Squash Dinner Fail

That title is an ode to a wonderful website called The Fail Blog. It shows pictures of various failures in clever ways. Like this pretty funny "Mascot Fail" "Unlimited Fail" or "Motel Fail" or "Camper Fail" or "Tasty Fail". Of course Scott introduced me to such genius. (Warning: you may want to click the "G-rated posts only" page, sometimes they're a bit edgy.)

While at Sarah's house last Friday, I was flipping through her Better Homes & Garden magazine when I came upon this recipe for Chicken and Squash Gnocchi. It looked so tasty and I had a recent success with roasted squash in a vegetable pasta dinner so I thought it would be great. I had to go to Harmon's to find fresh gnocchi (which on second thought, I should've just made myself but whatever).



Last night I finally got around to making the recipe and boy did it fail. The squash smelled and tasted terrible by the time it was time to actually combine it with the chicken and pasta. Look at this photo, that just looks terrible right? I wish I could recommend that recipe but I don't really. Luckily the rest of dinner was salvageable.


The fact that I'm able to experiment with a recipe means this week is amazingly less busy than last week! Monday was so great. I went to class in the morning and then went with Sarah's kids to see High School Musical 3 at Riverwoods.

I had never seen HSM1 or 2 and found HSM3 to be mildly interesting and not too overly dramatic (except for that kid who plays the male lead, he clearly loves his biceps too much...). I had to resist napping during the movie until I realized wait, I don't have to feel bad for taking a tiny rest in this movie because it is a kids movie afterall.

I loved the time I got to spend with Sarah Brenden Oliver and June and I'm glad I got to go. But overall, the movie really REALLY bothered me. It's just not good for kids to see all this madness about falling in love in high school, or that the only way you can be happy in high school is if you have a best friend of the opposite sex. It sets unrealistic expectations. It creates false hope. It causes kids to have the WRONG focus. I remember being affected by these kinds of movies as a kid. Dawson's Creek was also popular at the time which glorified these super close, you-mean-everything-to-me friendships between boys and girls. I remember what it made me think about high school, I remember the longing it created in my mind and immature heart. It doesn't lead good places.

Where are the movies glorifying what high school should be about? Practicing building friendships with all kinds of people, learning about what you believe and how to stand up for it, spending time bonding with your family, participating in extracurricular activities that expand your horizons. I was lucky enough to have older siblings as examples for how to have a great time in high school. And I did!! But there was a lot of wasted heartache too. That's all about that for now...


Monday night I finished all my homework, finished the gym, finished laundry and found myself watching a documentary on KBYU called Brides on the Homefront. It was the story of 3 separate women falling in love during World War I. It was touching to hear their stories, one got to marry her sweetheart, one's husband was killed while at war, one women "Dear Johned" her soldier. During that time BYU was about 80% female! And we think our current 2-1 ratio is bad. It's an interesting time in US history when the country was so bonded and strong. People were proud and worked hard. It's hard to completely grasp the range of emotions they experienced during that time.




That was followed by the always fascinating surf documentary Riding Giants. Then the documentary Mall Mania about the expansion of the American shopping idea into China.



Then I finally went to bed.




Yes, I just admitted to watching one full-length movie and three documentaries in one day. Should I be embarrassed? Maybe. Do people generally admit to watching TV? No way. If I had said I read books for 4 hours would people think differently about how I spend my free time? Yes, they probably would.

I love this funny post from Lisa on Light Refreshments Served about this subject (you should really click that link). Here's an excerpt:

Have you ever been in the situation when someone says something like “Oh, I never watch TV.” or “I don’t even OWN a TV. . .” or “I don’t have TIME to watch TV. . .” like it’s an automatic virtue, (or like my friend Eric says, “It’s not like they’re out there curing cancer while you’re watching TV. . .”) and you’re left standing there feeling kind of dumb, like you can’t really defend TV watching, like it’s just an assumed vice like force- feeding baby seals hard liquor, so you say nothing or you say something like “Oh, well, we love PBS! And the Discovery Channel is really worth it. . .” or “It’s nice to watch Conference. . .and the Olympics!” Or worst, you jump in and tell them which book you just finished reading like you have to justify yourself, your life, or your use of leisure time. But what you’re really thinking is “I love to watch TV–it’s relaxing! It’s entertaining! There’s so much good stuff on there. . .and, what with my DVR, I’m responsible with it–I save time in fact. . .” Well, maybe you don’t go on and on like that, but the sentiment is the same.

So there you go. I watched some TV yesterday. I don't have to defend what I choose to do with my leisure time. And neither do you! :-)