Looking for a sister/mom/roommate ...

Umm, e-fashion question:



Is it a bad idea for me to wear my socks sticking out of the top of my boots like this? Or rather, how bad an idea is it? Because it's really comfy and cozy, like the grown-up version of carrying a blanket around all day.

Hmm, I'm sure the internet was not intended for this use.

P.S.-- Cute Scott (in our long grass):

Baked Oatmeal

Very good breakfast recipe. I've made it every weekend since I found it!

1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla or 0.5 vanilla & 0.5 almond extract
2-1/2 cups oats(quick or old fashioned), uncooked*
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

-Heat oven to 350 degrees.
-In medium bowl, combine milk, eggs, oil and vanilla; mix well. Set aside.
-In 8x8 square casserole pan, combine oats, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add to liquid ingredients in bowl; blend well. Let stand about 15 minutes.
-Grease casserole pan and pour in mixture. Bake, uncovered, 35 to 45 minutes or until center is almost dry and firm to the touch. Cool slightly before serving.

Recipe from frugalfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com

* Oatmeal is, in my opinion, one of the few things that is worth buying name-brand. I always buy Quaker old-fashioned oats, just like my parents. I am never so hurried that I'd rather eat bad 1-minute oats than good 5-minute oats. When I'm that rushed I eat cereal.

Playtime in the neighborhood

I love our apartment. Our last apartments in Texas had a sign out front that said "Apartment living ... AT ITS BEST" (written with that punctuation and capitalization) and I used to laugh about it, but I would hang a sign like that outside our current home proudly. Living here is like living in a really good grown-up dorm. Our neighbors are cool. We share tools and cookies and breakfast breads. We don't have (or need) AC, so the windows are open in the evenings and the preschoolers hear each other heading out to the courtyard in the evening for playtime.

I feel like this place has the potential for capturing the best of city and country life: clotheslines and gardens in the yard, public transportation and wine festivals downtown just steps from the front door. Plenty of space for us, but I can still vacuum the whole place without unplugging.

Kisses to our little Apt #9.

Scott takes his first solo-with-walker steps
P.S. - THANKS TO ELLEN for being videographer, seamstress, and nanny!

Experiment: Miracle Fruit Tasting

As soon as we heard about Miracle Fruit, we wanted to try it. It's an African berry that makes sour taste sweet! We googled it, read enough blog entries to convince us that it worked, and ordered a package of tablets. (You can order the actual berries instead, but they're more expensive and, again from the blogs, it sounds like they both work.) They aren't cheap -- $1.50 per tablet -- but worth a shot.

Then we had a tasting party!

PROCEDURE
1) Preparation. We tasted sweets, tarts, sours, and bitters. Sweet: cherry tomatoes; tart: granny smith apples; sours: lemon, grapefruit, vinegar, mustard, olives, pickles; bitters: coffee, beer, 90% cocoa chocolate.

2) Let the tablet melt on your tongue, allowing it to cover all your taste buds (especially the sides). The tablet tastes alright; very slightly bitter. It melts in a minute or two. It didn't seem like anything had changed and we were starting to doubt that it would work.

3) Taste away!

RESULTS: AHmazing. Lemons are delicious, something like lemonade but less artificial. Grapefruit really just the best: infused with a nice, light, sugary sweetness. So fresh! The vinegar foods were surprising, too. Straight vinegar tasted like ice cream topping! For us, the results started to wear off after about 30 minutes, but I hear it can last up to 2 hours.

CONCLUSION: You have to try this. What fun! More fun and less expensive than a movie!

I wonder how it works. It's so quick that I think the chemical must work topically, not through your bloodstream and that tricky blood-brain barrier. Also, sour is CHANGED to sweet, not just blocked. I bet the molecular shape of sweet and sour things are similar ...

In other news, today Ellen and Ben flew back to Texas. We'll miss you both!

Ellen & Scott in matching pants (sewn by Ellen)

Happy cats in Chinatown

Music

www.masonjennings.com/music

I just like it. A lot. It's folky, sort of under-processed, and outdoorsy. Nice working tunes.

Ben's in town!

Scott gives Rice a drool shampoo, picture perfect dinner,
Ellen made me this apron in her 1st week of sewing by machine!, funny face crawling

Luke's youngest sibling and Scott's only uncle (so far, Mr. Daniel Koop-to-be!) is here for a week. Here's to Uncle Ben, a.k.a. Rice!

We did a little grilling to celebrate. The corn: yum. Peel off the outer husks, leaving just the lighter green layers to protect the corn from some heat. Yank out the silk and rinse as much as reasonably achievable (AMARA -- that's a health physics joke). Let corn soak in cold water for 10 min or so; the kernels will absorb some and this keeps them from drying out too much when grilled. Mix together a little oil (veg, canola, olive, whatever you've got) and a LOT of the following spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg. (I know, nutmeg, weird, huh?) Rub the ears down heavily in spice/oil mix, wrap them up again, and grill, turning to avoid too much burning. Takes about 10 minutes. The kernels will be golden and juicy, popping under gentle pressure from your tongs when done. Don't worry about charring the husks.

Now, does anyone have a good mojito recipe?

Ready for a Block Party!

This is our backyard, which I love. It was neglected while the apartment was between tenants, but is well on its way to beautiful again. It's probably about 800 square feet (0.018 acre!) and we plan on using every inch.

1. Grass. I know, it's a water-hungry beast of a plant that is not particularly well suited for drought prone peninsula summers ... but it's also gorgeous and the perfect place for itty bitty babies to play on. We dug up the littered wood chips and heavy plastic liner underneath and put down sod in 2 small areas: a 9'x10' area to the right of the patio and another small area under the window. It's been 2 weeks and seems to be taking root well enough. Lush lawn in little areas: a nice balance. $34 for sod

2. Patio & Deck. Our first weekend here, I spilled a bucket of bright blue indoor paint on the concrete patio. I flipped for a second and then decided to paint the whole thing. I used the hose to water down the paint a little and it resulted in a nice, washed out, Greek-isle style blue that I really like and hope the owner doesn't get too upset about. The deck was solid but raw and covered in splinters that like to get in baby hands and knees. Luke decided to sand & seal it and it looks FANTASTIC -- definitely the biggest improvement.

3. Weber grill! Free off of Craigslist (just one wheel missing!) with BBQ utensil set and ice chest. Previous owner is a Macarthur grad -- holla SAtown!

4. Plants.
3.5 of the 7 large potted plants abandoned by the previous tenant have come back to life after being completely pruned down, watered, and fertilized for a month. There are 3 rosebuds right now! Yay.

Dwarf Eureka lemon tree, aka "Momma's New Baby" (Luke tries to help Scott avoid sibling jealously): I just love the idea of lemon trees. If I ever learn to play guitar, this Mason Jennings song, Lemon Grove Avenue, will be one of my first. $27 for tree, watering pipe, and first fertilizer
Those pretty agapatha plants were also free from craigslist. Agapanthus means love flower in Greek.

5. Laundry lines. Oooooh beautiful little things, I love you. You save me $4/week in dryer quarters, you are green and energy saving, you give me an excuse to get outside and move around, and you make my clothes last longer. (Dryer lint is YOUR CLOTHES. I don't know how I missed that for so many years.) I have enough line space for 1-2 loads. Clothesline posts are pretty pricey, so here's what we did: we screwed in one big, sturdy metal ring very high, looped cotton clothesline through, and made hooks (bent nails work just fine) for the lines against the other fence. I unhook them when I take down the clothes so the lines are only up 1 day a week and don't bother the neighbors. Ellen made me a cleverly designed little clothespin bag. $5 for lines, ring, and clothespins, but have already saved more than that in dryer fees, so $0

6. Furniture. The table (sanded & spray painted silver, $4) was $5 on craigslist and that cute little California Growers bin for garden tools was a freebie garage sale leftover.

Our pretty backyard for $70. Plus, we saved items from landfill fate.

Next Projects:
- Compost pile behind the agapanthus (the county gives free How-To classes)
- Simple veggie kitchen herb gardens
- Native climbing vines along fence
- Possibly widening the walkway with free bricks off craigslist