Wednesday, March 3, 2010

International Women's Day!




this Monday the 8th is International Women's Day!
let's celebrate!

Monday, March 1, 2010

muffins! hooray!

Last night, after a weekend of storing other people's food in our fridge and letting other people shower in our shower, I was doing my painting homework, all spread out on our tiny kitchen counter painting the dishes in the dish drainer. The whole apartment had that lovely, oil-painty smell, and then Ransom and I decided to make dinner- rice and curry. So the place filled with perhaps my two very favorite smells and I got to paint and cook almost simultaneously- it was lovely. But it made me remember a recipe that I meant to share with you all. It's a muffin recipe, and it's extremely plain but very tasty, and the nicest thing about it is that you can add whatever you want. They're not vegan but they easily could be. So here you go. Something to make when the power returns. Or now.

Basic Complementary Muffins

1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 coup soy flour (or you can substitute another 1 2/3 cups wheat flour if you don't have soy, which I didn't)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1-4 tbsp oil
1-4 tbsp honey
Anything else you feel like adding!

Mix the dry ingredients together first. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with mild, oil, and honey. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid in all at once; stir just enough to moisten all of the ingredients, but don't worry about a few lumps. Fill oiled muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes, until well browned.

Friday, February 26, 2010

power outage!

hello hello cousins (and sister) - i am in panera right now and it's packed. a panera without bagels, a panera without fruit cups, a panera that is the only restaurant with power in 10 miles!!!

last night our power went out. we lit some candles and huddled by the heater (which isn't electric, so that's great). the rain was torrential. we were actually a little scared, especially with the flickering candles, the howling wind, and our graphically active imaginations. i wondered aloud what it would be like if we went to bed and woke out with our whole big old mansion floating out on the atlantic ocean. i said it would be frightening. hannah agreed.

"at least we wouldn't be alone, we'd have so many neighbors!"
"right, maybe a catastrophe like that is what it would take for us to meet them all."

this morning our power was still out. while i was washing my face i heard hannah talking to our neighbor, Deidra. Deidra is a airline stewardess with a rasping voice who keeps odd hours. it turns out she is also a TV commercial actress. in her 40s or so, she is very friendly and reminds me a little of a cricket. anyway, she had gone out to get coffee. as had Jen and Garry, our landlords. you can't make coffee without power! they were gathered around our doorway.

"the power's out for miles!" Deidra exclaimed.
"i'm just going down to the basement to check for flooding." Garry said, and tromped downstairs. seconds later Hannah said she heard him swearing. not good.

pulled on my flannel shirt and met them at the door. we chatted for a while before each going back to our breakfasts.

"hey, we actually did meet our neighbors!" Hannah laughed.

our classes were canceled for the day but we were desperate for power to do our ever-pressing homework. we went to panera. after waiting and waiting we found a booth that an older couple was just vacating. we chatted with them as they left (glaring askance at the other table-hunters pressing in). it turns out they had come all the way down from ipswitch (about 15 miles away) to find a place to get breakfast and coffee. now they were heading out to take a walk on the beach and see what was open in rockport. the power-outage has swept over the whole seacoast. we wished them luck and they left me wanting to go to the ocean.

people continute to crowd into panera even as i sit here. a group of high-schoolers just pushed by, laptops and a power strip in hand! a little group of heavily-accented older women with powdered hair and zippered bags paused beside me while looking for a table.

"maybe you think everyone has come here from the cold to get-a warm?" one of them wondered. they found a spot near me near an indian couple and a frazzled baseball capped mom of three that took one of "our" tables earlier and nearly exploded when she found out they didn't have bagels. just now the gordon students are trickling in (they are out of power too), also clutching laptops, looking a little frantic (i'm glad i powered mine last night). everyone's here sharing their power tales. some have lights but no phone or TV, some (like us) are relying on candles and flashlights and wondering whether they have enough batteries to make it. i'm sitting sipping my 1/2 decaf 1/2 regular coffee with soymilk (panera has soymilk if you ask!) watching people and wondering what your storm stories are? write a post and tell us!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

can we do this please?


follow the link, and watch this amazing short: waterpod...









http://radar.workbookproject.com/2009/11/episode-17-waterpod/

Monday, February 15, 2010

a little poem...

for my poetry class we literally have to crank out poetry. this on might still be in transition (actually, it definitely is) but i thought i'd share it anyway:

Grounded

I used to let the ocean take me,
out to sea with the prickly urchins
and the stinging jellyfish
that rise, unafraid, to the top
top of the tide.

Today I am grounded
on the cement wall, eyes
for nothing but the water,
willing the wonder of a million miles
to come (as once it did) and rest
beside me, a small hope of more
crusted in salt and sand.

Now - a damp cement smell mixes
badly with the bitter taste of seaweed.
I dropped my fistful of shells
broken, years ago when flip-flops,
sand-filled, were left beside a trusting stone
and I walked (eyes torn
between the stretch of the sea
and mystery of the treasure-filled sand)
with wonder.

Today the molding wet sticks
to my soul. Foot-print free
it catches and dries, too heavy
to rinse off in the coming waves.

Friday, February 5, 2010

a truly lovely advertisement (really? do tell.)

this is just an advertisement for a stupid tv, but it's really beautiful and fun to watch. someone showed it to me yesterday and i really liked it. they really did this in san franscico.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

un-cooking

thursday night was dessert night at my place: lots of lovely friends and one very yummy torte: here's how:

crust:
1 tsp veggie oil
1 c raw almonds
2 T raw honey
1 T raw peanut butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

filling:
2 c raw cashews
2 tsp vanilla
2 T water
2 T raw honey
4 very ripe strawberries
a pinch of salt
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp melted coconut oil (optional for thickening)

topping:
assorted chopped strawberries and blueberries

for the crust:
in a blender grind the almonds into a fine meal. pour into a bowl. add the honey, peanut butter, and cinnamon and mix well until it's a sticky ball. press the pie-crust "dough" into the bottom of a lightly oiled glass pie pan.

filling:
rinse the cashews and soak for 5+ hours. rinse again.
blend the cashews with 2 T water, stirring frequently. add the other filling ingredients and blend well. it should be a thick pudding consistency. scoop into crust. top with chopped berries and refrigerate overnight or freeze for 2 hours.

enjoy!
this was a HUGE hit at my place. it slices so beautifully and tastes sooooooo good.