weird, and yummy

Persimmons* are delicious. I learned this year that they're even better peeled! This way that thick thick skin doesn't interfere with your experience of their sweet cinnamon-y flesh.

but i had 4 in the fruit bowl, and only one day to eat them. Enter the recipe!

Persimmon, Spinach and Almond Couscous

Adapted from Denise's Kitchen

Makes: 4 – 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 chopped leek
1 cup spinach
1 or 2 small Fuyu persimmons, peeled and chopped into cubes
1/2 cup chopped unsalted raw or roasted almonds
dash nutmeg
accidental dash of cumin seeds (these might be better omitted)
1.5 cup whole wheat couscous
1.5 cup hot water, chicken broth or vegetable broth
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Chop leeks, spinach and persimmons and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan and add leek.
3. Cook leek until tender, add spinach and cook a minute or two more (until leeks are translucent).
4. Add persimmons, salt, almonds, and spices (this would be good with thyme, but somehow i don't have any) and cook for another 2 minutes.
5. Stir in couscous and then add hot water or broth along with a little salt to taste.
6. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit for five minutes.
7. Add in parsley, fluff the couscous with a fork and then serve.

(*fuyus! hachiyas are just scary)

interview

i told Rishi how much money we'd have if i got the job. "Rishi," I said, "do you know what we could do if we had money?!?"

"Go to park?" he said. 

Oh, no, not so much of that. :(

Is this card ok?

I'm not sure about this photo. There are so few of the boy and I together...and in this one he's half cut off and I'm wearing sunglasses. Too much for a Christmas card? I really like the design, though!

Christmas Book for the Grands

Gift giving is so easy when you have kids. Well, gifts for my parents are easy.

Click here to view this photo book larger

before i forget: i am thankful

for my friends. who watch and love on my kid, and seem to have endless patience for me.

for my parents, who still support me so much it's humbling, most especially with this stupid law stuff I've been through this year. but also for the heater, which my mom had installed when the little boy was less than a week old. 

for unemployment, which is keeping the heater on and the bills paid, so far. 

for my neighbors, who are always just right next door, and also love on the boy. 

the internet, which keeps me connected even as i'm alone in my house.

the library, where we can go and sing songs and get new stories for little man to tell me, surprising me every time. 

the sweet california sunshine. even in the surprising cold, that sun shines.

for prozac, which has softened the last 10 days. thanks, big pharma. also for the other thing that's kept me mobile for the past 5 years. that one is pretty great too. 

for the guy at the party who listed "avocados" number 2 on his list, and reminded me to do my own. 

Thanks. 

amazing week of soup

My soup pot's been on the stove all week. Outstanding! 

On Monday, i made split pea, which worked nicely to feed my "cleansing" babysitter. I made it up- soak a 99 cent bag of split peas with lemon juice overnight, rinse well, then saute whatever allium is in the fridge with a bunch of cumin, a dash of red pepper and chili powder (why not?), salt, pepper, add the peas, equal parts broth and water (or whatever) and simmer til soft. Delish. Didn't even freeze any, we just ate the whole pot. 

Wednesday I finally put all of the mushroom ingredients that had been waiting in the fridge for a week into the Roasted Mushroom recipe from Soup Love. It's really rich. It probably would have been better with actual wine, rather than that year-old bottle of $2 chuck, and omitting the carrots was not the best choice...but I froze a jar for Mom's visit, and am finishing the last fresh bowl now. It's a solid recipe. Yay! I stalked this little book in the local earthy boutiques before my sweet friends gave it to me for my birthday. Thanks, guys!

Yesterday emls and I whipped up a pot of this Butternut Soup with Bacon for the potluck Thanksgiving orphan dinner. What an excellent tradition. I kind of like going to these random events and celebrating a big holiday with (mostly) strangers. Arty, intellectual strangers. It reminds me why I love it here. Anyway, this recipe is so easy. You can fudge whatever you want on it (we tripled the garlic and eyeballed the cream, and have no idea how the amount of squash we used compares to the recipe) and it still works. Take it to a potluck (without vegetarians) and make yourself popular.

the mulch

I need to document The Mulch, which took over much of my mental space, a lot of my lung capacity, and a fair amount of the boy's vocabulary for about 3 weeks of last month. I requested it (free! delivered! too good to be true!) to mulch the berries.

I had read that you should cover your berries with at least three inches of wood mulch for the winter. I thought I could also use it in the front beds...so I requested a truckload. AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. it would have been funny, and absurd, if it had been delivered as promised. A truckload of wood in my smaller-than a truck front yard. And the neighbors (all around, not just the special ones) would have noted what a nutjob I am, and maybe they would have taken some of it, and that would be great! But the tree service delivered it to the wrong side of the street.

this photo was taken AFTER about 30 wheelbarrow loads and 500 phone calls. I took it to post the mulch on criagslist for the second or third time, and I am happy to report that it is completely gone thanks to one final gallant effort by those amazing neighbors I mention here and there.

AY MEN