Sara Presents

After some none-too-subtle urging and bribery on my part, PPP3 has started her own blog. I hope that it will very soon have lots and lots of pictures of my nephew on it.

presenting:

Gunter is Defeated

That little bouncing white thing is named Bryan, he lives down the street and weighs all of seven pounds.

A Correspondence part deux

Ms. P.P. the Second, WYS
c.c. DSC International
c/o Certified Chaperonage, Inc.



Dear Ms. P.P.P II,

In response to your recent missive:

Although these claims appear, on the surface, to contain a certain amount of legitimacy, we at Wilamina, Elpinger, and Worcast, Legalities For the Under-represented (WEWLFU) feel the DSC (Department of Sisterly Conduct) should be made aware of the true nature of the charges made by the plaintiff ( hereafter referred to as WYS-Willful Younger Sister). Additionally, caution is recommended on the part of DSC to set a precedent for use of terms such as "malicious" and "gross negligence". It is the assertion of the defendant, PPP1, ROS (Responsible Older Sister) to WYS, that the allegations made by WYS have been grossly exaggerated and, as will be proven in the following paragraph, were totally unavoidable.

The representatives for WYS should be aware of the following:

Article 1: WYS was duly advised and counseled on topics of her choosing, while she was living in the United States. Her departure to the far east, and lack of interest in scheduled open-mic sessions, left her vulnerable to the whims of her fancy.
Sub. a: PPP1/ROS would like to note that the actions of WYS were actually calculated to leave her with the responsibility for Crazy Mother and will be filing a counter suit for abandonment shortly.

Article 2: ROS maintains that due to the extreme willfulness on the part of WYS, all past efforts have been proven to be entirely in vain (see past correspondence documents August, 2004 through May 2007) and that she should be exempt from all further responsibility, as well as further legal action, ad sic.

It should be noted, that while responsibility for basic happiness can fall under the terms of the ROS roles and duties, the "horse can only be led to the water", as the saying goes. Be advised that current boyfriend has overtaken that role and, as proof, we contend that our client's good-will has been stretched by her acquiescence to forsake vising rights, due her as ROS of WYS in far-far-away-land.

In light of these findings, it is recommended that the plaintiff be advised accordingly. This letter will address the allegations of gross sisterly neglect and will act as a legal document if trial cannot be avoided.

Sincerely,
WEWLFU
legal counsel for P.P.P I

A Correspondence (part 1)

Dearest P. P. Princess I,

The purpose of this letter is to apprise you of the charges that have recently been leveled against you. A one P. P. Princess II, of Nan Xiu Cun Lane, Nanjing, China has filed claims against you with the Department of Sisterly Conduct. These claims include gross negligence and deliberate and malicious neglect. P. P. Princess II, hereafter known as PPP2 in these documents, maintains that due to your negligence in your role as Responsible Older Sister (hereafter refered to as ROS) she has suffered the indignities resulting from Making Bad Decisions. These Bad Decisions include, inter alia, a string of unsuitable boyfriends, along with one or two disastrous decisions that shall remain unenumerated. It is her contention that if you had been properly fulfilling your role as ROS she would not have suffered the shame and embarrassment that are concomitant with making poor boyfriend selections and excessive alcohol consumption at inappropriate times. It is also her claim that due to your calculated neglect, her life has been allowed to develop in a way that is starting to have a negative impact on her basic happiness. Her basic contention is that, without the ROS guidance that is her due as a certified Willful Younger Sister (WYS), she has ended up like a "ship without a rudder, left to flounder in an ocean of uncertainty" (her words). Therefore, you have been charged with breach of the Sisterly Contract you entered into on December 11th, 1979. The victim (PPP2) is seeking damages in the form of one time payment of African Loot (to include a wooden bangle and perhaps a pair of cute African jeans) and also hand written correspondence on the finest stationary available for a period of 10 months, to begin in September 2007. This correspondence should also include the occasional package containing chocolate, coffee, and, perhaps, undergarments. All previous correspondence cannot be counted towards fulfilling these court ordered awards, and are legally considered to be null and void. Please address any concerns you might have with the
DSC directly.

Sincerely,

The Lawyers of Fickle, Fickle, and Bynum

What do I Want for a Present!?!

Dearest PPP3,

Above is a picture of the 2 PPPs in my life. Known as PPP1 and PPP3 (I am PPP2). PPP1 very considerately has a blog that she posts on once a week or so. Thanks to this blog I am able to see my niece and keep up with PPP1's knitting projects. PPP3, however, has no such blog. I am in the dark as to the state of her house, or the progress of her various projects (chief among them, my nephew-to-be, Cairo!...see below for details). When, oh when, will she join the blogging world?!?

To sweeten the deal, I offer my humble service in the cause of creating a fun banner with your picture on it (witness the first fruits of my efforts in this area directly above.)

What do you say, PPP3? Join us?


BABY!

Gunter Eats My Hand

The creepy music in the background is entirely unintentional, but I think it works!

Illustration Friday

Theme: Contained

Should I, Or Shouldn't I?

Forgive the dodgy photoshop skills, I just wanted to see what blonde would look like. My hair is this color:
Also known as boring brown.



Should I go blonde?

Sticky Date Pudding- Courtesy my friend Deepa

The Goods

1/2 c  Butter, room temperature, cut into eight pieces and extra to butter pan
1 1/4 c  Chopped pitted dates
1 tsp  Baking soda
1/4 c  Granulated sugar
2  Eggs
1 1/4 c  All purpose flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 3/4 ts Baking powder
Caramel Sauce
1/2 c  Butter
1/4 c  Whipping cream
1/2 c  Firm packed brown sugar PLUS
1 tbsp Firm packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla

The Deal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round baking pan withsides at least 2 inches high, such as a springform pan.
Place the dates in a saucepan and cover with water (about 1-1/2 cups). Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Add the
baking soda (the mixture will foam) and set aside.

In a bowl, cream the cut up butter, sugar and eggs, adding the eggs one at a time. Gently mix in the flour, salt and vanilla. Stowly stir
in the baking powder and 1/4 cup of the liquid from cooking the dates, until the cake mixture resembles thick pancake batter. Drain
off remainder of date cooking liquid and discard. Stir in the dates.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked in the center.

Caramel sauce: Combine the butter, whipping cream, brown sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer, and cook for 3
minutes.

Drizzle some of the sauce over the cake as it is cooling. Serve the rest of the sauce separately.

When Deepa brought this over for dessert one night, we served it with baked apples and poached pears along with ice cream and the carmel sauce.  It was delicious.

The Star of the Show

This is my pug. This is my pug doing a trick. This is my pug doing a trick for a treat.



My pug is devoted to the idea of treats for tricks.

petit déjeuner sans compagnons #2

French toast!

2 eggs,
1 tsp. sugar
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt
2 tblsp half and half (or milk)
2 thick slices of sweet batard or your favorite bread
generous dollop of sour cream
maple syrup

mix sugar, spices, and cream into eggs, soak bread and cook in a hot oiled pan. Serve topped with sour cream and syrup. Coffee and NYT's optional.

Happy eating!

Oh the Humanity! My Pumpkins, My Pumpkins!

The other day I stepped out onto my front porch to discover this:



My first thought: "It exploded! I knew our front porch was too hot for those pumpkins." I thought that maybe gases built up to a massive pressure inside the little helpless pumpkin until finally Whooomp! and that was that.

Then I thought it must have been raccoons.

Then I was here at my desk (blogging) and I saw something moving outside and:


Caught in the act! A little squirrel had just been going wild out there, tearing up my big, as yet unscathed, pumpkin. In his haste to devour all of the juicy pumpkin insides he knocked it over.

Oh the carnage, the messy insides all over my front steps!

Illustration Friday

Theme: Resolve

I Need to Stop Eating Meat

I was in the shower the other day thinking about what being alive means. I won't bore you with my confused conclusions, but one of the things that came into my mind as a fully formed idea was that I can't eat meat anymore. I don't really eat that much meat anyway, but I do sometimes make meals that look like this:


Roast purple and white potatoes with rosemary, blanched green beans with homemade herb vinagrette, braised napa cabbage with spices (I love me some cabbage), and of course the mandatory sausage...(I live with a German...).

I like these meals, and I like sausage (in fact, I love it. Especially organic!). I also like hamburgers, and lamb, and I am obsessed with pho tai (it's just not the same with tofu and veggies, it's really not!). But can I live without them? I think I can, and I think it's better for my health and for the earth in general. And do I really want to kill another being that has life just in order to eat it? No, I don't.

I've tried being vegetarian before, sometimes for as long as a year or so, but I always ended up eating meat again. Not because I like it that much, but because I love to cook and cooking is easy with meat. But from now on I think I will try to go meatless.

And cook more of this!:


Creamy Tomato and Goat Cheese Soup
serves 2

the goods:

two plastic pints of cherry tomatoes (I used orange ones from our garden that I had frozen during the summer). Cherry tomatoes are pretty tart, so for a milder soup I would just use regular red tomatoes.
3 tblsp roasted red pepper paste (from the Persian grocery store. I'm sure there is something similar at Trader Joes)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper paste
salt
sugar
black pepper
1/3 cup sour cream (the good kind, not one with guar gum and other artificial thickeners, the best kind is Daisy, but trader joes carries a good one too)
chopped italian parsely
Crumbled goat cheese

sliced french bagguette
olive oil
garlic

the deal:

1. place tomatoes in pot and cover with water.
2. cook at medium until tomatoes have softened and lost their shape.
3. add paste and spices.
4. simmer for 15 or so minutes.
5. remove from heat and cool slightly. force through a fine mesh sieve and return strained liquid to pot.
6. place sour cream into small bowl and add a little bit of soup, whisk until smooth and add to soup pot.
7. add chopped parsley.
8. salt and sugar to taste.

While soup is simmering:
1. brush bread with olive oil and rub with garlic.
2. cut into bite size cubes (skipped that step in the picture above and regretted it. It was hard to eat!)
3. broil until toasty and flip, repeat.
4. put half of bread cubes into bowls and cover with soup.
5. cover with soup and pile the remaining cubes in the center of bowl.
6. Sprinkle goat cheese over bread, to taste, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

St. Martin in the Fields

My older sister, also referred to as Ppp1, visited London a couple of years ago and bought these lovely pictures for me at the St. Martin Cathedral in Trafalgar Square. They are made by doing rubbings over brass reliefs. I think they are lovely and I had no way to display them until recently. But last week the German and I went to get a picture (of Smith rock up in Oregon that I had bought for his birthday a year ago!) framed and I found these cool floating frames (two pieces of glass sandwiched between the black frame). They are perfect. My favorite is the black one because it shows two little people skinny dipping together with the devil as a goat in a medieval thought bubble.


Is it a strict warning against fornication? Is it the medieval equivalent of a swingers club? Who knows! But I like it.

The place that we bought the frames was having a special buy one get one free, so we bought four. I didn't know what to do with the 4th one, but then I found these awesome postcards made from old science fiction book covers!

Fun yes?

Snow Shoeing Beautifulness

Perfectly staged winter wonderland beauty shots:




Gratuitous self-portrait:


Beautiful blueness:

Illustration Friday

Theme: Clandestine

Best Girl in the World 1992-20..

Best Friend ever.

When:

8th grade (7th?), Peterson Barn park practicing our smooth gymnastics moves. True love at first cartwheel!

Who:

2 awkward teenage girls

Why:

Kindred spirits call to each other from across the void of the middle school lunch room. Plus Tabitha Jenkins is a total D.B. (It was Tabitha right? Or was it Rachel? I forget who.)

How:

Who knows how? I'm just glad we've remained bff for all these years!

2oo9 to forever, Kellie! Love you bunches and bunches!

your best bud,
Bean

The Cure for the Gray Winter Funk

Recently I left the beautiful bay area in order to go to this place:


to see this:


and this:
I had a lovely time snugging my delicious little niece and waiting on my sister hand and foot, the time went by so quickly and then I had to kiss them both goodbye.

When I arrived home I found the German P. (P.=physicist) half dead with the winter funks and a horrible cold. Since I know his eating habits (potato chips+beer+chocolate+wine=dinner) whenever I'm not around I knew that in order to nurse him back to health, I would have to make this on the double and order him to eat half a pot full:


What is that bowl full of deliciousness, you ask? It's my tasty Ginger Chicken Soup, guaranteed to lift that grayish-orange winter funk (or at the very least chip away a little bit of it, I promise).


Winter Funk Banisher Ginger Chicken Soup

the goods:

1 big soup pot worth of chicken or vegetable stock
2 chicken breasts (skinless)
2 small sweet potatoes (I like to mix it up using one white and one orange one), peeled and diced into small chunks
1 small parsnip, peeled and diced
1/2 white onion diced
1/4 head of Napa Cabbage, chopped (I like Napa, it is milder and cooks faster than white cabbage. Chinese cabbage is also okay for this recipe.)
2 good handfuls of spinach
1 carrot, diced
2 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and diced into tiny pieces
1/2 tsp. dried cilantro
a bunch of red pepper flakes
a dash of soy sauce (or tamari)
a pinch of sugar
fresh pasta cooked al dente (or any dried pasta cooked and rinsed)


the deal:

1) Saute onion on medium low in a little bit of olive oil in a big soup pot. Add carrots and ginger, and cook for 2 or 3 more minutes.
2) Add stock, dried cilantro, pepper, soy sauce. Bring to a simmer.
3) Add diced sweet potatoes.
4) While soup is simmering, cook noodles. Set aside.
5) In a heavy pan (I like cast iron), heat a little bit of oil till it is pretty hot and brown chicken breasts on both sides, add a little bit of water to pan and cover with a lid. Simmer/steam until chicken is done all the way through. Remove from pan to plate or cutting board and shred with two forks.
6) Add parsnip to pot, simmer for 3-4 minutes.
7) Tear spinach into smaller pieces directly into the pot along with the cabbage, let simmer until cabbage is wilted.
8) Stir in chicken and noodles. Add salt and a tad of sugar to taste.

While you are cooking feel free to adjust the amount of liquid in the pot by adding more stock, or even water. I like to reserve a little bit of the water that I used to cook the pasta to thin the soup. I even added the liquid from the chicken pan when the chicken was done cooking. This would also be a good veggie soup! Just substitute the chicken for a can of white beans (drained and rinsed).

I'm Very Unhappy with Harbor Freight

Today I spent time in the car (....I've discovered that I don't really like to drive, in fact I despise it!) to get to Harbor Freight in order to buy the item that is pictured above. I am planning on using those pointy things to make these:

So I did some research looking for the nearest location, printed out my directions and with some trepidation set out to drive the 20 miles on 237E and 880N, take the Lowry exit, turn on a street that begins with C and try to find the destination in a crowded strip mall (always a joy!). But I made it, and I found the last box of those beautiful pointy babies in the whole store. I opened the badly battered box to discover that the 1/8 transfer punch was missing. I was disappointed but had come to terms and decided to buy it anyway. Ha ha! Fat chance! They wouldn't sell it to me. So I came away empty handed. Except for these things:

Thank you At&T rebate card!

Blog Banner Designs

This One's for Auntie Kellie

What I Did All Last Week

(excuse the hair. no one but those under the age of 20 look good first thing in the morning.)

Beautiful Bodi Baby with Beani! (an alliteration, with still life)

I'm an auntie! And my niece-ette is a deliciously scrumptious piece of babycake! Babycake! I could eat it all day. We are hoping she might have red hair, there isn't much of it but it seems sort of reddish...cross your fingers. My lovely (and also scrumptious) sister looks wonderful despite the sleepless nights, perhaps having a baby isn't so bad afterall....

Bodi-kins is such a little sweetie-peetie in the morning that sometimes Jonna brings her in to wake me up and we commune for a little bit. Is there anything sweeter than communing with a little being that is brand spanking new? I think not.

Black Bean Soup!

But I would just like to share a recipe of my own devising that has now made its way into my sister's kitchen as well as my own as a tasty and quick dinner staple (quick because most of it comes out of a can, fresh substitutes could also be used, of course. It's great to make your own beans from dried, but sooooo time consuming!). It's so nice to have come up with my own recipe and that someday my grandchildren will say: "Do you remember Nana-bean's black bean soup? It sure was tasty". Or something of that sort, hopefully. Of course it could be more like: "Hey Timmy, do you remember that awful sludge that Granny-bean made us eat? I sure am glad she's dead." Who knows?

Nana-bean's Black Bean Soup

the goods:
1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 can sweet corn, drained
1/2 can black olives (if you so desire)
1 small can of fire roasted green chilies (if you want, they are not hot and readily available at the grocery store)
2 cups veg or chicken stock
1tsp. cumin (this is just an estimate, could be more, could be less)
1/2tsp. chili powder
1/2tsp dried coriander flakes (aka dried cilantro)
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2tsp. sugar
salt to taste
juice of one small lime (if in doubt, add a little at a time)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

the deal:

1. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large soup pot. Cook onion over medium heat until slightly translucent. Add chopped garlic and stir until fragrant.
2. Add beans, tomatoes, chilies, and stock to pot. Add spices now and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Feel free to add more stock or water if soup is looking a little too thick.
3. Add corn and olives and simmer to warm through.
4. Turn heat on low and add chopped cilantro and lime juice, season to taste with salt and a tad bit of sugar (trust me! just a little bit of sugar will make everything taste better. I would recommend no more than 1/2tsp.)
5. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and some extra cilantro on top. Great with corn chips or over rice.

Goodwill Renovation Finally Complete!

This is what it looked like when I bought it. This is what it looks like now:




I stripped off the old paint with a citrus paint stripper. It was messy and smelly and I had to use scotch brite to get the most stubborn paint off. Then I did a somewhat desultory job of sanding the surface smooth. A few days later I used a tinted stain to get the nice green color. After that had dried, I used a water based paint to paint the white accents and then covered the whole thing with a satin finish varnish to finish it off. I wish I had thought to take a picture before I covered the thing in books, but I think you can still get the picture. I love it!

My Pug Has a Rough Life

Pretty Much the Best Day Ever

Need I say more?

sugar high!

I love carving pumpkins! They make me laugh. I carved the first four (Starting at the top middle then going counter clockwise) and Andreas carved the upper far right one. I wish I could have jack-o-lanterns on the porch all year long. It's not cold enough here to even keep them a few weeks. The screaming pumpkin was the first to go, disintegrating into a pile of oozy mush, and then the others started to cave in at the mouth like old people without dentures. Sadly, we had to throw them out this weekend...

Hail the Conquering Hero!

doot doot doot doo doo doot doo doo! Nnn nnn nnn nn n n n nnnn nnn!

I'm very excited! Gunter is pretty forlorn, however. His man, McCain lost big time and he's heartbroken. As a values voter, Gunter was holding out hope that Palin would become president. hehehehe!