March 4th

March already? Madness.

How did that happen? The little one will be 5 months old on Saturday.

Ah, yes. That is how it happened. Babies, they are time consuming.

I'm dreaming about gardens, but there likely won't be much of that this year. We're looking for a place to buy. but since nearly everything is short sales the going is slow. Even putting in an offer now wouldn't get us an agreement for 4-6 months, plus then a month in escrow... Yeah. There goes the summer. I'm trying to satisfy my urges with FarmVille, but it really isn't the same.

Recent cooking:
Smokey beef stew with blue cheese and chives - Not bad, but very basic. The blue cheese is supposed to be the twist, but I wasn't impressed.
Tunisian lamb tagine with toasted almonds and couscous - Delicious. The baby ate some of the sauce and agrees with me.
Mini corn dogs - The batter for these was just lovely. Crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. We made a mountain of mini corn dogs with cheddar little smokies on the inside. We could not eat them all, but I doubt they will go to waste.
Cinnamon bun pancakes - As R put it, better than regular pancakes, not as good as actual cinnamon buns. Much easier to make, though.
Potato pancakes - Billed as dinner in the recipe, these are a nice alternative to hash browns.
Roast pear & banana puree - I know most of you aren't interested in baby food, but I have to tell you, roast bananas are delicious. I wound up making separate fruit purees of the two ingredients and I couldn't stop eating the banana one.

Feets

My poor, fat feet. You might not be able to tell from this picture, but they're quite fat.

Actually, I took this picture a week ago. They've only gotten fatter since. R is vaguely afraid that they will pop when he rubs them. I've taken to wrapping them tightly in a bandanna, to help squeeze the fluid out of them. Exercise (or possibly the act of squeezing my feet into shoes) seems to help, but only for a little while. They just look ridiculous.

It really is a waiting game around here. Assuming the baby doesn't show up early, I've got two more weeks of work before I start maternity leave. Two weeks until my due date. Two weeks until the deadline for my project at work. Gah. So I just work, and exercise, and wait out the comments of how I look like I'm going to pop. Really, it isn't necessary to comment on the size of my belly every day, people at work. It doesn't really change much in the hours in between.

I guess I'm just a little grumpy. I'm ready to be non-pregnant. I'd like her to show up sooner, rather than later, so that R and I get a little more time to know her before my mom arrives (she originally agreed to change her ticket date if the baby was late, but has apparently forgotten about said agreement). Bit of drama at work, but can't really share that. Bit of drama with the HOA (we never got a copy of the rules, but apparently you can only have two plants on your walkway, the fascists), but hopefully they'll be appeased with a reduction in the number of plants. I don't think I can trim my garden down to compliance, but less flagrant violation of the rules should take the heat off until we move out. If nothing else, I'll play the pregnant lady card. Apparently we make people uncomfortable.

Finally useful

For the past year, I've been hoarding boxes. Working at a school with no textbooks, we went through reams and reams of paper, so it was hard to resist taking advantage of the box supply. I knew we'd be moving sometime. Then, with the wedding, all the gifts came in the mail, in boxes (and sometimes in boxes in boxes), and I saved those as well. The corners of our house were filled with box towers, and for someone with no moving plans, it was getting a little creepy.

However, all that box hoarding will be paying off, in that I now won't have to be scrounging for boxes. We put in an application for new place and got the word back today that they want us. The place is awesome! The only downside is that there isn't a garden or patio. There is a community garden across the street, but I haven't heard back from the coordinator (and it seems like those places always have a waiting list), so I'm going to have to figure out how to do a lot of gardening indoors. We've got a little loft area with a skylight, so I'm thinking I'll get a tall wire rack, so that I can have several tiers of plants. I'll definitely have to document this project.

Happy New Year!

For my grand return after my blog-cation, I'll be doing a meme. Very classy, I know. Blame Alyndabear for finding one that is well suited to year-end reflection.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? I think getting married probably takes the cake on this one, but I also went to Disneyworld (which was my first time in the eastern half of the U.S.).

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Last year I resolved to try a new recipe a week, eat a greater quantity and variety of vegetables, continue to post (on average) every other day, and eat fast food less often. I kept these resolutions for the first half of the year, but I really fell off the wagon towards the end. I don't think I'll be making any resolutions for this year. Would resolving to get pregnant count?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister in-law gave birth to my second nephew on November 4th.

4. Did anyone close to you die? R's uncle recently passed away. Sadly, I never got to meet him.

5. What countries did you visit? None, though I did get to travel down to the nation's wang for the first time.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A baby.

What? That so counts.

Okay, I'd also like dog. And a bigger garden. More tomatoes. More time to read. And no major injuries.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 9th (got married), November 4th (new nephew)... I think that's it. The last day of teaching was also pretty memorable (such relief!), but I don't remember the exact date.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Master's degree.

9. What was your biggest failure? My inability to keep teaching. Sure, this was a voluntary failure, but it still makes me feel like a quitter.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Why yes, I certainly did. (The scar has flattened enough that I can shave over it, thank goodness.)

11. What was the best thing you bought? We bought a new power source for my computer shortly before my old one died. The timing was excellent, and my computer was only out of commission for a couple of hours.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My sister. She went back to school to finish her degree and, thanks to lots of hard work, got three As and one B this past semester. Good job, Wee-est One!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My mom, but we really don't need to get into it.

14. Where did most of your money go? The wedding. So expensive! I did also manage to pay back a good chunk of my student loans.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Disneyworld! We were looking forward to the trip all year.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Probably any song we played at the wedding.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
(a) Happier or Sadder? Happier. Less stressed, for sure.
(b) Thinner or Fatter? About the same.
(c) Richer or Poorer? A little richer, and with fewer crazy expenditures on the horizon.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Gardening. I know I did a lot, but I still wanted more veggies.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Freaking out about things outside my control.

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2008? Hanging out with my family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I was already in love. :)

22. How many one-night stands? Nil.

23. What was your favorite TV program? The Venture Brothers.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I can't really think of anyone I actually hate.

25. What was the best book you read? Making Money (hilarious and strangely topical), Me & My Brothers (I'm a dork, but it's still funny).

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Taylor Swift's new album.

27. What did you want and get? I wanted a job, and I got one. Yay for income!

28. What did you want and not get? I really would have liked to get pregnant.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? I think the only film we saw was The Dark Night. We're really looking forward to Watchmen.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 24, but I don't actually remember what we did. Something, but it was apparently overshadowed by the wedding.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Babies. I think I might be a bit redundant here.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans & T-shirts, work clothing (for the first time in my life), not wearing hoodie sweatshirts as much.

33. What kept you sane? The knowledge that the school year would end.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Honestly, I can barely even name a public figure, much the less fancy one.

35. What political issue stirred you the most? Prop. 8.

36. Who did you miss? I miss my intern teacher crew. We all used to sit around a few tables and prep. We had a lot of fun.

37. Who was the best new person you met? R's cousins were pretty nice, the people I work with are interesting, but I haven't really made any new friends this year. Luckily, the ones I have are pretty cool.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Planning makes life better. Also, no one notices the little things at weddings, so it is best not to freak out.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “You think you're so smart, but I've seen you naked" Blame It On Me, by Barenaked Ladies. It probably isn't the best representation of the year, but it was the song lyric that R and I kept passing back and forth to each other.

40. What are your resolutions for 2009? Babies! Also, to find a nice new place to live. Keep exercising, cooking, and gardening. Finish the blasted thank you notes from the wedding.

Ancestral knowledge

Friday morning on my way to work, I heard on the radio that the temperature would be in the 30s that night. A tiny voice in my head said, "cover your plants." Hopefully my seedlings survived (I was out snowboarding all day and didn't get a chance to check on them). Now all I have to do is remember to uncover them.

I also found a germinated seed in a lemon. I've decided to try to grow it. Who knows, in five or ten years I could be cooking with Meyer lemons from my very own tree. I imagine it would be very productive, as R's family's tree, the parent of the seed, is always dripping with lemons.

In other cool news, I'm now a published author. To be fair, it is in the family magazine, but still. Here it is.

NaBloPoMo-ing poorly

Well, this is now two out of three NaBloPoMos that I've failed at, and I'm starting to think the first one must have been some sort of fluke. In any case, I'm thinking I may not do it again next year. This year, my life was hectic but uneventful, leading to no time and no inspiration for writing. Next year, my life will (hopefully) be a good deal more interesting, but I think I will have probably even less time for writing.

Now that the 90 degree days seem to finally be behind us (knock wood), I've started to plant a few cooler weather plants. I planted two kinds of lettuce, beets, and radishes. I'm really quite excited to get back to gardening.

Bear necessities

My original plans for last Friday were to meet the famous Alyndabear, touring the world as is her style, but unfortunately she neglected to respond to my text message so that didn't pan out. Perhaps her phone fell in when she was on Splash Mountain. (Actually, she hasn't posted since. You're not dead, are you? I do worry when people visit L.A., as I find the place somewhat unpleasant.)

So, to soothe my bruised ego, I instead set about making some strawberry stracciatella ice cream (very tasty, by the way) and foraged for fruit in my backyard. I had realized the day before that my neighbor's cactus was a prickly pear when I saw that they new lobes it had grown were actually ripening fruit (so I was actually a little excited at this unexpected opportunity to try one that very day).

I ever so carefully plucked the fruit, grasping it with two fingers on the spaces in between the black spots, which are full of tiny spines. Even so, I managed to get a few stuck in my fingers. I took it inside and rubbed it with a paper towel to remove the spines and then washed it.

After cutting off the skin (and making sure there weren't any stickers waiting to stab my tongue) I tried a bite. The fruit had an interesting flavor, like a cross between a papaya and a pumpkin. Unfortunately, it was filled with many small seeds, meaning that each fruit only had a small amount of meat. Definitely a food of desperation.

Additionally, I found myself stabbed by small, near-invisible stickers throughout the rest of the day. As R hilariously kept reminding me, "Don't pick a prickly pear with a paw. When you pick a pear, gotta use the claw!" Yeah, I got it.

The plan for prickly pear jelly has since been scrapped.

The Growing Challenge #11: Sharing

A flock of birds has found my tomato-y paradise. Anything remotely red develops holes. I check the plants throughout the course of the day, each time finding new victims. My only recourse is to eat them anyway. I wash them, cut out the holes, and put them to use. Fried tomatoes and brie on rye toast for breakfast, sliced into veggie wraps for lunch, or pasta sauce for dinner and the freezer. My only challenge is using them that day, as I don't want to put them in the fridge, but I know that their violated skins will lead to spoilage if they sit out. With all the wedding hullabaloo, I'm sure to miss a few in the coming days.

The Growing Challenge #... Umm... 10?

Okay, so it's been a while since I last updated on this topic. [Looks into archives] 3 months. Yeesh.

Well, I may have been so busy with grad school and wedding stuff that I didn't update, but I didn't stop doing the important stuff (namely, watering). Thanks to this continued effort, I've now started to see the payoff. Tomatoes! Peppers! Radishes!

My Thai pepper plant is just dripping with peppers, as you can tell from the photo, but even though the peppers were large they remained green. Finally, they've started to turn red. My bell peppers have started to turn orange, and even my lone poblano chile has taken on a deep green-red hue. I've decided to make some pepper jelly and toss in a few of the Thai peppers, just for added kick.

Even after several failures (dang rabbits. They also ate a bunch of jalapenos), I decided to try planting radishes again. Apparently the planter I planted them in was far enough away from the fence, and the radishes have grown to maturity. I'm pretty sure I've grown the world's cutest radish, but I might be biased.

Just so you know, that tomato is tiny.

I've also planted my centerpieces for my upcoming nuptials. I think they've turned out quite nicely. Plus, one they are finished with that role they will go live in the backyard of a friend of mine (well, I'll probably keep one). Dual purpose!

Because I need to write this down somewhere

As the wedding approaches, I keep finding more and more little things to do. I've decided that I need a little check-off list so that I won't forget anything. I can't believe this whole thing is going down in less than a month. So little time to do stuff!

- Figure out music for ceremony
- Finalize music for reception
- Make time line/schedule for the event
- Get dress hemmed and bustled and buttons sewn on top section (has to wait until my petticoat arrives)
- Get R fitted for his tux (should be happening this weekend)
- Get a haircut
- Give R a haircut (2 weeks out)
- Figure out how to decorate patio for ceremony (Do I want an aisle runner?)
- Paint little containers for favor/seating assignment plants
- Buy plants and plant centerpieces and favors (not until closer to the date, so I don't have to water them for too long)
- Buy parakeet grit to cover soil in centerpieces
- Make bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages (day before)
- Find stockings
- Figure out the jewelry situation

Brain... hurts...

Recipe Review: Applesauce

Alternately, this post could be titled "What I do with my evenings now that I don't have class."

Of course, this is just the first week without evening classes and also the last week of school, so I could just be feeling giddy. Anyway, I decided it was time to harvest some of the apples from my lovely apple tree and make applesauce. I love applesauce and I also hate to see things go to waste, even bird-pecked apples. Given that my garden appears to be feeding all of the local wildlife, it is really no surprise that the majority of the apples have a few divots taken out of them, if not large chunks.

The recipe I used was from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving I recently bought, along with some tools to keep me from dropping jars of jam into boiling water and scalding myself. I'll tell you now, the can lifter they have make canning much less frightening than it was when I was using my standard-issue tongs. I'm also glad the whole thing is no longer a two-man operation.

This is the first recipe I have tried out of this book, though I have bookmarked a few others. There are definitely some odd ones (the page opposite applesauce has a recipe for "strawberry smooch," whatever the hell that is), but it seems to have enough good recipes and tips to make it worth the money. Makes a darn tasty applesauce.

Applesauce
Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Makes about 4 quarts (I got 6, but I think I like a thinner applesauce)

• 12 lbs. apples, peeled (or not, if you're planning on using a food mill like I did), cored, quartered, treated to prevent browning, and drained
• water
• 3 c. granulated sugar (optional) (I wound up using 1 c. to take the edge off, as a few of the apples I picked were still a little green)
• 4 T lemon juice
• cinnamon (optional)

1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

2. In a large saucepan (more like a vat), combine apples with just enough water to keep them from sticking. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 5-20 minutes, until the apples are tender (time will depend on the variety of apple and their maturity). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

3. Working in batches, transfer apples to a food mill or food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree until smooth. (After all the apples were out of the water, I reserved ~ 4 c. and poured the rest out.)

4. Return apple puree to saucepan. Add sugar, if using, and lemon juice; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking (you can also add some of the reserved apple-water to loosen things up). Maintain a gentle boil over low heat while filling jars.

5. Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot applesauce. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

6. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.

The latest & greatest backyard accessory

A ball of bees! I went out to check on my plants this evening and found them in my orange tree. They've swarmed away from their hive (perhaps the hive they were part of decided to split) and are using my tree as a rest stop while they send out scouts to look for a new place to live. I doubt they will stay in the tree, as it seems a little exposed and unstable, but I hope they don't go too far away. Pollinators are always useful, and since I don't have a pool or people running around with bare feet in the backyard I'm not too worried about stings. In these tough times (for bees), it's nice to be a safe oasis for wildlife.

Turning students into cacti

No, I haven't discovered some sort of magical formula for turning troublesome children into passive vegetables (aside from TV, that is). I suppose a more accurate statement would be "turning students' money into cacti" or possibly even "obtaining money from your students for fun and profit."

At the bottom of this convoluted chain is the fact that my 6th graders are never ever prepared for class. There are always a few in need of writing utensils, and I'm certain that the majority of the class does not have a sheet of paper to their name. I've got a small supply of writing utensils, many of which I've collected from the classroom after the class has been dismissed, but my students were constantly forgetting to return said utensils after they borrowed them. After a while, I started asking for collateral.

Now, I've heard of some teachers making students leave a shoe when they borrow a pencil, but I really wasn't interested in having a desk full of stinky kid shoes. When they asked what I wanted I simply specified that it was to be something that they would miss, leaving them to figure out what to leave with me. Frequently, I get backpacks and binders, but on one occasion a student gave me their cell phone.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my more chronically unprepared students started using money as collateral. Generally he'll give me a dollar, but on one occasion he gave me five. Unfortunately for him, he's also fairly distracted, so he wound up forgetting about his money on two occasions, leaving me with two dollars. Had he brought me a pencil the next class session, I would have gladly given it back, but he seemed to have forgotten all about it.

So, there I was with two dollars of student money that I didn't really know what to do with. I would have felt a little odd spending it on myself, but at the same time the student gave me the dollar for the express purpose of repaying me for the writing utensil he took. Lucky for me, my guilt was alleviated by another one of my students, who was selling cacti for two dollars as a fund raiser for the softball team. Putting the money back into the school seemed like the most appropriate use for it, plus I got something cute for my garden.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you turn students into cacti.

Here's hoping my plants make it through the day

Current temperature at my house: 87°F
Forcasted high: 95 °F

I thought it seemed awfully warm this weekend! Luckily, they say it will be getting cooler starting tomorrow. In other exciting climate news, one of the canyons by my house was on fire yesterday again.

The Growing Challenge #9: Harsh lessons

In the time since I repotted, things have not been going so hot in my garden. Well, in truth, it's been too hot, which is probably why everything is dying. The fact that all the animals seem to remember my delicious garden from last year and are visiting earlier means that anything that hasn't died from the heat gets eaten. Radishes? All gone. Peppers? Withered. A couple of the tomatoes I started from seed survived, but only in the shadier places in the garden.

If I were going to be staying in San Diego, this would be a valuable lesson for me, but since I'm not I'll just share it with you all with the hope that it will help out someone else.

The lesson:
Start seeds early. Really early. You want them to be large enough to plant by February or so, when our tiny rainy winter ends. By the time April rolls around, it's pretty hot if you're not living right on the coast, so you want the plants to be big enough so that they can tolerate the heat.

I wound up picking up some (larger) plants while I was at Target today, because I still want to grow something, even if I didn't grow it from seed. Hopefully these ones will do a little better than my smaller plants did. I'm also thinking of planting some radishes along the margins of some of my planters. Assuming they're not eaten, they should be ready to harvest before the tomatoes and peppers get too big.

The Growing Challenge #8: Repotting

I started this post last week, but was incredibly unproductive until today. Blogging? Meh. Work on PACT? A squidge. Those wedding invitations I meant to have addressed? No way.

The one thing I did manage last week was repotting my seedlings. In the beginning of the week, I was filled with a sense of urgency. I needed to move those plants! The roots were growing into the egg carton I was using to hold cocoa-fiber pouches, so I filled the containers I had at hand with dirt and moved the plantlings.

Unfortunately, the containers were in no way deep enough and I was left with a lingering fear for the long-term survival of the plants. I wasn't quite sure what to do, until I saw the bathroom cups that one of the other Growing Challenge members was using to start their seedlings and inspiration struck. Aha! I may not have tiny bathroom cups, but, being a recent college graduate, I do still have a large stash or red plastic cups. You know, the ones that just scream, "I'm drinking some horrible punch made with Popov or Everclear and am probably not of age." As it turns out, the aforementioned red cups are the perfect size for growing plants. What joy.

The Growing Challenge #7: Learning from the master

Having traveled up to NorCal to have the top of my wedding dress fitted, I had the opportunity to hang out with my best buddy S and her father, the expert veggie gardener. It was great being able to ask all of the questions that gardening has fomented and to see how someone very practiced grows their crops. I also got to take a look inside his compost bins at his beautiful rich compost. I'm so jealous!

What I have learned:

• The wire used as cement molds and big metal rods are adequate supports for tomatoes. One should tie the tomato to the rod as it grows.
  
• Peppers also like some support, so those flimsier stakes and standard tomato cages I bought last year will not go to waste.
• Peppers are good container plants.
• Most seeds are good for a while, but the germination rate goes down over time. S's dad throws his away after 10 years.

The Growing Challenge #6: Once more, with feeling

Since there is still no sign of cucumber growth outside, I decided to start a few inside. I want my cucumbers!

If your can't tell from the photo, my tomatoes are getting rather tall. I will have to start thinking about moving them to a different container soon. Quite soon, in fact. I guess I'm going to have to start rassling up some containers. Does anyone know anything about this "hardening" process I have heard mentioned? When am I supposed to do that?

The Growing Challenge #4: Germination!

Huston, we're got sprouts.

Being a first-time planter of seeds, I spent the whole week fretting over my little egg carton full of seeds. They seem a little dry. Was I supposed to water them? Didn't the coconut fiber keep them wet? Am I watering them too much? Did I kill the seeds by over or under watering them? Luckily for my sanity, one of the pear tomatoes sprouted this morning. They've continued popping up through the day, and now almost all of the tomatoes are peeking out of their nests. No peppers yet, but apparently they can take up to two weeks to germinate.

Now that the plants are growing, I've got to figure out how to keep them that way. I spent all morning trying to figure out where I could find a spot for the plants that is sunny and, more importantly, cat free. Lucky for me, I remembered that my school has several grow lamps that we used last fall for our bottle biomes that currently aren't being used. I don't think they will mind if I borrow them for a month or so to grow plants in my garage (which is delightfully free of cats).

As it has been raining here in San Diego, I had also been worrying about the seeds I had planted outside. Having played an inordinate amount of Harvest Moon, I've gotten the impression that you need to time planting properly when it comes to rain. If you plant when its raining (in the game), the seeds wash away. I was worried that all the rain we've been getting had washed away or drowned my seeds (not that we've gotten enough rain to wash away anything). After seeing the sprouted tomatoes, I rolled up my pajama cuffs, got out my umbrella, and went to check on my seeds. No cucumber sprouts yet, but two little radishes. I should probably plant another row of radishes, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. I'd hate to have the seeds wash away. I think the harvest elves would be ashamed of me.

image credit

The Growing Challenge #3: Planting

Thanks to the extra long weekend (4 days!), I was able to get all sorts of things done in the garden this weekend. I pulled weeds and grasses, added compost and mulch, and planted the cucumber and radish seeds. I also got a few more herbs while I was as Home Depot getting the compost (it's hard to resist fresh herbs). While I was digging in the soil, I noticed two little volunteer baby cacti. I've got a soft spot in my heart for succulents, so I replanted them so that they wouldn't wither and die in the shadow of the vegetables that will be there soon.

Seeing as Home Depot didn't have any plastic trays for starting seeds that didn't already have the seed starters in them, I was forced to improvise. R had the brilliant suggestion of using an egg carton, which, as it turns out, is exactly the right size. I've got some plastic wrap in there so that the egg carton doesn't soak through.