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Project 365, #193
Beet red. Culver City, CA
Posted by bpod at Thursday ~ July 07, 2007 | No Comments
Æbleskivers
While Karen was unpacking in my mom’s kitchen, she came across this pan: I had known this as my mom’s takoyaki pan, which is how my mom identified it as well. Karen, on the other hand, saw an Æbleskiver pan. They’re traditionally stuffed with apples or applesauce (or left un-stuffed) and served with powdered sugar and jam. We didn’t have any apples on hand, but we tried a variety of fillings: chocolate (for R), fresh blueberries, and lemon curd. I also brought a few jars of my homemade plum jam with us, so we could have some of that with our ball cakes. The way they’re made is somewhat similar to the method used when making imagawayaki (hockey puck-shaped Japanese bean cakes). I remember being mesmerized by the imagawayaki maker in Little Tokyo when I was a child. I must have spent hours watching him over the years, and recall the various steps he took: This man, of course, was an artiste. Each movement was elegant. Precise. Each tool he used was exactly what he needed to complete the task at hand. Karen and I, on the other hand, had never done this before and were lucky to keep the batter in the wells and prevent them from burning. We were goofy. Sloppy. (OK, when I helped it was sloppy). Cakes came out in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and colors… She tried spatulas and chopsticks (we didn’t have ice picks or skewers). She tried adding dollops of butter to the wells, then pastry brushes and melted butter. She tried solo efforts, then we tag-teamed it alternating batter - filling - batter - flipping - sugaring duties… It was fun. And despite this being the first attempt, they were still quite delicious! What a sweet way to round out our trip. Thanks Karen!
Æbleskivers are essentially Danish pancake balls, and Karen was excited about trying out the pan. So on our last day in Texas, we decided to make them for the family breakfast.
Posted by bpod at Sunday ~ July 07, 2007 | No Comments
Category: family, road trip 2007, travel, yum
Mile 1,090: Amarillo, TX
After a bit of a thunderstorm and some road construction detours, we made it to Albuquerque after dark last night. Driving on the highway as it arced over a crest and into the city proper, we were treated to dozens of little fireworks shows all around us. Couldn’t capture a picture of it, but it was very cool, indeed (and it being Albuquerque, we did make several left turns). I was behind the wheel for much of the trip from Albuquerque to Amarillo, so no pictures–sorry. New Mexico was really glorious. The sky was clear, and the highway was lined by majestic pines, dramatic rocks, and much beautiful landscape. This was where I also saw my first dead deer at the side of the highway >shudder< Once we hit Texas, however, it was cows, cows cows. Moooo cows. And because I am a crazy girl raised in Southern California, I must squeal “Cow!” every time I see them. They are probably more accurately described as “cattle” but that doesn’t quite have the same appeal as saying “Cow!” so they are all “Cow!” to me. Did I mention there are a lot of moo-cows in Texas? There are. Ted is a very patient man. I was marveling at how wonderful it was to see these cows roaming around in acres of open land, climbing over small rocks and drinking from creeks in little red rock gullies. I actually saw some of them frolicking (now there’s an adjective I don’t hear coupled with cows very often). It all seemed so beautiful and dreamy… until we hit the stockyards. And that’s when we saw the cows in small fenced-off areas, like they are in Coalinga on the drive up to San Francisco. And that’s when I saw a worker leading one of these gentle creatures up a ramp into a big crate-like truck to take him to slaughter. In that brief moment as we passed at 70mph, I could see the cow’s face so clearly before it was coaxed into the truck. So trusting, with no idea of what was to come. And that’s when I started to weep and could not stop. I was really unprepared for this. I switched to a vegetarian diet for a variety of reasons about 16 years ago. For me it is a personal decision, and I don’t proselytize or try to guilt others into adopting vegetarian eating habits (I don’t want anyone else trying to tell me what I should or should not eat, so I figure it’s only fair that I extend the same courtesy to those around me). But I’ve read the articles. I’ve seen the videos. I’m aware of the connection between the living creatures in factory farms and the foods people eat. I know all this. And yet, seeing that one cow provoked such a visceral response in me. The shift between frolicking happy cows and this… betrayal made my heart heavy. >sigh< By the time we arrived in Amarillo, both we and the car were ready for a break. We stopped in at the Blue Sky Restaurant, which had this lovely mural gracing one side of their building: and this lovely sign displayed in the entry: Welcome to Texas.
Posted by bpod at Thursday ~ July 07, 2007 | No Comments
Category: road trip 2007, travel, yum
Mile 340: Kingman, AZ
We left Oatman and traveled the winding, scenic road past Black Mesa back out to Rte. 40, which brought us directly into Kingman, AZ. Since it was time to refuel both us and the car, we stopped in for lunch. The draw for me, however, was not its 50’s style or Historic Route 66 memorabilia, but rather the house-made root beer. It was sweet, but not overly sweet; lightly carbonated, with hints of caramel. It had a richness to it, almost like a cross between root beer and cream soda. If I weren’t so full from my grilled cheese sandwich, I would almost certainly have ordered a root beer float, as I suspect it would have been simply divine. Hey! A shout-out to Jason and Joanne… 
By now we’d been weaving back and forth across historic Route 66 for a while, and I am here to tell you that every business along Historic Route 66 (or near Historic Route 66) sells Historic Route 66 tchotchkes, or
has an Historic Route 66 theme, or displays Historic Route 66 memorabilia. The gas station in Ludlow, CA? Historic Route 66 shot glasses, coasters, ashtrays, key chains, and more. Oatman, AZ? Historic Route 66 pins, earrings, coasters, glasses, key chains, etc. Kingman touts itself as “The Heart of Route 66″ so it was not surprising that the nice ladies at the Power House Visitors Center offered up Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner as a lunch suggestion.
Posted by bpod at Wednesday ~ July 07, 2007 | No Comments
Category: family, road trip 2007, travel, yum
Summer Plum Jam
While the lemon tree produces lemons throughout the year, the plum bursts forth in a three week explosion of fruit each summer. This bowl represents a couple days’ worth of harvestable plums. My first attempt at jam was during our second summer in the house. Friends and the Internet helped me learn how to do it, and it lets me extend that taste of summer throughout the year.
When T and I were looking to buy a home and first saw this house, I was delighted to see the back yard included both a plum tree and a lemon tree.
The fruit from this tree is very sweet and very juicy. One of my great summer pleasures is to pluck a plum, wash it, and eat it over the sink as the juice drips down my chin. There are too many plums for us to eat like this, however, so I like to make some into jam.
I love the fact that the ingredients are so simple: fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and fruit pectin. That’s it (well, that’s usually it. This year I am experimenting by also adding tea to the mix). Here are the jars being heated to seal the lids. I really need to invest in a pot where I can get two layers of jars going at a time…
And voila! Pretty jars of sweet sunshine.
Posted by Admin at Sunday ~ July 07, 2007 | 1 Comment
Project 365, #182
Summer plum jam. Culver City, CA
Posted by bpod at Sunday ~ July 07, 2007 | No Comments
Project 365, #173
Belgian summer. Culver City, CA
Posted by Admin at Friday ~ June 06, 2007 | No Comments
Project 365, #151
Coaster of Decaffeination. Los Angeles, CA
Posted by bpod at Thursday ~ May 05, 2007 | No Comments
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