My Mojito & I Have Global Influence

Kale and Potato Gratin

2010-10-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

We tried the Kale and Potato Gratin recipe off of Apartment Therapy tonight and oh man, it was good. We substituted glutino bread crumbs and pecorino romano. Very very tasty and I think it would make a great holiday dish, so we may have to repeat this one for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Gluten Free In or Rather On the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia

2010-10-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we got married (more on that later - it was 98% gluten free!) and then we went on a mini-moon to the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia up in Canada.

We stopped off at the Granville Island Market in Vancouver and walked about for a bit. We did see a couple of gluten free treats around the market and we also bought some delicious smoked salmon pepperoni from a vendor that happened to have Celiacs!

We stayed at Rockwater Secret Cove Resort in Halfmoon Bay, BC and pretty much brought our own breakfast (Udi's Granola and coconut milk) and snacks for lunches (peanut butter packets, pretzels, and apples). However, we did have two delicious and fancy meals at the resort restaurant. We called ahead to make the reservations and explain my dietary restrictions and they were very helpful and receptive. Pretty much everything on their menu was actually gluten free and only a couple of items had dairy, so they did a great job at substituting some other tasty items for me when I couldn't have the items with dairy.

We did also find a little market in Davis Bay that sold a really good assortment of gluten free products and a couple varieties of gluten and dairy free gelato!

The big lesson we learned on this trip was not to judge a restaurant by it's name. All over the coast we kept seeing Wheatberries Bakery and due to the "wheat" in the title we never stopped there. That was until we were desperate for a hot beverage while waiting for the ferry in Langdale...

Well as we walked up we saw a very interesting sign by the menu...

So wow! We ended up getting 3 turkey burrito's and they were delicious and such an unexpected luxury!

After Wedding Thoughts...

2010-09-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

We're in the single digit countdown to the wedding now and while I am really looking forward to the day of, I'm also really looking forward to life after the wedding.

One of the many things I can't stop thinking about is yarn. Specifically, Araucania Patagonia Nature Cotton.

Image Source: Webs Yarn Website

Since we got engaged, I think I've knitted two items. All of my free time has been spent wedding crafting.

And my is it starting to get chilly up here in Seattle, not cold, but more of a fall chill. So I've been wearing scarves to work in the morning. However, they aren't really as bulky and warm as I would like, so I've got my mind set on a super wide and super long scarf knitted with this yarn.

Image Source: Webs Yarn Website

So that's going to be one of the many thing's I'm looking forward to when I get my free time back!

Make-Up Brush Roll

2010-09-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

I needed one. So I made it. Here are some pictures.

Gluten Free In Las Vegas, Nevada

2010-09-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was spent in Las Vegas for my bachelorette weekend away. This wasn't exactly your traditional bachlorette weekend, but there was one night of dancing at a club on the strip. The rest was made up of yummy gluten free food at some neat restaurants, a trip to Red Rocks Canyon, and a visit to the Atomic Testing Museam.

Here were some of our eats;

The Cracked Egg

We went here for breakfast twice because it was so delicious! And they have a gluten free menu (scroll down to the bottom for it)! It was so good and so awesome to come to a breakfast place where I could eat safely. They even had gluten free pancakes, but I wasn't really in that kind of a mood so I didn't get them.

Mesa Grill

We went here for dinner on the first night and I didn't even know it was Bobby Flay's restaurant. We ate in the lounge and our server knew exactly what I meant when I said gluten and dairy free and even double checked with the chef on both my orders. I ordered a tuna nachos dish and a grilled asparagus salad, both were increadibly good, but a bit too spicy for me in my somewhat sick state (I had a cold over the weekend...bummer...I know!).

Aureole Restaurant

We went here for dinner on our big night out and again ate in the lounge area. The service wasn't exactly awesome, but the bar manager made up for it well by comping us our drinks ($17 drinks! ridiculous!). The food was also very good and I didn't get sick from it. Not sure if they were quite as understanding as Mesa Grill though. I had prosciutto wrapped melon and a salad.

Whole Foods on Las Vegas Blvd.

Lucky for us there was one of these just past the Mandalay Bay Hotel. We got some house made guacamole and chips to munch on, some Kind bars, my favorite BBQ sauce, and some new buckwheat pancake mix to try!

Gluten Free In the San Francisco Bay Area, California

2010-08-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I was finally fortunate enough to have a business trip that took me to California, a place where I know how to be gluten free.

My first stop after my hotel was Mariposa Bakery in Oakland. If you ever travel to the San Francisco Bay Area, make sure to stop here because not only do they have amazing goodies but they're also the only all gluten free bakery in the area. (That I know of at least...and I would think I would have heard if another opened up since that's my home turf.) It's a super cute place to stop in for a coffee or tea as well. I ordered one of their pressed panini's without cheese and it was delish! A whole bunch of roasted veggies with a nut and dairy free pesto sauce.

I also picked up a full bag of other goodies inludining, penguinos(!!!!!!!), cinnamon rolls (not as good unheated), almond biscotti, a lemon poppy seed muffin (which I never got to try), foccocia bread (which I never got to try), and a baguette which is currently in my refridgerator waiting to be turned into either french toast or croutons.

Now I have to say.... The penguinos were AMAZING! I mean just insane tasting. They're essentially little gluten free and vegan hostess cupcakes with the marshmellowy cream in the center. Get one of these as soon as you can. Seriously...

I also got the opportunity to stop at Mariposa's Ferry Building location in San Francisco for lunch on Thursday and Friday and picked up their salami sandwich that they make in cooperation with the tasty salty pig parts people. Yum! It has a sundried tomato spread and lettuce on it as well.

When Zeke got into town we also made our traditional stop at Betelnut, the only non-chain restaurant in San Francisco (that I know of again) that has a dedicated gluten free menu. We ordered the Laksa (as we always seem to) and it was amazing as always. I think we also ordered some kind of crispy rice ceviche and a shrimp special (which sadly was not that impressive).

As we made our way down to the Santa Cruz area for a wedding, we ate at Aldo's Restaurant in Santa Cruz, which was not only an amazing spot for the rehersal dinner, but they were very easy going, understanding, and wonderful about cooking my fish seperatly from the others.

Now here is the best part of the whole weekend...I was able to safetly eat the food at the wedding and it was amazingly good! Jalisco's Restaurant from Watsonville catered the wedding and handmade real corn tortillas and I was able to eat the roasted veggies, beans, and guacomole. It was so that it's really hard to describe. I'm sure a big part of it is how much I miss the mexican food that you can get in California, but is so far hard to find in the Seattle area. I think we may have to make a lunch stom at Jalisco's on the way down for our wedding next month!

Gluten Free In Seattle, Washington: Farmers Market Finds

2010-08-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

At the Ballard Farmers Market I ran across a new vendor that is all about gluten free and generally allergy friendly baked goodies! Platypus Breads makes a couple of different breads and we picked up the Rosemary Garlic loaf. And let me tell you, it is AMAZING! Super fluffy and incredibly flavorful. I will definitely be picking up this one again!

At the Fremont Farmers Market I picked up a Hot Cake, the molten chocolate variety in dark decadence. They're made by Autumn Martin and they're gluten free but contain eggs and butter. I've had these a couple of times and they're amazing!

Gluten Free in Leavenworth, Washington

2010-08-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

This was the first spot I've traveled to where I couldn't find anything...anything...with all of my pre-trip research. So I had to go in pretty blind. Luckily, the trip was only for 2 nights and the hotel had a refrigerator and a microwave so I could bring my own food. I did make a stop at Wheatless in Seattle the night before and picked up a piece of apricot almond coffee cake.

So that's what I had the first morning in Leavenworth and oh wow, it was so so so good. The rest of the trip I kept myself going on various snacks like Glutino pretzels, Udi's muffins and bread, packets of Justin's peanut butter, and Pamela's cookies. And other than Starbucks...I did check out two local restaurants but made sure to bring my restaurant cards.

The Renaissance Cafe was a cute little place that was actually in the cellar of a building. I just got a green salad and then put it in between two pieces of Udi's bread that I brought with me. It wasn't anything amazing but all of the veggies were incredibly fresh!

Ducks and Drakes Restaurant was an interesting spot. From the front it looks like a nice little tavern, on the inside it looks like a pretty rough college bar, and then the back patio was this incredible little place to sit and enjoy the view (from the picture above) and the weather. I gave our waiter the restaurant card and he passed it on to the manager who gave me a couple of recommendations on what they could make for me. I ended up getting a steak with some steamed veggies and shared some steamed clams with my friends. It was all very tasty and I felt very well taken care of there, the manager said that he had a couple of friends could not eat gluten either.

*Another tip for traveling while Gluten Free: Plastic Baggies.

I actually remembered to bring these with me this time and I can't emphasize enough how useful they were. It really helped to be able to bring some GF bread slices to restaurants to sort of round out my meals.

Want

2010-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

...and purchased from Anthropologie...

New Knits: Edition 4

2010-08-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

I finally finally finished this bag! I think I started it when we were still living in Capitola!

It's the Zeeby's Bag Pattern from Stitch'n'Bitch with Blue Sky Cotton.

Up until now a combination of time and intimidation of sewing knit pieces together kept me from finishing it. But today I felt like I needed to knit, so I sat down, tried to understand the instructions for sewing knit pieces together, gave up, and just sewed it together in a way that made sense to me!

New Knits: Edition 3

2010-07-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Wow... it's definitely been awhile since I finished a knitting project. I think I started this one when I was in Alaska in April.

It's just a simple 1x1 ribbed cowl about 13 inches long.

Of course since it's been so long I can't remember how many stitches around it was or what the brand of the yarn is. I think it's a mix of cotton, merino, and silk, but I really can't remember.

Gluten Free in Boston, Massachusetts

2010-07-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

This trip really did not start off so well.

My first night in Boston, I went to Legal Seafood at Long Wharf because I had heard they were very allergy friendly and even had a gluten free menu. I think I even read somewhere that they had gluten free rolls! So anyway, I explained my food allergies to my server and ordered off the gluten free menu. I got the cioppino and I got sick. Really sick, worst reaction I've had so far. I actually stayed in my hotel the entire next day and missed the first day of my conference because I felt so awful. Anyway, I called the restaurant to report that I got sick and they took down my information and had a manager call me back. She called me back, took down the information about how I ordered and then asked me what my symptoms were...

...I did a bit of a double take at that. I don't know what I've ever been asked that before by someone who is not in a medical profession. And frankly, I felt that information is personal and it is inappropriate for a restaurant manager to ask. So our conversation ended there. No apology or anything.

Then another person called me, I think a manager a bit higher up the chain. She was much clearer spoken and apologized several times, especially for not having a manager involved at my table, which is apparently their policy for any customers with food allergies. I explained to her that I felt asking for information about my symptoms was inappropriate. She explained a bit further that they do keep a microbiologist on staff. This manager was much nicer to me and offered to invite me back to the restaurant to eat or to mail me something.

In the end, the customer service got better, but I don't think that I'll be going back.

Okay...on to better things now. After that experience the first night, I decided a trip to the local Whole Foods was in order. I found some new gluten free treats including some chocolate almond granola, rice crispys, vanilla spritz cookies, and my good standby of Udis...

and my all time favorite...sheep's milk yogurt!

The second night, we walked around Boston Commons and went to PF Changs for dinner, since that's always been a safe choice. It was good as always, but the service was incredibly slow. Dinner for 3 people took 3 hours.

Now on to night three...my favorite! My mom asked around and found a place called Ten Tables which is in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston and we got reservations for late that night. (Their restaurant literally does have 10 tables plus a bar area, so reservations are a must!)

My experience here was amazing! I explained all of my food issues to them and I had plenty of choices to choose from. They were also happy to change things so that I could still order that dish. I got the Cauliflower Soup (amazing!), Meyer Hanger Steak with Spicy Browned Potatoes, Kale, and Watercress, and a flour-less chocolate cake.

Here's a sad shot of the Cauliflower Soup, it had olive oil, hot chili oil, chives, and roasted nuts on top.

I would highly recommend Ten Tables to anyone, I'd also suggest calling ahead if you have any food allergies. They were just really really terrific!

New Plant Buddies!

2010-07-01T11:05:00.001-07:00

Say hello to my new plant buddies! They're air plants, so they don't need to sit in water or soil, they just get soaked in water once a week overnight. My maid of honor gave them to me when we were visiting her in Southern California. I've been wanting some for quite some time so I'm pumped about it!

I have two more, but I havn't decided where to put them yet. The ones in the top photo are in our living room and the one in the bottom photo is at my office. I'll probably get some pebbles or something to put in that one.

Gluten Free in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California

2010-06-29T13:50:00.001-07:00

It was only a weekend trip and I didn't have much time to do research on places to go but here is where we went...

Whole Foods in Santa Monica
We went to the small one on wilshire and they had a pretty good selection. There were some bars and snacks I hadn't seen before. And they also had my most favorite sheeps milk yogurt which I enjoyed each morning with my udi's granola.

Babycakes NYC in Downtown Los Angeles
I have their cookbook and I've been working to perfect for my taste their cupcake recipe and I love their lemon poppyseed loaf recipe too. So anyway I got a vanilla, a chocolate, and a banana cupcake and to be totally honest, I wasn't impressed. The cupcake from Jenny Mae's in Yakima completly blew them out of the water. I did also get their sugar brownie bites and a chocolate glazed donut and those were bothe amazing!

Paradise Cove in Malibu
Neat restaurant and bar right on the beach and I was able to eat there without getting sick. Your chairs literally sink into the sand. I just stuck to the shrimp and crab cocktails. But pretty much everything else but the salad was off limits. They even coated their baked potatoes in bread!

PF Changs in the Beverly Center
A great standby as always!

El Cholo Restaurant in Santa Monica
I called ahead and talked to their Manager who was awesome! When we got to the restaurant he came to the table and helped me order safely from the menu. He was very knowledgable, honest, and knew where his ingedients came from. I got shrimp fajitas and guacamole made at the table. If you go here, just know that the portions are huge! The fajita plate could have easily served 2. Oh and the food was delicious!

Gluten Free in Yakima, Washington

2010-06-29T13:16:00.001-07:00

Well restaurant wise there's not much to pick from but we only went for one night, so we really didn't need to find much.

However, and that's a huge HOWEVER, there is a gluten & dairy free bakery that has amazing bread and amazing cupcakes! A lot of their products are also soy free and some are vegan as well.

Zeke was wonderful enough to go to Jenny Mae's Gluten Free bakery for me and get me some goodies for lunch.

He got me honey oatmeal bread (gf of course!), chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate cherry cupcake. And seriously, best GF/DF cupcake evar. Later he went back and also got some fresh baked blueberry muffins and vanilla cherry cupcakes.

Jenny Mae's doesn't have a website but you can email them at jennymaesgoodies@aol.com. Apparently they do ship!

Gluten Free in Anniston, Alabama

2010-06-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well. This one wasn't exactly a piece of cake.

I did go to Longhorn Steakhouse and get a steak salad and baked potato, but since this trip was right after my Moscow, Idaho trip I was pretty tired of meat and salad. The salad was okay but the steak was really spicy. (I also think I may have insulted the waiter by asking for unsweetened iced tea!)

The supermarket selection of alternative dairy and gluten free products was extremely limited. So I settled for rice dream milk with the udi's granola I brought from home.

I'll be going back there next year a couple of times, so maybe I'll explore a little more and find a hidden jem!

Gluten Free in Moscow, Idaho

2010-06-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

I travel A LOT for my job. Or at least it feels like it.

And before I travel anywhere now, I do research on where I can go to eat gluten and dairy free.

Right now, I'm in Moscow, Idaho.

So far I've eaten at Qdoba Mexican Grill, Applebee's, and Smokey Mountain Pizza. Qdoba is not as good as Chipotle and I think I may have gotten a bit of cross contamination from something at Applebees, so thats not so great. I think it may just be dairy though, not as bad as gluten for me.

But Smokey Mountain Pizza was really great and incredibly accommodating. They have gluten free crusts and even made me a new pizza after I forgot to ask for no cheese on the first one.

I also checked out the Moscow Food Co-op. And wow! What an awesome place! That picture above is the goodies that I came away with from my visit there. Some of my favorite finds were some GF oat chocolate chip cookies from a company in Montana, rice crisp and almond dairy free chocolate bars, and some hard honey flavored candy. Tomorrow they are having a farmers market and live music in the evening so I think I might go!

Making Fruit Pie

2010-06-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Since going gluten free, I've made pumpkin pie in those amazing pre-made GF pie crusts from Whole Foods. No big challenge there.

However, since we're having fruit pies instead of cake at our wedding and we have a number of GF guests coming, sooner or later, I was going to have to figure out what that just right mix of GF flours is to make a perfect fruit pie. (We are making our GF pies for the wedding because we couldn't find anywhere in the area that was willing to make a GF pie. Sad.)

So on Monday night, we did a test pie with some fresh local rhubarb (we'll use frozen rhubarb for the wedding) and those pre-made GF pie crusts. I set the pie crusts out for a good long while until they softened up. While waiting the 6 or so rhubarb stalks got chopped up and I worked on creating a flower mixture...here is what I came up with...

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sweet white rice flour
1 tablespoon sweet sorghum flour
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 tablespoon xanthan gum

I tossed the rhubarb in the flour mixture with about a cup of cane sugar.I poured the mixture into one of the pre-made crusts and then slowly peeled out the other crust and placed it on top. It definitely cracked here and there but it worked just fine.

The pie came out amazing! The consistancy inside was perfect. It gelled and thickened surprisingly well.

Hooray for pie sucess!

Want

2010-05-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

This dress...

But in a color it doesn't actually come in. This blue is really bright in color and the other option is a redish orange. I tried the redish orange on in the store and it fit me perfectly, but the color was just too bright for me. The blue online doesn't look the same as it does in the store. Sigh...I wish this dress came in navy blue. It fit so perfect I am tempted to buy it anyway....

Pendleton Want

2010-04-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

Source: Pendleton Website

I love this print. They sell the just the fabric itself and pre-made window drapes...I'm thinking this might be the perfect set of colors to go with our dark brown couch and the terra cotta colors that we want to paint our walls!

An Interesting Pizza

2010-04-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the crummy photo quality, but the iPhone camera doesn't do too well in low light.

Anyway this is what I made last night, it was sort of a use whatever I have in the kitchen kind of pizza.

Ingredients:

1 Udi's GF/DF Frozen Pizza Crust (it kind of tastes like a flat bread!)

1 jar of pesto sauce

1 cup shredded manchego cheese

1 caramelized yellow onion

3 precooked and then reheated maple turkey breakfast sausage cut into little bits

1/4 cup romano cheese

I love caramelized onions, but I think I prefer it with a sweeter pizza with maybe no sauce. Possibly involving pears...

Want

2010-04-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I really feel the need to shop, but I'm in that in between place with paychecks right now, so I really have no money.

So instead, I'll just post some things I found that I really like here...

Faryl Robin Boots

From Nordstorms

Michael Kors Jacket

From Bluefly

Splendid Buffalo Check Shirt

From Bluefly

William Rast Shirt

From Bluefly

Want

2010-03-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

Source: VivaTerra

This lamp would look so perfect on our brand new Sierra dresser that we scored for a super deal off craigslist and I've been wanting a new bedroom lamp anyway... I think mine is Ikea circa 2002...

Source: VivaTerra

I love the feel of this piece. I think this would look amazing on our kitchen table, well when we get a new one at least...

Source: VivaTerra

I want these little plants for work and possibly our bathroom as well. I think it would just add a nice green touch to a couple places that really need it.

Have No Money For Fabric

2010-03-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, my sewing machine is at least out on a designated craft table and while I do plan on making curtains for our house, I have no money for fabric right now.

So I'm developing a fabric stash out of old clothes...

The side benefit to doing this is that flat pieces of fabric take up much less space storage wise then complete articles of clothing!

Bye Bye

2010-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

To my very first rolly suitcase.

It feels sad to say goodbye to it with all the custom painting I did to it. That's a lemon tree if you can't tell. And there is one on the back too. The leather aroung the handles is painted the with the same green as the leaves.

I will have to come up with something fun to customize our new set of suitcases that my dad bought for me. The new ones are much better quality, so I really better think before I paint! They're also a polyester and nylon blend, so I need to find out what kind of paint would work best on there. I'm thinking a simple design, maybe I could try to paint a one color brown paisley design on them since they are olive green and I don't know what else would look good. If you want to see the new ones, I posted a picture of them over at freckles and blondie.

Gluten Free in Seattle, Washington: The First Week

2010-03-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Romio's Pizza and Pasta

We ordered some take out pizza while we were still trying to unpack the kitchen. The guys got a regular pizza but I made my own on a gluten free crust (which was the best one I've ever had!). And I toped it with pizza sauce, goat cheese, pine nuts, and artichoke hearts.

Orgran's Buckwheat Pancakes

These were also amazing! Although I did add a 1/3 cup of sugar to the mix. They were great the second day reheated too!

Want

2010-03-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Pie Birds

Image by Kathrine Hill via Apartment Therapy

Flour

2010-03-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

It took two boxes to pack all of this!

Hair Cut

2010-02-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's my standard, but it had definitely been awhile! It feels so nice and light again!

Want

2010-02-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

This Dress (in one of these colors)

Gluten Free In Seattle, Washington: The First Scouting Trip

2010-02-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to write a post about this, but at least I am getting to it before our next trip to Seattle.

In one sentence...Seattle seems to be an amazing place to be gluten free.

On our first scouting trip we checked out two amazing places that I scouted out on the internet.

Cafe Flora

I can't remember the exact name of this dish, but it was amazing! It was grilled polenta with onions, sun dried tomatoes, manchego cheese, and a couple other things. It was probably the best meal out I have ever had that was gluten free. The staff were amazingly friendly and awesome and I can't wait to go back! They're menu is all vegetarian and mostly gluten free (they also have vegan options).

The Flying Apron Bakery

One of the heavy hitters in the Gluten Free baking world, so this was exciting to try. Their cafe in Fremont really had a great vibe to it. I could definitely see myself hanging out there. This picture was of a chocolate chip banana bread and a cup of earl grey tea. It was great!

Crispy Cauliflower

2010-02-10T18:29:00.000-08:00

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
about 1/4 cup (or enough to thouroughly coat all of the florets) olive oil
about 1/4 cup GF cornflake bread crumbs
about 2 teaspoons of cumin
about 1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika
about 1 teaspoon fresh ground peper
about 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground sea salt

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl until the florets are well coated with the olive oil, spices, and crumbs.
Pour the contents of the bowl onto a tin foil lined baking sheet and spread out.
Bake at 350 degrees until cauliflower is well browned. About 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the florets.

Making It Not Fun: A List

2010-02-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

1. Doubts
2. "Gotcha" Questions
3. Assumptions

***Note to self: Remember this list and this feeling in 30 or so years...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cat In Purse...

2010-02-08T22:46:00.001-08:00

...is also good for curing a case of mopes...

Chocolate Cake

2010-02-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

There's nothing like it when you're feeling a bit mopey.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Around the Garden

2010-02-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

We haven't really done a good job at taking care of all of our winter vegetables that we planted last year. And we've actually barely been in the backyard at all this year, so I thought I would take a look and see how everything was going.

After 3 years, our Meyer Lemon tree is finally producing lemons! I counted four total. Sadly, I'm not sure that we will be able to take it with us to Seattle. :-(

Our Romanesco Broccoli seems to be the only vegetable that has survived without any care from us at all. Although, the bugs do seem to be making an attack on the leaves.

The Nasturtiums have also taken over about half of our bricked in patio. We will have to cut them back but they do look really great!

New Knits: Edition 2

2010-02-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

Finally a hat for me! This one is made of Adrienne Vittadini "Trini" yarn in two different colors. It's got a 3x3 rib around the base of the hat that flows into just a regular knit. Then the ear flaps are just knitting rows and decreasing into an i-cord. And the best part of this hat is that Z made the pom poms! He is really great at making them!

Sort Of Macaroni & Cheese

2010-01-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
1 package of GF pasta (I used Bionature Fusilli)
1 leek
5 pieces of bacon (I used Niman Ranch Maple Bacon)
1/4 cup soy milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons of white truffle infused olive oil
About 4 ounces of plain goat cheese (I used Cypress Grove)
About 4 ounces of shredded manchego
About 2 tablespoons of GF corn flake crumbs

1. Grease 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter.
2. Cook the bacon until cooked but not crispy. When done, slice into small pieces.
3. Saute the leeks in 1 tablespoon of butter in a small to medium sauce pan. When done, remove from pan and set aside.
4. Add soymilk, 2 tablespoons of butter, olive oil, goat cheese, and manchego to sauce pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese melts and combines with other ingredients to form a sauce. Set aside.
5. Cook pasta per instructions on the bag or box. Drain and put in a large mixing bowl.
6. Add the cheese sauce, bacon, and leeks to the pasta and toss. Pour mixture into pre-greased baking dish.
7. Sprinkle top with the GF corn flake crumbs.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until the top starts to brown.

Earthy Head Pieces

2010-01-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

So I know I want to wear a birdcage veil of some kind, probably a half veil, but I haven't found anything that I really like yet. Although that's partially because I haven't really been looking because I don't know how I want to do my hair yet.

I did, however, just see these these on Etsy Wedding, and I love them! They're by Which Goose. I'm not sure any of them will really go with the dress but I'm definitely going to keep them in mind.

Star Gazer by Which Goose

Barely Breathing by Which Goose

Requiem by Which Goose

Small Twiggy Wire Band by Which Goose

Custom Made and Designed Dresses

2010-01-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

I'm still completly loving the fact that I am getting my dress custom made and designed. Everytime I see weddings posted on the wedding blogs with traditional longer wedding dresses with lace and lots of white, I feel so good that I am getting something that is really me. I especially love the length and colors (cream and midnight blue) of my dress!

I recently ran across a couple other designers that makes custom dresses, Elizabeth Dye of the English Dept. in Portland. She makes some beautiful color dresses as well including one for a bride who wanted to wear orange (awesome!). All of her dresses are really gorgeous and I think this one may be my favorite!

Image Source: Elizabeth Dye's Blog.

Also, Amy Wong Micucci of Swoon Dresses. I found her wedding on one of the many many wedding blogs I read and saw that she actually made her own bridesmaids dresses and then started her own business. This is my favorite dress of hers;

Image Source: Amy Wong Micucci Swoon Website

I actually like it so much that I might (eventually) have to get one for myself after the wedding. Just like the bridesmaids dress that my ladies will be wearing from Amanda Archer, the Pleated Collar Dress.

Here are a couple of my favorites from my dress designer, Amanda Archer;

Image Source: Independent Designer's Blog

My New Toy

2010-01-26T21:07:00.001-08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

One Scary Gluten Possible Filled Moment

2010-01-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

When we were in Seattle this past week, we went out to dinner at a Puerto Rican Restaurant called La Isla in Ballard. Normally, South American and Latin foods don't contain a lot of gluten to begin with, so they tend to be safe places to go to eat (like Sol Food in San Rafael). I called ahead of time and the hostess who answered the phone seemed very familiar with GF concerns and assured me that most of their menu was GF. When we arrived our waitress also seemed knowledgable but pointed out only 4 items on the large menu that were GF. She also said that the tostones and maduros were not GF! Which is basically the main reason to go to a Puerto Rican restaurant. So that was sad. I ordered a beef stew which I wasn't too interested in but, I didn't have many options. When it was served it came with tostones, even though it wasn't supposed to. We asked the server about this (who happened to be the manager) and he said that the tostones were GF and fryed in a seperate fryer from some of their breaded dishes. We asked him to check and he never came back. So we then asked the waitress about the confusion and she said that he believed the tostones were GF because the oil was at such high a temperature it didn't matter that they were fryed in the same fryer as the breaded items!

So I didn't eat the tostones and I'm ever so grateful for that smart and frank waitress. But it reminded me to be waring when eating out!

A Gluten Free Traveling Tip: Now Reinforced

2010-01-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

When I was flying out of Austin to come back to California, I noticed that there was a Maudie's in the airport. I thought (mistakenly) that like their other locations they would have a GF menu and I would miraculously be able to get a real meal in the airport. But as it turns out they did not have a GF menu and the employees were not "real" Maudie's employees and didn't have a clue what I was asking for. They were employees of the company the airport had contracted with for all their food service.

Then this last Sunday, while waiting for my delayed plane in Seattle, I saw a Qdoba, which my GF research on Seattle told me was at least understanding and GF friendly. Again, I was disappointed as all they seemed to serve were burritos made with wheat flour tortillas. Again, this was not a regular Qdoba establishment.

So here's the tip: if you see a kiosk or airport location of a restaurant you know to be GF friendly or have a GF menu, it may not be that way at the airport. So make sure you check with the staff and management throughly at an airport location or other non-regular location.

Traveling Gluten Free

2010-01-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

I'm still learning how to do this.

When we went to Austin it was almost 6 hours of travel time with no meals since I couldn't really eat anything sold in the airport or in the airplane. And it was hard to get through it.

This weekend we are going to Seattle to start apartment/house hunting and even though its a really short flight, I'm coming prepared...

I'm bringing biscotti from Mariposa Bakery, Pizza Flax Snax, homemade Beef Jerky, "Grumpy Gorp" (what Z calls my trail mix), a chocolate bar, and a Bakery on Main granola bar.

Hello President Nabisco Kraft Pfizer

2010-01-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's time for a short political rant. I know, its been a while. But I'm still recoverying from the 2004 presidential election...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Corporations can spend freely to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a landmark decision that allows massive sums to be spent to influence future elections. See Reuters Article on Yahoo News.

While I can see the basic logic that limits on campaign contributions from corporations are not constitutional, this decision just endagers progress in this country even more. We all know that our politicians cave to special interests (and are sometimes run by them) and this is only going to make the situation worse. Our elections now run the risk of being overtaken by special intersts and major corporations.

Did the writers of the constitution envision a day when private corporations and special interests ran the goverment through sponsorship of political candidates? I doubt it...

Is this the kind of country that we want to live in? I know I don't...

So I hope some kind of progressive leap foward is made in the minds of the entire population of this country to prevent the worst case scenario from happening. Unfortunatly, I don't know that I trust the minds of the entire population to make such a leap...

Adventures in Dairy Products

2010-01-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I know for sure that whenever I eat anything with cows milk in it, I get sick.

However, I learned just before Christmas that some people who are intolerant of cows milk may be able to tolerate goat and sheeps milk products. So I've been waiting patiently to get through our trips to Tahoe and Austin before testing my tolerance, just in case I got sick.

After about a week and half of testing a couple of items. I can say that products made with goat and sheeps milk don't affect me at all!

I am now happily enjoying Bellwether Farms Sheeps Milk Yogurt on an almost daily basis!

Imagesource: Bellwether Farms Website

I've also put some grated Romano cheese (made from sheeps milk) on some garlic bread I made with a baguette from Mariposa Bakery. And had some goat cheese on a salad, it was very nice.

I tried some goats milk yogurt and was definitely not a fan, I thought it was too simliar to the taste of goat cheese. I also bought some goat milk to try and see how I like it. I'm a pretty dedicated fan of soy milk though.

The Dress

2010-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Warning! Cross Post from freckles and blondie Below!

Right from the start, I knew I didn't want a traditional dress and I actually wasn't so sure I even wanted a white or ivory dress. I also wanted something that I could wear again and possibly (Gasp!) dye a different color to get more use out of. So, if there is one thing in wedding planning that makes me feel the most anti-bride it has to be the whole dress thing.

All that being said, after tearing apart probably 10 wedding magazines and hating every single dress I saw, I decided that I would not go dress shopping. Instead, I am going to have my dress custom made by Amanda Archer. I found her store on Etsy sometime early last year and became obsessed with the Pleated Collar Dress which I (still) desperately want in Midnight Blue. That dress will also actually be the basis for the bridesmaids dresses which will be in either midnight blue or moss green and might be customized further if my lovely bridesmaids so choose!

It took me a while to come up with an idea of what I wanted but I've narrowed it down. One thing that really helped me was to think about our wedding and what I visualized the day to be like. Songs like the The Twist and Do You Love Me kept popping into my head like the background soundtrack. That told me that I wanted something I could really dance in and twirl in.

After I e-mailed probably too many pictures and too many descriptive words that didn't make sense together, Amanda was able to put what I wanted into a first rough sketch of my dress, and here it is;

A couple of things will be a little different than the sketch, for example the upper part of the back will match the front scoop neck. The dress will will be primarily a cream color with that middle scrunched part being midnight blue. And like it says on the picture there will be a layer of tulle that peaks out on the bottom.

So tomorrow I am going to get my measurements professionally done at The Tailor Maid at Stanford Shopping Center. I've had a lot of my clothes tailored there before and even though its quite a drive from Capitola, I want to go somewhere that I trust.

P.S. My dress will have pockets...awesome.

Please Stop Spamming My Blog...

2010-01-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

...in the comments section.

That is all for now. I am still sick and not making progress on the many things that need to get done asap. More to come when my head it back to normal.

New Knits: Edition 1

2009-12-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Green and Yellow Hat and Scarf Set.

Made for the lovely Jenny of Creative Cooking: Gluten Free and Mia Cara Photography

The scarf is a double rib and I can't remember how many stitches I casted on but it was a lot! The hat is pretty basic with a double rib at the bottom, I believe I casted on 70 stitches in a round. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton Yarn. My absolute favorite yarn out there.

Black Hat With Ear Flaps.

Made for my younger step sister, Casey.

I believe I did 70 stitches in a round for this hat as well. I started with seed stitch at the bottom and then just knitted the top. I adapted of the Stitch'n'Bitch pattern for the ear flaps to make them longer at the top and use a knit stitch on the last two stitches on each side to keep a cleaner line. Then I i-corded down 12 inches and attached little pom poms. This hat was also made from Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton.

Black Hat With Ear Flaps and Multi Colored Pom Poms.

Made for my future cousin-in-law, Monica

This was 70 stitches in a round and I alternated knitting and purling each row to get the look of the base of the hat and the ear flaps. The top is just knitted. I again, made the ear flaps longer than the Stitch'n'Bitch pattern and either knited or purled the two last stitches one each side depending on which alternating row I was on. The black yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton and the multi colored yarn is Araucania Patagonia Nature Cotton (my other favorite yarn).

Finally...A Real Job!

2009-12-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

It's official! I have a new job as a Training and Exercise Specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Region 10 starting March 15, 2010!

Hooray! This is what I have been waiting for for a long long long time. A full time job with benefits with the Federal goverment. It feels good to have finally made it! I wish I could start sooner, I can't wait to get up there, but I'm going to stick around at my old job long enough to train a replacement.

We are going to make a couple of trips up in January and February to check out possible places to live, but we think we are going to focus our search in the Ballard area. I think we will be officially moving during the second week of March. Wish us luck!

Christmas Idea: From Apartment Therapy!

2009-12-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

We've been growing tea herbs for a few years now and occasionally I make a cup of tea with them, but I never really got into anything else. Then I saw this post on the Kitchn.

Totally a great idea for little christmas gifts. I wish I had the time to make more, but we came out with about 4 sets of 3. I poured the blends into reusable cotton tea bags and made little tags with a made up name and the ingredients on the back. They turned out pretty cute if you ask me!

We used chamomile, mint, green tea leaves, hibiscus flowers, lemon grass, and a bit of ginger root. All 4 sets contain a different blend.

Awesome Ornaments...

2009-12-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

We put up and decorated or Christsmas tree over the last week and it got me thinking about how we really havn't picked up too many new ornaments recently. Last year I bought a menorah ornament and this year we did buy a leaf ornament up in Yosemite. But in general my ornament buying ended when I left for college...

If I had the extra money I would love to get some new additions to our collection. I found these today and I totally <3 them, but alas, we just aren't in a good financial place to be spending our money on something we will decorate with for one month every year.

On Ornaments to Remember found via Apartment Therapy

On Da Polonia found via Apartment Therapy

On Cox & Cox

Engagement Photos

2009-12-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Parts 1 & 2 of our engagement photos are now up on Flickr, with part 3 probably being uploaded in the next day or so.
If you want some abridged versions, I am posting my favorites on freckles and blondie; so far I have the ones from Asilomar and Pacific Grove done.

Here are a couple of my favorites so far...

Want

2009-11-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

The Fry "Carson" Pull-On Boot

From the Nordstroms Website

The Theory "Henman Kenvel" Plaid Dress

From the Bloomingdales Website

I think I really want this one from Juicy Couture by the model in these shots scares me...

Oooo but this one by William Rast is really nice too! You go JT! (They make a nice shirt too...)

This scarf from Bluefly

A Gluten Free Thumbs Up

2009-11-24T14:02:00.001-08:00

I've had a fair amount of really good gluten (& dairy) free experiences recently so I think it's time for some thumbs up to the following;

Sol Food Restaurant in San Rafael, CA

My understanding is that the entire menu here is gluten free, except for the bread, for which you can substitute tostones (mashed and fried green plantains). Even the breaded items we're breaded with green plaintain. Super cool place and a great environment.

I got the veggie sandwich with tostones. Amazing!

Whole Foods 365 Brand GF Brownie Mix and Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Both are amazing and better than regular mixes! The brownies are specifically amazing. Best I've ever had, period.

Triumph Dining Cards

Proving to be increadibly helpful at restaurants!

Mobo Sushi in Santa Cruz, CA

We tried at the cards here at it was way helpful! Our service was amazing! They even substituted plain rice in my sushi because their sushi rice is made with a grain vinegar that may contain gluten. They also had wheat free tamari! They were increadibly considerate and pretty knowledgeable too, but I think the card is what really helped!

Birthday Goodies & Fun

2009-11-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well I had pretty darn great birthday this year thanks to so many wonderful people and got some really fun goodies to play with! I also had two great gluten/dairy free birthday dinners, one on Thursday with Crave cupcakes and one on Friday with tacos and the Healthy Hostess cupcakes I made from the Babycakes NYC Cookbook. (I want to try and make a different version of this recipe without the bean flour and agave syrup and with tapioca flour and evaporated cane juice.)

As I posted before, my mom and Bree (dog) got me an indigo dye starter kit and some yarn to dye with it. And my step-dad and Hudson (dog) got me a Cuisinart hand-held immersion blender so I can make puree-ed soups without having to pour the hot liquid into the blender. I also got a pair of earrings from my Aunt and Grandmother and a print of one of my favorite photos that my friend Jenny (a bridesmaid!) has taken. She did our engagement photos too and spent about half a day with us and took almost 900 pictures! So she still has a lot to get through before we can share them with all of you!

Then, for a big bang, Zeke organized my dad and step-mom, step-sisters, other grandmother, and my future mother-in-law :-) to get me a new sewing machine! Its a BabyLock machine called "Designers Choice." I'm going to try and take a class to get me introduced to how to use it but I can't wait! I'm already coming up with projects for it!

Zeke also got me a couple of other things including; new Sony Earbuds and two gluten free cookbooks, although he says that the the "Gluten Free Cooking for Dummies" one is really for him for me :-). Best part was how he wrapped these (the strings are actually yarn);

And today as a post birthday gift I treated myself to a bag of gluten free goodies from Mariposa Bakery, which I got to visit today while I was in Oakland;

Before today I had only seen their online shop and I have to say their cafe location was amazing! They had so many different things that I have never seen in a gluten free variety, if you have a chance its worth the drive to visit. The great thing was that almost everything they carry is also dairy free, so that made me super happy. I got pancake mix, stuffing cubes, butternut squash ravioli, baguettes, garlic and all seed bagels, and tear apart rosemary roles.

The day after my birthday Zeke and I also had a treat of a weekend away together in Yosemite. We stayed at the Tenaya Lodge which was great, gluten free friendly, and had a really amazing indoor pool and spas. The park and park restaurants also turned out to be incredibly gluten-free friendly, the village store actually had some gluten free products that I had never seen before. I will try to upload some photos from this trip to my Flickr site soon, so check it maybe later tonight or tomorrow for photos!

Beef Jerky

2009-11-10T19:04:00.001-08:00

I decided to be ambitious tonight and make some beef jerky for the trip Zeke and I are taking to Yosemite this weekend.

I learned the recipe from my mom. It's basically flank steak coated in GF soy sauce, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper. (Normally it's lemon pepper and garlic salt but I'm all out!)
These will bake at low heat in the oven overnight.
-- Posted from my iPhone

Birthday Gift From Mom and Bree

2009-11-08T14:07:00.001-08:00

Yay! My mom and Bree sent me an indigo starter kit to dye with! I can't wait to try it! Thank you mom and Bree!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Guava Jelly Part II

2009-11-08T13:45:00.001-08:00

So I have more guavas and I'm going to try to make guava jelly again. This time I'm using pectin to hopefully set the jell better. Last time it turned out more like syrup then jelly. But it still tasted good!

I'll let you all know how it turns out!

-- Posted from my iPhone

I <3 Silly Colored Loafers

2009-10-30T12:09:00.001-07:00

I'm loving my newest shoe purchase!

I'm trying to make a total switch to flats for work and yesterday I gathered up my dsw coupons and gift certificates to get these puppies.
In real life they are maroon in color and are a very soft suede. The brand is Michael Michael Kors. And the best part I'd that they've got almost an inch of super soft supportive padding under your foot.

-- Posted from my iPhone

A Busy Bee Sort of Day - Part 3

2009-10-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

As promised...the story of making Guava Jelly!

Step 1: Acquire Guavas!!! (And other supplies)

I have been trying to find guavas for about a year now in order to make some Guava Jelly that my grandmother used to make. And Thursday, someone brought in a whole box of Pinapple Guavas, also known as Feijoa, to work. I searched and searched and searched for a trustworthy looking recipe to use and ended up going with this one from Laurasaur.

Step 2: Wash and roughly chop up the guavas. Put these into a large pot and fill with water just high enough to cover the guavas. Heat to boiling and then simmer for about 50 minutes until the fruit is very soft.

Step 3: Start the sterilization process for the jars you are going to use to can the jelly, if you plan on canning it.

Zeke really took care of this part, so I really can't speak to much to how he did it. He followed the instructions that came with jars that I bought at Sur La Table. I think he just put the jars in the water and boil them for a while.

You can just tell how excited he was to be making jelly...

Step 4: Set up a cheesecloth to hold the hot fruit mixture to drain out all the juice over a large pot. Let this sit for 2 hours.

Step 5: Measure the juice out into a large pot. Add one cup of sugar for each cup of juice. Mine was exactly 3 cups of juice, so I added 3 cups of organic cane sugar. Heat to a boil and then boil for 20 minutes. Watch it the whole time to prevent boil overs and skim off the scum that will appear.

Step 6: Pour into canning jars and put the lids on the ones you plan to continue the canning process with.*

Step 7: Place the lidded jars in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes and then remove from heat and let sit in water until it reaches room temperature.

Step 8: Remove from water and let cool for 12-24 hours. If seals have not set by that time refrigerate immediately.

*We actually ended up with way too much jelly, so we just poured it into jars, plastic wrapped the opening, put the old tops on, and refrigerated them. We will have to make sure to use these ones first.

Can't wait to have some tomorrow morning! Especially because I have to get up incredibly early to drive to Alameda to a training seminar that is going to be held aboard the U.S.S. Hornet.

A Busy Bee Sort of Day - Part 2

2009-10-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today, I also went a little baking crazy, and decided to make both cookies and scones.

Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies from New York Magazine

These turned out okay. I think I toasted the walnuts a bit too long, so there is a bit of smoky taste to them. I think next time I will try making them without the nuts all together.

Gluten Free Scones from The Baking Beauties

I didn't add the raisins to this and substituted coconut milk yogurt rather than regular.

So I made these in preparation for the yummy guava jelly that is still in the process of being made as I type this. They look nice and are very fluffy looking, but they're pretty rice-y. Probably because this isn't a flour mixture, its basically just white rice flour. But I think they are okay in a pinch. I will explore more hearty scone recipes in the future.

A Busy Bee Sort of Day - Part 1

2009-10-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

The first of the many productive things we did today, aside from going to the Farmers Market, was working on the garden...

We cleared out all the old plants that were past their prime and gave new spots to some of our newer additions. Most of the herbs also got a good haircut.

Our nasturtium border is also starting to fill in pretty nicely.

Our pumpkins are also ready to be picked for Halloween next weekend. We have four in total of a couple different sizes. This one is the nicest looking. (Next to it is a butternut squash.)

And we picked all the last good bits off the tomato, jalapeno, and habanero plants. Anyone want some? We really have more than enough hot peppers!

The Guava Jelly Project

2009-10-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

Coming this weekend...

... The Guava Jelly Project!

Stay tuned for how the process works out!

Spinach Souffle - Gluten and Dairy Free

2009-10-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite snacks after school was Stouffer's Spinach Souffle. I realize this sounds pretty funny, but I have been a big fan of veggies as snacks for a long time. I credit this to having rabbits, The Land Before Time, and having a good portion of our backyard being devoted to an edible garden.

That being said, I don't eat or buy much frozen food now-a-days and I haven't shopped anywhere that even sells Stouffers brand in at least 3 or 4 years. So I've been working up to this day for a long time now.

I couldn't find a convincing recipe that was all encompassing and both gluten and dairy free, so I sort of had to wing it. I used this recipe from About.com by Ashley Skabar that was a dairy free version and made several substitutions to make it gluten free and just a couple of other changes.

Here is the recipe I used;

Makes 1 very full pie dish souffle (yes, I don't own a souffle dish, so I used a pie dish. it worked well enough).

Ingredients:
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white rice flour*
1/8 cup millet flour*
1 tbs potato starch*
1/2 tbs gar gum*
1 packet of active dry yeast in 2 oz. of warm water*
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 tbs coconut milk yogurt*
16 oz. baby spinach*
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

*'s mark my changes from the original recipe

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly oil the pie dish. Set Aside.
2. Puree the spinach in a Cuisinart, it should work out to about 2 1/2 cups. Set aside in a small bowl.

3. In a small saucepan over low heat, heat the oil. Add the white rice flour, millet flour, potato starch, and gar gum. Stirring constantly with a wire whisk for 1-2 minutes, or until the flour smells slightly toasted but is not burning.
4. Whisking constantly, add the yeast, garlic powder, salt, soy milk, and coconut milk yogurt. Cook until slightly thickened and remove from heat. (This happens really quickly so make sure to keep a close eye on it, I think mine turned out a bit thicker than it should have.)

5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks until creamy. Whisk in the soy milk mixture in small additions so you don't cook the yolks. Fold in the spinach until incorporated. Set aside.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until forming stiff, glossy peaks, about 7 minutes. Fold the egg whites into the soy milk/spinach mixture.

7. Pour the mixture into the pie dish and bake until puffed up, no longer jiggling, and browning on the sides, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

The results...
So it turned out pretty okay. The texture and consistency was definitely right on, but the taste wasn't quite right. It was a bit bland and a little too garlic tasting. I think I want it to taste fuller, with more warm flavors that aren't garlic coming out. I wonder if using butter rather than canola oil would have helped this? (For some reason, while other dairy products bother me, I do just fine with butter.) Also, just to point out, this did not turn out like a regular real souffle, but it did come out very similar to Stouffer's Spinach Souffle, which is what I was really searching for in the first place.

Where to Find The Wedding Planning Posts

2009-10-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

At Freckles and Blondie!

Since the wedding is going to be very much a joint planning effort, Z and I will both post our updates there. But I'll keep posting food, knitting, the occasional political rant, and hopefully some garden updates (we have pumpkins!) here.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-10-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

So after Jenny gave me a piece of her amazing GF Zucchini Bread I've been craving some Zucchini Bread and then I saw a post at Elana's Pantry about Zucchini muffins with chocolate chips and I had to combine the two!

I worked off Jenny's adapted recipe and substituted a couple things based on what I had in my kitchen. Here is the recipe I used, the changes I made are *-ed;

1 small chopped zucchini, washed and not peeled (I used skittles sized chunks*)

2 eggs

1/4 cup walnut oil*

1/4 cup canola oil*

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/4 cup arrowroot powder*

2 tbs tapioca flour

1/2 tsp xanthax gum

2/3 cup agave syrup*

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of sea salt*

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 chopped walnuts

1/4 cup gluten, dairy, and soy free chocolate chips*

(I didn't include the lemon zest or the glaze in my muffins.)

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Whisk all the liquid ingredients together in a 2 cup measuring cup.

Combine and mix gently but well.

Fold in zucchini chunks, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

Cut 6 inch by 6 inch squares of parchment paper to line the muffin cups. As you spoon out the dough, press the parchment paper so it folds in a circle into the muffin cups.

Bake at 330 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the centers are cooked and the tops are well browned.

They turned out super duper yummy! Yay!

The Planning Board

2009-10-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

So because I had the whole day off today and Z is at work, I got to endulge myself in my love of planning. I started looking around the web for a checklist of things involved in a wedding. And wow...that was intimidating...

So I found a pretty all encompasing list from Real Simple and started to put together some sort of organization for the next 10 or 11 months of planning we will be doing.

I came up with index cards on a cork board;

I also started to look around online for things I like wedding wise. I'm not one of those girls that's thought about this all their lives, so I'm starting from scratch!

Here's where we are at the end of the day. I can't wait to talk with Z about it tomorrow!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Engaged

2009-10-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

Wholey Moley! We're Engaged!

After almost 6 years together, Z and I are now officially engaged!

He popped the question yesterday while letting me believe the romantic picnic and dinner out down in Monterey/Pacific Grove was for Valentines Day this year (which we missed because we were too busy). In between the picnic and dinner, he drove us out to Asilomar Beach, and we walked out to a little gazebo that overlooked the water. There we enjoyed the beautiful view and he proposed :-)! It was really perfect and beautiful and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

The ring is from Brilliant Earth and includes a white sapphire that was mined just for me :-) and 4 small blue sapphires in fading color on each side of the white sapphire. The band is titanium and has that hammered metal look. I have never been one to wear rings but this ring is just so perfect and really feels like me. Z did an amazing job custom designing this ring.

So I guess we have a bunch of planning on our plate to do in the next year. I am pretty sure we have decided on late summer for the wedding and we definitely want to keep it simple! More details to come!

Lemon Poppyseed Teacake from Babycakes

2009-10-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

Another Attempt To Make Myself Feel Better...

...this time in the form of Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Teacake because I missed out on GF bagel making day because of some evil mislabeled tortilla chips and surprising dairy salami (apparently milk is the second ingredient in salami...).

I actually also made this since Z is planning Valentines Day for us for tomorrow and I'm in charge of putting together a GF picnic lunch.

I got this recipe from a GOOP e-mail which had an interview with the owner of the Babycakes Bakery in New York City. It turned out really tasty and really fluffy. I baked it probably about 15 minutes longer than the recipe says and it was still pretty moist, so it probably could have gone a bit longer if you wanted a dryer teacake.

Lemon Poppy Teacake

YIELD: about 10 slices

2/3 cup rice milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1⁄4 cup poppy seeds
3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, plus more for pan
3/4 cups agave nectar
1/3 cup applesauce
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons pure lemon extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 7 × 4 × 3-inch loaf pan with oil.

Pour the rice milk, apple cider vinegar, and poppy seeds into a small bowl – but do not stir – and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, applesauce, vanilla, and lemon to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the poppy seed mixture into the batter, and combine just until all ingredients are blended. The batter will expand slightly.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake on the center rack for 35 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 18 minutes. The teacake will be golden brown and springy, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

Let the teacake stand in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge of the bread. Cover the top of the pan with a cutting board, and invert onto the board. Carefully lift the pan away and re-invert the teacake onto another cutting board. Either cut and serve warm, or wait until it is completely cool before storing. Cover the uncut teacake with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Fruit

2009-09-28T09:39:00.001-07:00

My fruit for the day was much more colorful than normal. So I decided a picture was in order.

There's dapple dandy pulots, blueberries, oranges, and kiwi.

-- Posted from my iPhone

The First Gluten Free Cake

2009-09-27T20:49:00.001-07:00

My First Gluten Free Cake!

Since I decided to go gluten free 1 day after making a yummy yellow cake with chocolate frosting, I decided that I needed to make a gluten free cake to comfort me in my loss.

For the most part I followed the cupcake recipe from Elana's Pantry. But I substituted a 1/4 cup Walnut Oil and 1/4 cup Canola Oil for the Grapeseed Oil and added the zest from 1 Meyer Lemon. For the frosting I used the this adaptation of supposedly the Sprinkles Cupcakes frosting recipe. But I used soymilk instead of milk and added the juice from the Meyer Lemon.

The cake was really good and surprisingly light and fluffy. I don't think it's going to be my go to gluten free cake recipe though. I think I am going to play around about on my own and maybe check out some other recipes for different ideas.

Last Weekends Project

2009-09-19T22:53:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I spent all day on Saturday working on fixing up our second bedroom to actually look like a bedroom. Rather than a storage space. We've freecycled a whole lot of things that we don't need so that cut down on a lot of the boxes. The rest has been artfully covered by blankets :-)

-- Posted from my iPhone

My First Knit Bag

2009-09-19T22:49:00.001-07:00

Well, the pieces are all done and ready to be sewn together. Now I just have to teach myself how to do it...

This is from the pattern for "Zeeby's Bag" from the Stitch'n'Bitch book.

Wish me luck!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Ravelry

2009-08-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Just joined Ravelry today. Hopefully it will inspire me to spend more time knitting and branch out from hats and scarves.

My first branch is going to be Zeeby's bag from Stitch 'N Bitch. Here is how far I am right now;

This is will be the sides and the bottom of the bag.

Rice Yogurt

2009-08-27T10:01:00.001-07:00

Not so much...

-- Post From My iPhone

2009-08-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

HYANNIS PORT, Mass. – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.

In nearly 50 years in the Senate, Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, served alongside 10 presidents — his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy among them — compiling an impressive list of legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education, immigration and more.

AP on Yahoo News

Adventures of Non Dairy Yogurt Tasting

2009-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am definitely lactose intolerant but I <3 yogurt. So I'm currently searching for a good yogurt that is not dairy based. I tried soy based yogurt yesterday and was not impressed. It was very mealy tasting. Today I'm trying cultured coconut milk.

It's tasty especially with my added fresh blueberries. But it's a little too sweet for me to eat on an everyday basis. It also has too many ingredients for my liking. (I try to stick to the fewer ingredients the better rule.)

Verdict is...good for a yogurt like snack once in awhile.

Tomorrow it's time for rice yogurt...

-- Post From My iPhone

Irish Soda Bread

2009-08-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

Success!

2009-08-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

August Cooking Update

Since we have been back from vacation, I haven't had much time to cook, but I did make a wonderful vegetarian lasagna. We had a huge eggplant growing when we got back, it was actually the size of the real big ones you can buy in the store. So I used that, some 365 Brand No Bake Lasagna Noodles (best no bake noodles I have found so far!), Farm Fresh To You onions, local garlic, a pasta sauce from the Whole Kitchen brand, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese. I think it was really the best I have made so far and Zeke really liked it too!

We've also changed up our Sunday morning waffles to have wheat germ in them and it actually tastes way better. It makes a bit of a hearty-er waffle.

Today, as my first real day around the house I am going to make some pizza muffins and flax seed chocolate chip cookies. I am also going to experiment with making some Irish Soda Bread. The place Zeke and I stayed on Vancouver Island, Point No Point Resort, had amazing Irish Soda Bread that tasted like it had a bit of cornmeal in it. I am going to try and add some wheat germ to my bread.

Up on the cooking list this week include some pesto, buffallo tri-tip, some kind of sweet potato/acorn squash hybrid, salads with micro greens and mission figs, and french onion soup!

2009-08-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

August Garden Update!

Well, the garden sort of took over our yard while we were away on vacation. We had to do some serious pruning of the tomato and pepper plants but we also had a lot yummy looking veggies growing!

The pumpkin plants are the ones that really, literally, took over the yard. There were no actually pumpkins when we left but when we came back we had 6!

This one was the largest and since I took this picture it has about doubled in size! We also have some beautiful pumpkin flowers that bloom in the mornings.

We also have 2 butternut squash that appeared while we were gone as well.

Our basil, chive, garlic chive, sage, rosemary, and thyme plants are also quite bushy. So pesto is definitely going to be on the menu sometime soon.

Our meyer lemon may also be trying to give it a go. I've had it now for 2 years and it hasn't produced yet and it has endured 2 moves. I figured it was too traumatized at this point but Zeke always believed it in. There are 4 green lemons that are about the size of kumquats, so we will have to see what they do. I would be very excited if they ended up growing to full size!

On the unfortunate side of things, our blue lake pole bean seems to be done producing and we lost some marigolds while we were gone as well.

2009-06-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

It's time for communities to step up in California.

I keep reading new articles each day about what the Governor wants to shut down, sell, or cut in order to fix this budget deficit (which itself frusterates me to high heaven...and would be a whole nother rant...). There are the many amazing state parks, San Quentin prison, mental health programs, summer education programs, etc.

At the same time local government budgets are getting tighter and everyday I am seeing more reliance on Federal grant funding and more frusteration at the hoops that have always been there to get the funding. Everyone seems to complain about how difficult it is to get grant funding, but it's not like they are required to be grant funded.

I find all of this terribly frusterating because comperitively speaking we are pretty darn well off in this State.

So I say it's time for everyone to buck up, get inovative, and work together. Communities need to help each each other and take care of each other. Businesses and banks need to get involved too. The State and Local goverment needs to understand that we only have so much and they need to be flexible and innovative with their regulations and requirements.

Rather than complaining, going nuts, and privatizing everything in State, lets try working together as communities, organizations, and a State to solve one problem at a time.

And to get us started here is just one idea...

Idea #1
Lets all stop wasting so much water and money on our lawns. In our climate with our resources, it simply isn't sustainable or smart. I can't even imagine how much money and water would be saved if all the businesses in the State with perfectly manicured lawns in front of them were swapped for native grasses or plants that are drought resistant. Then add to that all those lawns in front of suburban homes and in local parks owned and operated by local goverment. It would be a lot of water and a of savings for sure.
Our new backyard has a good sized square of lawn in it and since we are responsible for our own landscaping we are going to talk to our management about replacing it with some native drought tolerent grasses that only require watering once a week at the least.

2009-06-03T08:45:00.001-07:00

Moving Update

The books, dvds, and clothes have all been unpacked and more or less placed in their new homes. Today's goal is to finish unpacking the last kitchen box and start cleaning up the 1st floor living living space.

Some of our projects to come in the near future are going to be...landscaping our backyard, organizing our gear closet, going through the many boxes labeled "random", putting all of our artwork up, and trying to sell or get rid of everything we don't want...

2009-05-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

This Week's Farm Fresh Delivery Is:

Pinova Apple
Green Dandelion
Mixed Tomato, heirloom
Nantes Carrot
Green Onion
Gypsy, sweet Pepper
Regular Cucumber
Baby Mixed Lettuce

And here is what I'm thinking of making...

Tomatoes and the Green Onions in a Tomato and Herb Salad with Mozzarella Cheese

Nantes Carrots in Oven Roasted Carrots and Potatoes with Rosemary

Cucumber Water

Dandelion Greens in a Winter Greens Turnover

And I have no idea what to do with the peppers and I'm really not a big fan of them. So I will probably make something for someone else with them.

The dandelion greens are really the only new frontier for me in this weeks delivery. The turnover recipe was the only one I could find from sunset that looked remotely interesting. Maybe I will keep hunting for some other ideas.

This is also the last delivery I will be getting in San Jose because its only 1 week till move day now!

2009-05-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

We Are Moving to Capitola on May 29th!

And that means I am on the hunt for new furniture and brainstorming decorating projects to make the old stuff look renewed! The only thing we really needed was shelving, so I bought these Bamboo Shelves from Crate & Barrel. I bought one tower and one regular shelf. Both Zeke and I are big fans of bamboo furniture because it is a sustainable wood. If I can't find a piece I like in bamboo then I start looking for other woods that have been sustainably grown and harvested (C&B has some beautiful teak furniture) or furniture made of reclaimed woods from other items.

In the want column, I have also been on the hunt for a new coffee table, a full length mirror, a small kitchen island, side tables, a dresser, and some nicer patio furniture. I can't bring myself to shop at Ikea anymore because everything there seems to be guaranteed to break either while you are putting it together or within 3 moves. This means that I'm probably going to be paying at least a couple hundred dollars for each piece I want, but the idea is that they should last for a really really long time. I am also planning on reupholstering our kitchen table chairs and restaining the table itself. (I don't see a kitchen table purchase in the near future, since those would eat up an entire pay check of mine. Although I am still completly in in love with C&Bs Basque Kitchen Table line...).

Mostly I've been searching C&B, Sundance, Pottery Barn, NapaStyle, and Craigslist for these items. And I have a found a couple of things that I'm thinking about...

Small Stackable Chicken Coop Storage from Sundance for $145. I really like the idea of this as basically an open dresser. But I can't decide if I like the red or the natural color better... Either way its a really nice versitile storage piece.

Hudson Mirror from Sundance for $795. I love this mirror but I could never spend that much on a mirror. But at least it give me an idea of what I like.

Recycled Pickle Barrel Nightstand from Sundance for $395. I love the openness of this piece.

Antique Pine Cabinet from Sundance for $275. This would be a perfect end table for the living room.

Pacifica Coffee Table from C&B for $499. I like coffee tables that look like short kitchen tables. So you can sit on the floor and work on them. I also can't stand when coffee tables have that second lower shelf on them, I don't know why but I just can't stand it!

Basque Coffee Table from C&B for $399. This one would match my dream kitchen table!

2009-05-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

Aung San Suu Kyi Is Going To Disappear For Another Five Years...

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi went on trial on Monday, facing a five-year jail sentence that has triggered threats of tougher international sanctions against the nation's military regime.

Suu Kyi, charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest after an American intruder sneaked into her home this month, was in good spirits as the closed-door trial began in the former Burma's notorious Insein prison, her lawyers said.

Yahoo News

Maybe It's Time For A Change in Pandemic Policy

GENEVA – Britain, Japan, China and other nations urged the World Health Organization on Monday to change the way it decides to declare a pandemic __ saying the agency must consider how deadly the virus is, not just how fast it is spreading.

The debate arose as WHO began its annual meeting, a five-day event attended by hundreds of health experts from the agency's 193 member nations. Swine flu is expected to dominate this year's conference — and WHO must consider whether it should raise its alert level or tell manufacturers to begin making a specific swine flu vaccine.

Yahoo News

The real problem with this is that, for a novel virus, there is really no good way to tell at the first sign of an outbreak how great the casualty rate will actually be. For instance in Mexico, a county with admittedly not the best health system, it looked like there were a lot of people dying initially. But that was likely only because the mild cases were either not reported or identified.

Regardless of the economic implications, I still believe that it is more important to take quick and serious actions in order to potentially save lives.

2009-04-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

Garden Update

A couple of weekends ago my dad came over to help me fill out my garden a bit, and here is what I added;

Blue Lake Pole Beans
Sun Sugar Tomatoes
Yellow Pear Tomatoes
Garlic Chives
Cilantro
Parsley
Chamomile
Chocolate Mint
Marigolds
a new Jalapeno
a new Chive

Pictures to come soon, I promise!

Also, it looks like me and my garden may be moving soon! The plan is to be in the Capitola are by July. Sooner would be better, especially while all of my seedlings are still quite small.

2009-04-15T15:28:00.001-07:00

Test blog via phone.

2009-04-13T15:33:00.001-07:00

Its gardening season again so I am trying to plan out my potted vegitable garden right now.

Here's what I have so far;
- Chives
- Mixed Lettuce
- Cucumber
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Banana Pepper
- Jalapeno Pepper
- Habanero Pepper
- Sweet Basil
- Eggplant

I am going to be planting a couple of these today...

Here's what I am looking to get;
- Lemongrass
- Thumbellina Carrots
- Yukon Gold Potatoes
- Blue Lake Pole Beans
- Cilantro
- Panseys and Calendula
- Sunsugar Cherry Tomatoes
- Tomatillo

And I am going to go on the hunt for these this coming weekend!

2009-03-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

This Week's Farm Fresh Delivery

Ruby Citrus, grapefruit
Minneola Tangelo Citrus, orange
Red Chard
Bunched Collard
Red Beets
Flat Leaf Parsely
Green Leaf Lettuce, head
Bunched Broccoli
Red Onion

I have to admit...I'm maybe not so excited about this week's upcoming delivery. I am excited for the grapefruit, the red chard, and the parsely. But the rest is kind of eh. Oh well, I guess it's time to start looking for this weekend's recipies.

2009-03-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

Today's Headlines

More Chinese Pranks

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon charged Monday that five Chinese ships shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close to a U.S. Navy vessel in an apparent attempt to harass the American crew.

Defense officials in the Obama administration said the incident Sunday followed several days of "increasingly aggressive" acts by Chinese ships in the region. The incident took place in international waters in the South China Sea, about 75 miles south of Hainan Island.

AP on Yahoo News

These aggressive acts by China really bother me, even though this one seems to have been committed while the Chinese sailors were stripped down to their underwear...
But it really makes me wonder as to what their intentions really are in the long run of things. Have they been given orders to harass U.S. ships in international waters? Have they been given an idea that the U.S. is their enemy and that they should try to provoke them?

Kepler is Up and Flying!

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's planet-hunting telescope, Kepler, rocketed into space Friday night on a historic voyage to track down other Earths in a faraway patch of the Milky Way galaxy.

AP on Yahoo News

I am going to be so excited about this for oh, at least the next 3 years...or maybe however long it keeps transmitting.

2009-03-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

DIY Jewelry

I used to love making beaded earings as a kid, especially for my mom. I think I still have boxes of interesting beads stashed away in my closet. My favorite things were animal charms and beads from around the world.

Anyway, I was checking out the Free People Blog today and I think I might get back into doing a bit of beaded jewelry, at least of the sead been variety. They highlighted this artist named Nikki B and I absolutly love these pieces, but there is no way I can afford/ever be willing to spend that much on a seed beaded necklace, even for a good cause.

Source: Free People

Source: Free People

So I'm thinking that this weekend's project, aside from taxes, finishing my cabled scarf project, and continuing to work on my Tastebook, will be investigating the cost of dabbling in seed beaded jewelry making!

2009-02-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Back To Veggies...But First...

My one and only favorite burger recipe...

Mix Together Your Desired Quantities Of:

- Grass Fed Beef
- Torn Up Whole Wheat Burger Buns
- Chopped Sweet Yellow Onions
- Minced Garlic Cloves
- Red Tail Ale Original Tangy BBQ Sauce

(Some crazy people I know also like to add habanero peppers and garlic chunks. But it's not really my thing.)

When your burger is all BBQ-ed to your liking, compliment it with these topings:
- Goat Cheese (Spread this on the bun to hold everything else in!)
- Clover Sprouts
- Avocado slices

Oh and best kind of buns are Alvarado Street Bakery's Sprouted Wheat Burger Buns!

I had this last night and now, I'm ready to go back to being a vegetarian for awhile. It just fufilled my own personal meat quanity for awhile...

2009-02-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Easy Dinner

Last nights dinner was super easy and quite pretty, but of course, again, I neglected to take a picture...

Fresh Whole Wheat Pasta
with...
Sauteed Mixed Mini Tomatoes in Madarin Olive Oil
Purple Haze Goat Cheese
Freshly Cut Chives from my garden

Red Leaf and Frisee Salad with Avocado and Balsamic Dressing

2009-02-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

Murdoch Apologized ?!?!?!?!?!?!

NEW YORK – New York Post Chairman Rupert Murdoch apologized Tuesday for a cartoon that critics said likened a violent chimpanzee shot dead by police to President Barack Obama.

In a statement published in the newspaper, Murdoch said he wanted to "personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted." He said the Post will work to be more sensitive.

Yah...I didn't see that one coming. Is Rupert getting soft in his old age?

And There Goes the NK, Alllllll Over Again

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said Tuesday it is preparing to shoot a satellite into orbit, its clearest reference yet to an impending launch that neighbors and the U.S. suspect will be a provocative test of a long-range missile.

I really don't mind if NK wants to have a satellite and the capability to launch a satellite. But...really right now? Was this gesture really nessesary?

Oh well of course it was! Because they have to test the new president...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I hate this thing. It has repeated itself so many times now it is completly ridiculous.

2009-02-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

This Is Why I Don't Want To Go To Mexico

Because The Executions Are Getting To Be A Little Much

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – The police chief of Mexico's largest border city has stepped down after criminal gangs threatened to kill more cops if he didn't resign.

Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna's decision to quit came hours after a Ciudad Juarez officer and jail guard turned up dead. Both bodies had messages from unnamed criminal gangs saying at least one officer would be killed every two days until he quits.

The mayor had insisted their city wouldn't back down. But Orduna said Friday that he doesn't want to put more lives at risk.

Ciudad Juarez police have long come under attack, and many officers have quit out of fear for their lives.

And here's the parts of the article that really seal the deal for me...

More than 6,000 people have been killed in drug violence across Mexico over the past year as gangs battle each other for territory and to fight off a nationwide crackdown by the army. Nearly a third of the slayings have taken place in Ciudad Juarez, and more than 50 of those dead are city police officers.

Violence also has spilled across the border into the U.S., where authorities report a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions connected to Mexico's murderous cartels.

Homeland Security officials have said they will bring in the military if the violence continues to grow and threatens the U.S. border region.

"The violence is spreading like wildfire across the Rio Grande," said George Greyson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "It's a major national security problem for us that is much more important than Iraq and Afghanistan."

Also Friday, the U.S. State Department renewed a travel advisory warning Americans about the increased violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Yup, I'll pass on that.

2009-02-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

International Security Headlines of the Day

Kyrgyzstan Votes to Close US Base

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyzstan ordered U.S. forces on Friday to depart within six months from an air base key to military operations in Afghanistan, complicating plans to send more troops to battle rising Taliban and al-Qaida violence.

Netanyahu Gets To Form A Coalition Government

JERUSALEM – Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to his moderate rivals Friday to join him after the hard-liner was formally tapped to put together Israel's next ruling coalition — an alliance that would dilute the power of nationalists bent on derailing Mideast peace talks.

In some ways, I'm a big fan of Netanyahu, I think he really has the capability as an individual leader to really make something happen and make positive change. But I think he has too much pressure on him from the far right in Israel to be very aggressive and provocative towards Hamas. So I'm not quite sure how I feel about this, kind of, win. Although, I don't think Livni would have really been any better...

2009-02-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

Farm Fresh Veggie Success!

So, once again, I forgot to take pictures...but all of my dinner experiments were a total success!

I made Nut-stuffed Delicata Squash, which turned out great! The best part was the onion/nut/yogurt filling.

Then I also pan sauted up the fresh baby spinach I got in the box, and that was my favorite part fo the whole meal. I actually ended up using the exact same pan that I sauted the onions, garlic, fresh sage, and nuts in for the first dish. I didn't wash the pan in between, so it gave the spinach a nice flavor.

And last, I used this Drop Biscuit recipe and added some freshly chopped garlic and Cotswald cheese chunks. Cotswald has chopped up chives in it and is sort of like a cheddar.

2009-02-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Last week's Farm Fresh delivery...

Winter Squash (I think its the delicita (sp?) variety? It's a nice even oval shap in a warm yellow color
Kale
Fingerling Potatoes
Baby Spinach
Fuji Apples
Minelo Tangeloes

So far I've tried the tangeloes and I'm not a huge fan. Oh well...

But tonight I am going to try and tackle the Winter Squash and the Kale and I am going to try my best to remember to take some pictures this time!

2009-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Recent Knitting Projects

Alright, I am finally getting a chance to post some pictures of my most recent knitting projects!

First one up is a version of the Jayne Cobb Firefly hat. This was my very first true pattern that I attempted to follow and my first pom pom!

Second one up is my take off of the Stitch and Bitch Kitty Hat. I added braided cords instead of i-cords and did a pom pom rather than ears.

And the third one up is perhaps the most exciting... I've learned to cable knit! The first is how I am continuing on the scarf I wanted to knit. The second was my very first attempt!