Fat Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, which is the last night of partying before Lent begins (which is a time of fasting and religious practice) on Ash Wednesday.  

New Orleans is the most famous city for Mardi gras because they go all-out with the celebrations.

If you're interested in celebrating in Portland, Oregon you can find a list of events here. 

And if you're interested in making your own Mardi Gras mask, check this site out.

36th Annual Portland International Film Festival

Beyond the Hills - Cristian Mungiu

I went to the 36th Annual Portland International Film Festival to see this story which was based on a real-life case of supposed demonic possession. The lead actresses Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan received the best actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival and their performances were very well done; however, the film was 150 minutes and I think it could have been done in 90 minutes. 150 minutes is just tooooooooo long for me to sit and watch most any film. In fact it's the reason I haven't gone to the new Lord of the Rings show - yet.

I can't stand sitting still that long. But aside from the length of the film, I was also hoping to be sitting on the edge of my seat...at least a few times during the show. I wasn't. This was a slow moving drama that was more about strict religious dogma than demonic possession.

Cristina Flutur was a strong-willed young woman who cursed at the priest because she was frustrated that her girlfriend would not leave the monastery, where she was training to become a nun, and return with her to Germany.

If everyone who got frustrated with religion and priests and then swore were demonically possessed, it would leave very few non-possessed  people in this country.

So, overall I thought the film was interesting...the acting well-done, but the film was too slow and long for me.

DIY Valentine's Day Cakes

I love to bake and I was having a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party for some new neighbors so I figured why not combine the two (or maybe) three things: Valentine's Day, Baking, and Welcome!

Here's how I did it.

First I baked a couple of heart shaped cakes.

Then I made some whipped cream and colored it pink and yellow with food coloring. Then I frosted the cakes and put fondant words on top.

I also made a checkerboard cake and some cupcakes...

yeah, I tend to go overboard on things.

More Cookies

I'm having a neighborhood get-together this weekend and so I wanted to practice on some more goodies to serve. This was my idea: Valentine's Day Cookies that look like real Valentines.

So, I used my Royal Icing for the white frosting and then I cut out a bunch of red fondant hearts and stabbed them with toothpick arrows. I "glued" the fondant hearts onto the cookies with the frosting.

I thought they turned out cute. 

Prepare Yourself

March 16, 2013 The SCBWI Oregon will be having a Prepare Yourself Workshop to help everyone get ready for the May conference.

Location: TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215


Cost for Shape-Ups:
SCBWI members - $8.00      Nonmembers - $10.00
What to Expect at the Conference is FREE!
No refunds after March 9^th. 
Registration will be closed on March 13th.
To read more, click here.

Poseidon's Arrow by Clive Cussler

This was our book club choice for the month of January.

Clive is my husband's favorite author and I have never read one of his books until now. I really didn't expect to like it at all because I don't like action/adventure movies or books but this was more fun than I thought it would be.

It was a quick page turner and I had no problem getting through it.

Although I do think Dirk Pitt is totally unbelievable. I mean he's like a Navy Seal on Super-Steroids. No one could do all the things he did, including fighting a bull. I mean, I think being a matador might take a little training rather than simply hoping into the ring and waving a red cape around. But never mind all that, it was an exciting story. And I did like the fact that Dirk included his kids in the story. Of course they were Super Seals too but what the heck. How else can you save the world and a super-stealth submarine at the same time?

Anyway, this was a new genre for me and now I'll know what my husband is talking about when he talks about Summer and Al and Dirk, Jr.

So all in all, if you're an action/adventure kind of person and if you enjoy James Bond, I think you'd love Poseidon's Arrow.

Valentine's Cookies with Royal Icing

Sugar Cookies Recipe:

Original recipe makes approx. 4 dozen

Ingredients: 

3 cups all-purpose flour  

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 

2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sprinkle powdered sugar on the table and roll out the dough to cut into shapes. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 8-12 minutes.

Royal Icing:

This is a smooth, hard-drying icing.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
3 Cups confectioners' sugar
4-5 tablespoons of warm water

Makes 2-3 cups of icing

Beat Meringue Powder, sugar and water until icing forms into peaks.