Check This Out

My friends Tammy and Timi got a great grant to undertake "an ongoing and collaborative documentary project about founding bluegrass musicians Frances and John Reedy and their impact on their family, regional community, and the contemporary Bluegrass/Rock-a-billy music scene in Dayton, Ohio."

Coolest thing ever. Check out their blog. Link is to the right - Remembering the Reedys.

Dammit

So the person who was going to start my seeds has had a minor meltdown and now wants me to buy my own seed starting kit, start the seeds, and then bring them over once they are a certain size to bask under the grow lights.

Which seems totally stupid to me. Especially as I was going to share my seeds with him, if Burpee ever sends them to me.

And now I have two choices: send back all the seeds I bought and order plants or buy my own seed starting kit and try to figure out where to put it that the cats won't destroy it and start seeds. Forget the whole bringing them over to under the grow lights. That is an extra step I won't pursue.

And why do I get this feeling that this is the universe sending me some sort of a damn message about trust and responsibility?

*grumbles*

Humble Pie is Going Down!

My good friend Ruth, of Cookie Sweet baking fame, called me on Saturday just to chat but also to lay down a challenge.

See, Ruth is a great baker. She's good enough that she is about to launch her business full-time any day now. For the last year, I have been doing experimental cookies, hoping to find some good enough that she can use in her business, especially as I focus on healthy low-sugar cookies, and her cookies are only really healthy for your soul. I have had some moderate success and there are a few that, I think, by this fall will be perfected. And I am working on some new ones, too. I had a dream last night that I was a cheftestant on Top Chef and the challenge was to create a gourmet version of chocolate chip cookies that would appeal to adults. In my dream, I created a cherry chocolate chip cookie, so I am going to get right on trying to make that a reality, because it actually sounds like a winner to me.

Anyway, during the summers, Ruth makes the rounds at the farmer's markets and sells cookies by the bushel. Her cookies are so well-received that some people have started proclaiming, "You're the Humble Pie lady!"

The Humble Pie lady is a baker who started off in the farmer's markets around Boston, focusing on selling pies, and now has a major contract selling pies to Whole Foods. Being ranked as good as the Humble Pie Lady has gotten Ruth thinking that maybe she should add some pies to her bullpen, and she has asked me to think of some pie recipes for her.

Which is funny, because I have actually never made a pie in my life, except for an ice cream pie, which really doesn't count because it involves throwing things in a blender with ice cream, whizzing it, dumping it in a graham cracker crust, and refreesing it. Nor do I really eat pie. But I do like a challenge.

So right now in my freezer I have rhubarb and cranberries. I will start with those. And then, this weekend, I was at the Indian store stalking up curry mixes, and I saw something that gave me a great deal of inspiration. Rose jelly. Yes, jelly made from rose petlas. here's my idea. I am going to take a pudding or custard mix, infuse it with cardamon, and let it set in a sweet crust. then I will spread the rose jelly then pre-slice it into servings. Then I will take organic rose petals and place them over the rose jelly in a beautiful pattern. I think that would be a lovely and sophisticated pie.

Funny from My Friend Kristen - Joke and Recipe All in One!

This is the fairy tale that should have been read to us when we were little:

Once upon a time
~~~~~~~~
in a land far away,
~~~~~~~~
a beautiful, independent,
self-assured princess
~~~~~~~~
happened upon a frog as she sat
contemplating ecological issues
on the shores of an unpolluted pond
in a verdant meadow near her castle.
~~~~~~~~
The frog hopped into the princess' lap
and said: “Elegant Lady,
I was once a handsome prince,
until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
~~~~~~~~
One kiss from you, however,
and I will turn back
into the dapper, young prince that I am
~~~~~~~~
and then, my sweet, we can marry
~~~~~~~~
and set up housekeeping in your castle
~~~~~~~~
with my mother,
~~~~~~~~
where you can prepare my meals,
~~~~~~~~
clean my clothes, bear my children,
~~~~~~~~
and forever feel
grateful and happy doing so. "
~~~~~~~~
That night,
~~~~~~~~
as the princess dined sumptuously
~~~~~~~~
on lightly sautéed frog legs
~~~~~~~~
seasoned in a white wine
~~~~~~~
and onion cream sauce,
~~~~~~~~
she chuckled and thought to herself:
~~~~~~~~
I don't freakin think so.

Words That Describe Yours Truly

A friend sent me a fun little game to play yesterday - the One Word Game. This is where you ask all your friends to describe you in just one word.... thus far here are the descriptions I have received of me:

enjoyable

eudaimoneous

brillant

empathetic

fun-loving

unique

giving

engaged

What's terribly funny is this: how people see me is totally related to our relationship. My intimates (family and lovers) see me as kind and companionable while my friends see me as eccentric. smart, and socially engaged, except for Blaise who believes me to be akin to a kindly otherwordly messenger somewhat like an angel but slightly more sinister.

When it comes to meat, I'm an idiot

You might think from the few actual food related items I have posted on my blog that I am a vegetarian. I actually am not. But after this weekend's disastrous pot roast attempt – and long reflection on other disastrous attempts at meat cooking – I realized that I just am not that good at cooking meat.

What!?!?! I can see my friends now – what do you mean? What about that roast chicken? What about that time you grilled? Why the hell did I have you come to my friend's house and cook the Thanksgiving turkey if you aren't any good at it? Huh? Huh?

Maybe I should qualify. Yes, I do make an excellent roast chicken, and my turkey is never over or undercooked and it's really very easy to get good flavor with the addition of a few simple herbs. But that's because I cheat. If the cooking of meat or fowl involves a Crock-Pot or an oven roasting bag, I am magic.

And I am a Grill Mistress. Maybe that's because I am in touch with my masculine side (the grill being a traditionally male form of cooking – how silly is that?) or maybe it's because as long as you are patient and have cool friends to spend time with whilst grilling, grilling is easy. Stick the meat in a marinade, light the charcoal, wait until the coals are the right temperature, slapped the meat on, wait, and you are good to go. Grilling is really a no-brainer.

In my attempt to make a pot roast this weekend, I thought it would be simple – some salt and onions and a bit of broth in the cast iron Dutch oven and voila! So not voila. It was just bad. Dry and greasy (at the same time – incredible). I think I cooked it for too long or maybe my oven just heats too high. It tasted so salty although I did not use that much salt on it. I can hardly stand it for cold sandwiches, but I'll be damned if I will throw it out – it's $7 of good beef, and I hate to waste it. Maybe I will throw it in the freezer and use it for soup or something – just to see if I can salvage it.

I think part of the problem is that I cooked it for myself. I hate cooking for myself. I admit it. In the summer, if it's just me, I will live on corn on the cob, tomatoes, microwaved "baked" potatoes, and a little steak cooked in the toaster oven. In the winter, I will make a big pot of soup on a Sunday and eat it all week. Otherwise, I find myself eyeing the Sapporo ramen and thinking, "well, I will just cook that and nuke some veggies and maybe a frozen chicken thigh and eat that." Or I will eat cheese. Just cheese, which isn't bad per say but is very calorie dense and you need to eat a lot of it to fill you up. When it's just for me, my cooking is so boring. Which probably explains why I have gained some weight in the last year. When I cook for just me, I cook boring and boring food – I have often found – tends to be the least healthy unless you are a strict vegetarian who eats no dairy, nuts, or oil.

Sadly, I don't think I am going to get another chance to cook for anyone other than myself any time soon. My coworkers are all married or in relationships and tend to go home and spend time with their families. I try to tell myself that if I cook something cool, I can write it up on the blog and share it with all my friends around the world, but it's just not the same – and involves way too many dishes to wash afterwards, especially when I don't know if anyone even enjoys anything I am posting.

So what is a girl to do? Go raw?