Cookie Monster

I've been busy in the kitchen since I came home my trip. I decided to take a break from cupcakes, and try out my new book "Martha Stewart's Cookies". I had been wanting it ever since I made her recipe for financiers from the February issue of MS Living, and one day Charles picked it up for me as a very thoughtful (and somewhat self-serving?) gift.

Here are the financiers, which I made for an Oscar's Party, as a loose interpretation of "La Vie en Rose". They were very pretty, although the shape of the raspberry part was supposed to be a heart, which you make by dragging a chopstick through batter - not easy. They were a lot of work (you have to grind up the almonds that make the base of the batter, and make the raspberry puree from scratch), but worth it.


For my first recipe out of the book, I decided to try something totally homey and unfussy: Peanut Butter & Jelly bars. Both of us love PBJ, so it was a natural, and bars are so much more forgiving than cookies - plus I had most of the ingredients already. When they first came out of the oven, I thought that they were just ok, but after sitting for a day the flavors really developed and they turned out to be very good. I meant to give more of them away, but we found ourselves eating more than we planned! I used a nice Danish strawberry jam and regular Jif peanut butter - I have the all-natural kind in my pantry, but I don't think it would work well in this recipe.


Tonight, I made another recipe which was a little more difficult - Earl Grey Tea cookies. After mixing the dough (which included 9 bags of Earl Grey tea, a lot of butter, and orange zest), you are supposed to shape it into logs, wrap them in parchment paper, and stick each of them into a paper towel roll to freeze before cutting. I ended up with 2 totally different sized logs which wouldn't really form right, and then would not slice without crumbling when I took them out of the freezer. But the dough was so good that I just figured it out and made it work, sometimes having to spackle them together like slightly dried-out Play Doh. They're not uniform like the picture in the book, but they sure are tasty - like a shortbread cookie with a strong bergamot flavor. They would make a nice gift, wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon.


I'll share a cookie-making hint with you - most recipes call for unsalted butter in the batter, which is a given. However, I always use salted butter to grease the pan, especially for bar cookies or cakes, which gives the outside a little bit of extra flavor.

Next, I am ready to try something chocolate - stay tuned!

Down on the Farm

...the funny farm that is! Welcome to the life of Denise Richards, cray-cray celebrity du jour. Her new reality show, "Denise Richards: It's Complicated" debuted this week on the "E" Channel. And you know what? It's actually pretty simple. She's flippin' nuts.

The show is unexpectedly entertaining and watchable. I love her Illinois accent (just a farm girl at heart), coupled with her sailor mouth (well, maybe not so much). She says in the intro that we may only know her from "Wild Things" and the tabloids, but her actual life is all about family. She lives in a big house outside of LA, with her dad, her 2 young daughters, 10 dogs, 2 cats, 2 or 3 pigs, some horses, 2 assistants...in other words, surrounded with creatures that have no choice but to find her fascinating, lovable, and who have to do what she says. Yay, family!


And despite, or perhaps because of all of this, I find myself liking her. In her own words, "I can't help it, I just like f**king hot guys with big d**ks!" Well, who doesn't? At least she's honest. She seems to have a pretty good time, playing piggy matchmaker or watching her assistants pick up dog shit in her backyard. She may be wacked, but she is a hell of a lot more interesting to watch than poker-faced Lauren Conrad on the Hills, or those awful Kardashian women.

Watching Denise call different stud farms to try to find sperm for her pet pig Charlotte (because she feels that Charlotte would make a great mother), you can't help but draw a parallel to her interview with Matt Lauer, in which he asked DR about an email allegedly sent to Charlie Sheen asking for him to donate his sperm to her so that she could have another child. She denies it but, you know, what's good enough for Charlotte...

Tonight's episode was peppered with a nice little tidbit of irony (purposeful or not, I am unsure). At every commercial break, there was an announcement that Charlie Sheen got married today, and that his new wife Brooke Mueller may already be pregnant. Ouch. Somehow I don't think that Brooke will approve of her husband paying alimony to his ex-wife with his little swimmers.

Flavor Trippin'

Well, kiddies, I may not be going to Burning Man this year, but that doesn't mean that I have to give up all of my fun.

Check out this video about a magical berry that temporarily changes your tastebuds - pretty far out. Now I can have my very own food rave, right in my kitchen! Pass the glow sticks and the Tobasco sauce! Woooo!

(And hey, at $2 a berry, I'd consider that a pretty cheap thrill, wouldn't you?)

Equal Opportunity Vet

We were parked outside Rite-Aid in San Mateo today, when I spotted this sign.
I get cats, I get rabbits, now what exactly is a "pocket pet"?

Is there a doctor nearby specializing in adults, children, and I don't know, GI Joe's?

Brilliant Banksy

No matter what you think about graffiti, it would be hard not to find English artist Banksy's work interesting. I love the way he uses the urban landscape to his advantage, so that the characters become part of the canvas rather than simply covering it. In my opinion, it's great that he offers art and political commentary as a living, breathing part of the outdoors and available to everyone, rather than tucking it away in a museum.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I'm back from a Week of Family - first, my brother's college graduation from KU (wooo! congratulations, Josh) and a few days seeing friends and family in and around Chicago.

Whenever I am back "home" (my husband hates when I say that, as he reminds me that San Francisco is our home), it is always bittersweet. At first I am transported back to the idyllic existence that I had growing up - manicured lawns, Norman Rockwell houses, big leafy trees, a shining lake. I inhale the smell of freshly mown grass and allow myself to feel 16 again. Then, little by little, reality starts to creep in. I do not have a permanent room in my parents house, and the living room is overtaken by my mother's latest obsession: birds. A Himalayan parakeet named Mango (in the photo), and an African Parrot named Zippora. It is so interesting to watch her with them - how she coos and nurtures them, but because of her busy lifestyle, ultimately leaves them alone for hours at a time, stuck in their cages, barely pacified by the classical music playing in the background, singing for their lives. Man, I know how they feel - I remember it well. Trapped.

So, when I have the chance, I take them out of their cages and let them have a bit of freedom. We have a strange relationship, me and my new feathered siblings. We know that we are just there to keep each other company, poor substitutes for any real kind of closeness, but better than nothing. And like siblings, we fight, sort of - feathers get ruffled, posturing is made, all to declare who is the boss of whom in our temporary hierarchy.

There are friends of mine who have stayed in the area where we grew up, and it's wonderful to see them and their families, in their own houses, doing things that are so familiar to me and yet so new because they are so far away from my West Coast lifestyle. I have thought from time to time how nice it would be to live like that, following the path of familiarity and tradition, like our parents and grandparents did. But then I realize, it would not be the same for me. They stayed, but I have moved away too many times, and too far. I am no longer a part of that world, although it does live inside me in a comforting, sentimental way. It might be nice at first, but then the walls would start closing in, and my thirst for adventure and newness would take over, burning like an itch.

Ultimately, my childhood home and I will remain memories to each other. It is a place where I bicycled over cracked sidewalks made uneven by tree roots and harsh winters, where I sailed on Lake Michigan, and had tanning contests with my friends in summer, and ice skated outdoors in the winter. It is a place of unlocked doors and warm summer nights with the sound of crickets in the background. And I was that idealistic girl, standing on the beach, looking out at the water and wondering what lay ahead, waiting for my moment to fly.

Chocolate Chilli Shortbread Cookies

I have been talking about baking these chocolate chilli shortbread cookies. It would be my signature cookies for the Elephant Kitchen project. I finally I did it.



One can't go wrong with shortbread cookies - especially chocolate shortbread cookies. The simple combination of butter, sugar and flour is just delicious. Now that plus chillies. They are perfect.

I got much better with the elephant cookie cutter. This time I cut up the whole batch with it. I got about 60 elephants.


An army of elephants - getting ready to be baked

The cookies came out delicious. Not too sweet. Salty and buttery melt-in-your mouth. Although, the first cookie I tried got a big chunk of chilli in it. I sneezed 3 times after the first bite. It's that spicy. I might need to reduce the chilli portion if I want to make these for public.



Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 sticks butter - at room temperature


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 10 chillies - finely chopped

Directions

Sift flour, cocoa and salt into a clean bowl.

1. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy - about 2 to 3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and chillies.


2. At the lowest speed, slowly stir in flour mixture until well combined.


3. Ball up the dough, wrap with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for at least an hour. I left it overnight.


4. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.


5. Take out the dough and let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes. On a flour surface, roll out the dough to about half an inch thick. Cut out with cookie cutters or with knife. To prevent the dough from sticking to the cookie cutter, flour it before cutting.


6. Place them on the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a cooling rack.

Three elephants on top of each other

Peanut Butter M&M's Oatmeal Cookies

I got these candies last weekend going to the movie Ironman. The movie was enjoyable. The candies - not as much. After a fistful of these (after a very spicy Thai dinner and hazelnut wafers), I could feel my stomach complaining. My other friends refused to eat anymore of them by the end of the night.

At home, trying to stop myself from finishing the rest in the bag - I figured they might be good in cookies.



And they are!

I used vanishing oatmeal cookies recipe on the side of Quaker Oats container. I remember these cookies were really delicious. I just reduced the sugar to only 1 cup and substituted a cup of peanut butter M&Ms and white chocolate chips for raisins.



The only problem I had with them was that they didn't expand. Maybe my oven wasn't hot enough. Or maybe I should have press them flatter before baking instead of just drop them on the cookie sheets.


colorful cookie dough

Now I want to try using all kinds of different candies in cookies. Yay! More excuse to buy candies!

Banana Pecan Granola Bars

I have been buying a lot of energy bars on my way walking from work to train Kungfu. Since I already make my own granola, I thought it shouldn't be that hard to shape it into bars. I would just add honey and something wet to hold everything together.



My bars came out not bad. But I wouldn't say they are as good as those Cliff or Luna bars from stores. Maybe I need to add more fat and sugar. That always makes food taste and look better.



Ingredients

• 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal


• 1/4 cup unsweetened dry coconut


• 1/4 cup sesame seeds


• 1/4 cup oat bran


• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds


• 1/2 cup raisins


• 1 cup chopped pecan


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/4 cup extra tasting olive oil


• 1/2 cup honey


• 1/4 cup Agave nectar


• 1 large banana - mashed


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lin a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper.


2. Whisk oatmeal, coconut, sesame seeds, oat bran, flax, raisins, pecan and cinnamon togehter in a large bowl.


3. In a small bowl, whisk oil, honey, Agave nectar, banana and vanilla.


4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Thoroughly mix everything together and press into the prepared pan.


5. Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool completely and cut into bars.

Pineapple Banana Squares

I didn't think this would taste so good. It came out looking a little dense. I brought a few pieces to the park on Saturday and wished I had brought the whole cake. Maybe we were just hungry rolling around in the grass all day. The cake came out really moist and sweet although I used only a quarter cup of Agave nectar. It's probably the pineapple juice.



I made this in a bread pan once with all kinds of modifications including (accidentally) skipping oil altogether. This time I pretty much followed the original recipe from "Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too" by Susan G. Purdy except that I used two whole eggs instead of 1 whole eggs plus two eggwhites, and 1/4 cup Agave nectar instead of 3/4 cup sugar.



These squares are delicious and I think healthy enough to qualify as breakfast. I might try to make it in a muffin pan the next time.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups wholewheat flour


• 3/4 cup all purpose flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil


• 2 eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/4 cup agave nectar


• 1 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice


• 2 large banana - mashed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 8x8 cake pan (I used 2.2 Qt. rectangular Pyrex pan) with parchment paper.


2. Whisk flour, flax seed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together.


3. In a separate bowl, manually whisk oil, eggs, vanilla extract, agave nectar until well blended. Add pineapple and banana. Whisk until well combined.


4. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and gently mix until all the flour is wet.


5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.


6. Let cool in the pan. Run a knife around the pan and cut into squares.

Toto, We're Not in San Francisco Anymore

Congratulations!

Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Creamcheese Frosting

I have been wanting to make this frosting again since these sandwich cookies. I remember not wanting to throw the leftover frosting away since there taste so good. This time, I used it for a cupcake frosting. I didn't want to pair it with just vanilla cupcakes. Baking strawberry cupcakes seemed like too much trouble. Plus my last attempt at strawberry muffins didn't pan out so well. So I decided on lemon cupcakes.



People always love my lemon cupcakes. Strawberry + lemon combo worked out deliciously. Since I didn't want the frosting too sweet, I used less than a cup of confectioner sugar and skipped butter all together. The frosting came out a little too runny. It was difficult to frost pretty but I thought it taste really good. I think this is the first time I have 3 of my own cupcakes in one day!



Ingredients - make 30 cupcakes

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 sticks butter - room temperature


• 2 cups sugar


• 4 eggs


• Zest and juice from 1 lemon


• 1 cup buttermilk


• 10 fresh strawberries


• 2 packages creamcheese


• About 1 cup confectioner sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with liners.

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.


2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add lemon juice and zest.


3. Alternately stir 1/3 of flour mixture and buttermilk into the wet ingredients. Stir until well combined.


4. Fill the prepared muffin pan with the batter up to 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a cooling rack.


5. Clean the strawberries and pureed them in a food processor.


6. With a clean electric mixer, beat creamcheese until soft. Add confectioner sugar. Slowly add pureed strawberries. Beat until the frosting is fluffy and well blended - about 2 to 3 minutes.


7. Drop about a teaspoon of the frosting on the cupcakes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Seeing Redd

Just look at that sky! As I write this from my Embassy Suites hotel room in Kansas City, I can hardly believe that I was in Yountville 48 hours ago, eating at a restaurant that after only one meal has made it into my top 10 in the Bay Area. Following our fabulous, beautiful day of yoga at Mayacamas Ranch, we went to Redd for an early dinner. I have to admit that this restaurant was totally off of my radar - I had only heard about it through Yelp. Shocking, considering how much I read about the local restaurant scene - how exactly did this one slip onto the same street as French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc without my even noticing? And then enjoy the quiet success that it has for 3 years, right under my nose? I made the reservation months in advance, perused the website dozens of times, and have since read about it in various publications.

Well, its elusiveness may be due to its understated style. The modern decor is a surprise in this area of No Cal, but instead of sticking out like a sore thumb, it just sits quietly in its simplicity. The experience of dining there is very much the same. While the service is polished, and the details are just so, at no time do you feel like you are in a pretentious environment. It's all about balance - from the environment, to the service, to the food.


As far as the food, we were surprised to find it so innovative, generously portioned, and fairly priced. I would have expected to pay twice what we paid for a meal of this caliber.

A great cocktail list is for me a sign of good things to come. I had a drink called the "Scarlet" something which was fantastic - refreshing with kind of a Christmas spice to it. And just look at my lovely dinner companion!


We started with 2 amazing appetizers, the Trio of Cold Foie Gras Preparations, and the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare with avocado and crisped rice. Both were excellent, and I would order them again in a minute. I was especially interested to see what they would do with 3 cold preparations of foie gras - not a seared slab to be found. And they were all excellent, with our favorite being the torchon, with its lovely pistachio crust, rhubarb on the side, and spread upon a perfectly toasted square of brioche.



For dinner, Jude had the Lobster Risotto (which I neglected to photograph) and I had the Spring Lamb tasting. Oh, my was that lamb delicious. Melt-in-your-mouth tender morsels, cooked to order rare, and in 3 different preparations (but plated so that it looked like one dish, which I appreciated - you can get Michael Minna'd to death with too many trios). The lightly breaded and fried artichoke was a mere accent - this dish was all about the meat. A seasonal delight.


As if that weren't enough, we splurged and split two desserts. They were both very different, and since each was a tasting of three, we actually got to sample six. The Citrus Sampler was light and bright, as you can imagine, with a Meyer Lemon Tart, Yuzu Float, and Grapefruit S'more. The Peanut Butter Gianduja was a peanut butter "bar", and ice cream and candied peanut concoction, and a little parfait with honey. Decadent, and delicious.




I don't know much about chef Richard Reddington (except from reading about his impressive career on the website), but whoever he is, he has got his finger on the pulse of today's sophisticated dining experience, and the talent to pull it off. Doing this in a way that is affordable and accessible to everyone is an added bonus and the definition of a truly modern attitude.

Going to the Edge

Yoga is a non-competitive lifestyle and exercise practice. We are told over and over again to listen to our bodies, to go within, and to let go of any outside influences for the time that we are on our mats. You are expected to be conscious of your limitations, but also to seek and go to your edge, each and every time. Once you reach and honor that edge, you leave everything else behind and move forward.

For me, finding the edge isn't just about going deeper into a pose or attempting a posture that is difficult for me. The edge exists for me in the unfamiliar, a place or situation in which I don't know what to expect or what happens next. Shaking up the norm is very uncomfortable for me at first, and often I fumble through it, but when I emerge on the other side, it is with an unparalleled sense of accomplishment. It's the mental equivalent of being dropped into the wilderness having to rely on your own survival skills to get you out. Trial and error, or approaching something from a different way, have shown me new paths to get to my goals.

Tomorrow I will go on my first yoga retreat, with my friend Jude. I'm really excited, and I can feel my adrenaline pumping at the thought of spending an entire day, not just an hour and a half, devoted to yoga. We will drive up to Mayacamas Ranch in Calistoga in the morning, which is about an hour and a half north of San Francisco Our schedule will be: do a morning class, have lunch, have some free time to hike or enjoy the pool, and do a restorative class in the afternoon. It is truly a journey, one with a lot of new experiences in store. I've never done two classes in one day - how will my body react? What will it like being in an outdoor environment rather than being in my familiar, enclosed studio on busy Divisadero street?


Our partner in this experience is our teacher, Pete Chandonnet. He is a wonderful guide, and his experience as a life coach make his classes highly energetic and personalized. I've been in classes where he calls every student by name. He also makes the classes fun, and plays great music, which is always a motivator for me. One of the things that I love about yoga is the connection between student and teacher, and I am looking forward to getting to know Pete in this more intense study.

I keep looking at the pictures and imagining myself there, but just like with a longer, more distant vacation, I can't really envision it until I am there, in the middle of it. It just looks like a post card for now. But tomorrow at this time, we will have just returned, hopefully having found a new state of mind, and explored some new territory, both inside and out.

Lime Thyme Shortbread Cookies

Guess what animal this is ----



It's an elephant! For my new project (Fat) Elephant Kitchen! Things are still mostly in my head and my baking partner's imagination. But at least we got elephant cookie cutters.

The shortbread cookie recipe was from Elise.com/recipes. I just skipped the almond extract and lemon. Added lime zest and juice from 2 limes and about a tablespoon of chopped thyme into the batter.



Since I don't have patience to roll out the batter really thin. I baked my cookies for about 15 to 18 minutes. The cookies came out delicious, subtle and refreshing. They browned a little too easily so I underbaked a few of them....


:D

Coffee Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I went out for lunch with a group of friends last weekend at a place with a prospect of 2 hours wait. I was told it's the best pizza in NY called Di Fara. So we took a train almost all the way to Coney Island. Got there. Fought the crowd. Placed our order of 3 pies. And waited.... and waited... and waited....

Good thing I came prepared with these jumbo and hearty muffins.



Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oil


• 1/2 cup apple sauce


• 1 egg


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 3 ripe bananas - mashed


• 1 tablespoon instant espresso


• 1 cup all purpose flour


• 1 cup wholewheat flour


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with a nonstick spray.


2. Combine all purpose flour, wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.


3. Whisk oil, apple sauce, egg, sugar, vanilla extract, coffee and mashed bananas together until well blended.


4. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.


5. Fold in chocolate chips.


6. Drop the batter into greased muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool int the pan.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I am in the middle of reading a wonderful book - "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. It has mystery, ghosts, family secrets - and most of all, wonderfully descriptive writing. I've enjoyed a few really great reads so far this year, and there are so many still to go! Here is what I have read:

Snow Flower & the Secret Fan, Lisa See
The Story of Lucy Gault, William Trevor
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver
In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
Strapless, Deborah Davis
It's My F---ing Birthday, Merill Markoe

What is on your Summer Reading List?

Send in the Clowns

If I had to pick one trait to be essential in a person, it's a good sense of humor. I can overlook many things, but lacking a sense of humor is not one of them. Additionally, if you have a good sense of humor and the ability to make me laugh, there's a good chance that we will be friends for life.

Being funny has such an impact, it could almost be a superpower. Humor could potentially diffuse any situation. In fact, I don't know why we don't have a caped crusader who pulls hysterical one-liners out of his bag and watches as the bad guys are rendered helpless, rolling on the floor clutching their stomachs, the Hope Diamond or bag of cash lying forgotten on the floor.

People who are truly funny are rarely stupid. Stupid people are funny, but only as objects, not creators, of a joke. When I was thinking about what trait was most important to me, intelligence alone without humor was definitely not enough (cue droning voice lecturing about physics or linguistics).

It takes excellent communication skills to be funny. You have to be able to read your "audience" (even if it is an audience of just one person), and make sure that they are with you every step of the way. This takes timing, listening skills, wit, and the intuition to be sure that you and the listener are in sync. When you deliver the punchline, or throw an expert comeback into the pit, it needs to hit the center of the target, each time. Pow! An explosion of laughter is the indication of success. I think that this is why I find humor so attractive - it's like being tickled from across the room, seducing an emotional response out of the listener that they can't help but express.

There are as many different ways to be funny as there are types of laughs. Oscar Wilde, for example, was an amazing wit, able to turn a phrase with beautiful precision.

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.

Ellen DeGeneres always has me laughing until tears come out of my eyes. I can watch her comedy specials over and over again and still laugh just as hard. She is an expert at making us laugh at ourselves, and staying just one step ahead by being that much goofier than we are.

I was in yoga the other day. I was in full lotus position. My chakras were all aligned. My mind is cleared of all clatter and I'm looking out of my third eye and everything that I'm supposed to be doing. It's amazing what comes up, when you sit in that silence. 'Mama keeps whites bright like the sunlight, Mama's got the magic of Clorox 2.'

I have a lot of funny people in my life, and as a result I spend a lot of time laughing. My favorite times are when you are with someone, and something unique happens in that moment, something that is never as funny when you are telling it to someone the next day, but at the time has you in hysterics. When I was in Mexico with my family, my brother and I were up late watching TV. We kept flipping to the show "Different Strokes", which they had dubbed in Spanish and called "Blanco y Negro". The interpretations of the lines and enunciation's of the voices made us laugh so hard. In English, it's a pretty ridiculous show - in Spanish, it's fucking awesome! Every night that we were there, we found ourselves in fits of laughter over "Blanco y Negro", a great memory from the trip. Williiiiiiiiis!

I like the risk that is involved with being funny. You might have to put yourself out there, or say something that crosses the line of appropriateness. People without senses of humor seem so static to me. I feel bad for them - I could never live life like that. The release that you feel from a good laugh is one of the best feelings in the world. The sound of someone laughing uncontrollably is one of my favorite sounds. Humor connects us as people in a wonderful way - and it is all around us. I think that God gave it to us as a way to balance out the tragedy and hardship in life. He chose, humans, not ants or cows, to have this unique trait. In that way, we really do have a superpower - and that is quite a gift.

30 Helens Agree...

My Little Friend

Don't accuse me of personifying my new kitchen tool all on my own. Kuhn Rikon, the company that makes the "Corn Zipper", actually thought to put a face on it! You are probably thinking, no, it's just the way it's made that makes it look like a face.

I give you instruction #1, straight from the package:
- "Hold with the smile facing toward you"

Those wacky Swiss!

So, not to be one to buck the system, I gave him a name "Colonel Zippy" (get it?)

You would be wise not to be fooled by the Colonel's passive smile and innocent eyes. He has razor-sharp teeth behind his head that rip through corn cobs like butter. Strip, strip, strip goes Zippy on the cob, and rows of perfect kernels fall into the bowl. Sooooo much easier, and safer, than using a knife.

I cooked 4 ears of the summer's first white corn last night, let it cool, then with the help of my new friend, zipped it into the bowl for a quick corn & tomato salad. I was actually kind of sad that I didn't have more corn to strip - it was so much fun! I felt like Sweeny Todd, when he gets reunited with his shaving tools after years of exile:

These are my friends,
See how they glisten.
See this one shine,
How he smiles in the light,
My friends,
My faithful friends...

Speak to me, friend.
Whisper, I'll listen.
I know, I know
You've been locked out of sight
All these years!
Like me, my friend!
Well, I've come home
To find you waiting!
Home,
And we're together...
And we'll do wonders...
Won't we...?

I also bought a mandoline from the same company. Looking forward to testing it out on some shaved asparagus salad or fennel. I know I am in trouble because the products are available at my grocery store, Mollie Stone's - any wonder that I can't get out of there for less than $100?

Welcome home, my friend. We'll do wonders, indeed!

Hidden Picture

I love pictures like this. At first glance, it's just a simple plate of Carciofi alla Romana from my dinner last night at Beretta. I was kind of bummed that I had left the spoon on the plate because I thought it disrupted the shot. But if you look closely, you can see my friend Denise in the reflection, sitting across the table from me.

It's a great reminder that it is not just what we are eating, but who we are with that really makes an experience special. As my memory of the dish inevitably fades, I will always remember my fun night out with my friend.

What I mistook for a careless mistake actually turned out to be the perfect picture.