"It'll come to you this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it if you're Irish" - Gone With the Wind
Failte!
I'm excited to share my adventures with all of you! I want your first taste of my life in Ireland to be this poem that I wrote very late one night when I was a Junior in College. Its meaning seems eerily prophetic now. More than anything, I've created this blog to make the actualization of this life-long dream of mine visible to those I love: my friends who are my foundation, my endlessly supportive family, my mentors and co-workers who inspire me, and my former students who have given me enough satisfaction and fulfillment to last two lifetimes... Have the courage to believe that your wildest dreams can come true.
Is fhearr fheuchainn na bhith san duil, (It is better to try than to hope)
e
Mourn (A Seaside Peak in Southern Ireland)
The dark, earthen sod saturates her fair feet, but briefly since she frolics fast in knee high blades of greenest grass that blow dizzily in the Celtic-sea air.
Her wool skirt, stiffened by ware of evenings past is splashed by cresting waves that break against a beach blacker than her hair. Those once stiffer fibers were loosed by nights upon nights of hanging perfectly on his line before being wildly blown dry by the crisp Hibernian salt air.
The pair sits to rest a while instead of dodging breakers or skipping paler stones.
"Indian summer's here," he says softly, but all of summer here feels like the edge
of autumn to her, even though she grins in agreement
as she dangles her pale, soft feet off Achilles' peak, where Erin's vermillion-gold sky meets an ocean that is grey with years.
She sleeps with her eyes closed tight most nights. He asks her if she believes in Tier-Nan-Og, and she asks him if he believes in anything eternal. Outside the tide is rising, or it's receding— She never can tell but for the strengthened smell of salty freshness strained through his light, lace curtains.
She thinks to herself that he is like trying to hold the sea
and she imagines the water running between her fingers-- clenched so tight.
And so, the night calls her out of her sleeping, like daytime chides her into dreaming. She slips her white fingers through the holes of an old loose scarf that affords her more company than warmth on these newborn autumn evenings. She is off-- Night clouds reflect emerald from land to sea, And the tara that she never eyes from long hours of staring too far into star blanketed skies, feels cool against the thickening pads of her pallid feet.
Today was uneventful, even lazy. I did scope out some potential jobs and I'll be dropping off my resume tomorrow at a Parfumerie and a Book Store, both in St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center, which is right around the corner from my house. They have fish pedicures, TK Maxx, and flirtatious Irish boys in the Outdoor store. I did purchase a feather hair extension while there which was more for Candace (who has been begging me to get one since we moved here) than for myself. I'm hoping to get a Christmas Temp Job that will run from October-January and help me to pay for food and vacation. As my budget stands now, after paying rent and buying a ticket home for November, I have 4 euro a day to spend on food and entertainment : /. Candace and Matt are headed to Paris in the morning to celebrate their 2 year wedding anniversary! I'm super jealous, as Paris is one of my FAVORITE cities, and I dream about it regularly...
Other places I want to go this year:
Copenhagen & Brussels this spring
Scotland (I saw it last weekend from the coast)
Iceland/Norway to see the Northern Lights this winter
Florence (because it's like home to me)
Kenya with Candace for our 27th birthdays
Graduation 2012 TRIP= Southern Spain/ The Alhambra
My Mama gets here in 12 days and we're going to London!! I can't WAIT to show her The British Museum, The National Gallery, St. Paul's, and Buckingham Palace. So these are all the reasons I need a temp. job. I think travel will always be what I spend the majority of my income on (at least until I have babies).
*Special School Note: Our speaker last night was from Arizona State University. Among a room full of MA & PhD students and Professors, I was the first to ask a question! I wont bore you, but the good news is there is a plethora of rock art in the American Southwest and I see myself there in the future more and more.
I am a cactus after all, prickly on the outside, but full of thirst quenching life sustenance on the inside...
Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll have updates about my thesis topic and a few new shots of exciting things I've found around the city by Sunday!
Hump day is a hard day for me lately. You see, I have no class from Saturday-Wednesday, and then class from 9am to 7pm on Thursday so I start to feel a little anxious, especially since field work is in the morning, and that's probably what I have the LEAST natural talent for. [Picture a TA smoking and yelling at me for not being able to calculate the slope of a field or spout off a number of ways to use the Pythagorean Theorem to graph a football field in 10x10 meter squares. Sorry, the metric system is new to me, buddy!]
Anyway, today was an especially disdainful Wednesday because I had to go to Guarda at Burgh Quay on the River Liffey to get my Visa and registration card. My level of impatience borders on that of a 4 year old [my lovely students can attest to this]. Needless to say, I knew this day would be hard, so I decided to fill it with happy thoughts, so in my head today I made a Top 10 list of things that made me happy today, which resulted, not only in having a wonderful hump-day, but rather enjoying my quick 2 hour trip to The Garda. The beauty is in the mundane, my friends. And I really believe that happiness is all around you if you just look for it!
<3, e
10. Getting my Visa and Garda Registration Card [To add to my Student Card, Passport, license, Alcit card for Trinity, and Bus Pass? Everyone knows I need all of these things stapled to my body in order to keep up with them] As I said when I got home after this adventure, wielding my whiskey, "I am too legit to quit this CITY!"
9. The Gorgeous Weather Today! 70 degrees, leaves falling. Perfection summed up in this picture of my campus
8. On that note, going into campus and stopping by the office of the PhD candidate who assigned the Environmental Archaeology Reading I've been doing for my presentation in October. I was obviously nervous to ask him about the readings I hadn't been able to find online, but when I walked in and said, "Steve, I've done 7 of the ten readings for the presentation in 6 weeks, but I can't find the last 3" his response was, "You've done WHAT?!. shit. That's a lot more that I've done." He was obliged to send me the links to the other articles and seemed impressed with my GRAD SKOOL SKILLS, which put a little pep in my step down the K Hallway of The Newman Building.
7. USED BOOK SALE ON CAMPUS!! So they were 3 for 5 euro, but I was so distraught over choosing just 3, that the Graduate Womens Society gave me 5 for 7. I told the old ladies that I missed my book collection in America very much, and though I probably wouldn't have extra reading time...the literature comforted me nonetheless. After my excited purchase, I told Candace that perhaps I too one day would be in the Graduate Womens Society. She pointed out that I would need to be 1,000 more years old to fit in.
Tuna sashimi with seaweed and Duck Rolls
6. SUSHI always = happiness. Today I had my favorite lunch. Figures the first thing I would do with my loan check is buy books and sushi, but they are my life-force.
5. A New View...and Friend? This is the view at Wood Quay on the way to Burgh Quay. I sort of just stumbled upon it. It's always nice to find a different perspective of the city you love and live in. Pictured [accidentally] is the drunk young man I met in my short squat on this hillside. I don't want to give the impression that I like being harassed, and I don't normally take compliments well, but there's something to be said for an Irishman telling you thrice that you're "lovely looking" when the sun is setting, and then shushing his possibly MORE inebriated friend with, "Shut up, Fionn. I'm giving compliments to the Amerrricannn, you knitwit." I like new views. And I guess as long as I'm lovely looking, I'll learn to like the compliments.
4. New Hair-Dos! I've been trying to do an acceptable fishtail, like my sister can do to my hair, but I've decide it looks more like a possum tail. This "milk-maid" do however, is simple and keeps the hair out of my face :)
Fishtail or Possum tail?
Milk Maid!
3. Happy Quotes at Pubs: Did you know Pub is short for "Publick House" [also one of my fav. places to go in Brookline]. Today I wandered North of my stomping grounds, into more touristy locals near the river. It was wonderful though, the life of it all. And I especially smiled at this one below...
2. My Sweet Candace with her standard Diet Coke and True Blood Obsession(s). This whole experience would not be complete, nor as satisfying without her here with me.
1. Jameson and Pizza. In the words of Matt, "Thanks for bringing home the Meat Feast, Lizzie." In the words of me, "Any. time."
*Disclaimer: Children, whiskey is only good if you are over 21 and in small doses, and if you're NOT DRIVING. Be smart.
Besos, Ms. Lewis
Everything in the Universe is within you. Ask all from Yourself.
For when Love first tasted the lips of being human,
It started singing. -Rumi
OH YEAH! #11 . Thanks for hanging out today around the city, Gavin! Reminded me of our times in Florence with the theme song to Tristan+Isolde :)
Presents from Ireland to the first person to send me their OWN TOP TEN HAPPY LIST! Winner = DENVITA! XO
Can you handle the seasons of your life? Stevie Knicks asks. Well, today was a beautiful 69 degree Autumn day in Dublin, despite my frolicking in the leaves and passion for sweater weather, I know there are those of us who suffer with a little Seasonal Affective Disorder. Trust me, it's nothing rare. I grew up with a father whose temper directly correlated to the length of the day (sounds pagan) and my best friend always get's a little mopey after labor day when it's time to put her sailboats and bathing suits away. No Fear, my friends! Whether you live in Boston [where it's actually colder/rainier this week than it is in Dublin]; you have a touch of SAD; you're a sequestered graduate student; or you just have a tortured poet's soul like myself [yeah, I just said it. Lilly knows what I mean], I have a top 5 list of remedies to put you back in the high life again!
5. This is from a page out of my friend Daniel Goans' book: Sing Out Loud. At all costs. Do it in the shower & in the car, but I do it when I'm walking around the city and even my school campus--SURE, I look a little strange, but there's something about it that is good for the soul and I recommend doing it at the top of your lungs [staying in tune is absolutely optional, and actually discouraged].
4. Go back to your favorite book [or one of them]. I did that this week with Wuthering Heights when I was worn out from traveling and reading Environmental Archeology. Obviously, I didn't read the whole thing, but a chapter was good enough for the soul--and it left me feeling warm inside despite the low temps + rain of the chilly North I had just visited. As an avid reader, I think that in a way what we read develops along with us and becomes a facet of who we are. Emily Bronte just happens to remind me of a part of myself that I needed to be back in touch with.
Reading Wuthering Heights on St. Stephens Green in my new earrings from T!
3. Go Outside! It might not be 85 like you want it to be, but nature is always peaceful and relaxing. I live in the middle of a city, but I went to a beautiful park today and just laid in the middle of crinkling yellow leaves in my corduroys, and I was instantly transformed. You NEED those smells, the fresh air, and what little sunlight there's left to have!
Listening to my CDs from Theresa! This has got to be DREAMS
2. Correspond with someone long-distance. And I highly recommend snail mail, as opposed to instant-gratification Email/Skype/Facebook. Though these are wonderful things that allow us to connect to one another constantly and with ease, I would argue that it detracts from the depth of that contact. When I sit down to write a card or letter to one of my friends back home, I think carefully about what I'm going to say. I use every inch of space. And it comes from a deeper place of love and gratitude because I've taken the time to work on it and send it. Today I got my first "Care Package" from my wonderful sister-friend Theresa, and it just made me feel SO LOVED. Do that for someone else, and the feeling will come back to you, trust me.
1. Learn Something New. And Meaningful. Ok, so it's cold. You don't get as much outdoor time, you don't get as much vacation time, you don't get as much vitamin D. Look at it as a chance to hone some talent you've always felt lurking beneath you, but never had the time to explore. Take French lessons, learn to bake, paint in watercolor, pick up an instrument like a mandolin or a harp. Candace and I are going to start Irish next Tuesday! My philosophy is that all the extra time, energy, and brain-power that go into your new talent will not only distract you, but produce a glorious result that is fun to show off by the time the snow melts and spring is here!
Thanks T! I love and miss you a lot! You'll get my snail mail soon
I've been putting off this post because there is so much to say, that I don't know where to start. First of all, the National Museum of Ireland is around the corner from my house and more importantly, FREE! unlike some fascist Paeses I know of. Not saying any names (Berlusconi). I've already been to have lunch with the Bog men 3 times and I'm thinking of starting a paid tour service for the place, offered in English and my signature Span-Talian.
My Researching Archaeology class is visiting the archives in a couple weeks, which will give me a chance to get a reading license that will allow me to access, not only the archived texts, but artifacts as well. In this post I'll be focusing on the prehistorical section of the Museum, which is most of the bottom floor. We'll go up a bit into late antiquity or the early medieval time period, but only because A) Vikings are badass and B)so is the Tara Brooch, which I've wanted to see in person since I was 17. Candace has decided that I should start wearing brooches on my lapel and scarves, but lesbihonest, I clearly have a high standard of brooch quality... I realize the above picture is awful and taken with my cheap europhone, but it shows how the Tara Brooch has a special place, showcased in front of the other brooches. The intricacies and attention to detail in the woven knotwork & interlace on this brooch are mind-boggling. See the details better here!
Celtic Torc
Bling from a hoard--you should see my mom's closet
The Tara Brooch is a secular piece from the Christian period in Ireland, as opposed to the earlier pagan art that I'll be focusing more on in school. However, what I'm really interested in is the link between the two. The patron of the Tara brooch (used to pin one's cloak together) was likely just a wealthy, high-ranking individual, wishing to express his status. The leftover artistry of gold, silver, copper, and amber is an exquisite display of the metalworking capabilities of the Post Iron Age Irish, and should really make us rethink what we call "The Dark Ages" in Europe. Above is another one of my favorites-- the TORC. Torcs (or Torques) were big in Celtic fashion from about 400 BC to 800 AD, and then the Vikings totally brought them back, vintage style, in the Middle Ages. They were worn by warriors, and sort of formed around the neck by the metalsmith, so it wasn't coming off until...ya know...the head did. I'm also into Sheet Gold work like the above collars, which is characteristic of my beloved Bronze Age (a crazy long period predating the Iron age, from roughly 3300-1000 BC).
Baby Mouse boat- Bronze Age. Cuteness.
So, Tara brooch. Let me tell you a little bit more about Tara, since it is the namesake of my blog! The hill of Tara is the mythical seat of the Great Irish Kings. It's not much of a HILL, more a gradual incline, and in reality it was used as a crowning, ritual or sacrificial site. Though it's vantage point is not super high, the view is apparently angled spectacularly so that the surrounding land can be seen for miles upon miles upon kilometers...or whatever. Most of us who've studied any sort of ancient history or warfare, know that it would have been an important fortress or stronghold because of its 360 degree panorama.
While Tara holds Celtic significance from the Iron Age on as a place where kings were crowned and meant to symbolically marry the Goddess, Maeve, it is more significant to me because of its role in Pre-Celtic and Neolithic Ireland. This is when the Tuatha de Danaan (beware, I'm speaking Irish)were said to have ruled the land: people who range from mythical spirits to a fairly historically accurate part of Celtic folklore. For you Boondock Saints lovers (and Elisabeth lovers) This song and intro might ring a bell: The Blood of Cu Chulainn-- I'll take any excuse to look at footage of Boston! Normally I don't watch the full videos I post on here, but I'm enamored by the city I love the most...Anyway, this song is called The Blood of Cu Chulainn, named for the famous mythical warrior of this Pre-Celtic era in Ireland. Cu Chulainn would have definitely lain his feet along the green hills of Tara. As far as the archeological dating of Tara is concerned, such structures as the Mound of Hostages date back 5,000 years. This is a passage tomb, like the more famous Newgrange you might have heard of. Passage Tomb just means that the cut-out stone hallway of the building aligns astronomically, in Tara's case with the Equinoctes, and in Newgrange's case with the Solstices (The winter solstice festival being the influence for the date chosen for Christmas in the Christian calendar, and the Spring Equinox festival, of course syncs with Easter in the Christian Calendar).
In addition, the Stone of Destiny on Tara is said to have roared 3 times for the true king, perhaps an inspiration for the Arthurian legends of Excalibur? These are Newspaper clippings from the 1950's when professors at my university first excavated the mound. Unfortunately, I will have to save the Bog men from the museum for TOMORROW'S post because this one has already gotten lengthy and my bladder is about to burst with Chai! respond with the Latin phrase said by the Irish Boondock Saint Brothers and you will be rewarded! Candace and I are headed back to Dicey's tonight!
This looks like them at the front of the passage tomb
I have moved to the land of them, gingers that is. And I'm a little overwhelmed with my surroundings to be quite honest. Ireland is 60% male between the ages of 20 and 35. This fact is proven any night of the week that I visit my local pub to find the tables have turned, myself one of 3 or 4 women in a room full of men. About 30% of these men are gingers, meaning they have red(dish), perhaps auburn or strawberry blond, hair. Keep in mind, 1-2% of the world's population has red hair, which actually means about 6% of Europeans and 5% of the Americans. Red hair exists because of a plethora or pheomelanin, as opposed to eumelanin, which causes both blond and brunette hair. As I have witnessed in some Bog People and mummies, Pheomelanin doesn't break down quite as easily as eumelanin, and therefore dead people often have reddish hair (if there was any pheomelanin there to begin with). Interesting facts!
Furthermore, if you are an anesthesiologist or surgeon, you know that Redheads require more anesthesia than other humans, which supports my belief that they are aliens. Additionally, I don't know how or when these studies happened, but somehow we also know that redheads have a higher pain tolerance, as far as electro-shock and needles go. Frightening. Regardless of these scientific facts, they've always a certain allure for me. In fact, one just sat down across from me in the window of this Starbucks. I will consider him my muse for the duration...This blog post is mostly an exercise in understanding my own laws of attraction, so I'm going to go back to the very beginning. Feel free to come along!
1998: My first love. This is me at 18. Five years into my relationship with this fiery redhead, and 3 years away from its demise. For a while I thought it all started here, and wouldn't that be romantic? But if I really think about it, then we're going back TEN more years. But before I "dig up" the past, as I am want to do, I'll let Adele do the talking... I've never really had the words for this one, anyway. Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.
1988: Danny Kaye. There's nothing else to say. What an epic actor with an epic voice. If there's anything I can't resist more than a ginger with a beard, it's ginger who can SING. Check out my favorite song from 1952's Hans Christian Andersen. And please don't doubt that I will be belting this from a similar ship when I visit Copenhagen in the spring...
Danny Kaye was a New York Jew who had my heart from a young age. We was married to a fellow New Yorker, but commonly thought of as bisexual, and possibly had a 10 year relationship with Sir Laurence Olivier, the husband of Vivien Leigh, the tiny British actress made famous by her role as "Scarlet" in Gone With The Wind. Yes, a Brit played Scarlet. Ah, small world. It should be noted, though, not all redheads are Irish. The hair color is just as common in Eastern Europe, and that's exactly where Danny Kaysinsky's parents were from :)
Chasen Hampton From "The All New Mickey Mouse Club"
1989: Pre-School. Charles Melvin. It would be way too creepy to get a photo of him off the internet, but trust me. This guy is still a ginger. I know I throw epic birthday parties, but my 5th might've been my best. It was a costume party, and I wore this amazing cream-coloured, puff sleeve, princess dress, with huge pearl and diamond earrings and a gold tiara delicately balanced on my wild dark curls. Charles was a Cowboy, naturally. Red hair poking out of a red hat. We were perfect. Maybe somewhere he's reading this right now?
1990: Alright, the plot thickens. I had to do some SERIOUS digging to pull this one out, but here you have it: Chasen Hampton (strangely enough, Chasen is the aforementioned ex-boyfriend's middle name) or CHASE! from the Mickey Mouse Club. I had it bad for this guy, and my sister can attest to the fact. While most little girls and pre-pubescents daydreamed of fellow Mickey Mouse Club alum,Damon Pampolina, hello?! I preferred this slightly goofy looking redhead. Inexplicable.
Someone give Mark Wahlberg an Oscar already
1991: Favorite New Kid on the Block? Donnie. Though I have suspicions that this was only because I wanted to be like Tricia Ann. But you don't. want. to. get. me. started. on the Wahlberg brothers because I WONT WANT TO STOP. I'll just let you continue to believe that I moved to Boston to work at a place called "MATCH Highschool"
1992/3: My I Love Lucy obsession begins. And though this lovable redhead is probably the only woman I would give up men for, I'm talking about her friend, and constant "special guest," Red Skelton. I love this picture, and most of all, I love them. They met doing Vaudeville shows together in Manhattan in the 1940s, and Lucy had him on her show multiple times. I can just image Desi Arnez losing his Cuban temper upon witnessing their fiery chemistry. I loved watching them be silly together, and when it comes down to it, all other things aside: red hair, good dancer, nice voice, tons of money...we just want to be with someone who makes us giggle because life is serious enough. As a strange 8 year old (and I was the strangest), I loved talking to my Dad about Red Skelton's variety show from the 50's so much that I actually did a report on his life and performance art in the 3rd grade :)
1996: I don't know why I watched The Way We Were when I was 11, but it inspired a whole slew of Robert Redford movies to follow. Personal favorites? #1 would have to be the Academy Award winner from the year I was born, Out of Africa, followed closely, if not disturbingly by Indecent Proposal, but The Way We Were was my first taste of this immortally gorgeous heartthrob. I know that his hair is sort of Strawberry blond, and I don't want to open that bag of worms, so let me stop there with this awesome clip--Gotta love a ginger with strong political views. Out of Africa, take it away....
1999: Odysseus. Everyone knows that The Odyssey is my favorite epic, and one of my favorite things to teach. Other than his occasional lust and infidelity, Odysseus is the ideal guy for me. When he returns back to Ithaca after 20 years of being gone, the goddess Athena renders his appearance youthful once more (You're welcome, Penelope!) Homer describes Odysseus's hair as being fire colored like orange "hyacinth." This is a puppet that one of my freshmen made last year. He's on my vanity to remind me of my chillens in Siler City, and the whole point of the journey: to return home a bit wiser and better for your travels.
Holy Pajoly.
Current: Well, that's a little too personal, don't you think? I will say that I have moved to the right place, as far as being surrounded by what I find most physically appealing. Truthfully, I don't think there's an explanation for my ginger fetish. I mean, red hair IS a genetic mutation, that is in fact, getting rarer and rarer as time goes on. There was even an article published in the National Geographic about the possibility of Redheads dying out by 2500. Maybe it's the exoticism that I'm drawn to, or maybe there is just a connotation of red hair with a certain fieriness and passion that I want matched in my life--I know that has definitely been true of the redheads I've known-- Bottom line is, I don't think it's the physical feature that draws me to gingers--I think it's a certain "Joie de vivre" or confidence that a lot of them exude. I've never been wooed by a pretty face, but I do succumb to a dazzling personality, and maybe (just maybe) the redhead community is more densely populated with such charmers. We'll see!
I'll leave you with my favorite song from my favorite indy rock band based out of Brooklyn--The National led by the beautiful, nay, I dare say perfect looking (and sounding) Matt Berringer...
Wow, it's been 10 days. Sorry! I guess I got a little side-tracked, but that will all be illuminated later on. For now, I just want to catch up with another "STEW for Stew" post! I wasn't planning on putting this up, but after researching the nutritional value of both barley and lentils, I feel like this is a great recipe for all my heath-nut friends to put on your "back burner." God, I'm witty. So if you know me, you know that my favorite food is..._________! I like it raw, I like it cooked, It's best creamed, I put it in my pasta, even in banana smoothies. I need the extra iron it provides because meat isn't my shtick. It keeps me super REGULAR, and like my father, I pack serious fiber into my day. Moving half-way around the world has done some crazy things to my body and this hearty, autumn colored stew is just what I needed to get my system back on track! You will get a ton of protein and fiber from this one. And Only 230 calories per cup!
Truth? I'm behind in Prizes. I have two beautiful things for Kat and Liz Wills, and I'm sending them tomorrow! Fill in my favorite food blank and make this stew (taking adorable pictures as Lizzy did) and you will be rewarded as well. And let's be honest, it will take 2 weeks again. I'm getting a Masters, not relaxing by the Liffey drinking Guiness Irishmen. Oh, wait....
Ok! for this stew, your ingredients are as follows: 1 cup dry pearl Barley 2 cups brown lentils 2 carrots 3 celery stalks 1 medium yellow onion 4 cups sliced button mushrooms (or any kind you like) 1 litre of Beef broth 1/4 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. Parsley S+P to taste a bit of red wine a bit of olive oil
Obviously, you FIRST want to chop your onion and cook it on medium in your olive oil filled skillet!
Once the onion pieces are transparent, add your chopped carrots and celery and cook for 5 more minutes
Now it's time to stir in your lentils and barley! Make sure they are coated in olive oil (add more if you have to)
After barley is browned a bit, add your litre of beef broth! I typically use vegetable stock, but this adds a great flavor to this stew and makes it a bit more filling
Season the mixture with your thyme, parsley, and black pepper
Now cover your skillet, turn down the heat, and let simmer for 20 minutes (In the mean time, slice all your mushrooms and listen to A Fine Frenzy.
Finally, Add your mushrooms and cook, occasionally stirring, for 30 more minutes.
Don't forget to add the red wine for that extra flavor burst in the last 5 minutes!
I made this with traditional Irish Brown Bread--served hot and delicious! Trust me, you will love it :)
On the East coast of America, Apples are synonymous with fall. There are so may delicious ways to fix them up. In Boston, I often stewed them with cinnamon and butter, and I think Dani made some pies at Verndale. Here is a healthier option for your apple dessert. I made it last week, and Candace and Matt loved them. It's SO simple! I'll give you a romantic recipe for two :) Though, I made mine for 3!
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees celsius. Good luck figuring that one out.
Take your apple, core it and half it
In a bowl, mix together low fat cream cheese, LOTS of cinnamon (my fav) and 1 TBS. of Brown Sugar
Fill the cored apple holes with the mixture
Now finely chop a pear and sprinkle some on top.
Place apples in your bread loaf pan and fill the bread loaf pan half full with a mixture of water and juice Any juice will do!
If you don't have juice (or in addition) throw the rest of the pear pieces in the pan
Bake this for 30 minutes until the apples are browning and you can easily dig in with a spoon!
I sprinkle extra cinnamon on top, and if you're not watching your weight, you could add a scoop of vanilla ice cream :)
Thanks for reading! my next recipe installment should be my attempt at Hot Mulled Wine with Candace!
We learned a new word today while shopping. If you know me, you know I HATE shopping and I max out at about 1.5 hours, but I needed hiking shoes for this weekend, so we dropped in on a couple Irish bloaks in an Outdoors store at our local shopping center on Grafton Street.
I picked out some great shoes that are lightweight enough for running trails on the canal as well. I (Candace was on a business call) had a little chat with my (overly) friendly salesman from County Tipperary, land of the indiscernible Irish accent and healthy country boys. He advised me on some local pub action and taught me my new favorite Irish slang that I now teach you: Lob-a-Gob. He directly translated this for me as "lob" meaning to throw and and "Gob" meaning mouth. This was used in context of describing the pub we're going to tonight--check it out! Copper Face Jack's
That's all for now. I'm working on my EPIC Archaeology Museum Post for tomorrow, followed by the hiking post on Sunday! Get Ready... Listening to:
My jaunt today included a trip to the Post to grab some more International stamps, specifically to send Liz Wills her Irish surprisefor winning my last blog challenge. I decided to go to the post by St. Patrick's Cathedral, and I am SO happy that I did. What a beautiful day! I love how the sunshine is even more beautiful after the rain, and yes that is a double entendre--I'm full of them! Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with my poetic waxings on flying buttresses and stain glass and why we feel compelled as humans to build something majestic enough to impress our God that has erected in our honor: the Alps, the Grand Tetons, my Blue Ridge mountains, and these gorgeous rolling green hills out my window... Besides, I decided NOT to be a Medievalist. Rather, you should just enjoy a sampling from a band I grew up with while you look at today's photos! The context of this blog entry title should be illuminated for you then ;) First FOLLOWER to post the rest of the lyric gets the #3 surprise from Ireland! I overbought my stamps today....
I took a seat here to listen to M. Ward
The expanse of the Nave (east to west), so the sun rises in the window of the altar
This is my favorite. I like cathedrals like I like my men. Dark, pointy, and mysterious
Stew is a great way to keep warm when it's cold and thus, Candace and I decided to make one stew a week while we live in Dublin. I can't promise to post every recipe, but the stew we made last night is one of my favorites, so I decided to share for a change of pace! I made this stew in Boston a couple of times, and the flavors really jump out and tickle your taste-buds. I go heavy handed on the cilantro in this one (did you know cilantro is called coriander in Europe?) I also (apparently) decided to go heavy handed on the red pepper flakes--or maybe Irish red pepper flakes are especially strong??--either way, be careful that you just add a pinch because this stew can get spicy FAST!
This recipe is from the Food Network, courtesy of Paula Deen. Though you are meant to sautee the onions, garlic, and green chilis in a stick of butter (and garnish your chili with mayonaisse. jk) we substituted that with 3 tablespoons of EVOO and hope you will too. There may be a month or two left before it's stew weather in your town (unless you're reading this from Boston, in which case let me know when it starts to snow), but file it away and bust it out for a Football Sunday...or Saturday or whenever they play football in America :) Cheers/ Hope y'all enjoy!
White Bean and Chicken Chili 2 Cans White Beans (like Cannelloni) 5 cups chicken stock (we used veggie b/c that's what we had!) 3 Tbsps. EVOO 1 Tbsp. minced garlic 3/4 a cup diced yellow onion 1 1/2 cups green chilis (canned or fresh. We used fresh!) 1 pound chicken breast 1 pound collard greens (we used spinach in Ireland) 1 Tbsp. Cumin 1 Tbsp. Oregano 1/2 tsp. white pepper Salt and black pepper to taste a PINCH Red Pepper flakes a half to whole bunch cilantro sour cream to garnish (if you like)
In my experience, this makes 8-10 servings. Each serving is 245 calories...without the sour cream ;)
Dice chilis, onion, and garlic
In your largest saucepan, you want to heat your olive oil over MEDIUM heat and cook chilis, garlic and onion for 2-3 minutes, careful not to burn.
While that's cooking, go ahead and cut your raw chicken breast into bite size pieces.
Add the chicken along with the cumin, oregano, white pepper, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Cook until chicken is browned and not going to kill you
Add the collard greens little by little until they are all slightly wilted (sad looking)
Now add your chicken broth! Looks like soup now, huh? Bring this to a rolling BOIL
Then cover it and simmer for 20-30 minutes on LOW heat, stirring occasionally
Add the 2 cans of white beans to really thicken this stew
After it seems thickened, throw in your cilantro! (my favorite touch)
Ta-da! Garnish and serve HOT!
The first FOLLOWER to make this stew and post a picture of it (with dated newspaper) will get a present from Ireland! My best friend, and avid blog follower, Magan Overcash, won last time by knowing that the main characters from The Gift of the Magi and The Script video are James (Jim) And Della.
I know what you're thinking from the title--out of season, right? But hear me out....
Today was a big day. Today I met my Magi, Aidan O'Sullivan, my department head. It was a hot day actually, and by that I mean above 70, so "hot" when you're running so you're not late for your first meeting with a professor. I told you I'm running all the time!
View from bench where I will eat lunch outside the Arch. building
The meeting had to do with my last post from the US. Do I stream Heritage Site Management or Prehistory? I sat down with Aidan for a bit and realized pretty early on that he seemed to read my mind, or maybe I'm just that easy to decipher. Regardless, I told him about my dilemma: the practical pull of Heritage Site Management, job opportunities and learning applicable skills for managing sites and excavations. I started to bargain early on--"Maybe I could take a couple prehistory classes on the side, even though that's more than 90 credits" and "Maybe I could audit if I can't sign up for more than 90 credits then"-- We talked about what my dissertation could be if I streamed Heritage Site Management: The importance of ethical conservation and protected digs. AND THEN we talked about Prehistory dissertations: links between Egyptian tomb art and Celtic burial mound symbols, Bronze age adornments (Yay torcs!). He also mentioned that Prehistory modules have several field trips to notable sites in Ireland. I obviously lit up when we were talking about Prehistory, and Aidan asked me why I was even considering Heritage Site Management, so I told him. Flat out. I want a job, and what's more, I didn't want to disappoint anyone, and I should need some sort of specified skill to do this.
His eyes were wise and knowing as he talked about his own experience getting a MA in Archaeology 30+ years ago: how his dissertation was one of the great achievements of his life, how it was artful and an important part of himself. Then he said these words that I will never forget: We don't choose a course of study because we think it's the right thing to do or it will make us "good." We choose a module that impassions us because just by doing so we become better people, Ms. Lewis. I don't mean to guide you too much, but if I were you and felt as you do, then I would choose Prehistory. Regardless, you graduate with a diploma that says Master of Archaeology, and if you apply to jobs in places that have rich Prehistorical landscapes like Europe or the American Southwest, then they're going to look at your modules (courses) and see how qualified you are. Remember, it's just one year of school--do what you love, or I'm afraid you might live to regret it.
Right? Is he a blog subscriber?? Get out of my head! Needless to say, this is (hopefully) my schedule for the next year. Candace and I will enroll tomorrow morning! Note my HSM course sneakily tucked in there second semester... Semester 1 Adv. Archeological fieldwork (10 credits) Researching Archeology I (5) Key Issues in Prehistoric Archeology (10) Bronze Age Society (5)
Semester 2 Researching ArcheologyII (5) Art and Ritual in Prehistoric Europe (5) Research and Thesis (5) Heritage Site Management in Ireland (5)
Semester 3 Dissertation, Due August, 24th 2012 (40 credits)
I feel so lucky and extremely happy to have these courses and experiences ahead of me. Being back in the realm of Academia was scary today. I found myself choosing my words extra-carefully, and being self-conscious about how smart I sounded, especially with my American accent sounding unusually young and simple in conversation with that old, Irish, breathy wisdom. I guess that's just something I'll have to get used to. Being a classroom teacher really inflates your intelligence ego. Which reminds me...
Dear kids who have checked on me, specifically Angelina and Abby--I do NOT feel smart at school. I feel really self-conscious and worried that it's not going to come as easy for me as it does for other students, but I feel confident that because I'm doing what I love, I will succeed!! I miss you and think about you all. the. time. Because "alot" isn't a word.
The Gift of the Magi is a Christmas story by O. Henry that my sister and I read every Christmas Eve, and I read with my freshman last year! In the story, the two main characters sacrifice what is most important and valuable to them in order to have a proper gift for one another. It doesn't make sense to squander their only money. In fact, it's impractical, like many of the choices we make in life, but it sure did make them better people, and I like to think that that's what we're all aiming for.
I'm going to leave you with this music video by an Irish band, The Script. The storyline pays homage to O. Henry, who is from North Carolina, by naming the two young characters after the characters in the Gift of the Magi, because they makes similar sacrifices (I'll let you watch and listen). The first person to respond with the famous character names gets a special treat from Ireland! I tipped a street musician for playing this (beautifully, might I add) on Grafton street yesterday, and he smiled a very Irish grin and told me I had an amazing accent--haha! Exotic American that I am.
"Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on."
Today was uneventful, even lazy. I did scope out some potential jobs and I'll be dropping off my resume tomorrow at a Parfumerie and a Book Store, both in St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center, which is right around the corner from my house. They have fish pedicures, TK Maxx, and flirtatious Irish boys in the Outdoor store. I did purchase a feather hair extension while there which was more for Candace (who has been begging me to get one since we moved here) than for myself. I'm hoping to get a Christmas Temp Job that will run from October-January and help me to pay for food and vacation. As my budget stands now, after paying rent and buying a ticket home for November, I have 4 euro a day to spend on food and entertainment : /. Candace and Matt are headed to Paris in the morning to celebrate their 2 year wedding anniversary! I'm super jealous, as Paris is one of my FAVORITE cities, and I dream about it regularly...
