Saturday, March 12, 2011

"There she is..."

If you’re like me and live life sort-of like a musical, you just sang the Miss America theme song in your head at the mere mention of “There she is…”  And if you’re not like me, at least that gives you a hint as to why I titled the post as such. 

Last weekend, my boss at Harris Music Studio had the privilege of hosting Miss America, Teresa Scanlan, during part of her time in Lincoln.  For those of you who don’t know, Teresa was Miss Nebraska before winning the Miss America competition.  She’s 17 - the youngest Miss Nebraska ever and the youngest Miss America in 70+ years.  She had a tiny bit of downtime while she was here, so was kind enough to sign some autographs at the studio!  Since we didn’t know how many people would show up, a few teachers, including myself, volunteered to help with this event.  My job was to write down people’s names and anything they wanted Teresa to sign to them with her autograph.  Since she was in a different room down the hallway from where I was standing, there were a few kids who just brought their autograph books/papers up for me to sign, thinking I was Miss America.  haha! 

Also, since some of the kiddos had no idea what they wanted her to say, I was left to suggest some inspirational anecdotes (dream big, always be yourself, music is awesome, etc.).  At one point, I jokingly quoted Justin Beiber’s new song and suggested, “Never say never.”  Of course, this idea spread like wildfire and rekindled everyone’s Bieber fever.  I hope Miss America wasn’t offended – it may have seemed as though a good percentage of the kids wished they were at a JB concert.

Of course, I also got a signed photo and a picture with her!  What a great young lady representing our country in this way!


By the way, I just made these granola bars:
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used cashews)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup honey
3 TBSP light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1 cup puffed brown rice cereal
3/4 cup raisins (I used all cranberries.)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9″ baking pan with foil and coat well with nonstick cooking spray.
Toss the oatmeal and walnuts on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the coconut, puffed rice, and dried fruit.
Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and press the mixture firmly and evenly into the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

They’re still cooling, so I haven’t tried them, yet, but they sure smell yummy!  I found the recipe on a food blog (which you should check out! Click here), and it was adapted from Ina Garten (of the Barefoot Contessa)’s original recipe, which I’d happened to see her make on her show recently.  Her recipe can be found here. 

Mmmk – I’m off to practice the French horn.  I won’t tell you why, yet.  You’ll find out soon enough!  : )

Enjoy the sunshine!
-Kensy

Favorites of the day:
nearly 25% in savings on my grocery bill yesterday (thanks to coupons and in-store sales!)
Pillsbury cinnamon rolls

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