I've Got Hang-Ups

One of the things I'd had my eye on for a long time is this Hang-It-All coat rack which was designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller in 1953. Its whimsical design fits perfectly in the studio, where we will use it to hang our coats and stuff. Dale's already got his Irish caps and cane up there. I wish the wall color came out better--it really is a beautiful aqua-y shade of blue.

On another note, I've noticed that the blog is getting a lot of hits lately. Wow...do I really have a following? What's up with that??!?! Of course I immediately fretted over the fact that I haven't been posting nearly as much as I want to. I still haven't posted about my trip to SanFrancisco in June! Yikes.

It has mostly been because of the work thing, which I thought was beginning to get under control, but the projects keep on coming in. I'm definitely not going to complain about these problems of abundance--but it sure would be nice to go back to 8-hour days. And back to the gym.

And I now have Facebook. I sort of resisted for a while, but after my niece's wedding it was a logical decision as a place for posting photos and stuff that was accessible to many people. Sad to say it really fits my short-attention span lifestyle of late. It is just less time-consuming to quickly put up a photo or write a few sentences about what crazy-ass thing happened that day than it is to write a cleverly-written post.

Anyway, thank you readers for continuing to read this 'lil blog....I'm still having fun!

Peaches

I've been pretty good lately on hitting the farmers market for the majority of my produce purchases. I have been going to the market in Palos Verdes rather than Torrance because the PV market is on Sunday morning and that has been more convenient for me. It is smaller, but I can usually get what I need.

I know its supposed to be about supporting the small farmer and all that. But sometimes it freaks me out on the prices. For instance, right now is the height of the peach season. Lots and lots of peaches are out there. Peaches are selling at the farmers market for around $3/lb. These two peaches were $3.10. That's $1.55 per. Ouch.

I just ate one and I will say it was excellent.....perfectly sweet, not sour at all. A beautiful treat. Comparatively speaking....probably worth it. I don't think I would complain about paying that much for some ice cream or a pastry. But something is just weird about paying $1.55 for a peach.

Maybe that's really how much it costs to produce a good peach.

Solving California's Money Crisis

You have probably heard by now that California is in a world of hurt due to a budget crisis. I don't want to get into a long story about the why or how it happened, but it pretty much boils down to: more money is going out than is coming in. When that happens, you gotta start spending less money.

Last week the Governator OK'd the budget and there are big cuts all over the place in addition to the cuts already made. Furlough Fridays for state workers, less hours at the DMV, programs and funding cuts--you name it.

California State Parks were one of the areas that didn't fare well in the budget cuts. So much so, that some State Parks will probably be closing. Only 13 of 279 of the parks are self-sustaining, the rest rely on the state for funding.

One of the things being suggested is partnering with industry as a way to regain the necessary funding. With that in mind, those two clever guys--Dale and John--put on their thinking caps and came up with these possible partners for some of the California State Parks. They included some National Parks too just in case Uncle Sam tries to do the same thing.

Terminator billboard on Half Dome

White and Day Death Valley

Fresh Step Kitty Litter presents Will Rogers State Beach

Red-Bull-Wood National Park

Banana Boat Aloe Vera Gel presents Joshua Tree National Monument

The Devil's Post-Fruity-Pebbles-Pile

Zales' Colma Gold Discovery Site at Marshall's Mill

Sucrets Mono Lake

The Southern California Edison Reddy-KiloWatts Towers

McDonner's Lake

Yoplait-semite National Park

Shasta State Park (no name change necessary!)

Morton Salton Sea

Burger King's Canyon National Park

KCBS-TV Channel 2 Islands

Kraft Catalina Salad Dressing Island

Manzanar, presented by Toyota

Rio Honda Park (no name change necessary)

Malibu Barbie State Beach presented by Mattel

San Onofre State Beach presented by the NRC

Noodlin'

Here's another summer staple at Fartwood Manor: Cold Soba with Chicken. I could eat this every day. Rather than the traditional way to eat cold soba--in which the chilled noodles are presented on a little bamboo mat and served with a soy/ginger dipping sauce--this is a one-dish affair that includes spinach and grilled chicken that was briefly marinated in a little of the sauce, then everything gets tossed together with a little more of the soy/ginger sauce.

The original recipe calls for udon noodles, but I'm not a big fan of cold udon--to me those are soup noodles. Most of the time I grill the chicken, but today I cooked it in a grill pan.

Salad Days

It's finally summer here and the heat is on--not like Portland, but just about right for me. So that means I'm in a salad sort of mood, but I wanted something more substantial than just some mixed greens. Chicken was on sale too, so I knew that would be an ingredient.

This is a Vietnamese salad called Goi Ga. It has poached chicken, cabbage, carrots, onions and herbs tossed with a dressing made with chiles, garlic, lime juice and fish sauce.

I used two recipes for inspiration. One is from Leite's Culinaria called Poached Chicken and Cabbage Salad with Vietnamese Coriander. I also consulted Wandering Chopsticks to get her Goi Ga recipe. Both recipes were different, yet basically the same. I used the salted cabbage from the Leite's, but I liked the way Wandering Chopsticks soaked her onions in vinegar first. I also followed WC's technique of using the mortar and pestle to make the chile-garlic paste for the dressing. Both recipes called for the Vietnamese herb rau ram, but I wussed out and used mint and cilantro. Even though it is a pain in the butt, I made the fried shallots. You wouldn't think so, but these pretty much make the dish. The contrast between the tangy, light salad and the smoky funk of the shallots is incredible.

A great salad for a warm summer night.

Beanerific!

I really like beans and I'm always on the lookout for good ways to prepare them. I do use them in a few salads, but it seems that cooked beans are more of a dish for cooler weather. So when I came across Tuscan Beans in Summery Tomato Ragu I was excited to try it.

The dish is really easy to prepare--you just have to remember to soak your beans ahead of time--and uses ingredients that are almost always on hand. I will admit it is not a "cool kitchen" dish, since it does go in the oven at some point. I used Great Northern beans--but I would love to try cannelini beans sometime

The mellowness of the beans offsets the tangy tomatoes well, and the cheese that is sprinkled on top adds a wonderful undertone. I served this as a side for some grilled steak and garlic-sauteed wild arugula, but I think the beans with a big salad or a pile of sauteed greens would be more than enough to make a nice meat-free dinner.

July 20, 1969

Forty years ago today, I sat at a picnic table at Potawatomi State Park in Wisconsin and watched as Neil Armstrong left the lunar module and made the first human footprint on the moon's surface.
My family left Milwaukee that morning on a two-week camping trip around Wisconsin. My folks felt it was too important of an event to miss, so we brought along our portable tee-vee so we could watch the moon walk.
I grew up in a pretty "Space Race/New Frontier" sort of atmosphere: my birth year coincided with Sputnik's launch. The silver-y snow suit I wore as a toddler was a "space suit". I remember watching John Glenn's orbit and asking my mom a typical six-year-old's question: "How do they go to the bathroom?" (Answer: "They take a pill"....good one, Mom!). Many years later, I remember sneaking out of work, to a co-worker's van, in order to watch the first Space Shuttle liftoff. Even now, I find it exciting to hear the sonic boom of the Shuttle when it makes a landing at Edwards AFB.
Dale grew up in a aerospace family--his dad was on the team that designed and built the AESEP and ALSEP modules for the Apollo program, as well as taking part in the development of the Lunar Rover used in later Apollo missions.

Here are a few of the mementoes of his:




How exciting that must have been, to be involved in such an historic endeavor? The South Bay (that's what the area where I live is called) is home to a number of aerospace companies. Sunday's Daily Breeze had a good article on what it was like back then, working on these early space programs. Everyone felt such a sense of duty and excitement.

Times are different now, so many things have shadowed the space program. Sure, our country has too many problems and not enough money, but I really do think we need to have something like this lofty goal--not just to be "the first"-- but something to capture the imagination and inspire people and now that the Shuttle is winding down I hope that we find again that compelling sense of purpose to pursue the exploration of space.