Hobbies Include Cat and Food

When I went to Uwajimaya with lab-friend a while back I made sure to acquire some seaweed wrap and frozen eel for future sushi-making. The future came last night and I had an easy and tasty dinner using recipe and methods from my previous post here. I wish there was a way for the wrapper to stay fresh and crispy instead of rapidly turning soggy and chewy, but I guess there's no avoiding this with homemade sushi. Next time I think I will add a smidge less salt to the rice bc the eel is already salty. I've already eaten a few pieces for breakfast this morning, oops.

And here is everyone's favorite cat, lounging on Martha Stewart's quilt.

And finally, last night I took the plunge (not really a plunge because it wasn't like I was at all hesitant or anything) and bought 5 packets of seeds from seeds of change. Even though I had sage and thyme seeds already, I left them at Bunny's house a year ago and she stored them improperly outdoors where they all got soggy, so I doubt they will be any good to me now. So I bought more sage and english thyme, some cilantro seeds that are supposed to be slow to bolt, genovese sweet basil and catnip (so I can make some toys for the little cat). I still have to buy some pots and planters and things to set up in my balcony, but I think I will have a lot of space to grow what I want to this year if I make full use of the balcony fence. After I come back from the conference next week I will take the plunge (this is used properly here because I'm feeling ick but also excited about this) and buy some red wrigglers for my compost bin. With any luck I'll have usable compost by the summer!

Resolutions for 2011

Last year I made a happy long list of resolutions but two weeks into the new year I realized I had to abandon them to focus on the three main important things in my life at the time:

1) Graduate

2) Find a postdoc

3) Move

With all of that successfully behind me, I am looking forward to making some less weighty resolutions. So far, I've got:

1) Go running at least once a week once it gets warm (no way I'm stepping out in this 25 degree weather. Did I somehow bring East Coast weather with me to the West Coast? Is this my fault?)

2) Start a new garden on my new balcony! (yayayayyayaya, can't wait!)

3) Make homemade cards all year (I've made two already so I'm totally successful so far).

4) Finish the quilt already.

5) Start vermicomposting (try not to be grossed out by the worms).

6) Learn to drive and join zipcar.

7) Ride my bike around when the weather gets nice.

8) Update my blog regularly.

9) Learn and memorize all of Bach's Two Part Inventions.

10) Speak louder.

Living Room Decorating

When I was in LA for a day over Christmas holidays, I asked my mom to turn out her fabric stash for me. She'd acquired a bunch of random fabrics from an Indian neighbor of hers who moved away. I turned the numbby velvety blue stuff into fresh sofa cushion covers, which is a nice update from the red ones I'd made ages ago. Now it doesn't look so matchy matchy with the red file cabinet that I'm using as an end table and the red wastebasket.

The wall above the sofa (which looks gray here but is actually a very pale sea-green) is also super big and kind of curved so I'd been at a loss for what kind of wall hanging would be most appropriate without breaking the bank. I finally recalled a white Ikea frame I'd had lying around forever and thought that several of these sprinkled across the wall would look nice. It's not evident from this photo, but the frame is quite deep and has a nice 3D aspect to it (although technically everything in real life is 3D). I will fill them with various fabric swatches for easy decorating. This is just the first one, filled with fabric from my mom's Indian stash.

Birthday Card

Perhaps science is not really my calling after all since I've spent this entire weekend crafting and cooking. Here is a card I made for a friend's birthday, with some of the cardstock I got on sale at Joann's. The paper looks white but is actually a pale silverish gray, very pretty I think. One of my resolutions this year is to be better at sending cards and to only send homemade ones.

Horchata

I had horchata for the first time a month ago when I visited the Bunnies for Thanksgiving. It was the perfect complement to the fish tacos at Palomino and overall a refreshing and light drink. This version is not quite the same as Palomino's but it is quite tasty all the same, and very easy to throw together.

1 1/3 cup long grain white rice (uncooked)

2 cinnamon sticks

2 cups water

Combine above in blender and blend until coarsely ground (1-2 minutes).

Add another 2 cups of water and blend again. Leave in fridge overnight.

The next day, strain into a pitcher and add:

1 cup water

1 cup milk

heaping 1/3 cup sugar

Shake it up and enjoy!