Tuesday, October 31, 2006

happy halloween





"I'm a secret agent man. In polka dots."

BEST LINE of the night - I only wish I had more
candy for the tiny little man of mystery, for making
me smile.

Our neighborhood is beautiful, diverse, and full of
kids that "take one" and say thank you, smile and
wave at me through the french doors. I saw an astronaut,
carmen miranda, elmo, the scream guy, and various princesses,
fairies and dinosaurs. But no witches, mummies or frankensteins.

Perhaps in our day different sorts of characters elicit fear..

On to sweet November.

Monday, October 30, 2006

polka dot


Show me your polka face.

  • Blob's Park


  • Nope, not kidding. Please do make your way
    over to Blob's Park one fall evening
    to enjoy Polka and German fare.

    We happened to have been there the night a 15-time
    grammy award winning hop-til-you-drop polka band
    took the stage. We had many pitchers of Heifeweitzen
    and even more sausage- so much in fact that I must troll
    the web for the NAME of this band and write a proper
    review, with photos. Until then- grab your partner.

    Sunday, October 22, 2006

    what wine pairs with twinkies?

    It is no secret in certain circles that at one notorious
    office Christmas Party I received a Twinkie Making Kit
    during the secret santa exchange, and that the culprit
    responsible for this heinous gift kept her identity
    a secret until through a diligent process of
    elimination I was able to find her out, and promise revenge.
    And it turns out, revenge is sweet.

    I had forgotten how fake-angry I was until Carri's
    daughter Eva pulled out the lady-fingeresque bake
    pan from one of my cabinets along with the little
    half-twinkie-half-cowboy plastic figurine/twinkie
    storage device and said "whassiss?" Whassis, indeed.
    Whassisdoinginmykitchenstill? The recipe booklet
    fell out of the cabinet. I picked it up, expecting:

    Ingredients
    Enriched Wheat Flour - enriched with ferrous sulphate (iron)
    B vitamins:
    Niacin
    Thiamine mononitrate [B1]
    Riboflavin [B12] and
    Folic acid
    Sugar
    Corn syrup
    Water
    High fructose corn syrup
    Vegetable and/or animal shortening containing one or more of
    Partially hydrogenated soybean
    cottonseed or Canola oil
    lard and
    beef fat
    Dextrose
    Whole eggs
    Contains 2% or less of:
    Modified corn starch
    Cellulose gum
    Whey
    Leavenings:
    Sodium acid pyrophosphate
    Baking soda
    Monocalcium phosphate
    Salt
    Cornstarch
    Corn flour
    Corn syrup solids
    Mono and diglycerides
    Soy lecithin
    Polysorbate 60
    Dextrin
    Calcium caseinate
    Sodium stearol lactylate
    Wheat gluten
    calcium sulfate
    Natural and artificial flavors:
    Caramel color
    Sorbic acid (to retain freshness)
    Color added (yellow 5, red 40)

    But instead, "flour, sugar, eggs, milk, baking powder."
    Seriously? We had to try this. Of course, the recipe is
    not THE recipe, so we were making twinkie-shaped
    yellow cake, but it was fun to pretend.
    Turns out I converted my baking supplies to
    organic a while back, so as an added insult to Hostess,
    they turned out to be Organic Twinkies, and we made
    a chocolate sauce instead of the white...stuff.

    This made me think: "I'll bet Hostess does this in
    the next year or so. Cause everyone else is."
    Even Wal-Mart is "going organic". As if.

    Twinkie-making made for a nice evening.
    We (the adults of course) drank a nice
    Cabernet and had a good giggle about the whole thing.
    In fact, the evening was so pleasant that I
    consider my grievances aired and will not, in fact,
    place a tofu and spinach- filled whole wheat version
    of this otherwise harmless (ok, not harmless..)
    treat outside the door of the sarcastic ms. claus.
    This does not, however, preclude the best re-gifter
    ever. And there are many culinary options to be had
    in the aisles of Toys-R-Us. Many options indeed.






    Oh this thing doesn't really work. I just felt like I was violating the poor thing.



    Zelda and Eva wait patiently for dessert to be served.

    Saturday, October 14, 2006

    embracing pink

    I was walking through cross street market and saw them.
    The pale pinks, the deep rosy tones, the scarlet, which I passed on-
    buying red roses for oneself is...well I don't like them anyway..

    Pink is important in the second or third week of April, when the
    cherry tree out front blooms, sighs, and sheds its rosey robe like
    a burlesque queen. I walk under the heavy boughs and marvel at
    the tissue paper sensuality in that particular shade of blush.

    And speaking of blushing. Very important in many arenas: when one
    blurts out an indescretion, admits a mistake, or realizes, upon a glance, or
    an almost imperceptible brush of pink-laden limbs, that one has fallen in love.

    And then there's the "four-cheek blush." As seen on babies, and "polar bear" swimmers.

    And besides all that, pink makes me feel 'sportif.' Thank you, pink.





    Something to Consider:

    "Here is the crux of the problem, the single greatest obstacle to American literature today: guilt. Guilt leads to the idea that all writing is self-indulgence. Writers, feeling guilty for not doing real work, that mysterious activity, turn in shame to the notion of writing as "craft." "Craft" solicits from them constipated "vignettes" – as if to say: "Well, yes, it's bad, but at least there isn't too much of it." ~Elif Batuman


  • consider n+1
  • Tuesday, October 10, 2006

    the last of the summer peaches


    no by-the-side-of-the-road strawberry stands for me
    no sir
    all-ferocious peach off the tree
    juice down my chin and down to the bayou
    barefoot on gravel
    right before the bitterness sets in
    and never frozen
    and always in august
    sticky sweet first kiss
    and the fuzz stings a little
    on my cheek

    Monday, October 09, 2006

    in the kitchen


    In the kitchen
    You prepare life
    drinks
    dinner
    breakfast
    scones and laughter
    In the kitchen
    no matter how wide or narrow
    You can cram everyone in there
    and they'll smile and drink wine
    until it is done
    and the belly aches
    from laughter
    not that apricot cream cheese
    or even the bean dip
    no matter how gassy it gets in there
    from loose buttons and metaphors
    what we all share
    love is that meal-




    When she was little she had little jars
    in which she collected the beans from
    bean bag chairs.

    Sunday, October 01, 2006

    authentic stripes



    authenticity is tricky.
    a cat has no choice - nothing inauthentic about eating, bathing, and sleeping-
    blending into the carpet.
    but when we stop to ponder, there's the rub, and it's uncomfortable.
    often against the fur. ick. an uncomfortable truth.

    ponder, in the cool breeze of early fall, the difference between
    living an honest life, and living an authentic life-