as cozy as spring

Martha Stewart on Habanero Pepper Spray

"Don't put it in your eyes or on your private parts.  I am speaking from experience."  

Anyone else wondering what the occasion would have been....

Must Stop Blogging Politics

Kristen had most touching video this morning which made me a bit weepy.  

Well, you aren't going to get that here, of course, as anything too serious makes me nervous.  But this last night was brilliant:

Especially the part about "If your family is off limits why are they up there on the stage with you?"  

Not necessarily suitable for children, but I would hope you would assume as much.  It's late night television, after all.

  

This must be where pies go when they die.

My opinionated little 3 year old wanted to make Daddy a cherry pie for Father's Day.  I make only one or two cherry pies a year, when the cherries are in season.  The crust was tender and buttery (Cook's Illustrated Basic Pie Crust) and the filling - the filling required several hours of pitting (mentally thanking my husband for springing for the cherry pitter from Williams-Sonoma a few years back).  There were many stained hands as we all sat around in front of a movie, tossing the pits into a paper grocery bag.  I didn't use a recipe, just adjusted the ingredients to taste.  Cherries, sugar, corn starch.  It was amazing, not syrupy sweet like canned filling but pure and tasting like cherries.  I love cherry pie day.  As seasonal pies go, it's impossible to top.  It humiliates the autumn apple pies.

And this is what I love about seasonal cooking, and summer cooking in particular.  The summer months are punctuated with cherry pies, cucumbers, and salsa from garden tomatoes.  The colors are so bright and the flavors so real.  We revisit the recipes only once a year or so and treasure the taste before the season passes.

We topped the evening off listening to a CD my daughter and I put together for my husband - George Winston and Vince Guaraldi.  

And you'd never guess.  There was a fish.  In the percolator. 

(Twin Peaks, of course!  I've been happily humming the soundtrack all day.  That was a great show.)

Pop

Oh this is a bit embarrassing, what is it, my third American Idol mention here? How many years have I rolled my eyes at the American Idol craze? Many. I think now, though, that there is something to be said for just going along with the crowd. Cultural milestones and so on - Thursday nights in the 1980's, for example, most people my age would have been sitting with their televisions tuned into the Cosby Show (right? weren't we?!?) That's sort of endearing now.
My take on tonight's competition:
Everyone expects David Cook to win, and he almost won me over with a Duran Duran cover (even a poor one) but I cannot express how passionately I dislike his hairstyle. I mention it several times every single show to where I think my husband wishes I would go back to my knitting and leave the rest of the family in peace.
Syesha really grew on me during Andrew Lloyd Webber week and I'm a fan now. My husband agrees.
The other David has a great voice, but sort of bores me.
My favorite? I'm not saying he deserves to win, but I'm a Jason Castro fan. I'm a reluctant fan because his hair bugs me too, but his version of "Forever in Blue Jeans" last week was brilliant. And I'm normally opposed to anyone even attempting a Bob Dylan cover (and oh, he botched it tonight), he's just got such a folksy style I can't fault him. If I were to buy a CD from any of the above, it would be him.
OK that's it. I caved to Harry Potter, I caved to American Idol, but I will never understand what's so great about Starbucks. I promise.

American Idol

This show has never really clicked with me. It's mildly amusing if I have absolutely nothing else to do. But that almost never happens. My husband and daughter are fans though, and so the show is on at casa As Cozy as Spring every Tuesday and Wednesday. I roamed into the living room tonight pretty much all I have to say is that wow, Michael Johns is one handsome man (though, of course, not nearly as handsome as my own amazing husband). Everyone in the living room agreed that he was, as a human being, not bad to look at. I won't specify just who was in the living room at the time, just that it was unanimous. And he just happened to sing one of my favorite songs.

And that's pretty much the most interesting thing I can think of to post these days. It's a late February thing. I read around the blogosphere many others feeling uninspired. So I'll pop in from time to time and expect me back on a daily basis after Lent is over. I'll have my camera, my garden, and some new yarn by this time next month. For now, I'll just let things be. All is well.

Oh Martha, you've gone too far.

Martha wrote about making yarn from dog hair on her blog this morning. She featured the yarn on her show.

What say you internet? Sweet or completely freaky?

I'm in the latter camp. First, I don't much care for dogs or cats. But I do love my children dearly and even then I wouldn't have yarn made from their haircut clippings. That's far too similar to fashioning a sculpture from their old fingernail clippings. I hope this isn't offensive to those of you that think this is a fabulous idea. But ewww. Really.

Making me happy this morning.

I was catching up on my DVR'd (?) Colbert Reports and I have to say that this clip of Mike Huckabee and Colbert playing air hockey with the state of Texas makes me gleefully happy. And then Huckabee saying he will win Texas because he understands barbecue? I actually stood up and applauded. He knows exactly what Texans take most seriously. Barbecue. And sort of health care and education, but a good barbecue sauce can right all wrongs.
And also the clips from 'Better Know a Lobbyist' are so funny I had to pause it several times to fully absorb the subtlety, but it is not suitable for children.

Lines

I had this big post written about how AWFUL ABC "Family" channel is and went on and on about the commercials due in large part to this image:

And then realized there are a bunch of people who would find the viewing of Harry Potter itself as inappropriate. It's all where you draw the line, I suppose. For example I love The Colbert Report but cannot tolerate Comedy Central's commercials (yuck, yuck, bleh!). And The Golden Compass? I haven't read the book and don't intend to. It doesn't interest me and if it's as anti-Catholic as everyone claims, I probably wouldn't enjoy it.

I suppose none of this has any point. It just seems to be a daily topic of interest to me. How much do you expose yourself and your family to ideas different from or contrary to your own?

Can I be mean?

When I was on bed rest while pregnant with my son, we watched a lot of Food Network.  My daughter and I bonded over Ina's beach picnics and Rachael Ray's "sammies".  But there were a few things that are still bothering me.  So I present for you my opinion on all things Food Networky.

• Ina uses way too much mayonnaise.  In everything.  I have spent a good deal of my restaurant time requesting no mayonnaise on sandwiches and then sending my sandwich back because it seems people cannot comprehend a sandwich with no mayonnaise.  Other than mayo overkill, Ina can do no wrong.  I don't, however, think it would be in anyone's best interest to eat her recipes every day.
• Giada needs to stop talking with a full mouth.  She inevitable takes a giant bite out of whatever Nutella flavored item she has prepared and then tells us how good it tastes while still chewing.  I mean, this is basic stuff here.  I don't care how great the recipe is or how lovely Giada is, after I've seen it all chewed up it's just gross.  And all the Nutella? That's awesome.  Nutella is on the short list of items I cannot bring into my home because I will just sit there in a daze with a spoon until it is gone (also on the list - Lucky Charms and butterscotch baking morsels).
• Sandra Lee made some sort of curdish pie filling yesterday.  Oh my.  Included were (brace yourself) pudding cups and a carton of egg whites.  I can see using a pudding mix, but pudding cups?  And come on Sandra, crack an egg!  It's not that hard!  You have a "cooking" show for goodness sake.  On one of her Thanksgiving shows, she scraped the filling out of a frozen pumpkin pie to make a dip.  This is a show I simply cannot tolerate.  There's nothing wrong with simple dishes, but her shortcuts are over the top.  Overly processed foods are not always easier. 
• Why does the crowd gasp at Emeril's daring use of powdered sugar?  Is it really so very naughty?  And then the utter shock when he uses a splash of alcohol in something makes you wonder if they stage hands are prepped with smelling salts.
• I love Michael Chiarello.  I just do.  He is the only chef out there making the same recipes as my Italian grandmother and great aunts. 
• I would include a catty remark about Rachael Ray, but other than the loud voice, I think she's just fine.  Oh wait!  I thought of something.  An abbreviation isn't an abbreviation if you explain what it means every.single.time (EVOO!!)

For Lost Fans

OK, I'm sort of behind on this I suppose because I (proudly!) don't read TV web sites all that much but Harold Perrineau (Michael) is returning to Lost.  Yay.  I loved his character and find his acting less contrived than some of the other actors.  I missed him last season.  Now if we could just bring Libby back....

Here in my little world I am making last minute decisions on extra curricular stuff as we really need to go ahead and register everywhere.  I will be a happy, happy camper when our schedule is set for the year.  My morning was spent on the phone whining to anyone who would listen about how far away our ballet school is and how she doesn't really enjoy it but if we skip this year will it ruin her chances to be a world famous ballerina but what if she doesn't even want to be a world famous ballerina what if she wants to be a famous gymnast or swimmer and piano what about piano?  It's been big fun.