lamb recipe

that lamb was so durn good i'm writing down the recipe

buy 1/2 or one whole lamb from sierra farms. enjoy the experience of picking it up, then jam the lamb...in the freezer.

when you want to have a lot of lamb, because you only cook every two weeks, or because you're having guests, or you want to share with your neighbor, defrost the ROAST.

preheat the oven to 375
have some vegetables on hand

rinse the LAMB, trim any giantly offensive hunks of fat (but no more), then salt and pepper it all around. grab some rosemary sprigs off the porch or out of your herb dish and rub them in too. jam some sprigs into the sides of the roast, where it was cut from the rest of the little lamby body. while you're at it, jam some crushed garlic in there too. a clove or 3 is enough.

stick the roast in a casserole dish.
throw some vegetables all around to soak up the delicious lamb juices. i used a whole small cabbage, a few carrots, little potatoes in white and purple, and big hunks of squash. throw a few more cloves of garlic in with the veggies. why not? it's cold and flu season and garlic keeps sickness and vampires away.

cover the dish with aluminum foil. if you have a better-equipped kitchen than i do, i suppose you could use a fancy dish/lid combo.

let the thing cook about 30 minutes per estimated pound. after the first half to one hour, turn the temperature down to 325.

when you think it might be close to being done, turn off the oven and go to bed.*

in the morning, put it in the fridge. you can have a nice lamb sandwich for dinner!

*OK it would probably be fine to just take the lamby out and let it cool, then serve it up to your eager guests. the vegetables are also delicious. if you want to turn it into baby food, just grind it up.

there you go. happy house in a dish. i love you! R

i do not always think i will be able to go on

sometimes this enlightenment process just takes too damn long.

obsessive type

here are two:

ugly shoes i still feel i need

the other one does not get a link because i do not need any encouragement, as I click it every five minutes. or reload my email. harumph.

that was fun!

the list

kind

smart and also knowledgeable in interesting areas

cooks

socially interesting



dealbreakers

smokes

teetotaler

sluggish

socks with sandals

i'm gonna learn. there's also a lamb roast!

i looked up an old connection tonight. sent an email.

two days ago i cut a new connection off. on the phone.

i'm roasting what i think is a sirloin lamb roast right now. 375 degrees.

325 now. that was too hot.

the TV is on but there's no sound.

i've taken a vow against dating until 12/8/10. that's the peanut's 2nd birthday.

just got a text message. as my phone number is in my email signature, my heart stopped

(see first line, above).

there are potatoes, white and purple, squash from my garden, garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs, carrots, and an entire cabbage in the pan with the lamb. no oil; i trimmed the fat a little, but not much.

i really have to let someone else in again. you can bet it's gonna have to be someone awesome.

i redid my shower

my house was built in 1940. maybe showers weren't widely used then, and maybe copper was in short supply because of the many wars of the era. i'm not sure what caused it, but the bathroom in my house ended up with a wonderful bathtub with a stingy 6 inch tile border. then maybe along the way someone added some shower knobs, just stuck em there in that plaster wall, and called it a new day showertown.
here you can see the somewhat ineffective 6 inch tile border...

my architectural and american history may be off a little (but just barely i'm sure), but what i was working with, in 2009, was three shower knobs -- HOT, COLD, ON -- that looked as if they were rotting out of the wall. it was less than beautiful. SO since the US gub'ment gave me a big fat refund for being a first time homebuyer single mother red headed professional earning less than loads of money, i set out to improve my situation.

ten days ago a nice man named justin came by and ripped up the wall. oh look, it's plaster and lathe! in the shower? moving on. he took out some crappy (galvanized) pipe and replaced it with COPPER. that's right. like the grown folks use. it looked like this when he was done:

that's about a what, 5 foot hole? um whoops. i only have 3 feet of tile. f it.

right. so...ten days later, after showering occasionally at the neighbors', and generally bein a little stinkier, it's done!

but it's not. i have to call that nice justin again so that he can put the fixtures on.

AND i need to put TWO FLIPPING COATS of paint to seal it. because the point of this was to make a waterproof shower situation. and all of that plaster work needs a good seal. but we went over budget with that GIANT HOLE in the wall and i need to make up the difference with elbow grease, which may have also been an original ingredient in the home. so it's an authentic period remodel, you know.
t
in happy news, the note you see there also lists various "green" resources because my dream of a handyman turns out to be a certified green builder. well hello, nurse.

isn't the design nice? i made it up myself using 50% salvaged tile. gorgeous.

i made

this weekend, in addition to some major cleaning, i got cooking:

tomato basil sauce
cherry tomato basil frittata
home grown cucumber salad
brownies with california walnuts
baby food- summer squash, chayote and home grown snow peas with rice

and one day, i hope, before the bacon goes bad and before i give back the cookbook it's in (Sean's), cabbage soup!

i need a lot of time alone, it turns out. so much it makes me doubt my "partner" obsession. but i have a good one so i'm going to enjoy it, AND i'm going to limit our time spent together- for now- so that i can keep my house in order and my belly and my brain fed with good stuff.

xo
r

i am letting my baby go to st louis

for 8 days. i may die.

if i don't die, i'm hoping that a bunch of things will happen: i will paint his bedroom, and maybe...another room?

i hope that i will sleep a lot. like through the night. i hope i will become more peaceful once i catch up on all that sleep.

i hope that his dad learns just what it takes to take care of a baby for 8 days. this part is a stretch, as his mom will be there and it's always easier if your mom is around...but maybe.

the therapist/mediator recommended empathy yesterday. maybe this will be a learning experience?

for TWO YEARS

the same two chat windows have been open.

it's weird. and so weird. their meanings seem to have settled now, everyone's falling into their places. i hope.

glamorous life

it's barely 9am and i'm wearing spit up on my shirt and yogurt on my pants, and there is more yogurt, along with some uncooked oats, on the floor of my cube. what's for breakfast, again?

bad mom

eating rice and oatmeal
Originally uploaded by the littlest raptor

that's gotta be google's top search term. my god, everything i do could send me down that road.

but nope. i have the faith.

i started feeding the monkey again- this time with avocado. that's a recommended first food! good work, mom. Then i moved on to sweet potato. zomg! that's recommended too! then i added carrots- but they were kinda chunky for such a little guy...and then i started feeding him yogurt every chance i got.

some docs say wait til the 1 year mark for the yogurt. suck it, doctors! this is Straus!

that's right, baby's a locavore.

they also recommend starting with bananas. but this sugar-addicted mommy is trying to teach her little man to eat better...and i hear you can train their taste buds with the right program. so no bananas for you, tiny guy!

there's not much local left in the fridge, so for dinner tonight he's eating blueberries and oatmeal. blueberries aren't on any list i've found. take that! i think it's going to be great. because i love blueberries and oatmeal and EVERYONE likes breakfast for dinner.

stupid cell phone!

disposable electronics are ruining Africa and waterways and the whole darned earth.

and my stupid phone has a crap battery which, after 15 months, can't hold a charge for a full day.

what the heck am i supposed to do?

dysfunction runs in my family

especially on dad's side. little sister is here for a visit and already she's been drunk on the plane, requesting vodka for groceries, and telling me she won't leave the house alone. in fact, she's so adamant about that that she got a headache this morning and spent the whole day in bed.

please god help me not get totally bummed out by this BS. please please please help me open the windows, go for walks, and not get sad and angry by her pathos.

post script!

he's FINE. he was just hungry.

gained 8 oz in a week from eating. try it!

as for me- the supplement i'm taking to fatten him up causes "GI issues" and blood sugar problems.

two birds, one visit to the lactation specialist!

happy friday.

dear

you know how i told you baby was scrawny? he's 2% for weight and doctor wants to check his kidneys. that means blood samples and a catheter, because babies don't know how to pee in a cup (maybe i could just take off his diaper and wait?).

i am taking my time with that little guy, feeding him for a long time and being patient. not running off to work or running to the computer or to yoga or really anywhere. just sitting with him and repositioning over and over again. we've fed him cereal and i fed him egg yolk. neither really seemed to make it into his sweet little belly, which is good because i am an idiot and fed the egg to him raw.

we'll find out friday if it's worked, or if the therapist is right and he's sponged up me & daddy's stress. it's in the DSM, "failure to thrive" (no link there because they are terrifying). This guy? no way.

on a side note, but really a parallel one, i need a really good doctor. one who can tell me how to deal with my hunger, my indigestion, my fatigue, my pain. it seems like i haven't dealt with those and have passed my weakness to him. at least he gets plenty of kisses.

dear guy at work

i thought you were cute and i like the fact that you don't dress like you were going for a hike and decided to come to work instead. from our conversation this morning, it seems you are single. and well-traveled, and grounded. and self centered and kind of rude and dang, not that interesting anymore as crush candidates go.

oh well. tomorrow is another day.

first mothers day

i got up early-ish and skipped yoga to walk through the park with my main [man], got some basic clothes-care stuff done with mom, made it to the city for lunch at the deyoung cafe, a destination of my obsession for a good year now, spent the whole day with baby, mr todd and momma, checkin out arts and fresh air.

i hugged and kissed my baby goodnight, had a bowl of ice cream, and talked all manner of topics with my own mom til bedtime. check!

major news in greenhouse gases and climate change

but it's so incredibly complicated I can't bother going into it. unless we're drinking and incredibly bored -- or ice cream -- you're just going to have to trust me on this one. I have some inside scoop that the USDOE has made an incredibly smart decision that will radically change the way gub'ment dollars are distributed around fuel and energy. and it might get even better. this is totally good for the kid.

so highfive everybody! enjoy your weekend!

never underestimate the power of a stern email

it took three weeks to get an estimate and two weeks for a contract. after two months of waiting i sent just the right email. only a few hours passed until...


(it's a new window. one that opens, closes, has a SCREEN and is DOUBLE-PANED. it's like "HOTT" for old folks.)

it's true about the pretty people

It's the law! "Persons classified as “ugly” may not walk down any street" in San Francisco. So that explains it!

tough week in "friends"

self-discovery flavored explication forthcoming

what i would really like to write i am afraid to, because while my top two readers (you know who you are and i love you) are ok for all news, i am not sure who else is out there and i have a sinking suspicion that one person i have a distinct aversion to might be a follower- or a friend of one. why why why did i link my blog to twitter???

dear ____ - i do not like you. please stop acting like you know anything about raising children, or like i care about your stupid opinion. I AM SICK OF HEARING ABOUT YOUR SISTER. your friends' friend, but not yours, rebecca

and on a philosophical note, isn't it weird how you can be so close to one person, and either not care at all about or distinctly dislike people who are close to them? this is an ongoing phenomenon for me (mostly of the former style. the latter is rare as it should be-- except with this one friend, who, certainly, is in a weird place). luckily, there's you. and the neighbors. xo

austin, texas, advertising

i used to steal buckets of cookie dough from the office freezer. there was a lot of it, and it appeared to have been abandoned. i would eat it at my desk, and eventually started sneaking it home. this could only have happened once or twice-- how many buckets of cookie dough fit in an office freezer?--but it was a gross time.

i thought of this because i brought cookie dough with me to work today. oof. it is bringing back gross memories. i should get something done before i barf.

thanks, penelope

that was a good reality check.

sad about english today

a friend wrote to thank me for a massage i helped buy for her birthday and she referred to it all through the note as a "message". really. three times.

then i got an auto-reply at work from someone who mis-spelled "correspondence" about four different ways. happily, it's my job to correct him, and correct him i did!

i took a linguistics quiz and got a 41%- "average joe". i guess linguistics is different from English. cuz I am totally awesome at English.

garden development v. 4

there are sprouts! the garden is alive! i was dreaming all morning (the babies and i all took a lovely nap) about mulching and building soil, waiting until next year for a big garden etc etc and then boom! there it goes. sprouting.

greywater watchmen, watch this.

the proof in the pudding

this just came in from one of my new friends.

i stand corrected!

oakland! fine! i will lock up!

i hope you enjoy the 1.75 in quarters you found in my console, and the almost-bridge toll in my armrest last night!

thanks for leaving my stereo, stroller, car seat and phone charger. i'll take it as a warning.

my new friends are a little "marina"-flavored

I've been hanging out with work people lately, right? well i have to admit that when i went to the Very Beautiful one's house for her housewarming, her friends struck me as Marina. I think they actually live there.

they were talking about drinking all day the next day (it's hot! they're single! why not?) and i just assumed Dolores, but no, they were headed to Crissy Field. That's not necessarily an indictment, baby boy was there just the other day with his favorite "birthday mama", but it is an indication. They were also not quite as pretty as the people i usually surround myself with. because i am shallow. and have high expectations!

the year of American history

i'm trying again to read this book, and when i turned on the TV tonight (reluctantly, as i'm trying to be more 'present' in my life, as well as rest more), there's a special about the Wampanoag. Awesome.

thank you oakland

thank you, for leaving my car alone when i leave it unlocked overnight

thank you for sending a neighbor over to remind me about street cleaning

thank you for being fantastic when i left my RED PATENT LEATHER wallet on the front seat of my car, again overnight.

and most of all, thank you for leaving my house unmolested when i left the door OPEN a few inches all day today. happy easter, indeed.

wish i had a nanny cam

i miss that little dude!

my hairstylist is the best

I have the best hairstylist ever. I have referred her to now 4 of my favorite people, and i'll keep doing it as long as my friends need haircuts!! She's a genius at hair and super nice. but the real reason that I love you, Brianne, is because when i went in today for a bang trim, wearing one baby and pushing another in a stroller, she said

"are you dating anyone hot?"

lesbians!

i think i found some lesbians in my neighborhood! it's an older, african american neighborhood, and there are lots of guys in big clothes hanging on the corner, and lots of incredibly friendly older people who want to check out the babies, but not so much on the gay tip.

Today the babies and I took our walk early, and in a totally different direction, and we met Lydia and Cheri (Sherry? there are an infinite number of ways to spell that name), who were out gardening. Sheri told me a nutty story about some twins who were born a month apart, and then i asked about their garden. That's when Lydia piped up. Lydia had two dreads hanging in the front of her face, and the rest of her head was shaved. you know what i'm saying: lesbians. Anyway, hallelujah AND it gets better because: Lesbian Gardeners. Thank you jesus.

I walked away with two agapanthus (the same plant i hacked to bits and gleefully ripped out of the garden here, but it's not a water eater, so i'll give it another shot) and a lovely sunshine daisy thing.* She told me the name about 4 times as she fondled the blossom (hehe) and told me to look it up on Annie's Annuals, but I can't remember. Anyway, it's beautiful and I love makin friends with the neighbors.

* update. the daisy is the Ring of Fire. I'll let you fill in the rest.

apple-blueberry pie

i made one on sunday. i used up 2 bags of greens and half a bunch of parsley on some lunches, and then i put the dozen apples my parents left (and the blueberries i'd bought for them) to work. mash-up recipe to come!

fix it lady

i left my phone at work last night. whoooops.

it had all sorts of repercussions, which maybe i'll get into later, but one of them was that i didn't have [handyman]'s digits.

so when the clog in the bathroom sink got utterly intolerable, i had to deal with it myself.

i was watching two babies, and like little angels, they napped at the same time, so that i could take my expanding head wrench to the pivot screw and clevis pin and pull out that gross disgusting icky terrible black hairy slime.

while the babies napped in the living room, i trotted through with all manner of grody crap...the little one woke before i was quite finished, but he sat happily in a little chair in the bathroom doorway while i finished.

and there is no more crud in my sink!

i can't believe i ate the whole thing!

i eat a lot of chocolate.

i eat my vegetables, and i eat local, fresh, organic, and i eat chocolate every day. it used to be dark (there's a whole post drafted about my connoisseur-ship of it), but since that baby came along, I'm back on milk. have you had Milka? my stepmom used to bring it back from Germany and it was this amazing treat they kept in the "outside fridge" because we lived in Texas and everyone needed extra cold food storage. or a place to hide the naughty things, maybe. ah, Texas. anyway now you can buy "Milka" in the US and it is not the real thing.

so today is California and I needed to blow off a little work steam. lizmarie and I took a walk to the market and while she told me about a colleague in Switzerland who gained 30 pounds eating chocolate, I picked up a Lindor Truffle bar.

I came back to the office, heated up my healthy lunch, and then tore into the chocolate. I think there are maybe three squares left. I should probably just start coffee.

back at work- blog rec

i LOVE this blog

http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/

that's what i'm doing, between pumping and email.

baby

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Originally uploaded by the littlest raptor

see below.