One Year In

Wow! I started this blog a year ago already? It's no wonder the time flew by as the year was completely insane. (The pregnancy was hell, btw. I'm glad it's over, though I'm sure I'll go through it again in a couple years.)

I looked back at my first post with the list of to-dos that I'd completely forgotten about. Let's update, yes?

Foodie Fun

• a sweet potato salad recipe that looks delicious: HA! After a massive sweet potato salad craving at 7 weeks, I indulged in one from a local supermarket (which the recipe I'd found greatly resembled) and of course got sick. I haven't been able to look at sweet potato salad since.
  
• a freezer batch of pork and shrimp dumplings: someday... someday... Again, this project was delayed by the limited diet of my pregnancy (No garlic. No onions. No fun!)
  
• turkish delights: Not yet.
  
• char siu bao: Ditto.
  
• homemade bagelfuls*: Nuh-uh.
  
• homemade pop tarts*: No way.
  
• I will conquer homemade stock! Argh!: Progress is being made here. I had to make some of my own since the powdered stuff had spices in it that didn't agree with me. I bombed at Heston Blumenthal's method of ice filtering or whatever he called it and gave up on getting a crystal clear product, satisfying myself with a more "rustic" result. Also, a clean pillowcase filters MILES better than cheesecloth. There's just no going back for me now. I have about 6 cups of beef broth/stock in my freezer right now. Yay!
  

Crafty Goodness

• a Flemish dress: Tough to cut the pattern over the belly.
  
• an Italian renaissance gown: Just didn't get to it.
  
• a long cotton Victoriana type nightgown: Need the right fabric and the perfect pattern. I've searched, but haven't settled on anything yet.
  
• a corset (style undecided): Did I mention I was pregnant?
  
• a hat design I have in mind: No excuses here, but it still didn't happen.
  

Hair: Currently about an inch above my waist: Now at my natural waist or a little past, where it has stalled for at least 6 months, even with all the glories of pregnancy hair.

• I will try dusting once I find that tutorial and my hair-cutting scissors again: I found the scissors! I tried dusting a couple times. Always took off too much. I've also started giving my husband haircuts now and then. Must buy the motorized trimmers. It will make things SO much faster.
  
• Something called SMT at the LHC. Must buy aloe gel: Found aloe gel. Tried it. My hair HATED it. I have, however, started "making" my own toner and moisturizer and my skin is clearer than it's been in years. Maybe I should make a post with the "recipe." (I'm using air quotes because it really is so simple it barely counts as a project.)
  
• A whole bunch of hairstyles: Dutch braids are hard. Crown braids are pretty but harder. I love the whole milkmaid look, but... don't often find the time? I've recently fallen in love with those Goody screwpins and basically live with my hair in a high bun since the little one was born.

Other projects: Um, we bought a house? Started settling in? I've learned how to get out blood and baby poop stains. (Peroxide for blood - it looks really cool if the stain is fresh, too. Cold water, a bit of soap, and elbow grease for most of the poop - then hang it outside and the sun will bleach out the rest. Wash both as usual afterward.)
I made a cute sort of 50's style apron for my sister as a belated Christmas gift. I should post a picture if I get the chance... though it would sort of give away who I am if anyone who knows me came across this blog.
I knit myself a hat with some basic lacework involved as a sort of "mourning cap" when my grandmother died (On my birthday, no less!) Did I post about that hat? If I haven't, I should.
I've pretty much given up on getting my hair to grow out. I calculated my terminal length and it is inadequate, in my opinion, unless I go to fairy tale ends. I don't like the look of fairy tale ends. The new plan is to cut about 5 inches off my hair to get it really healthy and just short enough that I can wear a pony tail without getting an awful headache. Goodbye, long, flowing locks. Hello something a bit shorter that I can experiment with and damage a bit more. It's kind of liberating in a way, to stop chasing now that I know it's impossible for me. Maybe I'll even try a light perm...

Projects in Planning
Clean my DH's old duvet (synthetic and squished) to see if I can get it better (he claims it smells) and turn it into a quilt.
Take fabric scraps and turn them into a braided rag rug. It could look nice by the sink (small) or under the kitchen table (not so small.)
I'd like to map out a small vegetable garden for next summer - or at least a way to get the prickly weeds out of the yard.

I should go. I've got maybe 10 minutes before my five week old starts squalling for MORE FOOD MOMMY!!!!!

Ciao.

P.S.: About all those sources that say "Breastfeeding should never hurt. Not even a little bit. Not even at the start." They lie! They lie, they lie, they lie! So if you're having trouble and feeling all "Well I must suck as a woman and be without instincts" like I felt thanks to those lovely lovely sources, take solace and hang in there. The first two months or so are, in fact, very difficult and painful. I find it hurts. My friends found it hurts. My aunt (who has breastfed each of her 10 kids) found it painful each and every time for the first couple months. Maybe I should do a post about this before this brief P.S. turns into a stream-of-consciousness rant.
In a nutshell. They lie. It hurts. You're not a failure. It will get better. Don't give up.

Extremely Potent Pumpkin-tini

I would like to mention that I wrote the draft to this entry when I was most certainly NOT pregnant.

I repeat, I was NOT PREGNANT when I made this tasty, tasty drink.

Are we good? Okay...

. . . . .

What's a girl to do when left with half a can of pumpkin puree? Mix it with alcohol, natch!

After browsing online for some inspiration and working with what I had on hand, here's what I came up with.

Serves 1
Step one - in a shaker with ice, put:
2 oz gold rum (though white rum, vodka, or maybe even apple brandy could be nice)
1 oz white creme de cacao
1 heaping kitchen spoon of pumpkin puree (straight pumpkin. You could try the sweetened stuff, but then I'd probably leave out the creme de cacao and spices)
1 small splash of vanilla
a shaking of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger

Pour this into a martini glass.

Step two - in a shotglass, put:
1/2oz evaporated milk (theoretically, milk or cream could work, too)
1/4oz white creme de cacao

Pour this gently over the back of a spoon into the martini. It should settle under the pumpkin layer.

Step three - drizzle a touch of kahlua over the top. Most of it will settle into the very bottom.

Top with a dash of nutmeg (or whatever you please. Cinnamon, crumbled graham crackers, candied pumpkin seeds, etc.)

Voila. Put your car keys some place safe and enjoy.

The Beauty of Bland Food

Hello folks,

Here I am, almost 7 months pregnant and still getting sick at most anything with flavour. Add to that that we're moving in a few days and cooking hasn't exactly been a priority this week but, unfortunately, I still need to eat.

This is where "Blank" comes in. I rigged this little gem up a couple years ago when my cooking skills were minimal and I had to be able to feed myself regularly while I was alone for a couple of weeks. It's pretty healthy, filling, and actually fairly comforting once you find the "final prep" that appeals to you.

BLANK

• In a rice cooker, place 3 cooker-cups of rice. (I use plain old brown rice.)
• Fill to the 3 cup liquid line with water.
• To this, add 1 can of black beans that have been very well rinsed.
• Now add in as many frozen mixed veggies as you like. I usually put maybe 6 or 7 rice cooker cups full. There's no need to pre-thaw, just in straight from the freezer. (I like the classic mix with corn, peas, some string beans, and those little carrot cubes, though I imagine whatever you like would work as well.)
• Give the whole mess a stir, put on the lid, and let your rice cooker cook as normal.

Boring, right? Well it's not intended to be eaten like this. It's a nutritional base with a blank flavour (hence the name.) Once it's done, fluff it a bit and keep it in the fridge. When the time comes to eat, take out as much as you'd like, season it in whatever way sounds good, and supplement with extra veg or protein as you see fit. A bit of fat and a few spices make a huge difference in terms of flavour.
Some of my favourite ways are as follows:

• Fried rice: In a small pan, heat up a bit of veggie oil, then add your serving of Blank and toss to coat. Sprinkle in some Chinese 5 spice powder, dried parsley, and soy sauce. I like to finish it with a drizzle of sesame oil and a good stir in the pan to heat through. Also good with added scrambled egg or toasted almonds.
• Fish-day comfort bowl: You know those cans of smoked herring "fish snacks" you find by the tuna cans at the grocery store? Pick one you like. Dump the whole contents into a small pan or pot and start to heat it up. This one doesn't really need oil as the fat from the fish will give you what you need. Again, add as much Blank as you like, stir and heat through, season to taste. (I like just a bit of parsley these days, but normally I'd be more creative in my seasoning choices.)
  
• Inauthentic Mexi-style: Heat some veggie oil in a pan and add your blank. Toss to coat and be a bit rough with it to smoosh up the rice and beans a bit. Add things like chili powder or some taco seasoning mix. Heat and stir until it reaches the texture you like. Makes a great filling for a sort of rice and bean burrito on the fly. Add cheese if you'd like.
• French-inspired: Take a serving of hot Blank and stir in a little bit of butter and a sprinkle of thyme and maybe parsley. Top with some broken up bits of brie or camembert and let the heat get them all nice and melty. (As always, if you're pregnant, make sure the cheese is pasteurized.)
  

Except for the Mexi-style one, these are simple and "safe" enough that I can eat them this week without getting sick. If you're worried about the... consequences... of the beans, just take a Beano pill with your first bite. (I'm not saying that Beano is always okay during pregnancy, but my midwife did tell me I was okay to take it. Check with your own care provider if you have any concerns.) Rinsing the canned beans really, really well before adding them in the first place will help as well.

I imagine this would work with other beans , but I'm really not a fan of beans in general and black beans (especially once they're broke/smooshed up) are the ones I find the most inoffensive to eat.

That's it! A meal in a bowl that can be as bland or as flavourful as you like. It's not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination but it can be tasty and unless you drown it in fat, you certainly shouldn't feel guilty for tucking into a big bowl of the stuff.

If you try it, by all means post the seasonings/add-ins that worked for you.

Pregnancy snacks - 1

Yes, I know I've dropped off the face of the earth, but happy news is I'm 5 1/2 months in now and we're in the middle of buying a house.

Anyway, here's a snack idea that sounds odd, but even my husband's curiosity got the best of him and he said it was good so I know it's not just crazy pregnant tastebuds talking here.

Take 1 wedge of plain Vache qui rit (Laughing Cow) cheese. Split and spread on 2 Lifestyle cranberry citrus oat crunch cookies. It's healthier than some sugar fixes and tastes like some sort of fruity cheesecake and it's portion controlled for those "I need sweet" moments.

Blogging Trials

In starting this blog, I finally got up the courage to follow a couple other blogs I enjoy. This way, I could just check my reading list instead of randomly checking in to see if there were any new post. Nothing new there, right?

Sadly, once I started following these blogs, the name that came up was not Miriah, but information I don't want revealed at this time. So I found a way to change it. Yay! Then I went onto one of the blogs I follow and clicked my little box in their followers section. Well the name was Miriah, but the "so-and-so joined at this and this time and date" was the TMI again. How incredibly frustrating!

So now, I've had to stop following these dear sweet blogs for no fault of their own but to protect my own privacy. How sucky is that? If anyone knows how to fix this once and for all, I would appreciate it since the info that was showing up is not info that I want to see anywhere.

Alas, the joys of learning to navigate the blogosphere. Sigh.

The sunny side of the plate

So, I'm 9 1/2 weeks pregnant and starting to wonder if the diclectin my doctor gave me isn't a placebo. I've been scrambling to find nibbles that stay down well and finally hit on some goodies that seem to do the task. As I'm sure there are/will be others in a similar situation, scouring the web for ideas as I've been doing, I thought I'd post what's working for me.

-plain oatmeal prepared with water and just a tiny sprinkle of salt.
-unsweetened vanilla flavoured almond milk (I love Blue Diamond's Almond Breeze because they're peanut free.)
-plain brown rice cooked with some corn
-canned corn, straight out of the can (a remnant taste from childhood, maybe?)
-plain scrambled eggs, with or without milk - a relatively bland source of protein
-whole wheat english muffins, though I am trying to move away from wheat/bread to see if things digest more easily.
-plain boiled perogies, just the cheese filled kind you can get at the grocery store, with a touch of sour cream on the side (this is a dish I've *never* enjoyed before though it was made often when I was young. Tonight, it was delicious and about as much flavour as I could handle!)
-sliced apples with some cinnamon on the side (though this sometimes gives me heartburn, but it's so yummy and has so many good things to offer.)

Another upside to these simple meals is just that: they're simple, quick, and easy to prepare. They don't cause much in the way of dishes which is extra appreciated by my DH, who is doing all the cooking and cleaning these days since the slightest smell in the kitchen sends me running to the bathroom. I'd like to add as little trouble as possible.

Honestly, a nutrient IV is getting to sound appealing - just the thought of getting the nutrients I need without facing heartburn or the inability to move for an hour afterwards for fear of throwing up would be so nice. I will, however, take all the misery in the world if only I get to keep this one! In that sense, the nausea and discomfort is reassuring. I'm due to start the second trimester just before Christmas, so hopefully we'll be having a happy holiday.

Good luck to anyone out there in a similar situation. Hang in there!

Food aversions

So my last post ended up being a lie. I couldn`t have planned that.

Here`s the twist - seems right after my miscarriage, I got pregnant again. Major morning sickness, major food aversions, and major fears. Somehow this one has lasted longer than either of the other two and if I can last until morning, I`ll be 9 weeks.
I've had aversions to everything. I lost four pounds in two weeks. Even when I was exercising an hour a day and counting calories, I couldn`t lose weight that fast. The last time I weighed this little, I was 13! Thank God my doctor gave me diclectin, so I can somewhat think about food without getting sick.

Ah, food, how I miss thee. I`ve completely lost my sweet tooth, but I still like fruit. I can barely stomach garlic, or any other spices, really. Tomato sauce gives me horrible heartburn. And bacon. Ohhhh, I can`t stand the smell of cooking bacon - it`s like rancid b/o to me - and the smell of frying steak isn't much better. Now, the family joke is that bacon is the food I've loved since I was in utero. It's always been delicious. I never dreamed it could smell so bad! So, so, so so bad!!!

I'm living on lots of eggs, cheese, cucumber, avocado, apples, (with just a touch of cinnamon on the side - delish!) honeydew, chicken, and bagels. I wish I could have fish more than twice a week as it sounds so yummy, but I'm trying to make sure I don't overindulge until I get to see the specialist. The occasional tv dinner (mmm, swedish meatballs) gives some variety when it sounds palatable.

DH has been an absolute saint, taking over cooking and cleaning and dishes as I'm on self-imposed bed rest as much as possible. I don't care if doctors say it can't fix anything. When I lie down, the warning signs from the first time go away, so I'm lying down.

I will try to post more, but really don't know what I'll be able to post about.

P.S.: Before I lost my sweet tooth, there was one delicious creation, though everyone gave me funny looks. Take a slice of toast, spread strawberry jam on thinly, then top with sliced breakfast sausage. It was so sweet-and-savory good.

I'm back

Alright, I've finally caught up on my classes and even done a few things worth blogging about. I'll be fixing up some entries to post over the next week or so.

On a side note: Sometimes it's not just the other shoe that drops. Sometimes God just starts chucking shoes, but life does go on if you'll let it.

Neti Pots, jala neti, nasal/sinus irrigation, nasal lavage, whatever you want to call it. They sound weird, look gross, and work freaking wonders. I understand it's hit more of the mainstream because Oprah hyped it on her show or something, though I heard about it from my doctor.

Note: I'm not a doctor. I'm not a yoga pro, heck I don't know a single pose. I'm just recounting my experience. Any other necessary blather to free me from any liability is here implied.

If you don't know what a neti pot is, it's this little pot with a spout that has a tip about the size of a nostril. Into this pot you mix a saline solution at around body temperature. Then you bend over your sink (or something to catch the water,) tip your head to the side, and let the water run in one side of the nose and out the other. If you have allergies or stuffiness from a cold or whatever, do not say you just can't do this. Talk to your doctor or do your research or whatever, but don't just write this off.

My experience:
I have major issues with getting water up my nose. If I'm swimming and try to hold my breath to go under, water still makes its way up my nose and down my throat. When I was a kid/teen, the only way I could go underwater with both arms free was to wear nose plugs. Even in the shower I have to be very careful with the way I tilt my head. It's like I can't block it and boy does it burn.

Well, everybody has a breaking point, and I reached it with regards to my sinuses a couple years ago. Fine. I'll try it.

It took some getting used to, but once I angled my head just right, the water didn't go down my throat at all. It stayed right where it was supposed to. The saline level was perfect and didn't burn at all. When the temperature was right I could hardly feel a thing. After I was done it was like some tiny little creature had crawled up my nose, hauled out the gunk, and given my sinuses a nice little massage to boot. A gross simile, but anyone who's been there will know how nice that sounds once things get bad enough. About as nice as a personal vacuum for the sinuses, but gentler.

Unfortunately, my nose used to drip water all day afterward until I found out I had to *dry* the nose thanks to this site I stumbled upon a few months back. Hey, I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, and I'm lucky I didn't make things worse. Now, I dry my nose thoroughly after doing a neti pot. It makes a significant difference. It also makes me incredibly light-headed. If you try it, take your time standing up.

I have tried the next step up, called Vyutkrama Kapalbhati (don't ask me how to pronounce it. It's also called sinus bellowing.) They don't recommend trying it without professional advice/supervision but I was desperate. Well, the clog cleared up, I swallowed most of the salt water, and my throat was raw for about a week. So yeah, I'm with the professionals on this - don't try it on your own if you can help it. It might work but it's not easy and the aftermath can hurt.

And for the record: I still have to hold my nose if I go underwater.

The Art of Brownies

After my happy success with the honey fudge, I decided to challenge myself by adapting a brownie recipe. I have a little cookbook called Cooking for Two and it has a nice little brownie recipe that only needs an 8x4 loaf pan. Sadly it's too cake-y and not chocolate-y enough for my tastes.

Then a few months back I was watching Chef at Home on the Food Network. The host (Michael Smith for anyone who doesn't know) has a very non-threatening approach to cooking that encourages the home chef to play with the recipes without fear of the kitchen crumbling down around them. It's great. So he starts talking about brownies and how there are different types and what makes them different. I search online hoping the clip is on youtube, but alas, it wasn't. So I look at the brownie recipe on his site, but it makes a huge 8x12 pan full. It's way too much for just the two of us but I make a mental note of how much flour he uses. Then I remember another great site. baking911.com I search on brownies there and get enough information to feel I can make an educated guess or two.

Back into the kitchen and my main recipe. I turn this baby on its head. I double the chocolate and reduce the flour from 1/3c to 1/4c. I tweak the mixing process by beating together the eggs and sugar and then temper them instead of just dumping everything into the chocolate. Finally, I lay down about half the batter and drop blobs of leftover raspberry pie filling on top before finishing with the rest of the brownie batter and then swirl the whole thing through.

Into the oven!

I think I added too much raspberry pie filling and it kept the centre from setting like it needed to. Consequently, the edges were a little bit overcooked and the brownies were a little messy with raspberry generously marbled throughout. They weren't very elegant and maybe not quite the thing to serve at a dinner party, but boy oh boy were they scrummy! I'll try it again (soon, hopefully) without the raspberry for just a plain, tasty fudgy brownie. It's so cool to have a recipe that I really made my own.

Honey Fudge

I made honey fudge on Thursday night. We have this big bottle of runny honey (so much more fun to say than liquid honey) that has gotten all crystallized and is just a pain to use now. I had to find a way to use it up. I also wanted to challenge myself with sugar work. (I've tried making molasses taffy for the past few years and have yet to succeed, but that's another story.) On a camping trip a few weeks back, we stopped at a place that had all kinds of fudge but I couldn't get any (peanut allergy) and my sweet tooth has been twitching ever since. Honey and fudge... could they be combined? Have I mentioned how much I love the internet?

I found this honey fudge recipe and it seemed simple enough. I followed the instructions to the letter - mostly - and made the plain variety. First off, I let it boil for the full 9 minutes. I checked it as I went with a thermometer and with the cold water method, since I want to get the hang of that for future candy fun. It seemed to reach the temperature I'd seen at other sites around the 7 minute mark. I figured I'd trust the recipe over my thermometer since my last attempts were underdone.

Then I started mixing it right away like it said, even though some other recipes I'd looked at said to let it cool to a certain temperature before mixing. Those other recipes, though, were for sucre a la creme which is what I grew up with and which I understand has a different texture - grainier and crumblier. So I'm stirring and stirring and realize I've forgotten the vanilla. In it goes. That's my only deviation from the recipe: the vanilla went it late. It didn't seem to ruin anything.

Still stirring, stirring, stirring, it didn't say how long to go, so I had set the timer for 9 minutes (I know... now) and started noticing the texture change around the three minute mark but kept going just in case. Around 5 or 6 minutes it almost started to firm up in the pot so I plopped it onto the pan and pressed it out. It was kind of crumbly, but oh well. I scored it into squares and left it to cool by the window. (I felt so Holly Homemaker for that. It was great.)

When DH got home a couple hours later, it was cool enough to try. A friend of ours was with him and they each tried it and liked it. We all agreed it was a little harder and crumblier than the typical texture of fudge, but she seemed to prefer it that way. Go figure. I tried it too, and was surprised at how well I liked it. See, I don't particularly like honey. A bit of it in tea is alright, but the flavour on its own doesn't much appeal to me. This fudge definitely tasted of honey but not too much. It was just right.

Later that night I set aside a few squares for us and packed up the rest for him to bring to work. There was maybe three quarters of a pound and a bit. It came back without a crumb left. I think they liked it.

I definitely plan to try this recipe again, though I'll probably stop stirring it after 3 or 4 minutes. Despite my french roots, I like that softer texture.

Mystery Solved?

After a month of sneezes and coughs that gradually got worse and eventually led to a week of being driven out of the kitchen and onto the couch feeling generally miserable we have a suspected culprit. A new seasonal allergy! Yay! ... *grumble* Seems I've been living in this town long enough to have gotten sensitized to this lovely common allergen, though how I wasn't allergic before is what really surprises me. So it's antihistamines and daily neti pots to keep me functioning right now and I've started to inch my way back into the kitchen for more adventures. After all, summer is almost over and I haven't played nearly enough in the kitchen.

I'm typing this on my nice new laptop that my DH ran to a neighbouring town to get me because they were on a great sale and our local store was all out. Have I mentioned that I really love my husband? The same husband who is canning a bushel of tomatoes in the kitchen as I type this? He's awesome. Very awesome. And mine. He's mine. I'll stop now.

On the upside, while feeling generally crummy I didn't have to completely waste my time playing games and rotting my brain on daytime TV. See, I got some family tree software last Christmas and now that I have a nice laptop home for it, I got it all installed and started plugging in what info I had already collected. Obviously I can't discuss that much here, though I can say I found a picture of my great grandparents' grave marker and I unofficially (read: undocumented for now) have a couple lines traced to the 1600s.

I realize I've kind of been all over the board on this post. I'll make some posts over the next few days going into individual stuff that I've been up to. Thanks for reading this far and I'll be back soon!

Personal Victories

Alright, so I'm going to talk about what I made for dinner last night. It is a complete bastardization of a recipe out of a cookbook but I think it's gone off track enough to give it here.

Cook as much spaghetti as you think you'll need for how many people you're serving. Once it's done, drain it and return the spaghetti to its pot.
Meanwhile, brown up as much ground beef as you think you'll be needing. You could probably use chopped up or ground chicken if you like, but I used ground beef.
Season the beef as you like, I used chili powder and ground coriander.
Drain the beef and add to the pasta.
Then add some drained canned corn or some frozen corn that has been thawed.
Now add the sauce. What is the sauce? It's salsa. Add salsa to make it as saucy as you like and stir in the pot over low to medium-ish heat until heated through.
Serve and sprinkle with shredded or crumbled cheese. (I used cheddar.)

It's simple, quick, relatively cheap, and really really tasty. It's good cold the next day, too. You can add other bits to it to taste. The original recipe calls for olives (which I don't like) and maybe cilantro (which I didn't have on hand) but I like it just fine as I made it. DH added some hot sauce to his.

So what is it about this simple dinner that's a personal victory? Well here's an embarrassing tidbit: Food lover that I am, it scares me senseless to handle raw meat. I had one of those mothers who after prepping meat for cooking, washed and bleached not only the cutting board but the whole counter, too, and God help her if it wasn't extra well done (read: to the texture of something akin to saw dust) because then she would be obliged to remind us of how we were stupidly risking food poisoning and horrible illness. I might be exaggerating, but that's definitely the impression we got when we were younger. It left me with a very deep seated (side note: is the expression "deep seeded" or "deep seated?" Really, they both make sense.) fear of raw meat. I was sure if I handled it I wouldn't cook it or clean up properly and I'd make everyone around me ill.

A few years ago I took a cooking class to learn basic kitchen technique and this included clean up, so I knew what was actually necessary and what was overkill. Still uncomfortable. I deboned a chicken at home once and cleaned up under DH's watchful eye. Felt sick for days and not from the chicken.
Handling raw meat is something I can do now, but it isn't easy and I usually avoid it. Even what I do have to, I keep DH around to give a second opinion as a safety.

So if you haven't figured out the victory yet, look at the recipe. Ground beef. Raw meat.

I prepped this meal all on my own and it was ready when hubby got home from work. I did it alone and I'm definitely proud.

Personal victories rock.

Introduction to Crown Braiding

I promised to talk about how I learned to do more with my hair. It's simple: a google search and, after finding out I learn better by video than by word and text, a youtube search. This was about four months ago and I think I was looking up Elizabethan hair taping. There I found Torrin Paige.

Let's face it, there are different personality types out there and some tutorials just... sort of... irritate me. Hers didn't. Hers made me chuckle. If she went on a tangent, at least it was amusing and sort of semi-relevant. When she talked about hair, she made sense and didn't go too fast or skip steps as if they were implied. I started raiding the rest of her videos.

I started with the simpler things, like her rope braid. Then moved up (for me) to things like the simple lace braid headband. Maybe a month ago, with some extra hands for help, I tackled the french rope braid on my aunt's head. Sometimes I'll just play with my hair to see if I can take a technique and do something else with it.

Then last week, it got hot! I couldn't stand the thought of my hair on my neck or in my face or anything, but wanted something more comfortable and more stable than a bun. So I combed my hair, fanning it out all around my head from the crown, the way I'd seen it in one of the 1950s videos from glamourdaze (around 0:15) and started french braiding in a circle around my head. It held well but the transition from french braid to pinned up regular braid looked a little funny. It was comfy though, so I didn't care.

The next day was my shower day and having liked the french braid so much and still being unable to dutch braid my own head, I thought if I did the exact same thing, but with a lace braid technique instead, maybe the braid would show more and it would look more uniform than the french braid did. I tried it while my hair was still damp/wet and ta-da! Success! Then it dawned on me... I'd just done, in essence, the dreaded, evil crown braid! And it wasn't even that torturous! Since when can I do something like this when I still can't get a decent cinnabun to hold in my hair!? Admittedly, she did hers with a lace dutch braid where I used a lace french braid, but the result was good enough for me. I also wrapped it differently since my hair's a good deal shorter and finer than hers. Maybe I'll move up to lace dutch braid eventually.

Nevertheless, I was pretty darn proud of myself and had high hopes for the next day.

I wore the braid all day and slept with it in. The next morning (we're at Saturday, now) it had all dried and I took my hair down then parted and finger combed it. Oh. My! I've done braids for waves before, but I've never had anything so full, so smoothly transitioning, and so evenly distributed in my life. It was so pretty and my hair looked so full, which made it seem longer somehow. I went to a big family barbecue that day and got more hair compliments from them than I've ever had before. It even seemed to distract their focus, reducing the surreptitious glances at my belly to see if I'm pregnant yet - but that's another story.

This crown braid done my way (maybe I should make a tutorial of my own sometime) is probably going into my mental list of top 5 favourite hair 'dos. Yay! It's always so nice to find a new fave.


By the way, I never did do her method of Elizabethan hair taping. My hair's not long enough, but maybe another year or two will change that.

'40s Victory Roll

It's so funny, learning to blog. I haven't posted because I couldn't think of anything to post about. Then I realized I'd done three hairstyles last week that would have had me running for the hills last month. Can you guess what my next few entries will be about?

First off, I'd like to say God Bless Youtube! Seriously, before I started looking up hair tutorials online, I could do a ponytail or I could do a braid from the nape of my neck. On other people, I could make a french braid or two somewhat even french braids on a good day. That's it, that's all, folks! How that changed will be discussed in the next entry.

So here's how this victory roll experiment came about:
A cousin of mine posted a picture of herself online with smooth skin and a sheer-ish cherry tint on her lips. I saw this and could instantly picture taking it further into a 1940's makeup. She was game, so on Wednesday of last week (after stumbling on some absolutely amazing authentic makeup guide videos from the 1940s courtesy of glamourdaze at youtube) I went over to play.

The makeup worked out quite nicely but it seemed a shame to leave her hair (long and lovely as it is) just hanging there when the hair to go with that makeup would typically have been so nicely groomed. I had a moment of potential masochism and asked if I could try doing a victory roll in her hair. She agreed.

Her hair is quite a bit longer than the hair videos for victory rolls, so I sectioned off the front half of her hair, which consisted of shorter layers, and did the victory rolls with only that hair. Wonder of wonders, it actually worked! I would love to try doing this technique again sometime, but plan ahead and put in pin curls first.
Then it seemed a shame to leave her long hair hanging down her back, so I mixed my eras and put it into a Gibson Tuck. (Sadly, I've forgotten where I learned it, but if you search for it there are plenty of resources online.)

I haven't any pictures of my own, but I'll ask her if I can borrow one of hers to post here.

Oh, hair. It's so much fun once you start getting the hang of it.

Skydiving: The Jump

Right, so I'm getting in the plane...

I'm not sure how long the flight up took, but we took a pretty good tour of the area on the way up, with jump-master R pointing out local features. He asks if I want to tumble forwards or backwards. I say the fewer tumbles the better as I can be prone to motion sickness. (My exact words, I think, were "I don't want to puke on you.") It's very loud in the plane so the quicker something is to say, the better.
Roughly two thirds of the way up (so, around 6000ft) it starts getting cold. By the time we've reached out altitude, my teeth are chattering. (I found out later it was around 4C at altitude.) He reminds me of what to do, lifts the hatch, I flip my legs out over the side of the plane, dangling my feet and glad my sneakers are securely tied. I look down - 9200 ft down - and instead of thinking "Holy ----! Holy ----! Holy ----!! What am I doing?!?" my thoughts are more along the lines of "I'm really going to jump out of a plane. I'm not freaking out. Ha ha, cool!" and then we're off.
He did this cool side twist thing on the way out in the hopes that I could watch the plane to have an idea of how fast we were falling away and I wanted to see it, but reflex took over and I had to close my eyes to keep my stomach steady. I did remember to "Kick [him] in the butt!" as told, though, and now know why skydivers have that peculiar pose when they first leave the plane. There's a lot of air resistance so what you're seeing is the jumper halfway to where he wants his legs to be. If you've ever walked the wrong way in a whirlpool or tried to canoe through a strong current, you get the idea.
Back to the jump, as soon as the flipping stopped I opened my eyes, tried to do the "play with your arms! Fly! Swim! Do the monkey!" stuff they told me about but the wind rushing past my ears was just so loud that it was painful, so I had my arms out for a couple seconds, but they were covering my ears for the rest of the freefall.
After a little while (I think we were in freefall for about 30 seconds) the chute deploys without problem and I'm jerked, but not as hard as I expected I would be. It feels like we're going up instead of down for a few seconds and then it just settles into a feeling of sitting on something except there's nothing there. In fact the feeling wasn't unlike sitting on a plane except with a breeze and a waaaay better view. The noise has quieted, too, so I can take my hands off my ears and chat with R. He loosens some of my bindings for comfort and points out other features of the landscape and I just take it all in. I notice soon after that it's balmy now instead of freezing cold. It's nice. The rest of the ride is mellow until he takes a sharp turn and I squeak a little in surprise as my stomach turns. (Sidenote: the desk is kind of swaying side to side as I remember this part) I ask him to take it easy and he goes wider on his turns.
Now, were coming in for the landing sequence. This is the part that worries me. It isn't the falling that hurts you, it's the landing that does. I make sure I'm clear on how I'm supposed to land and do it as told, but we hit a touch of turbulence off the hangar and land a touch harder than planned. My ankles sort of bite/jar/sting on impact but I regain my footing and the pain clears within a minute. No damage done - a successful jump.
As he starts taking off my harness, my legs go a bit jello as blood flow returns to normal (those leg bindings are designed safety first, comfort second) and he lets me in on a secret: right after we jumped, his altimeter crapped out and he had to make an educated guess on when to pull the chute. Ha! I thank him for waiting until we landed to tell me and am amused. Now it dawns on me that I've just jumped out of a plane. Holy bleep, I just stepped out of a plane and fell 9200 ft with only a (admittedly, specially designed for the purpose) sheet to stop me from going splat! Holy bleep, I just did something that I'd spent the past ten years hoping to maybe do someday! I did it! I really did it! Boo ya!!!
I start talking a little bit more and tell him that I tend to babble, and even more when nervous/in high emotion. I tell him I'm very relieved that I didn't relive my lunch and he agrees. He tells me that he holds this place's record for being puked on the most (18 times) and it's not a record he's proud of. I have him counter it with a record he is proud of. His answer: Most malfunctions. Seventeen of them. That's a skydiver for you. But I think I get it. He's had that many malfunctions and he's made them all work out because he's still alive and jumping, so he's proud he's MacGyvered his way out of seventeen bad situations.
If you want to see someone who loves their job, just look at this guy.
We walk back to the hangar. I give hubby a hug and kiss and he's very happy that I'm alright. We sit for a bit letting the whole thing sink in, then go into the office to get my certificate and to make sure we've crossed every T and can leave at our leisure.
I want to sit for a bit because I've started a solid headache - similar to what I get when I sleep wrong. I'm asked if I would jump again someday and I tell them to ask me again when I'm feeling better. They ask me a few questions to make sure it doesn't sound like anything serious and conclude that it's probably a mix of sensitivity to noise and maybe my head jerking a touch harder than I thought. Advil is suggested but I think it's just a noise headache and some quiet will do the trick. I thank them, reassured, and we head out.
On the drive home, I cover my eyes and turn off the radio and the vibe in the car is much more relieved than it was on the way over. We get home and I rest a little while more. As I suspected, the headache clears up with a good dose of silence. DH makes dinner and I do the dishes, proud of myself for the day.

I jumped out of a freaking plane, man!

Skydiving: Part Deux

Alright, the skydiving thing comes back.

If I was going to do this it was going to have to happen soon so as to make available other plans. Now, technically the website says two days notice are needed, but on Saturday afternoon, just for the heck of it, I phoned the skydiving place to see if there was room for one more the next day. This time, the person I spoke to on the phone was much, much friendlier and left me with a much better feeling. In fact I wasn't even asked for a deposit - though maybe this had to do with the short notice.

Next day, Sunday, I show up about half an hour before I'm scheduled to jump in order to fill out the paperwork. I see maybe 10 people scattered around the edge of this old, decommissioned hangar. Some in jean shorts and tank tops (the customers) and some in their own jumpsuits (the staff.)
I find the office and who should greet me but a very nice lady with a lovely blue cast on her left arm. One of the comments left was "Pull sooner!" This made me chuckle. Another guy, not injured that I can see, comes in and starts me on the paperwork. (In a nutshell: Yes, I'm legal. Yes, I want to do this. Yes, I know I can get hurt or die jumping out of a plane with little more than a sheet to slow me down. No, I'm not going to sue you for any boo boos I get.) Not a minute later, another guy comes in in a neck brace. Two visible injuries in under three minutes. This doesn't exactly provide reassurance and I tell them as much. I find out that at this location, they've never had a tandem jump death, but they have had broken bones when people didn't follow the instructions and ended up landing wrong.
I make a mental note to listen extra carefully to the landing sequence.
There are three batches of jumpers ahead of me since jumps happen on a sort of first come first serve basis. I sit back and try to get a feel for the place. The dynamic was not unlike when I got my nose pierced - very "let's do this" with minimal sugarcoating and a lot of dry humour.
After maybe 20 minutes, even though I'm keeping distracted and I'm not feeling too nervous, I decide to take a gravol (the ginger kind) just to steady my stomach for the initial top over teakettle tumble out of the plane. It has ample time to work since I don't actually get into the plane until roughly an hour and a half after I was booked to jump. I'm given a jumpsuit and goggles (I wear glasses) and the guy I'm jumping with, jump-master R (same guy I spoke with on the phone, actually,) fits me into my harness. I'm feeling remarkably calm - very focused. DH gives me what is apparently one kiss too many as people start hooting and Awwww-ing at us as I head out of the hangar. He's staying on the ground and taking pictures while I'm getting settled into this itty bitty plane (no seats, we're all just sat together on the floor) and following instructions...

Tomorrow: Takeoff and the jump. Spoiler: I don't die.

Update

Alright, so I've been undeniably remiss in posting. I haven't done any one major project all week plus! The reason being that I was in Quebec City because DH had to work and it was our first anniversary so no way was I staying home alone. This meant a lot of yummy restaurants and window shopping of overpriced clothes (and really cute hats) instead of crafting and cooking.

I didn't really have computer access and I generally don't like letting it be known that I'm away from home until I'm back safe and sound and the casa is occupied once again. Though now that I think of it, nobody knows who I am via this blog, so I could say I'm going on a year long world tour and it would be no help to a crook. Hm.

Btw, if you're ever in Quebec City, go to Paillards on Saint-Jean for the macaroons (try the passionfruit-chocolate if they have it, but the others are yummy too) and then go further up Saint-Jean, past the gate and the weird intersection (I know, I know, which one?) to this place called Choco-musee Erico for a little museum on the history of chocolate production (I enjoyed the etymology lesson) and some super yummy chocolates, hot chocolate drinks, and ice creams/gelatos.

That's all for now. Hoping to get back into the swing of things this week. I am planning to attempt making pita bread from scratch later this week, so we'll see how that goes and you may hear of my success/misadventures soon after.

Barley Water Leftovers

I did finally get around to making something with the leftover barley from the barley water recipe. I was trying to use up the scraps in my fridge that were starting to look sad, so I chopped up maybe 5 stalks of celery and all the salvageable bits of a bunch of green onions. I stirred that in with the barley and added some cut up hard boiled eggs and some small cubed cheddar.

Can you see where this is going yet?

A bit of vinegar, miracle whip, s&p, and paprika and I had a macaroni salad with barley instead of pasta which was nicely vegetable heavy. We added some herbs from our little garden (parsley and tarragon - too licorice-y for my liking.) The whole thing went a long way, too. Individually it would have served my husband and I for lunch, but there was something about it all stirred up that it took care of lunch and most of dinner.

Barley as a blank slate base - it worked just as well as I'd hoped it would. I'd provide a recipe, but it really was just a case of throwing a bunch of things into a bowl and hoping it worked. If I had to approximate it...

~2 cups cooked barley, cooled
~2 cups mixed raw veggies, chopped to a size close to the barley
~2 oz cheddar cheese, cubed (I used medium)
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped to your liking

toss all this together and add:
a few globs of miracle whip, to taste
maybe 1/4 tsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of fresh herbs of your choice, chopped

Stir it all in and serve either now or later. Refrigerate any uneaten portions promptly.

Gourmet, no?

Barley Water

I finally got around to attempting barley water, or lemon barley water to be more precise. After poking around for a recipe, I settled on Alton Brown's Barley Water recipe. I halved the recipe since I wasn't sure if I would like it and had a very nice little 1 litre pitcher I could use. The one modification made was to rinse the barley before boiling it. I'd remembered seeing that step on some other recipe sites.
Being the impatient foodie that I am, I did taste a spoonful of the drink after it was all stirred up but not yet chilled. It was unpleasantly sour but I figured: 1- temperatures can change taste perceptions, 2- Alton Brown is usually pretty good at this and, 3- I doubt I screwed up such a simple recipe. So I put it in the fridge and left it to chill overnight.
This morning, after breakfast, it was time to try it. Final verdict: Yummy! The acidity had mellowed quite a bit overnight, leaving it just freshly lemony. If I had to liken it to anything, I'd say it's like a cloudy, smooth lemonade. I'm guessing it's the barley that grounds the flavour. The lemon peels left in the pitcher overnight along with the lemon juice also gave it a better depth of flavour than lemon juice alone.

A couple last things to note: First of all, the recipes I saw all said to discard the barley after it's done cooking. I don't see why it should be wasted. After making this recipe I found it was nicely cooked and a good blank slate to use as a base for some yumminess or other. It's in my fridge. I'll probably mix it with veggies, a bit of meat and a light dressing within the next couple of days to make a lunch salad. Secondly, a good bit of liquid gets soaked up as the barley cooks, so if you try this, don't be surprised if you end up with a bit less than expected. Instead of filling my 1 litre pitcher, it was only 2/3 to 3/4 full.

I didn't take any pictures. One thing at a time and right now, it's learning links so I can reference my sources and give credit where it's due. Next I want to figure out how to make the links open into a new tab instead of sending you away.