Friday, September 14, 2007
I cut my finger yesterday making the seitan, so I'm wearing a jellyfish band-aid, but it doesn't glow in the dark, even though the package said it would! What a scam. Every time I look at that sky photo, my eyes feel like I just stared into the sun.
Posted at 12:49:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Posted at 11:19:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Wonderful evening for a flight. So clear and smooth, we flew low all the way to Jaff, over trees and trees and farmers' fields, with cows running fast and farmer machines harvesting tall crops. We could see everything, sharp. It was cool in Jaffrey (Kimball's last day is October 14th!) so we ate inside, and I kept making the lady sitting at the next table giggle with my underhanded table positioning antics (it was originally too far away from me, and unfairly close to Dean, but I took care of that). My lobster roll was unbelievably good. On the flight home, the sky looked exactly like the two photos above. The sky never turns out how it really looked in photos, but this time it actually did. I used fireworks mode for the second one (the one that's so bright it hurts my eyes). Here's a large version of the first photo, so you can see the layers. I liked the layers. Clear and smooth again on the flight home, with the lights from towns shining bright and lakes glimmering silvery below a sky that went from blinding-stripe yellow to magnificent greyscale like the best black-and-white film. The air was so calm, Dean did some steep banks and a partial roll. It was FUN!!! It felt really weird and almost-scary, sort of like a rollercoaster, almost like you're going to pass out or something while it lasted. SO cool. I loved it. I was grinning like mad.
Posted at 4:18:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Berlin Citizen front-page headline today. I am speechless.
Starbucks in Berlin???!
They want to build one where Mary's Pastry Shoppe used to be, and it may include a drive-through window (yuck) and an outdoor patio (nice). Starbucks in Berlin??! I can't even wrap my brain around this.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Okay, here's my super-secret recipe for grilled seitan skewers. I am only posting this because I've been perfecting it all summer and I realised that if I failed to write it down I'd forget it by next year. My future self needs this information! The recipe is inspired by Candle's Seitan Chimichurri but they're kind of totally different since I made a ton of changes.
Posted at 8:18:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Future Self, here's what to do:
1) Get "The Bridge" brand seitan, made in Middletown, CT. It comes in big chunks soaking in a bunch of liquid in a plastic container, and is refrigerated (not frozen). You can buy it at It's Only Natural market and Wild Oats. I haven't seen it at Whole Foods. Cut it into pieces that are a good size for threading onto a bamboo skewer. It's going to be really good, so use two containers full--one for each guy! Soak the pieces in the slimy soaking mixture for at least an hour, or overnight.
2) To make slimy soaking mixture, chop up a bunch of fresh cilantro (Stew's is good) and/or fresh parsley, along with enough freshly squeezed Stew's orange juice + olive oil to cover all the chunks of seitan. (If you can't get freshly squeezed orange juice, don't use orange juice at all, because non-freshly squeezed orange juice is repulsive.) You can also throw in some lime juice and/or lemon juice. I had a fresh lime in the refrigerator today so I squeezed it and chucked in some of the squashy inside part, and that was excellent. The mixture should be roughly equal proportions, or maybe 1/3 olive oil, 2/3 citrus juice. Grinder some sea salt on top, and squeeze on a little honey. The original recipe has agave nectar, but honey makes a superb substitute. Put seitan chunks in plastic container(s) with tightly fitting lid(s) and pour slimy soaking mixture on top so seitan is covered. (You can re-use the containers that the seitan came in for this purpose.) Put on the lid(s) and shake it around to mix it.
3) After it has marinated in the refrigerator for at least an hour, thread the seitan chunks on skewers (use Land Tray to stage them up and carry them outside) and grill them on a hot grill for about 5 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, grind up half an avocado and mix it with some of the leftover soaking mixture (drain off some of the liquid first, so you get lots of herb scraps but it's not overly watery) to make a sauce. Put the sauce in a dish and let eaters dip their seitan into it. The seitan should have nice stripey grill marks on it and be crunchy in spots but moist and juicy in the middle.
[Edit: I forgot to mention, the seitan-corn-tomato feast tonight was fantastic. Suder, you are the man!]
Mary is so right, I need to incorporate tracing the letter M into my matcha-powder iced tea instructions. (That's what you're supposed to do with the chasen when you prepare traditional hot matcha.) Maybe I can trace the letter M with my finger before I lick the clinging powder out of the package. Or I could trace it with my tongue while licking out the powder....
Posted at 5:42:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Grilled seitan and Suder corn feast tonight! And tomatoes. Must devour tomatoes while we still can.
Maybe I'll tell my secret recipe for grilled seitan later, if I'm feeling generous. It doesn't involve tracing Ms in anything, or licking things with your tongue (unless you really want to).
Posted at 5:06:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Noooo!!! I'd better go once more again before The End. Today I got four more tomatoes for my collection ripening on the counter, six ears of corn, and some delectable blackberries.
I have to admit, the trees are turning bright colors already (because it's been so dry) and it's really pretty, but the reason I don't mind is that it's also still warm. I don't want it to stop being warm.
This has been a very, very good summer.
P.S. Wow. I really love how matcha makes my tongue feel.
Posted at 3:24:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
How to make matcha-powder iced tea (as discovered spontaneously by me):
Posted at 3:03:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
1) Chill water.
B) Cut off top of matcha packet with scissors.
3) Dump matcha into water.
4) Stick tip of finger into packet and taste matcha that's left clinging to edges.
5) Grab scissors and cut sides of packet; open packet flat and lick off every last remaining grain with tongue. Whimper/moan slightly.
6) Shake bottle with water and matcha powder until it's all frothy, then drink with eyes sproinging out of head.
The really key step is #5, but that one's not even mentioned in the package instructions!
I need to get a chasen.
I feel energized and buoyant and proud of myself when I have a good social interaction with someone (like visiting F. or V., or chatting with Michelle today after getting my hair cut, or when I went to the interview with the volunteer lady) but I also feel calm and peaceful and like there's no weight lurking over me when I'm withdrawing from society for a while (like not not writing any ALB entries sometimes, or not answering a whole bunch of people's e-mails for a while, even though they're people I like and am looking forward to e-mailing again). I was just thinking about this.
Posted at 2:26:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
The "proud of myself" part probably sounds weird, but it's still amazing to me, really. Truly amazing.
I am reading The Speed of Dark right now and enjoying every page. Not only is the writing and characterization remarkable, it's also extremely interesting, and I identify with a lot of the main character's thoughts.
Monday, September 10, 2007
F.M. noticed that I just washed my car! He could feel how clean and smooth it is. :-) He also loved the toy model version of my car that I brought to show him, and observed ten thousand things about it by touch. I told him he could keep it, and then he was worried about leaving it on the seat when we went into the store, because he thought someone would break in to steal it!! He made me put it somewhere out of sight. F. is great. :-)
Posted at 4:50:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I have to write my Day Three report (the Bash) before my brain-like-a-sieve forgets everything. Hopefully tonight.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
BEAN is the BEST!!!
Posted at 11:09:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Our day was divided thus:
1) Brunch buffet at Water's Edge (because we keep getting thwarted in our attempts to get breakfast anywhere!)
2) B&B's Car Wash
3) Mr. Bean
Every moment was devoted to one of the above! And I didn't even slack out until step 1,000 of the double-decker car washing extravaganza. And yes, it was dark before we finished. Of course. I also drove both ways on the route to brunch. We had four courses. It was even better than the Palm Terrace, although they dropped the ball on the coffee (but so does Palm Terrace). The best part was the crepes! I had peach + dark chocolate + flaming Grand Marnier. Then we had popcorn for supper. There were only two other dudes in the whole theatre when we first got there, but then a few other people showed up, after the movie had started, so there were about 10. It was the best movie we have seen in AGES!!! I kept clutching Dean's arm. My favorite part was when he had to eat the oysters. (I think.)
Last night I had a dream with lots and lots of snakes in it. They kept getting into our house, probably because our house looked a lot like the cottage, so it was full of large gaps everywhere. Its landscaping looked sort of like Puddin Lane (like the view out the high-up super-tall-and-skinny window in my old room). Anyway, there were a zillion different snakes and they were all very big and colorful and variously patterned. (They looked like real snakes, though, not weird fantasy ones.) I kept finding them curled up in corners and such, all over the place. (This wasn't hard at all, since they were huge and bright and etc.) I kept calling for Dean to get rid of them for me, with one of those snake catcher things that you use to grab them by the neck. And with a shotgun. The dream wasn't really that scary, though. GOOD.
Oh, I also had a dream, the day before we went to North Carolina, that I was riding my bike (my actual hound, not a typical bicycle dream bike) on Rt. 6. That was MUCH scarier! Rt. 6 is bad enough with a car! (I despise Rt. 6.) When I got to Willimantic, I was trying to find the American Thread building (why?? plus, I think it's been out of business for 20+ years), and no one could tell me where it was, so I looked it up on my GPS Guy. :-)
Yesterday we TRIED to go to breakfast at Bethany's Airport Diner on Block Island, but they stop serving breakfast at noon, and we were late by FIVE minutes because Dean got back late from a quickie board meeting to establish the new regime. I bet Dean my wheatback that we wouldn't make it in time and that they wouldn't let us get breakfast, and I won the bet (he was shocked). He failed to bet anything specific, though, so I don't know what I won. (I bet something I really care about, too! Not fair!) Bethany's is officially on my bad list now, because they won't stretch the rules by even a few minutes and make an exception for someone who pleads! Meanies. We abandoned Block completely and went hounding on Nan instead. It was fun (we went on the classic trail, our very first bike trail) and uncrowded, and I got to go to the snake lock store (they don't have snake locks anymore, so ours are extra-special) and I got a fake starfish that looks exactly like a real one (Dean made me get it), but doesn't feel like a real one (it feels rubbery). My shoulder was bothering me, so I wimped out and we didn't go all the way to the end of the trail. But we went 16.77 miles, so that wasn't bad. (Average: 9.6 mph; Max speed: 31.6 mph; Total Time: 1:44'14.) My shoulder feels a lot better today. I must've slept well, with the help of that snake dream. (?!)
