Italy

Neither of us have ever been to Europe, so we've decided to change that.  We're going for an 11-13 day trip to Italy (13-15 if you count the two days spent in the airplane), hoping to see Rome, Florence, Venice, and maybe Pisa or another fourth city in the area.  Because of school/work/the cost of plane tickets we're not leaving until October 2014, but that does give us plenty of time to plan, pick up a bit of Italian, and save room for lots and lots of gelato.  I've been getting some advice from Frommers, Lonely Planet, and the like, but given that most of the people who know about the existence of this blog have spent time in Italy, I thought I'd solicit opinions from you all.







So... any can't miss attractions in Italy?  Things that didn't live up to the hype?  Great places to eat?  Dishes to try? Areas of the cities to stay in or avoid staying in?  Tips on scoring plane tickets for less than a gazillion dollars?

Cranberry Orange Cookies

On New Year's Day, two of my cousins and my little brother shared dinner with us at our house (a seriously awesome way to kick off 2013).  Because I had half a bag of cranberries leftover from making neighbor gifts, I tried making some cranberry orange cookies.  They ended up being much more delicious than most of my try-a-random-recipe experiments, and there's been a request for the recipe, so I thought I'd post it here.  I was going to take a picture or two, but the cookies weren't around long enough for me to do so.  Given that the majority of my blog readership has seen (and eaten) the cookies, though, and all of you know what cookies generally look like, hopefully that's ok.

1 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c butter or margarine, room temperature
Zest and juice from one orange
1 egg
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c chopped fresh cranberries (the recipe book says frozen ones work too, but not dried)
1 c white chocolate chips
1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375.  Beat sugars, butter, orange peel, orange juice, and egg.  Add flour, soda, and salt. Stir in cranberries and nuts.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls, two inches apart, and bake 12 to 14 minutes, until edges just start to turn gold.  Remove to wire rack to cool.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker Annual Recipes 2008.

New Year's Resolutions

Every December, I make a long list of things I want.  This isn't a Christmas wishlist, but a several-page list of New Year's Resolutions.  The list is impossibly long, and some of the items on it are irreconcilable.  I want to travel the world, to keep a spotless home, to garden, to write, to save lots of money for retirement, to throw fabulous dinner parties, to read all the books, to be a better wife/sister/daughter/friend/lawyer/driver/pianist/baker/Scrabble-player.  I always want this to be the year I finally sew myself a designer wardrobe, become fluent in five languages, run a marathon, and put an end to all the injustice in the world.  And so I end up making a list with literally hundreds of resolutions.  Twelve months later, I've inevitably achieved at least some of them ("find a job," "make bread from scratch at least once," "don't end up in the emergency room") but nevertheless discover these accomplishments haven't changed me into that person (witty, fearless, intellectual, tireless, fun, gracious, healthy, talented, vibrant, extraordinary) that inspired me to make the resolutions in the first place.  At the end of the year, it turns out there are never enough hours in a day (nor, I suspect, in a century) for someone as unfocused and tired as me to transform life into perfection.  But, as Elder Holland said in our sacrament meeting a few days ago, that's ok... the point is to keep trying.

Between launching into my career, becoming a home owner, and adopting a dog and two cats, 2012 brought a lot of new responsibility, so I'm mostly just hoping I'm up for the challenge.  Here's to 2013.  Whether or not I end up traveling to a foreign country, kicking my 3-a-day bottled water habit, or making a cheesecake, hopefully twelve months from today I'm a better person than I am today and, more importantly, that there's at least a little bit more happiness in the world because of my efforts.

Given that one of my resolutions this year is not to kill anyone, I'd better wrap up this blog post before things get any more suffocatingly cheesy.  Happy New Year!