Hooked on Words

Sour Cream Ice Cream...

2009-10-04T16:43:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream (Daisy brand NOT light)
2 cups half and half
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Whiz in blender until smooth. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour. Freeze according to your ice cream freezing device's directions. Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze until firm. Yum.

Some variations I plan to try, eventually:

Brown sugar instead of regular sugar.
1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract.
Almond milk in place of part of the half and half.
Caramelize sugar, add half and half, stir until smooth, chill until cold, use in place of part or all of the plain half and half.
Caramel sauce swirled in at the last minute.
Chocolate sauce swirled in at the last minute.

Oh, by the way...

2009-04-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

The sherbet was delicious. It was even better a couple of days later. The flavors had mellowed and the texture was perfect.

I might have to call it Chocolate Gelato... Except it still didn't have any egg in it.

Also. It was gone before I remembered to take pictures. I don't even have any pictures of other things on this computer, and I can't remember my Flickr login to post pictures to alleviate my guilt.

Sigh.

Another day, another dinner...

2009-04-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

One of these days I'll remember to take pictures before eating my food. New habits take time to form. Especially when one his very hungry at the time.

Boneless Pork Ribs with Honey-Rosemary Glaze
from my very own brain

serves 2

4 boneless country style pork ribs
salt
pepper
2 TBSP oil

2 medium garlic cloves
1 4-inch stem of rosemary (about 2 TBSP)
salt
1/2 tsp or to tastefreshly ground black pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup warm water

Heat oil in medium frying pan. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Brown pork in hot oil. Turn heat to low when second side has browned. Meanwhile make the glaze.

Finely mince garlic and rosemary leaves with a generous sprinkle of salt. Place in liquid measuring cup. Add black pepper, cayenne pepper and cumin. Add cider vinegar and whisk to blend. Add honey and warm water. Whisk to dissolve honey. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Pour over pork in pan. Cover and cook over low heat until pork is cooked, basting occasionally (about 10 minutes). Remove meat from pan and cover. Turn heat to high and bring sauce to a boil. Boil with out stirring until reduced to to a sticky glaze (about the consistency of honey, about 5 minutes).

Serve with rice (I used good old long grain brown because that is what was in the house, but feel free to use your favorite) and green salad.

Very yum. Just ask my husband.

Mmmm, chocolate...

2009-04-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Sherbet
(modified from the Williams-Sonoma Frozen Desserts recipe for Chocolate Sorbet)

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used King Arthur Flour's Double Dutch Cocoa)
2 cups half-and-half
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. (scant) espresso powder

Whisk sugar and cocoa powder together in a medium saucepan. Add half-and-half slowly, whisking all the time. Over medium heat bring mixture to a boil and cook for about a minute, whisking almost constantly (I took a couple short breaks to look at the recipe, it didn't hurt anyone). Remove pan from heat and add the semisweet chocolate. Let sit for a minute to partially melt the chocolate (I used the time to wash some dishes, I'm very efficient when the mood strikes, don't count on it happening again any time soon). Whisk the chocolate mixture briefly. Add the vanilla and espresso powder. Whisk until smooth. Pour into a medium bowl and let cool to room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold (at least three hours and up to 12). Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. Eat immediately, or scoop into a container and freeze until firm (about 3 hours). Best when eaten within the first 24 hours (as if that will be a hardship).

I'll have to let you know how it turns out. Also, pictures to follow.

Note: Sorbets have no dairy, so this isn't really a sorbet, but it's not ice cream either because it doesn't have any cream or eggs. It's most similar to a sherbet, although sherbets are usually fruit flavored (and sometimes have eggs). It's a hybrid, this. Judging by the pre-frozen stage, a delicious, delicious hybrid.

Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Brownies Part Deux

2009-02-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

All I have to say is YUM! Next time I'll probably go with slightly smaller amount of the peanut butter batter so the swirls will be more dramatic, but the flavors balance each other out delightfully.

I didn't mention that I used 100% White Whole Wheat Flour instead of All Purpose. I really prefer whole wheat brownies to all purpose flour brownies. They tend to stay denser, but with a little more structure so you really get the best of the cakey and fudgey brownie worlds. Even when you do a fudgier brownie recipe.

Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Brownies

2009-01-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

Since I don't have any cream cheese in the house, and all of the recipes I could find for swirled brownies called for cream cheese...

Your favorite brownie recipe (for 9x13) pan (I used the "On the Fence Brownies" from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)
1/3 cup peanut butter

Put peanut butter in a small mixing bowl. Mix together all the ingredients for the brownies except the chocolate. Remove about 1/4-1/3 of the batter and put in bowl with peanut butter. Add chocolate to remaining batter (reduce amount of chocolate by about 1/4). Pour chocolate batter in prepared pan. Stir together peanut butter and batter. Dollop peanut batter on top of chocolate batter. Swirl lightly together. Bake according to brownie recipe directions.

It's still baking, I'll let you know how it turns out. Also, pictures to follow...

Trek geekery is the best geekery in the world...

2008-08-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

Your results:
You are Geordi LaForge

Geordi LaForge		60%
Uhura		60%
Will Riker		55%
Deanna Troi		50%
Beverly Crusher		50%
Chekov		40%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		40%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		40%
Mr. Scott		35%
Jean-Luc Picard		35%
Spock		27%
Data		26%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		25%
Worf		20%
Mr. Sulu		20%

You work well with others and often
fix problems quickly. Your romantic
relationships are often bungled.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

I lied. Too bad, so sad...

2008-04-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

I said next would be Turkey Mushroom Casserole. That will be next, next time. This time I am going to share a different recipe...

Chicken, Artichoke & Spinach Pasta

serves 2 as a complete meal (with leftovers) or 4 as a main course

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3-6 cloves garlic (to taste)
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped, divided
12 or so frozen artichoke hearts
8 oz. uncooked pasta
1 bag baby spinach
3-4 Tbsp grated parmesan

Put onion in large, heavy bottomed skillet. Pour olive oil over, stir to coat. Place over medium-low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until onion starts to soften, add garlic, cook until soft. Add 1 Tbsp. rosemary, cook until rosemary is fragrant. Turn up heat to medium and add chicken broth. Bring broth just to a simmer, taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add chicken. Cook gently until chicken is almost cooked. Add frozen artichoke hearts. Turn heat to medium-high and add pasta. Cook until pasta al dente. Add spinach, cover and let steam until spinach begins to wilt. Uncover and stir until spinach is completely wilted.

Combine remaining Tbsp rosemary and grated parmesan.

Serve pasta in bowls. Pass rosemary parmesan mixture for people to sprinkle on top of the pasta.

Notes This is a pretty complete meal on its own, but would pair nicely with a green salad and crusty dinner rolls. A cucumber and carrot salad would also play nicely. You could also add (or substitute) peas, asparagus or zucchini into the pasta itself.

Tuna Noodle Casserole v1.0

2008-02-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

I didn't take pictures at the time, but it was a casserole, and looked the same as pretty much any casserole.

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 large onion (or 1/2 a medium onion), chopped
1 small can tuna packed in water, drained, liquid reserved
salt
pepper
dried dill weed
1 Tbsp. (approximately) mustard (preferably dijon or stone ground)
2 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 cups (cooked) pasta (elbow macaroni in this case)
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (sharp cheddar & parmesan)

Preheat the oven to 375º. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook until the onion has softened and started to brown. Season with salt, pepper and dill to taste. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring constantly until the flour cooks. Add the water from the tuna and the chicken broth, gradually, stirring constantly. Stir in the mustard. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cook until slightly thickened. Add the tuna and pasta and stir to combine. Pour the whole thing into a baking dish (I used an 8" square). Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top. Put it all in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes, or however long it takes to make a salad or sauté some zucchini in olive oil and garlic. :-)

This amount of sauce will coat up to 4 cups of pasta (although increasingly lightly). You can add up to another cup of liquid without increasing the flour or oil amounts. With 3 cups of liquid and 4 cups of pasta I would probably go to a 9 x 13 pan.

Next time: Ground Turkey & Mushroom Noodle Casserole. Also, yarn.

Oh. Hi. Are you still here?

2008-01-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

Long time no post... There are a number of factors I could blame this fact on. Planning a wedding... Crocheting shawls for my bridesmaids and me... Avoiding planning the wedding (see previous)... Assembling a guest list... Acquiring more horsefeeding clients (I am now the most popular person at the stable, at least among the horses)... Ravelry (Hi fellow Ravelers! Where your stitches at?)... Getting married... Being generally lazy... It's probably the last one that did it, actually.

In order to make myself feel slightly less of a loser, I'll post the recipe for the excellent mac and cheese I made the other night. No pictures, though (sorry!).

Macaroni & Cheese

1 - 1 /12 cups elbow macaroni (or pasta shape of your choice)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt
pepper
herbes de provence

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook the pasta according to directions (actually, undercook it by a minute or two). Drain and set aside (or cook it while making the sauce, it works either way).

Cook onions and garlic in butter and olive oil over low heat until soft and beginning to caramelize. Season to taste with salt pepper and herbes de provence. Turn the heat up and sprinkle the flour over. Stir until flour cooks and begins to smell slightly toasted. Turn the heat down and slowly pour in the chicken broth. Cook until it begins to thicken slightly, add the milk. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Remove from heat and add about 1 1/2 cups of the grated chedar cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce is more or less smooth (not counting the onions and garlic). Combine the cheese sauce and pasta. Pour into baking dish (8" or 9" square, 9" round, or anything of similar size). Sprinkle remaining cheddar and parmesan on top and put in oven. Bake until top is lightly browned and it's bubbling merrily around the edges, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven let stand 10-15 minutes. Enjoy.

Serve with salad or roasted vegetables.

Roasted Cauliflower and Mushrooms (for two servings)

1/2 head cauliflower, rinsed
8 cremini mushrooms
olive oil
salt
pepper
herbes de provence

Cut the cauliflower florets into approximately equal sizes. Cut the mushrooms in half if they are over an inch in diameter. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbes de provence in a baking dish (8" square works well for this amount). Place in 400 degree oven. Roast until tender and beginning to brown. Approximately 30-40 minutes.

Yum. Baby carrots would have been an excellent addition to the roasted vegetables...

I'm not sure I see it, myself...

2007-12-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed
quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it
seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I long with all my heart to see the Prince...

2007-07-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sweet honey and the rock, Richard III is open. I was a bit worried that I was going to go out on opening night with an unfinished costume. I didn't. I left after final dress and it wasn't done, I came in for opening night and it was finished. Huzzah! I still think everyone would have been much better off had she started sewing more than two weeks before we opened, but whatever. The costumes look good on us, the words come out in the proper order (mostly) and the bats are working on the bug population... all is right with the world.

Now, on to other, more important matters. Food. Specifically, bread.

I doubled the recipe because I wanted one plain loaf, and one cinnamon swirl loaf. It's nice that bread recipes multiply so easily. The only thing I did with this batch that was a little unusual is to take it out of the mixer and knead it by hand briefly. Partly this was because it wasn't making a coherent mass in the mixer and I needed to get my hands on it to see if this was an issue of the mixer or an issue of the dough. It was the mixer, it turned into a lovely, silky ball after only a short time kneading it. My wrists protested, so I put it back in the mixer (with the dough hook) for an additional few minutes of mixer kneading. Both loaves turned out nice and light, so I guess it got kneaded enough. I need to work on my dough shaping capabilities. I don't ever seem to get it even enough when I roll it out for shaping, so I end up with slightly lopsided loaves. It doesn't seem to affect texture (or flavor), but I like pretty loaves. I also remembered to turn my oven temp down a little this time. I use glass loaf pans, and I my gas is propane, so if I bake the loaves at 350, they end up really dark, even when I tent them. This time I baked them at 325, and everything worked out lovely.

My sweetie has been working most evenings lately, so my dinners have been thrown together noodle affairs. I rather wish I had taken a picture of Monday's dinner, it actually turned out quite pretty (as well as quite delicious). Sunday night I had buckwheat soba noodles in a quick peanut sauce with vegetables. Monday night I had rice noodles in the rest of the peanut sauce with vegetables. Both were very delicious. The rice noodles had a bit more eye appeal, but the soba noodles were (surprise!) quite a bit heartier.

Peanut Sauce (so not precise, because, really, why measure, it's all to taste anyway)

peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, preferably natural and unsalted, but whatever pb you prefer will work)
rice vinegar (seasoned)
chili garlic sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil (optional)
ginger (fresh or ground, optional)

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Mix to combine. Amounts will vary depending on your taste and how much sauce you are making, don't worry about it, just mix away.

Cook noodles of your choice according to package directions. Add some frozen mixed vegetables to the noodles in the last minute or two of cooking time (or if you soak the noodles in the hot water before draining, add the veggies just before you turn off the heat, bring the water back to the boil and then turn off the heat and soak as directed). Splash a little of the cooking water over the sauce and mix. Drain noodles and vegetables. Add to bowl with sauce and toss to coat. Eat up baby!

Not So Dirty Un-Secret...

2007-06-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

I have a subscription to booksfree.com and I love it. It's kind of like Netflix for books. I have the minimum subscription (two at a time), but I keep threatening to upgrade (the only person I tell is myself, so it's not really a threat, except to my credit card!). Anyway. I got my latest shipment of books yesterday (as I was driving up to my mailbox, I was thinking that my next shipment should be arriving any day now. When I opened my mailbox, there was the charming gray plastic envelope. So, Woo!) and I'm very happy. I received Charmed, an anthology of fantasy romances. The only two authors I remember are Jayne Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz, a perennial favorite)and Lori Foster. I won't write anymore about that book until I have it in front of me to make sure of my details. So far, I've only looked at the Jayne Castle story. Sadly, for me, I've read it before. Not sad in the sense that I didn't like the story, but sad in the sense that I hadn't realized that I had already read that story when I ordered the book. Oh well, hopefully the other stories will prove charming.

The other book is The Smoke Thief by Shane Abe. I've read mostly good things about this one, and it has dragons (!) so I'm looking forward to reading it. I'll probably give my Saturday over to it (Screw you bread! I'm reading a book! Sorry garden! I have my story!) especially if the fiance is out of town. Well, I could make bread and read a book at the same time, since there is a lot of down time in bread making. Also in doing laundry. So, really, there is hope for household chores being accomplished even in the face of a Book. My tendency to disappear into books is really the only thing that worries my mother about me having children... D'Oh! I just remembered, I have load-in for Shakespeare Festival on Saturday. I will be putting up walls!

Moving on.

I made beef stew in my slow cooker on Monday. It turned out fabulously, if I do say so myself (and I probably shouldn't). I love the slow cooker, I don't use it as often as I could. However, since it is just the two of us right now, that's probably not the tragedy it might be if I were cooking for a large family. There were biscuits to accompany. I used my new favorite biscuit recipe. Honey-Wheat Biscuits from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. My boy is a biscuit fiend, and he would eat these with every meal (of course, I don't know that he has met a biscuit he doesn't like, so weight the recommendation as you wish).

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

beef (I used 2.25 lbs London Broil, but any stew meat will work as well)
onion (1 large or 1 1/2 small)
garlic (3-6 cloves)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
thyme (one stem of fresh)
oregano (one stem of fresh)
rosemary (2 inch stem of fresh)
2 bay leaves
carrots (2 or 3 big ones, or a handful of babies)
3 potatoes
wine
1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth
water

Peel and slice the onion. Peel and coarsely chop the garlic. Chunk the carrots (if using big ones) and potatoes. Pile ingredients into slow cooker. Wash and dry the meat, trim any fat around the edges, chunk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown in batches in a hot skillet with a little olive oil (add more oil as necessary, but don't overdo, I probably used a total of 2 TBSP over the course of 5 or six batches of meat). As the meat browns, toss it into the slow cooker. When all the meat is browned, deglaze the pan with the wine of your choice (I used sherry because I didn't have anything else in the house at the time). Lay the herbs on top. Pour the deglazing liquid, chicken broth and water over all, adding enough liquid to come about half way up the side of the pot. Cover and cook on high for about 5 hours or on low for 8. Or on high for 3 and low for 3.

Serve with a salad and bread of your choice.

This recipe (as written) should serve about 5-6 people. It can always be made to serve more or fewer, depending on how much meat and potatoes you use. :-) Flexible recipes are the best.

Right then. Off to feed horses.

In Case You Were Wondering...

2007-06-26T10:42:00.001-07:00

$4840.00

Because, really, who doesn't want to know how much their dead body is worth...

Dinosaurs!!!!

2007-06-18T16:20:00.001-07:00

And you thought dinosaurs were extinct. Silly!

Also, yarn!

Weekend Wishes...

2007-06-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

So, I almost got what I wanted to do this weekend done this weekend. Almost. I did garden, some. I watered everything and weeded in the vegetable area. Which area, so far, doesn't have much in the way of vegetables. I'm pretty sure that I have four asparagus pea seedlings that have come up, so that's good, but no tomatoes have volunteered which I find highly disappointing.

I did not take any pictures of anything. Including the lovely ripple baby blanket that I finally finished weaving in the ends. I did accomplish that, so go me! The coordinating hat is almost done, as well. I had so much trouble trying to figure out how to make a ripple brim, that I gave that up and am just giving it a "single crochet in back loops only" ripple brim. It's super cute, even if I do say so myself. Pictures will be taken and posted this week. Hopefully, before I send it off to its intended recipient.

I also meant to play with my Ravelry account this weekend. That went the way of the pictures of stuff. Nowhere!

I have two excuses (well, three, if you count lazy, which I do when I have enough energy): I had a hair appointment yesterday (which I had forgotten about) and I had rehearsal today. My hair appointment did lead, indirectly, to the purchase of yarn for the wedding afghan that is due by the end of July, so that's a good thing. I like Lion Brand Homespun. Which may make me a yarn philistine, but so be it. I prefer to think of it as being democratic. I like the super high end stuff, but in the right colors and with the right pattern, Homespun is a marvelous product. :-)

Here's an old picture to keep all none of you quiet...

Glory believes in getting her close-up

Turkey & Mushroom "Sloppy Joes"

2007-06-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Serves two (easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled)

dried porcini mushrooms (I'm not sure how much I used, because they were given to me when my brother decided not to use them in the dinner he was making the other night, next time, I'll use more mushrooms, possibly even mixed varieties)
1 frozen turkey "chub" (1 pound) or 1 pound fresh ground turkey
olive oil
2 cloves garlic (or to taste), chopped
salt
pepper
herbes de provence
balsamic vinegar
water

bread
shredded mozzarella cheese

Rehydrate mushrooms in water (or broth, or wine). Drain, and chop the mushrooms. Save the liquid.

If you are using frozen turkey (as I did tonight), go ahead and thaw it in the frying pan (which cooks it at the same time). About the time it is completely thawed, add a little olive oil and the chopped garlic (if using fresh turkey, warm the olive oil, add the turkey and garlic at the same time). Add salt, pepper and herbes de provence (or seasonings of your choice) to taste. Cook until the turkey has started to brown slightly, then add the soaked, chopped mushrooms. Stir everything together and let the turkey and mushrooms cook a little more. Add the reserved soaking liquid from the mushrooms, a dash or two of vinegar and enough water to cover (if you used wine to soak the mushrooms, let it reduce a little before adding the vinegar and water). Let the whole thing simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half (15 minutes or so), or until the ratio of gravy to meat suits you (me, I like wet but not soupy).

During the simmering process, make a salad.

When the meat sauce looks about right, toast some bread. Tonight, I used whole wheat sourdough baguette.

When the bread is toasted, put one piece on each plate. Spoon some meat sauce over the top. Spoon a little extra liquid over the top. Sprinkle with cheese.

Very yum. No picture, though, because I didn't take one, and because, really, it's not that attractive a dish. Delicious though, I can assure you of that.

Thoughts for next time: Diced onion added with the garlic would be good. Also, a good possibility for slow cooking... I'll have to think about what modifications that would take. The dried mushrooms could probably be placed directly into the cooker, the slow, wet heat would probably soak them sufficiently. Frozen spinach stirred in at the end and allowed to heat through... Fresh baby spinach on the bread, under the meat sauce...

Resolution...

2007-05-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

All of the square doilies from this book. I love thread crochet, and I love doilies. However, I have no use for big doilies. Or table runners. Or antimacassars. However, I do have need of coasters. Plus, this will distract me from my search for the perfect pattern for a lace shawl for my wedding.

So. I will start with the one I have already finished (it needs to be washed first, as it has been in use and has gotten a little dirty).

Must get batteries for the camera...

Projects:

Ripple baby blanket: needs ends woven in and washed
Little square doilies: 1 down 8 to go
Baby blankets (4): Patterns, yarns TBD (probably Bernat Cotton Tots though. Love it!) Due: August, November (2), December
Wedding afghan (1): Pattern, yarns TBD. Due July 28
Wedding shawl: Due November 9

I'm sure that there will be more things added. Let us try not to forget that I have a wedding to plan for November.

Yay!

A little feline yin/yang to remind me that everything works out. In the end. One way or another

Word...

2007-05-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

After the tone...

2007-05-15T11:16:00.001-07:00

Harley's Rules for phone messages...

1.) Keep it simple. Just the essential information please.

2.) Leave your number twice, once at the beginning of you message, and again at the end.

3.) Speak more slowly than usual. Especially if this is your first contact with the person you are calling. Otherwise, your listener might wonder why you want to talk about your felicias when you are calling from a company that handles internet stuff.

example: "HimynameisJaneSmithI'mcallingfrominternalcompanywehandleVOIPandpandasandallsortsofotherthingsthatI willtellyouaboutrightnowandIwasreferredbyinmiricompanypleasecallmeat8005551289sowecandiscussourfelicias"

example: "Hi. My name is Jane Smith. I'm calling from Internet Company. My number is 800-555-1289. I was referred to you by Another Company because we provide VOIP services. Please give me a call and we can discuss our options. My name again is Jane Smith and I can be reached at 800-555-1289."

See. Not so hard is it?

Thank you, and have a nice day.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to Me!

2007-05-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

Your Birthdate: January 19

You don't just believe in love at first site - you've experienced it.
You develop crushes pretty easily, but keeping your interest is another matter!
You are very prone to love - hate relationships.

Number of True Loves You'll Have: 1

Number of Times You'll Have Your Heart Broken: 1

You are most compatible with people born on the 1st, 10th, 19th, and 28th of the month.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean For Your Love Life?

Fortunate Dragon

2007-05-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Nearly a CATastrophe...

2007-05-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Meet Lynx (again).

He's a handsome fellow, isn't he? 14 pounds of stripey goodness. Three weeks ago, we nearly lost him. It is thanks to the good efforts of his vet, her techs and his own strong will to live that we didn't.

He got himself an urinary tract obstruction. The problem reached crisis point for several reasons. First, he's mainly an outdoor cat, so I didn't realize he wasn't urinating. Second, he seems to have a very high pain tolerance. On Thursday night he seemed fine, playing with Jaguar as usual. Friday morning he was hissing and growling for no apparent reason (never a good sign, but not always a sign of a life threatening problem). Friday night he was throwing up white foam and (finally) trying to pee (unsuccessfully) in the house. Saturday morning, he was comatose. Luckily, one of the local vets was open and told me I could drop him off (they were booked up, but would look at him between appointments). He was awake by Monday, although not eating. His bladder was so distended that the muscle tone was gone, so they had to express his bladder. I took him home Thursday, with two prescriptions. One of antibiotics and one of something to help repair the muscle. And instructions on how to express his bladder. Fun for all concerned.

He took the pills with a minimum of fuss. At first it was because he still wasn't feeling well, later it was because he's a reasonable cat, plus he got butter to help the pills go down. Cats seem, in my experience, to take pills much more readily if you explain to them why you want them to take the pill. However, even if they don't fight the pill, some cats like to see if they can fool you into thinking they have swallowed the pill and then spit it out once you let go of them (I'm naming no names, but if the stripes fit...). If you smear butter on the upper lip, when their body heat starts to melt it, they can't stand the greasy and lick it off, which forces them to swallow the pill.

Long story short... He's better. At the second follow up visit, the vet was concerned because his bladder is still sensitive to palpation (although empty at the time). She now wants a urine sample to see if it is infection or inflammation. After a week on Baytril (!), she's pretty sure it isn't infection. I don't want to put him on steroids (more pills, hurrah!), but I also don't want the white blood cells to build up and cause another blockage.

Aah. Cats. They lower the blood pressure.

Wicked moment...

2007-02-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

I didn't have one. It was him.

He's a cat, you say. Cats are made of wicked moments. Well, yes, just not usually in my ankle.

Word of the day: Prolix adjective using or containing too many words; tediously long-winded. My posts tend to be prolix on a good day (to which you should politely protest that, no, no they are charming).

Why? Because I can...

2007-02-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

The Ocean
A Rock
A Wave

Are you jealous yet? Probably not, as there is no you yet. Sigh

Soon, I will take pictures of knitting and crocheting and post those. Then, the non-existent you will really be jealous, because I get to create Pretty in the midst of powerful Beauty.

Word for the Day: Ort: a scrap or remainder of food (from a meal). I fed the ort to the dog. Was that so wrong?

Elephant seals and others...

2007-02-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

Because it's grey and chilly and I wish it would start raining again.

A common egret.

Oh. Of course.

December through February are elephant seal pupping months (followed by elephant seal breeding weeks). It's all fun and games until somebody rolls on a baby.
Mama and baby.

Hey baby, ready for some fun? Rawr!

Word of the day: apothegm: (noun) a concise saying or maxim. An aphorism. Example: When in doubt, pout. (I made that one up). If it ain't broke, don't fix it. (I didn't make that one up)

Whatever... and Roast Beef...

2007-02-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

If I could figure out a focus for this thing, I might post more often. I no longer have the excuse of not having a camera, because I got one for Christmas. Just to prove it, here's a picture.

So there. Beautiful isn't it?

Here's another picture. Just because I can. Cats! The black one is Jaguar, the striped one is Lynx. They are probably half brothers (same mother, different litters). They are alternately best friends and bitter rivals. Most of the time, if you see one, the other is not far away. This includes playing with the birds and other small animals that they enjoy bringing into the house. If they would catch the gopher that is playing hob with my front garden, I would be very happy. I wouldn't even complain very hard about the resulting blood stain. Or the next explosion of bird feathers and parts.

Cats lower one's blood pressure. It has been scientifically proven. Although not by me.

Oh. Roast beef. The man invited friends over for Super Bowl Sunday. Only, instead of watching the Super Bowl, they played Gran Tourismo. It was highly amusing. The Friend (hereinafter referred to as Big N) brought his son (Little N) and his (Big N's, not Little N's) girlfriend (S). I was expecting S, but not Little N, not that it was a problem because I like kids in general and Little N in particular. Anyway, all of this has nothing to do with Roast Beef. Other than the fact that having guests gave me an excuse to make it. It's a super simple recipe (not that roast beef should ever be complicated, but that's another post for another time) that I got from Fine Cooking. The main feature of this recipe that was different from the usual was the use of dry white wine in the braising liquid for the beef.

In brief. You sear the beef (rubbed first with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper, although you can skip this step with on ill-effects) in your dutch oven. When it's browned all all sides, set the meat aside and pour a combination of chicken broth and dry white wine (about two cups total) into the dutch oven and bring to a simmer (scrape up any bits of meat that stuck to the pan during this process), return the meat to the pan, add the herbs and vegetables (two carrots, cut in half widthwise; one onion, peeled and quartered; three (or more) garlic cloves, smashed; one bay leaf; three sprigs fresh time; three whole cloves or allspice berries) return to the simmer, cover tightly and cook in a slow (250 degree) oven for about four hours or until the meat is very tender, turn once or twice so the top of the meat doesn't dry out. When the meat is cooked, remove and set aside (tented with foil), strain cooking liquid into a medium saucepan, discard solids (or not if you have something better to do with them, like eat them up yum). Reduce broth to about half, add brandy (2 Tbsp), grainy mustard (1/2 tsp or to taste) and horseradish (1/2 tsp or to taste) and bring to a boil. Stir 1 tsp flour into 2 Tbsp sour cream, whisk into broth mixture and cook 5 minutes (or more) to thicken slightly and combine flavors. Slice the meat, serve with gravy and whatever side dishes you like (in my case, mashed potatoes and a spinach and mushroom "braise"). Yummy.

More words...

2006-12-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

Andra knew no pain as the ink sank into her skin. Her father had said there would be pain as the tatist found the shapes in her skin. There was no pain, only heat and pleasure. The tatist said the ink took some people like that. It was different for everyone, the tatist said. She, herself, had felt rain, warm and wet as tears, while the clouds massed across her skin.

Andra sometimes wondered if the tatist had known it would be dragons from the beginning. If she had seen the dragons in Andra's skin even before the ink had given them form. The first curled around her right hip, head resting on the jut of her hip bone, tail curling lazily across to the juncture of her thighs. The second nestled along the hollow of her collarbone and draped around her shoulders, one clawed foot curling into the short hairs at the nape of her neck. The third twined around her left leg from ankle to knee. The fourth--

Four, whispered the tatist to Andra's father, as delicate, jewel-edged scales emerged from the ink in her hands. She had never dreamed dragons in ink before. Her teacher had told her of dragons, but even in his long life he had never had them under his hands. Almost she stopped, drew away the ink, but she could not leave them incomplete. Beautiful and terrible together the fourth draon twisted across Andra's back and curled around her torso in an eternal embrace.

An experiment in words...

2006-12-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Her mother had protested the very idea. An outdated, useless, barbaric custom. Why did he want to put their only child through it? Hadn't he told her over and over of the pain, the hurt the anguish of the ink? Of the disappointment when all the tatist found in his skin was flowers? Alien, unfamiliar flowers that twined around his legs and bloomed on his back, his chest, his genitals?

And wasn't it the same flowers that had captured her? he argued back. Great, drooping starts that called to her, spoke to her, entranced her. Did she not feel the emptiness of her skin against the blooming garden of his? Would she deny her own daughter, her own flesh the exquisite fullness the ink created? Pain? Yes, there was pain, but it ended, as pain did, and the gift left behind was worth every moment of agony, of anguish, of fear.

She sighed, defeated, for she had felt the incompleteness of her skin. A yearning awoken by the fragrant stars in her husband's skin. She had met the tatist once, in the street, shortly after her marriage, a small woman with wise, ancient eyes and clouds drifting across her face and mounding over her chest. The tatist had looked at her with her wise, ancient, sad eyes and smiled, a wise, ancient, sad curl of her lips and said a single word. Moths. And Andra's mother had seen them in her mind, drifting on the wind, improbably wings spread to steer, to catch the shifting breezes. She had seen them, as alien as the flowers in her husband's skin, and known, at last the form of her yearning. So, she had given in, let her husband take their daughter back to the village of his birth, to the tatist who dreamed in ink.

Copyright 2006 Rachel McElhinney

Beta, Max...

2006-12-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I need to be slightly more focused in order to post more regularly. In this vein, I think I'm going to start posting a story that I'm in the process of writing. I'll try to start tomorrow. I would have started today, except that I forgot to bring the notebook that has the thing in it. Of course, I have to find the notebook first. This will be interspersed with stories about knitting and crocheting. At least, that is my goal. We'll see if I manage. As any of my friends can attest, I am an unreliable correspondent. I mean well, but I'm easily distracted by bright, shiny objects.

My current knitting consists mainly of presents (oh shocker, since it is December). The only thing that isn't a present is
this. In Metropolis. It's turning out a lovely, soft, tweedy thing. I'm sure there a people who don't approve of Lion Brand Homespun, but I love it, it's soft and fuzzy and gets even more so with washing. Just don't make fringe with it. It frays like crazy. It's frazy. ;-) This will be the first project made for myself. I have a stack of other sweater patterns that I want to make for myself, but I have to mix them with things for other people or I will feel selfish and guilty. Hats, socks and mittens lurk at the edge of my conscious whispering "make us, make us, we will keep someone warm, warm, warm." How do you resist that? By making something for a baby.

I wonder why the keyboard shortcuts don't work for me. Probably the whole Safari/Mac conundrum. *pout* It's probably good for me to learn how to do fancy things without shortcuts. Next thing you know, I'll be messing with the template and adding pictures and animations and stuff. Wheeeeee!!!!!

Word for the Day: cacophony [kəˈkäfənē] noun ( pl. -nies) a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from French cacophonie, from Greek kakophōnia,
from kakophōnos ‘ill-sounding,’ from kakos ‘bad’ + phōnē ‘sound.’

Not obvious...

2006-11-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

The squirting of ink is especially apropos...

You're an Octopus!

Thoughtful and reflective, you always appear to have tilted your
head slightly to one side. You like stretching out your languorous body wherever
you can, but not everything is always relaxed. You wear your emotions on your
sleeve and have a terrible poker face. And when you feel most threatened, you start
writing things down furiously. If there's a sucker born every minute, there's one
of you born roughly every day.

Take the Animal Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Can I be the Lion?

2006-11-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Food snobbery and other delights...

2006-11-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

There are times when it would be nice to be a little less snobbish about food. Oh, well, snobbish is not the right word. I'll eat just about anything (except tomatoes, raw onions, anything made with aspartame, MSG [food allergies, small, but unpleasant], high fructose corn syrup [why? just why does this even need to exist?] or hot pineapple [just. ick]), but I have very exacting standards. Pretty much everything is better when made from scratch, and most of the time, it isn't that much more difficult than the same thing made from a box. I do make certain exceptions (I'm not making croissants from scratch whenever I feel the yen for one), but in general, fresh is best.

The point to this whole meander, and there is one, I promise, is that I can rarely just enjoy a meal cooked for me by someone else. I'm always critiquing. Especially dessert, because I make excellent dessert. Which sounds like bragging, but isn't because it's true.

There are two rules for making dessert for a crowd.

Rule One: Never try out a new recipe. Unless it is something simple and fairly foolproof (like mini chocolate lava cakes, which have about five ingredients and even if you overcook them slightly they will still be delicious even if no longer liquid in the center). New recipes are for nights with no guests. Or just family.

Rule Two, part 1: Don't apologize. Most people won't notice if you messed up, and even if they do, they won't say anything. Smile and accept the compliments with a charming smile and a demure thank you.

Rule Two, part 2: Don't compliment yourself. It's not becoming.

All of which leads to this: Start with less salt than the recipe calls for. It's easy to add more, and not so easy to take it out. Also, cheesecake is always a good choice. Especially when combined with brownies... I'm just saying.

Word of the day: Crepes

Cat Tails...

2006-10-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Oh boy! A new post less than a month after the previous post. What is this world coming to? It's coming to me making brioche dough at 10:30 at night. Right now the mixer is incorporating the butter into the dough. It's almost there, then I get to let the dough rise for an hour, turn it out and fold it over a few times and then stick it in the fridge overnight. This bread better be delicious... Of course, it's flour, yeast, eggs, sugar, salt, water and butter, how far wrong can it go? Oh. Don't answer that. You pessimist.

I just tasted the dough. If I were the sort of person to add "gasm" to the end of a word to indicate, you know, pleasure, that would have been a doughgasm. Since I'm not, it still was. ;-)

Sometimes, I think my cats are part lemur. It would explain so much. The tails. The long legs. The jumping. Other times, I'm pretty sure that they are all cat. After all, their mother is feral and where would she meet up with a lemur on the Central Coast of California? These are the questions that keep me awake at night. Or that might be my boyfriend. 0:-)

I should probably go get ready for bed so that all I will have to do when the hour is up is take care of the dough and then go straight to bed. I'll finish this post first. It's rambling nature should indicate my state of mind quite clearly...

I'm working on the most darling little sweater and blanket set for a friend of mine (for her baby to wear). I only hope that I finish the sweater while the baby is still small enough to fit into it. They change from newborns to babies in no time at all. The pattern is an adorable vintage pattern I bought off of ebay (looking at vintage knit and crochet patterns is my newest obsession. I have managed to restrain myself to only buying two items. And one of the patterns was for a specific and definite person, which is always a good start. Yay me!). I'm not sure if babies were smaller then (and I'm not even sure when then was because the person I bought it from updated it and I bought a copy of her update) or if my gauge is wrong or if it will all turn out all right. My gauge is fine because I checked before I started and the yarn and hook I chose match the gauge the pattern says it should be. It's tiny. Itsy bitsy. Hopefully it won't be too small. Of course, if it is, Mom could just save it and the child could use it for a doll when she gets old enough to play with dolls. So, it'll work out one way or another, and the blanket will work for the actual baby, of that, I'm certain. I think that it will be more of a carriage cover size than an wrap around the baby size. Which is a nice size to have anyway. Especially one as cute as this one. The sweater set (sweater, bonnet, booties and mittens) will be in pink and white. The blanket in sage green and white. I'm all excited. It's already adorable, and I'm only about half way through the sweater.

That is taking up most of my knitting and crocheting time. I'm most of the way done with my Lion Suede seed stitch scarves for my friends Christmast presents. I have the fringe on one to do, and about half of the third to do. I still have all the hats to knit, but those shouldn't take too long. Especially since I'm probably not going to knit them in the round. That might be a hasty statement that I will later recant, but as of now, I'm planning to do them in rows and then sew the seam. It's all a big knitting adventure.

Okay. Off to put the dogs in the front room and ready myself for bed. That should take me neatly through the rest of the hour that the dough wants to rise before being deflated and then put in the fridge overnight.

Talk on ya later,

Harley

A Cat For All Seasons...

2006-10-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

We have three (3) cats right now. They claim to be wild kitties, but I'm beginning to disbelieve them. Especially when we wake up in the morning and find all of them on the bed.

Let me introduce you to the cats (in order of gender from female to male and then age from youngest to oldest). No pictures other than that created by my words because I don't have a camera or the means to upload the pictures... Well, I guess the camera is more of the problem than the uploading because I clearly have access to a computer. Anyway... On to the cats...

Tropicana's Dainty Portia (Portia, Porch-uh, Little Porshie)- Short-haired tabby. Black and grey stripes on a background of pale gold shading to white on her chest and stomach. The tip of her muzzle is white too. The tips of ears and the tip of her tail are black and there is a black stripe down her back (from whence all stripes originate apparently). She has big, round soft golden eyes that always look innocently startled. Except when she's batting some innocent rodent around, the she just looks delighted with herself and the world. She loves scratches, but isn't entirely sure she wants to be touched. Which makes it an hysterical comedy of errors when one reaches down to touch her, she tries to run away and lean into the scratch at the same time. Sometimes she falls over.

Tropicana's Clouded Jaguar (Jaguar, Jag, Jaggers, Big Guy) - Short-haired black. From the front and back and top he looks like your typical solid black cat. Then you see the side view and you notice that he has dark grey tabby striping on his sides. He has big, round amber gold eyes. He's the king of the world and he knows it. He likes to bring rats, mice and shrews into the house to share with his sister (Portia. Yes, they are littermates). Jag knows he likes scratches and he will demand them when and where he wants them. And bats at one if one stops before he's ready. Yesterday he smacked my butt when I stood up to leave the porch before he had gotten his fill of cuddles. Then he ran away. Tail straight up in the air.

Tropicana's Golden Lynx (Lynx, Lynxie, the Lynxer) - Short-haired tabby. Black and grey stripes on a background of dark gold shading to pale gold on his chest and stomach. The tip of his muzzle is white, although not as white as Portia's. The tips of his ears and tail are black and there is a black stripe down his back. In fact, until one gets to know them very well, and sometimes even then, it is very difficult to tell Lynx and Portia apart. He has big, round bright green-gold eyes that watch everything. Mostly he sits around looking wise even though he's only a year older than his siblings. The stripes on his legs are so symmetrical that when he sits in Egyptian cat pose they line up exactly across the legs, making it hard to tell where one leg ends and the other starts. Until he gets up and moves around again, of course. He also has a line across the base of his neck that looks like a necklace, and the lines around his eyes look like they were drawn on his face in kohl.

Next time: Cat Tails - Did you just say what I think you said?

Talk on ya later,

Harley

A Dog's Life...

2006-09-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

My darling and I are currently taking care of two dogs (their owner can't take care of them right now, but she claims to want them back, personally, I think she might decide that she likes living without Large Dog Created Chaos [hereinafter referred to as LDCC] in her life). Each definition of these dogs is an increment in chaos. Black Lab/German Shepherd mixes. Littermates. Females. 6-years-old. Mostly untrained. The mind boggles. Or rather, it should. Mine didn't at the time I rashly agreed to let the Girls into our lives. What I didn't know, and no on told me, is that these dogs don't get along with other dogs. In fact, they are inclined to start brawls. Or rather, Hershey is inclined to start brawls and Blackie is inclined to back her up.

It took us awhile to figure out the most efficient leash/no leash configuration. Two dogs on leash = Trouble (and sore shoulders). Two dogs off leash = trouble (and a sore throat). Blackie on leash + Hershey off leash = trouble. Hershey on leash + Blackie off leash = happiness & joy (not so much for Hershey, although she seems happier than she was at first).

There has been a motion made to change Blackie's name to Valrhona. If we change one, we have to change both. Valrhona Noir and Hershey's Special Dark. Then we can still call Blackie, Blackie and Hershey, Hershey. If I ever have a purebred dog breeding operation I will name all the dogs something to do with chocolate, no matter what kind of dogs they are. Of course, I might have to worry about trademark issues at that point... Since I'm not likely to ever have a dog breeding operation (but if I did, it would be beagadors, german shepherds, pinschers of some sort (german, doberman, miniature, I like them all) or a mix), I don't think the issue will arise, really.

I think lunch is here. Yum. Fish taco.

Talk on ya later,

Harley

Not dead yet!

2006-08-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, the nursery is closed and the law office is open. People get this glazed look when I tell them that I've gone from working for my parents in the family nursery to working for my parents in the family law firm. It seems to cause a certain amount of brain freeze. I enjoy causing brain freeze. It also amuses me when people don't recognize me when I'm not dressed in a dirty t-shirt and jeans. I seem to be easily amused. :-) And just as easily irritated, so watch out!. :-|

Luckily for San Luis Obispo County (which apparently has the highest per capita number of lawyers in the state), my parents are specializing in estate planning law. This means wills and trusts and advance health care directives and power of attorney for health care. All of which are necessary things for everybody to have, especially if you own a house in California. Well, anywhere, really, but housing prices are so insane in the Golden State that it doesn't bear thinking about most of the time. And, if you have all of those things, you should have them looked over at about every 5 years or so because the laws change, lawmakers being what they are. Especially when it comes to things dealing with money.

My three, no, four favorite things about working in an office:

1. Wearing grown up clothes (including high heels, make-up and jewelry)
2. Preparing papers (for signing, for filing, for mailing, I just like organizing things)
3. The telephone (answering and making calls)
4. My computer (it's a fancy new Mac...shiny and pretty)

So, I'm odd. I've been working in a retail nursery for the past ten years, I like not being on my feet for eight hours and ending the day filthy and exhausted. Also, while people might be anxious and nervous when thinking about death, at least they aren't taking it out on me. Mostly they are glad that we are here to help. Several of our clients are customers from the nursery and they are glad that they can go to someone they already know and trust for such important work.

Moving on to the garden... I accidentally became a dahlia collector as we closed the nursery. We kept finding struggling pots of dahlias hidden among the weeds, and I couldn't bear to throw them out or put them in the free pile, so I took them home. I have at least a dozen pots of dahlias (most of which won't bloom this year, but should be happy and blooming come next summer) in addition to all of the little dahlias that my former housemate planted in the garden around the house. I'm planning to leave the dahlias in pots in the pots because I don't have that much plantable ground and tons of plants that need to be in the ground to survive. The plan is to plant mainly those plants that I will be able to take pieces of with me when I leave (since I don't plan to live in this place for the rest of my life. Actually buying a home may be a dream, but I insist on my dreams). I haven't gotten much more planted recently, but now that I have recovered from the last couple months, I can get back to gardening on the weekends (at least, and sometimes in the evenings).

My vegetable garden is going great guns. My Sweet Million cherry tomato and my Dark Green zucchini are fighing to take over the world, neither one is winning, so the other plants in the garden have a chance. The Ronde de Italia squash are having a little trouble with their timing. The male and female flowers are blooming just enough out of step that most of the squashes aren't setting. It's sad because the few that I have gotten have been delicious. We've actually had a warm enough summer that the peppers are peppering, in fact my Marconi Red has a ripe pepper on it that I plan to pick and eat this evening. Or maybe I'll wait until tomorrow evening when the boy is back in town so I can share it with him. The Black Prince tomato has set a bunch of fruit, now we are just waiting for them to ripen.

Luckily for the deer population, the avocado survived their depredations, and the deer repellant seems to have kept them off. Knock wood.

I haven't been knitting or crocheting much lately, but I'm starting back up. I have another friend who is going to be having a baby soon, so I'll be starting on that project, once I figure out what I want to do. Then I'll have two projects again, which is always good because I lose momentum if I only have one project going at a time. And the projects need to be significantly different for the distraction technique to work. If it's two scarves, I won't work on either, but if it s a scarf and a hat, why, I'm all over both things. Having one project be knitting and the other crochet is good too.

I should work now.

Talk on ya later,

Harley

Zzzzz...

2006-07-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, that whole, this might be the last weekend of Tropicana Nursery was a little optimistic. We didn't sell everything that weekend. However, it was pretty close, so we've been cleaning up and letting people come in and pick over the remaining stuff, and then, last week we put out a "Free Plants" sign, which was apparently a magic spell we never knew about. It makes thing vanish, the word free. We've been putting out plants and stuff for the past week or so now, and it almost all disappears overnight. Quite amazing. Especially since some of the stuff is actually junk. But, if someone else takes it, that means we don't have to deal with it. Always a plus.

My fingers aren't working very well today. If I let my typing go witoout correcting as a go, the senence would come out something like this one. This could be due, in part to my exhaustion. Lovely.

Okay. Time to go back to work. Stupid work.

Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal...

2006-06-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

Rehearsals for the 2006 season of the Central Coast Shakespeare Festival have officially begun! I find that as much as I love the rehearsal process (and you have to love it to do theater, especially local theater, since more time is usually spent rehearsing than performing), I love my nights off equally. One doesn't appreciate a free evening until most of them are claimed by something. My favorites are the unexpected nights off. Like tonight, for example, we were supposed to have a second read through of Macbeth, but the director decided that we did such a lovely job of it last night, that she didn't need to hear it again tonight. This means my next rehearsal isn't until Sunday evening. At which time we will be doing preliminary blocking on the ballroom scene for The Three Musketeers, I believe. We might be doing something else, but I think I have it right.

I love theater. How else could I get foully murdered and almost have an affair alternately? Well, I suppose I could do those things in real life, but I could only do one of them once, and I don't think it would be too much fun. I'll do my best to stick with being murdered (almost) on stage. And, since I'm not the type to give a man twelve diamonds as a token of my affection, I'll save that for the stage too.

Endearment for the week: Sweet Pea (it works equally well on men, children, dogs, cats and horses, that sort of broad appeal doesn't happen too often)

Soon, I will go back to cleaning up and moving around. This weekend might be the last weekend for Tropicana Nursery. One part of me is very sad. Another part of me is ready for it to be over and done with. Especially the stupid people asking annoying questions part of it. Who knew that a closing sign would bring the morons out of the woodwork. I was pretty sure we would see people who had never shopped at the nursery before, but I didn't realize how many vultures would descend, or how rude they would be. I don't know why people think they are allowed to be insulting during a clearance sale. Sure, stuff is looking ratty, but that's because what's left is all the oldest stuff, the nice things went first, but saying how bad everything loooks is not going to get you a better deal. At least, not in my store.

Harley's rules for bargain hunters:

1.) I don't mind bargaining (I used to mind, but I've gotten better), but be polite, it'll get you a better deal. And, I won't make faces at you behind your back.

2.) Don't tell lies that I can easily see through. I've worked in the store for 10 years, I know who our regular customers are. I might not recognize you if you only come in a couple times a year, but come in more than three times in a two month period, and I will remember you for awhile (I can't promise forever, because information gets pushed out to make room for new stuff).

3.) Start with a compliment. It doesn't have to be much. "You have such interesting plants." "It's fun to look around." You know the sort of thing. It puts me in a more receptive mood to you asking for a better deal.

I'll post more when I think of some. If I think of some. Three might be enough. Especially since one and three are much the same. :-)

Talk on ya later,

Harley

P.S.

2006-05-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

The small afghan that replaced the Diamond Knit Shawl is coming along nicely and quickly. So much less stress than the shawl. Yay!

:-/

2006-05-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

I actually had something to say, but I got distracted looking at other people's profiles and also reading blogs. Perhaps the physical act of typing will jog my memory. It wasn't the typing that did it, it was the getting up to put the jeans in the dryer and seeing the cake that did it.

I tried out a new recipe for dessert for game last night. It's called Scandanavian Gold Cake and it is from the King Arthur Flour Baking Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. I love that book, my parents gave it to me for the Christmas before last. My boyfriend gave me a copy of the Cookie Companion last Christmas (he's a good boyfriend, there are many reasons I keep him around). Anyway, the cake turned out very well. I overbaked by about 5 minutes, so it was a little darker and drier than it probably should have been. This is always a danger with cakes in the pound cake family, since they don't have much moisture aside from the eggs and butter. There was maybe a quarter of the cake left after game (just for reference, there are 5 of us and this is a cake that is supposed to be cut into 20 to 22 slices) and less than that once I got it home to the boyfriend. I love it when a recipe works out. I'm definitely putting that one into the make again category.

I'm still learning to bake in my oven (I've lived here for slightly less than a year), propane seems to burn hotter than regular natural gas (I think, what do I know about what gas comes out of the gas lines other than it burns). It's also harder to control the temperature. I know this is true on the stovetop, and it seems to be true in the oven as well. I've only used the broiler once, and I was super careful because they were ultra thin porkchops. Bone-in, but super thin and they cooked in about a minute and a half (okay, maybe 10, but still, it was fast). I have a thermometer in my oven to keep track of the temperature (partly because the marks are almost gone on the knob, but also because not all ovens heat to the temp it says on the knob), and starting at about 350 the thing runs 10 to 15 degrees hot. Which makes a huge difference in bake times. Before that it runs pretty close to right, but can be between 5 and 10 degrees hot. Which, while not as big of a difference, does effect bake times. Especially in thos critical final 10 minutes. Luckily, I cook by smell almost as much as I cook by timer. :-) I've only ever actually burned burned one thing. Lemon bars I was making at a friend's house. I think his oven ran really hot because the things were supposed to bake for 25 minutes and they were burned at 15. Not that it matters now, and not that it really mattered then, I'm just saying.

The weirdest baking experience I ever had was when my mother's oven turned off on me while I was baking banana bread. I went to check on it about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be done and it wasn't even close, so I shrugged, closed the oven and set the timer for a little longer, When I went back the next time, I noticed that the oven was cool (not cold, just cool) and the pans weren't particularly hot to the touch. So, I turned everything off and then back on again, but it didn't turn back on. At this point, I have half baked banana bread (which, while delicious, is hardly edible) and a non-functioning oven. So, I run across the street to the neighbor and ask if I can borrow their oven (which is on par with borrowing a cup of sugar, but completely different). Luckily, Chuck was home and willing to let me use the oven. In return, I gave him some banana bread, once it was completely cooked. When my mother came home from work she turned on the oven and it started to heat right up. Several years later, they replaced the thing because it had pulled the same trick several times.

The moral of the story being, of course, if your stove doesn't work. Get a new one. :-D

Phrase for the week: Okay, crazy lady

Talk on ya later,

Harley

Some things just aren't meant to be...

2006-05-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

I've given up on the Diamond Knit Shawl. It is beyond my knitting skills at the moment and was causing me great frustration. I went wrong somewhere, but couldn't figure out how to fix it or compensate for it. I kept coming up one stitch short or one stitch over in the pattern. It's ripped out now and I'm trying on a couple crocheted afghans (throws rather, the pieces will be too small to be considered afghans) for size. I may have to go buy more yarn (oh! horrors!) if I don't like the way the two colors of Homespun that I have crochet together. I'll figure that one out in the morning light. I may scream if I don't get this figured out in the next several days. The person I'm making the project for won't need it by the time I finish at this rate. Grrr! Argh!

The only reason I'm still up at this hour (aside from having just come home from my parents' house, where I had yummy beef stew for dinner and watched The Daily Show with Jon Stewart [well, sort of watched, I was crocheting part of the time and missed bits] and House. I don't get to watch either show much because I don't have cable. Well, I suppose I could watch House, but then I would have to putz with the antenna cable, and I'm not a good cable putzer with-er [yay! a made up word! or two!]), is (to get back to the original point of this sentence) that I want oatmeal for breakfast, and I won't have the 45 minutes it takes to cook the oats in the morning. So I'm doing it now so I can just reheat it for breakfast. Sometimes I'm clever. Other times it doesn't work out so well.

I'm planting a vegetable garden this year. I'm very excited by the prospect. This is the first year I've had a garden to plant. I love fresh vegetables. I have already planted two tomato plants (not for me, I don't like tomatoes, but for my mother and my boyfriend love them, so they get two kinds), and several zucchini plants (three Rond de Italia which are little round green squashes and a regular green zucchini). I brought home a cucumber plant, a yellow crookneck squash plant and three kinds of peppers (two poblano types and a sweet pepper). I also brought home some thyme, basil, two oreganos and a mint. There's a rhubarb plant waiting for a spot and some potatoes that I'm going to put in fifteen gallon pots. I want to find a place to plant some horseradish too. I'll be swimming in produce if all goes well.

I planted a yellow kniphofia this evening (after work, before feeding horses). It is a variety called Malibu Yellow. It's tucked in under a palm tree next to a bottlebrush with bright red flowers. The clear yellow and bright red should spark off each other really nicely (actually, they do already, but it will be even better as time goes on). Plus, hummingbirds really love both plants. I can only hope that it will not become the hummingbird death trap, since I have two cats that love to hunt, and are very good at it. The cats will look on it as their own personal drive up window in reverse. They just wait there and the hummingbirds come to to them. Having said it, it won't happen. Right? Right.

Things I want to do with my life: write a book, get married, have children, write another book, get in shape, promote world peace, write another book, play Wonder Woman in the movie, take ballroom dance classes, write another book. Not much really.

Off to stick the oatmeal in the fridge and then head for bed before I fall asleep with my face in the keyboard (which wouldn't be comfortable, but might create some interesting letter combinations, although, likely not Hamlet).

Talk on ya later.

Harley

Crazy days...

2006-05-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

It's raining. Now, this might not seem like a big deal to people in most of the country, but I live in California. Specifically I live just north of Santa Barbara. This means that we have a wet season and we have a dry season. It doesn't rain during the dry season (except for the ocassional freak rainstorm in June). The wet season ends in March usually, sometimes trailing into April. This is May. 21 May actually. It should not be raining. It especially should not be raining significant amounts of rain. My sensibilities are outraged. If we are going to get unseasonable rain, the least in could do is be thunderstorms.

Right. Off to pull the tea bag out of the water then milk and sugar it (the tea not the bag) and then hie me to work. Joyful, joyful.

Talk on ya later,

Harley

No eggs today...

2006-05-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

I was going to bake tonight. I hadn't quite gotten down to the nitty gritty of exactly what (brownies were high on the list, but then again, so were chocolate chip cookies). Then I realized that I don't have any eggs. This makes baking very difficult, most recipes for desserts have egg in them. I could, no doubt, find something that doesn't, but that would take to long and I just wanted something quick and easy. I have to remember to get eggs tomorrow (it's possible that I should put a note on my forehead so that I'll actually remember this need at a convenient time, I probably won't go with the note). I'll have to ask Mom to bring some up to the stables when she comes to feed her horses. Mmm, homegrown eggs. A backyard flock is a good thing to have (actually, what's best is to know someone with a backyard flock). If I didn't have to worry about coyotes and raccoons wreaking havoc with chickens, I would probably have a couple of my own. Goodness knows I have enough snails and earwigs and sowbugs for them to eat that they would be some happy chickens. Until of course the coyotes or raccoons got them. That would be an ugly scene. Oh, and foxes probably too. And if there aren't foxes now they would hear about the chickens and show up just to prove a point.

I've decided that I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the sorting really (right now I have a red load working). It's the whole having to find something to do that keeps me in the vicinity so I don't forget to move the wash to the dryer and then take the wash out of the dryer and fold it. I resent that part. I think I liked it better when the laundry got done by magic. Especially when I am in rehearsal for a show and spend a total of about 10 hours a day at home, and most of those are spent sleeping. Which is about to be the situation once again.

I had a mystery extra stitch on my last row of my diamond knit shawl. Which is very frustrating because I've been very careful with this one. I think I've fudged it though and it should be fine from now on. If it isn't I might have to commit a grievous act and unravel the whole thing (again!) and do something else entirely. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I want this pattern to work, it's so pretty and soft and perfect for the intended recipient. Once again, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My man isn't coming home tonight. :'-( He's working late and has to get up early, so he's crashing at a friend's place. I guess it's time to pull out the flannel pajamas and socks. I might not get to cuddle, but at least I'll be warm. And I can sleep in the middle of the bed. Which almost makes up for sleeping alone. Almost.

Time to put the laundry in the dryer! One step closer to clean clothes (well, they are clean now, just wet). Done. Complete with unscented dryer sheet (I like the softness and lack of static, not crazy about perfumes in my clothing care products, my detergent is unscented too).

I made me a good dinner tonight. Yummers. All it needed to achieve perfection was a piece of crusty bread on the side. Oh well, very little in this world achieves perfection. My new secret for delicious poached chicken is to put a piece or two of lemon (half a small lemon, a quarter of a larger lemon) in the poaching water. And salt it well (then, I like salt, if you dont, don't put as much salt, but a little bit helps the flavors combine and perkes them up at the same time). So, I did this, then when the chicken was cooked (in this case a boneless, skinless breast tenderloin), take it out and let it cool so you can shred it then use it however you like. Tonight, I added a little water to the poaching liquid, removed the lemon wedges, brought it up to a boil and dropped some fusili noodles into it. When those were partially cooked, I put the chicken back in, then added mixed vegetables (corn, artichoke hearts, green beans, yellow wax beans and baby carrots, all frozen) and cooked until the noodles were tender and the vegetables heated through. Then I added some spinach and kalamata olives and stirred until the spinach was wilted. I put it all in a bowl topped it with sauteed onions and garlic (from the other night, I made extra when I made it for my salad) and some parmesan cheese. It was delightful, and could easily have been made a vegetarian meal by adding mushrooms and not using the chicken, but I needed the protein, and didn't have any mushrooms on hand (which is a travesty, but I need to go grocery shopping and haven't in the past several days). Then I finished off the Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream. Which would have been problematic except that there wasn't much ice cream left. And I enjoyed every bite of it. :-D

I think I'm going to go do a row or two of shawl and then call it a night. I should probably just finish my purl row and call it a night because I'm just as likely as not to make another mistake, and I really don't want to do that. I keep telling myself it's good for me to push my knitting boundaries, but another part of me wishes I had stayed safely within my known abilities. Oh well, I am determined to get it done (mostly right) now. I won't let it defeat me. I can be more stubborn than three skeins of yarn. I can. Really.

Talk on ya later,

Harley

Thoughts on deer and other pests...

2006-05-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

I got up early this morning to water my garden and was faced with a tragedy of minor proportions. I have this little bitty avocado tree that was finally starting to grow past its difficult past (too long in a pot, not enough water, snails, pretty much anything that could kill an avocado was tried before my former roommate got it into the ground). Anyway, it had a lot of lovely new growth and several sprays of flowers (I wasn't expecting any fruit this year, but it was good to see it flowering), and was just generally looking healthy and vigorous. Until the deer came by and ate all but about two of the new leaves (they left the old leaves, which is good, because it means the baby might be able to create enough energy to grow some new leaves). They also stripped my rose (which had two open flowers and several half open flowers). Luckily for the rose it is wide enough and thorny enough that they only got the front of it, but it will definitely recover. It is big and well established. They tasted one tomato (the Black Prince, not the Sweet Million) and the squash (Ronde de Italia). I'm going to put some deer repellent around and hope that it works. If I rotate the two liquid types that I have and put the pellets under the rose, things should work out.

I wouldn't mind the deer so much, except that they don't nibble, they chomp. It's like with gophers, if they wouldn't kill everything they encounter, I would willingly share. Especially if they ate the weeds and not my roses and vegetables. :-)

Really, that's about all I can think of to say. It might have something to do with the fact that I've been working non-stop for the past three weeks. At least I got this afternoon off, and some of tomorrow. I have some bookkeeping to do (people are constantly wanting to be paid, it's a crazy world), but I have an early chiropractor's appointment and then a hair appointment in the early afternoon. I love getting my hair done. I love everything about it. I may have to tighten my budget, but I that is one indulgence that is almost a necessity (only almost, but it's close, since sometimes I need an excuse to sit and do nothing for a couple hours, of course, other times, I don't, I just sit and do nothing even shen there are things I should be doing).

Yarn projects in progress: Homespun Shawl (finally, after starting it about 15 times); 1 Incredible scarf (that's the yarn, not a comment on its quality); 1 Lion Suede scarf; Drunkard's Path afghan
Yarn projects in the planning stage: 1 Lion Suede scarf; 1 multi yarn scarf (there is one more texture I want to find, but haven't so far); 3 Lion Suede hats; 1 afghan

Right. Time to go release the dogs from durance vile and feed some horses so I can eat a salad and go off to game night.

Harley

Dances with words

2006-05-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

The question on my mind tonight is who makes a sewing kit but doesn't put any needles in it? The answer whoever put together the Dollar $tore sewing kit I got from a niece for Christmas. I guess you can't expect too much from a $1 sewing kit. However, I would have been happier if they had left out the miniature scissors (which I haven't tried, but probably won't cut much) and put in a needle. It's a good thing I didn't have an emergency needle need.

Considering dessert (although why I'm considering dessert when I haven't had dinner yet is a question for another time). I have a bunch of lovely Eureka lemons that I need to use up -- I might use one for my dinner... Instead of balsamic vinegar, I'll use lemon juice to dress my salad, which will be made of spinach, tuna, carrots, sauteed onions and garlic and not much else... Sometimes my brilliance in the kitchen astounds me (this isn't one of those times) -- but I'm craving chocolate (as usual, and who doesn't). I wonder if I can find a recipe that uses both chocolate and lemons (epicurious here I come...). Well, not tonight, I guess. I'll just have to settle (!) for dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate chips. It's a sacrifice, but one that I'm willing to make.

Dinner, by the way, turned out delightfully. Crunchy, chewy onions and garlic make any savory dish better (well, almost, I can think of a few that wouldn't be improved, but salads don't number in those ranks).

I was going to go yarn shopping this evening, but Mom and I were run off our feet at the store today (why do going out of business sales improve sales to the point where you might be tempted to stay in business if it weren't for the fact that your landlord had sold the property to a development group?), which means that I would not have been able to make a yarn decision to save my life. It's a good thing yarn decisions are rarely life or death. I do, however, need to get to work on the project for which I need to buy yarn. It is times like these that my determination to not buy yarn that I do not have a project for comes back to bite me. Because if I had a good yarn stash, and not just odds and ends, I could start without having to shop. Then again, I have three or four projects I could be working on right now, but am not. Okay, fine. Drunkard's Path afghan it is. I hate sewing squares together. I keep telling myself I will never again do a project that has squares that will later need to be assembled. It isn't nice to lie to oneself.

This is a partial list of things I need to make my kitchen complete:

cake pans (of various sizes, including springform and tube)
a good can opener (I have an old wonky one that works, but I don't need the workout everytime I want to open a can)
a waffle iron (mmm, waffles)
a griddle (pancakes, hamburgers, fried egges, bacon...need I say more?)
cast iron skillet(s) (umm, duh!)
wooden spoons (because I like using them)
a ladle (because I like soup)
roasting pan (roast chicken, roast beef, roast poatoes)
roasting rack (should I ever roast a turkey, I'll want one of these)
a slow cooker (I have one, but I want one where the pot comes out of the heating part, and I especially want the one I can use on the stove top or in the oven)

I can see that I need to get married in the near future. If only for the kitchen gadgets. ;-)

Word for the day: Picayune
Book(s) I'm reading: Rhiana by Michele Hauf
Yarn projects in progress: Sweater for Madeleine, Scarf for Kendall, Blanket for Mel and Miller, Valentine Filet Crochet for LUNA gift exchange. Oh hey! I could start working on Christmas presents. I have the yarn and the projects. Whee!
Phrase for the day: Holy Mackerel
Plant of the day: Snapdragon

Talk on ya later

Harley

And thus it begins

2006-05-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

Assuming anyone ever reads this besides me (and if I don't tell anyone about it, that is a very real possibility), let me just start by saying something deeply profound and world altering....

Nope. I've got nothing. Which, considering the fact that it is after 10 PM is not really surprising. Most of my friends would probably be surprised that I'm even functioning on a moderately coherent level at this hour. It's good to keep surprising the people who love you. Right?

My two, no, make that three favorite websites at the moment are... lionbrand.com (because who can resist a website that is all about yarn and has tons of free patterns for cute things), epicurious.com (I spent at least half an hour today looking at recipes for roasted potatoes) and eharlequin.com (specifically the Community Board for Luna Books which is where all the cool people hang out)

My next mission is to figure out hyperlinks. I'm sure I'll get there eventually. Given the time to explore the hows and wheres of this brave new world.

Talk on ya later,

Harley