Today I Made Partner!

Today....
...I joined my local co-op (finally)!

I'm so close, near enough to walk for a year now, and yet I hadn't joined until now! What gives?! Today I took my mom on a veggie shopping spree and decided today was the day!

Here's me, in all of my new natural food glory:

New Start + New Vegetables!

I <3 my co-op!

Present: No Excuse for Past

I got the most fantastic-ist gift this year!

I won't make excuses for not posting in the past, and I obviously can't make excuses going forward! Thanks to everyone for your holiday wishes, love and a few fantastic gifts!

Have Yourself an Instant Noodle Christmas

How does one construct a holiday scene out of non-perishables?

A) Find the cheapest donatable item for the food shelf.

B) Calculate the how many items needed for the 'showiest holiday piece'.

C) Stay up until two in the morning and then dream about crispy noodles.


On Thursday, December 18th, I enlisted...

...Enlisted to help make a huge structure out of a food shelf items with JH. It was for Digi, Int'l, which has a holiday contest each year. We went shopping for the non-perishables.


Then got to work building...



and building....



and finally, crowning our new jewel.

We made our very own Holiday Christmas Ramen Tree!
(Complete with wifi controlled electronic train set and tunnel!)


It turns out we didn't win the contest after all, but even if we lost we knew we would win! All the soup was donated to the food shelf!

Marauchan Christmas to all, and to all a good Ramen!

Debate Dinner #2

The presidential debates were last Tuesday night. Here it is almost a week later and I'm still reeling with excitement. Okay, I admit not from the two candidates, old man river and 'that one', but from the spectacular eats I encountered that night. I learned a few things that night, but the one most pertinent to this blog: I make a damn fine sous chef! (That's me tooting my own horn. I have a knack for all things pastry, but prefer to have recipes when it comes to mealtime dishes.) Back to my sous chef excellence. I am a great and organized planner. I can anticipate the needs of others and have honed my ability for forethought. (The running a restaurant thing really helped me with that-specifically the catering part.)

Okay, enough about me. Now to JH's mad cooking skills. Brilliant! In just over 30 minutes we were able to plate up two huge plates of deliciousness. On the menu, angel hair pasta with a fabulous tomato garlic olive ragu, steamed mussels and clams. And the best brussels sprouts I've eaten (sauteed in garlic and pancetta). This was the most spectacular thing I have eaten in a looong time... until dessert anyway. :)

For dessert, I made an almond cream tart with peaches and rasperries. I made the almond cream from scratch, just like last time. Wooooweee that was good.


The meal was washed down with a glass of white wine, and opened by my new thrift store purchase (See top right of picture #1)! That's right, and automatic wine opener. $3.99. I think I'm in love!

OCD INFJ?

I've become somewhat obsessed now. I've taken countless Meyers-Briggs tests over the last year and half or so and they ALWAYS come back different. Am I undefinable? Uncontainable? Indescribable? I seem to walk the line on many issues. Which do you think I am?

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener with almost infinite patience. You have complex feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships when they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

______________or__________________

ESTJ

Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging

ESTJs are civic-minded individuals who dedicate themselves to maintaining the institutions behind a smooth-running society. They are defenders of the status quo and strong believers in rules and procedures. ESTJs are outgoing and do not hesitate to communicate their opinions and expectations to others. ESTJs are practical, realistic, and matter-of-fact, with a natural head for business or mechanics. Though they are not interested in subjects they see no use for, they can apply themselves when necessary. They like to organize and run activities. ESTJs promote the work ethic. Power, position and prestige should be worked for and earned. Laziness is rarely viewed with ambivalence nor benevolence by this type.

Saturday

If you'll bear with me, this is a post about something unrelated to food. But someone related to me.

I attended a memorial service for my late Aunt Dorothy Sauber. She was a teacher, a writer, a listener, wife, mother, and one heck of a sarcastic lass with just the right clarity and realistic poignancy. Lung cancer claimed her life at age 61. A woman of the world who never stopped learning and traveling. Dorothy's life took her to 31 different countries, most of those with two little children in tow. Her service was so moving and touching it really struck a chord with me. I realized I wish for a few things:
-the eloquence to put words down on paper that jump up off the page.
-the desire to touch people, friends and family alike, so that I may leave a legacy as timeless as she.
-to go back in time and get to know Dorothy better. I found out only recently she had over 500 aprons-a collection that I've just started.
Along with the wishes I realized, a few other things occurred to me as I sat there. First, gosh am I going to be a complete mess when that's my mom. I want to read more, learn more, travel more. I want to live genuinely, love freely, and die nobly.

Right about now I'm really wishing for that eloquent pen, but as I've always said, you should embrace the things which you do not do well. It's a learned skill, and I have learned much today.

Thank you Dorothy.

The "225"

Last night I had one of the yummiest sandwiches I've had (to my recollection).

JH and I had been planning to get together for a late dinner last night. I received a call saying he wouldn't be able to make our reservations, as he was still in the car on the way home, 200 miles away! We forewent the restaurant
and decided to cook up a little sandwich action. $25.00 later and a Kowalski's receipt in hand (with a timestamp that read 10:39:44PM), we were on our way to make the aforementioned sandwich.



We started the balsamic reduction, washed and sauteed green beans (as a side), fried up the bacon, sliced the apple, and baked the ciabatta. When i say "we" I mean, Ashlee standing in the kitchen doorway and JH tending to three burners and an oven. Again, "we" softened the apple slices slightly (in the bacon fat, of course). A straight apple with this preperation was strangely smokey and fatty tasting, but in the sandwich it sang! the bread and the cheese were melted together in harmony. Said acoutroments piled atop and drizzled with balsamic reduction.

Good times and yums well into the night.
Ashlee was a happy girl.
The end.