Nerd Alert!

Sadie3 Comments

Guess what.  I am a Thomas Jefferson fanatic.  Do you think it’s a coincidence that I go to business school at his alma mater?  I think not.  I actually love US presidents in general. I know a lot of useless trivia about them, but TJ is my favorite by far.

Last year I had the pleasure of visiting his house, Monticello, outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.  I was in Charlottesville by myself for a completely different reason, but you better believe I booked a tour at Monticello before I left.  I’ve done a lot of mansion tours in my day: up in Newport, RI, The Biltmore in NC, Versailles in Paris, the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT, and several chateaus in the Loire Valley just to name a few.  This tour was different because I knew TJ was there. I loved learning about all of the choices he made in the design, and about his daily habits in the house.  I highly recommend it if you’re in the area!TJ

But I digress, this post is actually about a new book about TJ that I recently bought on tape (well CD actually).  I bought the audio version of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, because I’m doing a lot of long drives this month, so I thought it would be good for that.  I haven’t even finished the book yet, but I’ve decided to give it a good review. Often times, these types of books are rather dry, and difficult to get through at times.  I find this one continually interesting.  I am filled with little tidbits about TJ and his family that I never knew before and I’m only up to 1784.  Here are a few I’ve learned so far:

  1. Martha Jefferson (TJ’s wife) actually went by Patty
  2. Patty made TJ swear on her death bed that he would never re-marry and he abided by her request
  3. TJ’s relationship with his mother is largely unknown because all of their correspondence was destroyed when her house burnt down, there is question as to how well they actually got along
  4. Sally Hemmings (TJ’s slave and mistress) was actually his wife’s half sister because her father was Patty’s father (the Hemmings served Patty’s family until Patty’s father died)
  5. Though TJ held numerous leadership roles, perhaps his most disappointing was his stint as governor of Virginia, to his embarrassment, his tenure was largely criticized in an official capacity by the Virginia House of Burgesses

The fact that I live in Virginia is an added bonus as I listen to this book.  I am constantly hearing the names of streets and schools in the area, and now I can identify the significance of their namesake.  Who knew there were so many important Virginians!

Have you read or listened to any good books lately?

Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Sadie1 Comment

Since it’s still November, I’m still allowed to make pumpkin things.  I recently had an early morning class field trip, so I decided that it would be nice to bring some muffins along.  I had a few very ripe bananas, so my initial plan was to find a good banana muffin recipe, but during my search I found something even better: a pumpkin banana muffin recipe.  To make the muffins a little more interesting I decided to add some chocolate chips and walnuts.  Basically whenever I can add nuts or chocolate, I will.

The muffins turned out fairly dense and quite moist which was great.  The original recipe called for whole wheat flour, or at least a combination of white and whole wheat.  I typically jump at the chance to use whole wheat flour, but in this instance I had just bought some white flour that I wanted to use up, so I used all white.  I love recipes that are adaptable to what you have on hand!

Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Yeilds 24 muffins, adapted from Alida’s Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or 1 cup all-purpose flour/1 cup whole wheat flour)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1-2 cups chocolate chips (depending on how chocolaty you want it)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line the muffin tins with liners, or spray with non-stick spray.
  2. Combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl mix together pumpkin puree, oil, and mashed bananas with an electric mixer.  Gradually add eggs and vanilla until mixture is well combined.
  4. Gradually fold in the dry ingredients to the wet, and finally add walnuts and chocolate chips.
  5. Bake 13-15 minutes for normal sized muffins (a little shorter if you make minis).

Christmas Preparations Phase 2

CarrieLeave a comment

Well it’s official!  The house is completed decorated except for the tree in the living room.  The reason for this is that I am having a tree trimming party on Tuesday for friends as promised.  See if some of these pictures inspire you to start your own decorating extravaganza!

These are vintage figures from my grandmother. They are cute and festive!


I laid fabric down on the table as a runner. It accents the pieces set on the table. Filling a bowl with ornaments is a quick and easy way to create a festive centerpiece!

I have a collection of these vintage elves from my grandmother. They were featured in Martha’s magazine last year.

I just bought this 3 ft. table topper tree this year. It’s decorated with Christopher Radko ornaments from Kmart that I found this year as well. They were on sale for $7.99 for a set of 6. What a steal!