lucy is ready

Lucy is officially ready for Casey's arrival. She loves sleeping in his room and understands that she will need to be the chief watchdog of the house!

facebook i don't heart you

Friday Rant: Facebook.

I'm not sure if one is allowed to rant on a Friday. I believe rants are suppose to be saved for Sunday evening and Monday, but this Sunday evening I'll be with my favorite people in the whole world...mom, dad, kate, kevin and lucy and Monday we'll be driving home from San Diego to San Jose and I'm not technologically savvy enough to rant while driving north on the 5. Isn't that illegal anyway?

Digression complete, ranting may commence. So, Facebook. I think I'm the only person in all of the 20% of world citizens who use facebook that hates it. Here's why I hate it:

1) I feel like a total loser when I find out big news from one of my "friends" via facebook. Example: engagements, marriage, pregnancy.

2) I find texting terribly impersonal and only good for quick, "I'm running late, will be there in 5," or "have a great weekend, catch up with you on Monday." I find the "wall posts" just as impersonal and annoying. Call me/email me to ask how my life's been over the course of the past 6 months. To me, a "I haven't talked to you in so long, how's everything going" post translates to "I haven't talked to you in so long and don't really care to so I'm going to mark you off my list by sending a wall post."
**Note: To all friends who do this: try not to get offended, if you truly think about it, you'll see I have a valid point. I do this myself all the time, so please don't think I'm trying to be holier than thou.**

3) It confuses the crap out of me. I swear I've checked every possible security setting, yet I still get the most random things posted to my wall/get comments from people I don't know only because I commented on the status of someone I do know. Now, I really don't think I'm a technology retard, I actually can get myself out of sticky technology conundrums pretty easily, but the Facebook settings just through me into a tail spin.

4) Facebook friends. This may sting a little, I'm sorry. But like the note in comment 2, try to see where I'm coming from before getting bent out of shape. Just try. Facebook friends: If I haven't seen you in two years or talked to you in the same amount of time and we don't have plans to see each other in the next year or call each other, are we really friends? Ok, that did sound rude. Let me try to rephrase: If I haven't talked to you since high school, don't have your number, don't know what state you live in, I don't think we're "friends" and so I don't really think we should be facebook friends. Maybe if Facebook changed the friends tag to acquaintances, I'd feel a little more positive about this. Because truly, most of my friends on facebook, are leaning toward the acquaintances side of life; people I knew in a past life and see every now and then. That probably says something about me. I much prefer to have a tight knit group of friends than have tons and tons of acquaintances. It's just who I am and you may be different and that works for you. So that's probably why I'm so weirded out by being facebook friends with people I don't really know anymore. Ok, don't de-friend me because of this comment. Who knows, we may run into each other at Peet’s and realize what we had was so good and must be started up again!

5) Fine, the short list of things I do like about Facebook:
- Seeing people’s wedding/baby/trip pictures
- Seeing people’s status comments. Most are random to the point of being amusing and entertaining
- Ah, I think that’s it
- Getting to know acquaintances better via their posts and photos, even if we still will never call each other to catch up

get your can on

Grandma Hicks and Grandma Westhafer got together last week for Canning 2009. Don't laugh, I'm serious. Just because you have you face planted on your iphone and your hand on the remote bouncing between TMZ and Kendra, doesn't mean that we've all forgotten about the simple and bountiful joys of yesteryear.

I have an apricot tree and Allison has a peach and apricot tree. Kevin's dad brought over about 25 pounds of apples from their tree. Together Allison and I made 37 jars of apricot preserves, peach preserves, apricot honey (like preserves but w/o the pectin which makes it thick) and apple butter. Allison's peach preserves are always my favorite. I canned another nine jars of apple butter over the weekend and two jars of apple sauce for Casey. This was my first year making apple butter and I really like how it turned out. I went easy on the sugar so it tastes more like spiced apple sauce, but it's pretty good. When my new crop of lemons come in and if it's before Casey's arrival I think I might make lemon curd and can that too. You never know when you need a spare jar of curd for lemon bars and lemon meringue pie. You just never know. Especially if you're mother-in-law salivates over anything lemon. Now if I can master pie crust I'll be in business.

By the way, if you do ever take a break from reality TV and your fancy iphone apps, OSH is the best place to buy canning jars and tools. Great prices and selection!

30 weeks seems like so long ago

When you're on the home stretch of pregnancy, this photo/update seems rather delayed. Here's a photo of me at 30 weeks...that was three weeks ago but seems like eternity. This pregnancy gig is going really well, not a job I intend to keep full time, but it's definitely tolerable. I still feel great and am full of energy. All the know-it-alls in the world shake their heads at me and say just wait, to which I put on my smile face and say, well all the more reason to enjoy it now. My chief complaint right now is heartburn and especially worse now that I had to buy another bottle of Tums over the weekend and they didn't have the tropical flavor. So I'm stuck with the disgusting regular flavors. My heartburn has to be an 8 on a scale of 1-10 before I pop the regular Tums. Regular refers to orange, lemon, cherry and some other flavor. The tropicals are pineapple, banana, some other pink flavor and maybe mango. Banana's the best. I do have one complaint to add to the list, it kind of just started. I think Casey spent the weekend locking and loading...aka gettin' vertical, aka head down. I spent more time today in the SVB bathroom than at my desk and there's some fun pressure down south. Oh boy!

Moving on to non-medical subjects. This weekend, Kev, Lucy and I (Casey too if you want to get technical) are driving down to San Diego for my baby shower extravaganza. Kate's hosting and she's been working her tail off to make it amazing, not to mention making Casey's bedding, window valance, my hooter hider and I'm sure other things that I know nothing about yet. Strep throat hasn't even slowed her down. Such a MacAllister. To be honest, I'm a little nervous that it's going to be too perfect. How the heck am I'm going to top this when it's my turn to shower her, not that I'm trying to top anything, I just don't want her to be disappointed when I don't hand blow all the glass cups and vases, create a pattern and sew all the table linens, spend 6 months at culinary school in France to learn how to make the finest cuisine, and become proficient in calligraphy to hand write every invitation. That's the caliber of detail I'm talking about people and I don't think it's an exaggeration. Regardless of my own personal insecurities, I'm so thrilled to be spending the weekend with my family. I miss them more than peanut butter misses chocolate.

23 weeks with Casey Hicks

Getting BIG and still 17 weeks to go. Woh, 17 doesn't sound like much at all. Casey is a kicking machine, I swear the kid never steps. I think he has a treadmill in there.

I wish I could be one of those woman that says pregnancy is amazing and the best thing in the world, but I just can't. I do love my belly; it never ceases to entertain me, but everything else is growing too and that's a bit scary for me. I really looking forward to getting my body back and getting back into shape. It might be a bit ambitious, but I'd love to get another triathlon under my belt in 2010. I want this little boy to have a fit mama and having a goal will help get me there.

my new love, colorado

Mom,Dad, Kate, Kevin, Annie Annie (Aunt Ann) and I headed east to visit my cousin Jenny and her family - Joey, Charlie and Brody in Fort Collins this past week. We stayed a night in Fort Collins which is hands down my new favorite city (sorry Austin) then headed into the Rockies to their friend's 500 acre ranch, called Moose River Ranch. We had an absolutely amazing week. My breath was taking away every day by the beauty of our surroundings. Never have I been somewhere so majestic and peaceful. Add the family into the equation and it was perfect. We all had so much fun together which I've realized in the past couple years is a rare gem that many families can't boast about. I truly am blessed.

We spent a day in Steamboat with Joey's parents, Barb and Joe. They have a beautiful home close to the mountain and I absolutely loved touring around Steamboat. I swear everyone was on a bicycle or had their running shoes on. Kevin and I would love to get up there this winter or next for some skiing. We'll just have to see how fast life will be with Casey at the helm. Regardless, we'll be back to Colorado sooner than later and can't think Jenny and Joey enough for being the best tour guides and traveling companions ever.

it's a boy!

Hey, look at me and my major blog avoidance issues. You know, sometimes I have it in me and these days, I just don't. But I have a little bit of wiggle room in my day so I thought I'd get my blog on.

The exciting news...we're having a boy! I am so stinking excited, it's ridiculous. My inclination from early on was that we were having a boy, only because I was craving really savory things (not like me at all) and couldn't really picture myself with a little girl, at least not for round one. But then everyone and their cousin, brother and neighbor kept telling me it was a girl, so I rolled with it and prepped myself for a girl. When the ultrasound tech told us on Monday with 100% confidence (and when I saw his berries, I was pretty confident too) that it was a boy, I cried like a baby. Thanks hormones! Kevin, being my cool, collected engineer type guy, asked a bunch of "are you sure?" questions.

I'm a little worried about this kid hitting age seven or eight and becoming a holy terror, but until then I'm going to love him and squeeze him to pieces. My friends with boys have said they're so much more cuddly with their mamas than little girls. I can't wait for that! Only 4 1/2 months to go.

Mom and Dad are coming to town this weekend. Dad's going to get started working on the nursery with Kevin. Mom and I are working on my registry. I'll do the pointing, she'll do the clicking. We're going to go on a hike, picnic and wine tasting (for the non-pregs) on Sunday. Should be a lovely, lovely weekend.

Miss Addison Grumbles, cousin Shannon's little girl, arrived on Monday. She's the first of the four cousins being born this year. Jill's up next in June and Annie's following close behind in July. I'll round out the batting order in October. We have so very much to be thankful for this year.

pb + chocolate = new love

I'm making cookies for Sam & Nancy as a thank you for watching Lucy this past weekend while Kev and I were in San Francisco. I decided to try a new recipe, the Barefoot Contessa Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies from her "parties" cookbook. Wahoo, they are delicious. I have finally found a cookie that cooks like my favorite cookies...Kate's chocolate chip cookies. They don't flatten out when you bake them (I really dislike flat cookies), but aren't too floury. The peanut butter flavor totally wins the battle with the other ingredients. The recipe is below with my tweaks to it as well. Enjoy!!

1/2 lb unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temp (I highly recommend this for all baking recipes.)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. good smooth peanut butter (I used salted chunky - trader Joes brand)
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (Could, but didn't substitute 1/2 ww flour and 1/2 white flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt (so much better than iodized salt)
1 lb semisweet chocolate chunks (I used 12oz. milk choc. chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of and electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. (I mixed these in with a wooden spoon to prevent the batter from being over worked.) Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt (I didn't because I was feeling lazy) and add to the batter, mixing only until combined (with a wooden spoon). Fold in the chocolate chunks.

drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using either a 1 3/4" ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands, flatten the dough lightly, then press the tines of a wet fork in both directions (I didn't flatten the cookies). Bake for exactly 17 minutes. Do not over bake. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy!

10 weeks and pleased as punch

I guess now that I've sent press releases to all the US newspapers, I can probably announce on my blog that I'm pregnant. I'm 10 weeks along and feeling, umm, well, I think the word "eh" would sum it up. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased as punch (non-alcoholic now thank you) to be pregnant. I'm overjoyed, elated, head over heels in love with the fact that I'm pregnant. However, I've been dealing with nausea for about 4 weeks now. It's not bad, I haven't hugged the porcelain god, but I just constantly feel "eh." It's hard to be excited when you don't feel great. Think about when you have a cold, you don't feel like doing anything --- exercising, going outside, doing laundry, cooking. That's basically how I've been feeling and although that's a good sign and means the hormones are doing their thing, I'm just getting a little tired of waking up feeling "eh" and going to bed feeling "eh." I'm pretty confident all this will pass soon as I've already started to notice some days are better than others, but I'm ready, already. I'm starting to fill out too, which I never thought I'd be excited about. I still definitely get the looks (maybe it's in my head) from passersby, the "does she have a beer belly or is she pregnant?" look. This is going to sound silly, but when I'm feeling really self-conscious about it, I rub my belly like a pregnant person would. Because who rubs their beer belly besides Homer Simpson? I know it's totally ridiculous, but it makes me feel a little better about being in that in between stage. I'm also quickly getting over my "should I be showing already?" issues. I've realized almost every pregnant person I've seen lately is at least 5'8" and/or was rail thin prior to getting pregnant, so OF COURSE I'm not going to look like them. Screw it!

So even though I said I was pleased as punch, I know all the above yapping would lead you to think otherwise, but believe me when I say that this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I have no trepidation about being a mother. Delivery is scaring me, but being a mother is going to be amazing. I think I'll ease into it like the best fitting pair of Jimmy Choos. It's a natural fit for me. Kevin is excited too. I think he is nervous about being a dad, but that makes complete sense. I think most men are, but I know he'll be a wonderful father. I see him with our friends kids and he just falls right into place (not saying he acts like a 3 year old) with them. I think we're both looking the most forward to all the inevitable laughing we're going to do. Kids are hilarious and I know ours will be no exception!

My family is also over the moon about the arrival coming on October. My dad already has a Grandpa shirt. It's the cutest thing how overjoyed he is. I'm going home in a couple weeks and can't wait to see all of them. Mom's already stocking up on diapers and Kate's getting her craft on with all kinds of fun baby things including the baby's crib blanket. It will be so special.

good boy

I've been working like a dog these past several weeks and this week was no exception. I had three events this week, all three in the evening, and all three requiring me to be there. My last event was last night and luckily I finished up early, around 6:00pm. I was starved. My plan was to pick something up or call it a cereal night, but I called Kevin and he was already in the process of making dinner. I initially cringed because Kevin's talents don't lie in the kitchen. They lie every where else in the house from the plumbing, to the heating, to crown molding and base boards, but the kitchen is a little scary.

While on my way home, I was plotting my second meal...the meal after Kevin's meal because that meal would have left me wanting something palatable. I'd settled on cereal. Upon walking into my front door, I was greeted by wonderful smells (and Lucy). Much to my surprise and pleasure, Kevin had whipped up a delightful dinner. Everything tasted perfect. Nice work, Kev, nice work. Feel free to invade my kitchen more often! Here's what we dined on:

Kev's Menu

Caprese style salad with fresh mozzarella, assorted heirloom tomatoes, and avocado. Drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Perfectly roasted and seasoned Brussels Sprouts

Encrusted Tilapia

...and for dessert
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (I made those)

pardon my absence and church

My deepest apologies for my two break from blogging. I can come up with a couple excuses, but I'll blame it on a very busy two weeks at work. Oh, I'll blame it on the economy too...for no reason, but these days everyone is blaming their issues on the economy. Bad hair day? Blame it on the economy! Expired yogurt in the fridge? Well that's got to be Matoff's fault. So yeah, stupid economy, how dare you prevent me from blogging.

I went to church today. That's a big deal for me. I haven't been to church, aside for attending one baptism and five weddings, in over a year. It's always easier for me to find something much better to do with my Sunday morning. Sometimes I don't feel so bad about my alternative choices, like when I take the morning to exercise. Being outside and exercising is easily, if not more healing and introspective to me than church. I've always challenged the church's (referring to ALL religions here, not just mine) beliefs on what God is and is not. I don't know if there's a higher being. I really don't. Let me rephrase that, I don't know if my higher being is what my religion says he is. I don't know if Jesus ever existed. I don't know if this earth ever had a man living on it that did the amazing and great things the Bible says he did. Sadly, I don't have that sort of faith in the human race to think that there is someone out there that could selflessly do all they say he did. Hmm, I think I might start upsetting people here, so I'll bring this little thought to a conclusion. To sum it up, I challenge all religions and I'm skeptical of any institution that claims to bring people together, but yet so many people, the world over, have died for. A quick lesson in sociology for you: if you look at most "religious wars" in this world's history, they aren't about religion at all. Rather they are wars over resources -- water, land, food, shelter. It's a true fact. Do your homework and you'll agree. Religion just gets messed up in it and people easily use it as an excuse to hate each other. It's disgusting.

Anyway, back to me going to church today. Despite all that I've said above, it felt great being there. I went to St. Luke's in Los Gatos. I've been wanting to go for a long time now and today seemed as good a day as any. The service was nice, a typical 8:00am Episcopal service. Short, sweet, and to the point. Because I grew up going to the Episcopal church I know a lot of what is said throughout the service by heart. Going to church makes me feel like I'm back home. It brings back so many memories of time spent with mom and Kate. (Dad always got a hall pass) Nothing will beat the services of my childhood, but it's fun for me to say the things like the Lord's Prayer that I said all those years of my life as a child. I usually tune out during the gospel, lessons, and sermon because they're a little too churchy for me. Instead I take those moments to enjoy the peacefulness of my location. My world stops when I'm at church and it excites me to no end. I feel the same way when I'm practicing yoga or running. Nothing else matters except that moment. It's calm, quite, and no one can burst my happy bubble. That's what I love about church and that's why I choose to go when I do. It's a free therapy session even if I don't listen to the therapist.

I'll try to go more often as I know I need that free therapy session in my life. That's all for now.

french onion soup + butternut squash gnocchi = LOVE

Valentine's Day 2009. That holiday for all the unlucky people who don't have a birthday on Feb. 12th or 13th. Nice consolation prize I guess. Kev and I never pay too much attention to V-Day, since we are still stuffed to the gills from our birthdays and there's only so many Hallmark cards two people can exchange. Kev had projects to do all day and I had some much needed lounge lizarding to do. It's tough, I know. Oh, but I did get a 4 mile run in, so I guess I did something productive. I wanted to do some work on the veggie garden, but the rain put a serious dampener on that.

I wanted to make a nice dinner at home since it's rare that I have time to spend the afternoon in the kitchen. That has to be one of my favorite ways to pass time -- in the kitchen, cook, cook, cookin' away.

Valentine's Day Menu
French Onion Soup
Roasted Asparagus
Butternut Squash Gnocchi with a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

French Onion Soup:
Outstanding! I got the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook. Ina never stears me wrong. Her recipe called for equal parts fennel to onions. Oh, it was so very delicious, and easy! I'll definitely be making this again.

Roasted Asparagus:
Nothing out of the norm. Asparagus spears with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. In the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes. Crisp and tender at the same time. Delightful!

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter Sauce
The gnocchi were super easy to make. I guess I just always assumed gnocchi were going to be a pain in the a$$ to make like ravioli or tortellini, but surprisingly no. The sage brown butter sauce was good. I was kind of winging it as I never cook with butter, but I'd say for a first attempt at the whole thing it came out pretty good. It needed a little tweaking...the gnocchi should have been smaller; I should have put the sage in a little closer to when the sauce was almost done, but I didn't hear any complaints from the peanut gallery of one.

we ate, and we ate, and we ate

The stars aligned for Kevin and I and blessed us with back to back birthdays. Kev is Feb. 12 and I'm Feb 13. Since I've recruited Kevin to the dark side of the foodie kingdom, we usually spend our birthdays eating good food! This year was no different. Hey, if it aint broke, don't fix it, right?

Kevin woke up Thursday morning, one year older and still three years and a day older than me. I wanted to make his day full of special moments, so we started the day with breakfast. I made french toast, eggs, and bacon. Nothing fancy, but definitely not a typical weekday breakfast. I'm usually in the car chowing down a whole wheat english muffin and Kevin cleans out the Cisco Cafe with a double espresso macchiato, a big bowl of fruit, sometimes cereal, or egg whites and/or toast and bacon. Yeah, I know, it shocks me every time I think about it too. Anywho, back to birthday breakfast. Once Kevin left for work, I waited patiently for the best bakery this side of the western hemisphere to open so I could pick up a cupcake for him (and one for me too!). Icing on the Cake had these fun single cupcake boxes and cute ribbon. So for the price of three cupcakes, I got one box and a cupcake for Kev....vanilla with a strawberry/raspberry frosting. He's a berry guy, I'm a chocolate/peanut butter gal. I picked up a peanut butter cupcake with peanut butter frosting dipped in milk chocolate. Talk about a sugar roller coaster...I was kinda dead weight after taking that thing down.

Okay, this is getting a bit long-winded as my blogs tend to do. SOOO, I'll shorten this puppy up.

Delivered cupcake to Kevin's work. Kevin ate cupcake instantly (about 1 1/2 hours after big'ol breakfast). Kevin went to Chinese food for lunch with coworker/friend. We went to dinner at Bistro Basia in Palo Alto. Delicious little bistro, will definitely go back soon. The wait staff was incredibly friendly and attentive. I started with a wild mushroom soup and had cornish game hen with wilted spinach for dinner. Kevin was allowed to have a couple bites of my soup and had an asparagus and pancetta risotto (Kevin has a new thing for risotto....it's a little scary.). I brought a bottle of Amici Cab do go with dinner because the birthday thinks that Napa Cabs are about the best thing since, well, probably risotto. I tend to think otherwise, but it was Napa Cab/Risotto boy's birthday, so Napa Cab we shall drink. It was delicious, I must admit. Anywho, we finished dinner with two deserts, an apricot souffle and the second courtesy of the chef, a choclate citrus mousse that I think will be with me for the next three years. Damn you decadent dessert!

We ate, we slept and we did it all over again the next day for my birthday. Oh sweet reward! I had to be in the office early so no special breakfast for me. I did go to lunch with my coworkers and finally had the bean and cheese burrito I'd been crazing for about two weeks. Yes it's simple, but some of the simplest things are the most enjoyable! (see spring vegetable garden post) For dinner, Kev and I went to Trevese in Los Gatos and had an amazing meal! We will definitely go back for a special occasion meal. We started with the winter root vegetable salad. I had the braised short ribs for my entree and Kevin had the vegetarian sampler. He was going to go for the suckling pig, but I think we both got a little freaked out. From one extreme to another! For dessert we had a yummy flourless chocolate cake with a birthday candle. (candle not edible) Thanks for the special touch at the end of the dinner Rob, Dawn, and Jake! ;)

Two birthdays down, about 10,000 calories each, and on we go to another year of life, love, and happiness. Crystal ball says this is going to be a wonderful year for us both!

sadness

It's been an emotional week and it's only Tuesday. I should probably be sleeping right now, letting my body rejuvenate itself, letting the exhaustion pass, but I can't sleep right now with my mind and heart in an emotional tailspin.

On Sunday, I found out that a very, very dear family friend's brother died. I didn't know him, but the sadness and heartache I feel for my friend is unending. Her brother drowned in the ocean. The search teams will continue to look for his body for 10 more days. At first, when my mom shared this unimaginable news, I didn't know how to react. I didn't know what to say or do. I sent my friend a card the next morning, expressing my deepest sympathies, but I now feel that the card was juvenile; it didn't say exactly what I felt; it wasn't enough. I received more information about her brother's death today via an email and it hit me like a brick wall. I cried, and cried, and cried, and cried because I never ever wanted her to have to write those words. I never wanted her to have to sit down at her computer and tell us the details of her brother's death. No one should ever have to do that. It's not fair. It's not fair that the Lord can giveth and taketh away in an instant. Why her? Why one of the most beautiful, most strong, most honest women I know? And why in such a cruel way? It's not fair.

I was instantly homesick. I wanted to be around my family in San Diego, who love her as much as I do. I wanted to be with them, to see them standing in front of me, to hold them, to tell them I love them. It pains me to the core that at times like these I can't be there and whatever I say in a email or on the phone isn't enough. It never feels like enough.

I know that in time, my friend's deep wounds will begin to heal despite the scar that will be left behind. I know that she will find a way with her family to fight through the sadness, confusion, and emptiness. But I wish that I could instead take all of that and suck it into a bottle and seal it, never to be opened again. I wish life worked that way. I don't feel like we should ever have to learn or grow from loss and I never want to experience that in my life, even though I also know that I will.

spring's vegetable garden...a tribute to the past

I've kicked and fought, but I've finally given in. I'm going to plant another vegetable garden this year.

Kate and I planted one last year in my backyard. Although we had a very fun time with the planting process (aside from finding a double bagged something in the soil), we had beginners bad luck. The spot I mapped out was just too small for what we put in. The lemon cucumbers and the zucchini quickly towered over everything. The chives never had a fighting chance against Lucy's footsteps, the eggplants were too heavy on the vine, I forgot to put a trap around one of the tomato plants, etc., etc. Once everything was gone, I vowed I was never going to do another vegetable garden and instead was going to plant the area of the yard with low maintenance perennials and shrubs.

Then our economy took a big 'ol dump! In an effort to save money and my waistline, I've been planning out our weekly meals and doing the grocery shopping once a week as opposed to taking torturous quick trips to the market during the week or picking up food on the way home from work. (I love you and miss you deeply Rongoli, Aldo's, and Chipotle.) This past week, I heard a piece on NPR about growing vegetable gardens and how it's a great way to save money and some would venture to say patriotic. I've never been big on patriotism; amongst other wonderful things, that's what my sister is for, but, I really started thinking how aside from the money factor, a vegetable garden would be a wonderful tribute to my past, to a simpler, cleaner way of living. From Grandpa's nasturtiums growing in the desert (followed by a nasturtium sandwich at lunch), to his grapefruit trees, his homemade raisins that us cousins would throw in the deep end of the pool by the handfuls just to see if we could go all the way to the bottom without the pain in our ears getting to us first, to the blackberries in our backyard at the Rancho Vista house where we'd find the neighbor's turtles hiding, and the chickens in our coop and those delicious eggs they produced if Big Red, the rooster didn't break them first.

All these wonderful things were a part of my youth and the nostalgia is too great to ignore. It's these simple things that I look back on with such fondness. Not my barbies, tv, video games, or all the other battery operated toys that kids of today simply must have. So, a vegetable garden we shall plant!

I spent this Sunday mapping out the garden. The space is much bigger this year, about 7'x12' although it's kind of a funny shape. The curves of the area will blend in well with the rest of the yard. I went to my favorite nursery, Green Thumbs, in Los Gatos and picked up several types of spring vegetable seeds. Having about an hour of good daylight left, I went ahead and planted some Honey Gold Sunflowers and California Poppies. Yes, I know these aren't vegetables, but they will be part of the border and filler while the veggies are getting big and glorious.

The Suburban Foodie's Spring Vegetable Garden

Gold, White, and Purple Beets
Radicchio Lettuce
Butterleaf Lettuce
Spring Mix Lettuce
Heirloom Carrots (white, purple, orange)
Edamame
Blue Lake Green Beans
Leeks
Red Onions
Purple, White, and Green Cauliflower
Broccoli Raab
Basil
Parsley
Cilantro
Oregano
Coriander
Thyme
Sweet Peas
Sunflowers
Nasturtiums
California Poppies

super bowl, super party!

Sorry for the delay in blogging; I've been at a conference for the past three days (with icky hotel food). Kevin and I hosted a Super Bowl party at our house on Sunday. Really it was for the new tv's sake. We wanted to announce it's arrival in style. So we threw it a party. Graham came over earlier in the day to hook us up with HDtv since we're too cheap to get it on our own. I came home from a pre-game calorie burning run to find Kevin and Graham walking around on the roof with cables. It all got set-up with ease and we were up and running.

We had about 16 friends over for the game. I cooked and cleaned all day on Saturday while Kevin & Lew were in Chico. I've decided there really is no better way to get ready for a party than when your husband's out of town. It just makes things so much easier. Sorry honey. Below is the game day menu.


Super Bowl Menu

Turkey Chili (I'll elaborate)

Hot Chicken & Artichoke Dip

Pizza Pouches (I'll elaborate)

Veggies & Dip (thanks Julie!)

Pigs in a Blanket (Thanks Nancy and I'll elaborate)

Roasted Red Pepper Dip (Thanks Nancy!)

Popcorn, chips, asst. nuts

Brownies (Thanks Ellen!)

Football shaped Rice Crispy Treats (Thanks Nancy!)


Turkey Chili:

I've been perfecting my recipe. The most recent addition was a a can of beer. The can itself was not in the chili. I don't think I'll add a whole can next time because it overpowered the chili way too much. Although, Khash, an official Palo Alto Chili Cook-off judge said it was a viable contender. It's possible he was just being nice!

Pigs in a Blanket:

Never made theses suckers before because I probably turned my nose up in the air just at the thought of allowing such a thing in my kitchen. Now...I think it's retro. (It's a much better way of saying "white trash.") Instead of making these with the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, I made them with puff pastry...thanks Nancy for supplying the puff pastry! I cut each sheet into sixths lengthwise, then then thirds crosswise to end up with 18 narrow strips of dow. I cut Ballpark All-Beef hot dogs into thirds and wrapped a piece of dough around each mini-dog. I then brushed an eggwash on each and sprinkled finely grated parmesan cheese on top. They baked at 375 for about 20 minutes and were abolutely delicious. I'll definitely be serving these again for an sports related parties.

Pizza Pouches:

These little things are good, but are somewhat labor intensive. Well, when you think about it, they aren't really, maybe because I made a bunch it felt like it took forever. Get your favorite pizza dough from Trader Joes. I'm partial to the whole wheat one. One bag of dough makes about 12 mini-pouches. Roll it out to about 1/4" thick. Spray mini cupcake pans with non-stick spray. Slice the rolled dough into squares, large enough so the dough hangs over the sides of the individual cupcake section. Does that make sense? You want enough dough to seal the pouches once all the good stuff is inside. Place about 1 1/2 tsps. marinara sauce inside the dough, then a sprinkle of grated mozzerella, and either a slice of pepperoni, italian sausage, or diced and sauteed veggies. This is at least what I put in mine. The combos of flavors are endless. Seal the pouches with the dough that's hanging over the sides. Brush with an egg wash and back at 375 for about 18-20 minutes. If you ended up with a little too much dough to filling, simply serve with some extra marinara. You can also make these in the larger cupcake pans; just increase all the ingredients accordingly.

hominy. who knew?

I like hominy. I make chili with hominy. I made chili for a friend with hominy and she and her husband weren't sure what it was. She thought it was potatoes, he thought garbanzo beans. Both wrong, it was hominy. When I told her what it was, I started to wonder, what exactly is hominy?

Wikipedia has demystified the mysterious mystery that is this odd food:

"Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize (corn) kernels which have been treated with an alkali. The traditional U.S. version involves soaking dried corn in lye-water (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide solution), traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed. Mexican recipes describe a preparation process consisting primarily of cooking in lime-water (calcium hydroxide). In either case, the process is called nixtamalization, and removes the germ and the hard outer hull from the kernels, making them more palatable, easier to digest, and easier to process.

The earliest known usage of nixtamalization was in what is present-day Guatemala around 1500–1200 BC."

After reading this, I'm a bit word about consuming the stuff. It's SO good and I love it in my chili and posole, but do I really want to eat kernels of corn that have soaked in sodium hydroxide? Eh, screw it, I'm sure I've eaten things in my life that were much more harmful (such as starfish).

This brings about the bigger question...are corn nuts fried/over processed hominy? They kind of look like it. I'll try to find the answer to that one!

Live on yee hominy, live on!

a love affair with a guy named joe, trader joe

Dear Trader Joes,

I want to let you know that I love you. Long ago, I didn't know you. Then I met you and I thought you were really cool, like a new friend. Now I want you to know that I really, really love and plan to spend the rest of my days with you. I consulted my lawyer and we do need to sign a pre-nup, though. Don't take it personally! Oh, and I'm already married and don't plan on changing that. But don't get down; I want to tell you why I love you so much.

You provide me with some of my favorite food, such as:

Indian Fare Carrot, Lentil and Onion Soup
Spicy Hummus, Garlic Hummus, and Regular Hummus (please get rid of your stepsister Tomato Basil Hummus)
Indian Fare Dahl Makhani
Thai Style Massaman Chicken (in the freezer section)
Lime popsicles
Strawberry Mochi
Crumbled Bleu Cheese
Vegetable Masala Burgers
Beets in a bag
Cheap ass bananas
Cheap ass navel oranges
Pomegranate seeds
Cippolino Onions..peeled. You do love me too, don't you!
Pretzel Slims
Baked Cheese Crunchies
Israeli Couscous
Full Sail Ale
Yogurt Chive Dip
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Low-fat String Cheese
Tandoori Naan
Whole Grain English Muffins
Toasty-O's
Blueberry Mango Bran Muffins
Cheap brown eggs
Almond Milk (vanilla flavored)
Unsweetened applesauce

And the list will go on as I restock my refrigerator and pantry with your bountiful goodness.

Say you love me too!

married girls club - january installment

Julie, Allison, Ellen, and I (sans Jamie due to food poisoning) got together for our monthly, "Married Girls Club" dinner. Our male counterparts like to call it something else, but we won't mention that name. Anywho, Julie hosted us this time at her house. Ben was sequestered to the upstairs while we enjoyed each other's company. I brought an appetizer...bruschetta of sorts. Thin slice of pugiliese bread, with a thin layer of pesto, diced tomatoes and basil in olive oil, balsamic, s&p, and garlic, and a thin slice of burrata on top. In the oven to melt the burrata and toast the bread then straight to the table for consumption. Ellen brought a salad...spinach with fresh mandarins from her friend's tree, pecans, and a balsamic vinaigrette. Delightful. Allison brought a bottle of Savannah Chenelle Syrah (God bless you my friend!) and Julie made a wonderful entree of braised chicken with chick peas and a tomato apricot sauce all over couscous. The flavors were delightful and I believe the recipe can be found in the Jan or Feb issue of Sunset. For dessert, Julie made our favorite No Pudge! brownies and ice cream. Love, love, love the No Pudge mix. You can buy it at Trader Joe's and some major grocery stores. You simply add non-fat plain or vanilla yogurt and they come out rich, fluffy, and positively delightful. Get some!

This gathering was mixed with a bit of emotion as there have been some recent losses for a couple of the girls, but we all agreed that we needed a night together to remember what happiness is all about. I am eternally grateful for my friendship with these wonderful, strong, beautiful women. Most of us have our husbands to thank for bringing us all together...thank you husbands!

MGC is at my house next month. We're keeping it casual...ordering pizza and playing Mexican Train. Choo-choo!

los gatos cafe and spike

what a fine, fine day Saturday was (until I got a raging headache at the end of it). A bit dark due to the massive rain clouds, but absolutely fine indeed. Stephanie, my good friend and ex-city roommate was kind enough to drive down the the burbs today to cruise Los Gatos. Thank you so much for coming to visit Spike!

I wasn't too sure where to go for brunch since I don't usually partake in the brunch scene. Let's talk about that for a second. Why don't I partake in the brunch scene? I love brunch. I think it's positively the best meal of the day. You get to eat an unnatural amount of food before noon and not feel bad about it because a) you won't eat again until dinner, and b) it's one feeding instead of two. So why don't I brunch more often? Well, life usually gets going a little too fast on the weekends for it. Note to self: brunch more often.


Back to the story. I went to the ever-popular resource, yelp, to do some brunch research in Los Gatos. Los Gatos Cafe was the first thing that popped up and next to Southern Kitchen, had the highest rating. The choice was easy! We got there around 11:30am. I was worried about a line, because the yelpers said it could be gnarly, but we only waited about 5 minutes. Right at the top of the menu was the Souffle Omelet section with every imaginable combination of meat, veggies, cheese, etc. So of course, what did I do? I made my own omelet with the usual...egg whites, ham, onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Stephanie ordered the crabcakes benedict. Both dishes came with the most amazing potatoes ever. They were like home potatoes, you know, chunks of potatoes with onions and sometimes peppers, but they went the extra mile and smashed them a bit so they melded together and had a delicious crusty crispyness to them. AND they were seasoned perfectly. It was like the home potato and the hash brown fell in love, got married and made a beautiful potato baby. My omelet also came with toast or a baked good. Normally I'd go for whole wheat toast, dry, but going back to the yelpers again, I opted for the raspberry coffee cake...a very wise choice and I made Stephanie eat half. The coffee cake came with a side of butter, but I think I'd point and stare at anyone who put the butter anywhere near the coffee cake. It was amazingly moist and fluffy and light. Don't drown that out with butter people. In the words of GOB from Arrested Development, "Come on!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIT5sFhw4sU (Note: Youtube video has nothing to do with butter, this blog, or LG Cafe. It's just GOB doing the Chicken)

Wrapping up LG Cafe, I'd give it two thumbs up. The food was wonderful, the service was excellent and the price was manageable ($10 for an omelet). Side note, these folks own the Iron Skillet closer to our house. It's also bigger and the menu's exactly the same. I think next time I'll try that location. Perhaps I could run there and wobble back home with my omelet baby.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/los-gatos-cafe-los-gatos

After brunch, Stephanie and I did some window shopping on Santa Cruz Ave. We went to Williams-Sonoma, where thanks to her holiday work at Pottery Barn she still gets 40% at WS (owned by the same company). I replenished my whole pepper blend for my grinder and picked up some Lulu Fig & Meyer Lemon Balsamic Vinegar. I love this stuff...pour it straight on to a salad. No oil or additional work needed. Stephanie likes to marinade chicken in it. Maybe I'll try that. Back to the 5 pepper blend, I went a little OCD on it. I didn't notice that it had whole white pepper in it I hate white pepper almost as much as salmon and goat cheese. It tastes like sweaty horse to me and I can smell it in any dish. Ruins the whole thing. I don't actually know what sweaty horse tastes like, I just know the smell, so I can imagine the taste is quite similar. That's disgusting, sorry. When I got home, I poured the entire jar out onto a cookie sheet and proceeded to pull every white pepper out. It took about 45 minutes. Yes, I'm insane. Stephanie doesn't know it yet, but she'll be getting them in the mail with a thank you note. Back to WS --- Stephanie picked up some Henckels...a pairing knife, utility knife, and a chef's knife. My girl's all growns up, I'm so proud of her purchase. People, do yourselves a favor and get some good knives! We poked our head around Banana and I was shocked at the discounts. They were Old Navy prices, it was insane. It kind of made me sad for BR. Oh, and how can I forget, we went into Domus where sitting on a pedestal right as we walked in were funnel cake makers. Stephanie, being from Oklahoma and a funnel cake aficionado melted at the sight of the display and quickly made a purchase. You can take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can't take Oklahoma out of the girl!

Thanks for a simply marvelous day Stephanie! Special thanks as well to LG Cafe, yelp, Domus, WS, Hank & Eli for being purr babies for Stephanie, Kevin and Lew for mounting the flat screen to the wall while we were out playing, and Lucy for showing Stephanie her fumanchu beard.

shoot, hummus

I just dropped Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus on my pants. That's precious goods man! Yes, this is a plug for Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus and their regular hummus. Sister likes their tomato basil hummus, but I'm not so much a fan. Now that's just weird. I'd gladly eat a dish or fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and garbanzo beans, but won't touch the stuff when it's blended together sitting on a cracker? How do you explain that one?

let's start with a laugh, shall we?

Let's start this blog off right --- with a starter of whit, an entree of humor, and a double helping of dry sarcasm to finish the meal. Urban Dictionary has so eloquently defined the "foodie."

1. foodie
A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation. A foodie is not necessarily a food snob, only enjoying delicacies and/or food items difficult to obtain and/or expensive foods; though, that is a variety of foodie.

Because he was a foodie, he liked to collect menus from restaurants which prepared food he enjoyed.

2. Foodie
A fat kid pretentious enough to think up a special word to describe their desperate longing for anything to shove down their face. They'll often claim to be "food enthusiasts" or to have "refined tastes," but they're usually lying.

"I got tired of telling people I had a 'glandular problem,' so I decided to start calling myself a foodie instead. It frees me of those negative connotations and leaves me to be become as lardy as I see fit."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=foodie