simple sugar snap peas on an otherwise crazy day

i wish i could say that i went out to the garden and spent the afternoon picking a basket full of sugar snap peas for dinner. i wish i could say that i lovingly selected only the most perfect ones and then carefully removed the ends and strings. i wish i could say that i expertly prepared the sugar snap peas simultaneously with the beef wellington all while a homemade dessert chilled in the refrigerator.

i wish i could say all of that, but i can't.

what i can say is that we do not have a garden. i can also say that i spent my day trying to get actual work done between conference calls. i can say that we did indeed have sugar snap peas but they came pre-washed and trimmed in a bag from the grocery store. i haphazardly prepared them while simultaneously defrosting the shoyu chicken, letting the dog out, and sorting the mail. i remembered to make the rice to go with our meal ahead of time, so i count that as a success. as the geek ate his sugar snap peas, he declared the dish 'not offensive'- which from him is high praise when it comes to vegetables.

as for dessert, i think there's ice cream in the freezer.

don't mind the protective layer of ice, i hear it seals in the flavor.

fruit dip

have you ever had a sound or a smell evoke memories from your past? maybe you're driving along and a song comes on the radio, and just like that, you're back in college or high school or summer camp. or you smell  something familiar baking and you're suddenly back in your childhood kitchen.

me? when i hear smashmouth's all-star, i'm instantly happy. i'm back on a roadtrip with friends and find myself singing loudly and badly - just as i did years ago when it played almost hourly on the radio. cool water? one sniff and i'm once again in middle school. i swear, so many boys wore it that you could probably smell our campus from a mile away.

the taste of this dip has an effect on me too. it transports me back to the 80s, where i'm still a kid, cartoons are my world, and apples and dip are the best treat ever.

while i associate this dip with the 80s, who knows when this dip was actually invented? it has only two ingredients - cream cheese and mashmallow fluff - and both have been around for ages (the newer of the two being the fluff which made it's appearance in the early 1900s...thank you wikipedia).

the nostalgic part of me probably loves this dip for what it represents...simpler times and a higher metabolism.

2013

it may seem that i'm late to the resolution party. i probably am. so instead of a resolution, i'll just make some plans for what i hope to accomplish this year.

this is something the geek suggested i do a couple years ago. instead of focusing on changes i wanted to make, he said i should focus on what i want to do, see, and eat. the outcome was more interesting than successful...while i didn't accomplish many things from the list, i did enjoy reflecting on my optimistic plans and intentions from the start of the year.

this year, i hope to look back in amazement at how much i've accomplished. i'll cheer as i triumphantly check items off the list.

a more likely scenario would find me, at the end of the year, scratching my head and wondering what i was thinking when i wrote some of the items in the first place.

1. spend an afternoon exploring a new seattle neighborhood with the geek.
2. take a weekend trip to canada.
3. go on a hike.
4. learn to brush the dog's teeth.
5. learn to make butter mochi.
6. get out the ice cream maker and make a batch of ice cream.
7. invite friends over for a shabu shabu party.
8. cook something southern.
9. find a way to make brussel sprouts delicious.
10. sew something. anything.
11. purge my closet.
12. learn to use chopsticks with my left hand.
13. go to the zoo.
14. go to a festival.
15. curate my bookshelves.
16. decorate a wall.
17. plant a tree. or bush. or shrub.
18. read the odyssey.
19. organize the pots and pans.
20. try a new cuisine.

with only 342 days left this year, i better get to work on these right away!

foggy night

last night, we got in the car to drive to the grocery store.

when we pulled out onto the street we could barely see through the fog.

after rolling down the street, we turned around and came home.

definitely a night to stay in.

how can you tell your dog has been up to no good? #2

you come home to find your bathroom and hallway have been tp'ed. 

we've since gotten better at closing all bathroom doors before going out!

a wintry walk around the neighborhood

after a week of cold, rainy days, we had a light snow last night. it left everything a little frosty.

in the sunny day that followed, the frost began to melt, only to refreeze as sparkling ice drops.

nature's ornaments!

stay warm.

hot artichoke dip

this dip is so simple to make and it tastes amazing. considering that it has only 4 ingredients, it has the highest compliments to ingredients ratio of anything in my recipe box.

i've seen variations of this recipe on the web. this one has garlic, others don't. some add cream cheese or sour cream, this one doesn't. to me, it's perfect just the way it is. but, i could be biased. this version was the first artichoke dip i tried, thanks to a college friend who brought it to a potluck.

what does a 17 year old dog look like?

she looks like this!

she had a little less white in her fur a few years ago.

today is her unofficial birthday. so, how does a 17 year old dog celebrate her birthday?

she wakes up when her most favorite food magically appears, groggily steps on the plate, gobbles up the food and licks the plate clean.

happy birthday diggity dog.

happy new year too.