It's Aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!!

Ever create a "frankendinner"? Just tossing ingredients together, somewhat at random, to create an edible something. Tonight it was a stir fry mushroom gravy dish. I came across a good deal of mushrooms, so naturally thought of mushroom gravy, a rich, dark expression of a beef and mushroom union. But I had planned and prepared for stir fry....

Letting my nose guide me, I just dove in. I had an idea that trying to combine stir fry and mushroom gravy. Sautee'd diced mushrooms and garlic in butter, and added flour to brown as usual. Mixed up some beef broth with about a quarter bottle of dark beer, dehydrated onion, and a good deal of pepper. After a moment pause, a hit of Worcestershire went in too.

In went the broth mixture. Simmering away, I tasted it and thought it needed..... something. Not quite sure what. That is when I added a bit of fish sauce, 8oz of tomato sauce, ginger, dry mustard, and chinese 5 spice powder in search of my flavour.

I'm sitting here eating it over some veggies and steak strips with rice, Elliot has given it two thumbs up, and for once I am recording approximately what the heck I accidentally did :) This seems like it would be equally good over rice, egg noodles, or potatoes. Gotta love playing with your ingredients, you never know when you will come up with something great!

I'm a Cat Tree

.... apparently. At least I am according to the eight kittens in the spare bedroom. What am I doing with eight kittens? Apparently word got out that we are welcoming to single mother kitties. Awhile back, we were feeding a mother cat that had made a nest next to the storage shed, and watched the kittens grow up and wander off on their own. One of those kittens returned, and had a litter. At one point, we noticed that the kittens seemed quite distressed, crying in hunger. Perhaps mom was just off hunting, but by the end of the evening they were just out crying in the open, so we thought that something had happened to the mother (we were later told by the neighbor that they saw the body of the cat that had been hanging around out in the orchard... another animal had gotten her).

And so, we took in eight kittens.

Freddy - a solid tabby that reminds me of another cat we used to have, who was very lovey, big, and active

White Foot - a tabby with white feet, and very playful

Broken Tabby - a white chested tabby with a white stripe connecting across his shoulders, he's one of the two smallest kittens. He takes more breaks than the other kittens during play, but he kicks their butts when he does play. He was also the first to try climbing my leg.

Blue Eyes - A very fluffy cat with full brownish-blue points, lovey and randomly starts licking while attacking/chewing another kitten or person

Colonel Sanders - A siamese-ish looking kitten with a couple of white stripes on his face looking like a mustache, very active and startles easily.

Grey Ear - predominantly white with some markings, most notably a grey right ear. Very talkative, very lovey, loves being pet.

Disco Stu - Similar markings to my SIL's cat Stewart, solid black with white toe-socks and white spot on his chest, he's our little "badass". He's the biggest and strongest of the kittens, plays quite rough, and likes to wander, sometimes twittering to himself as he goes.

Cali Girl - A mostly-white calico, she is the other small one of the bunch. Not shy, but not outgoing either, just kind of reserved. She seems very neutral to things, very cute, and she has the softest hair of the bunch.

And they think I'm a big chew toy/cat tree :D

A Vacuum Twice My Age

Oh but if only I had not misplaced the camera! Today we traveled to the town of Angles Camp in Calaveras county, home of the Frog Jump. Angles Camp has declared itself an official "kindness zone" http://www.angelscamp.com/kindness/. It's such a nice thing to see a town recognize basic kindness as a worthy cause.

Elliot and his dad played golf at the golf course, while his mom and I walked around the downtown area. Embedded here and there on the sidewalks is a little walk of fame; brass-looking tiles of fame for the winners of each frog jump. Frogs such as Budweiser, Rosie the Ribiter, and For the Sign are among the frogs represented. There are several antique and "miscellaneous" shops, and a few yard sales. We stopped at a rummage sale for the fire station, where we each got a few books. A 1953 Pillsbury promo cookbook, a 1979 Hershey's cocoa cookbook, and a few classic hardcovers in near new condition :D

Ice cream was on the agenda. It was hot, but beautiful out, and my mother-in-law and I were walking about downtown and stopped for some of the best ice cream my tongue has had the pleasure of entertaining. Orange ice, tasting fragrantly of fresh-squeezed oranges, with the quality of orange oil blended sweetly with a light, quintessentially vanilla ice cream. Not overpowering, just thoroughly and perfectly vanilla.

But the best part didn't have to do with food. It had to do with the $20 Kirby....

We walked into the small yard sale. For no particular reason, I sighted a vacuum, and decided to see what it was. I am not generally interested in used vacuums, but I thought it looked familiar. My suspicions were confirmed, it was an old Kirby. Kirbys are known for lasting a loooooooooooooooooong time, they're tough little things, and ever since going through that shady training program to sell them, despite having a distaste for the business practice and price, I did fall for the vacuum. They really are good. And as a result of the training I know how to work one of those things, and disassemble them with no trouble. I was also told in this training that for the most part, the kirbys don't vary considerably from model to model. Wandering about for a bit trying to find the purveyor of this sale, I finally found him. Thinking the man might want more than I had on me, I decided anyway to ask the price. "make me an offer", so I blurted "twenty bucks?" "ok". Oh cool. But what if I just spent 20 bucks on something that doesn't work? "Do you mind if I plug it in and see if it works?" "not at all, there's an outlet somewhere out here". We found the outlet, but then were lost on finding the end of the power cord. "huh, I can't find the end of the cord" I said, to which he replied "good, I'm not the only blind one then". A couple more minutes revealed that there was no plug, it had been cut off. But all was not lost. "Here let me get my blade, I just have to strip off the end of the cord". He proceeded to strip the plastic to reveal two copper wires, and to my surprise proceeded to stick the ends into the outlet! He seemed as though he had done this sort of thing before, and indeed one of the things I remember about the calaveras/tuolumne county areas is most people's penchant for "jerry-rigging" and improvisation. The motor turned on, and sounded good! Elliot is fairly handy, took one look (when we picked them up), and declared that it would be zero trouble for him to stick a new plug on it, and in fact we probably had something in the storage shed that we could cannibalize for one. I am probably more elated than the normal sane person would be, but fleck it.

And that's the story of the $20 1969 Kirby model Classic 1 CR that spent ages tucked away, forgotten, that found a new appreciative home with people less than half it's age.



I have spent a little time now "playing" with it, basically disassembling it and getting acquainted. It is similar enough to the new models that it's not proving difficult to figure out. Unfortunately nobody emptied the bag before putting it in storage, so I now have some antique vacuum dust on the floor from opening it, and no vacuum to pick it up (elliot hasn't put the plug on yet).

quips

"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity." ~ Voltaire

"Why garlic? Garlic don't need a reason" ~ Alton Brown

"Potatoes, those earthy yet heavenly, those bits of mother nature's love, which tastes just as great with a little simple salt, or loaded with half of the refrigerator, which wish so much to be cooked and savoured that they will happily accept whatever vessel you may have.

Yes, I do love potatoes ;)"

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~ Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

" If God had intended us to follow recipes,
He wouldn't have given us grandmothers."
~Linda Henley

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." ~George Bernard Shaw, "The Revolutionist's Handbook," Man and Superman

"He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise." ~Henry David Thoreau

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." ~Mark Twain

"Cutting stalks at noontime. Perspiration drips to the earth. Know you that your bowl of rice each grain from hardship comes?" ~Chang Chan-Pao

"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts!" ~James Beard

"If you ate pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?"

"Strawberries are the angels of the earth, innocent and sweet with green leafy wings reaching heavenward." ~Jasmine Heiler

"The more you eat, the less flavor; the less you eat, the more flavor." ~Chinese Proverb

"You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile. A beef smile." ~Danielle Sanchez-Witzel and Michael Pennie, My Name is Earl

"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do." ~P.J. O'Rourke

"Oil and potatoes both grow underground so french fries may have eventually produced themselves, had they not been invented." ~A.J. Esther

"A man may be a pessimistic determinist before lunch and an optimistic believer in the will's freedom after it." ~Aldous Huxley

"There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves." ~Thomas Wolfe

"Don't forget that the flavors of wine and cheese depend upon the types of infecting microörganisms." ~Martin H. Fischer

"There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Bread and butter, devoid of charm in the drawing-room, is ambrosia eaten under a tree." ~Elizabeth Russell

"Always serve too much hot fudge sauce on hot fudge sundaes. It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt." ~Judith Olney

"Chocolate is ground from the beans of happiness." ~Alexis F. Hope

"Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee"

"Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised." ~Star Trek: Voyager

"Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee." ~Stephanie Piro

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat." ~Alex Levine

"What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others." ~Lucretius. 95-55 B. C.

"To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of what it means to be happy or content."
~Confucius

"Coarse rice for food, water to drink, and the bended arm for a pillow - happiness may be enjoyed even in these."
~Confucius

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you want and let the food fight it out inside."
~Mark Twain

"Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food."
~Hippocrates

"Do not cease to drink beer, to eat, to intoxicate thyself, to make love and to celebrate the good days." ~Egyptian proverb

When speaking, use a grain of sugar; when listening, use a grain of salt.