Under Construction

Sorry, no pickled green beans will be included

Did you know that Swistle is running a super, duper pay it forward extravaganza? Go enter as many as you can! Just be sure you're ready to pay it forward on your blog.

I did make pickled green beans (too many beans in the garden). Not sure if they're any good....

And since I can't resist joining in I decided to pay it forward again. Last time the winners got personal stationary. This time, you'll get jam. Plus a Kids'R'Us gift card that I have lying around and will NEVER use. Not sure how much money is on the card so it'll be a surprise (perhaps a valuable surprise) (perhaps not).

Working on some jar label designs

To enter, just leave a comment with your favorite flavor of jam and I'll draw a winner next weekend after I return from my romantic 8th wedding anniversary weekend.  Enter before July 4 to be sure you're in the running.

extra strawberry lemonade jam

Fine print: if you win, you're saying you'll pay it forward on your own blog sometime in the next year. Or that you'll send a random someone a random gift. If you are outside the USA and you win I'll probably change the prize since jam is too expensive to ship and you may not have a Kids'R'Us around.

Good luck!

Carrot Top

 

The garden is doing great. The tomato plants FINALLY set some fruit and the carrots are delicious!
Hope you are having a great weekend.

I have been to the surface of the sun; and it is covered in tractors

Last weekend Biscuit and I met some friends at the local tractor show.
It seemed like a good idea except that it was 104 degrees (no, I'm not exaggerating) and the shade you see in the photo above is all the shade we saw in the hour we spent wandering the giant dirt field covered with tractors.

That grumpy look was a constant whenever I pulled out the camera--Biscuit DID NOT want her photo taken that day but I had to take this one for my cousins. (you still reading this blog, Kathy? sorry I haven't emailed you. I am a jerk but I took that photo for Brent). (if you aren't Kathy or Brent, this makes more sense if I tell you that Brent works for Catepillar)

This little "traffic jam" cracked me up. The driver of the mini tractor had hopped off to do something but he was driving this and had to pause to let the car go by.
I liked the look of this one.

This was big.

And it was really, really hot.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Hope you are staying cool this weekend.  It's not as hot here this weekend but since all of Northern California is covered in smoke, it's not especially pleasant either.

Composting

I know, that title just drew you right in. Didn't it? You are dying to hear about my compost. You're in luck.

exhibit a
This little bowl is huge! I have guilt about throwing away or disposalating things I could be feeding to my (chickens I don't have--brown hen has moved away) so I figure compost is the next best thing. I put this bowl on the counter and now I toss in all my veggie scraps, coffee grounds and egg shells.

When the bowl is full overflowing I walk outside and toss it into exhibit b, the 5 gallon bucket.
The stuff just keeps mooshing down creating, presumably, some really rich fertilizer.

Two months into this experiment I am starting to wonder if it could really all be mooshing that much and I suspect we are feeding something...our former hen? a squirrel? I actually don't care much. This is more about guilt avoidance than compost.

Why all the guilt? No idea. But the bowl on the counter is a great solution to my veggie scrap wasting guilt.

I'll let you know if this garden gold makes the tomatoes grow any better.

Four green lights

So Friday morning we woke up to no dial tone on our phone. But who cares about phones? The DSL was what I missed this weekend while AT&T replaced our entire phone line.

Even Biscuit understands the need for four green lights. During our "intermittent service" phase last week she was trying to watch this Renee and Jeremy video (which I love!) and we kept being interrupted by the dreaded red lights.

Now that we're back in action, with FOUR green lights, I've spent the entire evening READING the blogosphere leaving little time for posting but, stay tuned for:

• Photos of our field trip to the surface of the sun
• Exciting information about my kitchen innovation
• A post I have tentatively titled: "Jam Pusher" but may call "In need of toast"
• A little inspiration to get into the kitchen (or not)
• A recap of our gardening successes (glossing over gardening failures, aka planting onions a month too late)
• Photos of dirty dishes.

No, wait, on second thought, you can have that dirty dish photo RIGHT NOW! Don't say I never gave you anything.
Hope you are doing well. I promise, I'll catch up on the blogosphere eventually!

By the way, how do all those popular bloggers make their dirty dishes look so artsy? I don't think I've mastered that one.

Here's to Father's Day (2009)

Dear Mr. H,
Sorry about Father's Day this year. Yes, I could have done a better job by actually getting a present in advance but I can't really take the blame for the fact that we drove 4 hours for a memorial service that had been canceled due to the fire evacuation. Well, maybe next time I could get a cell phone number in advance. That would have helped.

But it's really not my fault that I happened to be out renting a movie and buying groceries when Biscuit decided to start barfing. On you. Sorry about that. I did take one for the team in the next rounds.  Thanks for getting the laundry done while I did the bath. The bath was gross and full of floaters but scraping barf off Bear Bear couldn't have been fun.

And I really can't take any blame for your pinched nerve. Maybe I should have worked harder to dissuade you from mowing on Father's Day.  You really didn't have to.

But at least the granola you requested was okay and the coffee was strong and Biscuit has been sick/napping on your lap much of the day. Those are nice things.

But still, I'm pretty sure Father's Day 2008 is a bust. It's no reflection on your performance as dad. I promise.

Here's to 2009 'cause a dad as good as you deserves a special day.

We love you,
Melissa and Biscuit

Hurry!

I've been meaning to blog about this for a MONTH and now only one day is left in the first month of offerings at Handmade Parade.  A fantastic new shopping site by none other than my Craft Mafia pal, Claire. Some cute stuff over there (not that I'm biased).  Check it out quick; new stuff will be up on the 15th.

Adventures in SF

San Francisco is a really great city. Fortunately my sister lives there so I have an excuse to visit and a free place to stay so Sunday afternoon I spent gosh knows how much on gas plus BART plus bridge tolls and went for a 24 hour trip to the city. All. by. myself.

[by the way, I hope you are having a boring day. This might be my longest post EVER.]

While walking the hills of the city I composed numerous, witty, well written blog posts about the places I went, the food I ate, the people I saw but then I got home, exhausted, took Biscuit for a "hike" and promptly collapsed on the couch.

So this will be the "what I remember 24 hours later" recap of a really fabulous mini-vacation in the city. The scribbles below represents the "plan" for my trip. Places to check out, open hours etc. I used very little of the plan.

Sunday afternoon. Met my sister, went to the Mission District and checked out several crafty, boutiquey places. Ate an early dinner at Herbivore (sadly, I can't recommend it) and then met up with my friend Jamie for dessert.

I learned a lot about food over dessert. My friend Jamie works in the hotel/restaurant industry and knows ALL the restaurants/chefs/hot places in the city. Since you don't have her cell phone number for instant "I'm at the corner of Hyde and Pacific, where should I get coffee?" recommendations, I'll give you a quick rundown at the end of this post. (for the record, if you do find yourself at the corner of Hyde and Pacific, my sister's favorite coffee place, Nook, is only a block away.)

So, back to Jamie.  She was chatting about a special chef's "head to tail" dinner she was going to on Monday and blah, blah her friends were going, blah blah and I mostly heard the "blahs" because I was wondering if a "head to tail" dinner was just what it sounded like.

Answer? Yes. Mostly. "Nose to Tail" I learned, is eating all parts of a single animal whereas "Head to Tail" is eating various, not-usually-consumed-by-white-Americans-from-Iowa parts of several animals of different species. She was at a head to tail meal. The conversation was particularly interesting given my sister is a vegetarian.

I think I can sum it up with this photo from her Facebook page:

“Amuse Bouche was Pig's Ear Terrine with a house made stone mustard (the mustard was AWESOME!)”

First, I have no idea what “Amuse Bouche” is but I’m going to assume it’s some sort of pre-appetizer (this was the first photo). Perhaps a bit of amusement for the palate? Also, stone mustard? Sounds a bit hard on the teeth ;) (note: Jamie tells me "stone mustard"was a typo. I just assumed I was an idiot. I guess it's stone ground mustard)

The photos get better from there including any animal body part you can think of that is not a large muscle mass.  There was even a spleen! I feel so worldly after having dessert with Jamie and getting to hear about food that I would never, ever eat. I also feel so sheltered. Oh well. I can HIGHLY recommend the cheesecake at Luella on Hyde Street.

(my sister and Jamie at Luella with the desserts)

GEEZ this is turning into a mega post and we’re only at Sunday night.

So, Monday. I had the day off work, got to sleep in a little and didn’t get woken up by a crying two year old even once. I did get woken up by loud traffic but the cars outside did not require a binky or want to climb in bed with me so it was cool.

My sister had to go to work so I set off on foot (sans map!) and headed for a few local sights. 15 blocks later I thought I had gone too far, checked at a bus shelter and realized I was 7 blocks, downhill, past my original destination.  So I gave up and walked the Japantown.

(cool cement, wood and metal bench in Japan town)

More recommendations: Ichiban Kan. So fun! Open 10:30-8 pm on Post at Buchannan by the Japan Center it’s like the coolest dollar store ever. I got Biscuit some new cups and spoons and a few other odds and ends.  (note to Jamie: they have animal body part shaped fondant cutters for $1). 

After Japantown I hopped a bus back to the Mission specifically to try an ice cream place Jamie had recommended. Bi Rite on 18th at Dolores (don’t quote me on that--my internet is screwy so I’m not linking).  SO GOOD!  It’s $8 a pint which sounds crazy till you spend $3.25 for a 2 flavor cone and decide $8 a pint might be a deal for so much deliciousness. I also had a piece of quiche at Tartine (was feeling too broke for a 9.50 Croque Monseuir but it looked good) and I can highly recommend Tartine as well. Their desserts looked incredible but I was saving room for ice cream at the time.

Still with me?

After the Mission I hopped on the first bus that came by which turned out to be the 33 which took me up a GIANT hill which turned out to be Twin Peaks to a fancy neighborhood that turned out to be Ashbury Heights.  Ok, nice houses up there! And, based on window signs for Obama ’08 lots of Democrats.  That was a lovely walk down the hill to a cute little place that turned out to be Cole Valley but right then my streetcar (the N-Judah) arrived (going in the right direction) so I hopped on to Market Street.

And can I just say I LOVE Anthropologie? I don’t care that they’re all corporate blah, blah, blah. The window design and displays in that store are absolutely the most fantastically inspiring things I have ever seen. And since I go to SF infrequently they are new every time I go.  Seriously unbelievable. I, of course, forgot to take a photo of the window display.

Odds and ends:

• After owning my phone for nearly 3 years I learned how to 1. take a photo 2. send the photo to an email address and 3. access previously taken photos. I found photos of Biscuit from 2006 in there.
• A man gave me his seat on the bus “because of my condition.” No, I’m not pregnant (but I took the seat). He felt properly embarrassed and spent the rest of the ride apologizing while I semi-regretted the cheesecake at Luella.
• The ice cream flavors I got at Bi Rite were: salted caramel and malted vanilla with peanut brittle. The honey lavender was also delish.

Jamie’s recommendations:
Her blog: Adventures in SF
Her suggestions (in original, messy handwriting, bad spelling form):

Hopefully she'll put up a list of real links and info on her blog.

Finally. Finally! If you like crafts and will be going for your own SF adventure, check out Sarah's excellent post on places not to be missed. Thanks for the tips, Sarah!

Oh, so that's what they call it

Last night I called the AT&T Wireless tech support line. After running all the "tests" and making sure I had the power switch on the tech specialist diagnosed my sometimes working most times not working internet connection as, "intermittent wireless service."

Really? I couldn't have guessed.

At 7:18 a.m. I have service but last night was a no go. Not sure when I'll be able to post my mega-post about going to San Francisco (flowers in hair not included).

Have a great day--and not just intermittently.

Pleasant kitchen curtains

Our neighbors got an adorable puppy. Which has led me to spend a great deal of time in their backyard. And to notice just how well they can see straight into our curtainless kitchen. Where I often sprint past in the morning half naked running from the bedroom to the dryer.

Before (hi trashcans!):

This photo also shows: 1. I should really clean my kitchen and 2. I am not utilizing the decorative shelving I requested in the kitchen remodel to its fullest potential.

For weeks now I've been meaning to work on that shelving and create some vignettes and add some color to our cream and wood and blueish gray kitchen. Then I realized I needed curtains too.

After (sorry for the bad photo):

Details:
I can't figure out the text wrapping thing in typepad since their "upgrade" but let's ignore that and look at some close ups of my favorite vignettes.  You'll no doubt recognize the embroidery as Alicia's  "Pleasant Kitchen Dishtowel" pattern. You can download the free pdf from the sidebar on her blog.

If you need more freebee, cute embroidery patterns, check out Pimp Stitch, a (not quite ready to launch but already offering free patterns) embroidery website started by my cool Craft Mafia friends. 

Ok, back to me and my kitchen ;)

I was trying to only use items on hand but there was a craft show going by the grocery store yesterday so I bought this bowl and saucer (plants included!) for $6.50. I couldn't resist--the blue-gray is perfect.

I bought the Julia Child cookbook at the library book sale a few weeks ago because I loved how it looked and thought it would be a good book to have on hand. It's even perfect now that I am trying to do orange accents. The flowers don't match but they're what's in bloom in the yard.

And you didn't think I'd let you leave without a few shots of the puppy:

See why I've been hanging out next door?