Just Another Thursday

Super busy at work.
Super busy with friends.
Super busy being happy.
Tonight was my night to de-stress and just be.

I found this glorious recipe last week during my blog trolling:
http://joythebaker.com/2011/03/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/

I saw her pictures and I just KNEW that I had to try it...SOON.
I started making the bread last night --but only had time to make the dough and let it rise the first time. I refrigerated it overnight and finished it today after work.

As I was (impatiently) waiting for the cinnamon pull apart bread to finish baking,  whipped up a lemon cream cheese glaze. I mean...cinnamon rolls are magical with it, so I figured cinnamon bread might feel naked without. A little Cream cheese, margarine, lemon extract, vanilla extract and powdered sugar later -- I was in business. Ooey gooey melted and glorious. My partner in crime and I polished off about a third of the loaf before starting to feel a little sick. SO GOOD.

I also realized I was kind of hungry while said bread was baking. I decided that trying to make quiche for the first time was a great idea. I had a pie shell already made from one of the times I made bulk pie crust. I mean - who doesn't decide to make a GIANT quiche at 7PM on a random Thursday night? The quiche ALSO turned out well. Next time, I'll take the time to tent the crust so it doesn't get quite as brown. The quiche had sausage, potato, mozzarella cheese, spinach, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, eggs, garlic, skim milk, and Salt/pepper. I'm a fan.

Prayers and Les Mis

A while ago I started a list of things I wanted to write about on the blog. It looked like this:

1. Redemption
2. Les Mis
3. Christmas Encouragement
4. Dolce & Gabbana
5. Perspective

Then I waited and waited and work got busy... And forgot to write. And everyone else under the sun already wrote about redemption and Les Mis symbolism. I don't care. I'm still going to write :) Consider this the first in my list series. 

On Les Mis: 

My take on it? I was overwhelmed by Les Mis. By the sheer beauty of the entire film. The ability of film to take something I already loved (the music and storyline of Les Mis) to another depth. The stunning detail of vocal inflection and subtle facial expressions. The beauty of being able to mic people on film so you can hear every word, every lyric, every caught breath. Were there weak characters in the film? Yes. Did it really upset me? No. The film as a whole was such a piece of art that I didn't want to leave the theater. I didn't want the moment to end. The final choruses of "Do You Hear the People Sing" and "TOMORROW COMES" had my pulse racing. 

Favorite two scenes: 

Fantine's I Dreamed a Dream. This was the song that took my breath away more than anything else. Anne Hathaway brilliantly portrayed the pain and depth in those lyrics that I had never heard before. I've always loved stage productions -- but something I didn't realize that I missed in them was the power of each word in the lyrics. I've never been great at memorizing lyrics, so seeing the show is when I hear the whole story. If I miss words because of staging or getting distracted by the instrumentation, I miss so much. The film medium allowed me to hear the lyrics much more clearly because I could see the mouths singing too (I can read lips). 

Valjean's Bring Him Home. The vice grip I had on my sister's hand lasted the entire song. I just felt the need to TOUCH someone while that scene unfolded. Tears ran down my cheeks. 

"God on high, hear my prayer, in my need, you have always been there"

Isn't that our prayer? For relatives, for us? To have God bring us home? To beg God for peace? To recognize God's power, but also seek out his ear for needs. To honor His holiness, but beg for his mercy?  Do I pray like that? Is that the deepest cry of my heart? KNOWING that God can give and take away, but still letting him know the desires inside? I was convicted by that. 

Did you see Les Mis? Did it impact you?