D is for Deluxe Donuts

I went to college at Anderson University, in the small town of Anderson, Indiana. Not far from campus was a small donut shop called “Deluxe Donuts” and it was open 24 hours a day, every day of the week. So, as late night college lives go, we campus kids were frequent customers.

Deluxe Donuts helped me and my art student comrades through many an all-nighter. What do you do at 4:30 am when you need some carbs to get you through the next 3 hours before the 8am class (in which the project you are currently working on is no doubt due)? Well, at Anderson University, you either go to Taco Bell (which will haunt you by the middle of your 8am class) or you hit up Deluxe Donuts! Not only do they have the best variety of freshly baked donuts, they have the “AU Special”: Three donuts for a dollar!!! That is a deal right there, and boy, did we take advantage of it. What college student can’t scrounge up a dollar in change from within their backpack?

Deluxe’s variety was diverse, yet unchanging. My now-husband’s favorite was the “Today’s Special”: a donut with white icing and lots of sprinkles. Except, “Today’s Special” was the same every day. Perhaps Deluxe Donuts was trying to tell us that every day is special and somehow the same? Or maybe they just were creatures of habit. Doesn’t matter either way. I’ll bet cha the special today is the same as it was four years ago. Tastey too.

My favorite is the maple icing donuts. Mmmhmm. Three of those every time. You know, for the most part, I ate really well in college. In fact, I am pretty sure the worst habit I had in college were the maple donuts. Dear Delux, thank you for sabotaging my girlish figure.

My roommate and I used to antagonize my husband to eat as many donuts as he could. All-nighter fatigue and delirium makes everything sound like a good idea. So throughout the week, during an all-nighter, when someone would proclaim a donut run (and yes, I do mean proclaim, because every time it was proclaimed as though it were a new idea), we would get our monies together, and pile into one car for the three-block drive. Then, we would hassle Joshua to buy three AU Specials (which means 9 donuts!) and proceed to eat them all. (Mind you, we were responsible students who worked around the clock, except for when we were distracted by Deluxe Donuts!) I only ever remember Joshua eating an entire 6 donuts in one sitting. But to his benefit, donuts are filling, and my roommate and I were very annoying.

Dunkin Donuts tried to move in on Deluxe’s territory, but they quickly closed up shop. Not everybody runs on Dunkin, Dunkin.

I have heard that Deluxe has since upped their AU Special to a dollar and twenty-five cents! I am sure they received flack for that from the college populace. But I suppose we all have to do what we can in this economy, and an extra 25 cents won’t stop students from coming. Oh Deluxe Donuts, you will always hold a special place in my heart, and stomach. Every once in a while, I wake up in the night with a maple donut craving…

C is for Crazy Children

I work at a children’s museum, and I have come to the conclusion that children are crazy. Sometimes they make me crazy. Most times they are crazy surprising, learning through play and teaching me more than I probably have ever taught any single one of them. Quite often they are crazy funny. My favorite age is Preschool. That is the age of honesty and the ability to still be wowed by simple things.

Today I met a little boy named Sebastian, who was about four years old. Sebastian was talking to me about the toys that I had laid out in front of me: The Boomwhackers, the tunning fork, the octave bells, and the giggle stick. Usually if a child looks like they are alone, the parent is not far behind. I waited, but there were no parents tagging behind Sebastian.

So I asked, “Sebastian, where is your grown up?”

“They are down in Star Wars”, he said. Our Star Wars exhibit happens to be a the bottom of the museum, five floors below where Sebastian and I were sitting. I decided to give it a few more minutes.

“How did you get up here Sebastian?” I asked.

“I walked up the ramp”, he replied, very matter-of-fact. The ramp goes up all five levels, and is not a short walk for an adult, nevermind a four-year-old.

I decided to call security, who had already found his frantic family and were diligently looking for Sebastian. When reunited, Sebastian’s father promptly ordered that he “never run away again”, to which Sebastian replied, “I didn’t dad, I walked.”

Buongiorno, Buonasera & Buonanotte

Day two of the Alphabet Challenge. I’m already breaking a sweat.

“B” is for Italy’s “Goodmorning”, “Goodevening”, and “Goodnight”.

I lived in Italia (Italy) for four months while studying for school, in the city of Florence (or “Firenze” in Italian). One of my favorite and most missed things about the lovely city is the greetings. “Buongiorno” for goodmorning or goodday. “Buonasera” for goodevening. “Buonanotte” for goodnight. Of course “Ciao” is wonderful too. The sound of the language is something I miss greatly.

 

Rainy Day on the Ponte Vecchio

 

 

My apartment was in the middle of the citta (city), and every morning I would wake up to the sounds of the busy cobble street, usually full of people headed to the market. When first being submerged in a culture that did not speak my language, I was extremely disoriented. However, after time, the language became like an instrumental song, always humming around me. The way Italians speak is actually quite like a song–they practically sing words to put extra emphasis on them. Also, their speech is very passionate, regardless of what they are talking about. They may be yelling about a traumatic situation, or what to have for dinner–you can never judge the importance of an Italian conversation by the way it sounds.

 

Cobble Street Below My Apartment Window

 

 

One important cultural habit I learned during my stay was to always greet when entering any sort of place (store, market, bakery, school, etc.). To not greet was extremely rude, and could receive you dirty looks, or altogether cold disdain. At first it was a hard habit to break into–in the U.S. it seems that we are only greeted by strangers when it is for commision pay, or something else that does not regard true sincerity. I am not implying that every Italian I met gave me the warmest of well wishes, but it was expected of you to acknowledge the other person, to greet them cordially, and to be sincere in your greeting. I miss that expectation.

 

Directly Outside My Apartment Entrance

 

 

I do not speak fluent Italian–perhaps someday–but I know that my favorite Italian words will always be the greetings.

Buonanotte!

The Alphabet Challenge

I have come to terms with my negligence as a blogger, and have decided to challenge myself to a 26 day alphabet blogging session. What I mean is, I will blog everyday for 26 days, the subject of my blog beginning with a letter of the alphabet. This is my attempt to reform my sad blogging habits. So, first blog, first letter!

“A”: Chunky Cinnamon Apple Sauce!

My grandpa is one of those wonderful grandpas who loves to spoil you with edible things. Most of his treats are ones that he enjoyed in his childhood. A few weekends ago his goodie of choice was apples.

The apples grandpa gave me are called Mutsu apples, and they hail from Michigan. They are a special treat because they have spots on them, which deem them “un-sellable” by grocery stores. Hence, they are sold in little farmers’ markets like the one my grandpa frequents. So grandpa buys at least thirty to forty apples every fall, sharing them with whomever will take some.

Grandpa gave me as many as he could cram in my grocery bag. He insisted I take a bag full of apples, but my interpretation of “full” is six or seven, and his is at least a dozen. I ended up with many more apples than my husband and I can eat  before they spoil, which led me to seek out apple recipes. Grandpa recommended I make cinnamon apple sauce. The recipe was simple and it turned out great. Want to try some chunky cinnamon apple sauce? Keep reading!

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of sugar

4 to 5 apples (any kind you want, but I recommend sweeter rather than tart)

Two handfuls of Red Hots

Cut up the apples–peel them if you’d like–then quarter them and put them in a sauce pan over medium heat.

Stir the apples and continue doing so until they start to look translucent and begin falling apart.

Next, you can mix in the water, Red Hots and sugar.

This was my favorite part: watch the Red Hots color as it melts against the green of the apples! Mmmm. Starts smelling really good right about now… it’s the smell of fall in a sauce pan!

The important part now is to stir every couple minutes to keep the apples from burning, and to enjoy the lovely aroma! Wish I could bottle it for a candle.

Almost there–keep going! You may choose to make it any consistency you’d like (the longer on the heat, the more liquified it becomes). I chose to leave a few chunks–soft and chunky, not too runny.

Ok, it looks good to me! Time to eat! What’s great about this is, it can either be served hot or cold. Both ways are tastey. Also you can play around with the amounts of ingredients, varying them until you get the cinnamon/sweet taste that suits you best. When you’re done, don’t forget to store extras in the refrigerator.

Done! Finito! Ah writing about this has made me a little hungry… I think I’ll go have a bowl right now. Maybe some whip cream on top? Bravissimo!

Stay tuned for more Alphabet Challenge…

Converge: Senior Show Exhibit

These are my pieces that are being shown currently in Anderson University’s show “Converge: It totally matters what it’s next to”.

My two children's stories.

I have two children’s stories: I wrote, illustrated, and bound them into complete book form.

Page from "What Peapa Learns in Florence"

Page from "What Peapa Learns in Florence"

Page from "The Three in the Jacaranda Tree"

Page from "The Three in the Jacaranda Tree"

I also have five collages displayed together (however they can be hung separately).

The show is in Anderson, IN, open through May 1st, Tuesday through Friday 4-8 and Saturday 1-4.

Peapa says “Ciao Mondo”!

Hello world! Hello Peapa!

Peapa is my feathery friend from Florence. (Alliteration there was unintentional.) While in Italia, I wrote a story about Peapa. This is his first public appearance.

Peapa learns he is a bird with purpose.

During his story, Peapa meets fellow animal friends in Florence.

 

Lika the Beagle.

Spritz the Sparrow.

Peapa isn’t bound into complete book format, but I am working on it! Soon my pigeon friend, so soon! (As in, I need to finish it during spring break–specifically, two weeks-ish. Yikes.)

 

What a very sooty pigeon, indeed.

Uno Cappuncino

Ciao! 

After spending an afternoon with an inspiring and close friend (afancyhello), I have realized I am long overdue in creating my own blog. Lets see how it goes.

Buonasera,

MeganRose