Fall

Tell me, is there anything better than having your house smell like fresh laundry and chocolate chip pumpkin muffins?  Cause I really don’t think so.

A cooking post

So I got the wild idea to try and make falafels last night.  Does anyone remember the last time I tried to make falafels?  It was nothing short of a (hilarious) disaster!  So what did I do differently this time?  Well, there was no Joe, and I had a recipe.  And it worked!

<— Joe and I during our failed attempt at making Falafels

I didn’t have my own food processor, and I realized very quickly that a hand mixer wasn’t going to work on chickpeas.  (who know, chickpeas can fly!)  I borrowed my landlords blender (next best thing, though not ideal) and went to work.  It is a pretty simple recipe, that I got from my favorite site, allrecipes.com  You simply puree 2 cups of chickpeas, then add 4 cloves of sliced garlic, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 chopped green onion, 1 large onion cut in chunks, 1 egg, 1/4 tsp. ground coriander, 1/4 tsp. ground cumin, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, and 1 tblspn. soy sauce.  Mix all of the ingrediants together.  I also added a large handful of breadcrums, to help the balls stick together while cooking.

<— all blended and ready to cook!

Form the mix into balls and in a hot skillet with 1 tblspn of corn oil cook till brown on all sides.

<—they look nicely formed now, but they didn’t all come out this way

Now, the process of cooking and turning would probably be a little easier with tongs, rather than a spoon.  So they didn’t come out as perfectly shaped balls, but oblong falafels taste just as yummy!

To go with my meal, I decided to also make black bean hummus.  Another real simple recipe from the same website.  Just take 1 cup of black beans, 1 cup of chickpeas, 1 tblspn. olive oil, 2 tblspn. lemon juice, 2 tblspn. greek yogurt, 2 tblspn. water and 2 cloves of roughly chopped garlic.  Puree.  Season with 1 1/2 tspn. curry powder and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend again.  Cover and chill before serving.

<— I don’t have any pictures of the process, but here is this finished product

My only regret was not having a food processor.  While the blender worked, it was difficult, and cost more time than I had wanted.  (I was hungry!)  So I would recommend definitely using a food processor if you have one.  If not, only blend a quarter  of the chickpeas at a time, so they don’t get stuck under the blades.

The final product?  Falfels stuffed in warm pitas with spinach and greek yogurt. I topped the black bean hummus with feta cheese and served with diced red and yellow peppers.  Delicious!

A wedding update

Last weekend I flew out (yes, yet another trip) to Atlanta in search of a wedding dress.

Now before you find me guilty of dress-searching obsession or some other ridiculousness, let me explain.   I had originally wanted my mother to come out here to Seattle to come dress shopping with me.  But she managed to convince me (by helping to pay for my plane ticket) that Atlanta would be more fun because we could involve my sister, aunts and cousin.  And she was right.

I don’t feel like I have to say this again, but I will.  I am not a girly girl.  I’m not frilly, and I don’t typically get excited about shopping.  The one dress I own, I typically wear with pants underneath. (no joke – it’s super cute too, all hippie style!)  It also probably does not need to be restated that my sister and I have very different tastes in….well, pretty much everything.  The joke has always been that while she is “pinks and polka dots,” I’m “earth-tones.”

But for all of our stylistic differences, it was a wonderful weekend.  I adore my family.   We always have a good time together.  My aunts are hilarious and just feed off each other.  And it is always a comforting feeling to be at my Aunt Gayle’s house – it feels like home.  They were all good sports, letting me search for what I needed, listening to what I envisioned (which mostly included, “No bedazzled, no butt bows and no lace!”).  My sister only made me try on one frilly dress, though my mom pulled a couple frilled and beaded dresses.  After 3 stores and about 40 dresses, I found a dress!!  It is beautiful.  And it is true, what they say.  When you try it on, you just know. It’s very weird.  I had tried on many many dresses over the course of two days, and though I liked a few of them more than others, there wasn’t one dress I was attached overly attached to.  None of them made me cry.  I thought that I had maybe actually broken my curse.  But then, at the last shop, in the last dress, I walked out and stood in front of that mirror.  I could see reflections of my female family members behind me.  As I caught my own gaze in the mirror, tears sprung to my eyes.  Dammit.  Curse is still there.  But that’s okay, because I got a dress.

In other wedding news, things are falling into place.  We have a date (June 12th!); we have a location; we have a photographer; and now I have a dress!  There are still a lot more checks to make on my list, but it’s getting there!!

Women In Black Vigil

Every time a homeless person is found dead outside or dies by violence in King County, WHEEL (a homeless women’s organizing effort) and the Church of Mary Magdalene (an ecumenical day ministry) mobilize for our silent witnessing vigil called Women in Black. On Wednesday, November 4th, we will stand for two new homeless deaths. The people we will honor and remember are:

• Rulon Smith, 55, who died by suicide (gunshot wound) in North Bend on 9/27;
• Lance Loder, 58, who died by suicide (from the Aurora Bridge) on 10/6. 

Our hearts go out to their friends and family.

The nubmer of homeless deaths outside or by violence this year now stands at 34.  Eight of these deaths have been suicide.  Women in Black consider this to be a public health crisis!  We are very concerned about all of these deaths, the horrible causes of death (suicide, being run over by cars and trains, murder) and the lack of available shelter. Without shelter and loving community, people die. This is exactly why Nickelsville and other day/night shelters are so desperately needed.

(Taken from the Women in Black press release)

A tearful confession

Something has happened to me in the last, oh I don’t know, year?  Maybe two?  Something in me has shifted.  Somehow I have become this person who cries.  All the time.  At completely and utterly ridiculous times.

Yes, there are the meaningful times.  Every time one of the ladies from Mary’s Place tells her story of overcoming trails and tragedy, I cry.  Every time one of our ladies gets good news, I tear up.  That is good crying.  Happy crying.  And I cry every time I’m in an airport saying goodbye to my fiance (which is a lot!).  I cry when I miss him, or don’t get to talk to him enough.  That is justified crying.  It’s sad-I-miss-you crying.

Sometimes I cry when I read an especially moving post, or see pictures of my godson growing up knowing I’m missing it (have I mentioned that I have the world’s CUTEST godson??).  And while there is an undercurrent to be understood at missing out on that precious boy’s life, crying at pictures of him blowing kisses is a bit much.  And it doesn’t stop there.  Because somehow, I’ve become the girl that cries while watching T.V.  I have NEVER been that girl.  I despise romance novels and movies.  I was the girl that didn’t cry watching Titanic.  Now though?  I cry at everything!  I mean, seriously y’all, everything.

I started noticing it when the most recent string of commercials came on promoting the 3 Day Race for the Cure. (4th video down, when she says, “This is my do-more.  It absolutely is.”  I swear, it gets me every time!)  What I noticed was that I cried every time I saw that commercial.  Which was a lot.  Because there was a month that the stations ran it about 40 times a day.

Then there were the clips for this season’s Biggest Loser, where Abby talks about losing her family in a car accident.  And it is horrifically sad, and I cry with her every time she’s on that T.V. screen.

But tonight, ohhhhh, tonight took the cake.  An AT&T commercial did me in.   You know the one where the little girl is putting up posters looking for her lost dog.  And the college kid takes a picture of the poster on his cell phone and sends it around campus via text.  Then the little girl comes home and there’s the college kid, releasing her puppy back to the little girl.  “Sarah!  You’re home!”  Little girl and puppy go running toward each other!  Wait, you aren’t crying!?  Heartless I tell you, heartless dry-eyed souls you are!

What is wrong with me?  How do I fix this?  How do I go back to the girl that only cries when it is appropriate?  If I can’t figure it out, I may have to get rid of my T.V.

Because I am too incoherent to make a full post, bullet points:

• Next weekend I am flying out to Atlanta to go wedding dress shopping with my mom, my sister and my aunts.  While I am excited about going dress shopping with family, I am exhausted.  You all probably have a vague I idea of how much I’ve been traveling recently.  Pretty much flying somewhere (on the east coast) once a month.  And I love that I am able to do all this traveling, I really am.  But I’m tired.  But yes, dress shopping.  Very good.
• Tomorrow is our big fundraiser for Mary’s Place.  Our 5th Annual Hats and Tea Fashion Show and Silent Auction.  It is going to be a great event, and I am really excited.  But again, tired.  Down to my bones exhausted.  We spent all day setting up, coordinating table clothes, setting tables – you know, all the fun stuff.  I am ready for tomorrow.  It will be a lot of fun, I’m sure, but it will also be nice to be on the back end of this one.
• I drank a coke today.  It was a moment of desperation.   I had not had coffee all day, and there was no prospect of coffee in the near future.  I needed caffeine, otherwise I would be crashing hard with a blinding headache soon.  So I had a coke.  And it tasted like being 12 at my grandmother’s house; drinking coke-a-cola out of a real glass with ice.  Ahhhh.  Until tonight.  When my kidneys starting hurting.  Seriously.  This is why I gave up sodas 6 years ago.  No good.
• Speaking of coffee.  I had a major coffee catastrophe yesterday.   I have dubbed it the Great Coffee Mishap of 2009.  I was making coffee in the office, not an unusual occurrence, when I noticed that the coffee was not going into the pot, but rather, alllll over the shelf and the floor.  So, I turned the maker off and went to empty the filter.  (you should also know that I just wrote “folder” instead of “filter” – like I said, incoherant.)  At that point, the coffee/filter exploded.  All over the wall.  All over the fridge.  Even more all over the floor.  It took me 20 minutes to clean up.  As I started to make a new pot, I stopped myself.  “What the hell am I doing?  I live in Seattle!!”  So I went around the corner and got a lovely cup of coffee.  One of the perks of living in the land o’coffee.
• Have you seen the commercial for the classic, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”?   They have Charlie Brown rapping.  This leaves me slightly confused and sad.  Charlie Brown should not rap.

That’s all for tonight folks.  Goodnight.

Making it public

For months I’ve been hinting at the fact that Kris may be moving out to Seattle at the end of the year.  Well, it is no longer just a hope or a dream.  It’s official:  Kris is moving to Seattle at the end of the year!!

It has actually been official for about a month, but I wasn’t allowed to “officially” say anything in a public domain until after he had announced it at work.  His fellow managers have known for a couple of weeks, and he did an official announcement at work yesterday.  So now everyone knows!  My man is moving out to Seattle!!  I could not be more EXCITED than I am right now.  That’s not true – I will be WAY more excited when he actually gets out here!

It has been a long road, and too many years of separation.  But we’ve made it this far, and I know we’ll make it these last two months.  It will be beyond wonderful to have him here in this city that I just adore.  AND that means he’ll get to be here for all the fun wedding planning activities!  hehe

*this is me, doing a happy jig*

One Year Ago

My toenail fell off today.  I was putting on my shoes this morning, and looked down, and there it was, hanging half off.  Since I was running late for work this morning (what’s new), I put a band aid on it and headed off to work.  Band aids fix everything, right?  When I got home, I took a good look at it, and sure enough, it was ready to come off.  Finally.  I mean, it has only been, what?  Ten months?  Remember that? Ten months ago, at the butt-crack before dawn, I was pulling 15 months worth of luggage off the elevator and directly into my toe.  I spent my time in Japan and California limping around with a broken toe.  I assumed the toenail would fall off, but it never did.  Until today.  Let the healing begin.

Taking care of that toenail was an odd bit of final closure to my time overseas.  It is the final, tangible bit of Asia that was left on me.  I used to be able to look down at my foot, see that disgusting, bloodied toe, and laugh thinking about hobbling around Japan.  It would remind me of that drasted elevator in my apartment building.

As much as I love my life in Seattle, I miss my life in Hong Kong.  A lot actually.  More than I thought I would.  I could not be happier with where I am right now – where I work, preparing for Kris to move to Seattle, getting married….my life is very very good.  But I miss my friends in Hong Kong.  My sweet little church.  The wonderful ladies of Bethune House and The Mission.  I miss the food.  Good Lord I miss the food!!   The adventure of living and surviving overseas was a good fit for me.  It is something I still crave – that sense of adventure.  Of learning to navigate around in a foreign language.

I think back to where I was a year ago today.  I look back on my blog, and this is where I was.  Amazing what can change in a year.  I will always look back on my time in Asia as more than just an experience.  It really was shaping for me.  Who I am today is due in part because of all that I learned in my 15 months in Asia.  Those journeys, those experiences, the stories, the faces – they will never leave me.  My work and my focus may have shifted, but my love for the people, my desire to help in the struggle, the desire to stand alongside those fighting for justice and equality – that will never fade.

All this, from a toe nail.  Funny what makes us remember, huh?

Cooking in the Fall

One of my favorite things about the Fall is the food!  In particular, soup.  I just adore soup.  I could eat a different variety pretty much every night of the week.  And in fact, I have done so.  (well, I’ve stuck with two varieties, but I have had soup for dinner every night for the last 6 nights!)  On a chilly, blustery day, there is nothing better than a big bowl of steaming soup.  Yum!

This week, my friends Mary, Anna and I made White Chicken Chili.  So easy and so tasty!

Directions:  We used this recipe.  We left out the jalapeno peppers, doubled the amount of lime juice, and used an entire rotisserie chicken.  I would also add a dash of pepper.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream (“Start with a smile and a dollop, of Daisy.”), monterey jack cheese and chips.

End result:

YUM!

Currently:

Borrowed from Heather

Current Books: Well, I went through a slew of heavy books in the last month.  They were all very good, but depressing.  So I need something absolutely ridiculous.  Hence, Christopher Moore’s Island of the Sequined Love Nun. Perfect.  Having just finished that, I’ve moved back into not so light or funny Ron Hall’s Same Kind of Different as Me and Toni Morrison’s Sula.

Current Playlist: Ingrid Michaelson (I get to see her in concert on Tuesday!!), Sara Watkins, Missy Higgins, Derek Webb

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: International Delight’s French Vanilla creamer.  So much sugar and so not anything close to organic or local.  But so tasty.

Current Color: Greens – of the subdued fall variety

Current Fetish: ??

Current Food: Homemade peanut sauce.  I probably make it once a week. Yum!

Current Drink: Need I even say it?  Coffee.  Always coffee.

Current Favorite Favorite: Days that start out downright cold, and end up as sunny afternoons with a hint of crispness.  I love Fall!

Current Wishlist: For the end of the year to be here already!!

Current Needs: New tennis/running shoes.

Current Trimph: Two days in a row riding to work on a bike!

Current Bane-of-my-Existence: Spiders in my apartment!!  I must kill at least 10 a day!  BLEH!!

Current Celebrity Crush: errrr….none?

Current Indulgence: Spending a full day off on the couch with Amigo (the super sweet puppy I was dog-sitting last week) and a book.

Current Mood: Excited but exhausted.

Current #1 Blessing: My boss.  She is sincerely the most amazing woman that I have ever met, and she inspires me to do good in the world.

Current Slang or Saying: Well, I don’t have anything.  But Kris has decided to try to pursue a type of reverse slang that he is really hoping will catch on.  Whenever someone says, “What’s up dog?” he will respond, “Not much cat.” or “That’s so dope.” with “That’s so methadone.“  or “How’s it going bro?” with “Pretty good uncle.” Yeeaaaaahhh…my fiance is a dork.

Current Outfit: Blue jeans and a tshirt.  Same old same old.   I’m fighting against closed-toe shoes.  Its almost, but not quite, too chilly for sandals, which makes me SO sad!

Current Link:  Just plain silly