It’s been trying, here. A few other obstacles added to the already challenging course. I’ve been skulking and moping about the house, but also trying to keep busy. Here are three things that are neat, that made me happy in my domesticity:

1. Dorot frozen chopped herbs - got these at TJ’s. These little containers are packed with frozen chopped basil, parsley, or garlic. They’re shaped like ice cube trays, and all you do is take out one cube whenever you need it, and add it to your cooking. The flavor is strong and fresh, and it’s great for someone like me - I buy herbs, but never manage to use up the entire quantity before it goes wilted and brown.

2. LISN incense pack - My boyfriend gave me this a long while ago, and I just found it nestled in my desk drawer. Each incense stick has a silly little name, like “Crystal breeze” or “Sound on wave,” but the scents are pleasant and the little packet is actually the incense holder.

3. NEW CHAIR! I found this chair in the street:

A nice, sturdy rocking chair, but finished with awful upholstery in pukey cream color. So I got some fabrics:

and after weighing the appeal of both patterns, ended up going with the nice green print.

Tada! I’m very satisfied, and I can use the other fabric, as I dubbed it “deco giraffe,” for something else in the future. It was in the discount last chance bin, so well worth the $4. Click here for a close up of how the fabric looks stretched.

The whole process was insanely easy. You just unscrew the seat pad, pull out all the staples holding the fabric over the seat cushion and batting, then use the old fabric piece to cut out the right shape from the new fabric - I would even give an extra inch or so, as you’re cutting. Then pull the fabric over the seat cushion, get your staple gun, and pulling the fabric taut just staple it to the seat frame, making sure to fold and tuck it in at the corners nicely. Then put it back in the chair and screw it back on, and tada.

Total cost = $2.39 for the fabric, plus $14 for the staple gun, which I now want to use for everything, ever.

I have not made a post in a long while. A lot has happened since then.

At the end of April, I lost my job of more than two years. It was shocking, completely unexpected, but ultimately something that I ended up accepting and dealing with. I dove into the paperwork that is now quite familiar to, sadly, far too many people in California and the greater United States. Living on the dole is a game of cutting corners and adjusting expectations. It’s also a bit challenging how to make use of all this free time.

You might *think* that being unemployed would enable me to tackle all sorts of creative ventures and to instill order in my life, undertaking projects of the cleaning/rearranging/sorting/nesting variety. It’s not always easy, though. The biggest impediment to the creative process has been anxiety. I find myself anxious over money and my uncertain future; I have strange and frustrating dreams that leave me feeling fatigued and listless; I haven’t done crap (pardon the colorful language) - the boxes in my office room are still piled high, just like the day I moved into my place about a year ago.

This was the predominant attitude for me for the three weeks. Then, I started to notice a shift. I feel a slight spring in my step and optimism is a little more frequent. I signed up for volunteering efforts with CUESA (they host the lovely farmers market that I’ve posted about before), helped out a friend with his new start-up venture (an ongoing process), continued applying for jobs, cooked a lot more meals at home, and fell in love with my local library, all over again. I also got to visit relatives I hadn’t seen in 15 years, when my mother and I spent 5 days in Washington, DC.

I also happened to land my first two job interviews.

And two days ago, I turned 30.

I like to think that there’s something in the works, for me. I want to hold on to this hope and to continue carving out time to focus on the positive and shape my little cosmos into something magical, regardless of employment status. However, I do still hope that one of these interviews will lead to something fantastic. And, believe it or not, I’m absolutely THRILLED to be 30 years old.

I hope that everyone is doing well out there, and if times are tough, I hope you find small or big things in your life to make you happy.

My friend Nomi recently finished a long project - a lace shawl off a pattern called “Myrtle,” from a beautiful book titled Victorian Lace Today. Having spent some time making our way through the Faberge, Tiffany, and Lalique exhibit, now on view at the Legion of Honor Museum, we emerged into the sunshine dizzy from the splendor. The day was bright and breezy, so I decided it would be a great time to take some photos of Nomi modeling Myrtle against the backdrop of pine trees overlooking Baker Beach.
(click to view larger size)

I may not be a knitter, but I certainly can appreciate all the work that goes into it. Check out Nomi’s set for a few pictures documenting the process of making the shawl.

Today I quickly whipped up one of my favorite Russian breakfast foods, syrniki. My friend Ellen and I call them “pancheesies.” They are a very common staple of Russian homecooking, kind of like hash browns and pancakes are the familiar staple of any American’s breakfast.

The recipe is as easy as pie (actually, easier than pie).

1 1/4 cup of farmers’ cheese (this is a cheese that is similar to goat cheese in consistency, but actually tastes like cottage cheese. It’s the closest equivalent here in the States to Russian cottage cheese called “tvorog,” and is fairly easy to find in most larger grocery stores)
1 large egg
2-3 tbs of sugar
1/2 cup flour

Mix all the ingredients well in a mixing bowl, until the consistency starts to look like slightly lumpy mashed potatoes

Using a spoon dipped in cool water to prevent sticking, scoop up a generous spoonful of the mix, and form into a ball, then flatten into a small pancake. Coat both sides of the pancake in a little bit of flour, and fry in hot vegetable oil in a deep skillet, turning over so that both sides are lightly golden brown.

Syrniki taste great with a dollop of sour cream, with a serving of your favorite jam or preserves, or just on their own, depending on how rich or sweet you want your breakfast to be. I also like them as an afternoon tea snack. I had mine with Yorkshire Gold tea from Taylor’s of Harrogate, and a spoon of June Taylor’s fig & port preserves I picked up at the Farmers’ Market a while ago, and have been savoring since.

(Yes, that mug is great).

Ms. Verhext has created a lovely community on Flickr, a pool of photos beckoning with magic and warmth, marzipan, wind chimes, moss covered stones and hidden corners. I’ve already dumped, indiscriminately, a lot of photos in there. You should too!

Magic is as magic does

Individual photo credits:

1. The Leaving Lot, no. 1, 2. flowers at the wharf, 3. catch it if you can, 4. Monday - Waikiki Aquarium, 5. Johnny, jump up and kiss me, 6. schattenspiele, 7. leaf, 8. IMG_9071.JPG, 9. dinner

Happy Friday, folks! I’m looking forward to a warm (but not too warm!) weekend of laziness. Other than a warehouse concert I am going to check-out with my boyfriend Saturday night, I have zero plans. Tomorrow morning, when done with my house chores, I want to undertake a new baking adventure. I don’t know what it will be, but I’m sure it’ll be fun, and I’ll be sure to share some photos.

Speaking of sweets, the lovely Flickr user Dapan has had me in her spell for quite a while. From delicious plates of curries and grilled veggies, to incredibly elaborate dessert concontions, what really sets her photos apart is the lighting and styling of the plates. I really think food photography can be more than just a documentation of a process: it can be an art form.
Here are some of my favorites:

Osmanthus and red bean tea jelly

Matcha cookies

Bread pudding

For those in the baking mood, a treasure trove of baking supplies and decorations can be found at Bake It Pretty. From flower and animal shaped chocolate molds, to cookie cutters and frosted cake toppers, the entire online store is brimming with inspiration for a pastry chef of any level:

Magical Forest cupcake toppers set

I’m planning on doing a big Spring-time brunch at my house some time in April, so this is just the place for me to order little details to add to the festive mood.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

(From reader recipe posted on Gourmet.com )

* 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 5 tablespoons black sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
2. Beat together peanut butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until combined well, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and baking soda until combined well. (I don’t own an electric mix, so I mix everything by hand. This one is easy and only takes a couple of minutes.)
3. Place sesame seeds in a shallow bowl. Roll level teaspoons of dough into balls, then roll in seeds to coat. Arrange balls about 1 inch apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets. (Don’t pour out all sesame seeds onto the plate at once. Do it a little at a time, adding seeds as you roll more cookies).

4. Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through, until puffed and cracked, about 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. (Cookies come out very very soft and crumbly, so transfer them to the cooling rack with a spatula. They will solidify within minutes)
Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.

A couple of weeks ago, a little firecracker of a girl I’m friends with celebrated her 6th birthday.

Birthday girl makes a wish

The spread!

My friend Jenny E.’s delicious home made scones & lemon curd.

For her lavish birthday spread, hosted by her mom and our friend Sarah, I baked rosewater sugar cookies, based on this recipe.

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract (Lacking lemon extract, I substituted with 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon zest - 1/2 tsp. of lemon extract roughly equals 1 tsp. of lemon zest. I also added a couple of teaspoons of water, to make sure that the liquid stays the same for the recipe).
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. rose water
1/8 tsp. salt
3 c. flour

Cream sugar and softened butter until smooth. Beat in yolk and flavorings. Combine baking soda and sour cream and stir into sugar mixture. Stir in rose water. Sift salt and flour; mix with batter. Roll out on floured surface and cut with cookie cutter. Bake on greased sheets in preheated 325 degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the frosting, I used a simple, quick icing recipe.

2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/5 cup milk (really, just check for consistence, not too thick, but not too runny)
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 tsp. of rosewater
dash of salt

Once the cookies had cooled sufficiently, I used a butter knife to spread the icing on the cookies, then topped them off with some rainbow sprinkles I had in the cupboard.

I made another contribution to Coilhouse! Visit to read a little article about a very talented experimental musician here in the Bay Area.

My friend T. over at verhext.com scolded me for not updating more often. I’ve had the Creeping Crud (sore throat, runny nose, groggy head, froggy voice) and have been too tired for anything that isn’t soup or a riveting episode of “Numb3rs.” Which is a shame, because I’ve got things I’ve been wanting to write for my friends over at Coilhouse, and things to sell on Etsy, and who knows what else other ambitiousness. Anyway, I should update with something, because otherwise she will bombard me with pictures of milkshakes and caramel cakes that I cannot, at this very moment, eat because I don’t have them. Feel sorry for me!!

Today, I had a few lucky finds at a neighborhood estate sale - a 90 year old Jewish woman had passed on and left quite a lot of antique silverware, milkglass barware, Passover sedar serving platters, pearl and rhinestone jewelry, 1950s purses, fur coats and an odd assortment of dog memorabilia - poodle paintings, poodle broches, dog bracelets, etc. The woman selling things, with assistance from a few other ladies, was a chain-smoking 60-something year old lady named Francoise, with jet-black curly hair.

A white crinoline, that’s a little small but still wearable; a beautiful beaded purse; and a lovely umbrella right in time for spring picnics.

I have a little to do list, to accomplish before the end of this month, besides the standard “Finish all the writing projects/Eat more spinach/Don’t chop off all my hair”:

• Make sachets to tuck away in my dresser drawers, using this lavender I picked up at the farmers market
• Bake these rose water sugar cookies (well, ok. I baked them tonight. But no photos yet! Nor have I really had a taste test, as my own testbuds are not objective enough since I’ve been licking frosting off a mixing spoon for the last half hour)
• Attempt a delicious caramel cake, using this recipe from the lovely Lemonpi
• Hang some art in my bedroom, including this print by Nora Aoyagi I purchased at the Alternative Press Expo in ‘07, plus two prints from one of my favorite illustrators, Jaime Zollars. I have two of her small works: “Garden Secret” and “Bug Parade“. (BTW, I’ve been eyeing this print by Nora, up on Etsy, for a little while now. Hmmm… Hmmmm!!!)
• Make more of a dent in reading a growing pile of books that I’ve picked up, started, then set aside for some reason or another

What are YOU doing with your time, these days?