I Saw a Bear

Got back from Oregon on Tuesday night (was supposed to be back Monday night, but thanks to a delay in Medford, the whole trip collapsed like a house of noodles, so I got to stay one more night with the Sugar). The trip was a delight as always, with JUST enough time spent lacking indoor plumbing that I was ready to come home, and JUST enough time hearing the wind blow through the trees and the Oregon frogs do their odd little concerts that I felt refreshed and a little sad to leave the country.

After a 14-hour roadtrip up the 5 with S and his pops, we rolled into the canyon to be greeted by S's cousin and his wife, who were rafting along the Wild & Scenic. It was a fun and improptu slumber party, where we all pitched in vacuuming the cabin, cleaning mouse poop off things (sorry, gotta keep it real...gross), and cooking dinner.

My first full day up there began with a delightful massage from J, a happy hippy pal who lives on 8 acres along a stream, has a house, but sleeps in a yurt, and gave me a tour in which I checked out her claw-footed tub among the trees, her Oracle mask, her May Pole, her TeePee, her Dancing Circle, and all sorts of other fun stuff. The massage took place in the "Care Cabin" and was so wonderful after 14 hours in the narrow back seat of a Diesel truck.

On the drive out there, I passed beautiful farms with herds of sheep, people riding their horses along the side of the road, purple wildflowers, a lake, oh, and a bear. A mid-sized black bear was in the road as I rounded a corner, to my absolute delight. I gasped "A Bear!" and he then hightailed it into the woods. According to J, he is a troublesome teen bear who enjoys digging in the garbage of the residents that live in that area.

I know people see bears in the wild all the time, but when I go to Oregon, all I want to see is one lousy deer in the meadow by the house, but they all hide from me. The deer know I'm coming, and avoid me like the plague. So, in your face, stupid Oregon deer, I saw a bear.

Speaking of stupid deers, I want to go to everyone one of these book stores:

http://www.miragebookmark.ch/most-interesting-bookstores.htm

My Life in Quarters

My mom is hosting a gigantor garage sale this Saturday, one that I have contributed pounds and pounds of stuff to. Tough break for Mom: I won't be there. Of all the Saturdays to pick from, the sale falls on the day S and I leave for Colorado. Luckily, Mama O will be helping Mama W.

I've spent the last few days helping my mom organize stuff, and more specifically, pricing a ton of my junk. I made a HUGE box of stuff that is basically 25 cents for anything in there. I figure I can make some laundry money from old snowglobes and magnets and Smokey Bear pins. It is oddly depressing (or liberating? or a lesson in the free market?) when you really don't think most of the things you have owned could fetch more than two bits from the average stranger. I just hope my nose flute goes to a good home.

Kidding! I would never sell my nose flute!

Also, what is it about this commercial that is so grating? And why is it when it comes on I can't look away? I want to climb inside of it and turn the radio off and tell those girls to knock it off.

Get Out Ghostrider!

We are totally watching Top Gun right now...I'm not sure why. Well, I mean, I know why, it's on AMC, which stands for "American Movie Classics", which Top Gun is. AMC has to show it because there aren't any channels called "Super Rad Awesomeness With Homo-Erotic Overtones."

Cougar is losing it...he's on vapors, Merlin is concerned...and Mav and Goose are headed back to save the day!

I concocted a little recipe for dinner tonight, nothing fancy or complicated or particularly original, but it was a crowd pleaser. I browned up some sweet Italian sausage (which was removed from its casing--one of my favorite cooking things to do--you can make fun farting noises when you remove the meat from the casing). Then, I took the browned sausage out of the pan, and sizzled up some onion and garlic in the drippings.

(Pull up, Cougar!!! We're too loose!!)

Then, I poured in a giant can of diced tomatoes, some tomato paste, some S&P, a bay leaf, and the rind of some old Parmiggiano Reggiano. Mmmmmm!

(By the way, Cougar just declared that he's "holding on too tight". And he's "lost the edge." Mmkay? Colonel Baldy is NOT happy with Mav because his ego is sooooo writing checks his body can't cash.

Aaaaannnyhoo. Add some capers at the end, which you'll leave out next time because the husband didn't like, then mix the whole thing with pasta and more Parm. Scrumptious.

By the way, Colonel Baldy informed Maverick (just before informing Goose and him they are bound for Miramar) that he's a good pilot..."maybe TOO good." Is it really a liability to be TOO good a fighter pilot? I mean, I would think that would be an asset to being a fighter pilot. Now, if you THINK you're too good, but you're not, that's one thing, but if you're ACTUALLY too good...what does this say about the rest of the fighter pilot community? Should Maverick lower his standards and NOT participate in any sort of inverted photo shoots with enemy bogeys? Are we Communists?

Deep.

What a Weekend

I love four day weekends. I know, it's a bold proclamation, and I should be commended for the brave issues I take stances on. I also love pizza and Michael Phelps and kittens.

The weather was fall-down perfect this weekend. No marine layer, no haze, just bright blue sky, clean, post-rain air, even 80 degree temps on Monday! In February! S and I decided to cruise down to the beach on Sunday...along with half of San Diego County. We drove around and around before we found some street parking near the Stone Steps. It was a zoo at Beacons and Carlsbad and all the best beach haunts. Seriously, you would think it had been sleeting for two straight months the way we all frantically scrambled to the ocean like desperate prisoners. But there is something to be said about freshly-washed beach air. Soooo good for you.

I cooked S some migas on Valentine's morning, he liked them a lot, I thought they were just OK, but they were hearty and a good excuse to eat sour cream. We watched a bit of the Daytona 500, but eventually got too distracted by the sunshine so that's when we wandered over to the beach. S continues to play with our fancy new camera, taking ugly pictures of me sitting on driftwood, and seagulls staring at him. I swear they have brains like humans, they have something going on behind their eyes like they are plotting an attack. If they had weapons other than their own doo-doo, they would destroy us all.

We continued our weekend 101 cruising by heading down to the Cardiff Seaside Market, the greatest grocery store ever. It's so expensive, but they have so many beautiful things. Their produce is gorgeous, the meat, seafood, and deli is amazing, the beer section is huge and local and crafty, and their flower section at the front makes me cluelessly stop and block the entrance to the store every time because I'm freaking out and yelling at S to "smell this!!! look at this rose!! I can't stand it!!!" This is the market at which we always buy beer and exotic cheeses when we're camping across the street. It's a tradition, and it felt odd to be there during a non-camping time.

After procuring our Entenmanns (I had a powerful hankering for an afternoon donut), Heineken, and two kinds of cheeses (Italian Pepperjack and Idiazabal), we headed back to the homestead. We set our chairs into the sunshine and drank beer shandys (thank you Dr. M for introducing us to that particular joy), a mix of Heineken and ginger ale, ate olives, cheese, and crackers. S took more pictures, mostly of a bee collecting pollen from the flowers in our iceplant, and I said, for the fourteenth time since we got the camera "I need to learn how to use that thing..."

Then we got all gussied up like grownups and went out to dinner at a relatively new restaurant in E-town called Barracuda. They had a lot of seafood on the menu, but also lamb, beef, duck, and various nice-restauranty foods. S had the most perfect roast duck ever. It was so tender, not fatty at all, just rich and perfect. I had underwhelming but good halibut. It was a really nice meal, great service, good ambiance, I would definitely go back!

The rest of the weekend was filled with other delights: a fun but fruitless shopping excursion with my mom, watching S paint my beautiful bookcase, Olympic celebrations, and hours going through boxes of stuff in my parents' garage. I found some hilarious mementos from high school and college that were absolute gems. I don't know how to decide what to keep and what to toss!

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day wherever you are!

Artsy Fartsy

Usually the two thoughts most occupying my brain are "what's for dinner?" and "can I just read my book now?" But as a new wife and nester, I really want to spend all my free time decorating our little home, or at least thinking about decorating our new home. I am super excited because S has built me a new bookcase, and it is simple and just fantastic. I've already informed him that this does NOT count towards the dream library he will someday build me, said dream library limiting me in terms of how many books I'm allowed to have at one time. (I keep telling him I want the library from Beauty & The Beast, and he keeps telling me we won't ever be living in a castle with a multi-story tower. He's so negative.)

Anyway, the bookcase is built and primed, and is waiting for the rain to stop, and me to pick the exact perfect shade of peacock blue so it can be painted and finally moved into our place in The Leuc. (Not to be confused with The Fee.)

I already have most of the artwork picked out for above the bookcase, including a mirror hanger/door knob thingee with a picture of a squirrel on it. It's from Anthropologie, therefore, it is cute and funky, whereas if I had found it at a garage sale, it would be declared random and scary. How about random and funky?

I bought some decopauge stuff the other day, but I've never used it before. I'm looking forward to joining the decopauge party that has swept our nation for years. I plan on finding some sort of decorative and overpriced paper, and then covering one of those multi-drawer thingees from IKEA in it.

Knitting is still trudging along, although the other night I experimented with some stitches and things went haywire. But at least I haven't forgotten how to knit and purl, so that's good.

Ah! To make "The Bookcase", a delicious new cocktail invented by S and Dr.M, combine Tanqueray Ten (or any gin you like), St. Germain, club soda, and optional blueberry juice. Then read a book. Then pass out from the cocktail.

Ramblings

S had to go to LA early this morning for some family stuff, so we were up and awake by 4am. I got into work super early, was a little disappointed to have a "sorry we're rejecting your grant inquiry" e-mail from Qualcomm in my Inbox. I think a cup of coffee and some lemon cake will make it all better. Hope E arrives soon with the lemon cake.

We've been in The Fee all week long while S works on the house, painting moulding mostly, which is his own personal form of hell. That's why it's been on the to-do list for about 3 years now. But it's almost done, so hopefully we'll be able to get the place rented soon!

I do believe I'm going to make homemade gnocchi tomorrow night, and I'm pondering doing a red sauce and a gorgonzola cream sauce. I've made gnocchi from scratch twice before, and it is so much easier than you think it will be. It's really just a simple dough that you moosh together, roll into snakes, and then cut into knee-yokes. I made a very simple version from Giada de Laurentiis one time, which was good, but needed tweaking, and I'm no tweaker. Then I made THIS one off of Epicurious, and it was the real winner. Ignore the mushroom sauce part. Unless you want mushroom sauce. Then go bananas. Or mushrooms.

My other little domestic skill I'm working on is knitting. This has been a minor goal of mine for awhile now. I bought a book last year and attempted to teach myself from the book, but failed miserably. Last weekend I finally took a class, taught by the lovely Glenda of The Black Sheep in Encinitas. Delightful! Now I know how to knit! I'm slowly working on my first piece, a scarf of course. I was very tempted to make a face beard, but maybe that's the next class...

Sorry for the boringness of the this post. This has been a laundry list of random things in my life, and I feel no ounce of humor or clever language coming from my fingertips. But at least words are being spilled, no?

And since I haven't had a picture in a post for awhile...

Food and Books

In an effort to write for the sake of writing, I like to mull what my most interesting thoughts are before I get started. Sadly, there is nothing interesting going on in my head. I have been working on a big project at work that is almost done, which is very satisfying. But, it's reached the mindless labeling/paper clipping/envelope stuffing process. And so, I blog.

But all I can think about is when I can sit and read my book, and what I'm cooking for dinner tonight. I'm also hoping the felonious co-workers of El Capitan are behaving themselves.

I'm making turkey chili. Onion, turkey, white beans, cumin, chili powder, lime juice, chicken stock, sour cream. Eat.

I also need to get a grant for our Education programs.

Yawn.

Crepes Fantastico

One thing I love about my husband is that he is predictable and yet surprises and confuses me all at the same time. I find it amusing and confusing that he constantly complains that I try to feed him weird and fancy foods (like butternut squash. weird!), yet last night, he was gung ho about making crepes for dinner. Go figure.

We had leftover tri-tip and roasted veggies from Saturday night's dinner, so we chopped it up all teensy, sizzled it up in a pan with onions and spices, and then proceeded to use our shiny new crepe pan from D&J. The fun part about making the crepe batter was that you make it in the blender. I don't know why that's fun, but it was. My blender is orange. It's fun by nature.

The first crepe was un disastre, but the rest were gorgeous! We need to work on our flipping techniques. Joy of Cooking says your fingers work best for flipping, which we found to be true, except for the fact that S no longer has fingertips. He may be all macho and rough, but as he informed me over the weekend "I have very soft skin. I take care of myself!" So true, fancy boy.

My favorite part of the crepe dinner was the mustard cream sauce I made. Mmmm, creamy and mustardy.

Special thanks to K and K for getting married, having two copies of Joy of Cooking, and letting me have one of their copies in a "we're getting rid of books" purge. Special thanks also to a family I will not name for giving K the cookbook in the first place. Happy 2000 Graduation, K! (Makes me smile every time I crack that baby open.)

I Don't Make Resolutions

But if I DID, I would resolute to write more frequently on my blog. And yes, I know it's "resolve", but what fun is blogging if you can't make up wacky words? It's what the hip teens do on the internets these days.

I was in the midst of writing a brilliantly-crafted letter to some planned giving prospects when Erica and I began discussing the concept of writing for the sake of writing, and no matter how many times you learn it, it just helps to be reminded of its practice. Just write. Stop worrying about having some sort of epiphany to share, or interesting anecdote that will stop the world, just write and get the juices flowing.

So here I am, taking a few moments away from the letter to write. Life is good. 2009 was a very big year in the life of JJ, and a great year indeed. I'm excited about 2010, but at the moment I am reveling in the contentedness of mine and S's life. It's not perfect, but it's warm and cozy and happy and filled with smiles and love and laughter and I guess my other resolution would be to remember to not take that for granted, and to try and stay connected to that feeling.

Also, I'm craving soup for lunch today, so I might head over to Influx for their Tomato Bisque. Maybe I'll take my Scottish-time-travel-romance-adventure book. Ha! "Maybe" I'll take my book. That's funny.

And apparently, my 2-year-old nephew, whose name starts with a B, ate FOUR adult-sized pancakes yesterday. I am 29 years older than him, and I've never been able to eat more than two, and I LOVE pancakes.

How's THAT for a stream of consciousness. What do you think, Airshine???

Rainbow Cake!

Oh man. I done gone and baked one of the coolest things ever. It was nothing but box cake and food coloring--no challenge of baking science--and it wasn't even my idea, but it turned out so radical, I'm so pumped about this. You must find an occasion to make this cake.

The fabulous Claudia Russell, Jazz88 DJ extraordinaire, had a birthday last week, but wasn't in the office for cake-ular activities. I had been saving this cake recipe specifically for her, as she's a hippy-at-heart who loves tye-dye.

TO THE CAKE!

First, I made a double-batch of white cake. I believe it was Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe.

Then, I divided up the batter into 7 bowls of equal volume. Using gel food coloring (more intense, less liquid added) I dyed each bowl a different color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink.


Next, I took two round 9-inch cake pans. Here is where the expert baking technique comes in. Now, you can put the colors in whatever order you want, but I put them in regular rainbow order. So, beginning with red, I put a heaping cup to cup and a half into the bottom of the first pan. Next, a little less of a heaping cup of orange right on top. Don't worry, they don't mix into each other, they just sit on top of each other in concentric circles and slowly spread out into the pan.


Follow with the rest of the colors until all seven are in the pan. Then, do the same thing in the second pan, but put the colors in REVERSE order. Here's another tip. The BOTTOM layer of batter (meaning, the first color you put in the pan) should be more than the top layer.

Bake.



Cool. Frost. Cut into. Freak out.



Delight your happy birthday-having pal:



Then eat more cake:


Full credit to Omnomicon.com, although she does it some crazy nonsense diet way with soda and pudding mix. No. Just...NO. Make the box cake the way you're supposed to make it. The end.

I Have a Ring!

Finally! We have an engagement ring! Woohoo! On Saturday we hit up Leo Hamel in Old Town, after hearing they had a decent selection of estate pieces. I was starting to feel like I just needed to pick SOMETHING remotely close to the style that I was leaning towards. Everything that I had tried up to that point had been close, and pretty, and sparkly, but I don't know, how do you choose when they are all pretty and kind of all look the same after awhile? Well, we debated between two finalists, and this little darlin' finally won out. I love it more and more the longer I have it. Hooray!





Oh, wait, you might want to know, it's 14 karat white gold. I don't know how old it is, I forgot to ask.

Well Hello There!

Oh hey! I have a blog! Discipline has never been my strong suit, but you know, I am a work in progress.

I am safely ensconced on my couch, sipping a glass of red wine and nibbling on Rainier cherries. Mmmmmm! I went to Pata Negra after work and got some tomate frito (put it on white rice), chorizo, and a super tangy goat cheese rolled in paprika. I've been trying not to gorge on it too much as it was supposed to be our cocktail hour appetizers, but el Capitan just called and won't be home until 7. Guess who gets all the cheese and chorizo to herself? These are the sacrifices and rewards of the fireman-family lifestyle.

I left work before 3pm today due to an exceptionally frustrating situation that remains out of my control. Rather than sit at my desk stewing in my own angry juices, I decided to just leave. I don't mean to be mysterious, but I'd rather not memorialize my rage on the internet. Needless to say, said situation will pass.

Tomorrow I have a meeting in Balboa Park, specifically at the delicious-smelling Mingei Museum. I don't know what it smells like, but it just smells good. Textiles and foreign wood carvings and fresh paint. We're partnering with them for an event in two weeks, so every few weeks for the past few months I've been popping up to the museum to meet with their Marketing Coordinator.



The last time I was up there I walked through my favorite spot in all of San Diego, the Alcazar Gardens. It was such a beautiful day (the miserable May Gray hadn't descended yet) and the flowers were just bonkers. I had to stop and attempt to take artistic pictures of the crazy tall purple flowers. Stalk? Snapdragons? I wish I was better at my flower identification.



Anyway, it was such a pleasant interlude during my work day, I had to stop and appreciate that my job frequently requires that I walk through Balboa Park. Not a bad gig.



Thank God I have another meeting there tomorrow, I need the reminder!

Tortilla Espanola

So I had big plans this weekend to dig into 1080 Recipes, which is THE bible of authentic Spanish cooking. It didn't happen. But, we still ate an authentic Spanish dinner, so that has to count for something, right?



Mmmm...classic tortilla espanola. Here's what you do. Take a tater. Peel that tater on up. Then, you have to cut the tater into small pieces, but not in nice even dices, but like little discs that are sort of thin like. But not too thin. I hold onto the potato and take a paring knife and just slice little pieces off one at a time. It's sort of a pain, but really, you become one with the potato. No you don't, it's mostly a pain. Then, fry those ta-toes up in a TON of olive oil. You can save the oil and use it again the next time you fry up patatas.

Don't burn the potatoes, just fry them so they are happily bubbling in that oil until they are soft. This is why you don't want them TOO thin or they'll turn into potato chips. Once they are all soft and mushy and scrumptiously oily, drain your potatoes.

Scramble 4 or 5 eggs. Make sure you salt the eggs. Don't be stingy with the salt. Then, pour the eggs over your potatoes which you've got sitting in a large dish or bowl, and mush the concoction together. Then, pour the whole shebang BACK into a smallish pan which you have either sprayed with Pam, or coated with a bit more olive oil. Keep the heat relatively low, because the tortilla is thick, and the outside of the eggs will cook much quicker and you don't want to burn them.

Gently pull the sides of the egg away from the pan with a butter knife and let the raw runny stuff in the middle drain down to the sides to cook, forming a new outer edge.

Now comes the hard part. Get a nice big plate and put it over the top of the pan. You are going to flip the tortilla. Don't be afraid, the tortilla can sense your fear. Confidently and strongly hold the plate against the pan, and in one swell foop flip that mother over. Then, sliiiide the whole messy concoction back into the pan. Poke the tortilla with a fork. No, I don't know why, just do it.

Eventually, it will be done. Take it out of the pan, and let it cool to room temp, or you can eat it cold after you refrigerate it for awhile. Or, you can eat it hot out of the pan, but I don't think it tastes as good hot.

Buena suerte!

(P.S. I think it's clear I would be a terrible cookbook writer)

Happy Birthday Bob!

So one of my favorite people in the world is my friend Bob Harvey. Bob has been a long time volunteer at the radio station, and last Saturday he celebrated his 90th birthday. His fantastic daughter Ann was nice enough to invite Shane and me to come to the big celebration that was thrown in his honor.

Bob doesn't really "volunteer" anymore, but he comes to plenty of concerts and happy hours to hang out with the staff and other volunteers. He is quite beloved at the radio station, so we were very happy to celebrate with him.

The thing that's so great and inspiring about Bob, is that he's not OLD. I mean, yes, he's 90 and you have to speak a bit louder than normal and he doesn't drive anymore, but he's the coolest 90-year-old you'll ever meet. He STILL has a personal trainer that he works out with, specifically so he can keep on skiing. Yes, he still skis. He has an easy chuckle, and a great sense of humor. He is so very UN-stodgy, he has the most positive and easy-going attitude, plus, he calls me "doll".

And he would TOTALLY win the David Letterman "What's the Deal with Old Guys and Big Glasses?" contest. But then again...I might be starting my way down that path too...

"Maturity..."

That's what my high school English teacher Ms. Gabay would say to us teens anytime something inappropriate came up in a book or movie, and we'd all start to giggle.

Sadly, I have never embraced maturity. I just worked a 14 hour day, and should have been in bed 45 minutes ago, but no, I'm wasting time on the internet. And thank God! Because if I HADN'T been, we never would have heard about this:

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/03/25/internacional/1238011768.html

I know it's in Spanish, but really, there's no need to worry about the details of the article, just the translated headline: "Giant Penis On Roof of House" and the accompanying picture made me burst into super immature giggles. And then blog about it.

Some young whippersnapper in England did this to his poor parents, and now they're on Google Earth. Well played, young man. Well played.

Slainte!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's something completely unrelated to St. Patty's Day, and it's a little late to post it, but I just rewatched it and laughed just as hard as the first 8 times. My love affair with Will Forte grows. Start about 1 minute in...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/52186/saturday-night-live-update-bcs-song

Happy Song

This is just cute and fun.

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello doves! I know it's a mostly Hallmarkian holiday, but what's wrong with a calendar-based nudge to focus on love? Who says it has to be romantic love only? Maybe I can be all tra-la-la about it because I have found my Sweet Baboo (currently snoring even though he's been asleep for over 10 hours. Seriously, what the French, toast? Why aren't you awake already?) I neglected to get my act together this year so I have no cookies or truffles or cards to share, but I still love you. If you're reading this, you're one of the 8 who do, and I can guarantee you that I love you very much. So! Since I didn't make you a box of cookies this year, here is a pie:


Mmmm.... This is Martha Stewart's recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie, and it is a great recipe. It doesn't take a ton of ingredients, which was particularly handy last weekend when it was raining and I didn't want to run out to the store AGAIN. I really am a fan of custards and puddings, they are quick and easy and really just involve a lot of whisking and paying attention to not burning stuff. Cream pies rule.

Martha calls for a Chocolate Pate Sucree crust, but I have made this pie twice now, once with just a regular Pillsbury readymade crust, and this time, with a nice, thick, graham cracker crust. It also calls for a caramel whipped cream topping, which is sort of advanced, but not completely difficult to do, and it makes for a yummy topping. I skipped it this time around, but highly recommend giving it a try. As you can see from the above picture, we munched it all down before remembering to snap a pic of the finished product. Yum.

Which One's Cuter?

The devastating wildfires in Australia are pretty incomprehensible. So far there aren't many "feel good" stories coming out yet--it's just horrific. But this little story, and the accompanying picture, was just too sweet and heartbreaking to ignore.

Christian Bale Needs to be Kicked in the Nuts

I actually agree with the essence of Christian Bale's argument. (Click here if you haven't heard his crazy tirade yet. Turn the volume down if you're at work) He's trying to do his job, somehow someone keeps making that difficult to do, and his frustration boils over. I completely get that. All that being said, what an ass and what a blowhard for going so completely apeshit and not being able to calm yourself down. You're not curing cancer, you're playing John Conner, and you're totally replaceable. Wow, I feel strongly about this.

Mostly, though, I just want this t-shirt.