Bravo Benji!

Benji was one of my very best friends in college - where would I be today without our friendship?  Anyway, he's back at Maryland getting at PhD and sent me this story and SWEET video.  He is part of a team that built a human powered helicopter - the first in history!  Amazing work!  Congrats to Benji and the rest of the UMD team.

First Anniversary! Time to eat cake!

Today was our first wedding anniversary!  Since our wedding cake topper is still in New Orleans in my parent's freezer, I decided to make almond white cake cupcakes so that we could eat a slice of our wedding cake (in spirit) today.  It turns out to be hard to find a recipe for white almond wedding cake, but I found a well reviewed version on allrecipes.com (and I had all of the ingredients)!  Anything with 4.5 stars after 9,200 reviews is worth a try!

the ingredients

A special thanks to John for supplying us with farm fresh eggs.  Look at those yolks!  To keep the cake white - I set aside the yolks to use for something else as the recipe only called for the whites.

yolks from my co-worker's chickens

Snowy white almond cake batter.

batter was SO hard not to just eat raw... 

Little white cupcakes - the recipe yield was 30 cupcakes.  They weren't as almond tasting as I expected.  Next time I would double the amount of almond extract to get them to taste more like our actual wedding cake.

cupcakes hot from the oven

The cakes were topped with a little almond vanilla frosting and a sprinkle of white pearls for decoration and crunch (my favorite texture).

wedding cupcakes to eat

I also put 15 cupcakes in a to go tray to take to work tomorrow and share with my co-workers.  I'm always brining sweet treats to work since I like baking more than I like eatings desserts  (I'm more of a cheese kind of a person).

wedding cupcakes to share!

We shared our wedding cake cupcakes with Alison and Eli, who are getting married later this year.  It was fun to share the tradition of eating wedding cake (a realistic recreation in our case) a year later with our best friends.

birthday party!

I had a wonderful 1.11.11 birthday this year!  My husband planned a little party at a local wine bar and invited some friends.  You may remember Vino Locale for my favorite summer pastime - mystery flight night on their back patio.  He organized a mystery flight night birthday party! It was sooo much fun.  

He bought me a big cake with lots of frosting.

My birthday cake

He also bought me an obscenely large ballon.  It was fun walking home with it because random people on the street would say happy birthday. 

big balloon

Alison and Eli arrived at the party with a plate full of birthday brownies.  By the time we walked in the door at the end of the night, this is what we had left.  Can you blame us?  The walk home is several blocks... Thank you for my edible treats!

1/11 brownies!

Thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family for the amazing birthday wishes and coming out to Vino Locale.  1/11/11 was even better than I could have dreamed!

1.11.11

To say I've been waiting for this day all of my life would not be an understatement.  Today is a special day - my 1.11.11 birthday!  A numbers nerd at heart, I was excited that last year was a palindrome - but this year is even better because it is all 1's!  Even better, I share this day with one of my best friends Rachel - who recently was a very beautiful winter bride.

Last year, I spent my birthday eating king cake shipped to us by my parents in New Orleans! Delicious!  I would be lying if I said that I didn't eat most of it while wrapped in my LSU purple and gold snuggie...

switching to three candles over the actual number... 

Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family for the happy birthday wishes!

10 years on

On Sunday night I headed down to the Wolf's Den for my 10 year high school reunion.  One of the highlights?  Getting my homeroom back together for a photo (last names P through S).

Mr. Hess's 324 homeroom

It was surprisingly nice to see people I hadn't seen in a long time (many I hadn't seen since our graduation)!  I felt a little bit bad dragging my husband to this (although I did go to his), but there were plenty of familiar faces as I am still close with about 20 of my high school friends.

Class of 2000! 

One of my favorite movies in high school was Romy and Michele's high school reunion - so the 10 year reunion felt like a bit of a life milestone.  I briefly considered saying that I'd invented post-its, but since they were around before I was born... I figured I might as well stick to the truth. :)

hexagons

In the 1930's, Frank Lloyd Wright built a home for a Stanford professor and his wife.  The Hanna House is notable for many reasons, the most obvious of which is that it is built on a hexagonal grid (like a honeycomb).  I have visited the house twice - once as a part of the class "Discovering Stanford's Treasures" and once as part of a tour I organized for other students.  It is really quite an unusual space. 

Hanna House - Notable Info

Every year, a Stanford student is chosen to be the caretaker and live in a room in an adjacent guest house.  It just so happens that the student caretaker this year is a good friend!  Therefore, on Sunday night my husband and I went to the Hanna House to hang out.  We brought Chipotle burritos and played Catan - a game built around the hexagon!  It was amazing to play a hexagonal game in a hexagonal house!  

Hexagon Overload!

The pictures I took don't do it justice.  It was quite dark when we got there, but there are some better pictures on the house website.

A view from the dining area into the living area

the long hexagonal dining room table where we played Catan

I don't think I have ever been in such a consciously and consistently designed space before.  The house is full of little nooks and crannies created by the fact that everything is 120 deg (rather than the standard 90 deg).  Apparently when they were building the house, they churned through a lot of frustrated carpenters.  In the end, it was mostly built by cabinet makers, as they were used to very detailed work with odd angles. Case in point - check out this drawer below.  Instead of opening towards you like most drawers, it opens at an angle.  I love the creativity and consistency of execution.  Very interesting.

a drawer in the kitchen that opens at an angle

Thanks again to our friend for the opportunity to share in this unique living situation!  

love actually is all around

It is almost the holiday season and every year I watch Love Actually (many times). One of my favorite lines is when Emma Thompson says "I love her, and true love lasts a lifetime."  She is talking about Joni Mitchell, but she could be talking about anything. It seems so simple.  True love lasts a lifetime.  I love my husband, my family, Chipotle burritos, my friends, Philz coffee, crawfish bread, etc.

I recently had the good fortune to spend a weekend with my college girlfriends in New Jersey - my Terps Laurie, Rachel, Christina, and Kelly.  There is nothing better than spending time with old friends.  It isn't often we get to spend time together, but when we do we make the most of it (including a major photo montage).

So this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my lovely friends and family.

terptastic

fall in Vermont

About a month ago we went to a wedding in Stannard, Vermont for a wedding.  I had always wanted to go to New England in the fall and was VERY excited to see Jeff and Mona get married against a backdrop of fiery rolling hills.

First stop?  The original Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury, VT.  I usually don't like Ben and Jerry's as much as I like Bryers (mint chocolate chip) - but chocolate fudge brownie from time to time is pretty awesome.

taking in the historic New England landmarks

I thought this list of the top ten B&J's flavors was interesting.

the Top 10

Because Stannard is a pretty small town, we stayed in rented houses to share with 10 or 12 other friends. Check out our view from the front porch.  If you are wondering, it is much colder than it looks.

our view

 Jeff and Mona were married in a little church that her father helped restore.  It was built in the mid to late 1800's (can't remember the exact date).  It was really sparse on the inside, but I really liked it.

quaint country church

The flowers were a gorgeous mix of fall colors and textures (note the apples on the window sill).  You know I never go to a wedding without stopping to enjoy the flowers.

the flowers

The light fixture inside the church held oil lamps that had to be lit by hand.  The entire fixture then could be raised back toward the ceiling.

lamp lighting

Even though this wedding was an hour and a half away from Burlington, the entire college crew came for the occasion.  It was such a great weekend.  

getting the band back together...

Congratulations to the bride and groom!

covering new ground

My husband loves to play the game The Settlers of Catan.  I used to make fun of tease him for it until I played it about two weeks ago with two other couples.  I have to say that now I am addicted.  It is simple to play, but complex enough to get under your skin.  I felt the same way when I played bananagrams and sodoku for the first time.  I'm slowly getting better at Catan (I force my hubby to play with me), but I have yet to win a game (of the 5 or so times I've played).   Baby steps... 

A losing game board for me (in red)... 

An interesting side note, I was reading the wikipedia page for The Settlers of Catan and smiled at this part: "The game is very popular among the technology crowd in Silicon Valley.^[8]" Who knew I was so trendy!

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

A dear friend of mine works for a law firm.  She sent this email to me last week and I thought it was worth sharing in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month:


I just returned from a really poignant conference on domestic violence today and since Friday marks the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month I thought it was important to share a few things.  I routinely represent clients who have experienced domestic violence ("DV") in their relationships with incidents ranging from repeated name calling to GPS stalking to rape.  And unfortunately, sometimes I feel that I have become numb to the horrors people endure in their most intimate relationships.  Today, the family of a victim that died in a murder-suicide in 2007 talked about the warning signs that they missed and the importance of educating women, particularly teenage girls, about how to form healthyrelationships.  It was a welcome reminder about how DV impacts not only the victim but the family and the community as a whole.  DV doesn't mean just physical abuse.  And the family today said that the first time the husband was physically abusive (or at least that they know about) is when he murdered his wife.  When I got home, I ran a Google search for an article about the crime, found one, and remembered being moved by this article a few years ago:

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/special_sections/domestic_violence/article.htm?storyID=75186


I was talking to one of the attorneys at the conference today who had just switched from working in a poorer county to a wealthier county.  She said that in the poorer county, you can easily tell who is the petitioner, who is the respondent, and who is the attorney in DV cases because of the way people dress and act.  She said that in the wealthier county, its harder to tell the difference and yet the same abusive behaviors happen in those households.  Appearances aren't everything and the most abusive individuals are often also the most outwardly charming.

With technology, DV victims are easily traceable.  Some things I learned/had my memory refreshed about today:

• there are companies that let you unblock "blocked" telephone numbers as well as record the call and if calling from a landline can reveal the caller's address (TrapCall); 
• there are companies that let you call someone and you can have the telephone number show up as any other number you want (ex. Billy calls Cindy but punches in a number that when Cindy looks at her phone she thinks its her mom instead of Billy) (Spoof Card; Phone Gangster); 
• computer software exists that not only spies on your keystrokes but can make your computer say things to you [good for making people think they are losing it]; 
• OnStar can never be completely disabled from your car once installed and can be used to open it w/o a key; 
• if you buy a pre-paid phone or calling card with a credit card and/or a store's "bonus card" your name may be linked to your phone or calling card and when you call someone, your name may appear; 
• some sites allow people to send emails that disappear after a certain period of time (selfdestructingemail.com);
•  you can send anonymous emails that bounce from country to country so the email is harder to track (revengemail.com and hidemyass.com);
•  there are "family locate" functions on many cellphones that can work like a GPS to track a person's whereabouts.  GPS are also small enough to be unobtrusively placed on the undercarriage of cars or in a purse; and
• if you think your technology is being monitored, change your passwords along with your password reset questions as well as voicemail passwords.

I have had at least one client get tracked via GPS on her phone and another client receive calls from her "mom" or "boyfriend" when really it was her ex using a SpoofCard-like software.  So it happens.  And some of the most unsettling cases I have had was where there wasn't a whole lot of physical abuse but the threats, controlling and/or stalking (appearing outside of her house, at her job, talking to her friends to find out what she had been up to and on and on) behavior made the opposing party far more unpredictable and made the client feel vulnerable.


I'm sending this email because DV impacts so, so, so many women and all of us have friends, sisters, mothers, aunts, etc. that may be affected by it and its important to look out for the warning signs.  Here are a few good websites:


http://www.nnedv.org/
http://dvam.vawnet.org/index.php
http://www.thehotline.org/  

Congratulations!

Our friend Ben was recently on Oprah!  He is the principal and founder of the New Orleans Sci Academy, a charter school in New Orleans.  Oprah invited Ben and representatives from 5 other charter schools around the country to join in a discussion about the state of education in the US.  This discussion was prompted by the new documentary Waiting for Superman (I'll be seeing it this week!) about the US education system.  At the end of the show, these 6 schools were awarded $1,000,000 each from the Oprah Angel Network!

Check out this video of Ben receiving one BIG check!

Congrats to Ben and the New Orleans Sci Academy!!

oxtail experiment

I mentioned two weeks ago that I had ventured out to buy oxtail.  Oxtail is the tail of the cow - so the meat is around what looks like a big vertebrae.  Doesn't sound that appetizing for someone not used to this cut of meat, but it didn't look so scary.  The goal was to learn how to use our new pressure cooker (a wedding gift from the Stolkers) and Kevin was on hand to be our teacher.  We were aiming to recreate a delicious meal we had eaten at work - oxtail in a marinara sauce over polenta with a poached egg on top.  We were going to stop short of the poached egg, but try for everything else.

Our pressure cooker doing its thing

Oxtail recipe (goal was to serve 8 - probably could have served 16):

• 5-6 pounds oxtails
• Two large cans of tomatoes
• Two small cans or one larger can of tomato paste
• 2 onions
• Garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• Dried herbs (oregano, basil) to taste
• Cheap red wine (about a cup)

First we put a little oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker and seared the top and bottom cut sides of the oxtail pieces (we probably had about 15 of them - way too much).  We then removed them from the pot and added the onions and garlic to cook down in the meat drippings.  Once they were soft, we added the dried herbs, red wine, the tomato paste, and the tomatoes.  This was then brought to a boil.  We then added back in the oxtail (so that it was submerged in the sauce) and followed the directions to seal the pressure cooker to let it do its thing.   

the sauce - so good

After it had cooked for about 30 minutes, Kevin skimmed off a layer of grease and then removed the bones.

deboning the meat

Kevin then added the meat to a serving bowl and covered with sauce (to taste). I personally like mine a little runny so I added extra sauce.

Meat and sauce - very rich

We then made polenta (non-instant, golden pheasant brand).  We made it according to the package directions and added butter (I'm southern!) and parmesan cheese.

Polenta

I thought I took a picture of the final meal when it was plated (meat over polenta) - but apparently not!  I guess I ate it too fast.  We also had a salad (brought by Niki) and some Brussels sprouts.  I then went on to eat this meal for 3 more days.  Thanks to Kevin and Nell for coming over to our house only to slave in the kitchen.  It was so fun to learn something new from our friends!

p.s. oxtail is definitely not a low calorie food... quite a bit of grease was skimmed off... but it was definitely worth it!

full of hot air

This labor day weekend was pretty unforgettable!  We had a very relaxing weekend filled with friends, good food, good wine - and a hot air balloon!  For our wedding, Alison and Eli gave us a ride on a hot air balloon in Sonoma County, CA. 

I should start by saying that when I think hot air balloon - for some reason I think of the end of the movie The Wizard of Oz... a movie that I love and have probably seen about 100 times.  Interesting to note that hot air balloon technology is pretty much the same in 1939 as it is today (wicker basket, big cloth balloon, hot air from a burner).

Image credit

Anyway, we left the bay area Sunday afternoon and picked up Alison in the city.  Alison was fresh from 4 days at Burning Man, so she was channeling her inner-hobo when we picked her up - tanned, in sweats with desert dust on her shoes - a plastic bag with the essentials (People magazine). 

We stayed at the Doubletree hotel in Rohnert Park and had a relaxing evening drinking wine and eating Japanese food.  However, 5:30 am Monday morning came too soon and by 6:45 am we were standing in the middle of a small airport unpacking the hot air balloon.  We went with a company called Up and Away Ballooning.

The colors in the morning light were beautiful

First the balloon was spread out on a tarp and then a giant fan was used to fill it up.  After the balloon was somewhat inflated, the propane burners roared to life and the hot air started to lift the balloon.  There were three balloons going up yesterday - two that held 7, and one that held 12. We were in one of the smaller ones.

Fire and fabric usually don't mix...

The hot air lifts the balloon (and eventually the basket with passengers on board).  This was one of the other balloons going up with us.

Almost there

So I asked - what does one of these balloon/basket combos set you back.  I guessed $10,000 and the captain couldn't believe I could think that.  Turns out - it is $70,000!  Insanity!  Apparently they are completely handmade in the US using very traditional techniques - the wicker basket technology is pretty tried and true it seems.  Aside from modern fabrics - you could have seen this balloon in the Wizard of Oz.

There are a lot of guide wires inside the balloon

And we have liftoff

We enjoyed an hour long float over the Sonoma County countryside.  It was pretty quiet except for dogs barking and the occasional blast on the propane burners that kept the balloon in the air.

The other balloon in our group

We caught up to the balloon in the above photo and I took this photo of them photographing us.  Our balloons actually touched at this point.  I thought it would be kind of scary - but it was just air and fabric - so it wasn't noticeable when they touched.

these baskets are packed pretty tight

 Our balloons bumping mid-flight!

the bump

double date on a balloon!

I couldn't get a picture of what we looked like in the balloon from a distance (of course), but I could photograph this other balloon and pretend we were on that one. 

We passed countless fields of grapes and this one had the workers just starting their day.  We could hear the clang of their tools and cars as the field rumbled to life.  It is about time to harvest the grapes, so they may have been getting an early start.

Harvest in progress?

So how to you land a balloon you can't steer?  In a random field with sheep.  Yes - those sheep were our welcome committee.  The farmer was thanked for his hospitality with a bottle of wine by the balloon company.

Some big horns

The farmer also had a HUGE dog.  While the balloon staff wrapped up the balloon and basket and loaded the truck - we hung out with the farmer and asked lots of questions.  He grew grapes and produced wine under the Prophet label.  He also had a HUGE Irish wolfhound the size of a small horse (the tallest dog breed according to wikipedia).  What was so funny is this dog was scared of us, when it really should have been the other way around!  It was fun to meet him - even though he looked so scary with his orange eyes.

Cormack the wolf dog

My hubby helped pack up the balloon while I stood and watched the sheep and giant wolfhound.

They call this milking...

After the ride they fed us a delicious brunch with champagne and coffee.  I ate so fast I almost forgot to document it!

quiche - yum

After our brunch we went wine tasting - but I'll save those details for another post.

Thanks again to Alison and Eli for the amazing wedding gift!  We had so much fun with the two of you this weekend.  Our next adventure?  We hope to see the Grand Canyon sometime in the next year or so - my husband and Alison have never been!  That is something everyone should see.

Hope you had a great labor day weekend - enjoy the short workweek!

Labor Day

A little hint as to how we spent our Labor Day!  I can't wait to share the 300 other photos that I took... 

Off to enjoy the last of the three day weekend!  If only every weekend was three days...

hog heaven

My friend Kevin has some cool hobbies (raising chickens, woodworking, preparing for the apocalypse), so you can always count on him to have interesting stories to tell.  This spring, he went hunting with Charles for wild boar in Sonoma County.  Last weekend (and tonight) I got to taste some of the spoils. 

Charles and Kevin bring home the bacon

Kevin, who had taken a hog butchering class in San Francisco, butchered his pig and brought the hams to Dittmers in Mountain View.  On Sunday, Kevin and his wife shared this delicious ham with my husband and I.

The ham in its juices

I was skeptical.  I hadn't ever had wild pig before - but I am a believer now.  It was incredible.

Sliced, juicy goodness

Kevin said that part of the flavor came from the way it was butchered (a little more fat was left on the meat), but also from Dittmer's smokehouse.  It was delicious - now I want to go taste some of the meats at Dittmer's!

The final plate - wild boar, mashed potatoes with duck fat, and zucchini 

Thanks Kevin and Nell for including us in such a wonderful feast!

p.s. I got to have the ham all over again tonight (in a quiche) when Nell hosted ladies night!  Thanks again Nell!