Thursday Thought

¨The moment you think of others, your mind widens.¨

the Dalai Lama, as quoted in A Force for Good: the Dalai Lama's Vision for Our World by Daniel Goleman

Man, talk about inspiring - I so enjoyed reading about the Dalai Lama. 

At times I get discouraged by how much room for positive change there is in the world. I lament that we will never become a truly ¨family-friendly¨ society, where we take care of the sick and the elderly and allow parents to actually spend time with their children when they come into the world, where no one works 60 hour work weeks. I do believe change is possible though - that by thinking of others and encouraging our communities to do the same, our minds and hearts will both widen.

The Final Recipe - Bobbie's Custard - #112

The note at the bottom of my recipe card for Bobbie's Custard said that ¨Bobbie [Trent's grandmother] made this custard for many ill friends.¨ While I was happy that my friends remained relatively healthy throughout the year of the challenge, I saved this one up until the end just in case I would be called upon to cheer up a sick friend. Fortunately, that didn't happen, so I made a half recipe in my custard cups (which had never before been used to bake custard). I don't think I stirred these up thoroughly enough, as one cup set 15 minutes before the other seemed ready. There is something magical and delightful about the change the egg and milk mixture undergoes in the oven. A simple recipe made from real food.

Bobbie's Custard

• 2 cups milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• cinnamon for dusting top

Heat the milk to bubbling stage. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add sugar and vanilla. Add the hot milk to the egg mixture, slowly at first so hot milk does not begin to cook the eggs. Pour in casserole or custard cups and dust with cinnamon. Bake for 35 min. at 350 degrees in a bain marie.

Southern Cheese Biscuits - Recipe #111

It seems fitting that the last two recipes in the Loose Recipe Challenge are family recipes. This savory cookie has arrived at our doorstep countless times as part of a Christmas care package from Trent's mom, but this was the first time I had baked it on my own. The rolls were so crumbly, I was certain that I had not followed the recipe correctly, but by the time they chilled, I was able to cut them into the small slices necessary.

Just one more recipe to go...

Southern Cheese Biscuits

• 2-3 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. paprika

Mix together then add:

• 10 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 c. flour

Form into rolls and chill. Slice thinly, sprinkle with sugar, top with pecan half, and bake at 350 degrees for 10 min. or until edges just begin to brown. Sprinkle again with sugar.

From Modie, Trent's great-grandmother.

Crab Cakes - Recipe #110

We have a crab pot for Rock Lobster, so for the last few years, Trent has gotten his shellfish license, gone down to Shilshole, dropped the pot and returned with either Red Rock crabs or Dungeness or a combination. While normally we just enjoy a crab boil, on days where the yield is especially high, I'll save some crab meat for this Simply Recipes recipe. This year was a little busier than usual, so we never got the shellfish license. With as expensive as crab is, I typically don't purchase it from the grocery store - but the Challenge called, so off I headed to PCC for 1/2 lb. of crab (at $35.99 per pound, I decided not to make a full recipe, though there was a very sad sigh from Trent when he learned that there were no leftovers). On the up side, it was far less time-consuming to make these when the meat has already been extracted from the shells. Fresh bread crumbs add to the deliciousness of the recipe, though I'm always afraid that I'll wear out the food processor motor, as I did to my chopper-grinder the last time I ground gingersnaps for cabbage rolls.

Crab Cakes

• 1 lb. crab
• 1/2 stick butter (1 T & 3 T)
• 1/2 cup shallots
• 1 tsp. kosher salt (divided)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 2 T. tartar
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• 2 T. parsley
• 2 cups bread (crusts removed)
• 2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Heat butter, shallots, 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook until translucent Whisk remaining ingredients. Fold in crab and bread. Make 12 patties 2 1/4¨ x 3/4¨. Place on rimmed tray with Silpat, sprinkled with half of the breadcrumbs. Place the other half on top. Cover loosely. Chill at least 1 hr. Heat 3 T. butter in a large non-stick pan on med. high heat. Cook in uncrowded pan, approx. 3 min. each side.

Cheese-Mushroom Fingers - Recipe 109

Another recipe from my mother-in-law. I've made this several times as an appetizer, but it had been languishing in my recipe for a while since the last time I made it. I had made a double (or was it a triple?) recipe for an event and there were leftovers upon leftovers to the point where I couldn't make myself get excited about eating any more. I came this close to recycling it, but I'm glad I didn't. While it still makes a great appetizer, its resemblance to quiche makes an even better breakfast heated up in the toaster oven or mid-morning snack. And I got wise this time and made just a half recipe in a 9x9 baking dish. My ¨green¨ peppers that I ordered from my CSA ended up purple (but no less delicious) and my cottage cheese from PCC ended up being all curds and no whey, which probably helped the texture.

Cheese-Mushroom Fingers

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lg. green pepper

Saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in butter until soft. Add pepper and cook a minute more. Set aside.

• 10 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. dried basil
• 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 4 cups shredded Jack cheese
• 3/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Beat eggs. Then mix in the other ingredients until blended. Add the mushroom mixture.

Put into greased 10"x 15¨ jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min. or until firm.

Cool at least 15 min. before cutting into 3/4¨ x 2¨ fingers. Serve warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate up to 2 days. Freezes well.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin - Recipe #108

I hate grilling - but I love pork tenderloin, so it is no surprise that while I kept this recipe from Trent's mom, I never had made it before the Recipe Challenge. I adore the smell of lighter fluid and charcoal together (though I know it is probably not the best for me), but I can never seem to get them to actually light - or if I do, I don't have the patience for the coals to glow with heat. So I was a little nervous having this as one of my final recipes in the month of October, always iffy grilling weather. Fortunately, we have had a lovely early autumn and I had a willing grill-er/sous chef in Trent. I did have to make one substitution - I could not find guava jelly anywhere, so I substituted red pepper jelly. Delish! I served some of the leftover marinade sauce on a salmon burger.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Brine:

• 1 1/2 Tbs. salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups cold water

Stir salt and sugar in boiling water to dissolve, then add cold water. Add meat and brine in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Rub:

• 3 Tbs. Spanish paprika
• 1 Tbs. cumin
• 2 tsp. ground fennel
• 1 Tbs. ground mustard
• 2 tsp. salt
• coarse black pepper

Mix spices together and rub into meat, then coat with olive oil. Grill meat 5 to 6 min. per side over med. hot coals, turning 1/4 turn each time, and basting with glaze often.

Glaze:

• 1 cup guava jelly
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• salt & pepper

Reserve some glaze for serving, adding cilantro.

Frozen Cranberry-Pineapple Salad - Recipe #107

I can't decide whether to count this as a dessert or a salad. This is a Thanksgiving classic from Trent's mom. The first time I prepared it, I brought it to my grandmother's for dinner. My family seemed excited to try it until they learned there was sour cream in it (who knows what their bias is - sour cream makes it like a delicious creamsicle). For the challenge, I prepared just a half recipe, taking advantage of the half can of pineapple leftover from the carrot cake and the sour cream leftover from the sour cream horseradish sauce and Beef Stroganoff.

Frozen Cranberry-Pineapple Salad 

• 1 can crushed pineapple (1#, 4oz.), drained
• 1 can cranberry sauce
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/4 c. coarsely chopped pecans

Thoroughly mix all ingredients. Freeze at least 3 hours until firm. Allow to sit at room temp. for a few min. before cutting.

Kristy's Yummy Butternut Squash Soup - Recipe #106

Another delicious recipe from my bridal shower. This was the first time, I'd made it because 1) Trent doesn't care for squash and 2) it is a pain to peel squash. Well, though I avoided any injury, it is painful to peel the squash, so next time I'll likely purchase a pre-cut Trader Joe's bag o' squash, rather than painstakingly hacking away at my CSA beauty. I had a teeny-tiny squash that only made two-cups worth of cubed squash so I only made one-third of a recipe - just a perfect individual size recipe. Even with only one cube of bouillon, it was fairly salty, so I will probably make it in homemade veggie broth next time. Yum, yum, yummy.

Kristy's Yummy Butternut Squash Soup

• 6 tbls. chopped onion
• 1 tbs. margarine (I used butter)
• 6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 3 cups water
• 4 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
• 1 3 oz. package cream cheese

In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; cook 20 minutes or until squash is tender.

Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan and heat through. Do not boil.

(Note reads: This is my FAVORITE on a cold evening! :))

Carrot Cake - Recipe #105

Oh carrot cake, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. For the carrots and pineapple, that make thee feel virtuous; for the moist texture resulting from said carrots and pineapple; and most of all, for thy cream cheese frosting.

It was a bit alarming to have a cake in the final 10 without a corresponding social event to share it at, so I chose to make a half batch in an oblong pan. Without layers to frost, I probably could have made a third of a recipe of frosting, but I played it safe, thus providing suitable quantities for bowl-licking. And we did tempt one friend to come over for carrot cake and rum after a late night showing of The Martian (so good, but so much tiredness the next day - we are now reading the book aloud together).

This is another of the recipes that I received from Trent's mom one Christmas.

Carrot Cake

Mix together:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon

Stir in and beat well:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups veg. oil
• 4 eggs

Add and mix well:

• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 can drained crushed pineapple
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Pour into three 9¨ pans or 1 oblong and one round, well greased. Bake for 35 to 40 min. at 350 degrees.

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix butter, cream cheese, and vanilla, then add the sugar, mixing slowly at first.

Thursday Thought

“Learning – by definition – will always feel inauthentic. Practicing a new behavior, showing up in a new way, or acting differently, feels inauthentic. Changing a dance that’s been danced many times before will never feel natural. It will feel awkward, fake, like pretending.”

Peter Bregman “A Simple Formula for Changing Our Behavior”, Harvard Business Review

I don't know why this resonated with me when I read it earlier this week. Perhaps because I never thought I was the kind of person who would read the Harvard Business Review regularly - at a point in time, it would have been ¨inauthentic¨, but now I look forward to finding new articles in my blog feed. Or the fact that my first day on the job as an Assistant Managing Librarian, I felt a bit like a fraud. It's not just imposter syndrome, it is that when we learn, we are doing the things that don't just come naturally to us - whether in work or in life.

Beef with Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce - Recipe #104

The recipes that originate with Trent share some commonalities - they are written on scratch paper, like old phone bills, or Post-it notes and they lack detailed instructions or in the case of this rub and sauce combo, the type of meat to serve it with. While I asked (unfruitfully) what the intended meat for this was, it was only after I purchased and served a tough roast that suggested baking at 325 degrees until 140 degrees, that he said ¨I think this was for a London Broil¨. I quite enjoyed the sauce and plan to use the leftovers (even though I only made half a batch, some still remains) on a London Broil soon.

Beef with Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce

• 1 tsp fresh parsley, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp pepper, black, crushed

325 degrees, 1 - 1 1/2 hr (140 degrees interior temp.)

• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. horseradish
• 2 T. milk
• 1 T. chives, fresh
• 1/8 tsp pepper, white, ground

Elenor's Eclairs - Recipe # 103

Another extraordinarily simple dessert recipe. Rather than making a complete recipe, I used leftover graham crackers from an earlier dessert and just half of the pudding. Well, I tried to use just half of the pudding - however, when I was at the store, I couldn't remember whether I was supposed to buy a small package or a large package, so I erred on the side of getting too much. After my 8 x 8 pan of eclairs was finished, I still had half a box of pudding leftover that remains in my refrigerator. This would be a fun recipe to make with young children. A little too much reliance on already prepped ingredients for me to enlist into my normal routine, though I'll keep it for the sentimental value.

Elenor's Eclairs

• 2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups milk
• Graham crackers
• Chocolate cake frosting

Cover the bottom of a 9¨ x 13¨ pan with graham crackers. Combine pudding mix with 3 cups of milk and spread on top of crackers. Top with another layer of graham crackers. Add a layer of ready-made chocolate cake frosting. It may be easier to quickly frost top crackers before putting them on pudding layer, then fill in any gaps. Allow layers to ¨blend¨ in refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.

Elenor was Jack's (Trent's grandfather) long-time secretary and bookkeeper.

Rolo Treats - Recipe #102

Monday nights I work until 8:05 p.m., rush off to the bus that leaves at 8:11 p.m. and return home by 8:35-ish. So any recipe that I make on a Monday is typically either something that requires morning prep time, such as a slow cooker meal, or something so easy it barely counts as a recipe. Last Monday, during my ¨lunch¨ break at 4 p.m., I headed to Roger's Market to pick up the majority of the remaining ingredients needed for the Recipe Challenge. As I unloaded my basket with pretzels and Rolos, I felt like defending myself by saying ¨really, most of the time, I have fresh healthy food¨, though I suppose in the grand scheme of things, pretzels are a ¨healthy¨ junk food.

My good friends who hosted my bridal shower shared this recipe with me, one that they've used at many a party. It's easy enough for a late night and scalable - I made just the number of Rolo treats as there are Rolos in a package. Yummy and small enough that you don't feel any guilt over eating one or two.

Rolo Treats

• pretzels
• Rolos
• pecans

Layer a baking sheet with pretzels.

Stack a single Rolo candy on each pretzel.

Preheat oven on bake to 250 degrees.

Bake pretzels and Rolos for 4 minutes.

Place pecan on top of Rolo and pretzel and press.

Cool in fridge - enjoy!

Makes: as many as you want

Salmon with Chili-Honey Glaze - Recipe #101

The race continues. The closer I get to the end, the more likely I am to make only one-half the recipe, just so my refrigerator doesn't explode. This recipe was quite good, though I prefer a drier, less sweet rub for my salmon in general. It was the perfect end to a sunny sail to Kingston last Sunday. Not a very complex recipe, but it still feels fancy. Plus I had stayed up to late the night before playing board games and was sleepy enough that I wouldn't have trusted myself with anything too complex.

Salmon with Chili-Honey Glaze

• 1 1/3 lb. salmon fillet
• 2 T orange juice
• 2 T lime juice
• 3 T honey
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t ground chili powder
• 1 small minced green chili
• 1/4 t salt
• freshly ground pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place salmon in foil-lined baking pan.

Combine orange and lime juice, honey, cumin, chili powder and minced chili, stirring well to dissolve the honey.

Pour about half the glaze over the salmon, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake 12 minutes per inch of thickness (this is where I regretted that my oven thermometer had died and the new one hadn't yet arrived). Halfway through the cooking time, pour the remaining glaze on top. When the salmon is cooked through, remove from the oven. Spoon the thickened glaze in the bottom of the pan over the salmon and serve.

Serves 4.

Little Cheesecakes - Recipe #100

Wow - a milestone. One hundred recipes made from the Loose Recipe Challenge. Hard to believe that it's almost finished. We had dinner and game night at a friend's house last week. As I had worked that day, I nearly didn't prepare a recipe until Trent reminded me how little time (and how many desserts) I had left. This is another of the recipes that I received one Christmas from Trent's mom. It got good reviews from the other dinner guests.

Little Cheesecakes

Beat together:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Pour into well greased muffin tins (do not skimp on this step - I had a heck of a time getting them out intact, even from the silicone cookware) - 6 for dessert size, 10-12 for smaller treat size. Bake at 375 for 15-30 minutes depending on size, until knife comes out clean. Remove from tins while warm. Top with sweetened sour cream or serve with fresh or frozen fruit (I took advantage of the season and sauteed some apples in butter with a little cinnamon and sugar and mixed with some caramel sauce remaining from another dessert-making foray). Double recipe and freeze extras.

Mom's Berry Muffins - Recipe #99

Mom's berry muffins are part of the taste of my childhood. No mixes for us - our baked goods were from scratch. And when blackberry season began, we had pies, muffins, shortbread and more to use up some of nature's bounty. So at my bridal shower, I was pleased that this was the recipe she chose to share. This time, I used some of the last batch of raspberries from the Wallingford Farmer's Market. I should have known that in late September they'd be better baking-berries than eating-berries. I shared them at a friend's brunch and then with another friend, as I knew that recipes for numerous other baked goods were coming up soon.

• 1 c. white flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 2 t. sugar or honey
• 1/8 t. salt
• 1/4 t. ground cloves (I was out, so substituted allspice)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. berries
• 1/2 t. cinnamon (for berries)
• 1 T. sugar (for berries)

Mix dry ingredients. Make a well. Place egg and oil in well and beat slightly. Pour in milk and stir until all ingredients are moist. Mix berries, cinnamon and sugar separately and fold into the mixture. Bake in muffin tin at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Thursday Thought

¨Lots of people have all the time in the world, and yet they don't know it. They fill their time - that's the problem; they clutter their lives. Then they discover they have none. But they once did, even if they did not know it.¨

Alexander McCall Smith, The Novel Habits of Happiness

Why are we so busy nowadays? At the library recently, I overheard one of our children's staff inviting a family to our upcoming Lego Robotics program. ¨Oh, we don't have any time - the kids have too many other obligations.¨ It made me a bit sad that there was no time for a more spur-of-the-moment idea for them, but not too surprised.

Perhaps I'm particularly susceptible to feeling busy at the moment. I just started teaching a series of classes on Best New Picture Books to childcare providers and parents. At the same time, I have a few closing meetings for my trip to Tanzania, am a part of my church's ¨long range strategic planning taskforce¨, which requires a few small group discussions this month and still go to choir on Thursday nights. It's getting so an evening home is a rare and lovely treat. Time for me to start guarding my time a bit more (though not too jealously, as I have a tendency towards holing up at home as the evenings get darker).

Steak (or I learn a valuable lesson) - Recipe # 98

The next ¨recipe¨ barely counts as a recipe, as it is more like basic cooking instructions given to Trent by his mom when we first got together. I rarely make steak, in part because I am terrified of over- or under-cooking. So this time, I decided to make use of our handy-dandy oven thermometer. Knowing the interior temperature of the meat would surely prevent any errors. Sadly, I had not made the connection that the broiler might be dangerous to the poor little thermometer. I glanced over to see that it read 345 degrees (at least 200 degrees hotter than I wanted the interior of my meat) and quickly yanked open the oven only to see a small orange flame on the wire of the temperature gauge. I removed it and kept a true fire from starting, but sadly it no longer worked. And I ended up with steak a little rarer than I would have liked. Fortunately, there is a happy ending. I just received my replacement probe in the mail (hooray for the internets!) and will be testing it out on a couple of the last recipes of the challenge.

Steak

Buy 4 oz. to 1 lb. per person depending on waste (fat and bone). Use porterhouse, T-bone, tenderloin, New York, rib-eye, *minute, *sirloin. (* less tender, less expensive)

Trim fat, slash edges of any remaining fat to prevent curling when cooking.

Set oven and temp. to broil (550 - leave door open). Place meat on broiler pan so top of 1 in. steak is 2-3 in. from heat, place thicker steak lower. Outside grill -- put meat about 4 in. from hot coals.

Broil till brown on both sides, turning only once. Check for doneness by cutting slit in thickest part of meat or next to bone. Medium is pink in the center. Will take 15 to 30 min. depending on size, thickness, and personal choice. First side takes longer and outdoor grilling is usually a little quicker.

Season after cooking.

Golden Potatoes - Recipe #97

Funny how long it took me to make this classic Thanksgiving dish from Trent's mom. I think the sheer amounts scared me off. Fortunately, I am perfectly fine with halving or quartering a recipe, as I did here. I just can't imagine how long it would take me and Trent to finish off 8 potatoes. Two is much more manageable for two people - and even still, we had some leftover. Very tasty, but dangerous to make too often, as I have very little resistance when it comes to cheesy potatoes.

Golden Potatoes

• 8 potatoes
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I used extra-sharp)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 2 cups sour cream

Boil potatoes in skins, refrigerate overnight (I started this process at the same time I made my pickles and ribs), then peel, grate, salt and pepper them the next day. Toss lightly with rest of ingredients, place in casserole and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Can use more potatoes to make healthier, adding some skim milk if necessary, still good! Serves 8 to 10.

Variation: make with a combination of potatoes and sweet potatoes

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars - Recipe #96

Last December, on my last day as Children's Services Coordinator, I attended our Public Services retreat at the Snohomish Library. By the end of the day, our brains hurt from all of the prioritizing and sticky notes. Fortunately, our stomachs were happy, as some wonderful souls brought along dessert. It was love at first bite for me with this Pumpkin Cheesecake Bar, which our Island district manager had found in a local church cookbook. I raved about it and a few days later, it showed up in a shotgun envelope at my new job. Since it was at the tale end of pumpkin season, I didn't end up making it right away, but with the end of the challenge drawing steadily closer (and the fall of the autumn leaves) I knew the time was drawing nigh.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

• 1 c. flour
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 5 T. butter
• 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Combine flour and brown sugar and cut in butter to make a crumb mixture. Stir in nuts. Set aside 3/4 cup of mixture and press the rest into an 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool Slightly. Combine cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, eggs and spices. Blend until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over pumpkin. Bake at 350 deg. for 30-35 minuts. Cut into bars 2 x 1 1/2 inches. Makes about 24.

Ribs - Recipe #95

My father's first job was at the Chuckwagon BBQ on Aurora. He was at the Wallingford Boys Club (before they added ¨and Girls¨ to the name) when they came to post the job. While he was younger than the other teens, he got the job by being the only one there that day - apparently there was a field trip that everyone else had gone on. My dad loves to cook and in some ways I wonder if his work life would have been more fulfilling if he'd stayed in the restaurant business. Even now, I can see him opening up a little food truck called Papa's that serves up home-cookin'. He insists that he wouldn't want to obligated to cook every day, but if we opened up a food truck, he'd come by every once in a while with special treats. But I digress...

It was at the Chuckwagon that he learned this recipe for ribs, one of my childhood favorites. The recipe makes enough for a short-order crowd, so he advises dividing it by 10.

So after making a few recipes from Trent's family, it was time to move on to some of my own. I almost made this for a friend's birthday party ¨rib-off¨ back in April. However, since I had to work the day of, I was unable to find the time to do them right - which is a shame, because I think these may just have taken the top prize.

Tabasco sauce (a couple of shakes)
some garlic (powder or fresh)
10 lb. can tomato puree
10 lb can tomatoes
1/2 10 lb. can water
tomato scraps
large onion, diced
7 T. mustard powder
2 T. chili powder
4 T. pepper
4 T. fennel seed
3 c. Worcestershire sauce
3 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 c. vinegar
(salt if desired)
4-12 slabs of ribs

Bake at 350 degrees for 3 1/2 hours or until the bones pull out(I made it at the same time as my pickles so that I could limit my babysitting kitchen ingredients to just 1 day)

Traditionally served with garlic bread, corn on the cob and/or baked potatoes. Serve the leftover sauce on burgers for a delicious Chuckwagon barbecue burger.

Zucchini Pickles - Recipe #94

I've often longed to be the kind of person who ¨puts up¨ summer's bounty, making preserves and pickles, but other than a time or two helping my mom and next door neighbor make blackberry jam years ago or helping my grandma cut up pears, I've never followed through. In part, I'm reluctant to purchase canning equipment that will take up space. I'm also mildly fearful of botulism. I have a good friend who swears by refrigerator pickles though and this recipe, made by Trent's aunt Norma on the occasion of his parents' bridal shower, looked to be adaptable.

Trent is not a fan of fresh zucchini, so I figured that I may have to eat this jar of pickles alone. However, in the magic process of pickling, zucchini no longer has its trademark taste or texture. The verdict: ¨they taste like pickles¨ (and fortunately, the sweet pickles that his family loves, rather than dills).

This is a great recipe to make on a lazy day close to home, as there is plenty of time spent letting them ¨stand¨. I made a half batch, mostly because my CSA share delivered 1 lb. of zucchini the previous week, as well as only having one small onion left.

Zucchini Pickles

• 2 lbs. zucchini
• 2 small onions
• 1/4 c. salt
• 2 c. white vinegar
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. tumeric
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• 1 tsp. mustard seed

Washin zucchini and cut into thin slices. Peel and slice onions. Cover vegetables with water and add salt. Let stand for 2 hrs., then drain thoroughly. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil and pour over vegetables. Let stand for 2 hours, then bring everything to a boil for 5 minutes. Pack in hot, sterilized jars and seal (or worry a little less about proper sealing technique if you plan to eat immediately as we are doing). Makes about 3 pints.

Beef Stroganoff - Recipe #93

Well, the heat of summer has disappeared and with it, my desire to spend hours in the kitchen has returned. Since I gave myself just one year to finish my Loose Recipe Challenge and my first recipe was made on October 16 I have just two weeks to finish 13 new recipes. I have full confidence that I can pull it off, though it may mean that friends and family will have to pull together to help eat the dessert because I don't think Trent and I can handle it alone.

I started back up again in earnest last week, making six recipes between Thursday and Sunday (the 13 recipes don't include these). First up was Trent's mom's beef stroganoff recipe, given to him back when we first started dating - one of the first recipes that he cooked for me. Trent's comment, ¨it taste's like the food I grew up with.¨ Exactly the effect one would hope for...

2 servings
Cut 1/2 to 1 lb. steak into bite-sized pieces (I used the smaller amount of meat). With less tender meat, cut very thin strips. Partially frozen meat is easiest to cut (I've always known this, but don't usually follow the advice. This time I did and it made everything so much easier). Brown meat in skillet over med. heat in 1-2 T oil or butter.

(start rice now if making)

Wash and quarter 1/4 to 1/2 lb. mushrooms (I used the greater amount of mushrooms). Remove outer layer and dice 1/2 yellow onion. Cook over med. heat in 1-2 T. oil or butter until done (about 10 min.) Or add 1 can mushrooms, drained, and 2 t. dried onion.

Add 1/2 can beef broth, 1 T catsup and 1/2 t. salt to meat and vegetables. (start noodles now if making). Simmer covered for 10 min. Or add extra water to compensate for escaping steam if not covered.

Mix a little cold water or broth with 2 T flour, then stir into hot meat mixture. Boil, stirring constantly for 1 min. until it thickens.

Add 2-3 T sour cream. Do not boil. For more sauce, add more sour cream (and calories). Serve over hot noodles or rice.

Thursday Thought

¨You do not need anyone's permission to live a creative life.¨

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

I just started reading Elizabeth Gilbert's (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) new book on creativity and already I'm inspired. I've always felt like I'm not really creative - that I don't do anything new or innovative. But as a human, I am drawn to creative acts - knitting, writing/blogging, cooking - bringing something from nothing.

Another of her ideas that I am especially drawn to is the idea that artists are not genius, they possess genius or are visited by a spark. No one reaches perfection every time they put pen to paper or paint to canvas - but if you don't try, you'll never have the opportunity to showcase genius, should it decide to appear.

At Home In Usa River

After a harrowing morning at the Amsterdam airport (luggage and check-in difficulties meant that we arrived at the gate five minutes before the scheduled departure - fortunately they held the plane for us) and a nine-hour flight, our intrepid group of twelve arrives at Kilimanjaro airport. ¨Ah, the smell of Africa - burning garbage,¨ says one of the other chaperones, who had visited a number of other times. While we are all impatient to actually experience Tanzania, the first thing we do on arrival is wait in line to be fingerprinted and show our visas. Fortunately, we do not have any international super criminals in the group, so we make it through without incident. Then more waiting to pick up luggage (and report that three of the bags were MIA, though they do show up later in the trip).

Finally, Sharon, one of the other chaperones, gathers us up saying, ¨there are some people who are very anxious to meet you.¨  Outside there is a large group of faculty (and friends of Sharon's from a previous journey) to greet us, presenting each of us with two roses and placing a homemade lei around our necks. Our new friends commandeer our luggage, despite our best efforts to hold on to it, pray a prayer of thanks and climb into the van to join us on the forty minute ride to the guest house.

We are quiet on the ride, trying to take it all in despite the darkness - looking at the signs in Swahili, businesses and vegetation. Close to the airport the roads are paved, but as we approach our destination we switch over to dirt roads. The guest house is gated and the narrow angle always requires some negotiation on the part of our driver and the guard (we make it through only once in our stay on the first approach).

At our new home, we are met by group of students with closely shorn heads (boys and girls both) and navy uniforms. We gather on the porch as they sing and dance, ¨hey, hey visitors. We like to welcome you, we like to welcome you to our special school, to our school¨, and subsequent verses about working, learning and helping each other. I have never felt so welcomed in my entire life.

The students and teachers disperse, with promises to meet again at the school the next day, and we begin the process of settling in. Mama Kiara, who runs the Meru Diocese Guest House (but also has other diocese duties) greets us with a light meal of cucumber soup, bread and baobab flower juice (apparently the baobab only flowers at night). We divide into our respective rooms. The students, including our recent college graduate, are in a more hostel-style building, with bunks. The chaperones are in the main building. Sharon and I share a room, while Tim is solo.

Each bed has a mosquito net that we learn to tuck in between the mattress and bed frame. While it is not mosquito season, each building seems to have a pesky one or two stragglers buzzing around. Above the bathroom light switch is a switch for the hot water heater, which we only turn on 15-20 minutes before shower time. Sharon, Tim and I regularly have hot showers. The other nine members of our group, who share a hot water heater with the only other visitor at the guest house, are not usually quite so lucky (unless they are first in line). After returning home, one of the guys, not used to sharing a bathroom with seven young women lamented, ¨so much hair!¨

Mama Kiara is an older woman, who was brought back from retirement for her current job. She has a beautiful smile and warm demeanor as she announces, ¨karibu, you are welcome.¨ Her hair falls a few inches below her shoulders and is always braided and covered with an African print kerchief. Over the course of our two week stay, she makes this place feel like home, to the extent that after two nights away for safari, most of our group announces at various times, ¨I miss Mama Kiara. It will be nice to go home,¨ meaning the guest house - not our Seattle homes.

Typical scene during downtime at the guest house - cards, books and music

Mama Kiara carefully plans out each meal to try to avoid waste and will add leftover vegetables from dinner to the pancake batter the next day, a savory combination that I enjoy, but most of the teens find to be strange. After first helpings, she also circles the table, either asking us if we would like more or discreetly adding food to our plates before we can object (we ate a lot under her care and not wanting to offend her or disappoint her, I ended up with seconds or thirds a number of times). Before each meal, she announces, ¨let us pray¨ and then either leads the group in a prayer in Swahili or directs to one of the group, ¨you will pray¨. She's very soft-spoken, so sometimes we need to shush or nudge one another when she announces prayer time.

Each breakfast includes a freshly blended fruit juice, while each lunch or dinner includes a freshly made vegetable soup - her favorite is cucumber soup, but we also have tomato, potato, pumpkin and carrot throughout our stay. Our meals include Western-inspired items, like French Toast, scrambled eggs, or spaghetti, but also ugali and chapati, along with a delicious sauce, which is to become of favorite of our group (and does not resemble Indian chapati in the least). Breakfast includes tea or Africafe, the local instant coffee, with hot milk. At lunch or dinner, she circles the interior of the tables arranged in u-shape to get our soda requests. While most of us are converted to Tangawizi, Coke's ginger beer, which sadly is not available in the U.S., we also have a large Fanta-contingent. Each meal is followed up by a fruit course - mangoes, super-cute tiny bananas, pineapple or watermelon - and we eat plenty of vegetables - a particular favorite is the avocado served with red onions and vinegar.

After dinner each night, we gather as a group to work on a reflection sheet with highlights and impressions of the day. Sometimes we get a bit off topic or minds wander, but it also leads to discussions about how we've changed as a result of what we've experienced together. One night's conversation covers the impact of the used clothing market, while another concerns feelings of guilt at expecting our lives to be changed by experiencing life in a country with lower relative income - is it voyeuristic? Are we taking advantage? Jumping off points on the reflection sheet include: impressions, culture insights, high points, challenges, ¨I laughed when...¨, ¨I see God's work in...¨ and ¨I hope I never forget¨.

While the one other visitor at the house dines with us, he does not typically stay for the entire reflection, though in our discussion of guilt, he offers up that the local families are healthy and happy and not to be pitied. Dr. Jim (the Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work on landmines) is an orthopedic surgeon operating at the local hospital. On his last evening with us, he offers to show a Power Point presentation (previously given at Geneva for the U.N.) about landmines, the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders. This turns out to be fascinating.

Our neighborhood is surrounded by cows and chickens, maize crops and tons and tons of children. When our bus gets a few blocks away from the guest house, the yelling and waving begins and the kids run after our vehicle. ¨Be careful,¨ we wince. There is usually an hour or so after our return before dinner begins. Often, this time is spent either playing soccer or Frisbee with the neighborhood kids (or for our introverts, who are beginning to miss privacy and time alone to decompress, reading and writing).

One little one follows us home...

The power goes out nearly every single day. While there is a gasoline-powered generator, Mama Kiara typically only runs it until shortly after she leaves for the day, which means that often at 8 p.m. it is pitch dark (sunrise and sunset are both at about 6:40). While we have small solar powered lights at our disposal, on these nights, we often go to bed early. Electric light at 9 or 10 p.m. becomes a luxury that we seize to stay up ¨late¨.

Another luxury - washing machines. While the kindly Ailanga School Project Board back in Seattle has purchased a washing machine for Mama Kiara, unfortunately the guest house is not set-up yet in manner where it can be hooked up (not sure if it is the water or the power that is the problem...). All washing is done by hand in buckets in the yard and hung to dry.

Laundry day

Our last tea with Mama Kiara, Rebecca, our driver and the guard results in a few tears. This time Sharon, Tim and I serve the table. I enjoy emulating Mama Kiara's hospitality - saying ¨karibu¨, distributing Tangawizi and trying to get someone to take the last roll.

Now that I'm at my Seattle home, I miss her sweetness, as well as the fellowship of our group meals. Somehow, eating with just two people at the dinner table seems empty, though I enjoy seeing Trent again.

Still to come: school life and safari.

Thursday Thought

¨You carry the seeds of learning....In order for it [the environment, endangered species] to survive, it needs me and you.¨

Mama Maggie Duncan Simbeye, Founder of Dare Women's Foundation and Awesome Safari Guide

¨People are happy, people are good. Life goes on...Life is all about happiness. It doesn't mean you have a lot.¨

Mama Maggie

¨I hope I never forget... Mama Maggie¨

group reflection sheet from our time at Ailanga, a sentiment repeated over multiple days by nearly the entire group

¨I hear that Maggie is really good. She was the guide for my sister and dad's safari and they said if she's the guide to make sure you're in her vehicle,¨ Julia, the recent college graduate on the journey shared quietly. When the time came to divide up into the two safari vehicles, she, along with three of the girls and I bolted to the line for Maggie's.

As we began the two hour drive from Usa River to Tarangire National Park, we learned more about Maggie's life - her commitment both to conservation and to women's issues and she urged us not to let our new knowledge end silently with us. Her call to action - carry the seeds of knowledge to our friends and family at home.

She shared facts about some of the most commonly poached animals: antelope, rhino, elephant, zebra and giraffe. Often when poachers take an elephant, they kill the largest, which is usually the matriarch of the family, leaving the others at a loss and making it more difficult for the young animals to learn what they need to be a part of the family. She showed us the broken land on the way to the park, barren without the trees that once lined the road - five minutes to cut down and then gone for a lifetime. She told a folk tale of the baobab tree, how the reason it looks as though it is upside down is that God threw it that way because of his anger at the baobab's conceit (but that since then, the tree has shown itself to be resilient and helpful to people and animals).

Maggie herself is an inspiration. She is one of five female safari guides in Tanzania. She is fierce and seemingly fearless. One of her stories features herself as a young student, who disobeys her teacher's orders to stand up because she is menstruating and afraid to do so because her underpants might leak (a common problem in a country with low access to pads and tampons, leading some girls to skip school altogether). He beat her and she still carries the scars today - but when she went to the school office to stand up against this, she told them she would not tell her father (an important political figure in the town) if they agreed to make sure no girl had to undergo the same pain and humiliation. ¨We need one person to stand. Complaining doesn't help. One person needs to stand.¨ And her stand continues today, through the work of her non-profit foundation which teaches women how to make their own reusable, leak-proof sanitary pads.

After that first ride with Maggie, I moved to the other driver's vehicle (Alex, a strong, silent Masaai who worked diligently to position our vehicle in the best spot for wildlife viewing), to give the others a chance to learn and grow from Maggie. I missed Maggie, but will try to take what I've learned from her and share it with the world. 

Nitakumbuka Maggie (translation of my probably poor Swahili grammar - I will miss or I will remember Maggie).

Tanzania Trip FAQ

Argh! I took my last malaria pill last night and there is still so much that I'd like to share about my trip. Before I get too far into depicting the scenes of our daily life, let me share answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from friends and family.

Q: You were working with a school, right? Did you work on any construction projects while you were there?

A: Nope, our partners have made it clear that having interactions and building relationships, while sending funds is of more use to them. In fact, the one prior group wanted to help plant trees. They arrived to find holes pre-dug for them. Plus, you don't really want me leading a building project! We also each brought a second suitcase, filled with donated items for the school, a nearby orphanage and the hospital (a big shout out to Aubrey, Ashley and Colleen for the wonderful items for the orphanage - they were much appreciated!)

Q: So if it was a trip with your church, were you ¨missionaries¨?

A: Okay, so no one has really asked this question, but I just feel people thinking it. We were guests of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. If anything, they tried to win us over to some of their more conservative ways of thinking. Really, the trip was about fellowship and learning about each other more than anything else.

Q: Well if you didn't build anything and you didn't try to convert anyone, what did you do?

A: So many things - we attended classes and assemblies with the students. Our students played sports with them, including netball, which our girls decided should be brought back to America. We went on safari at Arusha National Park, Tarangire, and Ngorogoro Crater (and saw tons of animals). We visited some of the other social services of the Meru Diocese, including a rehab center, a coffee farm, an after-school program for the poorest youth, an orphanage and a hospital.

Q: Who is we? Trent was with you, right?

A: We is three chaperones, eight 16 and 17-year-olds (6 girls, 2 boys; three 17 year-olds and five 16 year-olds) and a recent college graduate who sometimes counted as a student and sometimes as an adult, depending on the situation. We came from the four churches that make up the Ailanga School Project plus two additional churches. Trent did not come along, mostly because I was pretty sure that he would not be very excited about chaperoning a trip for a church which he does not attend. One of our friends did try to convince him to plan a side trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro for the time that I'd be gone, suggesting that he surprise me by being at the airport or the market when I was scheduled to be there.

Q: Did you have any difficulties with the kids (e.g. problems with alcohol)?

A: Nah, the combination of having a great group with us, staying in a guest house that is locked up at night and being completely jet-lagged in Amsterdam took care of that (plus, I am an awesome chaperone!). The most trouble they got in was being told to hush up a couple of nights by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning doctor randomly staying at our guest house.

Q: You must have been boiling hot - what was the weather like?

A: Well, actually the area we visited had temperatures about 65-70 degrees most days. It is their winter time, and they apologized several times (wearing warm scarves and hats) for how cold it was. One day it rained and most of the students bundled up in coats for the outdoor church service. On safari it got a little warmer, but not any hotter than the weather we've had in Seattle this summer.

Q: What were you most struck by?

A: Like I said in my Re-entry post, the sense of hospitality - greeting strangers and genuinely being pleased to meet us. We were met at the airport and dropped off at the airport by a number of teachers and when we first arrived at the guest house some of the students sang and danced a welcome song for us. I can't remember the last time a group of friends or family met me at the airport either coming or going. Plus, even in a small village, people seem to do much more of their living outside of their houses.

Q: Any moments of culture shock?

A: While attending a religion class, the teacher went over one of the test questions: ¨Name two reasons why child sacrifice is practiced in modern-day Tanzania¨. ¨It is very common,¨ he said. Yikes! But I suspect that it is more like the Satanism child sacrifice rumors circulating the U.S. in the 80s than an actual commonplace program.

Q: Did you get sick?

A: A cold circulated through the group, but nothing too terrible. I did have one night where I was sick as a dog, going so far as to take a Cipro - but I suspect it was one thing that I ate in the buffet that no one else did (as I was fine the next morning and no one else had any problems - a good thing, since that occurred the night before exploring Ngorogoro Crater).

Q: Any other difficulties?

A: This was not the trip for a person who likes to be in control and know exactly what to expect. We were constantly surprised by changes in our schedule, miscommunications or differing expectations. That said, some of those oddities led to the most laughter (more on that in a future post).

Q: Was it wonderful? Will you go back?

A: Yes and I'm not sure. I feel like the second time of any new experience is often a let-down. Plus three weeks is a long time to be away from Trent. And yet, it changed my outlook on life - both making me appreciate my own lifestyle and giving me a concrete reminder that you don't need a lot of money to be happy or have ¨enough¨.

Any other questions? Let me know in the comments. And again, I do plan on a few follow-up posts in the next week or so before our Summer South Sound Sailing Adventure.

Listmania - (Tanzania) You Fill Up My Senses

The sounds: chirping, warbling, cooing birds, crowing roosters, the morning call to prayer (which my earplugs generally covered up), ¨karibu - you are welcome¨, ¨habari - how are you?¨, ¨jambo¨, the generator kicking in after one of the daily power outages, Saturday evening pounding bass (along with laughter, hooting and cheering), the snores of my roommate, honking motorcycles, crickets, cascading laughter, roaring car engines, dull rumble of traffic, guest house blender, cameras focusing and snapping, singing

The smells: acrid smoke as plastic and other garbage burns (evident immediately on exiting the plane), eucalyptus (especially when on safari), dust

The sights: roaming chickens, goats, cows, banana trees, maize, dirt roads, kids everywhere!, businesses with names such as ¨Cuting Saloon¨, ¨Ambiance Pub¨, ¨Digital Pub¨, ¨Modern Driving School¨ or ¨I'm a King M'Pesa¨, dala dalas (buses), birds flitting in and out of the open-air auditorium at the school, Mama Kiara's gentle smile, a Maasai boy standing at the shoulder of the road with a chicken on his head

The tastes: freshly made juices (mango, baobab flower, papaya passion, avocado), vegetable soups (potato, tomato, pumpkin, cucumber, carrot), sweet milky chai, Africafe, the tang of Tangawizi (Coca-cola produced ginger beer), crisp & smoky goat, savory pancakes, chapati, ugali, pilau, watermelon, pineapple, mango, tiny bananas, green bananas, tomatoes, the most delicious and ginormous avocados ever (!)

Re-entry

On Thursday afternoon, after approximately one whole day of flights, layovers and airport waiting, I arrived back in Seattle and began the process of conquering jet-lag and becoming reacquainted with day-to-day life. It is both wonderful and strangely disorienting to be home again. No longer do I have to count up a group of 10, 11 or 12 to make sure that no one has been hit by fast-moving bicycles or scooters in Amsterdam or left behind in Tanzania. After weeks of being part of a group, I'm now responsible for only myself - no more reminders to take those malaria meds at breakfast or that, yes, you really do need to take your passport with you. (Actually, with so many of my friends on vacation and Trent off racing today and at work yesterday, the solitude that I so craved has become a bit lonely.)

I've spent quite a bit of time wandering the streets, glad to finally be active after weeks of large meals and few opportunities to exercise. Buildings here are much larger and in a better state of repair, with paved streets and sidewalks, but there seem to be so few people out on our roads and shoulders in comparison with Usa River, which is so much smaller in population. When I do see people, there are certainly folks that acknowledge me with a nod or a ¨hello¨, but not with the frequency of the ¨karibus¨, ¨jambos¨, ¨hello, how are yous¨ or ¨habaris¨ witnessed in Tanzania. Children are much fewer and farther between and the three little boys that I saw leaving QFC, doughnuts in hand, did not yell out ¨mzungu, mzungu, mzungu¨ or grab my hands to walk home with me (granted, I didn't have any teenagers with me, but I doubt the situation would have been any different in any case).

I'm still not quite ready to let go of the trip or the different way I look at my home city now that I've returned. So look forward to some more detailed posts of my time away. And as much as possible, I want to be as welcoming as the Tanzanians - to extend the sense of community that I believe so strongly in. I have fallen a bit in love with Tanzanian culture, my own life at home and the group of crazy young people that I traveled with - that boundless energy, followed by exhaustion before the second wind, the possibilities in life so tantalizing and unknown (yes, I know that is an idealization, as probably each of them individually drove me crazy during the trip itself).

Thursday Thought - and a Fortune Update

¨There is always a delay between planting and harvesting.¨

Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day by Tom Rath

Yes, the title sounds rather morbid, but I found quite a bit of inspiration in Die Empty. I'm often impatient and want change that I'm working toward to happen at once. I also have to remember that in between planting and harvesting comes watering, weeding and fertilizing and that it's not a bad idea to stagger my crops - working on a second, third or fourth project while I wait for the first one to come to fruition.

But on to my fortune. When reading one of my library books, I came across yet another fortune - one that did not originate with Trent: ¨You will find your solution where you least expect it.¨ Hopefully, this will turn out to be just as true as last week's fortune.

Over the next few weeks, my blog posting will probably be few and far between. I've got a little more than a week before Tanzania via Amsterdam (and circumstances have moved the trip up a day, so I've got less time than I realized). I don't expect to have time OR connectivity while I'm there, so I'm leaving the laptop behind. I will be furiously writing and gathering stories to share, as long as the power holds (I've heard the entire town blacks out fairly frequently and if it happens after dark, which is about 6:40, there may not be anyone around to start up the generator). 

Summer Reading

The most recent Joy the Baker ¨Let it Be Sunday¨ post included a list to her summer reading list for 2014, which reminded me that I've been sadly remiss in sharing my own reading lately. While I no longer average a book a day, I still have been reading steadily, stealing time at lunch, on breaks and in between bike rides. While I've mostly been reading non-fiction, a few fiction titles have also captivated me.

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - Oh how I love me a prickly protagonist. Ada, who has been hidden by her mother from the neighbors her entire life, due to a club foot, and brother Jamie evacuate WWII London. I don't know that a plot summary could possibly do this justice - and you certainly cannot judge this book by its' cover, but I'm hearing a bit of Newbery buzz, premature though it may be.

Picnic in Provence by Elizabeth Bard - So I'm not ready to pack up and move to another country, but I was inspired by the slower pace of life (especially compared with Lunch in Paris, the author's first book). Maybe we can move to an island or have a few more slow weekends...

Make It Stick: the Science of Successful Learning by Peter Brown - Spacing, interleaving, retrieval practice, reflection and elaboration are the keys to learning. I could not stop talking about this book, to the point that I may have annoyed friends and co-workers. Tests have never really seemed like anything more than a way of judging if you have learned the material, but this book stresses the value of tests as a learning tool (if you get something wrong on a quiz, you're more likely to remember it in the future). I am changing my Swahili-learning strategy after reading this to include more quizzes. Also, I've been thinking about the implications for classes that I teach or staff learning at work.

Are You Fully Charged? The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life by Tom Rath - Eat, sleep and move - while some of this should be common sense, these items can also be the first to go in times of stress when we most need them. I even took time to finish the chapter questions, which get you thinking about how to increase energy and engagement.

The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos - After reading Love Walked In and identifying with the Cary Grant-loving protagonist, I've followed Marisa de los Santos' fiction. While nothing has quite compared with her first novel, this one comes close. She just writes characters that I want to read about - quirky, old-fashioned and just a little of how I imagine myself to be - and Taisy and Willow, half sisters 17 years apart in age that are brought together when demanding father Wilson asks estranged Taisy to ghost-write his memoir. A very sweet description of first love made this a favorite this summer (so far).

And still on my to read pile - either on hold, checked out, but not yet read or on my mental to-be-read list:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Daughters of the Samurai by Janice Nimura
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

What are you reading this summer?

Thursday Thought

¨You have so much to be thankful for.¨

I walked out the door one recent morning and found this fortune staring up at me, as though the message was left just for me.

On further investigation, Trent had gone to lunch someplace that handed out fortune cookies and it had simply fallen out of his pocket. But it doesn't make the sentiment any less true!

How to Say ¨I Love You¨ Without Words

My father rarely speaks aloud the words, ¨I love you¨. In fact, I can't recall a single instance, though I'm sure I must have heard it as a child. But there are ways besides words to say ¨I love you¨. And his best, most favorite way has always been with food.

In grade school, on field trip days he would pack the best lunches - sandwiches on sourdough bread thick with deli meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, mayonnaise and mustard (light on the mayo, just the way I liked it); fruit - not the standard apple, orange or banana, but cherries or berries or grapes; the occasional small bag of chips and an orange mango Koala Springs. Sometimes there'd even be a Whatchamacallit or Twix thrown in. The perfect accompaniment to a day at Discovery Park or the Seattle Children's Theater.

In college, when I'd go home to visit (okay, I was also motivated by the ability to do laundry without spending 54 cents for a wash and 54 cents for a dry on my Husky Card), he'd drive back to the campus apartment via 45th and we'd stop off for groceries (despite my mom's groans) at the Wallingford QFC, housed in the same building as the Food Giant where my grandmother shopped in the 50s and 60s. Invariably, I'd also bring back Tupperwares full of leftovers from one of my favorite Papa-dishes: chicken fettuccine or BBQ ribs.

Today he's still taking care of me through food. Last autumn, he made sure to have apple pie ingredients after I'd commented that I missed having apple pie at my grandmother's (she's switched over to blackberry pie at Thanksgiving, due to my brother and uncle, who are more vocal about their preferences than I am). We ran out of time, and ended up baking an apple crisp together instead. On a recent grocery store trip, he added my bottle of fancy Woodinville Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup to his cart.

So I suppose that it's no surprise that I also show my love through food (whenever I worry that Trent is feeling down or overworked, I offer to make Fudgy Cocoa Brownies. I also often pack lunches for him, knowing that he won't do it himself and thinking back to how much I enjoyed my father's lunches for me.)

Today my library staff was in desperate need of love and appreciation. We've had many more people walking through the door than usual using the library, which is wonderful - when everyone acts appropriately. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen and we've had a few ¨incidents¨. It doesn't help that most of us are sleep-deprived, due to the heat. So I declared today, ¨Pie Day¨ and stopped by Snohomish Pie Company, conveniently located a block to pick up a peach pie. Some days, having treats in the break room is a non-event. I'll look in and be disappointed that my own starter piece is the only one that has disappeared. That was not the case today - after less than two hours, only one largish slice remained.

And hopefully everyone felt just a little bit of extra love.

Summer Picnic - with recipes!

Aubrey is one of my ¨forever friends¨ - we met as little-littles, and have supported each other through nearly every ¨first¨ possible. Even though nowadays life steps in to keep us from going over to each other's houses every day (our frequent refrain as children, ¨Mom, can I go over and play???¨), we still connect regularly. After a few canceled dates, due to illness, work commitments and Mariner's traffic, we were finally able to connect last Monday, my day off for working Sunday.

Though Aubrey had a restaurant gift certificate to use up, we opted instead for a picnic. I love an opportunity to use our picnic basket and I wanted to cook/prepare something that would not increase the heat of the 85 degree kitchen nook. The solution? Sandwiches, cherries, Perrier and a white bean salad. I decided to go a little bit fancy with Boursin Roast Beef Sandwiches and Tarragon-Parsley-Thyme Chickpea Salad. So yummy - I was glad that I had leftovers to prepare for Trent and to eat myself the next day.

The sandwiches, inspired by the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, were simple and elegant - spread Boursin cheese over sourdough bread and top with thinly-sliced red onions and deli roast beef. While the ¨recipe¨ called for arugula, I substituted spinach, since I both had it on hand and prefer it to the bitterness of arugula.

The chickpea salad was inspired by this recipe from Simply Recipes (one of my favorite recipe sites).

Dice 2 T red onions. Squeeze half of a lemon over them to cut the sharpness. Drain (but don't rinse) 1 can of chickpeas. Add to the onions. Add 1 T extra virgin olive oil, 2 t red wine vinegar, 1/2 t tarragon, 1/2 t thyme, 1/4-1/2 c chopped fresh parsley and salt and pepper to test.

While I live about a 15 minute walk away from Green Lake, we opted for the shorter 10 minute walk to Meridian Park, where we spread out a Mexican blanket, toasted our over 30 years of friendship and caught up with neighborhood gossip and each other's lives.

I'm thinking there will have to be a lot more picnics in my future!

Independence Day Adventure

We've got a couple of go-to Independence Day activities, we will often either walk to Gasworks Park or, since getting Rock Lobster, anchor at Bainbridge Island to watch the fireworks display (there was also the year that we took Rock Lobster through the Ballard Locks to watch the Lake Union fireworks - never again! at least not in our boat...) This year at the last minute, we decided to try something a little different: watching the Seattle display from our inflatable kayaks.

After a day of puttering - coffee at Zoka, folding laundry, sweeping, reading and my requisite two Swahili lessons - we drove down to a launch in the University District a little after 5. We'd invited another friend along, but with as hot as it was, she wasn't motivated to get her kayak rack out of storage and kayak loaded (hers is not inflatable). We've now worked up a bit of a routine - Trent takes one pump to fill up the main bodies of the boats, while I take another to inflate the floors and other finishing touches.

With several hours left before the fireworks were due to start, we paddled to Ivar's Salmon House. While there was some outdoor seating, we decided to take refuge in the relative cool of the Whalemaker Lounge, where Happy Hour specials are in effect 3 p.m. to close. We relaxed over a blackened salmon Caesar salad, mussels, crab melt and fries and a couple of beers (note to self - next time skip the beer, as there are no facilities on a kayak). We chatted a bit with the table next to us, which was peopled with a group from Oklahoma City on their way to an Alaska cruise next week.

We left the restaurant at 8 to explore the shoreline for other potential launch points and to select our viewing position, as close to the fireworks barge as the police boat would allow. As we approached, a message rang out over the loudspeaker, ¨Okay, everyone is doing a good job of this so far, but remember to stay north of the buoy¨ and then later, ¨Bayliner, you're the only one south of the buoy. You need to move - they won't start the fireworks until everyone is behind the line¨. Fortunately, at that point there was still nearly an hour left to go.

As the time inched toward 10:15, space filled in with additional canoes, kayaks and motor boats, with the occasional stand-up paddleboard or sail boat thrown in. Every once in a while, our kayaks would begin to drift forward, so we'd paddle backwards a stroke or two.

Music from neighboring boats echoed on the water: Journey's Don't Stop Believin' (which inspired people from other boats to sing along, Clarence Carter's Strokin' and Poison by Bell Biv Devoe. As dusk finally fell and darkness crept in, the sounds of air horns and cheering from the other boats built in anticipation. Finally, we heard the roar of the Chinook helicopter flying the American flag.

The view could only have been more perfect if the police boat had been positioned a little to the left or right. I was also perhaps a bit more distracted than usual during the display itself - on alert for other boats, making sure I was ready to paddle if need be. Overall, it was a thrilling experience.

After the grand finale, we paddled closer to shore, with headlamps lighting the way and flashing bike lights attached to our PFDs, to avoid the mass exodus of larger watercraft. Homeward we stroked, past Ivar's, under the Ship Canal Bridge and the University Bridge, past the soggy hot dog buns we'd passed on the way there (¨if only I were a duck,¨ I quipped) and back to our launch spot, dock wobbling and swaying far more than during our departure.

We deflated, toweled of the drops of water and folded up the kayaks before driving home, collapsing into sleep shortly after arrival - exhausted, but content.

Jerk Seasoning Two Ways - Recipe #92

Several years ago, my friend Kim made a New Year's Resolution to make a new recipe each month. This is particularly a big deal because her husband Phil loves to cook so he is the primary meal-maker in the house. I believe this is one of the recipes from those days (based on the handwriting, which I believe is hers, as well as my recollection that jerk chicken was one of her ¨challenge¨ recipes).

As the temperature remains high for native Seattleites like myself, I continue to seek out stove-top recipes. This fit the bill perfectly with enough seasoning to still have some leftover after using it both with chicken, served with black beans, and tofu and vegetables over rice. Both were delicious. While Trent had a slight preference for the chicken (as in general he likes it better than tofu), he was a fan of the addition of my CSA vegetables: carrots, onions and mushrooms.

Jerk chicken

Jerk Seasoning

• 2 T dried minced onion
• 2 1/2 t thyme
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 2 t allspice
• 2 t ground black pepper
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper

Mix spices and herbs. Put olive oil on meat. Coat with mixture.

Jerk tofu with vegetables

Hot Fun in the Summertime

With all of the sun we've had lately in Seattle, it's hard to believe that summer only started last week. On Saturday, we hopped on our folding bikes and cruised down Stone Way to the Fremont Solstice Fair. Every year there seem to be more naked bicyclists and fewer floats.

While I did take pictures of the parade, I did not take any photos of the naked or scantily clad superheroes, santas, fairies or Care Bears - I figure that if I am not willing to go out there and do it myself, it doesn't really seem fair to document someone else's experience. But it is quite the experience. Next year, we'll probably watch the parade from the other side of the street, since many of the participants rode one way only.

There ended up being a 30-45 minute break between the bicycles and the official parade, leading to a mass exodus, which allowed us standing space in the shade under a tree, rather than the beating sun. Of course, since I've got a new camera, I had to take a few test shots - I will spare you all the full run. Funny how with just 10 minutes at the camera, I started viewing the screen instead of the live action, so it wasn't too much of a tragedy when the battery depleted.

I'll have to work on my hula hooping technique so that I can participate next year

At the end of the parade, we unlocked the Bromptons and headed back up the hill. We caught up to another bicyclist and passed him. When he caught up to us at the light, he called out ¨passed - by someone with heels and a folding bike. Oh the shame!¨

¨There's no shame,¨ I replied (though I have to admit that I had gloated a bit calling out ¨on your left¨).

¨Well, a little bit of shame.¨ And then the light changed.

Sunday was Father's Day, so I went home to West Seattle to visit my parents. My mom had been feeling a little under the weather, so we ended up bringing lunch to their house (sub sandwiches for them, QFC sushi for me).

Trent and I enjoy taking the boat out on the longest day of the year - and this time we had company. Our friends on S/V Raven left for Hidden Cove on Bainbridge Island a bit before we did. We intercepted them (only by motoring) and then let them surge ahead as we did some slow lazy sailing. So peaceful in the cove...

We rafted to Raven and then had a delicious dinner onboard. Trent tried stand-up paddle-boarding, while I stayed behind, skipping the shore party to visit with my friend.

The sunset was indescribably lovely. All in all, a wonderful way to start the summer. Now if I can just stay cool in this darned heat...