Recipe: Spinach salad

Lorraine is a wonderful, creative chef and one of my main culinary inspirations. (along with
Dragon!)

This salad recipe is adapted from her "Popeye salad". Fennel is in season now and a wonderful vegetable!

4 cups fresh, clean spinach
One bulb fennel, sliced thinly
1/4 small red onion, sliced thinly
1-2 oranges, peeled, and sliced
Some mint leaves (optional)

Optional step: The night before you prepare the salad, slice fennel bulb and store in fridge with some water and mint leaves.

Prepare your salad by adding all of the ingredients. Try adding some mint leaves to the salad too! Dress the salad with olive oil, freshly cracked pepper and sea salt and some balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!
:) LJS


PS: I highly recommend "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan

PPS: Diplomacy through wine? I love it!

Updated 1/17/09 with photos!

More tunes!

Because I mostly refuse to buy into the whole entertainment-industrial complex, I have to wait until new music comes to the local library before I can listen to the bands I really like.

Just borrowed from the library is "Narrow Stairs" by Death Cab for Cutie and "Michigan" from Sufjan Stevens. I am enjoying very much!

Recipe: Broiled Grapefruit

Hurray for citrus season! I love winter because fresh oranges are available for salads, limes for mojitos, and grapefruit for breakfast. If you are bored with cold grapefruit in the mornings, try this delicious variation.
NB: Grapefruit should be at room temperature to ensure even baking.

1 fresh pink grapefruit
brown sugar
cinnamon

1. Set oven to 350C
2. Cut grapefruit in half, remove seeds and section
3. Spread an even, thin, layer of brown sugar over the top. Use the back of a spoon to squeeze the sugar into the fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
4. Bake at 350 for 4-5 minutes
5. Turn the oven up to broil and broil 3-4 minutes, or until the top is browned.
6. Remove from oven and enjoy!

A mint garnish is a delightful addition.

Oh the places we'll go!

First and foremost, I'd like to encourage everyone to read "American Gods" by Neil Gaimon. It's an interesting treatise on how certain places resonate strongly with a person, or a people. For example, why is Wall Drug so darn popular? I had thought that this idea of resonate places is expressed through music, so I did a little experiment with my meager iTUNES library. Check out all the good places!
Leave in the comments your iTUNES places and I'll summarize them next week.
Travel well, :) LJS

Amsterdam	Coldplay
Angel Of Harlem	U2
Avalon	Roxy Music
Back In The U.S.S.R.	The Beatles
Belleville Jungle	Ben Charest
Breakfast In America	Supertramp
Chicago	Sufjan Stevens
Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois	Sufjan Stevens
Dear Chicago	Ryan Adams
Dracula From Houston	Butthole Surfers
El Salvador	Athlete
Galapogos	Smashing Pumpkins
(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66	Nat King Cole
Going To California	Led Zeppelin
Gone Hollywood	Supertramp
India	Roxy Music
Jacksonville	Sufjan Stevens
La Llorona	DeVotchKa
Last Boat To America	David Gray
Laughing River	Greg Brown
Marching Bands Of Manhattan	Death Cab For Cutie
Memphis	Ryan Adams
Mercy Street	Peter Gabriel
Mexicali Blues	Grateful Dead
Montego Bay Spleen	St. Germain
My Blue Manhattan	Ryan Adams
N.Y.	Doves
New Amsterdam	Travis
New York, New York	Ryan Adams
Off Broadway	Ryan Adams
Oh My Sweet Carolina	Ryan Adams
The Only Living Boy In New York	Simon & Garfunkel
Portland Oregon	Loretta Lynn/Jack White
Radio Free Europe	R.E.M.
Savoy Truffle	The Beatles
Streets Of Philadelphia	Bruce Springsteen
Texarkana	R.E.M.
Theme From New York, New York	Frank Sinatra
Via Chicago	Wilco
Viva Las Vegas	Elvis Presley
The White Cliffs Of Dover	The Righteous Brothers

2009 Spring goals

I was feeling quite ambitious a couple of posts ago about my spring running schedule. Then I remembered what got me into so much trouble and pain last year-ambition. So I decided to modify my goals. They're still challenging (4 races in 3 months), but not over the top. It's more important to be healthy and I want to give my left leg a chance to get better. But, if I had wanted to run the Martian half, I would need to start increasing mileage at the end of January and I don't think that it's ready quite yet. January will be booring...slogging through being consistent.
The first two weeks will be no more than 3 miles, 5x/week. The last two weeks, I'll increase to 3 miles, 5x/week.

Here is my modified Spring schedule.

April 7th: A 10K Meteor race in the Martian series of races
April 25th: Road ends 5 mile trail race
May 17th: A half-marathon in Cleveland
June 1st: Dexter-Ann Arbor 10K

Medicinally Modified

{yawn}
I'm waiting for the Sudafed to kick in. Ever since I've been afflicted with the Toddler Germ of Doom, my sinuses have been wrecking havoc on my tender little head. But I hate taking medicine. Hence the conundrum of waiting way too long to take Sudafed and now suffering until my nose is clear and the pill knocks me out. Hopefully soon.

Speaking of 'hopefully soon'-new running shoes are supposed to be here this very week. I am getting a pair of Mizuno Wave Alchemy shoes. The shoes just look bad ass, I love the green! I figure that my current shoes, while not yet quite at the point of completely falling apart, are a source of my chronic weirdo-knee problem. So...new shoes. And, yes! This does mean a contest for best shoe name. I'm thinking of invoking some of the Goonies for this one.

Tomorrow marks the first working day of 2009 and I am...woefully unprepared for it. Heck, I'm not even getting a good night's sleep. During holidays, I tend to get nocturnal...going to bed at 1 or even 2 am. So it's tough to get out of that habit, mostly because it's probablly my natural schedule.

And, tomorrow begins my foray into the Shrinking Piggies. My goal is to lose 10 pounds, but that is really beside the point. I want to critically examine my eating and exercise choices and see what is not healthy and what I can do to making things more healthy and more fun. I did have fun during the holidays though-making cheesecakes, candy and cookies. But I didn't really eat too much of that-it was nice to have it in the house as a treat.

Arrrrgh! :) LJS

Yay for Christmas Redux!

Christmas Redux is going well so far! :)

Merry Christmas, redux

I hereby announce that Christmas will be held (again) in 2 days' time. Some days just really should be done over. Like from scratch.

So, here is my plan for Merry Christmas 2. MC2 for short, or E. Because they ARE equal after all. (heh. nerd humor)

Wake up at a leisurely hour. Take a nice warm shower and put on my favorite comfy clothes. Prepare lattes and crepes. Go out shopping with the MAN for a new pair of running shoes and inserts. Test drive the new shoes for a few miles and relax at the gym. Come home in the late afternoon and make a simple dinner. Enjoy a funny movie with a glass of my favorite sparkling wine. Fall asleep thankful for perfect days, lovely friends, and a wonderful husband.

So, keep up the merry cheer for two more days for your biological sibling-challenged pirate. I'm now accepting applications for the role of LJS sibling. Your primary mission, should you choose to accept it, is to not break my heart with everything you say and do. That, and eat all of my yummy cooking creations. If no applications are received, I'll be drafting people.

The Empress Returns

My favorite feline empress, Kukka Maria, has been back online for a full 9 months and I have only now noticed?? That means I have 9 months' of funny-as-heck blogging to catch up on. So check her out, and she's back on the Blog Roll.

What a fortuitous turn of events! Now I'll have something to actually DO this holiday season. Maybe I can start my thesis. {giggle}

Not that watching someone play video games is boring or anything. And we'll soon be having a visitor who loves video games even more. Thank Ceiling Cat that I didn't look for a Wii.

Oh yeah. Merry Christmas!

Winter symbiosis

What goes better than peanut butter with pancakes, hot cocoa with whipped cream, macaroni with cheese?

Heavy snowfall and a day of baking, in comfy clothes and a Santa hat.

We are in for a Winter BONANZA! Yippee!! Starting tonight after the peoples are nestled all snug in their beds, mother nature will bestow upon us mortals 11 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. Now if the weather people actually have their predictions right, this is looking to be a prime opportunity to "work from home". (forgetting the fact that, yeah, I probably could walk to work)

And by "work from home", I mean finally getting my Christmas baking on. I plan to be making all sorts of delicious goodies that include some cookies, candy, cheesecakes (yes, that's a plural!), and lasagna.

It's a perfect storm of a semi-legit reason to stay at home, procrastination, and a gigantic sweet tooth.

:) LJS

It's the end of an era!

I am less than 12 hours from my last class that I will ever *have to* take. After 11 years of on again/off again classwork, this is a most-welcome conclusion. It's the end of an era folks! And, now I am one step closer to the point where my mom can't pick on me for being a professional student.

I'm also working on a paper for a conference proceeding. It is very tempting to make the whole thing a beta version, because I don't think anyone reads them. But said paper has to be vetted by The Chief, and beta versions simply will not do. I have a reputation to maintain (I think). I just wish I could work in the word "awesome" into one paper..just once.

Watched "Step Brothers" last night. That was one funny, but foul, movie. But I love me some Will Farrell. Seriously, I'd watch that guy read the newspaper.

Stop on over at the Monkey Barn. Hyperion has gift suggestions and a video that is guaranteed to make you smile.

Mostly Tepid Person

David Gregory!?!? {sigh}
_________________________________________________________
I decided to join up with the Shrinking Piggies-a nice group of fellow bloggers who are trying to lose some poundage. Marital bliss and I are getting along very well and, as a result, 15 pounds of happiness have found their way to my...everywhere.

It's never too late or too early to start changing life habits, setting goals and making choices that will make my life better. Me? I enjoy seeing the amazing battle of will power and the couch of doom. Of course, the couch of doom will LOSE. Hahahaha.

My ambitious 2009 goals? Well here we go:
1. 3 half-marathons in the spring (Martian, Cleveland, Ann Arbor-Dexter).
1a. 15-20 miles running/week with consistency, by the end of Jan.
2. Working out 6 days/week. Even if it's *just* a 2 mile walk to the library and back.
3. No desserts except on the weekends.
4. Eat out only 1x/week. 1 mid-afternoon latte/week.

Of course 1 and 1a is all predicated on healthy knees. But, that's what PT is for right?
:) LJS

Christmas Baking

For a few happy Christmas seasons, Hea and I would play hooky, dress in our most comfy jammies and bake cookies all day long. We made anywhere from 6-8 different kinds of cookies and, at the end of the day, we had a 1 foot layer of cookies on her kitchen table. It was all sorts of yummy. At the end of our day, we'd order cheese pizza (extra well-done please) and ogle over our favorite spygirl: Jennifer Garner. I miss Hea all the time, but especially this time of year. Hopefully, she and Yaz will make their own cookies!

Anyhoo, THE MAN and I will be creating our own traditions this year. It's our first year together (as in we're not separated by 1000 km!) and we're planning on making candy and baked goods. I'm thinking of breaking out of the cookie mold, but it will mean that the goods will not last as long. So it'll mean I'll have to share the baked love more quickly.

Some candidates for the Christmas goodies? Gosh, go over to Dragon's kitchen and take your pick! I'm excited about her Caramel Cake with Carmelized Butter Frosting, and Cheesecake Pops. I think I'll still make the Michigan Treasure cookies since they were so yummy.

As for the candy? We're thinking hard candy-maybe some toffee, or peanut brittle, or a ginger/cinamon concoction.

Dunder NASA

Update on Dr. Purr

An update on Dr. Purr: 

I went to the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic on Monday to pick up a copy of Howie's rabies certificate and was so happy to see Dr. Purr. 

He has gained weight and his coat is shiny and pretty. He has some grey in his fur, so he's probably not just 2 years old. And he is playful! 

This is a nice story of what some good food and love in a safe home can do for a cat. Miracle workers, that clinic. He still needs a home. Maybe if I work on the MAN a bit more, Howie can have a brudder. 

:) LJS

Lost in Translation

So with all this news lately about pirates, I've decided to give my pirate crew the holidays off. I have complete faith that they will hijack a nuclear submarine, nuke the bastards that are giving us a bad name, and then return all the stolen booty to their original owners. (Including returning the submarine, DESPITE my oft wanderlust about having such a sub in my fleet.) 

That's my crew. Righteous limeys. The Robin Hoods of the open seas. {sniffle} I'm so proud of them. 

In light of my crew's holiday, I've decided to take a break also. No, the break is not from my already sporatic written musings, which may one day be used against me in a court of law. 

Instead, the break is from being shy. I'm about to get all hate-filled Twinkie here on you, dear reader so I will forgive y'all if you decide to stop reading here. (legal notice: the "hate-filled Twinkie" is a registered trademark of KaplyInc...whom I love dearly and fear regularly)

I've noticed that I'm pretty freaking sick and tired of being the evil genius behind the curtain. I'm pretty darn smarht and cute and charming and personal. When those don't work, I can amaze you with the power of a wooden peg leg. Anyhoo, why should I let people speak for me when I know that I can do just as well or even better? 

(Oh sweet Garfield, I'm not about to invoke Hillary am I? Oh yes.)

I fear that I've lost my voice. And by golly, I'm going to find it. Slackers, dissenters, and asshats watch out. Here comes Lady Jane. 

Something new

Thought it'd be nice to have change here in the Den.
:) LJS

Anything is a nutritional supplement

This is one for all the chemists out there to enjoy a little chuckle:
"Systematic review of the nutritional supplements dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) in the treatment of osteoarthritis"

LOL. Nutritional Supplements.

Thanks to our Heroes

more animals

Go-TV

Hey everyone,
I used to think that GOTV was a television station. Heh. It's not. It means 'get out the vote'. In my support of Go-TV, I am letting all of my officers and ship crew off the boat for the whole day.

I would like to encourage everyone to go out and vote on Tuesday. The lines are going to be long, but be prepared! Bring a water, a puzzle and patience.

Wait in line.

Either way you slice it, this year's election is very important. Your vote, your voice, needs to be heard. There are local, state and federal issues that needs your input.

Wait in line.

:) LJS