Lists for Alisha

Blogs

http://hannahandlandon.blogspot.com/
http://www.waywarddaughter.com/
http://yourstrulymag.blogspot.com/
http://365daysofbreakfast.blogspot.com/
http://wildromantic.blogspot.com/
http://delightdulce.blogspot.com/
http://lettersfrommaud.blogspot.com/
http://www.theworldlooksred.com/
http://varmeflaska.blogspot.com/

Films

Daisies (1966)

A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Reality Bites (1994)

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Submarine (2010)
Viva Maria! (1965)

A Woman Is a Woman (1961)

Band of Outsiders (1964)

Candy (2006)

Control (2007)

This is the way I have spent my summer - drinking fruity cocktails in the evening, and tea every other time of day. I am happy to continue on this way for just about ever. Some days I don't even get dressed; I spend the day in my nightgown curled up with a book (I am currently reading Little Princes by Conner Grennan, it's equally uplifting and depressing, and not preachy in the slightest), drinking pots of tea, and eating homemade scones. If this was the way I was spending my days a year ago I would have thought it hellish.

 

Channeling Crystal Castles I suppose - we were standing next to a grave yard. 

Mountains always look like their painted on the horizon. Or they do to me at least. I always look at them as if they're apart of the sky, pressed out flat against it, instead of humongous, jutting rock formations which tower above absolutely everything. Maybe that makes them seem less menacing. 

Storm Warnings

Stormy weather which waits on no one - not even you, my fair haired idyllic friend. I am dark and punishable, spattered in the mist of a thunderous afternoon - counting the drops beating down on a shanty roof in the nearest neighborhood. This is rain washed with blood; come from the Adriatic and the North sea. The history is in my bones, tainted with the memory of a million unearthed deaths - all come up in the water beads which beat against my skull.

"and there are always those to whom all self-revelation is contemptible, unless it ends with a noble thanks to the gods for the Unconquerable soul.
But I had been thanking the gods too long, and thanking them for nothing."


- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Day at Last

Been out. Been back.

Been around the block twice.

Been down the road. Been around the city.

Been lost. Been gone. Been outta town.

Been hurting my feet.

Been making a mess.

Been cleaning it up - twice.

Been making amends.

Been fucking it up, royally.

These are some of the best muffin's I've ever had - and that means quite a bit coming from me. Muffin's are one of my favorite things to make since they take little time, skill and ingredients (typically). Sometimes, if I am feeling extra homely, I'll whip up a batch in the morning for breakfast. But, more often than not, they end up as a tea-time snack when friends want to stop by. 

This Earl Grey Tea muffin recipe is one of the easiest I have come across - it is literally a five minute job. Two bowls, some flour, baking soda, eggs - you know, all the essentials - a quick whisk and a mix and a batch is ready for the oven. Every time I have attempted them this recipe has produced 12 lovely, moist, tea-flavored bundles of joy - and they're absolutely addictive with butter.  

GATHER ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day,
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious Lamp of Heaven, the Sun,
The higher he’s a-getting
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

Robert Herrick

Ungirthed by PURITY RING

The Pink Cake

I posted briefly about this cake a couple of weeks ago, intending to put up the rest of the photos and the recipe a few days later, but, evidently, completely forgot until now. The recipe I used was a basic Génoise (French Sponge) cake adapted from The Golden Book of Deserts, but, I found it to be a little unclear on some steps, which left my cake a little flat. After doing some research, I came to prefer a recipe from this site, since it outlined the process much more clearly. And all French cooking is about the process. Every time I start out to make a French cake, petit fours, or macarons I always look at the recipe thinking this is comical, it's so simple. Then, once beginning, I quickly take back my thoughtless words as soon as I've whipped my eggs into a frenzy and spent twenty minutes folding and sifting various mixtures. The French are all about killing the cook with over complicated processes that will, if done correctly, reward you with the sweetest of treats.

Anyways, I started out with a slightly less fluffy than one would hope génoise -prepared the night before - then sliced it into two equal layers. I was a little worried about slicing it in half since it had come out much thinner then I had anticipated, but, luckily, the layers behaved and didn't crumble instantly. Then I whipped up a quick buttercream. I don't use a recipe, usually I just toss in the basic ingredients - butter, cream, vanilla, powdered sugar and food colouring - but, there's a good one on this site (my go to baking authority, can you tell?). From there I scooped out a ton of jam - I used raspberry, but it doesn't make much of a difference - tossed on the buttercream, and topped it off with a few sliced up strawberries. Once the filling was sufficiently pink, the top layer was added and sprinkled with more powdered sugar, because the cake was not sweet enough yet, obviously. In the end, it turned out pretty well, regardless of the slightly fallen cake - maybe all the sugar made up for it.

The View From the Afternoon

(or early evening)

Milton is beautiful, my bed is beautiful, those pineapple pajama pants are beautiful - the heat, on the other hand, is not beautiful. I feel like I am boiling in my own skin; not to mention the mosquito bites dotting the length of my legs, begging to be scratched obsessively. I would be rather angry with summer if I hadn't been having such a wonderful time since it's official arrival - which was not too long ago, I might add. But, the nights are wonderful. Once the sun goes down the heat is not nearly as suffocating, and one can breathe more easily,  soaking up the wonderful words of Mr. Milton himself.

Being Bardot

**Brigitte inspired photos of Stephanie, well, they remind me of the lovely Ms. Bardot at least