Recent Happenings!

Our friends Stephanie and James got married! Congratulations guys! We couldn't be there for the wedding in MI, but there was a small park reception for Washingtonians, and came bearing gifts wrapped in money. Real dollar bills, yo.

The happy couple

Meanwhile, I have been crazy busy doing lots of dance stuff, hanging out with Lauren, who has just moved in with us until her lease starts in November, and working at the Plum Bistro of course.

Here's what else I've been doing: planning my epic HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA which is only now a few days away! And I have LOTS to do. But last week I made these "cabinet of curiosities" jars:

some plant themed ones

Some bird themed ones

Some bug themed ones.

I will, of course, take pictures of the final decorations. This is just a SNEAK PEAK into how excellent this all will be.

On a less excellent note: Nathan got in a bike accident last week. Someone cut in front of him and he skidded out to avoid the collision. He quite sore, but otherwise he and his bike seem to be OK. Nathan's iphone, however, fared less well:

And the iphone-shaped bruise where the iphone was in his pocket:

and after a few days:

The colors only continue to get prettier. 

Anyways, when you are driving be sure to look out for bicyclists like my nathan please!

OK, I'm off to trader joes to get party supplies, and then back to my crazy week. I perform Sunday and Monday and still have some preparations for that, and to top it off I'm fighting a cold. I'm kind of looking forward to November...

Almost October

The end of September. Kind of hard to believe. Monday we will be into October, which I guess puts us squarely in the "fall" category. Life has picked up a little since August, with lots of exciting things happening in the near future.

A tree near my house

First off, I'm spending five days with Mom in Colorado. This is a little bit of a not-well-earned vacation for me, since it feels like we just got back from our summer trip to Michigan and Wisconsin, but this way I get a little one-on-one time with Mom, since we probably will be staying in Seattle for the holidays again. 

Right after I get back, Stephanie and I are going to the Symphony, which should be a lot of fun, and then hopefully I will have an audition that next day (I applied for one, but I haven't heard back yet) and if the audition goes well I will be performing later in October. 

Lauren (Nathan's sister) arrives a few days later, and will be staying with us until she can find a place of her own. We are so excited that she has decided to move to Seattle!

Between all that, a full work/rehearsal schedule, the four or five dance performances I will see/review, and hosting a Halloween party, I wonder when I will get a chance to decorate!?! I think maybe I need to cheat and get out Halloween decorations this weekend...get a little jump start on October! One of my favorite months!

Here are some other little random things I've been up to:

I made this little board with dowels to contain my thread and bobbin collection.
It was getting out of hand. 

This is a "Kitty Garden" full of sprouts that she can nibble on once they get taller.
Yesterday there weren't even sprouts in the Oats and Barley...they grow so fast!

Speaking of kitty, right now she is playing fetch with her favorite toy: a Q-tip. Did you know cats can play fetch? We didn't even teach her. She just does it sometimes. 

The last few days have felt good and productive. Work has been slow, but people have been generous. To be honest, last week I was pretty stressed out. Our rent went up recently, and our plan had been to stay in this apartment until we could save up enough to buy a house, but with the rent going up it's harder to save and we were unsure what to do. Should we move to a cheaper place? Should I get another job? Should we sign a new lease? Should we go month-to-month to give us a way out? All the life-ambiguity (and just the thought of apartment hunting and moving again!) was sending me into serious stress mode. All those questions are still up in the air of course, but I know for right now that I really don't want to move again unless it's into a house, so we'll find the extra $100 a month somewhere. I wouldn't be in a rush to buy a house, except that it might end up saving us money after a few years of equivalent renting. We may qualify for some down-payment assistance programs from the city of Seattle, and we are going to a meeting about that in October, so hopefully that will give us some valuable information that can help us decide what to do. 

Mostly what I ate this week.

Well, it's not been a crazy week event-wise, but we've been keeping busy. Nathan decided to invest in a new (used) bike that will be speedier than the heavy road bike he has been riding to work. He has very large hills on his way home from the university.

I think he was installing his water bottle holder here?

Anyways...once this week I made a SUPER easy dinner. 

At QFC you can get chicken breasts individually sealed in plastic, ready for the freezer. They come in packs of about six and often the packs are two for one! Skinless-boneless breast can be expensive, but not when they are two for one in bulk! The packaging is great--one is plenty for me and nathan to split, and better yet, they are sealed, so I take the back of the mug or glass and tenderize it while it's still sealed, and no worries about chicken germs getting everywhere. Stays contained and then cooks up real quick--in about the same time as a pot of rice with some vegis in the steamer on top!

a before and after--frozen then thawed and pounded

This is my rice cooker with the vegis on top. So there's a super simple dinner idea that also allows you to get out aggression by whaling on the chicken breast a little bit.

I also made a not so simple dinner this week. Last wednesday I headed out to the Columbia City Farmers Market (columbia city is a district of seattle I'd never been to before) but there's an express bus straight there basically from my house. Columbia City is south, where I don't venture too often, but it was super cute! It had a little main street type area with shops and theaters. There was an amazing looking used book store with a ladder to get to the high shelves, but sadly there was a sign announcing it was closing due to not enough sales to cover basic operating costs. : (

I bought these beautiful dahlias there for $5. Lots of beautiful arrangements, but decided to stick with straight dahlias since I know they keep pretty well.

Also got these beautiful heirloom roma tomatoes and zucchini for a recipe I had been wanting to try.

I got some lettuce and other heirlooms as well. 

The recipe is "Zucchini Rice Gratin" which I got off of Smitten Kitchen blog, and it looked super delicious to me, and a way to use what the season has to offer. Basically everything looks super delicious on the blog, and her photos are amazing:

http://smittenkitchen.com/

Zucchini Rice Gratin
Adapted from Gourmet, March 2008

My prior quibbles about this dish were that it always stuck to the pan (I try to alleviate this by having you oil your baking dish), was way too salty (and we are hardly salt-phobes, thus I’ve reduced the total amount from 1 1/2 teaspoons to 3/4 teaspoon; feel free to add more if you find it needs it), and that it used too many dishes. You can reduce your dishload by lining your zucchini baking sheet with aluminum foil (tomatoes are reactive with aluminum so I’d leave their tray bare) and hoping that you’ll consider using one skillet for the rice and onions. Despite the fact that I couldn’t reduce the moderate dishload further, we’ve never once felt that this dish wasn’t worth the extra suds.

1/3 cup uncooked white rice, long-grain is suggested but use whatever you prefer
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 3 medium), sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 pound plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Table salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, divided

Preheat oven to 450°F. Cook the rice according to your favorite method. The package directions work in some cases, but check my notes above about adjustments I find I have to make. If you cook the rice in a large, wide-ish covered skillet, it might cook even faster but you’ll have the chance to use it again (and save on dirty dishes) when you need to cook the onions in a bit.

While rice cooks, coat two large (or, if you have the same pitifully small oven as I do, three smaller) baking sheets each with a tablespoon of a of olive oil (a bit less for smaller pans). Spread zucchini and tomato slices on the baking sheets in as close to a single layer as you can. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Roast tomatoes for 10 minutes and zucchini for 20. Flip zucchini halfway through; it’s not worth the messy effort for the tomatoes. Leave oven on.

Heat large, heavy skillet (such as the one you used to cook your rice) over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, heat oil, then add onions, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking onion until limp and tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Combine onion mixture, rice, eggs, thyme, half of your grated cheese and a half-tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Add a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. Use the remaining half-tablespoon of olive oil to coat a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Spread half of rice mixture in bottom of dish. Arrange half of roasted zucchini on top. Spread remaining rice mixture over it and please don’t worry about being neat about this; dinner will be “rustic” tonight! Arrange remaining zucchini on top, then tomato slices. Sprinkle with remaining grated cheese and bake until set and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Each oven varies, but I find mine does the very best browning when the dish is on a rack near the top of the oven.

Here was how mine came out:

It was tasty, but not worth all the prep work with the toms and zucchs. Wondering what if I just sauteed the zucchinis with the onions (in the same pan I baked it in) and just popped the tomatoes on without all that pre-baking business. Then it would be a super simple weeknight kinda meal. With a lot fewer dishes. It could also maybe use something a little more zesty? Anyways, you should all be proud that I actually managed to follow a recipe start to finish without straying, and next time I can use this basic recipe (mixing rice, cheese, egg, veggies and baking it) as a platform for culinary improvisation.

Also this week was my friend Jenny's birthday. I made this little girl for her:

And she had a picnic at gasworks park in Fremont. Nathan and I packed our bicycles up with cheese, bread, fruit, sangria, tapanade, etc. and had a lovely bike ride around lake union. Lots of sailboats out enjoying the weather. It was the perfect temperature all evening. How often can you say that?

The gasworks, downtown seattle across the lake, and the moon.

A review of the last month in photos

Thanksgiving:

I made pies! Pumpkin and Apple

Here is the spread!

The table is set!

Christmas presents ready to go to michigan!

Mom came to visit in early april and brought us an early christmas present--this tree skirt she made in the spirit of my great grandmother's many felt crafts. The tree skirt is one of a kind and filled with little scraps tidbits from past projects. Isn't she talented?

The big green sequins are from my great grandmother's collection, and she also made the candy cane my mom repurposed here. The checked scarf is fabric from a pillow my mom made for Kitty Witty, one of my favorite stuffed animals when I was about 5.

Steph so graciously invited me to her ritzy work holiday party at the four seasons. Got to wear my junior prom dress again!

Buffet!! Ohmygod the mashed potatoes were amazing.

Steph wore her old prom dress too!

Then we took a few pictures by the gum wall:

Nathan with our Zipcar truck and our most beautiful christmas tree in the back!

Gdad sent me these stained glass dancers he made! They are based on pictures of me and look great in my kitchen window! 

Finally finished fixing up the bathroom! Here it is:

Kitty likes to jump in the tub

Holiday Party! A huge success. Here are the cookies I usually make with my grandma every year. This year I made them with Steph. It was exhausting, but look how pretty!

Here is the recipe direct from my grandma:

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco or some other non-butter shortening)*
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and set aside.  Cream together butter and shortening; add cream cheese and sugar beating until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla;  beat well.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Divide dough in half.  Cover and chill 1-2 hours.

On lightly floured surface, roll dough 1/4 " -thick.**  Cut with cookie cutters.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees, 7-9 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Frost as desired.  Makes 4-5 dozen cookies.


 * I have been known to use all butter instead of 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable shortening.

** The recipe calls for rolling out the dough 1/8" thick, but I have found that thin a cookie is hard to handle and burns too easily in the baking process.  I have better luck with somewhat thicker cookies.  All of this is up to you -- do what your experience tells you.

I made the frosting from powdered sugar, crisco, butter, vanilla, etc. The recipe was on the bag, but I really estimated amounts and it turned out fine.

Vegan Chocolate Cake! SOO good and SOO easy. Made this for my halloween party last year, this time I frosted it with some vegan frosting that was donated by Plum Bistro. 

Shortbread cookies!

I'm sorry this photo is awful. I made Andy's bread, Nathan made the goat cheese dip with garlic and herbs, Steph made cherry tomato, cucumber, and fresh mozzarella skewers, and then I bought crackers and tapenade from trader joes. 

The most beautiful tree of all time!!!!

Even Santa showed up to the party!

I know this picture is fuzzy, but it is the only photo where you can see my outfit! I got it vintage and it fits like a glove!

Stuffed mushrooms. Onion, garlic, spinach, thyme, mushroom stems, parmesan. Baked.

My fun little display on the radiator.

All ready for Christmas tomorrow! Working with Steph at Plum in the morning and early afternoon, and then a relaxing evening with my loving Nathan. We will miss everyone of course, but I don't think I have had such a low stress holiday in a while.