval clothes in time for the Texas Renaissance Festival in the fall. Hmmm…I will keep y’all posted!

My mother should be a DJ

I discovered over the last couple weeks that my mother has amazing taste in music. My dad, on the other hand, is having a love affair with blue grass music these days. Needless to say, this has caused some strife when he and I ride in the same car together. But, back to my mother, she recently learned how to buy songs on iTunes, so she has been downloading all these oldies. And WOW! are they great songs! They are so happy and infectious! They make me want to dance all over the house, frolic with butterflies, blow dandelions, etc.,. Anyhow, in case you don’t get a regular dose of Oldies music, take a listen to the songs below. You’ll be happier if you do!

“Happy Together” by The Turtles

“Those Were the Days” by Mary Hopkin

 “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by The Mamas & The Papas

“Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma” by Melanie

“Good Morning, Starshine” by Oliver

“What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?” by Barbara Streisand

“There’s A Kind of Hush” by Herman’s Hearts

Recipe - Curried Chickpea Cakes

 official cookbook photo

 
This is one of my new favorite recipes. Very scrumptious! The cookbook suggests serving it with mango salsa, but I like to serve my Courtney’s Celtic Concoction with it. Add some peas on the side, and you have yourself a delicious, balanced meal. Bon Appetit!


Recipe from Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook

Makes 10 cakes

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup sliced green onions, both white and light green parts

2 tsp. evaporated cane sugar

2/3 cup breadcrumbs, plus ¼ cup for coating

1 tsp. curry powder

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. ground cumin

2/3 cup brown rice, cooked

½ tsp. salt

¼ cup grapeseed oil or toasted sesame oil, for pan searing

In a large food processor or blender, combine the chickpeas, green onions, and coconut milk. Process until the chick peas are broken up but not completely smooth like hummus. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, 2/3 cup of the breadcrumbs, curry powder, nutmeg, and cumin. Stir together until well combined. Stir in the brown rice and the salt. Mold into 10 mini patties.

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Coat the patties with the additional breadcrumbs, and add the chickpea cakes to the pan. Sauté until there’s a nice golden sear on the bottom. Flip and sear the other side as well. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

Srv: 123g - Cal: 170 - Fat: 7g - Sat Fat: 1g - Col: 0mg - Carb: 23g - Fib: 3g - Pro: 4g

Tip 1: Short on time?  Use leftover brown rice or buy frozen brown rice and quickly cook it in the microwave before you add it to the recipe.

Tip 2: You can use regular sugar instead of evaporated cane sugar, if you like. This recipe calls for evaporated cane sugar since it’s from a vegan cookbook, and regular refined sugar isn’t vegan.



This is how mine turned out.



Recipe - Courtney's Celtic Concoction

This recipe is mine, all mine! Yes, I created it all by my lonesome (kinda); the flavors are inspired by the dipping sauce of The Cheesecake Factory’s avocado eggrolls. This recipe is my pride and joy; I bestow it upon you with the burden of taking good care of it. (Dramatic pause.) I like to serve this with avocado eggrolls, salads, curried chickpea cakes, or griddle cakes. Basically, it makes anything taste good…it’s magic! And, no, it’s not really Celtic. But it’s green, and I feel very Celtic. Hence, the name. Kudos to my brother, Jef, for helping me name it.

Pictured with Curried Chickpea Cakes

2 Tbsp. roasted cashews

¼ cup agave nectar

3 Tbsp. cilantro

1 Tbsp. green onion, chopped

1 small or ½ large clove of garlic, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. vinegar

½ tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the cashews in a food processor or blender. Pulse until chopped. Add the remaining ingredients. Process until all the ingredients are incorporated, and the cilantro is finely chopped in the sauce.

Tip 1: Short on time? Leave out the garlic and the cashews. I often leave them out for my dad because he’s allergic; they don’t make a big difference.

Tip 2: Don’t have agave nectar? You can use honey, but zap it in the microwave first to thin it as it’s thicker than agave nectar.

Memories of Mamaw

“If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I’d walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.” -Unknown

My great grandmother’s funeral was this past Saturday. I saw her quite a bit over the last four years while I was in college in Dallas, since she lived just a little over an hour away. I would have lunches with her, my grandparents, and my great aunt and uncle, or I would go visit her and my grandparents. One time, I even “babysat” her since my grandparents were out of town, and Mamaw didn’t like to stay alone overnight. Many memories were shared of Mamaw this past weekend, but here are a few of mine that didn’t get mentioned by anyone else.

1)      SOAP OPERAS!!! This was one of mine and Mamaw’s biggest bonding topics. I’ve watching soap operas for years and was probably her only relative who enjoyed them as much as she did. Mamaw watched them religiously!  She wasn’t ashamed of watching them, so I feel no guilt in bringing up the topic. People would come to visit her, and she would not turn off the television if one of her three soap operas were on. She watched Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, and Days of our Lives. I know a lot about soap operas, and the two latter ones are by far the most outrageous of the soap operas currently on air. It always made me smile when I thought about how Mamaw took joy in the silliest ones. She did, however, have excellent taste in which characters she liked and hated…we always agreed that we wanted to see Nick with his first love, Sharon, and not the witchy Phyllis on Young and the Restless.

2)      I hate to mention something else in regards to TV, but this has to be said. When my brother and I were little, Mamaw would send us countless videotapes that she had recorded (since she had cable and we did not), with hours and hours of the most wonderful television shows and movies. She must have spent so much time doing that, and I know she did that for some of her other great grandchildren as well. So many of my favorite childhood movies came from those tapes: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk (with Gene Kelly), The Chipmunk Adventure movie, Rumpelstiltskin, etc. This was perhaps one of the best gifts of my childhood. I don’t think I would be the same without them. Thank you, Mamaw!

3)      Speaking of gifts, this past Thanksgiving, Mamaw gave me a family heirloom; something very old that she knew I would appreciate: a petite casserole dish. It’s adorable! (if you can call a casserole dish “adorable.”) It’s about 6 inches by 10 inches, and it’s so old that it doesn’t have handles on it; apparently, they used to make casserole dishes without the handles. I believe she told me it belonged to her mother. I was incredibly touched when she gave it to me and still am.

4)      Mamaw professed to be old fashioned and anti women’s lib. But some of her love advice was anything but! I remember telling her several years ago about this guy who I desperately fancied, and she told me, “Just grab him and kiss him!”

5)      And speaking of Mamaw and romance, she told my cousin, Theresa, and me a year ago about this fascinating romance of hers. Apparently, she and this man had feelings for each other when they were young, but the timing wasn’t right. One of them was married, and when he/she was free, the other one was married. This happened many, many times throughout their lives. When she told us about the situation, she spoke of him so tenderly and with a hint of regret. Apparently, he even contacted her in the last few years, but she wouldn’t even agree to see him because she was married. That and apparently he wasn’t good looking anymore. Ha! It was just absolutely fascinating to hear her talk about him; it sounded just like a movie! One of my favorite quotes goes, “You’re supposed to be the leading lady in your own life, for heaven’s sake!” And that is something I really admired about Mamaw: she was most definitely a leading lady.

Rest in peace, Mamaw. You are much missed and much loved.

Food of the Week - Pizza/Pizza Toast

In case any of you missed it, yesterday was National Vegan Pizza Day! I think the point of this is to get local pizzerias to cater to vegans for one day and show the public the ease and deliciousness of veg-headed-ness. I'm guessing this works in places like Austin and San Francisco. Alas, living in Tomball, I don't think the day has caught on yet.

For any of you looking for a wondeful frozen vegan pizza, or just a wonderful pizza for that matter, I would recommend Amy's Kitchen Roasted Vegetable Pizza. My brother has raved about this pizza for years and claims it is his favorite pizza, even now that he is no longer a vegetarian. My mother and I tried it for the first time this week, and my brother was right. It is quite scrumptious! And the best part about a no cheese pizza...a lot less calories! So you don't feel nearly as guilty eating it, and you don't feel weighed down after you eat it. And if that doesn't sell you, an Amy's Kitchen pizza won a taste test against 15 other frozen pizza brands. Check it out here: MSN Tastiest Frozen Pizza.

However, since my mother and I had eaten this pizza earlier this week, I didn't really want to make it just a couple days later for National Vegan Pizza Day. Plus, my dad has a tomato allergy. Oh, and pizza dough intimidates me. Needless to say, I had too get a little creative. I decided we would have a Build-Your-Own-Pizza-Toast Night. I had alot of fun planning this out. Our ingredient options included:

• Rosemary Demi-Baguettes (Central Market brand. I found them at in the frozen section at HEB.)
• Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (because of my dad's tomato allergy. You just take a jar of roasted red peppers and throw it in a food proccessor and voila!
• Basil
• Roasted Garlic
• Chopped Tomato
• Artichoke Hearts
• Spinach
• Sauteed Onion
• Roasted Broccoli (from leftovers earlier in the week)
• Sauteed Squash (from leftovers earlier in the week)
• Eggplant Parmigianna (from leftovers earlier in the week)
• Veggie Bacon
• Vegan Cheese

I sliced my baguette into quarters, so I could do four different pizza toasts. Here's what I came up with:

 roasted red pepper sauce, basil, sauteed onion, and eggplant parmigiana

bruschetta theme: a layer of mashed roasted garlic, basil, and chopped tomato

roasted red pepper sauce, basil, sauteed onion, sauteed squash, roasted broccoli

a layer of mashed roasted garlic, basil, spinach, carmelized onion, and artichokes

They were all delicious! I couldn't choose a favorite among the last three. I think one of the tricks was to butter (I used vegan Earth Balance) the bread before you top it. It protects the bread from getting too soggy if you put sauce on it, and also helps it from getting too crisp in the oven.

And get this: my dad wasn't into the idea at first (in his defense, he wasn't feeling well), but after eating them, he did a complete turnaround, was quite enthusiastic, and said he could do this every week!