Sunday, July 06, 2008
Cows can swim, apparently
Did you know cows can swim? My friend Treeza sent me these photos from Wisconsin, where she is dealing with a flooded basement and cows swimming the streets of her neighborhood. While the midwest floods, my beloved Big Sur is burning. What's going on? Well, I have some ideas... global warming, for starters. Yikes. We've got to start taking better care of our planet. It's the only one we've got.
Look who's in the news!
My friends Dave & Monica made the Calgary Herald. How cool! I wrote an article about them here for this website, and I guess someone read it, and now they're on their way to becoming big reality-tv superstars. My favorite kind of superstars (after sweaty Latino musicians, that is).
Four years ago, just as the city's economic boom gained steam and sent house prices skyward, Dave Dolezsar and his wife Monica quit their lucrative oilpatch jobs, sold everything and left Calgary in search of paradise. Read more...
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Video Saturday
Happy Saturday! Here it's raining cats and dogs. Oh man do I need a new dryer! Ok, anyway... thought I'd post a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure, since not much exciting has been happening lately (unless you happened to read my Craigslist post, hee hee...).
This is the CNN en Español's "Destinos" spot on which esposo appears (he's the chef toward the end of the video, in case you don't know him personally). This was shot on location at the hotel where he works. We never did catch it on t.v., but they managed to get a copy at the hotel, which we, of course, uploaded to YouTube.
A reason I wish I was living back in California: This guy was doing some concerts in April at small venues around the state. And I missed all of them. F-ity F F. I think he could just stand on stage and not do much of anything and I'd go just to look at him. Hot, is all I can say.
This is the CNN en Español's "Destinos" spot on which esposo appears (he's the chef toward the end of the video, in case you don't know him personally). This was shot on location at the hotel where he works. We never did catch it on t.v., but they managed to get a copy at the hotel, which we, of course, uploaded to YouTube.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Sorry, esposo...
... but I actually made one of Rachel Ray's recipes. I hear all of you out there groaning in unison. Normally, I'm right there with you. Rachel Ray? I hear you saying. Yes, yes, usually the stuff she makes is nothing I'd want to eat. However. Yesterday she was doing a vegetarian show, and actually the eggplant "steaks" looked ... well, not disgusting, at least.
Here's my dilemma (and I'm sure I share it with a lot of moms out there): I'd like my son to eat something besides pizza, spaghetti, or PBJs for lunch. Son loooooves Rachel Ray. When I accidentally happen upon her show while channel surfing, he's all, "Hey! Stop! It's RACHEL!" Oh jeez, yeah I know kid, I know, I was hoping you wouldn't notice... Yesterday, though, as I said, she was doing a vegetarian show, and I thought, well, why not, maybe I can get a new idea or two for something quick and easy to make that son will actually eat. So we watched it together, and though she kept piling stuff on top of the eggplant, son thought it looked good, and I had everything to make it, so I figured, what the heck.
Of course, me being me, I made some changes. I lightly pan-fried the eggplant (which I cut into rounds, not long "steaks") instead of grilling it (we don't have a stovetop grill pan). I made my own hummus (super easy from a couple of cans of garbanzo beans, the juice of one lemon, fresh parsley, salt & pepper, and garlic, and olive oil to get a creamy consistency; plus, I really prefer making my own stuff like that than buying it). I used fresh spinach instead of frozen (I think it probably retains more vitamins and minerals, and since my anemia has been resurfacing lately, I've been on an eating-lots-of-spinach kick). And actually I made my own breadcrumbs out of toast also, though I thought we had a bag of panko around here, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Oh, and I didn't have roasted red peppers so I left those out and used a tomato instead.
Amazingly, these things were really quite good! Son actually ate TWO of them (how many kids do you know that like eggplant, or spinach, or even hummus for that matter?). I think if you used small eggplants and just the hummus and breadcrumbs, it would make really good party hors d'ouvres. So anyway, try the recipe. It was good. I'll have to hand it to Rachel on this one. Sorry, esposo, I know you can't stomach the woman (heee heee, a pun! a pun!).
Here's my dilemma (and I'm sure I share it with a lot of moms out there): I'd like my son to eat something besides pizza, spaghetti, or PBJs for lunch. Son loooooves Rachel Ray. When I accidentally happen upon her show while channel surfing, he's all, "Hey! Stop! It's RACHEL!" Oh jeez, yeah I know kid, I know, I was hoping you wouldn't notice... Yesterday, though, as I said, she was doing a vegetarian show, and I thought, well, why not, maybe I can get a new idea or two for something quick and easy to make that son will actually eat. So we watched it together, and though she kept piling stuff on top of the eggplant, son thought it looked good, and I had everything to make it, so I figured, what the heck.
Of course, me being me, I made some changes. I lightly pan-fried the eggplant (which I cut into rounds, not long "steaks") instead of grilling it (we don't have a stovetop grill pan). I made my own hummus (super easy from a couple of cans of garbanzo beans, the juice of one lemon, fresh parsley, salt & pepper, and garlic, and olive oil to get a creamy consistency; plus, I really prefer making my own stuff like that than buying it). I used fresh spinach instead of frozen (I think it probably retains more vitamins and minerals, and since my anemia has been resurfacing lately, I've been on an eating-lots-of-spinach kick). And actually I made my own breadcrumbs out of toast also, though I thought we had a bag of panko around here, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Oh, and I didn't have roasted red peppers so I left those out and used a tomato instead.
Amazingly, these things were really quite good! Son actually ate TWO of them (how many kids do you know that like eggplant, or spinach, or even hummus for that matter?). I think if you used small eggplants and just the hummus and breadcrumbs, it would make really good party hors d'ouvres. So anyway, try the recipe. It was good. I'll have to hand it to Rachel on this one. Sorry, esposo, I know you can't stomach the woman (heee heee, a pun! a pun!).
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Oral "Fun"
Not that kind! Get your minds out of the gutter, people! I'm talking about going to the dentist here.
Let me start by saying I'm not a big fan of going to the dentist. Who is? I rather doubt there are too many people out there who actually look forward to it. A few years ago, one of my wisdom teeth was impacted and got infected, and I had to get an emergency yank-out done here in Costa Rica, and honestly it was the worst experience of my life. Worse than childbirth (and I had my son at home, you know?). Apparently a piece of the tooth broke off as she was trying to get it out, and she ended up digging in my jaw for the broken tooth for like an hour. So, you can imagine I haven't exactly been eager to get back to the dentist's chair.
Though, the last two times I've gone have been relatively uneventful. Last year, I had a cleaning done with Dr. Pedro Diaz at Cima, and I would recommend him highly. My teeth glowed in the dark after he was done with them! I don't think they have ever been that clean in my life (and usually I do go in once a year for a cleaning, just so you know I'm not some disgusting person with falling-out brown teeth or anything). Anyway, he was great, and it didn't hurt a bit. (Also, he speaks perfect English and mostly works with kids.)
Now we live up in the sticks, not at all close to Cima, so I had to find another dentist up my way. I got a recommendation from the CRL list for a dentist here in Grecia, Dra. Haidy Vasquez, so I thought I'd try her out. I've had an ugly, evil tooth of pain bothering me for the past couple of weeks, and though I wasn't looking forward to going to the dentist, it was a necessity. So my appointment was yesterday, and I have to say, I'm also highly recommending her. She was very kind and was the first dentist I've ever been to where I couldn't even feel the lido injection (except for the one on the inner side, you can't get away from that, but still it wasn't bad at all). She was worried I might need a root canal (and in case you're wondering, everyone says they hurt, except my mother, who's had a few so she should know, but if you don't believe me, see for yourself), but it turned out just to be a deep cavity. There are some very old "silver" (mercury) fillings in my mouth, all of which need to be removed (and if any of you out there still have them, you might want to look into getting them replaced with porcelain, because when the mercury leaks and gets into your blood stream it's very bad for you). I foresee Dra. Haidy and I spending a lot of time together!
Let me start by saying I'm not a big fan of going to the dentist. Who is? I rather doubt there are too many people out there who actually look forward to it. A few years ago, one of my wisdom teeth was impacted and got infected, and I had to get an emergency yank-out done here in Costa Rica, and honestly it was the worst experience of my life. Worse than childbirth (and I had my son at home, you know?). Apparently a piece of the tooth broke off as she was trying to get it out, and she ended up digging in my jaw for the broken tooth for like an hour. So, you can imagine I haven't exactly been eager to get back to the dentist's chair.
Though, the last two times I've gone have been relatively uneventful. Last year, I had a cleaning done with Dr. Pedro Diaz at Cima, and I would recommend him highly. My teeth glowed in the dark after he was done with them! I don't think they have ever been that clean in my life (and usually I do go in once a year for a cleaning, just so you know I'm not some disgusting person with falling-out brown teeth or anything). Anyway, he was great, and it didn't hurt a bit. (Also, he speaks perfect English and mostly works with kids.)
Now we live up in the sticks, not at all close to Cima, so I had to find another dentist up my way. I got a recommendation from the CRL list for a dentist here in Grecia, Dra. Haidy Vasquez, so I thought I'd try her out. I've had an ugly, evil tooth of pain bothering me for the past couple of weeks, and though I wasn't looking forward to going to the dentist, it was a necessity. So my appointment was yesterday, and I have to say, I'm also highly recommending her. She was very kind and was the first dentist I've ever been to where I couldn't even feel the lido injection (except for the one on the inner side, you can't get away from that, but still it wasn't bad at all). She was worried I might need a root canal (and in case you're wondering, everyone says they hurt, except my mother, who's had a few so she should know, but if you don't believe me, see for yourself), but it turned out just to be a deep cavity. There are some very old "silver" (mercury) fillings in my mouth, all of which need to be removed (and if any of you out there still have them, you might want to look into getting them replaced with porcelain, because when the mercury leaks and gets into your blood stream it's very bad for you). I foresee Dra. Haidy and I spending a lot of time together!
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