thursday 13: week 19

thirteen things that have nothing whatsoever to do with one another edition

1) anyone wanna go to the desert with me and get real high and visit the integratron? that's right folks, it's the only "acoustically perfect tabernacle and energy machine sited on a powerful geomagnetic vortexin the magical mojave desert" or the whole united states for that matter... looks fuuuun!

2) tasty salted pig parts anyone? if you're in san francisco and get a chance to head to the ferry building please stop into boccalone. get a salumi cone. or a panini. get something!

3) where is my corvette summer (tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice & tonic)?

4) i've been sick for a week but managed not to miss a run. thanks to my komodosport vibrams my thighs and butt are sore but NOT MY HIPS OR BACK. whoop!

5) friday parker wasn't feeling great and was complaining about going to school. i overheard lorenzo earnestly advising her to go: "how are you ever going to get a good job parker if you don't go to school!?"

6) danny is at the movies with the kids and i am here at home. ftw!

7) listen to the romance of wolves by roma di luna. fer reals ya'll.

8) watch george w. bush: the 9/11 interview if you missed it on national geographic (the link is part 1 of 3). you probably know how i feel about gwb (i'm disgustingly leftist) but this was er, more human maybe, than i'd seen from him before. found myself crying through a few parts of it, unable to imagine the weight of being IN CHARGE that first day.

9) seriously j-wow's new boobs? seriously?

10) wore those shoes to mike's wedding. LOVE.

11) my five year old can listen to any song he wants anywhere in the world, anytime. this, i tell my father, is what has changed music in the past 50 years.

12) is it fall yet? it's so difficult to work with chocolate in this weather. gah!

13) read this book review on npr and i'm totally intrigued. anyone read this?

thursday 13: week 3

13 things i'll never get tired of eating

1) phở (vietnamese beef noodle soup) - this is the closest thing to comfort food for me. i crave it when i'm sick, well, sad or happy. it's all about the broth. typically, if i take the kids with me, i'll order one large soup and give them all the noodles, keeping the broth, thinly sliced beef, and all the garnishes for myself.

2) my grandma's gnocchis (little pillows of heaven) - my grandma

is 92 years old and has been making these forever; she's pretty much perfected them. i like them in red sauce or really plain with just butter, parm cheese and salt & pepper.

3) blt(a) - bacon from the meat guy at the market, romaine lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, and avocado

4) sushi - i started on sushi young (yes, i live in california) and there are very few types of sushi that i don't like.

5) omelets - this is another comfort food for me. i like omelets for breakfast. i only ever eat half because i love to reheat it and eat it for lunch. i also love omelets for dinner. sausage, mushrooms, spinach, and cheddar please.

6) pork - yum. pork is my favorite meat (har har). chops, bacon, ribs, pork belly, tenderloin. yum. the other white meat.

7) my dad's meatballs - this is what i asked dad to make for my birthday.

8) chocolate cake with penuche frosting - brown sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. need i say more?

9) artichokes - lucky me, i live driving distance from castroville, the artichoke capital of the world. :) i like mine with butter and lemon to dip in. my favorite way to have them is on a rooftop in sicily, tiny artichokes, panfried with olive oil and garlic.

10) crab - like artichokes, i prefer it with butter and lemon. there is something so satisfying about cracking the exoskeleton of a crustacean and eating the innards. *sluuuurp*

11) avocados - again, i'm lucky i live in california. no salad or sandwich is complete without avocado. and i don't care what time of year it is.

12) a nice chewy, salty/sweet chocolate chip cookie with whole milk - i can't think of an occasion when i'd turn this down.

13) sweet potato fries - these i don't have often but the few times i've been to the counter i regret getting a burger and not just drowning myself in yams...

mmm, kale... a sort of list

• so when my dad and maria moved a few months ago i inherited an awesome (if old school) juicer. and obviously, this has led ben and i to undertake a 6 day juice (plus broth) fast. *scratches head* wait, what the hell!? i've sucessfully completed day one. whew. breakfast juice was 2 oranges, 2 carrots, 1 apple. pleasant but frothy so i added some ice. can't believe how much juice and how little pulp the oster creates. then coffee (yeah, shut up i still had to take care of the kids). then for linner (lunch + dinner) juiced oranges, carrots, strawberries, kale, cucumber. looked like pond scum but made a MONGO amount of juice and again, tasted good over ice. had a large glass of piping hot chicken broth. now (at 8.30) is actually the first time i've felt hungry/sleepy all day. not as terrible as i thought it'd be! that said, i've been thinking of nothing but food ALL DAY LONG. especially all those yummy things i traded yesterday at the market...
• so yeah, the markets. holy frick. it was cloudy, muggy, drizzly, overcast yesterday. the market was slow. somehow, we had our best market yet. i almost feel guilty for how easy it is to sell the chocolate. almost. ben, dad and i have been working our asses off for the past month. it's unbelievable. we're selling out of something (or many somethings) at every single market. jen, our lovely marshmallow lady, has her own huge job. we're employing the help of friends for packaging. thankfully they're easily plied with red wine and free peanut butter cups. ;) oh my god! we're doing it ya'll! thanks for believing in me way back when.
• in the process of moving out of our old kitchen into our new bitchin kitchen we had to get a bigger storage unit. thankfully it was directly across the hall and not too much of a pain. anywho, i came across my wedding dress in it's giant preservative box. and...i threw it in the back of the jeep and dropped it off at the closest goodwill truck. i gave away a $1000 wedding dress and gave danny my tax writeoff. :D it felt so fucking good to think of the lady that will be thrift shopping for a dress, try it on, have it fit perfectly and buy it - for $30, max. very empowering and no donater's remorse.
• bk... he's too unreliable to watch the kids on tuesdays so my mom is going to take them. when i told him i'd be needing help on saturday's he said he'd get his mom to do it. so... now back down to one day a week. gah. GAH!

nine reasons that i love where i live

1) year round farmers' markets: we're starting at ours this weekend! there is nothing like strolling through a crowded farmer's market and looking at fresh produce, incredible prepared foods and arts and crafts. the fact that we can do it any weekend of the year is awesome.

2) the weather here rocks: average rainfall is 15". average january temperature is 41.7 (L) - 59.3 (H) and in july is 57.5 (L) - 84.3 (H).

3) the monterey bay aquarium: i've been to aquariums in australia and the national aquarium in baltimore, among others. the mba is simply the best around. the aquarium is housed in an old fish cannery and houses animals that would be found in the monterey bay area - 'locals.' the outer bay exhibit holds 1.2 million gallons of water and the living kelp forest exhibit was the first of its kind.

4) diversity of landscape: the beach is 20 minutes from my house. we can drive to incredible skiing in under three hours. there are deserts and mountains and foothills and lakes and rivers. there's gold country, farmland, big cities, and small towns.

5) san francisco: san francisco is a world class city. really. if you have ever visited, you know this. if you've never visited, you should. the food, the culture, the people, the museums, the touristy things, the local things...gah everything!

6) the exploratorium: the museum of science, art and human perception at the palace of fine arts in san francisco. where else can you see a dissection of a cow eyeball, learn about weather in space, explore the 'tactile dome' and build a spectroscope? this is a hands on museum and it is so incredibly huge that you could visit a 100 times and still miss things.

7) food: i love food. the fresh produce available here is unrivaled. the restaurants here are so so so diverse. want a fish taco stand on the corner of two busy streets? falafels? sushi? pad thai? pho? pizza? greasy burgers? fusion? cambodian? steak? italian? new american?

8) my family: my parents live within spitting distance. my mom's parents and brother and sisters are all within easy driving distance. d's family is mostly in california (heather come home). likewise my closest friends are all here (well, emmy is on her waaaay!). i only wish my dad's family hadn't migrated so far north!

9) the hot tub: this is VERY local but the kids and i are there at least twice a week, year round. *ahhh*

care to share why you love where you live? or where i live?

ladies and gents, i give you...

cake wrecks: 'when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong'

this is why you're fat: 'where dreams become heart attacks' (bacon-wrapped meatloaf with a layer of mac and cheese)

THIS NEXT ONE IS NOT WORK SAFE! however (because?), it does contain hilarious pictures of men in underwear and hanes her way panties. also, check out the vaguely creepy 'let's talk' section. only $30 for 20 minutes of undie talk... what a steal! i especially enjoy the crappy photography and the countless spelling/grammar errors!

'It's our private secret! Panties are marketed to women, but a lot of men enjoy wearing them because they have a special feel to the skin and fit like a glove. BriefTales.com offer sheer panties and men's panties. You can also view men in panties while shopping for panties for men. Because it's difficult and embarrasing for a man to shop for panties at the mall, BriefTales can help. You're not alone in your enjoyment of wearing panties. Go ahead, enjoy yourself. Permission is granted to try our Bikinis, Hi cut, Full-cut and Brief style panties.'

tommy won $100,000!!!

no joke! what a stud! way to go tommy & danielle!

stuffed mushrooms
adapted from nourishing traditions to be wheat free

8 large or 12ish medium mushrooms
1 large zuchinni (in place of 1.5C breadcrumbs)
2 bunches green onions
1/2C grated parm
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
2T butter
2T evoo
salt & pepper

chop mushroom stems, zuchinni, garlic, onions. sautee with butter & evoo. mix with cheese and salt and pepper. stuff into mushroom stems. place in a pyrex pan with a little water and bake at 350 for aprox. 20 minutes. yum.

do y'all mind if i beat this dead horse for a little bit longer?

d and i went to shadowbrook in capitola last night for our anniversary and we are SO going back. we had a really really incredible time and i highly recommend it. fantastic ambiance/view, attentive (but not annoying) service, and really good food. we talked about the fact that EVERYone else in our dining room had wedding rings on; the couple next to us had just gotten engaged. yeah, but isn't it strange how we're waaay ahead of them? three kids between us, two businesses...i mean really. we talked about how annoying it is to get taken less seriously (at school, out and about) because we're somehow not as legitimate without rings (but it's odd because in our area, with lots of asians/middle easterners, many married couples don't wear wedding bands). maybe it has to do with looking/being really young too. anyway, yellow gold, superbowl ginormous, nose rings. whatev. rings as it turns out, are no deterrent. still, the literary part of me is all about symbolism and tradition...it's important.

brb