What to do with all that zucchini

I have six zucchini/courgette plants and two of them are presenting me with the cutest, tenderest squashes I've ever eaten.  Based on the number of blossoms on the other four, I'm going to be more than replete with squash this summer.  I'm trying to catch them when they are little but one sucker hid under the leaves and when I found it this morning it was rehearsing for a policeman's truncheon.  There was only one thing to do...make chocolate cake.

I've always been a little skeptical about cooking vegetables in desserts - even carrot cake is a little dodgy in my view, but I've been assured that you can't taste the zucchini in cake.  So I did a search and came up with this rather luscious sounding recipe on the aptly named Zucchini & Chocolate website.  Since allergy boy and vegan girl are away from home I thought I'd whip up a chocolate cake using real butter, eggs, cocoa and dark chocolate and see if it's enough to hide the squash.

The result - absolutely frickin' gorgeous.  Rich, moist, chocolaty and not a trace of zucchini to be found - it's just melted into the cake.  I made a powdered sugar glaze to top it with but it's kind of gilding the lily.  It doesn't need anything else.

[Sorry no pictures but Evie has my camera in DC - maybe next time]

The Habit of a Lifetime - One Month at a Time

I turned 42 last month.  I'm not ashamed to admit my age - I'm embracing the "I don't give a s**t" attitude that has been creeping up since I turned 40.  So, to celebrate the fact that 42 is supposed to be the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, I've decided to make this year meaningful.  And how, you may ask?  I will tell you.  I'm going to cultivate 12 good habits this year.  Research tells us that doing something every day for a month will establish it as a habit, so every month I'm doing one thing every day in order to make it part of my routine.

For example, I've always been rather hit and miss about flossing so, since 22 June I have flossed every single night before I go to bed.  I've put the floss right by my toothbrush instead of in the medicine cabinet so I have no excuse to forget to do it.  Hopefully by 22 July when I move on to the next habit formation I'll floss as automatically as I brush.

So here are a few of the things I'd like to make new habits in the next year, in no particular order.

• Clean and moisturize my skin every day.  I used to be able to get away with often being lazy and going to bed with my makeup still on, but those days are long gone.  
• Drink my 8 glasses of water a day.  That's easier to do in the summer so this may be July/August's habit.
• Make sure that all the dishes are done and the kitchen tidy before I go to bed so I don't have to come down to a mess in the morning.  I used to be good at this but like so many things I've let it slip dreadfully.
• Take 10-15 minutes each morning for a devotion and prayer.  I really SHOULD make it longer but 15 minutes is do-able and I can leave making it longer for another time.
• Plan dinner further in advance than 6.00 that evening.  I am definitely the "come home and see what's in the cupboard" kind of meal planner.  I think this one may wait till Evie's off to college as that will make it easier.  It's not easy to make dinner for 3 when one is a strict vegan and another is allergic to everything.  Our choices are fairly limited but it would be nice to have more variety than rice pasta potatoes, rice pasta potatoes, rice pasta potatoes...
• Walk to work and back EVERY day (3 1/2 miles round trip).  I usually walk either to or from every day but it's so easy to come up with a reason for spending £1.70 to catch the bus - it's too hot to walk, too wet, I'm tired or running late.  The funny thing is that the nearest bus stop to work is still about 1/2 mile away so I'm not saving that much effort or time.  By the time I've walked to the bus stop, waited for the bus, rode the bus and then walked from the bus stop I may as well have walked the whole way.  And I won't get into the whole issue of germs, weirdos and Whitley mums you get riding the bus.

I'm sure more things will come to me as the year goes on.  There are certainly plenty of areas for improvement in my life but I think this is a do-able plan.  Much more than my usual vague New Year's Resolutions - lose some weight, eat less chocolate, etc.

So, I'm off to floss :)

Haha, Sock Success!

My first pair of socks!

Aren't they pretty?

Oh yes, I am proud.

...and pretty maids all in a row

I have a garden.

Everyone "ooh" and "ahh" now (and if you knew me growing up on the farm, laugh).

Seriously, I have a garden.  I admit, I'd made grandiose plans.   I had a great time poring over seed catalogues and making up longer and longer lists of veggies I wanted to grow.  In the end however, money, time and energy dictated a somewhat more modest endeavour.

The monsters at the back are my potatoes.  I'd like to say I'm proud but to be honest all I did was put them in the ground.  The two largish courgettes on the left are what's left of the six I planted and the ones in the middle were a gift today from the lovely Ralph.  I've given them a good soaking and hopefully a couple of them will make it.  The little green dots on the right are my pepper seedlings.

The big white thing in the back is a carpet I've put down to kill the lawn so I can expand the garden later in the summer.  I'd really like to put some beets, leeks and red cabbage in.  I love pickled cabbage and beets, well pickled anything really, and I'm looking forward to making my own.

Do I seem overexcited about a small patch of mostly bare ground in my lawn?  Perhaps.  But it's a first step towards my dreams...tread softly.

Zen and the Art of Sock Knitting

Knitting is cheaper than therapy.  Heck, knitting IS therapy.  Last week I started my first real knitting project, a pair of socks from a kit I bought.  Coincidentally I had a really stressful week at work (and financially).   On Thursday I was starting to tear my hair out so I put everything down, went outside and sat on the bench in the sunshine, took out my sock and started knitting ribs.  I must have sat there for half an hour, soaking up the rays, watching my sock slowly grow, and I could feel the tension melting out of my shoulders.  And all it cost me was £9.99.

Here it is in the early stages.  It's made from a lovely German sock wool called Opal, which is variegated and self striping.  I'm just about to finish off the toe of this one and then I have the second one to knit, and I'll have my very own, hand knitted socks!  I'll put up pictures of the finished product.

Update

Ok, quick recap of the last six months.  We left Angwin just before Christmas, spent Christmas in Australia, moved back to England in January and have spent the last few months looking for work.  It's been stressful and I haven't been posting because stress tends to kill off any creative impulses that might be lurking.  In fact I haven't really been in touch with anyone lately because I'm afraid all I'll do is moan.

However...despite the fact that we still don't have permanent jobs, it's spring in England, my itty bitty garden is looking good and I've discovered knitting, so blogging is on the to do list.

More when I've uploaded some photos of the aforementioned garden and knitting.

Things To Do Before I Die

The recent movie "The Bucket List" seems to have inspired bloggers everywhere to create their own Bucket Lists, lists of things they want to accomplish in their lifetimes.  Some are fairly shallow (spend a weekend at the Playboy Mansion, some profound (save a life), some amusing (ride a camel - I have to admit that's one of mine too).  I imagine most of us have lists of varying lengths which we have come up with in the course of our lives, whether formally written down or just in our heads.  I've had various versions which have changed as I have changed, and as I have accomplished things.  When I was very young one of my ambitions was to ride in a taxi, which I accomplished on my one and only visit to New York City as a nine-year-old.  Of course I've taken countless taxis since, but I can still remember the excitement of the firs time I ticked something off my "list".

So here, in no particular order, is my current "Bucket List":

• Cruise down the Nile - I'm planning this for my 50th birthday
• Become self-sufficient
• Grow a vegetable garden
• Learn to play the lute
• Visit Murano Island in Venice and buy some Venetian glass
• Meet my birthmother
• Ride a camel/elephant
• Visit Petra in Jordan
• Volunteer for an archaeological dig
• Learn to dance
• Climb to basecamp on Mt Everest (I know my limitations)

And a few things I've ticked off:

• Ride in a taxi
• Live in England
• Spend a night in a museum
• Live in the Napa Valley again
• Find my birthmother (although I haven't met her yet)
• Visit Paris

I'd love to hear what's on your lists.

One for Evie

Rat Song

BY MARGARET ATWOOD

When you hear me singing

you get the rifle down

and the flashlight, aiming for my brain,

but you always miss

and when you set out the poison

I piss on it

to warn the others.

You think: That one’s too clever,

she’s dangerous, because

I don’t stick around to be slaughtered

and you think I’m ugly too

despite my fur and pretty teeth

and my six nipples and snake tail.

All I want is love, you stupid

humanist. See if you can.

Right, I’m a parasite, I live off your

leavings, gristle and rancid fat,

I take without asking

and make nests in your cupboards

out of your suits and underwear.

You’d do the same if you could,

if you could afford to share

my crystal hatreds.

It’s your throat I want, my mate

trapped in your throat.

Though you try to drown him

with your greasy person voice,

he is hiding / between your syllables

I can hear him singing.

Home, Sweet Home?

We are finally here and starting to settle back in, and it feels really strange.  The house is smaller (and shabbier) than I remember and I'm racking up items on my to-do list (mostly small repairs and lots of painting).  There's a leak in the bathroom sink, all the sealant around the tub has turned black, the tenants left heaps of junk in the backyard, it's cold, and grey, and the pretty snow is gone.

But...I'm home.  My house. My home.  So there's lots of work to do - I expected that.  So it's small (cozy) - I can adjust to that again.  So it's a little shabbier - paint's cheap and therapeutic.  And, I've got new carpet! Installed by someone else, so I got to come home to it all done and ready.  

We are also having fun pulling boxes out of storage and rediscovering things ("why did I pack that up and not just throw it away?").  I feel like an archaeologist.  It's a small but significant joy to find a favourite tea towel or wooden spoon. 

So, back to the unpacking and excavation.

A-Z Reading Challenge

I found this challenge at The Luscious Literary Muse and thought I'd give it a try for 2010.  I've reproduced the rules as they appeared on the blog.


"Option A: Read authors A to Z. Commit to reading 26 books theoretically speaking.

Option B: Read titles A to Z. Commit to reading 26 books theoretically speaking.

Option C: Read both authors A to Z and titles A to Z (52 books; this is the challenge Joy created)

Option D: Read internationally A to Z (books representing 26 different countries) (The books could be from international authors (writers from that country); however, it's fine if a book is only set in that country. If need be, instead of countries one could use cities, states, regions, etc. The idea is to use proper place names. If you'd like you could even use a few fictional countries.)

Option E: Read 26 Alphabet books. Embrace your inner child and go visit the children's section!

General rules:

How strict is the 26 or 52? I know it isn't always easy to find those difficult letters. The thought of finding the X's (for example) might scare folks away. It shouldn't! I'm a merciful host! (Ask anyone!)

If you want to give the X's a go... For authors, try to find an X in the first name, middle name, or last name. For titles, it doesn't have to be the starting word. Try to find an X somewhere in a title, and it'd count in my book.

Still can't find a book for the letter you need? I'll take your word for it. I've been there. I know. If your library doesn't see the need to order books just because it starts with an X, then I don't blame you for not wanting to special order a book that you may or may not enjoy. You gave it your best, don't feel bad. You can still make this challenge work for you.

Don't be afraid to ask for recommendations. Look at the previous site. Ask other participants. Or ask me, your host. I may not have the "right" recommendation for every letter, but working together, I bet you'll find something that interests you.

Audio books count in my opinion. If you take the time to listen to books, then that should count towards something.

What about rereads? I don't have a problem with rereads. I would hope that you'd want to mix it up a bit and read some new authors, new titles, etc. But I'm not going to require that by any means.

What about children's books? Children's books and YA books count along with adult fiction and nonfiction of all sorts. (Poetry and plays too. Short stories count if they're in a collection.) I don't see a need to discriminate between "adult" and "kiddie" books. Even picture books can count if you like. Though try to use them in moderation. I used a few picture books to get tricky letters this year."

A Warm Respite

After weeks of running on adrenaline, now that I'm relaxing all the stress I ignored is taking its toll.  I'm tired and headachy and generally feeling rundown, but at least I don't have to be anywhere or do anything and can go take a quick nap if I feel like it.  It hasn't helped that the past few days have been horribly hot and humid which saps me quicker than running a 100-metre dash (not that I've done that in 25 years but you get the picture).

Today the weather was perfect though.  The monsoon rains of the past two days have blown over and it was hot and dry and sunny and I had a gorgeous swim in the pool, although I'm pink and tender tonight.  It's been so long since I've swum and I was enjoying it so much I stayed in even when I could feel my shoulders starting to feel the sun.  I'm not crispy and it's not too painful, but I've lived in England too long. I've lost my tolerance and burn like an English Rose.

We're getting lots of reading and websurfing done and periodically play with the puppy.  Geoff and Anne have a beautiful Cocker Spaniel puppy named Baxter who alternately amuses and infuriates.

Well it's 8pm and I'm wiped out - off to bed.

Taking a Deep Breath

Well, we did it.  After a day of packing and cleaning and more cleaning and more packing we finally got everything into (or onto) the car.  David, bless him, packed the car up and then came in really pleased that he had managed to fit everything in - and then noticed the carpet cleaner my mom had loaned us (which in the end we didn't even use because we ran out of time).  After some cursing and walking round the car, he took out a suitcase and we strapped it to the roof of the car with bungee straps.  We collected up our coats and bags, turned out the lights and locked the door for the last time around 8.30 last night and then drove down to my parents' in Ceres.  I was so exhausted that I zoned out while we were on the 12 and didn't wake up again till we were on the 99 and then zoned out again till after we'd exited the highway and were on my parents' road.  I have to be REALLY tired or sick to sleep in cars or planes so it's an indication of how worn out I was that I slept for nearly half the journey.  When we finally got to the farm at about 11.30 we got out and the suitcase we'd bungeed to the roof had slid down to the back of the car and was hanging on for dear life.  We only unpacked the essentials and made our way upstairs as quietly as we could so as not to wake Mom & Dad (which half worked - Dad sleeps like a log and Mom wakes up if a fly lands on the window screen).

Today I've been achy and slow and have spent most of the day sitting in front of the log fire, chatting with Mom or reading old Period Home magazines.  I've been down here to visit so often over the last two years that it doesn't feel like we've moved - just like we've come for a long visit.  Tomorrow we are visiting with friends and family, Monday is a shopping day, and Tuesday we fly to Brisbane, so after the last few weeks it was essential to have a day like today.  We will be seeing family in Australia but I'm hoping that most of the time will be for lounging around the house and the pool, relaxing and soaking up the sun before the whirl of getting ourselves back to California and then on to what will no doubt be a cold and wet UK.  Evie got an email from a friend in Reading who said that it was snowing there today.

I do want to try and keep up my blog but it's probably going to be patchy for the next month.  So if my dear readers (all two of you) will be patient I'll try and occasionally write something worth waiting for.

A Moment of Reflection in the Midst of Chaos

I'm taking a very short break from everything I have to do today to pause and think about the implications of today, Friday the 18th of December.  This week the movers finally came and took away all the things we had put aside for shipping and when they were done our voices echoed around the suddenly empty space.  Since then I've been trying to get the apartment clean while packing up what we have left, going to work, and saying goodbye to friends.  Yesterday Holly Hughson came and helped with the cleaning - she scrubbed the stove and oven, bless her! Last night we went out for dinner at Armadillos, our favourite Mexican restaurant, for the last time.  Today is my last day at work and I have four hours to get all the last minute jobs done.  When I finish work at noon I have to go home, finish packing, clean the bathroom (bleh) and shampoo all the carpets (bleh bleh) before we can finally try to fit all our stuff into the car and head down to Mom & Dad's. 

So the upshot is that I think I'm going to be too busy today to really appreciate the fact that after two years, it's our last day in Angwin.  It's been an amazing couple of years and I'm hoping to write a post on what it's meant to me - but today is not the day.

The Long Goodbye

The past few days have been full of lunches and dinners to say goodbye to people here at PUC.  Saturday Bruce and Audrey had a crowd of people over to their house to say goodbye and many very nice things were said about us, particularly Evie's involvement in Drama and of course David's contributions as the Utt Professor.  I was very proud of both of them.

Sunday night I had dinner with Cherise at Boskos in Calistoga (fantastic roasted artichokes) and we sat and talked long after we had finished eating.  She's off on a mission trip to Zambia at the end of January so I'm looking forward to hearing how that goes.

Tuesday I had my 'goodbye lunch' for work - a little early so everyone could be there.  I decided we should go to Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena, since I'd really liked it the one time I'd been before.  I had excellent steak with garlic mashed potatoes and for dessert a lemon flavoured pudding with huckleberries.  I really got it for the berries, so now I can say I've had huckleberries.  Tuesday night we went to Armadillo's in St Helena (our favourite local Mexican restaurant) with Maria.

We don't have anything else scheduled for the next week but we've got several meals with people the weekend we are with my parents, before we head off to Australia.

It's just as well that people are feeding us because I've been so busy I forget to eat (and if you know me at all you know that's just not me - I never forget to eat).

And now for something completely different...

This week's been crazy and I'm tired and I'm going to bed, so here's one of my favourite songs to tide you over till I can post something more substantial.

A Little Known Fact About Me...

I have a thing for cows.  I really do.  I love them.  I WANT one, or even two.  I even have names picked out for them - Agatha and Luella.  Never mind that each cow requires an acre of land and I have one medium sized suburban back yard, I still long for one.  I also want chickens and sheep but this post is about cows.

My grandpa was a cow man.  As well as farming almonds and raising chickens (which actually my grandma did), he used to buy calves and raise them until they were ready to be turned into all the things cows that don't produce milk get turned into.  I wasn't aware of this at the time, I just knew that grandpa had cows and they all had names.  He wasn't sentimental about his cows and was quite ready to exchange them for cash when their time was up - but he named each and every cow he owned.  In the winter I loved finding Grandpa in the barn, which smelled of hay and warm cow, and in the summer the cows would be turned out in to the small field which ran along the side of the property and behind the barn, and was emerald with tender grass.

Grandpa's cows tended to be black or black/white but the next set of cows in my life was the huge white Brahman cattle in Nigeria.  In most of Africa cows were originally the currency of everyday life.  A man's status and wealth  depended on how many cows he had.  The Fulani are beautiful, nomadic people who herded cattle over vast distances and in Nigeria, in the early 70s, their cattle of choice were Brahmans.  Originally from India, their natural resistance to heat, insects and disease, their gentle natures and their outstanding milk (leading to outstandingly big and healthy calves) made them popular in hot climates around the world.  I was very young when we were in Nigeria but a lasting image was the very common one of beautiful, graceful Fulanis herding their beautiful and very distinctive cattle through the village.

My second favourite cows are the shaggy, red, peeking shyly through their bangs at you, Highland Cattle (or coos as we like to call them).  I completely fell in love with these cows when we were in Scotland.  They are the complete opposite of the Brahmans with low compact bodies and long shaggy fur to protect them from the cold wind and rain in the Highlands of Scotland.

Honestly, how can you resist those faces?

My third favourite are the ever popular Jersey cows.  They are the glamour girls of the bovine world.

Doesn't she look like she's been made up for her photo shoot?  But these are not just pretty faces - their milk has one of the highest butterfat content of any cattle breed.

So, now you know far more about cows than you ever thought you should.  But aren't they all gorgeous?

Here is one last picture of the closest I can get to owing a cow at this time in my life.  Meet Francine.

The packet next to her is a starter kit for a herd of cows.  The front says "Genuine California Cow Seeds - Grow Your Own Herd - Herd Starter Kit - Directions on UDDER side" and on the "UDDER side" it says:


"Directions
1. To start herd, follow directions to the letter.
2. Plant the seeds in a warm spot.
3. Plant seeds right side up or cows will grow upside down.
4. Be patient, cows need time to grow.
5. For best results, moo softly while watering."

Corny?  Oh yeah!  But I couldn't resist.

Calistoga Pottery

Yesterday I went to The Calistoga Pottery to buy something to take home to England with me.

I visited once not long after we moved here and kept meaning to go back so I took the chance while I was down in the Valley getting groceries.

It's a tiny little place, packed with treasures and it was really hard to choose what to get.

What I really wanted was something that had been ash glazed, because they use ash from local vineyard trimmings, which I thought would be a great thing to remind me of our time here.  Unfortunately they didn't have a lot of choice of items in the ash glaze but I ended up getting a shallow dish, meant as a wine bottle coaster, which would work perfectly to put oil and vinegar in for dipping bread.





I  bought Evie a lovely cereal bowl and then I was snagged by a butterkeeper.  Butter kept in the refrigerator is too hard but leaving it out risks the butter turning rancid, so the butterkeeper uses cold water to keep it fresh but still soft.  You pack the butter into the lid, put water into the pot and then set the butter filled lid into the water.  When you want to serve it you just pull the lid out and place it upside down on the table.  I love little things like that so I couldn't resist.

Here are the pieces I bought - the butterkeeper has the lid on in this one.

And here it is with the lid off, as you would put it on the table to serve.

Roasted Autumn Vegetables

When the nights start getting colder this is one of my favourite recipes for dinner - it's really easy and you can use whichever vegetables you like or have on hand.  Bear in mind that it can take a long time to cook so leave plenty of time to prepare the vegetables and then roast them.

I used:
salad potatoes, unpeeled (the largest cut in half)
sweet potatoes
parsnips
carrots
beets
leeks
(cut all these into large bite sized pieces)
several whole cloves of garlic
fresh sage, rosemary & thyme
salt

Drizzle olive oil and stir till veges are well coated and then add balsamic vinegar and stir.

Line a roasting pan with foil (to make cleaning up easier) and drizzle a little more olive oil in to coat the bottom, then just dump in the vegetables.  Ideally you should have a pan big enough that you will have a single layer but my pan is on the small size so I had 2-3 layers, which increases the cooking time.  Cover with foil for at least the first half of cooking (esp if more than a single layer of veges) and cook till tender.  Then take the foil off to let the vegetables brown a little.  I cooked mine for 1 1/2 hours on 450F and a further 20 mins on 400.

You could probably cut the time down by cooking it on a higher temperature to soften the veges but make sure you turn it down a bit when you take the foil off.  Personally I like them slow cooked so I make sure I have plenty of time - Sunday nights are perfect.

Stuff, I've got it

I've been sorting through stuff this evening to pack for shipping and I can't believe the amount of junk we've accumulated in the two years we've been here.  Where does it all come from?  We aren't shopaholics (well maybe a little bit, but only a little), we live on a fairly tight budget and we've been aware the whole time that whatever we buy we'll have to either ship or leave here, and yet we seem to have twice as much stuff as we came with.  And that's despite a cull or two in the last year or so.

I've been dividing things up into different sections - clothes (not too many for me, more for David, lots for Evie); books (lots for all of us and much more than we brought); kitchen things and dishes (OK, I admit that's mostly mine and I have acquired some really nice things since we've been here); paperwork (I think it's practicing spontaneous generation!); and misc bits and pieces (way too much of that too - and I'm not sure what some of the things are or where they came from).

I keep trying to simplify my life, cut down on the junk I own and rid myself of unnecessary mental clutter, but it slips back so easily - it seems to be a lifelong battle.  There always seems to be something that I "really, really need" or that I feel will make me happier.  Sometimes I wish I could just retreat to a cabin in the woods and live like a primitive but I have a husband who loves his creature comforts, and to be honest so do I, so I have to reevaluate my life on occasion (moving is an excellent time to do this) and decide what in my life is really important.  I sometimes wonder how I would feel if our house were to burn down or be catastrophically flooded but there really is nothing I own that I can't live without (they say three moves are as good as a burn).  There are a few things like family photos or items with sentimental value that I would feel bad about losing, but as long as I know my husband and daughter (or any assorted pets we might have) are safe and happy, there is no object more important to me than that.

That is not to say that I'm not going to continue sorting through our stuff, cause I'm not ready to do without everything just yet.  I am trying to be brutal though and follow William Morris' advice to have nothing in our homes that is not either beautiful or useful.

Wish me luck!

The Highwayman Part 2

Deborah sent me a link to Loreena McKennitt's version of The Highwayman, which is absolutely gorgeous.  Thanks so much Deb!