Language List #1: secondary tongues
1. The Bad news.
My German is much worse than I'd anticipated. I only studied it for a year and a half and never really had a chance to use it much. Thus most of it is gone.
2. The Good news.
My French is much better than I'd anticipated. I haven't had a reason to use it in 13 years, but after a few bumps it was up and running. The accent was still decent and yes, I was able to eavesdrop (one of the great pleasures of sitting at a cafe is eavesdropping)!
Language List #2: my native tongue
(really just a way to write a little about reading in the same post)
1. What I read:
Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati
Another thumping good read (sequel to Into the Wilderness) that happily occupied my moments of down-time while in Europe. A little willing-suspension-of-disbelief was necessary (how many times can Nathaniel be shot and recover easily?) but I was happy to do my part in the suspension. I was also pleased that my recent non-fiction reading of John Adams helped me recognize some of the political events mentioned, specifically the French-English-American conflicts at sea.
2. What I wanted to read:
Fallen by David Maine
I started this book the day before the flight home and I am loving it. It was my great misfortune to be seated next to a neurotic yacker on the plane otherwise I'd be much further along. But I didn't want to half-read it and the neurotic yacker kept interrupting me despite ample evidence that I WAS READING. (I don't think anyone in his life reads books so he probably wasn't aware of the social cues I was sending out like holding the book up to my face and mumbling "mmmmhmmm" in a distracted sort of fashion while he yacked on about the joys of free alcohol available in coach class and what would happen when he went through US customs...)
Language List #3: What I missed
1. Good book talk (and the food that accompanied it):
My book group met while I was gone so I didn't get to eat the fabulous looking Mexican meal that accompanied All the Pretty Horses or take part in the discussion.
2. Making a choice:
I also didn't get to hear the selection process for what our group will read next, though I'm perfectly content with the book chosen (I often think that what people anticipate and want out of a book before reading it is just as interesting as what they think of it afterwards) . We'll be reading Pope Joan by Donna Cross. My only knowledge of Pope Joan comes from Caryl Churchill's 1982 play Top Girls in which Pope Joan is one of five historical female characters at a dinner party in a London restaurant. The other 4 are Isabella Bird--a Victorian explorer; Lady Nijo a 13th C. courtesan who becomes a Buddhist nun and travels across Japan; Dull Gret, a character from a Breugel painting who leads a charge through hell; and Patient Griselda, a loyal and obedient wife from the Clerk's Tale in Chaucer's Cantebury Tales. Top Girls is great play (though the form of feminism in the voice of the contemporary woman who invited all the characters to the party reads today as a little heavy handed, very 1982) and I remember the character of Pope Joan the best of all, particularly the point in the play where she talks about being pregnant and having the baby while in a papal procession thus giving away the fact that she is female. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading Cross' novel about the character.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
I've got a little list...
Rather than launching into an exhaustive (and exhausting) narrative of the trip to Germany and France, I thought I'd make a few lists since
1. I like reading lists on other people's blogs.
2. I'm still pretty whacked out on what time it is; my thoughts are certainly not coming in coherent bursts. Lists will hopefully keep the digressions from taking over.
3. I must be able to stop this at any moment and lavish love all over my two critters who I missed so much I really did have trouble breathing at times.
4. I left the camera with Brian (who is still in Germany) so he could take lots of pictures of the Porsches in the adjacent garage at the Nuerburgring for Ian (aka Porsche fiend). Thus I won't have access to my photos of nice foods, yarns, places, etc. until he returns on Saturday.
(Sorry, I can't get accents or umlauts to work in Blogger.)
Food List # 1--what I loved:
1. The German's fondness for fresh dill. Just a touch in many salad dressings, chopped up with scallions as a garnish, etc.
2. Muesli and fresh fruit and thick yogurt for breakfast. If I had a house-elf, one of its main tasks would be to make sure there was fresh fruit salad in the fridge at all times.
3. Really lovely ham at breakfast. Cold, thin sliced and not at all slimy (the way bad ham can be).
4. The best apple I have tasted in years. I took an apple out of the fruit bowl of the lovely inn we were staying in near Nuerberg and it was perfect--incredibly crisp, sharp, not too sweet (which is one of my objections about many American apples). 'Tis the season for terrific apples in Michigan, but I'm pretty familiar with most of the varieties available at local orchards and the farmer's market and none of them have this apple's pure perfection. And no, I don't know the variety. If I had to guess I'd say there was some pippen in there, but it was bigger than the British Cox's Orange Pippen (which I also love).
5. Sorbet. Even the most mundane ice cream stall in France has better sorbet than you can buy here. Mind you they weren't as fabulous as the sorbets sold on Ile St Louis in Paris, made by Berthillon (I did find a site with some recipes to make sorbets like Berthillon's--first up in my house--Poire) which just blow your mind (I still vividly remember a double cone of apricot and chocolate sorbet that shot the pleasure center of my brain for a week or so). But even the most basic sorbets in France are damn good.
6. Les salades compose. Pretty much any cafe in France has an amazing assortment of the most fabulous salads--simple grated vegetable salads (like celery remoulade next to some lightly dressed beets mounded on leaves of butter lettuce), gorgeous big salads with toasts topped with warmed goat cheese, salade nicoise (even very far away from Provence), salads with slices of duck breast, or a perfect little dressed pile of sweet shrimp, you get the idea. For someone with a salad fetish such as I have, it would be a dream to have even one cafe in town where one could go and know that one's salad craving could be assuaged with no anxiety about gluey dressings, crappy lettuce or tired vegetables.
7. Reisling. I now have a white wine I love. Give me a dry reisling and I am a happy girl. I'm sure I'll still pick red for regular consumption, but now I know what white I'll keep in the house too.
8. Franziskaner Dunkel Hefeweisse. The best beer I had over there, and yes, you can get it here. I think Ashley's even has it on draft.
9. Poire William Eau de Vie, available just about everywhere as a digestif. I didn't have time to get a bottle, but I'll see if Brian can pick one up before he gets back (or else I just head over to Big 10).
FoodList #2--what I missed:
1. Whole wheat toast and multi-grain bread. Yes, even I have tired of the lovely little brotchen rolls at breakfast. France only does multigrain breads in segregated natural foods stores and in Germany the multigrain bread is of the brick-like rye variety (nice, but not what I crave).
Yup, that's about it in the missed food category! I'm heading off to Arbor Farms today to restock my supply of Ed's Bread Multigrain (makes the best toast, in my opinion).
I think I hear the critters stirring upstairs, so more lists (or perhaps a coherent paragraph) coming in future posts.
1. I like reading lists on other people's blogs.
2. I'm still pretty whacked out on what time it is; my thoughts are certainly not coming in coherent bursts. Lists will hopefully keep the digressions from taking over.
3. I must be able to stop this at any moment and lavish love all over my two critters who I missed so much I really did have trouble breathing at times.
4. I left the camera with Brian (who is still in Germany) so he could take lots of pictures of the Porsches in the adjacent garage at the Nuerburgring for Ian (aka Porsche fiend). Thus I won't have access to my photos of nice foods, yarns, places, etc. until he returns on Saturday.
(Sorry, I can't get accents or umlauts to work in Blogger.)
Food List # 1--what I loved:
1. The German's fondness for fresh dill. Just a touch in many salad dressings, chopped up with scallions as a garnish, etc.
2. Muesli and fresh fruit and thick yogurt for breakfast. If I had a house-elf, one of its main tasks would be to make sure there was fresh fruit salad in the fridge at all times.
3. Really lovely ham at breakfast. Cold, thin sliced and not at all slimy (the way bad ham can be).
4. The best apple I have tasted in years. I took an apple out of the fruit bowl of the lovely inn we were staying in near Nuerberg and it was perfect--incredibly crisp, sharp, not too sweet (which is one of my objections about many American apples). 'Tis the season for terrific apples in Michigan, but I'm pretty familiar with most of the varieties available at local orchards and the farmer's market and none of them have this apple's pure perfection. And no, I don't know the variety. If I had to guess I'd say there was some pippen in there, but it was bigger than the British Cox's Orange Pippen (which I also love).
5. Sorbet. Even the most mundane ice cream stall in France has better sorbet than you can buy here. Mind you they weren't as fabulous as the sorbets sold on Ile St Louis in Paris, made by Berthillon (I did find a site with some recipes to make sorbets like Berthillon's--first up in my house--Poire) which just blow your mind (I still vividly remember a double cone of apricot and chocolate sorbet that shot the pleasure center of my brain for a week or so). But even the most basic sorbets in France are damn good.
6. Les salades compose. Pretty much any cafe in France has an amazing assortment of the most fabulous salads--simple grated vegetable salads (like celery remoulade next to some lightly dressed beets mounded on leaves of butter lettuce), gorgeous big salads with toasts topped with warmed goat cheese, salade nicoise (even very far away from Provence), salads with slices of duck breast, or a perfect little dressed pile of sweet shrimp, you get the idea. For someone with a salad fetish such as I have, it would be a dream to have even one cafe in town where one could go and know that one's salad craving could be assuaged with no anxiety about gluey dressings, crappy lettuce or tired vegetables.
7. Reisling. I now have a white wine I love. Give me a dry reisling and I am a happy girl. I'm sure I'll still pick red for regular consumption, but now I know what white I'll keep in the house too.
8. Franziskaner Dunkel Hefeweisse. The best beer I had over there, and yes, you can get it here. I think Ashley's even has it on draft.
9. Poire William Eau de Vie, available just about everywhere as a digestif. I didn't have time to get a bottle, but I'll see if Brian can pick one up before he gets back (or else I just head over to Big 10).
FoodList #2--what I missed:
1. Whole wheat toast and multi-grain bread. Yes, even I have tired of the lovely little brotchen rolls at breakfast. France only does multigrain breads in segregated natural foods stores and in Germany the multigrain bread is of the brick-like rye variety (nice, but not what I crave).
Yup, that's about it in the missed food category! I'm heading off to Arbor Farms today to restock my supply of Ed's Bread Multigrain (makes the best toast, in my opinion).
I think I hear the critters stirring upstairs, so more lists (or perhaps a coherent paragraph) coming in future posts.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
the "stop" button
Someone at Zingerman's Bakehouse needs to find their "stop" button. They assaulted my circular piece of dough (which, silly me, I thought was an everything bagel) and turned it into a damn pretzel.
Can you see the salt crystals on that thing? Being Zingerman's of course the salt is supersized sea salt--the size of about 3 sesame seeds or double a kosher crystal--and this morning's-circular-pretzel is about as saline as they come.
And this is coming from me, a salt lover.
What am I doing photographing my bagel at 4:30 in the morning? Why procrastinating of course! I'm way too neurotic/excited about my trip to be sleeping at this hour and one of the top items on my list of crap to do before leaving is clean the cat's poop box. So here I sit, bitching about a bagel.
Not only am I here, blogging about a heavy handed bakehouse employee, I'm also eating the oversalted circular pretzel (and no, I did not take the time to pick the excess salt off). It's a little hard to get down without thinking of how seawater burns your throat when you accidentally swallow it when swimming in the ocean (another reason to love the Great Lakes--no salt in the water--though of course no lobsters either...) but hey, at least at 4:30 am, my tastebuds aren't quite awake yet.
You all do know about the only affordable way to buy Zingerman's bagels, yes? I think these puppies are about a buck a piece regularly but on Tuesdays, that unassuming day in which (apparently) people don't eat enough bagels, Zingerman's sells a dozen bagels at half price. Yes, they are fresh, not day-old. And no, they won't sell you one bagel at half price; you have to purchase the whole hopping dozen. If you are picky about your flavors, you need to get there early because by the end of the day you may only have curry bagels to choose from (I don't actually know if they still have curry bagels, but I saw them there last year and thought they were an abomination and have averted my eyes ever since from any bagel with that tumeric-ish glow).
And the folks at the Bakehouse, bless them, have absorbed enough of their Zingtrain seminars not to sneer at you as a clear cheapskate when you come in and order the half price dozen and a loaf of the bread-of-the-month (also the only way I can regularly afford their bread, though the did pop the price up $.50 this month--Farm Bread is $3.50 a loaf rather than $2.99).
Yesterday I actually violated my tightwad principles and bought a little spinach pine-nut quiche to eat on the plane tonight. I justified the price by thinking of it as defensive stomach protection that one should have to board an aircraft. Kind of like a life vest for the tummy. (It will probably make my tummy look rather like a life vest).
And since this is already a rambling, slightly hysterical (not as in funny, as in wound a little too tight for comfort) post, with an utter excess of parenthesis (that's how my brain functions at 4:30 am), I might as well go off on a ramble about Tuesdays.
Apparently Tuesdays are a popular tightwad day, perhaps because of the alliterative quality of the phrase Tightwad Tuesday. The Briarwood movies have re-opened as a tightwad house; there has been a void since the Fox Village closed for those of us not willing to spend $19 for a movie with our sweetie. But now Briarwood has opened to fill that void (until they too realize that their business plan is destined for failure). Briarwood Dollar Movies 4 has set prices at $1 before 6 PM and $1.50 after 6 PM and, get this, 50 cents all day Tuesday!
Back when I lived in Berkeley there was a Theater on Solano Ave that had Tightwad Tuesdays and it was the only way, as a grad student, that I got to go to films. And now, oh joy, there is one in that little imitation Berkeley of the Midwest, Ann Arbor. There are certain films that are not much fun on our little bitty TV at home (limited in its size since it is housed in an antique ice box)--namely dopey fun action films. But I am loath to spend $19 to go see a film like that.
I'll be seeing you other tightwads at the Briarwood movies on Tuesday evenings, and yea, I'd be happy to bring you a tightwad bagel/pretzel to enjoy with your film. (The big hitch in this plan is that my knitting group meets on Tuesday evenings at Sweetwaters. But there has been some talk of having a Thursday evening meet up at the new Caribou Coffee where the old Food and Drug used to be.)
Hey, thanks for still being with me! I didn't think you'd make it this far what with all the insane rambling...but wait! There's more!
I need to send out a quick blessing to Sarah who has come to the rescue by loaning me a set of size 2 bamboo double pointed needles so I can continue knitting my sock on the airplane. Emily, the knitting chemist, was kind enough to send me this link from the Transportation Security Administration with lots of info about knitting needles. If you had gone to their basic list of permitted and banned items you would have thought that any knitting needle was OK and since there is no link to the special considerations page that Emily located you would have risked confiscation of your Addi Turbos.
I am particularly paranoid about them taking my needles (and thus depriving me of my sanity) since yesterday I read The Yarn Harlot's latest post about her misadventures knitting on a flight with a "weenie" (her word and such an apt one) who felt "threatened" by her double pointed needles. I read most of the comments (no small feat since last I checked there were 266 comments--the Harlot has quite a following) and my favorite was this one written by a knitting flight attendant:
Right after 9-11, I was flying to London and it was a three day trip. No way was I going to be without my knitting for three days. Unlike passengers, F/A's don't check their luggage, so I did the next best thing and put my bamboo circulars in my bra, hoping I wasn't going to get patted down. Never did have a problem at all. I always will have my knitting. Even during an emergency evacuation, Guess what I will be bringing down the slide?
I knew there was a disadvantage to being small breasted. No way could I pack bamboo circulars in my bra without looking like I had some sort of shunt-like medical device attacking me.
It turns out that Bakehouse employee is not the only one who needs to find the "stop" button--ok, I'm finally going to punch mine and go clean out that cat's poop box.
And this is coming from me, a salt lover.
What am I doing photographing my bagel at 4:30 in the morning? Why procrastinating of course! I'm way too neurotic/excited about my trip to be sleeping at this hour and one of the top items on my list of crap to do before leaving is clean the cat's poop box. So here I sit, bitching about a bagel.
Not only am I here, blogging about a heavy handed bakehouse employee, I'm also eating the oversalted circular pretzel (and no, I did not take the time to pick the excess salt off). It's a little hard to get down without thinking of how seawater burns your throat when you accidentally swallow it when swimming in the ocean (another reason to love the Great Lakes--no salt in the water--though of course no lobsters either...) but hey, at least at 4:30 am, my tastebuds aren't quite awake yet.
You all do know about the only affordable way to buy Zingerman's bagels, yes? I think these puppies are about a buck a piece regularly but on Tuesdays, that unassuming day in which (apparently) people don't eat enough bagels, Zingerman's sells a dozen bagels at half price. Yes, they are fresh, not day-old. And no, they won't sell you one bagel at half price; you have to purchase the whole hopping dozen. If you are picky about your flavors, you need to get there early because by the end of the day you may only have curry bagels to choose from (I don't actually know if they still have curry bagels, but I saw them there last year and thought they were an abomination and have averted my eyes ever since from any bagel with that tumeric-ish glow).
And the folks at the Bakehouse, bless them, have absorbed enough of their Zingtrain seminars not to sneer at you as a clear cheapskate when you come in and order the half price dozen and a loaf of the bread-of-the-month (also the only way I can regularly afford their bread, though the did pop the price up $.50 this month--Farm Bread is $3.50 a loaf rather than $2.99).
Yesterday I actually violated my tightwad principles and bought a little spinach pine-nut quiche to eat on the plane tonight. I justified the price by thinking of it as defensive stomach protection that one should have to board an aircraft. Kind of like a life vest for the tummy. (It will probably make my tummy look rather like a life vest).
And since this is already a rambling, slightly hysterical (not as in funny, as in wound a little too tight for comfort) post, with an utter excess of parenthesis (that's how my brain functions at 4:30 am), I might as well go off on a ramble about Tuesdays.
Apparently Tuesdays are a popular tightwad day, perhaps because of the alliterative quality of the phrase Tightwad Tuesday. The Briarwood movies have re-opened as a tightwad house; there has been a void since the Fox Village closed for those of us not willing to spend $19 for a movie with our sweetie. But now Briarwood has opened to fill that void (until they too realize that their business plan is destined for failure). Briarwood Dollar Movies 4 has set prices at $1 before 6 PM and $1.50 after 6 PM and, get this, 50 cents all day Tuesday!
Back when I lived in Berkeley there was a Theater on Solano Ave that had Tightwad Tuesdays and it was the only way, as a grad student, that I got to go to films. And now, oh joy, there is one in that little imitation Berkeley of the Midwest, Ann Arbor. There are certain films that are not much fun on our little bitty TV at home (limited in its size since it is housed in an antique ice box)--namely dopey fun action films. But I am loath to spend $19 to go see a film like that.
I'll be seeing you other tightwads at the Briarwood movies on Tuesday evenings, and yea, I'd be happy to bring you a tightwad bagel/pretzel to enjoy with your film. (The big hitch in this plan is that my knitting group meets on Tuesday evenings at Sweetwaters. But there has been some talk of having a Thursday evening meet up at the new Caribou Coffee where the old Food and Drug used to be.)
Hey, thanks for still being with me! I didn't think you'd make it this far what with all the insane rambling...but wait! There's more!
I need to send out a quick blessing to Sarah who has come to the rescue by loaning me a set of size 2 bamboo double pointed needles so I can continue knitting my sock on the airplane. Emily, the knitting chemist, was kind enough to send me this link from the Transportation Security Administration with lots of info about knitting needles. If you had gone to their basic list of permitted and banned items you would have thought that any knitting needle was OK and since there is no link to the special considerations page that Emily located you would have risked confiscation of your Addi Turbos.
I am particularly paranoid about them taking my needles (and thus depriving me of my sanity) since yesterday I read The Yarn Harlot's latest post about her misadventures knitting on a flight with a "weenie" (her word and such an apt one) who felt "threatened" by her double pointed needles. I read most of the comments (no small feat since last I checked there were 266 comments--the Harlot has quite a following) and my favorite was this one written by a knitting flight attendant:
Right after 9-11, I was flying to London and it was a three day trip. No way was I going to be without my knitting for three days. Unlike passengers, F/A's don't check their luggage, so I did the next best thing and put my bamboo circulars in my bra, hoping I wasn't going to get patted down. Never did have a problem at all. I always will have my knitting. Even during an emergency evacuation, Guess what I will be bringing down the slide?
I knew there was a disadvantage to being small breasted. No way could I pack bamboo circulars in my bra without looking like I had some sort of shunt-like medical device attacking me.
It turns out that Bakehouse employee is not the only one who needs to find the "stop" button--ok, I'm finally going to punch mine and go clean out that cat's poop box.
Monday, October 03, 2005
A flurry of activity
I think I may have forgotten to mention that I'm leaving for a trip to Germany and France on Wednesday. Brian has a work trip at the Nuerburgring (a humongous race track) in Germany. He left yesterday and I'm going to meet him on Wednesday. The way the track works he is, get this, NOT ALLOWED TO WORK from Friday noon till Tuesday morning. During the week he tests and calibrates cars on the ring, but on the weekend, the place is booked with real races. He isn't even able to stay in the hotel there over the weekend because it is full up with people coming to the races.
So this is an enforced vacation weekend and rather than leave him to explore on his own, I am going to join him. I leave on Wednesday evening and fly back Tuesday morning so that is 5 full days in Europe. It also helps in the justification that Brian's birthday is Friday (which we plan to celebrate at "the highest beer garden in Trier") and we just passed our 6th wedding anniversary so we can wrap a whole bunch of celebrating into one trip.
We plan to leave the ring on Friday and go to Trier, then two days in Strasbourg (where Brian has been many times, again, on work trips) and then one day in Heidelberg before I fly back. He stays at the ring for the rest of the week. It has been so damn long since I've been to Europe--the old pre-Euro days--and I've never been to this part of Germany or France.
I'm a little nervous, not about the travel, but because this will be the first time I'm away from the kids for more than two nights in 5.5 years! The grannies are teaming up to care for them and the kids will probably be in high heaven while I'm gone, getting away with murder and allowed to eat pizza for dinner every night. I know day 1 and 2 will feel terrific--I'm even looking forward to an 8 hour flight in Coach class because that means lots of time to read and knit. But I am fully prepared to freak out on day 3 and miss my critters so much that I won't be able to breathe.
Don't I sound like a fun person to travel with? Oy....Hopefully Brian and I will still remember how to function as a couple without our usual two small human appendages.
I'm trying to channel my anticipated anxiety into useful actions before leaving--doesn't one have to clean out the freezer and sort through the kids' outgrown toys and clothes before leaving? At least I am not alone in this flurry of activity. On Saturday Brian (who is usually is the clear winner in the sanity department in our marriage) decided that the basement had to be cleaned out before he left, because you know you can't enjoy Europe with a dirty basement at home. He also went through about 5 years worth of old paid bills and account statements and shredded so much paper that the shredder was smoking. So maybe there is a neurotic soul hiding under that Dude-like mellow exterior.
I should be doing a little research on the web about what one should not miss in the specific locations we are visiting (besides my obvious desire to eat everything yummy and peruse available yarn), but I gotta go clean out that freezer...
So this is an enforced vacation weekend and rather than leave him to explore on his own, I am going to join him. I leave on Wednesday evening and fly back Tuesday morning so that is 5 full days in Europe. It also helps in the justification that Brian's birthday is Friday (which we plan to celebrate at "the highest beer garden in Trier") and we just passed our 6th wedding anniversary so we can wrap a whole bunch of celebrating into one trip.
We plan to leave the ring on Friday and go to Trier, then two days in Strasbourg (where Brian has been many times, again, on work trips) and then one day in Heidelberg before I fly back. He stays at the ring for the rest of the week. It has been so damn long since I've been to Europe--the old pre-Euro days--and I've never been to this part of Germany or France.
I'm a little nervous, not about the travel, but because this will be the first time I'm away from the kids for more than two nights in 5.5 years! The grannies are teaming up to care for them and the kids will probably be in high heaven while I'm gone, getting away with murder and allowed to eat pizza for dinner every night. I know day 1 and 2 will feel terrific--I'm even looking forward to an 8 hour flight in Coach class because that means lots of time to read and knit. But I am fully prepared to freak out on day 3 and miss my critters so much that I won't be able to breathe.
Don't I sound like a fun person to travel with? Oy....Hopefully Brian and I will still remember how to function as a couple without our usual two small human appendages.
I'm trying to channel my anticipated anxiety into useful actions before leaving--doesn't one have to clean out the freezer and sort through the kids' outgrown toys and clothes before leaving? At least I am not alone in this flurry of activity. On Saturday Brian (who is usually is the clear winner in the sanity department in our marriage) decided that the basement had to be cleaned out before he left, because you know you can't enjoy Europe with a dirty basement at home. He also went through about 5 years worth of old paid bills and account statements and shredded so much paper that the shredder was smoking. So maybe there is a neurotic soul hiding under that Dude-like mellow exterior.
I should be doing a little research on the web about what one should not miss in the specific locations we are visiting (besides my obvious desire to eat everything yummy and peruse available yarn), but I gotta go clean out that freezer...
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Knitting en plein air
Gotta practice my French (and the possibly irretrievably rusty German) for my upcoming trip, so here is my knitting helping me out by modeling en plein air.
Here is what two socks on one circular needle looks like when the knitter has a problem with tangles:
Those two balls of Knitpicks Essential sock yarn in Grass look like their are gently flanking the mess on the needles, but don't let them fool you. If I blink, they have wound their way around each other in a knot. So despite the lovely step-by-step instructions that Keely pointed me to on the web, I think knitting two socks on one circ is gonna drive me batty. I love the idea of finishing both socks at the same time, but fear that my problem with tangles leaves me ineligible for such a technique. So I'm going to rip out one of the socks and just proceed in my plodding old magic loop one sock at a time way.
In other miscellaneous projects, I present a whole lot of knitted spaghetti:
Am I on a strange diet where one knits food rather than eating it? Moi? (little more French practice) Mais non! Instead I am attempting to knit a Flying Spaghetti Monster (and if you have already checked out the web site, go back. It has been updated and is funnier than ever). Hillary Lang sewed a meatball-less version and on Flickr there are a number of other attempts but so far no knitted versions, so when I need something truly brainless, I knit I-cord spaghetti. I am still in search of the perfect meatball textured and colored yarn--I'm thinking maybe a boucle will look sort of meaty. If you spy something that you think would work for meatball, please let me know!
Here is what two socks on one circular needle looks like when the knitter has a problem with tangles:
In other miscellaneous projects, I present a whole lot of knitted spaghetti:
Monday, September 26, 2005
Family portrait
Sometimes you just have to set your obsessions aside to goof around on the Internet. If you are a South Park fan, you too may want to visit the South Park Studio 2 in order to render your nearest and dearest as squat, noseless characters.
I'm amazed how accurate these are...scarily so.
I'm amazed how accurate these are...scarily so.
The lumpen robot
I am attempting to teach myself how to sew--it does not come naturally at all to me. I feel like I'm about to stitch my finger when I operate the machine.
I have been tempted to embark on this process by the sight of Hillary Lang's fabulous stuffed robot, wr-892. I used her Wee Tutorial for a basic shape (see her Wee Gallery for the variety of wee's people have made from the tutorial) and added a little silver ribbon antenna and three small buttons (for further communication with the robot).
I have been tempted to embark on this process by the sight of Hillary Lang's fabulous stuffed robot, wr-892. I used her Wee Tutorial for a basic shape (see her Wee Gallery for the variety of wee's people have made from the tutorial) and added a little silver ribbon antenna and three small buttons (for further communication with the robot).
The eyes may be a little crooked, the blue button a rather pathetic stab at satin stitch embroidery, and let's not talk about how misshapen the supposedly circular bottom piece is, but it was a satisfying little project and Fiona seems pretty pleased with the result.
In other weekend news, Lynne hosted a yarn-tasting party at her house on Saturday night. I was too lazy to swatch all the yarns available (Denise posted her swatch if you want to see the variety) but I did enjoy some satisfying yarn squeezing while eating copious quantities of cheese and chocolate washed down with wine.
I brought a raspberry tart made from the berries the critters and I picked on Friday afternoon. This is the same recipe from the May 2005 Cooks' Illustrated which blew me away when Sarah made it for her prosciutto party.
mmmm. Tarty goodness.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Colonial fascination
Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness has got me interested in the Colonial/Revolutionary period of US history so in an uncharacteristic mode, I am reading non-fiction for pleasure. I picked up David McCullough's John Adams at the library this week; he's one of the most accessible historians for those of us who are challenged by dry history writing. And since John and Abigail had such a lively correspondence, much of the book reads like an epistolary novel.
I'm still amazed at the big gaps in my knowledge after so damn much schooling. I wrote my first master's thesis while at UC Davis on some women writers in late 18th C England (Wollstonecraft, early Jane Austin, Sarah Scott, Charlotte Lennox, etc.) but it is amazing how little I know about the history and literature of the same period on the other side of the Atlantic. That's a pretty big gap since the American Revolution and ideas of liberty clearly had an impact on concepts of feminism for the period. I studied French writings and British reactions to the French revolution but not the American stuff. Geographical proximity bias? Genetic bias (with my Brit of a mum)? I can't quite believe my advisors let me get away with such a big gap of knowledge, but I guess that is the difference between an MA and a PhD.
Anyway, so far John Adams is proving to be a very good read and hopefully will tide me over till my copy of the next in the Donati/Wilderness series, Dawn on a Distant Shore, arrives from Amazon.
And since I can't just buy one book at a time (gotta get that super saver shipping, right?), I also decided to splurge and get David Maine's Fallen (in hardback!) and another Dan Zanes CD, Rocket Ship Beach, for my kids (ok, ok, and for me too. I confess that I love his kid music more than a lot of music intended for grown ups.)
I'm still amazed at the big gaps in my knowledge after so damn much schooling. I wrote my first master's thesis while at UC Davis on some women writers in late 18th C England (Wollstonecraft, early Jane Austin, Sarah Scott, Charlotte Lennox, etc.) but it is amazing how little I know about the history and literature of the same period on the other side of the Atlantic. That's a pretty big gap since the American Revolution and ideas of liberty clearly had an impact on concepts of feminism for the period. I studied French writings and British reactions to the French revolution but not the American stuff. Geographical proximity bias? Genetic bias (with my Brit of a mum)? I can't quite believe my advisors let me get away with such a big gap of knowledge, but I guess that is the difference between an MA and a PhD.
Anyway, so far John Adams is proving to be a very good read and hopefully will tide me over till my copy of the next in the Donati/Wilderness series, Dawn on a Distant Shore, arrives from Amazon.
And since I can't just buy one book at a time (gotta get that super saver shipping, right?), I also decided to splurge and get David Maine's Fallen (in hardback!) and another Dan Zanes CD, Rocket Ship Beach, for my kids (ok, ok, and for me too. I confess that I love his kid music more than a lot of music intended for grown ups.)
Thursday, September 22, 2005
At long last
Finally! The long, yet relatively simple, recipe.
I'm finally posting about the fabulous Pulau (Biryani) rice dish I learned in the Indian cooking class I took in August. I was talking to Laura last Friday about it and, as she put it, it does require one pain-in-the-butt shopping trip to the Indian market to stock up on the spices, but pretty much all the exotic stuff is shelf stable so once you have it in the house, you can easily make this dish.
Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients or the long instructions--this really is pretty darn easy and fast to make. To encourage you to read the whole long recipe, I present a photo of the finished dish:
The finished dish (this time made with rock shrimp) with a bowl of raita on the side.
Shahi Vegetable Pulau (Vegetable Biryani)
(with optional protein addition)
recipe from Bhanu Hajratwala
Serves 4-6 with generous portions
Ingredients are (conveniently) listed in the order in which they are used.
The Rice:
2 C basmati long grain rice
5 C water
2 T ghee
2 1/2 t salt
1 T Garam Masala
3/4 t tumeric
1. Wash and drain the rice. (Put the rice in a bowl and pour on cold water. Swish it around a bit and the water becomes cloudy. Drain off the cloudy water and do it again, and again, and again until the water is relatively clear.)
2. Mix all the ingredients above in a rice cooker. (If not using a rice cooker, bring rice and all ingredients to a boil, lower heat and simmer till all the water is evaporated and the rice is cooked.)
The rice should look like this when it is done.
The Vegetables:
1/4 C ghee (or mix 2 T ghee with the rest canola oil--ghee can be really expensive)
8 sticks of cinnamon, approximately 2 inches long each
12 whole cloves
12 green cardamom pods, whole
6 star anise pods, whole
1 t cumin seeds
12 fresh curry leaves (can be bought for about $1 a pack at Indian grocery stores. If you can't get them, you can either leave them out of the recipe or substitute 6 dried bay leaves--not the same flavor, but not a bad alternate).
1 large potato, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
6 green, hot chilies, decapped and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you are making this for kids or people who don't like heat, cut down the number of chilies. My mild version uses 2 jalapenos that I have seeded so I still get a little of the flavor without the heat.)
1 C frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans, etc.)
1 C cauliflower florets, small
1/2 C broccoli florets, small
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C unsalted cashews
1/4 C whole almonds
1/4 unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1 1/2 t salt
OPTIONAL: protein of your choice--1-2 C of cubed tofu, shrimp, small pieces of raw boneless chicken, etc.
1. Heat ghee (and oil if using) in a large pot.
2. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom and star anise till brown, and cover. Saute at medium heat till spices brown.
3. Add the cumin seeds and curry leaves (if using), cover and brown.
4. Add the potatoes and chilies, cover and cook till potatoes are almost cooked (approximately 10 minutes) stirring frequently.
5. Add all the vegetables and cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. If using the optional chicken or tofu, add now.
6. Add the raisins, cashews, almonds, and coconut.
7. Add the salt and stir well. If using the optional shrimp, add now.
8. Cook for two minutes, remove from heat and set aside.
Here are your vegetables with or without added protein (I used rock shrimp this time).
The Garnishes:
1 medium onion sliced very thin into half circles
oil for frying onion--about 1/4 inch in the bottom of a small pot
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C pomegranate seeds (optional--I've never had them but I bet they would taste great and look beautiful)
1. Heat oil on medium high and deep fry onion till dark brown. Spread on paper towel to drain oil.
Serving (two options)
Option 1--mix it all up
1. Put all the cooked rice in a large bowl and gently separate the rice grains so it isn't lumpy.
2. Add the vegetables and stir gently to mix.
3. Mound on a serving platter and garnish with the fried onions, cilantro and optional pomegranate seeds.
Option 2--keep it sort of separate (what I usually do since my kids like the rice part without the vegetables mixed in)
1. Pile the rice on a platter. Make a shallow well and put the vegetable mixture in the middle.
2. Top with friend onions, cilantro and optional pomegranate seeds. Can also put slices of cucumber, tomatoes, raw onions, etc. around the edge of the platter to decorate.
Pulau can be served warm or at room temperature (which makes it great for buffets and potlucks). It is a main course, but can also be served along with other dishes like a chicken or lamb curry.
(Note: The spices are left whole in this dish. If you will be serving this to people not used to Indian food, you may want to go through the rather laborious step and pick out all the whole spices and leaves after you finish the stir fry. I am way too lazy to do this. I issue a warning to diners not to eat the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, anise and curry leaves. A nice host would probably lay out little bowls on the table so that people have a place to deposit the spices they pick out.)
At this point you may think I am insane to call this a simple recipe. Let me explain. I made this last Friday and in the morning (one could also do this the night before) I got everything prepped: I washed the rice, I set out all the spices I would need, washed, cut up and measured vegetables and set them all aside.
When I came back from the playground with my kids at 5 pm, I mixed up the stuff for the rice and set it in the rice cooker, started the stirfry for the vegetables, and chopped up some cilantro for the garnish. The vegetables only took about 15-20 minutes total and I fried up the onion for the garnish at the same time. By the time the rice was done cooking (about 25 minutes in my rice cooker) everything was ready to be assembled. Dinner was ready by 5:30 I kid you not. There was even time to grate some cucumber into yogurt and make a simple raita.
I'm finally posting about the fabulous Pulau (Biryani) rice dish I learned in the Indian cooking class I took in August. I was talking to Laura last Friday about it and, as she put it, it does require one pain-in-the-butt shopping trip to the Indian market to stock up on the spices, but pretty much all the exotic stuff is shelf stable so once you have it in the house, you can easily make this dish.
Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients or the long instructions--this really is pretty darn easy and fast to make. To encourage you to read the whole long recipe, I present a photo of the finished dish:
The finished dish (this time made with rock shrimp) with a bowl of raita on the side.Shahi Vegetable Pulau (Vegetable Biryani)
(with optional protein addition)
recipe from Bhanu Hajratwala
Serves 4-6 with generous portions
Ingredients are (conveniently) listed in the order in which they are used.
The Rice:
2 C basmati long grain rice
5 C water
2 T ghee
2 1/2 t salt
1 T Garam Masala
3/4 t tumeric
1. Wash and drain the rice. (Put the rice in a bowl and pour on cold water. Swish it around a bit and the water becomes cloudy. Drain off the cloudy water and do it again, and again, and again until the water is relatively clear.)
2. Mix all the ingredients above in a rice cooker. (If not using a rice cooker, bring rice and all ingredients to a boil, lower heat and simmer till all the water is evaporated and the rice is cooked.)
The rice should look like this when it is done.The Vegetables:
1/4 C ghee (or mix 2 T ghee with the rest canola oil--ghee can be really expensive)
8 sticks of cinnamon, approximately 2 inches long each
12 whole cloves
12 green cardamom pods, whole
6 star anise pods, whole
1 t cumin seeds
12 fresh curry leaves (can be bought for about $1 a pack at Indian grocery stores. If you can't get them, you can either leave them out of the recipe or substitute 6 dried bay leaves--not the same flavor, but not a bad alternate).
1 large potato, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
6 green, hot chilies, decapped and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you are making this for kids or people who don't like heat, cut down the number of chilies. My mild version uses 2 jalapenos that I have seeded so I still get a little of the flavor without the heat.)
1 C frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans, etc.)
1 C cauliflower florets, small
1/2 C broccoli florets, small
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C unsalted cashews
1/4 C whole almonds
1/4 unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1 1/2 t salt
OPTIONAL: protein of your choice--1-2 C of cubed tofu, shrimp, small pieces of raw boneless chicken, etc.
1. Heat ghee (and oil if using) in a large pot.
2. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom and star anise till brown, and cover. Saute at medium heat till spices brown.
3. Add the cumin seeds and curry leaves (if using), cover and brown.
4. Add the potatoes and chilies, cover and cook till potatoes are almost cooked (approximately 10 minutes) stirring frequently.
5. Add all the vegetables and cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. If using the optional chicken or tofu, add now.
6. Add the raisins, cashews, almonds, and coconut.
7. Add the salt and stir well. If using the optional shrimp, add now.
8. Cook for two minutes, remove from heat and set aside.
Here are your vegetables with or without added protein (I used rock shrimp this time).The Garnishes:
1 medium onion sliced very thin into half circles
oil for frying onion--about 1/4 inch in the bottom of a small pot
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C pomegranate seeds (optional--I've never had them but I bet they would taste great and look beautiful)
1. Heat oil on medium high and deep fry onion till dark brown. Spread on paper towel to drain oil.
Yes, your onions really should be this dark of a brown.
Serving (two options)
Option 1--mix it all up
1. Put all the cooked rice in a large bowl and gently separate the rice grains so it isn't lumpy.
2. Add the vegetables and stir gently to mix.
3. Mound on a serving platter and garnish with the fried onions, cilantro and optional pomegranate seeds.
Option 2--keep it sort of separate (what I usually do since my kids like the rice part without the vegetables mixed in)
1. Pile the rice on a platter. Make a shallow well and put the vegetable mixture in the middle.
2. Top with friend onions, cilantro and optional pomegranate seeds. Can also put slices of cucumber, tomatoes, raw onions, etc. around the edge of the platter to decorate.
Pulau can be served warm or at room temperature (which makes it great for buffets and potlucks). It is a main course, but can also be served along with other dishes like a chicken or lamb curry.
(Note: The spices are left whole in this dish. If you will be serving this to people not used to Indian food, you may want to go through the rather laborious step and pick out all the whole spices and leaves after you finish the stir fry. I am way too lazy to do this. I issue a warning to diners not to eat the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, anise and curry leaves. A nice host would probably lay out little bowls on the table so that people have a place to deposit the spices they pick out.)
At this point you may think I am insane to call this a simple recipe. Let me explain. I made this last Friday and in the morning (one could also do this the night before) I got everything prepped: I washed the rice, I set out all the spices I would need, washed, cut up and measured vegetables and set them all aside.
When I came back from the playground with my kids at 5 pm, I mixed up the stuff for the rice and set it in the rice cooker, started the stirfry for the vegetables, and chopped up some cilantro for the garnish. The vegetables only took about 15-20 minutes total and I fried up the onion for the garnish at the same time. By the time the rice was done cooking (about 25 minutes in my rice cooker) everything was ready to be assembled. Dinner was ready by 5:30 I kid you not. There was even time to grate some cucumber into yogurt and make a simple raita.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
I'm getting hooked on these interludes...
Interlude of the day: take a look at this blog entry at The Panopticon for a hilarious cartoon of man-vs.-sweater.
Yesterday evening I intended to go to my knitting group, but then realized that I had screwed up the Ribby Cardigan for about the 18th time. So I ripped it out back down to the armhole decreases (again) and resigned myself to knitting the top portion the way it is written in the pattern--fronts, arms and backs separate and then sewn together along the raglan seams. I am definitely not smart enough to modify this pattern in its entirety from flat to round (though I still am pleased that I won't have to seam the sides and arm lengths). When it came time to leave to go down to Sweetwaters Cafe I was ensnared in a huge tangle of wool (see photo number 9 from The Panopticon's cartoon) that had to be tamed and kept me home.
It was a good thing I did rip it out because I discovered that I had been really sloppy when it came to putting the stitches back on the needles the last time I ripped it. One side was about 4 stitches shorter than the other. Did I forget to count? Yup, looks that way!
While watching House last night (my Hugh Laurie crush deepens) I discovered that following a pattern can be much easier than struggling with your own interpretation.I think I'll leave improvisation to the kitchen for the time being. I almost finished the left front side of the cardigan and only screwed up (or only noticed that I'd screwed up) once doing a K2tog rather than a SSK (blame Hugh for distracting me).
Yesterday evening I intended to go to my knitting group, but then realized that I had screwed up the Ribby Cardigan for about the 18th time. So I ripped it out back down to the armhole decreases (again) and resigned myself to knitting the top portion the way it is written in the pattern--fronts, arms and backs separate and then sewn together along the raglan seams. I am definitely not smart enough to modify this pattern in its entirety from flat to round (though I still am pleased that I won't have to seam the sides and arm lengths). When it came time to leave to go down to Sweetwaters Cafe I was ensnared in a huge tangle of wool (see photo number 9 from The Panopticon's cartoon) that had to be tamed and kept me home.
It was a good thing I did rip it out because I discovered that I had been really sloppy when it came to putting the stitches back on the needles the last time I ripped it. One side was about 4 stitches shorter than the other. Did I forget to count? Yup, looks that way!
While watching House last night (my Hugh Laurie crush deepens) I discovered that following a pattern can be much easier than struggling with your own interpretation.I think I'll leave improvisation to the kitchen for the time being. I almost finished the left front side of the cardigan and only screwed up (or only noticed that I'd screwed up) once doing a K2tog rather than a SSK (blame Hugh for distracting me).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)