30 July 2006
get_rhythm
It's been a kind of busy weekend.
Our dog Charlie had his hind leg amputated on Friday and we picked him up Saturday morning. He's doing better than I expected, and today he's been hopping around like a kangaroo in very good spirits, with much thanks to the hardcore pain medications he's on. The wound is neatly stiched up (actually stapled up) and is actually not very painful to look at, but they shaved off a lot of hair on his back so much of him is now pink, hairless skin - very odd since he's a yellow Lab. We've been spoiling both dogs this weekend with peanut butter dog treats and huge bones to chew on, but since it's really too hot for them to be outside, there's not much else for them to do. I just really hope all the cancer has been removed, and *knock on wood* that he doesn't develop another tumor. This was his fourth (he's 10 years old), and I don't know if he'd survive another.
Other than being "on-call" often in the canine recovery unit (as my mom jokingly calls it), I spent a few hours yesterday and today with my dad test-driving cars. I think a dream job of mine is to be a car test-driver for a reputable publication like Consumer Reports. How amazing would that be? I love driving, especially when the car is a shiny new 2007 model (not that I'm getting the shiny new 2007 model, but the salesmen don't know that). Today I took a brand new (it had 5 miles on it!) manual Mazda 3 for a spin, and oh my god, that car is beautiful... just not the right one for me. Tomorrow we should *knock on wood again* seal the deal on a car I really like, and for a really good price, so cheers to that!
Last night I just kind of wanted dinner to appear in front of me. I was reading some blogs and my internet must have sensed my emotions, because the first blog I clicked, Vegancore, had made Kitchen Sink Minestrone which was basically perfect. We had random vegetables in the fridge that really needed to be eaten, so I put in two zucchinis, a bell pepper, a carrot, the last half of a red onion, two red potatoes, and corn. I added a 6 oz. can of tomato paste and a 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes + their juice in place of the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, and since I didn't have kidney beans I used black beans which colorfully flecked the soup. I used orzo for the pasta, which is kind of rice-like, and the end result was not really a soup, but more of a risotto.
(I wasn't even going to take a photo because Vegancore has a much better one, but because mine ended up not looking like hers and I enjoy having a photographical account of meals I've made and liked, I took one after dinner, with the ladle hanging out in the pot. It's not a great picture, but whatever. And I can't figure out why it's abnormally small either.)
The word 'round the dinner table last night was "amazing". It was really very good. Since the memories of great bread still lingered from Friday, I made three bread rolls from the Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread recipe to go with the soup/risotto dealie. Apart from being slightly too salty, the rolls were super. They're kind of like savory scones, and only the easiest things to make in the entire world.
I keep seeing the word "Sunspire" crop up whenever I read about bloggers making things with chocolate chips. I found them in Sprouts the other day - I haven't ventured into carob chips yet, but I did pick up Sunspire's Grain-Sweetened chocolate chips. They're still made with chocolate but sweetened with grains... I don't really understand the process, but apparently there's no refined sugar in them; always a good thing in my book. After flip-flopping between cookies or muffins, I voted for sweet muffins. Cupcakes, I guess, but these are too healthy to be cupcakes, although they don't look like it.
They're Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, and the recipe is from Wild Oats' website. I made 3/4 of the recipe (which yielded seven muffins) and I changed it around quite a bit though: I used only whole-wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup of applesauce + 1 tablespoon of olive oil in place of all the oil, only 1/3 cup maple syrup, slightly more than 1 cup of soy milk, and more chocolate chips than were called for! You can't really have too many, in my opinion. I was going to have one for dessert tonight (after another supper of kitchen sink risotto) but I wasn't hungry, so breakfast will be a sweet treat tomorrow. I'm very interested in how these taste, since I really fiddled with the recipe and, in my experience, too much fiddling = disappointing. I've found that all my baked goods taste better on the second day anyway, so hopefully the night will do these babies some good.
Generally, I intensely dislike Fry's Supermarket, but today, tomorrow, and Tuesday you can buy four pints of blueberries there for only FIVE DOLLARS! God, that is insanely cheap! I'm going to buy more and freeze them for the winter. Anyone who lives in Arizona, go out now, run, and get some bluebs.
I've been listening to a lot of folksy blues music this weekend, including the Walk The Line soundtrack and the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack. This stuff is so good. Speaking of good things, my smoothie today makes the list too - a whole orange, "fresh-frozen" banana and lots of fresh strawberries. It was a cup of fruity pink goodness.
...and however much I complain about Arizona, our sunsets simply cannot be beat.
28 July 2006
manna
Holy crap.
You know when you go to a bakery or cafe and you know to order a sandwich because they make sandwiches that just taste better than yours ever do? It's the bread that makes the sandwich, in my opinion. Even when I make a killer sandwich, the (whole-wheat) bread tends to soak up some of the tomato and gets damp and it kind of all falls apart by the end. We rarely have bread rolls, and if we do they're from Safeway and are made with white flour and a lot of additives and preservatives. I just want a simple, healthy whole wheat roll. Usually I go without. Today, however, I just knew I wanted an awesome sandwich on a real roll. I didn't want to make it with yeast because it takes a few hours, but quick bread is called quick bread for a reason. I found a recipe for oatmeal whole wheat quick bread. I whipped up the dough (using agave nectar for the honey) and, at the last minute, folded in some dried rosemary and sunflower seeds. While it was in the oven, I whisked together olive oil and soy sauce, and poured the mixture over two thin strips of tempeh that I placed in a small casserole dish. I baked it for fifteen minutes along with the bread. Then I realized I didn't really have an appropriate spread for the bread. I have roasted red pepper hummus but with soy sauce... eh, I don't know. So I made the olive tapenade recipe from VWAV - in a food processor, blend together olives, garlic, parsley, oregano, tarragon, pepper, red wine vinegar and olive oil.
When the bread was sort of cool, I put spread the tapenade on the bread, along with the tempeh, lettuce, grated carrot and some tomato slices. Heaven on a plate is what I call it. I was pleasantly surprised that the rosemary bread tasted great with the soy-sauce-baked-tempeh, although it would probably also taste good baked in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Since they were so easy, I'll definitely make those rolls again and play around with herbs and things. It was almost like a burger because there was a bunch of stuff between the two slices, and the roll was thick and hearty. I had to open my mouth really wide! But whatever, burger or sandwich, this was totally something I'd order at a cafe... so mission accomplished.
28 July 2006
vertebrae
How to make delicious, cow-free milk at home with only a blender, a collandar, a cheesecloth and lots of bowls!
First, find whatever nuts you want to use. Mmmmm, raw almonds.
Put two cups of almonds and two cups of filtered water into your blender/food processor. Pulse for half a minute, and then blend for two minutes. It'll get all white and choppy for a bit, until it smoothes into a sort of meal. With the blender still running, pour in two more cups of water as well as 1-4 tablespoons of maple syrup or agave nectar, to sweeten. Blend for a minute more. Make sure to note how much liquid your food processor can hold. I had too much in mine, which leeched from under the lid every time I turned the processor on. Do it in batches if you're worried about an overflow.
When the food processor has done it's job, get out your favorite cheesecloth (a fine cotton towel with lots of little tiny holes) and line it inside a collander or sifter. Put that inside a bowl and pour the nut milk stuff carefully into the cheesecloth. Let the liquid drip until it stops.
When nothing else is extracting itself naturally, help it along. Gather up the four corners of the cheesecloth around the almonds and, being careful not to snag it on your sifter, lift it up and out of the sifter, leaving you holding the cheesecloth directly over the bowl. Using your hands, squeeze the almonds until they are basically dry. Make sure you washed your hands just before this, since the almond milk will run down your hands into the bowl, and you're the one who's going to be drinking this stuff.
When you've gotten out all the liquid, carefully unwrap the cheesecloth into the garbage and dispose of the almond meal. It's crumbley and messy and will invariably get all over the floor, but do your best.
You're left with beautiful pure almond milk! If you have a spare sifter available, it doesn't hurt to filter the liquid through a sifter into another bowl one last time. Despite your careful work, little tiny bits of almonds magically still find their way through the cheesecloth and sifter. Pour the almond milk into a container with a lid and refrigerate. Enjoy in the morning!
Last night I made a quart of almond milk with three cups of raw almonds. I can't believe how thick the stuff is, it's like whole milk! Admittedly, the above process plus cleaning up afterwards takes at least half an hour, and if you want to make your own milks regularly, purchasing a soy/nut milk maker like the SoyQuick Soy Milk Maker would be a good investment.
Last night I went to the Mandala Tearoom with Liz. Besides Green, it's the only other vegan restaurant in the Valley. It has a lot of loose tea but also a full organic vegan menu. Located in Old Town Scottsdale, it's pricier and more sophisticated than Green (starters are $8, entrees are $13). It's food is globally-inspired, and there's no tofu to be seen, just lots of tempeh (my love). The restaurant is spacious, open, and modern, with lots of white and lots of wood (this seems to be a theme). The music is sort of new-age and I'd say that everyone eating there was under 35, but surprisingly there weren't a lot of weird-looking people, probably because it's catering to wealthy Scottsdalians. There was a "$25 4-course raw menu" going on last night, so most of the tables were designated for that, so Liz and I were offered the Moroccan corner. There were lots of pillows on the floor and a small, round, gold table in the middle. Apart from the wooden divider next to Liz, we had a good view of the restaurant and sitting on the floor is kind of fun. Our server was nice but a bit spacey, and when taking our order she sat on the floor next to us. Liz and I split the tempeh lettuce wraps to start, which disappointingly, weren't actually wraps - it was basically just a salad with tempeh. While it was good, I wanted actual lettuce leaves to wrap up. I wouldn't order this again. For my main course, I had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted because I didn't want to pay $13 for something I can basically make at home. Four of the five entrees were vegetables cooked in some way (fresh, sauteed, stewed) and served over rice or quinoa. Boring! I do that at home every night. The only thing that was different was "live pesto zucchini linguini", which is a raw dish starring linguini in the form of thin noodles made from zucchini. It was served over spinach leaves with some kind of nut pesto (I don't believe olive oil is raw), and considering the entire thing was made from vegetables, it was actually quite good. I also ordered a soup which never came, but that's good because I didn't really want it by the end. Next time I think I'd order a sandwich, just to get some carbohydrates (and their rosemary focaccia bread sounds really good). I'd recommend going to the Mandala Tearoom to someone who has already been vegetarian or vegan for a while, and wants a nice, gourmet meal cooked for them in a calm, zen-like setting. For introducing someone to veganism or to be in a more laidback atmosphere, Green is a better place to go. And since we both wanted some vegan soft-serve ice cream, that's what we did. While Mandala wasn't pretentious or snooty, it was really nice to be in Green. It's cozy and homey and laid-back and the kids who work there are friendly; they're people I'd hang out with. Going to Green from Mandala was like coming home from a party and unzipping your skirt, kicking off your shoes and slipping barefoot into a t-shirt and shorts. So after sitting on the floor for an hour and a half, we relaxed in actual chairs and licked the ice cream off our plastic spoons. Liz liked the soft-serve a lot and said she might even bring a friend there one day! It was also really nice to hang out with Liz since I hadn't seen her since before I went to Europe. This summer has gone by so fast. I go to California in three weeks!
I can't help but snicker in happiness when I read the sudden prolification of articles from the past few weeks in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal about the troubles of GM, Ford and Chevrolet. Stupid American car companies. I love our little Civic, getting 30 mpg is great, and it's safe and cute and zippy and parking is always a breeze. This weekend I'm test-driving some cars with my dad and I'm psyched, since it's always fun driving cars around. Nothing on my list gets less than 28 mpg; fuel efficiency is my biggest priority. Let's say together: America got served.
Send good thoughts to Charlie today: he's having his right hind leg amputated today. My mom took him to the vet yesterday and we pick him up tomorrow. Our other dog, Tinker, is really sad without him.
26 July 2006
nixon
I love monsoon season. Really, I live for the nights when the air smells humid and dangerous, the wind shakes the palm trees, thunder cracks so loudly you jump and then the rain pounds the earth into submission. There are (relatively) a lucky few of us who live in a world where we basically have control of our surroundings almost all the time. We can heat or cool our houses to perfection, use as much electricity as needed, have clean clothes and dishes in an hour, and fresh water with the flick of a tap. But during storms we are completely out of control. We can't dull the sound of the thunder, we can't make the streets dry and safe, we can't do much to assuage the fears of children and pets... and I like that. We are really small in this world, even if most of the time we act like we aren't.
These are Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from How It All Vegan! (I'm glad someone got the pun! If you don't, try stressing the words differently...) I was suddenly seized with the urge to make something 'oatmeal raisiney' yesterday and after flipping through all my cookbooks, I found a recipe I've mentally tagged as looking good. The nice thing about baking is that the rhythm is the same for whatever you're making: stir or sift together the dry ingredients, in a separate bowl mix together the wet, then pour the wet into the dry, mix carefully until just incorporated, and then bake. These are healthy, delicious cookies. I used agave nectar in place of dry sweetener, and there's only a tiny bit of olive oil. There are about six spices in them and, of course, lots of raisins. They taste better on the second day. These cookies are subtley sweet, chewy goodness!
I love soy milk a lot. I use it on cereal, in tea and coffee, in smoothies, and in baking. I like that it's thick and creamy because we all know that watery milk sucks. I'm glad that my taste buds are open enough to not distinguish between different brands very much, like they used to a few years ago when all I drank was Silk. Yes, Silk has the cute carton with silly facts and recipes on it and catchy advertisements, but if I'm purchasing something regularly I always like to support the little guys whenever I can. Silk is distributed by WhiteWave which is a subsidiary of Dean Foods. Dean Foods is the largest dairy processor and distributor in the world. They can survive without my $4 every week. I often buy Trader Joe's brand or Pacific Natural Foods in the asceptic cartons. However, since I've been having a hormone imbalance problem and there's a possibility that soy might affect estrogen levels and whatever, I like taking breaks from soy milk and for a few weeks I'll use almond milk instead. I find all these different milks fascinating since until a few years ago, I didn't think that anything but milk from a cow was normal, and now I'm learning all about these other "milks" that are really good and much healthier. It makes sense that you can make a liquid by blending basically any plant food with water. Nut milk, you say? Gross. What new-age vegan crap is that? Actually, milks made from nuts have been around for centuries. Before refrigeration existed, dairy products couldn't be kept fresh and often the milk bought from street vendors was questionable. Instead, people made milky liquids by grinding nuts and water together. It must have been freaking hard to do this in the Middle Ages without a food processor. (source) Today it's simple. At health food stores you can buy asceptic (no refrigeration needed until opening) cartons of almond milk and hazelnut milk. You can make it from cashews, walnuts and pecans too. Probably even pistachios! I should try that one day. Anyway, the idea of making my own almond milk has been floating around in my head for a while, and finally this morning at Henry's I plucked up a package of raw almonds. Since Alex Jamieson is a vegan chef, I figured her method of doing it has to be good since other people pay her to feed them. To start, I put the almonds in the food processor with two cups of water, and pulsed and then blended for a few minutes. Then while blending, I added two more cups of water and a tablespoon of agave nectar. When it was smooth, I poured the stuff through a cheesecloth into a bowl, and after most of the liquid had been extracted I squeezed the cheesecloth-wrapped-almond meal by hand until it was dry. You're left with about a cup of the almond meal which is thrown away, and the result is just under four cups of almond milk! It'll keep in the fridge for a few days. I used it in a smoothie later in the afternoon (below) and I just tried a little on its own. It's amazing! It's thicker than the stuff bought the store and isn't too sweet or overwheming of almond flavor, it's perfect. I'll have to make more soon... like tomorrow.
Smoothies aren't as cool as almond milk but this was the best one I've made in a while. Sometimes if I put in too much frozen banana the taste is overpowering, and mango tends to leave a weird aftertaste. This was perfect. Blackberries, strawberries, a peach, one piece of frozen banana and a splash of fresh almond milk. I also love that it's purple.
I've been having such good luck with food lately! Maybe I'm just getting better at cooking. Tonight I wanted tempeh in something. I love tempeh. I dislike tofu. Tofu is soft and white and jiggely and it has 'fu' in its name. Tempeh (tem-PAY) is not any of those things. However, like tofu, it is an ancient Asian food. Tempeh is a block of fermented soybeans. Because fermentation means that the soybeans are only minimally processed, I'm not too worried about eating this type of soy often. We have lots of nice summer vegetables including tomatoes, zucchinis and peppers, so I vaguely followed a recipe in The Native Foods Cookbook and made a quick saute of onions, garlic, and the above veggies plus a carrot, then added salt+pepper and finally simmered everything in some white wine. I usually add at least one herb or spice and I was tempted to throw one in, just in case the white wine didn't give enough flavor, but I'm glad I didn't because oh... it was just beautiful by itself. Served over whole wheat couscous (which tastes just like "normal" couscous by the way). Gorgeous.
In non-food news, our dog is getting his hind leg amputated tomorrow since it's plagued with cancer. My iPod fried last night and is defunct. I had to buy a new battery for my stupid cell phone. I'm now taking two medications, and I hate being medicated. But... I ordered two cookbooks on Amazon which I'm eagerly anticipating, it's going to be only 98 degrees tomorrow and I'm alive and well.
24 July 2006
sprinkle
I love California. I love temperatures that are less than 114 degrees. I love being able to escape to the coast, just knowing it's close. This trip really made me excited for college too. We got to see Danielle, and Garrett and Taylor for a little bit. We spent many hours on the beach, and I huddled under the umbrella in the shade for the whole time and still managed to get slightly burned. We went into Hollywood and pretended to see famous people. We sat in a Zen garden. We drank tea in a tea lounge. It was a great trip. The best part was the food, of course! Along with several packed lunches, we ate Thai, vegan (twice!), and sushi (my first). It was surprisingly easy to be vegan on the trip since I made about half my food myself, and all the places we ate out at were either completely vegan or had things that could easily be made vegan. Julia and Andrea were adventurous and good-spirited about eating at the two vegan places. I think I'm starting to take paper menus of all the places I eat at and like. I was really excited to be able to eat lunch at Real Food Daily.
It is arguably the best organic vegan restaurant in LA and their Hollywood location is especially chic, full of young, urban hipsters, yogis and the occasional celebrity. It's open and spacious, decorated with warm colors and lots of wood. We got there around noon but only a few tables were taken, so we were seated immediately and the adventure started. First, I ordered a Teeccino Latte, an appropriately vague-sounding drink that is made with "herbs, grains, fruits and nuts capped with steamed soy milk". It was delicious; coffee-like but somewhat nutty and sweet too. Andrea and I shared Pita and Hummus for an appetizer which was unsurprisingly great. For my main course (which change with the seasons) I had the RFD Burger, "a grilled patty of tempeh, red onion, carrot, corn, mushroom and peppers on a toasted rustic roll with lettuce, tomato, sauteed onions & house-made ketchup" and an add-on of avocado. Yes, it sounds totally amazing, and it was. I want to make the patty myself; it was red and saucy and delicious. (My side salad had a weird creamy dressing on it that I didn't like too much so I left it alone. The word 'creamy' in veganspeak usually means tofu or nutritional yeast, neither of which I particularly like.) The bus boys were awesome and filled up our (ice-free!) waters every ten minutes - I am known for drinking cups and cups, so it was nice to never run out. We ate slowly, talking about food the entire time (favorite foods? foods you used to hate and now love? foods you still dislike?) but eventually we finished and I clapped my hands in joy as we moved into dessert. The girls didn't want any but I, of course, cannot pass up a vegan dessert. I chose a slice of chocolate raspberry cake, the Chocolate Cake Du Jour. I didn't know if I should expect something completely and outrageously rich and terrible for you, or something healthy and tasteless. Luckily, the cake fell in-between. They didn't use much oil and didn't go overboard with chocolate, but it was light and flavorful with a hint of raspberry deliciousness. The thin layer of icing on top was perfect too. I left feeling completely happy (and by then, every table was occupied). RFD published a cookbook last fall which I'm going to buy on Amazon; it was $27 for the paperback in-store but is about $14 online. Maybe it'll have the recipe for the burger! For a completely organic, vegan restaurant catering to yuppies and celebs, Real Food Daily isn't expensive at all; entrees are all $12 and under. They also have the original restaurant in Santa Monica. Go there if you're in LA and want healthy, amazing food!
The next afternoon after we were sunkissed and wind-blown at the beach, we ate a late lunch at The Stand in Laguna Beach.
In true California-surfer style, it was "basically a shack and a porch" (Julia's words) but served up great, dirt-cheap vegan food. The menu was written on several big chalkboards hung outside in small letters causing the three of us to squint for several minutes as we sorted through their offerings. It had mostly Mexican and Mediterranean food - hummus-y things and pitas, tamales, and burritos, and soups, salads, and smoothies. I got an open-faced burrito with veggies, beans, avocado and tortilla chips as well as a fruit smoothie with a bunch of fresh fruit in it. My smoothies are better but it was still good. The food comes on paper plates with plastic knives and forks; we sat in the shade at a communal table built around a huge tree and read PETA brochures. For dessert I bought two cookies, an Oatmeal Raisin and a Lemon Poppy, and had a small cup of "frozen fruit soft-serve" with a scoop of strawberry and one of mango. The sorbet was awesome; it was made completely of fruit and yet was smooth and soft. I saved the cookies for later and apart from being a bit crumbley since they probably used little oil, they were also delicious. (I feel like a broken record saying everything I ate that was vegan was delicious but it was! I ate well on this trip, but so healthily too.) For what it was worth, food from The Stand was delicious. If I lived in Laguna Beach I'd go there often.
While in La Mirada visiting Garrett and Taylor I had my first meal of sushi! Japanese food is one of the few cuisines to which I've been completely unexposed. There was no fish in mine so I feel a bit silly saying I've really tried sushi... but still, successfully consuming those round, sticky, seaweed things is a challenge. I had cucumber rolls which are the perfect thing for a light summer meal. The soy sauce and seaweed flavors together tasted very fishy, so by the end I only dipped each roll a tiny bit into the soy sauce. I left the wasabi unopened this time. Seaweed is so good for you and vegetable rolls are really yummy (especially for $4); I'm definitely exploring vegetable sushi more. Back at Garrett's house we had juicy watermelon for dessert. Sushi and watermelon, what could be better?
At the Lavender Tea Lounge, the three of us plus Danielle sat on plush purple seats and drank tea in a cute, unpretentious way. I had RemeTea, a lemon-and-peppermint concoction that was delicious enough that I bought a tin of it, plus a teapot.
It's eggplant-purple; can you say adorable?
At Elixr Tonics and Teas, a hip, new-age place in Hollywood that Ali raves about, I bought a teapot that brews in the mug. I actually was really stupid and didn't figure that out until we left since I was really searching for an actual teapot, but this one will find it's way into my heart, I'm sure.
The lid is off and on the side, and the strainer comes out too, leaving a mug full of tea.
However, my real loves are two handthrown cups I bought there.
I think these are perfectly me.
So those were our vegan excursions and my tea purchases for this short trip. Thankfully I'm going back to California for good in just less than one month, so it won't be long before I'm back there again.
Inspired by the wonderful food I ate, I decided to make muffins this morning. I chose a recipe from The Great American Detox Diet, written by Alex Jamieson, the girlfriend of the guy who made Super Size Me. I made Apple Granola muffins despite there being nothing granolaey about them. She's really into natural sweeteners instead of refined white sugar which I'm slowly getting into, but I didn't have any natural dry sugars so I substituted blackstrap molasses instead. Molasses is full of good things like iron and calcium and has a very distinct flavor. The result was a very subtly sweet, dark, moist apple muffin with some walnuts in it. Next time I'll add more walnuts and a bit of honey to sweeten them, but nonetheless the recipe made a nice breakfast muffin. And they do look pretty.
Lunch today: tomato, yellow zucchini, and broccoli lightly sauteed in a bit of olive oil with red onion and garlic, seasoned with oregano, thyme, salt and pepper, served over last week's Italian rice. Why are the most delicious things also the most simple ones?
21 July 2006
automatica
Oh yeah, I'm in California. Back soon.
18 July 2006
six
Basically,
I drove on the 101 five times today, I drove up and down Scottsdale Road three times, I thanked GOD I don't live in Gilbert twice, I thought about the idea of my dog having only three legs, I didn't give in to going to Green until dinner when I spontaneously called Julia and told her to be ready in ten minutes and flew by her house with Hannah and then half an hour later we were in my favorite vegan restaurant in the metro-Phoenix area eating firehot Asian bowls and soft-serve soy ice cream, and after taking J home we drove BACK down to Tempe to hang out with Liz M. who I basically idolize, who made me laugh until my belly ached and my face felt permanently stretched out from smiling for so long, who told us stories from the past YEAR since we saw her last and made me sigh with relief because I'm not going to be a spinster, I'm going to live life in my twenties and not care about men and marriage, and have fun and move around and go out and eat bowls of ice cream if I want to, and just now I whizzed back north on the deserted freeway with a curled-up, tired Hannah to my right and the CD player shuffling the perfect songs watching the street lights trace their path over the car one after the other, patches of light thrown on the tarmac, and I thought about all the people I'll never meet and the amazing ones I will. And THAT is July 17th 2006.
Please let the Middle East rest.
16 July 2006
lalalalala
About those brownies...
This is what they look like right now. Last night I attempted to cut them into squares and put them in this Tupperware box... but it was like trying to quiet down a group of hyper kids; they just wouldn't stay in their positions! Eventually I just started scooping spoonfuls into the container and they must have congealed overnight because it looks basically just like they did in the pan yesterday. No worries, though, because they taste even better today. Cooling completely is definitely a good idea, and they're still super-fudgy and chocolately and decadent but stay together better. I was trying to think of a good comparison for them because they're so moist... not cakey at all, almost like chocolate mousse that has flour in it... but that just sounds awful, so I give up. They are their own breed of baked goods. Might I also say that are chockful of sugar! I don't really eat any refined sugar at all so my system had a big shock last night: I had a hard time going to sleep with all that sugar flowing through my veins! Next time I'm definitely altering the recipe a little. Thankfully, tomorrow morning they're going in the freezer (somehow).
Pancakes! (I feel like a little kid let loose in the candy store.) I have not made pancakes since April or May. This seems to happen to me; I make something and it's really good, but then I kind of forget about it for a few months. This is probably for the best, though. So I woke up ready for one last indulgence for the weekend, although these are about the healthiest pancakes you can make. The recipe is from How It All Vegan!, a great cookbook that I've had for a few months but admittedly have not really utilized until recently. It has tons of recipes for everything vegan, and it even has recipes for homemade products like household cleaners, shampoo and face wash that are natural and free of chemicals. One day I'll concoct a few of those, but this morning I was happy to make their Classic Pancake recipe with a few additions. All that is in these is whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, soy milk, a tablespoon of sunflower oil, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a sprinkling of dried cherries and raisins. I'm always amazed when I manage to produce edible, even flavorful yet healthy pancakes that are completely cooked through, aren't burned and don't scorch the pan, since I've had more than a few pancake failures. These were easy and yummy. I ate them with agave nectar, a natural sweetener from the agave plant native to Mexico that releases its sugar slowly in the body, eliminating the rollercoaster effects of high and low blood sugar that results from eating refined sugar. So this morning after brunch I didn't feel like I do right now: jittery and restless since I just had a scoop of those cursed brownies! So the pancakes marked the end of this weekend's hedonism... it was a great twelve hours, but I'm glad it's over. Until next time.
15 July 2006
porn
Life is good!
Tonight I made Jamie Oliver's Incredible Sicilian Aubergine Stew along with Italian Rice. It was nice to make something that's more fun than usual and while it was still easy, it was immensely satisfying. So even when I dropped my plate and it shattered into pieces on the floor, stew and all, it was okay because there was still some in the pan and not all hope was lost. I wanted some rice to go along with it but I also wanted to stay in the Italian theme and I don't have any appropriate Italian rice recipes lying around, so I was very lazy and just googled it. I quickly found a nice recipe that combined brown rice with onion, a bit of green bell pepper, canned whole tomatoes and oregano. Presto.
I forgot to add balsamic vinegar to my Foods I Absolutely Adore list. The stew incorporated olives, balsamic vinegar and tomatoes (albeit not grape tomatoes although they could have been), so of course I was hooked as soon as I read the ingredients. Eggplant is one of those weird vegetables for me that only works in certain ways, and when it doesn't work it just really sucks. My last endeavor with eggplant came in the form of this, that or the another curry where the star was eggplant but I didn't cook it long enough, so it was rubbery and hard and bitter and just awful. Since then I've... not avoided eggplants but not embraced them either, until yesterday when I noticed that we had four small eggplants bought from the Phoenix Farmer's Market last Saturday. I can't bear to see food go to waste and Jamie Oliver's not a bad guy into whom to put eggplant faith, and it was a good decision. The eggplant was soft and creamy, the tomatoes giving an edge and the olives - ah, the olives! - along with the herbed vinegar... it was just wonderful. I did end up using more olive oil than I planned because at the beginning, the eggplant looked like it was in danger of drying out. I try my best to use a minimal amount of oil when I cook because I use olive oil basically every day, but I'm glad that when I do have to throw a few extra spoonfuls of the stuff in the pan, it results in ooohs and ahhhs (mine, of course, since the rest eat steak tenderloin or whatever) at the dinner table. Our meal was enhanced by a wine of which my parents bought one case eight years ago, and that we brought back on the airplane with us from England. It was the first time either of them had tried it and I was lucky enough to be present so I had a glass too. It was a 1998 Bordeaux from Cheateau L'Enclos - delicious!
I have been such a good girl. I haven't eaten any dessert this entire week! I'm trying this new thing where I eat healthily during the week and treat myself a bit on the weekend. It is working well, actually, because I spend the week thinking about what goodie I'll make or bake on the weekend and then it's just so exciting when I finally do make it that everything tastes that much better. And actually, I haven't baked anything in months since my enthusiastic muffin escapades. Tonight just felt like a good night to whip up something sweet and luscious (last Saturday was chocolate pudding; I'm feeling a theme coming on), and I've had this recipe bookmarked for a few weeks. The secret ingredient - pureed prunes - sounds extremely questionable and elderly nursing home-esque, but when you consider that the texture of prunes is perfect for replacing the oil that vegan cake-and-cookie recipes need to replace the fat from dairy, it's a great substitute. These aren't exactly healthy, though... a cup of maple syrup (I added only four tablespoons), 1/2 a cup of sugar (whoops! I'm pretty sure I added 1 full cup by accident!), 1/2 a cup of chocolate chips (I added a bit less than 1/2 a cup, and it was good-quality Belgian dark chocolate too)... but they're about the fudgiest vegan brownies ever. About twenty minutes after taking it out of the oven, I cut two lines into the cake and hot gooey madness erupted underneath the dry surface. Actually that's an overstatement: it was baked, the top just collapsed slightly and the fudgy innards oozed out a bit. I scooped out some for myself and hopefully as they cool, they'll... set. If I didn't tell you they weren't vegan you'd would only be able to say that "there's something a bit different about these but I can't put my finger on it and they're still really good". Or as I like to say, superfantabulous.
14 July 2006
peoplewatching
May I present:
Mama Pepper's husband.
And also:
The best (and spiciest) hummus I've ever made from a book. Who knew that half a jalapeno had such bite, or that sauteeing onions and garlic in a splash of olive oil before blending raises hummus to new heights?
And I've been meaning to do this for a while:
Foods I Absolutely Adore
pure:
olives
walnuts
grape tomatoes
blueberries
red grapes
sundried tomatoes
balsamic vinegar
red wine
raw:
guacamole
hummus
made:
Stacy's Baked Pita Chips
organic whole-wheat bread from the restaurant Albio in Prague
Zen Bakery's muffins
Dark chocolate Toblerone
Chocolate Silk Soymilk
Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans
Ah, kill me now!
13 July 2006
prego
Tonight I made chili! It was the easiest thing I've made in months; simply saute onions and carrots in olive oil for a few minutes, and then add other veggies (I chose corn, a green bell pepper, a yellow squash), canned tomatoes and some of the juice, chickpeas, kidney beans, rice, tomato paste and vegetable broth and simmer for about an hour. Ta da! I don't know why I decided to make chili in the middle of July in Arizona... but it was good. We have this great bread from a local Phoenix bakery and I'm finding excuses to eat it because it's INCREDIBLE [whole grain, vegan, has only a few ingredients and tastes like bliss when toasted] so I ate the chili by scooping it up with little pieces of toast. Chili is not particuarly pretty but it did the job tonight.
I'd really like to make a meal that takes time and effort as opposed to my standard one-bowl deals. As convenient as it is to get vegetables and legumes and grains in one tasty dish, it would be a nice change to make a meal with an aesthetically-pleasing entree and then - gasp! - a side dish or two, and maybe even a dessert to compliment it. Perhaps this weekend for supper I'll create a restaurant-worthy meal... I'll peruse my cookbooks for ideas.
12 July 2006
makeitwork
I can't get that Project Runway theme song out of my head, the one that plays as the models walk down the runway at the end. I'm pretty ashamed to admit that I spent the better part of today doing nothing but watching old episodes of Season 2 on Bravo and then the snail-paced, two-hour intro to Season 3. I would feel completely gross and undeserving of being alive save for the fact that I went to the gym and had an amazing workout this afternoon, which made up for my slothness.
I prefer the gym when its energized but not crowded. After 5pm it's insane in there; every machine is being used, I feel like I'm at the mall, maneuvering around things and bodies. The early afternoon is ideal because while there are people, the atmosphere is relaxed. So I walk into the "cardio area" and the first few treadmills are being used, but then there's a big stretch of vacant machines - perfect! I always love having lots of space around me although this usually doesn't last long. So I do my thing, whatever, and quite quickly people start popping up around me, until eventually almost all of the treadmills are being used. It's hard not to feel like a beacon that draws people over to run with you - I tell myself that with my weird hormonal problems I just exude a rare special one that attracts people wherever I go. It's a cool feeling, however false it may be. The one benefit of running next to people is that they provide me with motivation because I'm not stopping until they stop or I'm about to pass out. It doesn't matter who it is; a girl my age, an old man, a hot guy, a gorgeous woman... I'm just competitive. So after my run I walk, and the girl right next to me who is walking matches the pace I'm walking at, which is really annoying because its alarming having someone mirror you for so long. Thankfully she quits soon after; to be replaced by a man who runs. It's terrible, but I have more respect for people who run than those who just walk, unless they're obese or elderly. I know they might have knee problems or hip displasia and physically can't run, but I still turn my nose up at the walkers. I'm a snob, what can I say? A few treadmills away, a hot guy gets on and starts to walk. I feel his eyes in my direction quite consistently but I refuse to look over for a while, because I just can't believe I'm what he's looking at. If you had to pick me at my worst-looking moment, it's when I'm at the gym after I've run - my face is sprouting sweat beads even after I wipe them off, my shirt is wet and heavy on my back, I'm probably pink... so it's just not possible that anyone would want to look at me for more than the second it takes to confirm gender. Finally, I decide that maybe he's just watching one of the televisions near me so I glance at him but oh dear, he was looking right at me. We make eye contact for a second and then I look away. I'm the veteran of this section of treadmills now; it's been forty minutes since I got on and I've outlasted everyone who got on around me. After walking for a bit, he starts to run. I debated whether to call it a day - I usually don't last long running after walking after running, but I was listening to good music and feeling pumped and I don't usually feel like this so what the hell, I hit the "increase speed" button until I was running once more in sync with this guy. I looked over at him once more and we again made eye contact. I couldn't decide if we were being mental partners or competitors. Part of me wanted to smile at him as if I was saying, "We can do it! Keep it up!" but another part of me wanted to say, "I'll keep this up for as long as you will, trust me"... so in the end I just looked away. After being on that damn machine for a full hour I wanted to leave, so I did. Maybe he'll be there tomorrow; I enjoy playing mind games with strangers.
11 July 2006
harmony
The last few days have been interesting, to say the least. The boys are back in the house and it's very nice to have some testosterone (and likemindedness) around again. I saw Pirates last night and agreed with basically everything Alex and Julia said about it. It was a good bad blockbuster. The first one was a surprise hit, for me at least. The second is now part of "the formula" and as soon as things become part of formulas designed to increase sales and target projections and abandons the ideas of movies for people instead of movies for the industry... then I leave. And yes, it's based on a Disney ride, of course its part of Disney's master plan, but I was pleasantly surprised by Johnny Depp's role in the first movie. The second time around his lines were contrived and mundane, his charm mostly lost. Keira Knightley was too tan, too pouty, and too... piratey for me. And Orlando - I've never gotten on the Orlando bandwagon, but at least he tried hard. All in all, I'd rather have seen Supes.
The last time I made a pizza was in the first days of April and was one of the first posts on this blog. Since then the only pizza I've eaten was in Florence, Italy... and justifiably so. After little sleep last night and a churning stomach today, homemade pizza was the only remedy my body was asking for. So I whipped up some homemade tomato sauce and a batch of basil pesto, and while the tomato sauce cooled I ran out (not literally) to Trader Joe's to get some Almost Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. (It was the only thing I didn't make from scratch because the process takes a few hours and it was already 6:30.) An hour later I rolled out the dough, spread the tomato sauce around, made mounds of pesto and then sprinked mushrooms, olives, sundried tomatoes and fire-roasted peppers all over my magnificent masterpiece. Twelve minutes later, glory emerged from the oven.
A natural cureall. Each homemade pizza keeps getting better.
My newest photographic emblem is one of the peppers I bought at the farmer's market on Saturday. It had the deepest grooves and curviest lines I've ever seen on a bell pepper. I imagined a wise old woman who looks fragile and but whose mind can whip your ass any day of the week.
08 July 2006
abundance
I have returned to cooking, slowly, this week. In between the fruit smoothies, hummus+veggie sandwiches and almond butter snacks, I've thrown together some simple dinners pour moi. The other night I made a curry with spinach, tomatoes and chickpeas, and tonight I made Mexican beans with lots of veggies. It was a little dry and could have used a few spoonfuls of salsa on top, but overall it was a fine meal. It feels good to cook again.
This morning I went to the Phoenix Farmers Market with my mom. I've vaguely known about a few markets in the area but I didn't know specifics - seasons, hours, location. After going to several markets in Europe I miss the wonderful experience, and a tipoff from my mom led me to finding out about this one, so we both agreed to go this morning. It's a thriving little place, although I'm sure it has more stands in the winter. There were about four different produce stands (quite a lot when you think about it), as well as a lot of random stands selling honey, hummus, soap, bread, salad dressings, and plants. I was sad that there wasn't much fruit but I'm sure it's hard to grow fruit in Arizona in the summer. The only offerings were peaches from Wilcox and little green apples, and so we bought some of each. We also bought zucchini, onions, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, and english cucumbers, as well as four loaves of bread and a gorgeous bunch of flowers. I think all of the produce was organic and, obviously, local, which is really cool. (In the background of the picture above, you can see the bowl of tomatoes on the counter). Our purchases did cost a bit more than conventional produce at the supermarket but it's well worth it: (my mom and) I are happy to support local farmers and the taste of local organic produce far outshines the supermarket offerings. It's also really nice to meet the person who grew your food and to see them passionate about it too. You could go there every Saturday and buy all the produce you need to get you through the week. Really, tomatoes, zucchinis and peppers are all the vegetables that we should be eating in the summer anyway. There is a time of year for everything.
Sometimes, you just want something sweet. Other than a handful of dark chocolate chips on Wednesday, I've had no sweets this week at all, a great accomplishment after three weeks of hedonism. While it's not about restriction, being vegan makes it pretty hard to find dessert in the house (a good thing when you have this girl's sweet tooth). Cookies, scones, and milk chocolate (brought back from England, no less) are all offenders, so usually I just drink a glass of water and forget about it. But it's Saturday, and I've been doing really well with everything, so I found a recipe for raw chocolate pudding in one of my cookbooks, we had all the ingredients and a nice, cold treat in this hot weather sounded perfect. I must say, the ingredients list doesn't encourage sighs of excitement or deliciousness. Put fresh dates, figs, almond butter (or your nut butter of choice), cocoa powder, soy milk and a dash of vanilla extract into a blender and blend until smooth (easier said than done), and then refrigerate for an hour. Actually, the original recipe calls for water but I was right in thinking that soy milk would add some creaminess and indulgence to this already-Spartan-by-our-standards dessert. (And the soy milk makes it not completely raw but since I could never, ever be a raw foodist I don't care.) The tiny seeds from the figs don't break down in the blender so they're easily detected by the tongue, as are the tiny pieces of almond in my almond butter, so it's not absolutely 100% smooth the way pudding made with cream and milk is. But it's almost completely smooth and damn good, with my mom agreeing... although surprisingly, it's very rich too! I ate half of my cup and then suddenly stopped, completely content but with no desire to eat more. I declare it a winner.
06 July 2006
reminiscing
I'm still waking up really early. I've always wanted to be one of those people who wakes up early naturally. Even when I wake up at 9 or 10, it takes me a full hour to feel functional. I can't do much in that first hour except read the newspaper, make breakfast, and rub my eyes a lot. I've found that waking up early and going running, for example, is usually a terrible idea - my limbs just won't move smoothly and I curse myself the whole time for thinking it would be a good thing to do. So to wake up at 6am and feel really awake is pretty cool. Hopefully it'll last? Maybe?
I think I'm over the "it's nice to be home" feeling. I just needed a few days of doing nothing in my own house to recharge, but everything is exactly the same as when I left it, not surprisingly, and I'm bored. Coming back to Arizona is depressing and I'm probably going through mild culture shock. For me, there is absolutely nothing like living in a big city. This trip only confirmed that I need to live in one, permanently, soon. I miss taking public transportation and walking everywhere and seeing lots of people and being surrounded by tall buildings and trees and life. Of all the places we visited, Prague was the place I could see myself living in. I think I'll always feel like a foreigner in Paris. Florence is too small and touristy. I didn't see much of Munich and while I liked what I saw, I think that if I could live anywhere in Germany I'd choose somewhere a little more happening, such as Berlin. And I loved Prague. It's the new Paris, to use an overused phrase. I felt so comfortable in Europe. Looking through my photos again makes my heart twinge.
The trip also confirmed for me that I love red wine. I had some form of alcohol with dinner every night while in Europe, but the most common drink I had was red wine. I only had one or two glasses each day, by the way, nothing insane. Wine became just another part of dinner. My parents don't mind me drinking in our house and it's free for me, so I'm fine for the summer, but I don't know what I'm going to do at school next year. I think the Claremont Colleges are pretty progressive regarding drinking; i.e. if I have one bottle of wine tucked behind a bookshelf in my room it'll go unnoticed. I hope. Anyway, it's so weird to go from being able to drink whatever I want to being in a country where it's against the law.
If you tried to watch the slideshow and it stopped half way though, I fixed the problem so it should run through smoothly now. I noticed that I took half of my photos in England and Paris, with the amounts decreasing with each city; there are only a handful from Prague. I completely filled up my memory card by like the fourth day, so each day I would filter through my pictures and delete some, and by the end I only had about 15 photos left to take, so I was conservative with what I could work with. Also, in the big cities you have to be careful about pickpockets. I wish I had less of Bath and London and more of Prague, but oh well. If I study abroad there (a possibility since you don't need to know Czech to go!) I'll make up for this summer's relative lack of Prague photos.
Speaking of study abroad, I've been thinking a lot about it, unsurprisingly. Ideally I'd like to go for my entire junior year (although I do have doubts about this - a year is a really long time). If I go somewhere that doesn't have a language prerequisite, such as Copenhagan, Amsterdam, Budapest (in Hungary) or Prague, then I can go for a year and it's fine. (London is too familiar and intwined in my life, and I know that I'm going to live there one day since we have a flat). However, I feel like I'd love Berlin, and you need two years of college-level German to go anywhere in Germany. I think I could go to Berlin for the second semester of junior year if I take Intensive Introductory German this fall and then Intermediate in the spring, some kind of class over the summer and then Advanced in the following fall. But I don't know how that will fit in with finishing up my gen eds and my major (as of now, Politics and International Relations) requirements, and I'm also somewhat skeptical of my ability to comprehend classes taught in German after only two years of study. I'd also love to continue with French, but I think that's impossible. With enough French courses, I could go to Paris for study abroad although I'd like to go somewhere a bit off the beaten path. I have a lot that I need to take in the next six semesters! I'd also like to avoid programs that are large (i.e. over 100 people) that involves only American college students living with American students being taught by American faculty. I'd prefer to be in a smaller group living in an international dorm being taught by diverse professors and lots of interaction with the city and people. And I'd like to study in a city that has enough culture and support for young people to keep me busy and interested. A more relaxed route would be to take German both semesters this year, and then go to Prague for the year (if possible) where German is spoken to a lesser extent. But I basically want to go everywhere. I need to talk to my advisor about all this!
Despite trying my best to eat healthfully while in Europe, it is quite a challenge when eating three times a day in hotels, cafes and restaurants to eat enough vegetables and, to a lesser extent, fruit. I consumed so much full-fat dairy; I went from about 0% before I left to having it multiple times a day, sometimes voluntarily but often not. (Soy milk is nonexistent in restaurants. I don't think they even know what it is.) And the bread! Does every restaurant in Europe put bread on the table as soon as you sit down? Plus every meal came with some kind of carbohydrate - pasta, bread in a sandwich, potatoes... to sum it up, I ate completely differently than I'm used to, and I paid for it with minor breakouts, that blocked up/ bloated feeling, and an eye twitch that started the third day and ended the last day in England when I had become vegan again. (I actually went for a run on our second night in Florence because I just felt so bleechhh). Mind you, we ate very well and I also definitely consumed much more fat than I usually do, in both the way food is prepared in restaurants and with dessert and mid-afternoon gelato snacks being common occurrences. It was vacation and I knew it! So Hannah and I had originally agreed to doing a fruit and veg detox for the first three days of being home; we would only eat fresh fruit and vegetables all day. Of course, that was shot Tuesday morning when I was dying for oatmeal. I know I'm terribly weak when it comes to food, but I've been eating lightly and completely vegan too. I'm feeling much better, especially after going to the gym yesterday too. I've also just finished The China Study, a research book by the scientist of a long-term study of diet and nutrition in China versus the US, and reminding myself of all the diseases that develop by eating meat and dairy have made it easy to stay on the vegan path. It's incredible that only three weeks of different food can so drastically change how you function and feel.
The songs that defined the Europe trip for me were This Is The Last Time by Keane, and Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Hannah and I heard Crazy at least once in every city we visited, which was so funny that we just adopted it as the theme song. We'd randomly break out singing, "Who do you, who do you who do you who do you think you aaaare?". And I bought the Keane album just before I left and I love This Is The Last Time and ended up listening to it on each train ride. It's transcendental and beautiful, like a Coldplay song, so it parallels the larger scope and point of the trip.
All in all, I miss Europe, I know it's the place for me, and I can't wait to be back there again.
04 July 2006
photos
There are so many images of my trip that I have in my head but not on a chip, and having looked at my photos all day today, I realize how many images there are that I'm unable to share. But (glass half-full, Katherine) at least there are photos at all.
For some reason, I focused on taking a picture of the national flag (except I didn't see one anywhere in Prague! I erroneously thought it was because they didn't field a World Cup team, but Damamacita proved me wrong! So I don't know why there was a lack of flags, perhaps just the culture), street signs and the train station of each city we visited... as well as my feet in different shoes that walked the streets with me (except the new sandals I bought in Germany). I don't know why. Enjoy it, it's a quirk of mine. The pictures are in chronological order. I had much difficulty figuring out how to present them on here. Uploading them and resizing all of them on Photobucket would have taken days and you only get 20MB of free photos per month on Flickr, so in the end I chose Snapfish to host the album. I've never used it before, but it was simple and convenient. If you don't have a Snapfish account, you have to make one before you see the photos, but there are only six boxes to fill in and then you can forget about it forever. I would recommend watching the slideshow, but be warned, there are a lot of photos. Crack open iTunes and listen to a good playlist while watching. I had an amazing trip, which I'm not done reflecting upon, but on another day.
Here is Europe 2006.
04 July 2006
ohhh
I'm home, and awake. I didn't feel tired until 9pm last night and I slept solidly until 4am... but then it felt like it should be noon. So I've been awake for a while, eating fruit and oatmeal (how I missed you!) and now I'd like to nap but I know it'll mess me up so I'd better not. Upon entering, the house smelled like "returning-home-after-a-long-vacation" even though my brother and dad only just left for the cabin on Sunday morning. But it's a wonderful, clean, empty smell that our Arizona homes have always had when we finally drag in our suitcases and tired bodies after vacations.
The flight home was so long. 10 hours is a really, really long time. I was in the window seat, and I made a point of getting up to walk around every two hours or so, so I continually displaced my mom and sister who were often sleeping. I had no such luck with sleeping, but I also didn't want to because of jetlag. I must applaud British Airways' efforts in accomodating vegan meals. I had a vegan dinner and breakfast on the way there, and a vegan lunch and snackbox yesterday. Yesterday's meals were substationally better, listen to this: for lunch, I had "vegetable tagine" like a vegetable curry with some kind of grain, which was SO GOOD, along with a cute simple salad, a bread roll and fruit. And in my snackbox was a mushroom-and-tomato "bap" (a British word for a bread roll filled with something) with vegan mayonnaise (!) and then lots of fruit. I've never before had such good airplane food.
Sky Harbor could have the worst-ever international terminal in the US. After waiting for fifteen minutes to just leave the actual aircraft, you de-plane and walk in spirals down escalators and narrow hallways, finally popping out into the immigration room full of travelers like you, except it is disorganized and there are no visible queueing lines and everyone's in a huge blob trying to get into the right place. When the immigration officer determines that you are not a terrorist, you wait for your luggage for what seems like hours, and then you become part of another confused mass through customs declaration. Although formidable placards hung every five feet declare that you can only bring in to the US one liter of alcohol per adult over the age of 21, somehow we got away with bringing two liter bottles of Pimms and twelve bottles of red wine (ordered many years ago by my wine-loving parents and is only just now ready to drink) into the country. Then you maneaver those stupid trolleys (that don't steer properly) around more twisty hallways, (feeling as if you've covered the entire area of the airport by now) only to arrive at five shiny elevators to take you up to the main floor and only exit place. Elevators. Only five, medium-sized elevators are in place to transport hundreds of tired, cranky, hungry people on international flights who are wielding trolleys carrying lots and lots of baggage and duty-free crap and alcohol. I can't get over how ridiculous this concept is. And when you finally get up to the main level, if you need to go to the car park (sorry, parking lot) you must wait around another set of elevators and decide whether to be polite or vengeful in offering up the elevator to the people beside you or running towards it, marking it as yours and yours alone bitch so get out the way (we chose the latter). Only when you have actually set foot outside and can feel the dry heat suck all the moisture out of your Europeanized skin do you know that you have made it out of an airport that just loves its fliers too much to let them go. Why does it have to be so complicated? I've had some of the easiest airport visits at the world's busiest airports and vice versa. It can be simple if it is made simple.
Phew. Ok.
Right now I'm sorting through my photos and preparing them for a massive post here later today. So look out!
02 July 2006
heatwave
I'm in England, again, staying in the house of a family friend. The trip from Prague to London Waterloo was so long; we took an 8-hour sleeper train from Prague to Frankfurt (I didn't really sleep, as always), had an hour break for breakfast in Frankfurt, then took a 4-hour train from Frankfurt to Brussels, had an hour break in Brussels, and then took the 2-hour Eurostar from Brussels to London, and then waited for a train from London out to the suburbs to their house (1/2 hour journey). All in all, we left Prague at 10pm Thursday night and arrived at their house at 5pm Friday. We looked and felt completely exhausted when we arrived here, but we had tea outside in the gorgeous, sunny weather, before we took showers and rested a little until dinner. Some of the girls had friends over so it was a jolly affair, with a feast of food served outside on an square wooden table under a canopy. The next day we thought about going in London, but we're all just really tired of getting up and going somewhere every morning for weeks, so we decided to watch the football match at 4 (England vs. Portugal in the quarterfinals... we lost 0-1 on a penalty kick in overtime) and then took the evening train in to the West End to see The Producers at Drury Lane. It was a good show, quite enjoyable, and now I know what's it's really about. London at 10:30pm was hopping, and weird things were going on like the Covent Garden tube stop closed and police cars were wailing all over, so we walked to Waterloo over the bridge which was really nice; a chance to walk around after being lazy at home all day, and see London at night.
I think we are going to go into Windsor for a few hours today instead of London... it's closer and not at all a hassle. It is so hot here, it's not even a nice summer warmth anymore, we're roasting. I tell you, it's global warming. And we leave tomorrow! It will be nice to be home again, like it is after returning from any journey.