botblog

Experimental Courtyard Garden

2011-05-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Our courtyard has a nice planter box right in the center. It needed some TLC and lots of bright, cheerful, welcoming flowers. Since I can never make up my mind and also since I wasn't sure what would work in this area I ended up getting a wide assortment of flowers to test out in the space.

The results:

Verbena: looked ok for a while, then died
Alyssum: interesting. seemed to struggle but actually survived winter. very low and didn't spread.
Snapdragons: survived winter, growing to full two foot height in spring and blooming again. seem to endure even when hosting tons of snails
Ageratum: cute and fuzzy looking, but totally died
Pansies: maybe too sunny in this box
Dianthus: hardy and produced lots of blooms, even lasted through winter
Impatiens: didn't do too well, maybe too sunny
Superbells "Tangerine Punch": these were super cute mini petunias on a vine. I planted them front and center, hoping they'd spill nicely over the front. They really struggled though and eventually died.
Icelandic poppies: did really well, survived winter

Verdict: these little cards that come with the plants rarely tell you how much water the plant likes. I wonder if I over-watered, but I probably under-watered even though I tried to get out there every evening. It was a pain even though we have a hose right there. In the future I'll put in all poppies or other drought-resistant things.

Back in business!

2010-12-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

After moving in July we have worked our asses off renovating this duplex. For a long time we lived half- unpacked since we set up temporarily in the rental side. Last week we moved in to our side with the help of some very helpful friends. This is my first week off for maternity leave. I'm resting a lot but this new kitchen is calling to me. Today I used the oven for the first baking endeavor in our new home. It's the biscotti recipe I made last christmas. It feels so good to be settling in, and to be baking again after a very long hiatus. It calms my nerves as I pass the time in anticipation of the big day when our baby will arrive.

We watched the total lunar eclipse last night in our driveway and then came inside for cocoa and biscotti.

check out the new blog

2010-06-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not ending this blog, but I've started a new chapter in my life which is so big that I thought it should be documented in its own space. Check me out at the To-Do Plex http://todoplex.blogspot.com/

Yosemite 2010

2010-05-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

During the first weekend of April we were fortunate enough to have Mo, Jess and Rob come out to visit us and together we went to Yosemite. The weather was a little harsh but we had an incredible time anyway. Complete collection of photos from the trip are posted on Picasa.

birthday card for Sasha

2010-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

"San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home"

2010-03-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

"San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home"
- Benjamin F. Taylor

"I should keep a tally where Julio buys me a drink for every time he doubted me and I was right."
-Alexander Aquarius Zane

"Diana doesn't like going down alleys."
-Julio Rios

"Julio's about to owe you another drink."
-Dave Law, to Alex

"I like the Girl Talk song with James Taylor."
-Diana Wu, unknowingly and innocently sparking an epic debate about art and moral ideals (she was just trying to get us out of that Leonard Cohen part of the evening, guys)

On Friday night we headed up to SF after work to meet Zane, Diana and Julio for dinner at Limon. Ever since I was first introduced to Peruvian food by Julio last year at Inka's I've been eager to try more. Succulent rotisserie chicken, savory dipping sauces, and creative uses of fries? Yes please. We got a table downstairs and ordered a chicken, crispy yucca, sweet potato fries, spinach empanadas, some kind of bean croquette, a tender beef served on a small bed of fries, and two pitchers of sangria. It was a great meal.

Afterward we roamed the Mission (I guess that's where we were?), checked out some murals, walked past various clubs and bars, and stopped for some good yogurt. It was a great temperature to just walk around and enjoy the evening and see all the people doing Friday night things.
The next morning we headed over to the Noe Valley farmer's market, ate breakfast outside, and spent a little time watching a girl entertain little ones at the market by playing accordion. Lots of expensive dogs and well dressed children live in Noe Valley. "It's where hipsters go to have kids," Alex explained. We ~~politely endured~~ enjoyed some of Julio's freshly made Raw Diet ginger beet juice when we got back to Julio and Diana's place. Want to know more about the healing power of raw diet juices? Julio has read the book and can helpfully explain the principles and benefits and that if you don't like it "...you're a p-ssy." *reader note: all quotes in this blog are misquotes

We headed over to the historic Castro Theater to see Alice in Wonderland, checked out a nice garden store/nursery, and then made our way over to Golden Gate Park. I had requested to see the big windmill after reading about it in Via, the AAA magazine which I read every month (no I'm not 87 years old why do you ask). There were lots of tulips and poppies and tall twisty cypress trees. That part of the park is right next to Ocean Beach and we checked out the Beach Chalet but it looked pretty packed.

Since it was closing in on dinner time we decided to get a pizza from Golden Gate Pizza. They make pizzas with Indian veggies on top and the option of korma on the side which I learned makes a great (yet messy) dipping sauce. We enjoyed our pizza on the uncharacteristically mild beach. Again, perfect temperature just like the night before and not even windy. It was a great impromptu picnic.

Earlier in the day when we were making our way across the city to the park we happened past Corona Heights Park. Alex suggested we head back there after the picnic. It turned out that this place afforded us incredible 360 degree views of the city at the height of magic hour. Dave and I both had cameras and had a great time photographing our friends.

Afterward we had a nice evening with some wine, olives and dou miao. This is such a good city for roaming, eating, listening and seeing and I'm lucky to have such good company as my guides.

Dedications:
A Leonard Cohen song
A Sigur Ros song

PS: link mashup!
Is it cool if I come over and use your pool sometime?
Sure, you can join us in the garage for some brats after your swim
but I'm warning you our family gets pretty crazy after a few beers

oh fudge

2010-03-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

In 2009 I made a fudge recipe from Cook's magazine- 15 minute fudge. The consistency was right, but the flavor was too dark for me. I like dark chocolate, but when I think of fudge I think of the fudge we used to get on the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. It was soft and had a creamy milk chocolate flavor. I thought that maybe in this case, the less-refined tastes of the allrecipes crowd might better help me in my quest to find the kind of fudge I was looking for. I was right. Their top fudge recipe, cutely titled Aunt Teen's Creamy Chocolate Fudge, has over 1200 reviews with an average 4.5 rating. It looked simple enough, and close to the recipe on the jar of Fluff that has tantalized me for years. The first few reviews provided important tips- zap the jar of fluff for 10 seconds before scraping it into the pot, use a sturdy pot, a wooden spoon, a candy thermometer (the original recipe doesn't call for cooking it to a temperature and if I hadn't used one I'm positive my fudge would not have set), and interestingly- do not make on a rainy day. High humidity prevents fudge from setting properly. I wonder how this works at the Jersey Shore then, but I seem to remember that the candy stores are always cranking the AC so maybe that's their trick.

I'm always paranoid about heat when making candy. Start off too high and you're screwed in no time. But apparently I started waaaaay too low. I was stirring for-e-ver and nearly gave up several times. My arm was going to fall off if I had to stir much longer. Why wouldn't that thermometer stay clipped to the side of the pot like it's supposed to? Why is it taking so long for the temperature to creep up? I decided to slowly increase the heat from a 5 to a 7 and then finally it reached 240 degrees. I removed the pot from the heat and dumped in my chocolate chips. Guess what? MORE STIRRING. I stirred forever. Then in went the nuts and vanilla extract and I poured the lovely creamy mixture into my pan. I licked the spoon- I could tell it would be great as long as it set. It said that it would take two hours to set in the fridge, but when I impatiently touched it after an hour and a half I was excited to find that it was perfect.

Ingredients

1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Line an 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt. Bring to a full boil, and cook for 5 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches about 240 degrees F, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and pour in chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.

blogiversary

2010-03-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today marks the first birthday of this blog. Stitch, you want giant invisible cupcake?

YES! ME WANT! YES!

Sur la Table Cooking Class

2010-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

For my birthday, Sasha signed Dave and me up for a cooking lesson at Sur la Table. I've always wanted to take one of their lessons but couldn't quite bring myself to spend the money on it. So I was really excited to find out that we'd both get to take a lesson at the Los Gatos location. The class was titled Indian Dinner Party. The lady who taught it is married to an Indian man and learned lots of recipes from her mother-in-law. The menu was basmati rice with peas, chicken with creamy mustard sauce, cauliflower with fennel and mustard seeds, and cardamom rice pudding.
It was a really fun evening. Everyone was very nice and the people from Sur la Table were down to earth and open to any questions. (I had been wondering since it was Los Gatos, after all.) When we arrived they poured us wine and there were little cheese and grape plates as well as various Indian crunchy salty snacks. The teacher explained what we'd be working on and then we put on our aprons and picked stations to work at. Dave and I measured things out and made the sauce for the chicken and then he browned the chicken and got it ready for the baking dish. We didn't actually have to do much work, so it was nice and laid back.

When all of the dishes were ready they set up a buffet and we all served ourselves. The sauce for the chicken was good, and it would have been better over chicken thighs instead of breasts. The star of the meal was actually the cauliflower. Best cauliflower I've ever had and she taught us a trick to soak the cauliflower first to keep it from getting mushy. The flavors were great. The rice pudding was reallllly good, and not at all good for you. The traditional Indian rice pudding is made with long grain rice which doesn't soak up as much of the sauce, resulting in a more soupy consistency. I really preferred that though, especially served warm and with the addition of pistachios and golden raisins it was wonderful.

A Visit from Sasha: Muir Woods and GG Bridge

2010-03-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday cleared up so we decided to head up to Muir Woods. It was muddy, but so lovely. It's very quiet in the woods and the air was refreshingly cool, but not cold. X-treme serenity!!!
The woods offered us more opportunity to practice taking photos with the new camera. It was kind of tricky since it's pretty dark in there, but we got some great ones.

A Visit from Sasha: Fun with Bulb Mode

2010-03-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

The SLR has a setting called bulb mode. It lets you take a really long exposure in low light by keeping the shutter open for a long time. This is how they take those night shots of freeways where you see all the traffic but the lights form long blurred lines. We found that you can "draw" things using laser pointers and flashlights. And you can create a scene with people in it if the subject stands very still while another person "draws" with light all around them. This resulted in a lot of silliness. Creative silliness.

Sasha learned that at UC Hogwarts

A Visit from Sasha: Byington Winery

2010-03-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Sasha came to visit. We packed a lot of things into the weekend, including a visit to Byington Winery for a tasting and a return to Wedding Hill, lots of silly photo experiments using the SLR's bulb mode, dinner at Sakoon in Mountain View, and a trip to Muir Woods on Sunday when the sun made a rare weekend appearance. We also saw Shutter Island which had a really great spooky preview, but it's one of those movies you guess the ending to when there's still a lot of movie left and then you're just wishing you got some popcorn to help pass the time.
Saturday was Byington. It was raining in SJ of course, but on other overcast days in the past we've found that if you go up to Byington you are above the gloominess. We were hoping for that, but it was dismal all the way up and started pouring HUGE raindrops while we were inside doing our tasting. The rain stopped by the time we were finished and we were able to walk up to the spot where Dave and I got married. The views from wedding hill were great due to the clouds and mist rising from the mountains below, mixed with patches of sunlight. Dave took these pics.

blondies

2010-03-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

For many years I only made the blondie recipe that my mom uses. But recently I decided to try the one from Cook's Illustrated's collection of best baking recipes. The interesting thing about this recipe is that it calls for melted butter instead of the standard softened butter that is used in cookie recipes. Since I was melting it anyway I decided to brown it. Browned butter lends such a distinct nutty caramel flavor to things. If you're going to ingest butter, might as well give it all the flavor you can. I also added walnuts and white chocolate chips in addition to the semi-sweet chips.
We attempted to test out the candlelight setting on our new SLR. Can it take photos in candlelight? Yes. You just have to make sure you're focusing on the right thing, which is tough in the low light. Lesson learned.

*Squirrel candleholder courtesy of Maureen. He is invited to all of my candlelight suppers.

Ikebana Lesson!

2010-03-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

For my birthday Jesse made arrangements for me to take an Ikebana lesson. San Jose's quiet Japantown neighborhood is a nice little nook, and one of the last three remaining authentic Japantowns in the US- according to factoidists. Class was at seven, so I had plenty of time for a lovely dinner date with Dave at Gombei which was just a block away.
The class was held at Ikebana Arts, an adorable little shop which is run by a very nice lady. The shelves were lined with all kinds of different vases and vessels as well as different flowers, greenery and branches. She set me up at a table, had me select some plants and let me look through a text that she uses in the full course. She sat with me and explained the basics of the moribana style of sogetsu ikebana. Moribana means "upright style" and consists of several elements: hikae, shin, soe, and jushi. Everything is deliberate, everything is balanced. Full instructions are below for my own reference. A sincere thank you goes out to my best bud Jess- thanks for such a fun evening. I hope you approve of my project!

First you place your kenzan to the left of your vessel (the vessel is called the suiban) since the end product must produce a flow from left to right. A kenzan is a metal square or circle with metal spikes sticking up and it's the totally handy anchor of the arrangement. Then you decide on the overall scale of your arrangement- small, average, or large. The arrangement begins with a structure composed of three branches.
The first is called shin and it must be cut to measure the suiban vase proportionately depending on scale. You select the first branch, which should curve from left to right (if it doesn't it can be worked with the hands to make it curve). Stand it upright next to the vase and mark the height of the vase with your finger on the branch. Then you start from that point, tip the branch horizontally, and measure the length of the vase. That length times 1 is the starting length for a small arrangement, the length x 1.5 is average, and x 2 is large. You trim the excess, cutting at an angle, the high side being on the right. After the first cut, you cut two vertical slices, one on each side.
Next you measure the second branch, called soe and that should measure 3/4 of the shin branch. It should also be curved left to right or c-shaped and it needs to be trimmed in the same way. The third branch is called hikae and should curve the other way so that when soe and hikae are in the vase they form a sort of U shape, flowing up and toward the middle. This one measures 3/4 of the soe branch.
Once the branches are trimmed to the correct sizes you stick the shin branch in the kenzan at the 11 o'clock position, straight up and down. The left hand steadies the kenzan as the right hand sticks the branch in. Then you can bend the branch until it leans 10-15 degrees to the left of center. The soe branch is stuck in the kenzan at about the 7 or 8 o'clock position and gets bent until it leans 45 degrees away from the center. The hikae goes in the 4 or 5 o'clock position and is bent until it leans 75 degrees to the right of the center position. I used doogwood for these three branches.
The next element is called jushi and we used curly willow or red dragonwillow. She made things interesting by tying a couple of them in a knot at the ends. Jushi supports the big branches. In terms of size it seems like you pretty much eyeball it so that it makes a nice composition as long as they aren't taller than any of the three main branches.
Then she removed the leaves from the anenomes. I LOVE these! I was so excited when I saw we'd be using them. I thought they were ranunculus or peonies since I hadn't seen anenomes with this many petals before. (hey I'm not going to argue with the flower sensei, I'm sure she knows what they are) I love all those thin layers and the very round shape. The flowers have softer stems, so you cut them straight across for best use in the kenzan. She says that greenery should always be cut while submerged in water to prevent oxygen from entering the stem. (the official clippers she uses are called hasami) The stems and blooms should also follow the same curvature of the branches, and their height should be low. If you don't like the positioning once you've stuck it in the kenzan you can take it out and try again but you need to cut the bottom again first.
Next it's time to fill in the blanks using leafy greenery that is meant to cover the kenzan. These are thoughtfully selected for shape and trimmed to size, sometimes certain leaves are removed to create more interesting balance. Lastly we stuck in a couple more curly willow branches for composition. She said that as long as they're not creating a bulky or off-balance sight they're ok.
I was really happy with this, it looks like an ultra-fancy arrangement. One of the students encouraged me to come back and take more classes. She said I'd begin to be inspired by single stems and I can see how nice it would be to create an arrangement just by collecting things I find on a walk. No full garden needed. Some of the ladies were sneaking outside to snip poppies from the landscaping at the apartment complex next door. This is right up my alley.

g-g-ghosts!

2010-03-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

for my valentine

Birthday Card

2010-02-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

For my brother, who turns 33 this year.

thanks mo

2010-02-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

Today I got a wonderful surprise in the mail- all sorts of stamps, ink, and cards from Mo. She chose things I would definitely have chosen for myself and I love it all. Great additions to the workshop here. I was inspired to make something using my new supplies right away. Thanks for the gift Mo!

Chinese New Year's

2010-02-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong grandma recently had eye surgery so we wanted to say get well soon and Happy New Year since Chinese New Year's starts on 2/14. Another chance to draw a sparkly cartoon tiger.

Birthday Card for Nanny

2010-02-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

Botblog now features superfancy photos from our new Nikon SLR!! View imperfections like never before!!

Robot Birthday!

2010-02-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

When I was in high school I read Douglas Coupland's Generation X and the creativity and the voice really inspired me. I wrote a letter to him to let him know that his book (and of course On the Road) had made me consider wanting to become a writer, along with a sample of my writing. To my surprise, I received a postcard from Mr. Coupland in response:

"Amanda,

You have an amazing ear for dialogue. Don't let it go to waste. 23-29 are the worst but it always gets better. Don't worry too much.

Enjoy your solitude,

Doug"

In my senior year of college I went to a book signing he did in D.C. I waited until he had signed all of the books and I went up to his table. I had the postcard with me and asked him if he remembered it. He was amazed and said he did and took a look at what he had written. Then he grimaced and said something to the effect of why had he written that. I pointed out that even with all the time that had passed, I was still only 21 at present. I was still two years away from what he had promised would be the worst period of my life. Things already seemed, I pointed out, pretty bad as it was already.

Years passed and I stopped making an effort to read his books. Some were great (Girlfriend in a Coma) and some just were not great. But the words on his postcard always came to mind around birthdays. And now I'm finally out of the woods. Although I wouldn't say that ages 23-29 were horrible. They were great actually. And every year gets better. Okay, 2009 was kind of rough, but we survived.

To celebrate my 30th Dave planned a special vacation to Lake Tahoe. We flew out after work on Friday the 29th. We rented a car and drove from Reno to Tahoe on what turned out to be a pretty great drive. Once you get out of Reno you drive through mountains until you reach the lake. There was a full moon and it lit up the tall, snow-covered pines. We stayed at the Embassy Suites. The hotel had a big free breakfast every day with omelets made-to-order and this great Law-approved POG juice (pineapple orange guava). Every day from 4:30-6:30 you could get free drinks in the lounge. Usually we were too tired to really drink much, but it was nice and I'm never too tired to partake in the spoils of a big popcorn machine.

The first day we went south to Kirkwood. On the way we got a bit nervous because it was starting to snow and the roads were not in great condition, plus there were signs everywhere saying that tire chains were required. Our rented Pontiac whatever-it-was didn't have snow tires or snow chains, but we asked at a place that sold chains and the guy said not to worry. At Kirkwood we rented our stuff and headed off to our lessons- I was taking a beginner lesson (since I hadn't been skiing since I was in middle school) and Dave was taking a snowboarding lesson. I should have taken an intermediate lesson because I remembered more than I thought I would and most of the class was spent helping other people stand up and untangle themselves.

After our lesson we had lunch and spent the afternoon getting a few good runs in. There was more snow and it got colder, but we didn't mind. It was only painful when you were on the lift and the wind came through. It was the kind of snow where little individual perfectly-formed flakes fall and you can examine them closely by catching them on your glove and holding it up to your eyes like a crazy person.

That night we were sooo tired when we got back. We walked around to try to get into a few different restaurants but ended up back at the hotel because everywhere had an hour wait. The restaurant at the hotel is called Echo. It gets dismal reviews on Yelp, but we had an ok experience.

The next day we went on a snowmobile tour. Dave drove and I hung on for my life on the back. The back of a snowmobile is VERY bouncy even at low speeds. But I just held on and enjoyed the incredible scenery.

Your face gets really cold when you go fast.

We were in a group of about a dozen snowmobiles led by a guide who took us through Hope Valley. Dave loved driving the snowmobile and I'm really glad we took the day off from skiing to do that.

That night we went out in search of Mexican food and ended up at a place we had gone to a couple of summers ago the time a bunch of us rented a cabin during the summer. Then we stopped to get some cheesecake and went back to the room to watch episodes of John Adams on Dave's laptop. One look at the d-bags in Harrah's casino on our first night was enough to turn us off from the casinos and make us want to stay in.

The third day we decided to go to Heavenly, the most convenient ski resort in South Lake Tahoe. They have a gondola lift that picks you up on the main strip and transports you all the way up, with amazing views along the way. First we had to rent skiis though. Embassy Suites has a deal with Heavenly and you can rent skiis and get your lift tickets right in the hotel. But we knew that would be a ripoff. Naively thinking that the hotel concierge would offer helpful advice, we stopped by his desk and asked where a good place was to get a discounted lift ticket. He tried to rope us into some timeshare bullshit. Come on. Then I tried asking at the front desk: do you know of any place nearby that has good rates for ski rentals? (There are places all along the main street that rent equipment.) She claimed she only knew of the place in the hotel. Um, okay.

So we used the hotel's "business center" to try to search online for ski rental deals. Dave had his laptop, but the hotel wanted to charge an extra 20 dollars a day for wifi!! Anyway, we soon discovered that the hotel had taken the steps to BLOCK people from successfully searching for "ski rental" on their computers. Can you imagine? We were so pissed. The hotel's ski shop wanted to charge about $70 dollars a day per person for a sport ski package. We walked across the street and rented nice new stuff for $25 dollars each!! Don't worry, Mr. Law spent a good amount of time filling out the customer satisfaction survey that Embassy Suites later sent to us.

Once we had our skiis we rode the gondola up to the top of the mountain. I'll admit, this day of skiing was pretty tough for me. It was absolutely beautiful being at the top of the ski runs and looking out onto the lake and the mountains below, but the beginner runs were poorly selected. Some were really easy, others were extremely steep. I tried my best but I mostly stuck to the bunny slopes. I did like the connecting trails that took you alongside the mountain on a path in the woods. However I had to bail at one point when I lost control and was about to go over the un-fenced side of the mountain. Ha ha!

At the end of the day I went down a little earlier than Dave since the only way to get back to the gondola we had come up on was to do a long intermediate run. So I rode down separately and went to the Tollhouse cookie shop on the main strip once I returned my skiis. I waited with a cookie for Dave at the bottom of the gondola.

We were sad to leave Tahoe, even if the Reno airport promised access to an R2D2 slot machine. It was a very special trip and a wonderful birthday. I'm so lucky to have so many people who love me and make me happy.

art, cheesesteaks, pool and s.a. warriors in SF

2010-01-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

We went to SF MOMA, my first visit there. It's a really wonderful museum because not only does it have a large and diverse collection, it has such a focus on San Francisco. Many local artists are featured and the city is the subject matter of a great number of pieces. We need to go back so that I have more than fifteen minutes to appreciate their 75 year retrospective that showcases their most popular and important pieces grouped by decade. We had just spent too much time looking at the other floors, especially the historical photos of SF from 100 years ago.

Afterward we enjoyed a beer at B Restaurant and Bar we had cheesesteaks at Phat Philly's (Herr's, Utz and Tastycake served here!) near Alex's place before heading back to Julio's for a few drinks and pool at Jack's. This included several attempts at finding decent music on the jukebox which sadly had smooth jazz versions of things without clearly explaining that it was a smooth jazz version. I felt like shouting a disclaimer to everyone (all four other people) in the bar. They probably would have only cared if I was shouting something about the Raiders. The owner/bartender gets 1,000 extra points for being a cute older mom type with a snowflake sweatshirt.
The following day we had brunch at Farmer Brown and then checked out a couple of murals near there. Why can't my friends be serious in even one photo?

*also featured here is a pic of what I am pretty sure is a chinese broccoli plant that Julio has lovingly kept alive through the dark SF winter while his gf is away in Africa. He won't allow this thing to die, and it has grown into an odd version of itself, bursting into bloom. It's an extremely touching responsibility that JR has taken on with great seriousness. Most people accept that plants have a season, and at the end of that season, they fade back into the soil. But it isn't even about that anymore. A candle is kept burning for you, Ms. Wu.

gloomy

2010-01-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

The month of January has had many overcast and rainy days here in California. This week a particularly nasty set of storms has been blowing in from the ocean and dumping buckets of rain on us. The other day I was running out to my car for work with my head down and quickly found myself in a puddle. I hopped to one side, but I wasn't able to tell how deep it was with the way the sky was reflected on the water. I went in up to my knees! The back parking lot had been flooded and I realized I was in the middle of a pond, not a puddle. I was soaked and enraged! The whole week has been dark, chilly and damp. There has even been thunder and lightning, which I can't remember happening since a couple of years ago.
You really just want to park yourself by a fireplace (or in my case a cheap space heater) wearing fuzzy socks and sweatpants. And you definitely don't spring out of bed in the morning with your usual vigor. Who wants to face another gloomy day? So I guess I can't really blame any opportunists who take advantage of my warm PJ's and bed. But I can hate them. Oh yes.

Birthday Card

2010-01-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

birthday card for my mother-in-law

New Year's Card

2010-01-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

In Japan, people don't pay much attention to Christmas. The big holiday there is New Year's. When we had the good fortune of being in Japan for New Year's in 2008 we got to see for ourselves. That's me blocking your view of a kadomatsu, a traditional decoration that people put outside homes and businesses. According to tradition, kadomatsu were considered a dwelling place of the toshigami, the divinity who brings good luck at the beginning of the year. A kadomatsu incorporates several elements considered auspicious in Japan—pine, bamboo, plum, the colors red and white (represented with flowers), and crane and tortoise decorations. They are usually, but not always, displayed until 7 January.　

Among other New Year's traditions like making mochi and cleaning your house top to bottom, sending a New Year's card is very important, so important in fact that if you write "New Year's" on your envelope when sending a card within Japan, their post office will rush delivery for 12/31.

New Year's cards usually center around whatever animal is associated with that year in the Chinese zodiac. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, so I made a card for Dave's Japanese grandparents that features a little tiger. He's next to a special holiday mochi cake called Kagami Mochi which is seen over and over again at that time of year, both in actual form and represented in decorations. The round shape symbolizes fulfillment in the family. The stacking of the cakes one on top of the other symbolizes 'piling up' or adding another year to one's life.

Creme Brulee

2010-01-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

Among several nice gifts I received from my beloved was a little creme brulee set. I have wanted a set for a long time, mainly because of the torch that is included. Making creme brulee is kind of tricky but it was a fun two-person project. The recipe itself is basic- beat egg yolks and sugar, heat cream, then combine the two carefully (he stirred the egg while I trickled in the heated cream to avoid scrambling the eggs). But the custard cups have to be in a larger baking pan (metal this time to avoid glass explosions AHEM!) and then fill the larger pan with boiling water so that the custard cups are halfway submerged. Then you make a foil tent over it and bake. Then it has to chill for at least an hour before you get to the fun part of sprinkling sugar on top and then firing up your torch to carmelize the top. The end result is a thin crispy crust of caremelized sugar. Your spoon makes a satisfying crunch through the top layer as you dip down to get the heavenly creamy custard below. I'll have to experiment with the amount of sugar on top as well as torching techniques until I master a perfectly even golden crust. I'll happily try again and again!

Biscotti

2010-01-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

During the frenzy of holiday baking I tried a recipe for biscotti that I think came out really well. Although I don't like black licorice, I discovered that the flavor I love in biscotti actually comes from the anise extract. Accept no substitutions. I also tried the recipe with hazelnut extract, but it wasn't the same.
The first batch I made was plain. Then I made batches with nuts, chocolate chips, etc. I dipped most in chocolate and of course that was especially good. But the basic, plain recipe tastes great on its own. In the last step of making the biscotti you slice it and then put it back in the hot oven for 4-6 minutes on each side. The longer you toast it at this step, the harder it becomes. I went for four minutes on each side because I liked it to be crispy but not so hard that dipping is required to be able to bite into it.
The only thing I had to adjust in the recipe was the initial cooking time. Maybe I have a hot oven, but cooking for the time recommended in the recipe made the bottoms come out a little dark. Luckily no one has to know that because you can quickly and easily shave off the dark parts with a sharp knife.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-12-21T05:44:00.000-08:00

I've been having technical difficulties at the worst possible time of the year. Something is wrong with my camera's card reader and/or memory card. I have no photo evidence of the nonstop baking, cardmaking, and snowflake-cutting-out that I've been up to.

Things I've made:
biscotti
chocolate covered oreos
candied nuts (I finally got the hang of it)
pecan chocolate chip cookies
chocolate chip macadamia oatmeal cookies
manchego cheese twists
pumpkin pie
peanut butter blossoms
cheddar shortbread
chocolate dipped pretzel rods
chocolate rice krispie candy

And one batch of caramel corn which proved legendary not because it tasted good but because in the long process of making it we set down my glass pie plate on the hot stove, causing it to explode into a million pieces all over the stovetop, counter, floor, and unfortunately, the just-completed caramel corn. It was an awful mess and a serious disappointment.

I managed to make a few Christmas cards for the long distance people too. I'm pleased with the crop of cards this year and I wish I had taken photos of the ones already mailed out. Here are some I did last night. Unfortunately the camera phone photos are totally blurry.

autumn still life!

2009-11-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

Apple Pie Sunday

2009-11-19T07:01:00.000-08:00

A P P L E S

I made a deep dish apple pie on Sunday. That's pretty much all I can say for Sunday as far as accomplishments since the process dominated my whole day. I used an apple pie recipe from an episode of America's Test Kitchen that we watched more than two years ago but hadn't attempted until today. Special thanks to Dave who assisted with the apple taste test at the farmer's market, assembling machinery and chopping apples.
The following is a step-by-step. Christopher Kimball may or may not use Vermont backwoods kung fu on me for rephrasing the recipe here. Don't worry Chris, no one reads this blog.

Double Pie Crust:
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (plus extra to sprinkle on the counter)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 tbsp. sour cream
1/3 c. ice water (you might need more)

1. Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes, place in freezer for 10 minutes.
2. Lock food processor bowl and blade into base. Add flour, salt and sugar. Attach those crazy lid pieces. Pulse for three seconds to combine.
3. Remove lid, add chilled butter pieces, replace lid, pulse until butter is the size of large peas, about ten 1 second pulses.

4. In a separate bowl mix the sour cream and 1/3 c. ice water. Add half of the sour cream mixture to the processor and pulse for three 1 second pulses.
Add remaining sour cream mixture to the food processor and pulse three more times.
Check dough by pinching in between fingers. If it's still floury and does not hold together add 1 or 2 additional tablespoons of ice water. Process for a few more pulses until dough gathers up into a big ball inside the processor.

5. Sprinkle flour on a clean counter. Dump the dough from the processor onto the counter as one ball. Split in two and use hand to flatten slightly to produce two dough balls that are four inches in diameter.
Wrap dough balls in plastic and refrigerate until firm but not hard, about 1 hour. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 24 hours but let thoroughly chilled dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.)

Apple Pie Filling:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. table salt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest (or 1/4 tsp. lemon juice)
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 1/2 lbs. tart apples (about 5 medium, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices)
2 1/2 lbs. sweet apples (about 5 medium, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices)
1 egg white beaten lightly to brush on the crust

Once the dough is in the fridge you can get started on the apples. Five pounds of apples is a lot of peeling, coring and slicing. How did the early settlers have all of this time on their hands to make crust from scratch and peel all these apples on top of their other chores? According to the internet vegetable peelers didn't become common household items until the 1800's, so they didn't even have the luxury of a peeler. What ambition to take on a project like this if you've also got to beat your laundry against a rock, milk cows, and pull all the feathers out of the turkey you're eating later. Though I'm not too sure my modern luxuries saved me that much time. It took us a good 20 minutes to figure out the instructions for using the slicing attachment for the stand mixer. I mean, look at these directions. Screw it in, then screw it back off? Huh?

I had to call for backup. Luckily Dave helped me chop and then slice everything. The slicer turned out to be really fun. You drop in some apple pieces and then use the pusher to push them into the slicer. It feels really cool as it sucks it into the slicer and spits out perfect apple ribbons. Allow us to demonstrate:

I know those aren't 1/4 inch thick like the recipe suggests, but our pie turned out ok anyway. Once your apples are sliced you can begin making the filling:

1. Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar, all of the brown sugar, salt, lemon zest and cinnamon in a really large bowl; add apples and toss to combine.
2. Transfer apples to a dutch oven (don't rinse out your apple bowl yet) and cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring frequently until apples are tender when poked with fork but still hold their shape, 15 to 20 minutes. (Apples and juices should gently simmer during cooking.) I wish this blog were scratch'n'sniff so that you could smell the wonderful aroma of simmering apples and cinnamon.

3. Transfer apples and juices to a baking sheet lined with wax paper and set aside to cool for about 30 minutes. Keep cats away.

4. Adjust oven rack to the lowest position and place a cookie sheet on the rack, lined with foil. Turn oven to 425 degrees.
5. Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out between two large sheets of parchment or wax paper. Roll a couple times in one direction, then rotate circle and roll in the other direction to try and get it to be more circular than oval. Roll out to roughly 12 inches in diameter, 1/8 inch thick. If dough becomes sticky, place back in the fridge until it firms up to a point where you can work with it.
6. Once you have your first dough ball rolled out, peel one of the wax paper sheets off.
Put the bare side down in a pie plate, then peel off the other piece of wax paper. I love my pyrex glass pie plate. I've read that glass heats things very evenly, and I really have never wrecked anything in my pie plate.
7. Make the dough sit in the pie plate as best as you can by lifting the edge with one hand and pressing the dough into the bottom and side of plate with the other hand. The dough is pretty stretchy and as long as it's not too warm you can stretch it as you need to without ripping it. Don't trim off the part that hangs over yet. Put the pie plate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, roll out the second dough ball just as you did with the first between two pieces of wax paper to a diameter of 12 inches. Place the disk in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I went to a Thanksgiving potluck once where someone had made an apple pie from scratch. It looked and smelled delicious, but when we cut into it we discovered that the bottom half of the pie was drowned in apple juices. It still tasted good, but the person was bummed because it didn't look nice, it could only be slopped onto soggy paper plates. I totally judged them for it. Just kidding.
This recipe addresses that problem through this whole business of cooking the apples outside the pie first.

9. Grab the big bowl that you used to toss the apples and cinnamon in. Place a large colander over the bowl, then spoon your cooled cooked apples into the colander to allow the excess juices to drain. Reserve 1/4 cup of juices. I didn't do this the first time and my pie wasn't dry, but it lacked that certain gelled consistency inside between the apple pieces.

10. Get your pie plate out of the fridge and now, finally, dump your apples in. Sprinkle the lemon juice and the reserved juices over the apples.
11. Peel off the wax paper from your other dough circle, place the bare side down on the pie, then peel off the other piece of wax paper.
Tuck the top piece of dough's edges over and under the bottom dough edges. If you have any big thick areas, trim the excess and press together again so that you have pretty much the same thickness of crust all the way around.
Use your thumb to press down all along the edge so that it looks more like pies you've seen in cartoons. Now you're ready to sprin- oh, hi bluebird! What's up? You look troubled.

"You're forgetting something bot!" (Uses tiny talon to cut four two-inch slits in the top to vent the pie)

"That's better, now your pie won't explode like a zombie head when it bakes."

Um, thanks bluebird. Now use a brush to generously brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg white. Sprinkle with sugar!

Bonus treat: You might have dough scraps from the edges that you trimmed off, plus extra apples that didn't fit in the pie. My mom never let these go to waste, and by God, neither will I. Is this a turnover or an empanada? Don't forget to brush this with beaten egg white too, and sugar sprinkles.

NOW you're ready to place your pie on the cookie sheet that's been preheating in the oven on the bottom rack. I also use my handy pie shield at this point. A pie shield is a ring of metal that sits on top of the pie edge to prevent the crust from burning before the rest of the pie is done. This tool is really handy, but you can also protect your edges with tin foil. More experienced bakers never need this help. I don't know how they do it. I play it safe because I'd hate it if this thing turned ugly after all this effort!
If you have a bonus treat, set that on its own little piece of wax paper next to the pie on the cookie sheet. Fold up the edges of the wax paper to make for easy grabbing later. You'll have to keep an eye on this and remove it about 15 minutes before the big pie is finished.
Set a timer for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, check the bonus treat and remove if it's golden brown. How was the color of the big pie? When it's done it will be lightly golden. If you're paranoid and you have a glass pie plate you can CAREFULLY lift up the plate to see what color the bottom crust is. Set the timer again for another 5-10 minutes depending on how much farther your crust has to go, and check every five minutes.

When the pie is done, remove from oven and set the pie dish on a cooling rack. The recipe says to cool 1-2 HOURS before serving. God! WHEN CAN WE HAVE SOME FREAKING PIE ALREADY??!?! You don't have to wait that long, we waited like 45 minutes, then we put scoops of Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream on top of our warm slices of pie. It was worth all that work and I can't believe I pulled it off. We have a huge beautiful pie!!

DIY Moosemunch

2009-11-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

All of the magazines have their holiday issues out right now and it's the best time of year to find inspiration for new recipes. Real Simple's November issue features a recipe for Easy Candied Nuts. If by easy you mean that you can succeed on the third attempt, then yes this was easy.
Candymaking is such a sensitive science. And our friend sugar is one tough customer. It goes through a rainbow of colors and physical states that range from glaze to molasses. One false move and you end up with a sad burned mess.
The truth is that this really is an easy recipe under the right conditions. The problem is that the instructions just say to simmer for 12-15 minutes until the mixture is amber colored. I didn't know what simmering sugar syrup was supposed to look like, and I wasn't sure how dark of an amber hue this should take on at the end of the 12 minutes. What temperature is "simmer" on my stovetop? I tried it on medium high (7) first, which heated it way too fast and I made the mistake of turning my back on it.
In just a few minutes I had created a boiling syrup that turned into very dark and burned smelling caramel. How does one dispose of this type of mistake? You don't want caramel solidifying in your sink drain. And you can't just dump it in the trashcan. We tried pouring it into an old juice bottle. That, um, worked.

On the second try I kept the heat really low (3) to play it safe. This was way too cool and after 20 minutes it kind of dried up. This is what the end result should look like right? Ugh.

Then I decided to use the Le Creuset in hopes that the mixture would heat more evenly and because the inside of the pot is white which would allow me to more closely monitor the nuanced shades of amber so I could kill the heat at the right moment. I heated it on medium (5) and instead of water I used the drippings from my cooked apple pie filling. So admittedly that made the color amber to begin with, but I kept an eye on it and simmered for exactly 12 minutes before mixing in toasted nuts and popcorn. As it simmered, the bubbles were very tiny, just pinprick sized.

The result is perfect.* This stuff is addicting.

DIY Moosemunch (altered from Easy Candied Nuts)

2 cups mixed nuts

3/4 white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. water
1 bag microwave popcorn

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment. Set aside.
Cook the microwave popcorn. Let cool, then sift out the unpopped kernels by shaking the popcorn in a colander. Set popcorn aside.
Spread the mixed nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the toaster oven for one toast cycle; transfer to a bowl and set aside.
In a large dutch oven combine the sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons water. Turn the burner to medium heat (5).
Simmer, swirling the pan occasionally (do not stir as it will crystallize the caramel), until the liquid is amber colored, 12 to 15 minutes. Turn the burner off.
Add the toasted nuts to the dutch oven, stir, then add half the popcorn, stir again, and add the remaining popcorn.
Spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet. Let cool. Store in an airtight container.

*24 hours later: I guess the result is NOT perfect. The popcorn is all soft. This will not ship.

poem on a postcard

2009-11-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hippos on Holiday by Billy Collins

woolpet bluebird

2009-11-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

The other day I stumbled across this needle-felted elephant on etsy which was quite an inspiration. Needle-felting is the art of sculpting wool roving (the technical term for dyed fuzz) by stabbing it repeatedly with an extremely sharp barbed needle. As you poke your fuzzball it becomes more compact. I had purchased my own Woolpet kit in the spring but haven't attempted it until today. Here's the picture from the front of the kit.

I didn't follow the instructions closely because I was trying to create a wedding bird. I did my own beak style and Dave helped me construct a clever body/leg structure out of wire so that the bird can be free-standing. I love how it turned out.

A pair would definitely look good on top of a wedding cake, or just perched on a windowsill. The going rate for a pair of needle-felted wedding cake topper birds on etsy is about $85. Check out Soduel's shop. Pretty cool.

repotting

2009-11-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

When I started working at G in 2007 I got a peace lily (Spathiphyllum) from Ikea. It has been on my desk ever since and has grown considerably. It's always a nice distraction to check it out and see what new leaves are coming up. Recently I've noticed that the older leaves are turning yellow at a more rapid rate, and I spotted roots poking up through the surface of the soil. Time to move on.
I've killed many plants in the process of repotting. Good intentions pave the road to hell. I've got my fingers crossed this time though. I hope I chose the right size pot. The "pot" is actually a melamine serving bowl from Target. Since it doesn't have holes I made a layer of rocks at the bottom so that the water can drain down and evaporate back up as needed. This method worked extremely well in the lily's former pot which also lacked drainage. Since the new pot is much larger and these lilies like to be somewhat crowded I picked out a few new companions to include.
The result is a cheerful planter. I really hope the plants do well in this setup. Fingers crossed.

The second plant that needed a new home was the tiny succulent I bought from Market Blooms in the Reading Terminal Market during my trip to Philadelphia in May. The little guy fared well all summer and has grown a fair amount. The little terra cotta pot that it came in just got too small and before long the roots started coming through the bottom. I decided it would be perfect in a little doggy plant pot I got at Daisu. I also filled the bottom of this pot with rocks, about half full to allow for extra drainage. Looks cute and I hope it does well.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween from Botblog!

We made our jack-o-lantern on Friday night. My favorite saw broke but Dave helped me get the job done. The finished result is very cheerful and kind of looks like a cat or Animal from the muppets.

Yesterday was Halloween and I baked pumpkin whoopie pies in the afternoon. They taste good but needed more flour to dry out the cookie part a little more. They look really cute. Big whoop.

In the evening we watched Night of the Comet and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I really liked the homemade pirate costume worn by the timid little boy across the way. It consisted of a cute paper hat, mom's scarf as a belt, a styrofoam sword and (for some reason) mardi gras beads. A pair of tiny cute kids dutifully shouted what they were without being asked. "I'm Dorothy!" "I'M MEGATRON!"
An unfortunate common theme this year? Kids holding two bags for candy. The old "my brother is sick so I'm trick or treating for him" routine? Either swine flu has taken hold of the children of reekside apartments or I've just been duped.
Also, one tween was on her cell phone as she knocked on my door. She stuck her bag out while still holding a conversation, hardly looking in my direction. It was the best "ungrateful spoiled bastard" costume I've seen yet. So creative!

The Pumpkin King Takes Over

2009-10-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to get to go back to Disneyland over the weekend, courtesy of cast member Sasha. This time we went on Monday and we got to see how she gets to her office through the park. She can actually enter through a door in Toontown that appears to be for the Toontown Library! If I were a big corporation I don't think I'd trust my finance department to be run by Toontown, but I guess they know what they're doing. It's a short commute for Mickey because his house is right there in Toontown.

Disneyland is decorated for Halloween with lots of fun jack-o-lanterns (whose designs I will totally rip off when I make my own j-o-lantern) on Main Street. There is even a little spot in Frontierland where a lady was carving the most incredible pumpkins. Did you know there's a mini petting zoo in Disneyland? Neither did I. And- get ready cause this is a great factoid- the turkey who is pardoned each year goes to live at Disneyland! We saw his pen but he wasn't outside.

Space Mountain was done over with scary space ghosts and creepy imagery. Please look at the bucket lister in the car in front of us. It could very well be that he is a Disney engineer on his lunch break. I hope so because it was sad to see him in line by himself.

The Haunted Mansion was completely decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas decorations and the entire ride is redone to tell the story. It was so creative and fun. The big ballroom scene even smelled like gingerbread. They really did an incredible job, I wish our pics came out better to show all of the cool ways they made the movie come to life.

We ate dinner with Sasha at Cafe Orleans, rode Autopia with her and then found a spot for the Halloween fireworks show. The fireworks were incredible. A huge balloon was inflated behind the castle to look like the moon and they projected lots of scary images on it, including Jack the Pumpkin King's face. The music was kind of over the top American Idol-ized stuff but they used some original music from Nightmare too.

The fireworks were spectacular, even better than the summer show, and there were lots of scary huge fireballs. At one point they turned the lights out on the castle and when it's backlit against the fireworks it looks like a creepy haunted house. So neat. I'll spare you our crap cam versions of the fireworks though and I'll just put some still photos. My favorite photo of the day was the one we took in front of the big Mickey jack-o-lantern on Main Street. Happy Halloween!

Medieval Times

2009-10-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

I got a bunch of the LA friends together to go to Medieval Times on Saturday for Dave's birthday. I had never been. It's a good one-time thing to do because I have to admit it was pretty entertaining.
Medieval Times is a dinner theater where you are served a meal in a "castle" (sometimes castles are attached to malls) and you watch a show. You are given a paper crown as soon as you get there along with garlic bread, "dragon" soup (tomato water), HALF of a greasy roasted chicken, a BBQ rib, and two steins of your choice of fountain beverage. You must eat everything with your hands. The color of your crown determines the section where you sit. Each section has their own knight who competes against other knights in various tests of skill like fancy horseback riding, jousting, etc. This is all overseen by the honorable King Pancake Makeup and Princess Monotonia. There's also a plot where there's a green knight from a rival kingdom who claims he's there to make amends. You'll never guess what happens (actually you don't have to guess because as he's pouring your diet pepsi your waiter says "make sure to boo the green knight")
The crowd was buzzed and rowdy and we sat in the yellow section, which means that we cheered for the Yellow Knight. Apparently the freshman fifteen existed in medieval times. His go-through-the-motions fighting was really awful but the other knights were actually trying pretty hard to make it look good. We felt bad for the young stable boy who came out to scoop horse apples between events. See photo. The ridiculously messy food, dramatic disco theater lighting, endless chants, emphatic boos, falconry and exquisite English accents made it all really funny.

Halloween Cards

2009-10-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of Halloween greeting cards plus a mini treat bag for Sasha

birthday card for Dave

2009-10-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

happy birthday dave i give you a balloon

Wedding Card for Greg and Megan

2009-10-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Today is Greg and Megan's wedding day. We'll go to Hotel De Anza tonight for the ceremony and reception and it should be really fun. Cupcakes will be the favor, so I approve. And I always enjoy a chance to dance a little with Dave.

Birthday Cards for Pat and Dad

2009-10-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

During last weekend's craft-a-thon on Sunday I made two birthday cards. One for Pat and one for Dad. One reason I'm glad to have this blog is so that I have a record of cards I've made. These things take forever because I spend the first half hour experimenting with different colors, stamps, etc. before I settle on one idea. The one for Pat features my favorite stamp of all time, the rose branch (also used in our wedding invites). Dad's card was supposed to look like a zinnia, but is somewhat more marigold-ish. Either way he liked it so that's what is important!

Card for Andy and Sayuri

2009-10-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

My good friend Andy from Loyola just got married in Boston. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend but I checked out the pictures (AK also did theirs) and it looked like a hell of a party. Andy met Sayuri while he was teaching English in Japan and I hope to be able to meet her one of these days.
Here's the card I'm sending.

pumpkin and sausage soup

2009-10-03T20:58:00.001-07:00

2009 has just entered its homestretch. Now is the perfect time to add a blanket to the bed but keep the window open just a bit.

Autumn means mums and candy corn and half-assed costumes. And it means the challenge of finding the perfect time to buy the Halloween candy- not too soon or we'll be in danger of eating it ourselves. But not too late or the only stuff left to buy will be that waxy foil-wrapped chocolate from Palmer.

Maybe best of all, Autumn means pumpkin time. Pumpkins are spectacular for many reasons:

available in all sizes, the best being either huge or mini
fun to draw in margins
perfect opportunity to use the plastic googly eyes you've been saving
nice to think that carving a pumpkin is the only artistic endeavor all year for some, thereby making pumpkins honorable for making art accessible to the average person
the pumpkin scented candle in the living room from last October makes sense again
putting a pumpkin beside Stitch instantly creates a bewitching Halloween scene
all things pumpkin flavored ruuule!

I'm thankful that I can finally break out that can of pumpkin puree I've had my eye on at the back of the cupboard. I had considered making a pie, a cheesecake, or cupcakes, but I decided to kick off pumpkin season by attempting a new recipe: pumpkin and sausage soup.

Some pumpkin soup tastes too sweet, like you're drinking pumpkin pie. So the pumpkin and sausage recipe seemed like a good bet because of the savoriness provided by the sausage and thyme. It was easy to make. I adjusted the recipe to 5 servings so that I would only need one can of pumpkin. Using the pumpkin puree also eliminated the step of blending, which we know can cause disasters. Using puree also drastically reduced cooking time. I added more onion than called for, used fresh thyme instead of dried, half and half instead of cream, drambuie instead of praline liqueur and added about half a tablespoon of salt. I served it with cracked pepper on top and naan on the side because we don't have rolls. Along with some Boddington's this made the perfect fall supper.

Chocolate Cake for Two

2009-10-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

The last time I made chocolate cupcakes I used some of the batter to bake a little six inch cake. It has been in the freezer until tonight. I just had to frost it and sprinkle it with jimmies, then voila- chocolate cake for two. And by two I mean Dave and me. Stiiiiiitch! You can't has!

Heart of Glass

2009-10-01T16:38:00.001-07:00

In its many forms, glass beautifies our lives. From sea glass to stained glass, vases to test tubes, not to mention perfume bottles, tiles, towers of champagne glasses, skylights, glass bricks, marbles and more, glass has class. One of NJ's earliest industries was glass, without which we wouldn't have the famous Ball jar. So as a South Jersey native, glass is in my blood (or at least broken glass is on my beaches). Anyway, I like it. I used to collect empty bottles and paint them with all kinds of designs, and I am very drawn to mini glass vases and votive holders. At this very instant there are dozens on my shelves that require a good dusting.
During my trip to NY I visited the Corning Museum of Glass. I was impressed. It's not huge, but it definitely feels like a big city museum tucked away in a small town. The museum has nice displays to inform patrons on the history of Corning, the many uses of glass in science, technology and the kitchen, and there is a surprisingly huge collection of glass art and artifacts. We also watched a glassblowing demonstration, which is always cool. Or should I say HOT!
I am including photos of items I found particularly interesting. Some displays in the museum include ultra mini bottles and flasks from 3 and 4 B.C. The museum store is huge and wonderful and I could have spent hours in there. There were a ton of glass pumpkins which were beautiful, but I picked out a vase for Dave's mom and a little glass snowman for my Christmas tree. They really should sell tee shirts that say "Corning Museum of Glass: This place blows!" When I go back I definitely want to do the glassblowing workshop so I can make my own glass doodad!
All of your "how do they" questions can be answered by the many edutainment videos provided by the museum on youtube. Warning: hypnotic voiceovers.

A Peejay for Victoria

2009-10-01T05:42:00.000-07:00

This has been a very happy year, especially because of the birth of my niece Victoria on August 15th. She's the first grandchild for my parents and my first niece. We are all very excited. The past couple of years when our family has gotten together it has kind of felt like kids were missing. Now we are beginning a fun new chapter.
This week I flew out to NY to visit my brother, his wife, and Victoria. My mom and dad drove out from IL too, so it was a nice visit with everyone. When I arrived at my brother's house, Barb opened the door and put Victoria in my arms immediately. She's beautiful. And she was yelling. But over the weekend I got to know her and help take care of her. It was so much fun. I changed her, gave her a bath, gave her a bottle, and we took a couple of naps in her rocking chair.
When it was not my turn to hold her I worked on finishing the sock monkey that I was making for Victoria. I got the kit at Beverly's and really should have had it finished long ago, but it was fun to work on it while we were all visiting in the evenings. Before I left SJ I was able to finish the body (minus the ears) of the sock monkey and I used my sewing machine for much of it. The seams did require hand stitching to be closed once it was stuffed. I finished Peejay's slippers, sleeping cap, ears, and teddy bear while I was in NY.
Victoria's nursery is monkey-themed and really fun. I hope Peejay fits right in. He looks like he's ready for a bedtime story.

New cupcake carrier

2009-09-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Husband gave me a cute cupcake carrier for our anniversary. Thankfully the weather remained cool today so I decided to prepare the carrier for its maiden voyage. I took the easy way out for the cupcakes and used a box mix but for the icing I tried the recipe for chocolate frosting from my new Crazy About Cupcakes book. A common pitfall with buttercream icing is that it becomes sickeningly sweet, so usually I omit about 1/3 of the confectioner's sugar. But the recipe was a little bizarre and only made about two cups of icing. For volume's sake I had to add all of the sugar. Two cups of icing is not enough if you're using a big star tip to frost the cupcakes. I had enough frosting for about 18 cupcakes, but none left for the little six inch cake I made with some reserved batter. I had to just freeze that for use in a future mini experiment.

The cupcakes are nestled safely and snugly in their carrier, ready to be transported to the office in the morning. I hope these treats make everyone's Monday a little more bearable.

cupcake logic-

Orpheus's lyre : hell : : cupcakes : freezing soul-crushing cubicles

saturday afternoon

2009-09-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

Due to persistent high temperatures I've been unmotivated to turn on the oven or craft much lately. As I told Jesse, turning the task lamp on at the craft table makes me feel like an iguana under a heat lamp at Fish N Stuff. But then today was absolutely beautiful and only 75 degrees. I was inspired to try and embrace the afternoon.

I set up my little iPod and cheap portable speakers. I listened to A Ghost is Born and trimmed all of the dead leaves and dried blooms from my flowers while waiting for coats of toenail polish to dry. It was lovely.

GARDEN PEST

Magic Kingdom!

2009-09-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

We spent the long weekend down in LA with Dave's family. It was a great visit that included a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure, courtesy of Sasha! How fun to have a "cast member" in the family! We were in the parks for almost 12 hours and we had a really great time. Sasha told us lots of interesting things about what it's like to work in the offices (hers is behind Toon Town!), and she knows how to get the best spot for Fantasmic.

The park was crowded but we were lucky and didn't have to wait too long for anything except Space Mountain.

But Space Mountain is always worth the wait!! During the day we took a break to watch the Jedi Training Academy. REAL Jedis train little audience members the ways of the force. It was so cute, but tough to watch the disappointment in the faces of the eager kids who weren't chosen to participate.

First they learned light saber technique.

Then Vader showed up! Don't worry, the kids won after each one got a chance to fight him.

We ate dinner in California Adventure and shared a bottle of champagne. It was a really fun day and a wonderful way to end the summer!

Bonus: Goofus and Gallant's Photo Tips!

Goofus (bot) is impatient when it comes to taking pictures:

Gallant (dave) stands still and takes time to adjust the proper settings before taking the picture:

biker cat!

2009-08-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

There are many cats who frequent Reekside Apartments. Scraggle Cat drools and wallows in a dust pile by the fence every day. Brown fluff cat snoozes on the fence or suns himself on the sidewalk. His fluffy tail looks just like a wooly bear caterpillar. Step Cat is white and waits on the top step every day for his owner. And then there's Bent Tail, the tri-colored cat with a broken tail and a black nose. He lets you pet him...sometimes.
Lately he's been seen snoozing in an unlikely place. He's got a rough past, so I guess this nap spot should come as no surprise.

happy anniversary

2009-08-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

It was on this day last year that we were saying our vows on that perfect afternoon at the winery. We've been celebrating all week. We took off from work and went down to Monterey for the afternoon on Thursday. We had chowder for lunch and went to the aquarium to see the seahorse exhibit. On the way home we stopped in Santa Cruz and had dinner at the Crow's Nest, then headed over to the boardwalk to go on the roller coasters and get some cotton candy.
It has been such a nice week at home with my Dave. It's good to take time out and enjoy each other's company without the interruptions of everyday annoyances and stress. We even ordered the same cupcakes from Sugar, Butter, Flour that we had on our wedding day. Time off from work, a sweet husband, and cupcakes? Can't go wrong. (Unless all that commotion in the closet right now means he's unable to locate our wedding video. Ha ha!)

The Feasts and the Fires

2009-08-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to go camping for so long, and it happened this weekend. You can't possibly feel like summer is passing you by if you're busy making s'mores and battling mosquitoes. We traveled to Little Basin campground in spite of weather reports that called for thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. The weather was beautiful and so were the redwoods. Activities included:

testosterone-fueled tetherball challenges
swinging on the swings
hurting ourselves on the slides
dodging copious amounts of deer pellets during frisbee
observation of ant superhighways
realization that we were out of beer at 6pm

and that was before the sun even went down.

The best part of camping are the feasts and the fires. I had a really good time building a cheerful fire with Diana. The boys kept it going all evening by purchasing, gathering and smashing wood as needed. And of course there was a lot of food- both good (Byington wine and assorted cheeses) and bad (vegan sausage?) We had our own crazy smoke/laser show and good conversation, all set to a pretty awesome soundtrack.

It has been a while since I've laughed so hard my stomach hurt. That happened while trying to capture the perfect group shot of us gathered round the campfire. First it was too dark (we need more leaves on the fire!) and then it was too much (Julio looks like he's engulfed in flames!)

Oh and by the way,
"My spelling is nearly flawless". (that's a memorable quote from the evening, presented in that person's preferred Euro punctuation style)

This weekend just proves you don't need technology to have fun.

Ok, well a campground owned and operated by a major silicon valley company doesn't hurt, not to mention GPS to get there, four iphones and an ipod to provide the soundtrack, several light-show iphone apps, and a car adapter to charge the ipods and inflate the air mattresses.

Here's to my friends. Cheers.

what's the story?

2009-08-19T18:17:00.001-07:00

Finally FINALLY blooms are appearing on the morning glory vines. They are really pretty and I hope that the entire thing bursts into bloom during my long weekend next weekend.

cake pops

2009-08-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

I decided to make cake pops to bring to my friend's bachelorette party. She is the one who first tipped me off to Bakerella's baking blog and famous cupcake pops. Ever since I saw them I had been dying to try making them.
Well, let me just say that they came out looking cute and tasting great. However I would not recommend this undertaking for someone who is on their own. It took most of Friday evening and nearly all day Saturday to actually accomplish the finished product. So much crumbling, smooshing, sculpting, chilling, dipping, chilling, re-sculpting, re-dipping, decorating, etc. Only Sam and Frodo can understand how I felt at the end of the day. Still, if you did this with a group it would be much easier. I'm so glad they actually came out- it would be horrible if all that time had been a waste.

The poor woman's hydrangea

2009-08-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hydrangeas are all the rage, and not without good reason. How great is it that a fairly easy to grow bush can produce such beautiful delicate blossoms? They come in a wide variety of shades ranging from whisper-soft greens to triumphant purples, sometimes with different shades occurring on the same plant.
And what other flower is gracious enough to look stunning just by being snipped and plopped in a bowl? That is arguably the most foolproof and elegant centerpiece one could attempt.

One day I'll have my own hydrangea bush. Until then I am speaking out in defense of a similar-looking but often overlooked flower, the geranium. They're common and they're easy to grow, especially in California where they are frequently used as shrubbery. If not cared for, they become scraggly with woody stems, yellowing leaves and shriveled blossoms that fall apart and sprinkle petals everywhere.
But this summer I've given my geraniums a makeover. I've snipped their crispy leaves and removed blooms that were past their prime. The result is an everlasting bouquet on my deck in red, pink, salmon and fuscia. Although I've had a geranium since our first apartment back in 2004, this was the first year that I had thought to put the blossoms in a vase. The result is simple and beautifully composed.

How nice they look in my new blue vase :)

First Zinnias

2009-08-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

The first zinnias bloomed this past week. They are small, but pretty.

Meanwhile the morning glory vines are out of control, but no flowers as of yet. They are supposed to bloom mid-summer, so I hope something happens soon.

Click on the "Nature" tag at the right to see just the plant posts. These plants have grown so much in two months!! Where has the summer gone?

Drama in Real Life: To Save a Cupcake

2009-07-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

It all started with really weird sunken cupcakes. That was the least of my problems. It was the start of a long night of ups and downs.
Earlier I had prepared ganache which was then chilled according to instructions. It tasted so smooth and good when I began, then when I started whipping it, it became lumpy and gross.
I had to stop and do a google search for "whipped ganache not fluffy" and found a helpful page for troubleshooting ganache.
Apparently you can't start with super chilled ganache or it will become disgusting when blended. So I heated it in a glass bowl over boiling water until it melted. I added two tablespoons of hot cream and put it back in the mixing bowl. I went back to my original ganache recipe which said to start by whipping on low for two minutes, then medium for 3 minutes until soft peaks form. Not wanting to overwhip, I left it on low for more than two minutes but realized it was still completely fluid. I upped the speed to medium for 10 minutes. It thickened slightly.
Ready to give up and go to bed, I threw the bowl into the fridge in hopes that chilling it slightly would get it to the right temperature so that I could whip it like whipped cream. I listened to Dave play a few Rancid songs on his guitar, then I went back to the kitchen.
MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I took the ganache out of the fridge it was nice and thick and after a minute or two of whipping I got soft peaks. I piped the cupcakes with the ganache and produced something that looked respectable enough.

And they taste great!!! The cupcakes are brownie-like, and the thick fudginess of the inner cupcake combines with the slight crisp of the cupcake top. And it all comes together with the sweet fluffiness of the whipped ganache. Redemption!!! Victory!!! I could clean up and go to bed with a feeling of accomplishment. All I had to do was put my cookbook back on the shelf.

Then the cookbooks fell over, knocking my crockpot to the floor,

SMASH!

I am humbled once again.

Fourth of July Raspberry Tart

2009-07-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

We're having a bbq with our friends tomorrow for the Fourth of July and I wanted to make a special dessert. These friends included a tart pan in our wedding gift but I hadn't used it yet. I have been reading through a lot of tart recipes, but they are pretty intimidating. You've got the difficulty of the two-part tart pan, and then there's the usual pain of making pastry crust. I didn't want to lug out the food processor and a rolling pin. But this week I read an article in Bon Appetit magazine about summer berry desserts. I was inspired by the brown butter raspberry tart, particularly because the crust did not involve the food processor or a rolling pin. It's a simple crust made with melted butter, sugar, vanilla and flour. The article included step-by-step photos of how to simply press the crust into the pan.

I am famous for making mistakes in the kitchen. When will I learn to carefully read recipes ahead of time? This recipe calls for a 9

inch tart pan. Mine is 10 inches. That is such a small yet huge difference. Shouldn't there be some kind of standardization? The crust for the 9 inch pan clearly wasn't going to work (see photo). However with my all-American spirit of determination I made another half batch of crust to fill in (doesn't match, see photo, no one will know).
I was surprised by how much you could smell the wonderful scent of the raspberries as this was baking. Now it's cooling in the kitchen but both of us are eyeing it. It will be hard, but we HAVE to save it for tomorrow's bbq. I hope it comes out of that pan in one piece. I keep imagining the sides spilling out of a failed sand castle as the sand pail is slowly lifted up.
___________
Follow-up: The pan slipped off of the tart without a hitch. (I guess the 18 pounds of butter in the crust helped?) The tart tasted great and we had a really awesome time cooking out, drinking margaritas, taking an AFV break and then watching the fireworks. We also played Uno until it felt like a punishment. God bless America.

slow cooker short ribs

2009-07-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

These short ribs were on sale, suuuuper cheap. I knew they'd be great in the slow cooker, but I didn't have a recipe in mind. I ended up using this recipe because it's mostly made with stuff I already had. They smelled sooo good all day we couldn't wait for dinner. The recipe calls for boneless ribs but I have bad luck whenever I use boneless meat in the slow cooker. We also did not have any chili sauce so I used a little soy sauce and a little A-1 instead. It's not a substitute for chili sauce, but those are both meat-friendly liquids so I figured it was safe.
These were delicious! We will definitely do this again. Okay I admit these shouldn't be done often because they're really fatty, but it's ok to treat yourself sometimes.

stick together

2009-07-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

The morning glories needed to climb something, so instead of buying a plastic trellis or tomato cage I made my own stick sculpture. Dave took a walk with me on the trail today (he asked me to marry him exactly two years ago today) and together we picked out lots of great sticks. I took them home and was able to assemble a stick trellis really quickly. I love it! I cannot wait until the vines start creeping up. Do you think they'll reach the top? That would be so pretty. I wonder how long it would take. They seem to be growing pretty fast so it will be fun to watch!

blame game

2009-07-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

These two cuties are modeling the onesies I made for them using iron-on transfer printer paper. (Remember the baby shower post?) These twins are so happy and cute! I guess these transfers don't go through the dryer well, which only increases my desire for a silkscreen workshop. These onesies do appear to handle slobber!

Summer Garden Update

2009-06-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

My summer deck garden is coming along nicely. We've been enjoying the deck and I check on the progress of my plantlings daily. On Thursday I noticed the first curling tendril starting to reach out from one of the morning glories. This morning I decided it was time to thin them out a little. I hope I don't kill them.
Some pest seems to be drilling holes into my geranium blossoms, leaving pepper-like waste behind. I don't see any of the pests, so I am not sure what they are. The blooms come and go so frequently and in such numbers that it's ok as long as it doesn't kill the whole plant.
*Gnomescape courtesy of Mo.

speakers 1998-2009

2009-06-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

When I was 18 my Dad bought me my first computer, an IBM PC. I lugged it from dorm to dorm, to IL, then to California in 2002. By that time the PC was fried and Luke hooked me up with a replacement hand-me-down tower, but I kept the peripherals. Eventually I got a new keyboard, but it wasn't until just this week that those original speakers finally died. I will miss that familiar face, and the way that only I knew exactly the right volume level to turn to so that they wouldn't crackle. According to my calculations, they lived to 120 in electronics years.
Farewell friends.

Cobbler for Two

2009-06-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Megan and I walked to the farmer's market and picked up some apricots and peaches. Today I decided to try my hand at cobbler, and found a nice recipe that serves two. I used both peaches and apricots to make up the 1 1/2 cups of sliced fruit that is called for. The recipe says that you have to bake the cobbler in a 1 quart casserole dish, but I don't have one. So I baked it in cute stoneware bowls right in the toaster oven. It came out beautifully! Such a nice treat for a Monday night.

Boosting zen with miracle gro

2009-06-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

As the weather has become nicer, I've been drawn to the deck more and more. The excitement is contagious- Stitch pines away at that sliding door all day wishing to go outside. She will come running at top speeds at the sound of that door sliding back, if only to get a few (supervised) minutes outside.

Although they're pretty un-exotic, I really love looking at and feeding my geraniums. There's the deep fuschia one in the pot that I've had since Meridian Avenue, and then the window boxes with scarlet, coral and bubblegum blooms. I planted those when Mom visited last year. I love plants that take abuse, and geraniums definitely fit the bill. They hold on all winter, neglected, and they forgive me every spring.

I decided to clean up the balcony this weekend. There was a lot of junk out there including two rusting mini propane grills and a giant flower pot filled with primordial rotting rainwater covering a sunken bag of half-empty birdseed. Dave helped last week by dumping the disgusting sludgewater out of that flower pot (gag) and thankfully it wiped clean pretty easily.

Is there anything nicer than enjoying a drink outside on a balmy evening? Well please join me on my deck in one of these tattered folding chairs. Along with the geraniums you'll find a teeny mini cactus that I brought back from Philadelphia in May, and two pots with sproutlings of zinnias and morning glories. I guess the zinnias, morning glories, and geraniums are all sort of nostalgic for me. Just like baking mom's good old brownies, seeing these flowers reminds me of Mom and Dad. Now where's my spray can of weed poison?
Here's a picture of Jesse at his garden plot near his apt. Gentleman's garden!

Pretzel Turtles

2009-05-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

I came across a recipe for pretzel turtles on allrecipes.com. I love their top-rated recipes (power to the people!) and I've found many great recipes based on reviews such as the salisbury steak that we made recently.

I shouldn't even call this particular set of instructions a recipe though. You're really just assembling them. These would be even better with pecans like the recipe suggests. Due to inclement financial weather, this version contains walnuts.

Gray Striped Scarf

2009-05-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

Made with leftover yarn. No animals were harmed during the posting of this blog.

Lulu's Scarf

2009-05-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

We're allowed to bring dogs to the office. It's a Silicon Valley thing, and I love it, even though I don't have a dog. There are a lot of dogs on our team, and my favorite is Lulu, a shelter dog with soft brown eyes and a sweet disposition. She's so cute, and, like many women, battles her weight. She also looks like falcor. Her owner always dresses her in sweaters, so I thought why not a scarf? Work it girl!

Berger Cookies

2009-05-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

Baltimore has been known for many things. Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner at Fort McHenry. Edgar Allen Poe lived there for a time and will rest there for all time. John Waters is a local hero too. (The video store scene in Serial Mom was filmed at our beloved Video Americain which was just up the street from our dorm on Cold Spring Lane.)

Baltimore is loved by its residents but it gets a bad rap. At one point it had the lowest literacy rate of any major city in the North and the highest murder rate in the US. As a reaction the city has rebranded itself by adopting slogans like "Charm City" and "The City that Reads." Problems aside, the most important thing about Baltimore is the fact that it's home to the best cookie on earth, the Berger Cookie. They're made in Baltimore and are so local you can't even get them in D.C. The cookies are a sinful pairing of ultrasoft sugar cookie topped with thick rich fudge.

Since I moved away I have missed them the way I miss Yuengling beer and decent cheesesteaks. Justine recently sent me a care package that included a box of Berger cookies. We savored each one and I was so sad when the last one was gone. So I decided that someone out there has had to have figured out the recipe. Further research proved that was true, but the authenticity of the various recipes is hotly debated. The flour company that tried to imitate this local favorite by posting a recipe on their blog was probably not prepared for all of the extreme reactions it caused in readers. Here is the recipe I tried, the second version that they came up with after all of the criticism and suggestions. The verdict? The cookie part is dead on, but the chocolate wasn't quite rich enough (although it was still incredible). Looks-wise, we definitely appear to have a match. I will try again with a more traditional fudge topping next time, and then I'll be able to finally enjoy a little piece of Baltimore in my home on the other side of the country. Eating a Berger cookie conjures all of the memories and feelings, good and bad, that I have about that city from my youth.

row row row your bot

2009-05-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

Work has been very difficult lately. If you're lucky enough to still have a job, you're most likely expected to handle your workload plus the workload of 1 or 2 other people (friends) who got let go. I'll never take employment for granted again, and I'll never forget the shock that companies could discard dedicated workers so thoughtlessly, as easy as deleting rows in a spreadsheet. Then there's the shock at my own naivte- I've watched this happen before when I worked at Sun. But I wanted to believe that I was at a "bad" company at that time, and so I left in search of an employer who values and respects their workers. Wouldn't I be safe at G? Wouldn't that be ground zero for employee appreciation, even if I wasn't truly an employee? The slogan may be "Do No Evil" but the bottom line still rules.
So it has been very tiring. Little energy left for crafts. I've spent more time on our deck, looking at the bright geraniums. Plants and nature help. Especially when the only windows in your workspace are the ones on your computer screen.

In search of a suitable antithesis to draining flourescent-lit cube mazes we went up Healdsburg for an afternoon of canoeing on the Russian River. It was frustrating, it was funny, and it was good medicine. The guys tipped their canoe. Twice. My boat stayed upright under the watchful eye of cap'n husband. At times the river was so low that the boat bottomed out and you'd have to get out and drag it to a deeper spot.

Teamwork is important. One of these people understands this.

Picnics can be masculine.

golden afternoon

2009-04-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

Luke and his new girlfriend came for a visit two weeks ago. She hadn't been to San Francisco since she was little so we planned to spend the day there, picking up Alex of course. We had a really wonderful day being silly and driving all around. Someone decided to blast the Full House theme song as we drove around Postcard Row trying to locate the house from the show's opening sequence. We poked around some hipster antique stores, took pictures of the Golden Gate bridge, walked around at the Berkeley Marina, but most of the day was spent in Golden Gate Park.
My only exposure to Golden Gate Park up to this point was visiting the panhandle near Haight/Ashbury. So whenever someone mentioned the park I'd get that visual. But it turns out that the park is huge and except for the panhandle, it's gorgeous. There is a botanical garden, a Japanese tea garden, the newly renovated natural history museum, and the De Young art museum.
Alex, Dave and I spent a few great hours at the De Young, a spaceship looking museum with what Zane describes as "breathable skin." There is a good mix of photography, modern stuff, colonial, sculpture, photorealistic, etc. But my favorite part was the ancient/tribal gallery that had tons of realllllly old masks, drums, tools and art. The gallery itself is moody and dark, perfect for all those scary masks. What I enjoyed is the fact that lots of the masks had smiles. A universal message that meant the same thing 600 years ago as it does today. My favorite pieces were male and female "aripas" which are wooden carvings. Here are links to photos of the male and female aripas that I liked so much. My other favorite was by Whistler- "The Gold Scab- Eruption in Filthy Lucre" which turns out to be about one of the artists patrons (how punk).
And the visit inspired some doodling and writing in my little black notebook.

easter bunny

2009-04-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

As I get used to the sewing machine I've made two attempts at bunny softies. I'm fairly satisfied with the following, which was my second attempt. Each project gives me a better feel for the machine though, and for making patterns, so it's all good practice.

"Nice tail!"

(robot made by Justine)

Mom's Black Midnight Cake

2009-04-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Another famous Roberta recipe is the one for Black Midnight Cake. This recipe makes an ultra chocolatey, moist cake and she makes it a lot, whether it's for a birthday or just because. I am not sure why, but she never ever makes cream cheese frosting. So her version of the Black Midnight Cake is always frosted in white buttercream, and I believe she started adding chocolate jimmies in the late 80's for visual appeal.
This weekend I bought cream cheese but forgot bagels, so I wanted to make cream cheese icing. I decided to make Black Midnight cake, but as cupcakes. That's where the trouble started.
So I learned that:

Never fill the cupcake cups more than half full. instead of big cupcakes you get flattops that have to be chiseled from the edge of the pan
Never follow a recipe for chocolate frosting which calls for "melted, then cooled" chocolate. Cooled melted chocolate is what? It's a mess. It's hardened chocolate once it hits the cool ingredients, and it jammed up my big icing tip and appears as crumbs in the icing
Marshmallow fluff needs to be mixed with something to make it light enough to easily pipe in from a bag (whipped cream maybe?)

Even with all that going on, I overcame the obstacles and although ugly, the cupcakes were really delicious and incredible. I'll have to try it again soon.

Black Midnight Cake

1/2 c. shortening

1 1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 c. unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa

1 c. hot water

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Place muffin liners in pan(s). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix hot water and cocoa together until cocoa is dissolved.
Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, set aside.
Break eggs into stand mixer bowl.
Cream eggs with shortening and sugar, and vanilla.
Alternate cocoa mixture and flour mixture as you blend.
Fill muffin cups half full. Only bake on one rack of the oven at a time: should be done after 25 minutes when toothpick comes clean.

Put frosting on. Place on gnovelty plate.

rainbow scarves

2009-04-13T13:08:00.001-07:00

Rainbows are big in this neck of the woods.

cupcake card

2009-04-13T13:04:00.001-07:00

We flew down to LA for Sasha's birthday, and I made her this cupcake card. Adding googly eyes to any inanimate object makes it cuter (see my computer speaker pic.) I have a nice memory of making this card because as I did it, Dave was practicing guitar with his new guitar pedal. So it was a charming homespun scene of a loving wife making a cutesy glittery cupcake card, set to the soundtrack of a loving husband playing along to Bulls on Parade.

Mom's Brownies

2009-04-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I do like to try new recipes, but there are a few standards that I always go back to, particularly for baked goods. Using the recipes my mom has used my whole life brings back great memories, and reminds me of home. The one recipe I've made more than any other is her brownie recipe. She didn't make it up, she has always said it comes from the Fanny Farmer cookbook.
In doing some research to figure out if that cookbook is famous, I stumbled upon this article about the history of brownies. It turns out that the very first brownie recipe was written by Fanny Farmer and appeared in 1906 in the Boston Cooking School Cookbook. So I thought it was really neat that mom's recipe is a descendant of the first brownie recipe ever. And even more interesting is the fact that brownies appear to have been invented in Boston, which is cool because my mom's family is from New England. So there's a good chance that this recipe might have been in my family since the invention of the brownie. (If this were a wikipedia article I'd have to flag that as unverified.)

Anyway, these brownies are easy to make and I like them because they are fudgy. The topic of brownies can often divide people into two camps: those who like fudgy brownies, those who prefer cakelike brownies. Members of a third school of brownie thought like to clarify even further, saying they only prefer corner pieces. But they are perverts.
Mom's brownies are quick to prepare and since they are moist, they ship across the country really well. I think they may have even gone to Iraq. I've mailed these brownies dozens of times myself. Shortly after we met and I had to go back to Illinois I sent a batch to Dave in San Diego, along with a copy of Captain Underpants, as a birthday package. He said that his roommate ate one and said "you should marry that girl."
Mom makes the brownies plain or with walnuts. Walnuts are the best, and it's also good to add chocolate chips, and I've swirled peanut butter into them as well. (She would not approve.)

Here it is:
Melt:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Prepare 8 x 8 in. pan by greasing, adding wax paper, then greasing the wax paper.

1. Melt butter and chocolate (2 min. in the microwave)
2. Beat eggs and sugar.
3. Alternate melted chocolate and flour to mixture, stir well.
4. Stir in vanilla, add nuts
5. Pour batter into prepared pan, bake at 325 for 25 minutes. Edges will be done, but don't wait until toothpick comes out clean. The center should be a little soft.
6. Carefully turn upside down on cooling rack. Let cool. Peel off paper.

My 1st Sewing Machine

2009-03-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took a beginner sewing class and used a machine to make a pillow case. I was trying to gauge my aptitude for sewing machines. I have used my mom's before to make curtains but wasn't confident that I could do it without her to help me. But I'm a big girl after all and I enjoyed the machine in the class. So that day I went home and ordered a refurbished machine from overstock. It arrived on Friday and I prepared by reorganizing my craft supplies and clearing a space to keep it under the desk. Late Friday night I got up the courage to take it out and start reading the instructions. I loaded my first bobbin and the next morning I woke up super early (like xmas morning) and messed around until I got it working.

It's really great.

My first creation? A whale from the Softies book. The outside was done with embroidery and I stitched his body on the machine and it went really well except for one part on the top of his head. I got excited and created a dent, but it's ok.

Then I made an orange bird with glittery eyes. Today I'm working on a bunny. It's very satisfying to make nice neat little stitches with the machine with such ease. Dave even surprised me by getting me a book called Sew Darn Cute, which has lovely little projects that look fantastic. Very thoughtful! Stitch didn't do anything like that, she just half-assed her own DIY cat bed out of my poly fiberfill stuffing bag. ("glarrrrrg let me sleep!")

First sock doll

2009-03-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

I made this super bowl sunday. My brother gave me a book about how to make sock dolls, and I had an old pair of black socks. What kind of animal is black? I know one. Sigh. Art imitates brat. This was my first venture into embroidery, which explains why half the whiskers fell out, and my first attempt at sewing yielded her potato sack looking "dress." Still, it's a stitch. And this looks like a picture she took of herself for facebook. What are you trying to prove with that rilke poem in the background? So contrived. Ooh, but how authentic those leatheries are!

Baby Shower Favors

2009-03-16T20:46:00.001-07:00

For my friend's baby shower at work I decorated three onesies with iron-on designs. The iron-on transfer paper goes right in the printer so I was able to make my designs on the computer and just print them out. They worked out great, except not on dark fabric.

I also made decorated rice krispie treat pops using white chocolate in molds. Candy molds are fun and easy, but if you want multiple colors of chocolate it's a pain. I used colored sugar for accents instead (the orange on the sun).

Paper Sculpture

2009-03-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

It takes me forever to make cards for people, usually about 1-2 hours per card. I know- ridiculous. That is why I realized it's more like building a paper sculpture when I do some of these. I use different papers to create little characters or scenes, and tweezers are often involved due to the teeny tiny details I want to add. Then I give these things away or take a picture (that is always blurry) and never put the picture anywhere. This is another good reason to have an arts/crafts blog. So here's a card from January that I made for Dave's mom's birthday, a paper sculpture of a mama bird and three baby birds (representing Dave, Sasha and me). The "nest" is woven together out of shreds of a page from a really old book.

Mini Bot

2009-03-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

When I started drawing softies in my sketchbook and sewing little prototypes, Dave said "you have to make an inaugural robot." Although my focus was birds, I knew he was right. How could I not attempt a little robot? Plus, sewing straight edges is much easier than making the tabs necessary for sewing round things with an invisible seam.
So this is the final product. Not perfect for sure, but a good learning and practice experience. The face is embroidered and there is wire inside the legs. It can't stand on it's own, but it could be fastened to a base if that's what I wanted.

Blueberry Muffins

2009-03-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

We had a breakfast potluck at work this week and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to make my mom's blueberry muffin recipe. She said she's been using this recipe since the 70's when a coworker gave it to her. These are really the best muffins ever, although due to the blueberries, you've pretty much got to finish them within two days before they get too soggy. They were well-received at work and at home. I love how the sprinkled sugar on top crisps into little sparkling patches of sugar crust.

Blueberry Muffins:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, adjust rack to center position. Prepare muffin tins with paper liners, then spray the surface (batter may spill over).

Gather ingredients:
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 c. blueberries

1. Cream the butter, sugar and eggs in the blender until the mixture is thoroughly mixed and light yellow in color.
2. With the blender on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and the milk little by little until fully incorporated. Don't forget to scrape down the sides and bottom. This makes a pretty stiff batter.
3. Gently fold in the blueberries. It's easier to use frozen because they won't break down as easily. You can add a dash of lemon juice too if you like.
4. Spoon the batter into muffin pans prepared with baking cups. Sprinkle sugar on top.
5. Put the muffin tin on the center rack of the pre-heated oven. Set a timer for 18 minutes. When the timer goes off, stick a toothpick in the center of a muffin and if it comes out wet, put it back in the oven for another 4 minutes until the pick comes out clean, and the edges of the muffins are beginning to turn golden.

Mini muffin tins can be used as well, although I had to do a trial and error on the cooking time and temperature. For the minis, the 375 temperature seemed to be cooking them too fast (it was also a dark pan) so I turned it down to 350. The blueberries were almost too big for mini muffins, although there were no complaints.

Cat Shawl

2009-03-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I was working on a scarf for a co-worker's dog. I had to use Stitch as a model to get the proportions right. Stitch loves sitting on knitted blankets (or scarves while I'm trying to knit them) but I never expected her to agree to wear anything. When I put the dog scarf on her, she started purring immediately, eyes closed in bliss. So I decided to make that punk a scarf of her own, but since she is always doing extreme moves I made it a shawl that is sewn together and slips over her head so it can't easily fall off. She really likes it, although Dave is opposed to dressing animals in clothes. But here she is, loving her shawl. Deeeelicious!

chocolate-covered peanut butter rice krispy treats

2009-03-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

My favorite rice krispy treat recipe is Dave Lieberman's generic-sounding "Crispy Rice Treats" which are peanut butter rice krispy treats dipped in milk chocolate. However, the instructions are given for stove-top preparation only. The difference between making rice krispy treats in the microwave and making them on the stove is like the difference between flying to L.A. or driving there. A forty five minute flight or 6 hours on the long flat five punctuated by the putrid funk of Harris Ranch (close all the vents!). So this morning I decided to figure out the microwave version.

Another problem with the original recipe is that it calls for 10 ounces of jumbo marshmallows. Everyone knows that the regulation size bag of marshmallows is 16 ounces. So how the hell do you measure that out without a marshmallow scale? I ended up having to do some kind of will hunting level math problem to figure out that 10 ounces equals 40 big marshmallows or, (while I was at it), 6 1/4 cups mini marshmallows. Who knew taking (and then repeating) algebra would come in handy?

Here's my converted recipe:

You will need:
4 tablespoons butter
40 large marshmallows or 6 1/4 cups mini marshmallows
3/4 cup creamy common-brand peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies
6 ounces total of chocolate

1. Cut the butter into small pieces and distribute them evenly around the bottom of a 13 x 9 glass baking dish.
2. Put the dish in the microwave and cook on high for 45 seconds. If your microwave has a carousel like mine, you get the added entertainment of watching the dish bang against the sides the entire time. Then take it out and stir the butter around until it is fully melted. Tip the dish to coat the entire bottom with the melted butter.
3. Add all of the marshmallows to the glass baking dish. Stir the marshmallows until they are evenly coated with melted butter.
4. Put the dish back in the microwave and cook on high for 45 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 45 seconds.
5. Using potholders, remove the dish from the microwave. Immediately stir in the peanut butter. Stir it well so that it's fully incorporated into the melted marshmallow.
6. Add rice krispies to the dish of melted marshmallow 1 to 2 cups at a time, carefully stirring after each addition, remember to scrape the sides and bottom.
7. After all of the rice krispies have been added, wet the bottom of a clean glass and use it to flatten the surface of your rice krispy treats. Set aside and allow the dish to cool completely.
8. Cut the treats. Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper. Place the treats on the sheet!
9. Melt chocolate carefully in the microwave. Usually a couple of ounces of chocolate chips will have gently melted after being heated in the microwave for 40 seconds at 70% power, stirring, then another 45 seconds on 70% power. Remove the bowl from the microwave using potholders, stir vigorously until the melted chocolate is smooth.
10. Cover the treats by either dipping them or drizzling the melted chocolate over them. Keep them on the lined cookie sheet until the chocolate sets. Putting the cookie sheet in the refrigerator will really speed up this process, if you can fit a cookie sheet in there.

Dave: "Why are these better than usual?" Answer: it's the peanut butter. And the chocolate. And the jimmies (aka sprinkles).

from autobot to audubon

2009-03-07T23:48:00.000-08:00

I spent hours today at my desk, sewing. My mission to create the perfect toy bird continues. This week I found great embroidery tutorials online, as well as instructions on how to sew an invisible seam by hand.

Last weekend I made three birds, and today I made three birds. Each one is an improvement over the last, both in design and embroidery. I've finally decided on a face style, and at the end of the day today I finally worked out a promising pattern shape. Next I'll need to work out the wing and tail patterns to finish the body construction. I checked out lots of photos of real birdies to help with the sketches I did today.

I'm signed up for the intro sewing class at The Bobbin's Nest next Sunday, and I hope it takes my fear out of using a sewing machine. These things would be so much faster with a machine.