elkit in wonderland

Mint Pork Meatballs

Recipe from Jeanna Stavas, stashing it here with all my other much-used cookery: 

"normally served in Thai Spring Rolls - I can send you the whole menu if you'd like, but the pork balls are this: ~2 lb ground pork (i grind my own loin in food processor so I know it's lean), about 3 oz rice crackers (or 1 sleeve saltines) - crushed - again food processor works best; 1/4 c mint, 1 egg, allspice to taste (~1 tsp-ish). Mix together and roll into balls. Brown. Then heat with ~1/4 - 1/2 c chicken broth until broth evaporates. Enjoy!"

I'll add more info and pictures once I've cooked these.  

Baking. And Reading. (1-5/52)

Oh hai. There you are. Long time no see. Who, me, what I've been up to? Mostly work, which means that, even though I love my job (I work for that fruit company), I don't really want to go near my computer by the time I get home. Also, a fair amount of cooking and baking - we celebrated Rouladenfest a couple of weeks ago, and I baked a Meyer Lemon Shaker Pie and a loaf of bread today, for a friend's birthday. Furthermore, some automated gardening, which is my fancy way of saying that I pick the stuff that's been growing: lemons and arnges, and some of the mizunas and arugulas that are threatening to turn the back yard into a jungle. 

And I've been reading regularly, in bed at night, almost every night. Surprisingly, mostly on my iPhone (yes, I know the iPhone is a computer too). My friend Jason really likes his Kindle, and recommended the free Kindle iPhone app, and mentioned that there are a lot of books to be had for free. I think this includes anything that is in the public domain, which is good news for anyone who likes "older" writers. I've read some Jane Austen, am on Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence right now, and have Anthony Trollope's Palliser series queued up. It's much more pleasant to read on the iPhone's smallish screen than I expected. Even my cat Willow approves. She insists on sitting on top of my sternum when I lie in bed reading, and she is much less bothered by the iPhone than by a comparatively large book that would need both of my hands to hold.  

Here's what I've already finished, some on iPhone Kindle, and some on paper:

• Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
• Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
• Michael Pollan, Food Rules
• Robert Crais, Demolition Angel (a paperback re-read)
• Richard Murphy, Confessions of a Contractor

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Our Office Tree, originally uploaded by elkit.

We had a Secret Santa gift exchange at work, which was a lot of fun. Several of my coworkers said, "Well, you know what YOU're gonna get, right?" not even bothering to point out explicitly how my constant talk of bacon would pay off.

Do you see that big huge green bag? That was for me! I exclaimed all morning that OHMIGAWD, Santa was getting me a whole big bag of BACON!!! Then someone asked me if I'd checked on it, or picked it up, which I hadn't. So I picked up the bag, which was wayyy too light to contain bacon. :-(

But then it was time for the actual gift-picking and unpacking, and OHMIGAWD, do you know what was in the bag?

Check. It. OUT!!!

Closest Thing to Heaven

At The French Laundry, originally uploaded by elkit.

My best friend Holly and I took Friday off and drove up to Yountville in Napa Valley, for a lunch at the famed French Laundry, considered by many to be the finest restaurant in the country. I tried very hard not to expect the best meal of my life - just a good meal well worth the experience. And I figured that if anything would turn out less than wonderful, at least I would be able to say I'd been there, and now I knew what it was like.

But you know what? It really WAS the best meal I have ever had, and I have a hard time trying to tell you what the best thing was, or which course I liked best.

It was the most expensive meal I have ever had (it's a ten-course prix fixe meal, and costs $240 per person), but it was honestly worth every penny. The service was impeccable. Classy and not snooty at all. Everybody made us feel welcome, and the staff took such excellent care of us that I wanted to marry at least three of the gentlemen on the spot. We showed up at 11am, were led gently and professionally without a rush through all the courses, and left full (but not overstuffed) and happy around 2:30.

The dish in this picture is well worth mentioning: Santa Barbara sea urchin with black truffle "pain perdu", tokyo turnips, granny smith apple (those pale green pearls), mizuna, and sauce périgourdine. I keep thinking of how this tasted. I've never had fresh sea urchin before, which was one of the reasons I picked this course over the other fish option, the bass. The orange bits are the urchin, and oh wow, it was like a mouthful of ocean become flesh. It was wondrously delicious, and this alone was worth the drive.

What a meal!

*sigh*

I'm still swooning. [Oh, and here's more pornographic pictures and details for all you foodies.]

Everyboy Here Wants You

Cake or Death?, originally uploaded by elkit.

The Food Librarian made me do it. She said it's Bundt Cake Day today, so I made a Bundt Cake today. We picked the Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Lime Glaze, which turned out really yummy, even though the tips got a little blackened.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven Day Weekend

Mine is not seven days long. But four ain't bad at all. I took today and Monday off, so I could bracket my weekend retreat nicely and stress-free. I'm cleaning up around the house and in the yard, and after lunch time, I'll take off for Santa Cruz, where I will spend the weekend a half dozen intrepid NaNoWriMo veterans. Rob found us a great house on Black's Beach, and we'll write and write and eat and drink and have a good time. 

Don't let me forget to pack my Bundt pan, the flour sifter, and the zester. The Food Librarian declared Sunday Bundt Cake Day, and who am I to protest? There were several votes for the Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Lime Glaze, so that's what it'll be. It also meant that I could snatch limes from my neighbors' tree as I dropped off the winter seedlings on their patio table: purple kohlrabi, shelling peas, broccolini, and a cluster of spindly leeks that were tested and declared edible my Ms. Maia. Her thinking seemed to be that it looked close enough to cat grass. I may plant more leeks for her. Good on her for eating her veggies.

Random trivia tidbit: a Bundt cake in German is called a Guglhupf [Google-hoopf]. 

Gonna Get Myself Connected

Aaaaaah, BlogHer. I started meeting and connecting with people right at the airport yesterday. I was sitting at the gate and looked up from my magazine right at Liz Henry's purple shock of hair. She introduced me to Rick Bucich and Lea Armstrong from Tinyprints.com. We were all standing there talking and texting when Mary came over and said, "Are you bloggers?" So nice to meet another local blogger!

And this is exactly how it goes at BlogHer - people will come to you and introduce themselves and be friendly, and I make a point of doing the same thing. Even if I feel too tired or shy to talk, I'll still have a smile ready. Because for me, it's all about connecting. The panels and sessions are great, but I don't mind if I miss a few. There are three categories of people to meet:

• People I already know, and am thrilled to see again
• People whose names I've heard/blogs I've read, but whom I've never met in person.
• Entirely new-to-me people and blogs.

Here are some more of the fine women (and men) I met:

• Michelle of Everyday Celebrating
• Rachel of Rabbit Write
• Lorraine of My Busy Kit
• Ellie of Expateek
• Andrea of Heathen Mom
• Grace of Miss Grace's Disgrace
• Jenny of Three Kid Circus
• Kevin of Moms who blog
• Aparna of Parentella
• Hetal and Anuja Two women whose names I forgot, of Show me the Curry!
• Dominique King of Midwest Guest
• Summer of Blogfully Yours. Note to self: she lives in Salt Lake City, and if she hasn't met Kalyn and Naked Jen, she really should.

And some of my blogging friends I've bumped into:

• the magnificent Grace Davis
• Naked Jen. Yes, that naked Jen.
• Sarah Dopp, of course, because she's my roommate
• Karianna, who gave me a KARIbiner :-)
• Jane, the one and only Mamacita
• Deb Roby, whose ten percent rule I am going to adopt
• my favorite food blogger and practically my personal chef, Kalyn

And I had no idea that my employer Motorola was one of the sponsors! I visited their booth in the exhibit hall, and shook hands with Becki the Techie, whose name I recognized from several email exchanges.

And I got some great swag - always great swag at BlogHer! Fun kids stuff (a Mr. Potato Head), fun tech stuff (a couple of USB sticks), fun girlie stuff (EOS lip balm), and fun health stuff (a DVD titled "Pain Free" from Andrea Metcalf, with Pilates and Yoga workouts for back and shoulder health - great for all us desk jockeys).

But enough words. How about some pictures?

Every Kinda People

Oh, by the way, I am at BlogHer in Chicago. If you're there too, come say hi! I really want to meet you.

I love how many different people are here. And how many I've already met. Thank you to everybody for just smiling at me and saying hi and introducing yourself!

Sweetness Follows (26, 27, 28/52)

Surely you have heard by now that I bought an ice cream maker. Oh yes! It's the talk of the town!

I've also invested in three very different sets of recipes: Ice Cream Deck, a set of cards with a recipe each, Lick It!, which has vegan recipes, substituting nondairy milks, and including lots of sorbet and fruit sauce recipes, and Making Artisan Gelato, which boasts "45 Recipes and Techniques for Crafting Flavor-Infused Gelato and Sorbet at Home".

I made sorbet from my friend Sherri's excellent Meyer lemons last weekend. It didn't last long, and the crowds outside my house are clamoring for more. My housemate Anna suggested I make popsicles next time, which I think is a great idea ... now where did I put the popsicle molds I bought?

Ice Cream Girl

I bought an ice cream maker, and last night was its christening. It's pretty simple, just takes a little time - you freeze the bowl for at least a day, then you combine all the ingredients in the frozen bowl, let the machine do its thing for about 20, 25 minutes, and then you store the freshly made ice cream in the freezer for another 1-2 hours. What better to do in that time that prepare and eat dinner, I thought, so that's what we did.

I roasted a chicken, beer-can style. Sliced one of Sherri's fine Meyer lemons very thin and stuffed the slices under the chicken's skin. Rubbed it with salt and pepper, sat it on the beer can, and put it in the oven. Anna had a flat of portobello mushrooms, which she stuffed with sausage, onion, parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs, and baked in the oven. We had a salad of arugula, tomatoes, and cucumber on the side, and forgot all about the baguette and the potatoes.

My first attempt at ice cream turned out well. I figured I ought to start with plain vanilla, and used the recipe in the ice cream maker manual/recipe booklet:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• (I added: seeds from one vanilla bean)

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Turn the machine on, about 20 to 25 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

A fine meal and great time was had by all. For my next trick: strawberry ice cream.