I Am a Woman of Many Contradictions

Even though I am adamantly against having baby dressed and accessorized in all pink, I myself tend to gravitate towards all things pink. My friends have been quick to point out this fatal flaw in my logic many times now. Perhaps if my mother had fended off all the pink stuff early on in my life...ah, well, too late now.

As hinted, my birthday surprises arrived, and lo and behold, I am now the proud owner of a pink netbook, the Samsung NC10, courtesy of husband, and a hot pink iPod Nano, courtesy of the in-laws. The Nano is a replacement for my "ancient" pink iPod Mini, which Apple does not even make anymore.

(The picture of the netbook was taken my husband at his office, where he was setting it up prior to delivery to me. I like how the Fruit Guys box is so prominently featured in the photo.)

Can I tell you just how much I love the new netbook (and Nano, too, just in case in-laws are reading this)?! It is freaking awesome. So compact, and perfect for its intended use. It isn't meant as some super powerful laptop, but it fits my needs perfectly. Internet surfing, blogging, downloading pictures/videos/audiobooks (more on audiobooks later), keeping our budget spreadsheets, simple word prcessing, organizing my knitting patterns and recipes, etc. Netbooks don't come with Microsoft Office pre-installed like most regular laptops, but it is easy enough to get a copy of Open Office, an open source program, which, again, is perfect for my needs. I can even log into my office remotely using this thing. This means I don't always have to drag out my standard issue corporate peon laptop when I have to work from home. I love my pink netbook, and I highly recommend getting one (doesn't have to be Samsung, and doesn't have to be pink!) if you are looking for either a replacement for an old laptop, or a second/third/whatever computer for the home.

On to audiobooks. Husband and I recently joined the San Francisco Public Library. I don't know why we waited so long to do this. What really prompted me to join was that our local branch hosts sing alongs for babies and new moms, but once I joined, boy oh boy! Public libraries have changed since my school days! Did you know that lots of local libraries let you download audiobooks? There are probably some of you out there saying, uh, yeah, dumbass, that's been around for a while...but, whatever, I was slow to catch on. So, with new netbook and iPod in hand, I downloaded "O Jerusalem" by Laurie R. King, a mystery novel where the protagonist is a strong, young, female detective who works alongside Sherlock Holmes. I have been into the mystery novels lately. I try to avoid the sensationalist ones, but it is kind of hard to tell which ones will be good and which won't. For the most part, I have been sticking to the classics as well, since I just haven't been able to find a good recently published book for me to read. I also avoid all things that would be classified as chicklit, in which the women only seem to care about shopping, money, marrying rich men, and being thin. (Again, I am a woman of many contradictions because I also happen to love shopping, but I digress.) So far, the book I am "reading" is very engaging. The reader, Jenny Sterlin, has a great English accent, and reads very well.

It has been very relaxing to "read" on the couch at night, while mindlessly knitting a new baby blanket in all garter stitch. It is way better than just vegging out in front of the TV, especially since we are entering summer and nothing really great is on anyway. I am using Knit Picks Swish Worsted yarn in Lawn, Gold, Fired Brick and Allspice for my blanket. This blanket calls for so much yarn, I went with Knit Picks, so that the blanket could remain affordable. I hope this yarn works out ok. So far, it is pretty soft and nice to work with. I hear that some people have had problems trying to wash it. Even though it is a superwash merino wool, some people have said it FELTS. Oh well, nothing to do but soldier on and be careful when I do have to wash it.

The only bad thing has been, that for the past three days, poor husband has felt a little left out. He told me sadly this morning, "All you do is listen to your new iPod, now..." Well. This weekend we are finally going to see a movie. In the theater. With popcorn. Can't tell you how long it has been since we have done that!

NOTE: Edited to remove affiliation between Open Office and Microsoft. Don't want the Microsoft police to come get me :)

Yummy, But Without the Calories!

My shipment of Misti International Chunky Baby Alpaca yarn arrived at work today. Of course, my assistant opened the package before she gave it to me, saw the contents and asked "Did you just order a whole bunch of packing material?" Oh well, to the knitting uninitiated, I guess getting a peek at an overstuffed envelope filled with mostly gray yarn looks like that fluffy stuff you find in those manila padded envelopes.

Sorry for the bad photo, I only had my Blackberry's crappy camera available...I got a fabulous deal on this yarn at WEBS, and actually got more than one skein in each of the above pictured colors. WEBS is having a huge sale on this stuff because of some Canadian factory overstock - it is almost 50% off the regular WEBS price (which is already actually a little lower than going to a local yarn store). That being said, nothing can replace going to an actual brick and mortar store and feeling the yarn, seeing the colors in person and supporting your local businesses.

The yarn is so smooshy soft, and being as chunky as it is, it should knit up quickly. I am thinking of making this out of the light gray and blue twist for myself. The dark gray and blue twist will end up being something for my husband, probably a 2X2 ribbed manly scarf (we will match!). And the orangey-rust, well, I don't know. I just liked the color (photo does not do it justice). Maybe I will have enough to make this. But, that won't happen until after baby pops out and I am back to some semblance of normal size.

Happy Birthday (to Me)!

Happy birthday to me! Apparently, my birthday surprise from husband is arriving tonight. I pretty much know what it will be, but still very excited to get it...

What To Do With Buttermilk?

I hate when you need to buy an ingredient for a recipe, and that particular ingredient only comes in a size in which you will have a ton leftover after you prepare the recipe. That is always what happens to me with buttermilk. I love cooking with buttermilk because of its unique tangy flavor, and if you use it in baked goods, it can cut down the amount of fat (i.e. butter) you need to use.

I got buttermilk for the Broccoli Slaw dressing that I prepared, and I was left with a majority of the container. This time, instead of just letting it sit in the fridge until it goes bad, then feeling incredible guilt as I pour it out, I decided I would find recipes to try to use it all up.

I went to my trusty cookbook staple, The Joy of Cooking, and came up with:

Buttermilk Pancakes (I also sliced in some ripe bananas I had on hand to make then into Banana Buttermilk Pancakes):

Delicous - fluffy, light, and not too much butter in the recipe. There were too many pancakes for just me and my husband to eat in one sitting, but the good news is that these pancakes freeze beautifully. A few days later, we defrosted the pancakes and warmed them up in a pan with a teensy bit of butter and they were still delicious.

Wheat Quickbread:

You can totally taste the molasses in the recipe, and it makes for a slightly sweet, dense bread.

Peach Blackberry Cobbler:

The actual recipe calls for fresh peaches and frozen or fresh raspberries. It is still a little early for fresh California peaches. The first batch just rolled into our local Whole Foods this past week, but they looked like exactly what they were, the first harvest. I can't wait until the season truly gets into full swing - I love all stone fruits! So, I used three cans of peaches (sacrilege!), and some frozen blackberries I had on hand. I sprinkled way less sugar on the fruit than what the recipe calls for, since I used canned peaches which are already sitting in sweetened juice. It still tasted awesome. The crust was cake-like light and crisp on the outside, tender on the inside.

And in the end, the buttermilk was all used up!

RN74 - San Francisco Restaurant and Wine Bar

So, as a reward for the crazy all nighter we had to pull, our team went to a lunch at the relatively newly opened RN74. It is a new "casual" restaurant opened by the celebrity chef Michael Minna.

The restaurant's theme is that of "train station." There is a large wine board hanging at the back of the narrow restaurant that is modeled after one of those train schedule boards where the numbers and letters flip. Our waitress explained that the board was custom made in Italy for the restaurant and that each wine listed on the board is the restaurant's last bottle of that particular wine. When someone buys one of the listed wines, the board changes, just like at a train station, and makes that clack-clack-clack noise as it flips. I looked at the board and saw quite a selection, with the majority of the prices at $100 or over. The crazy thing is that during our LUNCH, the board started to flip, and I noticed that a bottle listed at $195 was no longer there. Someone bought a $200 bottle of wine for lunch. Let me be the first to say (perhaps, shamefacedly) that I can understand the purchase of a fine bottle of wine, and have been guilty of paying a lot for wine, but somehow in this economy, and at a lunch, it seemed a little excessive...

I know that the original idea was to be a wine bar with small tapas-like plates of food, but apparently, that idea did not work. RN74 has already had to undergo a menu change because people were complaining about the tiny portion sizes. Even when it was supposed to be "small plates" the people complained about the tiny portions!

In the end, all I can say is that I was glad I was not paying the bill. For a LUNCH for 4 people, I think the bill was over $200 bucks (without tax and tip), the portions were still tiny, and none of the food blew me away. Maybe we were there on an off day. I know that when we go to places like these in San Francisco, you can't expect huge portions, that you are paying for the atmosphere, the experience, etc., and we did not order any wine, which is supposedly the whole raison d'etre for the place. And, again, let me be the first to admit (shamefacedly, again), that my husband and I have paid what many people would think is an excessive amount for food and fancy dinners, but honestly, I don't think I would go back again. I can think of many other places I would rather go to for that price.

Vegan Lentil Dahl

One day, while I was cleaning out the pantry, I came across a random bag of lentils. I pondered, why do I have this, and what should I do with this? I didn't want to do the old standby of lentil soup, so I dug around on the internet and found this very simple vegan recipe for spicy lentil dhaal. I like that it is vegan (I am definitely not vegan, but I can appreciate the healthfulness of vegan cuisine) and doesn't use ghee, the clarified butter sometimes used in Indian cooking. I have now made this dish several times, and not always with red lentils, but with whatever color lentils I have on hand.

Admittedly, the red lentils seems to come out the creamiest, but a version using the plain old brown lentils you find in any old grocery store is still pretty good.

Yum - red lentils. (Yes, I have a pastel pink mini colander.)

Chop up some garlic, ginger and onions, and saute the aromatics in sesame oil. Trust the recipe, don't substitute in regular vegetable oil - the sesame oil is much more fragrant and has a nuttier flavor.

While it might seem like a pain in the ass to gather all the spices, once you have them in your pantry, you can explore all sorts of different uses for them and make interesting new recipes! Here's a little cardamom pod about to be squashed in my mini-mortar and pestle set. Note the looming pestle of death, ready to extract the seeds.

Once you take out the little black seeds and grind them up, the smell is amazing.

A bunch of spices, being prepared to be dumped into the pot with the lentils: cumin, cinnamon, coriander, tumeric, cayenne...

If you don't like spicy foods, go easy on the cayenne. Me, I love spicy food, so I even add a little extra sometimes.

Everyone into the pool with the sauteed onions, ginger and garlic! Uh, no camera shots of this step - did I mention it is a little hard to hold ingredients, heavy camera with lens and stir all at the same time?

Then at the very end, add your tomato paste. Gives the dahl even more of a lovely color!

I love getting the tomato paste that comes in a tube. It is a little pricier than getting the little cans of tomato paste, but I often find that if I use the little can, I have a lot of the paste leftover and it just ends up going to waste because I don't use it in time before grossness sets in. With the tube, I use what I need, cap it and put it away for next time.

We usually eat this dahl with warm naan bread that we get a Trader Joe's. Now, there's another West Coast thing that I love. TJ's has made it out to the East Coast now, so for those East Coasters, get thee to TJ's. They have all sorts of interesting healthy items, all at very reasonable prices.

WTF! Thieves!

Update post - WTF!!!!! We got up a little late this morning, because we have been working a lot. Soon after I posted my first post today, husband went to the front door to pick up our Sunday copy of the New York Times, and came across this:

Thieves! Some jerk went through our paper, read it, stole the front page and other sections, and as a kicker, LEFT HIS/HER DIRTY NAPKIN on our stoop - note close up picture. WTF.

Husband has commented that this person is obviously an idiot because he/she left the Business and Sports section untouched, but took the Style section.

We figure this crime is due to Bay to Breakers, which is happening today. Not that everyone who participates in that race is an idiot, but there does seem to be a disproportionate amount. And since our place is along the route, our theory seems like it fits.

I'm Just Chopping Broccoli!

Remember that from Saturday Night Live? Well, husband and I in our attempt to eat more organic fruits and vegetables signed up for an organic produce delivery service called Farm Fresh to You. We have received 2 deliveries so far (we space them out for a delivery once every two weeks), and have been really pleased with the price, the quality and convenience. We like that the vegetables are all locally grown and within the proper growing season, that we are supporting local farmers, and that you can size and adjust the delivery to your own needs. And, if you hate certain veggies or fruits, you can ban them from your shipment. Lastly, the price for a small box (which is enough for two people) can turn out to be less than what we would have paid for the same thing at Whole Foods, or some other fancy store selling organic local produce (that is, of course, depending on what the box contains).

Our last shipment included three heads of broccoli. And lo and behold, shortly thereafter, Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for fresh broccoli slaw. Turns out that she pregnant, too, and craves certain things. I crave texture in my food and CRUNCH. So I followed her recipe, except that instead of dried cranberries, I used dried cherries because that is what I had on hand. DEEEELICIOUS! I hate overly mayonnaise-y, heavy slaws, but this dressing is light, mostly because of the buttermilk, and creamy with the right amount of tang.



We paired with the most luxurious steak sandwiches ever, since the steak was a leftover porterhouse steak from Harris' steakhouse, and ate it all up. Perfecto!

Recovering

Dudes, I think I set a new corporate peon record for myself. 36 hours straight, no sleep, while 6 months pregnant. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, after the last ridiculous all nighter, I asked my doctor about effects on future baby. His response: "Well, baby will be fine, it is just you who will feel like shit." I know my dr. friends did this stuff all the time when they were pregnant, so can't really expect too much sympathy from a doctor, I guess!

I am looking forward to getting out of the office early today, a nice relaxing weekend of recovering and maybe even going to see a movie...suggestions?

Monkey Scribe

http://www.kinsellalaw.com/audio/VoiceMessage.wav

Don't listen with small children around. It's a old message that went viral, but you get the drift. These types in my profession still exist.

Damn you, NPR (Not really, we love you)

My husband and I are NPR addicts (88.5 FM KQED for Northern California). Our favorite programs are the ones we listen to while driving to and from work, and some programs on the weekends that we try to catch when possible. We love to listen to Morning Edition (including the California Report), Fresh Air, All Things Considered (why Michelle Norris pronounces her name MEEE- Shell Norris, we just don't know), Forum (Michael Krasny sure seems to take a lot of time off or vacations), Marketplace, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, A Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, Car Talk (I don't know anything about cars, but the Magliozzi brothers are hilarious and their heavy East Coast accents reminds me of home), and Selected Shorts. Whew! That's a long list of very good programs.

Anyway, that is all meant as an introduction to explain the subject line of this post. Yesterday, while driving home and listening to NPR, we heard an interview with Stacy Perman about her recently released book entitled "In-n-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules." In the interview, she talked about the freshness and quality of the ingredients (In-n-Out has its own commissaries where the patties and buns are made, and no restaurant is more than 500 miles away from one, so that all ingredients can be delivered fresh daily), how awesomely In-n-Out treats its employees (pay is much-above minimum wage and store managers are sent on first class trips to Europe, the Carribbean for meeting goals), and all food is freshly made to order:

My mouth just started watering and I could not stop thinking about sinking my teeth into a burger. It is only just recently that I can tolerate red meat again, since pregnancy made me cringe at the sight of red meat for a long while. I made husband drive all the way to Daly City to go to In-n-Out where we proceeded to order cheeseburgers, animal style:

I am a recent In-n-Out convert. Being from the East Coast, I just couldn't understand the fascination with this fast food chain and all its esoteric orders which are NOT ON THE MENU. I felt like it was (is?) a conspiracy to keep East Coasters out of the loop and at bay. But, now, I want to say, I understand, West Coasters, I do.

So, I blame this detour all on NPR. My exponentially expanding waistline and ballooning weight do not thank you, NPR (uh, nevermind the pregnany part which could also explain part of the phenomenon).

By the way, neither I nor any of my family members are associated with In-n-Out or NPR. I just think these two things are pretty awesome. Right now, KQED is running a pledge drive, too. So, if you listen, consider donating something to a worthy arts cause. You can get an Eton Red Cross emergency radio for pledging, too.

We are waiting for ours in the mail, so that we can FINALLY start an emergency-preparedness kit, you know, the kind that all Bay Area residents are supposed to have in case of earthquakes. I guess having a baby is making us realize we can't live on the edge, anymore, haha.

Sunday Bread Baking

I am not sure what bit me in the ass recently and told me that I must bake bread from scratch, but this past week, I was itching to make fresh bread. And not the kind from a bread machine, either, but the old fashioned, knead-by-hand kind.

Then, I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's blog (which, incidentally, is a gorgeous website that chronicles a Manhanttanite cooking fabulous recipes in a small NYC kitchen), and I could not get it out of my mind. I recalled eating black bread when I lived in St. Petersburg, Russia during my junior year abroad. I haven't really enjoyed/been able to find the same type of bread again, so, I ventured forth to make the 17(!) ingredient-incorporating black bread. Here's all the ingredients gathered. I don't have those small clear glass bowls that make ingredients look so organized and pretty on cooking tv shows, so I made do with our sushi-soy sauce dipping bowls and random other bowls. They worked pretty well, actually:

Note the small mortar and pestle in the picture for grinding seeds. I recall getting this as a wedding present from a certain someone who reads this blog with a comment about how this person thought it would be funny to get me things I would never use, but insisted on registering for. Haha - the last laugh is on you, because I use this thing all the time for spice grinding. I also use the Microplane grater that was in the gift - you would have to shoot me to part me with it. But, I confess, the flour sifter, not so much...I just use a small sieve.

The black bread calls for ingredients like chocolate, shallots, molasses, rye flour, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, espresso, etc. It wasn't easy tracking down all the ingredients, and it involved going to Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) and wandering up and down aisles.

I mixed together the dry ingredients, prepared the wet ingredients, including the yeast, and then combined to make the starter mix:


The mix looks sort of unappetizing and gross, but had this wonderful rich smell wafting forth of yeasty, dark goodness...

Then, came the mixing together of the wet and the dry ingredients. Ok, here, as another aside: I may have registered for a mortar and pestle, but I never registered for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. You know, the kind that ubiquitously shows up on every bride's registry. I figured, hey, we are going to be living in a small condo in San Francisco, with a small kitchen, so why get even more gadgets that only take up valuable counter/cabinet space? I mean I have a hand mixer, and I have my own two hands to beat stuff with whisks and wooden spoons, right? Well, this recipe will go down in the books as having humbled my cavalier attitude about stand mixers. I will have reconsider getting a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook. The hands/arms in the picture are those of husband. I had to call in the big guns when the dough got harder and harder to mix in the bowl and it was time to turn out the dough on the counter to knead:

Ok, finally, I left the dough to rise in a greased bowl. Then, after a couple of hours, I came back to this - a nice, round ball of dough, roughly doubled in volume:

Then, husband and I each shaped a round loaf, left them to rest again, and then finally placed them in the pre-heated 350 degree oven:

About 45 minutes later, out popped these gorgeous, scrumptious-smelling loaves:

After we let the bread cool a little bit, we came back to make ourselves some delicious snacks. I wanted the traditional Russian-style buterbroad (sounds like boo-ter-bro-oad) open face sandwiches. First, you slather on butter, as any good Russian knows (and which Smitten Kitchen notes in her blog, as well), then layer on the goodies. We choose some Blue Moon cheese, hard salami and sliced cucumber. Very Russian. And as another option, we used some organic fig spread from Greece that we picked up at Whole Foods (so delicious, go get some for yourself right now, yes, now, don't make excuses).

Then, we ate it all up! The bread is spot-on, folks. Delicious, dense (but just the right kind of dense, not dense like sitting-in-a-lump-in-tummy dense), flavorful with the caraway and fennel and shallots coming through, and with a wonderful crust. So YUM. In the end, the bread baking was a success, but the process was long. This is not an everyday kind of bread, but I will definitely be making this again.

Bonus Kitty Pic! Elvis, in a a pensive moment.

Lily Clochette

Another item finished. I am on a roll!

This is Sock Pixie's Clochette pattern. Her hat is much nicer, and shaped perfectly. I have to say that the hat was fussy to make, since you have to knit each individual petal separately, then join them together, then knit leaves and sew them onto the hat. But, the finished product is so sweetly innocent looking, that I am glad I made it. I just don't think I will be making this agaiin for anyone else!

San Francisco Food Bank

Yesterday, as part of a volunteer program, husband and I and a group of people from my office went to volunteer at the San Francisco Food Bank. The Food Bank runs a really great program in which large quantities of food are shipped to local community organizations (including schools), and in which local people can also come in once a week to shop for and pick up food for home preparation. This lets people who wouldn't normally have access to fresh fruits and vegetables get these products and cook healthful meals at home.

Walking in, the place looks like a huge warehouse/Costco:

We were given the task of sorting apples that a grower from the Central Valley in California donated. With the help of other volunteers, we sorted over 16,000 pounds of apples that are being shipped out today! Here is a picture of me putting on some gloves (note, the large pregnant belly - for the record, bending over large crates with a 26 week pregnant belly not so easy...):

Ummm, some of the apples weren't so nice...hence, the sorting.

It was a worthwhile experience and husband and I will definitely be going back again to volunteer!