Happy Halloween!

This year’s Halloween started on Saturday with Robyn and some of her friends. I was impressed by the caliber of our costumes – no one punked out!

Amanda was the "Toof Fairy" and made a terrifyingly authentic chola, which I hope isn't wildly offensive, I think actual cholas own the term so I'm saying it with respect here and this is clearly an admiring tribute:

Last year I tried to be Diana Ross but when I curled my hair I ended up with cute pin curls and went as a silent movie star instead. This year I wore the same amazing gold and black pantsuit but got a bonafide Diana Ross wig to make it happen for real:

We headed down to Norm’s in Fremont pretty early (7:30) to secure a table. Unfortunately the Sounders and Huskies games were both on so that early in the night it was all sports fans and no costumes. But we snagged the best table in the house and settled in. Soon the costumes started pouring in and again I was impressed with people’s effort. I’m not sure what was in the air that got people in the mood but this year seemed like an especially good year for costumes.

There was a big group of Star Wars characters with an impressive array.

Professional Chewbacca costume this guy was really tall so it made quite an impact:

This girl’s Death Star took a week to make:

Hans Solo frozen in carbonite was my favorite:

I also really loved these girls’ hand-made Black/White swan costumes, which happened to be one of the “trend” costumes (we saw at least five of them but they were the best):

Other trends included lots of Star Wars (even outside the group) and an inexplicable number of Where’s Waldo. I saw at least seven.

I was the DD and after giving the group rides home around 1 am I was headed back to my place when I saw a very sad-looking team of Angry Birds at the bus stop outside Robyn’s house. It was clear they had just missed their ride so I shuttled them down to their destination, Dick’s on lower Queen Anne, and told them to do a random favor for a stranger to keep the good karma going. They were funny and very grateful, and somehow I ended up with a devil’s tail in my backseat; not a part of any of their costumes or anyone from my group. Perplexing!

I decided to take a pass around Capitol Hill to see what was big among the gay, hipster, and fake-ID crowds. The only common theme was skin (oh, slutty Halloween), though I did see an impressive trio of Tetris blocks and a funny female Hugh Hefner with a very tall male Bunny. After that I called it a night, doused my face in olive oil to remove the fake eyelash glue and gobs of liquid eyeliner, and slept like a champ.

On Monday I wore the wig again but put on a black dress with red socks and a red belt and went as Little Orphan Annie's evil twin. We had a pumpkin carving contest at work and my department was robbed - look at how scary this thing is! We even had a mini strobe light in it which created these freaky light effects:

It actually looked scarier 4 days later:

That evening I went to see Toddler J as a bumblebee (he ran around yelling "I'm a bumblebee!" which was cuter than the costume) and give candy to the very few trick or treaters that came by. We ate most of the good candy ourselves.

All in all a respectable Halloween.

From jungle to nursery

A few weeks ago I decided to do something about the jungle growing in my living room. I went to Lowe’s and bought potting soil and tons of pots and started splitting the hell out of my wandering Jew, peace lily, aloe, and spider plant. So far this project has spanned two weeks and about 20 hours of labor. Can you see why I put it off?

I started with the unwinding of the wandering Jew. It had cascaded almost to the floor but it’s clever enough not to touch; instead it starts snaking its way back up in a tangled mess, so that when I did get it unwound some branches extended nearly six feet! The only thing to do is cut it into sections and root it in water, which can take as little as a day – these roots are feisty! I feel guilty doing this because I end up discarding a significant portion of the branches, but they start to die at the top and it gets unsightly and out of control, so it’s really best for both of us. This is not the best picture, but by the time I finished unwinding and cutting (two hours later) there were probably 200 individual strands strewn about my apartment:

After that I separated most of the baby spider plants from the offshoots and rooted them in water for several days. This is a painless process since they are actively seeking a place to root and are only too happy to be separated from the mother. How cute are they?

Next up was the lily. The poor thing hasn’t been repotted in I don’t know how long since it came to me from a friend, and it took me half an hour just to get it out of its pot. My bathtub was the loser here:

I ended with the aloe, another guilt-inducing project since you literally have to pull the babies from the mother and sometimes they don’t want to let go. But I have a lot of practice splitting this aloe, which started as limp plant someone at the gym where I worked in college brought in one day. Since then I’ve probably split it at least 6 times, making this round the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughters of the mother plant.

And now I have this to deal with:

• 8 spider plants
• 5 Jews
• 4 aloes
• 3 lilies
• 5 combination aloe/jew; lily/jew, spider/lily pots
• And, 2 parsley plants reclaimed from the outdoor garden before it got too cold

What am I going to do with all these plants?? I considered setting up a bootleg stand outside the farmer's market and selling them but it was rainy on Sunday and I didn't muster up the enthusiasm to load them into my car and try to hawk a bunch of plants that I prefer go to good, loving homes - after all, I've had them for generations.

I do want them off my dining room table, though. I'm open to suggestions and requests - a modest donation gets you as many lovingly, freshly-potted plants as you can handle!

Internet Intervention

As most people close to me know, I haven’t owned a TV in years. This is not because I’m a snob. It’s because I’m an addict.

Until recently I didn’t even have internet in my apartment, but once I got it the natural follow-up was a Netflix account. The combination of chilly weather and unfettered internet access has turned me into a Netflix junky. So far I’ve seen tons of movies, most of Pawn Stars, most of The League (I'm an unlikely fantasy football fiend), and all three seasons of Arrested Development (for the second time).

Most recently and embarrassingly I engaged in a marathon of the TBS show My Boys. To my credit, this show has sentimental meaning since when I lived in Philadelphia the only worthwhile channel I got was TBS, and when I was in Argentina for the first time I spent several depressed weeks with e-coli and general malaise watching American television. When I see the title I still pronounce it with a bad Spanish accent: “Siguente… Mey Boiz.” But I was watching upwards of 7 episodes in a row, each time swearing it would be the LAST ONE before I’d make dinner/clean my house/write a blog/do yoga/go to bed. Thank heavens it was only 4 seasons long.

I decided it was time for an intervention and have imposed a Netflix (and all other sources of TV on the internet) moratorium for the month of November, excluding 2 hours on weekends. Think I can do it?

Cozy Cooking

Now that nine months of grey are upon us, I’ve been spending most of my free time in the kitchen making comfort food. My winter cooking goes in trends - I’ll make the same dish over and over until I'm sick of it. Past season obsessions have been salmon lasagna (this spanned multiple years), arroz con pollo (in Argentina), and pear molasses bread (last year).

So far this season there are two frontrunners: Shepherd’s pie and roast chicken. I did both this weekend.

Tastes Like Chicken

I roasted the third chicken of the season on Friday night, when I had Casey and Jacob over for a mini-Thanksgiving (no turkeys on the shelves just yet) with stuffing, green beans, a lot of gravy, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream (thanks to which Jacob discovered that using a hand mixer is really fun). I didn't take any pictures because we were too consumed by the spread to stop to take a photo.

What I love about roasting a chicken is that it’s super easy, insanely delicious, and leads directly to one of my timeless cozy meals: soup. With the three chickens I’ve made chicken with wild rice, chicken with barley, and today, chicken noodle. I go to my parents’ house most Sunday evenings and this time dinner’s on me! I also love that I can get a organic, free-range chicken for $10-$15; a package of organic chicken breasts runs more than that and I’m a sucker for a good value. I also prefer cooking with whole foods as often as possible and it doesn’t get more whole than an entire chicken.

Now All I Need is a Flock

Shepherd’s pie started one day with an abundance of garden cabbage...

...and some other random veggies and potatoes I didn’t know what to do with. I’d never made it before but I winged it and it turned out so well I've made it at least four times since then. Shepherd’s pie is great because you can put absolutely anything into it. Today’s has leftover chicken (there was so much that it served for both soup and casserole), caramelized onions, broccoli, carrots, beet stems, cabbage, and is topped with mashed potatoes of course (the only real requisite). I season it with Dijon mustard, oregano, garlic, bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Luckily I have a willing food audience among K, M, and Toddler J where I will be spending Halloween evening tomorrow, because this pie is massive. I can also count on them to have cheese in the fridge which really brings the deliciousness and top-crispiness to a new level. Here's today's in the assembly stage:

Isn't this the most beautiful carrot you've ever seen?

I'm also strongly on the soup wagon, but that supersedes all trends. In addition to the chicken soup, I've also made spinach soup a few times and I think five pumpkin/squash soups. What can I say? I'm a sucker for roasting things.

Happy cozy eating to all of you in a wintry climate!

My love affair with glass

Over the past year, the presence of glass jars in my kitchen has steadily increased. I don't collect them as decoration, though the myriad jars filled with sundries adorning my two built-ins certainly form a work of art in my eyes:

It started years ago when my mom gave me four antique hermetically-sealed jars with study metal screw-tops:

I've gotten so many compliments on these jars, and at one point my mom even hinted she might take them back. But they have been in constant use in my kitchen and I won the argument that they are more appreciated in my house; right now they hold almonds, two kinds of wild rice, and Bhutanese red rice, respectively. But otherwise I was still mostly using plastic for storage.

This took a turn last fall thanks to a jamming session with some friends. We made over 100 jars of canned goods, some of which are still waiting to be enjoyed in one of my built-ins. As I emptied these jars I washed them and found they could be filled with all manner of things. I currently have the following stored in jars, tucked into cabinets or functionally displayed: Four kinds of rice, quinoa, lentils, popcorn, falafel mix, oats, flour, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sugar, tea, coffee, and possibly something else hidden in the bowels of a high cabinet, waiting for the day when I find it and crack it open, only to find its still-fresh contents ready for use, without any unwanted added chemicals or smells that we can thank plastic for. There's a jar of gazpacho in my fridge that I've been drinking like a savory cocktail, and another one with bacon fat that I use to saute onions and fry eggs. Jarred pesto and two kinds of soup are chilling in my freezer.

This summer I took it to a new level by transporting things out of my house in glass jars. Last week I gave my boss a jar filled with pumpkin soup - a much nicer presentation than a plastic container. I frequently show up to events with giant Mason jars filled with iced tea, homemade lemonade, or in the case of the white-and-pink picnic I attended with Amber, two icy Pimm's Cups:

There's something undeniably sexy about glass: it's functional art, sturdy yet elegant. And it doesn't make your food smell, retain food smells, or off-gas chemicals like plastic does. Plus, lids are universal - gone are the days of searching for the one lid that fits a tupperware, thanks to one of two sizes fitting any jar in my kitchen. Glass can be reused over and over again, and a good jar is nearly indestructible: I can't tell you how many times I've dropped one and jumped back, expecting to feel the shatter of glass shards against my bare feet only to smile gratefully as it recovers from the resounding THWACK in a resting position on its side, perfectly intact.

This is a love affair for the ages.

Dear Fall: I accept you

After three cloudy, cranky days, I've made my peace. This weekend I beat my opponent in Week 1 Fantasy Football. Last night I cut into a ghost pumpkin I grew, roasted half of it with olive oil and masala and turned it into a delicious pumpkin soup. This morning I put on tights and boots.

It's fall. And I'm ready to embrace it.

I think people in Seattle were more cantankerous than normal this year about the fleeting summer. It got off to a slow start, and though the last few weeks were gorgeous, we were just settling in to the reality of not needing a sweater at night when the warmth was once again taken from us.

No one lives in Seattle for the promise of sunshine and we're usually conditioned to accept with pleasure the warm days we get, without (too much) complaining about the mostly cool summer months. These last two years, however, people have been vocal about their displeasure. Angry even. I think the root cause is fear: 10 years ago, a bad summer was just that; one summer. In the era of climate change, the fear is that every summer might be worse than the last one.

It's true that the Pacific Northwest is projected to turn into a wetter climate in the coming decades, but we're also projected to get more heat - maybe even drought - in the summer months. So I say we embrace these cool summers while they last and remember to appreciate our seasons as they are while we have them this way.

Happy autumn, Seattle.

Getting Down on Friday

I'm really looking forward to the day - hopefully in the not-too-distant future - when the lyrics to Rebecca Black's "Friday" don't immediately invade my head every Friday morning. Why, brain, why??