Slice of Pink

Jam Packed with Fun

Will and I went to the Yolo County Fair last night to look at the livestock, listen to some music, eat bigger-than-my-head cotton candy, and drink some cold beer. I just love a county fair. The photos are here.

If you want to hear me reminisce about fair time--particularly those of you familiar with the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival--check out my guest post at Legal Ruralism. I'm over there being all academic. Except not really. It's basically just me, but with more complete sentences and commas than usual.

To Clarify

Aren't you afraid of going into law?

No, not really. Why would I be afraid?

You know, you'll have to deal with criminals and stuff.

Well, maybe. But, so?

And, like, aren't you afraid to carry a gun and have to arrest people?

Dude, I am going into law. Not law enforcement.

Whip It Up: Week 6

The worst part about this recipe--this delicious, refreshing summer cocktail recipe--is that I am telling it to you at the end of the summer. I actually only just discovered this drink when I was at Rye last month, otherwise I swear I would have shared it sooner. I also would not have spent June drinking Jose Cuervo pre-mixed margaritas.

I don't have an exact recipe for this drink, but I watched the bartender very closely. I'm not going to give you precise measurements, because I don't know any precise measurements. And, also, I think once you get the basic idea you can add more sugar or more lime juice or more vodka to make it sweeter, tarter, or, um, more alcoholic to your liking.  I'll also provide a link at the end for a real recipe with actual measurements for those of you who are, like, WTF? I NEED preciseness! I NEED unambiguous instructions! I NEED exact details! To which I say: WHOA, you definetely NEED this drink. Maybe three or four of them. And maybe some therapy.

Here's what you are going to need: limes, fresh basil, simple syrup, vodka, ice.

Let's make two drinks. You'll want to make four, but only two fit in the shaker so start with two.

Squeeze three limes into a cocktail shaker. Add four or five fresh basil leaves and some simple syrup. Maybe 1/8 cup of the simple syrup, give or take. Mash the ingredients together to release the basil flavor. This will also create itty bitty bits of basil that will make the drink pretty.

Add two (or three) generous shots of vodka and a bunch of ice to the lime-basil-sugar mixture and shake. Shake, shake, shake.

Strain into a glass, garnish with a sprig of basil if you want to be fancy, and enjoy!

If you don't like basil, you could try it with mint leaves instead, which I guess would be a sort of vodka twist on the mojito. If you run out of simple syrup, just pour some granulated sugar into the shaker and add a bit of water.

There's a "real" recipe for a Basil Vodka Gimlet at Epicurious, although it's not quite the same and uses lemon instead of limes. Go with the limes, people. Go with the limes.

Common Grounds

You know you live in a college town when your barista can explain to you the chemical composition and nutritional benefits of coffee, not just because he is trying to sell you a cup, but because he is a freaking toxicology major who spends the other part of his day in a campus laboratory studying the effects of chemicals on living organisms. Oh, and he plays chess and studies for the Graduate Record Exam when there is no milk to foam or tea to brew. 

More of Our Dirty Laundry

Our washing machine broke the day before we left on vacation.

Luckily, my mom sent us home with suitcases full of clean clothes. I don't know how she does it, but about ten minutes after you throw a dirty towel on the floor or toss a t-shirt into the hamper, it magically appears, neatly folded, on the edge of the bed. Although we were gone for ten days, the only dirty laundry we returned home with were the clothes on our bodies.

But it has been well over a week since we arrived back in Davis, and there is now a mountain of laundry in the hallway. And one in the bathroom. And some dirty items on my closet floor. We had visitors, so we've dirtied every towel and blanket we own. Will started working out at a new gym, so the stinky socks are piling up.

We've reported the problem, but it is the end of the lease season in this college town, and we are not very high on the list of maintenance priorities. It's looking like Saturday is the earliest we'll be able to use the washer again. Maybe.

Obviously, the situation sucks. On the other hand, I kind of like not having to do the laundry and totally not feeling bad about it. I mean, what is there to do but just let it pile up for the rest of the week?  I don't feel bad when I step over the pile because there is nothing I can do about it.  I guess I could go to the laundromat or hand wash in the bathtub but, seriously? I don't think so.

I'll just sit here, have a cocktail, and wait. And if it takes another week? I'll drive down to Target and buy myself some new items to make it through a tough situation. What's a girl to do, right?

Whip It Up: Week Five

This week I am going to be whipping up a vegan pasta dish for y'all. My original plan was to whip up a fancy cocktail for you but, seriously, I have been extra-drunk all week so I can't even think about having another basil vodka gimlet at this point. Maybe next week.

So, I am making vegan pasta. Not just vegan pasta, but vegan pasta with whole wheat penne. Like, the ultra-healthy crap. What has gotten in to us?

All this stuff is going to be made into a sauce.

Simply dump all the ingredients into the Magic Bullet and bullet it until creamyish. You should definitely chop the sun-dried tomatoes a bit before trying to bullet them. I speak from experience.

Voila! Sauce! Add it to the drained pasta, put some artichokes on top, garnish with some basil.

This recipe is quite easy, quite good, and quite vegan. If you like that sort of thing. If not, come back next week for a cocktail.

So Would Not Have Flown in NYC

On our anniversary trip this year, Will and I opted to go for the mid-week special that our bed and breakfast offered. For an additional $75, we would get a lunch and a dinner added to our stay, with all the details worked out for us. 

We had the lunch first, a lovely meal at the Historic Upham Hotel. Will had an Anaheim Chile stuffed with some vegetables and rice, I had a pasta dish. The whole thing was $35, but we didn't have to pay since we had some certificate printed up as part of our package deal. 

The following day was the dinner and we were instructed to show up at a place called Downey's at 7 o'clock in the evening.  We figured on a similar sort of experience--nice, but casual. Let's do the math: if  we paid $75 extra for the two meals and subtracted $35 for the lunch, there should be about $40 left for dinner. Maybe a little more, since it was the "special" and all. Nice, but casual. 

Will put on a t-shirt, some jeans, and some flip-flops. I put on a dress, but only because I always wear a dress, and we walked down to the place. Here we are on the way:

Will is wearing a black t-shirt, I am carrying an enormous handbag. And just like that we walked right into one of Santa Barbara's finest four-star restaurants. Who knew.

The meal was fabulous, with lots of delicious courses which, seriously, took three hours to get through.  There was a cheese course involved--a whole part of the meal set aside specifically to eat cheese (hello!)--and some seriously incredible desserts.  Our seventeen waiters were very nice and I think there was one person who had the single job of refolding napkins when people got up to use the restroom. Both times that I went off to pee (three hours of drinking wine and coffee!), my napkin was refolded all fancy-like before I got back to the table.

Our $50 estimate was dead-off, with the tip alone being practically that much. And, yet, nobody even blinked an eye at the flip-flops. While plenty of people were wearing suit jackets, one guy had on a hippie shirt and another was wearing a bright shirt with a fish pattern.  

People, if you want to drink $100 bottles of wine in your Tommy Bahama clothing, California is totally where it's at. 

Eating at Harry's Plaza Cafe

What Will ordered: some sort of sesame-crusted fancy fish with wonton cracker wings in a pool of sesame sauce.

What I ordered: Mac and Cheese.

I'm just going to admit this right here and now: if there is macaroni and cheese on the menu, I'm getting it. I've ordered it twice this week already. And it's only Thursday.

Krispy Kreme: A Retrospective

Five years of anniversary doughnuts and the wedding stack that started it all.

Calendar Girls

In two weeks, my sister is moving into her college dorm where she'll be sharing a room with an assigned roommate.  Somebody in housing has a sense of humor because April's roommate is named May. 

I'm Half Crazy, All for the Love of You

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary and I can still convince Will to take super-cheesy photos with me. Life is good.

Whip It Up: Week Four

It is week four of the Whip It Up Challenge and I am reporting live from my mom's house this week.  Last night, my sister and I searched the Food Network website for recipes involving berries because there were two huge bags of berries in my mom's freezer just begging to be made into some sort of berry pie or cobbler.

We had plans to visit a photography exhibit and go out for lunch, however, so we were looking for something that would be super quick and easy as pie. Turns out that pie? Not so easy. Slow Berry Cobbler? Easy.

So, we put mixed some berries, some sugar, and some baking mix in a bowl and poured it all into the Crockpot.

My mom then reminded us that we needed to spray the insert of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, which we had failed to read in the recipe instructions (and there seems to be some dispute about who was actually relaying the directions when we were on STEP ONE of the recipe), so we dumped the mixture back into the bowl, cleaned out the insert, sprayed the insert, and poured the berry mix back in.

Then we made some sort of topping mixture, using baking mix, butter, a bit of milk, and some sugar. We put that mixture on top of the berries.  There was an incident involving the sugar, which seriously involved breaking out the vacuum to get it cleaned up, but there was enough sugar leftover to sprinkle the whole shebang with more sugar and cinnamon. 

The cobbler cooked while we were out on the town, with my sister calling my mom each hour to get a progress report on our concoction. When my mom reported that the topping was browned and the berries were bubbly, we hurried home from shopping at Target to dish it up.

Everyone agreed: the recipe was delicious.

Giraffe 101

If I had one of those 101 in 1001 lists on this blog--you know, where you think of 101 things that you are going to accomplish in 1001 days--I would definitely have put "feed a giraffe apple biscuits" right at the top of the list. 

And, also, I would make a note to wear my yellow-orange giraffe feeding dress. I mean, obviously.

Even though I haven't written down the 101 in 1001 list, I do have it right here in my head, and I am thrilled to report that I have crossed off another item. Feed a giraffe apple biscuits. Check. Done. Did it. 

Giraffe is looking for more biscuits and so not cooperating for the group photo shot. Good thing that I didn't have "take a group photo with a giraffe" on that list in my head because, boy, that would not have been good.

Also not on my list: brush a giraffe's hair, buy a giraffe a commemorative coin collection, make a giraffe-themed iTunes mix.

On my list? Well, I'll tell you. "Ride a tandem bike" is on there and I have a sneaking suspicion that if y'all check back soon, I might very well rent a bicycle built for two. 

July Love

Marc Boutavant, visiting with friends and family, fresh basil, the incredibly tacky Photo Basement, Jello Time, Jessica Battram Apple Slicer, Santa Barbara, giraffes, bottle cap tripod, the Starbucks club card (free soy upgrades!), One Lucky Helen.

Who's Number One?

Last night at dinner, my grandma was discussing taking all of her children--my dad and my three aunts--on a cruise next year. She kept referring to the trip as the "adult trip," meaning that all the grandkids--myself and my eight cousins--would be left at home. 

"I am an adult, you know," I pointed out to her, waving my cocktail in the air. 

"I know you are," she laughed. "But if I take you, I'd have to take the eight others, too."

"But, gramma, I'm not just your grandchild--I'm also gonna be your lawyer."

"That is true," she agreed.

Overhearing the conversation, my cousin Mike joined in. Mike--by far the tallest and sturdiest of my cousins--had me beat.

"If you take me, gramma," he promised, "I'll make sure none of the others get on the boat."

Whip It Up: Week Three

That, there, would be a device called a Crock Pot.

Now, the only thing we ever use a Crock Pot for is to cook a big batch of meatballs for a party. Since this is a recipe post, I might as well pause for a moment and tell you that my meatball recipe consists of a bag of Costco meatballs, two jars of chili sauce, and a big jar of grape jelly. Party meatball recipes are pretty easy. Basically, there is a list of party meatball ingredients--grape jelly, Coca-Cola, ketchup, chili sauce, apricot jam--and you choose two that sound really weird together, pour them in a Crock Pot with the balls, and you have a party appetizer in four to six hours.

But today we are not going to be making meatballs because a) we have been very good vegetarians, mostly; b) there are only three ingredients involved in the meatball recipe which would be a total cop out (the lower limit is four ingredients); and c) meatballs should be reserved for parties.  We need that last rule or I just might eat party meatballs everyday.

So, instead, we are making vegetarian chili. This requires a boatload of ingredients.

And a boatload of chopping.

I only cut up one mushroom and then Will took over the chopping. Am I still completing the Whip It Up Challenge if my husband does all the work? I was managing the whole production so I totally think it counts.

Also, you have to open a boatload of cans. I would suggest getting one of those electric can openers for this recipe. Or maybe do some push-ups to get ready for all that manual can opening. It's hard work.

The Official Whip It Up Apron from Sara keepin' me clean.

You have to cook some stuff up in a fryin' pan and then you dump all the cans and vegetables and some other things I can't remember because I think by this point I was over on the couch reading a magazine while Will took over (upper management is the way to go, folks) and then you dump it into the Crock Pot and cook it forever (i.e. 6 hours). Clearly, you must know you are going to want to eat this, like, way in advance. Who does that?

So, the chili was pretty good, although, I think "chili" is a bit of a misnomer. It does not taste like Hormel or Cattle Drive, is what I mean, and if that is what you are looking for, well, this is probably not the way to go.  But it is loaded with good-for-you things and way better for you than a tub full o' meatballs.

The recipe, adapted from Seprah who adapted it from Delicious Delicious (so, basically, it is totally not the same recipe anymore), is after the jump.

The Proof!

Despite failing to take any photos at BlogHer (and, yet, my camera currently has photos of the produce at Safeway on it--don't I know what is just fascinating?), I have managed to scrounge up a few photos so you can see that, yes, I did wear some pink. Isn't that what you are always wondering? Does Slice of Pink wear pink? The answer is no, not usually. But I packed every last pink thing I owned for this trip.

Here I am at Rye with Zandria and Everyday Goddess (behind the camera), drinking basil gimlets and eating free Luna Bars.

I located this photo over at ji design. That very lovely purple and pink purse peeking out from behind me? Later that very day I would dump a macaroni salad into it. And what didn't go into my purse, went right onto Zandria's foot.

Jen sent me this photo from the night that involved tuna tartare, caviar, foie gras, champagne, and one very expensive mojito that I promptly spilled all over the carpet of Michael Mina. By the way, Michael Mina is way classy, in case the man in the background (white hat, red jersey) led you to think otherwise. I, personally, was wearing a silky pink and black skirt with abstract tulip print so I totally was pretending that $1000 champagne was, like, so not a big deal. Gulp.

So, there you have it. I drank some drinks, spilled some things, made some friends, wore some pink, and stole some photos to prove it.

Lushcious

Drinks I drank at BlogHer '08:

1. White Wine (2)
2. Basil Vodka Gimlet (3)
3. Lemon Drop (4)
4. Raspberry Martini (1)
5. Red Wine (2)
6. Expensive Champagne (2)
7. Cheap Champagne (1)
8. Mojito (1, sort of)
9. Hot Chocolate Shot (1)

In other words, if I met you at BlogHer, I was probably tanked and talking about the Westin's peach wallpaper or how ghetto my business cards were (made those super sophisticated suckers myself for under $10). I was just CLASS ALL THE WAY.

I have stories to tell, but sadly no photos. I was too busy managing my cocktails and piles of macaroon cookies to get a camera out.

Macaronied

With the exception of a macaroni salad incident, in which I dumped macaroni salad into my purse and onto Zandria's foot (and after she took me to the most fabulous lounge, Rye, where I enjoyed free basil vodka gimlets no less!), the BlogHer conference is quite splendid. 

Zandria and I are still friends, despite the fact that I macaronied her, and we are currently collecting free condoms in the Sex and Relationship session. 

Hello to new friends who are visiting Slice of Pink for the very first time! I am so, so happy to have you.

Whip It Up: Week Two

It is week two of the Whip It Up Challenge and, true to my word, I made something that did not require the oven or stove top. I selected a recipe called Raspberry Summer Sensation, a layer-type concoction involving sorbet, pudding mix, and Cool Whip.

I walked over to the market to pick up the ingredients--milk, pudding mix, raspberry sorbet, Cool Whip, and raspberries--and I had located the first four when I discovered that the store was out of fresh raspberries. I returned to the frozen aisle to look at my options and made an executive decision to go peach. There were about fourteen tons of peaches in the produce section.

I bought the sorbet that saves the honeybees.

I walked home in the sweltering heat so the sorbet and the Cool Whip were nice and softened. I spread the pint of sorbet in the bottom of a bread pan lined with some parchment paper. By the way, how great is parchment paper? Love it.

In a large bowl, I Whipped Up some milk and pudding mix, folded in a tub of Cool Whip, and layered that on top of the sorbet. And then it had to freeze for a very long time.

Now, one of the items that I am supposed to address is whether I would make this recipe again. And the answer is no, at least not the peach version. Not because it didn't taste good--it really did--but it was not very aesthetically pleasing. This flesh-colored peach sorbet, while quite tasty, just wasn't pretty. It was a fine color, but there was no contrast between the pudding mixture and the sorbet. The fruit didn't really match. It didn't look summer sensationy.  And isn't that what it's all about? Looks?

I "cook" with Cool Whip, people, pretty is all I've got going on. And this ain't cutting it.
 

 I did try to brighten it up with some blueberries.

If you like Cool Whip, pudding, and sorbet type recipes, you should check out the original recipe for Raspberry Summer Sensation.  It has the potential to be quite lovely, don't you think?  I would totally make it again with raspberry sorbet, strawberry sorbet, chocolate sorbet. I admit it: I only like the pretty sorbets.

Ten Things You Can Still Legally Do While Driving Your Car in California

1. Eat noodles with chopsticks

2. Blog

3. Shop jcrew.com

4. Watch reruns of Three's Company

5. Text

6. Read The New Yorker

7. Clip your fingernails

8. Attempt to find enough dimes and nickels to purchase a milkshake

9. Clean out your purse

10. Apply false eyelashes

Ghettolicious

Our town is a little bit on the hoity-toity side--highly educated, insulated, relatively affluent--which is why it was pretty surprising to see a man clipping his fingernails in Starbucks this evening. But, you know, he was doing it while enjoying an espresso in his Columbia sportswear.

You Don't Have No Ice Cream

A few weeks back, Will ordered Eddie Murphy Delirious from Netflix. I found the 70-minute stand-up comedy routine mostly offensive and, in the end, I watched only a portion of it before I fell asleep and dreamed in foul language of tight red leather and gold bling. 

I did see one part of the show--the delirious ice cream skit--which, at the time, I found mildly funny. Since then, however, the routine has grown on me exponentially because every time, every single time, Will and I hear the music of the ice cream man, we bust into the routine. Sometimes we bust into the routine when we are getting ice cream out of our own freezer.  Sometimes we do the routine in the grocery store when we are picking out some ice cream sandwiches. And sometimes we do it for no reason except that it gets funnier every damn time. 

It is so stupid this routine, basically consisting of this:

ICE CREAAAAMMMM! ICCCEE CREEAAAAAAAM! 

And then a little dance, with this:

I have some ice cream. I have some ice cream. I'm gonna eat it. You don't have no ice cream. 

Despite the profound stupidity of it, I highly suggest you watch the skit with someone you love, preferably when your kids and bosses are not around, and see if you can help yourself from yelling out ICCCCE CREEAAAM! next time you hear the jingle of the ice cream truck. Like me, here, embarrassing myself at the Farmer's Market. I cannot help myself.

Trust me. You'll be dancing on the frozen aisle of the grocery store in no time. Just please, refrain from wearing tight red leather with gold bling. Or, if you do, please post it for us all to see. 

Whip It Up: Week One

It's week one of the Whip It Up Challenge. I decided to make a dish from Everyday Food, Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Roasted Asparagus. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? Yet, it was so simple. 

I washed up some asparagus, placed it on a baking sheet, dotted it with some margarine, sprinkled it with some salt and pepper, and placed it in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Honestly, I only tossed once because hot damn, was it burning up in the kitchen and opening the oven was so not helping.

Meanwhile, I was boiling some pasta on the stovetop, adding to the rising kitchen temperature. The recipe called for cavatappi, but I didn't see that at the market, so I went with campanelle. The words look similar enough.  

I put some goat cheese, some margarine, and some of the pasta water in a bowl and I Whipped It Up! Obviously, while wearing my Official Whip It Up Apron from Sara. 

After cutting up the asparagus into 2-inch-ish pieces, I combined the drained pasta, the cheese sauce, and the asparagus bits.

Voila! Easy-yet-fancy Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Roasted Asparagus. I was supposed to garnish with chives, but we were out, so I added some black pepper and called it good. 

It was quite tasty and paired nicely with white wine. I have no idea what that even means, really, but that's what I drank it with. I'd totally make it again, and maybe try it with red. 

The recipe is here, if you can stand the heat in the kitchen. Up next week: something not involving the oven or stovetop.

Fourth on the Seventh

Due to the death of my hard drive, followed by the  online appointment-making with an Apple Genius, followed by the subsequent moment in which Will took some sushi out of the fridge and was pouring himself a little dish of soy sauce, followed by a dramatic freak-out by me (OMG. You are so not eating sushi right now. Right now? Really? Are you serious? We have an appointment at Apple in one hour! At a mall that is 25 minutes away! Plus Parking! OMGhurryhurryhurry!), followed by cranking out a lost research paper, followed by the consumption of many Drumstick Vanilla Caramel Sundae Cones and extra large fountain beverages, I forgot to tell you about my Fourth of July. 

It appears that my hard drive was dead on the Fourth of July, but I was not aware of that fact yet, as I was hanging out downtown, being all peace-love-and-patriotic with the rest of the community.

We started at the Davis Little League All-You-Can-Eat Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast and then headed over to Central Park for the children's parade. The parade must have lasted about four minutes, because we were ten minutes late and they were already holding the awards ceremony. 

We spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon watching the Davis Fourth of July Criterium, which can be summarized by the following equation: hundreds of muscular people in tight shorts + bicycle riding at 30-plus mph + $8000 bicycles + crashing into the pavement = a good time had by all. 

It is customary to spend my fourth of Julys looking at beefy men. 

We also ate some ice cream, listened to Custom Neon, and watched the fireworks down at the community park. I believe it was the very first instance of a fireworks show that did not include a rendition of Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. In other words, it was fantastic. 

There are more photos of my 4th here. 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I have decided to order the Low-fat Strawberry Coffee Cake at Starbucks, when I make the mistake of asking the girl at the counter if it's good. 

"I don't like cream cheese and it has cream cheese," she responds. "You should get the blueberry coffee cake."

But I'm not so much a fan of blueberry breakfast cakes and, when I tell her so, she decides that I should definitely go with the cinnamon. Definitely. The strawberry is pretty gross.

Thing is, I want the strawberry. Why do I even ask if I'm not interested in opinions? 

The strawberry? Was good. 

Tragic Irony, Or Something Like That

You know what is just awesome in the most awesome of awesomeist ways? 

When your computer breaks on THE VERY DAY that your Apple Care Warranty Bullshit expires. 

Awesome.

Did I mention the awesome? 

Update: Crashed hard drive. Dead. Croaked. Awwweeesssooooome. Looks like I'll be working 'round the clock for the next few days to catch up on lost work. Right after I go purchase myself an external hard drive. Too little, too late. 

Update: The nice people at Apple are extending my warranty for an additional day. They are awesome--and this time I really mean it. Totally, not-sarcastically awesome. 

Update: It was SO this: 

Happy Fourth!

{Flag, Jasper Johns, 1954-55}

{World's Fair, Fireworks from U.S. Steel Building platform, Gottscho-Schleisner, 1939}

Strange3

I'll try most anything once. There are plenty of things I'll probably never do again--eat oysters (gross), tube down the Kern River without a life jacket (stupid), watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (boring)--but I am totally not against giving something a chance.

Here are three things that I think I need to try. 

{Pickle pops! I really love pickles. But a pickle pop? Really?}

{This would be a Neti Pot and, if you haven't already, you should go check out the video of what this awesomely weird device does. I promise you this: if I ever have the opportunity to try a Neti Pot, I will take a video and put it on the internet for you to see.}

{Kathryn made me go with her to Walmart one night and I found this Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla Creme Cake, a concoction that looks absolutely disgusting, although I suspect it would be the type of thing that you'd have another slice of anyway.}

Have you tried any of these items? 

Honey Do

Have you heard about the honeybee crisis? How the bees are disappearing from their hives at alarming rates? You can learn all about the situation here at Help the Honeybees. 

If you are thinking this is no big thing, that who cares about a bunch of stupid bees, anyway, you are wrong. Bees are vital. Think about this: 

+ One out of every three bites an average American takes is directly attributed to honeybee pollination!

+ Albert Einstein predicted that the human race could survive only four years without bees!

+ Over a third of U.S. hives have been abandoned by the bees!

and

+ Hello! Honey comes from bees. Sticky, delicious honey. 

 

There is a very important point to all this and that is the sweet way that you can help.  Next time you are at the market, pick up a pint of Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream.  A portion of the proceeds is going to help the honeybees. In fact, a large portion of the money is coming to the UC Davis Honey Bee Research Facility. 

I have a pint in my freezer right now and I'm declaring that calories don't count when you're saving the bees. 

{You can also help save the bees with Burt's Bees Lip Balm, Help Bees Get Busy t-shirts, or by joining The Great Sunflower Project.}

My Summer Uniform Has Arrived

The most adorable apron arrived in the mail--a gift from my very talented friend Sara, who sewed it herself. The timing was absolutely perfect because next week I start the blogging challenge Whip It Up. I must have signed up for Whip It Up after too many margaritas because they are totally going to expect me to cook things and then tell you about it here. Sounds to me like a whole lot of pressure. 

At least I'll look cute Whipping It Up in my stylish new apron. How much do you love the pink rickrack detail and the pink crystals on the bib? It's just so fabulous! 

Thanks Sara!

June Love

Currently, I am loving:

The Evolution of Dance, Yeondoo Jung's Wonderland photographs, playing Banangrams at the kitchen table, 41 real science experiments, ripe raspberries, Shop-a-matic, margaritas (on the rocks, please), Swirl, receiving (and sending!) snail mail, The Giving Life, iced Strawberry Milkshake Coffee from Harry & Davis (sadly, no longer available online), meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting.

{photograph from fine furious life}

Five Times Five

Five things I purchased this weekend: Costco bottle of Jose Cuervo Golden Margaritas, headboard, shampoo, sandals, striped skirt. 

Five things I read this weekend: People, Us Weekly, Martha Stewart Weddings, In Touch, blogs.

Five tasks I accomplished this weekend: booked a hotel room for BlogHer, made a dental appointment, finished up a memo, found a missing Netflix DVD, bought a bike helmet.

Five things we ate this weekend: Mango yogurt at Swirl, Chipotle, fried green onion bread, Ultimate English Muffins, homemade Chinese food.

Five things on-deck for the upcoming week: hair appointment, work projects, lunch dates, carpet steam-cleaning, 4th of July fun.

Fun with Fractions

Twice so far this summer, Will and I have made a batch of cookies, both of which we ate in bed while watching old episodes of Entourage on DVD late at night.

On both cookie baking occasions--one peanut butter, one oatmeal raisin--we used the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and, on both occasions, we made only a quarter of the recipe. Who needs the 48 cookies that the full batch produces? No thanks.

So, where the recipe called for 2 cups of oatmeal, we put in only 1/2 a cup. Where the recipe called for 1 cup of butter, we put in only 1/4 cup.  This is relatively simple when the recipe calls for a single cup of something, but gets decidedly more complex when you need 1/4 of 3/4 of a cup of flour (that would be 3/16 of a cup, for the non-math majors). Even trickier is cutting teaspoons of things into quarters and, worst of all, figuring out how to add 1/4 of an egg.

Despite all this, both batches of cookies turned out fantastic, a miracle considering that our kitchen endeavors are largely disastrous. Plus, we brushed up on fractions, finally answering the age old question, "when am I ever going to use this?"

Chilly

Because Will keeps the air conditioning at about two degrees below zero, I so need this sweater. Do you think I could wear it to the movies, too? 

{Vincent Fournier via Swiss Miss}

My Davis

Real Simple has a fantastic My Hometown feature, where insiders share what's not to be missed about their cities.  The problem is: only 14 cities are listed, leaving the vast majority of America unrevealed. Last year, I told you about My Santa Barbara; today, I am telling you about My Davis. 

I'm hoping that you will also participate! Pretty please create a post on your blog telling us about your hometown--the place you currently live or the place you grew up, whichever you prefer--and send me the link. I'll post all of the links on a permanent page, that way, we will have great insider advice for the places we go. Need more inspiration? See RA's My Kennett Square and Janet's My DC!

My Davis: Janet Wallace 

Age: 28 

Occupation: Law Student 

I've lived here for: One Year 

I live here because: I am a student at UC Davis School of Law 

My neighborhood: South Davis 

My favorite restaurant: Cafe Bernardo 

If you go to this restaurant, be sure to order: The Amaretto French Toast 

My favorite museum: John Natsoulas Art Gallery 

My favorite tourist destination: UC Davis Arboretum 

Best insider spot: Wednesday evening at the Farmer's Market 

My favorite area: Downtown 

Best place to go shopping: Nestware and Pinkadot

When you visit, don’t forget to pack: Casual clothing 

But leave room in your suitcase for: Some Aggie gear

The one local cuisine you should try when you’re in town is: fresh fruit at the farmer's market

The best way to get around: Bicycle--in Davis, bicycles are more prolific than people!

If I had to describe this city in one word, it would be: Friendly! Davis was named one of the five friendliest cities in America. 

I tell my friends to stay at: Palm Court--or with me. 

The one thing most outsiders don’t know about this city is: Davis is the second most educated city in America. 

They say “Virginia is for lovers.” So fill in the blank: Davis is for bicycle-riding-tree-hugging families.

Eating Our Greens

On Friday night, Will decided that he was going vegetarian for seven days, Saturday to Saturday, a decision prompted by something he read in ESPN magazine about vegetarian athletes recovering faster. I figured I'd play along, since it's not like I am going to grill myself a steak or order a basket of chicken wings alone.  

The last time we experimented with vegetarianism was on a trip to Atlanta, quite possibly the worst ever place to be vegetarian what with all the delicious barbecue everywhere. We lasted for, like, two whole hours. It's not like you can order a spinach salad at Daddy D'z BBQ Joynt. They would laugh at you. And then it would come battered and fried anyway, so you might as well just get the pulled pork with a side of macaroni and cheese and try being vegetarian some other time.

We went down to the local fruit stand yesterday and picked up some fruits and vegetables. We also got some fresh apple salsa, a weird and surprisingly delicious treat that tastes a little bit like apple pie, but with onions and peppers and garlic. I bought one of those individually packed giant pickles.

Will likes to do things to the extreme--so he is also cutting out soda, sugar, and movie popcorn. Not me. I'm going vegetarian this week, not crazy.

Pink Goes {Coral}

Isn't coral so lovely? I'll take one of each, please.

The details are here, but I warn: do not fall in love with the coral bowl unless you have $430 to blow on a pretty dish. There was that IRS stimulus check. 

Forty Something

Nicole posted a prompt whereby we are supposed to list 40 things that happened in the last month and then look back and discuss our favorite. 

I can never follow a program precisely, so following are 40 things that have happened so far in June, a task that took decidedly longer than I anticipated.  Furthermore, being too indecisive to choose one favorite among the list, I propose this: if there is anything you need to know more about, please say so in the comments and I will prepare an extended discussion after which you will officially know everything about my life. Well, almost.

So far this June, I have: 

1. Made orange creamsicle smoothies.
2. Ordered bananagrams.
3. Went to the post office at least four times.
4. Watched Maxed Out.
5. Visited the local library.
6. Bought delicious strawberries at the Farmer’s Market.
7. Found Will’s missing wallet. It was at Wendy's.
8. Studied rural drug addiction.
9. Started reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
10. Watched all three seasons of Arrested Development.
11. Witnessed a game-winning grand slam.
12. Sewed some fabric birds.
13. Ate at Chipotle. Four times. So far. 
14. Had some picnic dinners in the park.  
15. Shared a bottle of wine with Mary. 
16. Met friends for coffee. 
17. Saw Indiana Jones, which was bad. Really bad.
18. Edited things on Wikipedia. 
19. Watched Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices. 
20. Went on a 15 mile bike ride.
21. Found a nearby fruit stand that makes incredible fruit freezes.     
22. Listened to some live music. 
23. Met up with some old robotics friends for lunch.  
24. Bought some Spotted Dick pudding. 
25. Wrote some memos.  
26. Bought a new mop.
27. Baked banana bread. 
28. Ruined a batch of brownies.
29. Baked a replacement batch of brownies. 
30. Slept in. And in. And in. And in.
31. Called the number on the back of receipts to get free things. 
32. Neglected the 10 minute clean up. 
33. Ate free popcorn.
34. Watched the Lakers lose. 
35. Walked to the gas station to get Strawberry Shortcake bars.
36. Bought fabric to sew an A's jersey for my cat. 
37. Went to the Outlet Mall. Bought nothing. 
38. Wore skirts and dresses.
39. Made mint ice cubes. 
40. Drank beer at Sophia's Thai Kitchen.

Oops, We Did it Again

Back in April, we received a coupon for a free Habit burger in the mail and, if you remember, we proceeded to retrieve two dozen more coupons from the recycle bin in front of the apartment mail boxes. 

We ate a lot of Habit that month. 

Looks like this month we will be eating a lot of Chipotle. 

A coupon--free burrito bowl, burrito, or tacos--arrived on Friday and due to diligent daily rummaging in the paper bin, we have retrieved nearly twenty more coupons. Why are people throwing away free tacos? It's practically a six dollar bill! 

Funny, just last week Will was saying how he largely disliked Chipotle; suddenly, it's his very favorite place to dine.

Emergency Situations

1. Our grocery store does not carry the White Chocolate Pudding mix that is necessary to make my favorite-ever pie. It's tragic, really. I think I might have to order a case from Amazon. How long does pudding mix stay fresh, anyway? 

2. I've got a ticket to BlogHer and no hotel room booked yet. I'd totally like to stay at the Westin, but only if I can get someone to split the bill. Otherwise, I might commute in--which would mean no cocktails, omg--or stay nearby at a cheaper hotel.  Decisions, decisions. Anyone need a roomie?

3. How long, exactly, does an opened bottle of red wine stay fresh? And must it be refrigerated?

Z to the Zizzle

I am feeling very strongly that we all need to make a better effort of regularly using these words in common parlance: 

1. fizzy 

2. dazzle 

3. swizzle 

4. pizzazz

5. mezzanine

Doesn't the double Z just sound so pleasing? 

I'm sure you can fit one of these great double Z words into a post today. Just another way to make the world a better place in which to live. 

More Marketing

It all started with this:
  
You see, I had not done much shopping while I was busy being a first-year law student. Will bought all the groceries and it has only been recently, in the last month or so, that I have been tagging along to do the weekly shopping. 

On the first trip to the market, I saw the Batter Blaster and, immediately, I wished I had brought my camera. What the hell? Batter Blaster? I don't know about you, but Blastering doesn't seem like the thing you do on Saturday morning in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Then again, maybe it does.

 

 

I don't even know what to say about this. 

 

Those would be blueberries. Plain old blueberries. In a plastic tube. Why? And, Blasters? Again: Why? So, I started carrying my camera in my purse and there are some things we need to discuss. Like, for instance, this:

   

Lard and chocolate chips. I don't even get it. I'll admit that I am not the queen of the kitchen, but I can tell you this: you do not need to be eating lard. Really. Under any circumstances. It's called lard, for Pete's sake. At least buy Crisco or butter, which are also terrible, yes, but they are not called lard. Or maybe go with the lard. 

(How great is the heart logo on the lard, by the way? I heart lard! Love.) 

And, doesn't this look like mayonnaise not so cleverly disguised as salad dressing? 

 

It's not mayo! It's Salad Cream! Or as the website describes it, Pourable Sunshine! But, hey! At least it isn't lard. And, at least it isn't sexist, like this Pocky for men: 

 

I'm sorry, but what?

  

Oh, please.

I also need to show you the things I saw in Walmart! Stay Tuned!

Weighing In

This fancy scale arrived at our house yesterday, something my husband ordered off the Internet. It was significantly more expensive than the $10 Target scale that has been in our bathroom for the past five years and does all sorts of fancy calculating.

I input a bunch of data--my age, height, activity level, eye color, favorite movie--and then stood on the fancy glass scale. The scale, what a whiz, informed me of all sorts of things. My weight, obviously, but also my body fat percentage, my muscle mass, my water retention percentage, my visceral fat, and my suggested daily caloric intake. 

Basically, the stupid machine told me that I need to increase my muscle mass and decrease my body fat percentage. Blah, blah, blah. I don't even know what that means. Do I need to, like, lift some weights or something? 

I have always been really bad at working out. Luckily, not having a car has forced me to stay active--nearly everywhere I go is by bike or foot--but, still, I should probably go for a jog or a longer bike ride once in awhile. Perhaps I should post my scale stats here on a weekly basis, which might actually prompt me to get my crap together. I mean that would be so fascinating. Blah blah blah. 

In the meantime, I've strategically placed the new scale in a location that should help a little bit--right in front of the fridge. 

And Apparently There Will be a Skull Made of Crystal

Well, the choices for today's