gisette27

bread starter (Migerdy) - Gomen - Ice Cream - Mac and Cheese - July 16

2011-07-17T13:29:00.000-04:00

watching law & order: criminal intent

2011-06-26T20:36:00.000-04:00

Sold a bag!!

2011-06-08T07:25:00.002-04:00

Thanks for the purchase, Gaye!!

Etsy Shop has opened - Gisette27

2011-05-17T09:30:00.002-04:00

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gisette27

2010-12-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

no title

2010-12-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

tea love

2010-10-31T10:41:00.002-04:00

awesome tea cups and pots.

http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/welcome.html

Between Parent and Teenager, By Dr. Haim G. Ginott

2010-10-29T09:09:00.001-04:00

http://www.betweenparentandchild.com/index.php?s=content&p=Between_Parent_and_Teenager

"A day comes in any parent’s life when there is a sudden realization: “My child is a child no longer.” This is a unique moment of elation and fear. There is joy in seeing our seed – a sapling. There is also apprehension: No longer can we protect our teen from all winds. No longer can we stand between him and the world, or shield her from life’s dangers. From now on our almost-adult must face unavoidable challenges unaccompanied by us.

There is also conflict. As parents, our need is to be needed; as teenagers their need is not to need us. This conflict is real; we experience it daily as we help those we love become independent of us.
This can be our finest hour. To let go when we want to hold on requires utmost generosity and love. Only parents are capable of such painful greatness. "

lots of Chekhov short stories. love it.

2010-10-29T09:06:00.003-04:00

http://www.eldritchpress.org/ac/chekhov.html

New York 2010

2010-07-28T07:25:00.005-04:00

north from the terrace of the hotel mulberry
morning from our terrace. i dont know what building that is, but it is lovely.

another morning view from the terrace.

gigi, melissa, adam, evie and me.
melissa and adam.

that i what they do.

leaving for new york.

i can use the camera on my mac

2010-07-21T06:09:00.001-04:00

2010-02-28T09:18:00.003-05:00

keeping calm in the snow

2010-02-09T07:11:00.001-05:00

new pics

2010-01-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

New Pictures

2009-12-06T10:05:00.004-05:00

2009-11-26T07:47:00.004-05:00

I was not backing over my child. She ran away anxious to see pictures of herself.

this is the remote that Frank ate

Frank, visiting my bathroom.

me ruining gigi's hair. not really. it came out kind of nice.

my swine flu victim

Photo update

2009-10-05T05:44:00.001-04:00

I LOVE ZIPCAR AND YOU WILL TOO

2009-10-02T10:12:00.001-04:00

At 41, I think I don't want more character building.

2009-08-30T06:07:00.006-04:00

How am I going to survive the following:

1) Roaches in my apartment.

2) School starts tomorrow.

3) Girls are wearing last years clothes to school. Gigi has to wear 4th grade clothes to the 5th GRADE!!!!!

4) Rabbit is in the house. Oh my goodness.

5) Severe lack of funds. Hope the rent check clears.

6) Tomorrow is Monday.

7) My apt is filthy.

8) SEVERE lack of funds.

9) I can't even look at my kids, they are so grown up with their new hairstyles.

10) Cook out next weekend. Do I have a car to get to and money to pay for this cookout?

new animal - FRANKIE - the rabbit

2009-08-25T05:50:00.005-04:00

This is Frankie (Frankenstein). Evie's rabbit. She wanted him for her birthday. He looks calm and cool in these photos but right after I took the third photo down, he tried to kill Evie, she screamed like a girl and quickly put him on the ground. I can't say she dropped him because she 'DIDN'T DROP HIM!!!!!!!!' Like the good mother and compassionate person that I am, I had to let her know that when it comes to her and the rabbit, the rabbit's safety comes first. They are doing much better now. Frankenstein is holed up in my brother's kitchen at my parents' house where the girls are spending my last glorious week of summer freedom from my children. The hellish school year offically begins this friday when I pick up my kids FOR GOOD. bitterBITTERsweetness.

he is the cutest thing ever.

they are the cutest things ever.

this young woman raises and shows rabbits with the help of her grandfather.

poopface.

huge feet.

Exhausting weekend. We had to metro around town saturday and sunday, but spent most of sunday in my father's car driving around Damascus MD....where I want to live now.

2009 Montgomery County Fair

2009-08-16T08:48:00.006-04:00

books, authors I need to read

2009-08-11T08:37:00.001-04:00

http://www.nybooks.com/nyrb/

I love it when I can (with little effort) find books that interst me.

Zsoka's (Jojo's) big interview

2009-08-09T09:14:00.004-04:00

Is Zsoka the best lifguard ever? I do think so. The girls love her. Too bad she leaves in a few weeks.

2009-08-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

at the pool. we love summer

2009-08-09T09:10:00.000-04:00

The guinea pigs, Jinx and Juicy

2009-08-09T09:04:00.001-04:00

Jinx is the grey and white. We think she is older as she is more tolerant of our attempts to handle her and she is generally larger and less skiddish. Juicy is smaller and terrified of us...well me. She did the highpichted squeal thing when I tried to hand feed her last night. They are active in the morning and the evening and run around cooing and purring to each other. They are super cute.

new puppies at Fran's and Donovan's

2009-08-02T11:04:00.004-04:00

They are girl pitbull/mastiffs and they are gorgeous. They fell over their own feet and playfully tried to eat each other the whole time. Gigi was incredibly brave and held them both very comfortably.

They also have real puppy breath unlike Yoni or Niko (who is an older puppy). Poor Niko needs to be neutered immediately. He repeatedly tried to have is way with Donovan all day at the party.

gigi's birthday, their "brother" and those dogs.

2009-07-31T09:00:00.004-04:00

birthday week - new shoes and manicure

2009-07-27T17:02:00.000-04:00

girls and the pool

2009-07-27T08:28:00.002-04:00

dogs.

2009-07-11T07:13:00.000-04:00

NEW PUPPY!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-28T10:49:00.002-04:00

He has no name yet. I think my mother wants to call him "Sugar" until she can decide on a name. He is so incredibly calm and sweet. The woman my mother bought him from said he was the runt and came from a litter of 5, I think. Niko was very excited, as you can see, and was extra interested in the puppies private parts. Niko has issues that need to be FIXED. Poor sweet Niko. OH the puppy is a Shitzu, Poodle mix. He's heavenly.

The last photo is a video showing the puppy (Dave Ming Chang) and Niko in full force.

Niko - video test

2009-06-20T19:57:00.002-04:00

I've never posted a video before. TESTING TESTING

Little Man Niko (with a k)

2009-06-20T19:49:00.003-04:00

Not great pics. This is us taking Niko to his first vet visit....ever. We were too disturbed and worried about his wellbeing during the visit to take pictures.
The poor thing had 6 shots and we were told he was most likely "a little abused". It also turns out he is not 18 months, but fully grown and 2 or 3 years old. I am glad I didn't meet his previous owner. I understand, truly I do, how hard life is and if you can't care for a pet.....you shouldn't have one. She did the right thing in finding a new home for him. We love him and I wish he could live with me rather than my parents. I am so glad we have him. My parents tried to keep him in the kitchen at night, but he whines and cries until he is allowed in my mother's room. He sleeps in my mother's room now.

My life in pictures.....

2009-06-20T17:52:00.008-04:00

Hore-Belisha has to be the BEST FREAKING NAME EVER. Thank you Mollie Panter-Downes for living in an age when you could possibly hear of a name such as Hore-Belisha. That is such a pure bred animal name or a really pretentious stuffed animal name. I have blue stuffed bear that I named "Beary" uh-hem that would so have been named Mr. Hore-Belisha if I had been so enlightened about 3 or4 years ago. Ladies and Gentlemen, Hore-Belisha.

Perfect 2nd Tibetan Spaniel name. (Dragon, you will be my number one)

What I am reading.

What is on my nails. "My Darling" ahah that is what its called. It's more like my emo, masichistic, nihilistic darling.

This picture speaks volumes about how I feel. Sad. I wish life was fucking easier. Just a little.

My favorite magazine since I couldn't pay the $30 I owe "W". hmmm Real and Simple. It seems to me that the real stuff is not the simple stuff.

What I just read. For the most part.....very cool.

good morning.

well, that was real and simply awesome.

visit to the National Gallery of Art, DC

2009-06-18T14:38:00.030-04:00

Tatsoi

2009-06-18T07:52:00.005-04:00

http://www.masdudiable.com/A55C37/mdd.nsf/dx/Selecting-Oriental-Brassicas.htm

Tatsoi and Sweet-Corn Salad With Peach-Nectar Dressing
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 peaches, peeled and diced
3 ears fresh sweet corn, husked
8 cups tatsoi greens, or other tender mild greens
3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste.
1. In a skillet set over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the peaches and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, bring an inch of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the corn and steam 5 minutes. Drain the corn and allow to cool. Using a knife, scrape the kernels off the cobs and place the kernels in a large bowl.
3. Just before serving, add the tatsoi, peaches and salt, and toss well. Season to taste with lemon juice, toss again and serve.
Yield: 6 servings.

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/13/magazine/food-the-odd-couple.html?pagewanted=all

ASIAN GREENS These are quick, cool ways to use piles of totsoi, mizuno, mustard and baby bok choy. Excuse my spelling!
Curried Vegetarian Noodles adapted form Nina Simonds' Asian Noodles 1 1/2 Tbs. oil I 1 1/2 Tbs. garlic, minced 1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced 1 1/2 Tbs. curry powder 2 2 1/2 c. onion, sliced thinly 2 c. red pepper, sliced 4 c. Asian greens, sliced 3 1/4 c. chicken or vegetable broth 3 Tbs. soy sauce 1/2 tsp. sugar salt and pepper
1/2 lb. thin rice stick noodles, softened in hot water and drained OR cooked, rinsed angel hair pasta
Heat oil in wok or heavy pan. Add first group of ingredients. Saute briefly. Add second group of ingredients. Stir fry until tender (1-3 minutes). Mix last group of ingredients and add with noodles. Cook and toss carefully for 1 min.
Lemon Vegetable Noodles
1 lb. Asian greens, such as above, sliced 1 lb. flat noodles, such as linguine, cooked and rinsed 2 Tbs. Asian toasted sesame oil 1 1/2 Tbs. oil 2 1/2 Tbs. garlic, minced 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1/3 lb. smoked turkey, sliced (optional)
lemon dressing: 6 Tbs. light soy sauce 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice 2 Tbs. sugar
Heat both oils in wok or heavy pan. Stir fry garlic and red pepper flakes for 1 min. Add bell pepper and greens and stir fry for 1 1/2 min. more. Add lemon dressing and noodles. Stir to coat.

http://www.ryderfarmcsa.org/recipies/asian_greens.htm

I must try this no knead Challah bread

2009-06-18T07:36:00.005-04:00

Recipe: No-Knead Challah from Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

Happy baking!
No-Knead Challah from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

Makes four 1-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or neutral-tasting vegetable oil such as canola), plus more for greasing the cookie sheet

7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water)

Poppy or sesame seeds for the top

1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter (or oil) with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (no airtight) food container.

2. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1-pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using. Then allow the usual rest and rise time.

5. On baking day, butter or grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, or a silicone mat. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6. Divide the ball into thirds, using a dough scraper or knife. Roll the balls between your hands (or on a board), stretching, to form each into a long, thin rope. If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again. Braid the ropes, starting from the center and working to one end. Turn the loaf over, rotate it, and braid from the center out to the remaining end. This produces a loaf with a more uniform thickness than when braided from end to end.

7. Allow the bread to rest and rise on the prepared cookie sheet for 1 hour and 20 minutes (or just 40 minutes if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).

8. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. If you're not using a stone in the oven, 5 minutes is adequate. Brush the loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with the seeds.

9. Bake near the center of the oven for about 25 minutes. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time. The challah is done when golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf offer resistance to pressure. Due to the fat in the dough, challah will not form a hard, crackling crust.

10. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Persephone, Persephone, Persephone

2009-06-15T15:39:00.002-04:00

http://thepersephonepost.blogspot.com/

I will be your rep. You can buy me that car!

finished easy bread

2009-06-15T06:44:00.006-04:00

It came out kind of pretty, but the taste is bland. The bread is dry and has an unpleasant texture. I think I kneaded it too much and I know I didn't cover it while it rose. I need a bread knife. Croutons. This bread is crouton bread. Red lentil soup is on the menu for today and croutons go really well with that.

potato pancakes and easy bread

2009-06-14T18:18:00.006-04:00

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/

So that is not the actual recipe I used....but it is quite similar. I searched and searched for the recipe I used but couldn't find it. About.com has a close one. I can't wait to try the simple dollar recipe.

Easy Bread

3/4 cup watm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter - softened
1/2 cup milk
3 cups all purpose flour (2 cups then 1 cup)

Mix water and yeast...dissolve
Add salt, sugar, burrer and milk
Mix in 2 cups of flour

Add flour until dough drags after the spoon
Knoead adding flour until smooth, not sticky
Put in buttered bowl...turn dough until all sides are buttery
Cover and let rise for 1 hour
Punch down, knead on floured board
Preheat over at 375 degrees F
Form into load and put in buttered bread pan
Let rise for 30 minutes
Score 3 times across the top
Bake 45 minutes until golden brown
turn out and let cool

Potato Pancakes (our Christmas latkes)

2 cups grated potatoes
1 tbsp grated onion
3 eggs beaten
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil

squeeze all water out of the potatoes
mix all ingredients
drop by spoonfulls into hot oil

eat immediately

I don't have pictures of the latkes because they disappeared like magic. Here are pics of the easy bread the the udon noodles I am going to stirfy.

New Kitchen before and after

2009-06-07T06:38:00.003-04:00

These are my new cabinets. No, I am not having the doors installed. I don't like cabinet doors and I love my dishes. I can't find my before shots. :(

Nico

2009-06-07T06:24:00.007-04:00

Nico came home yesterday. My cousin has a friend who couldn't keep him. She tried to send him to another home, but they couldn't take his energy..he has lots of it. The girls were hesitant and scared at first, but I think they will be fine. My mother told them he is their dog and Evie said "I'm not his sister?! I am his mom! I am a MOMMY!!" Just a little disturbing. Gigi took a little longer to accept him. She called me three times last night to tell me he jumped on her...he licked her in her mouth...and finally "I like the dog".

He is a Yorkiepoo, I think more Yorkie than Poo, is 18 months old, very smart and lovable. He cried when his owner left.

Look at that gorgeous hair. He is silvery, brown and black. Gorgeous.

wow

2009-05-13T08:25:00.005-04:00

her style and beauty leave me speechless. her intelligence leaves me in awe. i reluctantly say she also leaves me sad and regretful of what i could be and find that i am not. ANYWAY, someone buy me that blouse.

i found this photo on http://www.mrs-o.org/. i love them. thanks for keeping me up-to-date on the lighter side.

2009-05-10T08:23:00.008-04:00

Poor Chan. He died last Saturday. He was my mother twenty-hundredth pet and we are already looking for pet number twenty-hundredth and one. She wants a pure breed dog, but my girls want a shelter dog. We went out yesterday to see what we could see.

Look at the poop-face-puppy. I want to scream and cry because we weren't able to take them with us. The guy had 3 female pit bull puppies at the market in St. Mary's county. They were ridiculously expensive...about $450 each and ridiculously, RIDICULOUSLY precious.

.......and my brave girl overcame her dog-fears and held one.

This gorgeous girl was in Petsmart yesterday morning. The owner has 5 of them. Yes, five of them. She was the sweetest thing. She is sniffing my mother's hand. We are trying to find puppies and went to Petsmart for an adoption event which never happened. The folks from the shelter never showed up.

**********************************************

These flowers speak to me every morning I walk past them. The colors are so rich and warm.

Work is not fun. Cubicles are so damn depressing. We move into a fabulous new building on June 5th. I am excited about it, but not loving the cubicle. :( I am claiming two of them for my own.

Dorothy Whipple love

2009-04-28T16:09:00.004-04:00

I must read everything she has ever written. Someone at a Distance was really enjoyable. It was funny and light and the characters, though over the top sometimes, where believable. I even liked the lame-ish happy ending, because it was not entirely too happy. The list of her books is from Wikipedia. The picture, from Persephone Books.

Young Anne (1927)
Greenbanks (1932)
High Wages (1932)
They Knew Mr.Knight (1934)
The Priory (1939)
They Were Sisters (1943)
Because Of The Lockwoods (1949)
Every Good Deed (1950)
The Other Day: An Autobiography (1950)
Someone at a Distance (1953)
Wednesday and Other Stories (1961)
Tale of Very Little Tortoise (1962)
The Smallest Tortoise of All (1964)
Little Hedgehog (1965)
Random Commentary: Books And Journals Kept from 1925 Onwards (1966)
Mrs.Puss and That Kitten (1967)
On Approval
After Tea

Republished by Persephone Books
Someone at a Distance (1999)
They Knew Mr. Knight (2000)
The Priory (2003)
They Were Sisters (2005)
The Closed Door and other stories (2007)

It is spring.

2009-04-26T19:23:00.002-04:00

I made my daughter walk to CVS today. She HATED it. She said, "I would rather die than be walking right now to CVS." I ignored her, and we walked. We smelled the flowers.

www.burkedecor.com

2009-04-22T05:06:00.003-04:00

I want these floor mats. They come in great colors and they are affordable.

2009-04-20T15:21:00.006-04:00

I am dying at my desk. I ordered these books on Friday and the arrived today..MONDAY. What started off being a rainy, blah day (dont' get me wrong, I love a good rainy day) has become really special. What to read first? I think it will be "Someone at a Distance" by Dorothy Whipple. "Good Evening, Mrs. Craven" by Mollie Panter-Downes will patiently wait.

I need this bag right now

2009-04-20T14:59:00.002-04:00

I would like a big one in blue, please and thank you.

http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/products/red-tote-shopping-bag

apres mammogram

2009-04-19T08:32:00.002-04:00

Why are we never told exactly what to expect...EVER? I always try to give a detailed and accurate recollection of my experiences when asked. For example, a past student employee and his wife are expecting a baby. He asks and I tell without embellishment and not shying from truths...well not all the truths need to be shared, but I don't lie about it. I share the good and the ugly.

Why have I never been told of the after affects of mammograms? About an hour after the procedure...which was not bad AT ALL, I started having that "OMG. I am going to throw up in my car" feeling. As it progressed I began feeling less happy about having done a great thing. Having made it to my favorite grocery (Hmart) I was relieved the episode did not begin there. Fortunately, I was in my car and the weather was awesome so I could keep my window down. As the sickness moving through me and felt relief in the fact that I wasn't going to throw up in y car while driving. But, that was not the end of it. I barely made it into the house fast enough to put the bags down and run to the bathroom. All day I laid around, unable to do much of anything. My oldest kid entertained herself and came and went as she pleased, but the younger planted herself right there beside me, poor thing.

I eventually got it together and googled "mammogram nausea" and found some descriptions of what I was feeling. Seriously. How about if someone said, "Go straight home after the procedure" or "Expect some gastro-intestinal discomfort"? Either would have been helpful and appreciated.

mammogram

2009-04-18T06:47:00.002-04:00

I go in for my first mammogram today. The anticipation is making me nauseated. I am not sure why. The horror stories of boobs flattened to pancakes are fleeting in and out of my head when I KNOW that it can't be that bad. I also have no money which adds to the anxiety..it always does. Shouldn't I be used to that, too.

The weather should be nice and it is Saturday after all. There is enough money to put some gas in the car and get some bean leaves from my favorite grocery, Hmart on Georgia Avenue. There is a level of rudeness in the clientele and I can't help but be a little turned off by the seafood department, but the produce is lovely and the staff members cooking in the store is also nice. Often, you have to wait for their delicious samples, but it is usually worth it.

Maybe my kids will want to go to a park or something...free.

Today I am going to make another pot of the lovely red lentil soup and a stir fry with the bean leaves and some kind of seafood.

Barack

2009-04-13T11:34:00.003-04:00

I just received a ticket to see the president tomorrow. My day is shot. This level excitement is tantamount to any excitement I have felt before, ever. Well, maybe not..giving birth was pretty exciting. I am having a real hard time thinking about work right now.

I hearby swear.......

2009-04-06T18:50:00.003-04:00

to not put frivolities on my charge cards, to cancel my cell phone contract and to not sign a contract with another cell phone company, to shop at Aldi for just about every damn thing I need, to shop at the thrift store instead of Target and Walmart, to walk to the train instead of taking the bus, to stop buying movies through on demand and use the Netflix subscription like its my job, to save money to fix my car, to not go on vacation this summer, to SAVE SOME MONEY SO I DON'T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE I MAKE HALF OF WHAT I ACTUALLY MAKE. btw, Sprint and JMS.com are some you know whats.

portrait of a youth

2009-04-05T22:49:00.003-04:00

He is hanging on a wall, downtown, right now. What I would give to see this painting in the middle of the night. A private tour of the NGA. Oh my.

http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=22

Iron Beds

2009-04-04T09:21:00.007-04:00

I love iron furniture and have two of the Meldal day beds from Ikea. That is the Meldal bed above. One day I will have a house full of them. One in every room. These lovelies below, I found them on http://www.antiqueironbeds.com/.

www.cathousebeds.com has fabulous beds, too.

something interesting to think about

2009-04-03T15:33:00.004-04:00

Black Bashi Bazouk by Jean-Léon Gérôme, French. 1869

A bashi-bazouk or bashibazouk (Turkish başıbozuk, "damaged head", meaning "leaderless", "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army. They were noted for their lack of discipline. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashi-bazouk)

Hall at Shinnecock. William Merritt Chase - 1892

A hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers. Later, rooms were partitioned from it, so that today the hall of a house is the space inside the front door from which the rooms are reached.

Deriving from the above, a hall is often the term used to designate a British or Irish country house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_house

About "Cranford"....

2009-03-29T20:03:00.002-04:00

Wow. I was not prepared for the death and unahppiness. So often, I find myself offended by brutal manipulation of my emotions, but in the case of "Cranford", I am going to be forgiving. Being a single woman (who considers herself single-by-choice) I felt the pain of the women of Cranford who remained unattached. As a person who has found and lost love, I really felt the pain of those women who remained unattached when that was not their choice. I wondered throughout the episodes why these women didn't speak up when I would have. Why didn't she tell her father she was in love with major whoever and why didn't the rector's daughter just say to the doctor that she needed some space to process her brother's death. Why why why? Because that would have ruined the story, duh.

So, I loved it. Immensely. I loved the familiar faces (Willoughby-yum), the town, the country side, the clothes, the animals, the etiquette....all of it. I want to visit the town of Lacock and go to a May day festival like when I was a kid.

Ooooo. "Little Dorrit" comes on tonight. :)

beautiful foggy morning

2009-03-29T19:26:00.003-04:00

I think this was last Friday when we walked out into this thick fog. We should have fog like this at least once a week. I know it is hard to drive in this kind of weather, but it isn't too much to ask drivers to be a little more careful. As I waited for the bus people and cars emerged from the fog like magic. It was a perfect morning to NOT be waiting for a bus and to NOT be going to work. I should have walked to enjoy the cloud on earth, but I didn't. Lazy much?

the soup

2009-03-29T19:17:00.004-04:00

Here is the red lentil soup I made from the NYT.com. I did change it slightly, adding fresh ginger and using beef broth instead of chicken or vegetable broth. Next time I will definitely use a different broth, but the beef really added heartiness.

Yeah, that is me enjoying the soup. Seriously, I am going to make this stuff again very soon. My parents might appreciate a pot of it.

A few of the reasons I want to move back to York, PA

2009-03-29T17:44:00.004-04:00

And a good dvd would be.....?

2009-03-25T12:43:00.006-04:00

"Cranford"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/cranford/

I think I could Judi Dench myself to death. Whenever I think of her I imagine her as Lady Catherine de Bourgh who swooped down on the Bennett's in the middle of the night to interrogate Elizabeth Bennett and tell Mrs. Bennett her garden is very small. I LOVE IT. What I loved most was her wig. It was fierce and regal..like it would fly off her head to feed on small animals. She's is also so full of mature sexuality and in a very real way.

Here I go...... delving into the Ancestry.com fueled fantasy world filled with English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh ancestors. Sigh. I will be ok before my lunch break is over...I hope.

"it had a buoyant, lemony disposition grounded by a profound cumin and chili backbone."

2009-03-25T08:44:00.004-04:00

photo by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

For that description alone (which should be printed on a t-shirt), I am dying to make this red lentil soup. Thank you Melissa Clark. Your words about this recipe I found yesterday are music to my ears. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E3DD1739F93AA35752C0A96E9C8B63

I have been eating Dixer Diner's red lentils for the past few days and have had the urge to make my own. How hard can it be? The idea of the cilantro and lemon are real turn-ons. Making this soup is on the number one spot of my weekend TO DO list.....well, not really. It's number 4 on this list:

1) drop my kids off at my parents

2) buy a HUGE bottle of wine

3) go grocery shopping

4) cook good food

5) watch good DVDs

Lunch date with Lucy

2009-03-23T12:43:00.003-04:00

http://kitchen-notebook.blogspot.com/

Just click on the link above. WAIT! Before you do that be prepared to be entranced for a undetermined period of time. I am at work looking a blog to peruse over lunch (spiced lentils and injera) at my desk and I found this loveliness. Just look at those images. Ms. Vanel is my lunch buddy for the day.

Lalita Pandit

2009-03-22T09:08:00.003-04:00

In a search for poetry written by Asian poets, I found "Kashmiri Poets & Poetesses". http://www.koausa.org/Poets/index.html Once there, found Lalita Pandit. I don't know anymore about her than what is on that sight and what is written about her on Wikipedia, but I know that I love her writing. What draws me to it is what draws me to all 'exotic' (in quotes because we are all exotic to someone, somewhere) poetry. The images, smells and sounds conjured trigger my curiosity. They make me want to be there. Pandit writes about her personal and cultural history. She makes me what to know more about her relationship with her family, their interpersonal interaction and their faith. I've been reading "Sukeshi has a dream" on the subway, to and from work and it transports me into another world. It's one of those things where if I don't tear myself away from the page, I will miss my stop.

http://www.koausa.org/Poets/LalitaPandit.html

Stressed

2009-03-19T18:30:00.007-04:00

I can not express how stressed I am feeling. This is why have not posted in a little while. I could write about how my oldest kid has convinced me she has multiple personalities due to her raging hormones or how my youngest is being influenced by her because, well, she is her little sister. I am not going to do that. I am also not going to talk about how ridiculous my job is right now. Everyone is up in arms. It's not about the economy. It's about petty and childish things. It's about peoples feelings and attitudes.

I want to talk about my life when I retire...in 19 years. UGH. Anyway, I am going to move back to York, Pennsylvania, where I grew up. We lived in Dallastown, a suburb of York actually. So, York is a small town about 2 hours north of DC. The culture is conservative, as I remember, and pretty republican, but I am not going to let that scare me. The cost of living is way lower than it is here. Ideally, I want to buy a house there in 5-10 years and use it as a weekend/vacation escape. In my dreams I receive about 2 million dollars, quit my job, collect my parents, their dog and my brother and move...today. Unfortunately, there is no 2 million dollars and my girls are only in the 4th and 6th grades and taking them out of their school is not an option.

I want to sit in my backyard and smell the grass and honeysuckle. I want to plant those yellow flowers I used to not like at all....are they crokus or something. I want to ride a bike to the market on W. Market St. and furnish my house with antiques.

I need to not think the next 19 years are going to feel like today felt. Seriously.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York,_Pennsylvania

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mXZ18THjRnN9_lqzjJZ9pg?authkey=Gv1sRgCIrgkZK1wt-aywE&feat=directlink

2009-03-11T08:48:00.003-04:00

Michelle Obama is an attractive woman. She is a mother, she is educated and she is the president's wife. Where does it say that she has to be dowdy and unattractive? Why is it such a big deal that she has arms and takes care of her body. If we have to be so concerned with her physical appearance, why aren't we tearing apart her height and her hips. Why are republicans and other women so afraid of her sexuality? Do republicans and other women not possess sexuality? Maybe that is the problem...well part of it. Embrace all of yourselves people. You are not just your job, your degree, your title, or your position in society. You are men and women and without expressing your sexuality (in a healthy way) you become monsters. Keep your bottled up frustrations to yourselves when judging Mrs. Obama. Keep your thinly veiled ideas of black women being overtly sexual or not sexual at all to your bigoted-selves. Yes, I said the "b" word. Just because bigotry has been so faintly laced into the psyche of humanity for generation after generation does not mean we have to keep quiet about it. Frankly, the bigotry is so loud its making my ears bleed.

Here is an interesting excerpt from a Maureen Dowd (who understands) article on NYT.com:

March 8, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
Should Michelle Cover Up?
By MAUREEN DOWD

"Let’s face it: The only bracing symbol of American strength right now is the image of Michelle Obama’s sculpted biceps. Her husband urges bold action, but it is Michelle who looks as though she could easily wind up and punch out Rush Limbaugh, Bernie Madoff and all the corporate creeps who ripped off America.
In the taxi, when I asked David Brooks about her amazing arms, he indicated it was time for her to cover up. “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.”
I’d seen the plaint echoed elsewhere. “Someone should tell Michelle to mix up her wardrobe and cover up from time to time,” Sandra McElwaine wrote last week on The Daily Beast.
Washington is a place where people have always been suspect of style and overt sexuality. Too much preening signals that you’re not up late studying cap-and-trade agreements.
David was not smitten by the V-neck, sleeveless eggplant dress Michelle wore at her husband’s address to Congress — the one that caused one Republican congressman to whisper to another, “Babe.”
He said the policy crowd here would consider the dress ostentatious. “Washington is sensually avoidant. The wonks here like brains. She should not be known for her physical presence, for one body part.” David brought up the Obamas’ obsession with their workouts. “Sometimes I think half the reason Obama ran for president is so Michelle would have a platform to show off her biceps.”
During the campaign, there was talk in the Obama ranks that Michelle should stop wearing sleeveless dresses, because her muscles, combined with her potent personality, made her daunting.
She ignored that talk, thank heavens. I love the designer-to-J. Crew glamour. Combined with her workaday visits to soup kitchens, inner-city schools and meetings with military families, Michelle’s flair is our depression’s answer to Ginger Rogers gliding around in feathers and lamé.
Her arms, and her complete confidence in her skin, are a reminder that Americans can do anything if they put their minds to it. Unlike Hillary, who chafed at the loathed job of first lady, and Laura, who for long stretches disappeared into the helpmeet role, Michelle has soared every day, expanding the job to show us what can be accomplished by a generous spirit, a confident nature and a well-disciplined body.
I also have no doubt she can talk cap-and-trade with ease and panache."

2009-03-10T12:49:00.002-04:00

Song, by Susan Downing-White

I know I have been pretty emotionally unstable lately, but I have to say, when I found this artist's work online, it brought tears to my eyes. I am a sucker for a landscape and love this woman's landscapes. Her name is Susan Downing-White and she takes me where I need to be. In a description of her work, someone called her landscapes melancholy. I call them alive. I couldn't find an image of my favorite work so you have to go here to see it:

http://www.coleprattgallery.com/artistdetail.php?artistID=1009&titleID=12322#

My favorite is 'Places East of Here VII', 'Rare sighting' and 'Song' above. When I look at these paintings I feel the constant current of life. How you know no matter what happens, the wind blows, birds fly, the sun sets and rises....you know. I feel our smallness and the natural world's awesome, oblivious bigness.

why life is hard

2009-03-09T09:25:00.002-04:00

After a weekend of complete and utter despair, I have dragged myself out of the doom and gloom to reach a feeling of content. You think about all the suffering people, those with no job who can't house and feed their families and those with terminal diseases, faced with their imminent death...and those who are just miserable (I may fall into this category every now an again). Of course after I think of all the pain in the world, I ask myself, "Isn't it all relative?" I know people have it worse than I do....but I still feel bad...I still feel really bad.

So, Friday was THE PITS. I was ready to drive my kids to Nebraska and drop them off, then quit my job and live as a recluse in the woods behind my building. On the way home, the bus stopped on the P St bridge...and sat...and sat. Eventually, I decided the bus driver can't hold us hostage and I got off, almost failing over the railing. I walked to 21st and P St...I think...and the police wouldn't let anyone walk any further. Then the police on the motorcycles started to come, then the black cars, then the black cars with flags, then there he was, Barack. He was looking out the back seat window, deep in thought. People around me start hooting and hollering...high fiving each other. It was interesting how happy he made them feel while for me (me who loves the entire Obama family) felt tired and sad at seeing him. I struggle with thinking of the President as metaphor for hope (hope for everyone) and thinking of him as regular though exceptional man and thinking of him as a political leader. Seeing him made him more 'regular man' and I think my sadness was based in self-pity because I know very few exceptional men...or women.

I have seen him before and he touched my shoulder. I didn't speak to him because I was too busy making sure I got really good pictures. I didn't.

2009-03-05T08:14:00.002-05:00

It is my 41st birthday today. Will someone buy me this concertina?!!!! Pretty Please.

My little one told me she was going to fail if I didn't get her a freakin recorder that she has been asking me to get her for weeks. So I googled music stores in Takoma Park and found there is one right up the street from me, the House of Musical Traditions, http://www.hmtrad.com/. Such a lazy mom. We went after I got home from work. Oh my goodness. What fun. They had instruments from all over the world and the sales guy, Paul, was amazing. He talked to us about all the instruments and let the girls play them. The were a little out of control, but Paul and the owner seemed to love it. I loved it, too. I decided I have to learn how to play the accordion...then I saw these little lovelies called concertinas. That is a concertina at the top of this post. I want to be like the woman, Licia Maglietta, in that movie "Bread and Tulips" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237539/ She plays this awesome waltz on the accordion. It is a great movie by the way. Last night I got the recorder, my older girl got a set of 'spoons' and I gat on egg that you shake. Its filled with sandlike stuff....I can't think of the name but I love it and its blue.

When I can do it, financially, I am going to get a concertina (a beautifully painted red one) and a pink ukulele for the girls.

National Gallery of Art love

2009-03-02T09:12:00.006-05:00

One thing I absolutely do not like about myself is how I don't visit the National Gallery of Art on a monthly basis. Yes, I think I need to go once a month and I think I just might do that......maybe. I could have a routine of every third Sunday or something like that.

I need these catalogues:

http://shop.nga.gov/nga/category.cgi

2009-02-28T18:11:00.007-05:00

Well, my day got a little better. I've done about 38,000 loads of laundry, cooked a bit and have found the energy to post some interesting stuff. See that loveliness above? That's my granola. The little one called me while I was at work yesterday to say she was eating 'my food' and with a full mouth told me 'this stuff is delicious!!' I envisioned chewed up granola spraying the phone and dining room table.

I could not get it off the cookie sheet fast enough. Her little hands were all over it. What, you may ask is in my granola....I will tell you.

preheat your oven to 375 degrees

about 3 cups of rolled oats

about 1-2 cups of crushed nuts (I used walnuts, pecans, almonds and sesame seeds)

1/4 cup of honey

1/4 cup of veg oil

1/4 cup of brown sugar (I have used brown sugar splenda before and it was good)

about 1/2 tsp of salt

dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg

1 tbsp of vanilla

you mix it all and spread it on a cookie sheet (line it with something because it will stick like crazy)

it only takes about 25 minutes to be done. Leave it longer for a smokier, crunchier granola....don't do this if you are including dried fruit.

AND I GOT BOWLS!!! The one on its side, I got that one because it is small but deep and the pattern is sparse, I love that. The yellow one is Pyrex. Heavenly. I feel about Pyrex and depression glass like I feel about mirrors. I like to think mirrors hold memory's of the images they catch, I think Pyrex and really all old china do the same.

The bowl with the floral trim is AWESOME. I wish I had a better picture. I will have to google it's stamp....Marlborough-Royal Petal-Grindley......fancy schmancy. That bowl was $6.5o

Those gorgeous mugs are Fitz and Floyd. 5 of them were marked $.99 and one was $.69. Now, I know that was a steal.

Thrifting is glorious. I also got myself a blazer, a pajama top and sleeveless top to go with my aubergine suit.

This beautiful mess is oat burger fixins. YUM. I got a veggie burger for lunch yesterday and that made it virtually impossible for me to not make some this weekend. I have been wanting to for a long time and I am glad I did tonight. This recipe called for baking. Next time I will definitely fry and not use so much onion. I think I will add some chick peas next time too.......or make chick pea and black bean burgers. The vegetable burger dimension has opened to me and
I want to experience them all. The ones I am eating now is SCREAMING for some cilantro, a squeeze of lime and did I mention fewer onions. Don't get me wrong...these are good, but I'll find a better recipe and post it later.

Cloudy Saturday morning

2009-02-28T08:35:00.002-05:00

I had a rough day at work yesterday and came home to two unresponsive, kids with no respect. You know how you ask them a question and get no answer...you get the blank stare....or you tell them 4 times to clean up the living room and explode when they are playing in their bedrooms and not even covertly but very loudly and defiantly. UGH. Then I watched the "Strayed' with Gaspard Ulliel and Emmanuelle Beart which depressed the hell out of me. Then the Hannibal Lechter movie with Gaspard Ulliel was on some movie channel and that made me feel much better because he was ridiculously crazy in that movie. I fell asleep watching that.

So, I am hiding in my room..hiding from my children...about to take a shower and have a lovely morning grocery shopping and thrift store shopping. I need bowls. we have three bowls in this apartment and I am sick of it.

An inspiration....really?!

2009-02-25T19:12:00.004-05:00

Since starting this blog have have gotten three comments....two today! Thanks to Ms. Single Mama and Single Mom Seeking. When I started this blog I really didn't know what direction it would go in. There is not clear message. It's pretty random. I write about my life, I guess, but that isn't very interesting. I decided I would write for myself and would be grateful if my thoughts meant anything to anyone. Hopefully, readers will continue to find my blog and like what they read. How amazing would it be if my blog was for someone else what my favorite blogs are for me!!!!

housekeeping

2009-02-17T18:52:00.000-05:00

I want this book:

http://www.mrsbeeton.com/index.html

since last week........

2009-02-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

I think posting and talking about these photos will produce the best post for right now. See, I woke up at 11:30 last night with that disgusting head cold, angry nasal passage thing brought about by diseased, caustic nasal discharge. It's so nasty. I just put my dinner in the oven, yes at 11:30 am, because I am not sure how much longer I will be conscious.

Here is what we have done on this long Presidents' Weekend.

I have an affinity for silverware and servingware. I don't so much like silver picture frames of trinkety things. It's the various kinds of knives, forks and spoons that get me. The handles, the bowls of the spoons, the tongs of the forks and the blades of knives are gorgeous and I love a good mix of styles on my table at one time. Imagine my surprise when looking through a coat closet at my parents' house, I found a jar full of old silver.

Above, is the set my mother uses (off limits to me). We use this on holidays for the big dinners she cooks. Gorgeous.

I love these matching, tarnished pieces. My mother and I agree that the tarnished pieces are the most beautiful. This pattern above seems so functional and attractive. They make me think of a conservatively set 19th century American table.

We are doing well on the "eating healthy" thing. Here is the oldest eating chili at Target.

More home made healthiness. Baked french fries, tossed in extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and Old Bay seasoning. My oldest loves Old Bay. http://www.oldbay.com/Recipe-Landing.aspx The fries were great. I top them with the cucumber yogurt dressing.

Smoothie making is going strong. The girls do well with supervision. Here is the little one making a mango, strawberry concoctions. We get our frozen fruit from Trader Joes. I love the organicness of Trader Joes and can tolerate the prices, but........while they are great about low fat, low sodium, low carb selections of products, there are not so many low sugar options. We make due, but I would like more selection. I do love the unsweetened soy milk and the goat yogurt.

I bought a futon for the living room. We have an 'infestation' problem in the building, so I refuse to buy real, lovely furniture. Oh, and I have kids so unless I am buying very high quality stuff, they will destroy it by merely looking at it. The futon came from a discount furniture store and cost $186. You see we put an immediate use to it. We brought it home on Friday night...tied to the top of the car. The little one interrogated the man who put it on the car. She had to make sure it was not illegal to drive with a futon and frame tied to the roof of our Camry. We made it home in time enough for me to assemble it and for a friend of theirs to spend the day with them on Saturday.

2009-02-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

Bill Cunningham's column "On the Street" is wonderful. I never remember to read it then can spend hours..literally..watching his articles.

Why I love him:

"I'm not a good photographer. To be perfectly honest, I'm too shy. Not aggressive enough. Well, I'm not aggressive at all. I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it. "

"Women's Wear has been photographing socialites and celebrities for years. But the difference for me is I don't see the people I photograph. All I see are clothes. I'm only interested in people who look good. I'm looking for the stunners."

"I go out every day. When I get depressed at the office, I go out, and as soon as I'm on the street and see people, I feel better. But I never go out with a preconceived idea. I let the street speak to me. "

BTW, Mr. Cunningham, I have ALWAYS loved high collared coats...not nehru or mandarin, but high high high.

His latest article:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/02/08/fashion/20090208-street-feature/index.html

crazy sky, clouds, water, ice

2009-02-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

Camille Seaman. Wow. Her images are like nightmare sets for people like me who think of where is the last place in the world I would want to be. I swear. The photographs are so beautiful they are painful to look at. Impossible to look at and believe they are real. The things our world can do confuses the hell out of me. Completely. I would be in total fear of loosing my life if I was looking at that iceberg. Like, I would take my own life, dive into the frigid water, because I couldn't handle the beautifulness. What is with the colors of the sky and the water and the ice and the freaky light?!?!??! What is happening???? Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of the tornado skies to post here but if you click on the link you will see those stormy images that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I think I love her.

http://www.camilleseaman.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=3258&Akey=WX679BJN

last post, last meal of the day

2009-02-08T20:22:00.000-05:00

Before I settle down to "Flight of the Concords" and a good hour of laundry sorting, I am enjoying my last treat of the day...well maybe there will be a glass of wine later.

I promised my kids I would make smoothies after dinner, so I did. Oh, I made a whole chicken, chicken in a pot, today. My young one said it was the best dinner she ever had in her life. She said this between spoonfuls of gravy straight from the gravy bowl...which was a big teacup because I don't have a proper gravy boat...that I like to use. I do have one I like to look at. I can not wait for them to see my mother so they can tell her how good my gravy was. My mother thinks she makes the best gravy in the world...it is better than mine, but mine was goooood.

I've posted enough today to last me quite a while I think. Good Night.

juicer heaven

2009-02-08T18:28:00.003-05:00

I am adding this to one of the things I can't live without.

Orange Juice and bad budgeting

2009-02-08T17:49:00.000-05:00

I swear, if I had $10 to my name I would spend it on some food I craved. I just bought $10 worth oranges just to share the experience of squeezing them with my youngest. We went to three stores looking for a good (cheap) juicer and only found a small hand held one. I think I may have to buy an electric one.

2009-02-08T12:04:00.000-05:00

Yum. Shrimp and grits with cheese and lime. What a great sunday morning breakfast. We ate around the groceries I was too lazy to put away. Weekends are for cooking and eating, aren't they? Too bad I have to do laundry and clean up around the house. Life would be perfect if I didn't have to do that.

Last night I made the long beans I got from Hmart. I fried them with some garlic and salt. One of the online recipes said they wouldn't get soggy....but they did. I still ate them. They were fine mixed with fried and chopped pork bellies and mung bean noodles. MUNG BEAN NOODLES!!!! wow. How can something beany be something so cool? My kids were completely grossed out by the transluscent sliminess of them in the pot. Once I got them in the oil from the pork bellies and seasoned with the soy sauce seasonsing. Wish I had a picture, but I ate it too fast. sorry.

I LOVE recipes that require less than 5 ingredients. So, I made 'Persian Cucumber Salad'. One thing I am not is a cucumber conisseur. I can not tell the difference between a Persian, English or normal hormone filled American wax covered scary cucumber. Anyway, I used Persian Cucumbers to make this flavor filled salad.

Cucumber Salad

2 Persian cucumbers-diced (or 2 English or one giant American)

about 25 oz yogurt (I used a very low fat goat yogurt from Trader Joe's)

1 Shallot, chopped

1 large clove of garlic

4tsp dill

sea salt to taste

cracked black pepper

Mix everything. Let it chill really well then eat.

My daughter is dipping pretzels in it. I want to top bunless veggie burgers with it.

Eating in Shanghai

2009-02-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

http://www.likealocal.cn/page/2

Really interesting mix of beautiful food and real life. This guy shows you the dish and exactly where the restaurant is/was that served it. AWESOME.

Those really long beans in the asian grocery store

2009-02-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

The search continues for new vegetables that my kids and I will actually eat. I found 'Cooking with Amy' and she has an interesting recipe I want to try. Few ingredients - Few steps

Chinese Style Green Beans (serves 4)

1 lb fresh green beans

1/4 cup vegetable oil or peanut oil (I used rice oil)

sauce:

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons wate

1 Tablespoons sherry

1 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

chili or garlic chili paste to taste (I use a teaspoon)

Wash the beans and chop off the ends. In a small bowl combine the sauce ingredients. Heat a heavy pan and add the oil. When the oil is very hot, add the beans and cook, stirring frequently until the beans are wrinkled slightly, 5-10 minutes. Scoop out the beans and drain off the oil. Drain the beans on a paper towel then return the beans and the sauce mixture to the dry pan and cook until thickened. Serve with rice.

thanks, Amy:)

Go here for the original post:

http://cookingwithamy.blogspot.com/2005/08/chinese-style-green-beans-recipe.html

Look who I found!

2009-02-07T08:11:00.001-05:00

http://joanchew_1911.blogspot.com/

Joan Chew documents her life and family in this colorful, happy, enticing blog that is full of lucious photographs of foods, places and people.

Looking at and reading through her blog this morning has made me long for HMart! I always think I want to try new veggies, seasonings and mixtures of flavors. I will definitely use her blog to work some new magic in my kitchen.

The dish above is kangkung with belacan.

Thanks Ms. Chew. I will be watching.

I shrink away from recipes with more tha 5 ingredients and more than 5 steps. I tried to find and short and sweet recipe for kangkung with belacan and I think I found it over at mysimplefood.com http://www.mysimplefood.com/2008/10/blog-post_25.html

KangKung Belacan

"This is my favourite vegetable since young. KangKung or KangKong is also known as Water Spinach or Water Convolvulus in the Western world. Water convolvulus is a member of the Convolvulaceae (morningglory) family. Ah ha....Infact in Malaysia I usually called it "morning glory" when ordering in a bit upscale Chinese restaurants (the ones where the waiters don't speak Chinese). I remember my brother used to laughed at me for calling it "morning glory". His rationale, how can a cheap vegetable like KangKung have such a beautiful name. :)Yup I always remember that this is a cheap vegetable as told by my grandma. This is because it can grow very easily in swamp areas as it grows fast when in contact with moist soil or water. Therefore to the older folks, this is a "longkang" (drain) vegetable meaning you can easily see it growing beside the drains."

"Another myth that they used to scare me with is that if I ate too much KangKung, I will get arthritis on my legs. It is because the vegetable is a water plant and the stems are soaked in water all the time. It will also transfer to human legs causing arthritis. Any truth in this myth? I don't know but trust me, after eating too much KangKung when young, I did feel pain in my legs. Let me know if this is a fact or just a myth. :)

Other names. Kankon (Japanese); ung choi (Cantonese Chinese); toongsin tsai (Mandarin Chinese); ong choy, ungtsai, tung choy (China); kang kong (Filipino, Malaysian); kang kung, rau muong (Vietnamese); pak bung (Thai).

How to prepare? This dish can be easily stir-fried plain with garlic but it is most famous as KangKung Sambal Belacan whereby you use dried chilli prawn paste. I cook variations of this vegetable using actual "belacan" or just ready made sambal belacan or just plain with garlic."

Simple Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1 red chilli,

500g kangkun

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Seasoning -

2 tbsp belacan sambal (readily available in canned bottles at Chinese Supermarkets)

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp sugar and salt

Simple Steps -

1. Heat up oil, sautè garlic until fragrant. Add in sambal belacan and stir-fry until aromatic.

2. Add in red chillis, kangkung and stir-fry at high heat until well mixed. Dish up.

I think I will add the seasonings with the sambal belacan.....we will see.

This dish looks like of dou miao, or snow pea tips. If is half as good as that then it will be a hit. And can I say how much I love the more amateur-ish food sites than the more slick and sexy ones. They seem so much more soulful and real to me. Keep posting MySimpleFood!!

Crumbling Grandeur

2009-02-07T07:23:00.000-05:00

Emily Evans Eerdmans at http://emilyevanseerdmans.blogspot.com/ had a fabulous post on Feb 4th called, Elegant Decay: Admirals' Row. OMG what a treasure that house is.

"I have always been drawn to crumbling grandeur - the cracks in the veneer that betray a history and an imperfection. Give me flaking lacquer over fresh paint any day.
For my fellow travelers who also enjoy this aesthetic, here is a treat."

EEE, I think I love you.

Holy Moly! THEN, I realized EEE linked to this site with even more amazing pictures of one of these houses. http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/02/admirals-row.html

this is dream material.

Go Fug Yourself

2009-02-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/

Oh my. They are hilarious. whew.

I want to ride away, now.

2009-02-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

Life is seriously beating me down. Work and kids....are they necessary evils? I like my job and I love my kids, more than anything. Do these things have to torment me and tear me to pieces? Is it just me? Do I need a therapist? Do I have time or money to go to a therapist? Maybe I should join a gym so I can work off my anxiety and get healthy. Should I budget and make time for that? Should I register for more online classes, even though they are making me take a math class. WTF does an English major want with math?

(http://www.pashley.co.uk/index.php) I want to ride that bike through the country side. Rain or shine. As long as its warm. I want to ride it through back roads and through a small town, then back to an old house that has tall ceilings, french doors, real windows in between rooms and loads of old stuff. Then I would lie in front of an open window with a good book and read myself to sleep.

The thought of what I really have to do today (meet with my older daughter's school administrators and schlep my ass to work) makes me want to cry which is ridiculous because work and kids permeate everyday of my life. Shouldn't I be at peace with them?

hosted by ringsurf.com

2009-02-05T07:20:00.000-05:00

Does having a host bring more readers? Let's see if it does.

Blogs By Black Women
Powered By Ringsurf

Mammy and the Golliwogg

2009-02-05T06:15:00.001-05:00

After hearing about the controversy in the UK behind using the term "Golliwogg", I wikied it and learned a few things. I first heard of 'Golli' dolls on 'Cash in the Attic' where they found a doll that was considered a treasure. Clearly the image is muched loved. But nothing can be cut and dry, can it? For instance, I love the Mammy image even though she represents the twisted idea that black women were blissfully ignorant, inherantly happy to be in servitude, completely lacking in sexuality...all things white women were not. I think I embrace it because it represents blacks' struggle. I wear it like a badge. Maybe as a passive confrontation, I don't know. Mammy is part of our American history that is filled with so much ugliness, but still its ours to live with.

One thing that surprises me are the staunch advocates of these images. All I can say to them is that yes, you may have grown up with these images and they remind you of your loving, cosy, nurtured childhood, but these images are borne from ignorance, fear and hatred of non-white people. Yeah, that's heavy and maybe you think this is just the way things are, but call it what it is. Stop defending prejudice.

Golliwogg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Georgie with Robert's old Wolly, pen and wash (2008). The golliwog is best known as a children's toy.
The "Golliwogg" (later "Golliwog") is a character of children's literature created by Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century, inspired by a blackface minstrel doll which Upton had as a child in America. The character, depicted in the books as a type of rag doll, was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers as a children's toy. The toy was known as a "golliwog", and had great popularity in North America, Britain, Europe and Australasia, into the 1960s. While home-made golliwogs were sometimes female, the golliwog was generally male. For this reason, in the period following World War II, the golliwog was seen, along with the teddy bear, as a suitable soft toy for a young boy.
The toy golliwog has become a collector's item. However, the image of the doll has become the subject of heated debate. One aspect of the debate in its favor argues that it should be preserved and passed on as a cherished cultural artifact and childhood tradition, while opponents argue it should be retired as a relic of an earlier time when racism against black people was blatant.
Contents[hide]

[edit] History
Florence Kate Upton was born in 1873 in Flushing, New York, the daughter of English parents who had emigrated to the United States three years previously. Following the death of her father, she moved back to England with her mother and sisters when she was fourteen. There she spent several years drawing and developing her artistic skills. In order to afford tuition to art school, she illustrated a children's book entitled The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. The 1895 book included a character named the "Golliwogg", who was first described as "a horrid sight, the blackest gnome", but who quickly turned out to be a friendly character, and is later attributed with a "kind face". A product of the blackface minstrel tradition, the character was classic "darkie" iconography. The Golliwogg had jet black skin; bright, red lips; and wild, woolly hair. He wore red trousers, a shirt with a stiff collar, red bow-tie, and a blue jacket with tails — all traditional minstrel attire.

Florence Kate Upton's Golliwogg in formal minstrel attire in Golliwogg and Friends in 1895.

Golliwogs for sale, in 2008, in the Home Counties
Upton's book and its many sequels were extremely successful in England, largely because of the popularity of the Golliwogg. Upton did not trademark her character, and its name, spelt "golliwog", became the generic name for dolls and images of a similar type.[1] The golliwog doll became a popular children's toy throughout most of the 20th century, and was incorporated into many aspects of British commerce and culture; for instance, some of Enid Blyton's books feature them, often as a villain and sometimes as heroes. Upton's Golliwogg was jovial, friendly and gallant.[1] but some later golliwogs were sinister or menacing characters. The Black and White Minstrel Show, a blackface musical show which ran for many seasons on UK television and stage, had performers blacked up as golliwogs, with white-ringed eyes, as in the original Minstrel show tradition.
The golliwog contributed enormously to the spread of 'darky' iconography in Europe. It also made its way back across the Atlantic in the form of children's literature, dolls, children's china and other toys, ladies' perfume, and jewellery.
British jam manufacturer James Robertson & Sons used a golliwog called Golly as its mascot from 1910, after John Robertson apparently saw children playing with golliwog dolls in America. Robertson's started producing promotional Golliwog badges in the 1920s, which could be obtained in exchange for tokens gained from their products. In 1983, the company's products were boycotted by the Greater London Council as offensive, and in 1988 the character ceased to be used in television advertising. The company used to give away golliwog badges making up different sets, such as playing jazz instruments, or with sports equipment, or other such themes. The badge collection scheme was retired in 2001.
In a statement reported by the BBC, Virginia (Ginny) C Knox, previously brand director for Robertson's and now Chief Operating Officer of the Culinary Brands Division of RHM, told the Herald Newspaper in Scotland in 2001 that the decision to remove the Golly (Golliwogg) symbol from Robertson's jam and marmalade jars was taken after research found that children were not familiar with the character, although it still appealed to the older generations. "We sell 45 million jars of jam and marmalade each year and they have pretty much all got Golly on them," said Ms Knox. "We also sell 250,000 Golly badges to collectors and only get 10 letters a year from people who don't like the Golliwogg image".[2]. Today, Robertson's Golliwog badges remain highly collectible, with the very rarest sometimes selling for more than £1,000, and even comparatively common and recent badges being worth £2.00–£3.00.

[edit] Golliwog as "racist" insult
After the publication of Upton's first book, the term "golliwogg" was used both as a reference to the children's toy and as a generic, racist term for blacks. In Britain and the Commonwealth, "golliwog" perhaps became "wog," a racial slur applied to dark-skinned people worldwide, including Africans, Southern Italians, Greeks and other Mediterranean people, Native Americans, Middle Easterners, Hispanics, and Indians. [3] In Australia many young people of Greek, Lebanese and other Mediterranean descent have adopted the name "wog" as a humorous identifier. An example of this from popular Australian culture is the 2000 movie The Wog Boy starring the popular actor Nick Giannopoulos.
In the early 1980s, revised editions of Enid Blyton's Noddy books replaced Mr. Golly, the golliwog proprietor of the Toytown garage, with Mr. Sparks.
In September, 2007, retail chain Zara put a T-shirt on sale in its UK stores with a Golliwog-looking little girl printed in the front[citation needed]. The design spurred controversy, coming only weeks after the company had been forced to pull a swastika-emblazoned handbag from its shelves.[4]
On Saturday, June 21, 2008, supermodel Naomi Campbell pleaded guilty to assault in a foul-mouthed "air rage" incident which occurred on April 3, 2008, where she alleges being called a 'Golliwog supermodel' by an employee of British Airways. Campbell accused the airline of racism. British Airways issued a statement denying the allegations made by Campbell, claiming that they "are proud of our diversity", and "have strict policies concerning dignity at work and have long-standing training programs on diversity and inclusion."[5][6]
In February 2009, Carol Thatcher, daughter of Margaret Thatcher, was reported to have commented, in an off air conversation at the BBC, that a tennis player at the Australian Open reminded her of the golliwog motif seen on jars of jam in her childhood. The comment was considered by the BBC as "wholly unacceptable" and Thatcher was informed that she would no longer be on BBC's One Show. Soon after, Thatcher promptly stated that it was a silly joke and declined to make an "unconditional apology" as requested by the BBC.[7]. It has since transpired in the media that it was the métis French top player Jo Wilfried Tsonga who was the target of Carol Thatcher's comments. [8]

[edit] Other meanings and In Popular Culture
"Golliwog" was World War II British naval slang for a Gauloise cigarette, which had tobacco that was nearly black in colour.[9]
The American rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival was known as "The Golliwogs" and under this name they released a number of singles on the Fantasy label before they rose to prominence. Golliwog is also a Slovenian punkrock/hardcore band.
In unofficial military parlance of some countries which has become less common nowadays, the term "golliwog" was used to indicate a piece of equipment that has been tuned, upgraded, and possibly customised to the point where it is no longer similar to the stock item it started as.[citation needed] The term stems from the fact that although the Golliwog itself was black – its standard form was featureless in a sense – it was always represented as decorated smartly with, for example, ribbons and bows. It could be said to be found always dressed up in finery; no Golliwog was ever seen dressed conservatively.[citation needed]
The sixth movement of Claude Debussy's Children's Corner is titled "Golliwogg's Cakewalk", inspired by the American dance.
Golliwog is the former name of a popular line of cocoa biscuits in Australia. First released in the 1960s, they were renamed by manufacturer Arnott's in the mid-1990s and are now sold under the name of "Scalliwag".
Golliwog is a solo-single by ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog from 1974.
"I Feel Like A Wog" is a song by The Stranglers from their 1977 album "No More Heroes".
Contortion; In a rag doll or golliwog act, one or two assistants bend, shake and carry the contortionist in such a way as to convince the audience that the disguised performer is actually a limp, life-sized doll. The act usually ends by stuffing the doll into a small box, after which the performer gets out and takes off the costume.[citation needed]
Golliwogg is featured in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as the pilot of an interdimensional ship, along with the Dutch dolls. Golliwogg is said to be a creature made of dark matter in the book.

Books and Art

2009-02-03T05:27:00.000-05:00

I am reading 'The Masterpiece', by Emile Zola. In the work Zola exposes the life and psychology of his friend Paule Cezanne. The book ended their friendship.

"Ultimately, Claude is filled with such despair and frustration about his inability to complete his “masterpiece” of a female bather to his satisfaction - to depict his ideal woman on his canvas - that he commits suicide after a frenetic episode of painting his nude’s legs and torso like “some infatuated visionary driven by the torments of the real to the exaltation of the unreal” (Zola 347). Claude resorts to hanging himself from a ladder positioned directly in front of the female nude in his incomplete masterpiece in such a way that it appears that he died while gazing at this woman’s eyes. The emotions manifest in this episode are analogous to the intense feelings of repressed eroticism experienced by Cézanne, himself, even though in Cézanne’s case, they never break through the surface so violently that he resorts to suicide like Claude."

After reading "The Masterpiece", Cezanne sent this note to Zola:

"After receiving a copy of the novel from Zola in 1886, Cézanne sent a succinct and formal note back to Zola stating: “…I thank the author of Les Rougon-Macauart for this kind token of remembrance and ask him to allow me to clasp his hand while thinking of bygone years. Ever yours under the impulse of past times, Paul Cézanne” (qtd Murphy 122). This letter denoted the dissolution of their long and intimate friendship. "

ouch.

If you read Zola, you know he is not very nice to his characters. They are real, solid, beautifully made, but life grinds them into the ground...grinds them to dust.

The Masterpiece Zola's artist (Claude Lantier) creates is modeled after "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" (The Lunch on the Grass in French by Édouard Manet. Painted between 1862 and 1863 . The painting juxtaposes a female nudes with fully dressed men and sparked shock and outrage when the work was first exhibited at the Salon des Refuses in 1863. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Luncheon_on_the_Grass)

I really like Manet....a lot. We are fortunate to have a few of his works in the National Gallery here in DC. Frederic Bazille's "Young woman with Peonies"is considered an homage to Manet.

http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg90/gg90-61356.html

"Perhaps because he died so young—killed during the Franco-Prussian War only days short of his twenty-ninth birthday—Bazille’s name is less familiar than those of the other founders of impressionism. Bazille met Monet, Renoir, and Sisley as fellow students in the studio of painter Charles Gleyre. The four were unimpressed by the lofty religious and mythological subjects and polished painting style demanded by the academic tradition. They were attracted instead to the broad “unfinished” brushwork of Manet and also shared his preference for scenes of modern life.
This painting can be seen as Bazille’s homage to Manet. The flower vendor appears to be a reference to the black woman with the extravagant bouquet who stands behind Manet’s infamous nude Olympia. The flowers themselves, especially the prominent peonies, also offer a kind of tribute. Manet cultivated peonies and often painted their lush blooms. Here Bazille seems to have matched even his painting style—usually more smoothly blended—to Manet’s own, echoing with his brushstrokes Manet’s thick patches of color."

Here is "Olympia". This saucy broad rocked the establishment, too.

My Chicken in a Pot

2009-02-03T05:02:00.000-05:00

One of my first posts was about "Chicken in a Pot". I made it on Sunday and it was lovely. Because I used parts (thighs) and not a whole chicken, the result was stew-like, a little more fatty than I wanted, but overall, a nice dish.

I did use lots of garlic which cooked into the sauce and two plum tomatoes. I had about 8 thighs, trimmed of almost all skin and fat and only used about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. I also added a couple bay leaves.

I am always surprised at the bright yellow chicken makes when cooked. Next time I make this I will use even less olive oil, or use boneless breasts, and add some green and kalamata olives.

That Sunday was a cooking day. Before the chicken, I made a breakfast of fluffy scrambled eggs, grits with cheese (not quick grits-thank you very much) and pan fried salmon fillets...oh and toast. YUM. Sorry, no photos of that meal. We devoured it in record time. After breakfast I made 'dessert', an apple crisp from a boxed mix. I got the boxed mix in a basket for Christmas.

No picture of the finished product..sorry. It was lovely.

angry at the ignorance

2009-02-02T14:42:00.000-05:00

http://blacksnob.com/snob_blog/2009/2/1/solutions-help-madison-avenue-find-fauxbama-girls.html

ugh. why people, why? i had to send miss danielle pictures of my girls for her campaign. when will we be understood? when will they really SEE us? yes, one drop of black makes us black, but this is a whole lot of 'other' in us, too.

beautiful pic of the First Lady and one of her little ones. i love them both, but she is my favorite.

she is feisty like my little one.

Big House love

2009-02-01T07:52:00.000-05:00

We have been to George Washington's home (twice, I think). The last time we toured the house my hot, tired and annoyed daughter asked the guide, "If he was so rich why couldn't he afford air conditioning?" I on the other had enjoyed the heat and the narrow stairs, the china, the kitchens, the outbuildings, the gardens, the drive, the view of the river, the animals...all of it. It was heaven.

A few years ago we traveled to Williamsburg and went to the Carter's Grove. The house was opulent. The gardens, quaint. The slave quarters, humble and sad, inhabited by slave/actors. The day was long and tiring, but being a Carter myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't help but feel we experienced our own history that day.

Carter's Grove:

One of the garden views. I think this one if from the back of the house:

So cute...slightly creepy...

If I win the lottery.....Easy money, dream big. When they day comes when I have millions of dollars to roll around in, I will buy a house like this one to roll around in. How fabulous is this? My attraction to these big old houses stems from childhood fairytales, the attraction of living in a carefree, unrealistic world and the desire to immerse myself in a house full of memories and history. I am one of those people who recognizes the life in old building and old things. Antiques hold memories of all the people who lived with them and I feel privileged to share and contribute to these memories.

http://search.knightfrank.com/UKSearch/PropertyDetails.aspx?id=BRM070653&searchid=7cf2d466-ad58-4605-9d02-58116c56f9b2#

Chet, baby.

2009-01-31T11:02:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I treated myself to new music. In the past few months I discovered Fiest, Inara George, Lilly Allen, and Corinne Bailey Rae. You might think I only love the ladies, but yesterday I re-discovered Chet Baker! Thursday night, I came across a pretty nice movie, The Band, about a lost Egyptian orchestra and one of the band members sang "My Funny Valentine" to an airport employee, but we can talk about the movie later. So I downloaded "The Best of Chet Baker Sings" and I am officially in 'Saturday morning, the laundry is done, breakfast is over, the kids are quiet, HEAVEN'!! By the time I publish this post, I will find my self grounded once again. We are entertaining one of the girls friends and picking up my mother from an apartment sale (sad symptom of our disastrous economy). I'll probably go to work for a few hours, too. Chet will make it a little more bearable.

1. The Thrill Is Gone

2. But Not for Me
3. Time After Time
4. I Get Along Without You Very Well
5. There Will Never Be Another You
6. Look for the Silver Lining
7. My Funny Valentine
8. I Fall in Love Too Easily
9. Daybreak
10. Just Friends
11. I Remember You
12. Let's Get Lost

13. Long Ago (And Far Away)
14. You Don't Know What Love Is
15. That Old Feeling
16. It's Always You
17. I've Never Been in Love Before
18. My Buddy
19. Like Someone in Love
20. My Ideal

what is with my clock?

2009-01-30T06:29:00.000-05:00

I am not writing this at 3am. What is up with my blogger clock? Its time to go to work, people!

I love perfume

2009-01-30T06:01:00.001-05:00

I have those days where I need to do something to make myself actually get out of the house. Sometimes it is wearing a certain piece of clothing or new music on my ipod. Most days it is wearing perfume. If I forget to spritz myself, I feel naked. It is worse than forgetting to put on earrings and you NEVER forget to put on earrings.
They perfect smell makes you feel right and finding the scents that fit your attitude is like finding jeans that make you behind look pubescent and your legs look long AND let your breath and keep your buttcrack in your pants. The right scent reminds you of who you long to be. I long to be the sexy-librarian, not the misogynists version who whips off her horn rimmed glasses and releases her mane of freaky-deekiness. My sexy-librarian is comfortable in her body, warm and welcoming with obvious boundaries. She is sexual, but not defined by her sexuality, is confident and capable, but not unapproachable. Scary, I know, but she is a little 'grandma', too. The scents I currently wear that bring this woman out of me.are:

1)Agent Provocateur
2)Lolita Lempicka (which is almost empty)
3)Aromatics Elixir

In an effort to define these scents and find similar scents I went to http://www.basenotes.net/.
There, I learned I love the 'chypres' and 'vetiver'. Everything I like has a hint of musk and sometime patchouli.
Be careful, the rants and raves of some perfumes out there can lure in into making a less than ideal purchase. I bought a huge bottle of 'Tabu'. LOL, I know. That bottle of bright orange liquid serves as a reminder that all tastes are not the same. Check out basenotes.net. It rocks.

mothering, yes? dysfunctionizing, perhaps?

2009-01-30T05:45:00.000-05:00

Ballet Dancers in Butterfly Costumes (detail)
Edgar Degas - circa 1880

I have two girls and there they are. No, that isn't them at all, but I see the dancer in the pink as my youngest and the yellow dancer as her older sister.

I got three phone calls from three different administrators at the older girl's school yesterday. THREE. Luckily, I am used to it by now and after the mild irritation of the first call, my attitude my attitude shifted from concern and compassion for my girl. She can not help herself. Some get her, some don't. I was also told she might have ADHD, which explains tons (I feel that it explains a little too much). Add to check list "google ADHD children" . My daughter and I had a lovely, animated conversation last night and decided that disciplinarians suck, substitute teachers really suck, and reading does not come easy. It does not help that my daughter is super-mature for her age and the logic she spouts brings down the wrath of adults who are not ready for her.

My girls. Their brains/mouths are what will make them great....once they can harness their power.

thinking of summer

2009-01-29T06:18:00.000-05:00

At 6:18 am on this January morning, I am thinking of better times to come. I don't hate the cold and I love sweaters, tights and scarves, but I do miss the warmth and light of summer. Every year I dream of an ideal summer wardrobe and this website, http://www.eshakti.com/default.asp#

I don't know anything about the company or their ethic, but they offer what seems to be a custom made product at a nice price. Anyone know anything about them?

2009-01-28T13:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/

More art than you ever need. Not really. But there is quite a lot of art here. What so fun about this site? Besides collections of work from artist you have never heard of, there is a game! It's called the "Artwork Faceoff!"

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/faceoff.php

hours of fun...well at least 20-30 minutes of fun.