Summertime Bloggin!

I've made it through another semester, and have moved another step towards my degree. In late April I flew back to defend my dissertation prospectus, and celebrated success in with a trip to Chicago the next day. Now that I am happily back home, I am looking forward to getting back to gardening and cooking and sewing and food blogging, and hope to finally post more often here.

We've built a couple of raised bed gardens, since we couldn't even grow tomatoes or chiles last summer. Here are our baby lettuces:

And I'm delighted that the test kitchen has just tried out the Vegan Coffee Ice Cream recipe from my new favorite foodie blog, Vegan Ice Cream Paradise. Even though our little Rival ice cream maker's motor just died on us, we hand-cranked it in between stuffing our faces with grilled Yves Good Dogs and corn on the cob. It was delicious, although next time we'll cut back on the sugar and vanilla (I think I put in a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon!), and perhaps use stronger coffee. Here's the recipe she has:

Vegan Coffee Ice Cream:

mix 1/4 c. Soy Milk with 2 Tb. arrowroot and set aside.

Combine
2 c. Soy Creamer
1 c. Soy Milk
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. strong fresh coffee
in a saucepan and bring to a boil then turn off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This will cause the mixture to thicken. Stir in 1 tsp. vanilla extract and let it cool. When it's cool, throw the mixture into your ice cream maker. We added some chopped chocolate covered espresso beans at the end of the freezing, and it really enhanced the coffee flavor as well as adding some yummy texture.

Better than Java Chip or Jamoca! Eat it!

Long Time No Blog...

I've been so busy teaching, grading, writing and revising, and collapsing in front of the TV in between these that I haven't been blogging lately. Had big plans to go places for spring break that didn't pan out. All I want to do is veg.... So I'm trying to become more interested in my life and to be more thoughtful.

Having said that, I found another hilarious sign:
I mean, I know it's cautionary, but calling the bull "mean" seems a little harsh. Especially if it's sensitive to being teased. I think that makes potential (human) readers of this sign mean. Not the bull.

In a recent student art show here, one of my favorite pieces was a sea of envelopes pinned to the wall. They were randomly pinned either face up and open, or sealed and face down with CONFIDENTIAL stamped in red across the back. Viewers were invited to select an open one, write a secret on the scrap of paper inside, and seal and replace the envelope. So I did, as did a lot of others. I am left wondering about the relationship between art and its viewers, and what happens with all of our secrets!

Now that it's not playing on every channel...

Okay, ignore the last two seconds of this video (the part where it turns into a Converse commercial). I think this video is awesome. I love the pop-up/ flip book technology turned into a music video. I even like the song. curse you nike corporation for buying converse! curse you n.e.r.d. for being so catchy!!

To Celebrate Favorite Musician's New Album

Andrew Bird has a new album Noble Beast that I desperately need to purchase, but this short documentary was released with his 2003 album Weather Systems.



And here's a lovely performance of "Sectionate City" (or "section 8 city," I'm not sure which version this is)from a program called From the Basement. You get to see how amazing his layering looping...aaah I can't explain it. I'm just in love.

New Year! New Books! New Soups!

It's hard for me to believe that it's been six full months that we've lived here. Half a year in our new life, new job, new home, new time zone. It's lovely not to be cold in the winter. This is a new pleasure. In fact, one of my resolutions for the new year is to let the cats roam in the backyard when they ask (see example below)... okay, maybe once a day or so is more realistic. Already, Bijoux (below, far right) has abused this resolution by defiantly jumping the fence and tight-rope walking the stone wall between our backyard neighbors' yards. I had to climb into someone else's property to retrieve him. Thank goodness he didn't get too far! Everyone else is positively sedate by comparison. Zipper (you must recognize her by now) likes to chase crickets and moths and dust motes. All of these usually outsmart her. Mini (above) is happy to luxuriate on the hammock, soaking in the sun. She's clearly the smart one.
The holidays have been nice. Quiet, with the exception of a nasty cold that went through each member of the household. Some wonderful presents I received (aside from a remote controlled R2-D2 that promises to bring me a can of Coke from across the room when I command) include Keri Smith's awesome guide to life The Guerilla Art Kit; Lotta Jansdotter's Lotta Prints, Zakka Sewing by Therese Laskey, Chika Mori, Yoko Inoue; Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin and Thayer Allyson Gowdy; and Esther Smith's beautiful How to Make Books. Clearly I have work to do so that I can get to doing fun work! Here are my most favorite etsy-oriented crafty books. My kingdom for more time!
Over the holiday break, we took a brief excursion to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It was so cold, my favorite part was actually huddling up in the guest bedroom of my parents' house watching WALL*E on our laptop. The (only) other bright spot was a sopa de tortilla tradicional that Zips ordered at a restaurant on the plaza in Santa Fe. It helped thaw us out from the icy streets of the historic downtown. I'd never tried it, and Zips was feeling adventurous. Happily, I memorized the ingredients listed in the menu, and cobbled together some recipes that pretty closely approximates the zippy, spicy, smokey soup we had!

Tortilla Soup:

2-3 poblano chiles-- roasted, peeled, seeded, diced

1/2 c. green chiles (mild to medium) (I used Bueno frozen mild. I'm kicking myself for not being more adventurous earlier in the season and buying and roasting them fresh! Lesson learned!)

1 clove garlic (or about 1tsp)-- minced

2 Tb. olive oil

1 28oz. can whole tomatoes-- including juice

2 Qt. vegetable broth (2 boxes or 4 cans)

1 tsp. oregano

2 Tb. cumin

2 Tb. chili powder

1 c. diced onion

10-12 small corn tortillas-- torn into squares

Saute the chiles and garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes, juice, broth, and spices, and bring to a simmer. Add tortilla pieces to soup and simmer until they dissolve completely. This will thicken the broth and add the wonderful corn tortilla aroma to the soup. Blend with an immersion blender to desired consistency. I added a can of sweet corn after blending. Garnish with slices of avocado, sour cream, cilantro. Other recipes serve with a wedge of lime, shredded cheese, and fried tortilla strips.

The other offering I have to get us through winter is a vegetarian version (yay!) of one of my favorite Thai soups-- Tom Kha-- usually tom kha gai or chicken coconut soup-- I think this one is Tom Kha Hed-- or coconut soup with mushrooms. Whatever you want to call it.. it's delicious.

Tom Kha (Thai Coconut-Lemongrass Soup)

1 1/2 c. coconut milk (1 can)

1 Tb. fresh grated ginger

2 tsp. lime zest

2 2" pieces of fresh lemongrass (bruise the pieces by whacking them with the back or flat of a knife)

3 c. vegetable broth

2 tsp. sugar

1 Tb. soy sauce

lime juice

Combine and simmer, then add your choice of:

diced firm tofu

bamboo shoots

fresh mushrooms

cilantro

green onion

Pie Overload!

When co-workers and acquaintences, (even my parents!) ask what a vegetarian eats on Thanksgiving, I have taken to announcing "WHATEVER WE WANT!" That said, I am dozing on Tofurkey-induced tryptophan!
I am so stuffed right now, but I still want more! My tongue says YES, but my belly (and pants) say NO! My favorites were the tofurkey itself and my new cranberry sides. Zipper's favorites were the crunchy french onions (nearly burned perfectly) from the green bean cassarole, along with everything fresh and/or crunchy. I tried hard to avoid the starch overload that I usually succumb to.

My new sad favorite is the ABC series Pushing Daisies. Sad because it's been canceled in only its second season. But I am inspired by the main character's gift of pie making (and the other main character's great love of cheese). So our Thanksgiving holiday really started last night when I got it in my head to bake not the two pies we had planned on, but four. So I did a pumpkin pie (plus two mini pies thanks to some leftover pie crust), a pumpkin cheesecake, Zipper's favorite blueberry pie, and an apple pie for myself (I don't like pumpkin). I can't believe I've never made an apple pie before! I didn't have one in my recipe book, and had to go hunting for one, but this one was phenomenal!

Apple Pie:

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (heaping half-teaspoons, if you're me)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

5-6 apples (firm, tart, peeled, cored, sliced) I used champagne apples and gala

2 Tb. butter

Toss apple slices with sugar & spices. Pour into a pie crust and dot with pieces of butter. Put the top crust on, cut vents in crust, brush crust with a little soy milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at around 375 for about an hour.

I am also delighted to have kitchen-tested a couple of cranberry recipes. I'm sure by now, everyone's already picked their positions on the jelly can and sauce teams. My mom's always experimented with various recipes, and Zips likes to eat them fresh, raw, unsweetened. While I do enjoy the popping noise they make, and the fact that they resemble tiny apples, I simply can't do it. SO, I found the easiest and tastiest recipes for both a fresh raw cranberry relish, and a simmered sauce:

Cranberry Relish:

2c. fresh cranberries

2 skinned, cored apples

1 whole, seedless orange (skin on, chopped)

Pulse in a food processor until combined and relish-y. Add

2 c. sugar

Mix until combined and store at room temperature until sugar dissolves.

Cranberry Sauce:

1 c. sugar (more if ya can't take it)

1 orange

1 Tb. grated ginger (use a microplane zester)

zest the entire orange into sugar. Add juice of the same orange into a pot with the sugar and ginger. Simmer until dissolved and add

4 c. cranberries

Simmer until all the cranberries pop. Yum.

Here Zipper and I lounge in front of the Garfield Thanksgiving Special (the one where Garfield has to go on a diet just before the big eatin' day).

Here Zipper helps clean up. I am thankful she makes me laugh so often.

Even Better Than Halloween

This weekend must've been one of the busiest of the year around here. Between NMSU's homecoming football game (where we got trounced by Boise State 49-0) (hey, last year we got trounced 58-0, so it is a kind of improvement), Halloween, a Carrie Underwood concert on campus, Dia de los Muertos, the local Renaissance Faire, if you count the early voting that ended on Saturday, my head is spinning!

So we spent Halloween giving out vast quantities of chocolates and organic fruit suckers (mmmm.. mango tango!). Saturday we went to both the Dia de los Muertos festival in Mesilla as well as the downtown farmer's market. I've never been to a day of the dead, having just heard about the holiday, and appreciating the asthetic of calavera sculptures, paper banners, and nichos or shadow boxes (take that! Joseph Cornell!).

In any case, it was amazing! The little plaza square was packed with tables and altars filled with photographs, mementos, offerings to deceased family members and pets. Often these were paired with an 8x10 printed description of the person's life and death. It was often touching, sometimes funny. One of the most memorable was a shrine that featured this skeleton decked out with a lap tray that included a portrait of its subject, along with a tv dinner and clicker. It was so personal and specific a tribute. Another invited viewers to eat a piece of their grandfather's favorite candies (those chewy caramel squares), and to ring a bell.

Then there was a woman selling sugar skulls. When I bought a couple, she directed us over to the altar she had created. It took a second for me to put together that if she had constructed an altar, that meant that she had lost someone. It was her son, who died in 2000. He was actually born the same year I was. It was a difficult and wonderful public kind of intimacy (sounds contradictory, I know). Here I was buying a decorated skull made of sweetness, sharing a stranger's grief. This makes me want to participate in a more personal way next year.
There were some that were altars for mass deaths. In addition to a large installation displaying what must've been thousands of paper cranes for the American death toll in the Iraq war, there were also at least two altars to commemorate the women murdered in Juarez.

It was pretty emotional. One of the past posters said "To Remember is to Live"-- I think that's a nice way to acknowledge how it's not morbid, but rather life affirming. One of our favorite (super LIFE AFFIRMING) booths was run by a pair of sisters (Kristi from Dexter, NM and Konsuela from Roswell, NM) who do ceramics, make t-shirts, and had several kick ass calendars. They were both such characters (think Paula Deene, then multiply by two, amplify the volume and laughter, make them arty, and park them in the southwest handing out skull lollipops!). We loved them so much, we had to come back on Sunday just to buy their other calendar. (We came too early and even hung out and waited around just for them to open up.) They even pointed out that we had to visit the booth next door and check out their cool stuff.

Which we did, but nothing could beat Kristi and Konnie.

Okay, finally. I don't mean to brag/gloat but to my friends in Syracuse, NY and Wisconsin, and even Indiana. It is the first week of NOVEMBER and I bought home grown watermelon (seedless but SUPER SWEET), tomatoes, green tomatoes, and canaloupe. And it is sunny and clear.

We are fortunate indeed!