Friday, January 30, 2009

a good use for carrots

as you know, there are always carrots in this house because there are always carrots in our organic veggie box. for lunch today, i had no more leftover spaghetti, so i decided to put some carrots to good use and make a tasty soup.



carrot ginger apple soup

1 medium onion, sautéed
8 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
2 oranges, freshly squeezed
1 apple, diced
1 hunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 liter veggie boullion

sauté onions until translucent in a good, fragrant olive oil, add carrots, parsnip and apple, sauté a few more minutes. add orange juice and boullion. cook until carrots and parsnip are soft (20 minutes or so). blitz with a hand blender. top with a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprinkling of finely-chopped curly kale (that's what i had around, basil or even sage would do just as well).

although i'm trying to make more vegetarian food, there were a couple of pieces of bacon on the counter from the other day, so i crumbled them on top. it was wonderful.

i would normally lean towards putting a bit of cream in, but it was so velvety even without it that i left it out. and didn't miss it at all.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

yes we can!

maybe in the spirit of our new president, this blog should be transformed into the "yes we can" blog. i just read here about some other sisters who are encouraging each other in their art.


so, i'm here to kick it off. we are going to refuse to participate in the global economic crisis, it's just too depressing anyway. if you took the newspaper and cut out every negative, scare-mongering story to do with the GEC, you'd find that there wasn't much newspaper left and you'd also be missing your t.v. listings, which is another reason to do it, as far as i'm concerned.

we are creative, capable, innovative, forward-thinking people who can make cool shit that people will want. so, keep your plasma, get out from behind the computer and start knitting, baby. in 2009 we will become a creative force to be reckoned with. and you read it here first.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

since we didn't really get to watch

since we weren't paying full attention to obama's inauguration, i thought we should have another crack at it:



and if that's not enough, there's also this:

Friday, January 23, 2009

yes, we are still alive

we've just been offline for a few days while we did this...

forced child to look at giant rock (supposed birth "certificate" of denmark) in freezing cold wind:


climbed 170 stairs to the top of a lighthouse:


made husband do jump shots on the windy top of an old german bunker:

explored every bunker within a 5 km radius:

and climbed on them:


ate an obscene amount of food:
and then some more:
had a hard time making child leave cold beach:
indulged in a bit of silliness in the cut up barrel of a giant german gun:
walked around copenhagen in furry purple boots:
went up the round tower as it got dark:
and much, much more....

Sunday, January 18, 2009

testing jason

when husband heard that my sister was bringing her new boyfriend over for a visit, he immediately began scheming all sorts of elaborate plans for putting jason to the test. he remembered when he was first brought into the family fold and all of the tests he went through...he painted a small barn, he mowed my parents' enormous lawn (it's very nearly so big that when you're done it's time to start again on the part where you started), he was put on the back of a horse, he was sent to the river with what turned out to be a battery-less jetski and asked to troubleshoot getting it started. all sorts of man tests. so he eagerly looked forward to passing along the tradition.

since it's winter and jason couldn't be asked to mow the lawn or paint the house, husband's thoughts immediately turned a bit more towards elaborate practical jokes. we moved from testing to hazing. and he enlisted the help of his sister.

it just so happens that she works in a sterile environment at a pharmaceutical factory, packing the medicine for distribution. it's one of those hyper clean, FDA rules covering every aspect, kind of places. you wear white sterile suits and special footwear, your hair is covered. so husband cooked up a scheme in which we would go visit his sister at her home for dinner, but when we arrived, we would all put these suits on as if it were perfectly normal.

mid-afternoon, husband called me. the rest of us were enjoying a hot cocoa and a latte at the local cafe. he told me that the dept. where his sister worked had some special warning to their employees about contact with people from the US and africa due to some bacterial outbreak fears. he said our visit to his sister that evening was in jeopardy because she didn't want to violate any rules her work laid down and jeopardize her job in these tough economic times. i asked him to keep me posted and passed this along.

a couple of hours later, when husband came home, he said that his sister had called and that she had gotten permission from her manager to go ahead with our dinner plans at her house, but that we would have to take some precautions and answer a questionnaire when we arrived. one of those questionnaires like when you enter a country.."have you been in a farm in the past two weeks," and the like.

when we arrived, we peered in the glass door to see husband's sister and her family, all clad in the white sterile suits. out on the stoop were a basket of suits for us and some pretty candles. we were to put on the white suits over our clothing before going in.


husband's sister and her family, also protective suit-clad, waited in the entry-way. we could go in as we got our suits on. my sister had difficulty not laughing. and jason kept telling her to be nice.


soon jason was ready to begin answering the questions.  at first, they seemed serious, but grew increasingly preposterous, as we moved towards the reveal that it was a practical joke.


husband read the questions from a big binder, since he had to translate.


at "do you like pork roast, children and the danish flag? it begins to dawn on jason that something's up.

"how do you feel about practical jokes?"

and being a super good sport!

and a big hug for the hostess.

we all had a great laugh, confirmed that jason is awesome and proceeded to have a wonderful evening together, eating a very danish pork roast and drinking far too much wine, beer and port. and husband felt he had done his part to welcome jason to the family. after all, what are you gonna remember?

Monday, January 12, 2009

#300

this is the 300th post on this blog. pretty good in about a year. even if i did most of them. :-)

and, like many of them, i'm using it to share fabulous pictures. because i do so love my nikon D60. best purchase i've ever made. well, at least it's right up there...

first, invitations for an upcoming birthday in our household...


then some beautiful, but busy creative hands...



and lastly a self-portrait which i had fun with in Lightroom2. i'm addicted. and actually, it's not really a self-portrait so much as a picture husband took. i'm all about the eyelashes.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gramma Goot's Banana Bread

Looked for this here, didn't find it. Emailed Mom & she sent it right over. I subbed in 1/4 c. of the whole wheat flour I got from Aunt Karen recently. I'll have to let you know if that was a good move.

***********

Grandma Goot's BANANA BREAD
1/2 C. butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. soda
2 T. buttermilk
1 1/2 C. bananas (3)
1/2 C. walnuts
Combine everything, adding the mashed bananas last. (mash with a fork or potato masher).
Bake 45-55 min. at 350. Test with a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, it is done. It is easy to get hasty and end up with a raw doughy spot in the center of your 'na bread.

ya gotta love the onion.

this is hilarious:


Saturday, January 3, 2009

next time

next time you leave your power cord in so dak, just do up one of these :


isn't that hilarious?

Thursday, January 1, 2009

scenes from new year's eve

i've been sick for a week and husband has now caught my flu, but it didn't stop us from going to a small gathering on new year's eve. mostly because they were depending on us for the main course (beef wellington) and the dessert (another of those beautiful chocolate jule log cakes).

here are some of the highlights in pictures...

you can see that husband's not feeling that well.
mmm, sushi.
ya gotta love sparklers in the house.
and the fireworks!
and a good pina colada! yum.

happy new year!

kids in denmark are allowed sparklers in the house...