Here's what I am excited about today...

1. My new immersion blender - Thanks to Caitlin, my wonderful sister in law, I was able to make smooth and velvety split pea soup in a flash! It is sooooo much faster and easier than transferring portions of the soup to and from the standing blender. Why do I get so thrilled about kitchen gadgets?

2. Homemade veggie burgers - I have been tinkering with a few different recipes to concoct the perfect non-burger (now that we are fairly meatless), and I think I have gotten pretty close with this one. It has black beans, white kidney beans, brown rice, corn, oat bran (for thickening), salsa, and a bunch of herbs and spices. I think they are tastier than store-bought garden burgers, and way cheaper. I can post the whole recipe if anyone is interested. I made 18 of them for about $8, all of which went promptly into the freezer for a day when I am sick of cooking. Nathan and I enjoyed them for brunch this afternoon...

3. Nathan's chocolate chip cookies - Nathan occasionally gets inspired to make cookies, usually at about 9pm or later, and my only job is "cleaning" the beaters and bowl. This works out great for me because I get to eat the dough without the pressure and responsibility of making sure the cookies don't burn. I am not the best at baking, though I think I have been improving lately...I did make a peach pie last week that wasn't awful. Isn't it pretty? I even did the lattice on top...all by myself!

4. Working four 10's - This past week was my first crack at working from 7-5, Monday-Thursday. I loved having Friday off, but I may never get used to getting up at 5:30. No one should be up that early!

5. Henna tattoos - I have been toying with the idea of an actual tattoo for the past year, but I have been chronically undecided due to the lifetime commitment of the whole thing. A wise friend of mine suggested that I go get a henna tattoo of the design I am interested in to "test-drive" it for a few weeks before going for the real thing (if I decide I want to). I was blown away by the sheer brilliance of this plan, and I am going to get one today at the Portland Saturday Market, a mecca for local hippies. Here's how it turned out. I was hoping for a smaller leaf, closer to the hand, but its pretty close. The real Ginkgo leaf on my hand is from a tree down the street. The henna is supposed to get darker over the next 24 hours or so. It is pretty orange right now. So far, I think I like it...