Very funny gal speaks at the TED conference.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Mama's little baby loves rhubarb pie
Strawberry rhubarb pie, that is, with a heart in the middle:
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I was inspired by the song on Prairie Home Companion and a movie, Waitress, that we recently watched. It was GOOD. And I made my own crust because I got all crazy on Friday and decided it would be worth it. (It is good, but takes a long time and a lot of counter space. I'm glad I made 2 extras in the freezer for the next pies and think I'll return to store-boughts from now on.)
In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best day to bake because today was HOT. Yesterday's high was 101, and today it was 103. With no AC that is downright sweltering. We went swimming and walked around stores to cool off. Thankfully things should return to Northern California normal tonight, dipping into the 50s with a forecasted high of 83 tomorrow. Ahhhh.
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I was inspired by the song on Prairie Home Companion and a movie, Waitress, that we recently watched. It was GOOD. And I made my own crust because I got all crazy on Friday and decided it would be worth it. (It is good, but takes a long time and a lot of counter space. I'm glad I made 2 extras in the freezer for the next pies and think I'll return to store-boughts from now on.)
In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best day to bake because today was HOT. Yesterday's high was 101, and today it was 103. With no AC that is downright sweltering. We went swimming and walked around stores to cool off. Thankfully things should return to Northern California normal tonight, dipping into the 50s with a forecasted high of 83 tomorrow. Ahhhh.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Savory tart from Sunday
1 pie crust (I use the frozen rolls, but feel free to make your own if you're that amazing)
2 leeks, thinly sliced and cut in half moons
2 small or 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced and cut in half moons
2 medium red potatoes with skins, very thinly sliced & then quartered
0.5 cup crumbled feta cheese
~2 Tbsp olive oil
0.25 tsp fresh ground pepper
(chopped dill if you have it)
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In large pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and sautee zucchini and leeks until tender, about 5 minutes. (You could substitute a mild onion for the leeks, but they are very nice if you can find them.)
3. Add potatoes, pepper, and feta. Remove from heat and mix lightly.
4. Place the pie crust on a large cookie sheet and roll thinner. They're usually about 9 in diameter. Try to get it to about 11 in, but really as thin as you can easily roll. This just makes the tart a little larger and the crust cook quicker. Spoon the vegetable mixture into the center of the pastry, leaving 1 to 2 inches edge. Fold over the edges.
5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and pastry is golden. Brush the crust with remaining olive oil about 10 minutes prior to end of baking. If the edges are done before the potatoes, you can cover them with foil. I just cut my potatoes as thin as possible and it all finished baking at about 35 to 40 minutes.
I served this with mixed green and hard-boiled egg salad and mustard vinegarette (1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 Tbsp brown mustard and a dash of pepper, well mixed, dresses 2 salads). If you added another side this could serve 4.
2 leeks, thinly sliced and cut in half moons
2 small or 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced and cut in half moons
2 medium red potatoes with skins, very thinly sliced & then quartered
0.5 cup crumbled feta cheese
~2 Tbsp olive oil
0.25 tsp fresh ground pepper
(chopped dill if you have it)
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In large pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and sautee zucchini and leeks until tender, about 5 minutes. (You could substitute a mild onion for the leeks, but they are very nice if you can find them.)
3. Add potatoes, pepper, and feta. Remove from heat and mix lightly.
4. Place the pie crust on a large cookie sheet and roll thinner. They're usually about 9 in diameter. Try to get it to about 11 in, but really as thin as you can easily roll. This just makes the tart a little larger and the crust cook quicker. Spoon the vegetable mixture into the center of the pastry, leaving 1 to 2 inches edge. Fold over the edges.
5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and pastry is golden. Brush the crust with remaining olive oil about 10 minutes prior to end of baking. If the edges are done before the potatoes, you can cover them with foil. I just cut my potatoes as thin as possible and it all finished baking at about 35 to 40 minutes.
I served this with mixed green and hard-boiled egg salad and mustard vinegarette (1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 Tbsp brown mustard and a dash of pepper, well mixed, dresses 2 salads). If you added another side this could serve 4.
Monday, August 24, 2009
This delicious weekend
This weekend, we ate.
On Friday night we ate the Chicago pizza that arrived, frozen, at our door because the Wagners wanted to "try it out" on someone! What happy guinea pigs we are!
On Saturday, we went to the SF Street Food Festival. We took Caltrain and Scott napped on the way to the city. While we planned on taking a stroller, it was a good thing we forgot it because the festival was completely packed. Restaurants from around SF sold small dishes for $1 to $8 from booths. We had an Indian lentil bun, chicken wrap, and Mango lassi; cheddar corn nut brittle and peach sage tea; and Samuri snacks and barley tea. Next year I want to have a baby food booth and make carrot-raisin puree and zucchini-tomato pasta and squash apples.
Oh! I ran into a Rookie Mom of the book and website! She commented on this site back in January and I pretty much freaked out for an hour. Or more. Anyway, she was super-cute and tiny and very sweet, despite the fact that I interrupted her while she was trying to take care of her two boys. Her husband was cool, too -- he saw Luke's Mozilla shirt and turns out he is a contributer. So that's my first celebrity sighting. :)
Right, back to the food. Luke had beer and I had chai (REALLY, REALLY good chai, like Sarmadi's or Karen's with fresh spices) at Cafe La Boheme in the Mission district. Then we had cookies and rum cake at Dianda's Italian-American bakery.
Then we RAN and caught the bus back to the Caltrain, which arrived exactly as we stepped onto the platform, which is a big deal because they only come once every hour. Scott slept on the way home and thus ended a lovely Saturday.
On Sunday, I made this potato-feta-leek tart from Real Simple magazine. It's so good, I'm thinking of growing leeks! Also, all three of us enjoyed bananas foster (the sauce came in the Wagners' care package). YUM!
Today: running.
On Friday night we ate the Chicago pizza that arrived, frozen, at our door because the Wagners wanted to "try it out" on someone! What happy guinea pigs we are!
On Saturday, we went to the SF Street Food Festival. We took Caltrain and Scott napped on the way to the city. While we planned on taking a stroller, it was a good thing we forgot it because the festival was completely packed. Restaurants from around SF sold small dishes for $1 to $8 from booths. We had an Indian lentil bun, chicken wrap, and Mango lassi; cheddar corn nut brittle and peach sage tea; and Samuri snacks and barley tea. Next year I want to have a baby food booth and make carrot-raisin puree and zucchini-tomato pasta and squash apples.
Oh! I ran into a Rookie Mom of the book and website! She commented on this site back in January and I pretty much freaked out for an hour. Or more. Anyway, she was super-cute and tiny and very sweet, despite the fact that I interrupted her while she was trying to take care of her two boys. Her husband was cool, too -- he saw Luke's Mozilla shirt and turns out he is a contributer. So that's my first celebrity sighting. :)
Right, back to the food. Luke had beer and I had chai (REALLY, REALLY good chai, like Sarmadi's or Karen's with fresh spices) at Cafe La Boheme in the Mission district. Then we had cookies and rum cake at Dianda's Italian-American bakery.
Then we RAN and caught the bus back to the Caltrain, which arrived exactly as we stepped onto the platform, which is a big deal because they only come once every hour. Scott slept on the way home and thus ended a lovely Saturday.
On Sunday, I made this potato-feta-leek tart from Real Simple magazine. It's so good, I'm thinking of growing leeks! Also, all three of us enjoyed bananas foster (the sauce came in the Wagners' care package). YUM!
Today: running.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Favorite photo of Scott
No flash, no cropping, no editing. And I think those eyes are staying green. More later.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Nova online
Hey YOU GUYS, guess what? You can watch fun science shows online for free! It's fun!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/programs/
Enjoy.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/programs/
Enjoy.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
SF Weekend Trip
Spent Saturday in SF! I hear some of you are getting wild (RAWR, GRR, FEED ME!) for more photos of Scotty "The Body" Wagner, so here ya go:
We took Caltrain. It was fun! ... but at first, Scott did not agree.
Then he began to come around.
Looking out ...
In Mission Bay
Our reflection in a skyscraper
We took Caltrain. It was fun! ... but at first, Scott did not agree.
Then he began to come around.
Looking out ...
In Mission Bay
Our reflection in a skyscraperHome Improvements
Luke and I make a good team for projects. I'm very goal-driven and prone to start 4 projects at a time, he's very good at making sure that the projects are done right and we have quality products at the end, not 4 messy items that need to be fixed again.
Last weekend:
1. COMPOST BIN! Here it is (next to the rooted cala lillies that Luke brought home one day). We used a large garbage can which approaches the recommended 3'x3'x3' volume to ensure appropriate composting. Luke jigsawed out shapes, including a profession of love, which warmed my heart to nearly 140 degrees F (the optimal temp of the inside of a compost pile). It's a symbol of everyday love, of "I'll do the dishes (and save kitchen scraps for the compost)" love, and it makes me smile.
So far, so good. No smells at all and we've been putting out kitchen scraps for 5 weeks. The key is to have enough "browns", or carbon-rich sources, to keep the nitrogen-rich "greens" from rotting. I've been using shredded newspaper (it's all soy ink), cardboard and work papers thus far -- talk about document security! I'm thinking about a worm bin, too, for fertilizer.
2. Sanded, nailed, and painted our FREE craigslist patio furniture finds. These are on the front porch now.
This color is "cloudy morning", which sounds very SF
The view from our front porch: redwoods and agapanthas
This weekend:
3. Framed our AMD microprocessor art, to be seen soon
4. Began cleaning up the best chair find ever: a $7.50 goodwill beauty
Last weekend:
1. COMPOST BIN! Here it is (next to the rooted cala lillies that Luke brought home one day). We used a large garbage can which approaches the recommended 3'x3'x3' volume to ensure appropriate composting. Luke jigsawed out shapes, including a profession of love, which warmed my heart to nearly 140 degrees F (the optimal temp of the inside of a compost pile). It's a symbol of everyday love, of "I'll do the dishes (and save kitchen scraps for the compost)" love, and it makes me smile.
So far, so good. No smells at all and we've been putting out kitchen scraps for 5 weeks. The key is to have enough "browns", or carbon-rich sources, to keep the nitrogen-rich "greens" from rotting. I've been using shredded newspaper (it's all soy ink), cardboard and work papers thus far -- talk about document security! I'm thinking about a worm bin, too, for fertilizer.
2. Sanded, nailed, and painted our FREE craigslist patio furniture finds. These are on the front porch now.
This color is "cloudy morning", which sounds very SF
The view from our front porch: redwoods and agapanthas3. Framed our AMD microprocessor art, to be seen soon
4. Began cleaning up the best chair find ever: a $7.50 goodwill beauty
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
It's been hot here -- even into the 90s this week! I know, I know, that's not hot.
To stay cool, Scott slept in a yellow nightgown that used to belong to me. (I think it's boy-appropriate as long as he's under one.) Check out those beautiful baby eyelashes and how sweet he is to his daddy. Ooo, it just makes me need baby hugs now! In one picture, you can see all his teeth.
To stay cool, Scott slept in a yellow nightgown that used to belong to me. (I think it's boy-appropriate as long as he's under one.) Check out those beautiful baby eyelashes and how sweet he is to his daddy. Ooo, it just makes me need baby hugs now! In one picture, you can see all his teeth.
Monday, August 10, 2009
New favorite cookies
2.75 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp baking powder
1 c butter, thoroughly softened
1.5 c sugar
1 egg
0.75 tsp vanilla extract
0.25 tsp almond extract
1. Preheat to 375F.
2. Mix flour, soda, and powder.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together thoroughly softened butter and sugar. (They're much much better if butter is soft but NOT melted!) Add egg and extracts; blend well. (This recipe is double the "normal" amount of vanilla because I love it. If you're not as crazy about it, or if you're using a very strong extract like Mexican vanilla, knock it down by half.)
4. Combine all ingredients and mix just until blended.
5. Make small teaspoon sized cookies. Cook 8 minutes for soft, 10 minutes for crunchy cookies.
Makes 4 doz.
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp baking powder
1 c butter, thoroughly softened
1.5 c sugar
1 egg
0.75 tsp vanilla extract
0.25 tsp almond extract
1. Preheat to 375F.
2. Mix flour, soda, and powder.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together thoroughly softened butter and sugar. (They're much much better if butter is soft but NOT melted!) Add egg and extracts; blend well. (This recipe is double the "normal" amount of vanilla because I love it. If you're not as crazy about it, or if you're using a very strong extract like Mexican vanilla, knock it down by half.)
4. Combine all ingredients and mix just until blended.
5. Make small teaspoon sized cookies. Cook 8 minutes for soft, 10 minutes for crunchy cookies.
Makes 4 doz.
*********************************************
I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it had 1,592 highly positive reviews. A large number of those I read were posted by people with really crazy handles, like "2CUTE4UJAN". Really? It's just so unladylike! You need to read Miss Manners for the web, Jan.
Rinconada Park
Sunday afternoon. (Luke's taking the picture ON HIS PHONE. Did you know phones could do things like that??)
Monday, August 3, 2009
I forgot all about this video, but Ellen (who tells me she's having some Scott withdrawl) reminded me about it. Here he is, adorable and juicy!
In other sister news, Bridget and Kelly have moved to med school and are getting oriented, Lauren went to forensics camp (?), and Karen is all about Bikram yoga. (I took an Ashtanga class tonight and am glowing. I love it. I love my back again. I love you! Love love love.)
Filmed by Ellen last month
In other sister news, Bridget and Kelly have moved to med school and are getting oriented, Lauren went to forensics camp (?), and Karen is all about Bikram yoga. (I took an Ashtanga class tonight and am glowing. I love it. I love my back again. I love you! Love love love.)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Putting words in his mouth
This morning, Luke is fixing things and Scott grabs the screwdriver to play with. He's standing, holding on to the dresser with one hand and pointing the screwdriver at Luke's face with the other, looking very serious.
Luke, doing Scott's voice-over: "Give me your money . . . very slowly, over the next eighteen years."
:)
Luke, doing Scott's voice-over: "Give me your money . . . very slowly, over the next eighteen years."
:)
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