Athena Pappas

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  • Monthly Archives: April 2012

    • Fancy Quesadillas

      Posted at 4:09 pm by athenapappas, on April 27, 2012

      This is one of my favorite dishes to make: chicken, mushroom, and Gruyere quesadillas. I found this recipe in my parents copy of Cooking Light from July 2009. Luckily, it is posted online here.

      The “burrito” sized tortillas that I found at the supermarket were just the right size, my roommate and I each got one super filling quesadilla. In regards to the actual cooking, I personally like to double the amount of ingredients in the mushroom mix to have more filling. A precooked chicken would also be a way to make this recipe faster. I just grilled up some chicken on my little grill and shredded it with two forks. The tricky part of these is making sure that the insides don’t fall out into the pan while you are making the tortilla all crispy and quesadilla-like. I don’t really have an answer for how to fix that except go slowly and carefully. Also, watch the temperature of the pan, I burned mine a bit.

      If you are in the mood for quesadillas, this is a quick, tasty recipe.

      Posted in Cooking, Review | 0 Comments | Tagged cooking, Quesadilla, recpie
    • Weekend Trip to Washington, DC

      Posted at 1:36 pm by athenapappas, on April 26, 2012

      Yes, that is a pug with a toy hot dog on his head. This past weekend, I took a quick trip down to Washington, DC. I took the Megabus, which I will never do to DC again. For some reason their 8:30am bus did not arrive, so for the following hours of buses, they just tried to squeeze people on. It was total chaos. No one knew what was going on or which bus to get on. I ended up finally being loaded onto a bus at 10:30 am (a delay of an hour). Also, arriving at Union Station is not really convenient to where my friends are located in MD.

      Despite the delay getting into town, I had a lovely little trip. Riding the DC metro from the center of the city all the way out to the end of the Red Line, Shady Grove, was quite an adventure. They have cellphone service! The people all looked like normal commuters. Very strange. That evening, my friends had a late Easter party complete with deviled eggs, ham, and potato salad. The weather was beautiful for a party, sunny and warm.

      The weather did not hold for Sunday. It was rainy and miserable. Despite that set back, Teresa and I headed to the Bethesda Literary Festival to check out a panel on the past and future of literary reviews. The panel was actually quite informative as the landscape of literary reviews is changing with the changes in print media (such as newspapers and magazines). I also learned that there is a large difference between literary reviews in the US and England. In England, they are unabashedly biased and will say, “yes, I am trashing his book because he spoke ill of mine.” However, in the US, there is more much restraint. Many will not even publish negative reviews. I took two big lessons away from the talk. First, I was inspired to start reviewing again on this blog. It really does help direct readers and is a good writing exercise. Secondly, the role of the publicist is crucial in getting a book reviewed. Many come from recommendations, they find it creepy if an author contacts them directly for a review.

      Afterwards, we went to grab lunch at the American Tap Room. It is sort of hard to tell what that sandwich is, but it is a Southern Cubano Sandwich with pulled pork instead of ham. It was great. I think I ate ham all weekend basically between that and the Easter party leftovers. The fries were crispy and salty. The next stop on our journey through Bethesda was the Mustard Seed, a vintage and consignment store. I found two really cute dresses for summer and a nice scarf to wear. I’m excited for shopping in New York next week that helped get me warmed up.

      All too soon, I was back on the bus to New York.  I love this city, but it was nice to get away for the weekend and spend time with old, dear friends.

      Posted in Adventures, Travel, Writing | 0 Comments | Tagged Bethesda, Literary Festival, Pug, Reviews, Washington DC
    • Poetry Vlog Week 28: Ways of Reading

      Posted at 5:52 pm by athenapappas, on April 25, 2012

       

      Last week we discussed how to read a book of poetry. See that reading in action with this video. The poem I am talking about here is Lilacs by Amy Lowell.

      Posted in Poetry, Vlog, Writing | 0 Comments | Tagged Amy Lowell, Lilacs, poetry, reading, vlog
    • More Silly Cat

      Posted at 6:29 pm by athenapappas, on April 24, 2012

      My DC post is going to have to wait until Thursday, I just had to share this little cutie. I ordered a fancy tub online to hold some of the linens and assorted things in our shared closet. However, when I opened my package, this is the “large” box I ordered. “What am I going to do with this?” Nestor answered me quickly by jumping right in. He really loves boxes, even a box lid I left on the floor while I was cleaning today. I ended up storing odds and ends from my room that needed a home, not the cat.

      Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments
    • Back in New York

      Posted at 7:37 pm by athenapappas, on April 23, 2012

      After spending a fabulous weekend in DC, I am back in New York. I returned to some terribly cold, rainy weather. Tomorrow, I will post some pictures from my trip. I not only attended an Easter party, but also a literary festival. I promise this is not turning into a cat blog, but until I write more, enjoy this cute picture of Nestor. My roommate took this one of the weekend! Nestor and I spent so much time together last week that I really was a bit worried to leave him. It looks like he still had a good time.

      Posted in New York | 0 Comments
    • Happy Friday!

      Posted at 2:55 pm by athenapappas, on April 20, 2012

      Dear Readers,

      I am sorry that I have not been updating this blog as much I had planned this week. I promise you (and myself!) that next week I will be better. More writing, more posts. Until then, enjoy this cute pic of my new cat, Nestor! Enjoy the weekend.

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments
    • Week 27- How to Read a Book of Poetry

      Posted at 1:38 pm by athenapappas, on April 18, 2012

       

      Some advice on how to read a book of poetry.

      Posted in Poetry, Vlog, Writing | 0 Comments | Tagged Books, poetry, reading, vlog
    • Cat Adoption!

      Posted at 12:49 pm by athenapappas, on April 17, 2012

      This weekend, my roommates and I took the plunge and adopted a cat. This is Nestor, a three year old Tabby male. He was found abandoned on the street and the original shelter that found him was going to euthanize him as he was very unfriendly when they found him. Luckily, the Empty Cages Collective of Brooklyn took him in and helped him adjust to people.

      After his first night under my bed, Nestor has really adjusted to our apartment. He has been following me around all day! I can’t imagine a sweeter cat, he is enjoying being curled up next to me. Having a cat is going to be a pretty big adventure, but I am ready for it.

      Posted in Adventures, New York | 0 Comments | Tagged adoption, Cat
    • Adventures in New York: First Coney Island Day of the Summer Part II

      Posted at 4:01 pm by athenapappas, on April 12, 2012

      More goofing around on the boardwalk. I really think that going with such an amazing group of people made our trip to Coney Island so beautiful. People who will go back to Nathan’s all afternoon, be content just sitting on the beach, and of course friends who will ride the Wonder Wheel, even the swinging cart.

      Riding The Cyclone was what I have been waiting for since I rode it last year! A national historic landmark, The Cyclone is a bone-rattling wooden roller coaster. It has plenty of hills and gathers enough speed to impress any roller coaster enthusiast. Most of our party sat it out. We spend more time wandering around the midway area. All of us went on the bumper cars, which was a blast. Late afternoon, we took a break from all of the excitement and went to sit on the beach. My roommate Jesse got fried frog legs from Nathan’s (pictured below). I did try them, but cannot really say that I am a fan. What bothered me most was the fact that they really look like frog legs. I generally like my meat to look as far apart from the animal it originally was as possible. There were also large black veins and bones in the legs. But they basically had the texture of chicken and the taste of seafood…I would say like catfish. Before the sun went down, I was back on the train for North Brooklyn. Watching the sun start to set over Brooklyn from the elevated F train, I felt sleepy but content. It was another perfect day in New York.

       

      “Heaven: The Coney Island of the Christian imagination” Elbert Hubbard

      Posted in Adventures, New York, Travel | 3 Comments | Tagged Brookyln, Coney Island, F Train, Frog Legs, The Cyclone, Travel
    • Vlog Poetry Week 26- Top Five Favorite Poems

      Posted at 7:02 am by athenapappas, on April 11, 2012

       

      This week, I give a quick rundown of my top favorite poems. Of course, they are all perfect in every way and should be Googled right now. As a bonus, I read one of my all time favorite poems.

      Posted in Poetry, Vlog, Writing | 0 Comments | Tagged Emily Dickinson, poetry, Top 5, vlog, Vlog Poets, William Carlos Williams
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