Potatoes in the Mist

Last night I made apple oatmeal: 1 cup steel cut oats, 2 sliced apples, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 4 cups of soy milk. I also oiled the sides of the slow cooker first. It took 8 hours on low. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of brown sugar, but that seemed a bit excessive. 

Eric got home from school and made guacamole and hot chocolate from scratch. Guacamole: ripe avocado, chopped red onion, chopped tomato, salt. Hot chocolate: 1/3 cup hot water, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup sugar - bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, stirring. Lower heat and add 3 1/2 to 4 cups milk - heat through, but don't boil. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla extract.

I've been using the slow cooker again now that autumn is here. Broccoli cheddar soup yesterday. Tonight (overnight) I'm going to try this apple oatmeal . I'll use less brown sugar; 3/4 cup seems a bit much. On second thought, this looks even better.

We all stayed up too late watching the debate last night - the kids got into it too. Trump interrupted Hillary 29 times (NYT counted) and once Zoe looked at me and asked, "When is Hillary gonna talk again?" I thought she was masterful. Calm, focused, determined, a leader. And not shrill - many have criticized her voice - something they would never do to a male candidate. She has to do everything a male candidate does 20 times better. And she certainly did in this case! Trump is a joke and the scope of his lies is unmatched (LA Times). My favorite part was when she called him out on his chauvinism near the end - he tried to deny that he called women pigs, slobs and dogs; that he said pregnancy was an inconvenience to an employer; that he said women should only get equal pay if they work harder  - and Bloomberg TV was fact-checking the whole thing live.

I wonder if Cinnabon's still exists...there was one at the mall when I was in high school.

For anyone who still thinks *Hillary* is the liar: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/24/us/elections/donald-trump-statements.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

We went to a fancy restaurant for D's birthday. It was all vegetarian and very delicious. Zoe and I had the Yukon potato fry bread (thin, crisp bread with potato filling and cheese and sour cream and radish. Very delicious but not low carb. I have a date with the exercise bike when we get back.) We also shared crudités with hummus. Eric had gnocchi and D had cauliflower tempura.

I just got Zoe's class list and I've been thinking about where to have her birthday party. She wants to have it at a kids' chain that has several locations in the city. I also just got an email from this chain offering me $115 off anything I do there (including a birthday party). So that is good. The question is, which location? I'm planning to invite her old class (they all live on the Upper West Side), a few neighborhood friends, and her new class. The new class is scattered through the city, but the most popular zip code (the class list gives zip codes but not full addresses) is the east side, 27th to 41st Street. The chain has a location near the old class (Upper West Side) AND a location near that popular zip code. I don't know which one to pick. The old class is a small group (9), but it's nice to see them; one of them had a birthday party earlier in the month. The new class is a larger group (24), but I don't know them too well yet. The rest of the ...

It's Christmas on Pinterest already. These are very cute though.

The Hill says that Hillary regained her 5-point lead over Trump nationwide. Democrats are nervous because it's so close. But we don't need a big lead, necessarily. JFK beat Nixon by one half of one percent in 1960 - about 300,000 votes. And Gary Johnson is revealing himself to be an idiot (no idea where Aleppo is and wants to abolish the Department of Homeland Security), so hopefully he won't divert too many votes from Hillary. And Jill Stein only cares about legalizing marijuana.

Eric likes to look up recipes online and cook them. Today he found a recipe for a baked potato where the potato was sliced, but not all the way to the bottom. I wasn't sure how it would come out. It was delicious! Cooked just right and slightly salty. He is a talented chef. 

  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/9/18/1570349/-Hillary-Clinton-s-biggest-problem-isn-t-lack-of-trust-and-transparency-it-is-misogyny

A friend just posted a photo on Instagram of her vintage Corningware coffee percolator, saying that her electric coffee maker had broken. As a tea drinker, I don't really know the difference. Does a percolator drip? I think it drips. I like the blue flowers on the side of it.  

I'm going to try not to stress about the election before...I'll just donate to Hillary's campaign and hope for the best. Have I mentioned that the desserts on Pinterest are awesome-looking? Some of the cooking recipes look good, too. 

So now Trump has suggested that Hillary's bodyguards disarm themselves and "see what happens to her." Why is this chump still in the race? Actually, I'm beginning to think he's something more dangerous than that - a full-fledged sociopath. And definitely a textbook narcissist, with inflated self-worth and no empathy. Is America so deeply sexist that we can't see what's wrong with him and what's right with her?

I watched Michelle Obama's speech in Virginia. It's an important swing state, and the crowd was enthusiastic. She urged them all to vote, reminding them that swing states are important and can sway the outcome. It made me feel a bit better. But I'm still annoyed that anyone would vote for Trump. 

Trump has asked gun owners to kill Hillary, continues to deny that Obama was born in the US, has questionable business dealings overseas that would put US national security at risk, wants to deport Mexicans and break up families in the process, urged Russia to look for Hillary's missing emails, stolen thousands of dollars (possibly millions) from thousands of people through the Trump University scam (including a couple who had to short-sell their home to avoid foreclosure), won't release his tax returns, calls women "pigs," says that women would get paid the same as men if they worked harder, accepted the endorsement of KKK leader David Duke, has read Mein Kampf and adopted many of Hitler's principles, etc. WHY IS THERE EVEN A CONTEST? Some people think that Hillary "lies," but saying that bullets were being shot near your plane (when they weren't) is a bush-league lie compared to the massive-scale fraud perpetrated by Trump University. Thousands...

Zoe's teacher sent her this postcard :) Her reputation precedes her (in a positive way) and it does seem like it's going to be a good fit. There are two field trips already and I have signed up for both. Her teacher also signed up for an app that shows you little moments (see below).

Eric just loves cooking (along with origami). Maybe he will go to the Cordon Bleu one day :)

As one of Hillary's "strongest supporters," I was invited to take part in a conference call featuring...Bill Clinton! It was surreal to hear his voice coming out of my phone. His Southern accent is strong and the connection was weak, but he said things like, "It would be easy to choose anger over answers, but it would be a mistake. It would be easy to choose resentment over empowerment, but it would be a mistake." He also talked a bit about voter suppression. Feeling starstruck right now...

I took Zoe to the Central Park Zoo with a neighborhood friend and her kids today. Sadly, the polar bear I saw with Eric in 2009 is no longer there. He died 4 years ago, at age 30. I have a photo of Eric pressing his hand against the bear's paw through the glass.  We did get to feed the alpacas and pose with a seal... And some bunny rabbits...

I just finished reading Life with Miss G by Mearene Jordan. It was nonfiction, written by Ava Gardner's maid (though it was more of a friendship). It was very interesting and colorful. 

I just took Zoe to a birthday party hosted by one of her preschool classmates. It felt like a reunion. It was run by a Lego master, who had elaborate Spiderman and Batman sculptures. 

Hillary's app just reminded me that there are 58 days until the election. I really hope this turns out the right way. 

I can't help but be annoyed at people who have their birthday parties at the same restaurant every year (for 10-20 years). I know two people like this. And isn't 40+ too old for a birthday party, anyway?

I went on Pinterest tonight for the first time in a while. It was the usual mix of tantalizing desserts and savory recipes that sound like a bad idea (one-pot lasagna soup). I sent a reindeer cookie pin to one of my cousins.