Nerdiness: Irrefutable Proof

To know me is to know that I am a J.R.R. Tolkien fan to my very core. I wander in Middle Earth whenever I get the opportunity; I pop in the Lord of the Rings extended version to watch my favorite scenes; I have an enormous poster of a map of Middle Earth hanging above my desk... the list goes on. Indeed, my goal to become a philologist was sparked by reading Tom Shippey's "Road to Middle Earth" about Tolkien's work in Linguistics and the language that inspired Middle Earth.

To know me is to know that I also have an unfortunate tendency to procrastinate, especially when it involves crafting. My inability to stop procrastinatng struck this weekend, and so at the end of this holiday, I present the new cover of my Appointment book:

The front is the door of Moria, which "mirrors only moonlight and starlight." In the book and movie, the outlining is silvery (to mirror moonlight) but the two trees represent the gold and silver trees, planted by the gods, that grow in Valinor, so I colored them. The elven script (which I so poorly traced) says "Door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter. This Door hath Narvi made. Celebrimbor of Eregion carved these runes." The back is Tolkien's insignia, a combination of his initials.

Yes, I am a nerd. This is irrefutable proof.

Yoghurt with some Spice of Life

Whenever we go to Spain to visit family in the summers, my siblings and I eat our weight in yoghurt. Well, maybe not quite, but we love everything from simple Dannon Singles to Yoghurt Mousse to a kid's custard-like yoghurt called Petit Suisse (not the French cheese, but a unique Spanish type of flavored yoghurt). I adore yoghurt based sauces at ethnic restaurants. I could live off yoghurt parfaits with fresh berries and granola. A friend of mine once made a delicious sweet Indian dessert made of yoghurt, and I couldn't get enough of it.

Last night, as I scarfed down leftover chunky spaghetti (more on that in another post), I decided to accompany my dinner with a light and tasty dessert, based on my Indian friend's traditional recipe.

Spiced Yoghurt

1 cup plain yoghurt
4 teaspoons sugar
pinch of saffron threads (about 15 threads total)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

Place yoghurt in a cup. Blend in sugar and spices. Let sit for at least 1/2 an hour in the refrigerator. Stir to blend before eating with a spoon.

(Note: When my friend made this dessert, she also added cardamon seeds. I didn't have any on hand, so I used cloves instead. You could also add grated nutmeg, a little bit of ginger, heck! a little bit of pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice would be glorious, and let it sit. That's all there is to it!)

Magnifico

Hi. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Annemarie.

I've had blogs in the past, but I'm trying to create one without a theme, one where everything fits together: thoughts, crafts, food, and anything, really.

Today I feel like talking about my adventures in food, hence the title. Plus, I feel like creating a blog post as opposed to tackling my reading list for classes.

Let's see. I just moved to an apartment in North-Central Austin, Texas, with two fabulous roommates, after being stuck for two years in the dorms at the University of Texas, Austin. The dorms were not as small or decrepit as some I've heard tell of, but for me, they were isolating, uninspiring, and slightly oppressive. Now that I'm in an apartment, I feel like I have so much more time, energy, and above all, space. Being further away from campus does that? Well, maybe I'm just more excited this year is all.

So what better way to show my excitement than to start a blog, eh?