What I'm Into: October 2016

October held a little bit of EVERYTHING. Good news, bad news, visits with friends, more plays, a new phone numbers, and lots and lots of rain. There were a few sunny days and I made the most of each one! On one of them, I bundled up to go for a hike with Abigail. She left for MA on Saturday and I'm going to miss her. I keeping meeting MA people. 

Anyway...It's over now, but this is what I've been into lately!


What I'm Watching

My brother and I have been watching Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell. It's strange, but pretty perfect for fall. We like it!

We had a movie marathon Saturday in October. It was cold and rainy and (most of us) had nowhere to go. My Mom and I kicked things off bright and early with Still Alice. My sister joined about half way through. Then we watched Lady Jane Grey to celebrate the fact that I was done writing up the piece on her. Then, we watched Wildfell Hall. It was LONG and I didn't watch all of it. After that, my brother watched Castaway for school. We had watched it the night before with the kids from his co-op, but he had rehearsal, so he didn't get to watch the movie with them.

We watched The Imitation Game one Sunday evening and while there were some weird/inappropriate parts, it was mostly VERY well done.

Now that we're almost done with JS&MR I was really hoping to find a show to get into, but I haven't yet.

What I'm Reading

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon  - This was on my summer reading list and it took me FOREVER to get through. After renewing at the library, I finished it just in time for the final "no renews left" due date. I did enjoy it, I just don't think I was in the mood for THAT kind of book.

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner - After my Mitford slump, this was the perfect book to shake things up. In fact, it's THE best book I've read in a while. If you haven't read it, don't wait. There's a reason why everyone was talking about this book when it was published. It's a story full of characters and wisdom that will stay with you for a while. I also read these books.

When I wrote this post, I was reading "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen for the FIRST time ever. I really enjoyed it! I like Fanny even though I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to. I couldn't figure Edmund out. I kept wondering if he was friend or foe.

In the Kitchen

My "special" tea. One cup of piping hot Lipton black tea, 1 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. lemon juice (I use the bottled kind by ReaLemon). I woke up with a sore throat back on the 13th and one cup of this chased it right away.

I made Ina Garten's Skillet Lemon Chicken. I love watching Ina make chicken. She uses the flavor combo featured in this recipe to cook chicken any way she can (in the oven, in a skillet, on the grill...), making it made me feel fancy. It's effortless and I think it will make a great company dinner. I paired it with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans (I boiled them just until they were tender and then sauted them in butter and some garlic powder, I prefer the powder because of the texture that it creates as it sticks to the green beans).

I also made biscuits and gravy, german sausage with funeral potatoes, a loaf of cinnamon raisin quick bread, beef stroganof, and my favorite crock pot pork chop dinner. One night, things got desperate and I made a black bean "taco" salad which involved the dregs of the tortillas chip bag. I took a turkey breast from the freezer and turned it into three meals (chicken alfredo, chicken enchiladas, and chicken pot pie soup). It was good to do so much cooking again, even if I did go nearly crazy trying to come up with meal plans.

My proudest kitchen moment happened when I brined and fixed a really amazing beef brisket following my sister's strict instructions! This four and a half pound beauty fed us WELL for like three or four days. YUM.

I went crazy on the soups in September and then kind of backed off in October....We'll see if I make more of them in November.

It's the wrong season, but I still love these. There are six words hidden in this one.

On the Living Room Floor

We've also been playing more games again. We had Aubry over one day to try out Code Name. It is a TON of fun and seems to be best played with exactly 4 people. Which happens to be perfect.

My sister and I have been playing a lot more Mille Borne again. We also played Monopoly once or twice (we play it for 1 hour and see who is ahead at the end of the hour). She tromps me. She's figured out my strategy.

After the Castaway party we taught our friends to play Empires. That game never gets old! I've got my name alll picked out for the next time I get to play it.


As you can see, October was full. I didn't even mention the rehearsals or the shows that my brother and sister have been at nearly every night. We're here. We're alive. And God gives us many great things to enjoy along the way.

What have you been into lately?