Freshly back from a week in the desert, I was craving simple, fresh foods, and tossed these two salads together. Only as I sat down did I realize that both are made with ingredients you can get at just about any time of year. Bonus ( Read more... )

 Computer was in the shop for a bit, but it's back home now, and I made a couple of tasty things that I want to remember for the future ( Read more... )

Tonight's food experiment is harira: a Moroccan lentil and lamb stew traditionally eaten to break the fast at Ramadan. I had it for the first time at Toro Bravo, one of Portland's best restaurants, and it was a knockout even among the superlative dishes we had. I was determined to attempt it before I forgot what it tastes like ( Read more... )

Today did not seemed destined to be a good day, internet, but it was! I finished things on my to-do list at work. I ate three healthy but also tasty meals. I made it another step into a medium-ish home repair project. I had a reasonable and constructive conversation that I think will really improve a relationship that's important to me, instead of ( Read more... )

I've had a somewhat melancholy day today, LJ. But even so, I'm still filled with gratitude that my life is profoundly wonderful. This reminder brought to me courtesy of the phrase "all's well that ends well," and that my day ended with the following:

1. Giving my friend J. a Playa* name.
2. Giving my friend J. a mohawk.
3. Shaving my friend J.'s Playa ( Read more... )

Come up with a recipe that is served in one pot but cooked in, uh, four. However! I feel it holds the promise of tastiness, and it's my first deliberate attempt to mingle very different flavors without letting them transfer throughout the dish, so I'm jotting it down while it's cooling and I still remember what the hell I did. In the mix: short- ( Read more... )

So in case it turns out as well as I'm hoping: short-grain brown rice and french blue lentils with (very lightly wilted) chopped radicchio, in a white balsamic and orange muscat vinaigrette with chopped mango, fresh squeezed orange juice, diced serrano, shredded mint, cubed avocado, thin-sliced red onion, and just a dash of sesame oil.

I've started drinking smoothies again (thanks, Mom, the blender stick is fantastic), but am trying very different recipes than the last time they were a staple of my diet. I'm lactose-intolerant, soy-intolerant (sigh), and have learned that I need a lot more protein and a lot less refined sugar than I used to if I want to keep my body happy and ( Read more... )

I spent an hour chasing a frisbee barefoot around a park today. We've reentered the part of the year where the soles of my feet will be perpetually dark with ingrained dirt, and unless I can remember to wash them, I'll leave smudges on the bottom third of my sheets as I sleep.

I just wrote a dirty blues song. About, if you're inclined to be literal, leaving a lover for an illicit affair with the city. And I like all of it. This basically never happens -- it's rare that I write songs at all, and usually I end up feeling like significant chunks of the lyrics or the chords are either too pat or just phoned in. But this one ( Read more... )