breakfast views: pangaea

around here

When we got back from Florida we couldn't find the hamster. I thought she was gone for good. I was feeling horrible about it until I glanced at the front page of a recent NYT to see a man carrying a boy bloodied in a car bombing. In the kitchen, I heard her; the little Houdini, who had pushed back the top of her cage and scaled the refrigerator, was attempting entry into a box of Wheat Thins in the cereal cabinet. She came to me without much fight. She'd lost weight.

I knew my daughter was still pretty sick because she barely smiled after she learned the hamster had been apprehended. This is day 6, I'm hoping she'll feel better. R has recovered and seems very happily at work making faux fossils from a kit he chose for his birthday, which was Sunday.

Broth

I think we've been hit by H1N1 so I'm throwing garlic at it for now. Garlic broth, to be exact, from this recipe. On this account I blanched garlic cloves for the first time ever today, which reminded me of skinning shrimp, sans the tiresome deveining. It seems I spend my whole life in the kitchen lately.

My daughter swallowed a little, she said it burned her throat. Not from heat, from garlic power. I take that as a good sign. I hear no Tamiflu is available, its probably been stockpiled, and for that matter no flu shots have been available at the pediatrician and they told me the H1N1 vaccine shipment had been canceled. Very interesting.

Insweeticide

Centipede design inspired by a book called Hello Cupcake, a gift from my mother.

kitchen table nephology

Mystery formations photographed on a recent flight. I'm not sure how to classify them, more cloud study seems to be required. As soon as I think I've got it pinned down, I realize I got nothing.

Good Spelling!

Soup Fog

I used to have the over achiever's disease, I remember it now, when it was hard to commit myself to cooking a particular dish because there might be something better. What misery. Hard to decide what restaurant to go to, what to buy, because there might be something more exciting.

All over now. Making pea soup I'm as happy as James Marshall's Martha, except I like to eat it too, and as far as I know, no one's ever poured it in their loafers.

Sauteing the chopped root vegetables and celery it's possible to become intoxicated by the steam born aromas braiding in the air, an olfactory sonata that caramelizes my heart. On the other burner, the pot filled with water and split peas, slowly softening to the point where each semisphere goes limp. To think those fine, spiraling tendrils that supported the vines and delicate flowers are part of the crew behind this inimitable performance proves once again that I don't need to search under rocks for what might be.

last petals

...for now, & a little respite from the cave painting weather. I've learned that rose petal tea is a PH indicator, along with many other garden pals, including Horse Chestnut leaves:"Soak horse chestnut leaves in alcohol to extract the fluorescent dye esculin. Esculin is colorless at pH 1.5 but becomes fluorescent blue at pH 2. Get the best effect by shining a black light on the indicator."

That being said, Happy Independence Day.

aerial

If this pile of pancake ingredients is the closest I ever get to the Himalayas, it's OK.

Kitchen Nebulas

Russell got a day off school Friday because he convinced me that he wouldn't be able to write because he'd jammed his finger playing ball the previous day. I wanted to be convinced...he seemed to need a day off. I think the pollen may be getting to him, he's had a short fuse this past week.

We spent some time looking at the different nebulas and marveling over their forms and names. Eagle, Horsehead, Cat's eye, Rorschach, Crab, Helix (his favorite, looks like an alien's eye), Orion, Lagoon, Trifid, Eskimo, Cresent, Carina. I know so little about them. He views them as "the eggs of stars." I tried to tell him that they are also the product of an old star's decay, but he didn't want to hear about that. It's a big topic for little ears.

We read about how once a star forms other particles in the nebula are drawn to it by its gravity, that immaterial adhesive. Whether a nebula is a star nursery or funeral pyre, I enjoy looking at them as astral velvet paintings, or stellar flock boxes.

all smiles

diver

Perhaps it's not proper tea etiquette, but it may be a good idea if, like me, your sinuses are turning to cinder blocks. I waited all day to submerge the aching outcrop I call my face in hot tea - in this case Echincea and Elderberry I bought at P.S. Coffee & Tea. Thump, thump, I. love. that. place. The soaking drove blood into my face, thinning the wretchedness in the caverns therein and relieving the headache that was starting to roll out in all directions.

From the illustrations on the package I learned that Elderberry was the very plant I had been curiously eyeing in August on walks through Prospect Park on account of its beautifully measured panicles of small black berries. Wild Man Steve Brill has a lot to say about it. I suspected the berries were edible but wasn't so sure. At one point when I was starving I crushed one between my fingers in lieu of eating it. Now here I am with my second cold of the season, submerging my face in it. Turns out, it may be very good for the skin as well as the cold.

Big Risks, Small Gifts

I read that A.I.G. once trumpeted the tag line "The biggest risk is not taking one." I like this much better: "The biggest risk is not passionately appreciating even the smallest pleasures." I find that's very hard to do.

And with that, some more mustard seeds.

I need a warm up

...after all those chilly cemetery images. Got a really good one here. Here's another. Those are black mustard seeds I've had for years. The first step in the recipe I used to make called for toasting them in oil 'til they popped like a wild party.

Saturday Still Life

Site Meter Disclosure

Some people found themselves at Brooklynometry recently via search terms including:

•meditation tingles (that's awesome)
•a night he'll never forget (I have a feeling that person left unsatisfied)
•budget cut effects on school (sorry visitor I'm sure you left disappointed as well)

A person in Brooklyn wanted to know where they could get computer access in Park Slope, someone in LA wants to know how to make moneygami hearts, and one from Sydney Australia visited in hopes of finding out what hemmoirroids are.

As for images, this one seems to be the most popular.

Don't Fear the Reamer

But I expect you wouldn't, unless you happen to be a lemon.

I heart my reamer. Even when sick and mired in a torpor of self pity and discomfort, I find I willingly rouse myself due to the extreme satisfaction of mixing hot water, the juice of a freshly reamed lemon, ginger and some of the manuka wildflower honey I bought at Dub Pies recently.

I used to strain the grated ginger out before drinking the brew, but now I just leave it in. I guess I have fewer issues with pulpy fluids than I used to, isn't that special? Or maybe I'm just so mad for the stuff I can't be bothered with the fussing over the fibery strands. When I get to the bottom of the cup, oh, it's so sad, but my sinuses and chest usually feel quite a bit better.

In the Split Pea Soup

More work with my son's hypersensitivity and tactile defensiveness. Now back to work on the 8 billion things I'm defensive about. I can barely stand to look at the peas stuck to the foot, for instance. I get queasy. How about you?

An explanation of the bizarre practice here.

He'll Never Forget....Friday Night

Because I made him step in ketchup. This is part of my kitchen occupational therapy series. All other weeknights have been for homework lately, but Friday I reserve for flooding the senses.

He never would have done this footwork had his little sister not happily led the way. Once his feet were in the condiment booties, he got very quiet. The reason for the fun here. But does fun really need a reason?

Saturday not-so-still Life