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Annals of Cooking for One: Quick & Simple

After coming home from the gym tonight, I wanted a quick meal. Pasta it is! But no boring spaghetti with prepared sauce, no no no. After reaching al dente perfection, I added a solid pat of butter, grated parmesan & pecorino romano, stirred until melted, then added spinach just until wilted.


Topped with some fresh ground pepper. I highly recommend the mixed peppercorns I picked up at Ideal Grocery. They're really quite a lot tastier than just black pepper.

Language, Noun Gender, & Worldview

Fascinating research presented by Robert Krulwich on NPR this morning.

Boroditsky proposes that because the word for "bridge" in German — die brucke — is a feminine noun, and the word for "bridge" in Spanish — el puente — is a masculine noun, native speakers unconsciously give nouns the characteristics of their grammatical gender.

Have a listen.

A New Playlist for April

Spring & fall often prompt the need for new playlists. Here's one for April, new & old favorites, both.

1. Doomsday - Elvis Perkins in Dearland
2. Look at Miss Ohio - Gillian Welch
3. Elephant Gun - Beirut
4. Pretty Girl from Chile - The Avett Brothers
5. Dark Eyes - Calexico
6. Soft Atlas - 13 & God
7. Each Coming Night - Iron & Wine
8. Tropics of Love - The Black Heart Procession
9. Kid for Today - Boards of Canada
10. Mercury - Mahjongg
11. Madeline Mary - Bonnie Prince Billy
12. The Orchard - Fire On Fire
13. New Star Song - The Mountain Goats
14. Planetary - Rainer Maria
15. On Reflection - The Appleseed Cast
16. Home - David Byrne & Brian Eno
17. Sometimes Our Dreams Float Like Anchors - William Elliott Whitmore

Slow Food Brunch 2009

Woke up to howling winds this morning, and I really had to work to crawl out from under the duvet. We missed the worst of the blizzard (allegedly, there are 5 foot drifts in central Nebraska), but the wind was gusting over 40mph, so I put on my trusty winter bike pants and headed into the wind and sleet down to Chez Hay.


The turn-out for this year's Slow Food Nebraska Eggstravaganza was great, despite the weather! Things I ate: spring greens, French toast, lots of cheeses, apple-cinnamon muffins, garlic scones, yogurt & granola, a mimosa, two different individually brewed cups of Cultiva coffee, including the exquisite Sidamo. Heaven in a cup.

It was hard to find a time when there was a gap in the line to get a shot of the spread.

Maggie & Pat rocking the made-to-order omelet bar. The line for this was always long.

Molly's about to dig in to a beautiful plate of food, accompanied by handmade coffee from Cultiva.

Triggertown did a lovely job of playing music. Nice to have such multitalented farmer/musicians in town!

Annals of Cooking for One: Feeling Local

I spent the day home & cleaning, ably assisted by bizarre weather (including, at one point, simultaneous tornado & winter storm warnings nearby) and good music. Breakfast was brought to me -- in bed, no less -- by my lovely honorary roommate Sally, who cooked up lemon-risotto pancakes with spiced apples on top. Delicious, and excellent motivational fuel for the cleaning activities to follow.

Midday, I made a scramble with spinach, mushrooms, parmesan & eggs from Common Good farm in Raymond, NE. And for a light dinner, I took the local to the max.


Steelhead trout (the non-pre-spiced variety) from Blue Valley Farm in Sutton, NE. Spiced with mixed pepper. I threw in half a bunch of red kale from Community Crops in Lincoln, NE with some fresh-squeezed lemon right at the end. The kale did a nice job absorbing the pan flavors while retaining its own bite.

Eagle First Friday

My last responsibility on a long day -- or really, long week -- of work was to drop off two tapes for broadcast at NET. Felice & Melissa were heading out to Eagle, and though I thought I'd just join Felice as far as Melissa's house or maybe ride with them to the MoPac trailhead, I ended up fighting the crosswind, complaining about my bag with all my work crap in it, and riding all the way to Eagle with them.


I picked up the pace on the way back, as I had First Friday obligations. We didn't make it to the galleries, but returned just in time for the very well attended Home Grown Film Festival at the newly reopened Bourbon Theater. Pictures of that to follow.

Girls on Bikes

The Inaugural Girl Bike Night

Raise your PBR!

Home Grown Film Festival

"Homegrown" Film Festival
@ the Bourbon Theatre 1415 'O' Street - April 3rd, 9pm
Featuring local cinema arts on the big screen.

Free Admission-Free Popcorn

Playlist

"The Girl Who Could Run 600 Miles Per Hour" ~20mins

Directed by: Mark Thimijan

"I Want You To Know Something That Is True" ~2mins

Directed by: Jake Gillespie

"Neighbors" ~5mins

Directed by: Aaron Holmes

"Broken Circle" ~20mins

Directed by: Aaron Sawyer

"Red Means Danger" ~2mins

Directed by: Jake Gillespie

"Creation Myth" ~5mins

&

Triptych- 1."Little Dances", 2."Dallas", 3."Las Golondrinas" ~10mins

Directed by: Elisabeth Reinkordt

"Orange Fuzzy" ~2mins

Directed by: Jake Gillespie

"M.O.N.S.T.E.R.S." ~15mins

Directed by: Robby Defrain

"Untitled" ~5mins

Directed by: Diane Nelson & Nate Young"

"Nice" ~2mins

Directed by: Jake Gillespie

"Treasure House" ~10mins

Directed by: Joe Younglove & Jacob Cammack

"Strange Medicine" ~10mins

Directed by: David S. Ozinga

"Jakefomercial" ~5mins

Directed by: Jake Gillespie

Pizza Night Part Two: Gina Joins In

After having rough days at work, Gina & I had beers and made pizzas. This time, toppings included:

Grated Parmesan
Pecorino Romano
Mozzarella
Oil-Cured Olives
Sauce
Spices
Garlic
Baby Spinach
Crimini Mushrooms

In case the three cheeses on the pizza wasn't enough, we also had some Fromage d'Affinois on Le Quartier's White Sourdough. Yum!

Adventures in Word Verification #2

How apropos.

Annals of Cooking for One: Hungry for Pizza

Pizza Night!
With 30 mph winds and the threat of rain (and snow??), I knew I wouldn't put in enough miles riding outside. A couple of aggressive young whippersnappers took all the fans in spin class for themselves, so I biked home sweaty without changing for the immediate air-conditioning effect into the south wind. I biked home hungry.
Started capturing a freelance project for my father, hit the shower, and then started the pizza preparations.

Whole wheat crust from Le Quartier, conveniently freezable so I could use but one of the three
Sauce
Spices, including oregano, basil, fresh ground mixed peppercorns, crushed red pepper
Fresh garlic
Oil-cured black olives
Anchovies and the capers they were wrapped around
Mozzarella (not pictured....yet)

Post-oven deliciousness

To accompany the nearly 3/4ths of this pizza I ate (with three pieces left for lunch tomorrow), I sliced up a watermelon radish from Shadowbrook Farm. Beautiful!

It's an heirloom variety of daikon radish, and one of a few local foods popping up so far this season. Speaking of which, this Sunday, April 5th from 11 AM-2PM is the 4th Annual Slow Food Nebraska Eggstravaganza. This year, it's being held at Chez Hay, and Triggertown will be playing live. RSVP to slowfoodnebraska@gmail.com.

Vitamin D

I spent the afternoon on the dock at The Mill, first meeting with Brent about our project, then reading the New Yorker (specifically this article on solitary confinement) while listening to the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, and later running into Ben, Kaleb, and Conrad. It was an excellent day for making Vitamin D.

And What, Pray Tell, Might They Be?

Live Animals AND Special Effects? I'm almost curious enough to go see what sort of special effects Southview Baptist has in store. It is free...

Often Overlooked

I haven't made a political post in a while (mostly just shared bits from the ever-excellent New Nebraska Network), but it's almost time for the Lincoln/Lancaster Primary, so here's the Democratic slate card....reminder to follow...


I've personally worked for Kathy Danek & Barb Baier, and Don Mayhew's was the first campaign -- as a senior in high school -- that I really invested serious work into. Great folks all around.

First Tornado/Thunderstorm of 2009

I have what would best be described as a morbid fascination with tornadoes. As a child, I got extremely upset when everyone went outside as Ken Siemeck implored us to get in our basements. I had a little suitcase packed full of my favorite matchbox cars, die cast John Deere implements, and maybe a doll or other trinket that I could take into the fruit room with me at a moment's notice. Though we lived in Lincoln, we spent most of the summer on the farm, taking care of the garden & haying; for my brother & I, this also involved the creation of elaborate games with elaborate rules & generally getting into trouble. On the farm, the nearest tornado siren was in Emerald, a solid 4 miles away and hard to hear. The notion that the sirens might be going off and we couldn't even hear them??? Terrifying. (As of a few years ago, there's one at the lake, so this wouldn't be a problem anymore. Not consequently, I now enjoy watching the sky.)

But I loooove a good thunderstorm. I missed them thoroughly in New England. Now, March 23 seems a little early, but we had our first tornado warning today (a brief blast of the sirens, even), in what was a narrow, windy & fast-moving band of storms. It's snowing in Scottsbluff. I managed to bike home in the 10 minutes where it really poured. Right before I left my office, though, it was sunny & there was a rainbow.


Note, however, the extremely windblown flags. The state flag has even been wrapped around the pole a few times.

Minnesotan things

Ande & Modelo

Some mustard greens & garlic

Ande's coffee brewing methodology, involving ladle. Side note: it was wonderful to not have to get up or make the coffee I drank in bed Sunday morning.

The scale of kitchen instruments in a young child's Montessori environment, as compared to my hand

A sponge the size of a silver dollar and its accompanying tiny pitcher

Ludvig Van Beethoven

Three Signs

"Trucks Are White": Neither Lindsey nor I could find any explanation for this text.

Old School Dairy Queen

Slick graphical representation of a cyclist simultaneously acting as kerning. Upon further reflection, this is an incredibly unlikely cycling position.

Spring, sprung

Today makes it official, but last weekend felt like the start of spring. Belatedly posted, above, my newest riding buddy & finest of neighbors, Gina, in front of the sadly not open Roca Tavern. Below, my dad grills a leg of kid from Green Glade farm.

Out of the 'Dirge'

Wow! Great interview with Elvis by Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition. From the opening notes of "Doomsday," I was thrilled to get a pause in my morning routine to hear this.

Morning Edition, March 19, 2009 - Based on the catchy arrangements of Elvis Perkins' sophomore release, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, the album seems like a more upbeat, light-hearted affair than its predecessor — that is, until you take a closer look at the lyrics.

"I don't let doomsday bother me — do you let it bother you?" he sings on "Doomsday," chirping over a pleasant blend of brass, tambourine and even a marching drum. Though he originally wrote the song as a waltzy "dirge," he ended up shifting the mood after discussing it with his band mates. The same joyous sound permeates the album, often serving as a hopeful contrast to its troubled origins.

Elvis Perkins is the son of Anthony Perkins, the actor most famous for his role in Psycho. Anthony died of complications from AIDS when his son was a teenager. Tragically, Elvis' mother, Berry Berenson-Perkins — a noted photographer — was aboard one of the planes that struck the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

"The songs are their grandchildren they didn't get to meet," Perkins says. "They strike me as offspring from time to time, and some of them on the new album sort of stare back at me a little funny."

His feelings for his parents also emerge in songs like "123 Goodbye," which includes the line "I love you more in death than I ever could in life," though Perkins prefers to sing about these thoughts rather than talk about them.

"I've never been a good storyteller when it comes to regular conversation," he says, "which I think is in part why I've been driven to write these songs. I get to put as much as I like into it, say my piece and sort of feel more successful [that way]."

Click the link above to listen to the full interview with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep.

Listen!