Gift Idea

Check out this purse hook, so your purse doesn't have to sit on the dirty floor at a restaurant.  I always run into this dilemma, and this is a great solution.  This product is called the Luxe Link Purse Holder, found on delight.com.  There are also a bunch of copycats on Amazon.com.  

Holiday Shopping Online

I've done most of my holiday shopping online, and I'm almost done.  I found a few websites that give fun gift suggestions.  The first is gifts.com, and I even made a wish list on this site to forward to family and friends, so they could get an idea about what I wanted for Christmas.  A couple other gift suggestion sites are Wrapables and ThisNext.  

Food Ratings on CHOW.com

This guy is called supertaster, and he totally pre-emtped my idea of rating grocery store food on a blog. He tried the chocolate croissants in the frozen section at Trader Joe's this week, and I had just tried to beg Jeff into buying them when I found this part of the CHOW.com site. The site also has awesome videos of how to do cooking stuff. They're connected to Chowhound, which helps to find restaurants in ones town.

End the Strike

I recently heard that if the writer's strike doesn't end soon, ABC may hold the next season of Lost until Winter 2009. I don't think I can handle that. I can definitely handle paying 50 cents more on a download, so writers can make more money. I can handle producers giving up some of their yacht payment money. I can't handle waiting any longer for Lost. Maybe I should read more...

Boobie Month

I keep telling people about this, so I thought I should just blog about it. I love this website called ETSY. It's like the e-bay of crafting. People put their art, crafts, and handmade items up for sale. I was "surfing" around the site and went to Storque and then Craftism (craft activism). One of the items being sold and giving funds to cancer organizations and supporting awareness of breast self-exam is this crocheted boobie pin, on which you can specify the colors you prefer when ordering. The creator's organization is called Boobs and Dinks, and she also sells early detection kits that teach how to give a self-exam (for men and women.) I thought these pins were cute and funny and for a good cause.

Torrance Farmers' Market

We went to the local farmers' market on our bikes again this weekend. The absence of rain brought more vendors including the croissant guy. We ate one of his chocolate almond croissants in the "food court" seating, and it was amazing. (Way better than the soggy strawberry rhubarb pie we bought last weekend.) Jeff discovered sweet limes and ate both samples we were given. The bike ride over is perfect -- flat and not too long and short with a wide path two-thirds of the way. We heard buzz about a pancake breakfast in the park but didn't check it out, as it was lunch time. My mom would have loved that.

Another good poem, this one from Poetry 180

Did I Miss Anything?

Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people
on earth.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

From Did I Miss Anything? Selected Poems 1973-1993, 1993
Harbour Publishing

Copyright 1993 Tom Wayman.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced with permission (click for permissions information).

Farmer's Market + Rain + Bikes = FUN!!

Jeff and I rode our bikes to the Farmer's Market this Saturday morning while fluffy white clouds loomed in the sky. My bike is a new cruiser, with a detachable basket (perfect for the market), and I bought it last Sunday afternoon. Jeff's had his bike for a few years but hasn't had a reason to ride it in a while. With two bikes in the family, it'll be easier. The 25 minute ride to Wilson Park was dry, but after we bought our goods (pie, fresh bread, green beans, peaches, and pears), the rain started up. While we had some lunch in the "food court" tent, the rain started to pour. We thought it was over and left, but on the way home got soaked. It ended up being really fun; Jeff said he felt like a nine-year-old, riding his bike in the rain. I made Jeff take a picture of soaked me at the end, holding the strawberry rhubard pie we'll dive into tonight.

The best tri-flavor ice cream?

It's time to definitively decide which tri-flavor ice cream is the best. Jeff and I just polished off a tub of spamoni (in less than a week), which was fabulous. Pistachio is hard to find outside of Italian gelato, mixed with bold cherry and light chocolate -- it's great! Alone, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are amazing, but are they great together? Please vote for your favorite, neopolitan or spamoni, by posting a comment.

Poem I Like

I heard Garrison Keillor read this poem on his Writer's Almanac feature on NPR this week and liked it. I thought I'd share it:

Poem: "To My Yugoslavian In-Laws" by Debra Gingerich, from Where We Start. © DreamSeeker Books, 2007. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

To My Yugoslavian In-Laws

If we could speak,
I would tell you that we have
trees here too, and rivers.
I know how to hammer
a nail. Transatlantic phone calls
are expensive, even for us
with our two cars, dishwasher
and American salaries. That he
will not get lazy or forget
about the ways he needed to make money
during the war, the merchandise
exchanged in dark corners of Turkey.
He is still thankful for good health.
He passes on every kiss
you tell him to give me.
I would admit that he misses
the stone beaches of the Adriatic,
he accepts the Atlantic's murky water
as part of the compromise. He thinks
Lancaster's streets are too vacant
at night and there is no place
to ride a bike. Also, that I wouldn't take
your name and will never
believe the wine in the cup
turns to blood. That he and I can't
agree on a slipcover for the couch.
That there is no perfect place
for anyone.

Baking with my New Tart Dish

I'm really excited about the tart dish I found at Tuesday Morning because 1) it's gorgeous, 2) I've been looking for the perfect tart dish for a couple of weeks now, and 3) it's a brand called Appolia made in northern France. I got an awesome deal on a dish that usually costs around $60, but I got it for $25. In order to break it in last night, I made and baked a sweet tart dough and this afternoon I made a two-layered filling. The bottom is honey roasted peanuts in caramel, which is topped by a chocolate genache. All the recipes came from Dorie Greenspan's Baking. I only made two mistakes in the process: 1) I didn't "coursely chop" the peanuts -- oops! and 2) I burned my finger on the hot caramel -- dangerous! We'll be taste testing after dinner.

Cream of Tartar Allergy?

Is it possible to be allergic to cream of tartar? I think this might be the cause of my allergies in recent years. A couple years ago I broke out with an all-over itchy allergic reaction after making a souffle for dinner, which called for cream of tartar. The allergy lasted a long time, and I weened myself off allergy meds so I wouldn't be dependent on them. Yesterday, I made a caramel sauce for a quickie stroopwafel. The sauce wasn't thick enough, so I added cream of tartar to thicken it. Today, I started itching. Another issue with the cream of tartar is that I used it in a copper core sauce pan. The whole pan is not made of copper, just the heating core, but I came across many warning not to use cream of tartar in copper cookware because it is used as a cleaner of copper. Ugh! I hope I don't have copper in my system. Anyone need some thick caramel sauce? Let me know if you've heard of this allergy.

Cool French black and white postcards

I saw so many of these in Paris, and I should have bought more of them. I love these unique photos.

Finally, some Europe pictures to post...

I worked out some of the kinks in my PC to Apple conversions of the Europe pictures, and I have these from our final night splurge. Dirty Dancing, the musical, is only playing in London, so we coughed up the cash to go. It was such a well choreographed performance, including all the movie scenes and more. I can't wait for the musical to come to the U.S. We had to go grocery shopping for breakfast stuff right before the musical, and we had it under our seats the whole performance. Kind of a funny detail to remember. We had the time of our lives...

Maybe I don't have to boycott Starbuck's after all...

Jeff helped me research the whole espresso machine thing, and we found out that more important than the brewing apparatus is the grind. A burr grinder is truly necessary to make great espresso (and coffee). I decided to check out Starbuck's selection of espresso equipment, since I had over $100 worth of cards weighing me down in the middle of a Starbuck's boycott. They had a grinder sticker priced at $125, and I figured I'd get rid of my cards buying it. It ended up being on sale for around $50 -- SWEET! Now I feel like I got my $25 card back. Anyway, I bought a stove top espresso maker and already had a milk frother to make espresso drinks. We tried it tonight, and it works great!

Borders "Party" Disappointing, but Harry Potter Book Exciting

My wonderful friend Allyson agreed to go to the Torrance Borders "biggest Harry Potter party around" on Friday night. Borders promised a 15 foot snake cake, which I never saw, a life size checker board, which amounted to red tape on the carpet, and books at midnight, which I didn't purchase until 1:30 a.m. I felt bad for dragging my good friend there, after promising so much excitement, but I was glad to have checked out one of the "midnight madness" parties since I don't foresee another book release party happening in the next decade (this is the last Harry Potter book, of course). We agreed that it was a cool thing to be taking place over a book, not a movie or video game. One cool moment occurred when the staff rolled out a ceiling-high stack of boxes wrapped in black paper, and everyone oohed and aahed, "Those are the books!" and starting snapping photos (I couldn't pull my camera fast enough to catch it). I've not yet finished reading the novel, partly because I want to take it slow because its the last Harry Potter. (Though I'm thinking of re-reading the series after I'm done with this one).

Can't Wait for the New Harry Potter Book

Tonight at midnight! That's the soonest I can get my hands on the new book. I'm so excited / scared to find out what happens next, and I really hope Harry, Hermione, and Ron survive it. If you haven't read these books, pick up the first one and try it. I think you'll get addicted.

Starbuck's Boycott

So, I'm kind of annoyed at Starbuck's right now. I get a lot of Starbuck's cards from my students throughout the year, and I was thinking about putting them all together to buy an espresso machine. I saw one on sale for $250 at a local store. I brought my cards to a store to figure out how much money I had to work with. One of the cards (pictured here) my student bought for $25 did not register as having any funds on it, and I had just pulled it from the packaging. I called the 1-800-STARBUC phone number to inquire, and Starbuck's central could tell it was purchased from a local Safeway and never activated by the Safeway personnel. They could not activate it, though. They told me I had to give it back to the gift giver to take to the store to activate. I obviously can't do that, and I don't think any person who received a gift can either. Starbuck's offered to send me some "complimentary drink certificates," which I declined since they won't help me purchase my espresso machine. I don't think I'm going to get that machine at Starbuck's; the $30 one at Target is looking more attractive now. Maybe I'll give my stack of cards to charity or something.

Making Stroopwafels

Here's my first attempt to recreate a treat I discovered in Europe. We found stroopwafels in Amsterdam, so I looked them up online and found a recipe. The recipe requires making a yeast batter that I portioned into little balls (using my Pampered Chef cookie scoop), and then I pressed the dough balls in my waffle cone iron. The other half of the recipe is a thick caramel sauce that I scooped (with the same Pampered Chef cookie scoop, after washing it) between two wafels like a waffle caramel sandwich. I think they turned out well, and so does Jeff. Find the recipe on Diana's Desserts (the link is available by clicking on the title of this post). Next up, some French pastries...

Travel Report #2

I never had another chance to post on the road -- I was too busy having fun. It's weird to think that the first post I did was in an internet cafe near Leicester Square on the night they found that first car bomb right near there. We had just seen Avenue Q -- so great. I'll give a few highlights of the trip.

Leamington Spa: It was great staying with a fabulous family who opened their home to us. I loved playing American football and British rugby with the boys. (Kristin and I brought back rugby balls from Lilywhites -- a sports store). Visiting the Cadbury factory was so cool -- it smelled like baking brownies the whole time. Watching British shows like Dr. Who and Coronation Street was great, too bad we don't get Dr. Who over here. We saw the Leamington Spa museums and Warwick Castle, including the Ghost Tower where ghosts jumped out of dark corners at you -- I almost peed my pants. We had a chocolate tasting at the house that Kristin and I loved.

Amsterdam: I was disappointed that Amsterdam was so rainy and cold the time we were in the city. The one day we went out to Zaanse Schans, a working Dutch village / museums, was our only non-rainy day. We saw cheese making, wooden shoe carving, and a working windmills there. In town, we saw the van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank house, the Dutch Resistance Museum, a diamond cutting display, and the Heineken Brewery tour. We ate enormous pancakes and stroopwafels (like two flat, round waffle cone sandwiching caramel or syrup) and we stayed in a boat hotel -- the Botel. Vondelpark was too rainy to visit -- too bad.

Paris: I have a new appreciation for Paris. This city offered the best array of cheap food on the trip. Of course, if Kristin and I had had the funds to sit down at five star restaurants in every city, we could say they all have fabulous food. Paris has fabulous food at every level -- the corner cafe, the street vendor crepe, the boulangerie baguette and gooey almond crescent. Wow! Plus, the art blew me away, and we only saw a small bit of it. The size of the Louvre is so immense and the building is a piece of art itself. Mona Lisa was OK, but turn around from her and see "The Wedding Feast at Cana," an enormous, grand painting for a better view. I love the Orsay Museum best because the building, an old train station, allowed for natural light through the opaque glass to show onto the Impressionist painting. I really love Gaugin more than before and the primitivist painters were my style as well. Next trip to Paris, I'll make my way to the Rodin Museum, filled with sculptures. We also climbed the 700 stairs to the Eiffel Towers second platform, climbed the nearly 300 steps of the Arch d'Triomphe, climbed the 400 stairs of the Notre Dame (to get heavily rained on during our 5 minutes at the panoramic view level). We saw the inside of Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, the outside of the Pompidou center and its famous fountain. We walked the Champs d'Elleises (spelling?), bought shoes, and shopped around town. Kristin loved Paris the most. I got over the French attitudes after being yelled at by the bus station lady, and I have a new appreciation for the city.

Back to London: Our final visit to London had us skipping sleep for a few last activities. We spent the morning finding Dirty Dancing musical tickets, which was our trip finale. What a fun show, with amazing dancers and Johnny the lead had a body that made you think you were at a Chippendales performance (along with all the screaming, feasting women in the audience). The woman who played Baby did it so perfectly. We also took in Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and the Tate Modern that day. We stocked up on Cadbury for a few months to ween ourselves off it. Our trip gets an A for fun and memorable times, a D for weather (at least it wasn't a heat wave, though), and an honorable mention for sketchy bus rides in the middle of the night.

Travel Report: London (and a little Chicago)

We're leaving our first stay in London tomorrow to head to Stratford and Leamington Spa, but we've had lots and fun and crazy things happen to us so far. During our eight hour layover, we headed into the city of Chicago to see the city. An hour in by subway brought us to flash flood central as buckets of rain came down. We persevered, deciding to buy an umbrella and forge onward. Two under an umbrella meant our cameras stayed dry, but we got drenched. We saw a bit of Millenium Park, ate some Chicago food, and talked to some locals before heading back, soggy. Almost two hours of delay for our flight met us at the airport, yet we made it to London by 11:00 am on Wednesday.

Another hour-long tube ride brought us into the city, where we found our "dorm" stay, which is sparse but works. We got out of the cramped room to be met by another flash flood, circa London, while exploring Westminster Abbey area, seeing the Houses of Parliment from the outside and on Westminster Bridge. We walked along the Thames where only Star Wars fanatics were out, and got a little more soaked. Why does it always rain on me? We grabbed a pub dinner before heading in, jet-lagged and ready to sleep.

Thursday met us bright and early, so we headed to Tower of London. We saw the Crown Jewels and took a Beefeaters tour. The Tower was great and full of history. We had lunch in St. James Park and walked to see the outside of Buckingham Palace (right near our dorm). Kristin took a run along the Thames, while I took a quick look in the Tate Modern. We had dinner at Covent Garden and took a look at the spectacle. After dinner (and a yummy waffle), we headed to Leicester Square in the mood for a possible show. We turned a corner and found a huge crowd in front of Avenue Q. We asked about tickets and got some. It's Sesame Street with a little sex, depression, and closeted homosexuality. Plus, they defined the word Schedanfraude. If I didn't spell that right, you can laugh at me.

We're off to Stratford and Leamington Spa tomorrow. Wish us luck and no more rain.

Travel Tip #2

GET YOUR PASSPORT BEFORE YOU GO!!! I just got mine in the mail today -- cuttin' it close... These are some ecstatic pictures of me, my passport, and my travel gnome.

Travel Tip #1

The travel books are helpful, but they aren't helpful in packing light. As Rick Steves suggests, tear out the pages you need and take those with you. Rick Steves says to paper clip the chapters together and give them away when you're done, but I like to get a 5 by 8 inch 3-ring binder to put them in. I turn pages easily as opposed to fumbling through loose pages. In my handy photo, you can see the comparison of four Europe books to the binder of pages I'm taking with me.

Lots of new babies

Here's a blog to pay tribute to all the cute babies born to my family and friends in the last year. I've been to more showers and hospital waiting rooms in the last few months than ever before. Here are some photos of the three girls and one boy new to our world this year (I painted the RHCP onesie.)