Jersey

So I feel like I was supposed to update my Facebook status about how I am home in New Jersey now, but I know that I don't really care when everyone else updates their whereabouts on Facebook so I am refraining. But I feel like I should somehow let the apathetic internet world know that I am, in fact, home in New Jersey. So:

Dana Laustsen
"is home, sweet Jersey!"

Status updated. I also can't update my status because it says "overachiever" right now, in honor of my overachiever underwear.

Anyway! Wrapped some presents today. Ate Fettuccine Alfredo. Went on a blanket hunt to find enough things to keep me warm on these cold winter nights (and I was very successful in my hunt).

Being home is going pretty well. Besides the sneezing (darn allergies). But Alex might have a good suggestion, something along the lines of blowing my nose on a cat. Well, only four to choose from!

Done deal.

Pumped for tomorrow: Costco, Bath & Body Works, Footprints.

Word.

Nothing Else to Say

I've listened to this song about 17 times today.

Blah Music Talk, Bands Blah

So, I went to my second musical performance since Friday last night. And it was amazing. Friday I went to see Fun. with Lisa and Elaine(!) and last night (Monday) I went to see Against Atlas open for Ben Levin Group. Along with them played Dublin Free Press, which was absolutely amazing! The show last night was probably one of the most fun and interesting I've been to in a long time. Not to mention that (Thom) Tom the guitarist for DFP looks like the guy from The Dear Hunter.
^Against Atlas ^ Photo credit to Josh Dunn.

Yes. Anyway, at both of these concerts, Shipping Up To Boston (Dropkick Murphys) was performed. All I have to say is that I think Dublin Free Press might have done a better performance than Fun. did. Opinion, yes, but I think my opinion is important.

And I've made a conscious decision to go to a lot more musical performances while in college. I am in an awesome city for music, after all.

The end.

Also. Is it acceptable to wear black pants with a brown shirt? Oh well, I'm going to.

P.S. Minus the Bear is playing an acoustic set at The Apple Store in Boston tonight at 5. I cannot go because I am on call. Lame, no?

Thirsty Thursday

I'm bored!

Hopefully I'm getting a new camera this weekend. Canon EOS Rebel XS. What what!?! Anyway, whiling away my night by reading Anna Karenina and listening to guilty pleasure youtube videos.



Check it.

I want ice.

Bon Appetit!

Got my first installment of bon appetit magazine today. Very exciting! The only thing I'm slightly upset about is that it is the September issue, but I guess I'll live. Reading it also makes me feel slightly like a middle aged woman because that is who all the ads are geared and most of the articles are geared towards. I'll be putting a recipe from it in here that looks absolutely amazing. I'm thinking me and Moo might have to make these for the SHA Potluck. Might not be "real scons" but I think these scones look delicious!

In other news, I'm once again locked up in what would be my tower if I were a princess. That is, the Office of Residence Life at 1019 Commonwealth Avenue!! Listening to The Fratellis makes it a bit better. I have noticed that I have recently begun referring to myself as a princess more often. Whatever that means.

Here's that recipe for: Double-Lemon Thumbpring Scones (8)
3 large lemons
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup, 2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup, 2 tbsp chilled heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp (about) cherry, raspberry, or strawberry preserves

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
2. Line large heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Finely grate enough peel from lemons to measure 6 tsp; set aside. Squeeze enough juice from lemon to measure 1 tbsp (save rest of lemon for something else).
4. Whisk flour and 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl to blend. Add 1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream, 1 tbsp lemon juice, & 4 tsp finely grated lemon peel. Stir gently to combine.
5. Gather dough togther and turn out onto lightly floured work surface; knead briefly (4-5 turns). Pat or roll out dough to 1 inch thick round.
6. Using 2 1/2 or 2 3/4 inch diameter cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds. Transfer to prepared rimmed baking sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart.
7. Spoon about 1/2 tsp preserves into indentation of each scone.
8. Whisk remainig 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp cream, and 2 tsp lemon peel in small bowl to blend. Brush top of scones with lemon glaze.
9. Bake scones until golden and tester inserted horizontally into middle comes out clean (18-20 min). Transfer to rack and cool long enough to not burn your mouth.

Good news: this recipe
Bad news: Moo hasn't been reading my blog because she didn't know I was back to updating it!

Nostalgia

I'm feeling very nostalgic lately. Apparently this is common in my generation. You can read about it in this article from The New York Times. Anyway, please refer to the adorable picture (from my grandpa's fridge, in a plastic thing that says "Grandma's pride and joy") below and try to persuade me to not be nostalgic.

P.S. Nice myspace pose, Alyssa!

A Wild Danimal Cub Appears!

Picture of me from when I was a mere Danimal Cub. Got it from my Aunt Janet (thanks Aunt Janet). I wonder how much sugar was in my system at this point in time. EPIC CHILD PICTURE.

Boston Bikes

So, I just got a new bike for riding around Boston and school and work and such. However, it hasn't been nice enough for more than 3 days straight so I haven't ridden it to class today. The most I've done is a bike ride on Sunday just for fun. Although it was really cool because we went into the Chestnut Hill area. One would think this is far, but we weren't even out for an hour and saw so much! Oh well. I miss the days when the weather was nice, but now it's Autumn in Boston and we all know that we will be seeing less days like this.
Oh well. What I really want to talk about is bikes. Bikes bikes bikes. But really I just want to speak of my love for this blog that is about bikes and hand-made things made from bikes. The blog is called Rebicyclist and it's amazing. I might have to invest in a couple of the belts for Holiday presents, they're so unique and AMAZING.

Well that's all.
Good news for today: it's laundry day!
Bad news: I went down to do laundry and all the washers were full. Guess that's what I get for not checking beforehand. Oh well!

Film.

I haven't posted on here in so long! I suck!

Here's a picture:
I love film.

Film FTW

Got my pictures online from Clark Color Labs today. The actual photos haven't come in the mail yet but they're on their way! I want to get my next roll done too but I'm not sure if it will be done and in the mail and back to me before I go back to school in two weeks. I love film. It's possibly one of the best things ever. Everyone should go back to using film. Despite the convenience of using digital cameras, film actually gives you something to look at when you don't want to stare at a computer screen. It's great. Plus, computers are boring. Use film! The end.
Good news: I'll be back in Boston in little more than two weeks! I'm excited.
Bad news: I'm going to miss being in Jersey with everyone. Lame.

Missing!

I was cleaning my room tonight in anticipation of Lisa's visit and realized I hadn't seen my favorite dinosaur shirt in a while. I looked for it in my dresser drawers but I can't find it! I'm so upset. I need to find this shirt. I want to wear it tomorrow. Womp. The shirt is the one in this picture. If you've seen it, please return it to me. Thanks.

Cake or Death?

Made a cake today! It's peanut butter cake with chocolate-peanut butter icing. It's delicious and extremely easy to make! All you do is make a box of yellow cake and add a half cup of peanut butter. Then for the icing you take a container of chocolate icing and add a half cup of peanut butter. Easy!!!! Whoop. And it's Alex's favorite cake. JK lol. For Alex it would be cake & death. Haha.

Also had my first day of work today! It was pretty good. Very work-like. We did free art as our afternoon project and I made a sick picture (the dinosaur has grillz):
Good news: Pattaya was the reason I blogged today. Yay motivation. Check her blog at pattayah.blogspot.com.
Bad news: I'm not as committed of a blogger as Pattaya.

Yum!

On Thursday, I made dinner for the family. I made steak with the Onion Horseradish dip recipe I put on here earlier along with a Tuscan Cheese Potato Bake thing and Maple Glazed Carrots. It was so good.
My family loved the potatoes so here's the recipe:

2 lb red potatoes
3 or 4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/4 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
4 oz fontina cheese, shredded (1 cup)
4 oz parmesan cheese, shredded (1 cup)
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup panko
1/4 tsp dried italian seasoning, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil

1. preheat oven to 400. lightly grease 2 quart square baking dish. set aside. scrub potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces. in large saucepan cook potatoes in lightly salted boiling water 12 to 15 minutes or until tender; drain.
2. in skillet, cook and stir garlic and thyme in butter over medium heat for 1 minute; add potatoes. coarsely mash potatoes. stir in buttermilk, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. fold in fontina cheese, half of the parmesan and the blue cheese, evenly spread in baking dish.
3. in small bowl, combine rest of parmesan, panko, italian seasoning, and oil. toss with fork to combine. sprinkle evenly over potatoes in dish. bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden.

In other news, today my sister, Alyssa, told me she found this blog and says it's "extremely hard to find." Oh well. More importantly, she liked the good news/bad news thing I had recently stopped doing out of laziness. It will return this post!

Good news: took the first real nap of the summer today
Bad news: I have a heck of a lot of energy now and nothing to do with it. I must use it for good and not for evil.

Horse Radish

While looking through Alex's mom's Better Homes and Gardens magazine, there was a special on immersion blenders. Blah blah blah, I don't have an immersion blender but I feel like the same effect could be produced with just a regular blender or a food processor, which I do have. So, the recipe I have not tried but want to is one for a Onion-Horseradish Dip:

4 oz. wedge blue cheese
1/2 of an 8 oz. carton sour cream (aka 4 oz.)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 of a medium red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 tsp prepared horseradish

In medium bowl crumble about 3/4 of the blue cheese. Add sour cream, whipping cream, red onion, garlic, and horseradish. Use immersion blender (food processor) to blend cheese mixture until almost smooth. Top with remaining blue cheese and additional chopped red onion (if desired).

The recipe says to serve with vegetable dippers or to use it as a topping on grilled steak, chop, or chicken breast. YUM.

Macerated Peaches

Made "Blackberry and Peach Cobbler" today. It was delicious. The recipe is as follows:

Macerated Peaches
8 ripe peaches (2 1/2 lbs) peeled, pitted, and cut into 3/4 inch chunks
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, depending on peach sweetness
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (I just used some vanilla extract)
2 pints blackberries, rinsed and dried

Topping
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon each baking powder and salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut up
1/3 cup buttermilk

1. Macerated Peaches: In large bowl, toss peaches, sugar and vanilla (bean), cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, tossing occasionally. Scrape seeds out of vanilla bean halves and discard pods (unnecessary if using vanilla extract). Add blackberries and mix. Spoon mixture evenly into 8 shallow ramekins (~5 cm in diameter) placed on a large baking sheet, or into shallow 2 quart baking dish.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Topping: In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar ,baking powder and salt. With pastry blender (I used a fork), cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. With fork, stir in buttermilk until mixture comes together. Crumble over filling.
4. Bake 40 minutes, until topping is golden-brown and fruit is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack.
5. Serve warm with ice cream for extreme deliciousness.

SO GOOD!

PA

Going to Pennsylvania today until Tuesday. I am so excited. I am just waiting for my dad to arrive to drive me to the train station.

Going to have so much fun! Dad's home! More later.

P.S. My nails glow in the dark.

Slow-Cooker Mania

So it's EMS Appreciation Week...or something along those lines. What does this mean? It means I've been taking lots of classes and eating lots of free food. My family is even taking me out to eat because they appreciate me so much. Awwww...

Along the lines of it being EMS week, one patient had the right idea and decided to need CPR on Monday, to start of EMS week. CPR is always exciting to do. Turns out patient is still alive after all that, too!

In an unrelated note, I'm watching Food Network and the lady is making Slow-Cooker Meals. The recipes all look really good, but she's currently using 3 slow-cookers at one time and is currently making more food. Now she's on slow-cooker number 4. Geez, don't they know people these days don't have 4 slow-cookers in their homes?! Bah.

Anyway, this picture is of Suzanne, Nima, and me back in the summer of 2008 when we rode for the 4th of July fireworks.
Good news: I got up at a reasonable time this morning!
Bad news: I'm really sleepy from waking up before my usual time

Monday = Food-day

Another food post! Geez, these make me feel like my life revolves around food. Maybe it does. Today I told my parents I would make dinner and went on the search for something easy but that looked fancy. I decided to make a sort of Fettuccine Carbonara. I made some fettuccine and Alfredo sauce. Then I put bacon, chicken, and cherry tomatoes in it. It has received the highest honor in food approval - the Evan seal of approval. It's pretty good.

Before I made dinner, though, I had to make something for the firehouse tonight. It was between chocolate chip cookies or chocolate-covered strawberries (aka strawberriers). Acme was having a buy one get one free deal on the strawberries, the decision was made. I made one pint covered in milk chocolate and one pint covered in dark chocolate. Double-boilers are fun!

In a totally related note, my Orange Cat is so cute. I'm including a picture of him I took yesterday.
Good news: Ottoman is barking at the reflection of the sunlight from my laptop on the ceiling. He's ridiculously cute.
Bad news: Ottoman has a really obnoxious bark.

Almond(less) Cookies

I made almond cookies!!! In my house! It was so much better than making things at school. I got to use my own stuff and drink Green Tea Ginger Ale out of a martini glass and listen to Fun. and then listen to music with Evan! The cookies came out pretty good. I made one tiny mistake: I put salt in it (as per the recipe) but then we didn't have unsalted butter so they were a little saltier than intended. And we didn't have almonds to press into the top. Oh well. They're still delicious.

Good news: Orange Cat is purring.
Bad news: he doesn't want me to pet him.

R.I.P. Jimmy Johns

As per Cory's facebook status, I have learned that Jimmy John's in West Chester, PA has burned down! This is extremely upsetting, especially because I never got a chance to go when I was visiting. I think we should have a moment of silence for the horrible incident at this wonderful place.

This makes me think of Hot Dog Johnny's. I'm going there so soon, hopefully right after I get home I can convince Alyssa to drive me there. Yeah! Great plan.

Good news: started packing to go back to Jersey!
Bad news: first two finals tomorrow; let the stress begin.

69 degree weather

It's nice out today. Alex and I tandem-biked to Marshall's Fenway Farm Stand. It was so much closer when we biked than walked. I had a Groupon so we got $20 worth of stuff for $10. Oh yeah. We ended up getting blackberries (which are already gone), raspberries (which aren't gone because I told Alex I might hurt him if he ate them all), strawberries, cookies and apple cider.

The cookies are some of the most fantastic cookies I've ever tasted. They are called Coco Loco and are made by Lark Fine Foods. My plan for this summer is to learn how to make them or something similar. They are heavenly! They're butter cookies with toasted coconut and a hint of rum. Delicious. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

The fruit is all fresh and the apple cider is extremely apple cider-y.

It was also surprisingly nice out. Now it's time to do some homework, but the windows are open and it's going to be a great lazy day.

Good news: weather's great.
Bad news: Alex ate all the blackberries in 3 minutes.

Barbara Manatee

Drew this picture on Paint while on the train to New Jersey on Friday. Evan helped me with ideas and decoration. I like the picture and I'm really proud of it.

Good news: this picture.
Bad news: the event in this picture is unlikely to happen.

Jammin'!

Big news guys! Benjammin has found my blog. NBD. In other news, Evan is here and he's currently taking part in the epic battle that is Mario Kart for Wii with the usuals. Things haven't been too exciting lately except for the intense rain and apparent ridiculous flooding in places like Rhode Island. All I have to say is that's what happens when the word "Island" is in the name of your state. Just realized I still have to do my price things for cooking class. Lame. Not in the mood to blog, but I accidentally made the post and I couldn't figure out how to delete it.

Good news: the song "Never Let You Go" by Third Eye Blind just came on Joe's computer.
Bad news: this week so far, in general.

Manic Mondays

Hello rainy Monday! Despite the rainy weather, today hasn't been too much of a bummer. I'll have to admit, knowing that I have three quizzes/midterms on the next three days isn't exactly uplifting but eh who cares. I got coffee today from the Dunkin' Donuts under Student Village and then on my walk to class, SHA looked like a fantastic beacon of hope. Then class was pretty fun and I thought I was going to win a pair of RedSox tickets, but yeah right. Although I did have the best suggestion, Paul English was left speechless! Then I bought mine and Moo's SHA Formal tickets and we are getting a special surprise gift for being one of the first 65! Woot. Signed up to set up too, which should be fun.

In other non-school news, summer-job hunting is gosh-darn difficult. I would really enjoy working at Footprints again because it's just fun, simple, and children are nice in small intervals, like summertime. However, I would like something that relates to, you know, hospitality. Called the bakery I want to work at. No manager was there so I will call again later this week and then go visit when I go home this weekend.

Evan comes tomorrow! Too bad this weather is super crazy. I cannot wait for Thursday! Nice. And then it will rain next Monday, for the fourth Monday in a row. At least there is some consistency.

Good news for today: SHA is selling sweatpants and long-sleeved shirts. Should I buy them?

Bad news for today: I fear this week might be busy for me...so boring for Evan.

T-Bag

I got new tea yesterday. It's pretty delicious. I got
1. Assam: a black tea from East India
2. Ling Ling: a Keemun tea from China

I drank the Assam yesterday and Alex really liked it. It tasted like most other black teas. The Ling Ling though is really good. It's like a red color as you can see in the picture and it has a really unique taste. It's too bad the shipping for this place is 5.95 each time or I'd buy tea from there all the time. Oh, the place I get it from it called Kungaloosh. They have all fair trade teas from all over the world! Yeah. And they're located out of Pennsylvania! The recent (and surprising) cold weather has fostered my tea-drinking habits. Tea, yeah!

In other news, I went with John and Alex again to look at places for them to live in next year. I'm rather happy I get to be an RA next year because I don't have to worry about housing at all. Rawr!

Been playing a lot of Pokemon lately. It's pretty great.

Good news: talked to Ian on Skype today!
Bad news: finished my box of Jujubes. No more Jujubes for me. :(

Wind and Work

Right now I should be getting ready to head to Cambridge for my internship. But this was a better idea. Kudos to Lisa and Patt for passively influencing me to create a blog. It's exciting. Also a good source of procrastination, I guess, but I like to think of it as an enriching experience.

I'm really not looking forward to biking on Mass Ave with the wind. Maybe my bike will turn into a stationary bike and I can pretend I'm at the gym working out. I guess I could pretend that anyway. Eh.

The good news today is: Boris sat next to me in Econ!
The bad news today is: it's really windy out.