My Bit of Earth

The Kitchen Reader: Julie and Julia

I've joined a new little online reading group called The Kitchen Reader.  The idea is that every month we all read a food-related book and then blog/discuss.  Since food is one of my "soapbox" issues, I figured it would be fun and, perhaps, give me deadlines to read a lot of the foodie book I've been wanting to get to, but don't always make time for.

This month's book was Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, and 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell.  As you may know, Julie Powell was one of the first widely reported bloggers to get a book deal.  As a bored cubicle worker, she decided to challenge herself to make all of the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I, and blog about it as she went along.  The book really isn't about the recipes--although they do make appearances--but is more about Julie's growth through the year.

A lot of the critics of this book really don't like Julie as a character, calling her whiny and narcissistic.  I thought she was hilarious.  I could completely see myself in her place, being sort-of-grossed-out-but-at-the-same-time-fascinated by things like beef marrow and tongue.  The maggots under the dish rack story was a little nasty (pick it up and wipe underneath it once a week, for goodness sakes!), but, well, I'm sure we all have our own deep-dark un-cleaning secrets?  (I once had a mouse living in my cupboard and didn't know it for awhile....have never used so much bleach before or since!)

Overall, I thought this was a fun, fluffy read.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard Meryl Streep was fabulous, as usual.  Has anyone else seen the movie and read the book?  If so, I'd be curious to hear how they compare?

Dewey's Books: Broken For You

This is my last book for the Dewey's Books challenge.  Dewey was the author of a very prolific book blog called "The Hidden Side of the Leaf".  When she died at the end of last year, some other book bloggers decided to get together a reading challenge in her memory.  The idea was to read one book from each of the six years Dewey blogged.  Dewey's blog is no longer online, and even the challenge itself seems to have fallen into that black hole that the internet can be.

I'm actually really sad about this.  It's such a rare--and often awkward--thing to connect with someone over the internet.  Even more so when the person is dead.  But, as I've said in past reviews, after reading some books with her and learning what she thought of them, I think we would have been friends.  In a way it feels like we are friends, weird as that is....

*****

For my last book, I read Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos.  I can't tell you what Dewey thought of it, of course, because her blog is down, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.  

There are two main characters, really.  Margaret is a lonely, older lady who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and given a short time to live.  After being diagnosed, she goes to a restaurant and asks the waitress what she would do under similar circumstances.  The waitress tells her something along the lines of, "I would break all of the barriers I've put up for myself in relationships."  This inspires Margaret to get a roommate, Wanda, a young stage manager.

The rest of the story is a beautiful metaphor.  Broken--and even cursed--china making new art.  Broken people making new families.  And some sadness at the end, but sadness of the kind that makes you smile through your tears.

*****

As a recap, here are the other books I read for the challenge and my reviews.  Once again, thanks Dewey, wherever you are, for the awesome recommendations....

• 2003--Into the Forest by Jean Hegland (Review)
• 2004--Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
• 2005--Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (Review)
• 2006--March by Geraldine Brooks (Review)
• 2007--Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford (Review)
• 2008--How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (Review)

Splatters

I wanted something to cover the TV when we weren't watching it--I was thinking like this--but the budget wouldn't allow for anything "professional".  So I bought a canvas and some paint and brushes and Sweet Husband and I danced on the lawn with it like wild paint pixies.  (Truly, I think we were the neighbors' favorite entertainment for the night.)  Two observations:

1. I can't remember the last time I gathered up a bunch of paint and just played with it without worrying about making something "good".  Actually, I take that back, I do remember, and I was in high school.  I painted a piece of plywood with my feet.  It needs to not be ten years before I play with paint again because it was way fun.  

2. Paint splatters are like cloud shapes.  Upper left-hand corner?  Poodle in a bow tie.  Blue blob almost dead center?  A ukulele.  Years of fun, I tell you, years of fun!

Jayhawks and Scarecrows

We spent most of the weekend with Nice Mom and Sweet Sister.  Among other shopping and cooking and the like, we watched most of the KU game from the hill, and then took a trip to Pendleton's for their annual "build-a-scarecrow-get-a-free-mum" deal.  Although our scarecrow looks like he perhaps spent the day down the road at the winery, you gotta love a free mum!

The Grocery List: Fall is a Good Food Season

I've gotten out of the habit of posting these, but I'm really excited about this week's grocery list.  (Yes, I'm easily excitable.  And kind of a geek.  But I embrace it.)  

All of a sudden it's so very Fall here.   I've pulled my sweaters out of storage, and the down comforter is officially on the foot of the bed.  It smells like leaves and the furnace being turned on for the first time.  (Which is actually just the dust burning, but it's a wonderful smell anyway!)  It's chilly in the mornings, amazing in the afternoons, getting dark earlier....mmmm!  And so many people are posting such wonderful cozy, soul-warming recipes--it's going to take me all season to try them all!  

This week's list:

• Soft Tacos with Mole Sauce (to use some of our peppers)
• Parmesean Polenta with Eggs and Roasted Mushrooms
• Cream of Tomato Rissoto
• September In a Bowl (with chicken on the side, I think)
• Broccoli Soup and Grilled Cheese with Apples
• Benedict Artichoke (for dinner with Nice Mom and Sis on Saturday) and Apple Tart (for dessert!)

 (Picture c/o: penseroso / CC BY-NC 2.0)

(Finally) Picking the Peppers

With it now officially being the start of Fall--and a chilly start of Fall, at that--I had to finally give up on the idea that it might get hot enough for my peppers to color up any more than they already have.  They were starting to get nibbled at by bugs too, so earlier this week I picked my "Holy Mole" plant clean, and grabbed the last few lingering bell peppers and baby tomatoes too.  

I also had to crack open one tomatillo (yup, that's definitely what they are) just to see what they look like inside.  As they're not full-grown yet, the rest will stay on the plant for as long as I can let them without danger of frost.

The mole peppers went straight to the dehydrator, the bell peppers to the freezer, and the tomatoes to my and Moe-Moe's bellies.

Barefoot Bloggers: A Cupcake Comparison, Sort Of

This month's Barefoot Bloggers recipes were both cakes.  Susy of Everyday Gourmet chose the Contessa's Birthday Sheet Cake, and Mary of Passionate Perseverance chose Beatty's Chocolate Cake.  I decided to make both recipes as cupcakes for our housewarming party.

Both baked up beautifully, but I noticed that the batter for the chocolate ones tasted a little funny, so I made a point to try one as they came out of the oven.  They tasted like air...which is not so much what you want cupcakes to taste like!  A careful retracing of my steps revealed that I had forgotten the sugar--oops!  Into the trash they went.

The "sheet" cupcakes (which I added a titch of orange flavoring to, instead of the lemon zest) were duly frosted and set out for the party.  (FYI--half the recipe made about 20 cupcakes.)  Reputedly, they were really good, and they must have been because they all disappeared before I got a chance to try one or even take a picture--oops!  (The picture at the top is one I took a few weekends ago at a bakery.  It was a good cupcake too, though!)

Despite the oopses, what I can say is that the recipes were both easy.  The batter for the "sheet" cupcakes tasted awesome, and the icing (try to ice cupcakes without getting some on your fingers) was pure heaven.  As to the chocolate cupcakes, I think they would have been nice if not for my mistake--they smelled nice, even with the mistake.  Not much of cupcake comparison really, but there you go!

On the First Day of Fall

I realized today that we've basically spent the whole summer packing and moving and unpacking and nesting.  I don't even know where the time has gone.  It's like I went to bed on June 12th and woke up and it was September.  I'm not sure I even ever made it to the pool!

But thankfully, we've really gotten to the point where our new little house is starting to feel like home.  And, as such, I'm making it a goal for this new season to spend as much time as possible sitting right here...

...and doing lots of this!

Benedict Artichoke

This is going to be my new favorite thing.

I've always had a bit of a fascination-from-a-far with artichokes.  They're just plain cool looking, and I'm into that.  But, at the same time, they're a little intimidating, yes?

Well, when I saw them at the store early last week my curiosity overcame my fear, and I learned a) if you can boil water you can make artichokes, and b) they are freaking awesome. 

Seriously, you just give them a trim, and throw them in some boiling water with a little lemon juice for thirty or forty minutes.  (Here's a video that makes it super clear.)  I haven't tried it yet myself, but Nice Dad says you can also steam them in the microwave.  Again, just trim them all up, put them in a bowl with a little water, and let them cook for a few minutes, or until it's easy to pull out one of the inside leaves.

You can just dip the leaves in mayo or butter--you just eat the white part at the bottoms of the leaves by scraping it off between your teeth.  I went a few steps further and made mine into Eggs Benedict.  (Here's the recipe, but you have to poke around--go to "Recipes and Such", then "Recipes", then scroll down).  The artichoke subs in for the English muffin, and the eggs and hollandaise make the best little dipping sauce ever.

Japanese Literature Challenge: "First Snow on Fuji" and "The Housekeeper and the Professor"

A few months ago, I decided to read a few books for Bellezza's 3rd Annual Japanese Literature Challenge. 

First, I read First Snow on Fuji, a collection of short stories by Yasunari Kawabata.  It was hit and miss.  I find that a lot of short stories are unsatisfying to me because they don't have a lot of forward motion or story arch.  They're often more like paintings-with-words than actual introduction-complication-climax-conclusion stories.  Sort of like, "Let's just watch these people for a few days...OK that was nice, now on to someone else."

These were worse than usual in that regard.  So much description--by the end I could smell the air in the place the author was writing from, but I didn't know or care why I was sniffing it.  Does that make sense at all?

Since First Snow was a bit of a disappointment, I decided to read another book for the challenge--The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa.  It had a bit of the same painting-like quality, but enough movement to make it a very nice story.  As a basic summary, the Housekeeper goes to work for the Professor, who is a brilliant mathematician but only has 80 minutes worth of memory due to a car accident.  Eventually the Housekeeper's son (nicknamed "Root" because his head is flat like a square root sign) gets brought into the mix, and they form a sweet little family, despite the fact that the Professor is meeting them for the first time everyday.  

The obvious question in the story is whether things need to be remembered to have meaning. The obvious answer is that no, they don't.

Pretty Peppers

Housewarmed

So we finally got around to having a little housewarming party this weekend.  I didn't get a whole lot of "action" shots while the party was actually going on ('cause flashing your guests feels inhospitable), but these are a few from the pre-party.  

It was a lot of fun to mix our groups of friends.  I've known one friend that stopped by since we were in second grade, several others from high school (including Man of Honor Friend on the left side of the bottom right picture, so-named because he was my "Man of Honor" at our wedding and he mentioned that he wanted a blog name--there you go A), and there were lots of our newer nearest-and-dearest too.  I think I spent a good part of the evening saying, "New Friend that loves such-and-such, meet Old Friend who loves such-and-such."  It always gives me a tickle when people I've always thought would hit it off actually do.

And then, of course, there was food!  I made artichokes (more about those later this week), and a less fussy variation on these shrimp chips with a sort of apple salsa (I did my topping without the fish)--both to great success.  The sexy salad made an appearance too, as well as some homemade salsa, cupcakes (more on those later too), and some s'mores.

All in all I think it turned out to be a pretty good party, if I do say so myself.  Our little house feels very warmed indeed!

Bits In the Garden

(Clockwise from top left.)

:: A mysterious little pod flower that I haven't quite gotten the chance to track down the name of yet.

:: One little pumpkin that survived the bugs and is trying to turn orange.

:: Garlic chive blossoms that--although they're too small to really photograph well en masse--are teaming with honey bees every afternoon.

:: Peppers on peppers!  Now I just need one or two hot days so they'll turn the color they're supposed to and I can pick them.

Moe Speaks: You Can Bring a Girl to the Street Dance...

...but you can't make her polka.

This is me at the annual Labor Day Street Dance in Mom and Dad's old hometown.  My Pretty Auntie (Meryl: That would be Sweet Sister) took me as her non-date companion, but when we got there--for some reason that I cannot fathom--she absolutely would not take me out on the dance floor for a polka.

Perhaps it's better that way.  It is certainly hard to keep up that 3/4 "oomph-bop-bop" rhythm when you (literally) have two left feet!

Apple Picking...

...it's a good drug, you should get on it.  We picked a nice big bucketful last weekend, and have been making apple chips (in the dehydrator) 'round the clock (which has used all of four apples--the chips are thin).  The question is, what to do with the rest of them....ideas from the comment section?

Random 9/11 Thoughts

Sitting here...laughing with Sweet Husband about silly things...realized tomorrow is 9/11.

Ugh.

It's a little melodramatic, I know.  It's been...eight years now, and, I mean, after all, it's not like I knew anyone that died.  And further, although it was a big attack, it's not like it's the first time terrorists or similar have killed a bunch of people.  Why should it be any different just because some of them were American people?  Why should it be any different just because that time it--very, very marginally--inconvenienced me?

Or is it the things that have happened after that get to me?  The fact that, in many of the ways that count in my book, the terrorists did score a major victory that day...leading us to abridge the freedoms we hold sacred, bringing us down to their level with things like warrant-less wiretapping and torture....

Either way? Ugh.

And either way, I wonder...will there ever be a time in my life when the day passes without this weight?  Will it ever be like the anniversary of Pearl Harbor or the day Kennedy was assassinated?  A blip on the calendar that I notice every few years or so--certainly not something that makes my heart sink and my chest feel serious.  

And, more to the point, will there ever be a time where I would want it to?

Wee Knits and Bits

We have a little trio of couples we know who are having or have had wee ones lately.  I like the idea of knitting for babies--there's something so wonderful about putting just a little bit of wishes and hope and all sorts of other good stuff in every little stitch--it's kind of like being a good fairy.  (And, by nature, baby things are small, so my patience generally doesn't run out before the project is done--a bonus!)

For these three....

....a perfect little pink hat.  (It's the Cotton Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts in Nature's Choice Organic Cotton.)

....a "ribbety bibbety"--sorry I can't help myself!  (The Simple Baby Bib in Fresco.)  What's that on top of it, you ask?  Let's zoom in for a closer look....

Why that would be a tiny baby spoon that my talented Sweet Husband decided to whip up for this particular little guy.  It has his name and birthday inscribed on the back, and--to steal a phrase from a friend--it's so cute it makes my ovaries hurt!  

And the third project?

I'm not sure I can talk extensively about that one yet.  It was the One-Piece Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting, but it died in during blocking.  (Non-rust proof pin + white sweater = &*%^!)  But, there is no failure if you learned something, yes?  And now that I know where the pitfalls are, I think the second go round will be better anyway.  Silver lining, guys, silver lining.

And Thanks For All the Herbs

As with most people who live in a house after someone else has, we are occasionally...perplexed at some of the choices the previous owners of our house made.  But I bless them every day for the herb garden.  Even though we have plans to rearrange it a bit next year, it's just been wonderful.

Pictured above (clockwise from top) we have sage, oregano, lavender, garlic chives, and tarragon--all of which are now happily drying and freezing for later use.  (The tomatoes, sadly, were snatched by the Wee Welshman in a moment of my inattentiveness.  Let that be a lesson to you all--at first it's cute when your puppy likes to "eat his vegetables", but when he starts to eat your vegetables it's less so!)

Zote Soap

Nice Friend turned me onto this recipe to make your own laundry soap.  I don't know if it really uses less packaging than buying regular laundry soap, but it's certainly cheaper.  I spent just a little over seven bucks, and I probably have enough detergent to last for a year.  After using it for a few weeks, I feel comfortable saying it works well--especially on whites.  Plus it smells good, and the little pink shreds of grated soap are way fun!

The recipe (originally from Tipnut, which has lots of other recipes too):

2 cups finely grated Zote soap
1 cup Washing soda
1 cup borax

(You can get all these things in the laundry aisle of your grocery store--or, at least, I was able to!)

Use three tablespoons per load.

Handmade Home-y Rag Bags

Faithful readers will know, I adore SouleMama (aka Amanda Soule).  As such, I was counting down the days to her newest book, Handmade Home, which finally came out earlier this month.

The book stresses making things out of thrifted materials, and, as such, it's as much a source of inspiration as anything.  Although it does have great instructions for each project, I find myself doing a lot of, "Hmm, if I modified this just a titch, I could use this fabric (or ribbon or whatever) that I already have," and that's exactly the point.

Small diversion:  At the old house--and really beginning as a wee lass at my mama's knee--I would just toss dirty or damp washcloths and towels straight into the washer until there were enough to do a load.  However, to get to our washer and dryer these days, we have to traverse the stairs of death.  While I do kind of love our scary basement, running up and down the stairs all the time?  Not so much! And the pile of rags and towels that were accumulating at the top of the stairs because we didn't want to walk them down all the time?  Not so much either!

Enter the "Rag Bag" project from Handmade Home. Amanda says, "The family rag bag, the place where stained clothing, old towels, and stray socks spend the remainder of their lives as rags for cleaning, is not so common these days...." as people instead turn to paper towels and such.  But it's certainly easy to make one, nonetheless.  Although the one in the book is a bit more complicated than mine--it has a buttonhole, mine does not--it's basically just a drawstring bag.  

I made my bags out of an old sheet (purchased at a church rummage sale, which, as Amanda hints, was the mother-lode of gently used fabrics).  And the little "clean" and "dirty" labels were made from scraps that I already had.  I wrote on them with a paint marker, and heat set the writing with an iron.  Then I took a little inspiration from etsy seller chasing lightening bugs, and made my drawstring casing by sewing a strip of leftover binding tape on the outside of the bags.  The only brand new thing I bought for this project was a little bit of twill tape to use as the actual drawstring.

One bag for clean rags coming up from the basement.  One for the dirty ones that need to go down.  Problem solved!  Thanks SouleMama!  :)