Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies...

with a hint of ginger and lime!  My breakfast today.  Ever since I was a kid I couldn't understand how someone could ruin a perfectly good strawberry pie by adding something as tart as rhubarb to it.  Hated rhubarb ever since that ill-fated pie until last year.  My tastes have changed a lot since I was a kid (I used to think chicken was gross!) and especially so in the last few years.  I decided to give rhubarb another try.  WOW.  Boy am I in for a treat the rest of my life.  Even went so far as to get a rhubarb tart in Paris.  Dang.  Amazing fruit fabulousness in my mouth and tummy.  Does fruit get better than this in tart form?  I decided to find out.  Bought rhubarb for the first time yesterday and whipped up a compote because it sounded more fun than pie filling. The only thing I changed was mashing up the cooked fruit a bit (chunks were too big for little pies) and added some corn starch to thicken a little.  It made a ton and now I have to figure out what to do with it all because even after filling four hand pies I have probably 6-8 cups left.  Maybe a pie for work...  The filling is so delicious that I was tempted to eat my wooden spoon so as to not lose any of the sweet, red nectar that had soaked into the grain.  In my supreme laziness (and inability to do pie crust well) I went to the store and spent a fortune on pre-made, pre-rolled, non-evil ingredient pie dough.  Such a delight and much less work.  Totally worth it.  I assembled my little beauties with my new toy, et voila!

Pretend they look pretty because they taste amazing!

Still trying to book a cooking class for my groupon.  Hopefully will have more luck in August.  Going for an artisan flavored bread class this time.

Participated (i.e. watched someone else) put a lid back on to the APE cache.  It was fun to meet other people with my odd hobby and my car was finally discovered on the road!  Yippee!

Above is the original owner of the cache with the new lid that now has three coins riveted to it.  The new lid is now attached to the base AND the tree trunk it hides in so hopefully a ne'er do well jerk will walk away instead of considering it a new challenge.

In its new home.  :)

Am determined to ride my bike to work this week.  It wouldn't be so difficult if I weren't a wimp when it came to my hill that I live on.  It's going to happen!

Need a bigger place.  Got to have some storage to keep my beloved stuff.  Still miss my Bothell apt.  It was great.  In the spirit of that apartment I am trying to lure birds still to this one.  The weather has been so hot lately that almost all the suet has melted out of the feeder!  I got excited one day when I saw the composition was different and I thought I'd had a visitor pecking away.  But then I saw the ginormous grease stain underneath it on the balcony railing and now I know better.  Took the plant off the bird feeder (makes a great stand when the birds aren't around!) and filled it with water.  Hopefully the little guys will see the shimmer and come down to investigate.

Couldn't find a small tomato cage so I jury-rigged one of my own with twine and plastic plant stakes.  So far so good and hopefully it will continue to bear the burden of those juicy fruits.  When I have a place where I can drill my own holes with reckless abandon I'm going to get an upside down pot for tomatoes.  Then I won't have to worry about supporting it so much and it will look neat.

Was hoping to start playing with tofu soon given one of my latest cookbook purchases but am running into a small problem.  The bigger problem is that I don't like substitutes and will exhaust all other purchase options of the original before succumbing to the substitute.  Right now I'm on the hunt for pressed tofu (the small problem).  I won't spend too much time on it because I found that I can press firm tofu like you dry an agarose gel, namely putting absorbent things like paper towels on top, then a flat tray and then some weight.  I'd rather just buy the stuff but it's nice to know there is an easy (though time consuming) alternative.

Torturing myself with windermere.com lately looking at waterfront vacation homes for under 200k.  There are actually quite a few.  Unfortunately most of them are mobile homes.  Not sure exactly why so many water views are populated with mobile homes.  Digging this A-frame though.  Totally diggin on this super fabulous party site.  Trouble would definitely getting people up there though.  Too many of my friends think a ten mile trip is going to a foreign country.

Some day.  For now my beach house will remain in my head where it is perfect and no recession, salary, or reality can touch it.

Hiking

Went up to the pass for a longish hike.  Just over ten miles all told I think.  A little troubled by how tired I was at the end of it but a grand time nonetheless.  The end destination was Rainbow Lake but the pictures didn't turn out so well so I posted this little waterfall I walked by on the trail up to the lakes.  Reminds me of Hawaii.  At least, it would remind me of Hawaii if there hadn't been a drought when I was doing the waterfall route on the road to Hana.  Walked at least a half mile all over a dried up lake trying to find the giant cascade the guide book talked about until I realized what the giant concrete wall next to the cracked earth meant.  Hoping for a Hoh backpacking trip this summer and am a little worried that the first day will be ~10 miles but with a pack.  Hopefully I can put in some longer hikes before then and not be so wiped.  Tried out some bug repellent impregnated clothing and it worked great!  The little critters left me alone.  Normally I am a delicacy that they can't resist.  Hopefully the shirt, kerchief and hat will continue in buggier weather than I experienced on this hike (lightly buggy).

Gobbled up my first cherry tomato this weekend from my indoor plant.  That puppy will produce year round and they are so juicy and sweet!  Love it.  The fruit is so plentiful and heavy that I've had to string up the plant so it looks like a bondage scene gone awry.  Can't find a mini tomato cage so I'm not sure what else to do.  Kabob sticks, bulldog clips and twine won't keep it upright and happy forever.

It looks as though the worst of the hot weather is over which is sad because I just got my air conditioner all hooked up and pumping.  The first time I started it up I decided to take a short nap to better luxuriate in the coolness.  Glad thing I didn't leave the house!  Just when I was dozing off right and proper the thing starts gushing water like a fire hydrant.  Luckily my nap was on the couch nearby so I turned it off in a flash but it was still enough water that I used up my large bath towel sopping up the mess before it spread everywhere.  Turns out when I migrated it over from "storage" I didn't check to see if the stopcock was pushed in all the way.  Even though I've remedied that little issue I'm still paranoid it might build up enough pressure to have a similar incident.  So no A/C while I'm out and about.  Better for my electric bill for sure but less fabulous for  Ms. Sugs.  It still cracks me up when I walk in to find dead kitty pose on the hardwood.  Must be rough being wrapped in fur in 90 degree heat.  Poor girl.

The sunsets have just been amazing from my living room window.  The city and sky light up in all these amazing hues.  I keep taking pictures but they just don't do it justice.  There's a group of several buildings that light up like their surfaces are on fire and the twilight blue/gray sky behind them is just the perfect contrast.  Beautiful.

Still trying to maintain a eating healthy pledge I've made to myself but every now and a gain I fail spectacularly.  Take Friday night for example.  I get home tired from running errands all day and nothing looks good in the fridge.  But the freezer.  Now that looks tempting in my warm apartment.  So I proceed to finish off the better part of a pint of Half Baked Ben & Jerry's.  Should never have purchased three stinkin' flavors, even if they were only two bucks a piece.  They taunt me.  But I have done quite well with my flax seed oil supplemented breakfasts and I had a sandwich on the hike made with fresh veg, bavarian meat salami, and cheese of course, on 16 grain bread.  That should count!  Never mind the screaming from the fridge of the neglected spinach container that will be going bad shortly.  Maybe I could make creamed spinach?  I always love it when mom made it but every time I try the sauce turns out lumpy and sad.  Sometimes I think a roux is beyond me.

In preparation for the backpacking I leafed through my dehydration recipes for just such an event.  Have come up with several meals for brekkie, lunch, dinner and snacks that look appealing.  Wish there weren't so many that depended on super high salt pre-mixed taco seasoning and onion soup mixes.  Will have to check my Make-a-Mix book and see if there is a more favorable option for those.  Exciting!  The dehydrator has been getting quite the workout.  I'm hoping to make a garbanzo bean salad that reconstitutes well on the trail. A lot of the recipes call for what seems to be a Nalgene drinking bottle of a much smaller size.  Not sure where to find a small, wide-mouthed bottle that can withstand boiling water.  If I find them I would like to buy several.  Extra bonus if they have the looped cap that can be hung by a carabiner.

Hoping (kinda) that the weather turns to crap so I can be motivated to stay inside and finish up some baby presents.  Am behind but not tragically so.  Haven't missed a birth yet but I am cutting it down to the wire.

NPR made me laugh the other day.  Apparently about 400,000 people claimed on their US 2010 census forms that their religion was Jedi.  Awesome.  My friend sent me this link in response to my sharing the news. I love people.  And I love NPR.

Ain't Love Grand?


For me, it looks a little like this:

The name of my loved one?  All-Clad d5 Stainless Steel Sauté/Simmer pan, 4qt.  Just kind of rolls off the tongue, you know?  Our first dish together was the reason I sought out this pan - swiss chard a la bacon fat.  I love making and eating this but it has always been a chore to do so.  My one 10in fry pan was insufficient for containing all the goodness and I had to use a splatter pan under a too small lid to steam the greens (not pictured).  It functioned but lots of heat was lost and I dirtied more stuff than I needed to each time, including spillover from the pan itself every time I tried to mix.  No more, my friend.  Super sale at Williams-Sonoma of all places so I took advantage.  Mom will probably be annoyed again that I'm buying myself possible wedding presents again but I don't think I should have to wait to find a perma partner just to have a good covered skillet.  Or anything else.  Hats off to Tracy & Lee for the recipe several years ago that has become a staple in my life, whatever the season.


I don't think I've ever been so happy to see clouds covering the city as I was this morning.  I love that summer has come at long last but 90+ is too hot.  And I like my apartment because of the view  but have not been able to enjoy it the last week because of the need to seal out as much sunlight as possible.  Today is the start of the cooling trend and I couldn't be happier.  Just wish it wasn't going to cool so much.  Would sustained mid-seventies be too much to ask, really?  The cat is happier too, which she expresses by sleeping on her favorite perch atop two blankets on the corner of my couch by the window.  Contentness.


World Cup madness for the final today AND a Sounders match.  Will be soccered out by tomorrow for sure.  Until then, "¡Viva España!".


FINALLY planning another backpacking trip.  Joined a backpacking group and seem to have found some interested parties.  I sent the organizer my trip that I want to do (Seven Lakes Basin on Olympic Peninsula in the Hoh rainforest) and when and how I think we should go about it.  He seemed very eager to plan this so I've decided to start planning for success.  First up, food.  "A Fork in the Trail" and "Lip smakcin' backpackin'" have been moved up on the reading list.  I've made a couple of things out of them before and they have all been great.  Love eating good food.  And the plus side is that even if it isn't perfect after hiking all day anything at all tastes like a gourmet meal.  It's win-win.


Speaking of reading lists, been working through the Steig Larsson books.  It's been a bit of a problem, really. I wasn't too thrilled with the first one but book club comments convinced me (and the others) that the second and third ones were worth it so we pushed back our reading list to accommodate the second and third books.  The problem is that now that I have invested in reading them I like them better and I've been staying up too late reading.  A little over half way through the second one and I keep finding excuses to delay cooking, laundry, cleaning, eating, sleeping just to read.  Times like this I wish I read more quickly than I do.


Oh, and still in love with my "French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook" breakfast recipe.  I make yogurt once a week and have finally found a reason to eat "cuties" or clementines.  I really like the word clementine. If it weren't for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I would consider it as a baby girl name.  Cursing children is not my aim so it won't be on the list for future names.  Same goes for Ophelia.  Love it but just can't do that to a kid.  Back to the food.  I haven't actually made it any further in the book than breakfast.  Will have to remedy that.  And I still haven't touched my if-all-else-fails-it's-a-bludgeoning-device Spanish cookbook.  But after Lisbeth is through with me most likely.  Not enough time I tell you!  Is it bad that I dream of being independently wealthy so I can cook more and read recipes without the fuss of having to hold down a job?  Travelling is second but food is number one.  Off to make breakfast then.

Black Hole, with Stars and Stripes

A little dramatic but that is sometimes (a lot of the time) how I feel.  Time seems to spin away and I can only assume that it is eaten up by some black hole.  How did it get to be the 4^th of July weekend?  We haven’t had any decent spring weather much less summer.  It can’t possibly be time to blow stuff up and bring out the red, white and blue decorations.  I still remember being a kid and thinking that summer days dragged on forever and how much I loved the long break from school.  It allowed for fort building, bike rides, camping trips and swimming.  I’m not too big on the living room forts anymore, keep waiting for the weather to clear before riding my bike, camping trips are scheduled regardless (fingers crossed for no rain!) and swimming is a joke in Seattle unless it takes place at the city pool for aerobics.  And that’s not really swimming anyway.

I have managed to leave the house a little.  Hung out at the Solstice Parade and got a pretty sweet pic of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  No noodley appendage for me as they were attacking the other side of the street at my point in the parade.  I loved that they handed out sidewalk chalk for all the kiddos (big and small) during space lapses in the procession.  Any other year that would have been my favorite part because it lasts so long on the road.  Our ill tempered weather has robbed me of that as well.  Had a father’s day dinner with lots of food and nice wine.  Would like to do that more often.  Not sure how to break in on a dining group though as I haven’t had any luck starting one on my own.

Meetup has been kind of light at the end of the tunnel for me.  Really should have joined sooner.  Even if I can’t make the engagements there is a world of possibilities with people that actually want to DO stuff.  Novel idea.  Haven’t found a free yoga group yet but I keep looking.  Board games group was a hit and I intend to do that more.  They meet so frequently it shouldn’t be too difficult to get my fill there.  There’s a travel group too but no surprise at the expense.  To be involved would involve some serious budgeting.  Still deciding how to place value and worth on different experiences and how that equates to a dollar sign.

Figured out how to make yogurt.  The “French Women Don’t Get Fat” cookbook has inspired me. Giovanna’s take on the author’s breakfast of choice has converted me to a Greek yogurt junkie.  Can make as much as I want with my dehydrator.  The first batch was a little runny so I used more starter and will incubate for longer this time.  Hoping it comes out thicker.  Delicious even when it’s not perfect though!

I actually sewed something, kind of.  I bought a shirt that fit perfectly but had too short of sleeves.  Practically the story of my life.  I decided to attempt to make short sleeves with a nice hem and everything.  It isn’t as it should be (the same stitching as the bottom hem) but I don’t think you can really tell.  The only bad thing is that after crowing my success I noticed after one wash one of the seams has already started to unravel.  Gah!  Not enough back stitching I guess.

Made my first (to the best of my knowledge) television appearance.  My boss spotted me watching the last US match of the World Cup at a pub downtown.  Kelly and I got there two hours early and still had to sit outside due to crowding.  Luckily we brought chairs the second time we tried to get in so we didn't have to stand for five hours.  Was fun even if we lost because we played so poorly.  Hello, heard of defense guys?

As if I hadn't had enough butt time in my camp chair I decided to check out a Twilight event at Fremont outdoor movies.  I thought they were showing Eclipse and having fanfare.  I was wrong.  They were having fanfare, a 10 minute teaser to Eclipse and then showing New Moon.  Was still fun even if I left way early due to freezing temps (despite layers, hat, gloves and a blanket).  Come ON summer!  The twi-hards, as they call themselves, were hysterical.  Truly mad.  I saw a 40+ woman kissing a cardboard cutout of Edward.  Ew.  There was one woman that brought a framed movie poster to sit next to her.  Another with a t-shirt that said, "future twi-hard" with a down arrow pointing to her belly.  Really?!?!  And anytime there were some shirtless shots - and if you know the books/movies there are several - there was a deafening squeal that probably made dogs uncomfortable.  The MC was going around at one point before the screening asking a lot of people what their favorite scene was from Twilight (movie or book).  A male photographer shooting the event got caught and responded, "the credits because then I knew it was over".  Ha.  and  =P

Geocaching craziness this weekend.  Looking forward to GeoWoodstock and starting the trifecta soon.

Update: Blogger wouldn't let me do jack this morning so I am here now post-GeoWoodstock.  It was lots of fun!

And nummy food.  Go Remlinger Farms!  Lots of interesting people and I purchased a TB for my car.  Our Blessed Lady of Acceleration is now a trackable item.  Sigh {tear}, I'm so proud!  I was mostly overwhelmed as I've never been to a mega event before.  Next time I'm bringing more money.  I think.  I got two caches that are the hidden in plain sight style.  Want to convince someone with a house to let me put one in their yard and I'm hoping to get one near work so I can monitor it during lunch.  And it would be awesome if I got Dad involved with his car - he drives everywhere in that thing!  Mine won't get too much love as it is mostly in a garage at home or in a garage at work.  It's the fuzzy white thing in the left bottom corner of my rear window.  It looks like this but mine is the other way up.

Someone stole the cover to the APE cache.  How freakin' rude.  They did it purposely, I'm sure, the day before 500 people gathered for the sole purpose of finding this cache.  Whoever you are, you are L-A-M-E.  And a rotten person that takes pleasure in the suffering of others.  Feel really bad about yourself and your act of selfishness and then give the cover back to groundspeak.

On schedule for the rest of this holiday weekend is fireworks from my deck for the big show that wasn’t supposed to go on and a day off before back to work insanity.  So much going on there I find it easier to not go into detail at the moment.  Will just make me mad.  Again.  Hoping for bluer skies!

Photo courtesy of Kelly, from my deck.