Tobico Marsh

We're in Michigan. Yesterday's 13-hour drive was worth today's picture perfect weather. Here's where we went walking this morning.



Got a piccy of this cute little chipmunk, too.

Being Green

I have this crazy idea that if I ride my bicycle to work as much as possible, I will:
Lose weight
save money
conserve gas
help make the air cleaner
So I took my bike to Pibby's Bicycle Repair and got the 25-year-old tires replaced. Rode the bus to work this morning and rode the bicycle home.
The bus is always interesting. Like I said to Andy today, I feel much more a citizen of the world when I ride the bus to work. The bus was very crowded today, and full of sights and sounds to keep me amused. A Spanish speaking lady feeding a bottle to a darling little baby girl, with big brother (who looked about 4) gazing at little sister with the sweetest unabashed affection. And little baby girl grabbing at everything she can reach, including the ass of a young man in baggy jeans.

Man standing about 3 people down from me, singing the entire way downtown. He had a smooth and silky voice and sang perfectly in tune. First it was "Strangers in the Night" and then it segued into "Just the Way You Are."

I saw two young men get up and give their seats to older ladies.

Sitting right across from me was a surly looking young woman who had her knees up on the seat, thus taking up two places. As numerous people got on the bus, she never moved to make more room. Finally an older man walked up to her, pointed at her sprawled out legs and asked to sit there. She grudgingly shifted enough to let him sit. Meanwhile, she held a wadded up kleenex in one hand while she wiped her nose with her (bare) other hand.

And the guys across from and right next to me were chatting animatedly in what sounded like Arabic.

My ride home was also very nice. We're not in the dog days of summer yet, so it's still pleasant and breezy riding the bike. I just hope I can keep the bike riding up at least a few days a week when it gets hotter. It's an amazing calorie burner, and it kind of reminds me of being a kid, except for the huffing and puffing!

One last strange note on all this--My mom has decided to give up driving because she's too blind to drive safely. So here I am making a conscious decision to drive less, and here's my mom , kind of having no choice in the matter. And to boot, she is giving me her car. So in the midst of trying to be more green, I find myself to be one person owning two cars.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

I feel as if I've been on a treadmill for the last month. I don't look like it, but I feel it!

The past couple of months have been a blur with overlapping singing projects, the final one being last night! And though last night went extremely well, I am so happy to have it behind me and looking forward to returning to my kitchen!

And because my boyfriend has been an exceptionally good boyfriend lately, what with stepping in to play fiddle on short notice at our concert last night, mowing my front lawn and the neighbor lady's, fixing up our bicycles and a whole host of other sweet things, I am making a treat for him tonight.

This is an English dessert, a recipe I got out of delicious magazine that I bought in England. It's called syrupy marmalade steamed pudding and you cook it on the stovetop. I found it on delicious' website, thankfully. Their picture's a lot prettier than mine!

The secret ingredient in it is this stuff called Golden Syrup. I don't think it's made anywhere in the US, but you can probably buy it from a specialty food store. It looks and acts like honey, all sticky and thick and gooey. But it doesn't taste like honey. It is sweet, but with a buttery note to it. It comes in a can that is like a little paint can.



The other special ingredient is the homemade Moxie Marmalade, made by Judy Boothby, Andy Boothby's mom.

It's quite a lot of trouble, but the end result is SUBLIME!



It's soft, spongy, moist, sweet and orangey and it melts in your mouth. This was my very first steamed pudding. Andy's mum made this recipe and recommended it to me, so I have her to thank for the idea. I didn't have a "pudding basin" like the recipe called for, so I just used a 1 quart pyrex bowl. The magazine picture showed it cooked in an individual portion, but I made it into one pudding and served it in wedges. Andy, his son Tom and I each had two wedges, and then I took the rest across the street to Joe and Debra while it was still warm. Too dangerous to keep it at the table!

Why Does Peter Pan Make Me Cry??

The theatre company I work for opened "Peter Pan" this morning to about 550 kids from area elementary schools, their teachers, and their parents. It was kind of a crazy morning, but I loved it. Being able to greet the excited little ones and see how jazzed they are about the show and listen to them carry on and rave about it afterwards--this is the kind of morning I love. It firmly reminds me that I work for a company that I am so freakin' proud to be a part of.

So if you see me sitting in the audience with crocodile tears streaming down my face, it's not because I have PMS. It's because I just well up with extreme pride, like I did today, when I sit and watch the combined talents of this amazing group of people that I work with. From the performers to the set and costume and lighting designers to the director to the choreographer to who knows who I am forgetting to list. These people make magic. They create an experience that is indelibly printed into the memories of all who watch it. How cool is that? I can't help bawling like Miss America. By the end of the show today, my Kleenex was a tear and snot soaked mess!

I encourage you all--all 6 of my readers--to please go see Peter Pan! You will feel like you are 7 years old and when it's time to clap if you believe in fairies, you will applaud until your hands bleed! Just leave your adult brain at the door and let yourself be sucked in--you will be so glad you did!

I Love My Boss.

I really do. I'm not being facetious. He is one of the best guys I know, and I have deep respect and genuine affection for him.

We have this funny dance we do regarding his voicemail, which he does not like to check. It goes something like this:

I check his messages and write them down.
I then type them up in a word document.
I then email the document to my boss.
I then call him to tell him I have emailed his voicemails to him.

Now I think that's funny!

On another note, I have not cooked in ages. I'm mired in rehearsals right now. Any guest posts are welcome!

Grocery Store Music and Really Old Cougars

I was waiting my turn in line at Ukrop's on Saturday and I heard "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder come on as the background music. Of course, I begin to absent-mindedly sing along with Stevie, being the child of the sixties and Motown that I am. I'm patiently waiting, and maybe starting to tap my feet a little, maybe a little hip action going on--I'm swept up in the moment but not really aware of it. Then the checkout lady in the neighboring station turns around and shouts, "Who's singing?" And to my surprise, my checkout lady, plus the bagger guy, and I all answer at once, "I am!"

I still maintain that Food Lion has better music. I think all the FL stores must subscribe to the same music selection, because every time I'm in a FL, some old song from the eighties comes on and I have to sing along just a little too loudly as I stroll through the aisles.

Abrupt change of subject--I'm watching a trashy report of Ivana Trump's umpteenth wedding on ET. Wow, she is so tragic. First of all, she is botoxed and collagenized within an inch of her life. And then she is marrying some hot but very cheesy European guy who looks young enough to be her son's best friend. And she's having this gigantic, outrageously expensive wedding with more bridesmaids than there are plural wives in Texas. I guess money can't buy taste.

Spicy Peanut Stew

I made a dee-licious African-inspired spicy peanut stew today. I found the recipe on the Fat-Free Vegan website, but I added lots of fat back in and changed some of the vegetables. I deviated so far from it that I am just going to post what I did instead.



First, I cooked up a batch of this gorgeous brown basmati and wild rice. I like to put it in the rice steamer and prepare everything else while it's cooking because brown rice takes a good hour to cook. It's worth the wait, though. I like its texture and nuttiness a lot better than white rice.

I heated peanut oil in the beauteous enameled dutch oven, then added a chopped onion. While that was getting soft and translucent, I minced about 5 cloves of garlic, a 1" piece of fresh ginger root, and 3 fresh jalapenos. After that had sauteed for about 3 minutes, I added a dry spice mix of 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 2 teaspoons red chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried chili flakes. Meanwhile Andy was dry-roasting a tablespoon each of coriander and cumin seeds. He then ground them to a powder and I added that to the mix.

Let me just briefly digress. Dry roasting your spices in a hot dry frying pan for just a minute or so--until you can smell their aroma explode, but not long enough to burn them--will intensify those flavors like you wouldn't believe. You should try it.




I added a big can (I think 29 oz.) of diced tomatoes and about 3 cups of vegetable broth. While that was simmering, I diced up and added 2 carrots and 2 potatoes. Then in went about 3/4 lb. of fresh green beans cut in 1" lengths and 1/2 cup of frozen lima beans.




Finally, I added 1/2 cup of all natural creamy peanut butter and stirred gently until the peanut butter was incorporated throughout. Then I just let the stew simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until the vegetables were all tender. The PB and starch in the taties make a nice thick broth.

At the very last, we needed to tweak just a little. I added about a tablespoon of dark brown sugar and a squirt of sriracha, the asian chili sauce that no kitchen should be without.


We ate it most enthusiastically, served with the lovely rice and sprinkled with crushed peanut. I thought a cilantro garnish would have been yummy, but alas, I had no cilantro.

I think you could substitute like crazy with this recipe, depending on what you love or have on hand. For instance:
Chickpeas instead of lima beans
Okra instead of green beans
Sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes
You get the picture.

This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings and I bet it tastes even better the next day! I'll let you know...