Happy Washington's Birthday to you!

Happy Washington's Birthday! Did you know that Washington's birthday never actually falls on the day that we celebrate it on? George Washington's birthday is actually on 11 February (or 22 February depending on whose calendar you're using...), but since the holiday got moved to the 3rd Monday in February in the 70s, when they rearranged all the Monday holidays, it never actually falls on the 11th (or the 22nd). Also, despite the fact that everyone calls this day President's day and assumes that we are celebrating both Washington's and Lincoln's birthday, the name was never officially changed. And because the name was never changed you can spell it Presidents' day or Presidents day, and no one can correct you.

If you don't believe me, you can check Wikipedia for yourself (though believe me, when I learned all this information last semester for my Reference class, I had a solid citable source for it.)

Almond Cranberry Cookies

Happy MLK day! As a total aside to what this post is really about (cookies) I just wanted to wish you a happy holiday. I took an hour today and went in to Cambridge and participated in a service project at City Hall. They had a variety of activities going on (blanket/scarf making, emergency room kits for children, valentine's day cards for shut-ins, etc.) I met up with some other people in the ward and we made a good stack of valentine's day cards for elderly people in the community. It was a lot of fun. There is something exciting not only about serving, but especially about serving in your own community. It's a lot of fun, and I feel good for having served today.

Now, on to the cookies.

One day last week I was trying to come up with a dessert to take to a dinner. I wanted something fairly light and relatively healthy. Recently Janssen had posted this about her favorite healthy cookie and so while I was at the store I picked up some almond meal and decided to give these a shot. For whatever reason I really struggled to make these right and to follow the directions. First I miss read how much vanilla to put in, so I put in three times as much as I should have, luckily there weren't too many ingredients in there already and so I could dump out some of the vanilla. But then I had to add more water, since some of that dumped out too. And then I miss measured about three other ingredients, necessitating that I increase the whole recipe by about 50%. All told, I really am not sure how much of any ingredient ended up in my cookie dough. But, it turned out ok. The cookies were really quite delicious. They were sweet, but not overly so, and they tasted good, while also feeling healthy. I definitely will have to make these again. And next time I think I will make each cookie a little bigger, because I made them a little too small this time.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone. I've decided that Boston is a fantastic place to be around the various patriotic holidays. I feel like here in Boston these holidays are more than just an excuse to get out the barbecue and have a party (not that we don't do that), but I feel like here it is also a day to do things like remember the people who have fought and died to protect our freedoms and our country.

33,000 flags to remember each and every soldier from
Massachusetts who has died in action since the Civil War.

On Saturday I went and took a walk through Boston Common and through the Public Garden. The office that one of my roommates works for helps to plant flags every Memorial Day to remember each soldier from Massachusetts that has died serving their country. This year they planted 33,000 flags for soldiers going all the way back to the Civil War. It is really cool to see. It's like a sea of flags. It is amazing to me how many people have died to give me the opportunities that I enjoy today. And I am grateful for their sacrifice.

Boston Common and part of the skyline.

I hope that you all had a lovely Memorial Day and that you did something to commemorate the people who gave their lives for your freedom.