I've Abandoned Blogger

When we first started off together, Blogger and I were BFFs. But, truth be told, the firewall at my place of employ has hated Blogger desperately from the beginning. So I must, too.

But you can come join me at my new buddy's. We're still getting to know each other, but soon we'll have figured out each other's quirks.

Growing up

[M]en were much like children in their minds long ago, long, long ago, and so before they took to writing newspapers, and sermons, and novels, and long poems, they told each other stories, such as you read in the fairy books . . .

Some of the stories were made, no doubt, not only to amuse, but to teach goodness. You see, in the tales, how the boy who is kind to beasts, and polite, and generous, and brave, always comes best through his trials, and no doubt these tales were meant to make their hearers kind, unselfish, courteous, and courageous.
- from Andrew Lang introdution to The Green Fairy Book

Half the time when I speak I am quite convinced that people do not listen to what I say. So imagine my surprise when, after a couple drinks no less, a very special person remembered a part of our conversation when I mentioned I absorbed the fairy book color series between the ages of six and eight. And then, brought me his copy as a loan.

Re-reading the introduction after all these years reminded me a lot of the child I was and the person I thought I would be now. I have tried to convince myself in the past that child-me would not be disappointed, but I'm not all that sure. I suppose whether or not that is true comes down to whether or not child-me could accept that a job is just a job (especially as adult-me is not wholly convinced). In my off times I very much do things that child-me did and would have loved to do as an adult. But my daytime is rather disappointing indeed.

Last night I read myself to sleep with "Blue Bird," which likely also influenced the Disney version of Cinderella. It's surreal to sense that 20+ years later, I'm reacting to the same words and phrases that I reacted to then. I have gained experience over the years, but really not changed all that much.

* * *

Why be on time to work, when you can start a garden? I'm not really sure if I expect these to grow. I bought the Martha Stewart lettuce kit some time back when I had great aspirations for a container garden. I've decided to try to use it. If I see arugula beginning to germinate in a week or so, I'll know that the seeds are still good. Ditto for my alpine strawberries.

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies: Today, on the first day of spring, my mom turns a year older. I would have loved to send her cookies, but I was afraid these would not hold up. The ganache is still cooling here, so they're really not that shiny, but ganached cookies with delicate little leaves are unlikely to make it through the mail intact.

Besan-hempseed encrusted tempeh, rice noodles with lemon-roasted garlic-caper sauce, roasted cauliflower and sauteed shiitakes and chanterelles: I'm not sure if what was nicest about this meal is the fact that it turned out fairly well even though I was frequently distracted, (and it was late, and I hadn't eaten all day) or the fact that I didn't have to do the dishes afterwards. And yes, that is a supplemental photograph of the roasted cauliflower. Normally, I find cauliflower a ho-hum vegetable. Usually what I grab when there's a crudite platter and my only other options are tomatoes (allergic) and celery (eeeewww). But my, when it's roasted with olive oil, garlic, sea salt, nutritional yeast and crumbs (in this case, ground puffed rice cereal) . . .

Veggie Burger: You people who can eat nearly all varieties of veggie burgers probably consider this no special feast, but it can be ridiculously hard to find ones that are gluten-free. (And let's not even discuss the bun . . .) For this reason, I must sing the praises of Wildwood tofu burgers. Not only are they gluten-free, but I can thankfully eat the original flavor despite all of my allergies. Served here on homemade chickpea flatbread with more of the apricot-sweet mustard-vegenaise concoction, arugula and sweet and sour cucumber relish. With a side of the roasted cauliflower. Yum.

TVP-Butternut Squash-Refried Black Bean, Pineapple & Avocado Burrito: I fear I will never find a replacement for flour tortillas that make me happy. When I bought them last nightI already know that I'm not a fan of these particular brown rice tortillas, but I was so desperately craving a burrito that I went there (the filling was tasty). These things insist on be heated up apparently, which I did. Which made them a little too crispy and even less pliable. They might make halfway decent chimichangas if I felt like frying the hell out of something. In the meantime, I absolutely must start experimenting with making my own. I'm a bit scared of palm and coconut oils, but if they will make for a decent tortilla, then I might have to go down that path.

And the PPK can be a dangerous place. I now covet these:

Everything in it's own place

I bought it because it was cheaper than gin, but I have learned. Learned. It's unfortunate because I really do love whiskey. I'm not a celiac. My tolerance for grains like barley and rye fluctuates (and at this point, I really do only have rye exclusively in the form of whiskey). So in theory, I can have whiskey. Perhaps it's because all of my allergies are on high alert this week, but I woke up this morning with an allergen "hangover." I felt a tad ripped off. I thought I might get a goodly, normal hangover. But the stuffy nose. I should have gone for gin. But, if I had spent the night knocking back martinis, I would never have accomplished this much.


My craft corner is developing into something slightly less embarrassing. I'm hoping that at this angle, it is not possible to see what a mess the fabric still is and how those shelves are really too small. I already have plans for bins for the fabric in the work. If I'm smart, I'll make them myself. Out of yarn. Which I have so much of that it doesn't even fit into the craft corner unless it is already shoved into WIP bags which are currently stuffed beneath the table.

More importantly, though, I think I may have finally found a good place for this:



It's the only typewriter I have ever loved (although the mild fling with my parents' electric typewriter in the 80's when I would "play writer" was kind of fun, it still does not mean that I know how to use a typewriter no matter what my employers wish to believe).

And yes. I did have this rum raisin cupcake for dinner. And one of its siblings, too. Like always, another brilliant cupcake from VCTOW. The evening I made this I paced around muttering "Mace. Mace." I ate one of the cupcakes and thought it quite nice. Not that it needed anything, but I still had the sense something was missing. The next day I began to wonder why I was still thinking of mace. Is it something I forgot to put into the cupcake? I opened up the book, which I am trying to get sloppy enough to look well used, but not so sloppy as to destroy it. (Do not tell me I can buy another. My parents bought it for me and my father dedicated the book "To our vegan cupcake" which still tears me up even as I write it, because although my parents have always been fairly supportive, it has always been my father who asks the most questions.) And, of course, I had forgotten mace. Mace. If I only I had noticed this earlier, I could have added it to the glaze. Or the buttercream. I have chosen to sprinkle it on top and it really does complete the cupcake. I have learned that I must listen to myself. If I am still muttering a recipe ingredient, that means I probably haven't added it yet.



To make up for dinner, I planned a lushly, green lunch. Sweet-and-sour rice noodles with oodles of spinach. I should take it with me to the park during my lunch hour, but I probably won't. I forsee some furious knitting in my future.

Planning for spring

I have a bad habit of trying to sew last minute outfits. As my sewing machine is old and the tension is so bad, I am sometimes driven to handstitching or cursing at the machine while accomplishing nothing. There is a slight possibility this is my fault. After all, before last summer, the last thing I had knit was a matching outfit for my me and my Cabbage Patch Doll.

But while most of my spring dreams surround the first good visit to the farmer's market to snatch up the best spring vegetables and cheap, live herbs, a little bit of it is focused on clothing. So I scouted out Reprodepot Fabrics to see whether there was anything particularly springy. Looks like I will have to keep looking for the yellows and dots I want, but they have a few fabrics I like.

Sunny Side Red, Little Strawberries


Storybook Shapes -- tomato, Country Cross Stitch - red


Alfie Barkcloth - Gray, Rocky Mountain Leaves - green/yellow



Petals - aqua, Apples Jersey



And although I was convinced that I would only buy ribbon close to home, there are several ribbons and trims that I like, or at least like the idea of.

I heart robots

I am a compulsive listmaker. Not of To Do lists, though. Before Christmas I made a To Do list and even inked in progress on the projects. This became necessary because handknitting all gifts meant a lot of work and very little sleep. The thought was if I hung it on the door to my apartment, I could compel myself to really buckle down and finish everything. It's worked when throwing a Thanksgiving dinners for other people, after all, including real people who expect to eat at a reasonable time (e.g., parents, or worse, other people's parents, or even worse ex's parents). Thanksgivinglast year was the first year when not a single item was timed quite right, but I was alone and did not really care. Maybe this should have indicated something to me. My Christmas To Do list kept me in a constant state of panic or two months. I was a hair away from stabbing the attendant at Disneyland who contemplated not letting me bring my needles into the park. Couldn't she see that I was knitting my mother's gift . . . in front of her . . . on Christmas Eve? So no more of that kind of list. Ever.

But I like collection lists, whether it be "inspiration," stuff I own, spices (which I obsessively compulsively reorganize, sometimes alphabetically, but some times based on region spice most often used for) , stuff I'd like to own, stuff other people own, things I despise . . . But I heart robots almost as much as I enjoy digging through the chaos of etsy.

Danmade -- Robot Teabowl ($25.00)

GreenThumbDesigns -- Vintage Enameled Robot Earrings ($6.25)

johnwgolden -- Lunastrella Robot 8x12 ($30.00)

HappyRobotPhonoSaucer ($8.50)

hippofabulous -- Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto ($30.00)

pamloudy -- Green Robot ($10.00)

benben -- Robot 107 Poster ($15.00)

soapboxrobot -- Robot Magnets ($12.00)

Niphty -- Ninja-Robot-Monkey-Alligator Bracelet ($10.00)

MamaRobot -- Mama and Baby Robot ($4.00)

Robots in Love ($4.00)

mamamonkey -- Robot with a heart Baby onesie or Toddler Tshirt- EtsyKids ($11.00) – I was by and large ignoring the kiddo/baby stuff, having none I care to give anything to, but this was too cute.

gammaraybots -- robot portrait one inch pin set of five ($5.00)

robot paperdoll 3x5 card paul ($7.00)

tronix -- ROBOTMUMMY natural tote ($18.00)

gadgetgirl -- 2 Robot Love Buttons ($3.00)

buttonkitty -- Robots, Robots 1 Inch Button Set ($4.00)

Jimbot -- Womens tshirt -GIRLBOT- ($15.00)

Womens SADBOT t-shirt ($15.00)

Set of 4 Expression Buttons ($5.00)

Speakbot Gocco Print ($8.00)

headexplodie -- Happy Robot 5x7 Woodcut print ($10.00)

threedogparty -- Loves Me Not Robot Postcards ($4.25)

inhope -- Robots Love Records Nerdy Gal Tote ($45.00)

Saltygal -- marching robots zip case ($23.00) – While this is a cute bag, I fear I may mostly be in love with the fabric. And the rickrack. OK. Maybe I really do like it.

teenytinytantrums -- 1 inch Go Vegan or Else button pin drawn by 7 year old vegan kid ($2.00)

magpiedc -- Hand Painted robot and space coasters ($20.00)

gammaraybots -- robot stickerbot found object sculpture ($75.00)

nhudiep -- i heart robots stationery

Baked

What is it about watching samurai movies that makes me want to bake? Or, what is it about baking that makes me want to watch samurai movies? It's hard to say which desire comes first, but these urges tend to arrive at about the same time.

The informal PPK poll listed Isa's peanut butter oatmel and ginger cookies as the absolute favorites for Isa cookie first-timers. Why fight the love, especially when you already have most of the ingredients?



The pictures are not misleading. These cookies are deadly. I was eating a ginger cookie as I made the pb oatmeal cookies. And then as I was eating pb cookie dough (or so it seemed). I was surprised to find that the ginger were my absolute favorites. This is no slight to the pb oatmeal, just that Ginger Snaps used to be my favorite cookie in a box and I've kind of missed them. No longer. I added chocolate chunks to half of the pb oatmeal. These cookies are normally gigantoid. I made them regular-sized and ended up with three dozen cookies. I planned on offloading some in my office today, but realized shortly out of the door that I forgot them. Tomorrow. The gingers, though? I've renamed them My Precious. Sivvie hasn't even had a chance to lick up a crumb.

Below is evidence of the what little real food I ate all weekend. Go figure. It was before I made the cookies. I knew I was going to watch The Prestige on Friday night so I tossed together a quick meal. I love stuff shoved in rice paper wraps. Particularly when accompanied by peanut sauce. Likewise, I've been eyeing the sesame-crusted oyster mushrooms "calamari" in one of the Millennium cookbooks for years. Of course, I could only find tree form mushrooms (mini chanterelles is what the Whole Foods sign called them). And I can't eat sesame. Oh, and couldn't be bothered to actually follow the recipe. In fairness, it had taken me nearly 20 minutes to find it which is about how long it should have taken me to make it. But here they are, hemp seed-crusted tree form mushroom "calamari." They were most excellent. Those Millennium folks are on to something.



But the rest of the weekend really did consist of nothing more than a few additional rice paper wraps, a bowl of soup, perhaps a dozen cookies (I'm being kind to myself I fear) and a couple of glasses of soymilk. I didn't even have a drop of alcohol this weekend, whatfor being to lazy to put on some real clothing and walk to the liquor store.

Perhaps if I had, I would have enjoyed Samurai Fiction more. I wanted to like this movie a lot. It was kind of funny. There were some halfway decent shots. But I think there were two problems. 1) It was the last samurai movie I watched that weekend so was being compared to the three above. 2) The movie really would have been much funnier if I had a few. But not having a few allowed me to knit lace and watch Japanese movies at the same time, so it was worth the sacrifice.



I kind of feel as if this cape will go on forever. It's daunting to have hundreds of stitches in one row of knitting. I have begun to wonder why I wanted to knit a cape to begin with. Capes are not practical. Where am I going to wear this? Why didn't I just pick a shawl? If this were a good, practical, superhero-style cape? Maybe. A Little, Red Riding Hood cape? Perhaps. But I don't plan on strolling through any Tuscan villas any time soon so I'm not sure what I'll do with it other than display it on my wall.

And this little bit of crochet pinned to my bathroom door? It's my first finished piece of crochet. I blocked it over the weekend and began the patchwork (sewn) back. I love the early days of a craft when you spend almost as much time figuring out how to cover your mistakes as you do making the object.

Breakfast for Dinner

When we were little, about once a month my father would go do his SAC duty which meant, as I understood it at the time, that he had to live on the air force base on the weekend. At nights, my mother would push a chair up under the knob of her door to make sure no burglers could get in. My brother and I would be . . . on the other side of that door. But the fact that my mom would use these weekends as an opportunity to make lazy dinners that I thought were great like boxed Mac 'n Cheese and frozen waffles and pancakes and scrambled eggs, more than makes up for that chair. The dinner above is just like that -- frozen buckwheat waffles with maple syrup (a food item I did not know whatfor during the SAC period) and scrambled tofu. The other thing that makes this the best? It's scrambled tofu made from leftovers of leftovers. Which I think is awesome. Tuesday night's quesadilla filling minus the soy cheese with some smashed sweet potato and spinach became the topper for some skillet socca.


This yarn isn't leftover, but it was the scraps from another ball of Cotton Glace that got me thinking about crochet again. And trying it.

I will be using leftover fabric to border and back it though, though I think.

And remember this sock? I mentioned it once -- my first failed attempt at completing a pair of socks. Definitely a leftover. I put it on and suddenly thought it might be worth finishing. Maybe that was the leftover wine talking.

Oh, and Mom. I remember that you let me watch Ten one SAC weekend.