Bikey bikey

The new Surly got a great test ride this weekend on streets, bike paths, gravel and mountain bike/horse trails. It may be time to try a different saddle but the bike is fast, the tires are strong, and it held up great over a variety of terrain. Just what I wanted! The NCR Trail, C&O Canal towpath, all roads are open to me.

Exploring the difference between hammered, fluted, and fluted-hammered fenders just now, I found Velo-Orange, a guy in Annapolis who is the second incarnation of Grant Petersen.

I'll post pics of the Surly once I remove the ugly decals with the hair dryer tonight.

Also, I had a great weekend.

Poor Googling Skills

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/213806.php

Talking Points Memo has an explanation for what the hell that mansion was last night behind McCain. Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, CA.

Not Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which might have been, um, a little more appropriate?

Fleur

Photographs of Flowers by Edvard Koinberg, a tribute to Carl Linnaeus.

Wreaking Havoc

That's me. Always on the path of destruction.

Oopsie

You know, when you forget to bring an important undergarment with you while biking to work, it's nice to know that Filene's Basement is right across the street to make sure you can be decent for the rest of the day.

Guiliani

The tone of his speech is "ridicule".

Food Weekend

I had a very nice weekend.

Highly highly highly recommend Peter's Inn in Fell's Point. Best food in Baltimore that I haven't eaten at Edith's house. Casual bluegrassy cozy atmosphere. Watermelon in the water and grrrrreat wines. We got there at 7:25 on Friday just before the rush. Scallops with black lentils that tasted like 3 whole ham hocks had been cooked in; lamb chops too delectable to not pick up and gnaw the bones; pot de creme with coffee ice; to-die-for mosaic beet salad with yellow beets cut into stars and itty bitty red ones cut into circles. Not to mention the toasted goat cheese.

Saturday was pizza with the Hazan tomato sauce, mozz from somewhere in Belvedere Square (where we could not find rennet), and sauteed mushrooms.

Sunday, bbq at the Spindler-Ranta-Richardson's, bringing ginger-peach crumble from the Figs Table cookbook, which goes something like this:

Topping:
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup sugar (I used brown)
1 tsp ground ginger (used fresh)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces, cut in after you've mixed all the other ingredients.

Inside:
5-6 large peaches, cut into large dice
2 tbl fresh ginger
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbl sugar
juice of one lemon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

combine the inside stuff in a buttered 8x8 pan, put the topping over it and smooth it out. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. My topping didn't turn out as nice and brown as I expected but perhaps I didn't cook long enough. Oh well. It was soooooper tasty.

At the BBQ we also encountered Megan's Grilled Peaches, which are nice fresh peaces, cut in half and pitted, placed skin side down on the grill. Mix up some rum, brown sugar, nutmeg, and baste it on. Grill till yummy.

There was also Sundar's carrot halva and some yummy bratwurst made of chicken.

Monday we grilled again with the veggies obtained from the Farmer's Market, a nice striped eggplant and some zucchini, and a delicious flank steak! Edith made a wonderful arugula salad and this totally amazing Trader Joe's vanilla cake.

Gourmet's Casual Entertaining | September 2001
Random House

3 lb flank steaks
1/3 cup white-wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Lightly pierce steaks all over with a sharp fork or knife. Whisk together remaining ingredients and transfer to a large resealable heavy-duty plastic bag. Add steaks and seal, pressing out excess air. Marinate steaks at least 6 hours or up to 1 day.
Prepare grill for cooking.

Grill steaks on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals, turning once, about 12 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes. Thinly slice steaks diagonally across the grain.

Cooks' Notes:
• Since flank steak is thicker on one end, the thin end will be cooked medium.

Please note a long carving knife is now on my christmas list. :)

Stained Glass

A better picture of the WhollyTerra glass piece I got at Christmas last year (thanks Grandma!).

Granola

Combining a few different recipes, but here's what I'm trying:

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole pecans
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 dashes salt
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
3-4 tbl? wheatgerm
mix. whisk together 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup honey, pour over dry stuff, mix, spread on baking sheet and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

makes 10 cups?

um, try not to burn it while listening to the DNC.

Red Beans and Rice, Here I Come

I've gotten the OK to sign up for the weekend 'course' on malaria eradication at the Tropical Medicine & Hygiene meeting in New Orleans in December. So now I'm there for almost a full week, starting Friday night the 5th!

On the list:
Spotted Cat(above)
Tipitina's
Dick & Jenny's
Cochon
Cochon
Donna's
Cochon
as many po'boys as I can eat.

More delicious and musical pics here from the New York Times.

Kerry Speech

I liked Biden's speech last night, but thought the way he attacked McCain was kind of confusing and could have been a lot more pointed (honestly, the highlight for me was his adorable mother). The "McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right" just sounded playground-y to me. Unfortunately for most of the viewers, Kerry's speech was cut away from for punditry, but it is Much Better at outlining the vast differences in Candidate McCain vs Senator McCain (which is also a much more elegant rhetorical device).

Kerry also weighs in on patriotism in language that I think everyone should hear. Here's the speech (only 13 minutes).

Banksy in New Orleans

Julia, merci mille fois-o for the heads up on the Banksy in New Orleans, and the Gray Ghost grafitti war.

Love!

Shorpy, the 100 year old photo blog:

Bummer

More people are leaving work for the grass on the other side.

Very soon, I'll be the longest-serving program officer in our whole organization. Institutional memory? It's me and one part time person, and of course our admin support staff, who have also been finding better opportunities. How is this level of human resource planning ineptitude possible? How have we not replaced the five people who've left in the past year? How do we expect to staff and backstop the 20 projects we're currently bidding on?

WTF?? It's not like we don't have project budgets to cover staff. These aren't cuts dictated by the university because of poor/contentious accounting of discretionary funds, or projects that haven't been renewed.

Seriously, it will be the malaria team only pretty soon here. That ain't right.

You Lucky Dogs, You

It is as delicious as it looks. I'm not sure if the secret ingredient is the farmer's market stuff or the fancy cyclist olive oil, though.

Pesto Recipe

2 cups basil leaves
2 tbl pine nuts
1 tsp salt
1/2 c olive oil
2 cloves (crushed) garlic

Blend in cuisinart. Freeze. Repeat.

Hazan Tomato Sauce I

This, I make tonight:

Marcella Hazan Tomato Sauce I
(modified for anti-celery)
for 6 servings
2 lbs fresh ripe plum tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp granulated sugar

1. Wash tomatoes in cold water. Cut them in half, lengthwise. Cook in covered saucepan at a steady simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer gently for
1.5 hours or more (until each tomato is cooked).
2. Puree the tomatoes through a food mill into a bowl. Discard the seeds and skin.
3. Rinse and dry the saucepan. Put in the olive oil, then add the chopped onion, and lightly sautee over medium heat until just translucent, not browned. Add the carrot and saute for another minute. Add the pureed tomatoes, the salt and sugar, and cook at gentle simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes (until thickened to taste). Stir from time to time when cooking.

Sesame Street Raps

This one's for Nick and J:



Thanks to Very Short List for the tip!

Art Bikes

These in particular were awesome, but we didn't have a good camera.

Why hello

Are we there yet?

Huzzah, Picasa

A very clever person was using Picasa this weekend, and I noticed that it seemed to be able to solve the problems I've been having with iPhoto, namely, it is a pain in the butt to upload photos from iPhoto to blogger.

Unfortunately Picasa is meant mainly for PCs, but there's a plug in that works fine with iPhoto. So now uploading pictures will be, like, so easy dude.

Fer example:
Fun things in Ghana! A lovely bed of bagged water is the best way to travel when in the back of a pickup truck.


And, every President should have his own line of air fresheners:

$5000 in FCFA

This was less impressive than I was hoping, size-wise. If you had $5000 in twenties it would look the same.

Bla Bla lights

Finally getting around the posting the pics from the last trip to Ghana/Mali. This was the inspiration for the porch lights - they also had a really nice fixture made of empty wine bottles, mostly clear, all busting out from a central point like a glass explosion. But that picture didn't turn out.

Eating Well

Blackberry-peach tart with cornmeal crust (mostly butter - requires lots of chilling and freezing)


A plum that tastes like red.


Roast chicken with braised red cabbage and prunes from Fergus Henderson of St John. (picture taken prior to roasting!)


Mia Ribollita Preferita from Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook.

Mozzarella

So after reading the Kingsolver book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I wanted to make my own mozzarella. We found citric acid and low-temperature pasturized milk easily at the health food store and then went to my high school physics teacher's world foods store to find the rennet.

The instructions say to heat and then add the rennet, stir for just a minute, and then let it curdle. I wasn't convinced that the curd had actually set (below).


But then I cut it with a knife and lordamercy it had worked!



I was then too occupied with straining the whey off and kneading the mozzarella to take pictures, but here's how it ends up. I recommend NOT forgetting the crucial step of adding salt.



Kingsolver claims this takes 30 minutes but it was more like an hour.

Dad's new obsession

We went to get my Dad a Kryptonite lock at the bike store, where they had not only a complete Surly Cross Check on display, but a Pedersen bicycle (not for sale).

Now Dad is obsessed and really wants to get one with a Shimano internal rear hub. I think they're fugly. Judge for yourself at Pedersen Bicycles.

Kima doesn't seem to realize

that the squirrels will not come back down once she has chased them up the tree.

Happy Dog

Our backyard in Illinois is all fenced in, which is great for Kima. Behind us there is a big Bernese Mountain Sheepdog that she got in a barking match last night with. This evening we were all outside, feeding the fish (which Kima halfheartedly tries to catch), and Theo emerged. After a quick session of barks she actually calmed down a lot, I guess deciding that he posed no threat!

This is sort of amazing to me, and at the same time, makes total sense.

Martha's Vineyard

So I got to go up to the Vineyard with Ede's family this year, and of course it was completely awesome. Her parents and brothers and their girlfriends are hilarious and generous and it was so nice to be in a big family environment.

Not to mention the house and beach and island are bee-yootiful! And that we ate ridiculously fresh food (um, yesterday's harpooned swordfish anyone? Anyone?) and gorged ourselves on Chilmark chocolates. Fried clams, blueberry pie, sole with tomatillo salsa (Jed just whipped that up the first night), local steaks, super delish heirloom tomatoes, pizza bianco, and wine, wine, dark n' stormies, wine and mojitos.

All the houses of course are done in this cedar shingle style which gets gray with age and looks so New England to me. There were lots of options for getting to the beach, including kayaking across the pond, walking, biking, and of course driving 5 minutes. In the pond there was a swan family, a cormorant family, and a school of jumping fish that got serious air - one particularly vigorous little minnow skipped, kid you not, 12 times across the top of the water.


Zeke and Otis chased some quail and an osprey and some herons made recurring appearances in the field behind the house.

Just under 12 hours

I was a little worried about being sleepy on the drive from Baltimore to Urbana, but as long as I didn't wear sunglasses I seemed to be ok. Kima, however, zonked out the entire way.

Farmer's market this morning was like something out of the Kingsolver book, Animal Vegetable Miracle, that I am reading at the moment. Local producers known to my parents, chatting about what's new and fresh and what's the last of the season (blueberries).

Kima's digging the backyard, not literally, and the fish have now learned to stay Out Of Her Reach. The squirrels, of course, already know this.

The coolest thing I saw on the drive, which was on I-70, was a 1930's car (shaped like the car in this picture) which after extensive googling turns out to be more like 1948 or 1950 Chevy Fleetline or similar. It was creamsicle orange and cream and sooooo gorgeous. It passed me on the highway and I raced to catch up with it to see if I could spot any identifying marks - it had none, but no grill (weird) and two pair of horizontally placed tail lights in back.

already smelling chowdah

Vacation

Getting everything done before vacation is really stressful.

But the deferment of my gratification is down to only 3 hours. Focus!

HIV in Mali

Seriously?

Dudes. I took 2 meeelion cfa to PSI today and they told me they didn't want it. Thus began a long and involved process of negotiating exactly under what circumstances we are allowed to give them money.

It was awful nice to see my peeps there though. I never bother alerting anyone to my presence in Bamako anymore because our schedule gets so packed so quickly that I often don't have any free time in which to hang with people. Today however was different - a veritable Tour de la Nostalgie, from PSI to marché to the other marché and back again.

With luck I will continue said Tour Friday evening with old college friends, prior to racing off to the airport. Is it bad that I'm really looking forward to the Air France lounge in Paris, and all the free muesli/cappucino/pain au chocolat I can eat?

I Concur

Emphasis mine. This is why I bike. Merci BikeSnob!

One of the things that make cycling so great is that it enables you to avoid crowds and pointless delays. Few things are more satisfying than effortlessly weaving your way through a traffic jam. So while I’ll begrudge nobody his or her Critical Mass, personally I don’t understand the appeal of forming a crowd and creating a pointless delay. And it is a delay, whether you’re in a car or on a bike. I once accidentally got caught in a Critical Mass ride while out riding. I felt like a dolphin ensnared in a tuna net. One second I was sailing along, and the next I was trapped among a bunch of people with rickety bikes rolling on wobbly, rusty brown steel rims on the verge of collapse. It was like watching a Beatles “Yellow Submarine”-esque cartoon LSD sequence where all the bicycles were rolling on pretzels. Sure, they had taken back the streets, but I wish that as a cyclist they might have saved a small sliver for me so I could get to where I was going.

Ah but then it gets better:

People do need to see other people out there on bikes. They need to become accustomed to them so they learn to respect them, and they need to see how practical and effective they can be so they consider riding them themselves. Many cyclists illustrate this day after day, not only by riding their bikes to and from work during rush-hour but also by using them for recreation and even racing on them. A driver who sees you zip past as you ride your bike to work, and then sees you riding your bike to dinner later with a date, and then sees you going for a road ride that weekend doesn't realize he's seen only one rider—as far as he knows he's seen a bunch of riders, and he sees them using their bikes successfully. Effectively, you’re a Critical Mass of one. Meanwhile, a mob of people on crappy bikes blocking traffic one day a month isn’t a “mass” at all. At best it's a party. At worst it’s effectively just one big stupid person.

For all my moosies, who love playing in sprinklers

Especially Hope.

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/07/and-now-mooses.html

In Accra

And flying to Bamako via Burkina tomorrow. We have had Yet Another Whirlwind Tour here in the former Gold Coast, bopping around from hilly district to beach district interviewing people who work in malaria, mostly asking them "Hey, how are things going? Have they gotten better? How come?".

Traveling with Leanne, our second-newest team member, is awesome, and of course our team here is fabulous and totally on top of everything. We are leaving the very competant Dr. Nazzah with six more interviews for next week, when I will be in Mali for the same work there. Looking forward to food I know how to find and better internet, as well as a full morning of shopping. Not to mention catching up with my Mali homeboys Brandon "Keita" C. and Ryan "Diabate" S.

Even more so than usual have been very glad to be able to SMS back and forth with the states on this trip, and not only because Leah Q is my by-remote tour guide. She is getting a fun present when I get back!

Haven't taken many pictures except of the Most Amazingly Dedicated Community Health Volunteer Ever, and one of a man sleeping in a pile of water sachets in the bed of a pickup on our way to the beachy-mangrove-malarious district. He looked VERY comfy. It's on my blackberry so maybe I'll post it from Paris.

Off to pizza and beer - and by the way, Julia F, yours is the only blog I ever check when I am short on time. Each post is like a little delicious canape.

Milk is Milk

Parker Paul plays piano and that's it. A little ragtime, some simple statements on the essential being of milk, chocolate, and wine, it's nothing magical but it's likeable. You know, the way that kids in junior high are adorable in their dorkiness and awkwardness and you just want to tell them that later on, everything will be ok, but when you do, they give you that "Gee whiz Ms Cooper, I know, gawd".

Check out "Milk is Milk" at My Old Kentucky Blog, plus an interview.

Pet Peeves

1) Plastic electronics packaging that cannot be opened without sharp implements. Inevitably, this leads to cutting oneself on the hard plastic. People, can we not instead use higher-tech hidden alarm-setter-offers to foil would-be thieves?

[Sidenote: Opening something like this always reminds me of Steve Martin's Shouts and Murmurs piece for the New Yorker, "Designer of Audio CD Packaging Enters Hell" way back in 1999. Which of course someone in physics at Ohio State has reproduced for your reading pleasure.]

2) People who don't use their turn signals.

3) People at the climbing wall who talk too loudly about beta. I know, this one is unkind. But no one needs to hear your advice for getting up that 5.8.

Oh BSNYC, so glad you're back from vacation

--Between AFLD testing and their own tests, how is it even possible that the Garmin/Chipotle riders have any blood left? Could this be an elaborate subterfuge, and could bloodletting in fact have performance-enhancing benefits that the rest of the sporting world has not caught on to yet?


--Should the ASO just allow doping at this point and implement a Maillot Dopage for the highest-placed drugged rider?

Thanks BikeSnobNYC! You're pretty much the only interesting thing about the Tour this year.

Hamster video games always remind me of Mike Rickard

One thing I like about trips

I get to actually read books.

Ratatouille

Made this over the weekend with help from a book which I will credit once I remember the title. [N.B. The New Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas]

Get:
1 eggplant, medium to large
3 skinny zucchini
3 big yummy summer tomatoes
some basil
6 cloves garlic
2-3 onions, or whatever you have
1 red and 1 green pepper
some parsley
2 cups tomato sauce or diced canned tomatoes
you do have olive oil and black peppercorns, right?

Peel and 1/2" dice (or 1" dice; or cut into 3" slices) the eggplant and zucchini. Toss liberally with salt and set in a colander to drain for at least 45 minutes (I recommend taking a nap during this time!). I think this is probably a key step though I'm not quite sure how it works.

Slice your onions; cut your peppers into strips or squarish bites, however you prefer. Chop your garlic.

Rinse your zucch and your eggplant in cold water then squeeze excess water from them in the colander.

Put 2 tbl olive oil in a large sauté pan or large pot. Heat the oil and add the garlic, stir for a minute, add the onion. When soft, add zucch and eggplant and sauté 6-7 minutes on medium. Add the tomato sauce and the chopped pepper and some basil.

Cook that, covered, at a simmer for about 20 minutes. Then add your parsley, a little red wine vinegar, a bunch of ground black pepper, maybe some salt to taste, more basil and the chopped fresh tomatoes just till they're warmed through a bit.

Enjoy warm or cold, with or without pasta or rice, and imagine you're in Provence.

Nick is right

I think at some point I was saying to Nick that salt was salt. Nick said no, this is incorrect, salt is NOT salt. Try Balinese sea salt, for example. And I still resisted, because I am stubborn and contrary.

Well!

I went to Glarus Chocolatier, across from Whole Foods in Harbor East (dangerously close to work, mind you), to get a little gift box for our new malaria teammate Alison. I saw that they had bars of chocolate with sea salt (which I know and love because of Vosges). So I got one for me, along with her box of truffles (one of which is lavender!).

It is chocolate with Balinese Sea Salt and eeet eeez deeeeleeeshus.

And also awesome because the salt crystallizes into a little four sided pyramid, which is called a "square pyramid". I had to look that up and was really hoping for a more latin name, like "quadratrihedron" or something. Kind of disappointing.

But - take away message - Nick is right. About salt.

Photo credit: Big Tree Farms

Selling good habits

When I used to sit at the cross-roads in Ndende and hawk condoms, I was proud of myself for using advertising for good, not evil. This New York Times article gets at a lot of the things we try to do in our job. I often wish we were more innovative in this type of approach - for example, a lot of people don't use mosquito nets to prevent malaria, they use them to get a good night's sleep free from buzzing and biting insects (of all kinds). Yet a lot of our behavior change messages still sell malaria prevention as a main motivator of net use. While most of us at my organization and at others doing similar work know (thanks to advertising and research) that formative research and understanding your audience is crucial to designing effective campaigns, this part of the process also remains underbudgeted.

Thanks to Jen, whose blog is great, for the link!

Langhorne Slim, with abandon

We went and saw Langhorne Slim at the Ottobar last night. I'd heard a couple of his songs a few times and vaguely liked them, but went mainly because of the rave reviews of his First Thursday show last week. "Don't miss this guy!" was the message. Good thing I listened.

He and his band, the War Eagles, get more sound out of an acoustic guitar, an upright bass, and a drumkit than most other groups can manage with multiple instruments - case in point, this show rivaled Friday's Justin Jones show, which had acoustic and lead guitar, bass, trombone and sax, pedal steel, drums and a backup singer. With a cute, Bob Dylan-esque hat that may or may not have had a feather in the brim, and what my friend called an 'effeminate yet sexy' butt wiggle/strut thrown in for good measure, Langhorne brought down the house, strumming complex chord changes and singing like it was his last night on earth. His voice is a little high, but strong and confident, with just a bit of the Dylan whine.

Wikipedia tells me that he went to music school, which makes a lot of sense, and would also explain why his bassist, Paul Defiglia, and the drummer, Malachi DeLorenzo, are so talented.

The opening bands, Scruggs (think very early Uncle Tupelo) and The Red Vines (Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles) were also excellent. The Red Vines had a guy on keys and trombone who, let's be honest, was most responsible for their awesomeness. Poppy, melodic, with a smattering of psychadelic organ, the only thing missing was a tambourine for the female singer to smack against her thigh. Both are from Baltimore so I'm sure I'll be seeing them again soon.

Feist on Sesame Street

I had this album growing up called Sesame Street Rock, with songs like "Can't Get No Subtraction", "Born to Add", and other modifications of hit songs. One of the last times my friend's kid was visiting the office, he was obsessed with REM's "Shiny Happy Monsters". Glad to see Feist serving it up with monsters, penguins, and chickens just back from the shore too.

It's been a long week

Carcetti, Mayor

Just saw this on the Senator Theatre's website. Huh.

Lasagna OD

Did I mention I made that pork ragu into lasagne?

I reached the OD point today at lunch. It might have been lunch # 6. Please. No mas.

Surely there is someone who would like the half-pan that is still waiting in my freezer.

Edith, Kima says hi

Blueberry-Rhubarb Crisp

It's Rhubarb season!! Don't miss it!

This is the topping from the previous rhubarb recipe over a bunch of rhubarb and a pint of blueberries. This plus vanilla ice cream? Heavens to Betsy, the most delicious thing ever. I think that this will be breakfast tomorrow.

Woo hoo wedding!

So, like, all my favorite people who could be getting married have gotten/are getting married this year.

Alison and Darien
Rupali and Nathan
Nick and Johanna (pictured above)
Sean and Marin (Sept)
Claire and Mr. Claire (Oct)

At least I will get them all out of the way and have plenty of time next year to go camping. I would also like to share this picture, because Nick Laughton got voted "Best Dressed" at Nick and Jojo's wedding. Thanks to Rachel for taking it and to Josh for sharing! I had a long post drafted about how beautiful the whole weekend was and what a good job Nick and Jojo did delegating and how it was so very moving and fun and personalized all at the same time, but you know, if you were there, you knew it, and if you weren't there, you don't know N&J anyway, so you won't care. Let me just tell you though, that it's too bad if you weren't there, because it was AWESOME.

Sean and Marin better bring it, is all I'm saying.

Keeping organized

It's a struggle to keep all the things on my to-do list in one place. Right now they're scribbled onto different pieces of agendas, draft documents, my notebook, and in the 'notes' feature of Outlook (which is only useful because it syncs with my blackberry).

Crystal has been recommending an online service called Backpackit, which looks fancy and useful but is not free. I use my Google homepage all the time, so it occurred to me today (duh!) that there must be to-do list widgets I could add. And then they would be right there, staring me in the face, whenever I click over to check my email or the latest headlines!

I added a bunch, but ended up with My Listy, because it has a little tab feature so I can separate "Work" and "Home" tasks. Also - you can strike out a task and then get some satisfaction from looking at its doneness, rather than just deleting it when it's finished.

Crossing my fingers that this will help keep me on track!

Old Chatham Nancy Camembert

This cheese is really good.

Weekend Tally

Number of important things forgotten (I'm blaming stress): 4, including rent.

Number of people laid off at work over the last 10 days: 12

Number of BBQs over the long weekend: 2

Length of time spent watching Men's Wimbledon Final: 6 hours!

Length of time spent running after 4th set: 45 minutes

Score in 5th set when I returned: 2-2 (rain delay)

Number of bad songs deleted from my iTunes: 497 (yes!)

Total number of hot dogs fed to Kima for training: 5 (each one cut into 25 pieces)

Number of new tricks learned: 0

Percent improvement at loose-leash walking: 50 (petit à petit)

DIY African light fixture

Back when I was in the Peace Corps I had my own little house, and to while away the hours I built shelves and hinged window screens and made tortillas by hand. Over my bed of course I had hung an insectide-treated mosquito net, which was a hassle to get in and out of but kept me malaria-free for the full 27 months.

Actually, the net wasn't a hassle so much as it was annoying to be reading in bed and then fall asleep and have the overhead light still be on (yes, I had electricity and running water, and eventually a fridge, and no, I don't think it substantially changes the overall experience). So I went to the Malians and got myself a plug, some wire, a switch, a bulb and a light socket, and asked my post-mate Mike to show me how to wire it all up into a lamp. The idea being, I place the switch on my headboard, just outside the mosquito net but pokeable from inside, and I hang the lightbulb overhead.

This I did and have been a fan of small lamp projects ever since. My innovation even diffused as far as Lambarene to Jason's house after he spent a few nights in my guest room, which I had also rigged up, because hell why not?

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I'm in Bamako at the Bla Bla, fabled grill and bar, and the go-to meetup spot for volunteers and expats alike. The pork chops, by the way, are to die for, but what really intrigued me this time were the lights hanging above the bar, set in the middle of the room. They were pairs of plastic plates and bowls and cups, hanging pendant-style, colored flying saucers glowing softly from the inside.

Fortunately the plastic bowl market is right next to the artisan's market I always go to, which is conveniently next to a very nice Ecole de Boulangerie where you can get a decent coffee and pain-au-chocolat. I manage to outline my idea to the plastic-bowl-tigi (tigi being the Bambara word for 'holder' or really 'seller'), and I rustle up pairs of bowls, large and small, and some purple cups.

I finally finished everything today to make my own light fixture for the back porch. I had to cannibalize a cord from a lamp that was almost dead, so I feel the sacrifice was worth it.

I think it looks pretty nice.

Leftover Roast Pork Ragu Hodgepodge

What to do with the 2 lbs or so leftover roast pork that I can't bear to make into sandwiches anymore and that probably needs a lot of recooking anyways?

Ragu Hodgepodge!

Most ragus call for a mix of ground pork and beef and lamb - they're the original one pot all day dinner. So I grabbed some leftovers and things from the fridge and here's what happened:

Saute one large onion and three carrots in oil and butter.

Add your 1 lb ground beef and cook just until not red anymore. Make sure pieces aren't too chunky.

Glug in one half bottle of Bourgogne Pinot Noir that remarkably has not turned to vinegar despite being opened and left in the heat (corked) for over a month. Simmer till evaporated.

Add your pork which it is helpful to chop beforehand, instead of forgetting and then fishing out most of the pieces by hand with a fork.

Add 2 cups milk and simmer till evaporated, mostly. Try not to worry that it looks a little ugly right now.

Finally, put in some nutmeg and three large cans of diced tomatoes. Rejoice that things look a little more normal.

Laugh as dog hunts fly in kitchen.

Take nap, and hope that bottom of the pot doesn't burn.

Final verdict: Tastes like ragu with bacon!

Bee bop a reebop, Rhubarb Pie

1.5 lbs rhubarb (minue 1/2 pint strawberries, if using both)

Topping:
1/2 c walnuts
7/8 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
4 tbp sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c soft butter (salted)

Heat oven to 375. Toast walnuts 4-6 minutes until toasty. Cool them. Chop coarsely, but not too coarsely.

Mix flour, sugars, and cinnamon, then add butter till crumbly. Add walnuts.

Chop your rhubarb into small pieces, 1/2" length or so. You should have 6-7 cups. Toss the fruit with 3/4 c sugar and 3 tbl flour. Let stand 5 min.

Pile fruit into a gratin dish, sprinkle the topping evenly and bake for 45 min or until bubbly and delicious.

Kima Smiles - Video

She's too scared to go down the basement steps so she's always psyched when I come back up.

Dogslide

Zucchini-bacon quiche

Best to make two of these as it's no harder and it goes fast. Slightly adapted from Gourmet 2005. This is for one quiche, so double this:

1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie dough round
1/4 lb sliced bacon, coarsely chopped
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 large eggs
2 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated (1 cup)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.
Fit pie dough into pie plate and lightly prick all over. Bake according to package instructions, then transfer crust in pie plate to a rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

While crust bakes, cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until just crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate, reserving fat in skillet.

Add zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon salt to fat in skillet and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until zucchini is tender and starting to brown, about 5 minutes, then transfer with slotted spoon to a plate.

Heat cream, milk, pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 1- to 2-quart saucepan until mixture reaches a bare simmer, then remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs in a large heatproof bowl, then gradually whisk in hot cream mixture until combined. Stir in bacon, zucchini, and cheese and pour into piecrust. Bake until filling is just set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer quiche in pan to rack to cool slightly, about 20 minutes.

That sweet outdoor sound

Tuesday was the second evening of Music in the Park. The first evening, ten nights prior, featured a very competent soul/funk band and several beers each. While taking in the music we noticed:

a) large numbers of dogs
b) the people in front of us with fancy picnic paraphenalia, including special dishes with which to put salt on the rims of their margarita glasses, a rolling cooler, and a cocktail shaker.

Jealous outdo-ers that we are, we decided to show them just how fancy we could get, too. A few ideas were thrown out - creme brulee, with blow-torched crust; champagne, quiche, and fancy cheese; and of course a rolling cooler.

So on Tuesday we rolled in with the cooler, some Old Chatham Nancy Camembert from Whole Foods, and the two lonely bottles of champagne that had been pining for just such an occasion in my fridge for the last couple months. The zucchini-bacon-Gruyere quiche I made went over very well, as did Mari's creme brulee, which we scarfed down in three minutes, our forks darting in and out of the pyrex dish with abandon.

The best single moment, however, was the pop of the first bottle of champagne, and the cork's long ascent straight up into the air. It was the sound of exuberance. We all watched it rise up over the crowd, heads turning and craning up, smiles broadening in recognition. It's shorthand for celebration, champagne, and I'm sure everyone thought we were feting a birthday or a promotion or some other event, and it was even nicer for us to know that no, we're just celebrating the fact that we're outside, the night is warm, the swing band is great and the dancers are having a blast, and we're together, at least for a few hours, to enjoy all of it.

A Car Full of Exes

All I'm gonna say is, I love it when my life takes on the narrative structure of an opera buffa.

Pig Roast!

I don't want to say it was fantastically easy, but honestly, it was fantastically easy!

Claire and I picked up the pig on Friday just over the line in Pennsylvania. Brought it home and I used the old faithful machete and hammer trick to crack the spinal column and the head. He was about 70 lbs dressed weight.


Then we made the marinate with a cup of lemon juice, 1 cup lime juice, 2 cups oj, 5 heads of garlic, 6 handfuls of crushed fresh oregano, 3 tbl salt, and 3tbl cracked black pepper. And poured it over the pig in the basement.

Then we built the pit!

The next day I got up early and took Kima to the kennel, and Sean showed up with the hacksaw around 11. We made the pig holder and got the fire started.




We brought him up from the basement and wired the pig holder around him.



And put him on the fire.


Halfway through we flipped him (adding 1/2 bag of charcoal every 40 minutes).



Mmm, juicy!


Even babies like piggies!

Yes, Better

Feeling much better about the whole Kima thing. I will not have to put her down. Sure enough with a little tenacity and diligence she is getting the hang of heeling on walks. She can even "go home" to her bed, whever it is, and stay there for at least a little bit (and longer if we are right there). A friend from work who trains a lot with her German Shepherds said she's pretty smart (which I knew!). She even likes the treadmill (liver is magical like that).

She's going to 'camp' for two weeks when I'm in Mali and hopefully that won't mess her up too bad...the trainer recommended it so I'm hopeful.

Of course...this week is a mess with pig roast and bday prep and huge amounts of things to do and people to check in with before I leave for Mali. Not everything will get done, I know that much.

Muxtape!

I made a muxtape. Not sure what the significance of 'mux' is, but it's basically a mixtape. You create an account and can make one mix at a time from any mp3 you have, and no one can download the songs (though there are links to buy them online).

Current faves Deer Tick, Justin Jones, and Eef Barzelay make appearances. It's sort of the "Sons of Townes" mix.

Work Cut Out

In this period of complete despair, bad luck and neverending personal life incompetence, I just keep listening to Deer Tick's "Dirty Dishes". Find it at Hype Machine.

Kima was evaluated yesterday and I spent the rest of the day crying. But just remember, "things could be/so much worse."