100 things that make me happy Spring 2010:

1. Peanut Butter

2. Sitting on my new Zafu

3. Freshly trimmed ends

4. Tuba Dents that i can actually reach (until i get magnets and then i'm dents unlimited)

5. North American Long Distance Calling

6. Sun Breaks!

7. Coffee, even the gross work kind.

8. The Tyee's arts section

9. Text message invitations

10. People who 'pop by' my work and brighten my day!

11. Wednesday Chats with my coworker

12. My GARDEN!!!

13. Zee, the best roadbike i've ever loved. Free, and she shifts even though the cables nearly cut right through!

14. Mclaughlin group and smoothie sundays

15. Walk/Talks with mom in the afternoon.

16. Bumping into people I know in Vancouver!

17. Pop Radio Thursdays

18. my wallet sized photo of the Harasewich Family.

19. The Brittania Centre & Pool!

20. The Pogues

21. Cheap wine from south of the border.

22. Magazines. Still, yes, i know...

23. Spray Tanner, i think dyeing my skin is still better than dying of skin cancer.

24. Legumes. I hardly eat meat anymore at all... and i'm down with that. Lentils are my fave.

25. Okay, Mole Salami from Salumi in Seattle.. MOST AWESOMENESS

26. Grandville Island Winter Ale.

27. Skype

28. Being friends with my childhood friends parents.

29. Helping people with their bags, holding doors, being kind.

30. High Fives with the print music kids.

31. The mountains! They are my neighbors.

32. Roadtrips to Seattle and Environs to visit my favourite americans!

33. Lardizabol.

34. Cookie Day!

35. When the rain chases me home on my bike and I win!

36. Thinking up new ways to use all my free time

37. Making lists

38. Nesting in my new home city

39. Checking out local bands and co-workers shows.

40. A good americano.

41. Kissin'

42. Football... you know what i mean! And the american kind, mostly the superbowl.

43. My fur earmuffs

44. Bert my workplant

45. Yamaha chrome plated conical dent roller

46. Scifi reads

47. Facebook, and the people it has brought into my life unexpectedly!

48. The luck i have finding just what i need and what i didn't know i needed.

49. my long hair!

50. being an independent woman, with lots of support.

51. Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it! and my project

52. Lapping the old folks in the swim lanes!

53. Playing my brass' (tbone/euphonium/trumpet)

54. Grey's Anatomy nights with girlfriends.

55. Dance Parties with the Maddams Family Gang

56. Seattle! I love that city.

57. Evrott HiJinks!

58. Renting a car for the weekend.

59. Sarah Brett and Jimmy!

60. Getting letters/postcards and emails from loved ones.

61. Popcorn and SoyaSauce

62. Wintersoup Library.

63. The library's selection of dvd's

64. Power Yoga once in a while

65. Blackberry Season

66. Mountain Snowboarding

67. Wes Anderson Movies.

68. Cereal Anarchy

69. My L A B E L M A K E R

70. Red Shoes

71. High Thread count Sheets

72. My rock collection

73. Starfishes! Orange, Gold, Red and Purple!

74. Ballet and modern Dance.

75. My theatre, the cultch!

76. RTC Bakery, You Complete me.

77. Orange Hand Cleaner with Pumice

78. Sleeping in!

79. Biking downhill to work.

80. Camping in the rainforest

81. Moss on EVERYTHING

82. Flip Flops.

83. My fish Manny

84. Singing to myself.

85. Freezing things.

86. RUST

87. Cephelopods, as always. (except humboldt squid, they're bitches)

88. My family. Coolest EVER.

89. Partying during the 2010 olympics, i will NEVER forget it!

90. My Crazy and Crazier Dreamscapes.

91. Babies. They're cool. Because they're people.

92. The Canucks! Inspiring me to actually enjoy hockey.

93. Barack Freaking Obama and the new left realism.

94. My soon-to-be-city bike! (Blight! Short for Blue-Lightning)

95. Slippers.

96. Accents, and boys who have them.

97. Menswear. Good Tailoring. Bowties, Neckties, Cumberbunds, Suit Jackets, Suspenders, Hats, Moustaches and snappy shoes.

98. Romance.

99. The beach, tide pools, tide flats and old men tanning.

100. Sunshine, Glorious, Beautiful Uninhibited Sunshine!

Toaster Tarts are good enough for Jazz!

I like pastries… maybe too much, and i like making them too.. enough that i could happily keep this recipie in circulation and never buy a bakery version again! I know what’s in these at least. :)

They are intended to bear similarity to pop tarts or frozen strudels, and i would say that they are more like the latter.

I used the fruit compote we had left over from a dinner party as the filling but it was a little runny even after i thickened it and simmered it down for an hour or so.. so the goo was leaking out the sides as i was assembling the two halves of pastry, but once they were baked they held tight. I reccomend using your absolutely favouritist jam… My next batch will be filled with apricot&brandy jam.

Indulgence!
Oh yeah, and they keep really well in the freezer and are ready in the minute or two they take to toast, but are crispy and delicious!

SO MANY LEMONS!

My roommate half-arsed the master cleanse.

I love her, but somehow she wasn’t able to sell all 30 on craigslist even for the bargain basement price of 6.75, and she wasn’t willing to cut back on her level of physical activity while cleansing. I totally get it. But its been driving me nuts to see all these lemons sitting on the table getting old. Its sort of heartbreaking.

I had an idea that what i could do is use them to make yellow snow cones to distribute during the downtown spring olympics madness here in vancouver, alas, my plans were much more complicated by the details such as lacking a snow machine.

Anyhoo, there are rather a few recipies in the JPC and i opted to make enough lemonzestvodka to make a double batch of both Limoncello liquor and Limoncrema.

I juiced all the lemons after zesting them and wound up making a lemonade sirop that i’ve frozen for the summer, I froze 6 icecubes worth in the icetray and will try making individual lemonades by adding a cube to a glass of water. its about 4TBSP of sugar to 1.5 cups of lemonjuice and seems to be about the right amount to add to a pitcher of water. :) Hooray for useful.

I will update on the progress of the liquers as they progress, pretty good work for a sunny sunday!

Yogurt Cheese is my new staple food!

So easy and wonderfully rich and light at the same time.

All you gotta do is hang up some yogurt in a piece of clean jersey or a teatowel overnight and you end up with this amazing spreadable wonder. Its better for you and tangier than cream cheese on a bagel.
My current favourite is adding rosemary to it… mmm… rosemary yogurt cheese on a raisin muffin! :)

Jammin' in Vancouver!!!

Kiki:
Hey blog: How do you feel about being re-directed for a while towards my newest obsession?

Blahg:
Sure! I'm game, write all over me!

K:
Cool! Well I finally bought my very own copy of 'Jam it, Pickle it Cure it!' By Karen Solomon and in so doing broke my debt repayment rule of 'NO book's until the debt's gone'... but it was a conditional rule break.

I broke the rule because: I have a plan.

B: -Oh no, not another plan!

K:
Oh yeah, I'm gonna work my way through every recipie in this book, not unlike the whole julie/julia thing... but well... cooler because this book is cooler. To me. Seriously, Curing my own bacon... SO THERE!

B:
Is that sanitary?!

K:
Well wether or not it is, i'm darn well going to do that, and the rest of the recipies/projects in this book and expand my repetoire of things even further because in life, i am the jill of all trades and master of none.. and darn proud of it!

B:
That certainly is true.

K:
Great, so you're on board! Its up to you to record my wins and losses in this particular trail of kitchen related escapades and even when its feeling tough, and as though there isn't any point in making yet another batch of homemade toaster tarts, (less salty this time) there is a magical outcome that doesn't involve a movie deal or a hug from meryl streep... although you know how much i like hugging famous people and discretely clipping a lock of their hair for DNA analysis and later genetic mapping.

B:
Ok, GO! Whats the magical culmination of this forlorn and somewhat pre-emptively self-depricating goal?

K:
I'm going to San Francisco!
Not only has Ms. Solomon Written an awesome book that is so well photographed and typeset i want to lick the pages, she's tucked away her personal secrets and scores in 'The Cheapskates Guide to San Francisco'. Wouldn't you know it, i've never been there as an adult... and i'm broke.

B:
Sounds formidable.. but surprisingly well considered.

K:
Thanks self-talking encouragement voice that i have so far called 'blog' (or Blahg in this printing)!!! Lets Get Cracking!

B:
Indeed!


Note to self:
The next few posts will be backdated to relfect their original entry on the interweb.

GO ME!