teenaged bunny

Our apartment/condo is on a big property with lots of green lawn and trees. The landscapers do a really nice job of keeping it looking pretty. There are borders of flowers that have bloomed and died to be replaced with other seasonal blooms.

And right along this border (which is sandwiched by the walkway on our property and a busy street) I've discovered the cutest neighbor I've ever lived next to.

You can't tell his size from this photo, but he's quite small. Not small enough to be a baby bunny but too small to be full sized. At least I don't think he's a dwarf bunny.

Every day when I come home from work I see him hanging out in the strip of lawn next to a border of ground cover. That's where I think he lives. Anyways he hangs out on the lawn, having a little snack and watching passerby's warily. Most folks don't even seem to notice the little guy. But I wonder about him. Why he's alone and without his mum or brethren bunnies is a mystery. I don't think of young bunnies as being the types of animals who hang out by themselves. But then again, I have limited knowledge on the habits of wild rabbits.


This admittedly is just filler content until I can get more crafting and cooking going on chez c+potion. Things have kind of slowed down since wee+potion came on the scene. But I'm supposed to be less tired these days so maybe I'll be more productive with my crafting too. Here's hopin'.

from spain

I got a bunch of fun mail in the past week or so but haven't had a chance to show it off. Back in January, I'd sewn a shirt that I wasn't too thrilled with. Enter Sylvia, one of the three crafty ladies behind mola coser who saw my shirt, complimented me on the work and offered to take it off my hands.

In return she sent me a little hand-made love from Spain.

I love how she cleverly used some of the fabric of the shirt to make up the bottom half of this little purse (she is much taller than me and said that the sleeves were too short. So smart girl that she is, she shortened the sleeves and used up the scraps for purses.).

And as if a handmade gift from Spain wasn't enough, she filled the purse with fabric swatches and a pretty postcard. I'll have to come up with something fun to do with the pretty fabric. Maybe a granny's garden sampler? I've always wanted to do one of those. But most of my crafting projects have come to a halt since I am way behind on some deadline knitting whose deadlines I have long missed.

Anyways, Thanks again Sylvia for the lovely trade! This adorable purse will go to good use!

best quiche ever

Also over 4th of July weekend? We walked around Newburyport, MA which is the cutest stinkin' New England town you ever did see. While walking around taking in the sites and cute shops, I got hungry. So we stopped at this promising looking place and ordered up a few quiches.


They were to die for! I ordered some combination of asparagus+mushrooms+truffles+heaven. I can't remember what m's contained but duck confit and dried cherries were mentioned in the description.

The crusts were flakey, the egg custard smooth (so smooth!) and the ingredients well balanced in proportion.

We also shared a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant, basically- but oh so not basic when done right!) which I forgot to photograph. I have to be honest. It was quite good, but it didn't take me back to Paris. (The closest I've ever gotten was the croissant and pastries at Amandine in L.A.) But Pralines' pain au chocolat definitely ranks in my top ten of croissants I have eaten and enjoyed outside of France. If we lived closer, I'd make Pralines+Pepper a regular stop.

meathead

I have a lot of catching up to do on this here ole blog. So let's get this party started...

4th of July weekend, M and I drove up to see his family. We also delivered our father's day gift to meathead. It was met with approval and laughter.


The gift was the framed photo of the grand-daughters (not the plate of grapes).


They're wearing shirts that say:
Meathead is in denial.
And he's bald.

This photo is better suited for the gift, but I was worried that the words would get lost in the goofy poses. So I made it into a card instead.



Thanks for a fun weekend, meathead+mum!

Regional pet-peeve of the day: What's the deal with public restrooms around here not offering toilet seat covers? Even in the hospitals??

soul sistahs

I just found out about this blog called Grandma Club. Dudes! These gals are totally my kind of people. They made their own granola bars and homemade marshmallows! I will definitely be going through the archives and checking out more of their grannie-like exploits. If you enjoy any of my crafting and cooking experiments, I bet this blog will speak to you too.

I like to watch large construction machinery in action. The dudes who work them mistakenly think I am checking them out when I am really ogling the machines.

After watching Naked Lunch, I am torn between repulsion and charm at the site of vintage typewriters.

f-you overpriced pieces of cardboard!

My cats seemed to enjoy those cardboard scratching pads that they sell at Trader Joe's. I got two and placed them side by side because they enjoy laying on them and lolling around in the sunshine. Problem is the scratchers got shabby and I don't shop at Trader Joe's anymore (too crowded, rude patrons, unreliability of items being stocked when I want them...sigh). I was surprised to see how much the scratchers go for at other big box stores. Sheesh! So I took an exacto knife to a couple of boxes and with some glue and a straight edge made one of my own.

Not bad.

Never mind how uninterested she looks, she really does seem to enjoy the pad. She scratches it and lounges on it every day.


Blurry photo-bad photographer.


Blurry photo-moving subject.

persimmon

I was thrilled when my friend Janet asked me to knit her a scarf. I love knitting for my friends!

"Nothing fancy," she said, "Just something to keep me warm during clinic." We discussed color (she actually didn't choose from her usual selection of shades that resemble mud, bruise and shadow) settling on a shade that we both determined was "persimmon" and fibre (something soft, but not itchy, i.e., too fuzzy) and I set off to the yarn store. Over a month ago.

This scarf took much too long to get made. I got all excited and wanted to knit something elaborate with this beautiful luscious yarn. After ripping out a few false starts I decided to go back to the original idea of simple. And this lovely little garter stitch scarf was born.

Perfect for keeping her warm during clinic. Or wearing while sitting in your New England apartment window with a cup of tea.

I woo with ribs.

I was craving Korean style short ribs. I made this once for m on his birthday years ago when we first started dating. It was his birthday. I think cooking this meal for him sealed the deal on the success of our romance. M is definitely a man whose heart can be got through his stomach.

I can't believe I haven't cooked this again since. It's been (holy freak-out!) eight years since I last made these ribs. Tsk, tsk.

Searching around on the internet, I cobbled together the following recipe for the ribs I served tonight. The sides came out a little mediocre*, but the ribs more than made up for it. It's such an easy and delicious dish I'll definitely be making it again.


Braised Korean Short-Ribs
5 tbsp sugar
1 cup of soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (I used vermouth)
5 cloves of garlic minced
1 medium onion chopped into slivers fajita-style
2 tbsp sesame oil
1tsp cracked red pepper
3 lbs of short ribs with the sides scored

(I forgot to get the following but would include in the future)
toasted sesame seeds
green onions with the white parts halved and then the whole thing cut into 2" pieces

Mix all the first ingredients in a large pot and let marinate for several hours (up to 24 hours, but for at lease 1) turning every once in awhile to make sure the marinade gets nice and soaked into the meat. Put the pot on the stove and add some water so that the liquid comes to halfway/ three-quarters of the way to the top of the meat. Put the heat on high and when the liquid comes to a boil turn down to low and let simmer for 2 hours. Tilt the pot and skim off the fat adding the sesame seeds and green onions. Serve over steamed rice.



*That soup wasn't one of the mediocre sides. It kicked ass. Just good old fashioned Korean kelp soup - if you grew up in a Korean household, that is. Do searches for Korean seaweed soup (also called mee-yeok guk or me-yeok gook) and you'll find a bevy of recipes.

I just made homemade ginger ale

and I love it! I got the recipe from here. So easy. If you normally like ginger ale but don't like ginger or haven't ever tried candied ginger or the like be warned that homemade ginger ale has a kick. It's spicy, but that's what I like about it. The only downside of this is that as an environmentalist I don't feel right about buying bottles of soda water to add to the ginger syrup. I've got a soda siphon that I picked up from a thrift store that needs one extra part and then I should be gold. But until I get my arse in gear to order said part, I might have to indulge with store bought soda water and my homemade ginger ale. In the meantime I'll figure out a way to offset my environmental sins.

I love this skirt

(photo from the Sartorialist)

I love the colors, the exposed seams and threads. I love that she paired it with a bright purple top and even brighter orange headscarf. How awesome and original and ballsy. I could never get away with this look. I think I'd look really messy and sort of like a colorful homeless person instead of cool and laid-back and interesting.

it's not matzoh ball soup

Whenever I have leftover roast chicken I turn it into potpie (check) or soup. Apparently, it's usually matzoh ball soup. Which m requested that I not make this time. Or more precisely (he would appreciate this redaction) he mentioned that he's not as big a fan of matzoh ball soup as I am. Well, that's true. I really love matzoh ball soup. I could eat it every day.

So last night I cobbled something together with the leftover roast chicken. And it wasn't matzoh ball soup. And it was good.

My best soups always seem to be something I come up with on the fly. They all include the roasting juices from the chicken (I think that's what gives the soups a richness) and a variety of vegetables. This time I also wanted rice in my soup so I added some leftover rice+lentil dish I'd made previously. It was a mini-disaster as I'd forgotten to soak the lentils first (the rice was cooked right but the lentils were a mite chewy). But added to the soup the rice bloomed and the lentils were tender. Below is a sort of roadmap of the soup I made last night.

(Leftover) Roast Chicken Soup
1 small onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic smashed
olive oil
3 carrots chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped (I didn't have any celery last night but I usually include it in my soups)
1 small potato chopped
1 bunch of greens like kale or chard (I used both last night) if using chard I like to strip the leafy parts away from the spine and chop up the spine and cook that first and add the leafy bits afterwards
cumin
oregano
1 bay leaf
thyme
red pepper flakes
pan drippings from the roast chicken
homemade stock (I usually cook the innards and the neck in two cups of water for abotu 20 minutes. I throw out the solids and strain any fat and use the water as a stock to flavor soups and other dishes)
additional cup of stock as the homemade batch I used wasn't enough. I usually use Better Than Boullion.
1 3-4 lb whole chicken baked then shred the meat and set aside
about 3/4 cup of cooked rice
ground black pepper to taste

In a large stockpot drizzle olive oil over chopped onions and garlic and sautee until tender over a high heat. Add carrots, celery, potatoes and chard stems stirring occasionally. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add stock, herbs and spices and then cover reducing heat to medium. Cook until vegetables are tender and the herbs have bloomed (about 20 minutes). Add the leafy greens, rice and chicken and reduce heat to low. Serve when greens are wilted and the broth is bubbling. Add ground black pepper to taste.