Voting.

Exciting news! My BFF on staff had a baby late last night. Well, I suppose his wife had a baby, but regardless, the little girl is pretty cute. 

Otherwise, my day was not that exciting. Municipal Election Day here in AB. Whoo! Democracy! 

(Side note. My friends 4 year old asked her "why you have to vote, mommy?" She told me she told him that we live in a democracy, and "I think he tuned out when I explained what a dictatorship is.)

And more marking. Always. But report card marks are due Thursday, so it should slow down a bit after that (until interviews next week, of course)... All the better for visiting a new baby!

Marking... And More Marking.

Giant pile of marking... Done! Phew.

In between bouts of marking, I went to a wedding shower. Nice afternoon, and super cute buffet. Look! Diamond ring donuts!

Pasta Sauce.

Missed the one a day deadline. Oops.  Spent today marking and running errands, and it didn't occur to me until I went out, and blogging at a party is a bit of a faux pas.

Last night, had some girlfriends over for dinner (made an amazing vodka cream sauce... more on that later) and we ended up watching Pride and Prejudice, drinking tea (and cherry coke!) and I taught Dom how to knit. And it was great. 

I feel like being mid-twenties is very liberating, in that we can have relaxed Friday night in and not be ashamed. 

Followed it up with a housewarming tonight. Also kept it low-key.  Gotta go into this coming week more well rested than last week. Last week was rough. 

And now, without further ado... amazing pasta sauce! It's called "you won't be single for long" sauce. I would make this more often to test the title, but if I made it too often I'd be the size of a house. It's damn good. 

Vodka Cream Sauce (modified from Rachel Ray) 

1 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 cup vodka

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

2  14 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp sugar

Coarse salt and pepper

1 cup heavy cream

Basil

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the butter, garlic and shallots. Gently sauté the shallots for 3-5 minutes. Add the vodka and reduce by half, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes, and sugar. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir the cream into the sauce. When the sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from the heat. Add small amount of basil. 

Busy.

That's right. I brought my marking home in a box. This is what it looks like when the machine scoring machine breaks on the day you give 90+ unit exams. Le sigh.

But on the plus side, friends over tonight to unwind and celebrate another's good job news! Wahoo!

'

Fireball.

This was me today... well, not literally, but I did this little demo three times today. It is great. The students usually give the nice sullen teenager attitude of "I've seen this soo many times", and then the explosion happens (I do it in the dark) and they get all "Holy sh*t!" because it is always louder than they expect.

And I began to make these today for a friend who is getting married soon, as they are quite nerdy. This is pre-etching, which will happen another time.

This is a Halloween display at one of my parents' neighbors. I am a bit confused about the headless skeleton on the left. I don't know if it is intentional, or if a high school student stole his skull.

Tests.

I gave a lot of tests today. 3 classes. 90+ students. Loooong day. Followed by extracurricular cooking club. I'm pooped.

You and me both kid... You and me both. 

Fall cookies.

Remember those sugar cookies I tried making ages ago??

Yah. Turns out the recipe STILL makes a lot of cookies. I'd forgotten about that. The 5 1/2 C of flour should have tipped me off.

Anyways, I wanted to make some cookies for my MUN meeting this week, and fall leaf shaped sugar cookies seemed like a good way to go. I even bought cute fall colored sprinkles at Bulk Barn.

Well,  I took some to the lake for Thanksgiving, some to school today, and I still have a large bag in my freezer. Yikes. But, they are as tasty as ever, and got good reviews everywhere (although, let's be honest, teenagers will be thankful for just about any treats that are free).

 

But actually. How cute are they?

Challenge.

I have been neglecting blogging lately. Not for any particular reason... I just haven't felt particularly inspired to write anything recently.

I have decided to challenge myself to post something everyday for the next month. Even if just a photo of something that happened to me that day. 

Today is Thanksgiving, but we did our big dinner yesterday, with tons of food, friends, dancing, and gorgeous fall weather.

Also, this happened last week in anticipation of D&K's wedding next year. ... Exciting!!