Moderation in winter

I had a little reminder of what it is like to be a normal grown up rather than a slave to kid-sized creatures this week. I also discovered that it isn't as hard to be social during my normally reclusive month of February as I had been making it out to be. I met friends for drinks twice in one week.

The first event took place after a parent's meeting at my kid's preschool (Open house March 7! Ms. Juli is GOD!). Lea and I headed down to a newish Cuban restaurant called Cafe Habana and sat at the bar and tried their Mojitos. Sarah and Brian met us after they had an elementary school parent's meeting ('tis the season) and we all reveled in the opportunity to a)be in a bar on a week night! b)talk to grown ups! c)stay up past 9:30 pm (the time at which I usually have wrestled my resistant sleepers into submission and promptly collapsed myself). The drinks were good but the noise and smoke level made me prefer the also-good Mojitos at Zanzibar.

When we left the bar and were walking back to the car, Lea and I noticed the moon looking a little funny. As the driver, I had only consumed one Mojito, so I didn't think it was alcohol to blame for my perception--the moon looked weirdly red and round. When we got home and I checked with my resident astronomer, I found out that we had been seeing the lunar eclipse! It was really beautiful (if you missed it, check out all these images on Flickr) and I think I enjoyed it even more because of the chance factor--no planning, just the luck of being out at night with a friend and looking up into a clear night sky.

Then last night I skipped out at 8:30 and met my friend Emily at The Earle. I discovered that it wasn't that hard to leave the house (even for the second time in a week) and meet up with a friend after the kids were (mostly) ready for bed. It was really, really good to reconnect with an old friend from my UMS days who I have not seen in way too long. I also discovered that The Earle has one of my favorite wines on their wine-by-the-glass menu at the moment--Woop Woop Australian Shiraz 2006.

The key these grown up evenings being workable is moderation--I didn't stay out really late either time and I didn't have more than one alcoholic drink, so getting up the next morning and dealing with the responsibilities of the day weren't difficult at all. I think in the past I've been so relieved to get a break that I have perhaps indulged too much and for too long and then regretted it the next day. Fatigue and dehydration made me think that meeting up with friends in winter was just too hard to do regularly, but now I think I can make the rest of this grim season a little more tolerable by scheduling more evenings of moderation.

And with that realization, I ask for recommendations so I can diversify my locations beyond Zanzibar and The Earle. I'm ok with being a frequent patron of these two places, but I'd bet there are other places I don't know about that I'd enjoy too. Send me your suggestions of other bars/restaurants that fulfill the following conditions:
1) a non-smoking section
2) not too loud to have a conversation
3) they are ok with you ordering one drink and hanging out for a while on a weeknight when no-one else is waiting for your table or seat (I love the wait staff at the Earle--they totally get it that grown ups need a place to talk over a glass of wine and I've never felt rushed there; yes, I tip accordingly, as though my table was a cab with a meter running, not just a percentage of the cost of my one glass of wine).
4) While there may be nicely attired patrons, you don't feel like you have to get gussied up to go there--I'm just too damn tired for gussying on a weeknight.

Maru

I have a new favorite place for Bi Bim Bop: Maru. The restaurant is located where Seoul Korner used to be, at William and Thompson streets. I liked Seoul Korner--it was what I think of as decent "campus" Korean. But I really like Maru. The menu is much more varied and broad--you can get all kinds of bi bim bop, including Haecho Bibimbap (Seaweed Bibimbap) and Hoedeopbap (Raw Fish Bibimbap).

So far I have had the Dolsot Bi Bim Bop twice, once with beef and once with tofu. I don't usually order the same thing twice, but it has been wicked cold here and the weather has made me crave toasty rice.
The second time (pictured above with tofu) the stone bowl was hotter than the first and the rice on the bottom developed the perfect crunchy-chewy toastyness:

Mmm...rice therapy for winter

Brian ordered the spicy squid which was really good--it looked like it would burn a hole in his stomach, but really was more flavorful than just hot.

And I loved the banchan--those little free tasty bits that they bring to the table. Both times there was some standarad napa cabbage kimchi, a peppery bean sprout dish, and a sweet seaweed and daikon salad. The first time I went there was also a lovely turnip kimchi and a dish of chewy gluten strips. The second time I went there was one weird banchan that I left alone (pictured in the upper right corner of the first photo), bits of pickled cabbage mixed with...sliced hot dogs. It's probably some sort of family comfort food because this is a place that also has Spam in a few of the dishes on its menu.

Next time I go I plan to branch out a bit. If it is cold out, I want to try their Kimchi jjigae, which is a big bowl of kimchi, tofu and pork soup. If it is warmish (and by that I mean that my face doesn't feel like it'll fall off from the cold--I've lowered my standards for what counts as warm by this time in February) I want to order the Raw Fish Bi Bim Bop.

If you are a Democrat in Michigan, please read this

I usually try not to go on political rants here, but today is the day that, had the Michigan Democratic Party not screwed it up, I would have been able to vote for my chosen presidential candidate. As it is, I went to the polls in January and my vote counted for nothing since the Michigan delegates to the Democratic Convention won't be seated.

So today I am writing and e-mailing prominent Democrats to urge them to schedule a state caucus and to reinfranchise the Michigan Democratic voters. Yes, they do have the ability to schedule a caucus and use the results of the caucus, rather than the fiasco primary, to send legitimate candidates to the convention. The DNC wants them to do this. But guess what is getting in the way? The egos of the people who decided on the January primary in the first place.

If you'd like a little more info about this mess here are a few recommendations:

• Article by the Associate Press in the Boston Globe (may require free registration)
• The first hour of Monday, Feb 12th Diane Rehm show on NPR
• Unfortunately a good Wall Street Journal Article is now only available to paid subscribers but if you happen to be one, go here to read it.
• An "Other Voices" column in the Ann Arbor News ran today. It is a bit more anti-Hillary than I'd like since I think that the failed primary disenfranchised these voters too, but lots of sentiments and the frustration level are right on.
  

If you have other good sources of on-line info, please leave the link in the comments section and I'll try to update this list.

I've copied in the letter I intend to send below, and I urge you to copy whatever parts of the letter you like or write your own letter and send it to the prominent Democrats who could fix this problem.

These are the people to whom I'm sending this letter (contact information for each of them is listed below the letter):

Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman
Governor Jennifer Granholm
US Senator Carl Levin
US Senator Debbie Stabenow
US Representative John Dingell (my rep)
State Senator Liz Brater (who is my state Senator)
State Representative Rebekah Warren (who is my state Rep.)
Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee
Debbie Dingell (an MDPC spokesperson who has been vocal in support of the failed January primary and in her assertion that she thinks Michigan's delegates from the fiasco primary will be seated at the national convention)

If you can think of anyone else I should be contacting, again, please let me know in the comments section.

And to State Senator Tupac Hunter, who has already publicly called for a Democratic Caucus to be scheduled, I plan to write a letter of thanks.


SAMPLE LETTER

Dear ____,

I am writing to you today to urge you to support scheduling a Michigan Democratic Caucus to select a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.

The point of the January primary was to bring attention to Michigan’s unique issues from candidates. Clearly that policy backfired, with no candidate except Dennis Kucinich campaigning in our state and with the absurd predicament of 40% of voters claiming they were “uncommitted” when really the name of the candidate they supported was not on the ballot. Instead, Michigan’s Democratic primary has become a bad joke and a show of incompetence.

Recently, there have been articles in the Wall Street Journal (2/9/08), discussions on NPR’s Diane Rehm show (2/11/08), and most importantly, discussions among the Democratic voters in the state about reinfranchising the Michigan Democratic voter. Scheduling a Michigan Democratic Caucus in the coming months will serve the purpose that was initially intended by the early primary—all eyes will be on Michigan if there is a caucus, Clinton and Obama will campaign in our state and address our unique (particularly economic) issues, and Michigan could play a pivotal role in deciding the next President of the United States. I can’t think of a better way to put Michigan and our issues at center stage.

This will also eliminate what I think is an even graver issue—squabbling at the Democratic National Convention about whether or not to seat Michigan’s (and Florida’s) delegates. I believe that if this happens, it will not reflect well on our party and will present to the world the image of a party that can’t get along. This will not improve the opinion of undecided voters and could alienate loyal Democrats as well.

It will require some courage to stand up and admit that a mistake was made in holding the primary in January. I don’t think anyone likes to admit they made a wrong decision, much less prominent politicians. But I believe that the Democratic voters of this state will feel such a sense of relief that they will support any politician who has the guts to do this. I also believe that the DNC could ease this problem and allow these politicians to maintain their dignity with a show of enthusiastic support for the caucus idea and for the leaders who stand up and call for it.

I honestly don’t think it matters which candidate you support; if you support Clinton or Obama, you want your vote and your delegates to count. I think the stakes are higher for Obama supporters since his name was not even on the ballot, but I think Clinton supporters would prefer to re-vote in a caucus than to have their vote for their candidate seem illegitimate.

I have a wide circle of friends who traditionally vote Democratic and all of them have expressed frustration with our disenfranchisement in the January primary. I would be an enthusiastic caucus goer if given the opportunity, not resentful that I have to take the time to vote (again), but relieved that my vote will finally count.

I urge you to publicly support and call for a Democratic Presidential Caucus.

Sincerely,

Kate Remen-Wait
817 W Summit St
Ann Arbor MI 48103

CONTACT INFORMATION

Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman
606 Townsend St.
Lansing MI 48933

Governor Jennifer Granholm
Governor's Office
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing MI 48909

US Senator Carl Levin
http://levin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
(because of security issues, it takes 1-2 months for a Senator to get a letter--much better to contact them by e-mail)

US Senator Debbie Stabenow
http://stabenow.senate.gov/email.cfm
(because of security issues, it takes 1-2 months for a Senator to get a letter--much better to contact them by e-mail)

US Representative John Dingell
http://www.house.gov/dingell/contact.htm
(because of security issues, it takes 1-2 months for a Representative to get a letter--much better to contact them by e-mail)

State Senator Liz Brater
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing MI 48909-7536

State Representative Rebekah Warren
House Office Building
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing MI 48909-7514

Howard Dean
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St.SE
Washington DC 20003

Debbie Dingell
19855 W. Outer Dr.
Suite 103A-E
Dearborn, MI 48124


Thank you letters can go to:
State Sen. Tupac Hunter
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing MI 48909-7536

Continuing that book and food theme...

I finished The Zookeeper's Wife just in time for Chinese New Year and another book-food combo.
My book group decided that the next book we'd tackle is the Ann Arbor/Ypsi Community Read: William Poy Lee's The Eighth Promise: An American Son's Tribute to His Toisanese Mother. Reading two non-fiction books in a row is pretty atypical for me, though the food link definitely helps keep me engaged.

I think this memoir will be fast and interesting, but again, I think I'm going to find the writer's style a bit annoying. I don't think it'll bug me in the same way as Ackerman's digressions and flowery language, but Lee's prose seems a little awkward and conversational at times. When a pretty down to earth book suddenly starts a paragraph with "Oh..." I get the feeling that he couldn't think of another way to express his (genuine) emotions but by lapsing into conversational writing. If the whole book was told this way, that would be one thing. But I find it a little jarring to hop back and forth.

Anyway, on Thursday the kids wore the padded satin outfits Brian brought them back from Shanghai last year (quite perfect for our current cold weather) and I made some Chinese-ish food for dinner: fried tofu with boc choy and shitake mushrooms in an orange/ginger/garlic sauce, fried rice, and dumplings from the freezer chest at the Asian grocery store.
It was pretty decent for homemade Chinese food, but the amazing thing was that Ian ate it; except for the boc choy and mushrooms, he had a decent sized portion of tofu, fried rice with peas and scallions and dumplings that were pork but had a lot of green stuff in there too. I was flabbergasted--this kid usually has me jumping through hoops and dreading how he'll express himself when he sees what is on his plate. If the pickiest eater in the house starts off the Year of the Rat this way, maybe it'll be a good food year for us all.

fat fat fat fat

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Not that any of us need to get any fatter (Ok, Ian could use a little more fat, but he's the only one), but Fiona and I happily made our way to Copernicus Deli this morning to buy some strawberry and prune filled paczki. Fiona was amazed to discover that the trays of paczki were stacked taller than her:
They trucked these, and many more like them, in from Hamtramck and they were tasty--yeastier than a regular donut and the not-overly-sweet prune filling helped my grown up taste buds handle the sugary richness.

Of course, we couldn't leave with just a few paczki, so I also picked up some sauerkraut with caraway, a baton of polish sausage and some mushroom-filled pierogi. We'll have those for dinner later this week.
The book I'm reading right now fits in perfectly with this splurge of Polish delicacies, Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife. I really like the content of the book about the Polish family who ran the Warsaw Zoo and the ways they helped hundreds of Jews escape and hide during the Nazi Occupation.

But I am struggling with Ackerman's writing style. Her prose is florid, which I've appreciated in other settings (there is a lovely poem about pink Amazon river dolphins in her book The Moon by Whale Light), but which I'm finding distracting here. There are tons of digressions, some of which have scientific or historical information, but which also make following the progress of Jan, Antonina and their "guests" hard to follow. I feel like Ackerman is trying too hard to convince us of Jan and Antonina's heroism with this laden prose--their actions speak very clearly to their courage and I wish the story was told simply. Instead I find myself skimming and dodging through the book, trying to follow the narrative and not get side tracked.

Cozy

I've been having some problems storing my MP3 player in my purse--the headphone wires always get tangled up, the player is so small it gets lost at the bottom and when I retrieve it, stray bits of popcorn are statically attached to the player (thanks to Fiona, the popcorn fiend, it seems like there is popcorn everywhere. I found some in my bed the other day which did not please me one bit.)

So I made it a little cozy:
I used some red wool felt, two snaps and a small amount of the miles of bias tape that I made with my cool bias tape maker (and after I made, I had no idea what to do with it).
And now I just have to pick the popcorn off of the felt...

Knitting virtue rewarded

I was very virtuous and used yarn that I salvaged from a sweater I knit back in the early 90s (think dated geometric triangles and stripes...) to make this sweater vest:
The photo is a bit warped due to the angle I took the photo, but essentially it is a long knit tube. I didn't use a pattern, just cast on circular needles and added a little 1x1 ribbing up either side of the rib cages to give it a little flex and not to have to worry about shaping.

I made it to address the fashion conundrum that I've had of late. I've had a revulsion for confinement around my waist area my whole life so I love reasonably low-rise jeans (not the butt-crack showing super low-rise pants, but the normalish low-rise jeans). I've essentially been wearing low rise jeans all my life; before they made them for women, I bought men's jeans which are naturally lower in the rise department.

But while the fashion industry has been dropping the waistband of women's jeans, they haven't been lengthening the hems of shirts. If I was a different demographic I probably wouldn't mind showing off my midrif now and again. But this style is not kind for a) the unemaciated or b) pretty much anyone who has had a kid and doesn't have a personal trainer or c) anyone who doesn't like a draft of cold air wafting around their middle.

Thus the vest. It is long, designed to cover that gap between shirt bottom and jean top, to keep my tummy to myself and to stop the damn draft.

Since I was so virtuous using old yarn and no pattern for the vest, I figured I deserved a treat. So yesterday I went to Flying Sheep and bought this pattern:
And then went on-line and bought this yarn with which to make the above sweater:
This wasn't my first choice of pattern--I really want to make the Paton's Urban Aran sweater:
from the Street Smart booklet:
But everyone is out of the pattern and are waiting for reprints. When I eventually get my greedy hands on the pattern, I plan to make it a zipper cardigan like the beautiful one seen at brooklyntweed, though in charcoal gray.

Cue evil cackling

I got my kids to eat eggplant last night! Hahahahahahaha!

Of course, I didn't call it eggplant. I called it "cutlets". And no, it was not the healthiest preparation possible--it was breaded eggplant slices that were then baked in the oven. And no, I didn't actually make them, I took them out of the Trader Joe's box and heated them up. But still, EGGPLANT!

I cut each circle into quarters so they looked a little less vegetal and Ian ate at least a slice and a half. He also ate cheese ravioli with tomato sauce, and turkey meatballs and dried peas. My god, that is almost a normal meal! (The dried peas are still a little weird.)

I'm going to get more of these "cutlets" and see if I can use them like lasagna noodles to layer with ricotta and sauce and mozzarella.

Brazil, but for kids

I recently finished reading a YA novel that is like the Terry Gilliam movie Brazil, but for kids. The Wall and the Wing is set in an alternate reality New York City where most people can fly, where toy monkeys can keep your secrets (and wipe your memory clean) and where cats are rare creatures who pick their owners.

In this surreal landscape are two orphans, Gurl and Bug, and they search for their identities and for a life a little less miserable than the one they inhabit at the orphanage, the wonderfully named Hope House for the Homeless and Helpless. The matron of the orphanage is Mrs. Terwiliger who reminds me of the Katherine Helmond character in Brazil--too much plastic surgery and warped ideas of what is important in life. Of course the plot isn't about a bureaucracy gone mad but about two lost children, one of whom discovers that she can turn invisible and the other who can fly really high, but only when holding onto a cat called Noodle. There are other wonderful characters in the book--a professor with grass growing out of his head who has a seemly endless supply of kittens in the pockets of his house dress, a man who can unzip his face, and a gangster who was a diaper model when he was a baby. Possibly my favorite creatures in the novel are the giant sewer rat men with filed pointy teeth who love kitties. They are creepy as hell but, like Gurl, they just want to cuddle a cat and feel it purr.

The plot moves along at a fast clip and after a whirlwind of experiences and adventures, the two orphans are no longer lost and are adjusting to their new identities. I was willing to say goodbye to them for now because this wonderfully imagined world and the eccentric characters in it will get more page-time--there is a sequel titled The Chaos King to look forward to.

In case you are the slightest bit stuffy...

...this stuff will blast your sinuses open.

I was at the gym listening to my favorite food podcast, Good Food, while sweating away on the orbital machine when the woman Evan was interviewing (who apparently is some famous host of Bravo's Top Chef but as we only have what the cable company refers to as "lifeline cable" I don't have much perspective on her) gave the recipe for what sounded like a terrific hot sauce--chipotles with dates and honey to balance out the heat.

I made some this afternoon and after tasting it, realized that maybe my sinuses don't need to be opened quite that far--it was a bit beyond my comfort level for hot sauce. So I chucked another couple of tomatoes and some more dates in the blender jar, added some lime juice for a little more sour contrast, gave it a whir and now have a hot sauce that conforms to my level of desired pain.

I'm going to serve it tonight alongside pork tenderloin. The pork will be cooked very simply in the hopes that the two small timid eaters will allow it onto their plates, but I'll be able to kick up the flavor factor of my dinner with this sauce.

For Padma Lakshmi's original recipe, go here. I've listed my version below:

Chipotle & date hot sauce
Adapted from Padma Lakshmi's Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet
Makes about 2 cups

10 dates, pitted, cut into chunks
4 plum tomatoes, seeded. If they are very juicy, squeeze out some juice so your sauce isn't too runny.
7.5 oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup honey
juice of one lime
1 tsp coarse sea salt

In a blender or processor, combine all the ingredients and blend until they make a thick paste. Pour into a deep saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 to 6 minutes. Cool and then store in an airtight glass jar.