Potatoes in the Mist

The title of this post comes from a song on the mix Crystal made for us. Sigh. In Austin, all the buildings are cream or terra cotta and it's probably about 70 right now, with doggies swimming in Town Lake. In Manhattan, it's gray and bleak and everyone insists on wearing black. Could we have some color, please? However, I did make a yummy minestrone that I will share with y'all. My camera was being temperamental, and decided not to be nice until I had already eaten most of the soup (well, D helped a bit). It's clear that my camera does not have 2 degrees from obedience school like Rowen . Minestrone 2 T olive oil 2 c chopped onion 1 1/2 t salt 2 carrots, diced 1 small zucchini, diced 1 t oregano Fresh black pepper to taste 1 t basil 1 medium bell pepper, diced 3 c water 1 14.5 oz can tomato puree (approx. 2 cups) 3 T red wine 1 can chickpeas 1 c dry pasta (any shape; I used farfalle) 1/2 c freshly minced parsley parmesan or romano cheese 1. Heat the olive oil in your ...

We had a great time in Austin. I am definitely going back. The weather was perfect (except for some rare rain on Saturday), so D got his coveted bike ride in, and I loved meeting my blog friends. There was a cozy group feeling and we closed the restaurant! The staff locked the door behind us as we lingered outside, talking. Here are some cute cookies that Lisa and I saw at a bakery before dinner. Aren't they adorable? I love the ladybugs. Bdogg's husband DH and New Mezger's husband Russell hamming it up in the corner ;) I thought they were getting on remarkably well for 2 guys who just met; then Bdogg reminded me they were roommates in college. Bdogg with her cake! It was great, and I think she was surprised. It was a yellow cake with rich chocolate frosting. Lisa and New Mezger at dinner. Here are Lisa and Lost at dinner. Lisa having tea at a place we went to before the restaurant. I liked my tea a lot...lemon ginger. Crystal's bag. Crystal makes super crafts. I love t...

Hi y'all from Austin! I recently purchased a cowgirl hat and a pair of boots with spurs...just for show, of course. Just kidding. But the men here do look awfully lean and cowboyish. Got in last night. We had a 4-hour flight from New York to Houston on a very cramped Continental plane. The man on my right was about 6'4" and his knees were jackknifed up to his chest. Okay, that was a wee exaggeration, but he looked pretty uncomfortable. Then, ironically, we had a very comfortable flight on a spacious plane from Houston to Austin. The length of that flight? 30 minutes. Lisa and I went to a fabulous place for lunch! For some reason the name keeps escaping me...Kembley Lane Cafe, maybe? It rocked. It was full of UT-Austin students wearing jeans and flip-flops. I got squash flautas. It was probably the best Tex-Mex food I've had in my life. Up North, Tex-Mex tends to translate to lots of sour cream and cheese. Not the case here. I had 3 delicate, soft corn tortillas wrapped...

Zombieslayer had this meme at his site and I figured I'd copy. You write about one or more songs that always make you remember something or someone. You can tag as few or as many people as you want. Feel free to do the meme at your own site or in my comment section! "Father Figure" - George Michael. I'll always remember hearing this song at an 8th grade dance, held in a church. I was wearing stretch acid-wash jeans (yeah!) and a pink ten-button shirt. I believe the acid-wash jeans were tapered and tucked into slouch socks, as well. I think I even had my hair permed although it's naturally wavy, because *everyone* was getting perms then. Anyway, that song came on and we all thought it was the deepest song ever. I still feel a little reverence when I hear it ;) Maybe it's the faint touch of gospel music about it. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" - U2. It was senior year in high school and I was picking up my mom's birthday cake. In her car. It was ra...

I was thinking about supermarkets. I went to one recently - Fairway - where the prices are very low (1/3 that of Whole Foods, for produce anyway) and insanity is high. At one point I got locked in the center of a hub that couldn't move. I patiently pointed out, "If you'd wait a minute and let me move, then we all could move." They allowed me to move, and then they could all move too! Who would have thought? Then my irritation faded as I shifted into survival mode, concentrating on getting what I needed and emerging in one piece. It was so crowded that the cashier lines extended into some of the aisles. If you wanted to look at dish detergent, it was too bad because the aisle was full of carriages waiting to be checked out. I'm not usually silly enough to go there, but it happened to be in the neighborhood of the Pilates class I had just tried. To my surprise, Pilates doesn't involve sophisticated equipment. It's done on a mat, just like yoga, with some pro...

What has happened, Bearette? you ask. Well, a good recipe for pad Thai. These are few and far between. Just ask Carolyn . I found this recipe on Digital Vittles , doctored it a bit, and am now quite happy with it. I used Kikkoman Thai-style chili sauce, and I think that really helped. Note: I doubled the sauce; if you like a dry pad Thai, you can halve it. Here it is: The sauce: 1/2 c rice vinegar, 4 T chil sauce, 4 T sugar, 4 T natural unsweetened peanut butter, 2 dashes soy sauce. 6 oz rice noodles 1 lb. diced cooked tofu (use firm) 2-3 scallions, chopped 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used Egg Beaters with fine results) 1 handful of peanuts, chopped 1/2 lime 1. Cook noodles in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, rinse and set aside. Whisk the sauce ingredients together and set aside. 2. Heat wok or large frying pan on medium heat with 1 T canola oil. Add eggs and stir until done. Move to the side and add tofu and scallions to the center. Sprinkle with another dash of soy sauce. 3. Stir-f...

Just got an email from my mother, and it's too funny not to share. One of my nephews, B, is a little sweetie...a blond, blue-eyed cherub...who is only 7 (he'll turn 8 in February), but already has an eye for the ladies. They like him too. Once I was on a walk with him and he pointed to a little girl's house and said "My friend [I can't remember her name] lives there. She loved me for 2 years." Apparently they are still on good terms, as she rushes across the soccer field to hug him before games. So B is about to get his First Communion, and therefore went to his first confession. He told the priest that he opened the door to see his sister in the nude, and that it was fun! Oy. I remember going to confession and not being able to remember what I had done. I did bite a boy in 3rd grade because he tried to kiss me in the playground. I kind of liked him, and might have kissed him if it weren't in front of everybody! (I had a keen sense of propriety.) But that ...

So D and I went to Jackson Diner tonight - a misnomer because it's not a diner, but rather one of NYC's best Indian restaurants. I got an issue of Fit Yoga magazine on the way back. Not as good as Yoga Journal. Also, a new issue of Rachael Ray's magazine is on newsstands. It doesn't look as good as the last issue. The best recipe in my opinion was macaroni with butternut squash - apparently another favorite of Boo's (who is sadly no longer with her, but was once very well fed). We skipped the chance to watch a 10:50 showing of Munich because it's almost 3 hours long. Instead we went to Barnes & Noble, where I picked up 3 new books: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote The Baby Trail by Sinead Moriarty Everyone Else's Girl by Megan Crane When we got home, Us Magazine was waiting for me. I'm still on the fence about whether to renew or not, but I have some time. Anyway, I learned that: *Lindsay Lohan hates Scarlett Johansson because Jared Leto dated Scarlett...

I liberated this from cuteoverload.com. It was just too cute not to post. I neglected to mention that before I saw Capote, I bought a bunch of CDs. I used to go on huge CD buying sprees. When I was living in Newton, MA, one of my housemates told me where Newbury Comics (a CD store) was. I said, "You shouldn't have told me that." When I came back with a huge stack of CDs, she said, "Wow. I guess I shouldn't have." I'm more restrained now, but I was feeling a little moody before I saw Capote, so I treated myself to: Moby - Moby Moby - Everything is Wrong Everything but the Girl - Temperamental Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism I haven't listened to the last one yet. I bought it because I love Postal Service. I read an Amazon customer review of Death Cab's newest CD, "Plans," and it said, "If you liked 'Give Up' by Postal Service, buy this immediately." So it...

This is really simple and yummy, if you like sweet potatoes. I like to halve it, as follows. If you want more, you can double it. Microwave 2 good-size sweet potatoes after stabbing them with a fork a few times. With my microwave, this takes about 20 minutes. When they're nice and soft, scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash it well. Transfer the mashed sweet potato to a saucepan and add 1 cup of low-fat milk or soy milk (I wouldn't go with skim), 1/2 tsp salt-free seasoning mix (I use Bell's), 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Stir together, then heat slowly until the mixture comes to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Serve at once. Source: The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas.

A meme from Bdogg . Four Jobs I’ve Had in My Life: 1. Movie theater girl 2. Lawyer 3. Zipper ripper (at a tailor's!) 4. Taco Bell (gross) Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have: 1. Bridget Jones's Diary 2. Napoleon Dynamite 3. When Harry Met Sally 4. Wedding Singer Four Places I Have Lived: 1. Danvers, MA 2. Providence, RI 3. Newton, MA 4. New York, NY Four TV Shows I Love To Watch: 1. Desperate Housewives 2. Grey's Anatomy 3. How I Met Your Mother 4. Those are all the ones I *love* to watch. The others are in the "like" category. Four Places I Have Been On Vacation: 1. Miami, FL 2. Orlando, FL 3. Italy (Florence, Venice, Rome) 4. Bahamas Four Websites I Visit Daily: 1. All of your blogs 2. Hotmail (my e-mail account) 3. New York Public Library ( www.nypl.org ) 4. chicklitbooks.com Four Favorite Foods: 1. Sweet potatoes 2. Oatmeal with soy milk and raisins 3. Broccoli, quinoa and cheddar casserole 4. Baked ziti with Muenster and Parmesan Four Places...

I just saw Capote. It was fantastic. One of the best movies I've ever seen. I was stunned walking out of there.

What follows is macaroni with a twist. Macaroni for the young at heart, the adventurous, and those who got a high score for openness on the Big Five Personality Test . I got the recipe from Table for Two by Joanne Stepaniak. You'll need: 1 cup elbow macaroni 1 10-oz package frozen mixed vegetables 3 T whole wheat flour 3 T nutritional yeast flakes (I know. I balked at this, too. But they smell good, are vegetarian, and are high in B vitamins and protein. You can get them in the vitamin/nutritional supplement aisle at Whole Body, the place adjacent to Whole Foods.) 1/2 t dried oregano 1/4 t garlic granules (dried minced garlic. I know, I usually use fresh too.) 1/4 t salt 1/8 t ground black pepper 1 cup water 4 t tahini 1 small, ripe tomato, sliced 1. Preheat the oven to 375. Coat a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. 2. Boil the macaroni, adding the frozen mixed vegetables during the last 3-5 minutes of cooking. Drain. 3. To make a creamy sauce, combine the flour, yeast fla...

So how was your Martin Luther King day? Mine was pretty mellow. I went to a yoga studio I'd been to once before. This class was taught by a teacher I'd never met before. So I went to the studio's website and read her bio. There was a picture. She was muscular and solid (the word "statuesque" comes to mind) with a wild mass of curly red hair. I got to class and a very slight woman with freckles and straight, thin dark blond hair came in. I wondered, why didn't they call me to sub if the regular teacher couldn't make it? Then she said, "Hi, my name is ____." Same as on the website. Have you ever seen someone who looked 100% different from their picture in real life? Bone structure, hair color, height, everything? It was crazy. It was a great class, though. Dancers often make great yoga teachers. They specialize in the slow, deep burn and very precise alignment. My mentor at yoga school said that "dancers learn through pain." I guess there...

What do you know, I woke up at 8:30. I had a drink last night, and forgot that this often messes up my sleep patterns. But waking up early is cool, and good for insomnia. Last night we went to Jackson Diner, where they serve enormous portions. Ugh. Then we went to F's party. F is a girl from my writing group. Her party was at a nice, very red lounge (I saw its website and wore a red turtleneck to match). We didn't know anybody, but it was nice to be a part of her 30th. One of her friends was very funny. He was wearing a T-shirt from Urban Outfitters that said "Obey" and told us how he took up the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt. "When you're gay, you want to show the butt, you want to show the arms," he explained. In fact, he had very nice arms, and I asked D how long it would take me to get arms like that. D said probably only men can. My arms are toned, but he had serious muscle. Anyway, I had a vodka cranberry and D had a Black Russian, but they t...

OK, I can't resist posting this. My friend Carpe sent me this joke in an email... A bear walks into a bar in Billings, Montana and sits down. He bangs on the bar with his paw and demands a beer. The bartender approaches and says, "We don't serve beer to bears in bars in Billings." The bear, becoming angry, demands again that he be served a beer. The bartender tells him again, more forcefully, "We don't serve beer to belligerent bears in bars in Billings." The bear, very angry now, says, "If you don't serve me a beer, I'm going to eat that lady sitting at the end of the bar." The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve beer to belligerent, bully bears in bars in Billings" The bear goes to the end of the bar, and, as promised, eats the woman. He comes back to his seat and again demands a beer. The bartender states, "Sorry, we don't serve beer to belligerent, bully bears in bars in Billings who are on drug...

So I taught my first yoga class yesterday. I want to teach another one! But everyone has to take their turn, so there won't be any more community classes to teach until the last week of February (when I'll be in Miami. Not that that's a bad thing.) At the risk of sounding totally hokey, it was really a beautiful experience. I liked having creative control and finally doing this thing that I'd been planning for so long. Afterward, the mentor who watched me and 4 girls from the program gave me feedback, and they clapped when it was over. Everyone liked my music (thanks, Moby), sequencing, etc. One tip the mentor gave me was to demonstrate poses facing the side of the room; if you face the class, it can confuse them (mirror image) and turning your back might seem unfriendly. Interesting, huh? They also liked savasana (the relaxation at the end). I played "Chord Sounds" (a much better song than the title implies) from Moby's Hotel: Disc 2 during relaxation and...

1. What is one of your earliest childhood memories? I remember this boy, Benjamin, chasing me around at my preschool, Living & Learning. (I was previously at a preschool run by nuns, but my mom took me out, realizing I was terrified by Sister Joan in particular). Benjamin would say, "Chugachugachoochoo!" as he chased me. I was scared by this. 2. What was your favorite toy? I had a binky (translation: blanket) that I lugged around with me. It was little more than a frayed square of yellow cloth, but I loved it. 3. Was there something you always wanted for a birthday or holiday, but didn’t get? I wanted a white mouse for Christmas in 1983, but I quickly got over this when I got a puppy instead. 4. What did your parents always say or do that drove you crazy? I can't really remember anything. 5. What did you do as a little kid that would give you a heart attack if your own kids did it? Like Liz, my answer involves swings. My friend Melissa and I used to go to the par...

I just saw the cutest dog in the world. It was small and fluffy with an adorable face. It was unbelievable how cute it was. It was the repository of all cuteness. The owner said, "He loves you; he looks at me like I'm a loser!" He even tried his little puppy teeth on me, but extremely gently. I just basked in cuteness all the way home. The owner said he was a Hebanese. Never heard of that breed before.

Since you're all waiting with bated breath, I will bring you the next episode in the mouse installment. One of the other girls from my yoga teachers' training program taught her first class yesterday (mine is on Thursday). I ran into another girl, also from the program, in the elevator. "I thought this would be over when I got married," I told the girl. Afterward, I realized how silly that sounded. All I meant was, I lived in a nicer apartment building after I got married. But she laughed and said, "Oh, you still get mice even when you're married." There were two guys in the elevator, and one pointed out that Home Depot sells sonic devices for $6.99. I think that's what KitKat was talking about. So we went to Home Depot and a man who had obviously been through the mouse drill assisted us. He didn't even work there, but he was very helpful. "Those work," he said, gesturing to the sonic devices. "They will be gone ." Meanwhile, ...

I am freaking out. I was peacefully reading blogs in the living room. I was feeling very productive, since I worked on my novel, read the chapters from the other girls in my writing group and wrote down comments, read part of a book, read everybody's blog, and ate lunch (all before D woke up. He's on a very odd schedule, 5:30 am to 12:45 pm, but we'll get to that later.) D came out cheerfully to the living room and said, "We might have a mouse in the house." "You're kidding me," I said. "A real, physical mouse?" (People say moronic things in times of stress.) "Mm-hm," he said, still smiling placidly. "I was working out here last night and I saw a little mouse go vroom !" I started to freak out. "D, we need to get that mouse out of here." "Well, my sister had a mouse in her house, they came and killed it, and now she feels bad," he said. "WE NEED TO GET IT GONE!" (Goodbye, grammar.) "We...

Crystal tagged me for this one, so I will try hard to think of 7 things in each category :) 7 things I’d like to do before I die: 1. Publish something. 2. Maybe own a beach house around South Beach. In a quiet part, though. Not right on Ocean Drive. Maybe Biscayne Bay. 3. Own a yoga studio. 4. Maybe have children. 5. Maybe become a massage therapist (so I could offer massages at my yoga studio. Also, I think it's cool.) 6. Maybe ride my bike for a long, long distance. 7. Continue patting dogs a lot. 7 things I (currently) cannot do: 1. Curl my tongue. This is genetic, so I'll never be able to do it. It's ok, though. 2. Whistle. 3. Tolerate Jessica Simpson. 4. Understand people who watch "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette." 5. Knit. 6. Drive along the super-cliffy parts of the northern California coastal route. 7. Drive a standard shift. 7 things that attract me to blogging: 1. I like to write. 2. Blog friends :) 3. Reading other people's recip...

D and I saw Match Point tonight. I don't want to spoil it for anyone since it's not even in wide release yet, but I liked it. Woody Allen was revisiting his themes from Crimes & Misdemeanors, but actually in a more fleshed-out way, with an added twist at the end. There was also this conceit of luck vs. morality throughout. It was more developed than his other recent movies, as well. I bet he followed an eight-part structure ;) His other recent movies had a wandering feeling, while this one was tightly plotted. There is something reassuring about a Woody Allen movie for me. They always begin with white letters on a black screen. The cast members are always listed alphabetically. Juliet Taylor always does the casting. And the producers are always the same, though I forget their names now. Anyway, one reviewer had said this was a nasty misogynistic thriller with a polished sheen. I didn't actually find it misogynistic. He did a good job of making certain characters sympath...

I had my last writing class last night, but I didn't get to go. It was almost as if circumstances were conspiring against me so I wouldn't get there. First off, it was in a new location. Our original last class got canceled because of the MTA strike. Ironically (or unluckily? not sure what the difference is), that building was 3 blocks away from me and I would have made it fine by foot. The new location was in Soho, a part of town I don't know very well. It's best known for its shopping. Anyway, I looked up the location - 424 Broadway - on Mapquest and chose a subway station. The station looked deceptively close on the map. I got off and started walking on Canal Street, but everything looked wrong. So I asked a girl if I was heading east, and she said, "I don't think so. That's New Jersey over there." So I thought, %^@#!^! and headed in the opposite direction. I went up Broadway, found I was going in the wrong direction, and turned around. Finally I fo...

I was never much of a TV watcher. I think my time to watch it was actually limited when I was a child, though I forget the limit my mother put on it. Over the years, however, certain shows emerged as favorites and this is my homage to them. The Golden Girls - Who can forget Dorothy shaking her groove thing at the benefit and asking the DJ, "Let's have something with a little more octane !" My college roommate and I used to say this to each other. Our friend PC, who is now in England, is a (straight) male devotee of the Golden Girls, and even has a T-shirt that features Rose Nylund smiling serenely. He claims that on Bea Arthur's website FAQ, there is the question, "Is Bea Arthur a man?" and the answer is "No." I think the phrasing of the question is slightly different. But feel free to check it out and report back ;) The Cosby Show - Like everyone else, I watched this in the '80s. So wholesome. It doesn't age well, though. When I see it now...

This is really good. Winter Vegetable Stew (from Table for Two, by Joanne Stepaniak) You need 6-8 cups of vegetables. The cookbook says to combine sweet potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, potatoes and parsnips, but I dissed the rutabagas and turnips. (Parsnips are cute, by the way.) Peel all the veggies and chop them in chunks that are about the same size. Then you need 6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped coarsely, 1 large chopped onion, and 2 cups of greens (I used kale). Put everything except the kale in a large saucepan (or whatever you usually cook soup in) and cover the vegetables with water. Don't fill the saucepan more than 2/3 full; otherwise the water will splash out. That said, the more water you use, the more broth you will have. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add the kale, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the root vegetables are very tender and beginning to break apart. It's amazing. I like sweet vegetables, so I favored the...

It's late and I can't sleep. Earlier today, AT and I went to TW's class...TW was my yoga buddy from the program. This was the first class taught by one of my peers from the program. It was great. It was slower and more hatha-style (i.e., spending a long time in each pose) than I had planned for my own class. But that was a relief in a way. For some reason I had feared that all our classes would be alike. Now I think that it'll be super to go to all the different classes (except for this one girl, who wears a bottle of perfume each day and I can't breathe around her, so I'll be skipping hers) and pick up things from each class. One thing that was unfortunate: she couldn't get the sound system to work. I think she was using a CD though. I'm just planning to plug my iPod into the stereo. That's what I did at my physical final and it worked out. I'm going to try out a new studio where they offer a class called "Honey Flow"...1 hour "sw...

It's funny, I always feel a little sad when the ball drops. It's a new year...who knows what it will bring? I told my brother about this once and he said dubiously, "I never really saw it that way." We usually go out for New Year and then come back to see the ball drop on TV (never mind that it's pretty close!) and when everyone else jumps up and cheers, I have this moment of introspection. It was a fun night, though. TW, sadly, was not able to come...she emailed to accept at first, then to decline because she was staying in NJ with her sore throat...I didn't get her decline email until later. She is teaching her first yoga class on the 2nd, and I am definitely going to that! (My first class is on the 12th.) Lobo commented that it was a subdued New Year. It's true, last year we walked back from the same restaurant and people yelled, "Happy New Year!" from cars and a bar was playing, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" at top volume. I didn't mi...