Have a Diva Day!

Where to begin? I have so many things to say about our trip, none of them being particularly important. I suppose I will just make a list of stories and observations.

• We stayed near Union Sq. which turned out to be very convenient. Our lodging was called Hotel Diva and is a holding of the Personality Hotels company. You get their schtick, I imagine. Anyway, when you request a wake-up call, because, say, you don't want to miss your flight in the morning, the recording tells you to "Have a diva day!" Otherwise, it was a nice place to stay.
  
• I've never been a huge fan of mooncakes, the traditional Chinese desert item (I think it's associated with good luck for the New Year), but I thought Evan should try one. Turns out I like them more than I rememberd, but those things are like real life lembas bread. You're full after one bite and a single tiny cake will last you a week.
  
• While El Farolito continues to be the absolute number one place to have your burrito rocked, I realized finally and without any doubt that it's the avocado salsa that makes its deliciousness unatainable by other purveyors of Mexican foods.
• Dim Sum is so fraking awesome. Evan now trusts everything I say about food.
  
• The bakery next to the Wok Shop on Grant still has the best baked pork buns of all time. It is also the cheapest place to eat that I've ever been.
• SF has been confirmed to be the absolute pinnacle of shoe-buying experiences. I think we came back with something like five pairs of shoes between us, some used, some new.
• On a similar note, I really love the style in San Francisco. It's so casually cool, really interesting, and doesn't seem to be trying so very very hard. Much better city for street fashion than New York.
• One day I was waiting in Union Sq. for Evan who was off somewhere eating breakfast. The cutest little kid, probably three years old, was there sporting short curly white-blond hair and wearing one-piece red long johns and tiny galoshes. He/she was calmly walking after some pigeons murmuring, "chickens. chickens."

I'll leave you with one final story. If you skip the whole bulleted list, at least read this, because it's one of the best SF stories I've ever been involved in.

Evan and I visited the Haight one day, went to thrift stores, checked out Amoeba Records, etc. Later, as we waited for the bus back to our hotel, an old hippie with a white beard and ponytail started talking to us about...about drugs. How he had been on hallucinagens for three days, or had paid off his friendly gambling debts with strips of LSD, or something. Somehow the conversation lead to him showing us a gruesome scar on his arm from "his first airplane accident." So I took the bait, and asked him if he'd been in more than one. As you might have guessed, he had. His plane went down in the jungles of 'Nam and he became a POW. He was stripped, hung upside down, and tortured. All the while he could hear a cat somewhere in the facility meowing and scratching at a door. At some point he was taken down and managed to get out of his shackels. He picked up one of the scapels lying there with the other tools of torture, got behind the door and started meowing and making noise in imitation of the cat. Eventually, the guard casually walked into the room looking for said feline. Our hero jumped out from behind the door and slit the guard's throat with the scalpel. Now armed with a gun, but still nude, he rescued the other POWs in the camp and they escaped to safety.

After he told us his story, the man on the bus politely gave Evan a pill full of mescaline, free of charge, and got off at his stop.

Green Tea Soup

For Christmas Stan and Chiyo sent us a box of foodstuffs from the Japanese market and a Japanese cookbook. I haven't had time to fix many dinners lately, but last night I finally got to try a recipe from siad cookbook that immediately caught my eye. It was awesome and incredibly easy, so you should try it.


Green Tea Soup

In individual bowls place: boiled rice (I used about 1 cooked cup per person)
Top with shredded cooked salmon (one large fillet for two people)
Garnish with white sesame seeds (which we had) and julienned parilla leaves (which we did not). Add hot green tea (or hot broth).
Salt to taste and proceed to get awesome.

Birthday!!!

It had been ages since I spent a birthday in a space large enough to fit more than a handful of misfits, but this year that ended. Jacob and Greg came to town for the occasion and Jason and Evan threw a rad party for Jessica and me. I got tons of love on Facebook, which site honestly makes me feel much more connected to people. Weird?

Anyway, with Rodney, David, and Anthony's help Evan wrote and recorded a song about/for me. Pretty much the best birthday present ever. A HUGE and wikkid Taschen publication called The World of Ornament was runner up (Thanks, Anne and Walter!!). Seriously, this thing is massive. It came in its own box with a handle, because it's that heavy. But I received a lot of thoughtful gifts from friends that were really just as sweet.

Evan's foray into party favor selecting yielded stick-on mustaches , so when we assessed the damage to The Rowe School on Sunday morning we discovered that a lot of things (avocados, telephones, etc.) had grown facial hair. There's not much that's funnier than a butternut squash with a mustache. Except maybe Melissa waking up with a mustache stuck to her butt, as she reportedly did.

For the first time in eleven years, there was a king cake in my house. Edible awesomeness brought to me by Greg. I consumed at least half of it myself. But now our guests have departed and the sugar-consumption has returned to normal levels. I'm back to school and work and gym, slightly older, but feeling pretty spectacular about my life here. Thanks for rocking my birthday, everybody!

American Things

Melissa and Evan G. took me to Target yesterday where I purchased the contents of a couple of "American" care packages for my Italian siblings, at my brother's request. Not speaking Italian terribly well, I can't be sure, but I think what he said translates to, "If I give you my address, will you send me some American things?" The task ended up being more difficult than I anticipated. I don't want to just send them a bunch of useless crap for the sake of representing America. Also, as terribly out-of-touch as it sounds, I don't really know what the kids are into these days besides smoking pot, which, apparently, my siblings have well under control. Regardless, above are the fruits of my labor, ready to be packaged and sent to Italy. The top one is my sister's stuff and my brother's is below.

Several Cigar Box bands/acts are playing in Florence, AL tonight, including Evan's own Beaux Animaux. I'm ambivalent about going, eager to support Evan, but really not stoked on driving 2.5 hours each way. The decision has been made for me, though, by our car, which we still can't take on the highway. But the Silky Snowflake, No Parents, Necronomikids, et al show at Bottletree tomorrow night should be wikkid, and will make up for any missed fun.

Finally, a request: I have so much quilting and homework to do. Please take Facebook away from me.

Bite-sized Project: Embroidered Cards

Here are some of the embroidered cards I've been making. They're a little addictive. I think the appeal lies in the instant gratification provided by such a quick project. More colors and messages coming soon. (Must give credit where credit is due. Cards inspired by the talented kiwipunch.)

Other tidbits:

- Jello Snack Cups with Antioxidents? (tastes mildly like cough syrup)

- I'm relatively certain Evan has not finished a book since we've been together. That's not a judgement, so much as me noting an apparent condemnation of every book I've recommended.

- My life has improved by 10% since Picasa came out for Macs.

- Another program (I think it's freeware?) that I've been digging is Schoolhouse, which keeps all of your class assignments and notes organized.

- Last night I started playing a DS game called Soul Bubbles in which you are a "Soul Herder" in training. It is your duty to pick up souls (and star dust) with your protective bubbles and blow them towards their destination. Weird? Yes. Adorable? Definitely.

Birthday Dinner

Being Evan's birthday and all we went to Bottega last night for dinner. We had been once before in late spring/early summer and I was somewhat underwhelmed. I had some kind of seafood risotto which, though good, was not really interesting enough to warrant the price. But last night's food made up for it. I had a parmesan soufflé with mushrooms and prosciutto for an appetizer. Delish, but really rich, so I'm glad it was little. My entrée was halibut with citrus and pistachio on olive oil crushed potatoes. Awesome. Seriously. Evan had some kind of braised beef stew appetizer and a beef tenderloin entrée (also very tasty). Unfortunately I spent my entire food budget for pretty much the rest of forever and will be living off canned soup for the foreseeable future. Try not to hold it against me if I start smelling like beef and barley, ok?

Procrastination

Have I ever mentioned that K-Fed reminds me of my step-dad? Sorta trashy, knocked up some rich lady who turned out to be a lunatic. They're practically the same person. I'm reminded of this fact because I've gone back to reading The Superficial. I stopped for a while when I realized I was only indulging the qualities in myself that I don't like (like being negative and judgmental). And anyway, LiLo hasn't done anything awesome in ages. So, I haven't changed my position on the subject, but I do have a lot of homework that I'm avoiding and I'm running out of ways to avoid it.

Speaking of which, I made these apple zucchini muffins just now. I used this recipe, substituting a muffin tin for a loaf pan, and reducing the baking time to 45 minutes. (In case you're wondering, I used one large zucchini and one granny smith apple.) They taste sort of like mild carrot cake? Anyway, it's part of my effort to eat more vegetables. I was pretty good about it back when I had time to cook, but my diet has gotten a lot worse these days. As part of the same effort I roasted some beets the other day. I ate them cut into chunks with poppyseed dressing and goat cheese. A pretty awesome way to consume beets, but I think it turned my pee pink. 

Oh, and one of my pillows was on the Etsy front page today! Yay!

So-called "Lite" Avocados: A Review

Perhaps you have seen them sitting in the produce section, looking like an exaggerated avocado that will never ripen. But ripen they do, which is how I found myself eating one of these low-fat versions of my delicious, (good-)fat-filled friend. 

As you have probably noticed, it is next to impossible to find a perfectly ripe avocado at the supermarket, even at peak season, unless you live in California. Faced with an urgent need for immediate avocado satisfaction I selected the ripest Hass there was and, as back-up, a ripe Lite. The Hass proved sufficient for our needs, but I still had this other monstrosity on my hands. I decided to try it out on top of a quesadilla.

First off, these things are huge. Twice the size of the sad little avocados we get in these parts. As soon as you cut into it, though, you realize that half the volume is pit, itself 100% larger than that of a Hass. Otherwise, it's business as usual. Light green flesh, getting slightly darker toward the edges. So I sliced it four or five times lengthwise and proceeded to scoop it out of the skin with a spoon per usual. It was then that I noticed the first signs of the big difference. The slices...break? Oh well, onto the plate they go with some salt on top.

The taste and texture (mouthfeel, for those of you who get a kick out of that ridiculous word) are close to what you would come up with if you imagined an avocado with less fat. It's still got that firm-until-you-smoosh-it-but-then-kind-of-buttery texture, but with less buttery-ness. In fact, it's slightly watery where a Hass is creamy. And like the low-fat version of any food, it's less delicious. The good news, though, is that it's close enough as long as you're not going to eat it straight. In other words, don't make guacamole out of this thing, but it's fine to put a couple of slices inside a burrito. It'll cool things down if, like residents of The Rowe School, you douse everything that comes in a tortilla with Cholula. B–.

What Is That? Velvet?

I am a cupcake master! With the help of James (who made the icing), Erin and Matt (who filled the tins), and Kristen and Kate (who helped decorate) I (we) made one trillion (read: 87) red velvet cupcakes for the wedding. They came out pretty freaking adorable and delicious. I've been doing things by sheer elbow grease at home, but thankfully I had a hand-mixer in this case. Every time I think about buying one I decide that I don't really need it, but now I know the truth. I will be making the $15 investment immediately upon my return to Alabama.

Erin and Matt's wedding yesterday afternoon was a real tear-jerker. I pretty much broke down immediately upon seeing Erin in her dress and then cried at regular intervals until the end of the reception. The whole thing was very sweet and everyone looked dashing. This morning we have a final get-together and then I begin the long trek home. See you back in Birmingham.

Blue Ribbon

In order to wash the terrible memory of Jinsei from my mind, I had sushi last night for dinner. Ramani took me out to Blue Ribbon Sushi, in the Six Columbus hotel. It's one of the top-rated sushi spots in New York, but never had a chance to try it when I lived here. I had a truly amazing (seriously) sashimi platter, a few bites of Ramani's Blue Ribbon fried chicken (?!), and awesome bread pudding. I also have to mention that I stopped into the ladies' room, located in the hotel, and I felt like I was being eaten by the future. Bad, scary, but without being post-apocalyptic future. The walls of the hallway were completely upholstered in chocolate brown cow hide. Not leather. Cow hide. With hair. Hair (fur?) walls. And blue, hurts-your-eyes futurelights.
And now I promise not tobring up sushi again.

Nothing of note has happened since I arrived. After flight cancellations, a night in Charlotte, and many hours in the airport, I finally made it to New York on Monday. I did a little shopping yesterday, and had an afternoon appointment with a kids' store in Williamsburg. It went...okay. I did find that I had plenty to say about my work, though, and I think I sounded much more professional than I feel. Even though I remind myself that everyone starts somewhere, and that there are a lot of independent creators and designers in the same boat, it's hard not to feel like you're a kid playing at being a grown-up.

I got to see Steven and Cathy for a bit yesterday evening. I'm glad I caught them before they moved. There are a couple of other friends to catch up with today and quilting stores to visit. Tomorrow afternoon we're headed to W. Virginia. I won't be terribly sad to leave. Birmingham has gotten me used to privacy again and I miss it.

Jinsei Review Part II

For those of you dying to know, Jinsei can be found in SoHo, a block and a half of overpriced shops and restaurants in--to spit in the face of acronymologists everywhere--North Homewood. Parking is located off 29th Avenue South, right between the white BMW and the white Lexus with two carseats and the mysterious and confusing "my other mom is a broom" bumper sticker.

A moment before exiting Jinsei you enter it. It is at this time that you are bombarded with a loud, fresh dose of jungly drum and bass; it's like walking into the climax of Step Up 2: The Streets, but profession dancers have been replaced by pot-bellied men in khaki pants and tweenage girls. The interior consists of slate-black everything with a hint of shininess: their idea of what a fancy big-city restaurant is supposed to look like is about as accurate as Fievel's predictions about America.

So you decide to sit outside in the 100-degree heat, only to learn that these inescapable bastards have placed speakers on the patio as well, ensuring that you get served while you wait to get served. You order sake because if you don't get a buzz soon you're going to walk across the street to Tots, Twigs, and Titters and buy youself a cottage made out of cinnamon sticks to try and choke yourself to death with. Meanwhile you browse the menu, which is nothing but rolls named after what I guess are snowboarding tricks: volcano 960, hammerhead toothgrind, spicy fandango. Everything seems to contain tempura-fried shellfish, which tells me that they're pandering to the Captain D's denial of Birmingham's upper-middle class.

Right before you go into shock your food arrives. You are underwhelmed, and some quick mental math tells you you're spending about $8 per bite. You eat the food in about three minutes, discuss your disappointment while waiting for the check, pay, run to your car, drive it to the gas station, buy some beer and beef jerky and have yourself a night.

Jinsei Review Pt. 1: Michela's Opinion

Remind me not to trust so-called foodie blogs in Birmingham. This is the second time we've been been unforgivably deceived (the first time being Gianmarco's which I will perhaps review some other time).

We showed up at Jinsei, a sushi place in Homewood, a little after 7pm last Wednesday. There were some people there, but it wasn't full yet. The inside space is small–a bar and probably 10 tables or so. They've obviously put a lot of thought into the decor; sadly for them, that thought led them horribly astray. The interior looks like what someone who's never been to New York thinks a New York restaurant is like. It might not have been so terrible except for the techno playing at a volume that made all enjoyment of life impossible. Thank god they had outdoor seating.

The prices were about what you would expect of a nicer-than-everyday sushi place in a bigger city. We ordered conservatively to test the waters. Evan and I started with a carafe of the house sake ($26). Their sakes are served cold, which is how I like it. Unfortunately, by "cold" they meant barely chilled and left on your table to get even warmer.

The miso soup was about three times the size of what is typically served at a Japanese restaurant. It was loaded with fresh straw and shitake mushrooms, but otherwise was standard. Almost every roll on the menu had something tempura-fried in it, a cheap move and not very interesting. First we picked a roll with tempura shrimp inside and avocado and eel outside ($15). It was good (tempura and unagi sauce can't go wrong), but far short of what I would expect for the price. The spicy tuna roll ($8 or $9) was run of the mill.

At three exorbitant dollars per piece we ordered from the sashimi and nigiri menu. The Jinsei chef got something right in using only a small amount of rice for the nigiri. This failed to make up for the so-so quality tuna. But excessive amounts of sauce made the unagi nigiri impossible to hate.

The short of it: For the price, I expected excellence or at least creativity. What we got was an uninspired menu, average quality fish, and oppressive atmosphere. In the end we choked back our room-temperature sake and decided to fill up on gas station gummi worms. At least they know their place.

Stress Means an Empty Fridge

I'm stressing big time about all of the things I need to do before my trip to NY. I leave on the 27th and I still haven't contacted buyers. I had a few last things to get together and didn't want to be unprepared when I called. Today has been all about making an order form, invoice, and line sheet. A line sheet is a quick reference for buyers, with photos or drawings of what you're selling along with item numbers and prices. This has also meant finalizing all my terms and conditions, like shipping methods, return policies, etc.

Before I left New York I happened upon the book Craft, Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco. It's been enormously helpful with this sort of thing, i.e. making sure you know all the things you need to have in order, from business licenses to minimum order requirements, when turning your craft into a business. I've also been reading The Boss of You by Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon. It's for women starting their own business, and while I don't particularly care for the girlpower tone of the book, it's a good resource. The books compliment each other well, the former having a lot of nuts and bolts info and the latter dealing more with branding, marketing, and PR.

Because I've been doing so much work and also because I'm going to be doing a lot of cooking this weekend, I've totally avoided going to the grocery store and have been trying to make simple things from what I've already got. The tuna and white bean salad I made last night required no fresh ingredients, and it turned out really well. We had it as an open-face sandwich, but the leftovers I ate for lunch were just on a bed of field greens. These measurements are just a guess. There's no need to be precise.

White Bean and Tuna Salad

2 small packages or cans of tuna, drained
1 can white butterbeans or other white beans, drained
2 tsp capers
1 tsp red wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
1/2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients and serve on field greens or toast.

Night before last I made a crustless broccoli and cheddar quiche. It was a little too brown on top, but it tasted fine and most importantly it was really easy. Evan hates vegetables, so I precooked the broccoli and then pureed it so as to render it inoffensive. You could easily just pour this into a premade pie shell, too, if that's your deal. The recipe I used was something like this:

Broccoli and Cheddar Crustless Quiche

1 small head broccoli
8 oz shredded cheddar
3 eggs
2 cups milk, cream, half and half or some combo
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
green onions or chives
butter for greasing

Preheat oven to 475˚ Chop broccoli and microwave (about 3-5 minutes depending on size and ammount). Squeeze in a paper towel to remove excess water. Puree broccoli with eggs. Combine all ingredients and pour into a greased pie dish. Sprinkle green onions on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until center is set.

Denial

I haven't written because I've been in denial. For the fourth, the Rowe School had a barbecue. Dr. Jason and Evan grilled an amazing leg of lamb; Adam commissioned some Banana Bread Bacon Burgers, or Quad Bs; Laura brought awesome ribs; Rodney mashed up a batch of guac; Jessica made black bean salsa; I handled dessert. I didn't mean to go overboard, but I did. Grilled peaches, triple berry clafoutis, and two types of popsicles (cucumber-mint-chili and lemon-basil). I ate more than any person should consume and drank to excess. A wonderful time was had by all and I've got the pictures to prove it. Or I did, before I realized that my camera went missing. I've been hoping it would turn up and I would be able to show you all the amazing food and drunken hugs, but alas, I think it's been stolen. Some skater kids from down the street crashed the party for a moment and I fear that when they left, they took my camera with them. I suppose there's still a chance that one day it will turn up, having been stashed in too secret a hiding place. But I think it's best if I assume it's gone forever.

The loss of my camera also means that I can't show you what I've been working on. I've embroidered four new pillow fronts that I'm pretty happy with. I also took apart the koi quilt I've been working on for the last two years so that I could replace the batting and start the quilting again. I spent a long time embroidering the quilt top, and I'm in love with the backing fabric, but the batting I was originally using was cheap and had too high a loft. It was driving me crazy. I got pretty damn far into the hand-quilting, so it was a bummer to destroy all that hard work, not to mention a pain in the ass. But I knew if I finished it the way it was that I'd never be happy with it. Now the new batting is in, the basting is done, and I've sketched out the pattern for quilting. I also took some time last week to set up an Etsy shop (for all of the things I won't be trying to sell through stores, like one-off quilts or embroidery).

There are still so many things to work on. It's mostly the fun kind of work, but when I run across some other quilter's blog, I'm floored by how much quilting she seems to get done, and feel a bit pathetic myself. Plus the work is so beautiful it makes me wonder why I do my work by hand. Of course the piecing and the machine stitching drives me crazy, but I'm awfully jealous of the results sometimes. Alas. Here's my todo list:
• repair quilt for Evan G.
• finalize design and find fabric for commission
• finish David's album art layout
• scan more Monstercards
• design fabric for Spoonflower
• plan a murder mystery
• quilt koi
• figure out who the final cylon is
• make a needlebook (there's a reason this is at the end of the list, but I want one so badly!!!)

Edible Monster Card, Pt. 2

We had our Monster Cards game and it was awesome, per usual. I promise as soon as Adam and I have a chance to get our project going, you, too, will know the joys of Monster Cards. I used the game as an excuse to make macha cupcakes. I saw a recipe a few months back and have been wanting to make them ever since. The original recipe calls for pretty pink marzipan flowers on top, but I didn't think that was much in keeping with the theme of the night. Instead, I decorated with monster faces, bacon strips and t-bones, etc. If vanity is the sin that sends me to hell, I'll blame that marzipan bacon.

The cupcakes turned out to be delicious. The same cannot be said for the triumvirate of new Mountain Dew flavors, sampled during the same game of Monster Cards. But I'll let Adam tell you all about that. What I will say is that Mountain Dew: Code Red cannot possibly prepare you for the severity of this latest blunder.

It's been a while since I posted any pictures of the quilts I'm working on. They're looking good and I'll show them to you soon. I'm about to have to take some for-real, professional(ish) shots of them for marketing purposes, which is why I haven't taken any half-assed ones. I'm done with the samples that I'll be taking to New York next month, so you'll get to see those. I'm especially proud when I look at the little Napoleon label in the corner.

The garden is producing a little, but mainly it's failing. The squash plants got huge and are now dying, one by one without ever having shown sign of making a squash. The stems seem to be rotting from the inside. I have no clue if this is due to some failure on my part or if they're diseased, or what, but it's sad. The tomato plants got big, too. No matter how much I stake them, they're a tangled mess. Nevertheless, I've eaten a few tomatoes from them and they're not bad. I also managed to get a Japanese eggplant to grow. I haven't eaten it yet, but it'll be part of my lunch some day this week. Even the sad little cantaloupe plants have put out a couple of runners and are trying their best. I fear for their spotty-leaved, insect-eaten little lives, though. I've learned enough to do better next time, I think. And if it all dies tomorrow, I'll try again.

Edible Monster Card

We made a lovely trip to Dauphin Island this past weekend. First time I've been to the beach in a long time. The weather threatened to be awful but turned out to be just fine. Undetermined quantities of schnapps, shrimps, beers, and bbs were depleted. Look at those delicious, hideous crustaceans. That's a monster card in the making.

And speaking of Monster Cards, we're hosting a game at the Rowe School tonight. Drawing begins at eight. For those of you who have no idea what Monster Cards is, stay tuned. I've got a project in the works that will make it all clear to you.

Not a Hangover Cure

Spinach risotto with goat cheese. I wish I could say it was healthy (healthful), but I can only say it was delicious.

I got an invitation to Spoonflower today. You upload a design, and they'll print it on quilting weight cotton (5 yd maximum). At $18 a yard, it's not what I would call cheap. It is, however, wicked cool. Right now they're in beta so you have to put yourself on a waiting list and get an invitation before you can have your fabric made. My invitation came this morning, but my brain is too addled to design fabric right now. I'll show you what I come up with when I decide to tackle the project, though.

Delirious Cooking

I couldn't sleep all weekend. Really. I think I got a total of about 4 (a generous estimate) hours in, and not for lack of trying. And everyone had to hear about how weird I felt. Sorry about that, guys. Anyway, I'm feeling much better today. I didn't sleep well, but I slept some.

In my early morning frenzy yesterday I made carrot cupcakes for Melissa's birthday. Devon helped me decorate. When I thought about it yesterday afternoon, I realized that I could hardly even remember doing it, or at least, it seemed like some other day. While I was finishing up the baking, Evan and Devon made these baked egg and pita thingies, the recipe for which I found on 101 Cookbooks. They were pretty freaking adorable.

Speaking of food websites, I've been incessantly combing TasteSpotting.com and have come to the conclusion that I seriously need to do something about my food photography skills. It's sort of embarrassing, really.

Anyway, Evan and I are off to Orange County at the end of the week for family time. Wish me luck in locating some excellent tacos.

Forty Theagues.

Hiding for a century and a half in the footnotes of Sir Richard Burton's first translation of One Thousand and One Nights, purportedly fabricated during Scheherazade's nine hundred thirteenth night, creamily woven into the sixth tale of Sinbad, wherein he falls victim to the pleasantest of doldrums as his vessel is stranded in a sea of the most delicious hummus:

Made-Up Hummus

2 cans of chick peas
1 large clove of garlic
2 lemons, juice of
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy milk
3 tbsp tahini
1/2 tbsp cholula (or other hot sauce)
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder

Add chick peas to the food processor, setting aside the liquid from one of the cans. Combine all ingredients in the food processor and puree. Add chickpea liquid until you reach the consistency you like. Salt to taste.

Variations:

1. Smooth - Omit hot sauce add 2 tbsp cream cheese

2. Tangy - Replace hot sauce with crushed red pepper, add 1/3 cup cilantro and 1 tsp onion salt

3. Decadent - Replace soy milk and sugar with whipped cream (to taste)

4. Rasta - Replace lemons with 1/2 grapefruit, add 1/3 cup cilantro

5. Extreme - Replace all ingredients with Mountain Dew

Horseshoes

A pretty low-key weekend. Melissa brought over some awesome white wine on Friday night and we hung out at the house. On Saturday Dr. Jason hosted a Kentucky Derby party, which included many games of horseshoes (check out the double full lean above), mint juleps, and a gigantic cheese ball. Today was Family Band practice. We've got most of our songs down pretty well and just need to remember how we're doing things from one practice to the next. I'm going to finish up the day by making soup and then settling in for some Veronica Mars.

Elix brought me this bread cookbook everyone's talking about, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I made my first batch of dough Friday night (I used the Light Whole Wheat recipe) and baked a loaf on Saturday morning. It's as easy as the no-knead recipe from Mark Bittman's column, takes less time, and seems to have infinite variations. There are recipes for everything from panettone to classic white bread and all of them require a minimum of effort. You bake straight on a baking stone or cookie sheet (occasionally in a loaf pan). It takes whatever shape you give it, so I can make a regular boule, pita bread, or a baguette all from the same recipe and without any special equipment. Also, with this method you make enough dough for four or eight loaves at once. The rest of the dough keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks. So, no more good intentions and failed follow-through when it comes to bread baking. Evan doesn't like it as well as the other recipe, but I think it's fine.

The Cigar Box buttons came yesterday. Even though I checked the colors with my Pantone swatches, the gold on cigar band button came out way too green. It's a little disappointing, but overall they look nice. I'll post pictures soon. Next up Red Mountain Family Band logo.