Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in Family, Holidays, Love, Thankful Thoughts on 05/13/2012 04:23 am by J

Humid Day in Philly = Cranky Baby

Here we are on Mother’s Day, Philadelphia, 1996. It was a humid day, and Maya didn’t like humidity. Good thing we moved back to California, huh? I look so young. That was 16 years ago, so I was 30. Look how dark my hair is! That’s the color of my dad’s hair, actually…his was blonde when he was a boy, and got darker as he got older, just like me. Unlike me, he didn’t care, and let it stay dark. I didn’t want to dye my hair whilst pregnant, so I had it colored my natural color before I got pregnant. Or close. But then I went red for maybe a year, and then blonde again.

That’s a lot of dribble about hair, but what I really want to say is how much I love being a mom. Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there. You don’t have to tell your kids how much you love it, if you’d rather make them feel guilty for all of the sacrifice. “Oh, I never sleep.” “No, you take the last cinnamon roll dear. I don’t want it.” “Oh, I’d love a new pair of shoes or a new purse or a trip to Europe, but you know, kids are so expensive“. Go for it. These things may all be true, but really, it’s the best job ever.

 

Friday Randomness

Posted in Friday Randomness, Musings on 05/11/2012 04:23 am by J

Sorry for ignoring you, my beloved blog. I really do love you, but I feel like so many of my bloggy friends aren’t blogging anymore, and if they are, they don’t come here…and if they do, they don’t leave me a comment, so I don’t know that they stopped by. I have a handful of readers I can depend upon, and I’m thankful for those friendships. I call them friendships, because I have a feeling that if we were to meet in person, we’d like each other, and at least mostly get each other’s sense of humor, that kind of thing. That’s important stuff, really.

So, what’s new? Well, I saw a funny/sweet feature on the internet, ‘ask a grown man’, where tween/teen girls write advice column questions in to famous actors, and the actors answer. It’s funny because the idea is so strange. It’s sweet, because (at least the interviews I saw), the actors took it seriously enough to give the girls actual advice. Look beyond cool. Don’t rush sex. It’s OK that girls fart too. Wear what you want, not what you think maybe guys want you to wear. That’s all good advice, the kind of stuff that can help a girl become more confident in herself. Here’s one with Jon Hamm, looking a lot like my friend’s ex-husband here…

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What else…well, I was rear-ended in a fender bender (fender scratcher?) last week. I went to Baskin Robbins to get ice cream for Ted’s birthday, and on the way home, a young woman ran into me. She was 21, it was slippery and wet out there, and her tires were fairly bald. Perhaps her brakes were as well. My first reaction was “OH CRAP”, because I banged up my poor Camry just last year, and my insurance went up because of it, and really, it’s no fun to be hit when you’re stopped at a stop light. But when I got out of the car, and saw her young, 21 year old face, it reminded me of the time I rear-ended someone at that very same age. Maybe I was 20, but close. I remember being scared of telling my mom, of wondering what would happen, all of that. So I told her that. I told her, ‘that’s what insurance is for’. I told her, ‘the damage isn’t bad’ (and it wasn’t). I told her, ‘the most important thing is, we’re both OK.’ Just a few blocks down on this same road, a man and his daughter were killed by a young man who was speeding and driving recklessly, just before Easter. So both of us being OK felt like a really important thing, something to remind her of. (Of which to remind her? Something that was important to say? I know what’s right. I just don’t always like it.)

The biggest news around here is that Ted was laid-off from his job on Monday. They usually do these things on Fridays, to give the office employees time to process and recover. But Ted was home celebrating his birthday on Friday, so they kindly waited until Monday to get rid of him. Nice timing. Last time he was laid off by the same company, it was the week before my mom died. They have a talent that way. Anyway, we’re not too sad about it. The job wasn’t the best fit for his skills, and hopefully, he’ll find something better that pays more and is more stable very SOON. Please send best wishes his way.

Which leads to painful financial decisions around the house. Like cable TV (not gone, but greatly reduced…goodbye HBO…), newspapers and magazine subscriptions (I really like reading the funnies with breakfast, but at $10 a week, it’s kind of stupid), that kind of stuff. We’ll be OK, if we’re careful. At least while he has unemployment, and I’m guessing he’ll get a much better job way before that runs out.

Oh, I almost forgot…Obama decided to Shit or Get Off the Pot, and said he’s for same sex marriage! FINALLY! YAY! I know, it’s a long time coming, and I don’t see why it had to take this long for someone to decide that we all deserve equal rights. But I also know that a lot of religions have serious issues with it, and that politically, it’s a difficult issue. I think of it like slavery, where people KNEW it was morally reprehensible, and yet, it took many many decades before they truly stood up for what was right.

Does anyone else slip up and call their iPod their ‘walkman’? I keep doing that. I know, I’m old. What with being the kind old lady the 21 year old rear-ended and all, I’m almost ready for AARP.

Did you see the woman who sued Nutalla about their product, saying that she believed the commercial, and that it was a healthy breakfast? Come on. I love chocolate as much as the next person, (OK, not really…I’m more of a salty/savory person, with the occasional chocolate) but I know that a breakfast full of sugar isn’t going to prepare your kids to face the day. Don’t you think any reasonable person could figure that out for themselves? Sugar tends to give you a bunch of energy right off, but then it drops you like a hot potato, and you crash. I’ve got some Nutella in my cupboard, actually, but I think of it as a dessert item, NOT a breakfast item. Same for Lucky Charms or Froot Loops. Unless you’re on vacation, and then, what the hell. Who cares if your sugar rush drops you, right?

Work is busy. My coworker was laid off on Monday. Ugh. And I get to do her work, for no more money. Same as it ever was, really. Wait, I don’t talk about work here. I forgot.

Still missing my mom. Mother’s Day is coming. Sigh. It’s a bit easier every year, but not fabulous. Mom’s birthday was a few weeks ago, too, and I was thinking of how lovely it would be to take her for a pedicure and lunch, but of course, I can’t. Sigh.

Still missing my dog. I’d love to see her run up and down the path and maybe spin around a few times, then come plop down in front of me with a big goofy smile on her face. I’d even be OK with (though not thrilled) her farting her smelly farts, right about now.

In true springtime fashion, the weather doesn’t know what it wants to do with itself lately. Warm (almost hot…ok, hot) some days, chilly the next. Then again, around here, that could be almost any time of year. At least it’s light later in the evening. I’m thinking of starting up swimming again soon. I love swimming, but it’s so hard to be motivated when it’s cold outside.

Glad it’s Friday. Work has actually been fine, aside from trying learn new stuff without training. The weather is mostly cool enough at night so I can sleep well without the A/C. We’re relaxed and easing into new routine. Maya has her AP Euro test today. This is her first AP class, she’s only a sophomore. Next year she has 2 AP and an honors. Exhausting, I’m sure.

Have a groovy weekend. Go to Mars if you feel like it.

 

Damsels in Distress

Posted in Movies on 04/29/2012 04:23 am by J


The fictional Seven Oaks University has only recently gone co-ed, and the male students are still a bit unclear on the concepts of civility, bathing, and any slightest degree of self awareness. Enter the floral-named trio of Violet, Rose, and Heather, whose stated goal is to improve humanity, one dufus at a time. Rather than wasting their time on the cool, good looking, smart guys, they prefer to find a fixer-upper and strive to bring him somehow up to their almost ivy-league standards. To this mix, we add a new transfer student, Lily.

The girls work at the campus Suicide Prevention Center, working to cure depression and suicidal tendencies one sad-sack at a time, through a combined therapy of talking things to death, and dance. Mostly tap dance, but any dance is ripe for use. They go to frat parties and find guys to ‘fix’, which could be cruel and horrific, if it were not for the fact that, for the most part, the girls are self-aware enough to recognize their own weaknesses and failings.

‘Damsels in Distress’ is either genius or irritating, depending on whether you enjoy the brittle dialog or not. The actors all give perfectly fine performances (esp Greta Gerwig as Violet, the ringleader of the group), but I would say that the dialog is the star of the film. Imagine a world where young adults, even the stupid ones, don’t say, ‘like’ three times in every sentence, and aren’t continuously attached to their phones, checking Facebook and Twitter to see if there’s something they’re missing going on. This reality of our modern age is charmingly missing from ‘Damsels in Distress’, a film where the characters speak in complete sentences, use words that aren’t so big that you need a dictionary, but are not generally heard in day-to-day conversation. It’s a welcome relief from most films today.

But it’s not enough. At the end, I came away thinking it was a strange film, without much of a plot, about a group of neurotic girls trying to fix the world, and thus, somehow, to fix themselves.

 

Tax Day

Posted in Musings on 04/17/2012 04:23 am by J
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Friday Randomness

Posted in Musings on 04/13/2012 08:28 am by J

Friday the 13th
First off, Happy Friday the 13th. I’m not very superstitious, though I’ll admit to a few silly ones. I don’t open an umbrella indoors. I don’t walk under ladders. And I make wishes on white horses. Silly, I know. Anyway, Friday the 13th is a good day in my family. First off, it’s payday (yay!), and secondly, I remember the year my mom got pretty lucky on Friday the 13th.

Jesus
Saw this on Facebook. I don’t know the original source, but I liked it enough to share it here.

 


What’s with the apostrophe s? Who is this SnackWell that owns the company? I’m confused.  Or grumpy.  Or both.

I gave blood last week. Gah, I hate giving blood. It sucks, and it’s uncomfortable for me. But I feel SO good after, like I’ve really done something that makes a difference in people’s lives. So I do it, but only once or twice a year, and I complain about it. Grouse grouse grouse.

Went to see my Grandma last week as well. She’s slowing down, definitely. We went to Marie Callender’s for strawberry pie and coffee. Well, that’s what she and my Great Aunt had. I had a burger.

Made this soup the other day. It’s one of my favorites, especially on a cold, blustery type of day. I use a bag of fresh spinach instead of frozen. Yum.

Speaking of blustery cold, seems like we finally got some winter this week. Rain all week. I love it, especially since I know it will be heating up pretty soon, and I’m not a huge fan of the heat. I hope this rain brings more water to our reservoirs, enough that it’s not SUCH a dry winter. Actually, we got enough rain last year that they said we could do without any at all this year and still be OK. But that seems like a horrid thing that would put us all on rations, so I’m glad for a few April showers.  The HUGE lightning and thunder storm on Thursday night, though, was amazing.  Over 700 lightning strikes.  That picture of the Bay Bridge getting hit?  Only a 20 second exposure.  CRAZY.  Glad we were snug in our house, and not out trying to get somewhere.

Speaking of April Showers, if April Showers bring May Flowers, what do May Flowers bring? Pilgrims. HA! I’ve loved that joke ever since 3rd grade.

Maya’s started swim practice for her summer swim team, and is pretty happy about getting back in the water. Not so happy about having to do it on a cold windy day like yesterday, but next week it might be in the low 70s, so that will be better. I like seeing her swim, and I like the evening walk I take after dropping her off. It’s a win/win.

Oh, Maya and I went to San Francisco one day last week to meet some friends from out of state, and stopped for lunch at Café de la Presse, which we picked simply because it was handy to our destination of China Town.  It was a lovely lunch, with attentive service and delicious food, and it reminded me of when I used to work as a Concierge, and one day a tourist stopped by to thank me for a restaurant recommendation that I had given him, and he said, enthusiastically, “Man, you can’t get a bad meal in this town!”  Well, you can, but you’re much more likely to find yourself getting ignored by the waitress at the local mediocre chain restaurant, ala Olive Garden, Chilis, or Red Lobster out here in the burbs.  I love San Francisco restaurants, because they’re much more likely to have really good quality food with well trained staff.

Sorry if you’re a Facebook friend, because so much of this random little stuff, I’ve already said there.  Boy, blogging is changing, at least for some of us.  I used to post every day.  Sometimes twice a day.  Now, I actually have a few thoughts that I don’t put here, watch shows that I don’t review, eat meals I don’t post, and read books that you don’t know about.  What’s wrong with me?

That’s it for me.  Happy Friday.

 

Milk Vacation

Posted in Musings on 04/09/2012 08:32 pm by J

Milk VacationMy mom liked to say that we were broke, not poor.  The differentiation is that being poor is generational, and most likely lasts at least a lifetime. You come from poor, you’re poor, your kids are poor. Broke, however, means you’re not living up to your economic potential just now, but you may not have been broke last year, and you don’t think you will be next year. It’s temporary. You don’t act poor, you still act like a lady or a gentleman, whatever that means within your family.

Growing up as the child of a single mom, one who loved teaching in private Montessori schools and working for social services, there were many times in my youth when we were broke. There were also times when we weren’t broke, but overall it wasn’t unusual for us to get free lunch at school, and we understood well the concept of waiting for something we wanted (or needed) until the next payday. We also understood about pinching pennies when it came to putting food on the table. Crackers and kool-aid for a snack. Big blocks of discount cheese. Top Ramen. Rice and beans. Generic puffed rice cereal, served with that true signal of being broke, powdered milk. Gah, I hated powdered milk. The anemic blueish tinge. The artificial, fat free flavor. The wateriness. The chalkiness. The feeling of being perhaps not broke, but poor.

I loved milk growing up. I would drink it with every meal if I could, sometimes two or three glasses. Richard didn’t drink milk, but he ate a lot of cereal, sometimes for a meal and other times for a snack, and he liked a lot of milk with that. With two growing kids and not enough money, we often turned to powdered milk, as bitter as that seemed to us at the time. Sometimes, at the beginning of the pay period, we could have half and half…meaning half regular milk, half powdered. But by the end of the month, we were on straight powdered milk again. Ugh.

In 6th grade, our school sent the students to ‘Science Camp’, off in the Santa Cruz mountains. You would go for a week, and camp in cabins with high school seniors as your counselors, with employees of the camp to guide you to the ocean tide pools, out at night to see the stars up close without city pollution, a ring of fairy trees that seemed somehow magical, tall redwoods, twisty cypress trees, creeks and meadows and slugs. It was a wonderful week, for many of us, our first week away from home. This was before Proposition 13 ravaged the California school system, and those of us with parents who were broke or poor could apply for aid, and go along with the rest of the class. (Nowadays, they have to stay behind in a sad group, fully aware of what they’re missing, and loaded down with busy work.) So off I went. I loved every minute of it, loved the tide pools and the stars and the ring of trees. Loved my counselor, who would look the other way when I broke the rules, reading in my sleeping bag with my flashlight, singing songs around the campfire (The cat came back, the very next day…). But perhaps the thing I loved the most, the thing I remember, is the milk.

We would come in to the cafeteria cabin, every meal, fresh from our hikes and adventures, hungry and tired. There was plenty of hot food, as much as you wanted. I never went hungry at home, so this was nice, but not new. But also on the table, all along the middle, were quarts of milk. Real milk. Not powdered. Whole, delicious, creamy milk. And we could drink all that we wanted. I was very careful at first not to take more than one serving, but then one day, I saw the quart empty, and someone just came along with another one, and replaced it. I gathered my courage, and asked, “Can we have seconds on milk if we want to?” “Of course, honey, you can have all of the milk you want.” was the wondrous reply. All I wanted? Even when we weren’t on powdered milk, we were rationed to 1/2 gallon each per week. But now, I could have ALL I WANTED. You cannot imagine. I drank glass after glass, every day, for the rest of the week. It felt so amazing, so wonderful, to have meat whenever we wanted, cereal that wasn’t generic puffed rice, and most of all, all of the regular whole milk I wanted. Not powdered. Not powdered.

I still remember that week so fondly, I remember greedily drinking glass after glass of milk, and looking back, I sometimes wonder what the adults at Science Camp thought…and how common such sights would be. Now, thankfully, though we are by no means wealthy, we can afford to buy milk whenever we run low…and we buy solely from Organic Valley, because it’s local, and most importantly it’s the most delicious milk in our area. Yum.

(Probably no one out there but Ted and me remember the episode of Thirtysomething where Miles Drentel says, “We marry ourselves, Michael…”. Well, sometimes we do. Ted had a milk vacation too.

 

100 Years Ago Today*

Posted in Love, Maya, Musings on 03/29/2012 12:15 am by J

Maya prepping to see "The Hunger Games" with friends...wearing her Mockingjay pin, and sporting her Katniss hairdo. Love this kid.

Today is my darling Maya’s 16th birthday. I can’t believe it’s been 16 years already. Wow. The weekend is going to be full of birthday parties, family and friends and cake and fun. Part of having a daughter, in this time when things have gotten so much better for women than they were in the past, and yet being aware of how far we still have to go (birth control, harassment at work or on the street…why are these still issues? Insane and frustrating.)…part of that is seeing articles like this, and having them cause me to think of her. Of my hopes for her, and my dreams for her, and sadly, my fears as well. For her birthday, though, let’s concentrate on hopes and dreams and conquests made, shall we? 100 years ago today, the date of my daughter’s birth, women first voted in San Francisco. Happy Suffrage, SF women! And Happy Birthday, Maya, my darling daughter, my dream come true.

March 29: The right of suffrage was extended to the women of San Francisco yesterday for the first time, yet there seemed to the observer little out of the ordinary. The women came and took their turn at signing the register, picked up their ballot and entered the booth just about as naturally as did the men. To the election officers there were many new things however. Registrar Zemansky had appointed many women as election officers and their influence in the voting places was plainly evident. In the Twelfth precinct of the Fortieth district Mrs. Rhoda Ringrose, who was an active worker for equal rights, was a judge of elections, and early in the morning she intimated that she did not like the smell of cigar smoke, but did not mind the smell of oranges. The men gave vent to their feelings. “We ought to have some Florida water to sprinkle around here,” said one and there was a chorus of suggestions of sweet-smelling things. The election officers in the Fourth precinct of the Fortieth district, all men, introduced a touch of the feminine. Two of the booths were labeled “For Ladies,” and two other “For men,” while another bore the sign “Take Your Choice.” In the booths “for ladies” were mirrors, vases of flowers, powder puffs and powder, hairpins, napkins, a towel and the walls were covered with pictures. Policemen on guard seemed to evince the greatest measure of curiosity and concern and were studiously polite to the fair suffragists. Said one, “I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as all of us thought. I’m glad to see the ladies vote. Just think that all along, foreigners ignorant of our ways, who could barely sign their names in English were allowed to vote, while these good women were barred out.”
Source ~ SFGate Wayback Machine

* See, I had this post all written, about how Maya’s birthday this year is the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in San Francisco, wow, how awesome…then I proof read the post, and duh, it was reporting about *Yesterday*, meaning, March 28, 1912. I didn’t want to let it go, so even though this isn’t accurate, it stands as originally written. Call me Mike Daisey if you like. Drats.

 

You’re Boring Us…

Posted in Musings on 03/21/2012 07:05 pm by J

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(Title sung to the tune of ‘Notorious’ by Duran Duran)

Ahem. Sorry, my blog is boring the heck out of me. Looking at a picture of orchid buds for weeks on end…whatever. So let’s see if perhaps I can come up with something else to talk about. I fully admit that I’ve posted most of these on Facebook already. But maybe you didn’t see them there, or maybe you’re not on Facebook, or perhaps you’re there, but we’re not friends. What a thought.

Behavior
Saw this chalkboard sentiment, and thought I’d share it here. Really, I couldn’t agree more. Please, live your beliefs. Unless your beliefs happen to SUCK, in which case, at least pretend to be nice.  And I wonder about the phenomenon of taking what you want to say, writing it down somewhere, and then taking a picture of it. Where did that come from? Occupy protesters? Why not just type it yourself?

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What about this frog? I love him. LOVE. (I’ve decided it’s a him, and his name is Kermit. Could I be any more boring?) Watch. Don’t have any liquid in your mouth while watching.

Then there’s this, overheard through the closed door of an apartment door:
Young girl, crying.
Mom: “Why are you crying honey?”
Young girl, still crying: “I poked my eye with a fork!”
Mom: “What? You poked your eye with a fork? Why?”
Young girl, still crying, adamant: “Because I wanted to!!!”


I’m so damn hooked on Downton Abbey, it’s ridiculous. I mean, LOOK AT THOSE DRESSES! They’re gorgeous. Everyone was all panty panty hot and bothered about season 2 when it was on TV, and I hadn’t even been aware of it at all. By the time I really paid any attention, season 2 was almost over. So we watched it on our TV via Netflix download, and we were HOOKED. Pant pant pant. Must have more. So we watched the first season, and then discovered that season 2 wasn’t available on Netflix, and was only on PBS.com for a few more days. What to do? We tried to hurry and watch, but it was frustrating to feel that rushed. So I ordered the DVD from Amazon.com. Very cool, because they have a newish feature where you can stream any movie or show you order the DVD for, for about 30 days. (Probably once for a movie, 30 days for a show.) So we ordered it, and watched on our TV via Amazon, until the DVD showed up. I think we got through the whole series, actually, and only ended up watching the a bit of extras on DVD. But I’m glad we have the DVD, because I can loan it out. Ted’s mom has it now, then his sister, and I’m not sure who after that. Anyway, I LOVE this show. So delicious and well made. If you’ve not been paying attention, please do, and get yourself hooked asap. I’m currently watching season 1 for a second time, because I miss it, and I want to see what I might have missed the first time around.

Maya’s turning 16 next week. How can THAT be? Gah. I don’t feel that old. Then again, I’ve sort of decided to start telling people I’m 50. I’m 46, but I figure I can get 10 years out of being 50. Start now, and people will think I look young for 50. Keep it up until I’m 55, when people will say, “Oh, really?”, the switch to saying I’m 60. Pretty good, huh? Gives me some time to get USED to being 50, too. Anyway, 16…crazy. She’s such a good kid, and we’re so lucky to have her. She’s funny and warm and smart and beautiful. What more could I want? If only she were somehow rich…

My BFF is going to be in town for a few days. Flitting from here to there with family obligations and colleges to visit for her son, but we’ll get some time with them as well. I’m looking forward to it. She’s been my friend since the first day we met, in 9th grade.

We now have a Neiman Marcus in our little burb. OK, it’s not a ‘little’ burb, and it is somewhat of a shopping mecca in these parts. I don’t really care about NM, but the cool thing is that my sisters’ have a friend who they’ve known since pre-school, and she is an artist, and has 8 or 10 of her paintings hanging in the sitting room at the new NM. Awesome, huh? So Ted’s mom and I went to ogle the art and the fashion, and perhaps have lunch in the cafe. Well, the art was beautiful, the clothes lovely and REALLY expensive (saw a Chanel number I liked for $10,000. Yes, that’s right…one dress, $10,000. Made the knit number (also Chanel) next to it seem like a steal at $1,700.), and the cafe had a 1.5 hour wait. For a sandwich. On a Wednesday. Whatever, we bailed on that and went next door to California Pizza Kitchen, where I was dismayed to discover that they’ve taken my favorite pasta off of their menu, but happy to find a NEW favorite, chili relleno. This whole relleno thing is a marvel to me, because the traditional way I’ve always seen it is filled with cheese, battered, and deep fried. This one was a roasted poblano (as opposed to fried), stuffed with chicken, queso cheese, roasted corn & black bean salsa, wild mushrooms, spinach, and eggplant over a Southwestern tortilla sauce. Topped with homemade creamy avocado salsa and cilantro. It was delicious. I make the pasta at home. Not sure if I can manage this one, with all of the sauces involved.

It’s been a month now since we lost our sweet dog. I miss her every single day. The part of me that feels empty wants to fill that place with another dog. The rest of me knows it’s too soon, I’m not ready, Ted’s not ready. But damn, I miss her smile.

Maya’s stoked to see The Hunger Games this weekend. I’ll probably see it, too, but probably not on opening night. I did enjoy the books, though the material seems dark enough to me that it probably should have been rated R. How could they make a ton of money on kids seeing it without their parents, though? So it’s PG-13.

What else…Oh, I’m reading The March by E.L. Doctorow. It’s good, but not as good as Downton Abbey, nor probably Mad Men, which starts up on Sunday. So it’s slow going. But going nonetheless. The Civil War sure captivates, no? Speaking of war, a WWII vet, a bombardier who was there for Normandy, came and talked to Maya’s history class.  He really brought the experience to life for them, talking about being in the air over the troops as they stormed the beach, seeing all of that going on just below…That’s a generation that won’t be around much longer.  He’s probably my Grandma’s age, because he said he joined in ’42, at the age of 19.   Which made me think of my dentist, who as a young boy was held in an internment camp in California for being Japanese.  He’s the last of a certain breed of dentists, conservative and not trying to get you to do unnecessary things so he can pay of his student loans and expensive equipment.  I’m not sure what we’ll do when he retires.  Also made me think of a story my mom used to tell me, about how Richard’s first babysitter’s grandmother lived with them, and she was a very old (maybe 100?) blind woman, born into slavery, who loved helping out by holding the babies. Another generation, gone. Someday our generation will be gone, and I wonder what will be remembered of us?

 

Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Wordless Wednesday on 03/07/2012 04:23 am by J

 

Super Moist Cake

Posted in Family, Recipes on 03/06/2012 08:40 am by J

Happy Birthday Lura cake


Today is my lovely Sister-in-Law Lura’s birthday. Happy Birthday Lura! I hope you’re having a wonderful day today.

This last weekend was her birthday party. Almost all of our family get togethers are a group effort, so that no one has to do all of the cooking. I decided that I wanted to try to bake a cake. The thing is, I’m not much of a baker. Too precise, too worky. I prefer cooking, where there’s more room for mistake and enough grace to fix things if you can. Nonetheless, for some reason, I wanted to make a cake. Partly because Lura loves cake, and partly because I received a tiny bottle of Fiori di Sicilia for Christmas, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to try it. It’s an Italian flavoring, with dominant flavors of orange and vanilla. The instructions say that people don’t really know what they’re tasting, just that your recipe tastes better than when they make it. Who wouldn’t want to try something like that? So, for a cake with a hint of orange and vanilla, I decided on a yellow cake with strawberry puree between the layers, and a buttercream frosting. And I did NOT want a dry cake. I hate dry cake, and it’s so damn common. So I looked online, and got some advice from my Facebook friend (who I know in real life, but haven’t seen in about 20 years), who spent several years as a pastry chef. The online advice was to add fat, and I remember my roommate back in the day used to add an extra egg and some extra oil to his cakes, and they were always delicious and never dry. So I bought a box of yellow cake mix, increased the eggs from 3 to 4, added 1/2 tsp of Fiori di Sicilia, lowered the temp from 325 to 300 (supposed to reduce the dome effect and give you a more even cake), and took it out of the oven the very second that a toothpick came out clean.

Then I left for a few hours, and watched Girl Scouts sell cookies in front of a grocery store. My Girl Scout was home sick, but I’m the ‘cookie mom’ of the troop, so I went anyway. When I came home, my FB friend had given the following excellent advice:

Let the layers cool. Wrap in plastic and put in the fridge. Cool cake is easier to cut. Make a simple syrup (usually one to one water and sugar, but feel free to throw in some vanilla extract, booze, etc.) when you cut the layers, use a pastry brush and soak the cake as you go: layer of cake, brush on the soak, filling, layer of cake, soak, filling…chill after each layer to help set if your filling is soft. For the out side, chill the cake, put on a thin crumb cost of frosting, then put on a thicker layer. Chill each time to help keep the thing solid. Take your time, a decent chianti makes things move along a bit quicker.

(here I asked, should I frost tonight, or in the morning? We’re going to a brunch…)

Frost it tonight to the crumb coat on the outside. Cover in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. In the morning, pull it out and do the final coat, finish it on your platter. It should still be cold enough inside to travel without sliding apart, but be up to room temp when you eat it. Cold cake sucks. You can frost the whole thing if you have a big enough plastic case to keep it in, you also need a ton of room for the override cake box in your fridge. Do you have a cardboard round to put it on to get started? The cardboard makes it easier to move it around as you build, then put a little sticky tape on the bottom when you drop it on the serving platter, it will help to keep it from sliding off. Have fun.

I followed this advice, and it was a delicious, really moist, yummy cake. As a matter of fact, it was SO moist, that the bottom of the cake box was a little wet. I think the bottom layer of the cake was too thin, and the simple syrup soak soaked right through. Also, the strawberry puree I made was very thin. The buttercream frosting was a tiny bit too sweet for me, but I’m not sure how you would fix that, as it’s just butter, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Maybe I needed a bit more milk? It’ll probably be awhile before I make another cake (though Maya’s birthday is later this month, so never say never), so I’ll probably forget all of this advice by then. Good thing I have a blog to remind me, no?

 

Dreaded Day

Posted in Dogs (mostly), Family, Genevieve's Corner, Love on 02/22/2012 04:01 am by J


The dreaded day came and went this week. Gen’s medical conditions got the better of her, and we decided that we didn’t want to keep fixing one thing to just have another pop up. So we put her to sleep on Monday afternoon. We miss her sweet face SO MUCH. She was such a good girl, and we love her so much, and we’re so sad. But we know that she’s not suffering now, and that making sure she didn’t suffer was our responsibility. Damn it.

I keep thinking, I want my dog back. But when I think that, I don’t mean the dog that paced the house for hours at a time, unable to settle down. Not the dog that couldn’t see and spent her time bonking into things. Not the dog who was losing her fur and had a big bump on her back from injections. Not the dog who was beginning to suffer from seizures. I want the dog back in that picture up there. The dog with the big smile on her face who used to run down the stairs to greet us when we came home. The dog who would lick our toes when we went barefoot. Who would spin around and around and dig up the condo complex dirt when she was excited. The dog who went for long walks with me and slept by our beds. That’s the dog I want back. Goodbye sweet baby girl. We miss you horribly.

(Ted wrote a lovely post, with a nice picture montage that shows what a pretty girl she was, here.)

 

Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops

Posted in Holidays, Recipes on 02/19/2012 04:23 am by J

Valentine's Day Dinner
I went looking for Valentine’s Day recipes last week, and I found a delicious looking recipe for lamb with some kind of jammy sauce on Food Network. I remembered a few months ago that Ted’s mom and I went to an event at Elizabeth Spencer Winery, they had an appetizer of lamb chops in a pomegranate jelly sauce that was absolutely delicious. So I decided to make it, but instead of buying a special black cherry jam, I used leftover blackberry/pomegranate jam from the amazing Christmas cookies I made a few months ago. Results? de-li-cious. If you like lamb, this is a wonderful dish. The risotto that went with it was lovely. Not the best I’ve ever had, but not gloppy, which sometimes happens when I try to make risotto. It was a lovely dinner. Like the brownie with a little powdered sugar heart for dessert? Yummy also.

Recipe by Rachael Ray, found here.

Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops with Sweet Pea Risotto
Ingredients

1 quart chicken stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus some for drizzling
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup peas, defrosted
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves, plus a few sprigs for garnish (I omitted the mint and parsley, though I did buy them. Lame.)
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4 loin lamb chops, each 1 1/2 inches thick
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup black cherry all fruit preserves (or blackberry/pomegranate jam, whatever floats your boat)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper, eyeball it in your palm
Salt

Directions

Place the stock in a small pot and warm it up over medium low heat.

Place an oven rack 8 inches from broiler and preheat broiler to high.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 turn of the pan, with a tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add onions and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes the add Arborio and cook a minute more. Add wine and cook it all away, 1 minute. Add a few ladles of warm broth and let that cook off, stirring occasionally. The risotto will take 22 minutes to cook. Add a ladle of broth from time to time until risotto is starchy, creamy and cooked to al dente. Add peas about 2 minutes before serving. Add in cheese, chopped mint and parsley just before serving.

When the risotto is half-cooked, 10 minutes from being done, drizzle the chops with extra-virgin olive oil and arrange on a slotted broiler plan. Place chops in oven under hot broiler and cook 8 to 10 minutes for medium rare. Place a tiny pan on the stove over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and shallots to the pan. Cook shallots 2 minutes then add the preserves and whisk them together with balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Heat to a bubble then remove from heat and add remaining pat of butter. Whisk butter into sauce.

Season the risotto with salt to taste. Place a generous serving of risotto into shallow dinner plates. Arrange 2 chops on each plate alongside the risotto and drizzle the black cherry pepper glaze over the chops and garnish plates with extra sprigs of mint.

 

Baked Spaghetti Squash

Posted in Recipes on 02/15/2012 04:23 am by J

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This is a recipe I found on Yahoo Shine, which they got from Better Homes and Gardens.  It’s sort of like a lasagna in that it’s baked, and sort of like a spaghetti in the taste.  Like lasagna, there is some layering involved.  Unlike lasagna, there’s no ricotta type cheese involved.  Maya’s not a fan of lasagna, never liked it much and then had it when sick with stomach flu, and has never recovered.   She likes this dish, though, and Ted and I love it.  It’s yummy, warm and gooey and still pretty full of nutrition. I found the recipe here.

Baked Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash (2-1/4 lb.)
12 oz. bulk Italian sausage
1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium green or red sweet pepper, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 4-1/4-oz. can chopped pitted ripe olives (optional)
1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1-1/2 cups purchased red pasta sauce
1-1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or Italian blend cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh Italian parsley

Directions

Halve squash crosswise; remove seeds. Place cut sides down in 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover with vented plastic wrap. Microcook on high power 13 to 15 minutes or until squash is tender when pierced with fork; rearrange once for even baking. In a large skillet cook sausage, mushrooms, sweet pepper, onion, and garlic over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; stir to break up sausage. Drain off fat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scrape pulp from squash (about 3 cups). Wipe out baking dish; coat with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half the squash in dish. Add half the sausage mixture and half the olives. Sprinkle with seasoning and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Top with half the sauce and half the cheese. Top with remaining squash, sausage, olives, and sauce. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

 

Speedy Black Bean Enchiladas

Posted in Recipes on 02/13/2012 04:23 am by J

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Years ago, we received a cookbook from the Sargento cheese company, and there are a few recipes that are fall backs for us.  One is the Soft Shell Chicken Tacos, and another is the Speedy Black Bean ‘n’ Cheese Burritos.  The only thing I mind about the burritos is that, because they’re baked, sometimes the tortillas get kind of dried out.  So I decided to make a quick and easy version of my favorite Black Bean Enchilada recipe.  First, I started with the Burrito recipe, for the filling.

Speedy Black Bean ‘n’ Cheese Burritos
Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 jar (12 oz.) salsa, divided
  • 1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
  • 2 cups (8 oz.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided
  • 8 (7-inch) flour tortillas
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup sliced black olives
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; add onions and garlic, cook 2 minutes. Stir in beans, 1/4 cup salsa and chili powder; cook 3 minutes; remove from heat. Stir in 1-1/2 cups cheese.
  2. Spread 1/3 cup bean mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up; place seam-side down in greased 11×9-inch baking dish. Spoon remaining salsa evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in preheated 400°F oven 15 minutes or until hot. Garnish with sour cream, olives and cilantro.

IMG_0976
Here’s how the chili looks at the end of step 1. Yummy. Notice the gorgeous Le Creuset casserole dish that I got for my birthday. YAY! I LOVE IT. Works well on the stove, in the oven, whenever, wherever. I pink puffy heart my Le Creuset pieces.

Anyway, after you roll up the burritos and line them nicely in your lovely Le Creuset baking dish that you got for Christmas (!!!), you then cover them with your favorite enchilada sauce. You could make one from scratch, you could use red or green, whatever. This is a quick dish, so I used a canned green sauce, which I prefer to the red. Then top with cheese and cover with foil. Bake in 400 degree oven until hot and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Garnish with your favorite yummys, like sour cream, cilantro, avocado, olives, whatever floats your boat. Delicious.
IMG_0973

 

Friday Randomness

Posted in Friday Randomness, Musings on 02/10/2012 04:23 am by J

(Lovely painting of our local mountain, Mt. Diablo, by Mary Lou Correia, found here)

The weather here in Sunny California has been, well, mostly Bright and Sunny, so I’ve been taking a lot of walks. Often I walk along the bike trail to the grocery store, pick up a few things, and walk home. It’s 3 or 4 miles round trip, I think. One thing I’ve noticed on the trail is little plastic bags full of dog poop. At least, I ASSUME that’s what they’re full of….I don’t open them and check. But they’re the little bags that are dispensed periodically along the trail, often next to a garbage can, encouraging people to clean up after their dogs. So my question is, why in the hell would you leave a bag of dog poop on the side of the trail? Who do you think is going to clean that up? Why are you such an inconsiderate pig? Grrr.

The Republican primaries are interesting, no? At this point we’ve had Gingrich win a few, Romney win a few, and Santorum win a few. It’s worse than the Obama/Clinton primaries in ’08. I wonder how long it will take for them to decide? And as a liberal Democrat, I felt like when we were choosing between Clinton and Obama, we had two pretty decent choices. They’re both pretty darned moderate, and neither as left leaning as I would prefer, but at least they seemed like they would know what they’re doing. I wonder how Republicans feel about their options this year? I heard a Republican comedian, PJ O’Rourke, say something akin to, ‘all of the good Varsity team were out sick when the draft was going on, so now we’re stuck with these bozos’. I don’t know if that’s a common feeling in the party, or if my Republican friends might feel like they could get behind and support whomever comes out the winner. And if so, is it just to beat Obama, or is it because you really like their policies? If it’s just to beat Obama, I can sympathize. Because while I genuinely liked Obama and Clinton in ’08, I think I would have voted for just about ANYONE before letting Bush have another term. (I do know that Bush wasn’t up for another term…I’m just saying that I hated having him as a President THAT MUCH).

Genevieve has a UTI, and the anti-biotics that the vet gave her made her so nauseous that she threw up and wouldn’t eat. So now guess who learned to give her a shot of anti-biotics? That’s right, I did! YAY me! It was actually kind of interesting and very easy.

Do you ever miss your college days, or wish you had gone? Did you know that you can download lectures on iTunes U? I didn’t, until Ted told me about a really great class he was listening to on The Civil War. If you’re at all so inclined, it’s under ‘Open Yale Courses’, and the class is titled ‘The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877′, taught by Professor David Blight. It’s fascinating, and the professor is made for audio. He doesn’t um and ah, and he has a great radio voice. I’ve learned a lot in the class, though surely not as much as if I were reading along with the student, and taking notes in class. But it’s well worth your time if you find yourself in the car looking for a good diversion, and maybe want to learn something. Ted downloaded it, so I’m not sure how you go about doing that part. He’s tried a few other classes that he didn’t think were worthwhile, but this one is a keeper.

Guess what I did the other night while my curried shrimp sauce was simmering on the stove? I organized my spices. I cleaned that stupid cupboard out, and threw away the things that I never use, like seasoned salt, allspice, pumpkin pie spice. Also, we had a ton of duplicates, so I looked at those and tried to figure them out. Keep both? Toss one? Combine? I know, it’s not amazing or anything, but it made me happy to think that I might actually be able to find something when I want it. My mother (who always had her spices alphabetized and would have been HORRIFIED at the state of my spice cupboard) would be proud.
Gavin & Stacey
Looking for something to watch on DVD, aka, Netflix? Ted and I got completely hooked on ‘Gavin & Stacey‘ a couple of years ago. LOVED it. So darned charming, so darned funny. But only Season 1 was available at the time, so I put Season 2 in our queue, and forgot about it. Then at some point our queue got empty, and so I cancelled the disc service, and forgot about poor G & S. Well, this last December, Maya decided she wanted to watch a DVD that they saw in her European History class, and the only place we could find it was Netflix. So we turned the disc feature back on, which encouraged me to look at our queue, which encouraged me bump G & S back to the top of the queue, and we got HOOKED again, and couldn’t stop ourselves. The thing about G & S is that while the ‘main characters’, Gavin and Stacey, are charming and sweet and young and lovely, their sidekicks, Smithy and Nessa (played by James Corden and Ruth Jones, who are the writers) are the real heart of the show. LOVE them. Also, Gavin’s parents are hilarious, and Stacey’s uncle is great. Really, you will love this show. You can watch season 1 on Netflix right away, and see how you feel. Seasons 2 and 3 are only on DVD. They’re honestly really worth paying for the DVD service for a month if you so desire. Netflix will let you do that. Just join and cancel whenever you want. See if you find yourself saying, “OH!” and “What’s occurrin’?”

Are you a George Clooney fan? He was on NPR’s All Things Considered yesterday. You can hear the interview, here. He has some interesting points about aging on camera for all the world to see, and being famous. And if he wants to shake your hand and say hello? Put down your stupid cell phone camera and be in the moment. Good advice in a lot of circumstances, I think (though I love my camera).

This weekend is giving blood (blech) and picking up girl scout cookies (I like the yummy lemon ones this year) and borrowing snow clothes from Maya’s cousin for a trip to Tahoe over Presidents’ Day weekend. Also? Some exercise and walks and naps and who knows what else.

 
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