-
Crossfire
I’ve been a fan of Dick Francis since being introduced to his work in 1987. I was at a friend’s house, and I was saying that I like horses, and horse racing, and her mom suggested that I might really enjoy his books. Normally I’m not a big fan of mysteries, but I was sucked in from the start. That first book was Break-In, after which I had to read Bolt, which had the same characters. Luckily, Francis had been writing for years, so I had a large library to go back and read. Francis and his wife were a team. Their mysteries did most often center around the world…
-
Sasa ~ Walnut Creek
Photo found here After a morning swim and a hot shower, I was lazing on the bed in my bathrobe, hair in a towel, with my book, trying to decide whether to read or perhaps have a nap, when Ted asked, “Would you like to go to lunch with me today?” “Maybe,” I said, thrown off because I was still kinda full from breakfast, and almost too lazy to bother with getting dressed, but as he showered, I thought about it and admitted to myself that the likelihood of my wanting to lie there all day in my robe without lunch was slim, so when he came out I said…
-
Cheese Fondue ala Left Bank
There’s a small chain of French bistro type restaurants in the Bay Area, Left Bank, which used to have a location in our neighboring town of Pleasant Hill. The rumor is that the owners of Left Bank decided to expand, opening one or two other restaurants (not branches of Left Bank, but another venture, I believe), right about when the recession hit hard. Suddenly quite short on cash, they closed two of their five locations, including the one near us. I was saddened by the loss, because Left Bank was one of my go-to restaurants when I wanted something delicious, semi-casual, and close by. I even went there once to…
-
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. …
-
Firecracker Salmon
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…
-
Fresh Summer Tomato Sauce
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…
-
Skin Care Products
(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…
-
Cooking With Jacques and Julia
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.…
-
One Wedding, Three Babies, and a Funeral
(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…
-
The Millennium 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…
-
Friday Radmoness
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…
-
Bereavement
A 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…
-
Strawberry Jam & Chicken Gyros
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,…
-
Hello, Welcome to Moviephone…
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…
-
Cleaning House
(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…