Eating My Way Through Blacksburg

So I went to Blacksburg for a week, and all I did was eat. Well, not really, but here are some of the highlights:

Lasagna made with zucchini from my mom's garden instead of noodles. Also features spinach, as well as homegrown peppers, basil, and parsley

After

Cheeeeeese

More after the jump!

A Winter Woodland Walk

This is an appendix of sorts to Thanksgiven. The day after Thanksgiving, I took a walk around the property of our rental house with my mom and my sister, and this is what we saw.

Intrepid explorer, Haley Bechtel, scouting the frontier with only her hoop, her wits, and her adorable hat

      Treasures:

Thanksgiven

I was going to stay home in LA this Thanksgiving, but I got a wild hair to fly to VA and surprise everyone. Turns out no one was really that surprised, but I'm glad I did it anyway. My trip there was relatively painless. I seemed to bypass all the madness of traveling the day before Thanksgiving, and the rest of the trip was ever so relaxing. I didn't even mind so much that it was bloody freezing outside.

This was the lovely rental house we stayed in on a GORGEOUS Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving with my parents means Etaturk, a gathering dating back to my mother's days at Elon College, when the students in the liberal arts forum got together to eat and drink and carry on in a sort of high brow low brow fashion. The Etaturk group and ritual has fluctuated and evolved over the years, but it still involves eating at midnight on Wednesday and dressing up in costumes. You may recall from my previous post how much I love Halloween. Well, I love it so much, I do it twice!

Does this costume look familiar?

My sister with her roommate, Tierney

I love this photo. It looks like some bizarre 19th century French play

Mikey giving a traditional toast

Larry in a turkey coma. Not sure why he's got my wig.

My favorite thing about doing dinner Wednesday night is that Thursday, when everyone else is cooking and being busy, we just laze around and eat pie, cozy in the knowledge that we're loafing while people elsewhere are working hard.

The ceremonial Thanksgiving morning MFK eggs. The ceremonial pie has already been eaten.

Perfect.

Friday I was back to the grind a bit. I spent about 6 hours launching the fundraising campaign for my album from my laptop in the dining room. It was sort of grueling, but it really needed to get done. If you haven't heard about this already, check out our page: http://www.kapipal.com/thepictureandtheframe, and - no pressure - maybe give a little if you've got it.

So once the work was done, I got back to the serious business of having fun. Mom and I made dinner with some help from Haley and Sunil. The idea was to use up everything in the fridge before disbanding the next morning. I think we did pretty darn well. There was left-over split pea soup, more turkey, ham, and stuffing. Mom made a nice mess o' greens, and I made a what's-in-the-fridge soup that was out of this world. I was inspired to make something vichysoisse-esque with the leftover mashed potatoes and cauliflower, but that was just a jumping off point. I added leeks, turkey bacon, white wine, and a little buttermilk, and it was divine!

Mom makes greens next to my magical wonder-soup

Sweeties. I forgot to mention they made a souffle and some cornbread.

The Spread, aka, Larry Carves Another Turkey

Results!

Consequences.

I would be remiss if I did not mention a couple more things before I draw this to a close. We have a time-honored tradition at Etaturk of writing an illustrated verse about each year, in the voice of Etaturk himself, the turkey king. It is presented before dinner by the artist, Renny Johnson, and the bard, none other than Larry Bechtel (though Larry took up the mantle only a few years ago). Here is ETA XLV:

The other thing I thought important to acknowledge was the presence of our canine companions:

Lucky

Lilly

and Buddy, who lost his leg to a flock of angry geese.

Three cheers!

A Little Jaunt to San Diego

I just got back from a weekend trip to San Diego, and man was it great. Lauren, a close friend of mine from William Paterson, is having a baby, and the shower was a Sunday brunch in San Diego, so Alex and I decided we might as well make a weekend of it. It was short, but lovely just the same.

We stopped at a gluten-free restaurant in Encinitas on the way down to get some cupcakes for the shower (and also a chicken pot pie, pizza margherita, cinnamon roll, coffee and tea for lunch). Really good stuff. In LA, gluten free baked goods tend to be vegan as well, so it was refreshing that 2Good2Be did not have that hang-up. That cinnamon roll was bangin'!

We arrived at Hotel Solamar at about 4, after a little snafu at the hotel next door. They had a sign that looked very similar! We checked in, made ourselves comfortable, then changed into our evening attire. We enjoyed the complimentary wine service in the lobby. Pretty decent Torrontes. Our dinner reservations weren't until 9:30, so we changed into our bathing suits and got drinks by the pool.

We had a little swim in the heated pool, then another costume change, back into evening attire, and walked to dinner.

My domain name has become a lie. I am so busy!

Wow. Life picked up big time. I have been so busy! I feel like this is the first time I've sat still in weeks. I've been working three or four days a week. Things are ramping up with The Picture and the Frame. I'm trying to fundraise for the album. And if that wasn't enough, I moved in with my boyfriend. Figuring out how to fit two people's stuff into a one bedroom apartment has been challenging to say the least. We were going to wait until the end of October, but we decided to just go for it, so I've spent the past couple weeks packing and schlepping. I have to be out of my apartment by the 30th of this month, so I've been doing as much as I can on my days off and even after work in the evening. Yikes!  As you can imagine, pretty much everything else has disappeared for a little while.

I'm actually in a pretty good place with the moving process. All my stuff is in the new place, and it's mostly all put away, but I'm down to the odds and ends that don't have a place yet. I even registered to vote at my new address!

I Know How to Pack it In

So much for a week off. It looks like I'll be working Tuesday through Friday this week, but I think that's probably a good thing. I've really got to shake off this laziness. And, you know, make some money. I had a nice extra-long weekend though.

Wednesday I went to yoga for the first time in a couple weeks. It was a wee bit challenging, but it felt good. I did a volunteer shift at KCRW for their pledge drive in the afternoon. It was fun. The phones weren't super-busy, but it was nice to be there and meet other KCRW members. And there were delicious macaroons!

Thursday I got together with Helene. She picked me up from the auto shop where I was getting my oil changed, and we went for a nice long lunch at Figaro in Los Feliz. I got the spinach and salmon salad, which was good, but the lemongrass dressing makes it look as though it's full of boar bristles. Not the most appealing visual. Helene got the steak tartare, which was delish! We talked about music and fundraising, and film and fundraising. We were going to go to a movie at Los Feliz 3, but the service was quite slow at the restaurant so we decided, rather than hurry, we'd just get  dessert instead. So we ate a light, fluffy piece of cheesecake and some chocolate mousse, and discussed why a mutual acquaintance of ours sucks. I was a little overstuffed by then. French food is a bit rich for me, but boy do they know dessert. We strolled around a bit, looking in the cute boutiques on Vermont, wishing we could afford to actually shop there. Then we browsed the shelves at Skylight Books, and I ended up walking away with Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door," a travel guide that's going to help me plan my next adventure. So far, Rick's gotten me through the UK and Spain, and hasn't let me down.

Friday morning I got up early. I liked my first volunteer shift so much, I decided to do another. I toughed out the early wake-up so I could be in the studio when "Morning Becomes Eclectic" came on. No magical opportunity to talk to Anne Litt or Jason Bentley presented itself, unfortunately. Afterward, I trekked back to the East side, and went to another yoga class, this time with Tony himself. Great class, but I'm still sore. I went to see my little buddy Greyson, and my bigger buddy Jessie. We walked down to Wrap Express (which is way better than the name suggests) and got lunch. I had a veggie plate that included brown rice, grilled veg, hummus, and some kind of garlic sauce. I got them to give me corn tortillas, rather than pita. They had something I'd never seen before: rose hip juice. It tasted like a less-sweet version of tamarindo. I liked it. Greyson made friends with a nice little boy named Nicolas, but then he got all cranky, so we had to hurry back to the house to feed the voracious little beast. Jessie got him down for a nap eventually, so we had a few minutes of undistracted time to have a grown up chat. Jessie's such a good mom. It's definitely not easy.

After leaving Jessie's, I went to a place I fear over all others: the mall. Alex wants a bathrobe for his birthday, so I'm trying to find him a nice one. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the mall? The whole place smells of the most cloying perfume. As soon as you get away from the smell, someone walks by wearing the wretched stuff. You can't escape it! At least it wasn't crowded, but I didn't find what I was looking for either.

I met up with April, her sister Allie, and Maree at Dtox spa in Atwater Village for their monthly happy hour. It was pretty cool. I got a great stress relief massage (the perfect solution to mall stress), and there was lots of free wine and snacks. The DJ wasn't so good, but oh well. After we'd all had our treatments, we went next door to Bigfoot Lodge, but we were all pretty tired, and April had to get married the next day.

Saturday was a big day. I got up early again, and Alex took me, ehem, the long way to First Entertainment Credit Union to open a savings account. He's ever so proud of himself. We tried a new place for breakfast - Modern Eats on Rowena. It was alright. Nothing out of the ordinary. The Picture and the Frame had a short but strong practice. Rickett hooked up his old guitar amp as a vocal monitor for me, and it sounded pretty rad with the reverb turned up.

I went to my voice lesson, then jetted out to Simi Valley for April and Loren's wedding. It was really really nice. They were very low-key about the whole thing. They really just wanted to have a party, but I thought they had a good balance of sentiment and light-heartedness. The bride wore apple green, which I loved! And interesting delicious (virgin) shrub cocktails were mixed up by Wunderbar.

Sunday morning we got up early and drove to Santa Barbara to cash in a wine tasting voucher I got from Travelzoo a while ago. It was for Rideau Vineyard, which had a semi-obnoxious New Orleans theme, but really solid wines. I legitimately liked all 5 or 6 wines we tried, even the whites. Our guide was an older Irishman named Shay, who is basically Alex in 40 years. They were pretty much wearing the same outfit. He gave us a little tour of the vineyard and told us about the varietals they grow there (all Rhone), and the grafting of European varietals onto wild American root stock that saved wine grapes worldwide from extinction. Really! A bug that attacks grapevine roots devastated vineyards across Europe, but wild grapes from Arkansas were resistant to it. So even the finest of French wine grapes have American roots. Go USA. Way to be good for something.

This was my favorite part of the trip:

Ponies! Little teeny fat ponies!

AND little teeny mini donkeys!

After the tasting we went into the charming little town of Los Olivos for a late lunch. A little too late for me. I was already cranky. We had gazpacho at a charming place that used to be a hardware store, and still retains the name.

Those are garlic blossoms, by the way. No bigs.

We were still hungry, so we went down the block to Los Olivos Cafe for a second course. I was rather set on that place since I went there in 2008 with Nik and Nate on the way back from Outside Lands in San Francisco. It's not quite as swell when you can't eat gluten, but the tapenade was fab.

It took forever to get back to LA, but on balance it was still worth it for a beautiful day in the California countryside with my honey.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation Pt. IV

My final 15 hours in Virginia passed most pleasantly. The birthday brunch extravaganza had been cleared away by paid professionals. We bid farewell to Kathleen, Travis, and Grace. Major sad face. I stuck around the Pinkerton house for some afternoon chill time. The kids played in the sprinkler while the grown-ups unwound a bit with cold, malty beverages. I had forgotten what a nuisance mosquitos are in Virginia in the Summer. Or I guess anywhere other than the dry Southwest.

Charlotte chasing butterflies

More family fun after the jump!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation Pt III

The big day dawns! My one responsibility for the birthday party of the century was to make a gluten-free blackberry cobbler for my grandmother (and myself). I made sure to get up early and get bakin'. Normally when I make stuff with fruit, I don't like to add sugar or lemon juice because I don't want to alter the taste, but these blackberries, while big and juicy, weren't winning any prizes for flavor. So I just followed the recipe. I can't remember where I found it, but it called for lemon juice and a vulgar amount of sugar.  The thing that actually sold me on it was the lemon zest. I love lemon zest in pretty much anything. I replaced the flour and leavening with gluten-free baking mix and popped that thing in the oven. Cobbler is so much easier than pie! Now that I think of it, who coined the term "easy as pie?" Pie crust is a pain in the ass! Cobbler may not be as pretty, but it's way less work.

Not so bad lookin' for a cobbler. See more after the jump!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation Pt. II

Friday I slept in a bit (thank God). I got up and called Kathy, figuring my cousin John and his family were probably there and all settled in. I rode my sister's bike over to find the kids in their jammies, being adorable. We hung out and chatted for a while, though it's a teensy bit difficult to maintain a conversation with two three-year-old boys on the loose.  They're very cute, but as their father says, programmed to destroy.  We decided to go out for lunch. I had a tasty garbanzo bean soup and a soba noodle salad. Gluten-free, yay! I was ever so pleased to eat at Gillie's for a second time in one trip!

When we were done eating, we took the kids across the street to play on Henderson Lawn, but we had to skedaddle in a hurry when a storm blew in. It was crazy, all of a sudden it was dark and there was all this debris blowing around. We hightailed it to the cars just in time. I'm really glad I wasn't still on the bike!

I'm not sure if you can tell, but it's raining in these pictures. I forgot that it rains in the summer. There was lightning and everything!

Laura Lee and I hung out for a bit. We tried to watch a library copy of "Annie Hall," but it was unplayable, so we had to content ourselves with an episode of "Downton Abbey." Oh shucks.

I had a late dinner at The Cellar with Catherine, which was thoroughly enjoyable. I get so excited about gluten-free pizza. Theirs wasn't the best I ever had, but it was good enough, and they ended up giving me an extra for free!
My Aunt Kathleen and her kids, Travis and Grace, showed up around 1 am, and we chatted briefly before everybody crashed. I hadn't seen any of them in a couple years, so it was great to have them there.

So much more Shawhan family fun after the jump!

7/24/12-7/30/12 - What I Did on My Summer Vacation Pt. I

I've been semi-off-the-grid for the last few days. I've actually still been pretty on-the-grid, truth be told, but without a moment's time to email or blog. Also, without my laptop. I confess, it felt kind of good. Still, I've enjoyed this new blogging habit of mine, and I missed it a little. I will have to do a lot of editing here. So much happened in such a short time!

I had it in my head that I was flying out on Wednesday. That turned out not to be true. Luckily, my mom double-checked my itinerary, and reminded me that I was, in fact, flying on Tuesday. I spent a pretty long time in O'Hare, due to both scheduled layover and flight delays. There are really a lot worse places to be stuck. I went through my second favorite airport tunnel (second to the one in Detroit) to Concourse C.

Flashback! Fun with Fashion: Spain Edition

Writing the previous post about my trip to Spain made me quite nostalgic for the experience. I spent far longer than I intended looking through the photos from my trip and wishing I could go back yesterday. I am a good packer, I must say. I pack light and stylish, and this trip was no exception, only this time I had some specific style inspiration: "Volver," a film by Pedro Almodovar, starring Penelope Cruz. I love her wardrobe in this film, and how it fits in with the whole production design.

 

The color! The floral patterns! I pictured myself in this exuberant, easy glamour, like Penelope's character, only I don't have to cover up a murder. So I packed with this whimsical notion in mind.

I look like a total goon in this last one, but it's truly unfortunate how few photos there are of my without my coat or my sweater on. Sadly, the weather was not cooperating with my sartorial choices.  I think I did pretty well, but Sarah knocked it out of the park, and she wasn't even trying!

Some girls got it!