little feet, big sky

My mother recently left a huge slice of jackfruit in our fridge when she came to visit. After an offhand comment about how much work it is to cut up and needing to use oil on your hands because the sap sticks to everything, she left and left me wondering just how much work was involved. 

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Somewhere downtown near 7th & Wall (or is it Maple), is the Los Angeles Flower Market. 

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Towards the end of my pregnancy last year, I did some chiropractic and acupuncture at Berlin Wellness Group on Wilshire. I can’t speak more highly of this place. Dr. Berlin is warm, funny and knowledgeable, and I firmly believe that it was his skill in part that helped us birth safely right around our due date when there was concern we might go over it. The staff are incredibly supportive, and make no secret of loving babies! Everyone there is so attuned to the needs (and fears) of pre- and post-natal women. Even if you’re in perfect pregnancy health, a massage and adjustment here is a welcome treat in those last few months.
 
http://www.doctorberlin.com

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Spice is growing up fast! She’s already cut four tiny little teeth
that she uses to pretend she’s a hamster while nibbling on carrots.
She’s also becoming extremely skilled in the Mother-Nipple Torture
technique; I can see now why so many moms give up nursing when those
little fangs come in. She’s walking with the help of a hand, though
there’s still a lot of drunken-sailor in her gait. But the most fun of
all is just how interactive she’s become, rather like a cross between
a Furby and Teddy Ruxpin. She’s learned how to clap fairly
efficiently, but waving to someone is still both hands wildly swinging
in partially synchronized circles. Toys go in and out of other toys
(like the rattle in the play tea kettle, or Mommy’s keys into the
bottom of the toy box), toys get banged on other toys, toys get
ignored like other toys… you get the idea. In fact, the latest
attention-grabbers I’ve been using to keep her occupied are the Great
Outdoors (”no, love, we don’t eat rocks – at least, not without soup”)
and various kitchen oddities (”surely a pastry blender is an
age-appropriate toy!”). As you can tell, I have it spoilt and easy,
and am still in the honeymoon phase of toddlerhood; I’ll get back to
ya in a couple of months!
 
I’ve also been sucked slowly back into work. Sure, it’s less than
part-time, and of course I’m not getting paid since it’s for the
start-up, but it’s work and it has me both feeling productive and
panicked. I’m loving the feeling that I’m part of something bigger
than laundry or emptying the dishwasher, but panicked because I’m sure
all my previous coding knowledge has either evaporated from my brain,
or has been steadily dribbling out my breastmilk, take your pick.
Which ever it is, it seems to not be in my head very much. The
spouse-unit argues this isn’t the case, but he hasn’t witnessed me
pouring dishwashing detergent into the washing machine. (Um, I hope
not.) Still, I’m working on small fry stuff, nothing major or
earth-shattering, like an iPhone app that’s going to save humanity
from evil blood-sucking aliens, or anything like that. Er. No, of
course not.
 
Add to this a lovely upcoming visit from the MIL, venturing across the
pond from Sweden, and my workaholic mother staying over the following
weekend, plus upcoming international trips that need to be planned
for, packed for, “stocked up on cat food for the feline monsters” for,
and more. So, yeah, it’s been busy, but with such lovely summer days
as these oddly gray ones we’ve been having here in L.A., who hasn’t
been?

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Our summer garden is nice, but we've had better: blueberries, lemons, figs, chilis, basil, chives, mint, oregano, marjoram, strawberries. 

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Our house has been dying of clutter for as long as I can remember. The spouse-unit and I came with separate households and over the years, stuff has just accumulated. After several unsuccessful attempts to tackle the disaster in our own, we finally called in professional help.

Our NAPO-certified organizer first came over for an hour to assess the damage. She walked through the house with us, room by room, listening to our hopes (and dreams) and pointing out things that worked and didn’t work. We both liked her and her ideas and methodology, but a major selling point for me was that she had four kids. It was great that she had practical experience organizing a home with kids. She prepared us in advance that, for the size of our humble dwelling, we would have to downsize our stuff by 50%.

So far, it’s been awesome. We’ve done the living room, kitchen, the guest/t.v.-watching room, and the spouse’s office space and while there still stuff to go through, having tossed out so much old junk has been freeing. A lot of it was just getting rid of things that didn’t fit the space we had. (Like half of my yarn!) The spouse had a couple of near-fainting moments from having to part with such cool leftovers as the robotic dinosaur, but recovered quickly enough to fight the tougher battles, like over his numerous multiplying-like-wet-Mogwai network cables. *rolls eyes*

At the end of the day, good organizers don’t come cheap, but since it’s starting to feel like a whole new house and it’s taken us this long to get here, I consider it an investment well made.

When the Kindle came out, I was a little jealous. I wanted endless books at my disposal with the push of a virtual button, but not for a $400 dent in my wallet. I used to use eReader on my Palm LifeDrive, and while I liked the service, I stopped using it when I got an iPhone. I still eye the Kindle once in a while, but if you already have an iPhone or iPod touch, the eReader app is free, so try it out. It’s a really nice ebook reader, with day/night settings, easy bookmarks and auto-scrolling. Kindle’s selection is a little better in terms of new material, but if you’re into sci-fi or romance, eReader.com is hard to beat.

In a recent attempt at spring cleaning (aka, “Why the f&%k can’t I close this drawer?! That’s it – half of this stuff goes…”), I came across the following in our “kitchen gadgets” drawer: an apple corer, 2 melon ballers, 3 ice cream scoops, 2 pizza knives, a pastry cutter, a balloon whisk, 3 cooking chopsticks, 3 tiny cheese spreaders, 3 steak knives, a wire cheese slicer, 2 hard cheese slicers, a can opener, a dough scraper, a few measuring cups and a few pieces of unidentifiable metal. As tempted as I was to just upend the whole drawer into the trash and go on a shopping spree at Bed, Bath & Beyond (”oops, how did the kitchen drawer end up in the trash can? silly me..”), I went through the mess one-by-one to see what the bare essentials were.

The corer was rusty, so out it went, and steak knives for vegetarians? Eh. I kept one for cutting angel food cake and tossed the rest. The cheese slicers and dough scraper are the spouse-unit’s, so they were saved and I had to keep the can opener even though we use it less than once a month. The melon ballers and ice cream scoops stayed since I use those for shaping anything soft into balls, from fruit to scones & cookie dough.

Here’s a list of what I consider to be kitchen essentials:

• cast-iron skillet
• small sauce pan (sauces, custard, etc.)
• large stockpot (for pasta, soups, etc.)
• wooden spoons & spatula (bamboo is great here & a renewable resource)
• thin plastic/silicone spatula (eggs, fish, delicate things)
• pot holders or oven mitts
• wooden chopping boards* (again, bamboo is good)
• a butcher knife
• a really nice vegetable knife (I really like Global’s veg. knife)
• a paring knife
• kitchen shears
• immersion hand blender w/ chopper attachments**

Here’s some things I consider “nice to have”:

• garlic press
• tiny grater (for ginger, zesting, nutmeg, etc.)
• mandoline (it’s just so fast to use)

* A note about the wooden chopping boards: I know many people go with plastic or other surfaces since the less-porous materials are said to be better for not breeding bacteria, etc. I’ve always used wood and have never had a problem. We have some cheap Ikea boards that are light and quick to pull out and easily replaceable, but my favorite is a 3-inch-thick solid round I brought back from Malaysia. I’d suggest checking out Asian grocery stores or a local Chinatown for something similar. For care of wooden chopping boards, it always helps to oil them with a food-safe oil for that purpose, and every once in a while sand it down with fine grit sandpaper and re-oil.

** If you don’t have or want a food processor, I highly recommend getting a hand blender with chopper attachments. We have a Braun one and it rocks! I use the balloon whisk attachment for anything that needs to be whisked, the immersion blender for soups and purees, the mini-chopper for baby food, quick chopped onions, etc., and the big chopper for anything you would do in a food processor. In fact, my old food processor was made obsolete by getting an all-in-one hand blender.