Leap Month 2012 Highlights

"Today is an ephemeral ghost...

A strange amazing day that comes only once every four years.
For the rest of the time it does not 'exist.'"

(Vera Nazarian)

More from The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration:

In mundane terms, it marks a 'leap' in time, when the calendar is adjusted to make up for extra seconds accumulated over the preceding three years due to the rotation of the earth. A day of temporal tune up!
But this day holds another secret -- it contains one of those truly rare moments of delightful transience and light uncertainty that only exist on the razor edge of things, along a buzzing plane of quantum probability...
A day of unlocked potential.
Will you or won't you? Should you or shouldn't you?
Use this day to do something daring, extraordinary and unlike yourself. Take a chance and shape a different pattern in your personal cloud of probability!

Gioachino Rossini's 220th Birthday/Leap Year (Image: Google)

Below are some February photos and recipe links.

Cranberry Orange Loaf and Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Cauliflower & Corn

Since my nephew Peter first started eating solid foods, he's enjoyed my baked goods, from the carrot cake whoopie pies and chocolate chip pumpkin bread featured in my first blog post, to the banana walnut bread and key lime pie we shared over Labor Day weekend, and more. He loves pretend-cooking and being a little helper in the kitchen.

I made the following dishes for him over the first weekend of February, which I spent with him while both my sister and brother-in-law were on call. He ate some of the Allrecipes.com Cranberry Orange Loaf for breakfast on Saturday, but he devoured the Alton Brown Baked Macaroni and Cheese all weekend! It was kid-friendly, auntie-approved, since I surreptitiously mixed in some similar-colored veggies to make it a little more nutritious.

Lots of fresh OJ and cranberries

4 mini loaves

Hidden veggies for mac and cheese

Bubbling in oven

Rich and comforting, whether you're 2 or... older

Queso Blanco Dip

Super Bowl XLVI was on Sunday, February 5 (New York Giants 21-New England Patriots 17). I had planned to make a warm cheese dip and buffalo chicken for a party, but because I had gotten very little sleep all weekend -- not so much due to watching Peter, but to staying out all night on Friday celebrating friends' birthdays -- I ended up watching the game alone at home, which was perfect. I still made the Queso Dip from Two Peas & Their Pod, a cooking blog my future sister-in-law introduced me to, but gave it to my sister and brother-in-law to bring to their friend's house.

Peppers, onion, cheeses, tomato, cilantro, milk

Hot, cheesy, kicky

 Valentine's Day and Boo the Dog

I received a beautiful flower delivery from my fiancé on Valentine's Day: red, pink, and white tulips in a red glass vase. The next week, a mysterious shipment came to my office. Guess who?

Valentine's Day tulips

Boo the Dog!



I also celebrated more birthdays of friends and family, attended Esther's lovely bridal shower, began the Lenten season, and have been very busy at work. March comes tomorrow and I'm looking forward to a smooth transition to spring, and managing an unprecedentedly eventful next few months!

In case you would like to learn more about leap year, the Tiny Prints Blog posted some fun facts.