The Messy Apron: Lists of Loving

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Lists of Loving

I love lists. I really do. Lists represent ambition, potential, a positive future. They help me remember things. They help me celebrate things. But really, I just like to create them and read them. Over and over. I have a Microsoft Excel workbook that is just lists (and the labeled tabs of the individual worksheets arranged along the bottom of the page is, therefore, a list of lists!) I love to make shopping lists. I just made a list of the types of books I like to read. I keep “to-do” lists that achieve malignant self-awareness and attempt to destroy me.

To mark the beginning of the sixth year of mucking about on these humble pages (Yes, that’s right. Yesterday was this blog’s 5^th birthday!) I thought I’d share a bit of what else goes on in my head. I’ve hesitated to do this all these years because I really thought that my day-to-day life was much less interesting than what I had for dinner. I’m hoping, however, that the things I’m loving at any given time might by something you love to. And since I love a list, here is the first Messy Apron List of Loving:

** Books I’m loving right now:

Old: Plato’s The Republic; The Guns of August byBarbara Tuchman

New: Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield (I also loved The Thirteenth Tale by the same author); Buddha’s Brain by Rick Hanson with Richard Mendius; The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living by Amit Sood

Delicious: Vegetarian Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America; Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

**Dishes I’m loving now:

Mocha Granola

Wheat Sandwich Bread

A macaroni and cheese like this one with sautéed jalapeno peppers

The fried egg sandwich I just ate with Swiss cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, and red onion on toast

Recipe fantasies: chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, this Carrot Cake Cheesecake, and these Strawberry Rhubarb Ginger Crumb Bars

**For Easter

Visiting family (you did know I’m coming, right?)