Thu Dec 30 2004 20:49 MST
link
stuffed butternut squash
We ate stuffed butternut squash last night with wild rice, smoked turkey and dried cranberries. This dish is easy to make, but it requires a number of steps to make the dish. It is always impressive and is tasty, filling, and healthy. Vegetarians could substitute toasted hazelnuts or perhaps smoked tofu for the turkey.
Stuffed Butternut Squash with Wild Rice, Smoked Turkey and Cranberries
Serves 4.
- 4 butternut squash.
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks of celery finely chopped
- 2 tbsp oil or butter
- 1 cup cooked wild rice, or other grain
- 1/4 lb precooked smoked turkey, shredded
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries aka Craisins
- 1/2 tsp rubbed sage or fresh sage leaves
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 4 tbsp or so of crumbled feta
How to cook wild rice:
Wild rice can be bitter, so that is why the water is changed so often in my method of cooking wild rice that I learned while working at Katrina's.
Cover rice in pot with plenty of cold water. Bring to a boil. Drain, then refill with water and bring to a boil again. Do this 5 times and after the final draining, your rice is ready. If you have one of those wild rice/regular rice mixes, cook according to the instructions.
Bake Squash
Heat the oven to 375. Halve the squash the long way, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Bake or nuke squash till soft enough to scoop out the innards. Scoop out squash but leave a good half inch thick wall of squash. Reserve the scooped squash for the filling.
Prepare Filling
Saute onion and celery, chopped fine, in oil or butter till soft and translucent. Toss in some sage, thyme, dried cranberries (1/4 cup or so), shredded smoked turkey (1/4 lb or so), and the squash innards. Heat until warmed through, and correct the seasoning if necessary.
Assemble the final product
Heat the broiler. Spoon the filling into the squash halves and sprinkle feta on top. Place under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the feta, and serve.
Thu Dec 30 2004 20:32 MST
link
food
I think I eat more in dark places. Not like in a cave, but in these northern latitudes in the winter. Eat eat eat. The more chocolate the better. The more carbs the better.
Thu Dec 30 2004 20:29 MST
link
home sweet home
I'm still getting over my cold. We are back in Anchorage at Nathan's mom's house. Where we checked our messages and learned all hell is breaking loose back at home.
Our heater went out shortly before we left. And then sometime on Christmas the kitchen pipes burst. Which shorted the hot water heater.
Then we learn that the neighbor taking care of our cats got in a big shouting match with our landlords, and they are moving out at the end of the month, presumably before we return on the 2nd. However, it sounds like our landlord and our other neighbor are looking after the cats. It sounds like a huge mess.
Thu Dec 30 2004 12:27 MST
link
disaster
Doctors without Borders is sending medical help to Aceh on the island of Sumatra to help with the aftermath of the horrible disaster there. I urge you to help in whatever way you can to this relief effort. The Red Cross is also a good place to donate to, of course.
It is scary that things really only hit home sometimes when you have been in a particular place yourself and realize how easily it could have been you. It seems so self-centered to think that way, but I think it is just how people are wired. Hearing about a kayaker washed ashore near Railay Beach in Thailand, missing all of her teeth, missing her husband. Remembering kayaking along the beautiful shore there. The failure of imagination to think about how huge a disaster this really is.
Fri Dec 24 2004 17:17 MST
link
flight
Oh yeah - forgot to mention my cold I got earlier this week. I threw up approximately once per hour on the plane rides - that would mean once in Denver, and four or five times on the flight to Anchorage. Sorry to all the people around me that I probably spread my cold to. However, I always made it to the lavatory in time.
I feel much better today - I think the puking was an ear-balance thing. Sure sucks though, especially when you are stuck in the middle seat, even though you requested an aisle seat a month ago. Somehow United hadn't even seated Nathan and myself together on the 5 1/2 hour flight! So lame. But we got reseated together at the last minute. What is up with the airlines these days? They never seat us together anymore, I swear.
Fri Dec 24 2004 17:13 MST
link
christmas
Somehow we made it to Anchorage last night. Our original flight from Albuquerque to Denver was delayed by three hours or so. We managed to get on standby on another United flight and make our connection to Alaska. Which was good, cause otherwise we would have been arriving after 9 pm on Christmas Eve, and we aren't even spending Christmas in Anchorage this year, but a few hours south in Seward.
Two of our bags made it with us -- 50 percent of them. Our ski bag, and our suitcase with ski boots and a toiletry kit as well. We were getting ready to drive down to Seward today without the Christmas presents, and without any changes of clothes, when Santa, I mean, a United dude, shows up at the door with our luggage approximately half an hour ago! Yay!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Tue Dec 21 2004 10:19 MST
link
winter
It is now winter and appropriately enough, it is cloudy and gray here in New Mexico today. Yipee! That means snow is on the way...
It is nice to live in a place where gray cloudy days are a welcome sight.
Update: it is snowing out! woo hoo!
Mon Dec 20 2004 11:03 MST
link
heat
Yesterday the pilot light for my heater went out. Nathan and I returned from finishing up our Christmas shopping in Santa Fe to discover a chilly casita. We then spent the next hour lighting matches, lighting the pilot, and holding down the knob while lighting the pilot. We counted off a minute, then let go, and the pilot kept going out.
Eventually we gave up and went outside to look for firewood. We built a fire in our woodstove and that warmed the place up. I even toasted a few marshmallows while Nathan was out sawing apple branches. We didn't have enough wood for all night, so it got kind of cold last night. This morning I turned the oven on for heat. It might not be a bad idea to keep some firewood on hand for the future. A cord or so should do it I imagine.
Mon Dec 20 2004 10:55 MST
link
new computer
I'm going to buy a new Mac, but it is hard to figure out which one to buy. I want to spend around 1600 dollars on it.
Requirements:
- Bluetooth
- wireless keyboard/mouse if a desktop
- at least 1 GB RAM. Can be purchased aftermarket
- Airport Extreme card at least 80 GB hard drive
- Need I mention that it must be a Mac?
- Ideal price is around $1600.
- Needs to come with a flat screen of some sort.
The Options:
12 inch iBook 14 inch iBook 17 inch iMac 12 inch PowerBook
Apple also occasionally has refurbished computers so it is possible something like a 20 inch iMac or 15 inch PowerBook would be available for cheaper.
Comments
I vote for the biggest, nicest screen you can afford (refurbished 20" iMac!)
Heather
::
December 20, 2004 06:33:12 PM MST
Phoenix
|
| Add a comment |
|
Mon Dec 20 2004 10:46 MST
link
demo day
Nathan and I demo-ed lots of tele skis on Saturday at the Santa Fe Ski Area. Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works, our favorite local outdoors shop and provider of fine tele gear, hosted the event. There were booths for Atomic, K2, G3, and Black Diamond skis as well.
It worked like this: fill out a little card with your name on it, give them a credit card to hold, and go find the ski you want to try out. They adjust the bindings to fit your boots, and off you go.
I also borrowed a pair of Scarpa T2 telemark boots as well, since my current pair has been giving me some problems. These boots fit like a glove - I had no ankle soreness at all afterwards. They are a full-size smaller than my current boots.
I tried out four pairs of skis that day:
Black Diamond Mystic, 160 cm
These are black diamonds "female" ski - like the Ethic but more forgiving on the flex. This ski was great on the hard-packed snow conditions. The edges bit into the snow well and didn't chatter very much at all on the crud. I found it very responsive and a good carver. But it had a stiffness to it as well that I liked. Black Diamond Havoc, 163 cm.
This ski was fat and not quite right for the conditions or perhaps, for me. It was the most stable ski while going fast. Didn't turn quite as easily or something. Not sure. It has twin tips, which mean each end is rounded up, so you can ski "switch", as in backwards. Need to learn to do this! Nathan and I tried to do 360's but it was hard. I am constantly doing accidental 180s so we thought an extra 180 can't be that hard can it? Yes it can. Atomic Femme Fatale, 163 cm ?
I had fun with this ski. It was similar to the mystic, but perhaps flexed easier - it was easier to initiate turns, but it chattered more on the hard stuff. I found this ski easy to use, but it was probably also the ski most similar to the ski I own, the Atomic T9. The dimensions were very similar. K2 Dawn Patrol, 153 cm
This ski was fun and definitely the coolest looking ski of the day with big hibiscus flowers on a yellow and red background. I only got to take it out for one quick run at the end of the day, but it was a snappy turner and fast and stable. The ski was super-short and super-fat, which made it really easy to control. I felt like I skied faster and tighter with this one.
All in all, I really really want the Scarpa boots, which retail for almost 5 Benjamins. I liked all the skis except for the Havoc, but I think I would like that ski in powder quite a bit. It just wasn't quite right for the conditions on Saturday.
I wouldn't mind owning the Femme Fatale or the Mystic. I would love to take out Dawn Patrol on a powder day and give it some more tries. The one run wasn't quite enough to get a real feel for it.
Fri Dec 17 2004 10:09 MST
link
round up
Well it has a been a crazy few days.
Including:
Nathan is now unemployed as of Wednesday This included sending his Powerbook back. My laptop is running on 128 MB of RAM and an external mouse, after Nathan spilled Cider on it yesterday morning in his first act of unemployment.
Fortunately, I have laptop insurance, set to expire tomorrow, which I hurriedly renewed. I'm sending it in next week to get fixed - I would lvoe that other 512 MB of RAM to be back. After skiing Pajarito yesterday, my ankle hurt. It is slightly swollen, and so now I have to rest it and ice it. I think my boots might be too loose. My mother only has a vitamin deficiency as it turns out. Nathan has an interview at the lab today with the Research Library, where he may snag a cool-sounding job building prototypes. I'm so jealous - he doesn't have to write code that WORKS!
What a dream job. I might buy a new Mac today for my consulting work as it will get me a fat tax break. I was planning on doing so before my laptop was temporarily out of commission. 128 MB is sloooooowwwwww.
Mon Dec 13 2004 14:33 MST
link
on telemarking
Nathan and I drove up to Taos Ski Area early Sunday morning to go to the weekly telemark clinic that Taos offers. Right now everything at Taos is half price (except the season pass!), so lift tickets are 20 apiece and the two-hour clinic is 21 apiece. Not a bad deal.
The two other people who were in our group last week were here again, so we all kept the same group and same teacher, Liz. After a few practice runs on the bunny hill, we headed up to the top of the mountain.
The key in telemark skiing is to keep most of your weight on your rear leg. Liz had us working on various exercises to get us to steer with that rear leg.
In telemark skiing, your heels are free. A telemark turns works like this.
First: Turn Uphill to Stop
if you are skiing across the slope, to start a turn you move your uphill leg backwards, like you are wiping something off the ball of your foot. You start to get into a lunge-like position. As you put more weight on that foot, the ski starts to turn into the mountain uphill, which slows you down.
Second: a full turn
The next step is to switch which leg is in the rear. To actually turn downhill, you slip your skis slightly down hill, and then push the front leg backwards. You then put your weight on that foot, and turn down the hill and around, until slow yourself down enough by turning into the hill as described earlier.
When a person is good at this, it looks very graceful and leaves elegant swoops in the snow.
Liz had us doing tele turns with one foot only - always keeping one foot in the rear, and not switching to turn. That was damn hard. I still need to practice this one.
After that lesson, I was more consistently keeping my upper body facing the fall line at all times. When I forget, I end up spinning 90 degrees and face up the hill, skis V'd apart. The trick of keeping your upper body facing downhill solves this problem.
We've been given all sorts of tricks to help us with our turns, including:
- imagine you are wearing a tight mini skirt, and you have to bend over to pick something up.
- imagine you are wiping off dog s**t from your shoe.
- "bow" to the downhill
The lessons have been great - Nathan and I are thinking about signing up for the Sunday Local's Clinic in January. Every time I take a lesson, I feel like I am worse than ever, but at the end I seem to have vastly improved nonetheless. I want to be cruising those black diamonds by the end of the season!
After the long grueling lesson, we called it a day even though we could have fit in a few more runs. My sunglasses were making it too dark for 3 pm skiing on the north side of the mountain, and Nathan was close to bonking from lack of blood sugar. We decided to leave a little early. We celebrated our hard work with a trip to Pizza Emergency, which I have always shouted out as we pass every time we go through Taos. "Piiiiiiizzzzza Emergency!"
The Pizza in Pizza Emergency was pretty good - the crust was chewy and crusty. Nathan thought it was too saucy. Anyway, it made us feel a lot better - that and a huge Coke, and two advil.
The other cool thing was that some local EMTs were eating dinner at Pizza Emergency, with their ambulance parked outside. How appropriate.
Comments
Mon Dec 13 2004 14:32 MST
link
cat
The Wallster (aka Wallingford III, Wally, the Fordmeister), is at the shelter today, getting his gonads removed. Poor little Wally.
We took him to the vet this weekend and got him a checkup and shots. He tested negative for Feline Leuk. which was good. He had ear mites, which means Thor and Pounce probably have them as well. Also learned that outdoor cats (at least here) should be vaccinated for feline leukemia, so they also need that one now as well.
The vet guessed that Wally is between one and two years old. We decided to settle for 18 months. Today he is getting neutered to avoid all of those paternity suits and urine spraying fun that may show up in the future otherwise.
I hope it helps Pounce and Wally get along better.
Oh yeah- everyone looooovvvveed Wally. They cooed about how beautiful he was. Yep, that's my cat! And his harness went beautifully with his eyes. I'll have to post a little portrait of Wally sometime soon, perhaps in his cute harness.
Comments
I want to join the Wally Fan Club! He is a fun furball, and a cutie.
Heather
::
December 14, 2004 03:51:47 PM MST
Phoenix
|
| Add a comment |
|
Mon Dec 6 2004 10:32 MST
link
trip
It has been over two years now since Nathan and I returned from our South Pacific trip. Now we are ready and rarin' for another far-flung adventure.
I had the brilliant idea recently for our next trip:
- Ski the World!
- This would include: Hokkaido, Japan,
- Siberia?
- Australia/New Zealand
- South America
- Europe and more.
- Can you ski the Himalayas?
There are other ideas for this trip as well:
Ski Europe - including:
- cross-country ski Finland
- backcountry ski the Pyrenees
- ski Eastern Europe
- make a pilgrimage to Telemark, Norway
- eat lots and lots of fondue in the Alps
Ski South America - Argentina, Chile, etc. And finally become conversant in Spanish at the same time. Ski every continent -Africa and Antarctica would be the biggest challenges. Ski Canada - it is a foreign country after all.
Money is not the only obstacle - we'll be needing to improve our skiing skills by a lot and pick up some serious backcountry skills like avalanche safety courses and all that. But this trip is at least a year and a half off, probably 2 years. So we have some time to prepare. And save...
Mon Dec 6 2004 10:24 MST
link
ski round up
Friday - no skiing - drove to the Alb to pick up my weird Adidas sunglasses. They have a prescription insert, and the sunglass part are wrap around. I have two sunglass lenses for them - bright orange and a reflective one. They are weird, since the prescription insert is small compared to the size of the rest of the lens. Also I look funkadelic when wearing the orange lenses, cause you can see the insert through them. Will post a picture of it sometime soon. Saturday - a little cross-country in the afternoon. First we tried to learn how to skate ski on our tele skis. Then we gave up and went cross-country skiing on our xc skis. Sunday - Taos, baby! For 82 dollars, we got two all day passes and a two-hour telemark clinic. I am totally going next Sunday to the clinic again - I improve vastly every time I get a lesson. Might as well take advantage of the current half price sale.
Mon Dec 6 2004 10:20 MST
link
xmas list
xmas list.
My Amazon wish list Giro Helmet that can get that audio adaptor for the iPod in it - size Small, preferably red. I should probably protect my noggin. A Mixer. subscriptions to any of the following: Skiier, Couloir, Telemark, Consumer Reports, Cooks Illustrated, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine. DVDs or Books on exercises using the exercise ball - preferably that emphasize one's core muscles, or Pilates-esque ones. dumbbells or medicine balls or body Bars or those resistance band thingies. toys for cute cats
|