I blame Marie Kondo for my psychological issues and the growing dent in my bank account.
All of this Marie Kondo stuff doesn't really work on me because I'm pretty organized and I like the way my clothes are folded. I also don't really care for completely disposing of things that don't bring me joy. If so, my cat Niles would have been gone long ago. However, it has sparked me to re-evaluate my apartment space. A friend of mine told me that plants can help reduce dust and since I'm in "self help" mood (aka I cried at work last week), I ventured over to Home Depot and bought myself a lovely house plant, named Fern. Perhaps Fern has somewhat reduced the amount of minimal dust in my apartment, but she has also dropped roughly 457 baby fern leaves on my hardwood floors after one week. You may think I'm not tending properly to Fern, but I give her ample water and place her in sun each day to tan. I take her abundant leaf droppings as a cry for help that I don't know how to fix. So as of now, in Mari Kondo fashion, Fern is not bringing me joy. I'm not give up though, so I have not yet removed her from the home, despite her joy-less disposition.
My fridge does not bring me joy, but it's currently too heavy to throw out. Inside my fridge you will always find one avocado, or a half an avocado in a ziplock bag, milk, and dijon mustard. My bottom drawers are filled with cheese sticks because I'm an adult who still gets a kick out of pulling off strings of salty cheese. My other fridge staples are parmesan, feta, eggs, cottage cheese, scallions, and some sort of tomatoes. Catch a trend? I need to be able to make an omelette in a moments notice, if need be. I ended up watching fridge tutorials on YouTube which led me into a dangerous spiral of searching for "fridge organization" videos on YouTube. Call me an elitist, spoiled millennial but I'm literally buying fruit just so that my fridge looks pretty. Bonus, my diet has improved. Another trend I hopped on is cute little fridge organizers. This purchase I can actually justify because of my seltzer addiction. Now I have a perfect little can organizer that brings me oh so much joy.
I think watching Marie Kondo videos had the reverse effect on me in that I did not empty my house of useless goods and instead purchased more items. But like I said, they brought me Joy and in the end, isn't that what matters most? The culprit this week was the batch of Sumo oranges I bought to look cute in my new bowl on my counter. If you haven't tried these oranges, you must because they are fantastic! Admittedly, they aren't the most beautiful looking but the taste is amazing. I maxed out my eating on them for the week but decided to incorporate one into my baking.
Shortbread cookies are my all-time favorite cooking because of well...butter. Butter brings me joy. In order to incorporate my oranges, I added in the zest from an orange and the juice. Is there anything better than a citrus element? In fact, I have a lemon blueberry bread currently baking in the oven. Orange in a baked good is just so perfect.
I think watching Marie Kondo videos had the reverse effect on me in that I did not empty my house of useless goods and instead purchased more items. But like I said, they brought me Joy and in the end, isn't that what matters most? The culprit this week was the batch of Sumo oranges I bought to look cute in my new bowl on my counter. If you haven't tried these oranges, you must because they are fantastic! Admittedly, they aren't the most beautiful looking but the taste is amazing. I maxed out my eating on them for the week but decided to incorporate one into my baking.
Shortbread cookies are my all-time favorite cooking because of well...butter. Butter brings me joy. In order to incorporate my oranges, I added in the zest from an orange and the juice. Is there anything better than a citrus element? In fact, I have a lemon blueberry bread currently baking in the oven. Orange in a baked good is just so perfect.
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
orange zest from one orange (about 2 tbsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp orange juice (from orange)
10 oz chocolate for melting
Using a mixer, cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the orange zest and vanilla and continue to mix. In a medium bowl whisk flour and salt together. Add flour mixture to the butter and mix until combined. Remove dough from the mixer bowl and press until a ball in formed. Roll the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight. Remove dough from fridge and place onto a floured surface. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Cut the log into 1/4 inch pieces and place on baking sheet one inch apart. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool. Meanwhile melt chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the orange juice into the chocolate mixture. Dip each cookie into the chocolate mixture and place to dry on parchment paper. Coat the cookies with any remaining orange zest if desired.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
orange zest from one orange (about 2 tbsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp orange juice (from orange)
10 oz chocolate for melting
Using a mixer, cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the orange zest and vanilla and continue to mix. In a medium bowl whisk flour and salt together. Add flour mixture to the butter and mix until combined. Remove dough from the mixer bowl and press until a ball in formed. Roll the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight. Remove dough from fridge and place onto a floured surface. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Cut the log into 1/4 inch pieces and place on baking sheet one inch apart. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool. Meanwhile melt chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the orange juice into the chocolate mixture. Dip each cookie into the chocolate mixture and place to dry on parchment paper. Coat the cookies with any remaining orange zest if desired.
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