Stuffings

I just realized when I was about to start this post that all three of my photos had something in common!

I stuffed two sweet red peppers with cooked brown rice, ground turkey breast(browned), onions, garlic, parsley, and vegetable broth. Before putting it in the oven, pour 1 cup tomato sauce over them. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes in a pan (covered in foil) with some water at the bottom. The last five minutes I sprinkled on some grated mozzerella cheese and stuck it under the broiler for a few minutes. After trying to take appetizing photos of my meals, I seriously have a new found respect for food photo sylists. Then there is always the thing I don't think of, like crumbs on the plate. The stylist would definitely catch that.

I made these today without using the oven. I used most of today's farmers market booty, too. At the suggestion of one of the farmers, I steamed this round summer squash after cutting it in half and taking out the seeds. It worked really well. Then I boiled up some quinoa-a grain with the most wonderfully satisfying texture, along with some tamari, chopped carrot, garlic, and assorted herbs and spices. When the water cooked down, I added chopped green onion and the freshest juiciest tomatoes to hold it all together. Then I just stuffed them and took these goofy photos! Boy, were they goooood. This may sound strange, but the quinoa stuffing slightly resembles a savory (and healthy) fried rice. I put a spoonful of plain yogurt on the side, too.

I kinda like the quinoa crumbs on the side of the squash here. Hee, hee.

And here is the non-edible birdie I made last week. I thought this would be easy-breezy, but to my surprise, it was not. I think the fact that I haven't hand sewn since last winter may have something to do with it. Also, I decided to make him at 1 am. I tend to make a lot of things in that half sleepy state. I think I use this slightly altered space as a way of tapping into my creative process. Yet, it's not the most precise way of doing things. The bird's head definitely needs more bird-like shaping. I have a ritual of leaving whatever I make at night on girl cub's little table where she eats her breakfast...so she can see it in the morning. I do this as an offering of love to her. Mostly everything I make is a devotion to her. She is the root of all my creations. I want to make a ton of these until I can whip them up with my eyes closed.

Beaches and Book Guilt

Here is what I am feeling guitly about at the moment:

And wait, there's more..

Here's how it happened...

In keeping up with the routine that has sort of found us, we were off to the beach at about 4 this afternoon. We decided it was too late for the shore, so we kept it local. Growing up on Long Island, I was used to some pretty lovely beaches. In the past, I may have considered myself to be a bit of a beach snob. These days I am not quite so picky. I guess spending ten sticky summers in the city made me appreciate a simple body of water and some sand.

Today's beach was by far the "best" we've been to here on the island. This beach is located inside a national park and what a difference that makes! There was actually clean, yes clean sand. Quiet, too. The bathrooms were nearby and clean. Yes, clean. Girl cub was in her glory and made two friends within the first five minutes of our arrival. She has definitely acquired her mama's love for the surf, sand and (late afternoon) sun. The water however, was another story. I have to say, I have never seen water that brown. The cub's daddy joined us today and he said the brown stuff was just, "everything churning up from the bottom." Gee, that made me feel so much better. I wouldn't go near it. But Daddy took Cub and her new friend in and they had a blast. Ewh. Yuck.

Fast-forward to the conclusion of our late Indian dinner. I am on a mission to get a cranky cub back to the car and I know what's coming..."We're not going in here. Don't even think about it," I say quickly to the daddy. Forty-five minutes later, I am exiting Jim Hanley's Universe and have spent over $30.00 on books I don't technically need...but oh, they make me HAPPY in that little spot that only art books like these can tickle! Why, oh why, do comic book stores still do this to me? Is this normal? Apparently, it is to the cub's dad. (I knew there was a reason.) And she, as tired and full of sand as she was...got it! She only nagged a little bit at the end when we told her we wouldn't buy her the Buffy the Vampire Slayer doll. Oh, yeah...there was a comic book involved, too. Optic Nerve.

Letter to Her

Dear Girl Cub,

You are the most patient little daughter a mama could ask for.

Thank-you for putting up with all of my wild antics and schemes on a fairly regular basis.

While we were supposed to be getting ready for bed tonight, Mama took off to the bathroom to cut her hair and then streak it, too. "Wow, Mama!" is all you said when you entered the bathroom to brush your teeth. You gave me a wide smile while raising your eyebrows in that amused look of surprise I so often see on your innocent face.

Thank you for all of the worlds you create in our little home, while Mama tears the house apart with paper, books, hot glue guns, more paper, fabric, irons, needles, pots, pans, spoons, and whatever else catches her fancy.

When you grow-up, I hope you will remember these days with that same smile on your face.

Love You Forever,

Your Silly Mama
xoxo

Sad Day/Glad Day

Sad Day- Ratatat is playing live tonight at The Music Hall in Williamsburg and it sold out before I could get a ticket! I loooooove this band. Not only did they record their newest album in a vacant upstate New York mansion...They mix harpsichord and wurlitzer, sleigh bells, and cello into their unique blend of sci-fi, hip-hop, synthie electronic (if that makes any sense)! Oh, yeah...and lots of electric guitar mixed in. If you want to see something that I think is pretty cool, check them out playing the Guggenheim Museum in NYC (youtube, of course.) Listening to their music makes me nostalgically happy, not getting to experience their sounds live...extremely sad.

Glad Day: Working out in the gym this morning, taking my healthy breakfast to a local park and eating, relaxing, and reading the first forty pages of Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich. I can already tell what I love about this book are all the things I loved about My Antonia. The prose are stunningly down to earth, the portrait of the land and its people (Native American in this story) gets me in the gut, for lack of a better term.

On Deck For The Duration: Dinner with Arlene and finally trying out homemade whole grain flour tortillas while blasting Ratatat. Sorry, in advance to Girl Cub and neighbors! Possibly, a Canolli ice in there somewhere after trips to the beach and health food store.

Wierd (in a good way) Local Festival

After spending all day Sunday outdoors at a christening party for our friends son, I thought it was only appropriate to head out to the local Our Lady of Mount Carmel festival later that evening. Girl Cub put up a fight against venturing into the unknown, but I bribed her with the promise of an ice cream cone with sprinkles, then she was good to go. I am such a sucker for photo opps like these. I just can't pass up a small town curiousity, which is exactly what this felt like to me. Turns out this is a 105-year old feast founded by local Italian immigrants and their neighbors.

Upon entering, I think we both had the sensation of entering another world...Yes, this was a bit of a Twilight Zone experience...Complete with a lawn chair audience and blaring oldies music, canned and live. It also felt like Girl Cub and I had "Outsider" signs taped to our backs. Interestingly enough, I was the only one taking photos like crazy.

The centerpiece of the feast is the grotto shrine, built by members of the society using thousands of sand-worn stones, bits of seashells, and glass. Girl Cub kept calling it "God's castle!" I don't think any of the die-hards appreciated all of her commentary. Oh, well. For a small fee, you could light a white candle and place it on the shrine. This is just a small section.

I found this very amusing and quite charming--how this section of the grotto extends into a neighbors side yard.

Best of all, my girl had a great time. She is usually game if I am. She won a few prizes, too. Who knew she was a magnetic fishing pro? And I'm sure this drippy cone made it all worth her while.

I Love Friday Night!

Every friday night at 11pm to be exact, I have a date with this man. Dr. Who, you are my kinda guy...super cute, super intelligent, and extra goofy! Sigh.

I was feeling particularly energized after my date with the Doctor this evening, so I channel surfed a bit and found a VH1 "list" show...The 40 Best Heavy Metal Songs. I watched it so I could get a hearty belly laugh before I turned in. It wasn't long however, before I found myself drawn in by the surprisingly intelligent commentary and factoids about the musicians.

Most of the bands they highlighted on the show were 80's metal bands. The eighties were just an awesome decade for music and I lived and breathed it all, really.

My tastes have always been super ecclectic and during that time, there was just so much musical diversity. It was great. Some of my best (musical) crossover experiences included going to many a heavy metal show with my brother and friends. Those shows rocked and I am so happy I got to see these bands in their creative and physical prime: Rush, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Metallica, Dio, and Iron Maiden, thanks for doing your thang and for all the good times I had at your shows!

xoxo

Former opera singer, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden

I love it, right now the boys that live next door and their friends are having a peaceful little pow-wow outside on the grass in front of our building...sitting in a circle, smoking cigarettes, and just talking. Ah, sweet youth...Good times.

Ladies Who Lunch

We got to have lunch today with one of our favorite girls, Aunt Julie. The weather cooperated nicely with a clear, blue, sunny sky and low humidity...finally! An appointment I had this morning brought us to the West Village. So, we kept it in that 'hood for a nice change of pace. (For the record, we are East Village girls!) We had a healthful and relaxing lunch at Village Natural which is a favorite restaurant of ours. It is vegetarian with Asian influences, which I always find to be a pretty nice combo. (Think Zen Palate, another great one on Union Square.) There are so many fresh and healthy culinary options in NYC. That is one of the things I miss living over here in SI. I don't think there is one vegetarian restaurant. Shame on you, Staten Island!

A few other favorite haunts that I miss terribly, but re-visited today were Tasty D Lite and Ricky's. I kept myself under control in Ricky's which is pretty hard. It has all the things I go ga-ga for: beauty supplies, kitsch gifts, fancy bath soaps, hair products of every kind, the funkiest make-up, wigs, and hair dye, hats, scarves, magnets, jewelry, a collection of cat-eye reading glasses, and in some stores "naughty" toys (gasp)! Basically, it's girly/drag queen heaven!

My purchase consisted of Burts Bees Insect Repellant which I can't find anywhere on SI (damn borough), Ricky's brand tweezers (excellent) and the cutest pair of barettes I've seen in a long time--sky blue vintage-y vinyl clips with a little plastic charm off center. Simple but darling. I tried on emerald green sparkly eye shadow and almost broke down, but I reminded myself I have a collection of sparkly make-up I don't where anymore stuffed in a shoe box underneath my bathroom sink!

After kissing Julie g'bye, we made our way back to the Christopher Street station...and then I found the deal of the century. This adorable little number complete with watermelons and polka-dots is now mine and all I had to do was fork over a whopping $3.00!

Yes, today was a good day.