Pre-giving 2013

I am deep into Thanksgiving prep over here, getting ready for my favorite holiday. We kicked it off with pre-giving over the weekend and I'm so glad that we've started this tradition. It's a chance for me to test out new recipes (family Thanksgiving is all about old favorites and I wouldn't want to traumatize anyone by tampering with the stuffing recipe) and having a really long, leisurely dinner with friends is certainly something to be grateful for. It somehow manages to take all the pressure off the family holiday and leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy about both celebrations.

{pre-giving table}

{apps}

{piles}

{persimmons and crocheted lace}

{ready for guests}

{pre-dessert games}

It was slightly complicated by the fact that we settled on an apartment (!!!) which means we're moving in a couple weeks (yes, in the middle of one of the busiest months of the year - we're geniuses, clearly). I got excited the day we put down the deposit and starting listing our furniture on Craigslist, thinking it might take a while to sell, and then all our bookshelves and our coffee table went immediately, leaving us with a bare living room and two big dinners to host. But we rearranged our remaining furniture and D put together a temporary coffee table with a $6 Ikea top and some metal legs from Home Depot and everything worked out fine. We made sure everyone had a cranberry margarita the second they walked in the door and I think that really took the focus off the stacks of books all over our living room.

P.S. - Cranberry margarita recipe will be up tomorrow. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Apps I'm loving right now ...

I'm not a heavy app user and I rarely download anything new to my phone. So when I find something I like I get very excited and want to share it with everyone.

GymPact - I do better both mentally and physically when I workout on a very regular basis and I'm extremely loss averse, so this app works great for me. Basically, you commit to a certain number of workouts per week (minimum of 1/2 hour to count, no more than one workout per day) and bet a dollar amount that you'll do it. I'm committed to 4 workouts per week at $5 per workout. If I miss a day I pay $5 into the pot and it gets distributed to other people who did make their workouts. Because the pool is huge, you only get paid about 25 cents per workout, but the real motivator is avoiding loss so it works out well. So far I've made $15 and lost $5. The real benefit is that this is the most consistent I've been about the gym in ages. You can sync it with RunKeeper for outdoor activities and I do this to log my runs.

Naturally I obsessively read internet reviews before giving this app access to my Paypal. There are a lot of people who have had bad experiences (common complaints are problems with syncing to RunKeeper, issues with losing or not getting credit for workouts, trouble cancelling the service or changing workout commitments). I dove in anyways because I really wanted to try it (so why did I read all those reviews? I don't know) and I figured I could deal with the hassle of cancelling if it was a bust.

So far (11 weeks in) I've had zero problems with it. Every once in a while it will fail while trying to upload my workout but I hit retry and it goes through. That might just be the spotty internet connection at my gym. I've adjusted my workout commitment on weeks where I had a vacation or just a crazy schedule. As long as you do it before the week starts, it's easy peasy. It uses GPS to make sure you are actually at the gym when you check in, so you need to make sure your gym is registered. I've forgotten to check in a couple times, which drives me completely nuts but that's entirely my fault and I can't blame it on the app, sadly.

I'm sometimes (deeply) annoyed that I can't just skip the gym after work, but that's the whole point, right? I almost never regret a workout once I've done it, so it's just getting myself there that's difficult. This helps me get there.

RunKeeper - As a basic, free app, RunKeeper is pretty good. I like having the option of tracking my outdoor runs and it syncs with GymPact flawlessly so I get credit for them. Some people have been annoyed that you can't listen to music while using the app but I've never had an issue with this. I just open up my Pandora before I start RunKeeper and then they both run simultaneously. There are also playlist options but I still haven't bothered putting any music on my phone. It seems to automatically pause while I'm waiting at stoplights because while the overall time is still running, those pauses don't factor into my pace, which is nice. That said, I have issues with it being less than accurate. I've identified a couple of places along my usual routes that seem to be black holes. I'll run one block and suddenly RunKeeper thinks I've gone 2 miles further than I have, which has me running a 5 minute mile pace. I'd love to take the credit for that, but it's never going to happen. I've learned to avoid certain blocks (not sure what is up with that or if I'm crazy thinking it's that consistent) and my estimates tend to be more accurate. I have no idea if this is something to do with living in a densely populated city with lots of signals bouncing around or if it's inherent in the app. I'm not a serious runner, so the time/distance tracking is for fun and I can live with inaccuracy, but now I'm tempted to get a Garmin or something similar. Data is addictive!

SkyView Free - Just for fun. You get to see an overlay of stars everywhere when you open this app. It's set up so you can "see" straight through the Earth, so you can figure out which constellations are where at any time of the year. Bonus - you can take pictures of people with halos of stars and planets. This has no practical application but it's a nice party trick, if you happen to go to really geeky parties.

Light

I came home after a very long day a few weeks ago and the lights were on in our bedroom even though  I knew D wasn't home.

{bedside lamps}

Turns out while I was gone he'd purchased mirrored bulbs and hung the lamps we wired back in September! And he'd made the bed for good measure.

I love them. And him.

Reading, lately

I was on a bad streak at the beginning of this latest batch. It's my fault, since I was short on time and just haphazardly choosing books and throwing them in my library cart but it was still discouraging.

Fit2Fat2Fit - I can't help it, I'm a sucker for weight loss stories, even though I sort of hate myself for it. This one is particularly terrible. Health obsessed guy (seriously, you will hear ALL about how amazingly healthy he was compared to the rest of us slobs) decides to purposely gain weight so that he can then lose it and have more perspective. It's about as bad as you'd expect it to be. I really wanted to deny that I'd read this (you guys, there are NUMBERS replacing words in the title) but I'm trying to be honest here.

Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles and So-Called Hospitality - I love, love, love behind the scenes stories. I want to know what's happening in restaurant kitchens, on reality TV sets (sadly, I haven't found a memoir about how reality TV series are produced, but the second someone writes one I will read it), everything. Unfortunately, the author of this particular memoir is almost unbearable. I managed to get through it by telling myself that he was a character (and maybe it was? that would be clever) and it distanced me just enough from his supreme doucheyness that I could tear through it. I did love the insider info.

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder - I DIDN'T FINISH THIS BOOK! That's all in caps because I literally can't remember the last time I didn't finish a book. I'm a chronic finisher, even if I have to groan the whole way through. I think I was exhausted with annoying male narrators after the last two books and I just couldn't handle one more. I got 25% through and decided to call it quits. I checked it out because the premise sounded interesting (building strength through adversity, if I boil it way, way down), but by the time I'd finished the introduction I felt I'd already heard every single point the author had. Maybe an essay would have been better? Or maybe he gets to new and revelatory information right at the 26% mark and I gave up too soon? I'll never know.

Criminal - I love the Karin Slaughter series and this is the latest one my library had with Will Trent. If you love brutal, twisty serial killer novels, you'll want to read this series from the beginning. But I mean brutal. If you aren't on board with disturbing images, you should stay far away.

MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors and I particularly love her dystopian novels. Not only do I have a soft spot for apocalypse literature (survival stories!) but it's just so clear she enjoys writing this series. That said, I didn't love this third book as much as the other two. Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood are a little more solid.

Happier at Home - I read the Happiness Project a while ago (and thought I posted about it, but I can't find it?) and found it mildly interesting. I liked this one less. I have only the usual criticisms - it just reads as self-absorbed, privileged and overly obsessive. The big question is why did I read it, knowing that it would be?

Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality - I try to read all of Jared Diamond's books, since anyone who can get the general public interested in science is a winner for me. This is a really quick, light read and I enjoyed it. It's not as in-depth as Guns, Germs and Steel, but I think that's just the subject matter.

Swamplandia! - I was won over by the title on this one. It's the story of a family of alligator wrestlers running an amusement park on an island in the everglades. I think I was expecting a rollicking mapcap novel, which it is at times. But it also gets weirder and darker than I expected. When I finished it I wasn't entirely sure if I loved it, but I do think it's worth a read.

The Cutting Season - A mystery set on an old plantation, with elements in both the past and the present. I thought the writing was a little bit like your standard cozy mystery (i.e. not really literature). This was just okay for me. There is some suspense but it didn't grab me the way I expected.

The Snowman - I'm not sure why I continue to attempt to read so many Scandinavian crime novels when they are almost never my cup of tea. They tend to be so low key as to border on somnolent (feel free to hit me and/or disagree violently - there are millions of people who adore this particular subgenre so I know I'm in the minority here). This one started off slooooowly and I almost quit at 15% but if you can push through to 20% things get much more exciting.

When Will There Be Good News? - This was a re-read for me but I loved it just as much the second time. Kate Atkinson weaves together several different plot lines and keeps all her characters right on point. It's a mystery, but first and foremost a novel. Her dry humor kills me.

I'm currently re-reading The Twelve because I need to re-stock my Kindle. If you're looking for a saga about America after the vampirepocalypse, start with The Passage and read on through. I'm dying for the third one to come out even if the writing occasionally gets bogged down a bit with some overly fanciful phrases.

Around here ...

I haven't been breaking out the camera as often as usual and while it's sometimes a nice break, I also miss it. Here's a few glimpses of what we've been up to over the last couple months.

{caramel brownies, again}

{porch dinner}

{stenciling}

{carrot cake}

{apartment hunting}

{lasagna in progress}

{homemade rice krispie treats}

I may not be a huge chocolate person, but add a little bit of caramel and I'm suddenly on board.

We've been making the most of our balcony, especially with the crazy warm weather over the last month. Leftover wedding candles make everything prettier. Friends make everything more fun.

I told D I was totally over Halloween and just wanted the easiest costume possible that would let me wear sweats. Somehow we ended up hand stenciling skeleton costumes?

It was carrot cake time of year again. I won't deviate from this recipe. Even if shredding the carrots by hand kills me a little every time. (I ditch the maple syrup in the frosting because I swear it doesn't make a difference)

Apartment hunting in LA is a little brutal. We started a month ago and told ourselves we wouldn't settle! I wanted hardwood floors, laundry in unit, garage parking, no popcorn ceilings, patio or balcony for outdoor space. Four weeks later and we're pretty much ready to take the first decent, affordable, dog friendly thing that pops up. Patient, I am not.

Homemade lasagna noodles, inspired by cevd. Worth the time.

Homemade rice krispie treats, which is what happens when I decide to make an easy dessert. I COMPLICATE IT. Turns out homemade marshmallow fluff, while ridiculously delicious, makes for seriously stale rice krispie treats. So that is a bummer. I need to figure out the science on this one.

Tamarind simple syrup

I've been experimenting with making our own tamarind syrup for one of our favorite cocktails from last summer (and my current favorite fall/winter drink) and while I haven't mastered the exact proportions of the original (mine is slightly less sweet) it still works perfectly.

{tamarind simple syrup}

Now that I have the proportions down (which you should feel free to play with - you can do more sugar if you like it sweeter) I can make a batch in less than 15 minutes. It is worth having on hand, let me tell you.

{tamarind simple syrup, bottled}

Tamarind simple syrup (makes ~ 1.75 cups)

4 oz tamarind pulp/paste* (slightly mounded 1/3 cup)
6 oz granulated sugar (generous 3/4 cup)
10 oz water (1 1/4 cup)

:: Put everything into a smallish saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.

:: Whisk the boiling syrup briskly for 1 - 2 minutes. Lower the heat slightly if it looks in danger of boiling over! The syrup will become thick and dark brown once it is thoroughly mixed. You really need to use a whisk here, not a wooden spoon.

:: Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool for 10 - 15 minutes. It's easiest to strain if the syrup is hot but not boiling.

:: Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer or a few layers of cheesecloth. The syrup will be thick! I use a spatula to help press the syrup through a fine mesh strainer. If you're using fancy tamarind paste that doesn't have seeds and skins, you might not need to strain it.

:: Store in the refrigerator and shake before use. We usually go through it in 2 - 3 weeks but I'm guessing it will hold up a bit longer.

If you don't already have a kitchen scale, you're missing out (we have this Oxo one and it's held up well over the last two years so I'll vouch for it). Trying to scrape tamarind paste into (and then out of) a measuring cup is much more work than slicing off a chunk and weighing it out. I weigh everything directly into the saucepan. I tested and added cup measurements here but only because I love you guys. The good news is you'll end up with something delicious even if your measurements aren't perfect.

{tamarind paste}

* I get these blocks of tamarind paste from the local Middle Eastern market. It isn't strained and it has seeds in it and it costs less than $5. There are fancier seedless options but they cost more and it's easy enough to strain it after making the syrup. You should also be able to get it at some Mexican markets. Just make sure that whatever you get is 100% tamarind, without any added sugar.

Tamarind cocktails

First of all, I want to say thank you times a million to everyone who reached out after my last post. Those annual posts are difficult to write, but always worth it, mostly because you guys are so amazing. My heart breaks for those of you going through something similar. I wish I could give you all a hug, but how about a long overdue cocktail recipe instead?

2013 was the summer of the tamarind cocktail for us. We were given a bottle of Royal Rose tamarind syrup and we zipped right through it and then I had to figure out how to make my own (will share that recipe tomorrow in case you want to try it on your own). UPDATE - tamarind syrup recipe is right here.

The tamarind does make your cocktails a rather unusual murky brown, but once you discover how good they taste you'll start thinking they're gorgeous.

{tamarind sour}

There are two drink options, one with bourbon and one with tequila. I love them both but we make the tequila based one more often in the summer, the bourbon in the fall/winter.

Tequila Sunset - makes 1 drink / 2 drinks
2 oz tequila blanco              / 4 oz tequila
1/2 oz fresh lime juice         / 1 oz fresh lime juice  
1/2 oz tangerine juice*        / 1 oz tangerine juice
1/2 oz tamarind syrup        / 1 oz tamarind syrup
2 dashes bitters                 / 4 dashes bitters 

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled glass. 

Tamarind Sour - makes 1 stiff drink / 2 stiff drinks
2.5 oz bourbon                  / 5 oz bourbon
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice     / 1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz tamarind syrup        / 1 oz tamarind syrup
dash of bitters                   / 2 dashes bitters 

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled glass. 

*You can certainly sub orange juice for the tangerine juice, but whatever you use should be fresh. I'm obsessed with the tangerine juice in the refrigerated section at Trader Joe's. P.S. If you want the most inexpensive yet surprisingly decent white tequila, try the Zapopan blanco from Trader Joe's. It isn't a sipping tequila, but it's good in cocktails and it's so cheap. If you've tried it in previous years, maybe give it another go. It's 100% agave now and I've noticed a few nice restaurants around town keep it under the shelf for their well drinks. At this point you may be wondering if Trader Joe's sponsored this post and the answer is no, but they should have.