My Favorite Recipe

When I started this list of blogging topics, it intrigued me because there were things on it that I probably wouldn't otherwise share.  This is one of them.

My favorite recipe isn't one that would surprise many people.  It's for Hungarian Fruit Soup (Gyumolcs leves).  It was the first Hungarian food I fell in love with and the one I keep recreating for friends and potlucks.

The following recipe has been taken from here.  It doesn't make very much, so I find myself doubling, tripling or even quadrupling depending on the event.  This recipe makes 6 servings.

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 1 pound fresh sour cherries, pitted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan, cook cherries with water and 3/4 cup sugar until done, about 10 minutes.
   
   
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix sour cream with flour, salt and confectioners' sugar until smooth.
   
   
3. When cherries are done, temper the sour cream mixture with a few ladles of hot cherry liquid, whisking until smooth. Transfer to the pan with the cherries and whisk until smooth. Simmer 5 minutes, but do not boil.
   
   
4. Cool to room temperature in an ice water bath. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the soup (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate until cold. Serve cold as a first course as they do in Hungary or as a dessert with a dollop of sour cream or whipped cream.

My Top 10 Foods (aka ways to my heart)

1) Cheese - Ooohhh weee, I love cheese.  I like cheese slices, cheese sticks, cheese balls, cheese dips, grated cheese, chunks of cheese, shredded cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, American cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Pepperjack cheese, Mozzarella cheese, Swiss cheese, Cheddar cheese, Provolone cheese... I love cheese.

2) Chocolate - Ooohhh weee, I love chocolate.  Just like cheese, I like it in every form and every flavor.  Honestly, my favorite are cordial cherries (but not the cheap dollar store ones).  My other favorites are peanut butter cups and twix. 

3) Macaroni and Cheese - OMG.  I love macaroni and cheese.  I can eat it plain.  I can eat it with things mixed in (like chicken, spinach, kale, tomatoes, ground turkey, anything...)  It's my favorite go-to meal.  Honestly, with the right variety in mix-ins, I could probably eat this for lunch or dinner every day.

4) Spinach - Fresh or cooked, This is my go-to green.  I love it on sandwiches and as a salad.  I love it as a dip.  I love to sautee it and mix it in with risotto.  Not only is it delicious, it's healthy!

5) Olives - I was first introduced to olives as hors dourves at my mom's family gatherings.  Green olives were always served next to little pickles before dinner.  Back when I was a vegetarian, I wanted something besides cheese on my pizza... so instead of mushrooms, I started ordering black olives.  Mind.  Blown.  It pretty much changed my world.  Here are two new options if you're looking to try olives on your pizza: sausage and black olives, and pepperoni and green olives.  You'll thank me later.  I promise.

6) Fruity beer - Okay, so just as a disclaimer: beer is for those who are 21 years and older.  Also, it should only be enjoyed in moderation, please.  With that being said, I occasionally enjoy fruity beer: lemon shandy, cherry wheat, etc.  So good.

7) Good red wine or sparkling red wine - Another beverage for the older crowd, but this is a favorite as well.  I first fell in love with red wine in Hungary.  They have excellent wine in Hungary that most of the world doesn't know about.  Upon returning to the US, it has been my favorite treat.

8) Chicken - Chicken chicken chicken: the staple of most of my meals.  In fact, I'm eating chicken pizza right now.  However, because I cook with it so often, I rarely order it when I eat out.  But I could eat fried chicken, baked chicken, crockpot chicken, canned chicken, chicken salad, chicken chicken chicken.. om nom nom.

9) Pizza - PIZZAAAAA!!!  I srsly could eat pizza everyday.  Every.  Day.  I am eating pizza right now!

10) Deviled eggs - more chicken!  Of course, this is a much different form.  I can never eat enough of these at every potluck.  Sometimes I take a few more than my fair share and I feel so guilty!  I love them so much, though, and I never just make them for myself.  That would indeed be a bad idea.

My Favorite Childhood Book

I recently saw a post on Facebook containing some of the greatest childhood book quotes.

Dr. Seuss - Oh the Places You'll Go - "If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too."

Roald Dahl - Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - "The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places."

Dr. Seuss - The Cat in The Hat - "Be who you are and say how you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

Shel Silverstein - Where the Sidewalk Ends - "Anything can happen, child.  Anything can be."

E. B. White - Charlotte's Web - "You have been my friend.  That in itself is a tremendous thing."

Robert Munsch - Love You Forever - "I'll love you forever, I'll love you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

Roald Dahl - Matilda - "If you have good thoughts... they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

Marcus Pfister - The Rainbow Fish - "... the more he gave away, the more delighted he became."



Such good stuff!  So, I got to thinking: what were some of my favorite childhood books?  There were (and are) so many good ones to choose from, it was hard to narrow it down.  I came up with a few, though.

Anne of Green Gables series - This was the first collection of books I had.  I remember getting points to Barnes & Noble with the summer reading program and I used those points to collect all of the books in the series.  I remember being so proud of when I collected all of the books in the series.

Berenstein Bears series - This is a series that I could read and read and read again.  Love it!  I should plan to get the series for the nepher...

Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss - I still have a copy of this book.  Maybe it's for kids, but I think it's also very much for adults.  It's something that I believe we should read time and time again.  The inspiration never gets old.  The pictures never get boring.  The rhymes never fail to entertain.  Love it!

So, what about you?  What were your favorite books as a child?

My Most Proud Moment

There are three moments in my life (at least recent moments) that I can remember being extremely proud of myself.  I think they all speak for themselves, but a couple of them came without warning, they all come with stories and they all not only increased my feeling of self worth, but I think they also increased others' feelings of my value and worth.  That is important to me.




Theological Hungarian talk - July 2010 - Yes, I lived and I worked and I ate delicious food in Hungary for about a year of my life.  It was wonderful and probably one of the greatest experiences of my life.  One thing that I regret (and only a little) is that I didn't exactly master the Hungarian language.  Sure, I could speak it and my pronunciation was so on point that I was often assumed Hungarian when only one-word answers were needed.  Unfortunately, piecing together a good sentence wasn't my strength.  I could read and listen and understand almost completely... but yeah, that forming sentences/speaking/thinking and then relaying what I thought... those things were struggles.  Toward the end of my year there, I was working for a camp on Lake Balaton.  After dinner one evening, the question came up about how can God be good if so many bad things happen to good people.  It's a classic question for those questioning.  While I am fairly confident in discussing my beliefs in English, translating into Hungarian (or even Spanish) proved to be extremely difficult.  However, it came up.  And I can't remember how the conversation went.. but I do remember it being an actual conversation... complete with questions and responses.  I walked away feeling so proud that I could not only discuss something that means a lot to me without getting defensive or deeply emotional, but I was also able to discuss it in a language I slightly regretted I hadn't grasped.  In fact, I had.

Graduation - April 2013 - Finally.  12 years after graduating high school, I finally graduated from college.  I started GVSU in August 2001 as a music education major.  I finally finished as a Spanish major.  I had finally finished.  As I prepared for this day, I couldn't wait to walk across the stage of the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI and receive my 'diploma.'  This excitement was quickly overshadowed by the fact that I hadn't tried on my graduation gown.  Apparently they are NOT "one-size-fits-all..." and this girl has got some hips that are definitely not one size.  The gown was more like a bodycon dress.  Not attractive.  No proud.  However, aside from that moment, it was a great day.  I had finished what I'd started.  I had done what I had set out to do.  I remember the happiness as if it were yesterday.  So good.


Promotion - October 2013 - Of course, this is one of the most recent proud moments.  It came completely unexpected.  I've already blogged about how it came about and included a lot of my feelings about it, so I won't bore you with that again.  Here's a link to that post.  However, I was so proud of myself.  It was only due to my hard work and abilities as an intern that I'd even gotten noticed.  I'm sure some divine intervention, as well, but I'm so thankful that my freewill choice was to do what I was asked to do to the best of my abilities no matter what.



So, what about you?  What are some of your most proudest moments?

Collections?

Do you have any collections?  Personally, I used to have a couple collections, but now there seems to be only one.  Books.

I have a problem with book collections.  I collect books that I'll (probably) never read.  I have two collections: 1 in NY, 1 in Michigan.  It keeps growing.  And I haven't really been reading.

I'm currently working on a book that I had started for my bachelor's degree.  It's in Spanish, so it's not fast reading, but it's a good book.  Unfortunately, I want to read all of the books in my collection.  And so... it continues to grow :P

I used to collect musical instrument figurines, but it's been a while since I've collected nor displayed these figurines.  I have a variety of figures, even from far away places like the Dominican Republic and Mexico.  I have dogs playing pianos, cats playing violins and ducks playing drums... all marching to their own tune and rhythm.  Unfortunately, they are all now collecting dust.

So... what do you collect?

My First Memory

My first memory is difficult to determine, actually.  I have two very early memories, but it's hard to determine which is the earliest.

Option #1 -
The timing on this memory isn't difficult to determine.  We were in the airport and I was very young - 4 years old, actually.  My baby brother, Randy, had just been born and we were headed to Alabama.  We were waiting in the airport and I was impressing my grandparents with my reading abilities.  Included in that impression was my ability to spell the word "special."  That was really awesome, according to my grandfather, that I was so smart at such a young age.  I remember feeling so proud.

Option #2 -
This is the memory for which I'm unsure of the timing.  I cannot remember if it was when I was 4 or 5 because I cannot remember for which sibling we were awaiting news.  I remember getting the call that my mother had had the new baby while we were at Grandma and Grandpa Richter's home.

What are your first memories?

If I Won the Lottery...

This is an interesting concept.  I never play the lottery.  Maybe I should try it at least once after answering this question.

The current mega millions jackpot in New York is $71,000,000.  Honestly, I'm not sure I could imagine having even 1/71 of that.  Let's just work with that instead.

If I had $1,000,000...

Well, let's see, it would play out like this.

$100,000 to pay off school loans and continue putting Eaic through school and pay for some continuing education
$500,000 to buy a home
$25,000 to buy a couple new cars
$10,000 for a dream wedding
$200,000 for my kids' education

the remaining $165,000 would go to my parents and my family.  Lord knows they put up with a whole lot from me growing up.

Aside from school loans, I'm not in any scary debt situation.  It'd be nice to be debt-free and living well... so yes, I think I might just play the lottery once.