A little fiery red color to brighten today’s winter chill.
December 2007
My Friend Angela has been in Africa for the past few weeks working in an IHF orphanage. She’s blogging her experiences and they are so heartwarming. I encourage each of you to spend a few moments at her website.
Angela recently sent out a plea for sponsors for orphans and goats. If you haven’t yet completed your gift-giving, or you want to do a little more for those that have less, please consider an IHF donation:
I hope that this holiday season greets you with love, warmth and happiness. At the International Humanity Foundation (IHF) our volunteers are working hard to help make this a special time for the marginalized poor nomadic families in Pokot, Kenya. As part of our Survival program, we are seeking generous individuals willing to buy goats for these families. These goats are a main source of nutrition (and survival) for so many. Every week we dispatch our volunteers to the auction market to buy the goats and distribute them to the families in their homes (where we ensure that they are in fact the poorest of the poor). If you purchase one of our goats* (for US$ 20) we will take a photo of the family receiving the goat, and send you a certificate. You can also choose to sponsor one of our many children in the IHF Nakuru Orphanage (for US$ 37/month) and we will facilitate communication between you and your child through emails and photos. Sponsoring with IHF really does make a special gift; one that keeps on giving to those that are most in need. If you have any questions about our Survival Program, sponsoring one of our orphans, or the International Humanity Foundation please contact IHF@ihfonline.org or visit our website ihfonline.org.
Wishing you the best this holiday season!
Warm Regards,
Carol Sasaki and the IHF family
Note: if you scroll about halfway down the main IHF page you will see the information for goat donation. I like that the goat is far less than for some charities and the photo sounds like a neat thank-you!
I love the herbs that I grow in my garden and on my pack porch. Pesto is a favorite treat around here–yum!
My other favorite recipe with basil is John’s Basil Coulis served on Almond Blancmange. It is one of the many very perfect recipes from Chocolate & Zucchini. Seriously, I am not one to gush about cookbooks. But if you haven’t tried this one, you are missing out. It is so tasty and fun and _everything_ we’ve tried has been wonderful and fairly fresh and simple.
Just ask those who’ve tried John’s apricot compote (another of Clothilde’s recipes from C&Z). And yes, it is better than sex.
And, no, it is not better than sex except when someone is using hyperbole to let their husband know that they think his cooking is the very best kind of foreplay. But sex with apricot compote, now that would be good.
A pic of some climbing roses on an arbor at the Huntington Library. Taken in the rose garden today on my way to the Japanese Garden.
Stole into the grounds before they opened to the public this morning (I didn’t do anything too sneaky–“readers” are allowed access to the grounds whenever they want). Spent time in the Japanese garden all alone until a worker came to feed the koi fish. Felt a lot of peace and renewal there. It was just what I needed.
Isn’t the sky the most amazing color of blue!!
:)
My work history is pretty spotty. Partially by choice, partially by necessity. I’ve never been hired from a cold interview. I suspect that much of the reason why is because of my disability. No one wants to hire a candidate that limps, when there are half a dozen equally-qualified able-bodied applicants in the pool.
One reason I’m in academia is because I think it’s one place where my disability could be an asset, adding some ‘diversity’ to the hiring department. I also feel, usually, that my ideas and my teaching are valued more than my mobility.
Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about the challenges that I’ll continue to face throughout my life as I seek employment and face health insurance issues. I’ve also been wondering at how some of my difficulties/spottiness at mental recall may be related to my cancer treatments. This article about survivors of childhood cancer and their challenges in the workplace hasn’t done much to assuage some of my fears (kudos to TanyaSue for sending the link). Sort of discouraging…but I am hopeful that I’ve chosen a path that will give me the very best odds for success…
These are my bookish kids. See how cute they are…reading away and oblivious to everything else?
Any guesses on where they are? Yep, they are sitting under the Eiffel Tower. Not looking up, not clambering to climb up its steps….
It’s a great story to tell, really. How my cute kids read their way across Europe. And I swear that they didn’t do this everywhere (we took the books away while we were at the Louvre, etc….)
:)
John & kids met a bunch of new folks at Friend D’s birthday party this afternoon. When John was introduced to them he learned that said folks had already been to our house…at a party when we were out of town and our Friends were cat-sitting for us!
Me, I’m glad to know that our Friends took me seriously when I said mi casa et su casa. And I’m just hoping that I remembered to clean the bathroom well before we left town!
:)
I have a new best friend, it is my Kitchenaid Immersion Blender.
While I’m rarely one to encourage my readers to buy more stuff, I just have to share that this gizmo rocks. It can make shakes in a snap. Yesterday it whipped the batter for my Dutch Baby Pancakes so fast and so smooth! The day before that it pureed the veggies in our soup quite handily. And it’s WAY easier to clean than a traditional blender. And that is a huge plus at our house.
I bought mine at Target for under $50. The link above to amazon.com is a bit spendier. But if you’re wondering what to get for that person who likes to cook, this might just be a winner! :)
FYI, for those of you who’ve never tried the wonders of a Dutch Baby pancake:
Dutch Baby Pancake
(Makes 4 to 6 servings)
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg (or both!)
5 tablespoons butter
**Freshly squeezed lemon juice
**Powdered or confectioners sugarPreheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place oven rack on the middle rack of your oven. Put a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan or a cast-iron skillet in the oven to preheat it, too.
In a large bowl, beat (with your immersion blender if you have one) the eggs until light and frothy; add milk, flour, vanilla extract, and cinnamon; beat for 5 minutes more.
Add the butter to skillet; tilting the pan to melt the butter and coat the bottom. Pour the prepared batter into the hot skillet, and immediately return the skillet to the oven.
Cook for approximately 25 minutes, or until the pancake is all puffed up and brown on the top.
Note: do not take out of the oven until you have the camera handy, because if you do this, then your husband will laugh at you as you race to get said camera as the pastry is slowly deflating…
**Cut into wedge-shaped pieces and serve the traditional way with lemon juice and powedered sugar. Or serve with fresh maple syrup (Yum!) or the way we ate them yesterday which was with chunky spiced applesauce on top. To die for!
H/T for photo above of Trinity Library
This past week I’ve spent a bunch of time at the Huntington Library. I’ll be back again next week (and the week after that and the week after that….)
If I’m lucky, I’ll be garnering a Fellowship so I can research there nearly full-time. But even without the Fellowship I’ll certainly be there on a regular basis.
I’ve learned a few things in the past week:
1) The library’s cataloging system is only so-so. Key words and search terms are often nonsensical/illogical.
2) The old paper card catalog has items not listed in the online catalog.
3) Many of the items don’t appear to be listed anywhere at all–not on the computers and not on the bitty little cards in the drawers (which drawers, I still don’t seem to be able to pull out of the cabinet properly, so doing the research is a bit painful as I contort myself to see the cards)
4) The trick to knowing what’s in the library is to talk to the curators. They know all.
5) The other trick is to ask lots of questions and request items that may not even exist (e.g. “A finding aid for that collection?…No, there doesn’t appear to be one…”)
Even with all of the confusions and run-arounds of this week’s work at the H, I’m just loving it. Really. I am so very lucky to be close enough to such a place for my research. And it is a beautiful space to spend one’s days….
(IOW, people, more flower pictures from the grounds will be forthcoming…I’m hoping to step foot outside of the inner-sanctum on at least one of my visits next week!)