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Meme response lists!
Top 5 Trees!
HM A TOUGH ONE. It's gonna be hard to pick just five. Either way, it won't be in any particular order.
1.) Oak: When it comes to age, no other tree wears it better than oaks, I think. I love huge, spreading oaks. There's something very lyrical and...literaturesque? about them. This love may stem from the fact that my elementary school had a hugemongous one at the very edge of the playground, which was my favorite haunt.
2.) Japanese Magnolia: Talk about *gorgeous*. The Japanese magnolias are one of the first trees to flower around here, and boy do they take full advantage of it. First, they put out these huge, yellow buds that, from a distance, look like the tree is covered in little stars. Then they put out these huge, pink and white blossoms that cover the tree. On some of the older ones on campus, they can get so dense they're downright nebulous. That reminds me, I should find the pictures I took of them in bloom.
3.) Japanese Maple: Despite the fact that they're horrendously expensive, I love the look of Japanese maples. They have such an elegant appearance, and the leaves look so delicate and feathery. I'm hoping eventually we can have one in the yard, even if it's a wee one.
4.) Cherry Tree: Another tree that looks awesomely beautiful when in bloom. I love the combination of pink blossoms and the unique look and feel of the bark. And besides, who doesn't like running through falling sakura blossoms? ^_^;
5.) Ginkgo: Really and truly, I adore ginkgo. The fact that it's a living fossil fascinates me, and of course the leaves are pretty, especially when they go yellow in autumn. Another tree I'd love to get in the yard. It'll have to be a male, though. The females put out fleshy seeds that smell like rotten cheese.
Top 5 Kitchen Creations!
1.) Mashed Potato Veggie Pot Pie: My newest favorite. I found it in a potato cookbook, and ended up making it for dinner for everyone one night (with a few modifications, like more spice and an actual crust). It's *really* good, with a mashed potato concoction covering the top of it. I don't like making it often, though, because it's rather complicated and hard to make. Ultimately, it's really more of a creation best suited for being made by two people. But damn it's worth it.
2.) Half Moons: My mom's creation. There's a little bakery in New York that we used to go to when we lived there (and later, when we visited) to get these fabulous chocolate cookies with white frosting on one half and chocolate on the other (hence the name). They're sadly defunct now, but their cookies live on in Mom's recipe. One day she decided to try and replicate them, and spent an entire summer perfecting the recipe. Another one which isn't made very often, because they're *extremely* complicated, and ultimately they get snatched up by everyone in one night (maybe two, if you're lucky), because they are that good.
3.) Chess Pie: Mmm, chess pie. I'm still modifying my recipe, because it still isn't quite at the level of chocolateyness that I want, but it's still tasty. I mean, come on, it's basically a gooey brownie in a crust. What's not to like?
4.) Collard Greens: This would be my aunt's creation. Being a true southerner (as opposed to us transplanted Yankees), she has a sizeable arsenal of southern cooking recipes, but in my opinion, her collard greens lord over them all. I ask anyone who doesn't like collard greens to reserve judgement until they've tried hers, because they're absolutely delish. They're tangy and zingy and unlike any other collard greens I've tasted, which I've found to be flat and flavorless. They're the collards by which I judge all others.
5.) Motley Avocado Salad: For lack of a better name to give it. In a nutshell, it's avocado chunks, tomato chunks, broken rosemary flatbread, and muenster cheese bits, and it is tasty! It was kinda an impromptu creation, but is actually really good. The tomato and avocado and rosemary play really well together.
Top 5 Trees!
HM A TOUGH ONE. It's gonna be hard to pick just five. Either way, it won't be in any particular order.
1.) Oak: When it comes to age, no other tree wears it better than oaks, I think. I love huge, spreading oaks. There's something very lyrical and...literaturesque? about them. This love may stem from the fact that my elementary school had a hugemongous one at the very edge of the playground, which was my favorite haunt.
2.) Japanese Magnolia: Talk about *gorgeous*. The Japanese magnolias are one of the first trees to flower around here, and boy do they take full advantage of it. First, they put out these huge, yellow buds that, from a distance, look like the tree is covered in little stars. Then they put out these huge, pink and white blossoms that cover the tree. On some of the older ones on campus, they can get so dense they're downright nebulous. That reminds me, I should find the pictures I took of them in bloom.
3.) Japanese Maple: Despite the fact that they're horrendously expensive, I love the look of Japanese maples. They have such an elegant appearance, and the leaves look so delicate and feathery. I'm hoping eventually we can have one in the yard, even if it's a wee one.
4.) Cherry Tree: Another tree that looks awesomely beautiful when in bloom. I love the combination of pink blossoms and the unique look and feel of the bark. And besides, who doesn't like running through falling sakura blossoms? ^_^;
5.) Ginkgo: Really and truly, I adore ginkgo. The fact that it's a living fossil fascinates me, and of course the leaves are pretty, especially when they go yellow in autumn. Another tree I'd love to get in the yard. It'll have to be a male, though. The females put out fleshy seeds that smell like rotten cheese.
Top 5 Kitchen Creations!
1.) Mashed Potato Veggie Pot Pie: My newest favorite. I found it in a potato cookbook, and ended up making it for dinner for everyone one night (with a few modifications, like more spice and an actual crust). It's *really* good, with a mashed potato concoction covering the top of it. I don't like making it often, though, because it's rather complicated and hard to make. Ultimately, it's really more of a creation best suited for being made by two people. But damn it's worth it.
2.) Half Moons: My mom's creation. There's a little bakery in New York that we used to go to when we lived there (and later, when we visited) to get these fabulous chocolate cookies with white frosting on one half and chocolate on the other (hence the name). They're sadly defunct now, but their cookies live on in Mom's recipe. One day she decided to try and replicate them, and spent an entire summer perfecting the recipe. Another one which isn't made very often, because they're *extremely* complicated, and ultimately they get snatched up by everyone in one night (maybe two, if you're lucky), because they are that good.
3.) Chess Pie: Mmm, chess pie. I'm still modifying my recipe, because it still isn't quite at the level of chocolateyness that I want, but it's still tasty. I mean, come on, it's basically a gooey brownie in a crust. What's not to like?
4.) Collard Greens: This would be my aunt's creation. Being a true southerner (as opposed to us transplanted Yankees), she has a sizeable arsenal of southern cooking recipes, but in my opinion, her collard greens lord over them all. I ask anyone who doesn't like collard greens to reserve judgement until they've tried hers, because they're absolutely delish. They're tangy and zingy and unlike any other collard greens I've tasted, which I've found to be flat and flavorless. They're the collards by which I judge all others.
5.) Motley Avocado Salad: For lack of a better name to give it. In a nutshell, it's avocado chunks, tomato chunks, broken rosemary flatbread, and muenster cheese bits, and it is tasty! It was kinda an impromptu creation, but is actually really good. The tomato and avocado and rosemary play really well together.
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i need to see the pictures of the japanese magnolias on your campus.
full size japanese maples? or the dwarf, ornamental ones? the dwarf ones grow really cool and would be absolutely wonderful if you were about 6 inches tall. :D i love the leaves, too.
i love cherry trees, too. which type of cherry? i work with many Prunus species (it's my job) but, sadly (or luckily as the virus doesn't affect cherries around here), i don't work with the cherries. which type of cherry do you like? sweet cherries tend to be thicker and are often the ones that get really old and big. sour cherries tend to have longer, more spindly branches, tho they can get pretty big, too. or do you like the manchurian cherry with it's pretty, pretty red bark (http://www.mnpower.com/treebook/fact79.html)? ^^
ginkos are just plain cool. most that are bought at nurseries are male specimens grafted to a rootstock to ensure that the tree does not produce the fruits. there's a female at the old horticulture school park in my city.
i also love huge tulip trees. the leaves are just so cool and they grow so straight and tall. black walnut also grows really straight and the leaves grow in perfect whorls around the branches. i love looking up at them.
OH, and the mimosa tree...also known as the silk tree (http://www.botanical-online.com/floracaciadeconstantinoplaangles.htm). the flowers are pink and feathery and smell like sweet peaches.
^___________^ i love trees. there are so many more i could go on about.
OH, blue beech has the coolest "nutlets" ever. ^_^ and it's all hard with smooth smooth bark. so pretty. i will have one when i get my own house.