Must Appease Monkey

Monkey thinks my last post was boring. Here are some garden pictures to appease her.

Repotted succulent (Badge's favorite plant) in pot gifted by Spike. Just in the nick of time since the plant was getting root bound in it's little black tub.


Lots of action on the plumeria trees. There appears to be little flower buds in the making.


Caterpillar friend grubbin' on the geranium plant.

Book Review: The Cure

So I'm not as good as Monkey when it comes to book or movie reviews, but I thought I should write a quick blurb about a book I recently read called The Cure. The book was originally recommended by Spike and Kristen and unfortunately has been sitting on our shelf collecting dust for many a months now. I'm not sure why I suddenly decided to read it, but I'm certainly glad I did.

The book is based on the true story of the Crowley family, as written by Geeta Anand, a well known reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He originally wrote a newspaper article about the family and decided to expand it into a book. The story of the Crowley family is pretty remarkable. Two of their children were diagnosed with Pompe disease, a genetic disease in which the patient lacks an enzyme that processes glycogen. The excess glycogen affects muscle function causing the patient to slowly lose strength until typically they die of heart failure. Anyway, the book mostly follows John, the father, who dedicates his life and career to finding a cure for Pompe. He starts a foundation, which raises millions of dollars, progresses to becoming the CEO of a startup to produce a treatment, and eventually sells the startup to Genzyme, one of the largest biotech companies ever, who eventually start a clinical trial involving the Crowley children. It's a pretty inspiring story. Sad but inspiring and ultimately ending in hope. Definitely recommended.

Shortly after finishing the book, Renee mailed us a different book called The $64 Tomato, about one man's adventures in gardening. It should provide a nice humorous counterpart to my recent read. Can't wait to start!

Garden Update

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Busy mama was the first to say lily and Nevertap backed that up with stargazer lily, which is exactly what this flower appears to be. Mystery solved!

Yoga today was painful since I'm fairly certain I pulled a muscle in my right butt area (for lack of a more technical term). Anything that requires me to bend forward or to my right hurts like a bitch. I'll probably need to ice tonight and probably take some days off :(. Boo. After yoga, I made a brunch of blueberry buttermilk pancakes, scrambled eggs which chives, and a side salad (plus coffee for myself). Badge and I gobbled everything down quickly. Ruthlessly one might say. Then it was straight to the couch for Badge where he took a monster nap, while I puttered around the garden. As planned, I replanted the mexican heather and sporadically fertilized at will (via manure compost). I tidied up all the fallen leaves and debris and even gathered more dead leaves around the neighborhood. Our compost bin is filling up quite nicely. Here are the big pots Spike gifted us. We have since positioned these strategically around the garden. Beautiful addition!


In the late afternoon, we hung up some painted cabinets and took down more to paint. Unfortunately one of the doors was too close to the sprinklers last week and got soaked overnight. It's pretty warped and cracked (you can't really tell in the picture). Oh well. Maybe Home Depot would be able to replicate it for us. I can certainly live with it for now.

Roots!

After much patience, the plant cuttings I gathered from the neighborhood have finally spring nice root systems! I've got three hot pink geranium cuttings and three purple lantana cuttings. I've transplanted them into pots with a bit of manure compost to kick start their growth. Yay for propagation!

Unfortunately, we've decided to pull a bunch of zucchini plants since they were just taking over the bed. Strangely, the root systems for the large plants weren't very deep at all. Also, we decided to scrap our starter batch of compost. We had chopped up a lot of the giant bird of paradise leaves but they were taking way too long to break down. Badge attended a free Organic Composting class where the "master" composter told him that those leaves were probably too fibrous for normal composting. Our second batch is well under way though. Badge and I have been scouring the neighborhood for dry leaves to add to our "brown" materials.

Here's some of the zucchini plant victims. We'll add them to the compost so they can eventually contribute to our humble garden :). Tomorrow, I'll replant the mexican heather plants that I've been reviving. They seem to be doing well and I think are ready to play nice with the big plants now. Also, Spike gifted us some beautiful geraniums and big pots. Will take more pics tomorrow.

SYTYCD

What?? I can't believe Janet got kicked off!! She is so good AND so likeable. Now I really have no idea who will be in the finals. I really hope Evan doesn't make it. Yes he is adorable but he's definitely not as good as most of the folks left. Out of the guys, I love Ade. Out of the girls, I'll be happy with whoever makes it since they're all so good.

Watching SYTYCD always makes me think back to Danny from Season 3. He was just ridiculous. Seriously seriously ridiculous. Ridiculous. I wish someone would lock him up and force him to dance day and night for our viewing enjoyment. A 24 hour Danny channel if you will. Is that so wrong?

Another Mystery Plant

Oh my, what do you suppose these mystery buds will become? Anyone want to weigh in? Hopefully, they will bloom soon so I can stop speculating! Here's a quick look at the veggie bed. Stupid zucchinis are crowding out everything else. You can't even see the poor green onions because they're hidden under the other plants. Oh well.

Random Stuff

This week has been quite busy at work and at home. At work, I've been swamped with things to do. Pretty non-stop. At home, we've continued to slowly paint the kitchen cabinets. Add in all the yoga and the extra work I'm doing on the side for my friend's company and it makes for a very tired me.

Luckily, Badge knew just how to cheer me up. On Thursday, he got us takeout from Tofu House, a Korean restaurant we'd always driven past but never tried. So scrumptious! I knew there had to be a good reason for the crowd at this place. I could eat this tofu casserole once a week. Sign me up!


Our CSA delivery this week was stocked full of goodies. I didn't get a chance to take a picture but here's what we got: basil, purple beans, butter lettuce, mixed salad greens, basil, sprouts, pomelos, blueberries, zucchinis, red onion, chives, shallots, and avocados. And of course a nice bouquet of flowers. Our bounty was delivered by a bearded hippy man. Gotta love local farms.

In garden news, we've finally got some catnip sprouts! I'm going to watch these guys like a hawk. Everything else is flourishing, except two of our big calla lily plants seem to have contracted soft rot. The leaves started turning yellow and molty looking. Not much I could do but cut off the infected leaves. There are some baby leaves left so we'll see how they fare. Also, the veggie garden is exploding. We had to thin out some radishes since they were taking over the bed. I'm thinking of gifting some of the zucchini plants as well since they've gotten so big. Poor green onions haven't been getting enough sun next to the zucchinis. Unfortunately, birds have been pooping on one of our swiss chards. Guess that guy will have to be ornamental.


The mandevilla has finally bloomed! We really need to get some trellis for all our vining plants.


And of course every post is best ended with a cat montage.


Henry likes to open drawers.

Snickerdoodles

Inspired by a recent Snickerdoodle posting on TasteSpotting, I decided to bake some yesterday afternoon. I quickly hunted down a recipe for which I had all the ingredients and then set about baking in between painting kitchen cabinets. Surprisingly, these cookies came out really well. Quite fluffy and coated with just the right amount of sugary cinnamon-y goodness. A true homage to the saying that "simple is better". Unfortunately, we had no milk so these were accompanied by beer. We are so classy.

Snickerdoodles

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons (divided)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into twenty 1 3/4-inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Sleepy Cats and Pizza

Time for another installment of sleepy cats! This one illustrates how my cats spend most of their time lounging on their backs with their feet in the air. Too god damn cute.



So a few days ago, I finally made pizza using the dough recipe my sister sent. Remember this yummy creation she made? I followed suite by baking my pizza in a cast iron skillet with homemade pesto sauce and white cheddar cheese and goat cheese sprinkled on top. The crust came out really well and was super easy to make. Definitely the best I've ever made by hand. Can't wait to try with a tomato sauce.


Pizza Dough
Monkey's instructions

1 packet yeast (1 tbs)
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 tsp sugar (i usually use a pinch of sugar)

proof for 5-10 min
add 1 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt

i mix with a rice paddle and then start kneading with my hand in the bowl. it should be sticking to your fingers and kind of messy. knead and squeeze for around 5 min. you can then transfer to a new bowl if the current bowl is too messy. just put a bit of olive oil on it. let rise for 45 min. should be stretchy looking and full of air.

for my cast iron pan, i usually pinch of half the dough or a little less and push flat into the pan. you don't want the dough to be too thick, but don't worry about having to be all gentle with the dough. oh and remember to coat the pan with a little olive oil.

i firmly believe in not using mozarella now. for my pizzas i start by spreading fresh pesto. then placing olives or tomatoes around. crumble goat cheese around. and then put grated extra sharp white cheddar over everything. bake at 450. i think maybe around 20 min, but take peeks. i like it when there are spots of brown around. should be easy to lift from pan.


And finally, Badge and I have been slowly working to paint the kitchen cabinets. It looks great so far but we've only done a small section. I had a few incidents during the painting. First, Henry sprinted across a freshly painted door, tracking white paint all over the kitchen floor before I could catch her. I then proceeded to wash her paws under the kitchen sink with her screaming and clawing at me to escape (my cats really hate water). Traumatized, I went back to painting only to have it happen AGAIN with Fred!! Equally disastrous. At least it's worth it, looks great. Maybe we'll be done by the fall.

Reviews: Linkery and Transformers

On Friday, Badge and I drove down to North Park to dine at The Linkery. The Linkery is one of those seasonal restaurants where the menu changes based on what's available from local farms. Some restaurants change their menu monthly; The Linkery changes it's menu daily. They bake their own bread, cure their own meat, and of course make their own sausage links.

The atmosphere was great. They had the doors open to the street so diners could enjoy the beautiful day. There was a large bar in the middle, a back dining room, and a enclosed kitchen with big windows where we could peak at the cooks scurrying around. Unfortunately, all the front of house seats were full so we sat at the back dining room. The seats were hard but I was there to eat, not to rest my toosh. They had an extensive beer menu from which I ordered draft red ale (forgot the name) and Badge tried a cask IPA. Note: cask beer is unfiltered, uncarbonated and served at room temperature. Both our beers were very strong, leaving us happily warm by the time our first course came out.

For starters, we ordered oyster half shells (couldn't resist), and of course a sausage dish, since you can't go to a restaurant and not order their namesake. We chose a smoked andouille sausage served with freshly baked bread and fruit stone mustard. Both dishes were a delicious start. For our entrees, Badge ordered a bison burger while I ordered a grilled mortabella and cheese sandwich. Note: mortabella is cured Bershire pork. My dish was tasty but the texture of the meat was similar to ham which I'm not too much a fan of. The bison burger was super yummy though. I will definitely order that next time. By this time we were stuffed and should have shared a dessert but instead each ordered our own. I had the chocolate cherry crostada with ice cream and Badge had the chocolate cream pie. My crostada was so good. The crust was heavenly - so buttery and crispy on the outside but tender on the inside - and the mixture of chocolate, cherries, and hazelnut mixed with the ice cream was like CRACK. I could not stop eating! Badge's cream pie quite tasty as well, though I'm not sure why it's called a pie since it seemed more like a cake. Unfortunately we both finished our plates, leaving us extremely bloated. The bill was a bit steep but I got over it quickly. When you've got a delicious meal resting in your belly, there's not much to complain about.

Afterwards, we rushed to Fashion Valley to catch the 8:10 showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Let me just say that I love big blockbuster movies with lots of action and cool effects. If things are exploding and people (or robots) are kicking ass, I'm there. I thought the first Transformers was very enjoyable and was hoping for the same from the second. Well, the effects were still amazing. However, the movie was a tad long. I don't think they needed three consecutive scenes of Shia and Megan flying through the air in slow mo with explosions behind them. Also, it seemed like they threw together a random plot and injected misc scenes of Megan Fox trying to look sexy - I don't remember being so annoyed with her in the first movie. All in all, I'll be honest and say that I still enjoyed it. Just don't have high expectations.

Mother Earth

Our first CSA delivery arrived today!!


Badge was home to accept the bounty, and subsequently eat some of it (greens and grapefruit) before I came home to take pictures. To our surprise, we even got four eggs. According to the Seabreeze Farms website, they don't force their hens to lay so these eggs are truly al natural. Everything looks very fresh and healthy. Couldn't be happier!


We also got a nice bouquet of flowers to brighten our house.


For dinner, I cooked up the carrots in some chicken broth, honey, butter, and lemon juice. I also made some cappelini with a cream sauce of garlic, butter, heavy cream, basil, and this spicy paste. For kicks, I topped the pasta with a poached egg. Ryan tossed the mixed greens with some dressing for a nice side. Tasty and healthy.


Looking at the amount of food we got (plus flowers), I think going to the store for the same stuff could be cheaper - maybe 5 to 10 bucks cheaper depending on where you go. But let's consider the fact that all this stuff is organic and travelled such a short distance. We get to help Mother Earth and support local farmers at the same time - well worth it. Badge has even started researching places to buy local fish and cheese.

Almost time for SYTYCD...

Fig Heaven

I went home for lunch today and per my usual routine, I ran outside to check the progress of my beloved plants. Lo and behold, my figs were turning brown! Finally!!

Jumping for joy, I gave the fattest one a gentle squeeze - it was like squeezing the Pilsbury doughboy - so soft and plump. Unfortunately, the fig was not 100% brown. It still had a good it of green...what to do...


After wringing my hands and agonzing over the decision, I decided to just go for it. There was another fat fig ripening up at the same rate so even if this one was not ripe, I had a backup. Plucking the fig and rushing to the kitchen to slice it up, I finally settled on the table to sample my first homegrown fig.


Oh man. So juicy. So sweet. Did not disappoint! As soon as I finished savoring my slices, I was wishing for 10 more. Of course, I shared my bounty with Badge but I could tell he was a bit weirded out by the texture (this is the man who won't eat tomatoes because they are "slimy"). Perhaps he won't want any figs from now and I can hoard them all for myself muhahahah...

On a side note, we randomly pulled a radish that was growing out of the ground, just so we could see what it looked like. Here it is. It looks like a baby radish indeed. Oh and since we're talking about food, I contacted Seabreeze Organic Farms to find out when our first CSA delivery is arriving: this Thursday! Can't wait.


Lastly, I'd like to mention that there have been bunny sightings at work. My coworker first spotted the family of bunnies, including some white baby bunnies, yesterday hanging out on the lawn next to our work gym. Intrigued, I rode my bike over on my way home. Sure enough, I saw 4 or 5 brown bunnies just hanging out on the lawn like it ain't no thang. No white babies though. I considered trying to kidnap one but a) I don't particularly like bunnies as pets b) how would I restrain it while riding my bike c) what if it had rabies? Wishing them luck, I went home in peace. This morning, I drove by the area but no bunny in sight. Once in the office, two coworkers informed me that they had indeed captured a bunny yesterday and given it to some woman who specialized in bunny fostering. Stranger yet, one of the said coworkers had a cage on hand to capture the bunny with. I didn't ask. In the afternoon, my coworker said she spotted a white bunny again at lunchtime. Once more, I stopped by on my way home, but no bunnies to be had. Hopefully, they are all found and given to good homes. Otherwise, I'm sure they'll make a coyote or hawk somewhere a nice meal :(.

No More Food Please

I ate a lot this weekend. Dear god did I eat a lot this weekend. Where to begin...

Last Wed, Ryan's nephew Riley (hereafter referred to as Buckeye because he lives in Cinncinati) flew out to visit for the weekend. We picked him up late, fed him some Chick-fil-a that Badge picked up, and watched SYTYCD at the parentals. Sadly, Kupano was not kicked off the show and I'm forced to be annoyed with him for yet another week. At least we got to see Philip's solo which was all around awesome.

On Thurs, I went to work and of course got little done. That night, the Bunnies, Buckeye, Spike, and Kris (nickname TBD) went to Ashoka the Great for some yummy Indian food. We ordered the usual spread of dishes which hit the spot but I couldn't help noticing it was slightly underspiced. Additionally, the chicken vindaloo was suspiciously mild, perhaps because they didn't think a group of white people (plus an asian) could take the heat. Humph!

On Friday, we hit up the swimming pool for some sun. The boys threw the football around while I meandered about, occasionally breaking out in an awkward breast stroke. Sophie even took her turn around the pool, causing her diaper expand to max capacity. She was amazingly nonchalant about the experience. I'm pretty sure I'd be freaking out if I were a helpless baby submerged in a huge pool. Afterwards, we went to see Up which turned out to be a wonderfully touching and funny movie. I highly recommend you see it. Pronto.


For dinner, we met up with the whole gang at CPK where we were dismayed to find calorie counts listed for all the menu items. What the hell? I don't want to know that a whole pizza is 1200 calories. Ignorance is bliss! Just let me eat in peace (if you're curious, I still ate my entire pizza). Stuffed, we hit up Whole Foods for grill out groceries and then went to Spike and Frog's for an intense game of Cranium. The highlight of the game was the riveting garden gnome that Buckeye drew. As my people would say: simpry amajing.

On Saturday, I woke up early and busily prepped the food for our big grill out. Around noon, everyone started arriving and the festivities began! Kris and Si brought veggie burgers, veggie dogs, and buns. Spike and Frog bought potato salad, chips and salsa, guacamole, paper plates and fun decor. Kim brought condiments and Kev brought Leslie and root beer. The Bunnies contributed veggie kebobs, shrimp kebobs (recipe available upon request), chicken wings (recipe courtesy of Kara's mom and therefore intensely guarded), and corn with jalapeno lime butter. For dessert, Spike and Frog brought a delicious key lime pie and I made strawberry shortcake (recipe available upon request). The cake came out really well. Who doesn't like whipped cream?? Finally to top it all off, we had crisp juicy watermelon.

Some pictures for posterity:







Full beyond belief, I took a nap while the boys went to the park to throw the frisbee and football around. That night, we went out for sushi (more food) and then hung out playing our very own drinking version of monopoly. I love how you can turn any game into a drinking game. That's the American way.

On Sunday morning, I dragged my butt to yoga. Gotta tell you, yoga after all that food and alcohol is no good. I kept dropping hints to the teacher to take it easy on us. Groans here and groans there...a lot of belly holding. He might have accommodated me a bit :) but it was still a tough class. Afterwards, we went downtown, met up with Kev, and did a little shopping at Urban Outfitters and Blends, a sneaker shop. Then we went bowling at East Village Tavern where I bowled the best game of my life: 114! To wrap up the day, we met Kim and Marc at La Puerta for dinner. Delicious but overdone. Waaaay overdone. Painfully full, we played a few games of pool at Kev's apartment building before heading home.

Today, Buckeye returned home to his job at Bushykins while I returned to work. Badge returned to his role as cat dominator. This concludes our jam packed weekend. Till next 4th of July!

Bring It On

Several weeks ago, Badge and I went to a yoga potluck where the hostess told us about Community Supported Agriculture. CSA is a relationship between local farms and regular folk (such as yours truly) that allows you to purchase a share of the upcoming harvest each month. Your share can be large or small, weekly or bi-weekly, depending on your needs. This hostess gave glowing reviews about the quality and diversity of her weekly deliveries, and of course touted the "greenness" of buying local.

We were intrigued.

After researching a few local farms, we've decided to sign up for a weekly small CSA delivery from Seabreeze Organic Farm, located in the Carmel Valley area. They deliver right to your door (no you do not need to be home) and they even include a bouquet of flowers with each delivery. Every Monday, the weekly delivery is posted so you can plan your meals. This week's delivery consisted of the following:

Avocado, pink grapefruit, gala apples, oranges, peaches, summer squash or beans or mixed peppers or cucumbers, scallions or leeks, bok choi or Swiss chard, mixed sprouts, lavender, Spanish onions, lettuce, salad with edible flowers, celery and a bouquet of flowers.

Love it. I can't wait to get our first delivery and check out the goodies! It will be interesting (and challenging I'm sure) to plan meals based on available produce, rather than buying produce based on planned meals. I'm ready to flex my culinary muscles.