Apples from tree to table

 

 A few weeks ago we spent a Sunday afternoon out in the country, apple picking with a group of friends at the Pome on the Range Orchard. The half peck of apples we gathered didn't seem like much while we were out among the trees, but back in our kitchen it seemed like a ton. In the week after we went apple picking we had apples for snacks and Apple-Walnut Cake with Caramel Glaze. This past weekend we made Apple Sauce, which was really easy and surprisingly tasty, and which made a great ingredient in the Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting which graced our table this evening.

Fall foliage hiking

We wanted to go camping this weekend, but the weather wasn't with us. Saturday brought heavy thunderstorms and rain to the area, so we passed on our hopes of a fall camping excursion. Instead, on Sunday we took a day trip up to the beautiful Weston Bend State Park, about an hour from KC. The leaves are gorgeous this week, and the park has a system of hiking trails that can be connected for varying lengths. We went about three miles, not far, but far enough when climbing hills with a thirty pound kiddo on your back, or controlling a rambunctious dog. Interestingly, this is the same area through which Louis and Clark traveled over two hundred years ago. After hiking along the Missouri River bluffs and through the forest, we had a cookout in the lovely day use area, prolonging our time outdoors. I can't imagine a better way to spend a cool autumn afternoon.

Green tomatoes

 Last weekend brought the first frost to KC, and therefore a huge harvest of summer veggies from our garden.

The above photo shows the bounty of produce that we brought in from the yard on Saturday afternoon- green tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes, Anaheim peppers, jalapeno peppers, green beans, chard, and basil. This led to a good deal of processing. We made juice with the melons, and froze three huge batches of pesto with the basil, as well as one batch of just basil. I can't wait for the bright flavor of summer basil to come out of the freezer in the depths of winter.

The one thing I wasn't sure what to do with were the green tomatoes. I have had Fried Green Tomatoes once, and enjoyed them, but wasn't really ready to jump into this myself. A few ripened in a box with shredded newspaper, but most were still green. So, we found a soup recipe that sounded interesting, and which we made tonight. The soup tasted like a BLT in a bowl- fresh and like the flavor of a warm summer day, an especially nice meal on a rainy fall day. It's worth seeking out green tomatoes at the farmers market just for this fantastic soup!

Green Tomato Soup:

Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large, heavy stock pot.

Saute one and a half cups of scallions, two cloves of garlic, five ounces of ham (we used veggie "ham" slices) and one bay leaf for about five minutes.

Add two pounds of chopped green tomatoes (keep seeds and skins on), two cups of water, one cup of vegetable broth, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 25 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a side of fresh bread.

Nom!

Fall leaves

My favorite season is here.

The weather has been beautiful this week, cool and crisp, chilly in the morning and evenings, just enough so to wear a light jacket. Yesterday's drive home was filled with beautiful fall scenery, and as I drove through my neighborhood in the early evening, I was struck by the color on all the beautiful old trees. Happy fall!

Hot sauce

 Of all the crops I grew in the garden this year, the jalapenos were the most prolific. We used them in various dishes throughout the late summer and into early fall. I made baked poppers for the first Sunday of NFL games. I gave some away to a friend. We've dried some for later. But, there are still a few pounds of peppers left. So, I decided to try to make my own hot sauce. I took about one pound of peppers (above) and blended them with about a teaspoon of freshly ground salt in the food processor, what you see below. When I processed the peppers they were so spicy that just breathing the air made my nose tingle and my eyes water a bit.

 The pepper blend sat in a mason jar on the counter for 24 hours. The next evening, I added about a cup of vinegar to the jar, and allowed this bright green mixture to sit for two days, letting the flavor deepen.

 The final step was to re-process the blend and put it through a sieve, thus making hot sauce- success! It should have a fridge life of about four months- spicing up our lives well into the cold winter months.

Nothing like a good book

Somewhere in the midst of my written comps, I hit a bit of a wall. It was a hot weekday afternoon in August, I had been writing and gathering sources for days straight, and felt completely blank and drained. After being in the house for many days with little human contact other than talking to my husband for a few minutes late in the evening and a brief daily skype with our son and my parents, I had to get out for something other than a two block walk-to-the-coffee-shop, or my daily spin around the block with the dog.

I went to the bookstore.

This seems a bit ironic, doesn't it? Drowning in a sea of books, reading, and writing, I decide to go to a bookstore. But, for a long time (years, actually) I wanted to stop into the adorable Rainy Day Books, a local, independent bookstore nestled among the idyllic shops in Fairway, KS. Somehow, in the middle of being tortured by books, the smell of a small bookshop, the discussion about recent reads with the friendly employees, and the hum of people doing normal things (read: not comps), was completely comforting.

After talking with one of the knowledgeable clerks, I selected Rules of Civility, which became my nightstand book for about two months. As much as I love to curl up in our over-sized armchair with a hot beverage and a good book on a cool day, I rarely have time for such indulgences, so instead it is an evening ritual in our house to retreat to bed with a cup of herbal tea and a few minutes of reading. This was a great book to end each day with- a Gatsby-esque story of youth and chance, wit and wealth, set against 1930s Manhattan. The book was filled with literary and artistic references, and provided the perfect escape to a stressful few weeks.

Fall tomato harvest

It's hard to believe that I can harvest tomatoes on October 2, but I'm not going to complain.

The garden is still producing really well- we had chard yesterday, carrots tonight, cantaloupe, Anaheim chilies, jalapenos, basil, and eggplant last week, and lots of tomatoes on salads. If the weather stays warm enough in the next few days, I should have a watermelon and some green beans before this weekends cold front. Then it'll be on to the cold crops that are currently seedlings- radishes, snow peas, India greens, kale, and bok choi.

ABD!

It's been almost a week, and it's just starting to sink in- I passed my PhD comprehensive exams, and I'm now ABD (all but dissertation).

So, what does this mean?

First off, it means that I completed all required coursework for the PhD- in my department this means courses for a major area and two minor areas, about two years worth. It also means that I have shown proficiency in two research languages relevant to my area of study, for me Japanese and French, and have been in residence at KU for at least a year.

Second, it means I passed my comprehensive exams. We have to pass exams in a major area, for me Japanese Visual Culture 1850-present, and two minor areas, mine were Japanese Buddhist Sculpture of the 9-14th centuries, and Transnational Contemporary Art. Each area was examined through written and oral tests. The writtens were the tough part. For the major, I received eight questions organized in two groups of four and had to select one from each group. I had exactly one calendar week (Sunday at noon to Sunday at noon) to write a twelve page research paper on the two questions, plus footnotes and illustrations. After 24 hours off, I then had 72 hours to select one question out of two to complete another twelve page research paper for one minor area, another 24 hours off, and then the final question for the second minor. In the end, I wrote on the state of the field of modern and contemporary Japanese art history as related to gender, nationalism and national identity in late nineteenth century Japanese art, honji-sukjaku theory (which links Shinto and Buddhism) in Japanese art, and globalism in contemporary transnational art. To study I spent a good deal of the spring and summer preparing annotated bibliographies on hundreds of books and journal articles, allowing me to be prepared for whatever questions might drop into my in-box on exam day.

So writtens by the numbers:
15 days
4 essays
53 pages of text
203 footnotes
27 illustrations
2 bottles of wine
15 cupcakes
untold gallons of coffee
too many books on the bibliographies to warrant counting

One week after I turned in my last essay, I received the e-mail that said I passed. Relief. But only temporary. A few weeks later, along came orals. This wasn't as stressful- it was a two hour exam with my five committee members. They asked about my essays, challenged some points that I had to defend, and questioned me on images that they brought in that were related to my areas. I took the oral exam last Friday and after a five minute break at the end, wherein the committee discussed my fate, I found out that I passed. True relief! I'm now ABD!

It took a few days to sink in, but I'm starting to recover from the lengthy exam process. Yesterday I returned about 200 books to the library, which is what the above photo is- a car trunk full of books which filled up the book return to the point that I clogged the box.

Now, on to the dissertation!

Last game of the season

Today was mostly overcast here, but as I was sitting at my desk this morning, cloudy skies out my window, I thought back to Sunday afternoon and the Royals game. We had free tickets thanks to little man completing the KC Library summer reading program, and enjoyed a perfect sunny afternoon game at the K. This was my first late season baseball game, and in many ways it was a more relaxed atmosphere, as the Royals are out of the playoffs. KC played the Indians (and lost... by a lot....), and we enjoyed all the usual trappings of baseball- (veggie) hot dogs, fries, beer, and we even saw the Royals hit a home run, complete with fireworks. Cheers to the end of summer!

Madama Butterfly

Last spring we went to the brand new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts here in KC to see the Barber of Seville. It was so fantastic that we decided to become season ticket holders to the Lyric Opera.

The first performance of the season was last weekend, Madama Butterfly. I didn't know what to expect, as this was an opera I didn't know much about, but I knew it was a tragedy of lost international love set in early twentieth century Japan. I was worried that it might be Orientalist in nature, or that the tragedy would center around the character as an innocent, but in fact it was not. The opera really focused on the tragedy of the main chracter, Cio-cio-san and her desire to escape her troubled past. The performance was stunningly beautiful, and the performers phenomenal. It was truly transporting, and held one's attention completely for the entirety of the three hours. Most amazing was Elizabeth Caballero as Cio-cio-san; her voice was stunning, and as the majority of the performance centered on her character, she was fantastic at keeping her energy and intensity up for the duration of the opera.

Of course, attending the opera is also about dressing up and drinking wine at intermission, which is when I took the above photo. The Kauffman Center is an amazing building- the acoustics are some of the best anywhere in the world, and the immense view of the city through the glass front of the building, which sits atop a hill, is breathtaking.

Now I just need to get a pair of opera glasses.....

Mid-September Veggies

Sunday's harvest.

The cantaloupe was pretty tasty, if not terribly sweet. We used the eggplant and Anaheim peppers to make a miso stir-fry for dinner tonight. Tomatoes and cucumber for salads. I really can't think of anything more rewarding than dinner from the yard.

Mummies

This semester I'm teaching Museum Studies at KCAI.

One of the more fun parts of teaching museum studies is, of course, going to museums. This past Friday our topic was exhibition design and principles, so I took the opportunity to utilize the Egyptian galleries at the Nelson-Atkins as a case study. The gallery has a calm, dark aesthetic, reminiscent of a tomb, but without feeling oppressive. The sarcophagus pictured above is a highlight- striking in the amount of gold and in the beautifully painted details. Not only did it create a good discussion to experience the galleries together as a class, but it also helped break up the long three-hour class period that can be trying for everyone's attention span.

Sand Mandala

This past week brought a group of Tibetan monks from Drepung Gomang Monastery to the Spencer Museum of Art at KU.Throughout the week, the monks worked to create a sand mandala, their specific mandala was for world peace, and thus included a variety of symbols of other religions. Using various colors of sand, the work is intricate, detailed, and meticulous, and to watch them carefully construct it is amazing. At the end of the week, when the mandala is complete, the monks perform a dedication ceremony and deconstruct it, putting the sand in to a body of water, usually a river, but in the case of the Spencer mandala, into Potter's Pond. This deconstruction represents the Buddhist concept of impermanence, and the goal of releasing desire or attachments. The mandala was created one floor above my office, and I took all of my classes to see it throughout the week, something which I think the students really enjoyed. Above is a photo from the end of the first day on Tuesday, and below is a photo from near the end of the day on Thursday, the day before completion.

Cucumber Apple Salad

Amaｚu zuke!

I harvested my first cucumber yesterday. While making up bento boxes of leftover rice bowl last night, I thought it would be fun to make fresh pickles (amaｚu zuke). I found an easy recipe on the website Just Bento, and quickly chopped the cucumber and an apple, tossed in some rice vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and sugar, as well as a dash of red pepper, and let the salad marinate overnight. The result was perfectly crisp- the pepper gave it a little bite, and the apple lent it a hint of sweetness. The recipe can be found here. いただきます！

Late Summer

Finally, the days are getting cooler (if in the 90s, not 110s), and with a little bit of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Issac, the garden is back in bloom. The veggies are producing fruits, the flowers have perked up, and the grass has a hint of green in it. Labor Day weekend, while mostly full of labor, was also full of fun. We attended the wedding of a dear long-time friend, had some (kiddie) pool time, a movie night at home, and a holiday barbecue in the garden. While fall is around the corner, and is my favorite season, the end of summer is always bittersweet. Here's to the last of the summer produce, the glow of the heirloom sunflowers in the sunset, and the final days of sandals and iced drinks.

Wandering the Stacks

This week I had the pleasure of wandering the stacks at KU's Watson Library.

Usually when I'm working on research, I use the fantastic retrieve from shelf service offered by the library. While browsing the online catalog one can just click on a button at the bottom and have a book delivered to the front desk of any library on campus. This saves me a lot of time and many trips up the hill to Watson, as I'm generally on a different part of campus. Earlier this month, though, the Art Library was hit with a huge flood from a water main break, and remains under construction, so I can't get books delivered to my part of campus. I could still have books delivered to the Watson desk, but yesterday I decided to wander the stacks for a bit in search of what I needed.

First off, this took a long time. While it was great fun to wander through the narrow stacks of books, take the ancient cage elevators up to the half floors, and cruise past the mid-century research desks, I had forgotten how huge Watson Library is. I had books to find on 1 East, 1 1/2 Center, 1 Center, 3 West, and the East Asian Collection on 5. The library was built in the 1920s, but the half floors were added later to provide additional space. Some areas of the library feel quite hidden away, and others have great views out over the valley from tiny windows that one happens upon. There is definitely a sense of discovery in wandering the stacks.

Second, a few things weren't on the shelf. While the student library employees will take the time to find incorrectly shelved books, I didn't have very much time. This is another reason I like to use the service- it keeps students employed.

In any case, it was pleasant to see students studying in the various nooks throughout the library, and to find some bonus books on the shelf by looking at the titles surrounding the texts I was looking for.

Get Outside

A few weeks ago, in the midst of a stressful summer, we took a week long camping trip in Colorado.

Being outdoors for so many days was a great recharge. A great way to relax and get away from those ever-present screens that dominate our lives. A way to breathe and remember how amazing nature is. A way to slow down.

A few things struck me about our trip. First off, before we left nearly everyone we talked to asked us if we were taking our 2 year old with us. When we said yes, many asked if we were tent camping. This is weird to me, as the definition of camping is sleeping in a tent, but we replied yes. Many seemed to think we were brave or crazy or getting into something we didn't understand. Actually, camping with a toddler is about the easiest thing to do with them. Our sprout didn't have a tantrum or meltdown the entire time. He played in the dirt, explored the campsite, watched the birds, built cities out of sticks and rocks. He ate smores and drank from a water bottle and even learned to pee in the woods (which he felt qualified him to be a "mountain boy"). He had free range of our camp and exhausted himself hiking and playing. I honestly believe that some hard-wired part of him understood the dangers of the woods, and so he stayed close.

We often forget that being outdoors is a natural state. Sitting inside with the t.v. and the demands of constant e-mail, artificial light and air, this isn't how we evolved. Kids who play outdoors have a lower incidence of nearsightedness. Outdoor play develops skills and judgmental abilities that are not possible with indoor play. Yet, fewer and fewer people are getting outdoors. This is the other thing that struck me about our trip- we saw noticeably less people in campgrounds and on hiking trails. Some of this may be due to the massive wildfires that struck Colorado in recent months, but we've noticed less people at campgrounds in the Midwest as well, and fewer folks hiking in all the regions we've traveled in the past few years. This type of outdoor play is relaxing for adults and crucial for kids. Not only do we need it for brain development and to lessen the anxieties of our modern world, but we also need to teach kids to appreciate the natural world so they will take a role in preserving it.

Camping and hiking can help put things in perspective- I know when I get home I'm grateful for a flush toilet, a plush bed, climate control, and running water, things that most citizens of the world don't have and that we can easily take for granted. Hike a few miles up a mountain on a rocky trail and you will have a new appreciation for cars and paved roads. I appreciate the luxuries of modern life, but I think our entire family looks forward to our next wilderness trip.

Orchid

The little bit of lovely that graces the corner of the bedroom.

It's been a crazy few weeks, more soon!

Ginger Carrot and Cabbage Stir-fry

Less than 30 minutes from harvest to table.

I'm not sure which is better, this delicious meal made with fresh-from-the-garden veggies, or the technology that allowed me to create this great collage in about five minutes. The recipe is one of our favorites- a super easy weeknight meal that packs a health punch of veggies. Our carrots, as you can see above, are a bit small this year, but they were still flavorful and had that great fresh texture that store bought can't replicate. I planted the cabbage early in the season, but with our unusual heat and the plague of cabbage moths, it took a bit longer to mature than it probably should have. In any case, I got a few perfect heads of cabbage, and the imperfect ones still have a tasty flavor. The crisp texture and slightly peppery flavor of fresh cabbage is such a treat.

The recipe is one that we adapted from a small cookbook titled Homestyle Japanese Cooking. In that recipe, the protein is pork, but we substitute seitan and added carrots to the mix, using powdered ginger instead of ginger juice. We also use less oil than suggested.

Ginger Carrot and Cabbage Stir-fry

3 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)

2 tbsp sake, cooking sake can be found at Asian markets or well stocked grocers
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
1 small head cabbage, chopped
2 tsp powdered ginger
2 inch section of fresh ginger, diced
1 bunch carrots (about 3 large, 6 small), matchstick
about 8 oz. seitan, cubed

Combine soy sauce, powdered ginger, sake, and sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add fresh ginger, carrots and cabbage, stir-fry for about 3-5 minutes. Add seitan and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Add sauce mixture and stir-fry until cooked through, about 2 minutes.

Serve over sushi rice.

Olympics

Thankfully, I'm better at baking cupcakes than decorating them.

I'm pretty excited to watch the start of the 2012 Olympics tonight. In 2008 we were settling into our house in Ono, and I have such fond memories of the fantastic Beijing opening ceremonies accompanied by a take-out dinner and fireworks on the neighboring mountainside that we could see from our hilltop location. I also loved watching track and field events with a group of international teachers while supervising high school English camp, especially when the Jamaican teachers were jumping around the room after Usain Bolt's win. One thing I will not miss is the repetitive judo coverage!

These are simple White Cupcakes with  Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting. I cheated and used store bought icing and frosting tubes, which I already had around the house. In retrospect, I should have taken the time to get out the frosting tips, but I didn't want to take time away from other tasks, and they are just for us and a friend visiting from out of town, so hopefully the novelty outweighs the cake wrecks factor.

Go team U.S.A!

Google Fiber in KC

Fellow Americans be jealous- Google Fiber is coming to KC. Of more than 1,000 cities that applied, we were selected as the first market. With 100 x faster Internet than most of the U.S., I'm hoping it'll be about as fast as my Internet service was in Japan, where we had a dedicated fiber line (we could download an entire movie in about 3 minutes). So happy to see this video, and that pre-registration has opened. I hope that Waldo is one of the first to get it! YAY!

Onions

I harvested my onion crop this morning.

Most of the crop, Stuttgarter Reisen, a standard yellow onion, are small, you can see from the photo that they are about two inches in diameter. I've read that drought leads to smaller fruits and vegetables, and I'm also going to guess that our early heat led to them being about half the size than they otherwise would have been. Regardless, I did get a lot, so we'll have them to store for a few weeks. We also had a substantial crop of green onions all spring, which was fantastic. When I planted them I had in mind the beautiful onion braids that I used to see on my commute in Japan, and I pulled out a photo of my time in Miki to reminisce about the gorgeous gardens there.This photo is from October. 2008, almost four years ago!

Bright as the Sun

My favorite color of this summer, as bright as the relentless sun.

Drought

It's nasty out there, folks.

Today I had to drive between Kansas City and Lawrence, viewing the dried out landscape, remnants of grass fires, and crispy vegetation. I stopped for a coffee on my way back at Z's East, a local Lawrence shop. I always enjoy reading the daily almanac postings that they have, and today's was poignant for that dried out landscape- the decreased bug population means less food for birds. The almanac suggested putting out suet or seed, so while making a stop on my way home I picked up a suet block and holder. It was only $4.50 for the combo, and I'm hoping that in addition to helping out the bird population I can provide some entertainment for my cats (through the window). The interesting thing is that I noticed this morning that my sunflowers were nearly picked clean of their seeds, something I've never seen before during mid-summer, and which doesn't usually happen until late fall. I also put a small bowl of water out near the sidewalk in front of our house for dogs on a walk, or any other creature that might need it.

Keep an eye out for each other, guys, it's one hell of a summer.

Make this Meal

Sometimes modernity is fantastic.

Today it was in the light breezy feeling I had zipping down the highway at sunset, out on a library run, windows down, music loud. Or the early morning Skype conversation; it still amazes me that I can video chat like I'm on the Jetsons. Or the Facebook discussion between friends, each of the three of us residing in a different country, able to contribute throughout the day. But perhaps best of all, it was finding these two great recipes online- Miso Kale Salad and Quinoa and Grilled Pepper Salad. Nearly everything was local- the kale and onions were fresh from the yard, the peppers and tomatoes from the Farmers Market. We even have a local tofu factory, so it was just the quinoa, cheese, miso, oil and spices that weren't raised within 50 miles. We also enjoyed a side Purple Cherokee tomatoes from the Farmers Market, just sliced, nothing additional needed.

Here's the Miso Kale Salad with Tofu. Our two year old loved the tofu and went so far as to call it "frosting" and "a special treat." If that's not a ringing endorsement, I'm not sure what is. I got the recipe from Marin Mama Cooks, who got it from Eating Well, Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals. Sharing. Modernity. Yum.

- 1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and patted dry
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. miso- we used white
- 2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine juice, miso, and garlic. Cut tofu into squares and toss in dressing, bake at 450 for 18-20 minutes.

For the salad:
- 1 large bunch of kale, we used red
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 4 tsp miso, again we used white
- 1 clove of minced garlic
- Parmesan cheese, we used grated, and just sprinkled it on the salad

Combine all ingredients except cheese and kale, whisk. Add the kale and stir until well combined. Plate the salad, sprinkle with cheese, and top with tofu.

And the Quinoa, from Epicurious. It seems fussy to prepare, but it's really not, and the results are worth it.

- 1 1/4 cups quinoa
-2 large green peppers (the original recipe said yellow or orange)
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 scallions, chopped

Wash quinoa in at least 5 changes of water, rubbing grains and letting them settle before pouring off water, until water runs clear. Drain in a large sieve. Add quinoa to a saucepan of boiling salted water and cook 10 minutes. Drain in sieve and rinse under cold water.

Set sieve over a saucepan with 1 1/2 inches boiling water (sieve should not touch water) and steam quinoa, covered with a kitchen towel and lid, until fluffy and dry, about 10 minutes. (Check water level in pan occasionally, adding water if necessary.) Spread quinoa on a baking sheet to cool.

While quinoa is cooking, grill bell peppers. As it was a weeknight, we did this on a grill pan on the stove top, but it would be great to grill outside as well. Chop peppers.

Whisk together oil, lime juice, soy sauce, and cumin in a large bowl and stir in quinoa, bell peppers, cilantro, scallions, and salt and pepper to taste. 

 Modernity is so good.

All Star Day

It's All Star Day here in KC.

While we're not going to the game, or partaking in the many festivities around town, including a parade on the Plaza and Fanfest at Crown Center, I am looking forward to watching the game this evening, probably with some Waldo Pizza. The above photo is from a game we went to at the K last year in June.

Go National League!

Live your life

Sometimes all those internet memes can get old, but this came across my path today and it connected with my world view. I've edited out the profanity at the bottom, but you still get it.

It's so easy to just follow the "path." I can't even count how many times people told me what my next step would be. I graduated college- a family friend told me I would be working "corporate" in a year. Never happened. I went to graduate school- a friend told me I would never get a job. Wrong. We got a house and a dog- everyone told us a baby would come soon. Instead we decided to move overseas. We had a kid- everyone told us we would never travel or go out on dates again. Even our hip urban friends said this. Well, that didn't happen. We travel. We go on dates. We help support the local economy of high school babysitters. Our lives are still fun and interesting. We didn't move to the suburbs and buy a minivan like everyone told us we would, instead we live in the city and I drive a mini-car.We take our toddler camping and to museums and to hip restaurants in the city. He's never been to an Applebee's, Olive Garden, or the like, but he has been to Beer Kitchen on many an occasion.

Even with all the choices I've made to live my life on my terms, there are days that feel like loops. My daily schedule this summer certainly feels like a loop. Research, reading, correspondence, not a lot of variety between a Tuesday and a Friday. It's inevitable that this happen on the small scale, but it's what we do on the large scale of our lives and how we spend our time outside of work time that I think defines us. Do we spend our evenings watching tv or connecting with other people? Reading a good book or refreshing the Facebook feed? Trying a new recipe or microwaving some junk food? It takes effort to forge your own path. But with the infinite possibilities available to those of us fortunate enough to be born into the middle class of a first world country, it's a crime to not embrace the potential of each day.

Birthday

Happy Birthday to my fantastic husband!

Independence Day

Ah, the height of summer- Independence Day.

Most years we are traveling this week, so July 4 is not a holiday that we have specific traditions for, but this year I think we celebrated in true American style. We started the day with our neighborhood picnic and kids parade. Slugger, the Royals mascot, led the parade, and our little guy even won a prize for having one of the best decorated bikes. There was live acoustic music and face painting and games, the kind of traditional, simple party that one is nostalgic for even while it's happening.

After a break in festivities we hosted our own barbecue with friends, enjoying time in the garden and good company. On the menu- two types of BBQ seitan (for how we made seitan from scratch scroll down here) that Joe slow-cooked on the charcoal grill using KC BBQ sauces, grilled corn-on-the-cob, purple herbed potato salad (seemed closest to blue), and watermelon. Our guests brought a fantastic couscous veggie salad, kale salad, red and blue cupcakes (sans food coloring, but dyed with blueberries and beets!), and an apple pie. It was a feast in true American fashion.

In the evening we watched the illicit fireworks show in the neighborhood, celebrating the best of summer days.

Devilish Heat

It's still hot. Welcome to the new normal.

I'm so tired of hearing people celebrate the warm low-snow winter and then complain about the heat all summer long. It's climate change, folks. We caused it, we need to work to solve it. Or at least slow it. Do you like to eat food? Breathe oxygen? Then let's work on curbing that CO2 addiction, k? And, some of us actually *enjoy* the winter, the snow, and things like snowshoeing and skiing, hot chocolate and sledding. So please stop ruining my environment with your Hummer.

I was mystified to read this headline today: "What's Causing the Heat Wave?" Um, really? Have you not heard the news in the past, oh, twenty years? Perhaps not, as only 83% of Americans "believe" the climate is warming. No, my fellow citizens, this is not Santa Claus. Much like evolution, there is nothing to "believe" about climate change. Step out your door. It's happening. Actually, it already happened.

So, what can we do? Little things. Easy things. Hang your clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer- it'll save four whopping pounds of carbon emissions for each load you don't dry, and it'll make your clothes last longer. Use bar soap- it takes less energy to ship a condensed bar instead of all the water in body wash. Don't use a hair dryer- think about the silliness of blowing hot air on your head while you run the a/c. Or, if you are like me and like to use the dryer to straighten your hair, wait until it's almost dry and then run the dryer for only two minutes instead of ten. Eat vegetarian for a few meals a week- it takes an astounding amount of water to raise animals, not to mention the strain on petroleum resources and if you're eating beef the mass of methane that cows produce. Turn up your a/c a degree or two. Eat local. Turn off the lights and t.v.

If we all take small steps today we won't have a massive crisis tomorrow.

Recipe for the summer smoothie that I drank while reading about Yoshitomo Nara (pictured above): toss one peach, one apricot, and a handful of blueberries into the blender with two handfuls of ice. Blend. Drink. Be devilish.

Fourth of July Blueberry Pie

Thanks, Martha Stewart, for improving my Saturday with this fantastic Blueberry Pie recipe. The pate brisse crust takes quite a while, as there is a good deal of refrigeration time involved, but that gave me more time to go to the Farmers Market and get this great haul of veggies:

And of course, around here a trip to market means a trip to the adjacent playground, so I got in some exercise to burn off the pie and ice cream. Plus, blueberries are full of antioxidants and supposedly they improve your mood, so I'm healthier and happier all around. I can't imagine a better Saturday morning.