COME WITH ME

i can't help it but i'm breaking up with blogger. We're finished and i've already moved on....

come find me at my new home

http://thewilhemina.wordpress.com/

i hope you like it

spicy lemon-ginger tea

M is sick. Stuffy, runny nosed, head achey. All that awfulness.
So today I am doing my best to hook him up. I am forcing him to use the neti pot, gargle and later I will make sopa de limon. I am a big proponent of natural remedies. Since it's cold and flu season I thought I would share my favorite one with you.

Start with a health focused type of tea if you have it. I am a big fan of everything that Traditional Medicinals makes. A handy favorite is the seasonal herb tea sampler because it includes a variety of remedies. This time I used echinacea, but if you don't have anything like that use whatever herbal tea you have.


1 tea-bag or diffuser of tea
1-2 Tbsp freshly ground ginger (use a cheese grater or finely dice)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 thick lemon slice with rind
1 Tbsp honey

pour boiling hot water over and let steep covered for 5-10 minutes.
it is very spicy and warming. Drink 4 cups a day and drink tons of water.

rock out.

Maybe it isn't your style, but on cold gray almost winter days I keep finding myself going back to old scratchy Enrico Caruso songs.
Caruso was a famous tenor of his time and one of the early opera singers to embrace phonograph recordings. His recordings can be found on public spaces like YouTube, on commercial recordings or if you are cheap like me you can make a Pandora station. This type of music is being lost, check it out before it is gone. I promise that even if you don't like it, it will be worth your time.



M and I carved our Hallowe'en pumpkins happily sipping bourbon cider cocktails and listening to my Caruso. It was a really good time. You might think that whisky and sharp objects don't mix, but our pumpkins turned out lovely and we managed to not stab ourselves nor each other.



M went with a cyclops, and mine was a pirate. Meaning that both of our jack-o-lanterns had one eye. When you are married things like that just happen.



Recipe, a seasonal take on the classic Manhattan:

Big Apple

1 part bourbon, e.g. Bulleitt or Maker's Mark
1 part cider..... or 2 parts cider if you like standing upright....
dash of cinnamon or mixed pumpkin pie spice
shaken over ice and served in a martini glass
garnish with a cinnamon stick or an orange rind twist

salut!

nevermore

If you are *dying* for something creepy to do this October, hasten to the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. Located in a decent part of Baltimore (I assure you that your car will not be stolen) and the admission is free! It is a cute and quaint little kirkyard where a few crumbly tombstones and some truly beautiful tombs are in evidence. Bring some whisky or brandy and sneak a few sips. I promise no one will notice. And if you pull out a copy of "The Tell-tale Heart" for an outburst of oratory no one will mind. Get your creep on!




I did.

elementary mycology

Brown Oyster mushroom, or Pleurotus cystidiosus



from left to right
crimini Agaricus bisporus
enoki Flammulina velutipes
white button Agaricus bisporus
shiitake Lentinula edodes


Yellow oyster mushroom Pleurotus citrinopileatus

Mushrooms are freaky things and I love them. They are mysterious and do not fall into the same category as anything else we eat.

For all of you paying close attention, you may have noticed something funny about the Latin names of the white button and crimini. You get gold stars!

So lets clear up some myths about mushrooms that your local grocer would not want you to know...
White mushrooms--old pedestrian staple--the fancy criminis and those gourmet portabellas...well they are all the same mushroom!

White buttons are the babies all fresh and tender, then the gills darken and open and the cap turns that lovely silvery brown and it is a crimini then its a whole dollar more per box but essentially the same thing and then when they mature they turn into the juicy steak thick portabellas. Hulking and delectable and so expensive. So just one type of mushroom has so many different flavors, it is amazing!

I admit, it has taken me years to appreciate different flavors and types. My hardwon love of shiitakes is proof of this. Much to the chagrin of multitudes of Japanese gasping at this admission...
anyway there are multiple eclectic and generally scruffy looking folks who sell mushrooms at my two local farmers markets. I found these gorgeous specimens at the seldom visited JFX market (we usually head to 32nd street) I was enthralled with a container of brilliant orange lobster mushrooms, but they were quite pricey and I settled instead on the mixture above. I nibbled some here and there, and ate some with eggs, but most ended up sauteed in butter with white wine and added to a delicious scratch chicken pot pie. Which turned out ugly as sin- but tasted amazing. So amazing in fact, that we forgot to take a picture of it before we ate it. In lieu of that here are the beauties sauteing...



and

here is a lovely recommendation for some fizzy bubbly.



In my opinion there is not enough fizzy bubbly drinking going on...this is a lovely prosecco frizzante, meaning that it is only slightly effervescent and it was only slightly expensive [$12 range] which is why I like prosecco and cava, much cheaper than their french cousin, champagne.
Pop this baby at parties and for breakfast (I mean brunch) and people with think you are witty and cultured. It is the perfect thing for all those looming awkward holiday parties and last minute gifts.
Classy!

Priorities-- I has them.

I admit, I haven't been writing much, but I did miss you. The summer was long, and incredibly hot and humid so sitting in my stuffy office was the last thing I wanted to do. So I escaped!

Things are finally starting to cool down here, we haven't closed the windows in two weeks! I love fall, and it is just around the corner. I can't believe it's been a year since we bought our home, a home-anniversary post will be coming along soon... Things haven't changed much though, our list of projects keeps getting longer but with both of us in school now, we have even less time to procrastinate. Our list of necessary fixes is this;

windows (20 of them!) or
new high efficiency boiler or
bath remodel...?

Granted we have tons of other things that we need to get done as well but these three are the most pressing. Their urgency rattles around in my brain constantly. The windows are ridiculously old and are a huge energy loss in winter and summer. With BGE's monopoly and exorbitant prices, this is a huge priority for us, but with over 20 windows we might have to tackle this project in phases.

The boiler is so old that the company that made it went out of business 50 years ago, so it is inefficient to say the least...and the master bathroom is approximately 3 feet big, meaning that 2 people most definitely do not fit so the mornings can get a bit crazy. The bathtub has a home caulking job that scares the hell out of me, I'm worried about the extent of water damage behind the caulk.




what to do first?

But vacation is over, homework is calling, look for some travel plans or dreams, and some Halloween fun soon.

xo

Back to School

Summer is quickly slipping away. The heat is still oppressively present, but fall's responsibilities are starting to demand my attention.

I'm returning to school, full time, and its been quite awhile since I've tried this. I hope I don't get the dunce cap...
some things I am afraid of
1. Calculus
2. Statistics
3. Physics
4. Chemistry
5. Burnout

but that means I also get to go school shopping for pens and pencils, compass and graph paper! That should sustain me right?
It was a lovely summer, but I am looking forward to fall.
Take a deep breath..
Let's do this!