Haley Bonar - Candy Machine Gun

First off, if you haven't fallen in love with Midwestern girl, Haley Bonar, you need to change that instantly.  She's adorable and creative and sweet.  Every time she performs, she manages to reach out and touch everyone in the crowd, as if she's secretly pulling you each aside and sharing a moment, an inside joke.


Secondly,  I love this song despite the fact that it's a little sad in its connotation.  There's a sense of hopelessness, of neediness with a simultaneous acceptance of how it is.

We began where we began
Same old story with a different plan
Same old woman meets the same old man
And they knock each other out

It rained so hard as we drove across the state
You laughed at first but then your chemistry was strange
The light in your eyes fell away like loose change
And I tried to figure out who you were at all
Who you were at all

Oh, you were at all
Something of a garden, something of a martyr
I'm helpless in your hands
Oh yeah, my candy machine gun,
Lemonade-flavored poison
Don't turn away from me

Of all seven daughters he loved the youngest
Her long brown hair felt no shame in his caress
Don't be suspicious of my love it was no accident
He told her without name

I've become so defined by you I can't tell up from down
The nature of your beauty pulls my bones into the ground
I smile though I ache as though the wind has stole my crown
And it makes me laugh like Cain did

And you weren't at all
No, you weren't at all

Oh, you weren't at all
Something of a garden, something of a martyr
I'm so helpless in your hands
Oh yeah, my candy machine gun
Lemonade-flavored poison
Don't turn away from me

Go  buy her latest album, Golder, right away and support independent artists!

When little plungey earned his keep

I love going to the hardware store.  The smell of all the plastic and metal and grease delights my nose and reminds me of my days as a young girl when my dad used to take me up to Mark Enderlein's hardware store on East Lake Street in Minneapolis whenever he needed a little piece for a little fix-it project.  There was always crazy stuff there, whether it was getting a few feet of rope to use as a jump rope, or checking out all the different colors and sizes that chains came in and wondering what people did with all of those things.  Oh yeah, and tools and stuff. 

Juggles and I went to the hardware store the other day.  We got a drain snake and some rubber washer-things for our hose pipe outside to keep it from dripping.  Then we passed the plungers.  Silly, yes, but I saw this little tiny plunger and just HAD to have it.  J thought I was being silly, but I managed to convince him that we should buy it, just in case.  It took a few minutes of debate over said $2.50 item, but, I mean, how can you not take that tiny rubber plunger home with you?  It's no bigger than our small cat! 

So we took it home.  And, let me tell you, the baby plunger is adapting well to our place.  He's already unclogged both the bathtub AND cleared the bathroom sink (which hasn't drained well the entire time we'ved lived here).

Little plungey has earned his keep.  We've given him a home in our bathroom where he does his finest work.

Also exciting, someone apparently has my credit card number and has been trying to spend hundreds of dollars in Illinois at Home Depot and some grocery stores. It's peace of mind to know that Visa has their fraud prevention services looking out for me so everything is DECLINED!  Yikes.

We just wanna make the world dance / forget about the price tag

The summer has been a whirlwind, as has been the last few years. So many great things happened in the last few months.

In June, we played at Gender Blender in lovely Fergus, ON and, despite having a more random group of teammates than we usually do, we had even more of a blast than usual. We camped in the rain, set up a live version of the popular smartphone game Angry Birds, enjoyed some flip cup and did crazy things all weekend. It was exhaustingly fun.

This year, Juggles and I started a mixed club ultimate team called Sidecar! which was very well-received by the community. We had 70-some people try out for our team, making decisions for 20-some roster spots very difficult. After we whittled the team down, we had a fairly successful season, taking 5th at Mars, 2nd at Motown Throwdown, 12th at CHC, and losing our regionals spot to Overhaul in a game we finished 15-11. The season had its ups and downs, but, all-in-all, I am so glad to have gotten to make friends with such a diverse set of people -- from U of M players to Detroiters, to other talented people we found lurking within our local league. It's been so fun to get to know everyone.

Juggles also spent a week in the Bahamas with his brother in July, while I played at Chicago Sandblast, then took a short course on statistical methods in genetic epidemiology. That sounds pretty lame, I know, but I'm a geek enough to appreciate this sort of things because it helps me think about my work a little differently.

Later in July, my friend Harrison happened to make a quick run through Detroit for a conference, so we got together and went to our first Tigers game. It was so great to catch up with him. He's someone I've known since the tender age of 11 or so, have always kept in touch with, and he's just turned out ... so awesomely! I'm glad we've stayed friends over the years, despite random distances between us and such.

This summer, also, a number of my close friends got married. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it back to Minnesota to celebrate with most of them (Adro and Carley, Da, Michelle) because it's an expensive plane ticket, but I am so thrilled for all of them. I did make it home for my best friend Lindsay's wedding in August -- probably a good thing since I was her maid of honor. And, honored I was! It was a tiring weekend, for sure, but filled with smiles and festivities. Juggles came along for the ride and did a great job helping me stay organized while I was running around Duluth. While we were in MN, I also got to introduce him to the Minnesota State Fair to eat a lot of fried foods, Sweet Martha's Cookies, and check out some mighty fine pigs and cows. Unfortunately, we didn't have a whole lot of time to see friends, but we did get some good eating in, at the very least, and a really great hike in Cherokee Park. Now the autumn has come. The last few days have been rainy, but our dahlias are still in full bloom keeping in a nice fiery view of summer sunshine


It's time to focus on things aside from just sports and friends, I suppose, but at least I'm afforded the luxury to take a break from my work on occasion and catch some frisbees on the beach. This fall has exciting things to offer -- papers to publish and women's ultimate to coach at Eastern Michigan. Now it's time to get it started!

I'm not a girly-girl. I don't do my nails or paint my face every day. It's not that I'm not a "marriage" girl. I'm just not a "wedding" girl. I like weddings. They're pretty. The flowers and the traditions (most of which are lost now-a-days anyway) and all of that stuff. When it comes down to my own wedding day, I just am not spending more than we spent on the down-payment of our house for a dress and a party. Not my style. I don't want everyone looking at me anyway so seriously. That's so awkward. (For me at least... I'm not judging you if you do it differently. I know I'm not normal.)

This being said, I want to point out that I have a folder in my bookmarks called "My Wedding." Yes, this is the folder where one would search for most girls' fairy princess dresses and wedding cake styles or whatever.

Not me. There's one website in that folder. Just one. It's titled Can a Jell-O Shot Be Classy?. The answer, my friends, is yes. And you can look at their photos to see just how classy they can be. Because, my friends, what's a party without some jello shots?


Cucumber-lime margarita shots tied with cucumber ribbons


That is all I wanted to share. Oh, secondly, Beck's Midnight Vultures album is phenom.

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats

Growing up, my mom trained me to become a choco-holic. Not that I will complain at all about my deep love for brownies, cakes, and other tasty treats, but I always went to the neighbors' houses to get simple desserts like rice krispie treats. Never in my life had I made them before yesterday when I embarked on a mission to fill Naomi's left-behind brownie pan with a tasty treat so I could finally return her cookware.



Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/4 cup yellow cake mix
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Method:

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows.
2. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined.
3. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture.
4. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix.
5. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting.

I almost doubled the recipe on the website above because I wanted to taste-test them since I had never before made rice krispie treats.
My tips are as follows:

1. Use lots of cake batter. I used an entire cup for a double batch. It's very sweet, but very tasty.
2. When doubling the recipe, don't add in double the rice krispies. There's not enough marshmallows to go over them. I used about 8-9 cups of cereal instead of 12.
3. Add a little extra butter. Everyone loves butter.
4. Use lots and lots of sprinkles. Sprinkles = happiness.

A farewell to arms

A tip for the day: look at the world with optimism and don't whine -- not only to keep your own spirits high, but so you post on your social sites your happy thoughts instead of your crappy thoughts. When you're dead and gone and the internet lives on and on, I think I'd like to be remembered as a pleasant, humorous individual, at least.

It's strange, really. Social sites. And death. I mean, the mix of the two of them. I say this as I wait for funeral arrangements to be posted by Nick Gidmark on his brother Ben's Facebook page. You see, my childhood friend, Ben -- the one who was so proud whenever his snake shed its skin, whom we made fun of for having a "secret kissing spot" behind the bushes of his house when he was a kid -- he died of a heart attack on Monday night, at home, alone. Some friends were waiting on him and were concerned when he didn't show. It's sad. He was a year older than myself.

Ben is one of those guys who had a way with people. He embroidered spirits together with sparkles. He never let anyone get too far away and, when he remembered that he had let you wander too far, he immediately reminded you that he was there and that he cared, and he'd pull your thread closer and weave you back into his fabric. I moved away from his neighborhood when I was still just a kid and didn't really talk to him for years. I'd hear stories of him because he hung out with a number of my friends, but I didn't see him again. Then there was Facebook and we'd send emails or write on each others' walls every so often just to catch up. We always said we'd get a beer sometime when I was home for a visit. And now his Facebook is a page of memories, a wall of graffiti, a quilt of stories of how he touched every single one of the 400 e-friends he has. And that's why you should always keep positive -- so the memory of you that's etched into this world wide web can be written down in history as silly or sweet instead of cold or querulous.

His last FB post was, "Today started off with Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus. All is well and nothing can be ill." And, really, I can't think of a better way to be e-membered. Or is it "iMembered?" I guess it depends if you are Mac or PC.

It's a strange day for me. I've been reminiscent of my childhood for the last 12 hours since I found out about it all because that's where my memories of Ben are woven. I want to think, "Oh, life is so precious," but I've never really thought that. My thoughts have always really bordered on how short and sweet life is. Because life just is... It's like a jar -- some people were handed huge jars and fill them with ugly things, or things that have little density, like soot-covered moth balls, I guess; some people just get small jars which they maybe chose to fill with richness and pack full with to the brim with things they cherish, things they love. We don't know how big of a jar we were dealt until we reach the top and overflow to the heavens. (That was maybe a silly analogy.) But, life just is until it's not. So, why not love until you can't? Why not share, build community, create moments that will far outlast your physical being? Why not?

". . . and throughout the career that will certainly and consistently remind you that we live in a world of too many pieces and not enough glue, I challenge you to be the arms that hold, to be the voice that soothes, and to be that contagious smile. . . " Ben Gidmark

With that, I'll leave you with a video of Ben's commencement address from which the previous quote was drawn, as it inspires and touches.

Me: How'd you know what I was going to say?
Juggles: 'Cuz I can read you like an RSS feed.

Nice work.

gr8ness

"You don't become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process."

& when the phone rang & I thought it was you & I sprung like a kid who just got out of school / but its almost, always never you

I've recently discovered this artist, Lissie, thanks to my favorite radio station, The Current. I love to share music, so check her out. She kind of reminds me of a female Ryan Adams in some of her songs (i.e. "Record Collector"). She's kind of soulful, yet energetic.




Listen, love, like her on Facebook if you're so inclined. =P

Heavy cream biscuits

In a previous post, I pondered what I should do with my extra cream from the panna cotta. Well, I started on Sunday morning with a delicious batch of cream biscuits.





Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-rising flour
  OR
  2 cups all purpose flour + 3 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Stir everything together until the dough forms a ball.
3. Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with additional flour. Fold dough in 1/2 and knead a bunch. (Add flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to your hands.)
4. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Or, if you're lazy like me, just knead it until you think it's about the right thickness.
5. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter coated with flour a glass coated with flour or, if you're me, an appropriately-sized metal measuring cup coated in flour, cut dough into biscuits.
6. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray, leaving at least 1-inch between each biscuit.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

You got served!


Nom. So, my one error is that I think I may have added too much salt and baking powder. I'd cut that by about 25% next time and I'd also use WHEAT flour next time.

Chocolate Buttermilk Panna Cotta

I couldn't find a recipe for chocolate buttermilk panna cotta, so I did my best to combine the chocolate recipe with the buttermilk recipe, and this is what I got:

Ingredients:

• 1 c + 2 tbsp heavy cream (I couldn't find heavy cream, so I used heavy whipping cream)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp cold water
• 1 package powdered, flavorless gelatin (vegetarian, if you can find it!)
• 1-2/3 c buttermilk
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt

1. Coat 5 or 6 ramekins or similar cup-type item lightly with flavorless oil. (I used small bowls.)
2. Place water into a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over it. (Do not stir.) Let stand 5-6 minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat: Bring cream and sugar to a boil (about 7 minutes).
4. Remove pan from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth.
   
5. Add gelatin mixture to chocolate mixture until melted.
6. Stir in buttermilk and salt.
7. Ladle mixture into ramekins.
8. Refrigerate, loosely covered, until set. (About 2 hrs.)

To serve:

• Run the tip of a small knife around the edge of the ramekins to loosen the panna cotta and unmold onto plates.
• Or, if you're me, just serve them right from the bowls in which they set
• Let stand until almost at room temperature (about 1 hr).
• Garnish with berries if you have them!

Now what do I do with all this extra cream...?

Chocolate Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Cookies

I bought buttermilk a bit ago to make Irish soda bread, which turned out pretty nicely. It had hints of nutmeg to spice it up a bit. Next time, I'd try some thyme and rosemary in it. Mmm...

Since, I've been trying to use the buttermilk up, so I've been making everything with it. Last weekend, I made delicious buttermilk pancakes last weekend, with a recipe claiming it's Al's Diner's recipe: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/510/Als_Diner_Buttermilk_Pancakes31323.shtml.

Then, I made buttermilk popovers the next day for breakfast. They didn't seem to want to pop over, so they ended up buttermilk biscuits, but they were still super tasty, and worked nicely with some raspberry preserves.



I made buttermilk French toast for breakfast this morning, where I just replaced most of the milk in the egg mixture with buttermilk and it was surprisingly delicious.

Then, today, I made very delicious chocolate-chip buttermilk cookies!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• For funsies, I added 1/3 c of Ghirardelli cocoa powder
• chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add dry ingredients until blended. Stir in chips. Drop by teaspoons onto baking sheet.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Pre-baking



DONE!




They are a really cake-y cookie -- soft and fluffy and chewy. So good.


Juggles says:
"These cookies are probably the most pretty cookies I've ever seen you make. They are totally decilicious. That's like a step above regular delicious"

H Two the Izzo

It was World Water Day a couple of days ago, and thus we are all reminded of the importance of a substance that is part of just about everything on this planet. We here in the U.S. are pretty lucky to have mostly clean water. Sure, Ann Arbor has been known to have a little arsenic in its water, and the Gulf Coast had a massive oil leak that affected it. In other countries, it's the norm to have water supplies polluted by lead, arsenic, and other harmful metals.

Because of this reminder, I wanted to share the following article about how banana peels (and other natural foods) can actually clean heavy metals out of water better than some of the commercial products.

The article is here:
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/banana-peel-can-purify-water-say-scientists.html

And abstract:

This article reports on an investigation into the ability of minced banana peel to extract lead and copper ions from water and the parameters involved in this process. The kinetics of copper and lead uptake reached equilibrium in 10 min and the extraction of metals ions was favorable above pH 3. The medium was characterized by FTIR, which showed absorption bands of carboxylic and amine groups at 1730 and 889 cm1, respectively. The adsorption isotherm fitted by Langmuir’s model showed maximum adsorption capacities of 0.33 and 0.20 mmol g−1 (or 20.97 and 41.44 mg g−1) for Cu(II) and Pb(II), respectively. Minced banana peel was applied in the preconcentration system and showed approximately 20-fold enrichment factor and the column was reused for 11 cycles without loss in the percentage of recovery. The proposed method was applied in the determination of Cu(II) and Pb(II) in a sample of raw river water and was validated by comparison with a standard reference material.

Sour Cream Banana Bread

I baked tonight. :)



Sour Cream Banana Bread
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Grease 1 large loaf pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
3. Stir in baking soda and salt, then add flour.
4. Add bananas, sour cream, then chocolate chips.
5. Mix well.
6. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour
   (I actually baked at 350 for an hour, then turned the oven to 325 and kept it in an extra 15 minutes or so because it was nice and dark around the edges, but the center wasn't quite done).

My conclusion: yum-tastic. It doesn't have as much of a sour cream taste as I was hoping, but it's still lightens the taste of the banana bread and makes it not quite as heavy as most traditional banana breads.

In the colors

I've heard this song about a gazillion times previously, but today the lyrics really hit me. I think part of it is that it's the end of a whole long year, with a new one setting sail slowly through the winter. Most people had pretty average years, but I know some amazing friends who had a rough year for some pretty big reasons. This song is my dedication to you guys -- sometimes there's not always something easy to say to make the bad go away, and sometimes that hurt lingers for a long time, but no matter what, whenever you're feeling down and out, I will be there in whatever ways I can be.

When your whole world is shaken from all the risks we have taken
Dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk

When you have awoken from all the dreams broken
Come and dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk
Dance with me in the colors of the dusk

The paths we're walking on, they crumble behind us
But if we leave now, they will never find us
And if this crazy world spins itself down to dust, I want to be with you in the colors

When you again start hoping with your arms wide open
Come on, dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk
And all will be right, dancing like water with the light
Dance with me, won't you dance with me into the colors of the dusk?

Happy 2011, friends and family. I hope this year brings joy within every movement and every song.