65 Books

I should start off by admitting that I didn't reach any of my reading goals this year. I'm not telling what they were, I can't face the shame of naming my failure. The drop in my reading clearly coincides with starting the second job: I've only read 15 books since the end of August. 8am-8pm work days will do that to a reading schedule. Also, wedding planning will do that. Geesh. I am not listing the multitudes of wedding books I consulted, but I decided to list a couple that really helped in planning the ceremony, which I read cover-to-cover at least twice. I am also not listing the hundreds of picture books I've read for work, but maybe will come up with a best-of post for that, because there were some really great ones.

My reading was kind of all over the place this year. I read a lot of kids books in attempt to get up to date for work. It was fun and light, but in general, I've noticed that many, many kids books have an interesting premise but no follow-through. Please let me know if you have a suggestion in this department. Nothing I read this year even came close to the Phillip Pulman books. I also read a lot of big, fat books. And I was able, for the first time, to read many books released in 2007-2008. The best were probably Tree of Smoke or The Good Thief.



Books Read in 2008

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
   
   
2. Macbeth - Shakespeare



3. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates



4. A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean



5. I Do: A Guide to Creating Your Own Unique Wedding Ceremony - Sidney Barbara Metrick



6. Wedding Words: Vows - Jennifer Cegielski



7. 100 Love Sonnets - Pablo Neruda



8. Middlemarch - George Eliot



9. Othello - Shakespeare



10. Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson



11. Tender at the Bone - Ruth Reichl



12. Falconer - John Cheever



13. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien



14. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons



15. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston



16. If On a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino



17. Grendel - John Gardener



18. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner



19. The Gastronomical Me - MFK Fisher



20. The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene



21. Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney



22. On Writing - Eudora Welty



23. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov



24. Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich



25. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf



26. King Lear - Shakespeare



27. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon



28. The House of Widows - Askold Melnyczuk



29. Moby Dick - Herman Melville



30. Tree of Smoke - Denis Johnson



31. In Watermelon Sugar - Richard Brautigan



32. The Shawl - Cynthia Ozick



33. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting - Milan Kundera



34. The Red Pony - John Steinbeck



35. Coriolanus - Shakespeare



36. The Color Purple - Alice Walker



37. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce



38. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto - Michael Pollan



39. Jesus' Son - Denis Johnson



40. Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child - Noël Riley Fitch



41. Summer - Edith Wharton



42. The Days of Abandonment - Elena Ferrante



43. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith



44. Middlesex - Jeffery Eugenides



45. Scoop - Evelyn Waugh



46. Setting Free the Bears - John Irving



47. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer



48. The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud



49. Hamlet - Shakespeare



50. The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan



51. Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry



52. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg



53. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski



54. Timon of Athens - Shakespeare



55. The Awakening - Kate Chopin



56. Princess Academy - Shannon Hale



57. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart



58. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte



59. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
    
    
60. The Good Thief - Hannah Tinti
    
    
61. The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
    


62. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
    


63. The Anger of Aubergines - Bulbul Sharma



64. Beware of God - Shalom Auslander

65. Consider the Oyster - MFK Fisher

Stats:
Books over 500 pages: 11

Children's Novels: 11

non-fiction: 9

Top 5 Books Read in 2008:

5. Bright Lights, Big City - I just really liked this book. It was so funny and heartbreaking. I didn't really expect much from it going in, but it just thrilled me.

4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Chabon at the top of his game. Aaron didn't like this as much as I did, for some reason. I think it's brilliant. There were moments (the airplane/dog) when I just fell to pieces over this book.

3. The Sound and the Fury - This is the better of the top three, but the other two just left me smitten the way a book you don't know much about does to you. I knew this would be good going in and it didn't disappoint. Don't let Faulkner scare you, there is nothing to be afraid of.

2. The Master and Margarita - I just loved the humor in it. UMassians, if you even exist in the world anymore, do not pass up the chance to take a class with it's translator, Prof. Burgen in the Russian dept. Umass authorities: think twice before not allowing someone to get english credit for spending a semester reading Tolstoy with this gifted translator like you did to me. I couldn't justify spending so much time and effort - literally thousands of pages - on one class that wouldn't count towards my major and it is one of the things I really regret about college, especially after reading this book.

1. Cold Comfort Farm - I think I read this whole book with a smile on my face. It isn't the best written on the list. I won't even think about the ending as I'm giving it the #1 slot, but there was just something about this book that I really, really loved. It was so funny and sweet.

Honorable Mention: Jesus' Son. It probably should be #1, it is brilliantly written. Denis Johnson feels like a real writer in our time.



A Word about MFK Fisher: It isn't fair to rank her, because her work wasn't read for the same reasons as novels, etc. She is one of the best writers I've come across in recent years. Completely passionate about food, completely pretentious, extremely witty and wise. She is the reason I want to study food writing.

Bottom 5 Books Read in 2008:



5. Middlemarch - Boring.

4. Moby Dick - Wasted precious hours of my life. This is the only time I ever felt that a Reader's Digest Condensed may have been a better idea. It just went on and on. Hardly any of it was actually story, it was mostly antiquated scientific info on whales and other sea mammals. It felt so choppy and so, so long. I read this during the week of my wedding. Why?

3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - the first 150 pages were really well done. After that, it got strange and weird and transparent.

2. Can't think of one that really got under my skin enough to list, but this needs to be #1:

1. Twilight - This book sucked big time. What terrible writing. I read it for work, in attempt to get hip to what the kids are reading these days (I feel old). I keep telling myself that I should calm down, that it's written for teenagers. But then I think that I wouldn't have been so easily fooled as a teen reader. Why are kids reading such crappy books? The movie was just as bad. It was cringe-worthy. Saw that for work, too, and seriously eyed the book I had in my handbag the whole time. Kids, read something better.

Who else needs a cup of cheer?

Chickens and Peppermint Ribbons

Aaron and I recently re-wallpapered the kitchen. The old people that lived here before us had really boring taste (as you can tell from the living room drapes that we still haven't taken down that are featured in many pictures). Here is the before picture of the kitchen wallpaper:

Blah. Totally not me. I always wanted a red kitchen. Red and white. I didn't have a picture in my mind of what I wanted or how exactly it would come together, but I've been slowly accumulating red items for about 10 years (I was the 16 year old that used her Christmas money to buy a red kitchen clock instead of whatever 16 year olds buy). And so, after years of apartment leases that didn't allow painting, when we bought the house I was going to finally do things my way. And I wanted my red kitchen!

As I was trying to decide on how we should do it, I kept thinking Candy Store. Something fun and juicy. We were only re-papering one wall, the others are painted a flat white, so I could go a little wild without creating a monster.

I think Aaron and I turned into monsters trying to hang the wallpaper, though. It sucked big time. We both agreed that we will never do it again. Trying to time everything just right and align everything was frustrating and by the end we weren't speaking to each other. But now it's up, it's cheery, we're happy.

It looks kind of Christmasy. It's like pretty wrapping paper.

We got some beautiful ribbon candy in the mail -- it's so nice looking that I don't want to eat it. I just like putting it in the chicken by the polka dots, and lifting the lid.

Tree

Confession time: We put our tree up well before Thanksgiving. I was feeling low so Aaron took me to a tree farm. Had I known we were going to have a photo-op, I might have taken a shower and changed out of sweatpants. But I thought we were going to Walmart, and the outfit seemed about right for that kind of shamefulness. Yes, Aaron is wearing two kinds of flannel!

I think we picked a good one. There are a few holes, but you can't really see them because we put them toward the back. We didn't go for the 1/2 room model like last year because, for the first time in my adult life, I have a couch in the living room. We've used futons and day beds and lawn chairs long enough! I am officially an adult. And the cat officially has a new scratching post. Ugh. She's like spiderman: she'll claw her way all the way across the back of it in seconds. I recall similar maneuvers on the box spring Brennan had resting against the wall when we stayed with him when she was a kitten. And Meghan's curtains! Gah. It was embarrassing because I was like "oh, don't worry, she's really well behaved." Two seconds later, she's climbing the walls. We've resorted to the spray bottle. Elf is more afraid of it than she is.

Anyway, this is about the Christmas tree. I had to get in the right mood to decorate it, so I put on a silly sweater, made some hot chocolate, popped some popcorn, and put on the Charlie Brown Christmas album. And all was merry.

We couldn't get Matilda to sit with us

I like putting the lights on first thing in the morning, having a cup of coffee and reading Little Women. You can't beat that.



Now it's December and I don't have to hide my tree. It is open season for the holidays. Bring it.

Thanksgiving

We had a bit of a misfit Thanksgiving, inviting another orphaned couple over for turkey and whatnot. We missed Dana and Neal, our usual Thanksgiving company, but I just needed to stay in a home-base this year.

Also, since we were doing that, we decided it was a good idea to try to cook everything from scratch, for the first time ever. I am all about turkey on normal days of the year, I think it's a good, cheap, unfancy food (can't beat taking a real turkey sandwich to work for lunch). But I've never done the whole meal. Most unusually, I got most of the recipes online, and I can't take photos that are any better than the ones already up, so I'll give you the links:

• Pecan Pie
• Corn Bread Stuffing (which I have to admit, wasn't the best. Aaron and I think that the trick might be to have some white bread in with the cornbread, instead of our home-baked dense wheat)
• Sweet Potato and Sage Gratin (one note, even though people post things on the internet and provide beautiful pictures, it does not mean they are good recipe authors. This was a beautiful recipe and it tasted great, but some important things felt missing)
• Aaron made the gravy, and used his own experiments, while taking a tip from Martha to puree roasted vegetables (We netflixed Martha's Thanksgiving special for inspiration.)
• We made our usual mashed potatoes with nutmeg and added 2 tbsp. of horseradish and 1+ cup of buttermilk to make it delicious.

And some other tasty things. Maria made beautiful cranberry sauce and baklava. I've never had baklava actually made by a Greek citizen before. It was out of this world.

Cooking felt good. I liked taking the day to cook....and cook and cook with Aaron. It was therapeutic. It's something I wish we could do more often. We do good at cooking together and don't fight too much (however, with our limited counter space, things did get a little tense when the gravy needed to be made). I can't say the same for wallpapering. More to come on that, later.

First Snow

In November

In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and a pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year.

-Cynthia Rylant, In November

puff pastry leaves with goat cheese and caramelized onions

Things I was Going to Blog About This Fall: In Photos

I had big blogging intentions for this fall, but couldn't quite get my act together. I've been so busy. So much is happening. Here are a few things I've been meaning to tell you about:



The praying mantis that came to visit us




The time Matilda dressed up like an Ewok




Our run-in with Jesco White




Yaffa's visit and the 400 dishes she made for us. The biggest and best being Kubba!
Aaron making kubba




Kubba balls




Amber trying




The finished product




Kitty hates posing for pictures




And a good dose of Elf never did anyone wrong

one small step

“They are also stealing our civilization and our cuisine.”

Here is an interesting blurb from the Times about nations laying claims to the origins of Middle Eastern food. Here is a commentary on the article from a Times blog.



Middle Eastern food is very serious business in my house. It is held on high, and for the most part I have to admit that in my own cooking, I don't even go there. I used to, but now that I'm married to a practical expert witness on the subject, I subconsciously don't think it's my place to mess with his Manna.
Not that he'd complain; it's me that has the problem, not him. Sure, I'll make the occasional batch of hummus (with very loud claims that it is "just an experiment"), the very rare batch of packaged falafel, or more often, a recipe for couscous with vegetables and harissa. But, I'll slap "Moroccan" on anything that seems nearly Middle Eastern in an attempt to separate my food from anything Aaron grew up eating. Moroccan Lentil Stew. Moroccan Couscous. Etc.



I tried learning to make Aaron's very favorite dish, Kubba, once. I have never made it. Maybe someday.



However, when it comes to Aaron's mom's recipes that she has taken from others, I am all over them. I have adapted her stuffed peppers, her blintzes, her chicken soup recipe (anything she refers to as "laundered chicken" is up for grabs, in my book), and even her grape leaves. I'd be willing to attempt my own take on her baklava, even though it is the self-proclaimed "best ever." But the family heirlooms...I just can't bring myself to even try. I am too prone to wayward and spontaneous spice adjustments, a result of emotional tumult as much as anything else.



I do use Aaron's mom's secret ingredient generously, though, in lots of things I cook. (That secret, ladies and gentleman, is...are you ready for it?...cinnamon.) Which does Middle Easternize much of my cuisine, right down to chicken soup.



I understand and research the millions of variations on simple dishes like hummus throughout the Middle East, knowing full-well that there isn't one Holy recipe for anything, unless you count anyone's mom's recipe for anything, in which case they are all Holy. That each mother, particular region, each village or nomadic group, let alone current idea of Nationality, may have it's own take on it, but that it is the entire concept of the dish itself in all it's forms that we as Americans really understand. Which is why I call it Middle Eastern food, an not something more specific (aside from Moroccan, but that's not really Middle Eastern, is it? It's just close enough to suggest the idea.)



All people do that, though. Noodles are from Italy, no wait, China. Pizza: Roman or Greek? There was an article this week about how Caesar Salad originated from Tijuana, Mexico.
I guess the question is, does it really matter where something first came from? I think it does, historically. But I also think that every variation is no less important, historically. Each footprint a dish leaves is equally, if not more interesting than the original. Which is why I should probably buck up and finally attempt some of these dishes myself. Or, better yet: Yoohoo, Aaron. You're needed in the kitchen.

this is just a tribute

There is nothing to write after this past week. Lots of people mentioned getting tattoos as a tribute to Cody's life and it made me think: if I were to get a tattoo that represented what Cody was to me, what would I get? What would I get for anyone I know?




For Cody, the answer is simple: milk.

I think a big old glass of milk would look pretty bad-ass. Tough guys drink milk.

"What's that on your arm?"

"It's a glass of milk, fool. What? You got somethin' to say about it?"

I'm probably alone on this one. But it's it, I'm telling you. It is what I'd look at and think of Cody. That kid drank milk like a madman.

New Me

Before:

After:

Misty Mountain Hop

One thing I like about it here is that between August and November, there is serious fog in the mornings until about 10:30 or so. Notice the sweater.

Waking up to weather like this really puts me in an autumn mood. It makes me want to read Wuthering Heights and drink hot chocolate.

Lovely Little Apple Muffins

Lovely Little Apple Muffins

2 apples, pealed and chopped small

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

4 teasp. baking powder

shake of salt

1/3 c butter, melted

1 c. soy milk

2 eggs

1 teasp. cinnamon

topping:

1 T. sugar

1 teasp. cinnamon

Mix the dry ingredients with the apple pieces. In another bowl, mix the butter, eggs, milk. Combine the two carefully and don't over mix: stir until ingredients are just combined. Dole out into greased muffin tins, sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mix, bake at 425 for about 20 mins. Makes 11 or 12.

Also required: a quiet afternoon alone with the muffin, a good book, and some tea.

Apple Picking Time

No blues this year: we have our own apple trees. With actual apples. One red delicious and one golden delicious. I don't know if these are good baking apples, but whatever. Does it really matter, when pie is involved? I made an apple pie and apple muffins.

We have just enough to welcome autumn with proper appley goodness. I've been really into muffins lately. I think it's a fall thing. September rolls around and I want to start using the oven again.

Kitty is the fruit

Kitty is mad at Apples

At the Back of the East Wind

Here is a quote to think about today about wind power:

Th[e] coastal region running from Massachusetts to North Carolina contained up to 330,000 megawatts of average electrical capacity. This was, in other words, an amount of guaranteed, bankable power that was larger, in terms of energy equivalence, than the entire mid-Atlantic coast’s total energy demand — not just for electricity but for heating, for gasoline, for diesel and for natural gas. Indeed the wind off the mid-Atlantic represented a full third of the Department of Energy’s estimate of the total American offshore resource of 900,000 megawatts.

Read the rest of the article here.

Whenever I see a wind turbine, it makes me a little happier. I've been casually following the Cape Wind saga for the past 5 or so years and I have developed an idealistic and curious interest in wind power. There are pros and cons to everything, of course.

The world is a strange place. For the wedding, I used a number of websites that had interactive, personalized lists that you could create to help you stay on track. They would send you email reminders about what tasks you needed to get done that week in order to stay on schedule. Why, the day after the wedding, did those emails suddenly turn into spam about having babies?

Gah. It's all too much. Can I live with myself for bringing another carbon footprint onto the earth at this time, when all I can do is think about how big mine is already? It's a stretch to connect wind power and babies, I know, but to me, they seem intertwined. At least, that's how I feel today and most days. Babies just seem to be the #1 topic for people to bring up lately. I can't go anywhere without people asking if I want kids and when. I don't know. There's entirely too much to think about. Ask me about wind power instead.

That was a total tangent. Apologies.

Pasties Defined

This is a little silly, but for those of you interested, NPR show Kitchen Window did a fun little edition on that talks about the art of sandwiches that gives a little history and definition of pasties. Listen here.

Scary Kid

Today, a four year old explained to me that she was having a Star Wars-themed birthday, then furrowed her brow and said: "but Princess Leia isn't modest."

I'm not sure what to chalk these words of wisdom up to. You learn something new every day? Kids say the darndest whatever? Modesty is a hot-button issue for the four year old set? Just not sure.

To re-cap:

1. Princess Leia: Not Modest
2. Child: Kind of Scary

pasties, meat pies, pastries: this place had it all...

As you know, we recently got back from a month or so in England. Aaron spent that time as a Traveling Academic (it sounds so romantic, doesn't it?) and oversaw a group of undergrads in a research lab at the University of Birmingham. And I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I went along for the ride. It was a wonderful experience and a great chance for us to see how we would react to being together in a foreign country for that long (success). We learned some things about each other (Aaron hates tourists to an extreme. He'd rather not do/see something than have to be around/become one. I wonder what he learned about me).

The best parts for me were Wales and the Lake District. Really, really beautiful. I could live in Wales.

Also: Pasties. For those of you in the know: oh yeah, pasties. For those of you not in the know: a pasty is like a calzone, but with meat and potatoes and no cheese and it is probably the #1 traditional food where I come from in Michigan because it's a miner's food; it's one of my favorite food items. I really wanted to go to Cornwall, but it was just too far away to justify a trip just to eat a real, live, traditional Cornish Pasty. However, there were pasties everywhere, anyway. I don't remember there being so many when I went several years ago (of course, I wasn't pub-hopping that time, either), but I think it might be possible that the U.K. is experiencing the same Comfort Food surge we are? I don't know. Seems like what they do best is comfort foods (and they do everything else pretty poorly). But everywhere you went there were pasties, and I kept telling myself that I didn't need to try every single one. They even had fast food pasties in the gas stations and convenience stores...the equivalent to a frozen burrito here.

Though I didn't go to Cornwall to have the pasty of all pasties, I did notice some differences between the ones I know and love, and the ones I had there. First, their definition of "pasty" is a little more loose. Most notably, there were endless kinds of fillings and it seemed really natural and not at all novelty to have something like cheese and onions, or chicken, or even a curry pasty. Second, very often it would be a flaky puff-pastry crust, rather than the heavy pie-like crust. I have to admit, this was a little disappointing, because pasty crust is the best part of the pasty. I don't think all are this way, though. I think it is a time-cutting technique, but it was nation-wide. Third, they didn't use ketchup. I didn't notice them using any sauces because most of them were more moist than what we're used to. Fourth, the third reason is probably because of this: all of the pasties I had, even the "Oggy" (traditional Cornish style) used huge, real hunks of steak or pot roast that were so moist and soft. Also, English potatoes are a whole new world. I hate to break it to you, but we are eating sub-par potatoes, here, people! Fifth, in proud, Midwestern fashion, our regular sized pasty is closer to their "family size."

The best one I ate was a Steak and Stilton pasty. I loved it in every way. It married comfort and class, which is my favorite thing to do!


Also: meat pies. Pubs in England serve some of the best beer I've ever tasted (see Real Ale) and some of the best food. It isn't at all like "bar food" here. Pub food is kind of quaint and comforting, something dear ol' ma would make for you or something. I imagined a kitchen wench in every one, planning the day's meal according to what she could find to make into a pie. And there were all kinds. Steak and Ale. Game Pie. Pheasant. Everything. We took every opportunity to eat meat pies and came home feeling a little like meat pies ourselves.

On our last night there, we drove all the way to Wolverhampton so that Aaron could eat a 4lb. steak pie. He finished it and ate what was left of my human-sized pie.

There was something I should mention that we were really let down about, though. And that's Indian food. Britons themselves say that the National Dish has become curry. Birmingham has a huge population of Indian immigrants (it was a colony, after all) and they pride themselves on having the best Indian food outside of India. They even invented a new British-Indian food called Balti. (Yes, there were balti pasties, even.) There is a section of town called the Batli Triangle that has dozens of Indian restaurants.

We tried five. Five different Indian restaurants. Ones recommended by friends as "the best ever." We really gave it a good go, but it was disappointing. It just wasn't as good as the Indian food we could get in Boston. There was something different about it. The naan felt a little like pizza dough and the sauces didn't feel quite as fresh as Namaskar in Davis Square and Cafe of India in Harvard Square (Whoa, did you know that Cafe of India is owned by the same people as Diva? Why is the food so much better at CofI?). It wasn't even as good as our old local, Punjabi Dhaba. The samosas weren't even as good as that weird Indian-Irish market thing in Davis.

Aaron and I really thought about the reasons why this could be and came up with a few good arguments: 1) If you live in a snooty place, you get snooty results. The demand for the highest level of quality is so huge in the Boston area that you would be run out of business if you didn't meet the standards. 2) Perhaps Indian food is a little like Mexican or Chinese food here. Personally, I find it hard to get really good Mexican food at all in the US, even though it's everywhere, because it's just so saturated into our culture and what we're eating isn't Mexican at all but some kind of American-"Mexican," Tex-Mex/Spanish thing. If I want greasy Mexican, I can go to a number of places even here in Morgantown and get something pretty decent. However, if I want something a little more refined, I've only found one restaurant: Ole in Inman Square. You need to get the guacamole. So, what I'm saying is, maybe it's too close to the heart to maintain a level of quality.



Geez, I've only talked about food from the trip! Argh. Here are some pictures of the rest.

May 17, 2008

Please see the sidebar or click here to view photos the assistant photographer, Stephanie Smart, took of our wedding. Finally. More to come, I'm sure.

Change is good

We've lived here for a year. That's insane. The time went by so fast. We moved far away! We bought a house! Got pets! Got married! Planted a garden! Spent a month abroad! Got wisdom teeth removed! Went back to school! Got various crappy jobs and one good job! Wow, what a year. I'm exhausted. Seriously, I am ready for a long, uneventful winter in hibernation.

But, I am happy. I am more happy than I've ever been, I think, thanks to living here. We've been so busy and it's been nice to live in a place that...isn't busy. There are things we miss about Boston, but also new things that I've always wanted that I wouldn't get there. Change is good.

Things I miss about Boston:

• Great food - I didn't really think of it as a food-capital or anything, but there is some dang good food in Boston and that is something to mourn the loss of. Darwins, Indian food, good sushi, good coffee, good coffee shops (1369, oh how I miss thee), good tea, great pizza (trust me...even your crappy pizza is good compared to what they make here), great markets (International, specialty, and otherwise) and a million other great foods. I could go on and on.
• Cobblestone (never thought I would miss this deathtrap...)
• Great beer almost everywhere (who would have thought it would be so hard to come by?)
• Close friends
• Lots going on all the time
• Shopping
• Culture - at times, very missed.

Things I like about here:

• My house - I love my house. I love it.
• Nature
• Mountains
• Pets - we never could find an apartment that would take pets. They are a key ingredient.
• Yard/garden - the windowsill just didn't cut it anymore. I love working in the garden more than I ever thought I could. It is so rewarding. I feel about my garden the way I imagine some people might feel about their career. It feels like a calling.
• Time - I always felt like I was running around in Boston. Even though we've been busy, it just feels like we have time now. (The friends thing has way more to do with this than anything else...our base is just much smaller here, which can be very nice and, to be honest, I've tried to maintain that aspect of our time here to some degree. I think of it as Our Hermitage.)
• Gabes! - Best store ever invented. Seriously, I could start a blog based on my Gabes Finds.
• Monte Cristo - one thing I can say about the food here is that they know how to make a mean Monte Cristo sandwich. "Turkey, ham, cheese double-decker, you say? And you'd like all of that battered and deep fried? Coming right up!" S&S, eat your heart out!

Things I don't particularly like about it here:

• Bad drivers - yes, I think they're worse than Boston. Everyone talks on their cellphones and make really stupid mistakes. They all drive huge trucks, too.
• Bad food - what is the obsession with chicken wings around here? Seriously, it's a problem.
• Frats
• Walking - almost impossible here due to lack of sidewalk. Also, when there are sidewalks, I'm pretty sure they're made of a 1:1 mixture of vomit and broken beer bottles (see previous bulletpoint).
• Lack of literary discussion - it's probably out there somewhere, I just can't find it.
• College sports
• no public hang outs - we share a car, which means always waiting around for the other person. There isn't anywhere we can just plop down and wait outside without buying something.
• the homeless are more scary here

All in all, it's been a great year. Thanks, West Virginia.

Wedding Pictures

We received our wedding photos today.

It really was a beautiful day.

I guess this means we need to write the rest of our thank yous.

harvest

We harvested the first veggies from the garden today:

Swiss chard!

They were just a little young, but we wanted to eat some before we left on our trip. They are so colorful and delicious. And very good for you. Better than kale, which is why we chose to plant chard.

Here is how I prepared it tonight: on medium heat, I put a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and added 1 coursely chopped garlic clove. I put the colorful chard stalks in first, let them saute for a minute, and then added the leaves, which I had cut in 1/2. When it seemed it was getting dry, I added a sprinkle of water. I also added salt and pepper. I let this cook until the leaves were wilted, but not much longer. That's it!

Delicious!

I'm a firm believer in vegetables tasting like vegetables.

We also picked some of these hot mommas. I'm no slouch when it comes to heat, but man, these are spicy. We'll have to use these with a lot of caution.

My Husband, the Published Scientist

Let's all give it up for Aaron and congratulate him on getting published!!! His first publication, "Mechanical and tribological investigations of sol–gel derived SiO2 optical coatings," (whew) was in the science journal Wear, Volume 265, Issues 3-4, 31 July 2008, Pages 411-416 in print, and full of sciencey-goodness.
We're proud of you, Aaron.

Independent and Old

I am officially on the bad end of my mid-twenties. Gah. It's all down hill from here.

My birthday is always a strange thing. I come from a place that celebrates the 4th for a whole week, so that basically can't be topped. However, we gave Bessemer a run for its money this, our first 4th in Morgantown.

First, Aaron made omelets and home fries. They were so crispy and perfect. I could never do that.

Mmmmm...
I always wanted nothing more than a simple cookout for my birthday, which was no easy task living three flights up with no yard in Boston. So this year for my birthday, Aaron threw me a proper cookout. We cleaned the front porch (and strung some Christmas lights), had a couple of friends over, and did it up right. We had mojitos, steak tips, grilled veggies, a beautiful potato salad (recipe below), and dogs. And: two kinds of cake! Aaron made a decadent flourless chocolate cake (from scratch). It was so fudgey and yummy. Our friend Sarah brought over the quintessential 4th of July dessert: Jello cake decorated like an American flag with strawberries and blueberries. There are very few birthdays where I didn't have this cake, it is such a guilty pleasure, I'm so happy she made it. Sarah is from Kentucky and calls it a "Poke Cake." She has a beautiful southern accent: the most flamboyant and expressive I've ever heard in my life. I feel like I'm in Steel Magnolias every time we get together. I love it.

The best part was that Aaron did all the other cooking for the day. It was wonderful and exactly everything I wanted (even if it was pouring rain, whatever, that doesn't stop us).

Aaron's Dill and Horseradish Potato Salad

A week or so ago, we noticed some wild dill growing near the compost pile, so when Aaron mentioned he was making potato salad, I asked him to make a dilly one. This is what he came up with and it is just delicious.

Per pound of potatoes

Ingredients:
1 pound potatoes, preferably red
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 tablespoon celery, chopped

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

1 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon or brown mustard
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon fresh dill, finely chopped

1/8 teaspoon paprika

salt, black pepper to taste

Preparation: Boil potatoes with salt until cooked through. Allow potatoes to cool slightly before cutting into 1 inch cubes. In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add potatoes and mix well. Make sure not to over mix or else potatoes will become mushy.