versus

I called Mike at work this morning, after I had gotten my usual news fix.

Me: "Um...did you happen to look at Drudge this morning?"

Mike: "No, why?"

Me, sighing : "Just look."

I heard a bit of clicking as he found the page, and then...



..."Oh, great. The bad guys have Dr. Evil and all we have to save us is Pee Wee Herman."

Smokin' hot butts

We've gone full redneck.


Mike got a smoker for his birthday.

(sides mostly by Heart 'N Soul Restaurant).

- Posted from my iPhone

sweet!

I've been busy enjoying my first somewhat pain-free day in almost a week - doing things around the house, answering emails, shopping, and experimenting with new flavors of simple syrup, which is totally our new favorite thing.

If you go into a liquor store, you'll find what is sometimes called "rock candy syrup" although why anyone would ever buy it is beyond me. Simple syrup was called that for a reason, you know - making it is as easy as boiling equal parts water and sugar and then adding a flavor to steep as it cools. The syrups dissolve instantly, add sweetness and flavor, last up to two months in your fridge, and are excellent as a healthier alternative for soda when added to plain sparkling water.

It all began with the quest to make the perfect mojito. Mike didn't like crushed mint leaves cluttering up his drink and we both certainly liked the idea of nearly instant cocktails - a little rum, a little seltzer, a little syrup and bingo bango, Mojito Monday in a flash. (the first batch taught us that the second batch needed fresh lime juice.) We've also made a lemon ginger syrup and have plans for fizzy creamsicles - orange juice, vodka, seltzer and vanilla syrup. Yummy, right? I'd also like to make a hot and sweet chile pepper syrup, although I have no idea what use I'd have for it.

(Have you ever made a simple syrup? If so, leave the recipe in the comments!)

Snip snip

Just walked in the door and Mike said, "Whoa. You look just like Gwen from Torchwood."

That's me - outside the government, beyond the police.

I'd say the new haircut is a win.

- Posted from my iPhone

hot mess cleans up

I've spent quite a bit of today listening to my iPod, doing chores around the house, and sweating enough to give Lot's wife some serious competition.

Also, I may or may not have sporadically broken into a few wacky, "I'm-all-alone-in-the-house" dance numbers. The cats will never tell.

good girl.

She ate 4 fat worms and a blackberry as big as my thumb...& then passed out in the weeds. Full tummy = a happy turtle.

for flavor

A number of years ago, after reading Anthony Bourdain's memoir Kitchen Confidential, I decided to incorporate shallots into my cooking. Bourdain wrote that shallots were even more essential than butter if you wanted to learn to make your food taste professional. Subtler than onion, more complex than garlic and yet as versatile as both, they've been a staple in my pantry ever since.

It also didn't hurt that my first shallot experience required me to sauté them with diced bacon.

Recently though, during a trip to Penzey's I noticed they were selling shallot salt. I read the ingredients on the label.

Dried shallots. Salt.

"Oooh," I thought. "I could make this!"

I bought a bag of shallots from the wholesale club and minced them very finely in the food processor. Shortly thereafter, between coughing and wiping the burning tears from my eyes, I realized I had probably just invented a weapons-grade chemical agent. Proper ventilation, and perhaps goggles, are required.

I spread the shallot paste on the parchment I had cut to fit the trays of my food dehydrator, sprinkled some sea salt on top and let it all dry for 24-48 hours. I can't remember exactly how long or at what temperature, but I don't think you can really over dry this. After a couple days, I put the mixture back into the food processor with even more sea salt and a little dried homegrown parsley. I whizzed it all together until it seemed done, and ended up making almost 6 cups of shallot salt for far less than what I might have spent in a gourmet store.

The aroma coming from those little jars is absolutely divine, by the way - I keep opening them to have another sniff. And I could tell you all about how it makes a humble strip steak something so deliciously good that you close your eyes in ecstasy and murmur, "Oh. my. God." between bites...but that would just be cruel.

bugged

As if suffering through the heat and humidity wasn't bad enough, last night we discovered that we have fleas. All six cats are scratching as if they're possessed, I'm covered in red itchy welts and Mike....well, he has one bite. One. I'm fully expecting plague filled buboes to show up any moment now and he's trying to decide if that tiny red dot on his stomach is itchy enough to qualify. Argh.

And to top it all off, the vet said that since our cats all stay indoors it's likely that I gave them the fleas.

Fae is most assuredly not pleased.

Bye, bye Honda

- Posted from my iPhone

'shroom sprout!

After a week's worth of waiting and hoping, the scary looking log on my kitchen counter finally did something...


See it? Here's a closer look...


That, folks, is a baby shiitake mushroom. We noticed the bud yesterday and decided it was time to finish the instructions. When you receive the log, you have to rinse it off under cold water, put it in a plastic bag with some ventilation and then...wait. A week to 12 days later, buds are supposed to appear. When this happens, you submerge the log in icy cold water to "shock" the other mushrooms into growing. Then you put it it on a damp sponge, tent it with perforated plastic, keep it out of direct sunlight and wait some more...

Wakey wakey, little mushrooms! I need to fry you up with some bacon grease and onions!

Summer is delicious

Market fresh berries, soft, sweet nectarines and spicy grated gingerroot...




I'm baking a cobbler.

- Posted from my iPhone

Is this thing on?

(tap tap...Testing 1, 2, 3...)

Today I downloaded an app that lets me blog from my iPhone. It's so much easier to use than having to log in through a browser.

Oh, and look! I can even add photos. Here's Eloise, from a moment ago:


She thinks there should be less blogging & more napping.

Cats have very good ideas sometimes.

- Posted from my iPhone

my distraction

I could spend all day blogging about how horrible the news is, our failure of a president, or guns and shooting but really? I look out the window of my back porch, see this

and it's all over. All I want to do is get outside, get my hands dirty, and feel the sun on my neck. We've got our little garden planted - a few tomatoes (even a delightfully odd heirloom purple), lots of peppers (hot and not), and the usual wide variety of herbs. I put in a few sweet peas, some tomatillos for my salsa, and what I call the great eggplant experiment. I've never attempted to grow them before but the varieties, which produce a black and a white fruit, were called Hansel and Gretel - how could I resist?

We also have a squash type thing growing. Or it could be a cucumber. Or maybe even pumpkin! The seed snuck in from the compost pile and found a happy home in amongst the jalapenos. It's like the mystery grab bag plant - we're excited to see what we get.

I've planted a few flowers, too, just for the pretty.

Check out the planter I made out of a section of old hollow tree trunk. (It's the best kind of clever & lovely - free.)

And just for fun, here's a bonus photo of two naughty boy tabbies surveying their domain from the bay window.
(all photos can be enlarged by clicking on them)

first kill

Take a look at my brave cat, defender of hearth and home...

(he was purring when this photo was taken)

Desmond got his first mouse last night. Momma's big sweetie boy is now a mighty hunter - I'm so proud.

( I raised him & his sisters from when they were itty bitty squeaking handfuls, bottle-fed them for six weeks, and debated with Mike on whether we should get them a mouse from the pet store to teach them to hunt. I needn't have worried - they've grown up to be gorgeous, perfectly designed little mouseslayers without any help from yours truly. )

something to tide you over

We've just discovered Torchwood through the the magic and wonder of Netflix. Highly recommended - best entertainment money I've ever spent, really. But then again, I don't get out much. Anyway, I thought I'd share this scene. Guns and sexual tension, how can you go wrong?



Besides the teacup grip and the silly two-fisted shooting it's pretty great. Complete with brand new gunchick grin...and that wee gap between her teeth? Absolutely charming.

(We're in a frenzy of gardening and grilling this weekend because zOMG, finally! A weekend with sunshine! Hope you're having a good one too.)

home theater

(While watching Madagascar 2 the other night.)

Right before throwing a giraffe into a volcano to appease the water gods, King Julian shouts:

"Hurry up! Before we all come to our senses!"

Mike and I looked at each other and laughed.

"That kind of sums up a whole lot of human history," Mike noted.

"Heh...yep."

eye of newt

I've posted so many photos and stories about our cats and, of course, Myra that I feel a bit guilty about not talking more about the littlest member of the Fallacy clan. Kung Pao the fire belly is ancient by newt standards, survives on a diet of frozen bloodworms, and has the cutest teeny tiny elbows. When he was younger, he used to sit on his rock long enough to get sticky and do a brilliant Spiderman impression up the side of his tank.

He's also really difficult to photograph.

word to the wise

My dear fellow homeowners,

I know how wonderful it is to decorate your house and make it your own. After a project is done, you are able to step back, wipe the sweat from your brow and say, "Yes! This is mine!" and feel quite pleased with yourself. Be they formal, country, modern, or eclectic - whatever style you like - the floor coverings, the furniture and the paint are all of your own choosing. Being able to live in a beauty that you've created is a joy.

But please, don't wallpaper unless you're happy knowing that the future inhabitants of your house will spend hours scraping and steaming and cursing the day you were born.

Thank you.

Love, Breda

p.s. you might also want to find out where the main sewer line is and then specifically NOT plant a tree on top of it.

the world is holding its breath

I'm a cat person because...

they do things like this:

Besides, dogs smell bad and stare at you all the time - I get enough of that at the library.

*wee Fae snuggling with her "little" brother Ronan, nose buried in his fur, is a Very Big Deal indeed. It only took 5 years, but she's finally getting over her runt-of-the-litter shyness and making friends.