The last week in September and the first week in October, it rained like January showed up early. All my tomatoes exploded and rotted. It was awful! I got enough green tomatoes for three little half-pint jars of pickled cherry tomatoes, and not much else. Thankfully, that kind of weather doesn't hurt the green beans, which kept producing up until the end of October. I dug up the potatoes, and for six plants, I wish I had gotten more, but three pounds of fingerlings isn't something to turn your nose up at, I suppose. It's amazing how nice home grown potatoes are. I mean, you think there can't possibly be that much room for improvement in the potato world, but it's pretty impressive how potatoes out of the garden are that much better.
The last week in September, while my tomatoes were starting to explode, the bathroom was being ripped out and rebuilt from the studs. The only bathroom. It is kind of fun to take a vacation right here in my own town, though if it were just for fun, I'd pick something other than the airport hotel offering the best discount. It was actually pretty nice, a sizeable room and a monster king-sized bed, clean and new, but not much else to recommend it.
The first weekend in October (the only day it didn't rain for probably three solid weeks), The Lovely Boyfriend and I climbed Mount St. Helens. I have never done anything like that in my entire life. Even after training all summer, it was impossible, and it was beautiful. We made it to the top, but I wasn't totally sure until I saw the car that I would make it to the bottom. 8500 feet or so straight up, in about five miles. Then 8500 feet or so (I was sure it was 20,000) back down. We emerged through the clouds early on, then scrambled up rocks in the sunshine, wind, and even a bit of snow on the ground.
I've got to find my next challenge like this!
We've had sun on and off through some of October and a surprising amount of November. The garden is all ripped out. Farmer's market pears and asian pears are made into butters. Apples (from the Portland Nursery apple festival) have been made into pie (though we've got more to go). Pie cherries and Rainier cherries are in the freezer waiting to be made into jam. There are a few last fingerling potatoes to be pan-roasted with rosemary. Garlic is laid out to dry in the basement. Garlic is planted again for the winter. Last weekend, we raked two full huge trash-can-sized yard waste bins worth of leaves, only to have the wind and the rain kick in again and leave the yard littered anew within just a few hours.
Now, it seems, it's time for nesting. Mostly figuratively. Though the Lovely Boyfriend has been telling me for years that I need chickens. It didn't take long for me to figure out that this wasn't about me. HE wanted chickens! So for his birthday, I bought him A Chicken In Every Yard, the chicken-keeping book from Urban Farm Store, a gift certificate for four chicks, and a promise to help build a coop. We'll see what Cat thinks about chickens.
Other nesting projects: We need to paint the living room. Those frozen cherries need to be turned into jam. I made, and will make more, no-knead bread. Soup (lots of soup). A clafouti with some of the berries in the freezer. Maple custard. I bought some cheap port to go in the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, and I have this great (?) plan to cook some of it down with some sugar into a syrup to make into a port soda with sparkling water from the Sodastream (perhaps the best hundred-and-some bucks I ever spent). Now here is a toy I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of yet. I've got a gazillion ideas for ginger ale, fruit sodas, spice and herb sodas (Biwa makes a black pepper soda that is indescribable, fascinating, and delicious), and there has to be a vast world out there of sodas I haven't even thought of yet. Yet we usually just stick to sparkling water, maybe with a dash of orange bitters.
Time for me to go to sleep and dream of sugar and bubbles...
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Nine Pounds
How do you pass that up? The little hand-written piece of paper says, "Box pears $4." "This box?" I ask. "Really?" And then I hand him four dollar bills and run as fast as I can before I'm caught. It must be stealing. Right in the middle of the farmer's market, I must have somehow just pulled off the heist of the century. Or at least of the fall fruit season. I took it home, and there was no way my food scale was going to help me here. I put it on the notoriously inaccurate bathroom scale, which said nine pounds.
Oh my god...what have I done?
The only answer, of course, is pear butter. I looked up two recipes, because this was going to take both crockpots. Of course, I messed up a bit. So one is pear butter with rosemary, white wine, and white pepper; and the other is pear butter with orange zest, nutmeg, vanilla...and white pepper. Oops. But how can it be bad, right? The whole house smells like the most amazing pear perfume, like that one white wine that smells like pears and flowers.
I wonder if there's a book that's specific to crockpot canning? Because this whole "make pear sauce on the stove, then put it in the crockpot to make pear butter" thing is far too many steps and too many dishes. I just tossed everything in the crockpot, and after a day at work, I came home and ran it through the food mill and put it back in. But then the whole thing looks like it will ultimately take somewhere between 15 and 20 hours, and I have no idea when it may start to scorch, or whether I'll be at work when instead I should be at home prepping canning jars.
After a fairly cool summer, I was fearing for the tomatoes, but they're going strong now. They made an amazing sauce with white wine, basil (from the garden too!), and garlic (also from the garden!) for steamer clams. I would be happy to make that sauce and put it on everything until there are no more tomatoes. Though tonight, instead, I combined them with some farmers-market chiles, cheddar cheese, and canned black beans to make burritos. Delicious.
I've been aiming for low-calorie-density food, tons of vegetables and grains with only a little meat or cheese, since I got home from vacation. Traveling always means eating like crap. I mean, sometimes I eat an amazing meal or two, but I regret it the next day. Probably the best thing I ate all week I was on the east coast was the bacon and cheese omelet with tomato and avocado salad that my little brother made, though. Simple, but made by a damn good cook. "Boston is not a food town," he told me, and from my experience, he was sorta right. I'm sure there are amazing places to eat there, like any city, but I sure didn't eat there. The food was fine, and there was a little coffee shop in Cambridge that did simple things that were usually pretty delicious. Quiche, pastries, sandwiches, that sort of thing.
Bumbershoot, Seattle's big music festival, was pretty much a total bust on the food front. In Portland, a big to-do like that would have some kick-ass food, with the best food carts duking it out to be a part of the event. Seattle's laws don't make food-cart culture easy, though, so the options were standard festival crap like the yakisoba stand, the falafel-and-gyro stand, and the corn-dog-and-elephant-ear stand. The pelmeni stand was a relative highlight, and discovering that there was a burrito stand hidden away in a corner was kind of a revelation (oh, there are beans here!). Deep fried sweets on a stick was a mistake. No matter how curious you are, the deep-fried pudding is NOT a good idea. While in Seattle, however, we did discover this damn good ramen place called Samurai Noodle. The half-shoyu, half-tonkotsu broth is the most amazing liquid ever to touch noodle. I've been a ramen fiend since Lucky Peach #1 came out, and this was both remarkably creative and deliciously authentic (these two things do not always go together).
Speaking of ramen, Portland has exploded in marvelous places to get a bowl of alkaline noodles or whatever other small Japanese plate strikes your fancy. Biwa pioneered the pan-Japanese perfection, several years ago, and has cornered the market for a long time. A few izakayas have come on the scene, but haven't seemed to have the foodie cred that Biwa pulls. But then, a few months ago, Mirakutei was born, and got the buzz like mad. And I've got to tell you, I have never in my life spent a dollar that has made me as happy as the dollar I spent to get an egg in my ramen there. Delicious ramen, for sure, but that boiled egg...I have no idea what they do to it, but it was the most amazing thing I have put in my mouth. And then, just a few weeks ago, Wafu hit the scene. It doesn't even have a website (restaurants not having websites makes me want to cry). The Lovely Boyfriend and I hit the D Street Noshery cart pod looking for a light snack one night, and almost nothing was open. We ended up in a long, friendly conversation with the Oregon Ice Works guy (go try his frozen astoundingness!), and he noted that this place had opened just a few blocks down the street, and we gave it a shot. We weren't hungry enough for ramen, so I'll have to report back on that later, but everything we did eat was just about perfect. Onigiri stuffed with shrimp and rolled in bonito flakes...utterly inspired!
Perhaps the perfect melding of my own personal zeitgeist right now would be for me to make my own ramen, featuring my garden produce. Though I'm not quite ready to make my own noodles. Or onigiri.
Okay, back to reality and two bubbling crockpots of not-quite-yet pear butter.
Oh my god...what have I done?
The only answer, of course, is pear butter. I looked up two recipes, because this was going to take both crockpots. Of course, I messed up a bit. So one is pear butter with rosemary, white wine, and white pepper; and the other is pear butter with orange zest, nutmeg, vanilla...and white pepper. Oops. But how can it be bad, right? The whole house smells like the most amazing pear perfume, like that one white wine that smells like pears and flowers.
I wonder if there's a book that's specific to crockpot canning? Because this whole "make pear sauce on the stove, then put it in the crockpot to make pear butter" thing is far too many steps and too many dishes. I just tossed everything in the crockpot, and after a day at work, I came home and ran it through the food mill and put it back in. But then the whole thing looks like it will ultimately take somewhere between 15 and 20 hours, and I have no idea when it may start to scorch, or whether I'll be at work when instead I should be at home prepping canning jars.
After a fairly cool summer, I was fearing for the tomatoes, but they're going strong now. They made an amazing sauce with white wine, basil (from the garden too!), and garlic (also from the garden!) for steamer clams. I would be happy to make that sauce and put it on everything until there are no more tomatoes. Though tonight, instead, I combined them with some farmers-market chiles, cheddar cheese, and canned black beans to make burritos. Delicious.
I've been aiming for low-calorie-density food, tons of vegetables and grains with only a little meat or cheese, since I got home from vacation. Traveling always means eating like crap. I mean, sometimes I eat an amazing meal or two, but I regret it the next day. Probably the best thing I ate all week I was on the east coast was the bacon and cheese omelet with tomato and avocado salad that my little brother made, though. Simple, but made by a damn good cook. "Boston is not a food town," he told me, and from my experience, he was sorta right. I'm sure there are amazing places to eat there, like any city, but I sure didn't eat there. The food was fine, and there was a little coffee shop in Cambridge that did simple things that were usually pretty delicious. Quiche, pastries, sandwiches, that sort of thing.
Bumbershoot, Seattle's big music festival, was pretty much a total bust on the food front. In Portland, a big to-do like that would have some kick-ass food, with the best food carts duking it out to be a part of the event. Seattle's laws don't make food-cart culture easy, though, so the options were standard festival crap like the yakisoba stand, the falafel-and-gyro stand, and the corn-dog-and-elephant-ear stand. The pelmeni stand was a relative highlight, and discovering that there was a burrito stand hidden away in a corner was kind of a revelation (oh, there are beans here!). Deep fried sweets on a stick was a mistake. No matter how curious you are, the deep-fried pudding is NOT a good idea. While in Seattle, however, we did discover this damn good ramen place called Samurai Noodle. The half-shoyu, half-tonkotsu broth is the most amazing liquid ever to touch noodle. I've been a ramen fiend since Lucky Peach #1 came out, and this was both remarkably creative and deliciously authentic (these two things do not always go together).
Speaking of ramen, Portland has exploded in marvelous places to get a bowl of alkaline noodles or whatever other small Japanese plate strikes your fancy. Biwa pioneered the pan-Japanese perfection, several years ago, and has cornered the market for a long time. A few izakayas have come on the scene, but haven't seemed to have the foodie cred that Biwa pulls. But then, a few months ago, Mirakutei was born, and got the buzz like mad. And I've got to tell you, I have never in my life spent a dollar that has made me as happy as the dollar I spent to get an egg in my ramen there. Delicious ramen, for sure, but that boiled egg...I have no idea what they do to it, but it was the most amazing thing I have put in my mouth. And then, just a few weeks ago, Wafu hit the scene. It doesn't even have a website (restaurants not having websites makes me want to cry). The Lovely Boyfriend and I hit the D Street Noshery cart pod looking for a light snack one night, and almost nothing was open. We ended up in a long, friendly conversation with the Oregon Ice Works guy (go try his frozen astoundingness!), and he noted that this place had opened just a few blocks down the street, and we gave it a shot. We weren't hungry enough for ramen, so I'll have to report back on that later, but everything we did eat was just about perfect. Onigiri stuffed with shrimp and rolled in bonito flakes...utterly inspired!
Perhaps the perfect melding of my own personal zeitgeist right now would be for me to make my own ramen, featuring my garden produce. Though I'm not quite ready to make my own noodles. Or onigiri.
Okay, back to reality and two bubbling crockpots of not-quite-yet pear butter.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Busy Season
First off: Nicoise salad. From my garden. Well, I didn't grow the tuna, olives, or eggs (though if my boyfriend had anything to say about it, I'd be growing the eggs). But I grew the lettuce that was the bed under the salad, the potatoes (my first of the year!), green beans, cherry tomatoes, and basil. And I made the dressing, which is a little like growing it, but not at all like that. So despite the cool early summer and the worries that I'd never get anything to grow, and the hard work, it is suddenly worth it.
The rest of the summer has been pretty wildly busy with a music festival and all the business that goes into being on a committee that puts one on. Summer can be the slow season at work, but not when 1/6 (or more) of the therapists are on maternity leave or changing jobs at any given time for...well, it's been nine months so far, with another two months to go before the last one is back from maternity leave. Makes me want to get pregnant just to get a break. My last big project has been trying to train to climb Mt. St. Helens. I've got my passes, and my motel room booked...now I just need the lungs, thighs, and knees to actually pull it off.
Back to the garden: I've discovered that the tree in the backyard that sheds all those nutshells is actually a filbert tree. The squirrels manage to eat about 9 out of every 10 nuts before they even fall (you're supposed to harvest them after they fall out of the tree), leaving me with maybe a half a pound of hazelnuts drying in the basement. We'll see if they're any good. The garlic is all harvested, and the black raspberries (and just a few red ones) were delicious. One of the four tomato plants died before it could really even flower, but the other three look amazing. It's been too cool for the peppers, so I have just three tiny ones on the two plants. One of the three blueberry bushes we planted this spring actually gave us a couple dozen berries this year, which was a nice bonus. The artichoke actually grew (this spring, I thought it would stay six inches tall forever, and that the slugs would then eat it down to the ground), and I'm going to get one nice big one and maybe two babies. I've got some lettuce (second time's the charm, after cabbageworms and aphids ate the first batch), basil, sage, thyme, and rosemary. The cabbageworms are back to work on the parsley (sigh).
At one point this spring I was disappointed that I didn't get more grass dug up for more garden. Now I don't know what I'd do if I had managed that! I would like to get some fall things planted for overwintering.
The last garden note is that I'm experimenting for the first time with non-food plants. The lovely boyfriend is a big fan of jasmine, so we planted some to twine up a privacy fence, and so far, so good. The roses that came with my apartment, and the roses and hydrangea that came with the boyfriend's house, I've adopted out of necessity, but this was a choice.
What I've noticed lately is that time goes so fast when I'm busy all the time. It makes it really hard to be in the moment, and every deadline and new challenge comes at a rush. I've got a couple of vacations planned, and I don't know if that will ease things, or just make life a little more hurried. In about a week, we're going to Bumbershoot music and arts festival in Seattle, taking an extra-long five-day Labor Day weekend. I'll go back to work for one day before we head out again, this time to Boston. Boyfriend's got a conference out there, and a best-friend-from-high-school whom I haven't even met yet, and the friend's new wife neither of us have met. Once his conference starts, I'll go visit my brother in Connecticut for a couple of days before heading home. I'm counting that all as one big two-week vacation. More off in the distance, we're increasingly seriously planning two weeks in Greece around Christmas. No plane tickets yet or anything, just a guidebook and some vague ideas. It sounds more fun than Arkansas, or even Myrtle Beach...and we might as well be fair and slight both sets of parents, rather than either his or mine. That was actually the original, admittedly a bit passive-aggressive, motive for traveling for Christmas. Spend the holidays together without having to pick one family over the other.
Next up: Cherry jam! Two kinds. And more canning, which I haven't done a ton of this summer.
P.S. The strawberry-balsamic-thyme jam turned out awesome. Like regular strawberry jam with just...something. Depth, mystery, richness.
The rest of the summer has been pretty wildly busy with a music festival and all the business that goes into being on a committee that puts one on. Summer can be the slow season at work, but not when 1/6 (or more) of the therapists are on maternity leave or changing jobs at any given time for...well, it's been nine months so far, with another two months to go before the last one is back from maternity leave. Makes me want to get pregnant just to get a break. My last big project has been trying to train to climb Mt. St. Helens. I've got my passes, and my motel room booked...now I just need the lungs, thighs, and knees to actually pull it off.
Back to the garden: I've discovered that the tree in the backyard that sheds all those nutshells is actually a filbert tree. The squirrels manage to eat about 9 out of every 10 nuts before they even fall (you're supposed to harvest them after they fall out of the tree), leaving me with maybe a half a pound of hazelnuts drying in the basement. We'll see if they're any good. The garlic is all harvested, and the black raspberries (and just a few red ones) were delicious. One of the four tomato plants died before it could really even flower, but the other three look amazing. It's been too cool for the peppers, so I have just three tiny ones on the two plants. One of the three blueberry bushes we planted this spring actually gave us a couple dozen berries this year, which was a nice bonus. The artichoke actually grew (this spring, I thought it would stay six inches tall forever, and that the slugs would then eat it down to the ground), and I'm going to get one nice big one and maybe two babies. I've got some lettuce (second time's the charm, after cabbageworms and aphids ate the first batch), basil, sage, thyme, and rosemary. The cabbageworms are back to work on the parsley (sigh).
At one point this spring I was disappointed that I didn't get more grass dug up for more garden. Now I don't know what I'd do if I had managed that! I would like to get some fall things planted for overwintering.
The last garden note is that I'm experimenting for the first time with non-food plants. The lovely boyfriend is a big fan of jasmine, so we planted some to twine up a privacy fence, and so far, so good. The roses that came with my apartment, and the roses and hydrangea that came with the boyfriend's house, I've adopted out of necessity, but this was a choice.
What I've noticed lately is that time goes so fast when I'm busy all the time. It makes it really hard to be in the moment, and every deadline and new challenge comes at a rush. I've got a couple of vacations planned, and I don't know if that will ease things, or just make life a little more hurried. In about a week, we're going to Bumbershoot music and arts festival in Seattle, taking an extra-long five-day Labor Day weekend. I'll go back to work for one day before we head out again, this time to Boston. Boyfriend's got a conference out there, and a best-friend-from-high-school whom I haven't even met yet, and the friend's new wife neither of us have met. Once his conference starts, I'll go visit my brother in Connecticut for a couple of days before heading home. I'm counting that all as one big two-week vacation. More off in the distance, we're increasingly seriously planning two weeks in Greece around Christmas. No plane tickets yet or anything, just a guidebook and some vague ideas. It sounds more fun than Arkansas, or even Myrtle Beach...and we might as well be fair and slight both sets of parents, rather than either his or mine. That was actually the original, admittedly a bit passive-aggressive, motive for traveling for Christmas. Spend the holidays together without having to pick one family over the other.
Next up: Cherry jam! Two kinds. And more canning, which I haven't done a ton of this summer.
P.S. The strawberry-balsamic-thyme jam turned out awesome. Like regular strawberry jam with just...something. Depth, mystery, richness.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Check! Check! Check!
I'm checking things off lists left and right.
First off, I finished moving. After five solid months of a carload of things here and there, I hired movers for the last of the stuff (check!), had a yard sale (check!), donated all the yard sale leftovers to Community Warehouse and Free Geek, a couple of organizations I admire greatly (check, check!), cleaned the place (check!), actually moved the compost bin and all the compost (check!), and returned my keys (check!). Whew!
Then I joined some sort of wellness challenge at work. The list of things I get points for is totally random and disorganized. I got up this morning and took a multivitamin (check!), made a meal (breakfast) at home (okay, I scooped last night's dessert of strawberry-rhubarb pudding cake into a plastic container to take to work, but still, since I didn't eat out, check!), ate five servings of fruits and veggies by lunch (check!), came home and made dinner at home (ditto check!), then went for a very long walk...to Beermongers for a Raging Bitch Belgian IPA from Flying Dog that was rad, a marvelous balance between Belgian candy spice and IPA bitter/aromatic hops (I get a point for each 10 minutes of walking... checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck checkcheckcheckcheck...!!!). I'm trying to decide whether it's fair to count drinking a delicious beer and watching the 9th inning of the Twins beating the Mariners as "Doing something that makes me feel good" for 20 minutes or more. I mean, I have to fill in what that thing is, and I'm not sure "sports-watching beer-drinking barstool-potato" won't get disqualified. But damn, it sure felt good. Given that I'm turning this thing in to Human Resources every week, I'm also trying to decide what to do about good sex. Healthy, good for me physically and mentally, absolutely. Do I really want to report how many times a week for a point apiece? Um...I'll get back to you on that. Before bed, I plan to collect a few more points for writing in my journal (okay, blog), drinking another glass of water to make eight, volunteering (I've got some nonprofit-related emails to return), and flossing my teeth (hey, decades of dentists haven't convinced me, but make it a competition and I'm on that shit!).
Things that aren't on this checklist that really ought to be: Eating breakfast. I'm terrible at it. Eight or more hours of sleep would be another good one. I'm pretty consistent in getting more than 7 and a half. I'm going to count going out to see live music as one of the "things that make me feel good." I think I only get to list three of those things per week, though (though each one I can check every day for a point). This diversity/ADHD in hobbies is going to kill me on that front. What about learning something new? I get "exploring a new physical activity" as an option, but there isn't a whole lot I've never done even once that I can fit into a Tuesday evening. I guess I could try an introductory karate class, but I'm probably not experimenting with kayaking or kiteboarding or skydiving every day for a week.
Things I'll be doing to kick some ass in this wellness competition thing: Crafting. Finally, some impetus to really make me get back to making some stuff and keeping up my Etsy site! Gardening. Those tomatoes have got to get in the ground, and that compost has got to get laid down. Biking to work. It's only seven blocks or something, that really ought to be an easy three points per day.
Also work-related, I've discharged three clients in the past two weeks, and I'm down to four. That's just crazy. I'm getting caught up on paperwork! I hope. I've got a ways to go.
First off, I finished moving. After five solid months of a carload of things here and there, I hired movers for the last of the stuff (check!), had a yard sale (check!), donated all the yard sale leftovers to Community Warehouse and Free Geek, a couple of organizations I admire greatly (check, check!), cleaned the place (check!), actually moved the compost bin and all the compost (check!), and returned my keys (check!). Whew!
Then I joined some sort of wellness challenge at work. The list of things I get points for is totally random and disorganized. I got up this morning and took a multivitamin (check!), made a meal (breakfast) at home (okay, I scooped last night's dessert of strawberry-rhubarb pudding cake into a plastic container to take to work, but still, since I didn't eat out, check!), ate five servings of fruits and veggies by lunch (check!), came home and made dinner at home (ditto check!), then went for a very long walk...to Beermongers for a Raging Bitch Belgian IPA from Flying Dog that was rad, a marvelous balance between Belgian candy spice and IPA bitter/aromatic hops (I get a point for each 10 minutes of walking... checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck checkcheckcheckcheck...!!!). I'm trying to decide whether it's fair to count drinking a delicious beer and watching the 9th inning of the Twins beating the Mariners as "Doing something that makes me feel good" for 20 minutes or more. I mean, I have to fill in what that thing is, and I'm not sure "sports-watching beer-drinking barstool-potato" won't get disqualified. But damn, it sure felt good. Given that I'm turning this thing in to Human Resources every week, I'm also trying to decide what to do about good sex. Healthy, good for me physically and mentally, absolutely. Do I really want to report how many times a week for a point apiece? Um...I'll get back to you on that. Before bed, I plan to collect a few more points for writing in my journal (okay, blog), drinking another glass of water to make eight, volunteering (I've got some nonprofit-related emails to return), and flossing my teeth (hey, decades of dentists haven't convinced me, but make it a competition and I'm on that shit!).
Things that aren't on this checklist that really ought to be: Eating breakfast. I'm terrible at it. Eight or more hours of sleep would be another good one. I'm pretty consistent in getting more than 7 and a half. I'm going to count going out to see live music as one of the "things that make me feel good." I think I only get to list three of those things per week, though (though each one I can check every day for a point). This diversity/ADHD in hobbies is going to kill me on that front. What about learning something new? I get "exploring a new physical activity" as an option, but there isn't a whole lot I've never done even once that I can fit into a Tuesday evening. I guess I could try an introductory karate class, but I'm probably not experimenting with kayaking or kiteboarding or skydiving every day for a week.
Things I'll be doing to kick some ass in this wellness competition thing: Crafting. Finally, some impetus to really make me get back to making some stuff and keeping up my Etsy site! Gardening. Those tomatoes have got to get in the ground, and that compost has got to get laid down. Biking to work. It's only seven blocks or something, that really ought to be an easy three points per day.
Also work-related, I've discharged three clients in the past two weeks, and I'm down to four. That's just crazy. I'm getting caught up on paperwork! I hope. I've got a ways to go.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Next on the to-do list: Sunburn!
Holy shit was it beautiful out today. Beautiful! The sun was shining, it was about 70 degrees, it was real spring to go along with May Day. I spent the entire day, literally, in the yard. My back is sore, my thighs are sore, my ass is sore, and it feels wonderful. I have approximately 600 bulbs, almost entirely dug out of a 12-square-foot area, mostly (400 or so) some sort of bluebell-like thing (the closest I can come up with is Spanish Bluebells) and about 200 daffodil bulbs. I could rip up the yard and do it all in flowers in what I dug out of that little spot behind the fence. And then I dug up some dandelions (maybe 0.2%) and raked up some winter-leftover leaves. Today was all about the yard, and I didn't leave home. (Then tonight, for fun, we watched Roman Holiday...such a wonderful movie. All about running away for the day and forgetting everything just to have fun.) Oh, yeah, and I made biscuits and eggs over-easy for breakfast. For the record, until I have a pastry blender, I don't intend to ever cut butter into anything. Ever. Sheesh, that was hard! But the biscuits are pretty delicious.
Yesterday, I put a big push into moving. "She's still doing that?" you're thinking? Sadly, yes. But...and this is big...yesterday I managed to get all my CDs packed! Now all I've got to do is hire movers for a half dozen pieces of furniture that won't fit in my car, deal with the yard stuff and the basement storage, and have a yard sale. Whew! We also went to the farmer's market (the big one at PSU, my favorite) for some chard and collards, radishes, black trumpet mushrooms, bok choy...and ribs. That was Lovely Partner's project for today, and they were delicious (he also tossed the bok choy on the smoker which was lovely, though needs some adjustment so the leaves don't end up crispy). We found a recipe for winter greens pesto that sounds like an awesome thing to do with the chard and collards. A week ago I made a wild sorrel pesto that was pretty good, too. I tossed it into some (from a box) mac and cheese this afternoon and I was pretty pleased with the results. The plan for the mushrooms is a quiche, because the black trumpets have such an affinity for eggs.
The one thing I didn't get done this weekend was a hike. I was going to do that today, but I was totally wiped out by crouching and wresting bulbs out of the clay for hours on end. My plan is to work up to being able to hike up to the top of Mt. St. Helens. Well, that and I didn't make anything that wasn't food, I suppose. I dug stuff up rather than making stuff.
I feel creative. I feel productive. And yet my only visible end products are consumed (or composted) by the end of the week. Huh...I think I'm okay with that sometimes.
P.S. The potatoes are sprouting! A couple dozen leaves! I am a real gardener officially for this year!
Yesterday, I put a big push into moving. "She's still doing that?" you're thinking? Sadly, yes. But...and this is big...yesterday I managed to get all my CDs packed! Now all I've got to do is hire movers for a half dozen pieces of furniture that won't fit in my car, deal with the yard stuff and the basement storage, and have a yard sale. Whew! We also went to the farmer's market (the big one at PSU, my favorite) for some chard and collards, radishes, black trumpet mushrooms, bok choy...and ribs. That was Lovely Partner's project for today, and they were delicious (he also tossed the bok choy on the smoker which was lovely, though needs some adjustment so the leaves don't end up crispy). We found a recipe for winter greens pesto that sounds like an awesome thing to do with the chard and collards. A week ago I made a wild sorrel pesto that was pretty good, too. I tossed it into some (from a box) mac and cheese this afternoon and I was pretty pleased with the results. The plan for the mushrooms is a quiche, because the black trumpets have such an affinity for eggs.
The one thing I didn't get done this weekend was a hike. I was going to do that today, but I was totally wiped out by crouching and wresting bulbs out of the clay for hours on end. My plan is to work up to being able to hike up to the top of Mt. St. Helens. Well, that and I didn't make anything that wasn't food, I suppose. I dug stuff up rather than making stuff.
I feel creative. I feel productive. And yet my only visible end products are consumed (or composted) by the end of the week. Huh...I think I'm okay with that sometimes.
P.S. The potatoes are sprouting! A couple dozen leaves! I am a real gardener officially for this year!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Sprouts
It's later in the spring than I'm used to, but I'm finding my enthusiasm again! It's poking through the ground, a little late thanks to the cool and wet spring, but little green shoots of it are unfurling. Two leaves, then four, then those leaves that really look like leaves...
THINGS I AM EXCITED ABOUT:
MAKE IT POP! This is going to be pretty damn cool. I've been working with PDX Pop Now!, the organization that puts this on, and I'm pretty bowled over by how great it's going to be. Laura Veirs, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper, Laura Gibson, and Israel Nebeker of Blind Pilot is a pretty remarkable lineup for a show. The way this annual fundraiser show works is that the organization works to get some pretty significant local talent, then puts on this show in a tiny, intimate venue (the Ace Hotel's event space called The Cleaners), so you get to get all up-close and personal. I've been twice before, and it's always a memorable experience. And now I'm a part of the process, so I'm pretty much just buzzing about now, waiting for April 28.
Sherry Vanilla Bean Jelly. The Lovely Partner's mother, out of the blue, bought us a night at a downtown hotel and dinner out. We went to Clyde Common, and while we were waiting for our table, we got a cheese plate that came with this amazing sherry vanilla bean jelly. Turns out it was remarkably easy to replicate. I googled "sherry jelly" and added vanilla instead of the spices in the recipe. I also tossed in a cinnamon stick, which turned out to be utterly superfluous, and if I could take it back I would. But it's still amazing. I wish I had the money to try it with a good sherry, instead of the cheap Christian Brothers stuff, but damn. I'm thinking about all the other possibilities. Tawny Port? Madeira? And then there's the whole realm of wine jellies...I want to make one out of a nice floral, fruity, aromatic viognier or a muscat.
Renewal and growth. At work, I've been working with a too-high number of kids, since one of my coworkers (there aren't many of us) was on maternity leave and is back but only part time. After a while, it seems like all the kids that only need to be in a residential treatment setting for a little bit and then can move on, have moved on. Eventually, I have seven-eight-nine kids who seem like they'll never leave. But as spring buds and flowers burst forth, so have my clients. I sent a kid home on Friday, and another goes out tomorrow (the most hopeful of the bunch, I think she'll do great). I've got two or three more who look somewhere between sorta and really ready to move on, and now it's just about making the plans for where. And at the same time, I see the first shoots of lettuce and radishes emerging in the garden. Stagnation is turning into growth all over the place.
The Farmer's Market. I've missed it the last couple of saturdays, but the two saturdays before that, I made it down to the first two weeks of the Portland Farmer's Market. I've gotten root veggies and greens and vegetable starts for the garden, and pork and salmon, and dried cherries (damn, the Lovely Boyfriend is soaking those cherries in bourbon and Maraska, and they are pretty unbelievably tasty), and always an amazing lunch and some great coffee.
THINGS I AM EXCITED ABOUT:
MAKE IT POP! This is going to be pretty damn cool. I've been working with PDX Pop Now!, the organization that puts this on, and I'm pretty bowled over by how great it's going to be. Laura Veirs, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper, Laura Gibson, and Israel Nebeker of Blind Pilot is a pretty remarkable lineup for a show. The way this annual fundraiser show works is that the organization works to get some pretty significant local talent, then puts on this show in a tiny, intimate venue (the Ace Hotel's event space called The Cleaners), so you get to get all up-close and personal. I've been twice before, and it's always a memorable experience. And now I'm a part of the process, so I'm pretty much just buzzing about now, waiting for April 28.
Sherry Vanilla Bean Jelly. The Lovely Partner's mother, out of the blue, bought us a night at a downtown hotel and dinner out. We went to Clyde Common, and while we were waiting for our table, we got a cheese plate that came with this amazing sherry vanilla bean jelly. Turns out it was remarkably easy to replicate. I googled "sherry jelly" and added vanilla instead of the spices in the recipe. I also tossed in a cinnamon stick, which turned out to be utterly superfluous, and if I could take it back I would. But it's still amazing. I wish I had the money to try it with a good sherry, instead of the cheap Christian Brothers stuff, but damn. I'm thinking about all the other possibilities. Tawny Port? Madeira? And then there's the whole realm of wine jellies...I want to make one out of a nice floral, fruity, aromatic viognier or a muscat.
Renewal and growth. At work, I've been working with a too-high number of kids, since one of my coworkers (there aren't many of us) was on maternity leave and is back but only part time. After a while, it seems like all the kids that only need to be in a residential treatment setting for a little bit and then can move on, have moved on. Eventually, I have seven-eight-nine kids who seem like they'll never leave. But as spring buds and flowers burst forth, so have my clients. I sent a kid home on Friday, and another goes out tomorrow (the most hopeful of the bunch, I think she'll do great). I've got two or three more who look somewhere between sorta and really ready to move on, and now it's just about making the plans for where. And at the same time, I see the first shoots of lettuce and radishes emerging in the garden. Stagnation is turning into growth all over the place.
The Farmer's Market. I've missed it the last couple of saturdays, but the two saturdays before that, I made it down to the first two weeks of the Portland Farmer's Market. I've gotten root veggies and greens and vegetable starts for the garden, and pork and salmon, and dried cherries (damn, the Lovely Boyfriend is soaking those cherries in bourbon and Maraska, and they are pretty unbelievably tasty), and always an amazing lunch and some great coffee.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Feels Like Backwards
It's getting colder. Today, it didn't break 50 degrees. I have a cold (as does everyone I know). How did it become November again?
I'm so impatient right now. I want to get back out in the garden, but the garden's a pile of soupy muck. I need to dig up those overcrowded bulbs, and plant kale and carrots! I felt like I just couldn't wait any longer on the potatoes, but now I hope they don't just rot out there. Three kinds, six seed potatoes. I'm pretty excited.
I've also got this great plan to make a sherry vanilla-bean jelly, which I just had accompanying a cheese plate at Clyde Common. Oh, wow. I've got the sherry, and the vanilla bean, but now I need to feel confident that I can touch food without being all Typhoid-Mary. Maybe this weekend?
Maybe this weekend I'll finish my taxes, get flyering done for a fundraiser (okay, this one's not optional), put compost down in the garden, dig up some bulbs, tear up some grass, get some stuff planted, move more boxes of my stuff, make jelly, make some jewelry, finish that email I'm writing, color my hair, make an appointment for a haircut...sheesh, I suck.
No wonder I feel like I never get anything done. Perhaps I should lower my expectations. I'm not sure how, though. None of these things seem like they should come off the list.
Okay, mental shift: Things I've accomplished this past week include finding out what I needed to to get my taxes done, getting a hefty start on it, making slug traps, completing a long list of emails I needed to send out/return for the nonprofit, planning the flyering excursion, buying compost, moving some boxes, making sausage bean stew, and baking this amazing cherry pie with an almond crumb topping, so damn good, using sour pie cherries from the farmer's market that I pitted and froze last July. I so rock!
Okay, the pie was someone else's recipe, I found it online and promptly lost it again, but the stew is really easy and my own recipe, so I'm going to share it:
Sausage Stew
1 can beans (black eyed peas, white beans, or garbanzo work well), drained
1 can hominy, drained
1 can diced tomatoes (either with chilies or fire-roasted taste great), UNdrained
About half a pound of braising greens, washed well and chopped
1 tablespoon oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 lb of smoked sausage, sliced thinly and halved or quartered (half-moon or pie shape)
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Toss in the garlic, and when it starts to get aromatic (30 seconds or so), add the greens. You may need to add them in handfuls and wait for them to wilt, depending on the size of your pot. If you just washed them, they should have some water clinging to them; if not, toss in a couple of tablespoons of water. Add the cider vinegar, turn down to low, and put a lid on the pot. When the greens are well wilted and tender (10-15 minutes, maybe more depending on the kind of greens), add all the other ingredients. Simmer on medium-low until everything is heated through and all the flavors are combined.
I'm so impatient right now. I want to get back out in the garden, but the garden's a pile of soupy muck. I need to dig up those overcrowded bulbs, and plant kale and carrots! I felt like I just couldn't wait any longer on the potatoes, but now I hope they don't just rot out there. Three kinds, six seed potatoes. I'm pretty excited.
I've also got this great plan to make a sherry vanilla-bean jelly, which I just had accompanying a cheese plate at Clyde Common. Oh, wow. I've got the sherry, and the vanilla bean, but now I need to feel confident that I can touch food without being all Typhoid-Mary. Maybe this weekend?
Maybe this weekend I'll finish my taxes, get flyering done for a fundraiser (okay, this one's not optional), put compost down in the garden, dig up some bulbs, tear up some grass, get some stuff planted, move more boxes of my stuff, make jelly, make some jewelry, finish that email I'm writing, color my hair, make an appointment for a haircut...sheesh, I suck.
No wonder I feel like I never get anything done. Perhaps I should lower my expectations. I'm not sure how, though. None of these things seem like they should come off the list.
Okay, mental shift: Things I've accomplished this past week include finding out what I needed to to get my taxes done, getting a hefty start on it, making slug traps, completing a long list of emails I needed to send out/return for the nonprofit, planning the flyering excursion, buying compost, moving some boxes, making sausage bean stew, and baking this amazing cherry pie with an almond crumb topping, so damn good, using sour pie cherries from the farmer's market that I pitted and froze last July. I so rock!
Okay, the pie was someone else's recipe, I found it online and promptly lost it again, but the stew is really easy and my own recipe, so I'm going to share it:
Sausage Stew
1 can beans (black eyed peas, white beans, or garbanzo work well), drained
1 can hominy, drained
1 can diced tomatoes (either with chilies or fire-roasted taste great), UNdrained
About half a pound of braising greens, washed well and chopped
1 tablespoon oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 lb of smoked sausage, sliced thinly and halved or quartered (half-moon or pie shape)
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Toss in the garlic, and when it starts to get aromatic (30 seconds or so), add the greens. You may need to add them in handfuls and wait for them to wilt, depending on the size of your pot. If you just washed them, they should have some water clinging to them; if not, toss in a couple of tablespoons of water. Add the cider vinegar, turn down to low, and put a lid on the pot. When the greens are well wilted and tender (10-15 minutes, maybe more depending on the kind of greens), add all the other ingredients. Simmer on medium-low until everything is heated through and all the flavors are combined.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Up By The Roots
I got back into my garden today, after something like two weeks straight of rain. It was muddy, and I probably should have left well enough alone. But I was out there mostly to dig shit up, so I wasn't as worried about it as I usually am. 30 dandelions and a bunch of bluebell-like bulbs later, my garden didn't look much different than it did before I started. I felt like superman, though, getting out there again. And I planted a parsley start and an artichoke start. We'll see what I get. I'm still dreaming of tomatoes and peppers, though it feels good to see a few radish sprouts poking up.
P.S. Anyone want a gazillion bluebell-like bulbs and a handful of daffodils? They're packed in the backyard like a house show, packed so tight they barely even bloom. I've been slowly digging them up, and once I'm done I hope to redistribute them in the yard and trade the rest for some nice fall veggie starts, beets or kale or something.
We also took some salvaged plywood from The Rebuilding Center, and made two new shelves. One for the pantry, the same as the shelves that are in there, and one for the unused overhead space in the stairwell to the basement. Two bucks for all the plywood and 1x2 lumber for the supports. I also spent another two bucks on a bunch of small, pretty hardware I think might make nice jewelry additions. Lots of pretty cupboard handles, some chain from a backyard swing, some random bits of metal that looked interesting. This is a truly amazing place that is 100% devoted to reusing salvaged scrap, old fixtures, and all sorts of household building materials that could easily get tossed in a dumpster. If you've ever wanted a beautiful vintage sink, this is the place to look.
I'm not sure whether I feel accomplished, or just feel sad, that my other major task this weekend that I've done a great job with has been laundry. It feels so goddamned ordinary to crow about having gotten five loads of laundry done in 2 1/2 days. I wish someone else did my laundry so my superman accomplishments could be all about the creativity. Though once the laundry was done we did head out to see a great, cheap show with a whole bunch of bands for super-cheap at an odd and unexpected venue. Screw you, laundry! I've got better shit to brag about!
I did make a lovely dinner for St. Patrick's Day earlier this week. I made beef guinness stew, which went beautifully with the homemade whole wheat bread from last weekend. I think my crockpot runs too hot, so the beef was drier than I hoped, though. Then today was the first day of the 2011 Portland Farmer's Market (at PSU), and we picked up a pound-plus of last-minute-super-discount salmon, which made a gorgeous dinner with some tzatziki (thanks, Cooking Light!), roasted new potatoes with oregano and lemon, and a salad. This was truly a joint effort, The Lovely Partner took care of the fish. Tomorrow's dinner looks to be pulled pork and some beet greens (Lovely Partner is all about the smoker! I'll deal with the greens...). We also picked up another bag of the most amazing whole wheat flour (I used the very last of it in the whole wheat bread described above), so flavorful and grainy and I feel like a homesteader every time I grab that bag to do some baking. And I'm hoping that I can turn a bunch of end-of-winter stored asian pears into asian-pear butter. I have no idea what that will be like. I'll keep you updated.
Tomorrow I'll be up early to draft my fantasy baseball league team. There's no way in hell I'll manage to get Felix Hernandez for a fifth straight year, not after he was the AL Cy Young Award winner. Damn, I love my regulars, and they're all hard to get this year. Delmon Young and Francisco Liriano are another couple I've managed to swing the last couple years, despite playing in a Twins-fan-heavy league, because everyone knows they've got weaknesses...but not this year. They're heavy favorites. Gotta find some super-secret rookie phenoms this year again. Damn. I'm betting on a few National League guys with the kind of boring, ordinary names that might hide their true potential.
Sunday's plan, after the baseball draft, is all about building these shelves we cut, and putting together some Ikea storage in the basement spare room, once we figure out what fits where and have moved some pieces from upstairs. Moving into someone else's place is hard. I've never done it before, and this is the first moment that I've realized that it's a new experience for me, which partly explains why it's so hard. Even just moving a few things from here to there in his kitchen cupboards is a huge deal; I'm anxious when I do it, and the reaction is often not totally positive. I'll stop referring to it as "his place" and start referring to it as "home" when I no longer have my own apartment somewhere else, but when will it start feeling that way?
P.S. Anyone want a gazillion bluebell-like bulbs and a handful of daffodils? They're packed in the backyard like a house show, packed so tight they barely even bloom. I've been slowly digging them up, and once I'm done I hope to redistribute them in the yard and trade the rest for some nice fall veggie starts, beets or kale or something.
We also took some salvaged plywood from The Rebuilding Center, and made two new shelves. One for the pantry, the same as the shelves that are in there, and one for the unused overhead space in the stairwell to the basement. Two bucks for all the plywood and 1x2 lumber for the supports. I also spent another two bucks on a bunch of small, pretty hardware I think might make nice jewelry additions. Lots of pretty cupboard handles, some chain from a backyard swing, some random bits of metal that looked interesting. This is a truly amazing place that is 100% devoted to reusing salvaged scrap, old fixtures, and all sorts of household building materials that could easily get tossed in a dumpster. If you've ever wanted a beautiful vintage sink, this is the place to look.
I'm not sure whether I feel accomplished, or just feel sad, that my other major task this weekend that I've done a great job with has been laundry. It feels so goddamned ordinary to crow about having gotten five loads of laundry done in 2 1/2 days. I wish someone else did my laundry so my superman accomplishments could be all about the creativity. Though once the laundry was done we did head out to see a great, cheap show with a whole bunch of bands for super-cheap at an odd and unexpected venue. Screw you, laundry! I've got better shit to brag about!
I did make a lovely dinner for St. Patrick's Day earlier this week. I made beef guinness stew, which went beautifully with the homemade whole wheat bread from last weekend. I think my crockpot runs too hot, so the beef was drier than I hoped, though. Then today was the first day of the 2011 Portland Farmer's Market (at PSU), and we picked up a pound-plus of last-minute-super-discount salmon, which made a gorgeous dinner with some tzatziki (thanks, Cooking Light!), roasted new potatoes with oregano and lemon, and a salad. This was truly a joint effort, The Lovely Partner took care of the fish. Tomorrow's dinner looks to be pulled pork and some beet greens (Lovely Partner is all about the smoker! I'll deal with the greens...). We also picked up another bag of the most amazing whole wheat flour (I used the very last of it in the whole wheat bread described above), so flavorful and grainy and I feel like a homesteader every time I grab that bag to do some baking. And I'm hoping that I can turn a bunch of end-of-winter stored asian pears into asian-pear butter. I have no idea what that will be like. I'll keep you updated.
Tomorrow I'll be up early to draft my fantasy baseball league team. There's no way in hell I'll manage to get Felix Hernandez for a fifth straight year, not after he was the AL Cy Young Award winner. Damn, I love my regulars, and they're all hard to get this year. Delmon Young and Francisco Liriano are another couple I've managed to swing the last couple years, despite playing in a Twins-fan-heavy league, because everyone knows they've got weaknesses...but not this year. They're heavy favorites. Gotta find some super-secret rookie phenoms this year again. Damn. I'm betting on a few National League guys with the kind of boring, ordinary names that might hide their true potential.
Sunday's plan, after the baseball draft, is all about building these shelves we cut, and putting together some Ikea storage in the basement spare room, once we figure out what fits where and have moved some pieces from upstairs. Moving into someone else's place is hard. I've never done it before, and this is the first moment that I've realized that it's a new experience for me, which partly explains why it's so hard. Even just moving a few things from here to there in his kitchen cupboards is a huge deal; I'm anxious when I do it, and the reaction is often not totally positive. I'll stop referring to it as "his place" and start referring to it as "home" when I no longer have my own apartment somewhere else, but when will it start feeling that way?
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Three Themes
As my blog progresses, I'm discovering three themes I keep focusing on. This is where blogs and journals have a lot in common...I turn my lens on myself, and it helps me give words to the themes I'm developing in my own life.
It appears that my current focal points in my blog (and my life) are creativity, conservation, and DIY. There's a lot of overlap, but I think I focus on each independently enough that they really are three things.
Why these things? I have some ideas. For many years, I was focused primarily on my professional development. Graduate school, dissertation, career. I've been working in the same place now for three years (as of last week), and I just realized, right now today, that professional development is no longer the bright shining star in my growth as a person. It's become a much more subtle influence, shifting from who I am in the field of psychology to how I do my work every day ethically, efficiently, and effectively without getting bogged down or overwhelmed. My growth in this area has slowed down, and without realizing it, I've been looking for the next step.
I've been looking for this next step while steeped in the culture of Portland, a hotbed of DIY creativity and day-to-day environmental practice. I've been in Portland now for 7 1/2 years, and I love it here. Even as I stare out the window at another grey, wet, drizzly day and wonder if I'm going to drown before the rainy season is over, I'm happy to be here. Things make sense to me here. And you can't help but be more attuned to what you make, how you make it, and how you impact the world.
I've always been the person who wants to learn to make and do everything, even if I only do it once. And I've always been inspired to do so by whatever's around me, whether baking cookies or building a fort as a kid. So now I guess it makes sense that these things have become my next step(s) forward in who I am as a person.
It appears that my current focal points in my blog (and my life) are creativity, conservation, and DIY. There's a lot of overlap, but I think I focus on each independently enough that they really are three things.
Why these things? I have some ideas. For many years, I was focused primarily on my professional development. Graduate school, dissertation, career. I've been working in the same place now for three years (as of last week), and I just realized, right now today, that professional development is no longer the bright shining star in my growth as a person. It's become a much more subtle influence, shifting from who I am in the field of psychology to how I do my work every day ethically, efficiently, and effectively without getting bogged down or overwhelmed. My growth in this area has slowed down, and without realizing it, I've been looking for the next step.
I've been looking for this next step while steeped in the culture of Portland, a hotbed of DIY creativity and day-to-day environmental practice. I've been in Portland now for 7 1/2 years, and I love it here. Even as I stare out the window at another grey, wet, drizzly day and wonder if I'm going to drown before the rainy season is over, I'm happy to be here. Things make sense to me here. And you can't help but be more attuned to what you make, how you make it, and how you impact the world.
I've always been the person who wants to learn to make and do everything, even if I only do it once. And I've always been inspired to do so by whatever's around me, whether baking cookies or building a fort as a kid. So now I guess it makes sense that these things have become my next step(s) forward in who I am as a person.
Sprout Dreams
Every creative thought I have these days is about my garden. I'm dying for the rain to stop (about this time every year I manage to have some sort of Portland amnesia and believe that any day now the rain will stop) so I can stick a shovel in some nice, fertile, soft dirt instead of a sloppy puddle of muck.
This year, I aspire to grow artichokes, arugula, baby bell peppers, basil, beets, blueberries, carrots, cauliflower, chard, cilantro, cucumbers, ferns (okay, it's not all edible), garlic, huckleberries, jalapenos, jasmine, kale, lettuce, mache, moss, new mexico peppers, oregano, parsnips, pole beans, potatoes, radishes, raspberries, rosemary, summer squash, sunflowers, tomatoes, thyme, zucchini...
(I was tempted to add eggplant and quince just to fill out the alphabet a bit more, but I restrained myself. See? I'm capable of restraint!)
It's not all going to happen. We bought and planted the blueberries and huckleberries, and added another raspberry cane to the raspberry patch. We've got radish seeds in the ground, and the garlic is already a few inches tall. I transplanted the rosemary a year ago, and it seems to love being out of a pot and in the really-truly earth. The thyme dies back every winter, but then grows tiny new leaves again, so I hope it's going to survive. I'm discovering that I can grow some perennials, which makes me happy and eases the pressure in the spring.
Given my discovery of canning last summer, I should really focus on things I can jam and pickle. And salads for the Lovely Boyfriend, who wants one with every meal. Crap, that doesn't narrow the list down much, does it? What have I grown with some success? Basil, carrots, cukes, garlic, radishes (these two are in the ground now), lettuce, pole beans, potatoes, radishes, raspberries (in the ground!), rosemary (ditto!), summer squash (sorta), tomatoes, thyme. Narrows it down a little more.
Wow...I don't think I realized I'd grown that many things successfully! I think of myself as having a brown thumb, but chance has got to work in my favor sometimes. That and Steve Solomon's book Growing Vegetables West Of The Cascades. That man can make anyone a gardener.
The other thing I did just today was bake bread. Two loaves of whole wheat, with this amazing coarse organic wheat flour from the farmer's market. I can smell it now, cooling in the kitchen. I'm a huge fan of the book Kneadlessly Simple, which has a zillion or so recipes for breads you don't have to knead (but require planning ahead about 24 hours, and having a cool place to put bread to rise for 12 hours or more...). They end up delicious, complex and chewy, just really fascinating.
I'm still moving. I expect this process to go for another month and a half, minimum. Pack some boxes, bring them to L. Boyfriend's place, trip to Ikea for more storage space, build shelves, unpack boxes, bring boxes back to my house, rinse, repeat.
A couple of weeks ago, I got together with a friend of the LB's who does some photography, and she took pictures of all of my jewelry. I'm so excited to get these photos back! Etsy shop makeover, here I come.
Sadly, I haven't made a piece of jewelry in over a month. I feel bad, but then I remember that I've got a decent stock right now, and I've got other life projects in the works. I have this terrible, lifelong habit of starting something, but only keeping it up for a little while then letting it lapse forever and ever. Here is my new, very important lens on this problem: There is always an ebb and flow. This means nothing. I am not moving on, I am not giving up. I am ebbing, and flow will come soon.
This year, I aspire to grow artichokes, arugula, baby bell peppers, basil, beets, blueberries, carrots, cauliflower, chard, cilantro, cucumbers, ferns (okay, it's not all edible), garlic, huckleberries, jalapenos, jasmine, kale, lettuce, mache, moss, new mexico peppers, oregano, parsnips, pole beans, potatoes, radishes, raspberries, rosemary, summer squash, sunflowers, tomatoes, thyme, zucchini...
(I was tempted to add eggplant and quince just to fill out the alphabet a bit more, but I restrained myself. See? I'm capable of restraint!)
It's not all going to happen. We bought and planted the blueberries and huckleberries, and added another raspberry cane to the raspberry patch. We've got radish seeds in the ground, and the garlic is already a few inches tall. I transplanted the rosemary a year ago, and it seems to love being out of a pot and in the really-truly earth. The thyme dies back every winter, but then grows tiny new leaves again, so I hope it's going to survive. I'm discovering that I can grow some perennials, which makes me happy and eases the pressure in the spring.
Given my discovery of canning last summer, I should really focus on things I can jam and pickle. And salads for the Lovely Boyfriend, who wants one with every meal. Crap, that doesn't narrow the list down much, does it? What have I grown with some success? Basil, carrots, cukes, garlic, radishes (these two are in the ground now), lettuce, pole beans, potatoes, radishes, raspberries (in the ground!), rosemary (ditto!), summer squash (sorta), tomatoes, thyme. Narrows it down a little more.
Wow...I don't think I realized I'd grown that many things successfully! I think of myself as having a brown thumb, but chance has got to work in my favor sometimes. That and Steve Solomon's book Growing Vegetables West Of The Cascades. That man can make anyone a gardener.
The other thing I did just today was bake bread. Two loaves of whole wheat, with this amazing coarse organic wheat flour from the farmer's market. I can smell it now, cooling in the kitchen. I'm a huge fan of the book Kneadlessly Simple, which has a zillion or so recipes for breads you don't have to knead (but require planning ahead about 24 hours, and having a cool place to put bread to rise for 12 hours or more...). They end up delicious, complex and chewy, just really fascinating.
I'm still moving. I expect this process to go for another month and a half, minimum. Pack some boxes, bring them to L. Boyfriend's place, trip to Ikea for more storage space, build shelves, unpack boxes, bring boxes back to my house, rinse, repeat.
A couple of weeks ago, I got together with a friend of the LB's who does some photography, and she took pictures of all of my jewelry. I'm so excited to get these photos back! Etsy shop makeover, here I come.
Sadly, I haven't made a piece of jewelry in over a month. I feel bad, but then I remember that I've got a decent stock right now, and I've got other life projects in the works. I have this terrible, lifelong habit of starting something, but only keeping it up for a little while then letting it lapse forever and ever. Here is my new, very important lens on this problem: There is always an ebb and flow. This means nothing. I am not moving on, I am not giving up. I am ebbing, and flow will come soon.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Utility of Hibernation
I've started asking myself (is this a good idea or a bad idea?), what am I doing these days? I have undertaken a few cooking projects. I've been busy with work, the nonprofit project, moving, home stuff. Mostly nesting, it seems. I haven't completed a new piece of jewelry in a few weeks. I built an Ikea bookshelf today, but I wouldn't call that a creative project, not when it comes with picture instructions. Moving into the Lovely Boyfriend's place has taken a lot of my creative energy. How do I fit things into this box in an efficient way, yet one that makes sense? (Yep, that kitchen utensil would fill that last little bit of space perfectly, but the rest of the box is filled with bookshelf stuff...there's gotta be something else more rational to go there?) Where can we create storage space where there was none before? How do I make this shitty closet work for my stuff? How do I organize all my things in my mind, now that I get the opportunity to sort and organize and categorize everything? What can I throw away (well, recycle or donate)? (Yes, this last question is one that's calling on a high degree of creativity and imagination on my part, in ways I couldn't have imagined until I started).
I've planted a few things recently. Radishes, a new raspberry cane (this one fall-bearing, so I now have two summer-bearing black raspberries, a summer-bearing red, and a fall-bearing red), an evergreen huckleberry (yum!), and three blueberry bushes. I'm thinking about where my garden will be this year, since it will be at the Lovely Boyfriend's place and not mine. Where does the sun shine? What will be easiest to dig up that isn't grassless because nothing will grow there?
Hibernation is all about asking the questions and developing the answers. Action comes as the shoots poke out of the soil in the spring.
I've planted a few things recently. Radishes, a new raspberry cane (this one fall-bearing, so I now have two summer-bearing black raspberries, a summer-bearing red, and a fall-bearing red), an evergreen huckleberry (yum!), and three blueberry bushes. I'm thinking about where my garden will be this year, since it will be at the Lovely Boyfriend's place and not mine. Where does the sun shine? What will be easiest to dig up that isn't grassless because nothing will grow there?
Hibernation is all about asking the questions and developing the answers. Action comes as the shoots poke out of the soil in the spring.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
When is Spring Coming?
Every February, I just get tired. I feel like hibernating, holing up, nesting. These are good things, right? Yet my life really isn't set up to do these things. I'm extra busy at work this month, and extra-extra busy this week, and I've got some volunteer commitments too.
Huh...that doesn't sound like much for the week, does it? Work (even a long week at work), and some volunteer work. A couple of bills to pay, called my dad, did some laundry, scrubbed the tub. Why do I feel worn out and too busy? It is clearly time to focus on the things that get me through the late winter blahs. Focus on things I need.
Things I would like to do: Take a sick day or two. Sleep late. Bake muffins. Wear my pajamas until noon. Drink hot tea all day. Avoid everything.
Things that have worked to get me out of these blahs in the past: A long weekend away, doing nothing but what I want to do. Some physical exercise. Sunshine. Cleaning my apartment. Getting some nagging tasks out of the way and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Completing things. Taking a sick day or two.
Of course, this sick-day thing is tricky, because it doesn't leave me with any less work to do during the week, just fewer days to do it in, so I have to time it carefully. But I noticed it showed up on both lists. Apparently one thing I need is a little time away from work. Some daylight hours that I'm somewhere other than my office.
Maybe I'll bake some muffins, too.
Huh...that doesn't sound like much for the week, does it? Work (even a long week at work), and some volunteer work. A couple of bills to pay, called my dad, did some laundry, scrubbed the tub. Why do I feel worn out and too busy? It is clearly time to focus on the things that get me through the late winter blahs. Focus on things I need.
Things I would like to do: Take a sick day or two. Sleep late. Bake muffins. Wear my pajamas until noon. Drink hot tea all day. Avoid everything.
Things that have worked to get me out of these blahs in the past: A long weekend away, doing nothing but what I want to do. Some physical exercise. Sunshine. Cleaning my apartment. Getting some nagging tasks out of the way and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Completing things. Taking a sick day or two.
Of course, this sick-day thing is tricky, because it doesn't leave me with any less work to do during the week, just fewer days to do it in, so I have to time it carefully. But I noticed it showed up on both lists. Apparently one thing I need is a little time away from work. Some daylight hours that I'm somewhere other than my office.
Maybe I'll bake some muffins, too.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
I Think It's Working!
Friday wasn't a better day at work. Maybe worse. But the weather's been okay, sometimes warm and a little sunshine here and there. I went out to a good show last night, and on balance, the great music seemed to outweigh the shitty venue that's run poorly. Today, I gathered some volunteers and did some work for the music nonprofit. Some walking around, some good company, and I found myself with both the time and the...oh, inspiration makes it sound like such a big deal, like the sky opened up and the hand of god tapped me on the top of my head. I found myself with the time, interest, and energy to make some jewelry, and I'm happy with that.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Trudging Toward Inspiration
It was one of those days today, I think. You know the ones. I started my workday with a frustrating argument over something that seems obvious. I then went out to grab a sandwich, and the cheese was moldy. Next up, I made what I thought was a successful call to a child's insurance company. More on that later. A long and arduous meeting with some emotional folks, then finally I could go get that sandwich replaced. The coffee shop was really nice about it, but there's just no way that second sandwich was going to taste good, you know? I then sat down and (figuratively) held a barely tween-aged girl's hand as a lawyer sat her down and convinced her to sue the State of Oregon. He had a point, but damn, what a weird and depressing situation. Is that really my job? About a quarter to five, after another child refused to meet with me for therapy, I was feeling more than done for the day, and thinking about getting out of there, when my phone rang. It was a psychiatrist, who had heard from a mom, who had gotten a call from that insurance company. They weren't paying anymore, and she had to drive two hours each way over some mountains to pick up her kid tonight. Um...what? Last I heard was "we'll pay for another week in residential treatment, and call us then to talk about more." That was this very morning. After many frantic phone calls, I found out that mom can wait until tomorrow to come get the kid. Whew, I guess.
So after all that, I decided to stop in at Hopworks for a pint and a slice. I snuck in just under the wire for happy hour and had an oh-so-tasty Secession Cascadian Dark Ale (it's hoppy like an IPA, but dark like a porter), and headed home. It's so hard to feel inspired after all that, on a late January day that started and ended foggy and chilly (it was actually sunny and not too cold in the middle of the day). It was dark by a little after five, completely dark by the time I left work at almost six. And now I'm sitting at home without an inspiration in my head.
Which leads me, in a roundabout way, to my thesis for this post. I guess where I'm going with all this is that what I take in every day is a huge influence on what I put back out. Crappy workday in...blog post full of complaining out. Chilly, dark January in...bleak and tired laziness out. Time to put some effort into taking some really good stuff in. Last night was a start--I went to the local science museum's grownups-only evening, which was a ton of fun. Tomorrow night is a show of bands I'm really looking forward to, and Saturday night is a party. Sunday, maybe another show. And I may circle back to this for a while, because it still haunts me a bit: Creating something every day is perhaps not the best goal for me. I always wondered about those artists, of any medium, whose lives were solely about their art. Shouldn't art be about life? If your life is your art, and your art is about life, eventually your art is about...art. Which becomes more and more removed from life, alienating all others except other artists in the same position you're in. I'm not in any way an artist, but many of the things I do require creativity and flexibility. So perhaps the most important thing I can do sometimes, especially this time of year, is recharge my batteries, take in more life.
Things that recharge me right now: Excellent food, beer, wine, spirits. Trying new things. Getting out. Passionate conversation. Sex. Sunshine. Exercise, especially when it's nice enough that it can happen outdoors (hell, who am I kidding?...that's the only way I get any). Doing new things. Live music (as always). Successes. Little successes. Tiny, itty-bitty, almost invisible successes that only make a difference to me. Pampering myself. Being appreciated.
Perhaps my belated New Year's resolution is the resolution I've been trying to put my finger on for years: I create myself every single day. If I fail to do that, I can't create anything else.
So after all that, I decided to stop in at Hopworks for a pint and a slice. I snuck in just under the wire for happy hour and had an oh-so-tasty Secession Cascadian Dark Ale (it's hoppy like an IPA, but dark like a porter), and headed home. It's so hard to feel inspired after all that, on a late January day that started and ended foggy and chilly (it was actually sunny and not too cold in the middle of the day). It was dark by a little after five, completely dark by the time I left work at almost six. And now I'm sitting at home without an inspiration in my head.
Which leads me, in a roundabout way, to my thesis for this post. I guess where I'm going with all this is that what I take in every day is a huge influence on what I put back out. Crappy workday in...blog post full of complaining out. Chilly, dark January in...bleak and tired laziness out. Time to put some effort into taking some really good stuff in. Last night was a start--I went to the local science museum's grownups-only evening, which was a ton of fun. Tomorrow night is a show of bands I'm really looking forward to, and Saturday night is a party. Sunday, maybe another show. And I may circle back to this for a while, because it still haunts me a bit: Creating something every day is perhaps not the best goal for me. I always wondered about those artists, of any medium, whose lives were solely about their art. Shouldn't art be about life? If your life is your art, and your art is about life, eventually your art is about...art. Which becomes more and more removed from life, alienating all others except other artists in the same position you're in. I'm not in any way an artist, but many of the things I do require creativity and flexibility. So perhaps the most important thing I can do sometimes, especially this time of year, is recharge my batteries, take in more life.
Things that recharge me right now: Excellent food, beer, wine, spirits. Trying new things. Getting out. Passionate conversation. Sex. Sunshine. Exercise, especially when it's nice enough that it can happen outdoors (hell, who am I kidding?...that's the only way I get any). Doing new things. Live music (as always). Successes. Little successes. Tiny, itty-bitty, almost invisible successes that only make a difference to me. Pampering myself. Being appreciated.
Perhaps my belated New Year's resolution is the resolution I've been trying to put my finger on for years: I create myself every single day. If I fail to do that, I can't create anything else.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Make Something EVERY Day?
It seems like every creative type vowed to "make something every day" as their 2011 New Year's resolution. I feel like I'm not necessarily a creative type, just someone who happens to create things sometimes. I also don't make New Year's resolutions. They are too strongly identified with being destined for failure. Change, to me, is continual, not episodic. But I keep thinking about this. Every day? Weekends too? Why can't I get this idea out of my head?
Maybe I already make something every day. It may not be crafty. It may not be for my Etsy shop. I make decisions. I make a kid's day brighter. I make time for others. Most days, I even make something concrete that you can hold in your hand (well, in some cases that might be messy).
Yesterday...well, that's a tough one. The closest I got to "making" something concrete was writing a cogent essay on why a child needs to keep getting the mental health treatment he's getting. I made a list of volunteers who may be able to help with a project. I edited a few photographs of my jewelry, which is kind of like making something, right? It's a stretch, I know. Monday, I made dinner from scratch. It was this stew of lentils, mushrooms, and greens, and I thought it was pretty good. That totally counts. Sunday's another hard one. I can't think of a single thing I generated on Sunday. Saturday, I walked up a volcano. It's only a little volcano, right in the middle of the city, but...um...I made it to the top. I know, that's terrible. Friday, I made a painting of a birthday cake in Crayola watercolors for a child (she made me a watercolor of a garden with flowers, a lawn, and a blanket so I can watch the fireworks she painted in the sky). Since Friday, I've also been making new blood cells, since I donated when the Bloodmobile was at my office.
I think I partly need to remind myself that I generate things all the time. Things of value, things I'm happy with. Some days, I may need to put a little effort into creating something for the day. And Sundays, maybe I just need to give myself permission to take a day off.
Maybe I already make something every day. It may not be crafty. It may not be for my Etsy shop. I make decisions. I make a kid's day brighter. I make time for others. Most days, I even make something concrete that you can hold in your hand (well, in some cases that might be messy).
Yesterday...well, that's a tough one. The closest I got to "making" something concrete was writing a cogent essay on why a child needs to keep getting the mental health treatment he's getting. I made a list of volunteers who may be able to help with a project. I edited a few photographs of my jewelry, which is kind of like making something, right? It's a stretch, I know. Monday, I made dinner from scratch. It was this stew of lentils, mushrooms, and greens, and I thought it was pretty good. That totally counts. Sunday's another hard one. I can't think of a single thing I generated on Sunday. Saturday, I walked up a volcano. It's only a little volcano, right in the middle of the city, but...um...I made it to the top. I know, that's terrible. Friday, I made a painting of a birthday cake in Crayola watercolors for a child (she made me a watercolor of a garden with flowers, a lawn, and a blanket so I can watch the fireworks she painted in the sky). Since Friday, I've also been making new blood cells, since I donated when the Bloodmobile was at my office.
I think I partly need to remind myself that I generate things all the time. Things of value, things I'm happy with. Some days, I may need to put a little effort into creating something for the day. And Sundays, maybe I just need to give myself permission to take a day off.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Embarking
I've got a lot on my plate, and I'm pretty sure that's the way I want it. I feel like I need to focus a little on making it all fit, making it all work, and enjoying it. Maybe along the way, I'll start paring down. Maybe I'll find out how to streamline it all so I can fit more in. I sure hope I gain some renewed appreciation for my life as it is, fueled by ADHD, coffee, and the constant quest for novelty.
So that's why I'm here. Focus, appreciation, and some attentiveness to what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and most importantly, why I'm doing it.
Projects I've undertaken or kept up in the past couple of years: Full-time (plus some) job as a child and family therapist, consulting on the side, volunteer and (recently) board member for a music nonprofit, a pretty awesome relationship with a pretty awesome guy, gardener, cook, crafter, bowling league, kickball league, music listener (my other blog, neglected as of late, is about my show-going experiences), baseball fanatic and fantasy ball player, occasional traveler, beer aficionado, budding wine enthusiast, novice whiskey drinker, reader, DIY enthusiast, hiker (sort of). Some of these (kickball, bowling, and to some degree, consulting) I've kind of dropped along the way. Some (the music blog, reading books) I'm terribly inconsistent about. Most I could probably be more serious about.
Projects I've seriously thought about undertaking (or taking up again): Learning to sew, playing an instrument or singing (things I did as a kid), skiing (something else I did as a kid), snowshoeing, real hiking, getting some more exercise, actually marketing my craft stuff so people buy it, calling my grandmas more often, calling my dad more often, consulting on the side (someone just asked me if I still consult and would work with them), getting licensed as a psychologist, getting more exercise, cleaning my apartment, buying a new car, selling or donating a bunch of stuff I don't need, figuring out what that stuff is, budgeting or at least keeping track of my expenditures, learning to knit, some basic metalworking, silkscreening, keeping my music blog up better, re-joining a bowling league, and traveling to all sorts of places.
I'm going to figure out how to balance gratifying my burning desire to try everything with not running myself ragged. And how to finish some of the things I start. And I'm going to invite everyone along for the ride. Welcome to my overcommitted life.
So that's why I'm here. Focus, appreciation, and some attentiveness to what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and most importantly, why I'm doing it.
Projects I've undertaken or kept up in the past couple of years: Full-time (plus some) job as a child and family therapist, consulting on the side, volunteer and (recently) board member for a music nonprofit, a pretty awesome relationship with a pretty awesome guy, gardener, cook, crafter, bowling league, kickball league, music listener (my other blog, neglected as of late, is about my show-going experiences), baseball fanatic and fantasy ball player, occasional traveler, beer aficionado, budding wine enthusiast, novice whiskey drinker, reader, DIY enthusiast, hiker (sort of). Some of these (kickball, bowling, and to some degree, consulting) I've kind of dropped along the way. Some (the music blog, reading books) I'm terribly inconsistent about. Most I could probably be more serious about.
Projects I've seriously thought about undertaking (or taking up again): Learning to sew, playing an instrument or singing (things I did as a kid), skiing (something else I did as a kid), snowshoeing, real hiking, getting some more exercise, actually marketing my craft stuff so people buy it, calling my grandmas more often, calling my dad more often, consulting on the side (someone just asked me if I still consult and would work with them), getting licensed as a psychologist, getting more exercise, cleaning my apartment, buying a new car, selling or donating a bunch of stuff I don't need, figuring out what that stuff is, budgeting or at least keeping track of my expenditures, learning to knit, some basic metalworking, silkscreening, keeping my music blog up better, re-joining a bowling league, and traveling to all sorts of places.
I'm going to figure out how to balance gratifying my burning desire to try everything with not running myself ragged. And how to finish some of the things I start. And I'm going to invite everyone along for the ride. Welcome to my overcommitted life.
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