Music meme

Here's a fun meme that Jen posted on her blog just today. I recently have been (very slowly on the weekends) coming up with a "Sher soundtrack"--songs that have been significant for me at different times of my life, so this meme plays right into that music obsession. It was a bit of a challenge to pick the artist, but I ended up going with Joni Mitchell. Sara MacLachlan was a close runner up, as were Neil Diamond, Elton John or Anne Murray! All my old childhood faves... Oh, almost forgot one: you can thank me later for not doing Roger Whittaker!

Using only song names from one artist, answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title.

Pick Your Artist: Joni Mitchell

Describe yourself: Sunny Sunday

How do you feel about yourself: Both Sides Now

Describe where you currently live (where I am this minute...): California

If you could go anywhere you wanted to go: River

Your favorite form of transportation: Big Yellow Taxi

Your best friend is: Woman of Heart and Mind

Your favorite color is: Little Green

Favorite time of day: Rainy Night House

If your life were a TV show, what would it be called: Ladies of the Canyon

What is life to you: The Circle Game

What is the best advice you have to give: Court and Spark

If you could change your name, what would it be: Amelia

Your favorite food is: Banquet

Thought for the Day: Last Chance Lost

How I would like to die: Sex Kills (I couldn't resist!)

Your soul's present condition: You Turn Me On I'm a Radio

The faults you can bear: Not To Blame

My motto: Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire





I included videos of Joni that just happen to be 30 years apart... while her voice has definitely changed over time, I really like them both. She's just an amazing artist.

So do yours! Please. You can do it here in the comments or on your own blog and let me know!

Crazy day

I got up this morning, bright and early, and ready to go. Lovely husband offered to drive me out to the airport, and when we looked out the window.... there was more of the white stuff! Wow. Apologies to Aunty MJ for any perceived springtime snobbery in our phone conversation yesterday... obviously the weather gods were listening and thought, "Let's teach her a thing or two! Spring is not as close as Sher wants!" Alas.

So between mechanical issues, plowing the runway (seriously!), and de-icing the plane, I completely lost my 1.5-hour layover in Seattle. Upon landing I sprang from my seat (you're getting the mental image here, right?) and flew through the airport. Well, lumbered, anyway... I panted up to the empty gate at 9:40... departure time was 9:38. Sniff.

OK, so you don't need details on the whole day. Suffice it to say that I got rebooked and made it to San Luis Obispo at my original time (more sprinting through the SF airport to make up for lost time). Whew. Happy I'm here safe and sound, and there are fresh local strawberries abounding! We made a very happy supper of hummus and flatbread and these amazing Asian peanut chicken meatball skewers left over from C's shindig last night, and strawberries, strawberries, strawberries!

Oh, and this is the view where I am now! Viva la See Canyon!

UPDATED: Future files: A little somethin' somethin' for my coffee

OK, this one is not so far off in the future. I just read an interesting tidbit about condensed milk and am now about ready to pillage the kitchen in search of a can...

Take a look at the article on Serious Eats (I swear, I do read other food blogs, but they've been holding my interest a lot lately): What to do with condensed milk? Aside from many wonderful sounding uses for this ingredient in ethnic baking, I was most struck by the writer's everyday use of it in coffee.

I have been floundering around trying to figure out a great, tasty way to sweeten my coffee without the help of high fructose corn syrup. I know, there is all kinds of controversy currently pinging about the internet calling into question the latest flogging of an ingredient and many are saying what's the dif between HFCS and sugar? I'll leave that for you, dear reader, to investigate...

But, I did make the decision a couple of months back to forego my hazelnut creamer in favor of something that is REAL: cream, or soy milk/cream. And, frankly, it hasn't been doing it for me. My tastebuds have been ruined by the devil, and the devil's name is Carnation Coffee-Mate.

So, I feel like I've been thrown a lifeline. A caffeinated lifeline, if you will (could there be a better kind?). I have no idea if the pantry still holds a can of the stuff, as I usually only stock it for holiday baking. But I probably have a little left over... tomorrow a.m. finds me up very early and on my merry way to California, so I will brew a little coffee and give it a whirl. And I'll keep you posted!

UPDATED: OK, so it works. It's not the home run I was hoping for, but it's sweet and does the trick at least three-quarters of the way. I had to add a touch of actual cream to lighten the color--for some reason, color of coffee matters a great deal to me... I know, I know. Anyway, I may try it again, but I will probably actually look at the nutrition facts on the stuff before doing so. This morning, making coffee at 5 a.m., not so much looky at nutrition, me.

Friday night grateful moment

So good to be in this place, in this week! Still have more to do that I should, prior to leaving for sunny San Luis Obispo early Sunday a.m., but it is what it is, and some stuff will have to wait until I'm back, I guess.

But this week, as always, I am so very grateful. Especially for:

* My husband, who is supportive in every way. I appreciate him!

* My son, who is so lovingly stumbling his way towards adolescence. The fact that he was on his way out of a hug with me when a major spill of blueberry smoothie took place this week brings a smile to my face. Now. It didn't at the time. Yikes. Just ask the boys...

* Stain remover, especially Oxy Deep by Woolite. Can I just say I wasn't sure the blueberry smoothie was going to come out, ever... but it did! I am especially grateful to whomever it is that engineered carpet fibers to repel stains.

* My sweet sweet little Bissell carpet cleaner. What a friend we have in Bissell. Aren't you just shocked that it's called the "Little Green?"

* Spring weather. We are well and truly in the springtime, even if a few chilly chilly breezes this week did bring back winter memories...

* A lovely sister-in-law who celebrated a birthday this week. We had a fun little family party complete with the first strawberries of the season. Yeah for birthdays and berries!

* Another lovely SIL who is a bucket of encouragement as we both navigate toward a world with more exercise and healthier families! We will do it! Yes we will!

* Girlfriend lunches to round out the week--sushi on Monday, steak salad at TMacs on Friday. Good way to start and end the week!

* For things to look forward to--time with dear friend C, a catch-up dinner with J in SF, and then back home and up to Canada for Grandma's 90th. Wow. A full week.


* Color. While I feel like pale-white-girl when I put color on right now (I need some of those California rays) I search for it everywhere else... here's a great web site I found (you'd love this one, Mom) Daily Color Scheme, where you can subscribe and a new color palette comes to you every day. I also found this quite fun crafty blog, Don't Look Now, with color all over the place. Makes me want to quilt, the fabrics look so fun. And then there's this little project (now complete), The Daily Card. Just love the creativity!

* Music to match the sunny days... this song is one that the young lad and I belted out on the way to school/work this morning. Catchy.


Enjoy, and have a great weekend! May it be long enough to relax and chill, and not too long (hmmm, are they ever too long?) to make you forget "that thing you do" Monday through Friday. Alas.

99 things, done and undone

I've seen this list around at a couple of different blogs and finally decided to do it after I saw in on The Gift this week. I have been following The Gift for a bit--she decided at the beginning of her 37th year to write every day that year--and have enjoyed reading her journey through words. I think Jen also did this list awhile back (but I couldn't find it to link to...), and of course (of course!) it's been doing the rounds on Facebook too.


The things that I've done are bolded:

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyworld

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis--a very long time ago!

10. Sang a solo--also a very long time ago, and not well!

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables (every summer...)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Don't tell my boss!)

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon (still a goal... Kim, are you in?)

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise (great family vacation!)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community (Does a Hutterite community count? I think so.)

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke (way too many times, always badly. First was Total Eclipse of the Sun with a bunch of girls to celebrate a birthday. Favorite was I Will Survive at a time when it was appropriate.)

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted (drawn?)

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business (I think this is one I'm most proud of)

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check (Sadly, a rite of passage, at least for me.)

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox (way too late in life)

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby (not so much of a baby anymore...)

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit (does a divorce count?)

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

(So, notice all the things in Europe still waiting to be done?!)

Whew! Your turn now. Have fun.

Asparagus egg salad

I found this one on Serious Eats last weekend and have been dying to try it! Nothing says spring to me like asparagus! I have also been getting fresh-from-the-farm eggs recently (I am lucky and have two great local sources), and they make this recipe all that much better. I made it tonight and just had a couple bites, saving most for lunch tomorrow. It was amazing... and I think it will be even better tomorrow!

Pardon the whoo-hoo food styling above. It's packed up and ready for my brown-bag lunch tomorrow!

Asparagus Egg Salad
1 pound medium-size asparagus

6 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill leaves

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Coarse salt and black pepper

Cut the tips from the asparagus (about 1 inch long). You should have about 1 cup.

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus tips and cook until they are just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold running water, and drain again. Pat the tips dry and set them aside.

Place the chopped eggs in a bowl and season them lightly with salt and pepper. Toss with the dill.

Combine the mustard and the mayo in a small bowl, and fold this mixture into the eggs. Then gently fold in the asparagus tips. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours before serving.

So, what I did differently: I can't bring myself to use only tips. I used up most of the asparagus stalks, so my egg to asparagus ratio was weighted more toward the asparagus end of things. Which is the way I like it! Enjoy!

Putting it in perspective

I think I'll need to change my blog banner one of these days... to include that cookie dough cupcake photo! Each time I contemplate writing a new post, I realize it will slide the cupcake photo down, and that just seems wrong. Can just looking at food make you happy? I think so... at least for me!

But, at least I know where to go to see it. Maybe it's just my subconscious saying "Post a pretty food picture every day, Sher." Maybe.

There's a video that's been making its way around online, between Twitter and Facebook and blogs I think I've seen it referenced at least a half-dozen times in the past few weeks. Not sure why, but the embedding has been disabled on Youtube, so you'll have to link to it rather than relax in viewing comfort right here at Sweet Tea and Sunshine. Oh, the effort.

It's a Late Night with Conan O'Brian show and the comedian Louis CK is the guest. He's talking about how everything is amazing, and nobody's happy. Very appropriate some (most) days! I looked high and low for a Louis CK video that I could embed to draw you in (it's all about the marketing with me), but they don't generally fit within my family-friendly-no-4-letter-words rule for the blog. If anyone's going to swear around here, it will be me! Seriously, he's quite funny, just not someone to take to Grandma's for tea... this clip from Conan, though, is fairly tame in the language department; after all, it's network television. Enjoy. Relate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

I was talking with a girlfriend today over shushi lunch about the challenges of housekeeping; with everything else to do in our little universes (work to pay someone else to clean, or clean and save the cash?), housecleaning can fall a little low on the list. But we both have sizeable homes, and the blessing of that space comes with the curse of the dustbunnies. For another perspective, take a look at a project from a remarkable photographer, Michael Wolf. He did a photographic study in 2006 of 100 apartments in Hong Kong that are all 100 square feet. It will make you grateful for your space, I do believe. It's one of those humbling moments.

Future files: Cookie dough cupcakes

Not everything I see and drool over can I make Right This Minute. Not only do I not have the time and energy for that, I also don't have the metabolism! So I dreamt up a new category for this here blog o' mine and decided to call it "Future Files." In all my little scourings of the web I see countless little nuggets to taste and try over time... this will be my method of filing them away to try later. I swear I will try them later, and then post again, my version.

This one just jumped out at me this last week from Serious Eats. I have always been a sucker for cookie dough (ask my mother who used to threaten to make me eat a whole batch. I just prayed she'd follow through on that!), and though I don't go in so much for the cookie dough ice cream that was all the rage a few years back (and probably still is), I AM a self-professed cupcake nut, so this combo looks just too good to pass up. I ran it by the young taste-tester this morning and he gave it the big thumbs up, so it will definitely come out of the "future" and into the present, soon!

This version is from a "mix" recipe, which I'm not generally a big fan or proponent of. So when I do make these, it will be a from-scratch scenario. Yum. I think I need to go find some lunch...

Friday night grateful moment

There are many things to be grateful for this week, tis true. I just love how a little daylight and sunshine add perspective to my outlook. Same world, different view. Whew.

* I'm grateful for my guys, always, through thick and thin.

* I'm grateful that winter colds are almost done. Note the almost. Little guy (makes him sound 6!) called from the nurses office over lunch time and was ready to come home. Music to my ears, though I'm sorry he's all snuffly again. Got him quickly tucked in with a book and apple slices (I always doubt MAJOR sickness when he's got an appetite... just sayin') and things are looking up.

* It's been a long week for both husband and I, so I'm ever-so-grateful for a weekend with peace and quiet and a pause for rest. Doesn't feel right to call it the "weekend cave" with the springyness and all... I need to come up with an alternative to "cave." Any ideas?

*I am grateful for Google. I know, that may sound a little odd. But the truth is, I don't know what I'd do without Google anymore. When I want to know something, it's simply the search engine I go to, every time. And I am in love with their super-creative logo collection. I am always tickled when I open up the Google search page and there's a clever workmark to greet me. Always. I have decided that being a Google logo maker would be the coolest job, ever. What fun! I want to meet the lucky person who has that job!

Classic example for today, first day of spring:


Here's how Dr. Suess's birthday was celebrated:

And Valentine's Day 2008. How sweet. That's how bent-over I feel somedays, lately!

*I'm grateful for green. The week started green (St. Patrick's Day) and ended green (yard). I am happy, like a clam. A green clam. Even though you can now see all the streaks on my windows because the sun is shining through them, I'm happy! (Even came home from work and changed into a green Tshirt. I know, shocking.)

* I'm grateful for chopped salad and deviled eggs. Below is my spring supper! Yum. And there's asparagus (that didn't have to fly in from Chile!) in the fridge for future fun meals. I made butternut squash pizza a few weeks back and had every intention of posting about it, but I am just so over the winter vegetables I haven't really been in the mood. The pizza was yummy, but just kind of "last-Thanksgiving." Not fun for March... sad, but true. Time to move on to summer eating! Fresh, grown 50 yards away (our garden) or maybe an acre or two further...

This could truly be called the "fridge salad"--whatever is fresh, chop chop chop and voila!

* I'm grateful for friends and family, near and far. For old friends and new-ish friends and yet unborn friends. Friends you've had so long they're like family. And luckily for me, family that are near and dear as friends.

* I'm grateful for the abilty to cry. Not every day, but as needed. I know this is going to make me sound koo-koo for cocoapuffs, but it's true. I find having a "moment" to myself (no need to inflict this on anyone else, I do have my dignity!) is a really good thing. Who needs therapy? I used to think that gal on Broadcast News was nuts. Now I know better! Or, wait, maybe I'm just nuts too...!

* I'm very grateful that I can hear birds chirping out the window, and not much else. I love the tranquility of our setting.

Chirp chirp. Happy weekend!

Springtime pesto delights

So there was before:

And here's after!

When the basil gets THAT tall, something must be done about it! I know, I know, pesto is so '90s... but it is one flavor I can't get enough of! And especially since my last basil overdose feels like months ago (because it was), I was more than ready to pull out the pinenuts, parmesan and olive oil. As I seem to be more and more sensitive to garlic lately (I can't really belive I'm saying this, it makes me feel old to even say it) I just left the little cloves stay intact and made a garlic-less version.

There are all sorts of recipes for pesto. But I find it turns out best when you add a bit of this (basil), a little of that (cheese, parm and oil) and play around with it until you have achieved the consistency you're going for. The video below gives a good idea of how to accomplish that. Complete with an accent! Oui oui!

I am so happy spring is here! Maybe, just maybe, summer will follow. I don't want to get all freaky optimistic here, but all signs point to warmth and sunshine in the coming weeks. Yeah for that!