Life is craaaaaazy

So much has happened in the last 2 weeks.  SO MUCH.

My dear friend Coleen was here and we shared many moments like this:

We laughed SO DANG MUCH when she was here and it got me thinking, "Why don't I do this more often?"  I guess there are friends you can just be silly with, but it left me deeply missing her and her husband (two awesome peeps!), and praying for more silliness in my life and people I can share life with in general. 

It was also ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!  And Coleen (along with the lovely Village) helped me throw a first-rate St. Paddy's Day partay (and in case you're wondering if I spelled "Paddy" wrong - check this out).  It was an absolute blast!  But of course we still had to hit up the Dubliner for some Guinness and Irish stew...mmmmmm.....

  

 Then here's just some random amusements from the past week:

My students made little paper people at lunch - so cute

Ice formed on the roof of my school - ICE!!! It got to 34 degrees one morning last week, and the high yesterday was 88. Tucson, you're so weird.

I went to my students' Spring Concert where various bands and the choir performed. Here are two of my students who I spend a lot of time with, through lunch and astronomy club, doing trumpet solos in their jazz band - they were so good! Way to go Albert and Jorge!

Sadly the stupid auto flash went off when I was taking this, and by the time I turned it off, they were done...so - crappy picture quality but you get the idea...

And now, I am officially on Spring Break - WOOHOO!

 

Irish Stew and French Macaroons

The other evening I spent much too long making Irish Stew with Guinness and pistachio French macaroons.  The stew took about 4 hours (you let it simmer for a LONG time so the flavor's very rich), and in between I made the macaroons.  The stew was pretty good, but I feel like somehow it could have been better.  The recipe called for caraway seeds, which was an interesting ingredient, but I think next time I'll find another recipe to try.  There's this amazing bakery in Columbus, OH, called Pistacia Vera, where I got the idea to make them.  And although I don't think ANYTHING can compare to Pistacia Vera, these were still pretty good.  If you're ever within 100 miles of this place, GO!

the humble beginnings of the stew
my favorite ingredient
the recipe called for parsnips and turnips instead of potatoes, but that just wasn't something I could do...
simmering in my new, beautiful, and awesome Dutch oven
Sorry for the terrible lighting! My kitchen was so dark by this point...I whipped them a little too much so they were rather pool-esque
the filling
baked

and done!
I have had such a great time starting to make the recipes I love, but I'm realizing cooking is like most good things in life, you have to be careful that they don't consume you and there's no room left for anything else.