My Grandma

The fondest memories I have of my grandmother take place around the dining table. She grew up in wartime Germany, where it was sometimes unknown when her family would be able to eat again. Therefore, each meal she made for us was a big deal. Snacking was not allowed; my sister was once scolded for attempting to sneak a piece of toast and she never tried again. Everyone helped with meal preparation in some way, but Grandma was always trying to do all of the cooking, even as she aged she would deny needing help. Pretty sure I got my stubbornness from her!  Every meal was a smorgasbord of mostly unhealthy foods, but they were amazing.  Hey, we usually had a small bowl of sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on the table...but I couldn't tell you that we always ate it!

One of the best parts of my grandparents' house was the vegetable gardens that my grandpa constantly tended to in the backyard. We always had fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers (great for stuffing!). It was the norm to leave their house with a giant box or two of peppers. My grandfather is Serbian, so much of the food my grandma cooked was from that culture. Not much beats a few cevapcici: delicious little sausages. However, my personal favorite food is gibanica. It is a flaky cheese pastry that can be altered to be sweet or salty and there are many delicious variations. I just recently recreated my grandmother's recipe and I will share it with you at the end of this post.

Whether we were eating or playing mensch ärgere dich nicht, a popular German board game (and our family's all-time favorite), 
we were constantly laughing and having a great time. Unless, of course, we were glaring at each other silently in the heat of the game, which happened on occasion. And by occasion, I mean all the time. Each day we spent at their house, at least 3 rounds were played.

Their house was located in a quaint neighborhood just down the road from Lake Hamilton, a great place for us to spend our hot summer days. Just a Drew Brees stone's throw from their house was a resort whose pool and park we snuck into all the time. Every Fourth of July, my family and my aunt's family would visit my grandparents. My cousins, sister, and I would trek up the road to the fireworks tent and summon our inner pyromaniacs as we set off sparks in the large backyard. We didn't need to watch television or play video games when we had such a gorgeous area to explore and family with whom to spend our time.

My grandma passed away a few weeks ago. Being able to reminisce about these times with her has helped me heal so much but I will always miss her. She had this fire inside that made her such an amazing woman, and I know I have it in me. Here's to Johanna and her everlasting flame. *Clink*

  
As promised, here is my recipe for gibanica.

1 (8-ounce) package softened cream cheese
3 large eggs
1lb cottage cheese
1lb thawed filo dough
1 stick melted butter

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add cottage cheese and mix well.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
3. Unroll 2 layers of filo dough and brush with melted butter.
4. Scoop a few (4-6) spoonfuls of the cheese onto the dough and spread evenly.  Not too much because the filo with break, but enough to be an adequate filling.
5. Roll up the dough and place in pan. Repeat steps 3-6 until the pan is full.
6. Brush the rolls in pan with remaining butter.
7. Put in oven for 1 hour. Take out and let cool for 10-15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.
8. Eat, enjoy, fall in love, thank me for having a Serbian heritage and introducing you to your new favorite food!

Wally

Wally is the love/mutt of my life. He's about 5 years old but after 3 years with him, I'm sure he has made it impossible for me to ever find another dog that could compare.

During my junior year of high school, I snatched him up from a busy road in my neighborhood where he was scavenging around collarless. A fluffy white mutt like him did not belong in the woodsy area he was temporarily inhabiting. After luring him to my car with the lunch I had packed for that day, I brought him home and, of course, my family quickly fell in love with his spunky, stubborn self. We had him scanned for a chip and found that his owners, an elderly couple living over 4 hours north of us, had noticed his absence 2 months before I picked him up. They were not in the best place health-wise so, knowing we would be great owners, they let us adopt him.

He likes to hang out with me while I'm sick during spring break with only sketching to do!

Since then, Wally, otherwise known as Wallace, Walter (my dad calls him that to annoy me because I decided his name was short for Wallace), Walrus, or Wallstar, has been the light of my family's life.  For a couple years he cohabited with our greyhounds, McGovern and Sweetie (pictured below) before they passed away.  My family has a long history with fostering and adopting greyhounds; we will go into that later.

Wally is the cheapest security guard we could find. While he wouldn't fend well as a body guard, his attentiveness to intruders (a.k.a. my friends, other dogs, some squirrels, the UPS man, etc.) is admirable.  Always on the lookout, he is sure to be the first to bark when we have a guest.

Wally doesn't really mind when I dress him up in sweaters to take holiday photos, or when I try to cradle him like a baby, though I know he's not a fan of either. He's just a happy lhasa apso westie mutt kind of thing livin' the life, bein' a dog.

The Beginning

I'm finally ready to write about my life! This blog will detail my journey through the rest of college as I juggle school, art, food, fitness, pets, and (always) finding a way to make money.

I am a theatre major at the University of Central Florida, minoring in film and planning to pick up a studio art minor. For years, my dad worked with stained glass and experimented with fused and blown glass. Following his lead, I started making art with glass when I was 16 and continue today to use my kiln to fuse glass and create mosaics as well. I will post about my artistic process as I work on certain projects. Here's a picture with one of my favorite pieces displayed at a local art festival!

My relationship with food is a lot like peanut butter & jelly, made for each other.  I recently made a promise to myself to eat healthier, and I already feel better!  This blog will serve as motivation to experiment with new recipes and consistently make meals in hopes of sharing them with my readers.

I have always been athletic and have played a variety of sports. After completing a fun mini triathlon last fall, my roommate and I signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. A month ago, I finished it. Since then, I have gained a newfound excitement for running and I can't wait to see where it takes me!

Animals are an essential part of my life. I have a fantastic dog, Wally, that I am completely obsessed with who lives back home with my parents since my mother won't let me have him.


Here in Orlando, one of my roommates owns a cat (named Kat, pretty easy to remember) with whom I have fallen in love. As I type, Kat is rubbing her face on the screen; I assume this is her approval of my blog. If I can't claim Wally soon, I might have to get a new pet...I guess we will just have to wait and see!