gotta be starting something

Wanting the Next Thing

As much as I love sunshine and warm weather, and as unprepared as I am for the fall, I’m finding myself very eager for the NEXT THING. I’m starting data collection this year (the good Lord willing and the crick don’t rise), and I’m impatient to get everyone to just say yes already so I can start scheduling and planning and driving my little self all 1200 miles to my study site. It’s gonna be nuts.
But, I have to be patient, and tomorrow I’ll hopefully take another teensy step forward by getting permission from another principal.

In the mean time, I want to start all sorts of new projects – like getting more invested in the mysterious and nerve-wracking worlds of baking and gardening. Since moving into our new place, I haven’t done a lick of either. Baking is tough since we kinda really like our kitchen table and I don’t imagine that using it as a kneading or rolling surface would be so good for it. But I just read No Reservations, and as often happens, now I want to cook. Everything. All the time.  And I’ve discovered that the summer’s bounty doesn’t get my heart pattering like everyone else.  All I want is butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and chili.  And bread.  And maybe even desserts.  After dinner one night, my friend hops up and just kind of “whips up” an olive oil, rosemary, and dark chocolate cake.  This mess was ridiculous.  And as there was no frosting and not that many ingredients, and savory elements, I’ve been thinking about making my own ever since.  Who knew that I didn’t have to deal with butter cream frosting or rolling pins if I wanted a little sweet in my life?

Then today I finished reading The $64 Tomato, and I find myself sizing up our balcony, wondering whether there is enough sun and space to get my greens going again. Then I found this, and if this sucker was 17 inches deep instead of 7, I might have it in my house right now:

Happily, I think I’ll be satisfied with just doing a little container herb garden – thyme, sage, and rosemary should do me. I find myself buying those more often and for more money than makes sense. And they are all flavors that I want in breads and on roasted veggies – my go-to dish in the fall.

The Way Summer Should Be

This summer was, for the most part, a ridiculous shlog. Lots and lots of work, and nowhere near as much sunning, road trips, and all the other stuff that I want out of the summertime. There have been pockets of loveliness though and the last few weeks I had a rocking vacay.

One of the crazy-beautiful views from the trail.

Wonderful points:
Took my baby to Santa Cruz for his birthday.  We went to Wilder Ranch State Park (absolutely gorgeous – quiet, great views, easy trails) and then the boardwalk.  I discovered that Q is absolutely bonkers for carnival rides.  I had no idea!  And corndogs – but I could have guessed that.

Q’s little cousin (20!) got hitched.  We went, danced and acted silly, and ended the evening by chilling with Q’s very awesome grandparents and aunts and uncles until midnight.  They plied us with incredible martinis and all sorts of fun stories.  The grandma complimented me for being open-minded enough to date a Caucasion.  I thanked her and asked for another drink.

K, my best friend from college came for a one-day visit before she and her dude went driving up the coast.  Only one day, but a great time – we went to Alembic for cocktails and Zadin for dinner.  Thank-you, Yelp and Chowhound.  K has celiacs, so Zadin was perfect.  And Alembic has crazy tasty cocktails, so, you know.  But it was pretty lovely, even if there was some stress around iPhones and educational philosophies (happily, Q is so charming and I’m low-key enough that this stress was mostly contained).

Big sis and her girl came a few weeks later.  The sis was in for a job fair and turned it into a four day weekend.  Super fab time – took them to a friend’s housewarming, went to Santa Cruz with Q, did a day at Ashby flea market (can we talk about the food at the Ashby flea market?  I won’t even get started on the great deals available to cute black girls with big smiles), and even took them by Alembic and Zadin.  My future sister-in-law is also off gluten, so these Vietnamese masters saved me again.  Fab.  And exhausting – as having visitors can be – but they even sent us a thank-you car and gift!  All very civilized.

Big Sis and Her Girl on the Ferris Wheel

And in the last three weeks I attended a wedding, spent two weeks with my family, saw friends from high school, went to Las Vegas with Q, Big Sis, and her girl, and read about 4 fun books.  And last night we even had another couple over, supposedly in order to play a game, but we just boozed and ate and chatted.  Just wonderful.

Okay, now I feel pretty ridiculous for claiming that this summer wasn’t so great.  I didn’t grow tomatoes or drive to Portland, but it was really magnificent.  And there are so many more stories to tell about it.

What I’m Eating Now

While at my parent’s house, I took to making open-faced egg sandwiches.  They had these ridiculous things called “Bagel Thins”, which mostly resembled very thin wheat bread with a hole cut in the middle.  Though not a bagel, they were a great size to pile a slice of tomato, a fried egg, and some cheese on top of.  Run it in the oven, sprinkle dill, salt, and pepper, and you’ve got breakfast.

Now that I’m home, I don’t have bagel thins, but I do have some hearty Italian bread from Trader Joe’s and I don’t have tomatoes (the texture disagrees with Q), but I do have onions and mushrooms.  So here was today’s lunch:

My Lunch

Open Faced Egg Sandwich:

Handful of crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/4 of a small onion, chopped

1 tbs oil

2 eggs

1 tbs butter

Enough cheese to sprinkle and enough garlic powder, cilantro, pepper, and salt to season.

First I sautee the onions and mushrooms in oil until they are tender.   These go on top of the bread and are sprinkled liberally with garlic powder.  I fry the eggs per the Cooks Illustrated method – melt butter until foam subsides, gently drop in eggs, cover pan with a lid and wait 90 seconds.  I like to put the eggs a bit undercooked on the sandwich since they are going to be going under the broiler.  Then I sprinkle it all with cheese and slide it under the broiler.  After about 2 minutes (checking frequently – a neglected loaf of bread once caught fire under that damn broiler), I pull it out, sprinkle cilantro, salt and pepper on top.  If not for cooking the veggies, this would be a five minute affair.  As it is, it’s more like 15.  For a pretty, tasty, and hearty meal, that ain’t nothin.

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