English scones at teatime

My best friend is getting married in a couple weeks, and I had the honor of throwing her a bridal shower last week! She wanted an English tea party, so of course, I practiced my scone recipe for weeks beforehand to make sure they turned out perfect for her shower. Here's the best recipe I've found so far for scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces.

Mix these ingredients together until you have the consistency of cornmeal. Next stir in:

1/2 cup of dried currants, cranberries or blueberries (I used frozen blueberries)
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)

Mix with spatula until ingredients are moistened. Gather into a ball and knead against bowl until sides of bowl are clean. Transfer to floured surface and pat dough into an 8-inch round and 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 12 wedges and place on baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Place into preheated 425 degree oven and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on rack and enjoy warm!

I now pronounce you man and woof.

Confession time. My dog Chica thinks that my husband is actually her husband. I often come home to the two of them snuggling on the couch in a warm embrace. In the evening, when I want to sit on the couch with Daniel, Chica won't give up her spot, usually leading me to sit on another couch by myself. I've described this to many people, but no one seems to believe me. Well, I've finally caught it on my camera, so here goes:

Scenic Sunday

Hiking with Chica at the Ridge.

Our Beautiful Valley.

Chica summoning her inner cow.

Potatoes Gratin Dauphinois

These are the most delicious scalloped potatoes you will ever taste! It's a foolproof recipe that always turns out creamy and amazing. It's out of the Joy of Cooking, and I'm posting it at my stepmom's request. Sorry, no photo! But just imagine creamy, soft layers of thinly sliced potatoes with a golden crispy cheese top. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic, halved
1 tablespoon of butter, softened

2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced (I always use Yukon gold potatoes because they are creamy and rich)
3 cups of a combination of milk and cream (I do half cream, half milk, but you can use less cream if you want a lighter dish)
1 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of grated Gruyere or Fontinella cheese (or whatever cheese you've got laying around)

Preheat oven to 350. Rub a 12-inch glass dish with the garlic clove. Discard garlic. Next coat dish with the tablespoon of butter.

In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and bring mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until the liquid thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into baking dish and top with the cup of cheese. Bake until the top if golden and potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Enjoy!

Just to post a picture anyway, though, here is the new beret I just knit for myself!

Argentine Chimichurri

Thanks so much to all who were able to join us for our Memorial Day BBQ, especially Ramzy and Rachel, who brought the most amazing marinated chicken and pasta salad! Several people last night asked for my chimichurri recipe, so I'm posting it for you all. My dad is from Argentina, and so I grew up smearing this stuff on my sandwiches, and it is so delicious. My dad doesn't call his version chimichurri, though. He just calls it "the green stuff." He can't eat spicy food, so he leaves out the chile pepper. I think my recipe adheres to the more traditional chimichurri. You can use it as a marinade on any type of meat or as a dipping sauce for sliced sausages, etc. Sorry there's no photo. We ate it too fast! Here goes:

1 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 bunch of curly parsley
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of chile powder (in Argentina they use Aji, but if you can't find that, use Cayenne or even paprika if you don't like spice)

Throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and let it go until you have a creamy texture. If it's too thick, you can always add a little more olive oil and blend it up. It should be the consistency of hummus or yogurt. Enjoy!

How do we make the mortgage?

Hello Everyone,

I'm Daniel. This is my first post. I was just so inspired by my wife's theophantic eloquence. So here it goes:

Dominatrices

Fantasies aren't bad.

Mind if I cover your face?

Not good pillow talk.

Ok, so here's the context. After we took Max to the vet, we got a good ol' fashioned country breakfast and discussed the pros and cons of Erin taking up dominatrixing so we could pay our mortgage a little more comfortably. I was a little against the idea, but Erin explained to me that not everyone's fantasies need to be identical. I think it's a valid point. Some people might like the whole intimidation and pain thing. It's sexy, I hear. Anyway, I hope it makes sense now.

Good night; thanks for indulging my fantasy of being a blogger.

DSR

A bittersweet weekend

On Friday Max got his teeth cleaned and also got a tumor removed by Dr. Chan. Thank goodness it was not malignant, but it's heartbreaking to see the love of my life, my little furry-baby stumbling around and wimpering in pain. It was not a good weekend for Max or me, either, since I'm fighting another cold off, which I think is turning into bronchitis. So on Saturday, when I should have been at the Oakland A's game for Jesse's birthday, Max and I were at home feeling sorry for ourselves. I did manage to make some lemon marmalade, though! Ingredients: 10 lemons, 4 cups of water, and 4 cups of sugar. Ouch! Toothache just writing that! It came out delicious.

Something I've been pondering for a good while now: If infertility had to happen to someone, I'm glad it was me, because I'm open to adoption, and not all people are. I know with all my heart that I could love a child that is not my own blood as if it were my own, and I know this because that's how much I love my dog. I figure, if I can love my dog Max as if he were my own flesh and blood, adore him and appreciate him in such a way that I think only Jack London would understand, then I KNOW I can love an adopted child that same way, if not more! Now, if only this adoption would move forward! I've been reading some pretty hilarious and thoughtful haikus lately, thanks to "Cory and Molly." After this weekend's events, I feel inspired to write my own haikus, two odes to Max:

Tumor Victory
Stitches on belly
Praise God was just fat tumor
He still wags his tail

Child or Dog?
If dogs lived longer
I wouldn't want to have kids
Max is it for me

I think Max is the most adorable dog I've ever laid eyes on! Isn't that what parents think about their kids? I think I'll be a good mom.

Springtime gardening!

A friend visited us in our pool the other day! He swam around for about an hour, quacked at the dogs, and then flew away to rejoin his group.

Blossoms appeared on the apple tree we planted last year.

Our vegetables are growing well. Daniel has outsmarted the squirrels and birds by putting up netting.

The green beans have sprouted!

The bulbs are in full bloom.

My grandmother's plants have survived winter.

We welcome spring!

Eye Candy Friday

Don't you wish you were on this boat right now? Well, so do I. We took this photo on a hobie-cat in Hawaii. Beautiful! Down to business. I've got some good news, some bad news, some so-so news, depending on how you feel about gambling. This week Daniel and I made some enormous decisions.

1. We have chosen to go ahead with our Ethiopia adoption, knowing it may very well be up to 5 years before it is finalized, if ever. We had to make a decision because our FDL, dossier and home study have expiration dates, and time's ticking away. Bad news, we had to fork over another 5k in order to move onto the waiting list. I feel like I just drove to Vegas, strolled up to the roulette table and slid my 5k on red, if you know what I mean. We have no idea what's going to happen, and we won't know for quite a while. The whole thing could be a bust! But we just couldn't walk away from it all, with all the hard work we have done.

2. Since we have made this very risky/foolish/brave decision, and a baby may take many years to manifest itself, I have decided I need a distraction. For one year I have had sitting on my desk the following things: A graduate school application, writing samples, three recommendation letters, and college transcripts. They have been sitting on my desk because I have been thinking, "Anyday we will be having/adopting a baby. I can't work, go to graduate school and raise a child all at the same time!" So I have put off applying to graduate school for a year. Well, I just got a major bug up my ass this week and decided to go for it!!! Like my stepmom always says, the time is going to pass by anyway. You may as well be doing something productive. And she is so right. She is always right! So my application is sent, and I will hopefully hear by mid-summer if I will be entering the English MA program in the fall.

3. Decision No. 3, since I won't ever be carrying children in my body, Daniel and I have decided I need to take advantage of that by turning my flabby bod into a hot bod! We joined a gym in January, only 20 bucks a month, and I'm pumping iron hardcore! Besides wanting a hot bod, I need to do strength training since I'm premenopausal and don't want to get osteoporosis or heart disease. Boo to osteoporosis and heart disease!!! Will let you know how the hot bod thing is going as time passes. In the meantime, I'm trying to stay positive and looking for any distraction I can find. Any ideas?

Totally vegan roasted vegetable and barley soup

Okay, all you Lenten fasters. Here is a vegan recipe that is so filling and delicious, even the heartiest, manliest eater will be stuffed with one bowl! Do you have a blender? Good. Do you have lots of vegetables? Good, good. Do you have barley in your pantry? Let's get started!

Ingredients:

2 peeled and cubed carrots
1/2 bunch of steamed kale
1 bunch of coarsely chopped asparagus
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion diced
12 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of minced or pressed garlic
salt, pepper and olive oil to drizzle over vegetables
1 cup of barley
1 can of garbanzo beans
7 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you are not vegan)
Your preferred spices. I added oregano, basil, thyme.
**If you would like to use other vegetables, go ahead! This is just what I had in the fridge.

First things first, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast vegetables on a large lipped cookie sheet or baking pan. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables, sprinkle salt and pepper, and mix lightly with hands. Roast in oven for 45 minutes, or until potato pieces are tender to a fork.
While veggies are roasting, cook 1 cup of barley with 2 cups of water over stovetop in large soup pot for about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. When veggies are done, add to soup pot. Add broth, herbs, kale and garbanzo beans to mix and simmer over medium/low heat for 30 minutes. Transfer 2 cups of soup to blender and puree. Add puree back to soup and stir. Taste test and add salt and/or pepper if needed. Should be a thick soup, perfect for these rainy winter days!