Manly

Today I raked and bagged leaves and hung the last living room mini-blinds (which required installing a hand-cut shim--and wrestling with my cordless drill). It left me feeling quite accomplished--although I'm pretty sure I'll be sore tomorrow.

Pobbes kept a careful eye on us.

This morning as I was hauling the trash out to the curb (another manly task!), I noticed several crops of mushrooms in the yard. Becca came over later and helped me identify them: a bunch of (edible) fat jacks,* and some other generic lawn shrooms that she did identify, but whose name I can't recall. We have a giant oak and a giant Doug Fir in our front yard, so the lawn is a veritable fungus farm. Very exciting, of course.

*Which she took home; I'm still working on cultivating a taste for mushrooms, let alone cooking them myself.

Alone

Tonight, after spending time with friends in Portland following dropping David at the airport, I'm home all alone. Not even the kitties are here; since I only just got back and it's late, they're still at their kitty cousins' until tomorrow. The house feels pretty lonely... but the thermostat did reset itself to 70 while I was gone, so at least it's warm!

Movin'

I'm on the road, tapping this out on my smartphone, which I've now had for about a month, and which has been invaluable for NaBloPoMo. It's the fancy phone of the moment (for those not in the Android camp, anyway) and is shiny, lovely, and almost certainly habit-forming. It's quite the upgrade from my 3.5-year old dumbphone--though I'm pretty sure it wouldn't survive a fall off a bridge into a semi-frozen puddle, like the latter.

David and I are heading to Hermiston from Walla Walla, where we were celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday (with more than a few Alert Readers!). It seems that we may be hosting the next gathering at the Blueplex; we shall see.

In any case, it was wonderful to see tons of family, and I was sad to have to head out a bit early so that we can get David prepped, packed, and ready to head to Mpls tomorrow for a week of work out there. At least we were able to fit in a rousing round of sibling and cousin Scrabble; it was the first game of my life in which I (with teammate David) had not one, but TWO bonus words. We'll ride that momentum the whole way back to Oregon.

 

Bonus words: reechoed and gaiters

Karaoke

Tonight, for Becca's birthday, we did karaoke at Thirteen-0-One, and it was awesome.

Pictures:

Conciliatory

Undergrads love to begin their essays with dictionary definitions--if I'm lucky (read: never) they'll be from the OED or Merriam-Webster. Usually they're from dictionary.com. Sigh.

In any case, the word "conciliatory"--a word I used in last night's post, actually--has been in my head all day. I just looked it up, and in the spirit of the papers I've been grading already today (and still should be), here is Merriam-Webster's definition:

Definition of CONCILIATE*

transitive verb

1 : to gain (as goodwill) by pleasing acts

2 : to make compatible : reconcile

3 : appease

intransitive verb

: to become friendly or agreeable

The thing is, most of my friends are pretty liberal. The ones I've hung out with most over the past decade or so, the ones I met after college and in graduate school, tend to be really liberal. I get most of my news from NPR and Time Magazine, and consider it balanced not least because I do hear conservative opinions with which I disagree; my most liberal friends find those media outlets far too right-leaning.

In any case, because of the circles in which I move, I don't meet a lot of Romney supporters. Academics are a liberal bunch, and Minneapolis is a liberal city.*** Hood River is, too. Plus, I think I'm also still in a demographic young enough to favor Obama for his own relatively youthful persona and ideas. The few Romney supporters I do know tend to be friends from high school or even earlier.

There are a handful of them on Facebook, though: nine professed "like"rs of Romney/Ryan, and a few more who run Republican. I've been thinking a lot about them today, partly because, although FB has been surprisingly rather silent on topics political (after a brief outpouring of joy last night), I have seen a few posts of sadness, disappointment, and, yes, some bitterness. There were premature cries that Obama had lost the popular vote--and an identification with how Gore supporters must have felt in 2000.

In embarrassing truth, I didn't vote in that election; I was out of state and hadn't filed for an absentee ballot. I also bought into the sentiment around me that there wasn't even a substantive difference between the two candidates, though the subsequent debacle of the election, with the failure of our voting system on global display as a Floridian court handed W. the victory, appalled and horrified me.

I may have had this sticker on my car

But I do remember how it felt in 2004 to have Bush actually, legitimately, elected, by popular and electoral vote. I couldn't believe that after seeing the mess he'd made at home and abroad over the past four years (and listening to this This American Life episode!), Americans would vote to retain him. I believed then, as I do now, that there were nefarious things at play, not least the manipulation into a constant state of fear.

When he won, I was crushed. I was enraged. I was in a state of disbelief. No one had loved Kerry or anything, but we were ABBA voters--Anyone But Bush Again. Anyone. That election was to have been a referendum on Bush's failed policies, a chance to regain some face in the world--to begin to erase the embarrassment so eloquently summarized by "freedom fries."

I thought Bush was ruining our country. I still believe he did it a dire disservice, mostly by entering unnecessary and unaffordable wars--not just one (largely supported by the international community), but an ill-advised, if not illicit, unrelated attack premised on false evidence.

So I think I can identify a little bit with the friends who thought this election was their chance to oust a President they believed was leading the country down a path to ruin. By the end of his two terms, I think most people agreed that Bush had been an epic failure. It remains to be seen how people judge Obama at the end of his second. Obviously I think he's by far the better option to continue digging us out of the mess Bush left behind. But the truth takes its time to emerge, and whatever happens, right now a lot of the country is feeling sad and angry.

How, then, to conciliate? I began, and erased, many FB statuses last night. I wanted to celebrate, but I didn't want to gloat or provoke. I went on a "liking" spree of friends' euphoric posts, but couldn't bring myself to post my own, although I'd posted several politically-themed links over the past several weeks and wasn't exactly in the closet about supporting Obama. I settled on a quote from Jon Stewart's live coverage: "Perhaps the fever has broken." 

This morning I changed my profile picture from the "I Voted" sticker I'd had up since submitting my ballot by mail, replacing it with a picture of me grinning hugely as I hold my tiny new niece, whose eyes are wild and mouth agape as she seems to throw a miniature gang sign. I figured it was just absurd enough to pass my personal only-me-in-my-profile-pic rule, and might--as I think of it in light of the earlier definition--be a pleasing act to gain me some goodwill.

Because I've been feeling kind of like a bad guy! I haven't been nearly as strident as some of my friends, in fora virtual or otherwise. But I did (and, okay, do; I'm still working on that) think Romney supporters were making the wrong, wrong, wrong choice. I was terribly relieved that Obama was re-elected. I'm proud to be an American, and want to celebrate! But it hurts to be on the losing side, especially when you believe passionately, as it seems so many of us did.

So, friend who posted about the impending destruction of all small business (though he appears to have subsequently removed it), I'm sorry. Friend who requested time and space to "lick our wounds," I'm sorry. I know how it feels to believe the apocalypse is upon you.

I can only hope that the fever has broken. I hope that Washington will be able to actually get necessary work done. I hope that we can all still be friends. Really.

*Apparently "in the top 10% of lookups"** at their website
**Firefox's spellchecker doesn't accept "lookups" as a valid word
***The day after the Vice-Presidential debate, a little old lady struck up a conversation with me in line at the post office, in a thick accent criticizing the arrogant young Ryan and his rude behavior. When I asked where she was originally from, she told me she was from Poland--and as a young teenager had smuggled explosives across enemy lines during the Soviet occupation!

Hood River Mountain

Today the sun came out for the first time in what felt like ages, and we went hiking. Here are some pictures.

Shroomin'

We spent last Sunday in the woods, hunting mushrooms. In the rain. It doesn't get much more Pacific Northwestern than that!

My prize chanterelle

Scientists, identifying

Fall foliage

Tree slide

Halloween

So this was my Halloween costume this year! Hopefully I'll come across a full-length shot that includes my black and white checked pants, striped socks, and boots, but for now this will have to suffice.

I made the hat from a cereal box, covered in upside-down pleather from from last year's costume and decorated with, among other things, feathers from 2008's flapper costume. The shirt was also from the Prince costume, and worked perfectly.

David told me he'd overheard someone who didn't know me well ask, "Who's the Hatter?" I was indignant that someone wouldn't recognize my character--until David pointed out that the person recognized the character easily, but didn't know me. After the past few years' somewhat obscure costumes, it was fun to be such an easily recognized character.

David was Captain Awesome. His costume was primarily the result of all the flattened packing boxes currently littering our new place (another story for another time) and was a master of cardboard engineering.

Cheers.

Christmas Cards

This year, as particularly Alert readers may have noticed, I didn't post my customary Christmas card notice. Then again, since I abruptly stopped posting anything three weeks into NaBloPoMo, it might not have been particularly surprising.

In any case, I did send out cards this year, but they went to people whose addresses I already had. I ended up having my cards professionally printed this year, and although I got a steal of a deal on them, I didn't think I could afford to expand my list much this year.* As it was, I had to have an extra one printed for me at Kinko's. Oh, but, yeah! I totally recommend Picaboo for card printing. Envelopes are even included, so with the deal I got, it was actually cheaper to have Picaboo print my cards than to do the photo-printing, card stock-buying, and envelope-procuring on my own (let alone much easier than the cutting and glue-sticking).

Ordinarily, of course, I show the previous year's card when I solicit this year's requests. Since I didn't get that done this year, though, I'll just show you last year's and tell you now that if you send me your address (disasterkitchen ((at)) gmail.com) now, I'll send you next year's:

As you may have noticed (with cards from 2009, 2008, and 2007 for reference), the cards have just gotten more elaborate and generally weirder. This year's is the weirdest yet, but I won't post it here until next year.

Meanwhile, several of you Alert Readers also sent fantastically creative cards this year! I do admit to loving the ones with adorable children/babies, and even the ones with cute couples, but quite possibly my favorite was Bog Lemming Superstar's. It took the non-traditional Christmas card to truly new heights, which I'll let her share if she so desires. Well done, I say.

So. I'm still sort of pretending it's the holidays--partly because about 3am yesterday I woke up with my every-two-to-three-years stomach bug** and spent nearly all day in bed, and have today been similarly low on productivity (and eating). The thought of gearing up for a semester that will include TA-ing (and teaching sections) for one class, teaching another two online, and, ideally, finishing my dissertation, is tiring even at full-strength. So, for at least one more day, happy holidays!

*See also: not blogging.
**Vegetarians are thankfully not very food poisoning prone

Late

It's odd to me that when I'm the only one in the house, it takes me longer to get to bed. You'd think that with fewer distractions, I'd be in bed earlier, but it never seems to work that way.

Tonight I went to dinner and a movie* with a friend, and then we yakked for close to an hour while we were parked at the curb outside my house. Then I needed to finish hemming the skirt I made this weekend(!) and want to wear tomorrow, and that took quite a while.

Tomorrow evening I teach, but I also need to run several errands before I leave town early Wednesday. That flight is at 6 a.m., which doesn't give me much time at all between when I get home from teaching and when I leave for the airport the next morning. Since I plan to spend as much of that time as possible sleeping, I have a very full day ahead of me tomorrow.

So! Off to bed.

*I may say which one later

Friday

Tonight:

Sushi (veggie for me, of course) at Masu in Northeast

Bonfire with the downstairs neighbors (we're still snow-free here... at least until tomorrow)

Date

Tonight David and I hit up Cheap Date Night at one of the many venues that make Mpls so awesome: the restaurant/bar/theater/bowling alley Bryant Lake Bowl. We were actually doubling with one of my good friends and her new man-friend, so it was especially exciting. We all had fabulous squash ravioli in tomato sauce (there are two menu options for the cheap date, vegetarian and carnivorous, and even though they are carnivores, they went for the ravioli over the chicken something-or-other). My friend credited me with being the reason for her choosing the squash! This makes me unreasonably happy.

After our carrot cake (for David and me) and flourless chocolate torte (for them), we bowled--part of the date night deal. David is an excellent bowler. I am a terrible bowler, but make up for what I lack in style (and points) with enthusiasm!

But now it is late. I teach tomorrow (only three meetings left!), and am not prepared, so it should be a good time. Thankfully I'll have several hours in the morning and early afternoon to get myself ready.

Oh, also! Here are my words of wisdom for the day: if you are in doubt, at all, ask the bus driver. Otherwise, like me, afraid to look dumb/convinced that the campus connector must stop at the student union, you might, like me, end up on a bus ride to Saint Paul and back, miss your 8:00 appointment, and lose an hour of your morning. And THEN won't you look dumb, when you get off the bus at the same place you got on, an hour ago. Seriously. Five years on this campus, and a little (massive) road construction (and complete restructuring of the shuttle routes) totally threw me off. Sigh.

Golden

August 31st was my golden birthday, so I threw myself a party. I'd been wanting to have a party on the lawn of this house pretty much since we moved in; I may actually have been scheming about it even before the snow melted.

When August finally rolled around, I sent out invitations on sparkly gold paper left over from our moving announcements. I discovered cake pops and was inspired to make other foods on sticks: caprese salad skewers with garden cherry tomatoes, garden basil, and fresh mozzarella pearls; Greek salad skewers with garden cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta; and fruit skewers with pineapple, grapes, and strawberries. In the non-stick category, we had Martha's carrot-ginger mini-cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting; hummus with pita and crudités; and sparkling cocktails.

I set everything up on cream and gold tablecloths I'd found at the thrift store, with little gold napkins. We had golden balloons, candles in ornamented jars and lots of hanging lights--strands of regular mini white lights, some tiny Japanese paper lanterns, and even a random strand of spiky Ikea lights.

But! They don't call my Kitchen a Disaster for nothing. I spent all morning and afternoon cooking, baking, and running last minute errands, and David and our downstairs neighbor did yeomen's duty getting lights strung, and still things were crazy until right up to party time. Our other neighbor came up to lend me a hand with frosting cupcakes, and then they both did skewer duty. At one point, all four of us were in the kitchen when we heard a crash; investigation revealed that Brrrrrruno had managed to knock over a tray of cupcakes and consume at least one, liner and all, before we were able to separate them!**

At 15 minutes before the time listed on the invitations, I left my tireless helpers in the kitchen to throw on some make up and my party dress. I was still making little labels for the food and drinks tables when the first guests showed up! So. I don't have many pictures at all, which makes me very sad, because it was such a beautiful party.

It really was. The little lights made everything feel remarkably festive. It was a lovely evening, and the rather brisk breeze was countered by a roaring fire in the fire pit. There were girls in party dresses*** and tasty treats and lovely music, thanks to an iPod Hi-Fi boombox we found at the thrift store for $19 (2006 retail price $349. Oh yeah!).

Anyway, here are the pictures I do have. Try to imagine everything golden and sparkly, the way it is in my memory!































*Which I had to make twice, because the first batch tasted and looked pretty bad
**For weeks afterward when he would come up to our apartment, he would lick the floor and rug at the site of the crash.
***I wore my dress from a few Halloweens ago; how many chances does a girl have to wear a dress like that, anyway?

Cheeseball

I made a cheese ball for a Halloween get-together at our neighbors' last Friday night.

It was really simple: Neufchatel cheese, a shredded colby/jack cheese mix, some green onions, and part of a packet of Ranch dressing (not dip) mix. I stirred it together, rolled it into a ball and left it in the fridge (in nonstick-sprayed plastic wrap) to chill for a few hours. Before the party, I shaped it into a rough pumpkin and stuck the stem of a bell pepper on top.

I'd been inspired by a photo of tiny pumpkin-shaped cheese balls (with pretzel stems and adorable parsley leaves!), but decided one big pumpkin made much better sense on my rushed schedule.

Summer Eating (& Entertaining Vegans II)

Me in a surprisingly non-disastrous-looking kitchen

Last night we had the Wonders (the entertaining vegans!) over for dinner again. Bradley, who is better at blogging than I am, has already posted about it here. I was quite pleased with how dinner turned out: lemony hummus with crudités (dragon carrots, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers from our garden!--and some celery) and Holy Land olives to start, and then herby sweet corn arepas Minnow-style* with a few tiny chioggia beets from our garden. The Wonders brought over an amazing raw cobbler (recipe linked at Bradley's blog) and some nice wine to round it all out. Sadly, the only photographic documentation of the event is a picture David snapped  as I was still cooking!

Here are a few things I did manage to photograph before eating--some of the other garden- and CSA-inspired meals we've been enjoying this summer:

One of my favorite summer sandwiches: whole grain bagel topped with Neufchatel cheese, garden lettuce, cucumbers (not from our garden yet, at that point), and Vegetable Delight seasoning.

Shortcake with CSA strawberries and biscuits from scratch.**

Corn on the cob with pizza buns (toasted English muffins, homemade sauce, and pearl mozzarella, browned under the broiler and then topped with garden basil)

Roasted vegetables inspired by a kohlrabi in our CSA box: kohlrabi, onion, potatoes, dragon carrots, cherry tomatoes, and fresh corn, tossed with olive oil and garlic and topped with Maldon flaked sea salt. Served with salads of CSA greens and CSA garden peas (and a wedge of aged gouda!).

Corn on the cob with spicy kidney bean burgers and a basil/garlic/yogurt dip. I'd link to the burger recipe, but I didn't really follow it. Beans, oats, almonds, a couple of CSA eggs, seasonings... I was working with what I had in the cupboards!

Brunch this morning: a scramble with CSA eggs; Neufchatel cheese; and garden basil, cherry tomatoes, chives, and green onion.

It's been pretty hot and humid around here recently, so I haven't been doing quite as much cooking as I might like to--but it'll be cold again soon enough, so I can't complain too much. And in the meantime, the delicious produce keeps flowing! Our garden is a bit of a jungle recently, though slightly less so since we chopped down the massive, bolted cilantro and the surprise sunflower (I planted a "butterfly mix" in one of our square feet, and it grew some really tall flowers!) that had been shading the smaller plants. The tomatoes, though, are starting to riot!

*I used this arepas recipe, using soy milk, omitting the cheese, and substituting EVOO and some seasonings for the margarine. I topped them with Boca's vegan sausage crumbled, sauteed red bell peppers, and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. The Minnow includes spinach, and I'd hoped to serve ours with garden greens on the side, but they've gotten bitter with the heat (and neglect).

**The "from scratch" recipe on this page is amazing, and almost as easy as Bisquick biscuits (which are surprisingly disappointing after eating these!). I cut the recipe into thirds and bake two large biscuits, using soy milk and grating in frozen butter (my mom's trick!) instead of messing with a pastry cutter (which I don't have). I also don't bother sifting or mixing the milk and vanilla separately.

Brrrruno!

Last Saturday our downstairs neighbors brought home a puppy! He is a tiny beagle, just seven weeks old, and his name is Bruno (with a properly Spanish rolled R). He is adorable, and although he has a tendency to try to chew anything he comes in contact with, including my fingers, I'm pretty smitten. Here are two videos David shot on his phone.

Tuesday

Perfect Summer Tuesday Date Night:
Thanks to David for the pictures, off his phone!

1. Ride the Greenway to the Longfellow Grill for sweet potato fries and an apéritif

Longfellow

2. Bike to the Birchwood Cafe for dinner (black bean quinoa burger) and dessert (cornmeal cobbler with peaches and berries)

Bike bridge at sunset

3. Bike to B & E's to pick up this week's CSA share (eggs, Romaine, and strawberries!)

On the Greenway

First carrot!

4. Ride home, admire the garden, and eat the season's first dragon carrot!