You sit in your garden

Aged 59

Thinkin’ about your boring new life.

You sit in your garden

Waiting for your husband to come home.

You just wait and wait but you know he will not come.

You just wait until your legs are frozen at dawn.

You sit in his chair

Aged 59

Thinkin’ about your previous life.

You sit in his chair

While pulling out your hair.

You just wait and wait but you know he will not come.

You just wait and wait but you know that he is gone.

He’s GONE!

It’s not as easy as it looks

To forget a love which couldn’t be a love.

It’s not as easy as it looks

To forget all the people who died.

It’s not as easy as it looks

To change our lives.

It’s not as easy as it looks

To forget all those years, all those years,

When bad things happened to you and me too.

You sit in your garden

Aged 59

Thinkin’ about your new boring life.

You sit in your garden

Waiting for something to happen.

You just wait and wait but you know he will not come.

You just cry until your tears are frozen at dawn!

It’s not easy…

Well, it’s been ages since I’ve eaten Mac & cheese. Not that I don’t like it (who doesn’t?!), but often it’s common to find the unhealthy stuff (Kraft, for example?) in stores. I do like Annie’s mac & cheese, but i find i spend all that time making it and then refrigerating the rest only to let it stay in the fridge. I don’t care for re-heated mac too much, it’s only good fresh outta the pot (or the oven!) in my mind

HOWEVER, Amy’s (my favorite!) makes individual sized entrees of Macaroni & Cheese. Amy’s Kitchen provides 3 varieties, Original Macaroni & Cheese, Macaroni & Soy Cheeze, and Rice Mac & Cheese. Pretty much, Amy’s caters to all of our cheesy needs. If you are lactose intolerant, she’s got the Soy Cheeze, if you have wheat/celiac allergy, you should go to the rice mac, and if you are just in dire need of some mac & cheese, you can have the original. Voila! Something for everyone! I chose to try the Macaroni & Soy Cheeze, not because i am lactose intolerant, but because it had the lowest saturated fat and calorie count of the 3. 

So after opening up & heating up the package, there was a decent amount of macaroni in an oval shaped bowl. The elbow macaroni were plump and covered with the soy cheeze sauce. As it was cooking in the microwave, i actually took it out 30 seconds earlier ( i reccomend taking it out a minute earlier because i got crispy edges) and you could hear it bubbling and see the soy cheezy-goodness oozing all over the macaroni.

As for the taste, it was mildly cheesy tasting at first, and a wee bit bland. I added a little bit of sea salt and that really brought out the flavors of the cheese much better. To be honest, while I was eating it, I totally forgot it was soy cheeze and not regular cheese. They had me fooled! The soy cheeze sauce tasted cheddary and had a similar taste to a cheez-it or goldfish crackers. The sauce was thick too, and sticked to the noodles very well, so  much that the noodles sort of stayed in “clumps” as you ate it. This Mac & Cheeze reminded me of homemade macaroni and cheese, or baked in the oven mac. It wasn’t like Kraft or velveeta, when you add the cheese powder or sauce to the macaroni on the stove. It had much more of a homemade quality and feel to it- which is everything Amy’s Kitchen stands for. It was yummy- reminded me of Mom’s Homemade Mac

Overall, if you need some comforting mac & cheese, you could try Amy’s Macaroni & Soy Cheeze. I hear great reviews on the original, so if the Soy Cheeze variety is good, that one must be awesome! The only 2 negatives I have is that 1. it’s relatively high in fat (15 grams- but only 2 saturated!) and 2. it’s just mac & cheese. I would prefer to have maybe a little less mac and pair it with a veggie. That’s what i did, I had the whole plate of macaroni & i heated up some broccoli and have a Root Beer Zevia with it. It made one protein-packed, nutritious and satisfying meal! However, combining nutrition and taste, Amy’s Mac & Soy Cheeze still racks up 4 stars on my grading board. Congrats!

bloggies- 
Have you ever tried the ORIGINAL Amy’s Macaroni & Cheese? What’s your favorite brand of macaroni & cheese or favorite low fat recipe?

1 entree is 370 calories, 15 grams of fat, 500 mg sodium (21%), 42 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, and 16 grams of protein. It also provides 15 % of your daily calcium needs.

ORGANIC COOKED MACARONI (ORGANIC WHOLE WHEAT DURUM FLOUR, ORGANIC WHEAT FLOUR, WATER), FILTERED WATER, CHEDDAR STYLE SOY CHEEZE (TOFU [FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC SOYBEANS, CALCIUM SULFATE], CASEINATE—A MILK DERIVED PROTEIN, EXPELLER PRESSED SOY OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, SEA SALT, LACTIC ACID, SOY LECITHIN, ANNATTO, GUAR GUM), EXPELLER PRESSED HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, ORGANIC ONIONS, ORGANIC SWEET RICE FLOUR, SEA SALT, NUTRITIONAL YEAST, MUSTARD POWDER.

Had to scour the depths of my freezer for some lunch since I’m working from home today. Luckily I still had some turkey meatballs left.

What: Trader Joe’s Turkey Meatballs (2 – picture shows 1 full and 2 halves); Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Fries (1 handful)

Dewasa ini masakan yang berasal dari hasil laut sangat populer dikalangan masyarakat Indonesia.

Dengan tingkat populasi lebih dari 200 juta penduduk yang menyebar diseluruh Nusantara secara umum sudah mengenal jenis masakan hasil laut. Khususnya di wilayah kota-kota besar.

Makanan hasil laut sudah banyak ragamnya, seperti bakso, nuget, dimsum, dan sejenisnya.

Hal ini memberikan peluang yang cukup besar bagi produsen makanan ini mulai dari Industri Rumahan sampai dengan Industri Besar dengan berbagai merk dagang.

Dan saya turut ambil bagian dalam bisnis ini sebagai pemasok ke Restoran, Agen pengecer, Distributor, Hotel, Pasar Tradisional, dan juga Pasar Modern.

Adapun produk yang saya tangani adalah Produk Bakso merk Premio, Bosco, Indomarlin, Ranesa, dan Sakana. Saya juga memasok untuk produk Dimsum seperti Kaki Naga, Fish Stick, Fish Finger, Ekado, Keong mas, Sosis Ikan, dan sebagainya.

Dan jika anda ingin memesan produk-produk seperti yang disebutkan diatas, silahkan hubungi saya.

Caramelised banana, frozen raspberry, and white chocolate truffle

Food Preparation/Creation

The longest part of the prep is the caramelisation of the banana pieces. After cutting the banana into small pieces, I rolled them on a bowl of caster sugar and use chopstick to pick it up and put it on the open flame to burn the sugar until it caramelised. And I have to do it one by one. I wish I had a butane flame blower to do this – much much quicker. Then I let them cool before I put them into the verrine.

The rest is really easy. A couple of pieces of raspberry and then the white choc truffle. I had this white choc truffle that my wife made as part of her French Pattisserie class (how convenient). Then I top it up it a mini mint leaves from my herb pot.

That all sound easy, but I did have to assemble the verrine twice. If you’ve dealt with frozen raspberry before, you’ll know that it doesn’t stay frozen too long. Adding on top of that, I was shooting on one the hottest day in Sydney that time (the temperature peaks at 41 degree Celcius that day). So what happened was I did my first verrine fine and beautiful with the truffle pop out a little bit higher than the verrine glass. As I prepare the scene and the props, etc the truffle has sunk to half the height of the verrine glass. The raspberry layer just get squashed as the raspberries reach the room temperature and become really soft. I decided to keep going and finalise my props before I make the second version. Gotta be quick with frozen stuff. That’s one of the hard part in shooting food stuff.

The Shooting

As with the props, I choose to put a cup of black coffee on the background along with a relatively sizeable sugar container. I wanted to convey the dinner mood at the dessert time. The sugar container sort of reinforce the “sweetness” of the dessert – at the same time balanced out by a black coffee, giving a bit of that coffee-bitter taste so that the overal scene is not to “sweet”.

I also deliberately choose black coloured coffee cup so it almost “blends” in with the dark background and doesn’t become distracting. With the big sugar container, I wasn’t quite sure about it initially because I thought it could be distracting because it’s going to look like a big bright blob at the background. But it kinda turned out ok I think. Maybe the neutral colour with some blurred writings on it makes it work. It sort of draw your eye away a bit from the verrine so forcing your eyes to explore the entire frame a bit more instead of just fixated on the verrine glass.

Camera is really at low angle this time to accentuate the height of the verrine. Also, with low angle, the layer is more visible as is, ie not “squashed” because of the high angle perspective. I did play a bit with exposure to make sure that the frozen ice layer on the raspberry is correctly exposed.

I covered the surface with black cloth to create the low key shot. Soft light is positioned at the usual 10 o’clock direction. Big reflector from 4 o’clock direction elevated quite high so it doesn’t produce a reflection on the glass. I also choose to use portrait orientation because I thought it goes better with the shape of the verrine.

Camera settings are 100mm at F5.6 1/4 second at ISO100.

Observation

A bit of reflection of coffee cup on the glass – again I left it as is. A spot highlight appears on the bottom right of the glass, casting a bright spotlight on the dark surface. I find it quite interesting. Obviously it comes from the softbox and get refracted that way. I’m still trying to get my feel on the type of the verrine glass that’s suitable for dessert or savoury. Some says tall verrines are good for savoury whereas low wide verrines are good for dessert. I deliberately make it the otherway around this time. What’s your take?

OMG OMG OMG! I actually deep fried something well! Woah! This is huge!! Remember when I was an absolute failure at making everything deep fried? Well I can do it now!!

Now that I’ve gotten the excitement out of my system, lets move on to the actual way this worked. I used a candy thermometer and heated the oil to 350°F. I’ve discovered that the secret to making it happen well is to make sure that the oil is at a constant temperature and that you use a whole pot of oil and not just a pan with a small layer.

I used precooked frozen de-veined shrimp and defrosted them. When you deep-fry the shrimp, the crust will fry and the shrimp won’t get too overcooked because they’ll be cold to begin with. They’ll just heat through. Frozen shrimp go on sale often so you can just buy a bag and keep them until you’re ready for this recipe.

There is a 3-step process to creating the coconut crust. First dredge the shrimp in flour so it has a thin coat on it. Then dip them in egg with salt and pepper. You can just whisk the egg with a fork quickly. Finally dredge the shrimp in an equal parts mixture of shredded coconut and Panko bread crumbs. Panko bread crumbs are Japanese bread crumbs that are lighter than most other bread crumbs. They’re becoming popular in American cooking, so you should be able to find them in your local supermarket. The coconut was on sale this week, which is what inspired this dish.

Then put a few coated shrimp in the hot oil. You can do about 6 at a time. If you add too many to the oil the temperature will drop too much. After the crust has browned use a metal strainer to pull the shrimp out of the hot oil and put them on a paper towel to drain. Continue in batches until all the shrimp are done.

For the sauce, mix together vinegar, orange marmalade and hot sauce. Start with a little bit of hot sauce and add more until it is as spicy as you want.

Currently Cooking To:

Wale – Chillin (ft. Lady Gaga)
Wale – Nike Boots

I remember when I discovered Nike Boots a few years ago and I’m so glad that Wale has finally broken onto the mainstream music scene because he’s wonderful. Also, just the combination of Wale and Lady Gaga is bound to be a great song. And P.S. It’s pronounced like Wall-A and not like Whale.

I hear Sensei is here I will tell once I find out

Today, life is snap shots. Precise. Isolated. Freeze. Framed.

So.

The dead crow on the curb, will never fly again. Cawless.  It lays, disregarded – if indeed ‘it’ can be said to be ‘it’;
no longer sensing weather warnings.

In a book store, I browse, I buy. Two books. Taking Pictures by Anne Enright and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I speak to the shop woman. I even smile. Two minutes. Before fragility. So much is obscured.

So.

On the way out the door, free postcards. I love these. My daughter was in the habit of picking
[paper bouquets] and bringing them home. For me.
Before. Before.

I order one skinny latte. I sit. Outside.
My turn on the curb.

And the sky. I wait for my husband, watching his storm brew. The clouds are slap marks against the sky’s face.
Purple welts.
So,

Cup, warm in my hand; Like hope.
Like nothing like before,
I cry.

Like so.

Waking up a much later than I had wanted in Bern put me en route to Zermatt much later than I originally had anticipated. The train ride to Zermatt was stunning. I had to transfer trains several times, the routes took me high in the Alps and through the beautiful mountain passes, over ravines and gullies, over streams and alongside waterfalls. The expression on my face was that of a little kid in a candy store. I was overly excited to be in such a beautiful place, and knowing I was going to hike in the area made me even more elated. The closer I got to Zermatt I noticed that the concentration of outdoor enthusiasts on the train increased. Seeing people with backpacks, hiking poles and boots I knew I was in the right place.

Small electric taxi's take people from place to place in Zermatt, Autos are prohibited

The Gondola I refused to take

At 11:30 when I arrived in Zermatt I hit the ground running. I had plans to hike up to the Matterhorn and by golly I was going to stick to them. I briskly walked over to the visitors center to grab a map and some information about accessing the trails. Armed with my map and determination to stick to my plans I walked through Zermatt very fast heading toward the Matterhorn. The town of Zermatt is very quaint and cute with little skiing and sporting goods shops everywhere. If I was a rich tourist I would certainly come back to Zermatt for a few weeks and indulge in all their town has to offer.

Hiking at a fast pace up the hill I passed several other hikers with smiles on their faces just like me. I reached a small town up on the hill, Old Zermatt, even cuter and smaller than actual Zermatt. Continuing on I noticed that the number of hikers dwindled substantially. I like very few others decided to actually walk up the mountain rather than take the 45 Euro cable car up. Past the small town is where I really noticed my climb to begin. The air was cool and crisp as I headed up the mountain. The further I got the more I noticed the weight of my pack. Being as how I had everything with me for my “round the world journey” plus extra food and water it was certainly noticeable on my back. Drenched in sweat I continued on the path through the beautiful lush forest up into the sky.

Prior to my trek up the mountain I had noticed a cloud covering the tops of the mountains and the hillsides obstructing my view of the Matterhorn and anything up passed a few hundred feet from Zermatt. Now that I was several hundred feet above the town I too was engulfed by the looming cloud. A fine mist permeated the already cool and damp air. Completely drenched with sweat my core temperature began to cool as I ascended. Pushing myself to keep warm I hiked faster and faster, making amazing time up the increasingly steep mountain.

Exhausted I climbed out of the timberline and into the high elevation meadows. I grabbed my plastic poncho just before it started to rain. I ran into two other hikers roughly my age from San Francisco who had prepared even less than I had for their excursion and headed down the mountain when their cotton sweatshirts were nearly soaked. Discouraged that my new hiking buddies had quickly abandoned me I wearily kept storming up the mountain, not letting it or the weather persuade me to turn around. Arriving at one of the gondola’s stops, Schwarzsee Paradise, I found a small restaurant and hotel to get shelter and warmth at for a little while.

Once inside I headed for the bathroom where I used more than my share of the hot air hand dryer then I took off my wet poncho and studied the map carefully. Knowing that I had quite a ways to go I engineered myself a new clothing “system” for the remainder of my hike. I changed into my warmest and driest clothes that I had, layering of course. Next I grabbed one of my huge black plastic trash bags and cut two leg holes in it, I secured the trash bag on me like pants and tucked everything in to ensure maximum waterproofing. Next I put on my jacket and made sure it was nice and tight, next my backpack, and finally my plastic 97 cent poncho. Making sure everything was tucked in and secured I grabbed a quick bite of my Swiss chocolate bar for some energy. Looking at myself in the mirror I realized I looked pretty silly, for one I was covered in plastic, and secondly I was dumb enough to go outside and hike up the mountain in a storm. Luckily I found a back door out of the place and took it so that no one would see me.

Me in plastic in a Swiss bathroom

Thankful that my clothing efforts had not been in vain I kept hiking up the mountain. I was a little weary of going through a section of mountain sheep. Some found me quite curious, and a black one even chased after me a bit. Continuing to climb, the mountain became much more rocky and steep. A few minutes after seeing the sheep I realized that all of the people I had seen were heading down the mountain, and away from the storm. And all of those people were wearing expensive Gore-Tex hiking gear. They all had poles and everything one would need for hiking this terrain in this weather. I figured, oh well, I’m already this far, why turn back now.

The fog and haze of the cloud really began to engulf everything around me. The trail had progressively diminished from a dug out dirt path in a grassy area, to a well defined rocky trail, to eventually a barren wasteland of slippery rocks on a mountain ridge with orange and white markers. Hikers (in good conditions) are supposed to be able to see these markings painted on rocks, white orange white, and look to the next set of markings from the one they are currently at and continue hiking that way. However, in a storm it is nearly impossible to see from one set of markings to another. It wasn’t until I got into an area where I could see no more than 5 feet in front of me, did I actually worry. I got through my first set of markers okay and just had to stop. Getting turned around quickly I just decided to walk in the direction I felt was the right way, having gotten lucky I tried again on the next one. Several times over the course of this I had to backtrack and try another route to try to find the marked stones. The distance I covered would have normally taken me roughly 10 minutes, but instead it took almost 45.

Reaching a metal bridge I met one lone hiker who was just as lost as I was. He had come up from the gondola near where I wanted to get to and I was coming from where he wanted to go, so our exchange of information was quite beneficial. After exchanging pleasantries we went out on our ways. His leading him back to town and likely to a warm bed, and mine, leading me further up into the mountains in a wet, windy, rocky, snowy, barren environment where I was planning to spend the night.

The cloud cover began to clear a bit, and I was able to see the trail markers a bit more clearly. I heard a giant rock slide toward the direction I was heading, which made me all the more comfortable with the journey and my plans to stay up on the mountain at over 8,000 feet.

The area I had to choose a place to sleep

Finally reaching the general area I would call home for a night, I had to pick a spot that would keep me as dry and as warm as possible, while at the same time keeping me sheltered from any falling rocks and debris. The area I had to choose from was several hundred acres of open space filled with rocks, snow, lakes, ice, and snow, not to mention the cliffs on the side of the expanse. So, I began wandering around the open area in search of the perfect spot to rest my head, jumping over creeks and trying not to fall down the loose gravely surface I picked up a few stray pieces of wood, that had somehow gotten there and carried them with me while I searched. Finally I came to a large boulder that would protect me from the wind from at least one direction. I began to dig up larger rocks around the area and make a small perimeter around where I would be sleeping, giving myself some shelter from the wind. I found several small alpine plants that I used to pad the area where my head and shoulders would be resting. I did not want to be lying on either the cold mud, nor the sharp rocks during the course of the night. As for the few sticks I found, I took a bit of rope I had been carrying around with me the entire trip for the “just in case” factor and fashioned a “roof” over my head. Once my terrible rocky and cold structure was completed I headed out to brush my teeth and fill up my bladder bag.  Returning I unrolled my bivy sack and inserted an emergency blanket to try to keep some of my warmth through the night.

My dentist would be proud, Im trying to not die, and what do I do? I brush my teeth.

I used my rope, "What are we gonna need the rope for?"

This is what the inside of a bad idea looks like

Crawling into the non insulated bag I realized that this was a terrible idea. The ground was uneven, uncomfortable and frozen. The wind was relentless during the night. I didn’t really sleep. I just froze. It was by far the coldest night I had ever experienced. Once the sun went down the already cold temperatures began to drop even faster. I tried to get sleep but unfortunately I was so cold that my shivering kept me awake. I put on as many of my clothes that I could that were dry, to try to increase my temperature. This helped only slightly. I was afraid of my phone freezing and breaking, so I kept it close to my body. Aside from shivering all night I decided to get up out of my bag and do jumping jacks to try to get my blood flowing and warm up a bit. This helped for about two minutes and I was back to shivering again. Finally I grabbed another one of my emergency blankets and threw it in my bivy sack with me. I was able to fall asleep for roughly twenty minutes before I woke up freezing and soaked. The two emergency blankets had insulated me so well that I began to sweat so much that I had condensation forming on the inside of my bag and on the emergency blankets. When the freezing air reached it from the outside it froze and I was basically in a small personal freezer on a cold mountain. Waking up to the ice and water I jumped up and did my jumping jacks and shook out my iced over bag before trying to sleep again. The whole process probably took 35 minutes, for me to get to sleep, be asleep for 20 minutes, get up and do jumping jacks and try to get myself back in my bag. I did this the entire course of the night. It was an incredibly long night. For some hours I would basically just sit up and stare at the clouds wishing for the warming rays of the sun. Throughout the night I did get to see the cloud cover drift away from the top of the Matterhorn. Slowly but surely it began to reveal its strikingly beautiful presence.

First picture I took when it was light enough. Its not in focus because my hand was shaking too much from all the shivering I was doing.

Trying really hard to smile here

Before the sun rose, I had determined that it was basically morning for me. I wasn’t going to kid myself any longer, I would not be able to sleep any longer because of the cold. So I got up and started walking around trying to get some feeling back in my toes. I was sure I had gotten frostbite on my big toes, I couldn’t feel them at all when I walked for the next few months. I examined my bladder bag I had filled the night before to find that the hose on it had froze and cracked, rendering it leaky thus ending its useful life.

Town of Zermatt covered in Clouds

I walked up to a rock where I perched myself with my camera taking pictures of the surrounding mountain peaks and the cloud cover that was blanketing the entire town of Zermatt. I was high above the entire town while they were trapped in a soup bowl of fluff. Slowly but surely the sun started to light just the tips of the peaks. Taking advantage of the amazing photographic opportunity I snapped as many pictures as my frozen hands could manage. Waiting patiently for the sun to illuminate the Matterhorn I was poised and ready to capture shots that those even in Zermatt wouldn’t be able to see. Seeing the glorious Alps in all of their majesty made enduring the bitter cold worth it just to see some of the sights I was fortunate enough to have.

I was relieved when I was finally drenched in sunlight atop my perch on the rock. I took full advantage of it while I had it. Once I was able to move my digits again I began to clear my camp. Working slowly I dismantled everything and readied myself for another intense day. Today’s challenge called for hiking another few thousand feet or so along a steep ridge to the actual Matterhorn.

After having my Swiss chocolate for breakfast I headed up the steep trail which took me along a metal grate-way bolted into the side of the cliff. The grates were coming apart in some places, so it was wise to be mindful of the loose panels, for the drop was not to be taken lightly. Once off the grate I and many other hikers who seemed to appear out of the woodwork (who I am sure came up the gondola like a sane human being), headed up the ever steepening grade toward the Matterhorn. Some were armed with climbing gear, some with small backpacks and some with just a bottle of water. I had all my stuff I needed for three months.

As the trail went higher the presence of ropes along the trail increased. With ropes also came steep drop offs to both the right and the left. At the top there was a rather large hotel, and restaurant that many climbers use as a base before attempting to summit the jagged peak. My goal was not to climb the monstrous mountain, but merely to get as far as I could without climbing gear, and touch the mountain. Which I am proud to say that I was able to do.

It the abyss...

(My beard is all messed up)

3260 meters = 10,695 feet

After touching the mountain I found myself a nice rock and had lunch, once again basking in the glorious view of the Matterhorn. After relaxing for a while I determined that I should head back down the mountain, all the way back down to Zermatt to catch a train out of Switzerland. Hustling down the steep slopes I decided to take an alternate way down, that afforded me another view of the Matterhorn, just as spectacular.

(YAY! I touched it!)

The sun was out and at its full intensity and I spotted a gigantic flat rock just off the trail that was calling my name. I climbed up and laid down on the flat stone staring at the snow blowing off the Matterhorn. I caught some necessary sleep on the rock. About an hour or so later I put my socks and shoes back on and headed down once more. Walking through beautiful green pastures I noticed a gigantic waterfall along the hillside in the distance. I started to see and hear sheep along the grassy hills. Then I heard cows, I noticed the sound kept getting closer and closer. Then I saw an entire heard of cattle right in the middle of my path, holy cow! (No pun intended). They were all wearing bells, I couldn’t believe it! I had never actually seen a cow wearing a bell, other than in cartoons. But these cows had nice pointy horns and they were all eyeing me with curiosity as I walked right in the middle of their grazing territory. I was a bit nervous about walking through a field full of cows with horns. I figured they wouldn’t hurt me, but some of them were right on the trail, and I certainly didn’t want to get in a fight with any of them over whose trail it was and whose it wasn’t. Taking a video of the cows the entire way through, I was relieved to be out of their territory. I kept heading down the hills toward Zermatt and once into town I had to stand to the side as several small children were leading a rather large number of goats through town. Again these goats were all wearing bells and the sound was intense but the sight was just too unique, for someone like me. I spotted a McDonald’s and convinced them to fill up my water bottle for free, feeling a little bad I bought a small sandwich and enjoyed the small hot meal I had bestowed upon myself. I kept walking and smiling toward the train station and I grabbed my ticket for the last train out of Zermatt just moments before it left.

Doesnt that rock just say "Take a nap on me"

I bought Swiss Cheese and Chocolate

And oh were they good!

Feeling accomplished I felt I could finally rest for a little while I rode the train into Italy.

In blender mix until smooth:
1-2 cups milk
3 cups frozen fruit (strawberries blueberries bananas mango grapes cantelope…etc.)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Crushed ice (if needed, if you want ut thicker)

*Optional:
1/2 cup frozen spinach (add to blender first so it gets chopped up good)
1-2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Measurments are all approximate, personalize to what you like. Enjoy!

That is what I am doing. It’s a slow process, occurring over weeks, possibly months, could even be years. Who knew this could happen in Florida?

But happening, it is! On Monday, the forecast was for an 80-degree high. Yet my office on Monday, as on most other days from October to March, was probably 20 degrees. I swear! I’m not exaggerating one little bit. And you can’t prove I’m not telling the truth. Just try.

A picture in words of me in my office on Monday: Boots off, but wearing fuzzy, purple sock-slippers over my regular socks; fingerless gloves so I can type (which means my hands are warm, but my fingertips could snap off because they’re frozen solid); a heavy cardigan over my dress; and the blanket I finally remembered resting on my lap. I folded the blanket into four layers just to keep me a little bit warm. Without the blanket, I believe I would have died of hypothermia that day. Good thing I remembered it!

The rest of the building in which I work has heat. I don’t know why mine doesn’t. Maybe this is how they get rid of people here. Just freeze her out!

And before you start typing a comment suggesting a space heater, it’s been done. I bought one last year. It was wonderful. I used it a couple days, no problem. Then, suddenly, I couldn’t use it anymore. Because, for whatever reason, after a couple days, ever time I turned it on, it tripped a breaker and cut power to most of the third floor. So that’s out.

Tea helps, but only for a short time.

So, dear readers, if I suddenly cease writing this blog, if you don’t hear from me at least once a week, assume I finally succumbed and am lying dead, but well-preserved, in a third floor office in Florida.

The Blackstone Group will buy the frozen foods maker Birds Eye Foods through one of its companies, Pinnacle Foods, for $1.3 billion, the companies said Thursday.

It is the latest sign of a thawing in private equity deals, which were constrained by the financial turmoil.

Blackstone, which has large real estate and private equity assets, has stepped up deal activity in the last few months, buying Anheuser-Busch InBev’s American theme parks for up to $2.7 billion.

Birds Eye has long-term debt of about $700 million, the companies said in a statement. Blackstone bought Pinnacle, which makes packaged foods like Hungry-Man frozen dinners, in 2007 for $2.16 billion.

Birds Eye, majority-owned by the private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners, had filed for an initial public stock offering to raise up to $350 million.

The company said in the filing that it held the top position in the frozen vegetables market with sales of $935.6 million in the fiscal year ended in June 2009.

Pinnacle Foods was advised by Blackstone, Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Credit Suisse. Birds Eye was advised by Centerview Partners and JPMorgan Chase.

Source Reuters

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fare Thee Well Martini

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Frozen Martini

As you guessed by my previous post (or by ANY of my previous posts!), my mind does tend to wander pretty far off-tangent at times.  So the first martini up in the bullpen tonight was the “Fare Thee Well” martini.  There is a well-known song from my childhood, sung by (among other) Burl Ives, called “Polly Wolly Doodle”, which includes the term, “fare thee well” in it.  Yes, I’m showing my age but you probably figured out I wasn’t exactly a spring chicken by now either.  Alas, I do have a tendency to remember more deviant things than the more innocent (given a choice) – not a conscience thing, it’s just the way I’m wired.  I was exposed to a lot of less than pleasant things in my childhood and I suppose the more deviant things stick with me more, unfortunately.  So, when most might think of the cute Burl Ives song in the context of ‘Fare Thee Well’, instead I think of the Blake Edwards movie, S.O.B. 

Blake Edwards is best known as the director of the Pink Panther movies, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, Operation Petticoat, 10, The Great Race, and Victor/Victoria.  But probably his most off-color movie was S.O.B., which featured “America’s Sweetheart”, Julie Andrews (also Blake Edwards wife for these past 40 years) topless – to the tune of Polly Wolly Doodle.

The movie opens with the song in its original form, innocently sung by Julie Andrews, as shown in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2PLBmxR1U8

Over the course of the movie, the “film within a film”, Nightwind, is re-shot and re-cut to what becomes an R-rated version instead and the first time in cinematic history that anyone has seen Sally Miles’ (Julie Andrews’ character) “boobies”, also a first for Julie Andrews in real life, as far as I know. 

This link is to part 9 of segments of the movie and has the ending of the climactic scene at the very beginning.  To see the lead-up, watch parts 7 and 8 first so you understand the context of Sally being pursued by the “Devil”.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PRMZrW3Zsg&NR=1.

Dancing with the Devil in the X-Rated Playroom

As further evidence that my brother and I are cut from the same DNA, when I asked him today as a quick “off the top of your head” question what he thought of when he heard the expression, “Fare Thee Well”, his answer was the same as mine.  He thought of this movie.  Great (or twisted) minds really think alike.  Or something like that!

The Devil's Reaction to Seeing Julie Andrews Topless - CLASSIC!

So after I satisfied my needs to see clips of this movie and reassure myself that the song I was thinking of was indeed, in the movie as I remembered, I mixed up my Fare Thee Well.  6 parts gin (using Bombay Sapphire now, I finished off the New Amsterdam) 1 part dry vermouth, 1 part sweet vermouth.  Lovely pink-gold shade from the vermouth.  It looked a little naked without a garnish (none is called for) so I put in a cherry, which looks good with it.  The verdict?  Better than I was expecting.  I thought after my too-much-vermouth cocktail of the other night that this would be nasty, but the sweet and the dry vermouth really do balance each other out in a way – each adds to the taste in their own unique way.  A good, no-frills martini, a bit on the sweet side, but enjoyable.  Solid 4 stars for this one. 

While I was looking up the Fare Thee Well, I also decided to mix up the Frozen Martini, namely because the Frozen required being mixed up and stuck into the freezer for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.  My only regret with this one is that, given the long wait time, I wish I had made a larger one!  I misread the instructions and mixed the gin and vermouth in the shaker and added the olives, then put the shaker in the freezer, along with a glass, to chill for the requisite time.  Apparently I was supposed to chill the olives separately, I guess on a plate or in a bowl or somewhere apart from the liquid. I’m not entirely sure how much of a difference it would have made.  After three hours in the freezer, the olives take on a consistency not unlike frozen green grapes.  Which is not a bad thing. I like frozen grapes in the right mood, they are delicious.  I can’t tell you if, frozen in a different fashion (i.e., not sitting in a bath of gin), they would be different or not.  I’ll have to experiment.

Crate & Barrel's Clio Glass. I may need these.

This was 5 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth, a good ratio for this drink, with two almond-stuffed olives, served in the well-chilled martini glass.  It was excellent.  I wouldn’t honestly have thought that the freezing would really make THAT much difference but it was soooo very smooth and drinkable – perhaps a bit too much so, I found myself wanting to finish it off before it warmed up too much just to savor the unique coldness of it.  Perhaps that’s the point, it’s almost like a shot glass served in a block of ice.  I’d give this somewhere between 4.25 and 4.5 stars – it really was good.  I found myself wanting one of those trendy martini glasses where the bowl of the glass sits in a nest of crushed ice, just to keep the drink extra cold (my peeve with these would always be that you would have to carry both parts around with you to be able to set the drink down, but as long as you’re just drinking this at a small gathering and not moving around the room, it wouldn’t be an issue).  Very tempting.  But as long as we’re on the subject of martini glasses (as if I don’t have enough of them already), ZGallerie has some gorgeous ones called Puccini that come in a beautiful peacock blue and silver … and now in a cinnamon red to boot, and, well, Santa, are you listening? 

’til the bar opens again and bottoms up,
Cathy

OK, so this really has nothing to do with Bryan/College Station…except that you can buy TV dinners at stores in town. OK, so they aren’t called TV dinners anymore…they were when I was growing up.

So, I thought it would be fun to have a night where each person in my family chose a TV dinner…just for fun. My wife thought it would be interesting, so we went for it. (I have 4 kids just so you know).

First of all, my wife went to the grocery store and picked them all out, letting each child pick theirs too. The kids were excited…they looked so yummy and fun. My wife picked a couple of “Hungry Man” ones and I asked her to get a “Classic Swanson’s Salisbury Steak” because that’s what I remember liking.

NOTE: it’s called Salisbury Steak after it’s inventor Dr. James Salisbury, who was one of the earliest health food faddists and taught that diet was the main determinant of health. He believed vegetables and starchy foods produced poisonous substances in the digestive system which were responsible for heart disease, tumors, mental illness and tuberculosis. He believed that human dentition demonstrated that humans were meant to eat meat, and sought to limit vegetables, fruit, starches, and fats to one-third of the diet.

The USDA standards for Salisbury steak require a minimum content of 65% meat, of which up to 25% can be pork; the remainder must be beef (can include beef heart meat), unless the meat content is labelled specifically. Cereal (bread crumbs, flour, oat flakes, etc.) content is limited to 12%, except isolated soy protein at 6.8% is considered equivalent to 12%. The remainder consists of seasonings, vegetables (onion, bell pepper, mushroom or the like), binders (can include egg) and liquids (such as water, milk, cream, skim milk, etc.). (from Wiki)

We homeschool, so any opportunity is a teaching opportunity.

My wife told me it was really awkward to have them in the cart. She hid them under the produce and rice milk in the cart. She felt like a bad wife/mom for buying these things. See, we cook almost every night and we make really good meals. We also eat pretty healthy, and these were not the “lean” or “healthy” ones. These were full of sodium, high fructose corn syrup and white flour.

So, she fought past the urge to put them back and bought them and brought them home.

Yeah, they were pretty, but wow, do they take a lot of room in the freezer. We had to move everything just to fit the boxes of dinners. I can’t imagine where we’d put them if this was something we did regularly.

OK, so the day comes when we were going to eat them and we realize that only about three at a time fit in the oven…and it was going to take 25 minutes to cook them. How are we going to do this? I have 6 people to feed (plus one of our friends who wanted to experience the meal with us).

So my wife decided to go against her instincts and cook a few of them in the microwave…which got me researching how microwaves work just to ease her that she wasn’t feeding our kids radioactive food…turns out microwaves cook with radio frequencies…really high pitched ones that we can’t hear, that make the water in the food vibrate, which heats up the water, thus getting the food hot. No radiation.

So, there’s my wife reading the directions on each package…Cut the film off everything except for the corn, then cook the brownie by itself, then the next one…take bread out and cook with film over food, then halfway though, poke holes in the film and put bread…argh. She was getting frustrated. She was kinda laughing…but I know that laugh. It was not an “I am loving not having to cook tonight” kind of laugh.

So I open up the Salisbury steak, expecting…well, expecting something bigger that what was actually in there. It was tiny. I looked at the package to make sure this wasn’t the “kid’s” version. It wasn’t. Maybe I was taller and it just looked smaller than I remember.

“How much did this cost?” I asked.

The kid ones were about $2.50, the Hungry Man’s were about $4.00. What? This meal was expensive! I had just fed my whole family at Freebirds the other night for about $15. My wife cooked a huge Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada thing that probably cost about $10 total and we had already eaten from it for at least 3 meals…and even froze some for later.

I started realizing that first, there wasn’t much food, second, the quality of the food was not “healthy” by a long shot.

I decided that I needed to make a green smoothie. Blender…frozen fresh spinach, frozen mixed fruit, plain organic yogurt, frozen blueberries, frozen bananas, spoonful of 100% juice concentrate, reverse osmosis water, reverse osmosis ice. OK, they’ve got some good stuff in them.

OK, so, 20 minutes later, the kids are eating their “fake” meals. They were enjoying it…I think. My oldest was first to finish and asking to eat something else. Organic Fuji apples and roasted almonds.

The adult food was almost done. The timer goes off and two of the three that we fit in the oven were still cold on the inside…microwave.

OK, so the taste was good. Everyone enjoyed their meal. Even the Salisbury Steak was good…small…but I cut it into little tiny bites so it would last longer. I could have eaten that whole thing in one bite…maybe two.

Then I picked up all the plastic trays they came in, and the boxes, and the film, and stuffed them in the trashcan. Wow, that’s a lot of trash. We don’t make this much trash on a regular day. See, we take our trash to a dump and pay $.60 per large black plastic bag. So this is costing us some pennies.

Well, we cleared the table and went on with our evening…oh, my youngest doesn’t like corn, but our rule is you have to eat everything on the plate before you can get down from the table, and sadly for her, every kid’s meal she had to choose from at the store had corn in it…we found her about an hour later sleeping at the table with her blue TV dinner tray pushed away from her, with the corn still in it’s little place.

We decided it was OK this time that she didn’t eat the corn, so we cleared her tray and arranged about 20 or 30 stuffed animals around her. She was surprised when she woke up. We all shared her brownie that she was only allowed to eat if she ate all her corn.

I am pretty sure I won’t ever suggest that again. I remember it being a lot more fun growing up. I think it was because we only had TV dinners when my mom was out for the evening and my dad didn’t feel like cooking…and those were the only times we could eat actually sitting in front of the TV. TV dinners…what a concept.

We don’t even watch TV at our house.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to what’s for dinner tonight. (Smells like Black Bean Soup…yum!)

Woke up to the first hard frost of the season and eveything looked like it had been coated with white sugar. Sweet!

"Sugar Coated" (Cranesbill 'Rozanne' aka Hardy Geranium) Nikon D300, 105mm F/2.8G macro, Manual Mode, F/10, 1/160s, ISO 640, Built-in Front Curtain Flash, -1.0EV

A dip below freezing temps didn’t seem to bother the cranesbill blooms one bit. Not too surprising… they don’t call these ‘Hardy Geraniums’ for nothing!

The air was only down to 40 degrees at my house last night. I thought my garden veggies were safe. Unbeknownst to me, just 15 miles to the northeast, a cold wind blew. At the family acres, home to the larger of my two garden plots, Winter made a visit.

On my lunch hour, I drove over to pick some greans. Initially, I wondered if the large recently active burn pile, full of tree branches and old unusable lumber, had burned too closely or too hotly, scorching or choking my two rows of green bean plants. They are nearest the burn pile. It was an immediate reaction. Then, a moment later, I realized that the damage was from the freeze that evidently occurred last night. The leaves and vines of my formerly prolific grean bean plants were wilted, discolored, and sad.

I paused and reflected on the cyclical nature of…well, nature! Far from being upset at the loss of my green bean plants, which had produced so easily and abundantly for me all Fall, I was joyous at having participated in the natural process of the seasons. The experience was as tasty as the beans had been. Besides, I have four large bags of assorted green beans in my freezer, and my lettuces are doing well still.

Here is a picture of the green bean plants, now on their way back to the soil.

Here is the last green bean harvest of the season (and some dill). I picked the small beans too, since they had grown as much as they were going to grow.

So thankful to the great selection of Trader Joe’s frozen goodies stored in my freezer.

What: Manitaropita (filled with seasoned mushrooms in a white wine sauce) (6 pieces)

Salvete  Omnes!  I’m actually alive!!!!!!!!!!!! xD home sick- but alive!!!!! So I decided I should post, Okay so most of you have probably noticed club penguins start up screen:

And for most of you when you see something like this you immediatly think: Something big involving ninjas is happening, to the ninja hideout. Well good that’s what you should think.  There is a video telling you about the game but it is  laggy on my cmptr and my cmptr isnt exactly old so cp needs to  use some lower tech stuff I think. So at the ninja hideout you need to buy a  Amulet which some of us helped gold smith and click the stone fire inscription and a huge door will appear go inside and you will find the still under construction fire Dojo!!!!!

But it loads slowly…….. … Anyways what I know about it is that  it will have four players a game  and is member only!

Mom got me some fire Card jitsu cards the other day so I went upstairs and typed in the code but look!

I e-mailed cp and  Emma said that it would be ready soon. Every time I e-mail club penguin Emma responds….. Odd……. lol

This has been Zumaboy’s CP cheats.

~Zumaboy

at times i’d like to simply crawl away from the outside world
curl in bed wearing only a hooded sweater and just stare at the ceiling
no background noise, no distraction
no one telling me what to think or how to feel or when to do anything

i don’t know how to be anymore
and its so damn frustrating.

because when you move on and when he moves on and when she moves on and when they move on
i will still remember. will still remember. still remember. remember.

(photo and recipe via Kwik’Pak Fisheries)

Many of us who have moved to the U.S from warm, tropical climates may have once had the luxury of fresh fish at every corner store. As a young child, it seemed that fishermen would simply go out nightly, throw their lines in the ocean, and can come back the next morning with glorious fresh fish, perfect for that night’s supper.

But times have changed. Here in most parts of the U.S., abundant fresh fish is not available. However, this does not mean your family has to eat less fish and miss out on valuable nutrients such as Omega 3s.

The good news is the concept of “flash frozen” fish is gaining acceptance and popularity in the marketplace – and for good reason. It’s delicious! “Flash frozen” refers to foods that have been frozen very quickly, in a matter of seconds, while out at sea on the fishing boat. This allows all of the freshness to be maintained, sealed in ice until the consumer defrosts the item for use in his/her kitchen.

While you may have thought the sign “previously frozen” was a signal to avoid that fish, think again. Frozen seafood can be just as high in quality as fresh fish.

Purchasing frozen foods is an economical time saver. In addition to delicious ‘flash frozen’ fish, try stocking your freezer with an assortment of frozen fruits and vegetables or even bread. They are perfect for evenings when you want to throw a quick-yet-healthy meal together. Look for varieties that are flash-frozen and unprocessed.

Wild Yukon River Salmon with Autumn Slaw

*makes 4 servings*

Ingredients

• 4 6oz. salmon fillets (flash frozen)
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 carrot
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil as needed

Preparation

1. Defrost salmon according to package instructions. Heat a non-stick pan over high heat. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper and rub with olive oil. Place flesh side down into skillet and press firmly for 10 seconds. Continue to sear for 2 minutes.
2. Transfer the skillet into a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until salmon reaches 125 degrees or desired temperature.
3. While the salmon is finishing in the oven, julienne the squash and zucchini. The finished product should look like long strands of pasta. Add these to the mixing bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. For the dressing, combine the soy sauce, mustard, lime juice, sesame seeds and garlic and mix with a whisk.
5. To serve, place salmon fillets on serving dishes. Build a nest of julienned vegetables on top of the salmon then drizzle the soy dressing around the plate and over the top of the vegetables.

Find more recipes and health tips at Sarita’s Sensations on the Latino Nutrition Coalition website