Craftiness

Ooooh, I wish I could be this crafty! I thought I'd highlight this blog because I just discovered it today and it just tickled me! This girl has got talent! And an imagination.

http://sweetfernhandmade.blogspot.com/2009/12/sewing-kit-1967.html

:-)

V for Victory, even though there's no garden

Victory!
I fell asleep as usual last night, at about 11 after reading a book for a while. I woke up, however, at about 545 AM, to the tune of a car alarm in the parking lot next door that would go off every 5 minutes, for 5 mintues (I approximate). Plus, I didn't feel like falling back asleep. Had I gotten my 2 REM cycles? I'll never know.
But, rather than waste away in hazy-state, I got up and checked the weather, checked my email, then pulled on some clothes to go for a jog.
That's right. I was out the door at 6:56 AM Tuesday March 30 to go jogging.
Woo-hoo!
It must be spring.

Sounded good on paper...

But not so much in execution: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/dining/071mrex.html?_r=2

Good so far...

Losing the grip...
Looks good on top, but... impossible to get out of the griddle grooves without lacerating the new pan. And, the consistency/ texture was all off: grainy, not custardy enough, like layers smushed by millennia instead of the 'light anf fluffy' I was going for. Oh well. There are more lemons where these came from!

Consolation Prize- squeezed out of sausage links, grilled up, and seasoned my way, atop toasted fresh bread and melty cheese- heart attack, yes, but oh so tasty!

Snow: The Day After

Some more pictures, from when snow had been "plowed." Usually, this would indicate a positive change in affairs, but occasionally it made it more difficult for walkers...

Exhibit A: walking on the sidewalk is fine and all, but what happens when you want to cross the street? Or heaven forbid, jaywalk?

Yes, the snowstorm included wind...

...and it plus the weight of the snow and ice unfortunately splintered a LOT of tree branches around the city.

HA ha...

View from my office window, of St. Matthew's Cathedral under snow. Foreground: my Victoire des Samothraces statue :)

Try getting up those stairs!

Lots of people had fun during the storm over the weekend, when they could get out a baking sheet and sled down museum stairs at night *ahem* but this one was on a Wednesday, and it was the third in a series, so the snowball fun had sort of died down.

Mushroom Casserole Mash-up

Some of you Readers might be familiar with the term 'mash-up." Some of you might not.

I was befuddled by two recipes last month. They were both yearning to be 'cut from the stone' of my farmers' market produce, but I didn't have enough ingredients to try them both, so I mashed up the recipes. The inspiration was from here at 101 Cookbooks, but I was more enticed and seduced by what I saw here at Last Night's Dinner, mostly because she tosses ingredients around with such a cavalier air. The next Julia Child, perhaps.

So I had cooked barley, I had cheese, I had fresh mushrooms, and I had chard! I even managed to roll up and slice the chard in the oh-so-professional-feeling 'cigar' method (see below)

The oil and spices and onions all went swimmingly, except that they fogged up my camera lens when I went in hovering for a closer look. Drat.

The last few steps to goodness:

It was very tasty. Not a 'wow' meal, but a dependable, filling, yummy, and altogether Kirsten-Larsen-memory-inducing entree. Even though I don't think there is anything Swedish in the tradition of this recipe. Ah well.

Stormy Weather - 2-10-2010

Going anywhere soon? I think not.

I know I can't improve on all the funny monikers that people came up with DURING the snowstorms, but I can hear repeat them for posterity.

"Snowmageddon"

"Snowpocalypse"

"SnOMG"

*cue dramatic music*

Anyway, here are some photos for the 3rd real blizzard. I moved during the first one; I was in Colorado for the second.

View from the front door or my apartment building.

Visibility. See the church spire?

My car. Can't you see it??

Colorado Trip, Part II

What else did I do in Colorado? Well, lots of stuff! I visited Boulder, CO for a day, for one. It was reeeealy snowy driving down (good thing I didn't have to do the driving!) the mountain from Keystone.

(yes, this is during 'daylight' hours!) but the town was so cute!

And you know they had a good sense of humor:

Not to mention delicious crepes! I had a combination called "Strawberries Romanov, which included strawberries, Nutella, I think chocolate chips, and *dumroll please* Grand Marnier! This is what it looks like:
and this is what I looked like: So much pleasure it was almost painful. (Not really- I just looked like it)

This is me catching the lovely snowflake formations- it is so dry there there they land and just sit, perched, on a surface. Look at the beautifully formed snowflake on my coat! Que la vie est belle, enh quand meme?

Pretty shot of the mountainside and the 'weather'

Here i was trying to capture the way that the dry snowy substance floats over the road in curls of wind. It's hard to capture without motion, but you can see the pattern of white over the road, which is the snow swirling around the vortices of air created by the passing cars. Tres cool.

The Continental Divide! I was on Top!

Not only that, I was on a flight on the way home (an interesting story, but won't tell here), in which I had the whole row-- 3 seats-- to myself! It was amazing, and a lovely escape.

Here was my return back to ''civilization" and I do mean that ironically, since we were met by yet another snowstorm in 2 days that stopped the ciy from performing any of the simplest tasks. Snowmageddon, indeed.

Colorado Trip, Part I

Ah yes. Many things that I like, all combined in one place: open sky, natural landscape, varying clouds, renewable energy, the chance to learn about science (sort of)... field trip to NREL!

NREL stands for National Renewable Energy laboratory, and it is located in Golden, CO. As a part of a Keystone Center board meeting, we got to visit their National Wind Technology Center, where they test drive trains, turbines, and all sorts of other fun stuff. We took a tour with some visiting local-level politicians, and par hasard, got treated to a lunch of brats and burgers! Apparently the spirit of Casual Friday comes to the Wind Technology Center's IT staff regularly on Thursdays, when they have a grill-out for lunch. They generously offered to share as we wandered by looking for our tour guide. Cheers for happiness and generosity when they are encountered!

Work Sweet Work

Beautiful at dawn (oh that's right, I had to be up at dawn-- in FEBRUARY-- to help prepare for a meeting that started at 7 AM)

(it was worth it)

Elsewhere, we took in the sights, including delicious pizza at "The Pizza Parlor" (such a clever name) in Breckenridge; the Snow Sculpture contest, also in Breck; and not so joy-inducing: the sight of the patchwork of dead trees lost to bark beetle among the evergreen forests.

Pretty Pictures from NYC

Aunt Irene's colorful, warm, and inviting living room

Aunt Irene in her kitchen, with her own art and others'

Stop on the LIRR with interesting lines

Manhattan, vu du Queens (regarde l'Empire State a gauche)

Cakes and confections...

and a clutter or congratulations, for Magnolia Bakery! (It was pretty good, but not better than Georgetown Cupcake)

At Risotteria, a specialty gluten-free restaurant for lunch. I had some intense garlic in there, topped with pork shoulder slices. I don't believe the people on the bus home appreciated my leftovers much...

Overblown-at-one-time architecture, that now just looks misunderstood.

Another beautiful facade, unfortunately converted into T.J. Maxx and others...

View down a side street, with complications.