ADEPT

Yes, this is the diary of a bored twenty-something. But I figured out pretty quickly after graduating/starting this blog that I had better come up with some ways to occupy my time. Therefore, I have picked up some new hobbies and pulled some new tricks out of my sleeve. I feel confident enough in my abilities to share some of them with you.

First of all, I have taken up the hobby of calligraphy. No, I'm not re-inscribing copies of the Old Testament or Constitution. Instead, I am capitalizing on the wedding season in which I annually find myself surrounded by and caught up in. I am using this hobby both as a money-making venture and as a way to give my friends that are getting married unique and meaningful gifts of handwritten wedding invitations/addresses. The money-making part has yet to happen, but judging by my friend's friends' reaction to her wedding invitation, it will come in due time. Below is a picture of my handiwork:

Yes, I wrote that by hand!

Secondly, I'm learning to cook. Yes, apron and all. I figured out around January that a lot of living at home would be very different, including that my mom wasn't going to fix dinner for me every night like when I was in high school. In hindsight, though, I am thankful for this because it forced me to get off my hiney and learn to make what I wanted... or at least try to. So, during the winter months, I made the same soup every week and ate it for lunch/dinner every night. It was a delicious chicken and velveeta cheese and rotel mixture with corn, etc. in it. Yum! Then I got better at mashed potatoes and poppyseed chicken. Then last week came the ultimate test: cooking without a recipe. Since I am very unconfident cooking WITH a recipe, I don't know what really made me want to up and get creative. But I did. Armed with just one chicken breast in the fridge, and the contents of the pantry, I tried to put together something to go on this chicken that would be edible, and better yet, repeatable. My instincts took me directly to a bottle of olive oil, so I poured a little of that on the chicken. Then, I remembered the box of spices that my aunt gave me from my grandmother's house. I selected a jar that Granny had labeled "Creamy Peppercorn" and gave it a sniff. It was a blend of pepper and some other spices that were begging to go on my chicken breast. So they did. I poured a hefty amount over both sides of the chicken, selected a temperature on the oven and put the pan inside. After some time spent making cheesy mashed potatoes, my chicken was ready. I have to tell you that I was pretty proud of my little fixings:

Chicken and cheesy mashed potatoes, yum!

Then last night, my sister came over for dinner. She is a very good cook, so the pressure was on for me to make something that she would approve of. After searching the internet for a lowfat, quick and easy chicken recipe, I came up with one that involved tin foil, chicken, salsa, sweet corn and kidney beans. Super easy! You spoon the salsa, beans and corn onto the chicken, make a little pouch out of the tin foil and bake for 20 minutes on 450. I was very nervous to open up the little tin foil pouches, but once again, the meal was completely edible and definitely repeatable. My sister even gave her stamp of approval!

I promise that's not throw-up, it's a really good dinner!

Those are my two main hobbies. One other thing that I have taught myself to do is cut my own pineapple. This isn't that hard, but how many of you can say you've done it? It's very gratifying, and doesn't taste tangy with preservatives like the kind you buy pre-cut. And of course, I've spent time doing lots and lots of reading, throwing and attending fabulous wedding showers, and of babysitting for some sweet kids... and some not so sweet kids.