Good Book

Posted in Books, Culture, Read'N'Review Challenge on 09/01/2010 04:23 am by J

Good Book

I heard about David Plotz’s “Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible” on To the Best of Our Knowledge, and it sounded like an interesting read.  The premise is that Plotz was at his cousin’s Bat Mitzvah, and it was a long one, and he got bored, so he picked up the Bible and started reading.  He opened randomly to the story of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, who was raped by a young man from a neighboring town, who then wishes to marry her.   He and his idol-worshiping father go to Jacob to ask for Dinah’s hand.  Jacob’s sons agree, as long as all of the men of the town agree to be circumcised.  They agree, and on the third day following the circumcision, when they are helpless due to pain, Dinah’s brothers swoop in and murder all of the men, plunder the town, and take the women and children as slaves.  Wow.

I knew about this story, but not from reading the bible.  I had read The Red Tent several years ago, which I LOVED.  But Plotz had not, and his thought was that if there was this interesting and amazing story that he hadn’t heard of in Bible Study, what else might he have missed?  So he decided to go back and read the entire Old Testament, and chronicle his findings on Slate, where he is editor.

Being a devout atheist, I also am woefully ignorant of the contents of the Bible.  I took a class called “Bible as Literature” when I was in college, and I loved it, but the writing is dense and old enough that I could never really stick with reading the Bible on my own.  So the idea of a cliff notes, somewhat lighthearted reading sounded very appealing to me.  And appealing it is.  Here’s an example, from The Book of Leviticus, chapters 8 – 10.

Here’s an episode they probably skip at your church.  God, who’s been uncharacteristically quiet for the first chapters of Leviticus, returns with a vengeance.  Moses ordains Aaron a priest – the ordination requires dabbing blood on “the ridge of Aaron’s right ear,” on his right thumb, and on his right big toe.  Soon afterward, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, who are also priests, offer incense to the Lord.  But rather than the prescribed incense, they give God “alien fire.”  Boom! God incinerates them on the spot.  More like a drug lord than a prophet, Moses tells Aaron his sons got what they deserved, and orders some cousins to drag the bodies away and drop them outside the camp.  All they did was burn the wrong incense!  Is the Lord really that petty?  But maybe there’s an important lesson here:  The rituals that seem so picayune and random really matter.  A few verses later, God lectures Aaron: “You must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, between the impure and the pure; and you must teach the Israelites all the law which the Lord has imparted to them through Moses.”  In other words, God seems to be saying that the deaths were not the merciless act of  vindictive deity.  They were a warning to mind the details.

It was interesting to me to see the progress of attitudes through the books of the Bible, from this God who seems perfectly willing to smite people for any infraction, and a people who not only vanquish their enemies, they revel in the violence, to the last chapters, which appear to be more like what is coming in the New Testament, the apocalyptic stories and warnings, talk of Heaven, and precursors to the story of Jesus and some of his teachings. The Bible is such a fundamental book in our culture, and has had such a profound effect on so many aspects of life, that I have often felt that I had a large hole in my education. I’m not saying that reading this book filled me in as well as reading the real thing, but I do feel like I understand The Old Testament, and also some of the culture of Jesus’s time, a bit better.

I wish that Plotz had done the same with the New Testament. I think he’s leaving that to a casual Christian somewhere.

 

Firecracker Salmon

Posted in Recipes on 08/31/2010 04:23 am by J


Back when my mom was in the hospital in Anchorage, One day I found myself looking for lunch outside of the hospital, and landed at a TGI Friday’s. There’s probably nothing wrong with TGI Friday’s, but it’s not a place that is really on my radar when I think of a place to go. But I had a really yummy dish called Dragonfire Salmon, which I enjoyed with a glass of wine before walking back to the hospital in the balmy February Alaska weather. It was nice.

Enter Facebook, where I ‘like’ Barbecue & Grilling at About.com, because Ted’s cousin writes for them. He posted some grilled salmon recipes, one of which was called ‘Firecracker Salmon‘, which sounded a lot like Dragonfire Salmon to me, so I thought I’d give it a try. The problem with cooking fish on the grill is that it often sticks, unless your grill is pristine, HOT, and oiled. We keep ours clean, but I don’t know that I’d call it pristine. Also, salmon is expensive in these parts, so I don’t want to risk it sticking to the grill. Enter America’s Test Kitchen, which has a different recipe where they grill the fish on top of a tray made out of foil, coated with cooking spray. It worked well with their recipe, so I thought I’d try it for this one.

The result was delicious! Big hit around here. Yes, the salmon was expensive. But not one bite went to waste, so it was worth it. I had thought about making a pineapple salsa to top it with, which is what they did at TGI Friday’s, but instead, I took the leftover marinade and put it in a little pan on the stove, boiled it to kill any bacteria, and added about a tablespoon of butter to make it yummier. Really good. I’m thinking this would be delicious with chicken as well, and I expect to be finding out sometime soon.

FIRECRACKER SALMON
Ingredients:

  • 4 6-ounce salmon steaks or fillets
  • 1/4 cup peanut oil
  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon chopped green onions
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3/4 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except the salmon. Place salmon in a large resealable bag (or two). Pour marinade mixture over top. Force all the air from the bag and seal. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 1 to 2 hours. Preheat grill. Remove fish from bag and place on a hot grill*. Brush with some of the marinade and discard the rest**. Cook over a high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Time might vary because of the thickness of the fish. When salmon flakes easily an is a consistent color and texture through the middle remove from grill and serve.

* This is where I made a foil tray, coated it with cooking spray, and used that to cook the salmon. As you can see in the picture, the grill marks come through the foil perfectly.
** Rather than discarding the rest of the marinade, I cooked it on the stove, and added some butter. Really good sauce for the salmon.

 

Fresh Summer Tomato Sauce

Posted in Recipes on 08/25/2010 04:23 am by J

This has been a ridiculously cool summer here in Northern California. While the rest of the country swelters and bakes, it’s been unseasonably cold, with foggy nights, and many foggy days as well. I’m not complaining, because I love cool foggy weather, and besides, I suspect those of you melting back east would probably put a hit out for me if I did.

So it was quite a shock to the system yesterday when the sun came out full force and decided that it really is actually August. It was either 98 or 104 yesterday, depending on whom you trust. It’s 101 outside right now, and it’s not quite 3:00 in the afternoon, which means that it will probably get up to about 105 by 5:00. (Supposed to cool off to the 70s by Friday, they’re saying.) (UPDATE: It got to 105 or 111, again depending on who you believe…Yahoo said 105, the newspaper this morning says it was 111??? Anyway, it killed our a/c, so I don’t know how we’re going to get through today…) On days like today, even though we have the a/c going and it’s a comfortable 78 downstairs (not sure how warm it is up here, though it’s certainly hotter than down there), I like to make quick, easy meals that won’t heat up the kitchen and make the a/c work overtime. One dish that’s perfect for hot evenings is this fresh tomato sauce over pasta. Yes, I’ll have to heat up the stove long enough to cook the pasta, but that doesn’t take long, so it’s OK.

This recipe comes from my trustworthy New Basics Cookbook, of which I clearly need a new copy. The binding on mine has broken in several places, and I discovered to my dismay that the first 160 pages are missing. That’s not OK people. NOT. Thank goodness for the old Internets, and even Google Books, where you can see the exact page of the recipe you’re looking for. Maybe I don’t need another copy after all?

The key to the recipe, since it is a raw sauce, is to use the best ingredients you can find. You could use tomatoes from the grocery store, but if you’re going to do that, just buy a bottle of Ragu or something. Seriously. This is for the really good tomatoes from your garden or Farmers’ Market. The Parmigiano-Reggiano that you grate yourself, not the green can. Good olive oil. Kosher salt. I think you’re getting the idea. The great thing about this sauce is that it just sits all day on the counter (covered in case a fly has come in from the heat), and you toss it with pasta when you’re ready, and serve. So you can do the blanching of tomatoes and the chopping in the cool of the morning, rather than when you’re cranky because of the heat. I really like the ease and simplicity of this dish. Make a salad with it if you wish, or just have some wine and figure that the tomatoes in the dish are veggies enough. Whichever way you roll.

Fresh Summer Tomato Sauce
Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook*
2 large ripe tomatoes **
4 T olive oil
1/4 C chopped basil leaves
1/8 C chopped parsley ***
1/4 C chopped scallions (green onions)
1 T chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to garnish

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and blanch the tomatoes in the water for 30 seconds, then
plunge into cold water to stop the cooking. Drain tomatoes and peel them.

Cut tomatoes in half, core and seed them, draining off as much of the juice as possible. Dice the remaining pulp.

Combine the diced tomatoes with 1 T of olive oil, in a mixing bowl. Add all the remaining
ingredients, except the Parmesan and olive oil****, and toss to blend. If not using the same day, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before tossing with hot pasta.

To serve, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and toss with hot pasta. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Makes 2 cups

* click the link to see the actual page of the cookbook. Thanks, Google Books!
** Two tomatoes? Unless they’re HUGE, that’s not enough for me. I used 4 medium tomatoes, and some small ones that were getting pretty ripe. I buy in largish quantities at the Farmers’ Market, so I still have plenty left for salad or whatever.
***I didn’t look at the recipe when I went to the store this morning, and it’s too hot to go out now, so I didn’t realize that we don’t have any fresh oregano or parsley in the house. Should have planted that herb garden, I guess. I used a tiny pinch of dried oregano, and ignored the parsley. It was delicious just the same.
**** The recipe doesn’t say ‘and olive oil’, so I added the rest of the olive oil at this step, rather than at the end. It’s OK, but I thought I would clarify for you in case it makes some difference for some reason.

 

Skin Care Products

Posted in Culture, Musings on 08/24/2010 04:23 am by J

Skin Care

(Image found here. I did a search for ‘skin care’, and I was so horrified by what I found, that I couldn’t do anything but take a generic looking graphic. What was so offensive? Dozens, hundreds really, of pictures of white, mostly blonde, women in their 20s. One black woman, also in her 20s. One white man, also in his 20s. Skin care in your 20s is sunblock and zit creme. Totally not what I’m talking about here, in my mid-40s.)

In your teens, your beauty regimen is all about nice hair and what color of eye shadow matches your top.  But as you get older, it turns into skin care. As I inch up into my mid-40s, I haven’t been thrilled with my skin. Wrinkles are creeping across my face, my complexion looks a little dull, and dare I say it, things are starting to sag a bit. I’ve been taking decent care of my skin for awhile, so this is frustrating. If you’ve ever gone to the make-up counter at a department store, you know that some of these products can cost a LOT. Like >$200. Easily. And that’s for one part of a 3 or 4 part ‘system’.  Ugh.  I’m not rich.  Not even close.  So, when I read this article in Oprah magazine at the doctor’s office, I was happy to read the tips. The article is annoying on the website, with all the clicking from one product to the next and so on, but it seemed like good information.

Since the online version of the article is kind of annoying, I’ll list the items here, along with their suggestions, then I’ll tell you what I decided on, and why.  I love how they give both high end and lower end versions, so you can see the difference in price.

The essential products, and then the optional extras, that you need (according to Oprah Magazine), along with suggestions and prices, are:

  • Moisturizer with Sunscreen – Great Bets: Aveeno Positively Ageless + Antioxidants SPF 42 ($20; drugstores); Clinique Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense Moisturizer Very Dry to Dry ($43; Clinique.com).
  • Moisturizer with Retinol – Great Bets: Vichy LiftActiv Retinol HA Night ($42; VichyUSA.com); Dermadoctor Poetry in Lotion ($75; Sephora.com).
  • Body Moisturizer – Great Bets: Eucerin Daily Skin Balance Skin-Fortifying Body Lotion ($10; drugstores; Nivea Happy Sensation Body Lotion ($6; drugstores).
  • Concealer – Great Bets: Clé de Peau Beauté Concealer ($70; department stores); CoverGirl Smoothers Concealer ($6.50; drugstores).
  • Lip Balm – Great Bets: Burt’s Bees Medicated Lip Balm ($4; drugstores); Yes to Carrots C Me Smile Lip Butter ($4; Walgreens).
  • Lip Color – Great Bets: Maybelline New York Shine Sensational Lip Gloss in Cherry Bloom ($6; drugstores); Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lipstick in Stay Cranberry ($22; EsteeLauder.com).
  • Blush – Great Bets: Revlon Cream Blush ($10; drugstores); Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Cream Blush ($24; ElizabethArden.com).
  • Mascara – Great Bets: Rimmel Max Volume Flash Mascara ($7; drugstores); Lancome Hypnse Drama ($25, Lancome-USA.com).
  • Eyelash Curler – Great Bets: E.L.F. Studio Eyelash Curler ($3; EyesLipsFace.com); Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler ($19; ShuUemura-USA.com).

Extras:

  • Exfoliator – They recommend Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Exfoliating Cream ($75; Sephora.com ); C.O. Bigelow Lemon & Orange Blossom Moisture-Rich Body Scrub ($15; BathandBodyWorks.com ).
  • Eye Cream – Great Bets: RoC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream ($22; drugstores); Philosophy Eye Hope Advanced Anti-Aging Eye Cream ($48; Sephora.com ).
  • Tinted moisturizer or foundation -  Great Bets: Sonia Kashuk Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 ($13; Target); Sephora Perfecting Tinted Moisturizer ($21; Sephora.com )
  • Eyeliner – Great Bets: Avon Glimmersticks Diamonds Eye Liner in Brown Sugar ($6; Avon.com ); MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy ($14.50; MacCosmetics.com ).
  • Bronzer – Great Bets: Jane Iredale So-Bronze 3 ($41; JaneIredaleDirect.com ); Physicians Formula Healthy Wear SPF 50 Pressed Bronzer ($15; drugstores).
  • Self Tanner - Great Bets: Clarins Self-Tanning Instant Gel ($32; Clarins.com ); Jergens Natural Glow Revitalizing Daily Moisturizer ($9; drugstores).
  • Deep Conditioner (for your hair) – Great Bets: Nexxus Humectress Hydrating Treatment ($15; drugstores); Kiehl’s Olive Fruit Oil Deeply Reparative Hair ($26; Kiehls.com ).
  • Teeth Whitening Strips – Great Bets: Rembrandt Whitening Strips ($24; drugstores); Listerine Whitening Quick Dissolving Strips ($15; Drugstore.com ).

So…what have I done, and has it worked? Well, I bought or already had the essentials. Moisturizer with sunscreen, I have a sample of a Clinique version, and my foundation also has sunscreen. I confess to walking in the mornings without any sunscreen on my face. The sun isn’t very high in the sky, and for some reason, it just makes me feel good. Maybe it’s the vitamin D? But the rest of the time, I have either the moisturizer or the foundation, or both.

Moisturizer with Retinol. I bought the Vichy product, and I really like it. They have it at CVS. It isn’t cheap, but compared to the stuff at Macy’s or Sehpora, it’s not bad.

Body Moisturizer, I don’t think this matters. Use one. I use Olay Total Effects 7-in-1, which I really, really like, but I would also say that it will clog up your razor if you use it as a combo wash and shaving product. Not good for the shaving. But it’s great for the skin. I also use Eucerin, but not the Daily Skin Balance.

Lip Balm. Chapstick is fine. Or Vaseline, which is probably better for your lips.

Concealer. I got the CoverGirl, and it’s fine. Don’t love it, but it’s fine. I’ve never been a huge fan of the concealer.

Lip Color. Mostly I can’t be bothered. But when I do use it, I use the ones that I get for free with a purchase at the department store, when I buy my foundation, which is not cheapo stuff.

Blush. Again, I use what’s free.

Mascara. That’s a biggie for me. My lashes are blonde and sparse. I have always been hooked on the definition and lengthening properties, not the thickening properties. I bought some Rimmel, which I really like. I got some Lancome for free with my foundation purchase, and it’s even better. I hate when spending more makes things better.

Which reminds me of the other product I really like, that isn’t mentioned. Collagen filler for the wrinkles. I have the free gift, from Lancome, and I’ve bought the Loreal version, which is OK, but not as good.

Eyelash curler. Very good.

When it comes to the extras, I use the RoC Retinol eye cream, which I like. Also, a tooth whitener. Sadly, I have sensitive teeth, so I used a sensitive teeth formula, which is not as effective as the regular stuff. Not sure I saw any improvement.

So, that’s it. Not a ringing endorsement, but I will say that since I’ve been using these products, I’ve been happier with my skin. Not so dull. Not quite as wrinkly. Not much better, but some better. Which makes me think, um, the 50s will probably be even worse for the skin. Sigh.

 

Cooking With Jacques and Julia

Posted in Recipes on 08/23/2010 04:23 am by J

Julia and Jacques

We pay way too much for cable around here.  The thing that keeps me from cutting back and giving most of it up to bring our payments down is On Demand.  We don’t have a DVR, so On Demand and the Netflix feature on our XBox Live are the closest we can get.  One thing I like to watch on On Demand is the cooking/food shows on our local PBS stations, including Jacques and Julia.  I liked this show a lot when it was originally on, and I have the cookbook.  Even though I have all of the recipes, it’s fun to see how they come together on TV vs. the cookbook.

A few weeks ago, I saw an episode where they prepared salmon in several ways, with several sauces and side dishes.  I took it as my inspiration and made a lovely dinner that combined our personal favorites from what I saw.  I took the general method for the salmon, combined it with Julia’s sauce, and then added the side dishes.  Here they are from the book, then I’ll tell you what I changed.

Jacques’s Salmon Fillet Sauteed on Its Skin
serves one

Ingredients
One 6 to 8 ounce salmon fillet, skin on, scaled
1/8 tsp salt or more
2 tsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup (loosely packed) very thin slivers of onion, about an inch long
1 to 2 tsp capers, drained
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf-parsley, for garnish

Special equipment
An 8 or 9 inch non-stick frying pan or saute pan with a tight-fitting cover

Set the pan over high heat for a minute, until quite hot.  Season both sides of the fillet with the salt and lay it skin side down in the dry pan.  The skin will shrink on contact with the heat.

Cover the pan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes at medium-high heat, depending on the thickness of the fillet.  Test for doneness by piercing the top with a sharp knife: the outside will flake but the center should still be rare and slightly translucent; the skin will be very crisp.  Cook longer for a better-done fillet.

With a long spatula, lift the fillet and flip it onto a dinner plate, with the cooked skin on top.  Wipe out the pan with paper towels to remove the fat released by the salmon, and add the butter.  As it melts, saute the onion slivers for 1/2 minute or so.  Add the capers and saute briefly, tossing them with the onions, then swirl in the lemon juice, heating it for just a few seconds.  Pour the sizzling garnish over the fillet, sprinkle on the chopped parsley, and serve immediately.

Rather than using the caper/parsley garnish, I decided to use the beurre blanc that Julia made on the episode. My cookbook said it should be thick, sort of like a hollandaise, but on the show, it looked more like melted butter and lemon, which was how mine turned out.  Whatever it’s called, however it looked, it was delicious.

Julia’s Beurre Blanc
serves two

Ingredients
2 tsp lemon juice
4 or 5 tbs room-temperature butter, in tablespoon-sized pieces
salt and pepper
drops of lemon juice

Set the saucepan over medium heat, add the lemon juice, and pick up a tablespoon-sized lump of butter with a tip of a whisk, and rapidly whip it into the hot liquid. As soon as the butter is nearly absorbed, whisk in 3 more lumps of butter, one at a time, incorporating each completely before adding the next and keeping the liquid at a gentle boil.

When the butter has all been incorporated, taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper and lemon juice to taste. Remove from the heat.

Pour this yummy delicious butter sauce over your salmon. My salmon burned a bit on the skin side, so we just separated the salmon from the skin and discarded it. Not sure I want to eat salmon skin anyway, though I’m sure it’s packed full of nutrients. In the episode, they served one of their salmon dishes (though not this one), with sauteed snow peas and small tomatoes. YUM, especially this time of year, so I made them. The peas were fine, but actually, perhaps it’s a bit late in summer for them. The tomatoes were excellent. I got them at the farmers’ market, though, not the grocery store. That probably helps.

Sauteed Snow Peas
serves two

Ingredients
1 tbs butter or olive oil, or a combination
3 tbs finely chopped onions, shallots, or scallions
1/2 lb snow peas, strings removed
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter and/or oil in a frying pan, until the butter foam is subsiding. Add the onions or shallots and cook for about 1/2 minute to soften, then add the peas and toss several minutes, until bright green. Sprinkle with a big pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper and saute for a few seconds more, tossing and tasting, until the peas are cooked through but still slightly crunchy to the bite. Serve immediately.

OK, reading this, I just noticed the onions, shallots, scallions, which I didn’t include, and I realized that I didn’t remove the strings. They were kind of tough.

Sauteed Small Tomatoes
serves two

Ingredients
1 tbs butter or olive oil, or a combination
About 2 cups cherry or small pear tomatoes (red and yellow if available)
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced crosswise
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter and/or oil in a frying pan, over medium-high heat. When the butter foam is subsiding, turn in the tomatoes, toss and roll them in the butter, and saute for about a minute. Then add the garlic slices, season with a big pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes are warmed through and soft but still holding their shape. Serve at once.

I didn’t vary this recipe at all, and it was lovely and a blessing to everyone who loves tomatoes, especially the luscious kind you get at the farmers’ market in August and September around here. Hopefully where you live as well.

 

One Wedding, Three Babies, and a Funeral

Posted in Family, Love, Mom, Musings, Thankful Thoughts on 08/18/2010 04:23 am by J

Circle of Life
(artwork by Amanda Dagg, found here)

Keep beckoning to me,
From behind that closed door,
The maiden, the mother, and the crone that’s grown old.
I hear your voice,
coming out of that hole.
I listen to you,
and I want some more.
I listen to you,
and I want some more.

She will always carry on.
Something is lost, something is found.
They will keep on speaking her name,
Some things changed, some stay the same.
~The Pretenders, Hymn to Her

That whole ‘circle of life’ thing is much on my mind these last few days. On Friday, I heard from my dear friend Janet that her father had died. He fought a long and courageous battle with cancer. Cancer won. Janet once told me that it didn’t seem fair that we, who both have young parents, should be going through this so soon. I agree wholeheartedly. When I first met Janet, we were going to school at the Junior College in my hometown, and she was living with her dad in a neighboring town. She seemed so worldly to me, having tested out of high school to model in San Francisco and London, after several years of ballet. She was now ready to settle down and do the school thing. I used to love to go to her house after school, watch dumb TV, and have grilled cheese sandwiches. Sometimes we’d go to our friend Katie’s house, because Katie had a pool. Janet’s dad would come home in the evening, and Janet would cook dinner. If I didn’t have to work that evening, I was always welcome to stay. She went on to Berkeley, I went on to SFState, and we vetted each others boyfriends, etc.  Her father was a kind and fairly quiet man, but always very strong and opinionated, always there for his daughters. I will always remember the look of love in his eyes when he shooed me and the other bridesmaids out of the room so he could have a private word with his daughter before he walked her down the aisle. She and her sister, and her step mom, will miss him terribly. He was a good man. I’ll go and pay my respects to him on Thursday at his funeral, and be there with my friend.

The day after I heard about Janet’s father, we went to Half Moon Bay to attend a wedding for some much younger friends, Ramzi and Katrina. I think they’re 27ish, which is the age Ted and I were when we married, 17 years ago. (I’ll give you a second while you add up and figure out my age. Done? Yes, I’m 44.) It was a lovely ceremony, though I did forget to turn off my phone, which rang right in the middle. Ooops. Ramzi is this tall, kinda goofy, laid back guy. He’s so mellow, just wants to relax and have a good time. He recently graduated with his Master’s Degree, and was hired as a school counselor in a neighboring town. A wonderful job for a man with a big heart. Katrina is a bundle of energy. She could not contain her joy or her energy during the ceremony, and looked like she was about to jump out of her skin. She’s always like that. She had a big happy smile on her face, and was bouncing up and down, sort of like maybe she had to go to the bathroom. It was a wonderful wedding, and a fun reception, though seeing all those young-uns doing their mid-20s dances made me miss my own friends from that time, and how we used to go out dancing and having fun. They’re all far away now, and besides, we’re at a different stage in our lives. The idea of leaving a reception before it ended back then would have been insane. Free booze? Dancing all night? Partying with your friends? What could be better? But we didn’t drink much, enjoyed a dance or two, and then came home to sleep in our own bed.

And the babies, the most joyous part of the circle of life. Cherry had her baby 3 1/2 months ago, and she’s growing so quickly, smiling and laughing and doing all of those terribly cute things that babies do. Oddly enough, it doesn’t make me want to have another baby. Just makes me want to hold Cherry’s baby, and look at old video of when Maya was a baby, and hold her tight now when she’ll let me. Tracy is now a mom, though separated from her babies by a few thousand miles, but only for a few more weeks. She and her husband are adopting two beautiful brothers from Ethiopia, one who will be 2 at the end of September, and one who is just a few weeks old than Cherry’s baby girl. Both Cherry and Tracy have wanted to be mothers for so long now, and it didn’t come easily to either of them. I’m SO thrilled that their dreams are coming true. I love my Maya so much, I cannot imagine the hurt of wanting a baby and not being able to have one. So now that they’re both moms, and Cherry is enjoying her time home with baby before work starts again, and Tracy is getting her house and her life ready for when they bring the boys home, I feel that they are blessed.

Having these three events so close together really brings home the beauty and the pain of life. Tracy’s father died just a week before my mom. Dorothy got married within 6 weeks of that. Then our blog friend Chrissy had her baby a few months later, which was scary because she was so premature, but it all turned out well and her baby is going on 2, and is healthy and strong and independent as can be. I remember when my mom died, we had two gatherings. My cousin brought her new baby to one of them, and holding her was a balm for my broken heart. It’s hard to cry when you’re holding a laughing, healthy, beautiful baby in your arms. My sister brought her new baby to the second gathering, and again, it was somehow comforting to have him to hold. I think it’s something about them not understanding the pain you’re going through at all, they just want to be held and fed and loved, and for some reason, it makes it easier to set your own pain aside for a few minutes.

I think I’ve lost control of this post. I don’t know how to end it, or what it is that I’m really trying to say. Except that my heart goes out to all of these friends, for so many reasons. In pain, in love, and in joy.

 

The Millennium Trilogy

Posted in Books, Read'N'Review Challenge on 08/16/2010 04:23 am by J

Milenium Trilogy

I’ve joined the throngs and read the Millennium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson, otherwise known as “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo“, “The Girl Who Played With Fire“, and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest“.

From the publisher, quick blurbs.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pieced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

The Girl Who Played With Fire:

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander — the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest:

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson’s internationally best-selling trilogy.

Lisbeth Salander — the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels — lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge — against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

I started Dragon Tattoo while we were in Oregon in vacation in July.  My dad had suggested the books to me, and then my neighbor offered to loan me the first two in the series, so I thought it was synchronicity.   Dragon Tattoo starts out slowly, with lots of boring details about corporate espionage, and lots of Swedish names and references to real events that I didn’t get.  Kinda wonky, maybe like someone from a very different culture watching The West Wing.  After maybe a quarter of the book where I was wondering what the fuss was about, things started to get interesting, with the appearance of Lisbeth Salander, and more detail about the other main protagonist of the story, Mikael Blomkvist.   Things get messy, they almost die a few times, and of course, they survive, which anyone who knows that there are three books in the series will expect.  It’s a real page turner, and you do start to care about these characters, and wonder what will happen next.

In Girl Who Played With Fire, we get less wonkiness, less boring detail about corporate crimes and so on, and a more straight-forward story.  Some of the reporters at Blomkvist’s magazine are writing a book about the sex trade in Sweden, its perpetrators, victims, and an uncaring public and judicial system.  The underlying message is, these are just women, so who cares.  The real hatred of women and any sort of female power that is held by some of the characters in this trilogy is chilling.  It was one aspect of culture that Larsson despised, and was working to expose.  Much like Blomkvist.

Hornet’s Nest (shouldn’t that be Hornets’ Nest?  Have you ever seen a nest with just ONE hornet?) picks up after the bloody conclusion of Fire, and deals partly with the criminals from that second book, but mostly with the corruption involved in the police and the secret service.  I found this section to be the most boring of all three books.  The details Larsson went into in building back characters and describing their lives got to the point where I wanted to say, I DON’T CARE, just get me back to Blomkvist and Salander.  They are the interesting characters.  Sure, there are other interesting characters along the way, but far too much detail was put on the hierarchy and structure of the secret service and its ultra secret wing for me.  I think a third of the book could have been edited out, and it would have been a more enjoyable read.  Probably this is not true if you are Scandinavian, or if you are a big fan of crime fiction, or perhaps even mysteries.  I am none of these things.

Again, the best things about the book are Salander and Blomkvist, and the final third of the book, with the courtroom scene, was very interesting and had me glued to the book.  But it took me several weeks to read, which is a sign of trouble around here.

I’m sure you’ve heard some of the intrigue and back-story of Stieg Larsson.  In case you haven’t, here’s the condensed version.  He wrote for an anti-skinhead magazine in Sweden, and worked to expose violent ultra right-wing extremists.  Because of this, he received numerous death threats, and worked hard to preserve his privacy.  In Sweden, when you marry, your private information is entered into public record, including your home address.  Because he did not wish for his home address to become public and therefore expose himself and his partner to danger, he never married her.  They lived together for over 20 years, and she was supposedly a big help in writing the trilogy.  When Larsson died of a massive heart attack, unexpectedly, before the books were even published, it left his estate in a sticky situation.  He had left his money to the Communist Workers League, but as his will was unwitnessed, it was declared invalid.   His partner had no claim to his money, or the royalties from the trilogy (which have sold over 27 million copies worldwide), and his estate has gone to his father and brother.  His partner, Eva Gabrielsson, reportedly has 3/4 of a fourth book in the series on her computer.  So we’ll see what comes of all of this.   Seems like there should be enough money to go around, to his family, his partner, and his Communists if that was what he wished.  Crazy story, huh?  Almost a book in itself.

 

Friday Radmoness

Posted in Love, Maya, Musings on 08/13/2010 04:23 am by J

Welcome Home Dinner

I know, I’ve been pretty quiet lately.  Sorry about that.

Last Saturday I went to see my Grandma and my Great Aunt in Stockton.  My cousin, who lives in Santa Maria with her two gorgeous kids, was in town, so I thought I’d go visit while they were there.  Maya had cheer practice, so she and Ted stayed home.  Usually when I go visit Grandma I like to take her and Aunt Flo to lunch, but times are tough right now, and with my cousin and her kids there (who are going through a tougher time than we are), I couldn’t afford to take everyone out.  You know what?  I think it was better.  We had grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, chips (I love chips, I can’t help it), and strawberry pie.  You can’t beat that at a restaurant, I gotta say.  Grandma doesn’t read blogs, doesn’t understand computers, so I can say here that she’s looking more tired and thin than she has in awhile.  I guess she’s entitled, because she’s 87.  But it made me realize that I need to make the effort to see her more often while I can.  She told me an interesting story about when she was in Kindergarten or 1st grade.  The school district wanted her to go to the closest bus stop, which was on the highway, and her parents wouldn’t have any part of that.  Can you imagine a 5 or 6 year old out there on the highway, waiting for the bus?  So the compromise was that she would take the bus with the high school kids and go to the elementary school near them.  But the high school got out hours after hers did.  So she would go out and wait, by herself, on the country road, for the bus.  It would come and pick her up, but it was a bus for big high school kids, so she couldn’t make it to the bottom step, so a high school boy would reach down and grab her by the arms and pull her up.  She would go to school, and then when school got out, she would wait there until the bus came by, which was about 2 hours.  She’d go on the swings and sit and read as much as she could, and just be bored and wait.  She doesn’t even remember any adults being around.  Every day.  Now you can say that times have changed and there are more freaks in the world today, but I think it’s more a matter of just more people.  If 2% of the population is sick f**ks, then taking your population from 1,000 to 100,000 greatly increases the number of sickos, right?  Anyway, no one worried about her sitting there alone after school, back in the mid to late 20s.

Sunday was relaxing, taking it easy, and getting Maya packed for cheer camp.  She’s going to be a freshman this year, and made the freshman cheer team.  She’s thrilled about that, but wasn’t thrilled about going to camp, and being away from family for almost a week.  Not sure if that means we’re doing a good job, because she doesn’t hate us and wants to be with us, or if we’re doing a crappy job because we’re not preparing her for the world, or if we’re pretty much incidental to the whole thing, because she is who she is, and all we can do is our best.  Anyway, she’s a great kid, and I’m proud of who she is.  If that means she’s not ready to go away for a week between middle school and high school with a bunch of kids she doesn’t really know yet, so be it.

Monday morning, Maya left very early to go to cheer camp.   Very. Early.  We dropped her off at about 4:50 a.m., then I came home, and went to the store…then took a nap before work started.  That night, Ted and I went to see RUSH in concert.  Be not afraid, I am not speaking of Limbaugh.  I am speaking of the hard rocking and very polite Canadian rock band, RUSH.  I’m not a huge RUSH fan, save a stint of 2112 fanaticism in 9th grade.  But they’re great in concert, and I’m thrilled that I went…they were awesome.

Due to the concert and how late we got home after, and also the fact that Ted’s friend Jeff was in town from the East Coast, we took Tuesday off from work and went to visit Jeff and his friends Rahul and Sarah.  You know how there are so many different kinds of people in the world…there are people you don’t think you’d ever be friends with (the guys in front of and next to us at the RUSH concert), there are people you’re not sure about at first, but you grow to adore them.  And there are people who you meet, and they’re just so open and friendly and down to earth and yet the right amount of snarky and so on, that you like them right away.  That’s how it was with Rahul and Sarah.  And, of course, Jeff, but we haven’t just met him.  So it was a lovely, lazy day, spent lounging in the gorgeous California summertime, an unusually cool summer with temps in the mid-70s.  Awesome.  Then we came home to talk to Maya, who was homesick like crazy, and wanted to come HOME.  HOME.  I like the girls here, she said.  They’re kind and great and fun.  But I want to come HOME.

Wednesday was work and grocery shopping, etc.  Cleaned the house, did laundry.  Another call from a very homesick girl, who wanted us to drive 6 hours to her camp, pick her up, and bring her home.  What a struggle.  I wanted to go pick her up.  I wanted her to be happier.  But I also want her to live up to her commitments, and I want her to learn that she can indeed live without us for a few days, and I want her to be strong and independent, within reason for a 14-year-old.  So I left her there, and didn’t make the drive, rent a hotel room, and drive back with her in the morning.  Sigh.

Thursday was more work, groceries, farmers’ market, laundry…and Maya came home.  YAY!!!  She said she was sick of chicken, since that’s most of what they ate at camp, so I made a lovely salmon dish for her, with tomatoes and rice and snow peas.  Really good.  The trick is to put butter on everything.  The salmon had a beurre blanc, ala’ Julia Child, and the tomatoes and snow peas were sauteed with butter and garlic.  YUM.   I grilled the salmon dry in its skin, ala’ Jacques Pepin, and it was moist and flavorful.  Really good.  I’ll post the recipe tomorrow, but I think you can figure it out by the description I just gave you.  Grill the salmon.  Add a beurre blank (butter and lemon juice).  Yum.  Serve with cherry tomatoes that have been sauteed with butter.  Again, YUM.

Welcome home Maya, you were very much missed.

 

Bereavement

Posted in Culture, Mom, Musings on 08/03/2010 04:23 am by J

BereavementA couple of weeks ago, I was talking to one of the women on my Meals-on-Wheels route, Joan, and she told me that her doctor had put her on anti-depressants because she was depressed. She tried them for a day, and didn’t like the way they made her feel, and stopped taking them. I know that one day wasn’t enough time to determine whether they would work or not, and she’s not likely to find out. The thing is, the reason that she’s depressed? Her son died. He fell on the icy steps this winter, and broke his neck. She is understandably devastated. But she gets out of bed every day, she feeds and cares for herself and her dog, Sassy. She goes to get a massage when she can afford it, and takes care of getting her hair done. She doesn’t seem to be down in the depths of depression to me. She seems desperately and appropriately sad about the loss of her son. This is the second time she’s buried a son, and she’s a widow, so she’s had enough of death for awhile. I only get a brief glimpse of her life, a few minutes once a week, so I can’t say if she’s in need of medication or other care for her bereavement, or if time is the best aid for her.

I know for me, when my mom died, I ached. I cried. I hurt. I was confused as hell and couldn’t figure out how to live in a world without my mom. But while I was trying to navigate that, it never occurred to me to kill myself. It never occurred to me to not get out of bed, to not eat, to not try my best. If that had been Maya, or Ted, I might have felt differently. I don’t want to say that I love my mother less. But a parent is different than a spouse or a child. As ugly a fact as it is, your parents are supposed to die before you do. That doesn’t help much, and I felt robbed of the future I wanted with my mom for at least the next 15 years, but it would surely have been worse to lose my husband or child.

I was listening to Morning Edition yesterday, and there was a segment on the pain of bereavement, and how, up until recently, it has been the exception when diagnosing major depression. Loss of appetite, physical pain, inability to get out of bed or care for ones self, these are all signs of major depression, and can result in such a diagnosis, and perhaps in your psychiatrist wanting to medicate you. Unless you have recently lost someone important to you. If you have recently lost a parent, a child, a spouse, or other loved one, these symptoms have been considered normal, perhaps even necessary to the healing process.

The question, then, is whether that extreme pain is necessary. Do we need to fight our way through that horrible time in order to come to terms with our loss?  Personally, I feel like it was.  Losing my mom was the worst thing I have ever endured, the worst thing that has ever happened to me.  I feel that grieving her, and my loss, so deeply was part of loving her so deeply. That first year was an extremely difficult time, a time I hope to never have to repeat. But it was honest and true, and it was how I felt. I loved my mother very much, and she should not have died, and I miss her terribly. To have tried to cover-up or deny those feelings would have felt wrong to me.

But what if I were feeling suicidal? What if I had honest feelings of killing myself, or started harming myself in some way? What if I had somehow become dangerous to Ted, Maya, or Genevieve? Perhaps then, it is time to intervene. The difficulty, I suspect, is in figuring out when someone is truly in need of help, and what kind of help is appropriate.  There are support groups for the newly bereaved. I considered going, but I spent enough time crying, and didn’t think I could handle sitting in a room with others in the same boat. There is one-on-one therapy, which actually I was going to to help me cope with her illness and my inability to help her, but I stopped after she died, because again, I couldn’t bear the idea of sitting in a room and paying someone to watch me sob. My therapist asked me all of the important questions, and told me that my feelings were normal and that everyone grieves differently, so don’t worry if I felt more (or less) than others described to me. Or, just different. And there are drugs. Watching my mom struggle with the antidepressants they had her on has soured me on them, perhaps forever. I know quite a few people who take them, with varying degrees of success. Some do very well. Some search for the right medication, the right dosage. Some do well in how they behave, but do not like the way they feel on them.  Like Joan.  Me? I’d be very hard pressed to try anything that might make me as confused and frightened as my mother was.

I suspect that removing the bereavement exemption for major depression is probably a good idea.  The way that insurance companies work, it might well help a doctor to get a patient the support that they need once they have a diagnosis. But for the majority of us, those of us who are able to cope with our pain and somehow come through the other side of that dark tunnel of grief, I think maybe it’s better to try it without the medication at least.  Best not to try drugs too quickly, if they’re not needed.

The segment was interesting. You can listen to it here.  The comments on the print version were interesting as well.  Some said we medicate too damn fast in this country and it’s getting dangerous.  Others said that we should not judge those who need medication for treatment.  You would not, for example, have surgery without anesthesia.  Sometimes, the pain is too much, be it physical or mental.

 

Strawberry Jam & Chicken Gyros

Posted in Recipes on 07/30/2010 04:23 am by J

I’m not sure what’s with me lately.  A week or so ago, my blog/facebook friend Lotus posted a link to foodgawker on Facebook. I looked through the pictures, and saw one that claimed that the Chicken Gyros were the best dinner she had made in a long time. I was intrigued. Then when I looked at the recipe, she said it was even more delicious with homemade pita bread, which was so much better than the store bought. So I tried that. The result? It was indeed far better than store bought. But still a lot of work, with all of that letting the bread rise and so on. Actually, the kneading of the bread was fun.  In addition to homemade pita bread, I also made homemade tzatziki sauce, which is really good.  I think I may need to find a few other uses for it.

Anyway, I went to the farmers’ market yesterday with Cherry and Eric, and then to Memo’s for a Chili Relleno. Yum! I picked up some gorgeous strawberries at the farmers’ market, and when I got home I had to confront the two pints in the fridge that were starting to turn, and wouldn’t get eaten. Especially with a fresh pint of gorgeous strawberries tempting us. Usually when I’m confronted with this problem, I wash them, hull them, and freeze them for smoothies. But Cherry was talking about how Liz made some awesome strawberry jam, and how good it was. Between that, and the fact that I had been planning to buy some strawberry jam at the farmers’ market, and the jam person wasn’t there, I got the idea to try out making jam for myself.
The recipe called for 4 cups of strawberries, and I only had two, so I just halved it. I wasn’t sure how small to crush the berries, so I gave them a couple of quick spins through the Cuisinart. Then I put it in the pot with an equal amount of sugar, and some lemon juice. From that point, it was a matter of watching it, boiling the fruit, stirring it, and waiting for the mixture to come to 220 degrees. Which took longer than I wanted it to. Just when I was losing interest in the whole process, it came to 220, and I just popped it in an old cole slaw dressing jar I had. No need to process the jar and seal it if you’re going to eat it soon. Which we are. The results? Really delicious, though it set a bit firmer than I wanted, and it’s really thick.  Yum.

 

Hello, Welcome to Moviephone…

Posted in Movies on 07/29/2010 04:23 am by J

We saw two films last weekend, The Kids Are All Right and Salt.  Both were good, but I would say that I really, really enjoyed Kids, while Salt was more one of those movies where you come out saying, “OK, totally unbelievable in every conceivable way, but fun”.

The Kids Are All Right is the story of Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore), a long term lesbian couple who had two children, who are now coming of age.  They each carried one child, and both used the same sperm-doner, Paul (Mark Ruffalo).  Their daughter, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) has recently turned 18, and their 15 year old son Laser (Josh Hutcherson) begs her to use her newly adult status to contact the man who made them possible.  She’s not really interested, but he is, very much so.  They meet Paul at his restaurant, and their reactions are very different.  Joni is in love, she sees aspects of herself in him, and is besotted by the idea of him…perhaps…maybe…a father.   Laser, the one who really wanted to meet Paul, isn’t as easily impressed, and his first impression is that he’s been there, met him, time to move on.  Next, of course, Nic and Jules find out, and they also want to meet Paul, though they are more reticent about the idea.  They all come together, and the family is thrown into a tailspin.

What I loved about this movie was the very real writing, the way the married couple were very unglamorous and just married, with everyday problems.  Of course, in this particular stage of their marriage, they’re going through a bit of trouble, with Nic the perfectionist doctor and Jules the hippy-ish aspiring landscaper trying to find their ways in middle age.  They’re feeling distance and confusion in their marriage, which leaves room for trouble with the arrival of Paul.  The writing and acting (especially Bening, who was perfect), was amazing.  Ruffalo is pitch perfect as Paul, too…thinking of himself as just an easy-going guy, with an easy-going Berkeley attitude toward women, love, and families…but deep down, his motives and assumptions come into question.

I really understood Joni.  As a woman who met her father at the age of 21, I totally understand how you can fall in love with the idea of this person you’ve never known, and really haven’t missed before.  I remember those early days of my relationship with my dad and sisters, and how giddy it all was.  Like a parent who has just had a baby, and fallen in love with it, and wants to talk about it with everyone.  Like that.

I really liked this film.  We went with Dorothy and John, and on a scale of 1 – 4, I gave it a 4.  Everyone else gave it a minimum of 3, more like a 3.5.  Really, really good.  Warning, though, it’s rated R, and I would say a hard-R.  If you don’t want to watch (edited) gay porn or see some pretty risque sex scenes with your child/parent/boss/whatever, see something else.

Salt is the story of Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who may, or may not, be a sleeper agent waiting to do damage for Russia.  That’s pretty much my whole review.  She runs around, trying to save her husband.  She runs from the CIA, who have decided one thing about her, and are trying to stop her.  She looks great, even when she dyes her hair black in a way that anyone who has ever dyed their hair knows would look like crap.  Was it good?  Not really.  Did it suck?  Not at all.  It was fun.  I enjoyed watching the situation unfold, and trying to figure out where her real loyalties lie.  My favorite part was that Ms. Salt ditches her high heels about 30 hot seconds into the chase scenes, which ALWAYS bugs the crap out of me…women running around like crazy in painful shoes that would kill a lesser human.  It was kinda interesting to read that the part was originally written for Tom Cruise, but seemed too close to Mission, Impossible (or perhaps The Bourne Identity), so it was revised for Jolie.  Kinda cool.   On a scale of 1 – 4?  2.5.  It was fun.  I probably wouldn’t see it again.

I would totally see The Kids Are All Right again.  Totally.

 

Cleaning House

Posted in Blogging, Blogroll, Books, Recipes on 07/27/2010 12:46 pm by J


(graphic found here)
I’ve been cleaning up the old blog a bit lately. Still need to find a few missing friends for my blogroll, I think. Interesting to me to look at it, and see how few of these people actually come here and comment anymore. I don’t know if they’re too busy to comment, but still read, or if they don’t read my blog anymore, or if they read me on a reader, or what. I thought of taking a few off for that reason, figuring that blogging is sort of a reciprocal thing, a community. Then I thought, no, I’m not in it for comments, I’m in it because I love to come here and write, and I love to go and read what you all have written. So I won’t pull anyone that doesn’t know I exist. Not that they’d notice.

I used to keep my book reviews on my sidebar, but that got lost when I updated my theme. I didn’t even update to a new theme, just updated to a more recent version. But anyway, the sidebar was getting unwieldy, so I decided to make a whole new page for my book reviews. There’s a tab there at the top, and if you’re interested in seeing what I’ve read, and if you might be interested in reading some of the same books or not, that’s where you’ll find the easiest access. Of course, you could also just select the ‘books’ category, but then you’d have to page through all of the book blog posts, so this is a lot easier.

Then more recently, I’ve noticed that I’ve been coming here to find recipes, rather than hunting around in my cupboard or trying to squeeze in to the closet behind the carpet cleaner, vacuum cleaner, and paper towels to find a recipe. I can no longer remember which cookbooks were destroyed by our leaky bathtub, and as I find more recipes online, I have a file full of printed webpages, which is not the least bit organized, so finding a recipe can be a pain in the butt. So I decided to make a page here on my blog, where I can find all of my old recipes in one handy place. Good thinking, no?

Not sure what other changes I’ll be making. I’m kinda fed up with this admin side of it. Maybe I’ll take a break, now that it’s not looking quite so crappy. :)

 

Amuirin’s Pancakes

Posted in Recipes on 07/27/2010 04:23 am by J

I have no right to post this recipe on my blog. This is Amuirin’s Great Grandma’s recipe. If you haven’t been over to her blog, Stop & Wander, you might want to pop on by. She’s an amazing writer, and I find myself touched and impressed by her turn of a phrase. Anyway, I wanted to make sure I had this recipe for my new recipe tab up there, so I don’t lose it. I thought of just linking to her post from that tab, but if she should decide to take her blog down, I’d lose it, and it’s a mighty good recipe. We tried them on Sunday morning, and they were the best pancakes I’ve ever made. Might try them with some fresh blueberries next time. Yum.

Amuirin’s Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
buttermilk
vegetable oil or bacon fat (not a heart healthy option but more authentic)

Put skillet on burner, heat on medium or just over medium.

Sift flour into bowl with baking soda, add salt, combine dry ingredients. Pour buttermilk over ingredients (just some. No exact amount) and let sit for a couple minutes. Do not stir.

Use a pastry brush to apply vegetable oil to skillet. If using bacon grease, cook pancakes after cooking bacon. Drain some of the excess fat into a container and add to pan as needed.

Add egg to mixture, stir with whisk (bubbles important). Add buttermilk until consistency is about like cake batter. Do not over stir.

Pour small amount of batter on skillet and flip when popping the bubbles in batter leaves an indent.

Serve warm. I like homemade jam but my daughter insists upon maple syrup.

J’s note: I used butter in the pan rather than bacon grease or vegetable oil, because I like the buttery taste. I had mine with syrup, Maya had some with syrup and some with jam, and she said she liked the jam a bit more. I got some really nice marionberry jam at the Farmers’ Market last week…I might try that next time, if I don’t try the blueberries.

 

Rethinking Rellenos

Posted in Restaurant Reviews on 07/25/2010 04:23 am by J
YouTube Preview Image

Check, Please! Bay Area is a show on our local PBS station, based on the original Check Please! in Chicago.   A local host (Leslie Sbrocco, a wine expert and enthusiast) talks with three people about their favorite restaurants in the area.  They all go to all three restaurants, and come say what they think.   A few weeks ago, we saw an episode that mentioned Memo’s Restaurant, which is way out here in on the wrong side of the tunnel in the East Bay.  I was especially captivated by what they had to say about the Chili Rellenos, because aside from my trips to Hola! in Burlingame, I don’t generally like rellenos.  I find them too heavy, too rich, too fried tasting, too much cheese and not enough else going on.  After going to Hola! and trying their Rellenos En Nogada, and then having Cherry tell me that she likes most rellenos, I  gave them another chance at a tex mex place, and yeah.  Blech.  So hearing the guy on Check, Please! say that he doens’t like most rellenos, but he likes the ones here, I was intrigued and wanted to try them.  I almost chickened out when we got there, but then I overheard a woman at another table saying that she thought they were the best rellenos she had ever had, and that at most restaurants they’re too heavy and greasy.  So I went for it.

Boy, am I glad I did.  I would go back in a heartbeat and order another.  Really light, fluffy, and delicious.  It seemed like the batter was barely there, light and airy.  The sauce was my favorite, a tomatillo based sauce.  The cheeses were delicious.  Yum.  I’m getting hungry right now, writing about it.  My margarita was also quite good,  mixed fresh, not from a machine.  Yum.  Ted ordered one of their other specialties, the Chicken Pepian (aka, Wedding Chicken), which was quite flavorful and complex.  He really liked it, though he liked it better without the tortillas than with.   Maya had a cheese and chicken quesadilla, which is an appetizer…she was worried that it wouldn’t be enough for dinner, but it was plenty big, and quite delicious.   Ted then went on and ordered the chocolate cake, which is a vegan cake, with a wonderful sauce over it.  To be honest, I didn’t really care for the texture of the cake, but Ted liked it quite a bit, and he was glad he gave it a try.

Memo’s is a family restaurant, run by a father and daughter, with old family recipes from Zacatecas, the region of Mexico from which the family hails.  They both run the front of the house, taking orders and serving food.  They are both friendly and charming.  The only problem that we had with the restaurant was that they never came back to see how our food was.  There were plenty of helpers going around, filling water glasses, clearing tables, but no one checking on you to make sure everything is to your liking.  They were quite busy, it was a Friday night and there was a line outside when we left, but I think they would be well served to hire another waiter.  I have a feeling we’ll go back, regardless of the questionable service.  Yum.

 

What are you thankful for?

Posted in Musings, Thankful Thoughts on 07/23/2010 01:24 pm by J

This morning I was looking at the local paper, and I saw where a 2 year old boy had been mauled to death by 3 of the family’s 5 pit bulls.  The tragedy that has hit that family has hit them hard, and I would assume they are now a family in crisis.  The dogs (all 5) have been put to sleep.  The grandfather, who owned the dogs, is in jail.  My heart goes out to this family at such a horrific time.  And I’m thankful that, at least so far, nothing that horrible has happened to me and my immediate family.  Which got me to thinking about the different kinds of thankfulness.  There is this kind, where I read about the boy who was mauled, or the woman who was raped recently about 2 or 3 blocks from here, or the woman who was hit and killed by a drunk driver last weekend, on the road that I walk several days a week.  And I’m thankful that this kind of crisis has not hit us.  This is the kind of thankful that makes you want to protect and defend the life you’re leading, hold your loved ones close, and shut out the ugliness of the world.

Then there is the more cheerful kind of thankfulness.   Like walking this morning, when I saw a deer bound across six lanes of semi-heavy morning traffic, and make it safely to the other side.  I was thankful for that, because of course I don’t want to see a deer get hit by a car or truck, and I also shudder to think of what a big deer (200 lbs?) would do to the front of a car, and certainly killing a deer on your way to work is a crappy way to start your day.  Like enjoying the fact that the fog has come in enough to keep the nights bearable, and we haven’t had any horrid heat waves yet this summer.  In fact, it’s the coolest summer we’ve had in several decades, which is mostly OK by me, because I get grumpy when it goes above 100.  It’ll happen.  But so far, I’m thankful for the cool weather we’ve been having.  I’m thankful for my health, and that of my family.  I do not take this lightly or flippantly.  I know too many people who live with chronic conditions to do that.  And I know that no one’s health lasts forever, so I am extra thankful to have mine now.  I’m thankful for the beauty that is the world, for wonderful paintings, interesting music, movies, trees, birds, my dog.   This is the kind of thankful that makes you want to smile at the beauty of the world because you’re feeling good, and you want to share that.

So there are two kinds of thankful here…thankful for what is, and thankful for what isn’t.  Thankful for what we share, and thankful that some of the misfortune of others has not been shared upon us.  Thankful for the gifts we have been given, and for that which has not been taken away.

I don’t know…I feel like I’m skirting the edge of something that I want to say.  I wish there were only the good to be thankful for, and not the lack of bad in one’s own life, which certainly means that someone else is having a hard time of it.

 
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