Japan

I've been in Japan for over 2 months, can you believe it? I can't. I'm not ready to go home yet either, I want to stay here forever. Ah the woes of loving life!
I've spent the summer with a host family (the Tsutsui family), they are wonderful! I hope we can be lifelong friends.
well I'm off to eat some sushi with my auntie and to ride a bicycle in Tokyo. Wish me luck!

Pumpkins!!!

Things I like: Pumpkins!

Oh sweet wondrous world I love pumpkins. I love the shape, smell, texture, color of pumpkins, I love them so thoroughly it's ridiculous. I tried to plant pumpkins this year but sadly my landlord ran them over with his lawnmower (que sera sera), next year I will be more successful.

Greg and I were looking for a pick your own pumpkin farm in our area but sadly none where to be found within reasonable driving range. In sadness we gave up and decided to go buy some gourds form the big ol' store around the corner, on our way to said store we ran across this little produce stand we often visit and they had pumpkins galore. We picked out a variety of fancy gourds, and pumpkins.

It took us a bit but we finally carved the pumpkins. Kyla made a hedgehog in a maple leaf while I did a night scene with an owl, Greg made a fantastic traditional face. Of course I didn't really think out the details of creating a jack o lantern inside our tiny apartment with no real table to speak of. There was a bit of mess but it was worth it and it was fun.

(Update 01/11/09) They stayed on the porch for a month before they became incredibly moldy, at that point Kyla threw hers into the woods while Greg and I moved ours to the side porch as Greg wanted to play with them. Greg finally threw threw them into the woods this week...three months later :D

mm mm trout

Things I like: Trout


Greg and I finally put some money down and bought a pair of trout from the nice lady at the Troutdale Farm stand at the farmer's market. We've been eyeing the trout for some time but as college students who are quite broke we simply couldn't afford it. I spent some birthday money on a set and ta da here are the results.

You can read more about the trout farm at http://www.troutdalefarm.com


The trout comes to us in a ziploc bag packed in ice. You have several choices for meat cuts including : whole fish, whole gutted fish w/head, gutted fish w/out heads, and filets. We chose the whole gutted fish for fun, plus Greg wanted to eat the eyes and cheeks as he had heard they are delicious and good for you.


Next Greg and I considered what to season the fish with, we decided some on some lemon, sorrel leaves, onion, parsley, garlic cloves and butter.




We tied the fish up with food string, brushed with olive oil and Greg put the little guy on the grill.




Results? Delicious.

nom nom nom

Things I like:

Ice Cream!

I love ice cream, love it. I love the variety of flavors, I love the different textures, I love the smell. In Kansas City I have two favourite ice cream parlors: Murray's in westport and Paleteria Tropicana off of southwest boulevard....delicious! After we moved to Columbia we discovered Sparky's which is uber delightful ( I was sold when I tasted their lavender honey and their ghiradelli and red wine ice creams). Greg and I ventured down to Jefferson City for a treat at Central Dairy where not only are the prices beyond reasonable but the icecream is plentiful and superb. Central dairy offers such a large variety of choices including ( but certainly not limited to): Bear Claw, Spumoni, Texas pecan, and all of your regulars ( i.e. chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, neopolitan, and sherberts of every color). Following our journey to the Central Dairy we heard of an ice cream shop on campus called Buck's. The icecream at Buck's is reasonable and is just fine although sometimes a little icy.

Unfortunately Ice cream is expensive and I am once again a poor student. For my birthday my dad gave me an ice cream maker. I love it. The first attempt was a complete failure but since then I've made Blackberry mango icecream as well as peach. ( I prefer the blackberry mango). Although making the ice cream at home is certainly not cheap ( About 3 dollars or more in ingredients...I find the most expensive ingredient to be cream. I'm going to see if I can replace the cream with a less expensive alternative), making the ice cream lets me try flavours that I've never seen in stores.

I expect my ice cream making will occur for years to come. I need to invite more people over otherwise I'll turn into a whale.


Blackberry Mango icecream
materials:
2.5 cups of sliced blackberries ( slicing blackberries turns into cutting them into chunks)
0.5 cups of sliced mango minus the skin
4 tbsps of lime juice ( I prefer fresh)
2.75 cups of heavy cream (chilled)
1.5 cups whole milk (chilled)
1.5 cups of sugar
1.5 tsps pure vanilla extract

Tools:
hand mixer
bowls
ice cream maker
knives
measuring cups
the usual suspects

methods:
combine the blackberries and mangoes with the lime juice and 0.5 cups of the sugar in a small bowl. Stir gently ( or hard who cares). Let the concoction sit for 2 hours to allow the berries and whatnot to macerate.

After 2 hours strain the berries but keep the juice! Mash or puree half of the berries. ( If you want a seedless ice cream you'll have to find a way to remove the seeds at this point.)

Using the hand mixer combine the milk and the remaining sugar. Mix for 2-3 minutes ( I like mine to get frothy). Stir in the cream, half of the berries plus the reserved juice and the vanilla.

Set up your ice cream machine and turn it on. Pour the mixture in and wait. After about 20-25 minutes add in the leftover berry mixture. Run for five more minutes. Scoop out and let freeze for about 2 hours ( to harden ice cream further...the results from the machine are like a very very soft serve).

Recipes differ depending upon the icecream machine. I make my ice cream with a cuisinart 2-quart ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet maker.

For peach ice cream use 3 cups of peaches instead of the mango and blackberry, and exchange the lime juice for lemon.


The peaches we picked up from the Farmer's market
We picked out a big box of "seconds", the peaches that aren't as nice. Seconds are much less expensive and are just as tasty.
The peach skins and pits
mmmm looks gross. The peach bits and juice
In the ice cream maker, churning
nearly done!

A hurrah for the farmers!

Things I like:
The Farmer's Market

When I was a teenager I ended up staying a few summers in Wichita, Ks with my extended family. Wichita is the "big city" where I come from and as a result living there was exciting and new for me. I would work during the week and on the weekends I'd wander about exploring the city either by foot or by bus. I spent a lot of time at the library, the river, downtown in general and our version of fancy Old Town. I love old town, in recent years it has become quite popular and there has been a lot of development. Honestly I preferred Old Town when it was well...old. I think the old town development is great for the city but I miss it as I remember it.





On my trips to old town I would take what little money I had accrued ( I was only paid once a month) and I would explore the shops within the old market building, have some gelato for lunch ( heh, yay desert for every meal!), and then walk home. On Saturdays they had an actual farmer's market with locals exhibiting their wares. I only caught this once as everyone was packing up but I loved the idea of it. Everyone selling things they had made and things they had grown. I liked seeing the face behind the objects.






When I moved to Kansas City in 2001 I hadn't thought about farmer's markets in years. Shortly after the move I began to attend a junior college where I met, my now fiance, Greg Brostoski. Greg introduced me to many things in Kansas City including the wonderful Lakeside Nature Center ( we had our first date there....watching a bird circus). I ended up working for the nature center for 4+ years and I loved it. We went everywhere! We spent tons of time in parks flying kites, having picnics, yelling at ducks. He also introduced me to the City Market, which is where the farmer's market is located on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. I was thrilled, I loved it there was just so much! So many farmers and artists. We picked up Oyster mushrooms which Greg breaded with Italian bread crumbs and lightly fried, they were delicious. The market was wonderful except for the chickens in crates.







When we moved to Columbia we quickly found their farmer's market which although a lot smaller is just as good or better, they certainly are more friendly. Here are some photos ( sorry I only have a crummy camera phone at the moment).

My not so secret surprise garden

Things I like:
Gardening
When Greg and I moved to Columbia we moved into a tiny duplex, leaving behind an extensive yard and our privacy. Moving "back" into a city was a bit of a shock as we had been working as caretakers on a 365 acreage of Missouri Oak and Hickory woods/forest. Our home was an aging camp house with impossible plumbing, a wealth of small insect friends ( spiders, crickets, sow bugs), and a huge front and back yard edged in by forest. The yard had several plantings already including quite a few succulents, a patch of native plants, irises, a variety of trees, forsythia, and more. I added crocus, daffodil, poppies, more irises, grapes, allium, and more native plants including poppy mallow, cardinal plant, grey headed cone flower, etc. When we made the decision to move (which was a result of our choice to go back to university) the idea of leaving all the plants behind broke my heart. I asked the fellow who was going to take our place to care for the plants and with his promise I felt more comfortable about the move. The winter after the move I went by for a visit only to find that each of the beds had been ripped out and flattened. All my hard work was gone.

When spring came I debated whether to begin again here in our new place which has a tiny yard with very thick clay soil and a tendency for algae. Knowing that we would probably not be staying here for too long I finally decided to go ahead but to try container gardening. With container gardening I have the option to bring my plants with me.

To be honest I'm not a very good gardener, I haven't a lot of patience and often I just end up doing what I think might work rather than going by the advice of the experts. As a result there are some disappointments but in the end, anything that comes up thrills me. Each planter offers me a surprise and fills me with delight.

Here are the results for this year: The corn in the only ground plot, in addition to the corn there are also pea plants, dill, carrot, radish, broccoli and lettuce planted in this plot. My good friend's Alita and Ana helped assist with this plot. Ana and I busted up most of the soil and the next day Alita helped us to finish it off and plant the corn plants. We all planted in different areas to see what would happen ( I'm not much for order really). Alita chose to make raised rows, Ana did hers in a flat row and I threw mine up the air and then poked them into the ground where they landed. Next we have cherry and grape tomatoes in a drink bucket turned planter ( using my handy drill), the tomatoes off this plant are plentiful and delicious. Following is one of my black sweet potato plants which is in bloom. A sprig of radish. Some lettuce in the surprise plot. Jalapeno plants. Basil and oregano in the same planter, I have another set of oregano plants in a second identical planter but instead of a basil pairing they were planted with flowers, this set is not doing well at all. A habanero plant. Quite a lot of radish planted around a Blueberry bush which I had given up on but decided to leave, it is now doing much better. My hens and chicks! Some petunias, I planted these when I realized I had no flowers whatsoever ( they were on sale at the nursery so what the hell). Lavender. Brandywine tomatoes. A larger grouping of radish, I should really separate them but I don't mind it so much. I also have tarragon, 6 types of mint, rosemary, hyacinth bean, carrot, onion, cilantro, sorrel, three other types of flowers and another type of lavender that are not pictured.

Dance

Things I like:

Bollywood

Sweet lord I love it. I could watch Bollywood films everyday. I also do a Bollywood work out dvd ( because it's awesome). One of my favourite Kansas City Area restaurants is Bollywood Indian Bistro in Independence, not only do they have excellent food but they have a dance floor, a beautiful color scheme and play bollywood films on a large screen.

My sister Kyla and I can't help ourselves and we often dance in the bollywood style around the living room to everyday songs. It doesn't matter how we look it simply makes us happy.

lil_lis666's photo fromphotobucket

Here are a few videos from Lagaan:

My birthday

Today is my birthday, I turn a grand 25 (woooo quarter of a century). Today has been great. My sister Kyla and I went out for some Mediterranean food where we saw one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. He had lovely skin, perfect cheekbones, gorgeous eyes and a gentle manner. Kyla and I were stunned. Sometimes I'm amazed at the beauty people can possess. This is not to say that normal people are not attractive but there is something so unearthly about this type of combination. It was not that I desired him, I was simply amazed. He was one of the four sons of the owner.

After our excursion to the land of beautiful people Kyla and I decided to turn down a random road where we ran into an international market I had no knowledge of. It was such a tiny store but there were several aisles perfectly organized with the most scrumptious things. There were objects I haven't ever seen and such a supply! There were things that I haven't been able to find since I moved to Columbia which made me so happy because I would finally be able to try several new recipes I'd been yearning for. Kyla and I ended up getting a bar of chocolate which is processed in Springfield, MO but came from a farmer in Ecuador who works with the company. We also purchased a giant bottle of almond extract ( I use it a lot).

Afterwards we saw a tree growing near a parking lot that was heavy with apples, I've decided that we will go raid the apples and make a pie or jam later this summer.

We stopped by the library where we picked up far too many books and enjoyed their lovely air conditioning.

On the way home I decided to spoil myself by stopping at the yarn shop. To my surprise they were having a huge sale! The lady inside gave us several skeins of yarn, a magazine we'd been ogling and reduced the price of three sale items I wanted. I was very happy.

To top it all off, Kyla and I went home and turned on the silly dance show I'm fascinated with. They were doing a bollywood routine which nearly made me pee my pants. I love bollywood... I might write about it tomorrow.

For dinner I decided to make a special treat for my birthday, Jaegerschnitzel and spatzle. I love German food. Of course I cannot make it as well as my favourite restaurant in Independence, MO ( Here's looking at you The Rheinland!) . Now two glasses of wine later and delicious dinner in my belly I'm contemplating taking up my knitting project or working on my puzzle.

yes, I'm elderly

The weasel has its way

I've decided to write about things I like.
Todays topic:
Totoro

I love totoro, I cannot help but love totoro. The idea of totoros is simple, magickal and delightful. Created by the master Hayao Miyazaki, Totoro comes to life in the movie "My Neighbor Totoro". The story revolves around two sisters who have moved to the countryside with their father while their mother is sick in the hospital. The girls are fascinated with their new home and the new creatures to be found near it. One day while the older sister is at school and the dad is busy working at his desk the youngest girl, May, explores the yard where she runs into a small creature carrying a bag of acorns. After following the creature she ends up at its lair (a hole within the roots of a large camphor tree) she falls down the entrance only to land on a giant creature very much like the smaller one. The creatures are totoros and spirits of the forest and of the camphor tree. I don't want to ruin the movie for you but the totoros watch over the girls and aid them during a very difficult time of their life. My favourite scene is where they plant seeds and grow an entire forest over night.