The 23 List // June Update

^ The bridge at 1.77 miles on a Lake Chabot hike with the padre. Isn't it pretty? ^

+ take a road trip... where I'm actually behind the wheel and there are other people in the car // Well, I didn't take a road trip, but I DID finally drive with someone other than my parentals in the car last week! *cheercheercheer* I felt really accomplished the entire rest of the day. :P

+ hike a trail that takes longer than five hours from start to finish // The padre and I have been slowly increasing the length of our walks around Lake Chabot, now that he's able to handle the distance and hills better. Even though our walking speed is gradually increasing as well, it will probably still take around five plus hours for us to go all the way around. Not sure we'll be able to accomplish that in the next two weeks though. Still. Progress!

+ read three nonfiction books, cover to cover // Coolhaus Ice Cream Book by Natasha Case & Freya Estreller. I've been a fan of their company since my freshman year of college, so following along with their success has kind of felt personal. I dunno how to explain it-- you know those companies that you just click with? This is one of mine. I most likely won't be making any of their ice cream recipes anytime soon, but I'm hoping to try a few of their cookie recipes before the end of the 23 List.

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // Numbers time! 82 Instagram friends, 540 Pinterest peeps. Pretty awesome.

+ get a job // DONE. My month long unintended hiatus was partially due to starting a new part time job, partially due to our new pup, Patrick. But yeah! I'm working again and actually getting a paycheck as opposed to my normal "work for free internships" thing. Whoot! Excited.

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It's been a chill month. I'm not hermitting, per say, since I'm going outside almost every day to work for a few hours, but I didn't do any adventuring either. It's been lots of dog, lots of walking with the padre, and lots of working. Hopefully next month will involve more adventures and playing {it'll help that Patrick will have all his shots by mid-July and can then go outside in public places-- right now he's stuck in the house and backyard}. There's a wedding and several birthdays coming up as well, so those should be fun!

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The 23 List updates for September/October, November, December, January/February, March, April, and May in case you missed them. (:

The 23 List // May Update

^ Not bad for growing these from seed last year, right? :D ^

+ bake eight new recipes // well, I haven't made anything new this month, but I did make a bunch more Brown Sugar Oatmeal cookies to take down to LA for #STSSSpringAdventure2015. And Funfetti Cookies, because Steph. But those don't count cause it's not a new recipe to me. You can find it here though if you've never heard of them!

+ read three nonfiction books, cover to cover // in the middle of, like, three different nonfiction books right now. Either next month's update will have a ton of book reviews or I will have given up and just returned them unfinished to the library. You can only renew something so many times, you know?

+ send snail mail to five people {thank you cards don't count} // so. many. thank you. notes. were sent out this month. So many. I think I'm still two or three random snail mails short of finishing this one though, unless I just give in and say thank you notes count. Hmm. Nah, I should probably just stick to the rules, huh? O.o

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // as of this moment, we're at 86 Instagram peeps and 533 Pinterest ones. Whoaaa.

+ walk across the Golden Gate Bridge // plans have been made for this to be accomplished when Mickeyla is home for a week in June. If you'd like to join us, let us know!

+ listen to 10 podcasts // I listened to two more! And I didn't take notes! Aren't you proud of me? I'm proud of me.

+ start a guest interview series on the blog // STARTED. Yusss. Thanksthanks to the great Janelly for being the guinea pig and giving us a fanTAStic first interview!

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I suppose we did okay this month. Not too much was crossed off the list, but small bits of progress were still being made, so. Two more months! I can already tell you a few of those things on the list aren't going to be completed, but I think that's alright. I'm glad I've gotten as far as I have!

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The 23 List updates for September/October, November, December, January/February, March, and April in case you missed them. (:

The 23 List // April Update

^ One of the few days it drizzled this year. We need MOAR. ^

+ go on a weekend adventure out of state // at Ruth's wedding, a few of us threw around the idea of road-tripping out to St. Louis to visit her this June. Whether or not it happens or not, is kind of unlikely, BUT. You never know. So. It's a tentative thing right now. Fingers crossed for an adventure!

+ bake eight new recipes // Mimi Cafe's Carrot Raisin Loaf.

+ read three non-fiction books, cover to cover // Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. I do love reading about food people and this book has fantastic storytelling-- it's the autobiography of a New York Times food critic and the unintentional journey of identity she goes on as she dons various disguises for her work and finds a part of herself in each. I actually learned a lot of food knowledge from this book and discovered that I wouldn't want to BE a food critic, though I probably wouldn't mind being friends with or married to one. Ruth's ability to describe what she's eating is so detailed that you can pretty much taste it as you read. She also has a way of writing that draws you in and keeps you captivated-- I even read ALL of the acknowledgements section, which is usually just a really long list of names, but with her, it's just as humorous and personal as the other chapters. Just remember these four things when you go to a restaurant: food, decor, service, and company. Those are the things you need to take into account when judging a meal.

+ send snail mail to five people {thank you cards don't count} // at least two of these have been sent! One to Steph {just because} and one to Janelle {yes, I realize she's like a five minute drive away, but who doesn't like snail mail?}. I think the next ones will be to Debrr and Mickeyla. I need one more person to send a card to... who wants one? (:

+ find a reason to wear a sparkly dress // well, I didn't wear a sparkly dress to Ruth's wedding, but I did dress up a bit. So I sorta count that. There's another wedding in July I'm attending, but I don't think I'll be wearing a sparkly dress to that either. Afternoon weddings aren't really conducive to sparkles, you know?

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // right now, we're at 78 Instagram peeps and 520 Pinterest friends. Exciting!

+ start a guest interview series on the blog // the questions are pretty set, I think. Now I just gotta ask friends if they'd be willing to answer a few questions. Moohahaha.

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The 23 List Updates for September/October, November, December, January/February, and March in case you missed them. (:

Foodie Adventuring // Mimi Cafe's Carrot Raisin Bread

The padre LOVES the carrot raisin bread at Mimi's Cafe. Like. He will go there specifically for this bread. So I decided to try to make a slightly more diabetic-friendly version of this at home...

And I failed spectacularly on my first attempt. You don't even know. I've never failed that badly at a baking experiment before. The outside looked great, but the inside refused to bake and stayed raw no matter how much extra time I left it in the oven. It was bad. Tasted fine, but... no. I still don't quite know what happened. I followed the recipe to the letter {I figured I'd try the recipe as is first so I'd know how much I could alter it second time around}. After going back and making notes of what changes we wanted to implement, I tried again. Better.

Here are my notes:

+ You probably won't ever taste the carrot in this carrot raisin bread. I doubled the amount asked for {since the padre said he couldn't taste carrot in that first attempt}... and it didn't make a difference. The end result should basically taste like a light spice cake with fruit bits in it.

+ For the slightly more diabetic-friendly version, I cut the flour to a little over a cup and halved the amount of brown sugar. It works. But if you're not diabetic or worried about the amount of carbs/sugars there are in the bread, I'd recommend using the regular amount of sugar. When my mother says it's not sweet enough, you know it's not sweet enough for regular people {she's usually telling me to cut back on the sugar, so. Yeah}.

+ The first time around, I used a dark glass loaf pan. The second time, I used a square metal baking pan. The square pan worked better. I'm not sure if it was the increased surface area or the different material, but it baked more evenly {aka it wasn't raw in the middle}.

+ Baked at 300*F in a convection oven for 45 minutes, the bread came out pretty well. It was moist, had good texture and crust on the top, the fruit was hydrated, but yeah. Still couldn't taste carrot. 

Conclusion: If I were to make this for non-diabetic people, I'd go back to the regular amount of sugar. Or perhaps add cream cheese frosting {Janelle's suggestion that I rather like}. But this works for our household, so if it gets a repeat, I'll probably keep the sugar at half. It's not a bad recipe, but I'd rather make something sweeter, that appeals to a wider audience. *sheepish*

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Baked Good #7 for The 23 List.

The 23 List // March Update

^ Yes, I'm holding a popsicle. Yes, my hair was in pigtails. Yes, this is as close to selfies as I usually get. I am so grown up it hurts. :P ^

+ bake eight new recipes // brown sugar oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

+ read three non-fiction books, cover to cover // What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman. Super fun and easy read, if a little irreverent and eyebrow-raising at times. I got a kick out of it, but if you're the GIANTPERSONALBUBBLE type {which I actually am IRL, but not when it comes to text}, you might get slightly uncomfortable. :P My short review here.

+ read three non-fiction books, cover to cover // The Mathematics of Love by Hannah Fry. "Math is the language of nature, and by listening to what the mathematics tells us, we can all gain a better understanding of how and why we do the things we do." She gets a bit social science textbook-y, but it's mostly written with the lay reader in mind. This is applicable science. The pop culture references sprinkled throughout the book are amusing, although I take issue with the Harry Potter reference in Chapter 4 because Hermione is awesome and isn't pining for Harry to notice her. ): I did know most of the content from my college classes, but the two chapters I learned something from were Chapter 3 {you have a better chance of getting your first choice if you are assertive} and Chapter 7 {when should you settle down?}. 

+ reach 50 Instagram followers and 500 Pinterest followers // number time-- as of the time this post is published, there's 70 Instagram followers and 525 Pinterest followers. Yay!

+ listen to 10 podcasts // done! I had been stuck at eight since, like, the first month I started The 23 List {as I've mentioned before, podcasts don't really relax me the way they do for other people. I feel like I have to take notes and pay attention, since UCLA sometimes podcasted their lectures and I'm used to that. Problems}. But I sat myself down and listened {and took notes-- I can't help it!} to the last two this past week. I'm not sure if I'll listen to more now that this goal has been fulfilled, but maybe. I like the idea of podcasts, I'm just not very good with the reality of them. I'm weird. Recap of what I listened to {with my notes} coming soon.

+ foodie adventure as much as possible // did some of that this month, though not as much as a regular month. With Zoe going downhill that first week of March and me hermitting like mad the following week and a half, I didn't adventure a whole lot. I did hang out with Janelle at Cafe 4 again and we had lunch at Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose with her sister. Still behind on posting about that though, as per usual. :P

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The 23 List Updates for September/October, November, December, and January/February in case you missed them. (:

"What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding" // A Quick Review

^ via Mandy Kellogg Rye ^

This is a gossipy, super easy read that isn't always PC, but Kristin Newman WILL make you laugh and her visuals will have you feeling like you're right there with her. All the reviews about "What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding" are right-- you'll DEFINITELY want to renew your passport and go explore the world, with or without a traveling buddy. The wanderlust is real, man.

I have college friends whose gap year abroad I could easily see this being like. They're fun, fun-loving people who love to socialize and don't particularly give a darn about what others think of them. And it works. Both for them and for Kristin. With my personality, however, my "vacationships" would be of the friendship/penpal kind, not the roll around in bed/romantical kind discussed at length within the book. 

One of the things I admire about Kristin is her fearlessness and ability to jump into the next adventure without worrying about what could go wrong or potentially looking silly or failing. I think I have a slight sense of paranoia towards situations and people I know nothing about-- one of the perks of Asian parents, no matter how many generations they've been in the States. O.o I mean, traveling alone, living abroad with no real plan for several months, inviting strangers to travel with you... oy. I would someday like to have that talent for just letting go and seeing where you end up, but I'm not sure I'll ever be that naturally open. For now, I'll work on it by talking to more strangers and saying yes to more little adventures!

Kristin has a semi-self-deprecating way of writing that tells you she doesn't regret anything, she had fun, she remembers it fondly, but she's aware that she's not entirely the norm. I don't share many of her beliefs, in terms of religion or sexuality, but still a good read if you're concentrating on the travel and living life bit. She never seems scared of anything. And that is so cool. Her self-reliance and independence are refreshing in a Disney-loving world that basically requires girls to be looking for Prince Charming in every boy they meet. 

With a TV sitcom writer background and a crazy amount of life experience, Kristin put together a fantastic book. If she ever decides to write a sequel, I promise I'll read that one, too. If you're looking for a book that inspires your sense of adventure, this is it.

Foodie Adventuring // Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate Chips & Dried Cranberries

Theeese are the cookies. I'm not usually a super big oatmeal cookie fan, but they DO make me feel like I'm being a tad bit healthier than if I ate a cookie with no oats in it {even though the amount of butter and sugar is the same/more than regular chocolate chip... O.o}.

I highly recommend these. Ree Drummond's Brown Sugar Oatmeal cookies are really delicious and tweaking a few things made them even moaaar amazing. And they're pretty simple, so you should go bake these right now. *nods*

Here are my notes:

+ Grown-ups love these. Kids are wary at first {because OATMEAL cookie}, but once they realize the cookies are actually pretty sweet, they eat them up pretty quickly as well.

+ We were running a bit low on brown sugar, so I decided to try making my own via Joy the Baker's instructions. Instead of two cups of dark brown sugar, I used one cup brown sugar, one cup white sugar, and two tablespoons of dark molasses. The molasses gives the cookies a slightly deeper taste. It works.

+ I also accidentally used one teaspoon baking soda instead of half. It didn't seem to make a difference, although you should probably stick to the recipe. :P

+ I split the dough up into thirds. One third I left exactly as the recipe called for {no added whatnots}, the other two thirds I added white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. No set amounts, just what looked balanced to me. The simple oatmeal cookies had a natural sweetness and you could taste that hint of molasses; the chocolate/cranberry oatmeal cookies were much sweeter, a tiny bit more chewy {it might've just been the cranberries}, and had more varying textures. I liked both equally well, though, so it's completely up to you!

+ Instead of 12-13 minute bake time, I had to leave mine in for ~20 minutes for them to be fully baked {clean toothpick test}. They do spread a little, so give them room on the baking sheet. And instead of an estimated 24 cookies, I ended up with 36. I suppose more cookies is never a bad thing though... 

Conclusion: Yes. Will repeat. Probably split it half plain, half with extra stuff next time, since both options are great. Excellent.

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Baked Good #6 for The 23 List.

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Here's a picture of the brown sugar oatmeal cookies with extra things in them... can you find the Zoe? :D

The 23 List // January & February Update

^ It's been unseasonably warm this winter, even for California. A few days, temps neared 80 or above. O.o ^

+ explore more of San Francisco's neighborhoods // I didn't do much of that these past two months, though towards the end of my internship in the city, we did have a team brunch around South Park at The Butler and The Chef, and Tommy and I hit up the SoMa StrEat Food Park for dinner. Neither of which I've had a chance to blog about yet, though, so I'll update when that happens. :P

+ bake eight new recipes // easy, quick, & flourless peanut butter cookies.

+ bake eight new recipes // semi-secret ingredient chocolate chip cookies.

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // again, fun with numbers. At the moment, there's 63 Instagram followers and 517 Pinterest followers. Exciting!

+ foodie adventure as much as possible // this one I've been working on quite well. I really need to get the subsequent blog posts up in a timely manner though, but just know that there have been some excellent meals with friends over the past sixty-ish days. Like New Year's Day lunch with Debrr, coffee/work dates with Janelle, San Francisco adventuring with Tommy, mid-day meals with the OT volunteering crew, et cetera, et cetera. It's delicious.

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It's been a pretty intense two months around here, with a bunch of life decisions being made and various changes being implemented. As quickly as it feels like it went by, it's also like, "No way all this has happened over just two months..." I guess that could indicate productivity, but really, it's just kinda been a blur. I DID finally get a planner though {like, mid-February}, which makes keeping track of things so much easier. Love writing those lists and things down. Alrighty. I shall let you go. Hope your 2015 started off well! We shall continue to cross things off this 23 List!

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The 23 List Updates for September/October, November, and December, in case you missed them. (:

Foodie Adventuring // Semi-Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

You know how some people are like, "I have The Best Recipe for chocolate chip cookies and no one else's can compare!"? Yeah, that's not me. The one thing I actively try to avoid baking is chocolate chip cookies. Because there's a standard for them and anything deviating from that standard just usually isn't as good. Honestly {and this is probably sacrilege}, my favorite chocolate chip cookies are the kind that Safeway sells for like, five bucks for a box of fifty in their bakery section. How dare you, Sam?!? I know, I know...

However, when figuring out which cookies to make for my last day at the two OT places I volunteered with, I knew I couldn't make the flourless peanut butter cookies {because PEANUT BUTTER and I don't know if anyone's deathly allergic to peanuts at either place... let's not send anyone into anaphylactic shock as my last impression, yeah?} and I didn't want to transport, like, sixty of my usual black-bottomed cupcakes.

Ree Drummond's Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe looked pretty straightforward and doable. Then again, one of the reasons she's my go-to girl when I need a recipe are those two adjectives exactly. So.

Here's what I thought:

+ Not bad, not bad. Again, I'm not the biggest fan of baking my own chocolate chip cookies and after trying these when they came out of the oven, I was like, "eh. they work," which isn't the SUPER ENTHUSIASTIC response one might hope for. Both the madre and I liked the Brown Sugar Oatmeal cookies better {recap/thoughts here}. But yes, these work if you NEED chocolate chip.

+ They don't flatten out very much. So they're pretty cake-y on the inside and rather compact on the outside. I'm not sure if semi-flattening them before putting them in the oven would've helped {because they might have spread out a bit more and been a bit thinner}. Maybe next time I'll try that. 

+ I got various reactions from people after their first bite-- Mom asked if there was peanut butter in them, one of the OTs asked if I added caramel or sea salt. Apparently the semi-secret ingredient of instant coffee granules that Ree adds to her basic cookies throws people because they know they've had that mysterious taste before, but they can't place it.

+ Used all butter, all semi-sweet chocolate chips, and didn't add the optional flax seed. Suggested bake time is about right.

+ If you have any dough left over {or you're a super fan of cookie dough-- which I wasn't into until I finally tried it midway through college and was like, "WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!?"}, it tastes amazing refrigerated. Like... ermagherd. Yes.

Conclusion: If I HAVE to bake homemade chocolate chip cookies for some reason, this recipe works. It isn't complicated, has normal people ingredients, and the semi-secret ingredient of instant coffee granules adds a bit more oomph than if they were plain chocolate chip cookies. However, if I have the option of bringing or feeding people a different type of baked good, I probably will. Chocolate chip isn't really my forte/wheelhouse/whathaveyou.

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Baked Good #5 for The 23 List.

Foodie Adventuring // Easy, Quick, & Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

^ Nom nom nom... ^

So in case you haven't heard, the padre was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes right before Christmas last year {so, like, two months ago} and while he's been doing pretty well adjusting and figuring out what he can and can't eat, I know that he's missed having sweets. Joy the Baker's recipe for Flourless PB Cookies fit the bill of low carbs {no flour}, simple ingredients {just four things!}, easy to make {mix, then bake}, and dessert-like {I mean... cookies?}.

Here's what I thought:

+ The recipe is so straight-forward, you almost expect there to be a catch. Like, "It can't be this easy... whaaaat?" But no, there is no catch! If you have a peanut butter, sugar, an egg, and some baking soda in your house, YOU CAN HAS COOKIES. Bam.

+ We have both Chunky and Smooth peanut butter in our house, so I split the total amount required and used half chunky, half smooth. Personally, I think this results in a cookie that's closer to your average peanut butter cookie, since it's pretty smooth, but it still has texture and crunchy bits. If you happen to have both on hand, I'd recommend this route. {I also used half brown sugar, half regular sugar, because I'm complicated like that. It's a delicious problem to have}.

+ They store pretty well-- I made this batch on Valentine's Day and the few we've still got left taste just as great as the day-of version. Because there's no flour to hold the cookie together, they are a little crumbly coming out of the oven and stay that way after they cool. If you're a fan of crispy, crunchy cookies, these may not be for you. That being said, they aren't completely soft either, so... *shrugs*

+ We're supposed to get two dozen cookies out of this recipe, but I used a small ice cream scoop to portion out the cookies and only got thirteen {plus the small bit of batter I ate straight after mixing. it's really good...}. I also had to add about two minutes to the baking time since it's pretty hard to tell when peanut butter cookies "turn slightly brown". O.o I mean. The cookies are brown to start with. I don't understand. Oh! And they poof and spread in the oven, so don't place them too close together.

Conclusion: Excellent. Super simple to whip together, so if you're short on time and you know for sure none of the people eating these are allergic to nuts, THESE should be your go-to cookies. I'd say within twenty minutes, I went from having no cookies, to having ALL THE COOKIES. Which is infinitely better.

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Baked Good #4 for The 23 List.

The 23 List // December Update

By the end of December:

+ explore more of San Francisco's neighborhoods // #STSSWinterAdventure2014 has come and gone and I now have a somewhat better understanding of SF neighborhoods and districts and cross-streets! Staring at a map, judging distances and potential next destinations, does tend to help you figure out how everything relates to each other. So thanks, friends, for letting me put my navigator skills to good use and for all the adventures! :D More on our time in the city coming to the blog in January!

+ take a road trip... where I'm actually behind the wheel and there are other people in the car // this was supposed to happen during our #STSSWinterAdventure2014, but didn't. Tommy and Steph did all the driving. Sooo... obvs more road trips need to be taken, guys! Anyone down?

+ read three nonfiction books, cover to cover // Delancey by Molly Wizenberg. I originally thought it was the story behind Delancey Street, a restaurant on the waterfront here in SF, but it's actually about a husband and wife team in Seattle and the origin story of their crazy popular pizza place. And holey moley. As an undeniable bookworm, I rarely put down a book until I finish it {unless it's truly awful}, so me saying that "I couldn't put it down" doesn't mean as much as it could, but this book was particularly fascinating. Not kidding when I say it's now one of my top five favorites and I highlyhighlyhighly recommend. Because who doesn't like origin stories and pizza and behind-the-scenes secrets? So. Good.

+ read three nonfiction books, cover to cover // Keeping It Civil by Margaret Klaw. I could see this book being recommended reading for a Psych or Comm class on interpersonal relationships. It's an easy read, but so interesting because it's a look at divorce and adoption and family law from the lawyer's POV, someone who has seen hundreds {if not thousands} of cases and can now point out patterns and similarities in the human behavior during those difficult times. Learned a lot from this one and would definitely read again/buy a hardcopy for my own bookshelf.

+ read three nonfiction books, cover to cover // checked out hardcopies of Unruly Places, Creative Confidence, and The Tastemakers. We'll see which I make it through {not in love with the fact that the library put only the hardcover versions on hold for me... I'm a paperback girl all the way}.

+ go through everything in my room and organize it ALL-- glean, donate, throw away // BASICALLY DONE. It was so helpful to have a hard and fast deadline for getting this done {aka Steph's arrival in NorCal} because otherwise, I'm pretty sure it never would've happened. So thanks, girlie, cause I can see my floor now! *hee* No, but seriously. I can. It's kind of weird.

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // done and done-- as of right now, we're at 53 Instagram and 505 Pinterest followers. I always feel super self-absorbed when I write about this particular item on the 23 List, but it IS fun to keep track of numbers. So yay?

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I think the biggest thing this month was getting through a few of those nonfiction books. Although... to be honest, those books are as close to fiction as nonfiction will ever get {autobiographies are nonfiction's way of keeping it interesting-- especially with the whole "truth is stranger than fiction" thing}. Still, progress was made on The 23 List! Here's to an amazing 2015 and happy new year, friends!

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September/October update here. November update here.

The 23 List // November Update

{Clarion Alley, Mission District, October 24, 2014}

By the end of November:

+ explore more of San Francisco's neighborhoods // as has been mentioned a few times previously, the besties are coming up to NorCal the week after Christmas, so we're spending two full days in the city and a day in Monterey adventuring. Lots of wandering shall be done, although we'll probably stay in a few neighborhoods instead of exploring ALL the neighborhoods. Not enough time for that.

+ explore more of San Francisco's neighborhoods // I am now a little more familiar with the SoMa area since I have to walk five very long blocks from Bart to the office where I intern. Moscone Center, Children's Creativity Museum, allllll the construction, I see you.

+ bake eight new recipes // pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips and cranberries.

+ bake eight new recipes // cranberry scones.

+ bake eight new recipes // funfetti biscotti.

+ read three nonfiction books, cover to cover // I'm tryiiiing. I've discovered I'm not very good at finishing nonfiction ebooks. In the time one nonfiction book has been sitting in my e-library, I've almost finished two different fiction trilogies in ebook form. I think it's because nonfiction books remind me of textbooks/things that I have to read carefully in case I need to remember it all later. And that's no fun. BUT I WILL CONQUER THIS ITEM. BECAUSE IT'S BEEN ON THE LIST FOR TWO YEARS RUNNING. How sad is that. *eek*

+ get a haircut I'm not horrified by// done. Still no pictures... and it's grown an inch already. By the time I get around to asking someone to take a picture, it might be long again. Oy.

+ go through my room and organize it ALL-- glean, donate, throw away // working on it. I just keep telling myself it's getting better {and it is. just... slowly}. We've got *checks calendar* three and a half weeks left to get everything in order before the besties arrive. WE CAN DO THIS. YUSSS.

+ attend a live concert // thought about the latest TSwift concert tour. Turns out, tickets are wayyy out of this funemployed kid's price range {slash the only tickets left now are, like, behind the main stage so you can't see anything anyways}. Hmph.

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // closing in on that second one. We're at 499.

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This has been a crazy month. But we've done pretty well on The 23 List front, surprisingly. Alrighty, December. Let's see what you got!

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September/October update here.

Foodie Adventuring // Funfetti Biscotti

I forgot how I came across this recipe for funfetti biscotti {probably Pinterest, no lie}, but when I showed the recipe to Ruth after we made scones and she was like, "We could do this"... I WAS SO EXCITED. Neither of us are actually fans of biscotti normally {it's just too rock-solid to be considered a cookie, in our opinion. If we're worried about our teeth while biting into it... no}. But you can't NOT make funfetti biscotti. It's just so happy sounding. Like, "SPRINKLES. SPRINKLES EVERYWHERE. WHEEE."

Here's what I thought:

+ This was so much easier than I expected. I know I said that for the cranberry scones, but I mean that here, too. Maybe it's just baking with friends that makes it seem so much easier-- Ruth IS a pro at the baked goods thing. But seriously. You can totally make these. The ingredients are simple, the instructions clear, the estimated prep/baking time accurate {!!!}. People will be so impressed with your baking skills. Win-win-win-win.

+ You probably don't need half a cup of sprinkles. That's... a lot. We just eyeballed it and I sprinkled until it looked sprinkle-y enough. You just don't want bare, sprinkle-less areas of dough. Aim for even sprinkle-ness. SPRINKLESSS. {I think I probably used about half a small sized container of multi-color nonpareils. Which is less than a quarter cup, I think. So. Yeah. Turned out fine}. And just think. The less sprinkles you use here, the more sprinkle/funfetti things you can make with the rest of your sprinkles! Whoot!

+ This is some really nice, smooth dough. Like, it's all gorgeous and non-sticky when it's mixed together. I wanted to pet it.

+ I'd say skip the sea salt on top of the biscotti pre-oven. If you're going to sprinkle more stuff on top, use sugar of some sort. Because the salt didn't seem to add too much and every time my tongue touched part of the top of the cookie with the salt on it, I felt a bit like I was eating play dough. Ergh. Ruth and her older sister said they didn't taste that though, so maybe I just got a salty spot. Still. Use sugar.

+ These don't come out as rock-hard as store-bought biscotti, which is SUCH A GOOD THING. They've definitely still got crunch and Ruth texted me the next day saying that a biscotti and a cup of hot cocoa is perfection.

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Baked Good #3 for The 23 List.

Foodie Adventuring // Cranberry Scones

I've always been intimidated by scones. All this cutting of ice cold butter and crumbly dough business... STRESS. So when Ruth and I decided to have a baking day and I said I had a TON of dried cranberries we could use and she mentioned making scones like it was NBD... I was all over that.

We went with the good ol' standby recipe from the Joy of Cooking recipe book {which is, like, in every single household everywhere}. It didn't use as much butter as I expected scones would use-- instead, they substitute cream for a lot of the fat/liquid needed. We didn't have that on hand, but Ruth's house is just a couple blocks from the grocery store, so... FIELD TRIP. And boba! Heh.

Here are my thoughts on the process:

+ There's a reason Joy of Cooking is in every kitchen. This recipe was very straightforward and easier than my scone-fearing self anticipated. Whew.

+ When they say "handle the dough as little as possible"... ehhhh. I was in charge of the first batch we made and I handled the dough all gingerly and delicately, and it didn't really mix very well. The scones turned out rather dry and crumbled easily {they tasted about the same, but the texture was slightly off}. Ruth did the second batch and ignored the instructions to limit the manhandling, and the scones turned out great! So I think as long as you don't play with the dough for ever and ever, you should be fine. MIX WELL, GUYS.

+ Sprinkle with sugar, not salt.

+ These are lighter, fluffier scones than your average store-bought scone. It might be the cream {we probably don't want to know how much butter goes into the store-bought scones... eek!}.

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Baked Good #2 for The 23 List.

Foodie Adventuring // Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate Chips & Cranberries

^ This was my test batch, sans white chocolate chips. The real batch finished cooling at, like, one in the morning and by the time I packed them at three, I just didn't want to bother with pictures. Sorry, guys. ^

I had these pumpkin oatmeal cookies on my to-do list for several weeks before actually rolling up my sleeves and pulling out the mixing bowls. Out of curiosity, how many twenty-one-year-olds do you know who say their favorite cookie is oatmeal raisin? *shakes head* I have weird friends. A whole bunch of them DON'T LIKE CHOCOLATE. What is this. How are we friends. I don't understand.

It was Steph-en's birthday mid-October, which is smack in the middle of pumpkin-everything season, so I decided that cookies were the way to go for a birthday present. You know, since I can't fit a border collie or a treehouse or Hans Solo inside a USPS box {other things on his imaginary birthday wish list}.

Confession: I'm kind of a lazy baker. In that, if I don't have the ingredients for something on hand, I just won't make that. But these cookies are both easy to put together and all the ingredients are things that are decently basic! {Except molasses. But turns out, the madre had that hidden in the back of a cupboard somewhere. So it worked out!}

Here's what I thought:

+ I doubled the amount of pumpkin pie spice because a teaspoon didn't smell like enough... and the cookies STILL didn't taste super pumpkin-y after being baked. So depending on how pumpkin-y you'd like your cookies to be, up the amount of spice. For us, the hint of pumpkin worked because the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries gave the cookies a lot of sweetness.

+ As I was stirring the wet ingredients together, they started cooling off and hardening {it's just butter, sugar, molasses, and pumpkin... none of which are super wet ingredients}. At first, I started adding it into the dry ingredients and attempting to mix anyways, but quickly gave that up when the "batter" was really dry and dusty after five minutes, and practically no progress was being made. My suggestion is to throw the mixed wet ingredients back into the microwave for a bit to re-melt the butter and THEN mix everything together. Makes life a lot easier.

+ Eyeball how much of each "add-on" {chocolate chips, dried cranberries, nuts} you need, instead of actually measuring. Preferences differ, so I don't think being precise really matters.

+ After you've scooped your cookie batter onto the baking sheet, take your add-ons and press a few into the top of each cookie. They make the cookies look prettier and more appetizing {instead of just dark brown bumpy lumps}. Don't be like me though and stick the chocolate chips into the cookie, pointy side in. Because the chocolate doesn't melt as much as you think it will. So then you're left with really weird OBVIOUS CHOCOLATE CHIPS all over your cookies. And that's awkward. ): So yes. Pointy side of the chocolate chip OUT.

+ These freeze really, really well. And taste good the day after being baked. And the day after that. And the day after that {if they're still around}. They make for a good travel cookie. Which is good. Since that's what I did. Sent them off to their final destination via weekend USPS. They arrived Monday evening, still delicious {at least that's what I'm told. I could've been lied to, I suppose}.

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Definitely worth making. And since they're oatmeal, they count as breakfast food, right? And pumpkin and cranberry are healthy, too... Sounds like a plan. Excellent on-the-go breakfast. *nods*

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Baked Good #1 for The 23 List.

The 23 List Update // October 2014

I've had about four posts hanging out, languishing as drafts, for ohhh the entire month of October. At some point, I will {WILL!} get around to posting them, but until that day, here's a 23 List update!

I originally was only going to let you guys know when something was accomplished, but then I realized maybe a better plan is doing monthly updates so that I could show you {and myself} that there's been progress, even if something hasn't been crossed off the list entirely yet. By the end of September, nothing had been completed, but I had listened to eight out of the ten podcasts {and I took notes so I could remember which ones I liked and which ones I didn't} and had researched where I could take an aerial silks class.

By mid-October:

+ take a road trip... where I'm actually behind the wheel and there are other people in the car // a roadtrip to Portland had been suggested and halfway planned before the madres stepped in and expressed concern over how much driving this roadtrip would entail over a short amount of time in the dead of winter. Basically, they vetoed the roadtrip. SO. The new plan is playing tourist in San Francisco the week between Christmas and New Year's, which won't quite be a "roadtrip" for me, but I WILL be behind the wheel with someone non-related in my car at some point that week. Whoot!

+ bake eight new recipes // it was Steph-en's birthday last week and his favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin {riiight? what an old person}, and he's also a fan of pumpkin-flavored things, so I went in search of a "pumpkin oatmeal raisin cookie" on Google. And lo and behold, such a thing exists! In fact, it seems quite popular based on the number of recipes that appeared. I found one that looked promising, made a test batch, pinpointed the problems, fixed them, made a full batch of cookies, and sent them off into the world. I'll share the recipe and my changes later; but yay, cross one off the "bake eight new recipes" item!

+ bake eight new recipes // and I don't know if this will count {whether I count it depends on how far I get with the "bake eight new recipes" thing}, but I also made pumpkin butter with the rest of the canned pumpkin used in the cookies. It was surprisingly easy and, with no actual butter involved, it's decently healthy, too.

+ get a haircut I'm not horrified by // I am seriously tired of my long hair at this point, so I've threatened to cut it every single day these last two weeks {honestly, though, no one really cares, so I'm not sure who or what I'm threatening. I think I'm just stating my intentions aloud so that my hair knows its days are numberrrred!}. I still need to find a picture to show the hair cutting person what I want which is the only thing holding me back. The plan was to go get it cut today, but I might have an interview-y thing Friday and I don't want to risk a bad haircut for a first impression. So maybe I'll wait until early next week. A bad haircut second impression isn't as awful.

+ go through everything in my room and organize it ALL-- glean, donate, throw away // with the besties coming up to the Bay Area after Christmas, Steph will be staying conmigo those four/five days, which means my room has to be... cleaner... than it is now. Cause right now, it's kind of... heh. ANYWAYS. Now that there's a serious deadline in place, I've buckled down to getting the place organized and I'm actually doing pretty well right now. I'm gleaning through all the books and clothes in this room {as an only child, there's no one to pass down all your too-small clothes to, so if you don't glean regularly (I don't) then you end up with stuff from middle school hanging out, taking up space}. The amount of stuff I need to donate is growing every day and I'm learning to be more ruthless when considering, "Now will I ever use/read/need this again..."

+ reach 50 Instagram and 500 Pinterest followers // first goal has been REACHED. Yesssss. And the second is close. I'm excited to see what those numbers will be by the time we actually make it to the next birthday.

+ listen to 10 podcasts // like I said, I'm at about 80% with this one. Listening to podcasts still takes concentration and isn't something I naturally do when I have free time, so... we're working on it. I know I asked this before, but any MUSTLISTEN podcasts you think I should try? I'm always open to suggestions! (:

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So that's what's going on over here on the 23 List front. I'm excited to see progress, although there still are quite a number of things to be attempted on there which can be a little daunting.

But look! Ta daaaaa... Photo evidence of progress! Yayyyy.

 50 followers has been reached!

497 followers-- almost there!