this made me smile.

Got a little time in a bookstore yesterday, where I wrote completely non-memorable things in my journal and also look at some very fine knitting books.

That is from this one:

but this one is also good:

Anyway, a little cairn cozy for you on this gross rainy day.

here comes the feeling you thought you'd forgotten

I made pie!

I made pie crust, more noteably, which I had never done before. I found a butter pastry recipe in my beloved and completely unbound Easy Basics for Good Cooking.

Put 1 cup of flour in your food processor.
Add 6 tablespoons of cold butter and a small amount of salt.
Pulse the food processor a few times. In much less than a minute, you'll have a bowl of even, uniform tiny lumps of buttered flour.
Break 1 egg into the food processor, and pulse a couple more times until it comes together into one smooth lump.

Wrap the lump in plastic wrap and stash it in the fridge for a while. (The recipe calls for one hour, but I had it in a lot less than that.)

I filled this with 3 chunked apples and 2 handfuls of frozen cranberries, tossed with sugar, cinnamon, allspice, a splash of apple cider, and a spoonful of cornstarch. Ian helped me gently place the top crust on, and was very happy to poke holes in it. Baked at 425 until the top was brown and crispy, the filling was bubbly, and you can pierce the apple with a table fork. Like 40 minutes or so. (I had to cover the top with a piece of foil for the last part of the baking.)

I thought I had rolled this crust out way too thin, but it came out great! It took a lot for me to not STAND THERE AND EAT THE ENTIRE PIE.

I also made a great apple dessert last night, which I'll tell you about some other time.

moderately ashamed of myself

i will be laughing about this for the next 3 days.

um

via Jesus Needs New PR.

what I will bring to the bonfire:

These which I saw on the always-delightful SnackReligious.
EDITED TO ADD: These were a huge hit at the Guy Fawlkes festivities, and also with the babysitter. I'm thinking the second pan will get a similar reception at the potluck Sunday. Recommended.

And, no, we haven't made pretzels yet, and it doesn't look like it's going to rain tomorrow, which means that there will probably be a limited amount of kitchen time.

I have a video to put together, but my laptop does not have a big enough brain to handle it. (This would be a REALLY bad week for the servers at work to crash, incidentally. They've been kind of dodgy lately, randomly refusing to print docs and other occasional hiccups that we've been working around. Anyway, not this week, please, is all I'm saying.)

Knitting news: I am almost done with the famous entrelac stroller blanket. I had plans to work on it at various times this weekend - car trip, kid's nap, now...but I've made a lot of progress and feel like the end is in sight. If I can just remember how to do the bind-off triangles...

playdate news: If the week shapes up the way the national weather service seems to think it will, we may have one more backyard party on Friday, before daylight savings time ends.

they look depressed. But I'm excited. More at Pedestrian.

Dig this:

Another Day, Another Monster is an excellent blog by a woman whose name I totally cannot find because the computer is cloggy and I am lazy. The woman makes snarky comments to accompany her photos of her pretty excellent little amiguri monsters, of which she creates a new one every day. I found this through the Lion Brand blog

[as most of you know, Lion is a brand of yarn, available at a discount at all your better Ben Franklins and Hobby Lobbys. I am a completely unconvincing as a yarn snob, so I'll admit that I have knit several of my fav projects with Lion Brand yarns, such as the much-aligned Homespun.

I just Googled "Homespun is the Devil" to see if I could find some examples of such maligning to share with you, but SHOCKINGLY "Homespun is the Devil" is a Googlenope.

BUT NOW IT WON'T BE! Now I'll be a unique hit on Google, should anyone ever try to Google that phrase again.)

(Anyway, I digress. Many people hate Lion Brand yarns; while they aren't my favorite, I find many of them quite serviceable, especially at markdown prices.]

MY POINT IS that this blogger apparently works at the Lion flagship store in NYC, and I was pleased to see Lion promoting a blog that is written in a normal venacular, including the occasional mild curse word. Go Lion Brand! Go boldly through these squeamish times. Yay.

New Recipe - That's Better.

So I made this chicken paprikash for dinner on Monday night. And it was fine. It had some decent flavors, and it kind of 'grew on us' as we ate it.

But tonight I looked into the fridge and said "I can do better."

Better Quick Chicken Paprikash:

Heat the oven to 450, and at the same time warm some olive oil in a cast iron skillet on the stove top. Take 5 boneless chicken thighs - salt and pepper them and brown them - about 4 minute on one side, 3 on the other.

During those 7 minutes, wash a pint of grape tomatoes, and squish them (I guess you could cut them in half, but I just used my fingers.) into a baking pan with olive oil.

When the chicken is a little brown on both sides, remove the pan from the heat, and remove the chicken from the pan. Put the chicken pieces on top of the tomatoes in the baking pan and pop that all in the oven.

Slice half a large sweet onion and several cloves of garlic. Throw those into the stovetop pan - it will still be pretty hot and oily. Return that to heat and cook until the onions are soft and brown. Drop in some slices of red pepper and some sliced mushrooms and cook some more. (You may need to drop in a bit of olive oil or butter with the mushrooms.)

Take the pan out of the oven; assuming the chicken is done, put the chicken on a plate and cover it (with foil or another plate.) Pour the rest of the contents of the baking pan (oil, tomatoes, juices) into the stovetop pan and stir.

Now add:
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
a tablespoon of paprika
a tablespoon or more of those chopped hot peppers they put on hoagies
and a quarter to a half cup of heavy cream.

(You will want to shake that cream before you pour, in case it's separated.)
(You will want to make sure the little cardboard carton is really totally closed before you shake it. Maybe pinch the foldout spout.)

It's all bubbly now - slip some of the chicken into the sauce (it's probably won't all fit) and turn down the heat, and simmer it a little while - like 6 minutes or so, which is how long it takes to make egg noodles.

Seriously, this is good. Don't use canned tomatoes when there are fresh ones around. And seriously - hoagie peppers.

AND it took 36 minutes from walking into the kitchen.

Go me.

Snort-worthy.

Is this mean? I didn't MAKE it, but it did make me laugh (and, Lord Christ, could I use a good laugh.) when I saw it at Andrew Zimmern's blog.

Edited this way, it's funny (and vulgar, of course.) Watching the show itself is quite surreal, a great example of the little-known genre, Cooking Shows of the Absurd.

Enjoy.

We didn't make pretzels today, which bums me out a little; we did run errands, have Korean food for lunch, go out a kick a ball around (me and Ian at first, then we found some other neighborhood urchins to join in.)

Ian and I did another of our favorite activities - the Bug Safari - and saw our first woolly bear - which is to say, my first of the season, Ian's first of his life. But the real highlight: we bagged a gigantic praying mantis, such a dazzling shade of green. He seemed to like us (perhaps Stockholm Syndrome?) and let me wear him as a glorious fashion accessory for quite a long time. Style note: spring green looks great with turquoise! Who knew?

(Ian and Eric also tried him on - he headed straight for Eric's beard, putting an end to that fashion collaboration, and then risked his life by tickling the back of Ian's neck.)

We nestled him among the grape leaves near the front porch.


I made this for dinner, which seemed a little "eh" when I served it, but which grew on us as the meal went on. I think it's a good platform for experimentation.

okay, voting is open on the Mobbies. You can vote once per day in "Best Overall Blogs" without signing in; to vote in categories, you have a register as a Sunpapers user. (I did it this morning - it's not too timeconsuming.)

If you're kind enough to vote for the whole Mitchell family, be aware that my brother's blog is Beer in Baltimore, NOT beerinbaltimore.com.

Thanks for taking a moment to do it - I'm not in the habit of bothering people about things like this.

recipe: what we will make on Monday

stolen from Snackrelgious.
(Can a person have a crush on a blog?)

Soft Pretzels
Recipe from The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler by Lisa Barnes
Makes 48 2-3 inch pretzels

This recipe is milk free, nut free, and vegetarian. 2 pretzels have 80 calories, if you're interested. It's a good to make with older kids who can roll and shape dough, paint on egg, or sprinkle salt!

1 1/2 c. warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
coarse salt, poppy seeds, or sesame seeds for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425 F. I used a baking sheet with a silicone mat, but you could also use parchment paper on the baking sheet.

Put the yeast in a large bowl with the warm water. Stir until yeast is dissolved. Add the sugar, salt, flours, and one of the eggs. Stir with a fork to combine into a dough. Turn out onto a floury surface and knead until it is elastic (maybe 2-3 minutes), adding a little more flour if it's very sticky.

Tear off small pieces of the dough and roll into any shape you want (classic pretzels, circles, hearts, twists). You know what would be cute? Xs and Os -- they stand for "hugs and kisses" AND you can play edible tic-tac-toe!

Place an inch or two apart on your baking sheet. Brush with the second egg (beaten) and sprinkle with whatever you want to sprinkle them with.

Bake 8-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with your favorite mustard.



Jeanette is the complete bomb of the blogosphere.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please let me introduce my brother.

My brother, Sandy Mitchell, writes a blog: beerinbaltimore@blogspot.com He writes lots of other things too - magazine and newspaper articles, nonfiction books.

But his blog is notable this week because:
within two days, it was

1) nominated for a Mobby, the Baltimore Sun's award for Maryland's Outstanding Blogs

and

2) selected for a Best of Baltimore award by the Baltimore City Paper!

No matter how much you love beer, we promise you it's not as much as this guy. For the past year and a half, Alexander Mitchell IV has been keeping us entertained and informed with his Beer in Baltimore blog, a frequently updated collection of short thoughts on beer--more nuts, bolts, and flavor than philosophy--news postings, and links. Sure, he dotes on Max's a bit much, but that's to be expected, and more importantly, this is a guy that just doesn't stop thinking about beer. We guarantee you'll get a whole new appreciation for it, too.

It won for "Best Drinking Blog" in the Nightlife category.

I am very proud - I've been a City Paper devotee since my college days (OMG, that's almost 30 years!!) - so much so that I sought out the Balt City Paper even when I lived in suburban DC and worked in the district.

I know his blog is good, and now a few thousand other people will know too.


Incidentally, I too have been nominated for a Mobby. I have no illusions about winning - the list includes a bunch of blogs I read regularly, and they all do good work and deserve the award more - but it's an honor just to be nominated.

Voting starts Sept 28.

Just sayin'.

fascinating (via Charm City Craft Mafia.blogspot.com)

Apologies by Proxy
Hampdenfest
Saturday, September 12, noon-2 p.m.
In front of MINÁS, 815 W. 36th Street Baltimore, MD 21211


HAVE YOU BEEN WRONGED?

ARE YOU OWED AN APOLOGY?

IN THREE MINUTES, TELL US THE TALE AND WE WILL GIVE YOU YOUR OVERDUE APOLOGY


The concept behind “Apology By Proxy” is simple: In three minutes or
less, you tell the tale of an event regarding which you feel you are
owed an apology. We then give you that apology. You keep your apology
for when you need it, and, when you are ready, you pass the apology on
to someone else who needs one.

Apologies have been given by proxy:

for boyfriends
for wives
for drama queen roommates
for schoolyard bullies
for parents
for sisters
for God
for the U.S. healthcare system
for bosses
for a dry cleaner slut
for the NY art world
for landlords
for family businesses
for being lied to at work
for yourself

What began as a small piece of performance art has shown itself to be
a powerful tool for change and learning. The sudden moment of intense
intimacy with a complete stranger can be overwhelming. The apology is
genuine and, through some mysterious force, it works. Tears were shed,
hugs were given. “I’m Sorry” proves to be a potent phrase.

The Apology desk is often approached on a lark with an attitude of
gaiety, with stories that have often been honed, over the years, into
humorous tales, although the original hurt is still there. While
receiving the apology, the layers of concealment fall away as the
words “I’m Sorry” wash across the face of the apologee. Events can be
10, 20, even 30 years old, and still the apology that never came is
needed.

Some excellent choices for your apron

toothpastefordinner.com

creative endeavors

1. My brother was so smitten with my new banner that he asked me to make him one. How many readings does it take you to spot the Classic Betsy Mistake?


Source Credits: Photo. "delicious beer" by Tim Boyd, http://Timboyd.com/info. Nicked off flickr and used through a Creative Commons liscence 2.0.

Don't freak out. I made him a corrected one.

2. While plowing through videos for this week's no singing, no dancing service, I found this, which sums up some of what I've been going through this year:



3. The famous macaroon recipe:

Preheat oven to 325, move racks to center.
Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment, and then grease that well. Seriously. These things are unbelievably sticky.

In a bowl, combine:
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
14 oz flaked coconut
a scant teaspoon of salt
a slug of vanilla extract.

That's it. Check the weights and volumes on your cans of milk and bags of coconut. Don't forget the salt. You can throw in some chocolate chips if you like.

Drop by spoonfuls onto the foil. Bake for 8 minutes, then start checking on the cookies. I like the brown chewy carmelized parts around the edges, so I always make small ones and leave them in as long as I can stand it without actually burning them. (They're safe to eat unbaked, so how long you cook them is strictly a personal taste thing.)

When you think they are pretty close to done, remove them from the over and slide the foil or parchment, with the cookies on it, onto a cooling rack. (If you leave them on the pan, the heat from the pan will send them over the edge from delectable to inedible.) Once they cool, they're pretty easy to peel off the foil. Usually.

Make a zillion cookies, because I make really small ones. (More brown surface area.)

To make these a grown-up cookie, don't add the chocolate chips. Flatten the spoonfuls a little so the size and shape are somewhat uniform. Once the cookies have started to cook, melt some chocolate chips with some butter in the microwave, and dip the cookies in the melted chocolate.

I have only ever used cheap sugar-sweetened coconut from the baking aisle for these - I can only imagine how dreamy they would be with good-quality, less-sugared coconut.

4. Baked Zucchini bread yesterday afternoon. It's a massive hit. My friend Sarah brought me HALF of the largest zucchini in world history (plus some other homegrown delights) and I made 3 big loaves.

Recipe variations: I substituted whole wheat flour for half the all-purpose flour, was quite generous with the shredded zucchini, and since I found I had no orange zest, threw in some canned crushed pineapple and a dash of lemon extract.

5. Made pineapple sorbet for dessert.
recipe: put canned pineapple juice in your ice cream maker. Flip the switch. The end.

Crossing the Bar (Cookie)

I had a big baking night the other night, and now I can tell you about it, because the surprise-ee was completely surprised.

When someone is leaving church staff for greener pastures, we usually do a couple of things - we arrange to pray for them in Sunday services, and we usually have some sort of party/meal/something.

Well. On Thursday, my co-workers and most of their spouses/kids/grandkids pretty much kidnapped our departing youth pastor and took him to the beach for a picnic (plus all that beachy junk like building sand castles, swimming, poking dead stuff, reapplying sunscreen.) The weather was beautiful, and the trip was quite grand.

(Until I locked the keys in the minivan after dark, but that's a different story. Even that worked out fine, actually.)

My contributions to the picnic were (oh, guess:) .....right, desserts.

1. Brownies (from a mix, nothing to get excited about, which is not to say people didn't enjoy them - in fact, they were the first thing to disappear.)

2. Macaroons, but baked in one huge square. I didn't know if these would work out, but the top and bottom did brown up nicely. (Recipe another time, I promise.)

3.
Flapjack: This did not come out - they didn't hold together at all, so people scooped up handfuls and kind of poured the loose chunks into their mouths. (This works okay on the beach; it would not be so great in someone's carpeted living room.) I do believe the linked recipe is wrong. It needs more sticky stuff. This (when it's good) is the favorite dessert of The New Guy; a traditional British baked good comprised of rolled oats, butter, and cane syrup. I wrote about my earlier misadventures with flapjack on this blog, but I'll be darned if I can find it now.

4. Shortbread: This came out great. I followed this recipe except I spread the whole recipe-worth of dough/batter into a square pan. After chilling and scoring, I baked it at 350 for about 30-40 minutes, until it started to turn just the lightest, most delicate shade of brown.

I tasted a bite, and decided that it was so good it needed some chocolate - so I melted about a quarter cup of semi-sweet chips, a tablespoon of butter, and a scant teaspoon of instant espresso powder.

[Melting chocolate in the microwave: put everything in a bowl and nuke for 30 seconds. It won't look any different. Remove from micro and stir with a fork for 30 seconds. Nuke and stir again as needed. It's hard to screw this up.]

I spread that in a thin layer over the baked, cooled shortbread.

It was super. Even after it got some sand on it.

More Vital Music news:

This morning, 8:30am. Scene: my car again.

Me: I don't have any of your cds in the car right now - would you like to hear the music I've been listening to?

Ian: Yes, I would.

I cue a cut from M.I.A. Kala.

M.I.A. - New Music - More Music Videos

Not this one, actually. The Mango Pickle song.

I glance into the back seat when we stop at the light. Ian's eyes are WIDE, and he is gripping the armrests of his carseat. He is smiling - it's the same face he made the first time he had solid food.

with the song stylings of Ian MH

Scene: my car, 5pm

Ian: can we listen to The Candyman?
Me: I don't have the ipod, but we can sing it.

Ian leads off:
Who can take the sunrise?
Sprinkle it with glue?
Cover it in...um, marigooooolds..too?
The candyman!
The candyman can, cuz he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good!
And the world tastes good 'cuz the candyman thinks it shooooooooooooooooooooooould!

Ian: Did you hear what I did, Mom? I was mostly singing the one version, but that was the ending of that other version! I just threw that part in. For fun. Just for fun.

Ian continues: In this version, the first part of the bridge is really loud.
me: how loud? Give me an example.

Ian: THE CANDYMAN MAKES
EVERYTHING HE BAKES
SATISFYING AND DELICIOUS!
TALK ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD WISHES!
you can even eat the dishes!

See, that part's very quiet! Almost whispering.

Me: You are an awesome singer.
Ian: Yes. I am.

it was open!!!

We finally hit the farmstand (yes, the one I've been reading about since February!) when it was open!

Within, say, 2 miles of my house.

these are lemon cucumbers. I have no idea what they taste like or what one might do with them. But I believe Heidi at 101cookbooks does. So I bought some.

don't know why these sentences are coming out underlined. Just ignore it. That's what I'm doing.
































Oh, okay, if you insist.











Cherry Tomatoes! It's whats for dinner!















Our haul, for $10 - 2 Zucchinis and one yellow squash, a pint of lemon cucumbers, a pint of sungold tomatoes, and the two cutest little cantaloupes in the history of organic farming. So dinner was cantaloupe (appetizer, and Ian asked for more for his main course), corn and green beans (not local, from Delaware, left over from our trip to the beach) and piles of perfectly ripe raw cherry tomatoes with nothing, not even salt.

I hope they're open tomorrow.

Bwah ha ha ha ha

(The situation described is NOT a situation I am facing. But this is excellent.)

(Warning for the extra-jumpy - naughty word. Multiple uses.)

A very fine dinner indeed.

Heat your over to 450.

Chop some likely-looking vegetables - I had these in the fridge:
a pint of grape tomatoes, halved;
half a large Vidalia onion, sliced medium-thin;
some peppers (I used about half a red and half a yellow pepper) chopped;
and some white mushrooms, cut in large pieces.
Put them all (with their juices) into a baking pan (mine is 9x13 pyrex.)

Drop in a big spoonful of chopped garlic, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Douse the whole business with olive oil, and toss it all together, and chuck it in the oven.

Put a pot of water on for pasta.

After 10 or so minutes, the tomatoes and onions will start to get soft. Give it a stir.

After another 7 or so minutes, start the pasta. I used about 6 oz of multigrain Barilla.

The veggies are done when everything is soft and touches of brown have started to appear; the oil will be deep gold, mixed with the sticky juices that the vegetables have released. Stir, let sit for a moment while you drain and plate the pasta.

Great with or without cheese (Eric had grated parm; I had a little goat cheese, which was so lovely.

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Picking - a guide for summer in Maryland

Things That Are Helpful for Spontaneous Berry-Picking:

empty Tupperware (or easily-emptied Slurpee cup)

exceptionally tall husband

enthusiastic preschooler

bandaids

Things That I Can Only Imagine Would Be Helpful etc etc:

bug repellent

step stool

pants which come all the way down to one's ankles

shoes which are NOT basically BOARDWALK RUBBER FLIP FLOPS. (I don't care how much I paid for these things, or how comfortable and supportive they are, or even how lucky I am that I have a job to which I can go 98% barefoot every day. They are FLIP FLOPS and one should THINK TWICE while approaching blackberry thickets.)

sufficient time for picking before the enthusiastic toddler needs the bandaids.

Seriously, FIFTY-ISH PEOPLE NEED TO QUIT HAVING FATAL HEART ATTACKS.

Cut it out, you guys.
My nerves can't take it.

Wish List for the Yard

Blue Dragonfly ; Azure Hawker ?, originally uploaded by tibchris.

I woke up this morning and spent a few moments - it felt like half an hour, but I imagine it was less than 3 seconds - figuring out where I was and what day it was. This was a process of elimination - it's ot Sunday, is it? Check...Not Tuesday? Check. No, Monday, first day of a new camp for Eric and a day when, weirdly, nothing is expected of me except to hang with the kid.

I've been really focused on work lately (FINALLY, after a near-disasterous period of chronic distractibility and a few weeks of family/socializing time...) and so this whole day just felt like a bonus, an extra day in the week.

Ian and I trotted off to Lake Elkhorn, where we took a short walk, saw about a zillion dragonflies (mostly small and blue, a couple gigantic red ones) plus ducks and barn swallows but happily no snakes. (Howard County trails all have ENORMOUS posters with pictures of snakes on them, since they had a couple poisonous snake bites within the last few years. This cuts into my enjoyment of the outdoors significantly.) Ian also got to spend some time in the giant sandbox (no snakes there either) while I knit in the shade (also happily snake-free.)

Very, very pleasant.

Being at the lake, and seeing the houses that look out over the lake, gave me lots of ideas for how to make our backyard more livable. I expect the barely-80-degree weather did, mostly...last summer's heat, humidity and God help us, those trendy new Asian Tiger Mosquitos definitely made me want to stay far away from the back yard. (Plus, um, snakes, though nearly every snake I've ever seen at our house has been around the front foundation plantings.)

Anyway, I have had good luck in the past announcing my wishes on my blogs - my very first blog entry, on LiveJournal, mentioned that I needed cargo pants and some genetic material (which is to say, a chance to get knocked up) and I eventually ended up with both.

So I hereby announce to the universe: I would like some outdoor seating - just simple park benches, and some daylillies and hostas for the border. Oh, and a couple pots of bamboo for the deck.

I would like to get all those things for free.

And I would like more 78-degree bonus days this summer.

I suspect not just anyone could pull this off

The mastermind of The Uniform Project, Sheena Matheiken, calls it "an exercise in sustainable fashion." Pretty cool.

via Beauty Tips for Ministers.

I also dig this:

Since shopping at the Grand has become my number one hobby (replacing knitting, reading, and apparently, blogging) I was pleased to find a link to this:

http://asianaisle.com/

(from a comment from a woman named Sheri on How Chow, where I gather with other lovers of unusual groceries in my local area and bloviate. (Prov 18:2.)

Church Supply Marketing Sucks

Noticed this at a church supply site. This, and feltboards. No kidding.

several things you should know:

1. Alice packs for her trip to Paris:

"I’ve been practicing some important phrases, too:

Excuse me, stewardess, please make sure there is no turbulence.

Excusez-moi, hôtesse de l'air, s'il vous plaît assurez-vous il n'y a pas de turbulence.

I thought I said no turbulence. Now I require a bucket of red wine and some horse tranquilizers.

Je pensais que je l'ai dit pas de turbulence. Maintenant, j'ai besoin d'un seau de vin rouge et quelques chevaux de tranquillisants.

Do not laugh at me. I have an anxiety disorder.

Ne vous moquez pas de moi. J'ai un trouble anxieux."

from Alice Bradley's blog Finslippy

2. Wish I’d said that:

In Religion Dispatches (which I read nearly every day) Benjamin Weiner points out where Gary Trudeau falls short. He’s right, but the really fabulous part of this essay is the use of “metonymize” and “clusterfuck” – “a beautifully multi-cultural clusterfuck”, in fact – in THE VERY SAME SENTENCE.

3. Dear Pixar, From All The Girls With Band-Aids On Their Knees

"If we had to wait for your thirteenth movie for you to make one with a girl at the center, couldn't you have chosen something -- something -- for her to be that could compete with plucky robots and adventurous space toys?"

from Linda Holmes' terrific pop culture blog for NPR.com, Monkey See.

entertaining

I am very much enjoying this webpage and especially this blog by the creator of those things. You know how there are certain things you can buy - or even just look at - and you feel like you're cooler already?

Great taste and a sense of humor.
She also created these.





extremely indirectly via priscilla

Rachelle, in her excellent blog Magpie Girl, writes about fascinating things - ex-patriot life, parenthood, spiritual life after organized religion, art, ritual, and finding and cultivating life with your tribe.

Last Thursday, she posted her list of 8 Self-Care Essentials: "It’s time to think about what you need to stay healthy and sane on a day-to-day basis. "

Here's mine.
You've probably discerned these for yourself, if you check in here from time to time.


1.Sleep. I am just – literally, in the past 2 weeks - learning the joy of sleep.

2. Chemicals. For the time being, at least, I need to ingest a few chemicals, to balance out the ones that my brain makes too much of, or absorbs too little of, or...something. I’m not totally clear on the process. Here’s what I know: my brain was trying to kill me. Now it’s not. To hell with stigma. Bring on the pills.

3.A face-to-face conversation with my husband. About something other than laundry and schedules.

4.Reading time. A magazine, a library book, the Style or Food section, SOMETHING that’s not an email.

5.Food which is actual food. Like sleep, I neglected/ignored/did not believe this was necessary for about 45 of my 47 years.

6.Time to cook a meal and wash up/get things back in order.

7.A bit of news – real (NPR) or fake (Jon or Stephen, although this may threaten #1.)

8.Singing with my kid. And occasionally, without him.

Everything that is wrong with the world

Here's a post from the live chat on the Worship Facilities Conference and Expo, held last week in Long Beach CA:

szee: the conference was so great. church can
and should be as amazing as
concerts or broadway!
lets do it!

moan.

Two Recipe Links... (with a quick edit.)

..from two of my favorite people.

This article in the NYTimes (Sunday magazine section, several weeks ago) included a recipe for pizza crust by my favorite food writer, Jeffery Steingarten. (By the way -- that picture of him? In the last link, the author page? PRAY TO GOD that anyone ever takes a picture of you that is that flattering. Use it until you die. Require that a paper use it in your obituary. JS is a wonderful writer, a clear thinker, a man of unbounded enthusiasm, and very smart. But he does not look like that.)

EDITED TO ADD: This pizza crust is decidedly superior to my earlier pizza crust. If I invite you over for pizza, you do not need to be afraid!

Pizza quality will improve even more if I can find our pizza stone! I forgot that we even had one!

PS - I am grateful for a family who want to eat my experiments, no matter how questionable they look.

Anyway, I made pizza dough today. I often make pizza dough on Mondays, and it never quite pleases me (though I seem unashamed to serve it to people both inside and outside my family) so I am trying the linked recipe to see how that goes. We'll bake, eat and critique tomorrow.

AND

My dear friend Beth is writing for Suite 101 - her first post, a recipe, appeared today. I have never made this - in fact, I've never even tasted it! But I am going to try it - it's made from pantry stuff I have around (except for the ground beef), and the kid likes beans.

Speaking of beef, I got some bargains while grocery shopping today, and now I have to figure out what to do with a pork "filet". (It's long and skinny. It's like a pork log. I think I might have called this a tenderloin, were I doing the labeling. But perhaps that's not technically correct.) Off to google "pork" (oh good Lord.)

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life..and see if I could not learn what it had to teac

.and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)

I am going into the woods to...what? Talk about ministry? Come back out with a plan for 2010? Knit? Work our asses off for 3 days and come back exhausted, yet strangely renewed?

We're retreating, and will have all the comforts of home, if your home held 10 adults and had toilets and showers and one telephone on the wall of the coat closet.

I am bringing beer.

One of my comforts, when things in life are tough (at the moment, they aren't, particularly) is that there seems to be little danger that I will come to the end of my life and discover that I have not lived. That I just visited this planet.

More and more I think this is the question I was put on earth to keep asking:

"Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?"

Jonny Baker had me thinking about that today. He proposes that planning worship - curating worship - is nothing less than creating a world, and we should consider what kind of world we would create.

I think I would most want to create a world where people have time and space and brain power to do THINGS THEY ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT. Work that is diverting and also significant. Real conversations, not just pleasantries. Making things. Seeing things. Laughing. Not so much driving (except that even driving is a great backdrop for some of the most real conversations. Yesterday, as we were finishing up our errands, Ian said to me "Let's stay. Let's just stay in the car."

"Just drive around?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "Just stay in the car and drive some more. Just sit in the car."

And I thought, kid, I have spent so many hundreds of hours just staying in cars, doing what we're doing - talking, listening to music, looking out the window - that I know just what you mean. "I'd like that," I said.)

I would like to create a world where no one has to wonder if they are really alive.

Fail or No Fail - Dinner edition

Improvised chicken soup = NO FAIL

delicious, filling, used up leftovers and produce odds and ends. I may make soup every Friday.

Improvised whole wheat cheddar biscuits = FAIL

Massively salty. Otherwise, not that bad. Plus we get to use these ridiculous little butter knives.

How I made the soup:

Warm a splash of olive oil in a dutch over (high heat.)

Slice 2 small onions and chop 5 stalks of celery, and drop into pan. Salt and pepper them generously. Stir occasionally.

Cut 3 carrots (or like 10 baby carrots) into thick slices and drop into pan.

If the pan seems too dry and the onions are sticking, add a splash of some liquid (I used broth, water or wine would be fine.)

Add the shredded meat from about half a cooked chicken. Stir. (Add any leftover cooked veggies you would like to see out of the fridge – I had a braised leek, which added a lot of flavor, and some sliced of potato.)

Sprinkle in a little (probably less than a teaspoon) McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Grilling spice. (YES it has sulfites, don’t judge me.)

Add 32 oz of chicken broth (that’s a box of Swanson’s Natural Goodness.)

Add fresh green beans (2 cups?) Lower the heat to medium.

Add a few handfuls of pea pods (what are these things called, anyway? I love saying pea pods, for some reason.)

Simmer until the beans are as tender as you like them.

This soup is flavorful (from the onions, which pretty much carmelize) spicy (from the spice mixture, which is awesome, chemicals and all) and has lots of texture and interest from the zillion servings of vegetables. It’s forgiving, cook-time-wise, so you can prep the produce and chicken as you go, as opposed to having to have all the beans strung and the chicken shredded before you turn on the burner. This allows you to improvise throughout, and also helps with the cleanup, eliminating all those annoying little bowls of mise en place.)

More totally awesome cooking tales: Eric's birthday picnic

The courses, and how I messed them up:

Fresh Pea Salad
(from Heidi Swanson's wonderful 101 Cookbooks which is the primary reason I am slightly less fat than I used to be. Still just as Funky, though.)
How to mess it up: Instead of a seeded serrano chili in the dressing, use a habenero.

A giant pressed sandwich. I did not mess this up. It was really good.

Take one baugette. Slice it as if it is the world's largest hot dog bun. Use your fingers to pull out the places where the fresh bread has wadded up.

Assemble a sandwich using, in any order:
roasted red peppers (dry them off just a little)
fresh mozzerella (in slices or little blobs, drained)
basil leaves
butter lettuce
tiny little slivers of cured meat (in this case, Lebanon Bologne)
a little smoked provolone (because they had it at the farmer's market)
I might had had a tomato, too, although who buys tomatoes in April?

drizzle with a tiny thread of olive oil. Squish together and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and find a way to fit it into the fridge.

Before the picnic, wrap it in foil and find a way to fit it in the cooler.

My way involved bending it in the middle.

Serve at the picnic with salt, pepper, and the insanely spicy salad dressing that nearly killed you when you tried it on the pea salad. It goes really, really well with the sandwich.

Utz Kettle Cooked Potato Chips. These cannot be messed up, as they are the most delicious chip on earth. If we're going to poison ourselves with junk food, by God, it had better be worth it.

Cardamom Iced Tea with honey in sports bottles. I did not mess this up either.

And the birthday cake: Pound Cake with Strawberries and Whipped cream.

Wash, de-leaf and slice a box of strawberries. Put them in a tupperware container with a splash of balsamic vinegar and about a quarter-cup of sugar. Keep in fridge for the day, shaking occasionally.

Make a sour cream poundcake.

Cream together 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a 7 oz container of plain yogurt (we had Fage, yippee) and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Mix that.

Okay, here's your chance to mess it up: add one egg and one cup of flour and mix completely. Do this twice more, until you have added 3 eggs and 3 c. flour.

There, you just messed it up. The recipe actually calls for TWO eggs at a time. For a total of SIX eggs.

The recipe also says to "pour" the "batter" into a greased and floured loaf pan. Dude, even when you use 6 eggs - I'm guessing this would be true if you used a dozen - this is by no stretch of the imagination "batter" and it will never, ever pour. It's okay. Really. Transfer with a spatula and a huge spoon.

Also, this cake is too big for my largest loaf pan. It overflowed, even without the 3 more eggs. You could easily make 2 decent-sized pound cakes from this recipe.

Bake at 325 for about 75 minutes.

This is delicious. The number of eggs does not matter at all. Sure, it's 'substantial', but that makes it excellent for absorbing the strawberry juice and contrasting with the whipped cream.

Also on this picnic, try to fly kites, regardless of the wind situation.

Happy Birthday.

I burned the no-bake cookies.

Here's the recipe from yesterday. You've had these. I'm pretty sure.

Take a large saucepan. Put in 1/4 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 and a half Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, 2 Tablespoons peanut butter (supercrunchy if you have it) and a half a stick of butter.

It works better if the butter isn't frozen.*

Stir that mess together and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil.

Boil for 90 seconds without stirring.

Remove from heat. Stir in 1 and a half cups rolled oats (old-fashioned oatmeal, your box may say. The stuff you use for cookies. The stuff you cook on the stove top for 5 minutes. That oatmeal.) and a swig of vanilla extract.

Drop by spoonfuls (or whatever sort of lumpy shape you like) onto a piece of foil. (I didn't use a cookie sheet, just laid the foil on the counter.)

Don't eat these until they cool.

Right.

The next time I make these, I will add some salt, since, in my opinion, all cookies need salt. And use even chunkier peanut butter, because the peanut pieces are nice.

* Frozen butter does not encourage even heating of all the ingredients in the fudgey stage. If you're not careful, you could even burn some of it.

And then all your Facebook friends will say you are awesome.

more fascinating output at my Flickr page

Sheeeeeps. We haz em.

greetings from the biggest fiber event in the world.

Ian rocked it and then some.




































I did not buy one gram of yarn.

I did buy myself one present = a needle gauge pendant - this form, but made of teal aluminum, not sterling like this photo. I very rarely buy knitting tools. I really have much more stuff than I need already. (And I'm not really the pewter sheep brooch type, though there were some pretty nice ones at the fest.) But I fell for this months ago when I saw it in a magazine, and when I saw one in person, I splurged.



Come on. I'm on a yarn diet, not a gauge diet. Have a heart.

what we did today

baked some cakes (we're having a bake sale. The carrot cake should pay for at least one floor tile.) (Also made the nearly-flourless chocolate cake.










Ian helped.

He actually did.






















my bangs have not fallen out.

This evening's suspense:

In 10 minutes, will I be saying,

"Dude! I totally rawk! Dig my edgy white highlights!"

or

"fuck. my bangs just fell out."

Link to the shrimp recipe (if I can get away with it.)

I know the NY Times occasionally objects when civilians link to their content, but I'm going to give this a try.

Here is a recipe I've been making for a really long time. I saw it in the Times, a Wednesday food section, and I had it tacked to the corkboard in my kitchen for years. Now I have it memorized (though I rarely trust my memory for recipes, since, as my recent birthday cake slip-up* indicates, I'm not that precise even when I have the text in front of me.) I believe (guessing, from the notes in my kitchen notebook) that I clipped this recipe about 1997 or so.

I made this tonight for friends, which was a bit of a risk - it's got very strong flavors, and I can imagine someone finding it inedible. Happily, both the shrimp devotee and the more hesitant friend loved it. Even Ian ate a bite!

I usually eat this with white rice, but was too lazy for rice tonight - I bought a baguette, which we made very short work of. We had green beans and asperagas, which was also well received. (I cut up some cucumbers for this kids, and that made me realize that some kind of cucumber side dish would be really good with this, to contrast the salty and sharp flavors. )

In related food news, Ian and I had a tremendously successful first trip to the Grand Everyday Fresh Mart in South Laurel. Large selection of very nice produce at low prices, first of all, which is what I was looking for. (Seriously - Driscoll strawberries for 2.19 instead of 2.59, grapes for .99 a pound instead of $1.99. Large (don't know the official designation, but they were BIG) shrimp for 4.99/pound )(cheaper if I had been prepared to deal with the heads, which I was not). Live crabs and lots of fish on ice, which, along with making me what to cook them, make the trip much more exciting for Ian. The prices are competitive with the PanAm Latin American market, but it's much bigger and the produce looks nicer. Like the PanAm, it's pretty chaotic, but that suits me fine.

*The cake mistake - I have a lovely recipe for pound cake, from this excellent book which I totally recommend. Yes, it's got some jello salads and some things which require cans of mushroom soup. So don't make those. Duh. The things that are good are really good, including the sour cream pound cake recipe, which is what I made for Eric's birthday Friday. I used yogurt instead of sour cream, and where the recipe calls for 6 eggs, I only remembered to put in 3. It's still absolutely delicious. It's just a little more, um, "substantial".

more evidence of my awesome maturity

People who spin their own yarn apparently use a tool called an orifice hook. Yes, they do. It's true. I know this because someone who advertises on Ravelry mentioned them in her ad.

Disappointment: her Etsy shop is out of them, so there are no pictures there to reign in the imagination.

Tomorrow, if I get a chance, I will post the recipes for Eric's birthday cake and for the picnic fare that will proceed it.

Dinner Tonight: Chickpea Tangine.

* 2 Tbs. olive oil
* Half a gigantic onion, thinly sliced
* 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs. minced from the jar.)
* i lb dried chickpeas, soaked about 18 hrs and rinsed
* several baby carrots, sliced into small chunks
* ¼ cup raisins
* 1 tsp. ground turmeric (shocked to find I had this in my cabinet)
* 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1 tsp. ground cumin
* ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
* 2 tsp. honey
(I used Really Raw honey, but didn't see any of the usual miscellaneous bee parts - Eric must have eaten them all in the top layer.)
* ½ cup plain Greek-style yogurt


The night before:
pick over the dried chick peas, rinse them in a colander, and put them in a large pot with 6 or so cups of water. I left them on the counter overnight, but transferred them the fridge before I left for work.

When you plan to cook them:
Take soaked chick peas out of fridge, rinse them one last time, cover generously with cold water and set them to boil until you can crush one with a little effort. It took about 30 minutes here. Raw chickpeas taste a little like raw chestnuts, which I don't recommend either. Cooked chick peas taste a little like roasted chestnuts, and retain some of their springyness. Stop cooking them before they get mushy.

(The original recipe called for canned chick peas, rinsed, which would make this a 20-minute dish, and I'm sure that would be fine too. I'm just a dried bean snob. And cheap.)

Heat oil in dutch over over medium heat.
Add onion and garlic, and sauté until onion slices are soft.
Stir in cooked, drained chickpeas, carrots, raisins, spices, honey, and 2 cups water.
Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Keep an eye on it - I had to add about a half-cup more water at the 11 minute mark.
Serve, with a spoonful of yogurt.
Benefits from some salt and pepper.

THIS was a total winner, didn't take long, was definitely not technically challenging, and all with staple foods! We had everything except the yogurt already around the house. It's really delicious.

The original recipe is from last October Vegetarian Times. As I said above, it's even faster and easier.

to get this off the server, I'm putting it here.

Doing church and being church: blogroll

People on the journey

http://www.djchuang.com/
trends in culture, business, connecting through technology, church planting and leadership; especially focused on multiracial and Asian-American congregations

http://thecorner.typepad.com/
Bob’s personal blog – ideas, trends, politics, music, and church. Bob reads everything and knows everyone, and thinks ENORMOUS.

http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/
personal blog of a minister with an emergent congregation in London – excellent resources like “worship tricks” and tons of links to other alternative worship stuff.

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/
Andrew looks at culture, trends, media coverage and whatever catches his attention. He travels all over the world and has great perspective. Plus he’s funny, and not afraid of an argument.

http://www.reallivepreacher.com/
pondering life and community in a small liturgical Baptist church in TX. Excellent writer.

http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/
Steve pastors in New Zealand; their church does especially interesting thing with visual arts and contemplation

http://soupiset.typepad.com/
Paul’s art and thoughts on art, music and worship, as well as family. Pronounced monastic leanings.

http://alternative.victas.uca.org.au/
Cheryl Lawton ministers in Australia

Designing worship – big ideas and nuts and bolts

http://www.smallfire.org/
alternative worship photo archive – pictures from services and events, with links

http://BCPOnline.org
If you need an idea, a prayer or a structured liturgy, this searchable ECUSA book is the best place to start.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/
a great music resource.

Jonnybaker’s worship tricks (see personal blogs – he has links in the right-hand column)

Cheryl’s blog has some beautiful liturgy (also above)

http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/
Dylan’s lectionary blog

www.avisualplanet.com
the very best place for church graphics

www.biblegateway.net
http://www.tniv.info/bible/
of course


Some Books of interest:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-3097203-8655215?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+complete+library+of+christian+worship
The Complete Library of Christian Worship
(Indispensible! You’ll need to assemble this set from used book distributors – Amazon always has some volumes – start with Volume 5, services of the Christian Year, then branch out to 4 (Sacred Actions) or 6 & 7 (Music and Arts.)

http://www.amazon.com/Spaces-Spirit-Adorning-Nancy-Chinn/dp/1568542429/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202231795&sr=8-1
Spaces for Spirit: Adorning the Church by Nancy Chinn
Excellent big vision for worship environments

http://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Worship-Creating-Gatherings-Generations/dp/0310256445/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202232052&sr=8-1
Emerging Worship by Dan Kimball
The primer for creating creative worship gatherings, from theological underpinnings to how-tos. The best introduction, and good to share with people who are nervous about the ‘weird stuff’, because the author is really grounded in the Bible and adamant about sound theology, right motives, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Worship-Evangelism-Sally-Morgenthaler/dp/031022649X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202232329&sr=8-1
Worship Evangelism by Sally Morganthaler
This book changed my life. Back in the early 90s, Morganthaler went looking for what had been lost and gained in ‘seeker sensitive’ (I hate that term used this way, but I know you know what I mean) planning. Even if this isn’t you situation, this book will help you think critically about worship planning.

What we did today

 

hung in the streets

 

looking old-fashioned

 

photographed random things

 

admired my current work in progress in the sunshine.

I love this photo!

Del Primo Boots
Originally uploaded by Mama Grouch

this is gorgeous.

illustrations from yesterday's post

fig. 1




fig. 2
(This was taken the first night I worked on it - it shows the base row of triangles plus 2 tiers. Much more is finished now.)

(Also, I made a decent dinner tonight. A successful experiment. More experiments on the same theme to come.)

(Also, I have posted a couple Easter photos on The Mulligan Years (first post in 5 months!) Go experience teh cute.)

(Also, I am distressed by all this 'imbed disabled by request' business which apparently has come into being while I was on blog hiatus. How can I post the ridiculous Killers video of the song that reminds me of the summer before my senior year of high school? Perhaps MTV will help me.)

Ah yes. MTV comes to my rescue once more.

The Killers - New Music - More Music Videos

don't watch the video. Just listen to the song and think about sitting in a car in driveway, wearing shorts and no shoes. Your curfew has just passed. The grass is wet.

I have been told to update my blog.

1. Happy Birthday Natasha!

2. Finished a great shawl with handspun yarn from Three Irish Girls. It is fabulous if I do say so myself (and I do.)

3. Making a Lady Eleanor entrelac shawl from Scarf Style.

4. However, I have no photos of these projects because my computer is pretty much full and so I when I download my camera, FAIL.

5. We survived Holy Week! And the groundbreaking for the farm. No casualties. I am exhausted.

6. I'm watching a cable rerun of Criminal Intent.
Villain: Neil Patrick Harris, looking like a cleanshaven Unibomber. In a hairnet.
Attempted murder weapon: a power drill.
Sponsor of this episode (I am totally not kidding) The Awesome Auger, which is basically A POWER DRILL. You'd think it was a Google Ad Word.

7. Made macaroons last week, for the first time in years. Recipe will be forthcoming. These are even easier than the peanut butter cookies, though far, far less nutritious.

8. Zoloft is a freakin' miracle. Praise God - really, truly, no kidding - for modern pharmacology.

9. I wonder if it freaks Seth McFarland out to see that animated alien come out of his navel in the Hulu commercial.

10 This is Ian's favorite video of the moment:




we both dig the moment at about 41ish seconds where the hamster (hampster?) is tapping to the music.

some sheep for Patsy

these are 2 book cover designs for the Way of Love. Patsy was having trouble acessing them on the server, and they were unweildy as attachments, so I have posted them.

THIS ISN'T REALLY BLOGGING. ITS WORK. IT'S A WORK WORK-AROUND (of which I continue to be the complete eternal queen.) lenten blogfast is still in effect.