Finding inspiration

Check it out:

YouTube: Where Good Ideas Come From

Marc Makes Art: 8 Ways to Find Inspiration

Six Revisions: 10 Unusual Places to Get Design Inspiration

We had a super fun trip to Vashon Island (my first time on Vashon!) to attend the 2012 Low-Tide Celebration. We saw lots of cool marine life that you usually would not see because it's covered with water!  We brought our friends kids, Rhiannon and Nathaniel and everyone had a great time!

As you can see from these pics, there was a huge native American canoe on display and in operation!  Zoe and Rhiannon spontaneously volunteered for the short 30-40 minute trip around Point Robinson and helped paddle as they went.

We ended the day in Lakebay, WA with our friends Ramona and Thad who held an awesomely fun 4th of July party at their waterfront home.

I'd have a fun day if I did nothing but ride the ferry around the Puget Sound all day.  I love riding the ferry.

While we waited to get on the ferry at Point Defiance, the Blue Angels were warming up and practicing their flight maneuvers practically over our heads.  It was fun to watch their trick flying so close up.  They perform later in the day in Seattle.  When I used to work in Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, I remember them buzzing the top of the hill very close and getting rocked by the sounds of their jets.

John Masters Quiche

Put crust in oven for 3-5 minutes until it's soft
Layer bottom w 6 oz Monterey Jack
Layer chopped broccoli, red peppers and onions.
Top w 8 oz mozerella
Mix 6 medium eggs with a splash of milk, a dash of soy/tamari and spices (basil, oregano, salt, pepper)
Add a dash of cinnamon
Make small hole or depression in top middle of mozzarella layer
Slowly pour 2/3 of egg mix into hole, then push mozzarella back over top to close hole.
With a fork, spread the rest over the top of mozzarella layer
Bake at 325-350 for 45-60 minutes.
At 30 minute mark, cut cross in top layer to allow the extra trapped moisture to escape.
Finished when fully golden brown all over top.

Black Sticky Rice Pudding

3/4-cup black sticky rice
2 1/4-cup water
3/4-cup coconut cream
1/4-tsp salt
3 tblsp sugar

Cook rice in water until soft
Heat coconut cream, salt and sugar until just boiling.
Pour most over rice (save some for topping).
Stir all together and let sit until coconut milk is absorbed.
Serve warm with extra coconut milk sauce.

Foul (Fava Beans w Spicy Sauce)

Recipe: Lemon Garlic Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes

Servings: 4

1.5 lbs Melissa's Dutch Yellow Potatoes, halved
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
Juice of one whole lemon
1 tsbp parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 350F.  Place potatoes in an 8"x8" baking dish.  In a small bowl, combine melted butter, garlic, salt, and lemon juice; pour over potatoes and stir to coat.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over potatoes.  Bake, covered, in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Recipe: Seitan

I used to make this in Gainesville - it was suprisingly easy, unexpectedly fun and super-delicious to make - the results are really good - it rivals the quality you'd get at any cafe in town. My friend Mark's fiancee, Janeen, inspired me to get this recipe on my blog so I don't lose it - it's been sitting on 3 little pieces of paper on my desk for years.

Janeen's throwdown challenge is to add flavoring to the seitan - maybe even rival the recipe for Chicken Fried Seitan she shared with me today. Oh - yum!

Seitan

Stock

1 cup tamari

1/2 cup molasses

water

fill pot 3/4 way - get to full boil

Dry Ingredients

5 cups gluten flour

3 tbsp garlic powder

3 tbsp basil

3 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp ground fennel

1 cup nut yeast

Wet Ingredients

5 cups water

1/2 tamari (sic) (I think this is 1/2-cup; check this next time I make recipe)

1-2 ounces of liquid smoke

1). Mix dry batter first

2). Pour in wet batter, mixing constantly, until a dough is formed (don't use all the wet batter).

3). Knead dough for 5-10 min to get out the air packets. Slap and throw and spank it into long loaves.

4). Cut into five slices.

5). Boil for 50-55 minutes.

Alexandria!

Rick Steves recent podcast covers Alexandria, Egypt where I'll be going in December.

It led me to the NOVA episode, "Treasures of the Sunken City" which documents the discovery and mapping of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the world and once the tallest manmade structure on Earth.

I'm also looking forward to exploring the library in Alexandria, Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Recipe: Banini

Recipe

Banini (favorite of vegan crusty kids everywhere)

3-4 frozen bananas
1 ripe banana
1/4-1/2 cup carob powder
1-2 tsp vanilla
ice water
4 tblsp tahini

Put frozen naners in blender with a little ice water and blend until combined but not very much. Add remaining ingredients then blend until creamy; add water until desired consistency is achieved. Yum!!

Recipe: Hummus

Recipe

Hummus
2 cans garbanzos
1/3 cup bean liquid
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbls tahini
2 tbls olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Puree garbs, adding bean liquid and lemon juice. Blend until slightly creamy - add garlic, tahini, olive oil, salt & pepper. Blend again until desired consistency

I last posted in July 2009?! Eh, sorry about that. Although, I have no new years resolution to blog more. So, no promises, OK?

Here's a recent pic of Zoe and Solome (Zoe is a panic):

We went tubing last weekend. See for yourself.

Fun was had by all - as you can see.

Time in China

For those that want to know what time it is in China, where my dad is, here is a handy clock that will tell you! For those that want to calculate it themselves, they're 16 hours ahead of us.

The other cool trick is to type into Google - "What time is it in China?" and it will tell you above the first search result.

Beijing

My Solome!

What Would a Health Overhaul Cost? All Eyes on the CBO
Washington Post, June 11, 2009
by Lori Montgomery

"(CBO Director Doug) Elmendorf acknowledged that health reform is especially challenging. The CBO is much better at measuring incremental changes than measuring fundamental reforms, which, by their nature, require the agency to make decisions based on scant or preliminary evidence. A team of 50 people is working on health reform, in consultation with a panel of 21 outside experts."

TARP Money at Work in Thurston County

Listening to NPR the other day do a story on the dollars being spent by the federal government stimulus led me to recovery.org, which you can drill into by state and county to see where the federal dollars are being spent and on what.

The NPR piece talked about how the company, Onvia, is running a better "recovery dollar tracking" website that the government itself (their is at recovery.gov).

Here are some interesting project on the list for Thurston County - I still haven't figured out if they're actually going to happen or not - help anyone?

1. City of Tumwater - Capitol Boulevard Sidewalk and Bike Lane Project ($158,000 Te)
2. City of Lacey - Lacey Woodland Regional Trail ($6,965 Te)
3. Multiple projects for the Olympic National Forest

Zoe Rides a Bike!!

... and here's proof!!

There's my Zoë!

March 15th Freak Snow

Whazzat?!

Solome Walks!!