15 Tuesday Dec 2009
Posted in our family
Last week I posted a picture of, and recipe for, chocolate lava cakes. This weekend, I tried them again only this time with a marshmallow in the center of each. When Hanna saw the finished product she couldn’t stop giggling (although this may have been in part due to thesis-induced hysteria).
14 Monday Dec 2009
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Our “Christmas present for the house” this year was a beeswax coil candle from the Acorn catalog. The wick is a little unruly, and we find our apartment gets a little cold for the coil to uncoil properly, but once it’s lit, the light is lovely.
09 Wednesday Dec 2009
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She first appeared as the titular Runaway Bride in the 2006 Dr. Who Christmas special, so who better to top our tree this Christmas than Donna Noble (played by the aforementioned awesome Catherine Tate)?
And just in case you’re up for a little Donna nostalgia I bring you (via Hanna, who posted it first at …fly over me evil angel…) an awesome fan video.
07 Monday Dec 2009
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Saturday night, Hanna and I tried this recipe for lava cakes:
Ingredients (4 people):
6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins
How to Make It:
Preheat oven to 350°F
1. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
2. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
5. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.
Voilà!
They were definitely, as Hanna says, “tasty goodness”!
05 Saturday Dec 2009
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Tomorrow is St. Nicholas Day, what in my family growing up was the true beginning of the Christmas season. Every year on the night of December 5th we’d put out our shoes for St. Nicholas, and on the morning of December 6th we’d wake up to shoes full of chocolates, marzipan, and and other small holiday treats.
In fond remembrance of the holiday, I bring you Six to Eight Black Men, by David Sedaris, is perhaps my all-time-favorite commentary on the holiday; you can also listen to Sedaris read this piece in an episode of This American Life as part of one of my all-time favorite episodes, “Them.” (Bonus: “Them” also features Jon Ronson of men-who-stare-at-goats fame reading an excerpt from his book Them: Adventures With Extremists). For anyone who has tried to fathom the holiday celebrations of an unfamiliar culture: this essay is for you.
*dutch for “happy st. nicholas eve”
**Image credit: Susan Seals @ The St. Nicholas Center.
01 Tuesday Dec 2009
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Hanna and I picked up this little tree at the Whole Foods near work; we got it home and realized it has this tendency to lean toward the (ahem) left. Here it is in all its splendor on the kitchen table, decorated with bamboo stars and paper cranes. Plans for a Dr. Who angel for the top are in the works.
28 Saturday Nov 2009
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Act I: Preparation
Act II: Contemplation
Act III: Devour!
26 Thursday Nov 2009
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Hanna and I are planning to enjoy the day sans things academical and plus Charles Shaw merlot and a Tofurky roast from our local Trader Joe’s.
Bonus Radical Feminist Link: Women Postpone Thanksgiving Dinner to Meet Militant Feminist! a 1909 news story via Sociological Images.
28 Monday Sep 2009
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Yesterday, Hanna and I rented a zipcar and drove up to Freeport, Maine, to the L.L. Bean flagship store to purchase winter boots, long underwear, and a few other items to keep us toasty warm this winter. While we were there, Hanna found this little brown bear, made from recycled plastic bottles, who informed her he was tired of hanging around the store and wanted to come home with us. And so she bought him for me.
Here he is, sitting on the bed with Evangeline (the bunny rabbit) and Sebastian (the elder bear). They are getting him acquainted with the ways of our household. He has not yet been forthcoming on the matter of his name; if any of you feel inspired, feel free to chime in via comments!
07 Monday Sep 2009
Posted in our family
It’s been a while since I posted any pictures from Michigan of Addie — quite simply because there weren’t any coming my way! But that has been remedied by the latest batch of pics from my father, circa August 15th, when Addie went to stay at the house of family friends while my uncle Tim and (now) aunt Linda held their wedding reception at my grandmother’s house (congrats to both of you!). The older golden retriever in the pictures is our friends’ dog, Josie.
Hope you’re all enjoying the Labor Day weekend.
the feminist librarian 