blue artichoke

Norwegian food involves a lot of fish because Norway has a long coastline. I spent three weeks in Norway and ate not a single fish. I did try a bit of whale, which is technically a mammal that lives in the ocean. It looks like beef and tastes fishy, a incongruous combination that grossed me out. Many of our meals were buffets or smorgasbords, making it easy for me to bypass all fruits of the sea. I ate a lot of sandwiches with various sausages (reindeer sausage, anyone?) and cheeses, roasted meats and meatballs. What we usually call Swedish meatballs are actually Norwegian meatballs; Swedish meatballs include more spices (typically allspice, nutmeg, cloves and ginger), brown sugar and mashed potatoes. Both are served with gravy.

Norwegian Meatballs (Kjøttkaker)

Munsen, Sylvia. Cooking the Norwegian Way. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1982.

When making the gravy, don't be surprised if the roux (flour + butter mixture) seizes when you add the first little bit of water, just keep stirring and it will smooth out. Though the recipe says to stir with a fork, if you're using a nonstick skillet, use a wooden or plastic spoon to avoid scratching the nonstick coating. In hindsight, I should have halved the recipe, but I was so excited to be making Norwegian food that I made the whole recipe. We'll be eating meatballs for months! I browned the meatballs in batches; the meat mixture was sort of soft, so the balls were actually little pucks. After browning, I transferred them to a 13x9" dish that I covered with foil before baking. Don't worry if the gravy seems scant; while baking, the meatballs will give off juices that will mix with the gravy. You'll have plenty. These are really good, but I must admit that as much as I'd love my favorite meatballs to be Norwegian, they aren't spectacular. I'd serve them to company, and I'll enjoy the leftovers, but I think I probably could find a better meatball recipe.

4 slices white bread
¾ c. hot milk
2# ground beef
½# ground pork
2 eggs, beaten
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. pepper
1/8 t. allspice
½ c. chopped onion
2 t. salt
2 t. shortening

Soak bread in hot milk until milk is absorbed.

Combine all in a large bowl and mix thoroughly by hand. Shape into small balls 1” in diameter (~ heaping tablespoon).

In a skillet, brown meatballs in 2t. hot shortening. Place in a covered baking dish. Pour off fat but save drippings for gravy.

Norwegian gravy:
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 beef bouillon cube
1 ¼ c. boiling water

Preheat oven to 325.

Melt butter in skillet with dripping from meatballs. Stir in flour with a fork. Add bouillon cube dissolved in 1-¼ c. boiling water. Add a little at first, stirring with a fork to incorporate. Then add the rest a little at a time, stirring constantly to keep gravy smooth.

Pour over meatballs and bake 30 minutes in the covered baking dish.

Serves 10.

As weird as it sounds, one of the dishes my mom and I raved about in Norway was cabbage with caraway. Who goes nuts over cabbage? You will, when you try this recipe.

Sweet-Sour Red Cabbage (Rödkål)

The Scandinavian Cookbook, from the Culinary Arts Institute, Chicago, 1956.

I used my 3-qt saucepan and it was just big enough to hold everything, but the boiling water splattered over the stove top, creating a lovely purple Jackson Pollock-esque design that I had to clean up. Next time, I'll use my Dutch oven, or a smaller head of cabbage. The caraway seeds make the house smell like baking rye bread while this cooks. It's really an easy recipe. Cabbage is really good for you and this is a tasty way to eat more. This makes a lot, so be prepared for many nights of red cabbage, or cut the recipe in half if you aren't serving a crowd. Gentleman Caller gave it rave reviews, rating it higher than the meatballs and even the Norwegian pancakes we had for dessert. Fun fact: red cabbage turns blue when cooked, unless vinegar or something acidic is added. Cabbage juice is a homemade pH indicator, turning red in acid and blue in basic solutions. Neat!

Set out a heavy 3-qt. saucepan.

Remove and discard wilted outer leaves from
1 head (~2#) red cabbage
Rinse, cut into quarters, discarding core, and coarsely shred (~2 qts., shredded). Put cabbage into the saucepan and add
Boiling salted water to cover (1t. salt per quart of water)
1/3 – ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 T. caraway seed
Cook 8-12 minutes, or unitl cabbage is just tender. Remove from heat and drain.

Add to cabbage
½ c. vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
¼ c. butter
Toss together lightly to mix.

Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

For dessert, we had waffler, a Norwegian pancake made on a special waffle iron. These were what my mom remembered from her last trip to Norway with my grandmother. She was so looking forward to eating pancakes all across Norway, but the only place we found them was at the deli on the mail boat fjord cruise. These are thin, slightly spicy pancakes in the shape of a flower (with five heart-shaped "petals"), covered with butter and lingonberry jam. The only souvenir I wanted from Norway was a waffler iron, but couldn't get one that matched our outlets and power system. I guess I lamented loudly enough; some of my cousins found an Americanized waffler iron at a Scandinavian store in Minnesota and sent it to me as a wedding gift. As excited as I was to receive it, it took me almost two years to put it to use. I am ashamed. It's small and cute, and has a very Norwegian-sounding chirp to alert me that my waffler is done. Now that I've broken it in, I hope to have many waffler nights. It makes only one at a time, so a fun game is to see how much I can accomplish in the 90 seconds it takes for each one to cook. I vacuumed and dusted the living room, put away clean dishes and wrote yesterday's blog entry, all while half-watching an episode of Clean Sweep. Not bad!

Norwegian Waffles (Hjemlengsel)

Notably Norwegian

You could make these in a regular waffle iron, but cooking times will vary.

2 eggs
¼ c. sugar
1-½ c. flour
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
¼ t. ground cardamom
2 c. buttermilk
2 T. melted butter

Beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy.

Mix next 5; add sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk. Add butter. Cook waffles in waffler. These waffles are soft in texture. Serve cold with butter, lingonberry or fruit preserves.

Serves 8-10.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite vacation food?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The freaks come out at night; the ants come out on Saturday night.

I made muffins again yesterday afternoon, because that's what I do on Saturday afternoons. After learning my lesson last Saturday, after these muffins cooled, I put them in a hermetically sealed Rock n' Serve Tupperware container on top of the refrigerator. The ants didn't even sniff them out; instead they found some delicious trash. I found a stream of them this morning coming inside from the top corner of the back door, crawling across the door frame leading to the basement, down the wall, around the corner and straight into the trash can. I doused them with my Hot Shot Ant Killa and went outside to find the nest. None. The trail just starts at the corner of the door, which means they must be inside the wall. I can't very well throw borax powder into a small slit between the siding and the outside door frame. I sprayed the heck out of it, but we'll see what comes of it next weekend, when the ants come out to party.

The muffins, as I already said, were spared. I just want to emphasize that no muffins were harmed by ants. By us, indeed; we scarfed them down with no regrets. The recipe comes from a bed and breakfast in St. Louis and is really easy to make. The texture of these muffins is soft and tender, like your favorite pillow. The flavor is delicately sweet and citrusy, not nearly as bold as last week's orange muffins, but just as good, or maybe better. Gentleman Caller and I both went back for a second breakfast because the first left us wanting more. Though not giving in to the temptation of a third breakfast, GC remarked on the supreme awesomeness of these muffins several minutes later, after normal muffins are already long forgotten.

Doelling Haus Muffins

Saint Louis Days – Saint Louis Nights Cookbook, Junior League of St. Louis, 1994.
I actually forgot to add the vanilla. whoops! I didn't add any additional sugar to the batter because the orange marmalade I used was really sweet already. I sprinkled some vanilla sugar on top, trying to compensate for the lack of vanilla. I got this vanilla sugar in Mexico and have just been looking for a good excuse to use it.

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
¾ c. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream
1/3 c. orange marmalade
1 T. butter, melted
1 ½ t. vanilla
Sugar, to taste

Grease muffin cups with shortening.

Stir together dry. Combine rest until all are moistened. Add sugar if marmalade is too tart. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle sugar lightly on top.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Serve with butter and marmalade

Yield: 12 muffins.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the most exciting thing you did over the weekend?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

How many times a day do you think I change my pants? Go on, guess.

I'm not quite sure myself, but I'm sure we can figure it out together. I wake up in pajama pants, change into my exercise pants to work on my fitness for a while, then I put on my painting pants to paint the cupboards, followed by my "street pants" to run errands while the first coat of paint dries. When I return from errands, I put on my painting pants again for the second coat of paint, then I change into my dirty-work pants to help my landlord fix up one of his houses. After that, I have a choice: either I put back on my "street pants" if they aren't too dirty or I put on some lounging pants to wear while I relax, putter around the house and fix dinner. From those, I change into my pajama pants and head to bed. Did you keep count? Seven, and that doesn't include my NeverNude ShowerShorts.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your position on pants?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After leaving out delicious orange muffins to tempt ants to invade my kitchen last weekend, I've decided they need to leave. There have been only a few at a time on the kitchen walls, counter and cupboards, but after smooshing them only to have more appear, it's time to increase the arsenal. Finger-smooshing is the first line of defense. When that doesn't staunch the flow of ants, I move to Hot Shot Kitchen Bug Killer. It's supposed to be safe for food prep surfaces. I guess it is, because we haven't suffered burning throats or convulsions yet. Anyway, I've done one cabinet at a time, hoping that the ants will move on to the next cabinet and I'll get them all at once. First I remove everything from the cupboard, then I fumigate the cupboard and run, choking, from the kitchen. When it clears out, I do a second coat of ant killer and go to bed. In the morning, I wipe out all the tiny carcases, and, while the cabinets are empty, I paint the inside back wall of the cabinet. They were a grimy dusty rose similar to the color of vomit. Ick. I painted the kitchen a nice light blue last spring, but forgot the inside of the cabinets. So, when life gives you ants, redecorate! If the Hot Shot and paint doesn't do the trick, my last weapon is borax powder. It's supposed to stick to their legs and poison the whole colony when the ants return to their nests. Anticide!

Getting to Know All About You: Got any good household pest remedies?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sorry this is a day tardy. My stupid Internet was down for most of yesterday.

I chose this recipe from South Africa weekend before last, when it was still chilly and I was in the mood for a comforting curry over hot rice. The weather warmed up, though, and I found myself more in the mood for a lighter meal from the grill, so I could stay outside longer to enjoy the fantastic weather. But, I went ahead as planned. See how I suffer for you? This curry is called Cape Malay Curry, because it is typical of the Cape Malay population in South Africa. The Cape Malays were brought as slaves from Indonesia and India in the 17th century to work the farms of Cape Town. The Indian influence introduced curry dishes, particularly the combination of sweet and savory flavors, such as the sweet cinnamon, ginger and dried apricots and the savory garlic and onions in this dish. Along with curries, they also introduced Islam to South Africa.

Cape Malay Curry

This dish is pretty easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of time in the kitchen, so you can head outside to sit in the hammock while it cooks. I accidentally burned the rice (by turning on the wrong burner, not the one with the pot of water on it, but the one with the strainer of rice on it. Whoops!), so I served it with egg noodles. I think it would be better over mashed potatoes, actually.

1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 bay leaves
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/4 cups less-sodium beef broth
1 cup water
1 cup chopped green bell pepper (about 1 medium)
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup apricot spread (such as Polaner All Fruit)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

Combine turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili powder, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl, stirring well.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add spice mixture; cook 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Add ginger, bay leaves, and garlic; sauté 15 seconds. Add beef; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth and next 5 ingredients (through vinegar); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Uncover; discard bay leaves. Simmer 30 minutes or until beef is very tender. Remove from heat; stir in buttermilk.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

CALORIES 349(30% from fat); FAT 11.5g (sat 3.4g,mono 5.1g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 25.7g; CHOLESTEROL 71mg; CALCIUM 77mg; SODIUM 396mg; FIBER 3.9g; IRON 4.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.3g
Cooking Light, APRIL 2005

Gentleman Caller and I have developed a rating system for recipes. "A" ratings are keepers, "B" ratings are potential keepers, but require some tinkering, and "C" ratings are average, and thrown out. We've been too lenient, though, and need to be more discriminating. I think our new rating system will be based on the following two questions: "Would I want to serve this to company?" and "Would I want to eat this again next week?" Yes to either of these questions earns an "A" and means we keep the recipe. No to both, and the recipe is out of here. The goal is to have a small collection of excellent recipes, not a sizable collection of good recipes. How does the Cape Malay Curry rate, then? It earns a "B," because the answer to the first question is "maybe." It has potential; I'd like to try it over mashed potatoes. If it isn't great then, it'll be tossed.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After the subpar lemon poppyseed muffins last Sunday, I decided to try another citrus muffin this weekend. Gentleman Caller had a preview sample of the orange tea muffins last night, and woke up this morning in eager anticipation of breakfast. With his rave review, I too was looking forward to some superawesome orange muffins. I had covered the muffins with some foil and left them out on the back table over night, and I joked with GC that the muffins turned bad overnight, or that Fat Larry had peed on them and we wouldn't be able to eat them. Yeah, sometimes I'm mean. But sometimes I'm right. The muffins hadn't turned bad or soaked up Fat Larry urine, no, they attracted a swarm of ants. There was a considerable trail from underneath the back door, across the floor, up the chair leg, over a pillow, up the tablecloth, across the table, through the cooling rack and into the muffin pan. And there were even more swarming over most of the muffins. Aack! How can these little critters smell the sweet delicousness of these muffins from outside? There were two untouched muffins and three with few ants nearby, so I bravely salvaged those and sprayed the rest of the muffins and foil with ant-killer spray. I zapped the saved muffins in the microwave to make me feel like I had sterilized them, and, yes, we ate them. I'm sure I've eaten food at picnics that flies and ants have crawled over, so tried to pretend like this was the same thing. Besides, lots of people eat ants. Ants aside, these are fantastic muffins. I just wish I didn't have to share.

You should try these muffins, but when you do, eat them immediately, or put them in an airtight, tightly sealed container locked with fingerprinting technology in a room protected by lasers and alarms. Seriously, keep them away from ants.

Orange Tea Muffins

Centenary Cookbook, sponsored by the Woman’s Society of Christian Service, Centenary Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., 1968

I made a few changes to this recipe. I omitted the nuts and raisins because I didn't want the distraction. I was looking for just an orange muffin. But I did want to follow the recipe just in case raisins really added to the orange flavor, so I made two muffins with raisins, and the rest without. Unfortunately, the raisin muffins were the ants' favorites, so I didn't get to try those. But the plain orange are great as is. I also made regular sized muffins because I only have one mini muffin tray and didn't want to spend the entire afternoon baking muffins in shifts. The recipe made 14 regular muffins. I increased the baking time to 28 minutes, and they were perfectly done. Next time, I think I'll check them at 25 minutes. The muffins are orangey and sweet, but the glaze heightens the flavor. I dipped each muffin top in the glaze three times, waiting between dippings for the glaze to soak in.

½ c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. soda
1 c. sour milk
2 oranges
½ c. raisins
½ c. nuts, if desired

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs.

Sift dry and add alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Grind orange peel from the oranges and raisin together. Add to batter. Add nuts.

Bake 15 minutes at 350 (or, for regular muffins, 25-28 minutes).

Add ½ c. sugar to juice from oranges and boil 1m. Dip muffins in this mixture after baking. Cool on wax paper.

Makes 8 dozen small muffins or 14 regular muffins.

Getting to Know All About You: Would you eat food that ants have crawled across? What about food that falls on the floor?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We have had fantastic weather recently, the kind of weather that makes me want to throw off winter's lethargy and spruce things up a bit. Normally in the early days of spring, I like to shop for bright spring clothes, buy new plants for my front-porch container garden, highlight my hair and window-shop downtown. See a pattern here? I spend money in spring. Because that's not an option this spring, instead of highlights, I cut my hair. Instead of buying bright spring clothes, I'm appreciating all my old favorites and looking to my collection of earrings and necklaces to spruce up my wardrobe. There will be no new container garden on the front porch this year, so I'm redecorating with things I already have.

I woke up cranky and grumpy yesterday, so I forced myself outside to work in the sunshine. I started by washing off some filthy plastic lawn chairs and side table that live unused in the back yard. Once they were gleaming, I wanted to put them on the front porch. As often happens, the newly cleaned makes the old look dingy, so I took everything off the porch and swept and mopped the white concrete floor. It's a dirty job, but hard labor that produces immediate results is a mood-lifter. My neighbors stopped by to see what I was doing, and stayed to chat a bit. The porch dried quickly in the sunshine, so I created a nice little sitting area for future neighborhood gossip sessions. Last fall, I pulled up the daffodil bulbs from the patch of dirt in front of the house. Many were already sprouting, so I planted the bulbs in my empty flower pots and arranged them along the porch walls. There was so much junk stashed away on the porch; I brought in what was still useful and threw everything else away. Now, instead of heading out to shop, I can head out to the porch and enjoy the beautiful weather while heckling the barefoot hippies that walk by.

Yesterday's experience made me realize that I don't need to go shopping to spruce thing up. I can be even more creative by repurposing the tired, old boring things I already have. This Not Buying It project may become a permanent fixture!

Getting to Know All About You: What do you do to get rid of the grumps?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The pie, it's awesome. The sugar high that results from a decent-sized piece of this pie surely makes me feel like a million bucks, until the inevitable sugar-high crash, which makes me feel like I just paid my taxes. Another piece, and I'm feeling generous again. So generous, in fact, that I sent half a millionaire's pie to work with Gentleman Caller this morning. Chartreuse BLT, wish granted! The pie is a glorified pecan pie. It has pecans, and the sugary pecan pie filling, but also dark chocolate chips and coconut. And those additions make all the difference. I'm not such a huge fan of pecan pie. I've nothing against it; I just think that it isn't worth the kajillions of calories I'd ingest along with the flavor. All I'm saying is that it better well be worth the time I'll have to spend on the beastly elliptical to work off the calories. And regular pecan pie isn't worth it. But, add some chocolate chips and coconut, and it's totally worth it. Plus seconds. If I ever have to make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving, I'm making this one. Other pecan pies are only fit for throwing. Here's the recipe. I'm not even afraid of giving it to you. If we show up at the same Thanksgiving potluck with this pie, we'll both be hoisted up on shoulders and paraded around with cheers. It'll be nice to share the glory

Millionaire’s Pie

Pastry for 9-inch single-crust pie
3 eggs
1 cup light-colored corn syrup
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces (I used dark chocolate chips)
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup pecan or walnut pieces
Whipped cream (optional)
Toasted coconut (optional)

Crust: Prepare the pastry and transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Ease the pastry onto the pie plate. Trim to ½ inch beyond the edge of the plate. Fold under extra pastry. Crimp edge. Do not prick the crust.

Filling: In a medium bowl, combine eggs, corn syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Layer the semisweet chocolate, coconut and walnuts in piecrust. Pour egg mixture over all, spreading evenly. To prevent over-browning, cover the edge of the pastry shell with some foil.

Bake in 350 oven 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake 20-25 minutes more or until filling appears set when you shake the pie gently. Cool on wire rack. Cover and store in refrigerator within 2 hours. If you like, serve with whipped cream and toasted coconut.

The recipe was printed in my local newspaper a few years ago, but is originally from Midwest Living magazine. I'm not including a pie pastry recipe, because I haven't found a great one yet. The one from cooking school is pretty good, but I haven't translated it from weighing all the ingredients to using measuring cups and spoons. I used a recipe from Real Simple, which is actually really simple, but tends to shrink and bubble when blind baked. Oh, yeah, I half-blind-baked the pie crust for this pie because I was afraid it would be kind of soggy if it baked with the filling. Until I work out a good all-purpose go-to pie crust recipe, use your own favorite recipe or use a store-bought crust. Actually, if you have a good all-purpose pie crust recipe, send it my way, please. I think this recipe would work best in a deep-dish pie plate, because I had enough filling mixture to make two pies. (I also made a millionaire's pie for my neighbor).

Note: I just read through the Midwest Living recipe (linked above) and see that they provide a crust recipe that the newspaper reprint left out.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Like many others, I hate tax day. I hate that the government takes my hard-earned money to spend on government programs I oppose. When I get so hateful, pie makes me feel better. I woke up this morning, shook my fist in the air in the general direction of Congress, mumbled some anti-government pronouncements, and made a pie. I didn’t make just any pie, but a millionaire’s pie. If there’s any day to feel like a millionaire, today’s the day.

The pie is cooling right now. It looks and smells great, like a pecan pie with chocolate chips and coconut. I’m holding out as long as possible before diving into the pie, but I’ll let you know if it makes me feel like a million bucks.

In the meantime, Ben & Jerry’s wants to perk you up too, for today is Free Cone Day. Personally, I’d rather have pie; the only thing that could possibly piss me off more than mailing a big check to the government is standing in a crowded line for hours for a kiddie-sized ice cream cone, even if it were free. I don’t want to waste both my time (long line) and money (taxes) on the same day; I’d prefer to spread out the wastefulness. But for those of you folks who love to get something for free and have time to spare, head over to your nearest Ben & Jerry’s line.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I picked Ethiopian food for our dinner Sunday night, so we ate.... nothing.
Oh, I'm just kidding. It's a bad joke.
We really ate African Chicken in a Spicy Red Sauce; what makes the African chicken specifically Ethiopian is the spice blend, called berbere. I scaled down the spice blend recipe because I don't cook Ethiopian food often and didn't want a lot of leftover spice blend. I also served spicy okra, which isn't specifically Ethiopian, but African in general. Despite the spiciness in the recipe titles, this was a surprisingly unspicy meal. GC even called it bland, but, as someone sensitive to spiciness, I would say it was merely mild. In either case, I won't be making this dish again.

African Chicken in Spicy Red Sauce

I scaled down the berbere spice blend by 1/4, and had ~1t. leftover. I used hot chili powder in the berbere, but still it wasn't fiery. The chicken was good, but had that sticky texture that happens when chicken is boiled. There was a ridiculous amount of sauce leftover; the sauce to chicken ratio heavily favors the sauce. I kept the excess sauce thinking I might use the leftover berbere spice as a rub for grilled chicken, and serve the sauce along with it.

CHICKEN:
2 chicken breast halves, skinned (about 1/2 pound)
2 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1/2 pound)
2 chicken thighs, skinned (about 3/4 pound)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (2 medium)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons Berbere
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (6-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
4 lemon wedges

Place chicken in a shallow dish; drizzle with juice, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; cook 5 minutes (do not brown), stirring frequently. Add 2 teaspoons Berbere, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, butter, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom; cook 1 minute. Add wine, broth, and tomato paste; stir until well blended. Add chicken mixture; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until chicken is tender, turning chicken occasionally. Stir in cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces chicken, about 1 cup sauce, and 1 lemon wedge)

CALORIES 373 (24% from fat); FAT 9.8g (sat 3.6g,mono 2.7g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 53.2g; CHOLESTEROL 175mg; CALCIUM 72mg; SODIUM 848mg; FIBER 3.6g; IRON 4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.3g Note: Nutritional analysis includes 1 teaspoon Berbere per serving.

Berbere
2 tablespoons ground red pepper
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Yield: 1/4 cup (serving size: 1 teaspoon)
CALORIES 6 (30% from fat); FAT 0.2g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 0.2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 6mg; SODIUM 1mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 0.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 1.1g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2006

Spicy Okra

If habanero chiles are too spicy for you, use a Serrano or jalapeño chile instead. Rinsing your okra gives it a cleaner taste and texture. I don't know if habaneros are too spicy for me, but I had a jalapeño, so I used it. Sometimes I get distracted when I'm cooking, and don't follow the recipe too well. This time, I diced the jalapeño into the tiniest little green specks, then realized I was supposed to throw it in whole, and discard it before serving. I'd go blind and batty trying to pick out the jalapeño specks, so I left them in, and by doing so, made the dish worth eating. Without the occasional piquant heat on the tip of my tongue from the jalapeños, it would have been a bland dish. This dish was OK, but I probably won't make it again. I'm sure there are much better spicy okra-and-tomato recipes for me to try.

2 (10-oz) packages frozen cut okra
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes
1 fresh habanero chile, pierced 3 times with a fork
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Rinse okra in a colander under hot water.

Heat oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes (including juice) and chile and boil, stirring, until tomatoes are softened and liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 10 minutes. Add okra and cook, gently stirring, until okra is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper and discard chile.

Makes 4 servings.
Gourmet, March 2004

I had a stupid freak "accident" while making the okra dish. I'm sure you know that handling chilies can be painful, as the Capsicum oil gets on your hands and can produce a burning sensation. Some people (the smart ones) wear gloves when handling chilies. It seems excessive for cutting up one single jalapeño, and I always wash my hands immediately after handling a chile. I guess I did a poor job of hand-washing, because when I stuck my finger in my ear, it immediately started burning. Like, down in my ear. How the heck do you wash your ear canal? Not by squirting water or an alcohol solution for swimmer's ear, that's for sure; those solutions just spread the oil farther in and around the ear. Talk about pain! I guess it got into my inner ear because it started to make me dizzy. I remembered that the best thing for cooling down a burning mouth when eating spicy food isn't water or beer, which just transport the oil to new areas, but milk, which bonds with the oil. So, I tipped some milk into my ear and sloshed it around a bit. Immediate relief! When you next find yourself with spicy chilies in your ear, milk is the best remedy, though you'll wake up the next day with dried milk crust in your ear. That's easily washed out with water.

Getting to Know All About You: What stupid thing have you done recently?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know why, but April and lemons are linked in my mind and belly. April is the beginning of spring, and the warm weather and blooming trees provide the perfect setting for light, bright flavors. I picked out a recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins for breakfast this morning. I was well into making them yesterday afternoon when I discovered that I should have checked my ingredients more thoroughly before I started. Though I had all the necessary ingredients, my yogurt was old and sprouting mold growth and my lemon juice wasn't enough for the recipe. One problem at a time. I substituted the splash of whipping cream I had in the fridge and mayonnaise for the yogurt. GC is grossed out at the thought of mayo in muffins, but mayo is pretty much just egg yolks and oil, two common muffin ingredients. I didn't put in the full amount of mayo, though, thinking that the flavor might overwhelm the delicate lemonyness of the muffins. I should have used more mayo; the resulting muffins were really dry and crumbly. For the second ingredient problem, the insufficient lemon juice, I topped off with lime juice and added two packets of True Lemon powder to the glaze. That worked really well; the glaze was super lemony, which counteracted the relative blandness of the muffins themselves. I tasted the batter before I scooped it into the muffin tin; it didn't taste like much of anything. I added two True Lemon powder packets, then two more for a faint lemon flavor. I was afraid to add any more, just in case heat caused the lemon flavor to bloom. I didn't want a mouth-puckering morning muffin.

When we tried them this morning, they were just OK. The texture was too crumbly and really dry; the flavor was unevenly distributed to a bland bottom and a tart top. If you bite through both parts, the flavors even out in the mouth, but if you like to eat the tops first and butter the bottoms as I do, the flavors aren't so great.

Because I had a significant ingredient substitution, I didn't get a true test of this recipe. I'm not going to post the recipe until I get the chance to make them again as directed and determine whether the muffins are worthy of sharing.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Blue Grilled Cheese posed a thinker in the comments section. How do gifts fit into to the Not Buying It project? If I moan and lament my self-imposed inability to purchase something, such as hair dye, to such a degree that someone is moved to buy it for me, is that acceptable under the rules? Technically, I’m not buying anything, and it would give me opportunity to work on my persuasive skills, but it still feels like cheating. I'd feel like every time I mentioned something I wanted to buy, but didn't, I'd be posting a wish list. My over-active conscience and whatever is leftover from my Randian days won't allow it. The point isn’t to save money, but to reduce my shopping acquisitions to necessities. Hair dye isn’t a necessity. Besides, I’m embracing the grey.

This also makes me reconsider what is a necessity. Brie isn’t a necessity, yet I bought some last week (have you had a baguette with butter and Brie and slices of mango? Ohmygosh, it’s my second-favorite sandwich, after a BLT). If I were to go down this route fully, we’d eat only rice, beans, meat, fruit and vegetables (and some would argue that meat isn’t necessary. I disagree). No diet soft drinks, and no pie. I’m not ready to become a true ascetic, but perhaps I need to be more discerning even within the “allowed” categories.

Something else I did not buy: a paper cutter.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite sandwich?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night, GC & I celebrated my birthday, which was in February, by going out to eat at IHOP and watching the Blue Man Group. It's their How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0, and, after watching attentively, I'm practicing to become a recognizable megastar. I've mastered the Head Bob and the One-Armed Fist Pump, but I keep getting hung up on Taking The Audience on a Jungian Journey Into the Collective Unconscious by Using the Shadow as a Metaphor for the Primal Self that Gets Repressed by the Modern Persona and also by Using an Underground Setting and Labyrinth Office Design to Represent Both the Depths of the Psyche and the Dungeon-Like Isolation of Our Increasingly Mechanistic Society that Prevents People from Finding Satisfying Work or Meaningful Connections with Others. It's the labyrinth office design that I can't quite capture, but no one ever said that becoming a megastar would be easy.

Prior to the show, I had only seen print ads and short tv clips of the Blue Man group, so I didn't really know what to expect. It was awesome! Somehow, even with baggy clothes and a blue face mask, they are so expressive. I liked the music, except for the vocals, and found my feet tapping and my head bobbing. The opening act, Mike Relm, was as good as (or even better than?) the Blue Man Group. He's an awesome DJ who mixed video sampling in with the music, coming up with hilarious Nacho Libre and Office Space (O Face) clips. My other favorite part of the show was Katrina, the little girl who sat in front of me. As soon as I sat down, she eyed my beer and asked what it was. Her mom and I told her it was adult juice. When she asked if it was good, I said no, that she wouldn't like it. She said she hadn't tried it yet, and kept eyeing it. I thought she'd try to sneak some during the show, but she was too enthralled by the Blue Man Group. She mastered the megastar talents of wiggling in a chair and raising the roof.

In hindsight, yesterday was the perfect opportunity to make another birthday cake for myself. I didn't miss out too much, though; my chocolate chip pancake dinner at IHOP and ice cream at the arena kept me on a sugar high all through the night. This was a great birthday present, and a great show. I don't know where you live, but if Blue Man Group is coming to your area, go see them.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the last concert/show you saw?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Last night, GC and I resurrected our ol' dinner & a movie habit. We watched the recent remake of Casino Royale, and I'm ashamed to admit that that was only the second James Bond movie I've ever seen. The first one one was an early Sean Connery one, but I can't even remember which. Anyway, we didn't decide to watch it until we sat down to eat, so the menu has nothing to do with the movie. In fact, GC had band practice and I got sidetracked so I didn't start dinner until pretty late. We had pan-fried chicken breasts with maple-mustard sauce leftover from last weekend's Easter ham and a salad. Definitely not a James Bond-caliber meal, but a healthy one to fuel us through those long chase scenes.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite Bond movie?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

My Not Buying It project is off to a pretty good start, but it's obvious that I need to make some clear guidelines. I said I could buy things to replace similar items that were worn, torn, stained, broken or otherwise unusable. Within that restriction, I bought two new under-the-bed rolling plastic clothes storage bins. I had cloth ones, but for the last two years, they have not only stored out-of-season clothes, but also incubated spider eggs (there were rips in the cloth from where the bags got caught on the bed framework). For each season change, I have to wash all the clothes that have been stored in the cloth storage bags, or else get tiny spider bites all over. I'm hoping the plastic ones will have a tighter seal and keep out crawlies. I've also bought two pairs of shoes: black sandals to replace three pairs of shoes (my soon-to-break black flip-flops, a slightly too-small pair of dressy black sandals, a pair of black flat sandals and maybe my favorite chunky black sandals that make me fall and twist my ankle at least once a summer), and white sandals to replace a pair of uncomfortable white sandals that make me hobble after an hour of wear. I've been happy with those purchases. Today, though, I bought a new oven mitt. It will replace one that is stained and has been set ablaze several times. This purchase, however, wasn't premeditated. I hadn't first identified a need to replace my oven mitt; it was an impulse buy. I saw it, liked it, walked away, thought about it some more, decided I could stand to replace my old burned one, and bought it. It wasn't expensive, but I feel a bit guilty. The old oven mitt was still usable; it just isn't so pretty. But people never buy oven mitts to be displayed. I shouldn't have purchased the oven mitt, but it fell into a grey area that has now been defined. New rule: any purchase of a replacement item needs to be premeditated, and a definite need must first be established.

My other area of uncertainty is with consumable items that aren't necessary. Here, I'm thinking of hair dye. Ever since a bus ride in Mexico, when my cousin leaned forward and asked if I planned to dye my hair because I have a lot a grey and "grey really ages you," I've been thinking about coloring my hair. I'm reticent because the last time I tried to color my hair, I turned it green, then brassy gold, then back to brown with red and gold highlights with underlying green in the right light. I've finally grown out all of the green; I will never use henna again, but the red highlights looked really nice... Hair dye isn't something that you keep around until it turns to clutter, but it isn't at all necessary. I wasn't sure if it fit into my Not Buying It project, so I didn't buy any. But I'm still thinking about it. Truth be told, though, I don't mind the grey in my hair, but it is spring and I cut my hair and I can't update my wardrobe, so hair highlights is about all the sprucing up I can do. See how I talk myself out of it ("it really isn't necessary...") and then back into it ("but it's all I've got")? So, I need to decide. Um, OK, only necessities. This project isn't going to be worth much if I can find a loophole to justify buying whatever I please. Hair dye isn't a necessity, so I'll be drab-old-grey-haired Blue Artichoke this spring.

I'm keeping a list of all the things I've wanted to buy, but haven't. So far: new fitted sheet to match our spring/summer duvet cover; pumice stone; brown sandals; bright-colored spring clothes to liven up my closet full of neutral-colored spring clothes; hair dye; tote bag; wire cooling rack. All that, in just 10 days! This project is already proving that I do buy many more things than I think I do, but an experience at the shoe store today showed me how far removed I am already from traditional consumer culture. The store had a BOGO sale (buy one, get one 1/2 off). Most of the other shoppers had at least two shoe boxes under their arms as they wandered the aisles. Of course, they could have been just carrying around shoes that they're deciding between while they look for something better, but I suspect most were falling into the trap of buying an extra pair of shoes they don't really need just because of the half-off sale. When I got to the register with my lone box of shoes, the cashier said she could hold on to my shoes while I found another pair for the sale. I declined and she asked, incredulously, "You couldn't find any other shoes you like?" Instead of explaining the project to her, I just said I liked a lot of the shoes, but I only needed this pair of white sandals. I've fallen for this sale ploy before, and might have again if not for the project. But I'm pretty good at talking myself out of buying things.

Getting to Know All About You: What was your last impulse buy? Are you happy you made it?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've never made an Easter meal before. Well, I suppose I've made food on Easter, but not an "Easter meal." When I lived alone, it was just too much work for one meal. It's still a lot of work when cooking for just two, but I gave it a whirl yesterday. Not particularly in the mood for lamb, I got a smoked, partially-cooked ham because it seemed the right thing to do. I've never cooked a ham before, not being a fan of pork until recently. The recipe said to put it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. One problem of working out of a ridiculously tiny kitchen is that things like roasting pans are kept in a closet behind a loveseat, nested among seldom-used bowls and serving pieces. It's such an effort to get it out that I was too lazy even to try. I had a V-roasting rack that was on top, and more easily accessible, so I used that. Next time I bake a ham, I'll get the real roasting rack out. A V-rack is for poultry, and is very cumbersome for an 8-1/2# half-ham. I had to cook the ham longer than called for in the recipe, because mine was partially-cooked, not fully cooked. I started it at 435F for 30 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 325F for 2 hours, when the internal temperature reached 160F. While it cooked, I should have made a nice lemon pie for dessert, but instead I watched a few episodes of Clean Sweep. Better for the waistline.

I chose this recipe because I knew I'd have a lot of ham leftover, and this recipe came with other recipes for using up leftovers. We probably have 7# of cooked ham and one very meaty ham bone left over, so you'll see a lot of ham recipes in the coming months.

Maple-Glazed Ham with Maple-Mustard Sauce

1 (8 1/2-pound) 33%-less-sodium smoked, fully cooked ham half
Vegetable cooking spray
1 1/4 cups maple syrup, divided
2/3 cup Dijon mustard, divided
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup orange marmalade (or less; we thought the sauce a bit too marmalade-y)

Trim fat and rind from ham. Score outside of ham in a diamond pattern. Place ham on a rack coated with cooking spray, and place rack in a shallow roasting pan.

Combine 1/4 cup maple syrup, 2 tablespoons mustard, orange rind, and orange juice; stir well, and brush over ham. Bake at 425° for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°, and cook an additional 1 hour and 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Baste ham with maple syrup mixture every 30 minutes. Transfer ham to a platter, and let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Combine remaining syrup, remaining mustard, and marmalade in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly. Serve with ham.

Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 3 ounces ham and 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

CALORIES 177 (24% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 1.5g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 15.3g; CHOLESTEROL 42mg; CALCIUM 15mg; SODIUM 845mg; FIBER 0.0g; IRON 0.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 19.4g

Cooking Light, APRIL 1995

The ham was served with asparagus. I picked this recipe because I had 2 oz. of feta cheese leftover from a feta salad dressing I made last week. In the rush of getting dinner on the table, I totally forgot that I was supposed to use feta and sprinkled the asparagus with Parmesan cheese instead. It was great, but now I still have 2 oz. of feta to use up...

Roasted Asparagus With Feta

I used 1# asparagus and didn’t measure the rest of ingredients. Would have been better if I roasted it a bit longer so the asparagus got a bit charred.

2 1/2 lb medium asparagus, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 oz feta (preferably French), crumbled (1/2 cup)

Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 500°F.

Toss asparagus with oil, salt, and pepper in a large shallow baking pan and arrange in 1 layer. Roast, shaking pan once about halfway through roasting, until asparagus is just tender when pierced with a fork, 8 to 14 minutes total.

Serve asparagus sprinkled with cheese.

Makes 6 servings.

Gourmet, April 2004

Getting to Know All About You: What did you have for your Easter meal (or if you don't celebrate Easter, what'd you have to eat yesterday)?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I celebrate religious holidays according to their food traditions. Today, Good Friday, is a day of fasting for Roman Catholics. Fasting isn't exactly a food tradition I support, but I can support a fast if it is traditionally broken with a big ol' slice of pie. Early French settlers (Cajun) broke their Good Friday fast with a sweet-dough pie, usually a sweet custard pie, but the tradition has evolved into breaking fast with any old pie. Because this is my first Good Friday fast, I decided to break it with a traditional custard pie. I started making the pie straight away after waking up. I have designated my grandmother's periwinkle blue bowl as my official "pie bowl." It may not be the prettiest bowl, but it has history, and a piece of masking tape stuck to the bottom with my grandmother's old phone number in her unmistakable scrawl. It is wide and shallow; perfect for scraping together dough for the pie crust, and for whisking together a custard filling.

I fasted until 10:05am, five minutes after the pie came out of the oven. It wasn't the prettiest looking pie, but it was sweet custard deliciousness to a grumbling tummy. The crust was flaky, but not sweet and actually sort of salty. I think a slightly sweet crust would be better, not because the pie needed to be sweeter, but to meld better with the pie filling.

Good Friday Egg Custard Pie

American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America’s Back Roads, by Pascale Le Draoulec, 2003.

Crust:
1 prebaked pie shell crust
Filling:
3 eggs
¼ c. sugar
Pinch salt
1 c. whole milk
1 t. vanilla
Nutmeg, to taste

Mix filling ingredients, except for nutmeg, together in as pretty a bowl as you can find. Fill a prebaked pie shell with the mixture. Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes. Sprinkle nutmeg on top midway through baking time.

Pie Crust
This custard pie recipe didn't come with a crust recipe, so I tried this one. For some reason, there is no all-purpose flour in the house, so I used bread flour instead. If I use this crust recipe for the custard pie again, I'll probably replace the salt with sugar, for a lightly sweetened crust. When I blind-baked the crust, it puffed up in the middle and pulled away from the edges a bit. Next time, I'll poke a few holes in the bottom with the tines of a fork and hope that prevents the bubbling and pulling.

1 c. flour
½ t. salt
1/3 c. vegetable shortening
2-3 T. cold water

Combine flour and salt in medium bowl; cut in shortening with pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle with water; blend until mixture holds together.

Shape dough into a ball; place on lightly floured surface. Roll out dough to 1/8” thick. Line pie plate with pastry. Turn edge under; crimp edge as desired.

If blind baking, bake at 375 for ~15 minutes.

Yield: 1 9” deep-dish piecrust.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite kind of pie?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm developing irrational fears of architectural passageways, namely ramps and revolving doors. The resort where we stay in Mexico is handicap accessible. There are ramps everywhere. My mom is a ramp-person, but I prefer the stairs. GC mixes it up, taking the ramp sometimes and the stairs other times. I noted this last year, and this year wondered about my reluctance to use ramps. Stairs are tricky, and I’ve fallen down a few in my time. I've never fallen on a ramp but I just don’t trust them.

I’ve also developed distrust for rotating doors. I used to love racing into them and being spit out on the other side. As far as I know, I’ve never been trapped in one or caught in the door, but I find myself opting for a regular door, or if not given that option, I approach with caution and emerge feeling relieved that I made it through unscathed… this time.

There's no basis for these fears. Is this how the road to old-ladyhood starts? I'm hoping that I'm just bored and making up games to amuse myself, like the hot lava or sidewalk crack games kids play. It'll be a pretty bleak life if doors start misbehaving.

Getting to Know All About You: You got any silly fears?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Learning a new skill sometimes involves learning a whole new language. Last month I took a class for making my own glass beads; it looked fun and I thought a sackful of handmade glass beads would be a good birthday present for my mom, a frugal jewelry maker who would never pay $10 for a single bead. There was one other person in the class, a guy who had bought his own bead-making kit a few weeks prior and had made, oh, maybe 30 large beads already. He hopes to graduate to glass sculptures. I'm happy sticking to beads. But, because he had read up on the subject and already had some experience, he and the teacher talked beads. I felt like they were speaking Spanish; I recognized the words they used, but the context was unfamiliar. I'm a quick learner, though, so after two hours, I had a handful of beads to take home with me, and a bead making kit of my own. For the next two weeks, I made about 10 beads a day. My early efforts are a bit lopsided, but I progressed to making more-or-less round beads. The ones where I made mistakes, though, turned out to be the neatest looking ones. I like this hobby; even mistakes look cool! Now that I'm comfortable with the basics of bead making, I'm thinking about taking an advanced class.

I can add making glass beads to my list of 30 New Things to Do/Learn/Try while I'm 30.

Here's the list so far:
30 New Things:
1. Roast a duck
2. Learn to make glass beads
3. Swim in an underground river
4. Sea-Trek
5. Touch a sea turtle

Getting to Know All About You: What is the newest skill you've learned?

By the way, a "hot head" is a type of welding torch we used to make glass beads. The "sweet spot" is the proper distance within the flame for melting glass.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Before I left for Cancun, I read a particularly disappointing book, Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping, by Judith Levine. I had high hopes for the book, thinking it would be about the struggles of making do with what you have and learning to not want what you don’t need. And I was really curious about how she’d get by without buying things like toilet paper, tampons, toothpaste, soap, etc. Well, to save you from a disappointing read, she bought all those things, plus a lot of other things she considered “necessities.” That wasn’t the disappointing part, though. This book was less about her experience of dropping out of consumer culture as it was a political rant against the Bush administration’s efforts to encourage economic health following 9-11 and the chronicling of her small town’s debate of whether to install a garish 200-ft cell phone tower (a compromise was reached, allowing a 100-ft cell phone tower, which pleased no one).

The book, however, got me thinking about my shopping habits. GC and I are both fairly frugal. We don’t collect anything, and except for the new tv that we got for each other for Christmas last year, we don’t splurge on big ticket toys. We don’t have chotchkes; neither of us are clothes hounds and our music and DVD collection is reasonable. Even so, I think I have too much stuff. I can’t fit everything I own into my car, unless I start driving a moving van. So, my next project is to stop buying things. Thirty days seems too easy, so for the next 3 months (starting yesterday, April 1), I can buy only disposable and consumable items. That means no clothes, jewelry, trinkets, candlesticks, shoes, books, CDs, decorations, kitchen accessories or chotchkes. Nothing frivolous, just things designed to be consumed or used up and thrown away (deoderant, BenGay patches, toothpaste, etc.). I thought about this project in Cancun, as I noticed that my favorite black flip flops were about to break, and decided to extend the shopping restriction to include replacing things I already have and use frequently, like a new pair of black flip flops when these finally break. I don’t think this will be very difficult for me, but time will tell.

Getting to Know All About You: What one item could you not live without?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm home from vacation, even though my luggage isn't.

Two weeks at a resort in Mexico is perfect. It takes a day or two in the beginning to unwind and get comfortable with the casual, laid-back, worry-free attitude, even for someone as casual, laid-back and worry-free as I am. Then it is just day after day of relaxation, until that starts to get boring and predictable; then we go adventuring!

Last year, GC and I went on a jungle adventure tour that included biking through a Mayan village, swimming in an underground cave called a cenote (see-no-tay) and a zip-line across the jungle. This year, we went to Xcaret (esh-ka-ret), an ecological theme part. Though very touristy, it was also very cool. The paths through the park were dirt paths through the jungle, with surprising sights along the way. Stumble through some branches into a clearing with Mayan ruins, or turn the corner and discover a tank of baby sea turtles. Peer over a fence and find yourself face-to-face with a lonely tapir seeking a bellyrub. We saw a lion, jaguar and leopard, all languishing in the shade inside their fenced-in jungle environment. GC’s favorite activity was snorkeling through the underground river; I liked it too, but got scared in the dark parts and swam just as fast as I could until I reached a light area, where I would linger and enjoy the brightly colored fish sharing the water with me. I did have a close encounter with a fish who made a beeline from the bottom of the river to my face, then suddenly changed course and headed toward my crotch. I yelped and kneed the poor guy in the face. My favorite activity was getting out of the chilly underground river and heading straight for the hammock island. I wish I could recreate the scene in my backyard: the sound of the ocean lapping against the shore, the light breeze rustling the palm trees, the quiet laughing of children playing at a nearby hammock and the sun warming my face and drying my bathing suit. GC went off to get a couple of beers while I swung lazily and dozed in my hammock. Refreshed, we headed to the Sea-Trek adventure, which is a strange experience. We climbed down a ladder into a lagoon while someone put pressurized oxygen helmets on our heads. We looked like underwater astronauts. Once underwater, we walked along a railing through schools of fish and a sea turtle. There was a man with a feed-bottle coaxing the fish and turtle to pose with us for pictures. The sea turtle was close enough for us to touch; I on the belly, GC on the flipper. Sea turtles feel like what you’d expect them to feel like. Though we had already had a long day, we stayed for the night show, a Disneyfied history of Mexico told in two hours through song, dance and games. The games were cool: One involved passing a ball through a waist-level hoop attached to the wall, using only your hips to pass and shoot the ball. The other was similar to hockey, except that the ball was on fire. Neat! Unfortunately, the games were the best part of the show and lasted only about 15 minutes; the rest of the show was not very interesting to two thirty-year-olds who had been in the sun for eight hours and drunk several refreshing beers.

After our day of adventure, we were ready for several more relaxing days spent lounging by the pool. After GC left Mexico to return to work (poor guy!), my mom and I fell into a pleasant daily routine: breakfast on the porch followed by a few hours spent sunning by the pool, lunch on the porch watching the ocean, then a late afternoon excursion: to a jewelry factory, then Playa del Carmen (about an hour south of Cancun) for shopping and dinner; to Market 23, a huge flea market where the locals shop (my favorite store there was a candy store; one room with narrow aisles with boxes and bags of candy stacked almost to the ceiling. A kid/candy lover’s dream come true. There were several people with shopping baskets piled high with bags of candy. It was all too overwhelming for me; I left empty-handed.); to a mall in search of some bedazzling shiny silver sandals (for my cousins) and a stop by the casino to watch my cousins try to outwit the video slot machines (they didn’t). These days spent lounging in the morning and shopping or sight-seeing in the afternoons, while pleasant, couldn’t entertain me forever. Which is why it is good that my vacation was two weeks long; any shorter and it would be hard to leave, any longer and I would get bored. As is, I started getting antsy the day or two before it was time to leave, but had time to do all the things I wanted to do while in Mexico. My mom left the day before I did, so I had one day all by myself. I thought it would be great: I had never spent a day alone at a tropical resort. It wasn’t as great as I had hoped. It was too quiet and lonely, and I didn’t know what to do with myself. Getting drunk and heckling people by the pool is entertaining for only a short while. Next year, I’ll try to arrange my departure so I’m not the last one to leave.

Long blog post summary: Great vacation. Glad to be home.

Getting to Know All About You: Where did you go for your last vacation?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)