P = Pierogi

My moms side of the family has this tradition every Good Friday before Easter Sunday.  My aunt Suzy, my Nana, my Nana's friend Kathy, my mom and my sister all go to Suzy's house to cook for Easter dinner at my grandmas. Suzy makes the dough, I roll the dough, and everyone helps out filling the dough with sauerkraut and potatoes. I help my sister dye eggs and write everyone's names on them with the clear crayon. After using all the dough we can to make circles for the pierogis, we roll the extra dough, and fry them with butter. My great grandpa called them "babici" (best spelling I could think of, pronounced bah-bike-ee). They're delicious. One of the best parts of this day is when my grandma wears her apron that says "got pierogi?" and I wear my grandpas hat that says "You bet your dupa I'm Ukranian". My grandpa is 100% Ukranian and my grandma is 50% Ukranian and 50% Italian, so that's why we have this tradition with Easter and pierogis. It all started way back when. (Also, I was happy that my letter was P because it's the first thing I thought of.)

Recipe (passed down, not online ;) )
1 egg
1/4 cup veg. oil
warm/hot water
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

use mix master to make the dough
break 1 egg into 2 cup measuring cup, add 1/4 cup veg. oil, add enough warm/hot water to fill to 1 cup line

mix flour and salt in mixind bowl, add the egg/oil/water and mix while mixing the flour, add more flour until dough does not stick to your hands too much.

Next, you cut the dough into circles with a cutter, put in the sauerkraut or potatoes, dip your finger in water and rub it against the outside of one half of the circle, fold it, use a fork to close it but do not poke holes.

Then boil them or something!

Famous Poem Starters

But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep 
So I take what's left, and put it to rest
For now I know what cannot be undone
Is in my dreams from now on

Happily haunting itself away, until it is awakened

Day by day, the thoughts are never shaken

Following me from side to side

In my mind and almost out

Where I can finally spill the whereabouts 

Nursery Rhymes ARE Relevant to Life

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/rhymes/dream.html


What did I dream?

I do not know;
The fragments fly like chaff.
Yet strange my mind

Was tickled so,
I cannot help but laugh.

I picked this nursery rhyme because almost every morning when I wake up, I can remember my dream. I remember them so often that I started to write them down. And they usually make sense, but I guess no ones dreams really do. I've tried to decode them to see if they mean anything, but it's all so random. I enjoy it, though. They do make me laugh. 

Turn your Inkblot into a Butterfly

When you try something new,

their can be overwhelming fear

But the fear can soon transform into something good

Sometimes you shouldn't go with your gut

to experience something new

even if you think it's a mistake

And then you soon realize,

the pain and fear turns into the time of your life

Something truly meaningful in your life

And that conquering your fears,

as a mistake,

can be actually fun.

Michael Janairo

http://www.timesunion.com/michaeljanairo/

http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Springsteen-show-delivers-joy-3489973.php

Michael Janairo is the Arts & Entertainment editor for the Times Union, and "previously worked as the copy desk chief for features and for the news side copy desk". I read his article on the Bruce Springsteen concert on April 16, 2012. Springsteen and the band "delivered a night of power, emotion and showmanship". Springsteen played many songs, but the "biggest thrills of the night" came from his album "Wrecking Ball". Springsteen's high energy allowed him to pull people of the audience to come up on stage, and he also stage-dived and crowd-surfed. Springsteen also brought up the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and "urged people to donate". "62-year old Springsteen [had] amazing energy and connection with his fans". In addition for to his work with the Times Union, Janairo writes fiction and nonfiction pieces "that have been published in literary magazines".

NYT Tuesday

An Attempt

An individual standing alone,
untouched and undefined,
spit them out like a bitter tonic,
with a blunt force.

He struck a certain anchor,
on his back with arms outstretched
on his route to happiness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/movies/katniss-everdeen-a-new-type-of-woman-warrior.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=arts
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/arts/music/bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-at-the-izod-center.html?ref=arts
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/arts/index.html

Imagination Prompt

Did you have a close relationship with any of your grandparents? Tell about it.

Both of my fathers parents are no longer living, and I am very close with my mothers parents. But I feel like that is not the question the prompt is asking.

I had a close relationship with my fathers mother. Unfortunately, I did not get to meet his father. I called his mother Grammy. I remember going to her small house with one floor, with the kitchen and living room connected. She had slot mini machines, and puzzles everywhere. She also liked to play cards a lot. I remember trying to help her with her puzzles, because she used to babysit me and my cousin Taylor when we were small children. She moved into an apartment later on, and we ended up giving her my cat, Charlotte, because I was too allergic to hold on to her any longer. It was sad, because she was becoming very old and alone in this apartment that was in the oddest place in town. I didn't know what to feel when she was gone, but I'm glad I have our memories together. The smallest things will remind me of her.