January was too long; February was too short. Normally I take this time each month to pause and reflect on what has just passed, but I am not even sure what just ended––it all went too quickly. I read a lot of rhetorical theory. Hosted a lot of writing conferences with my ninth graders, whose writing I must now find time to grade. Baked too much. Walked Dobby only as far as the mailboxes for nearly two weeks while I waited for the temperatures to rise above zero so we could actually get some exercise. Rejoiced when the last Saturday of the month was warm enough for me to open my window. Wondered how it could possibly be March again when I'm still trying to process that one time last March when life as we all knew it fell out from under our feet and we thought we'd get our balance back in a few weeks and now it's a year later and we're still trying to figure out how to walk through all the sad ugliness of loss––so much lost.
Strange, to think that a year ago at this time we were so oblivious to all that lay ahead, although I suppose the reality is that we are always oblivious. Our self-assuredness is merely self-delusion. We do not know what a day or a month or a year may bring forth. Even in hindsight, we do not always know what time has delivered to us.
As always, my monthly review recaps the month's creative escapades. Here's what I read, cooked, and created in the month of February.
What I Read
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, John Carreyrou (★★★)
Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick Riordan (★★★★★)––reread
Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers (★★★★)
Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, John Piper (★★★★)
Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity––and Why This Harms Everybody, James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose (★★★★★)
If you want to hear the rationale behind my rating, head to my Goodreads for full reviews.
What I Cooked
Sometimes, you just need a good Italian sandwich. I was desperately in the mood for one, and this was the only recipe I found with an ingredient list that sounded doable (although I did skip the olives because I couldn't find Italian olives specifically, and I didn't think they would add that much).
Let me tell you: this may be one of my new favorite recipes. It was incredible. Zesty dressing, fresh veggies, melty cheese, and all the best deli meats––what more could you want from a sandwich? Better yet, it still tastes good cold the next day. Since a party-sized sandwich is more than Mitchell and I need, obviously, I might buy ciabatta rolls from our grocery store and halve the recipe next time. But I assure you: there will be a next time, and it will be soon.
Right now, my strategy for getting through grad school is "work all day Saturday and bake a treat as a reward for myself Saturday night." I love a good Funfetti cake, and I've been making a lot of Christina Lane's recipes from her Sweet & Simple cookbook, so I decided to try these out in my new Le Creuset mini cocottes. I think I may have overbaked them just a touch, because they were somewhat dry, though not burned. Nevertheless, they were delicious and easy. Dangerously easy. Mitchell thoroughly approved.
I was asked to bring a dessert to a get-together, and since I'd been thinking about cheesecake brownies for weeks, I decided to make them my contribution. I didn't have a go-to cheesecake brownie recipe, however, and this one seemed like a good one to try.
The process was a touch more finicky than I would have liked, but the result was a classically delicious cheesecake brownie. Would recommend.
Yes, I did try two new brownie recipes this month. I have other brownie recipes I like (this one has been my go-to for years), but you all know how deeply I love HBH recipes, so I gave her basic brownies a shot.
I made a half recipe because I do not technically need a 9 by 13 pan of brownies in my life right now. Texturally, these were perfectly fudgy, which, as we all know, is the best thing a brownie can be. Taste-wise, however, they had a strong overtone of instant coffee. I know that a lot of chocolate desserts incorporate instant coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor, but this did not enhance anything in my book. I think I would make these again but skip the instant coffee. Brownies should taste like chocolate.
For reasons yet unknown to either of us, my husband received a fresh coconut from one of his basketball players at the end of the season. I didn't want to waste it, but I had no idea what to do with it. I found the recipe for these crepes, and it sounded doable, so I went for it.
I had a moment of panic when my first crepe turned out a torn, soggy mess, but I learned as I went and ended up with a delicious tower of coconut crepes. I was not even sure Mitchell would like them since he doesn't actually like coconut, but the coconut flavor was so beautifully subtle that he barely noticed it. I served a little lemon glaze with them in lieu of syrup along with the mango topping, and I can see a little lime zest making a good addition as well. I can't see myself making these regularly, but I am thrilled that my first attempt at making crepes was not an abject failure.
What I Created
Untitled, unpublished blackout poem
Unpublished original poem "Thawing"
Book review of Cynical Theories for my rhetoric class
Sample TED Talk script about why reading fiction is good for you for my 9th graders
"Christians and Humanities: Beauty"(technically created last spring, but just now being released into the world)
So here we are: March 2021. May it be kinder to us than March 2020.