Taste Tester Tuesday #2

*If ya'll want to read a super looooooooooong post by Megs, scroll down. If not, enjoy!*
Here we are again, with another taste tester Tuesday. Today we have a recipe sent in from Hannah Goettel and since I haven't tried it yet, I cannot guarantee how it will taste, but it sounds mighty good!

Apricot Crostata

By: Hannah Goettel

1 3/4 cups flour

2 TBSP sugar

grated zest of 1 lemon

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 1/4 sticks of butter (chilled and cut into 1/2 in. pieces)

3 tbsp. ice water

3/4 cup apricot jam/jelly/preserves

powdered sugar for dusting

Combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt into the food processor then pulse until blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a course meal. Add the water bit by bit, pulsing until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a ball;flatten it into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and refridgerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Do not slip this step; if not cold enough the dough will fall apart and stick to everything!)

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper, to an eleven inch round. Transfer the dough with the paper to a large heavy baking sheet. Spread the preserves onto the dough, leaving a 2 inch border. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an eight inch round, pleating the crust loosely and pinching any cracks in the dough.

Bake the crostata until the crust is golden, about forty minutes. Put the baking sheet onto the rack to cool for 10 minutes, then slide a metal spatula under the crust to free the crostata from the paper. Let it cool to lukewarm and sprinkle with powdered sugar and almonds (optional) then serve.

ENJOY!

*By the way, we have not actually tried this, so technically this shouldn't be under taste tester tuesdays, but oh well.*

Little Women: the book, personal lessons and the movies

*Updated: If you don't feel like reading an insanely long post right now, scroll down and watch a hilarious video by my sister Sara!*

I recently have been re-reading the book "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. This is a favorite of mine but I hadn't read it for a few years; it is a timeless classic. We have a few study guides and informational books about Little Women and one antique copy. However I dearly 'fancied' a copy for myself and decided to purchase one while out with a friend this past Friday.

My 'Poohbear' and new copy of Little Women

I immediately flipped to my favorite chapters when I spotted it on the shelf:

"Meg Goes to Vanity Fair;"

"Aunt March Settles the Question" and

"The First Wedding."

For those who know me well, they will sigh and say, "Oh, that's so Meghan!" And if you did not read my last post, the fifteen random things about me, one of them was I am sentimental and romantic. I justified my spending money on the book by thinking, "For my hopechest and future home." Which.....isn't entirely true because I do not have a hopechest but I am collecting things for my future home. When Meg goes to 'vanity fair' as Ms. Alcott aptly calls the holiday at the Gardiners, she is tempted by the wealth of her 'friends' and feels very discontent and unhappy with her life. She is then "powdered, and squeezed and frizzled, and made (to) look like a fashion plate." In short, she gives into Satan's wiles and webs of discontentment and also gives into peer pressure. Lately, contentment has been a lesson I have been learning. Reading of the four March sisters' trials and scrapes, has prompted me to relate them to my own life. I love books where you can relate to a character in the story! I find I am much like Meg (big surprise!) in her domestic tendencies, quiet, motherly and lady-like nature. *Ahem!* But most especially her tendencies towards discontentment, comparing her family and home to others and vanity. In my faults I find I am like almost all of the March sisters. I need to learn to tame my tongue and be patient as Jo did. I need to think of others more than myself and to not be shy, as Beth did. My own dear "Marmee" has shown me the error of my ways and has encouraged and exhorted me to do better in my sin areas-as Mrs. March did in the novel. I am so thankful for my wonderful mother!

God's faithfulness is displayed through sometimes the simplest things...He reveals my heart through reading a favorite book, listening to a certain song, talking with my 'Mum....' He is so good!

On a lighter note, I also found that my varying interests go along with each March girl.

~I cannot wait to be a homemaker, I love to embroider and crochet....as Meg did

~I love to write! I love to think up plots and subplots in my head and talk my poor family's ears off about my novels.....as Jo did

~I love piano! And I do still love my dolls.....as Beth did

~I enjoy sketching occasionally.....though I tend to be a perfectionist and take way too much time on my sketches and drawings.....as Amy did

While I'm on the subject of Little Women, I can't NOT mention the three movie adaptions!

Little Women, 1933

Starring (off the top of my head): Katharine Hepburn (Jo), Joan Bennet (Amy), Edna Mae Oliver (Aunt March), Frances Dee (Meg) and Spring Byington (Marmee). These are the better known actresses that are in the film. This film is very similar to the book but, with all film adaptions of great novels, leaves alot out of the movie. Katharine Hepburn is very funny as Jo but in my opinion, isn't quite the right type to play the tomboyish and 'romping' Jo March.

Little Women, 1949

Starring: Janet Leigh (Meg), June Allyson (Jo), Margaret O'Brien (Beth), Elizabeth Taylor (Amy...yes, blond) Mary Astor (Marmee), Leon Ames (Father March).......AND (as if this wasn't a superb cast already!) PETER LAWFORD as Laurie!!!!!!! I love Peter Lawford! He was perfect for the role of Laurie, in my opinion, anyway. This one, in mine and Mum's opinions, is the best adaptation to the book. June Allyson is perfectly delightful as Jo! Four people out of the entire cast were all together for the first time in Meet Me In St. Louis playing family members! Odd coincedence. :) This is my favorite version because I love everyone who is in it! And, (my partiality is showing again!) it was made by MGM.

Little Women, 1994

Starring: Winona Ryder (Jo), Susan Sarandon (Marmee), Trini Alvarado (Meg), Kirsten Dunst (Amy), Claire Danes (Beth) and Christian Bale (Laurie).

This is a wonderful adaptation as well. It is probably the closest to the book and the most dramatic. The second version was the most lighthearted and fun, the first was, well, the first. But this one was the most serious one but it was very enjoyable. Winona Ryder made a great Jo and her acting job was very well done. Claire Danes played Beth the best, in my opinion. She did a really great job doing the very sad (not to mention hard) dying scenes. Yes I know....morbid! But she did do a wonderful job on a rather hard scene to do. Christian Bale was really good as Laurie-very charismatic and a wonderful acting job.....Its hard to decide between him and Peter Lawford......nah, Peter Lawford's much better looking. :)

Have any of you ever read and/or watched Little Women? What character(s) is/are your favorite? A favorite part or chapter of yours?

Tagged! I'm It!

I was 'tagged' by my wonderful friend Bekah to post fifteen random things about myself...at least two of them will be the same as her's! So here goes:

15 Random Things About Myself

1. I still sleep with a stuffed Poohbear at night :)

2. I LOVE COFFEE!!! Not some yucky weak stuff. I love strong coffee. Starbucks, specifically. :)3. I am obsessed with old movies! Not only old movies as a whole, but specifically musicals. And even more specifically, MGM musicals-they were the best in my opinion.

4. One of my nicknames is 'Boo Boo.' I have no idea why.

5. In one summer when I was younger, I fell off my bike, scrapped both my elbows and my right knee very badly. That same summer, I fell off of a scooter and scraped my elbows and knees again! And still have scars to prove it.

6. I love to write but I cannot discipline myself to faithfully write in a journal everyday. I could blog or write stories and articles 'till doomsday' but I not in a journal!

7. I am incredibly sentimental and cry at the silliest things. I cry when guys cry in movies (especially Willie in Love's Enduring Promise!) I cry at tender father-daughter moments (end of Love's Enduring Promise) and really, really sad moments, too. :)

8. I was born on my maternal grandfather's birthday. He turned fifty one the year I was born.

9. I am incredibly sentimental and romantic. For instance, I fancied a Victorian looking marriage certificate at an antique shop but I am a cheapskate so I didn't buy it. However, my wonderful mother bought it for me and gave it to me for Christmas.

10. My 'Castle in the Air' (I've been reading Little Women lately) is to be happily married, a homemaker with lots of children.

11. I still have a plastic Barney toy that I've had since infancy. Right now he's in my room with a broken arm until I can hot glue it back on. Anna took a fancy to it, left it on the floor and Sara stepped on it.

12. I love music! For the most part, any genre except: rap, R&B, rock, hard rock, etc. I also love to adapt musical scores so I can play them on the piano. I play the chords and the melody so I kind of cheat. :-P

13. I used to sing in the shower when I was younger. I loved old movies with Kathryn Grayson (a beautiful actress/singer of MGM musicals) so I imitated her in our downstairs shower. However, my family loathed hearing it. The light switch for that bathroom was outside the bathroom on the wall right next to the door frame so if my singing got on anyone's nerves, Sara would shut off the light. I stopped quickly then!

14. I had braces for about a year and a half to two years. I still wear retainers and haven't lost them yet!

15. There are.....six months and eighteen days until my sixteenth birthday. A birthday I've looked forward to since I was little. :)

Phew! That was fun! Okay, I tag Ella , Alaina and Danielle if they want to do it.