On a +Positive : Desk/Work Space

With so many things being moved from in-person to online, such as schooling, and work, my desk space has endured quite the renovation. Now that I'm finding myself becoming more acquainted with my desk space, I've made sure to add some new features to it, in order to help me stay focused, relaxed, and motivated. 

In order to assist myself in radiating good energy, I've added a number of precious stones and crystals. Although some look into the meanings of each one, and the natural power they contain, I enjoy having them as accessories around my workspace to add natural beauty. Along with this I've adopted an incense waterfall, salt lamp, and a desktop water fountain. In this way I not only add some relaxing background sounds, but also some aromatherapy to the atmosphere. 

One main issue I wanted to resolve, was my constant getting up to find snacks, or something to do as I worked. Therefore I've been able to cut down on my "aimless wandering" by having a little variety of snacks, objects, and little tech necessities to keep my mind focused on whatever task is at hand. This includes kinetic sand, stress balls, clay, chargers, and stuffed animals. Keeping these little things located around my desk space minimized the number of excuses I have to wander off in search of something in order to avoid working on assignments, and provides me with all those additional tools that I'd need to keep things running fairly smoothly as I work. Even though these are some little measures I took in order to help myself adjust to schooling from home, I've been able to spot a significant difference in my work tactics.

How To : Dutch Baby with Cardamom Honey Apples

It's one thing to be knowledgeable, and another to use that knowledge and teach others.

So today I'm going so share one of my favorite dishes with everyone. This is one meal that my family adopted, and enjoys to make and serve with grits, bacon, and eggs. Fall and winter seasons make this an extremely special warm treat, and is a perfect go to for a "breakfast for dinner" kind of evening.

This dish is such a lovely meal that only requires 10 ingredients, and can be made to serve in about 45 minutes : Maria Simmons, Pancakes A to Z | Dutch Apple Pancake.

INGREDIENTS 

Makes 4 Servings 

Dutch Baby Pancake

3 large eggs
3/4 cup of milk
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

Cardamom Honey Apples
2 large apples (golden delicious)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. To make the Dutch Baby: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place an 8-to-10-inch cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet with a heatproof handle in the oven. 2. Combine the eggs, milk, flour, and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Using a pot holder, remove the skillet from the oven an add teh butter; tilt the pan to melt the butter and coat the skillet. Add the batter all at once and immediately return the skillet to the oven. 3. Bake until the pancake puffs up around the edges, 18 to 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the Cardamom Honey Apples: Peel, quarter and core the apples. Cut into thin wedges. Heat the butter in a medium skillet until sizzling. Add the apple wedges and cook, stirring gently, until lightly browned on both sides. Sprinkle with cardamom and stir to coat. Add the honey and heat to boiling. Remove from the heat; stir in the lemon juice. 

5. To serve the pancake, slide it from the skillet onto a large platter. Pour the Cardamom Honey Apples into the center. Cut into wedges and serve, distributing the filling evenly. 

And that's truly it! Hope you take a moment to try it out, and see how you like (love) it. 

A Different Kind of Concert Experience

Covid-19 has changed so many things as it's embedded a itself in our lives. It's opened minds to an entirely new perspective, and forced each person to strive to adapted to new ways of work, school, and life's daily activities, and recreation. One includes live streamed concerts. Although some platforms such as Moment have been around for a period of time, such companies are being shed more light as many remain at home. 

I've been to a few concert events in the past, but none have been for artists that I personally discovered and deeply loved. However, during the lockdown, I was able to tune into small live performances by a few different artists I love. In those few occurrences, I'd realized that despite it not being the same as an in person concert, it still seeped a ton of concert like emotions. Thinking about that now, I'm reminded of a  picture book I'd bought at a book fair in Elementary called "Two eggs please".

The entire book shows different animals ordering eggs and breakfast. Eggs can be scrambled, boiled, pooched, fried, over easy, or sunny-side up. It's still eggs.  The book did a great job at depicting that just because it's different, doesn't mean it's bad, or the wrong way to have something. Despite concerts being social distanced, and a bit limiting at this time, I've still found myself excited to order new album merch, set alarms for EP releases, and watch little live sneak peeks. 

Since I've enjoyed the few times I tuned into artists Instagram lives, I decided to step up and buy a ticket to a concert featuring two of my favorite artists. It'll be my first time streaming a full concert, and I have no idea if I'll receive a paper copy of my ticket as a keepsake, so I made sure to buy a tee for the memories. I am extremely excited for it!

"Different. The Same" - Two Eggs Please