My Bit of Earth

Marshmallows, Homestyle

This weekend's kitchen experiment--which I'm not even sure where the inspiration for came from--was homemade marshmallows.  I thought it might be fun to make some in crazy colors and flavors for the 4th of July, and it seemed smart to do a practice run.

Here is the recipe I used courtesy of Dear Alton.  Per the recipe, I let them dry overnight before trying to use them for s'mores.  They had a nice solid consistency (and would have been just fine for cocoa), but once they were on sticks and over the fire they got gooey and started to fall off before they could get properly cooked.  So, I let them sit out and dry for another day and tried again. 

Although it was a huge sacrifice to have s'mores two nights in a row, the result from the second night was much better.  They puffed up to be gigantic, and the powdered sugar crust that kind of forms on the outside caramelized just perfectly.  Now to decide what flavor to add next time....

Wednesday Poll: Hello Lover!

The much anticipated "Sex and the City: The Movie" premieres this weekend.  (I'm going to be home for a wedding, and I'm hoping to have time to see it with Nice Mom.)  While I was not the earliest or the biggest of fans when the show was in production, I caught up quickly once it came out on DVD and have been hooked ever since.

So, for this week's poll, two three questions:

1. Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, or Samantha--which of the girls are you most like and why?

2. What is your favorite episode or moment from the show and why?  (Here's a list of episodes with brief synopsis if you need a refresher; Here's what one writer at MSNBC thinks.)

EDITED TO ADD: I kind of forgot about the guys--silly me! 

3. If you are a guy or have a guy, what Sex and the City guy do you think he is most like and why?  (As some options:  Big, Aiden, Burger, Harry, Trey, Steve, Richard, Smith.)

Comment and discuss.

Daring Bakers: Opera Cake

Despite the fact that I was a little nervous when I began Daring Bakers in November, for the most part I've completed all the challenges fairly unscathed. 

Until this one.

This month's challenge--posed by DB founders Ivonne and Lis, and newbies Fran and Shea--was to make an opera cake. 

"For those of you that don't know about this cake, it's an extremely elegant and polished French dessert that is believed to have been created around the beginning of the 1900s. Many people credit a gentleman by the name of Louis Clichy with inventing the cake and that's why it's sometimes referred to as Clichy Cake.

"So what exactly is an Opéra Cake?

A Spoiled Dog Sleeps In

Moe wanted me to let you all know he had a wonderful, extra long weekend!

One, Two, Three, Four...

("...tell me that you love me more.")

Almost four years ago (officially next Thursday, but what's a week between friends) we were busy doing this:

It's hard to believe it's been that long!  But then again, it's not.  The other day someone asked me what it's like to be married.  I probably should have said something about it being hard work and compromise and all of that serious stuff; but the truth is it's comfortable in all the best ways, exciting in all the best ways, and gosh darn it, it's fun!

To celebrate, we decided to go to Cafe Beautiful (the same place we went last year), but this year we invited our best-sushi-eating-friends to join us.  Here are some pictures of our gorgeous meal (I'm a geek I can't help but take pictures of the food) and the rest of our night out:

From top left...hot sake in a pretty, pretty pot...a savory, custardy, fishy soup...fruit salad with ginger dressing...fish cake, edamame dumpling, okra, and salmon...a shrimp and veggie salad with wasabi vinaigrette in a cucumber cup...the sashimi course--lobster and super white tuna with a soy sauce and lime dipping sauce...the sushi course--barbecued eel and a yellow-fin tuna roll...(and not pictured is the green tea ice cream we then had for dessert!)....After dinner we decided to go to the "Hookah House" next door where we...played a few games of chess...while sitting on way cool poufy cushions...and smoking rose and jasmine tobacco...and drinking Turkish coffee...Sweet Husband and I...our Nice Sushi Lovin' Friends...a cat that was sleeping in a store window that we passed on the walk home--I think we were almost as blissed out as she was!

The Red, Red Rose (Radish)

I pulled up some "China Rose" radishes today--I can't believe how red they are.  Against the backdrop of a cloudy morning it looked kind of like they were in color and the rest of the world was in black and white.

In other garden news, I went to the Burrow garden this afternoon after a few days absence.  With all the rain and thunderstorms we've had, everything looks about three times bigger than it did the last time I saw it.  And the peas are just starting to put out some lovely blossoms.  The smell is beautiful.

And There Was Kissing And It Was Good

I understand that there has to be some kind of conflict to keep a plot moving in a television show, but sometimes I don't need angst--sometimes I just want happy.  And tonight, on the season finale of "Grey's Anatomy", there was happy.

Building a guy a house out of candles--how come I never thought of that?  And (for once) he goes to dump the old girlfriend before he and Meredith re-get-together--that boy's learning!  And the whole thing about Meredith and her mother not wanting to kill herself and working through it with the cool shrink lady--all very nice television in my book.

Lexie and George--knew it was going to happen eventually.  George has pretty much slept with everyone, right?  Except Christina, I guess, but that would just be weird.  The thing is I could actually see he and Lexie together.  I didn't like him and Callie, and I equally hated him and Izzie.  But this Lexie thing could work.

Christina and Hahn--I have so been waiting for that to happen.  I like Hahn's character, but the whole way she beats down Christina has been making me crazy.  I just wanted Christina to do something crazy and slap her, or something....but actually this was better.  It was a surgical slap.

And speaking of Hahn, Hahn and Callie--about time!  And Alex and Izzie too, although that was not nearly so cheerful.  When Justin Chambers went off about how he took care of his Mom and therefore he could take care of Rebbecca, I realized just how much they haven't really let him stretch his legs yet.  You could just see the crazy simmering right below the surface--it was well done.

And there was lots of kissing!  A much more satisfying end than last season.  Anything important you guys think I missed?

Strawberries and Stripes

In order to further immerse myself in the apron underworld, earlier this month I signed up for the first Apronista apron swap.  The idea was that it was supposed to be something simple that used ric-rak--I figured I could handle that.

My swapee--um, that would be the person I was to send an apron to--actually makes and sells her own cutie aprons (like this one, which I love!).  The aprons she sells are pretty frilly, but she indicated she likes something a little plainer for herself.  When I saw this super easy idea (from my new favorite blogger, the fabulous Little Momma) I decided it was the way to go.

By complete serendipity, I found this adorable strawberry print dishtowel on the kitchen goodies table at the grocery store.  It even had ric-rak on it--so perfect!  I didn't get as lucky in finding ribbon, but I did find this pretty, stripey fabric.  It gave me fits trying to make it into an apron string--you'd think it would be simple, but it kept bunching up on me.  After a few tries though, I got it together.

I'm putting it all in the mail tomorrow--hope you enjoy it Jan!

The Mysterious Cornflower

When these flowers started opening up in our little box garden at home--from the group of perennials I planted last year--Sweet Husband was curious what they were. 

I wasn't sure.  I knew the lavender was coming back, along with the hibiscus and the sedum.  I knew the black-eyed susans and echinacea had not yet made an appearance.  But I wasn't sure which of the remaining plants these spiky, purple flowers might be.

Through process of elimination and the wonders of Yahoo image search however, my mystery was solved--they are Persian Cornflowers of the "Steenbergii" variety.  And although I don't remember being all that impressed with them last year (I didn't even remember their name, after all), I don't think I'll forget about them again.  They don't smell much, but they're kind of exotic yet home-y at the same time.

Wednesday Poll: Virtually Real

A very dear old friend--a.k.a. "Best Man Friend" from posts past--mentioned the other day that he would really like to have a Pleo.

What is a Pleo, you ask?

Well near as I can tell (except for the fact that I'm assuming you can shut it off) I gather the Pleo is like a small pet.  It's a cutie, little, dinosaur robot that has the ability to learn and sense things.  From the Pleo website: "Pleo feels hunger and fatigue - offset by powerful urges to explore and be nurtured. He'll graze, nap and toddle about on his own -when he feels like it!"  For example, the Pleo will learn to come to your voice, and he can feel it when you stroke him. 

Here's a cute video of one at Sea World interacting with dolphins (skip to the middle) just to let you see what one is like in action.  He's really kind of a winning little, um...creature?

With that all in mind, for this week's poll:

Do you think you would be interested in a "pet" like this?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of pet over the real kind?  How would it change your answer if it was a virtual child rather than a virtual pet?

Comment and discuss.

There and Back Again

We've been walking to the Burrow garden and back to water just about every other evening lately.  The dogs are love it, and it's not so bad for the peoples either.

Tonight we took a slightly different route, and discovered a few whimsical bits that hadn't been noticed before (click to see it bigger).  Starting with the top small picture....some beautiful red-orange poppies growing along a fence....leaf lettuce, planted in such pretty varieties that it almost looked like flowers....spring onions popping into purple poofs....and--the most curious bit of all--a stuffed tiger that had been placed on a limb waiting to pounce on people walking under him on the sidewalk.  Luckily, we must not have looked like very tasty food!

Fro-Yo for Moe

My dogs, they like ice cream.  And while that's OK as an every-so-often thing, it really does have more sugar than is good for them.

But--lucky pups--the other day, I found a dog-friendly recipe for frozen yogurt.  Very simple ingredients--a few cups of plain yogurt, a squirt of honey, a jar of fruity organic baby food (important because it doesn't have any extra sugar or other junk), and a big spoonful of natural peanut butter (again, it doesn't have the sugar, and--as an added bonus--at our grocery store you can grind your own which was more fun than anyone has the right to have at the grocery store).  Once it's all mixed together, you just freeze it in ice cube trays, to be doled out in just the right size bites after a long walk or bout of play.

Porter finds it a little cold and oddly textured for her taste, but Moe is happy to eat her portion.  Indeed, this evening he even earned a little extra, stopping with his nose a perfect three inches away from the last cube when I said "stay" and waiting until I'd snapped this shot and given him an "OK" to snarf it down!

Pretty Loungin' Pants

One of my new favorite blogs is One More Moore by Morgan.  The other day I saw she had made these "wide-legged lounge pants" from Amy Butler's book, "In Stitches", and--since sewing is craft-of-the-month around here--I decided to make some too.

First of all, I love the book.  I checked it out from the library, but I think I'm ultimately going to have to just buy it.  There are about ten projects that I really want to do--the potholders, the bathrobe, at least two or three of the bags--I'd have to renew the book for the next year.

But, to get to the pants, they mostly went together very easily.  I messed up with my addition just a little in making the pattern--I made the front leg pieces about four inches too short--but it was a happy mistake.  I just cut the back legs to the same length, and they ended up being just right.  If they would've been four inches longer I would've had to put feeties in them!

I also had a little trouble making the buttonhole that the drawstring goes through.  My sewing machine has a setting that does it, but it wasn't terribly self-explanatory.  It took me about an hour of practice to finally get comfortable enough with it that I was ready to risk trying it on my mostly completed pants.  Fortunately, it worked!

Minus those two tiny freak-outs, these pants were really, really easy though.  Now that I know how to do the buttonholes, I think I could knock out another pair in an hour.  And they're soooo comfy--the hard part is going to be taking them off every morning!

(Oh, and just in case anyone's curious, the fabric is called Posh "Lace Seaweed" by Moda.)

Chicken Cutlets with Basil and Capers

I don't really like chicken.  It's creepy to cook, and often so dry that it's not worth the trouble.  I don't mind it breaded and fried (e.g. chicken parmesan), unfortunately though, that kind of defeats the purpose.

But last week I was flipping through a cookbook from the library--Apples for Jam, by Tessa Kiros--when I found this recipe for chicken cutlets with parsley and capers.  I love capers and roasted tomatoes, so I figured it was worth a try. 

Tonight was it's second go 'round in less than two weeks.

The recipe calls for you to lightly dredge the chicken in flour before cooking it--which puts just a little crust on the outside, without adding a full breading.  Then, just as the chicken is about done cooking, you deglaze the pan (we've been using bourbon, 'cause believe it or not we haven't had any wine in the house) and put on a lid.  The combination of the dredge and the alcohol keeps the chicken all kinds of moist and tasty.  (And I used basil instead of parsley, hence the change in title.)

After discovering this recipe, I checked out Tessa Kiros's other cookbook, Falling Cloudberries.  Both are gorgeous reads--they have little stories and memories tucked throughout, as well as tons of beautiful pictures.  I copied out several recipes from each that I'm excited to try.

Saturday Evening in the Burrow Garden

From left to right:  Peas just starting to grab on to their trellis; a huge yellow Iris opening up in the communal herb garden; the inside of a cabbage.

Radijzen, Radis, Rettiche, Ravanelli, Rabanos

That's "radishes" in Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.  Why in five languages, you ask?  Somehow it seems like a fitting representation of just how many I have.

I've picked more than fifty so far--mostly the 23 day "French Breakfasts".  Thankfully I planted a few different kinds so, although the first wave has seemed huge, I think we may get a short break between it and wave number two--which I think will be the 32 day "China Roses"--and again between wave two and wave three--the 52 day "Champions".

Not that I'm getting tired of them yet.  Actually, tonight I stumbled on a very nice way to eat them, courtesy of La Tartine Gourmande--on crusty bread with a little creamy cheese and salt.  (The soup recipe at the link isn't bad either.)

And because radishes are the only thing I have blooming as of yet, this is my post for this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  Go over and check it out to see what's blooming all over the would this month.

Wednesday Poll: In Defense of Cooking

The other day, Janet at foodperson wrote this post discussing how she can make a good, healthy meal in the same amount of time it takes her neighbor to open his prepackaged box of hamburger helper.  She provides a nice example in the form of an egg and asparagus omelet, which she calls "convenience foods that Mother Nature makes." 

As a person who often finds herself quoting Michael Pollan's Twelve Commandments for Serious Eaters (from his book "In Defense of Food"), I say, "Amen sister!"

I'm always a little flabbergasted by my friends who say they have no time or energy or whatever to cook.  It's like, the word "recipe" scares people off or automatically signals something hyper-complicated.  But really, it's not.

Maybe it's just that we've gotten into a good rhythm with it, but I've found that nine times out of ten, the stuff we put together from scratch tastes incredibly better, is better for us, and doesn't take significantly more time (if any) to make.  I don't think we spend more money on it, and I know we go out to eat less when we have tasty stuff to look forward to at home (which is a real money saver at our house!).  I have a lot of trouble understanding why people eat the stuff from boxes and the like, especially as a regular habit.

So, for this week's poll:

What is your favorite non-prepackaged "convenience food"?  What's your favorite slap-dash, made-from-stuff-you-keep-around-the-house recipe?  Do you find cooking "from scratch" to be easy or difficult?  If you think it's difficult, what part is it that you have difficulty with?  And since I brought them up, what do you think of Michael Pollan's Commandments?

Comment and discuss.

Look What I Got in the Mail Today!

OK, to avoid y'all forever writing me off as a horrible, shallow person, I must say, I would have participated in Tricot du Coeur (the lovely Vivi's blanket knitting project for Victory Junction) for absolutely nothin'.  That being said, from the first time I heard that one of the prizes being offered up for those who made blankets was an Octophrost and wristlet from futuregirl, I was secretly hoping that maybe, just by some chance....

And what d'ya know, it worked out perfectly! 

Little Stanislav (see the story of his creation here, here, and here) arrived safely in the mail today, along with a meticulously crafted little wristlet.  (I didn't take a picture of the lining because the light was all weird, but it's SO perfect.)  Although Stanislav enjoyed spending the afternoon with me in the garden, I think--due to some untoward attention from the Wee Welshman--he's going to take up permanent residence in my office, where I'm certain he'll make plenty of new friends.

Thanks again, Alice! 

Mother's Day Memories

Although it felt a little sacrilegious, I finally took some of my "picture books" off of Nice Grandma's--a.k.a. "the Keeper of the Pictures"--hands.  I was flipping through them tonight at home when I found this picture, taken of me and my mom near one of my first Mother's Days. 

Aren't we a good looking pair?

Happy Mother's Day Mommy!

Wednesday Poll: "Loving" and Discrimination in Our "Enlightened" Times

It's been all over the news of course, but Mildred Loving died last week.  In case you're unfamiliar with the Supreme Court case that bears her name:

"Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up as friends and neighbors in Caroline County, Va. In June 1958, Richard got 18-year-old Mildred pregnant, and the young lovers decided to get married. Ordinarily, that would have been the respectable thing to do. But Mildred was black, Richard was white, and the Commonwealth of Virginia and 15 other states still had laws on the books prohibiting miscegenation. Mildred and Richard had to travel to Washington, D.C., to get married in a civil ceremony. Then they returned home to Central Point, Va.

"A few weeks later, the local sheriff literally burst into the newlyweds' bedroom and arrested them for violating Virginia's Racial Integrity Act. ('If any white person intermarry with a colored person, or any colored person intermarry with a white person, he shall be guilty of a felony.') The Lovings were convicted by a judge who wrote, 'Almighty God … did not intend for the races to mix' but agreed to suspend their one-year jail sentence provided they left Virginia and didn't return for 25 years.