Nov
2
Voting at home
Submitted by jessica on November 2, 2008 - 10:17pm
I voted at home today for the first time in my 14-year history of voting. Pierce County is supposedly going to an all-mail system soon, so I said goodbye to my beloved polling place and registered for an absentee ballot. It took a surprising amount of reinforcements to fill out my ballot. As you can see here, I have two printed voter's guides (Pierce County and statewide), the computer so I could look up candidates' websites, a pot of black tea, some crackers, a blue pen, and, of course, my two ballots: the Ranked Choice Voting Ballot, and the Traditional Ballot. (For an explanation of the confusing but real Ranked Choice Voting, click here.)
It was pretty exciting to finally draw a line connecting the arrow for Obama. It's also a little surreal that the Presidential candidate I've been supporting since the beginning actually got a major party nomination - that has never happened before, unless you count the Socialist party as a major party, whose candidate I voted for in my first Presidential election.
I'm not one of those people who's been going around for weeks saying "I just wish this election was OVER," but, on the other hand, I haven't been as wonked out as I thought I might be. (Though I still read the Daily Kos every day.) At first, when I knew I'd be pregnant in an election year, my mind went to Megan Kelso's comic strip Watergate Sue, which I followed closely in the New York Times a few years ago. It's about a woman who's 32 and pregnant (sound familiar?) and is mostly comprised of her mom's flashbacks to being pregnant with her in the 70's during the height of the Watergate investigations. The mom is way more into Watergate than she is into her pregnancy. Luckily I didn't end up smashing my TV like her. Though I definitely felt like it during the debates.
One of the funnest things about reading the voter guides at election time is trying to find the wackest nutjob among all the screwies who bravely throw their hats in the ring for elected office. This year, they were all overshadowed by the nutjob that is Sarah Palin: a woman who doesn't support women's rights but wants me, as a woman, to vote for her because she's got ovaries - like me! (Those are like testicles, as an incompetent obstetrician explained to me early in my pregnancy.) However, there were still some perfectly entertaining candidates this year, including: Jesse Hill for Pierce County Sheriff, whose entire list of qualifications reads "Basic Sexual Assault Awareness Training;" Mike Lonergan for Pierce County Executive, who lists his party as "Executive Excellence Party" (if he were running for Mayor, his party would be "Mayoral Excellence," no doubt); Sam Reed for Secretary of State, who didn't say anything weird but who is clearly a man-child (also, the Stranger describes as a "partisan sack of shit"); and Dale Washam for Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer, who says "Dale trusts in God" in his Personal Information section (seems I am one of only a handful of voters in this country who think God and religion are completely irrelevant to the ability to hold public office, however).
Fingers crossed for Tuesday night, when my life will be immediately affected by the outcome of the Governor's race (since I am a state employee), and my child's life will be affected by the outcome of the President's race. As my mom so eloquently put it, "I hope when my grandchild is born that Obama will be her president."
Nov
3
Gah!
Submitted by jessica on November 3, 2008 - 5:04pm
Has anybody had goji berry? Does it actually taste good to someone?
Nov
10
A virtual arm-pinch
Submitted by jessica on November 10, 2008 - 12:07pm
In case, like me, you are still having trouble believing it, check here periodically for reassurance.
Nov
17
34 week update
Submitted by jessica on November 17, 2008 - 9:57pm
I have been lax on my belly watch postings; I know you are all waiting to see the hugeness. I won't make you wait any longer:
This shirt makes me a) happy and b) feel like a Turkish bathroom. Artfully tiled, that is, not lacking an advanced sewer system.
Note in this picture that we have hung art on the walls! Now we actually feel like we are living in our house. This picture was taken after my friends threw me a cute shower at our house, which was the inspiration for finally hanging art. I actually don't look as tired as I felt.
We are sleeping in the spare bedroom (or baby's room) while we finish our last project before the baby: the master bedroom. The popcorn has been removed from the ceiling, the walls de-textured, the window weatherproofed to keep out the monsoons. Next step: covering up the spraypainted American flag on the floor.
Here's a reminder of what the master bedroom looked like before. You can just barely see the stripes of the flag, spraypainted in black, being revealed beneath the carpet. (For the curious, there are no stars on this flag, but instead, a peace sign undoubtedly meant to symbolize the solidarity of the states rather than their separateness. Take that, Confederacy!). Other awesome "before" features: the dark plasticky doors with office-like silent closure action; the cable outlet with a nonfunctional, foot-long cable cord that ended somewhere in the wall; the dark-wood molding that had been painted while the carpet was installed, leaving a lovely grass-like pattern of dark wood along the bottom; and, for all its cavernousness, the tiny ceiling fan that functioned as the room's only light fixture and was rated for no larger than a 20-watt bulb.
I'll post more pictures when it's done! Meanwhile, we're taking votes for wall color. The floor will be painted blue-gray and the molding will be white. Vote for off-white or gray walls if you want my mother-in-law to have a coronary.
Nov
23
Happy birthday to me!
Submitted by jessica on November 23, 2008 - 6:47pm
Remember in Uncle Buck how John Candy's character made giant pancakes for Macaulay Culkin's character on his birthday? Well, today, Joe made me the giantest birthday card ever, on the wall of our bedroom!
He will have to explain to the world why he calls me Snee. Although it's mostly my fault, if I remember correctly.
We had brunch with Matt and Angie and baby Sascha at the Hob Nob. Then I made quiche crust to fill later in the week. I opened the present from my parents, which is this cute cardigan I am wearing. My in-laws dropped off a loaned recliner, which my midwife said will help me sleep better. Joe made oatmeal-chocolate chip-coconut-cardamom-pecan cookies. I went to yoga. Joe painted the ceiling (white) and the walls (gold) in our bedroom. Now he is making split pea soup and a dutch baby for me for dinner. All in all, a fabulous day that made me forget a little bit how old I will be when I become a mother.
If you want to keep tabs on my birthday, click here; courtesy of Adam.
Yesterday I took some time to write down all the crazy pregnancy dreams I've been having. Here's an appropriate one to share today:
I meet Michael Jordan. As I am shaking his hand, I tell him that 23 is my lucky number – it’s the day of my birthday, and I always think of him. He asks why, and remind him that 23 was his number when he played for the Bulls. He’s like, oh yeah, that's right.
Nov
29
Cooking adventures
Submitted by jessica on November 29, 2008 - 10:24pm
Have I stated how much we love cooking in our new kitchen?
As I mentioned on my last post, Joe made a dutch baby (at my request) for dessert on my birthday. In my youth, I knew the dutch baby as a German Apple Pancake at Millie's in Delavan, Wisconsin. In adulthood, I rediscovered it at the hands of Carmen, the head chef at Pilchuck. It's a big, eggy pancake that combines all the goodness of a crepe with all the fillingness of a flapjack. We've been making Carmen's recipe for a few years, but we recently realized that the lack of direction on the recipe may have been causing us to make inferior dutch babies. We made one for breakfast when Bob was visiting from India last week, and it was delicious as usual, but made us decide once and for all that we should revisit our technique in search of a fluffier, lighter dutch baby.
We needed look no further than the Joy of Cooking. The recipe is identical to Carmen's, except for this one does not include cinnamon. We had been mindlessly substituting soy milk for real milk all these years, since we usually don't have real milk in the house. But the main difference was in the technique. The Joy of Cooking details the technique of melting the butter on the stovetop and then pouring the batter in and baking the baby. With our hand-me-down recipe, we had been simply mixing the batter and pouring it in the pan, sending it straight to the oven. These three changes made a big difference. Here's the result:
A perfectly puffed, creamy dutch baby, without the heaviness of cinnamon. We ate it with pears sauteed in port.
And now, you can dutch baby too:
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Whisk together until smooth:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Melt in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (cast iron is ideal) over medium heat:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pour the egg mixture in to the skillet and cook, without stirring, for one minute.
Place the skillet in the oven and bake until the pancake is puffed and golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
Serve immediately, for the pancake loses its puff, and therefore its drama, almost immediately.
This last sentence especially exemplifies the eloquence that I have come to know and love in the Joy of Cooking.
With Thanksgiving just behind us, I will also share the recipe for the popular wild rice salad I brought. I think I invented it when I worked at Honey I'm Home.
Cook 1 cup wild rice/brown rice mix according to the amount of water on the package; substitute broth for some or all of the water for extra flavor, and add butter and salt to the cooking water.
Cook 1/2 cup of orzo in salted, boiling water.
Combine the orzo and rice mix in a bowl. Add to the mix:
3 chopped green onions
1 cup chopped parsley
seeds from one pomegranate (de-seed in a bowl of water for less mess)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts
Make a sweet vinaigrette. Whisk together (all amounts are very approximate):
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
splash of Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon good mustard
sea salt.
Let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in:
1/2 cup olive oil. The dressing should taste sweet.
Pour on enough vinaigrette to moisten the salad. Add some sea salt and mix everything together. Ideally, let the salad marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight before serving.
