surprisingly tasty

I mentioned that while i was in Ohio visiting Rea we made jelly because i had never canned anything before.
The violet jelly was beautiful and tasted good, but the dandelion jelly was INCREDIBLE!
How can anything made from a bitter weed be delicious?
Like the violets, you make an infusion from the flower petals that is the base of the jelly.
It tastes honey-er than honey; it has the bright sweetness, but not the aftertaste.
I was in charge of lidding the jars as i got to use the fun magnetic wand. To see the whole process and get the recipe for the BEST JELLY you have ever eaten, click on Rea's link.
One of cool surprises for me about making jelly was that while the jars cool and you wait for the blessed PING that indicates it has vacuum-sealed, watching the bubbles blubbing through the amber liquid was mesmerizing.

i just noticed that if you embiggen the video

 you can see my lovely BFF reflected in the upper left-hand corner 

floral jelly

While i was in Ohio for my birthday/ Mother's Day i spent 2 days on the farm with Rea and helped make violet and dandelion jelly.
Here is the amazingly hot pink violet jelly.

Notice how is a completely different color from the violet infusion from which it was jellied.
The change happens when you add the lemon juice and cook it down.

It has a light, sweet floral taste that was able to stand up to peanut butter (the ultimate jelly test), but would probably be better on toast.
It was very fun for this City Mouse to do her first canning by helping with the jelly.

When i say i helped, let's understand that i was the photographer, put on lids and did a few other things.

For the full story and recipe, go here.

Hopefully there will be a post about the dandelion jelly which sounds gross and yet is one of the yummiest things i have ever eaten.

Feeling So Random

Went to see Thirty Seconds to Mars last night and ended up on stage this close to the drums.

Will share the story, but realize that I need to tell a story of a story to get to that story because.. well.. i'm me. Keep an eye out; mayhaps all 3 stories will get posted by New Year's.

Sitting here working on another Etsy update - Pink Ribbon earrings for October. They are a mix of cute ones from last year and awesome new ones so there both new and old pictures to go through, but I am really distracted by the fact that my chest smells like tacos from a wee lunch incident.

Had dinner Saturday at fTM Miriam's new apartment; she lives in an actual Baltimore rowhouse.

It is beautiful.

She made Lydia's Stuffed Squash, so named because Miss Lydia had it last year and loved it so much that she has been asking Miriam to make it again.

Stuffing of quinoa, onions garlic, carrots, cranberries, apples and walnuts is cooked inside of a roasted acorn squash.

It is autumn on a plate.

As my first experience with acorn squash like this I am delighted to report it was yummy.

And yes, Lydia joined us for dinner because how can you have Lydia's Stuffed Squash without her?

Last week the hardwood floors in the foyer of my building and the steps going to the upstairs apartments were stripped and sealed. We couldn't use the front door for several days, but they do look incredible.
The down side?
It smelled like varnish and decay, with an under note of natural gas.
I slept with the windows open, fans on and several extra blankets but I think there might have been some long-term brain damage. I mean, nothing that smells that bad can possibly be good for you. Plus, I spent so much time around flammable chemicals  the last 20 years that I was in a state of heightened awareness on the lookout for a non-existent chemical leak.
For three days.
 It was exhausting.

At the Parisian Flea one day I saw this box -Beaver Finger Ring Cutter- and was like what?
Those words make no sense in that order.
Opening the box I found a truly alarming looking instrument:

Beaver. Finger. Ring. Cutter.

Pointy, circular bladed, sharp hooked, wicked looking thing.
Does it cut fingers?
Where does the beaver come into the picture?
I ask Andrew and he told me that it is for when someone has a ring stuck on their finger.
WHAT?
MENTAL MORSEL:
It cuts the shank of the stuck ring so that it can come off of the finger and it is made by a guy whose last name is beaver.
Even knowing the answer I am still a bit confounded every time I see the box.

Earlier I was on the phone with fTM Erin arranging to go visit tomorrow when she uttered, No Collin, you can't be naked in that rocket. I just imagine her 3 year old being like, Well which rocket can I be naked in? because that was my first thought. When I stopped laughing that is.

Bonchon

Last week fTM Felicia and I got together for lunch. She suggested a Korean chicken place called Bonchon on Rt 40 in Ellicott City. It is part of a chain- five countries in Asia, five states on the East Coast and randomly one store in California- but I've never been there. After a hilarious adventure of trying to find the place -she had said a Korean chicken place by the Crab Shanty and I knew exactly the building she meant so she never mentioned the name of it, except that there are actually four Koran restaurants within sight of the Crab Shanty - it was time to eat.
They are famous for their fried chicken, but Felicia said she was going to get something called bibimbob because she'd had it there before and really liked it.
Bibimbob?
There is a dish called bibimbob?
Obviously I was going to order that regardless of what it was.
I did however check the description to make sure there were no green peppers:

After verifying that the red pepper paste was hot red peppers and not sweet red peppers I was ready to give it a try.

Felicia ordered hers with seafood.
I wasn't sure if I wanted the bulgogi (beef) or tofu so I asked our server who said Get the beef before the words were completely out of my mouth (he says that the tofu makes everything too dry as it sucks up all of the sauce; don't order it).

The red pepper sauce is served on the side so that you can put on the amount that you want and then you stir, stir, stir everything up. The pot is really hot so there is some crunchy rice on the bottom; you really want to make sure you get that yumminess scraped off and mixed in.
To say that it was delicious doesn't even begin to cover it. I still have no idea what the bright yellow veggie was, but I highly recommend it.
Plus, it is fun to say!
I suppose that at some point I should try their chicken, but i'm not sure I could ever go there and not order the bibimbob.


Mental Morsel: Bibim means mixed in Korean and bob means rice so the name of the dish describes how you are supposed to eat it. Interestingly, there are an equal number of recipes on line for bibimbob and bibimbap, which appear to be the exact same thing. I don't know if bob and bap both mean rice, are from different dialects of Korean or is just accepted confusion of trying to spell a word in English that is not English. (though frankly they don't sound alike)
Okay, Scopi: do you have opinion of this?

one way to you know you are a science geek

Doctor Cool: The CT scan wasn't conclusive so i am ordering an MRI.

most people's reaction: Crap. Does that mean it is serious? I don't want it to be serious. Where do i have to go for that? Does my insurance cover that? Do i have to drink more nasty crap for that? Do i have to have more weird dye injected for that? How long does that take? Do they have an open machine? Am i gonna freak if it is a closed machine? How soon do i need to get this done?

science geek reaction: Cool! I've always wanted to see the inside of an MRI machine. I wonder if you feel anything during the procedure. Do you think they'll let me take a picture of the inside of the tube for my blog?

Wanna guess which reaction i had?


note:
yes, i needed to have an MRI
no, i don't think it is anything serious
no, you should not worry, if you are a worrier
yes, it was as cool as i wanted it to be
yes, you can feel parts of the procedure
no, i couldn't take pictures inside of the tube

discovering a new place and a hiking PSA

Last week i was driving home on Main St in Ellicott City. There was a back-up because of a truck that didn't quite make a tight turn and was stuck across the road.
Great.
I took a handy available left turn onto a road i've never taken before, intending to circle around the accident and cut back down to Main St before the river.
Good plan, but this road didn't go that way. Instead, it climbed up the side of a hill, winding and winding and winding until i was high above the town. It was a sunny afternoon so instead of worrying about traffic and the thwarted detour i decided to explore instead.
I had never been in this part of the county; heck, i didn't even realize that civilization went that far up the hill. I thought the town ended after a few blocks on that side of Main St because it looks like nothing but hills and forest.
Nope.
The road forked, then that road forked, then there was a T stop, then that road forked, then there was a super creepy state park with the ruins of a Women's Facility -whatever that means- surrounded by a barbed wire fence, then another fork. At each of the forks one side led to a dead end.
 I could see some newer housing developments higher on the ridge, but no road to get there. There was another housing development with a road running through it, but not down the hill. Basically the road i was on was the only route in and out of this area; if it was blocked there would be no way out.
The road finally ended.
I mean it just ended.
But i was next to a lovely little stream so i got out to look around.

After some climbing and searching i realized this area must be the back edge of some undeveloped section of Patapsco State Park. There was no fencing so i explored for a while before breaking out the camera to play with some zoom settings.


It was nice to have a wee adventure and find a new place so close to home. Plus it was really great to be outside without needing to be totally bundled up; Spring is on the way.
Most of the time when i find fun places to explore i am dressed inappropriately, but unbelievably i didn't have on a skirt this time. Not that bare legs has ever stopped me, but it was nice that the inevitable slips and slides and run-ins with rude, grabby tree branches encountered jeans instead of skin.

 However, i would like to advise anyone who might be considering rock hopping next to stream in cute gold sparkle flats to rethink that choice. They are really, really not the correct footwear for this kind of thing. Really.

 

Ravens' parade

Unexpectedly i went to the Ravens' Super Bowl return parade in downtown Baltimore on Tuesday.
Ron texted me that he was arriving back in Baltimore from New Orleans around 7am and would come pick me up to go downtown. Traffic was terrible, but we managed to find parking in plenty of time.
The stadium was open to the public and that is where he wanted to go to see the ceremonies and speeches. I love parades and wanted to stand on the street, so we split up. There is no way to describe the sheer number of people out on the streets.

I stationed myself at the corner of Pratt and Howard streets, right where the parade turned to head toward the stadium. It was a great vantage point.

With the team on flatbeds and humvees it was easy to see everyone, though most of my pictures did not come out.

The biggest surprise for me was that the Lombardi trophy seemed to have a gold tone to it instead of the shiny silver i was expecting; that might have been a reflection of the trucks desert camo paint.

Ray Lewis was at the end of the parade with only a trolley full of kids behind him. The crowd's energy boiled over at that point and we ended up jumping the barriers and filling the street.
The cops were very cool about the whole thing, not trying to stop the giant surge of people, but watching it closely to make sure no one got hurt.

So i was carried away into the parade, chanting and singing and screaming while marching to the stadium.

Ray and his horse mounted police detail was about 100-150 ft ahead of me and the trolley was right behind me.



I mean, right behind me.

beep, beep Niki

We went past Camden Yards where the Orioles Bird was out on a ledge wearing a Ravens jersey and throwing purple confetti (i wish this pic had come out because it was hilarious).







It was thrilling to be part of this surging mass of humanity because the mood was so elated. I can see how mob-mentality could turn bad really quickly, but everyone was there to celebrate and be joyful. Yes, i couldn't have stopped if i wanted to without being trampled and there was no choice in which direction to go; you went where the crowd went. But at no point did i feel in danger. There were cops everywhere and everyone was so freaking happy.
Unfortunately the stadium was closed by the time the crowd arrived because it was already at fire capacity; all of the seats and the field were full. I hung around for a while and then walked all the way back to the car. We knew i'd be done with the festivities first so i had the keys to the truck and was able to pick Ron up as he was walking back from the stadium.
It was an amazing experience.

i didn't need that other stick

Ever wonder what music geeks do when they hang out?
Ron had just acquired a bunch of new lighting features and wanted to test them.
Just plugging them in would have been oh so boring so he positioned about eight of them around the electronic drum kit in his basement and proceeded to "amuse me" (read: amuse himself).
[video is just over 2 minutes of various styles and beats with much stick twirling; the post title comes from the very end of it; the lighting was much cooler live]

 

Okay... i'll admit it: he amused me, too.
He's a dork, but i love him.
I am not a big fan of electronic drum kits in general.
There are songs that totally benefit from their sound, but live i much, much, much prefer acoustic. Plus, when i met Ron approximately 900 years ago he always had his acoustic kit set up; it was the kit that i used to roadie for him during the Rare Forum/Letterbox days.
Combine those facts and you'll understand why i am generally whiny about the electronic kit being set up instead of the acoustic.
He is constantly trying to convince me that as technology gets better the electronic sound gets better, electronic kits can mimic acoustic kits, but not vice versa, these disturb the neighbors less because you cab plug in headphones and that all of the different sound settings and modules creates incredible diversity within one instrument... blah blah blah...
Forthwith after the previous video he once again started campaigning for me to come to the electronic drum kit side by hitting buttons and trying combinations to showcase its amazing versatility; I swear you'd think he was trying to sell me one.
Here are some video snippets:
37 seconds of an open steel sorta sound

36 seconds of a more jazzy/ standard sound morphing into a roundish Rush sound

34 seconds of some crazy sounds, which was my favorite (i also love in the middle when he just shrugs his shoulders like i don't really know what this is but i guess that i'm gonna go with it)

26 seconds of an interesting delay that he figured out and wanted to try to recreate later so he asked me to record it (it is really fascinating to watch his stick hits and compare them to the sound so that you can see and anticipate the delay period... sorry, have i used the phrase music geek yet in this post?)

We were at it for a goodly portion of the night and i drew several conclusions:
1. all of my friends are characters; i mean, Ron is one of my most normal friends
2. sparkley lights make me happy
3. i want light effect features in my house
4. drums really, really, really are my favorite
5. electronic drums can be cool, but they are better when they are set to play interesting and unusual percussive sounds instead of trying to sound like acoustic drums
6. if you want the sound of acoustic drums, just play acoustic drums
7. private performances are the best
8. especially if they include lights that change with the music
9. i still wish he had the acoustic kit set up
10. he didn't need that other stick

this actually happened

This my friends is a barn in central Ohio; it is 20 degrees.
Inside the barn is both hay and straw.
They look pretty similar, but you'll want to know which is which because also inside said barn is a cow.
Hiya Bess!
It's time for the morning milking, so straw gets spread over any fresh manure in the stall [the manure holds in her body heat during the winter months so it doesn't get mucked out, but to keep Bess clean and comfortable layers of straw go over it] and hay gets thrown in the corner for breakfast.
I told you that you were gonna have to be able to tell them apart (or in my case be able to follow directions when the pro explains which is in which corner).
With the stall raked and strawed and Bess happily munching her "yummy" hay it is time to get the specialist equipment.:
Yep, little tykes chairs. They are just the right height for milking and have better lumbar support than a traditional stool.
Rea sat with me at first (hence the 2 chairs) to help me get the technique right; it's more of a squeeze and roll than a pull.

But soon enough she was on photographer duty:

1. See how her left leg is stepped back? You can't milk if she doesn't do that. When Bess gets restless, bored or wants to move onto the dessert portion of breakfast she'll move that leg forward so watch it carefully or your bucket might get kicked over.
2. I'm a-milking away when Rea points out that she can't see my face at all; it is 20 degrees, people, i need that hood pulled forward.
3. Of course i pause to pull back my hood for the camera. It's important to acknowledge my priorities in this endeavor; it doesn't count if i don't have proof.

Hey City Mouse, how does it feel to have milked your first cow?

It was an interesting experience to say the least. I could pretty reliably get milk with one hand, but failed miserably when i tried to do 2 at once. And forget about those two tiny teats of Bess', there was no chance this novice was getting any milk from those.
 In fact, i milked until i had completely covered the bottom of the pail then i turned it over to Rea so that it wouldn't take an hour for milking.
Normally milking also involves an udder wash down, but it was way too cold for that so we just gave Bess feed and took the pail inside for straining cause...

no one wants to drink that yet.
Rea uses several layers of cheese cloth inside of a kefir strainer to fill the glass jar,
which is then measured and recorded, labeled,

and taken out to the milk fridge  where jars are shuffled so that the new milk gets cold quick and dates can be checked for freshness.
Anything older than a week is given to the cats,
 who have not only been following you through this whole procedure, but almost crawl up your leg to get to the milk as you head for their bowl which is not at all tricky or dangerous on the snow/ice.



Lastly, you bring in any milk you might need for the day's cooking/baking/dairy-ing (is that a word? it is now).
Wait to you see what we did next.

swirly marshmallows - who knew?

There are not a lot of reasons for me to be strolling down the marshmallow aisle of the supermarket. I like marshmallows -love 'em actually- but they aren't part of my every day food pyramid. That is why i had no idea that this existed:
Yes, caramel and vanilla swirled marshmallows.
My two favorite dessert flavors mixed together in the fluffy, chewy yumminess of marshmallows?
With a ridiculous made up name like SwirlMallows?
Can you even imagine a more Niki food?
Why didn't anyone tell me that this existed?!?
My mommy had bought them for me before i got to Ohio because it was supposed to snow while i was visiting over the holidays. She knows i can't resist a mug of hot chocolate when it snows and that i believe hot chocolate is 257% better with marshmallows.
You know how when you are super excited about something, it often can't live up to your expectations?
Not a problem here.
They were delightful confectionery masterpieces; yes, i am gonna use the word masterpieces in connection with marshmallows.
People, these things are d-darn-licious either as a tiny treat straight out of the bag or melting into your hot chocolate making a hot caramel-vanilla-chocolate.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Next time you come in from playing in the snow (or the adult equivalent: shoveling blech) try some caramel and vanilla swirled marshmallows; it'll make you smile.

Getting in the Christmas mood

December has flown by in a blur of jewelry and displays, but here in the Nikiverse I was able to find time to do some traditional preparations for the holidays.
For the first time i attended the Mayor's Parade in beautiful downtown Hampden.

Well... by attend i mean that i was watching my friends' lovely antique store so that they could attend the parade. But the parade did go by the Parisian Flea so i was able to peek out whenever there weren't customers.







There were all of the necessary parade components: marching bands and drum corps from school and local clubs, dance troops dressed like santas,  drum and fife recreationists, and unbelievable pom outfits.

 I was surprised that there were actually big helium characters, like a sweet reindeer and the Raven.


It was hilarious to watch the handlers try to get them past the street banners.

As with any local parade there were businesses advertising with forced child labor: this construction business had an organ hooked up so that a little girl could play Christmas tunes.

Also there were groups of kids riding in the parade, waving and shouting and throwing candy, but somehow there is always that one kid who manages to be fast asleep in the middle of the mayhem.

There was a horde and a half of Shriners riding all types of various ridiculous vehicles, horses, a Harley club, antique cars and crazy pimped out hydraulic cars, but i was too busy selling jewelry to get pics.
I was barely able to catch a tail-end photo of the ginormous tree float that David (one of the Flea owners) had worked on with the local business owners - they were driving realllllllly fast, but David was able to jump in quick for a photo op.

For some real local flavor there were the winners of the annual toilet races (really) and the Oriole Bird, who got the biggest reaction of anything in the whole parade.

fTM Karen, Cricket and Nancy had me over for our tree trimming party. It is fun every year to see the ornaments again (except that one hideous glass Santa head that creeps me out, but Cricket loves so i have to put it somewhere that he can see it) and find new ways to place them on the tree. Cricket does tree construction and lights, Nancy is in charge of hooks while Karen and I make a bitchin' decorating team. We have the same homogeny/balance sensibility so we can work in tandem to get the job done right. There are no pics of the tree, however, cause i was kidnapped and whisked away to movie quote trivia with my old team. It was a super fun blast from the past and yes, we did win.
As i eluded to in a previous haiku i also made wreaths for the first time this year. My friend Sheri and I were meeting for lunch; she called right beforehand and asked if i knew how to wire wreaths as she was picking up a few greens.
Imagine my surprise when i found the entire backseat of her SUV filled with branches. I figured i'd spend some time helping her out since i knew the theory of wreath-wiring and she had no clue; seven hours later i was finally going home. Here is a quick and dirty tutorial for guerrilla wreath making.
Get some evergreen trimmings from local tree sellers, neighbors and your backyard. Have a friend carry them to your workroom (dining room), taking pictures of her along the way making it look like she is being attacked by foliage.

Sort out the branches by types (we have pine, spruce, cypress, holly and some wiggly stuff that i have never seen before and have no idea where Sheri found it) and lay out clippers, pliers, nippers and wire.

Decide on a shape - Sheri wanted a long swap for over her front door - and take long pieces of a sturdy wood to wire together as a backbone to your piece.

Be sure to check the size and shape for your chosen location.

Try not to laugh too hard as your friend tries to reach the base waaaaaay over her head.

Once you are happy with the base, wire together accent branches of various types, work them into the base and wire 'em in place

Now for the finishing touches: wrap the exposed wiring with ribbon, add a bow, wire in ornament clusters and hang that puppy up.

Sheri also had a square wire frame so i did a wreath for her by wiring layers and layers of branches directly to it, adding a simple bow and attaching it to an old window frame.

She insisted that i needed to make something for myself, but i was pretty tired by this point so i did a quick door swag of flat cypress, wired in some holly, added a plaid bow and a pretty gold bell.
Voila!

All that was left was to clean up the glittery, foresty devastation that was Sheri's dining room table.

Real wreaths smell so good and though it felt like it took forever to make them, I will probably do it again in the future.
I wasn't able to make it to AVAM's Sock Monkey Saturday this year, so i invited my upstairs neighbors down to make some at home. Anaya went with the traditional monkey shape in purple argyle to make Bob, but added a jaunty scarf and bracelet for the holidays.

Naomi decided to do a bear instead of a monkey, using striped holiday socks to create Candycane who is totally decked out from his starry eyes to his custom fur hat and boots.



Anaya and Bob

Naomi and Candycane

Some former co-workers and I tried to volunteer with toy distribution at the Salvation Army, but had the hours wrong so we ate stir-fry and did holiday baking instead.
Viva maple cupcakes with bacon, peppermint bark and the best candied almonds ever!
The last thing i did to really get ready for the holidays was drive to Ohio in a snowstorm - best idea ever!

It took 12 hours to go 440 miles, but i made it.
Mom and i have been busily decorating our new-to-us tree (my sister got a bigger tree this year so she gave us her old one- it is beautiful), finishing wrapping presents and preparing to host Christmas dinner for 10.

 

Hope you are all having a wonderful time surrounded by friends, family and love.