Wordless Wednesday

Gerber Daisy

Cyclamen

Feathery sunset

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"La Fuite de la Lune"

La Fuite de la Lune

by: Oscar Wilde

To outer senses there is peace,

A dreamy peace on either hand,

Deep silence in the shadowy land,

Deep silence where the shadows cease.

 

Save for a cry that echoes shrill

From some lone bird disconsolate;

A corncrake calling to its mate;

The answer from the misty hill.

 

And suddenly the moon withdraws

Her sickle from the lightening skies,

And to her sombre cavern flies,

Wrapped in a veil of yellow gauze.

 

This week's Slice of Life encourages us to choose a poem that speaks to us, and a photo that goes with it. I took this photo today of a giant dried flower on one of the hills I walk. There were a few large stands of these, amid the burgeoning green of spring. I also recently listened to a podcast about Oscar Wilde and would like to familiarize myself more with his work. I see a parallel in the flight of the moon and the starkness of this flower.

See previous Slices of Life here.

Gourmet Pizza

We've been getting Zachary's Pizza quite a bit lately - its delicious, Chicago-style deep dish with copious amounts of cheese on the bottom and all the toppings on top. But maybe we've done that a few too many times lately, and even though I came home from work tonight exhausted and not wanting to do anything, when Chris said he wanted pizza for dinner and I thought about what I had in my fridge to use, I was ready to get cooking.

I used my standard pizza dough recipe, substituting a cup of buckwheat flour for one of the cups of AP flour, and topped it with Bechamel sauce, fresh mozzarella, roasted butternut squash, Merlot-caramelized red onions, some frozen chopped spinach, and a little Parmesan. And it was quite tasty!

We've got an escapee

 

For the Pizza Dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 cup buckwheat flour

2 tsp. instant yeast
2 tsp. coarse kosher or sea salt
2 Tbsp. garlic olive oil

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and 2 tablespoons of the oil through the feed tube.

Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a tablespoon or so at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch (I haven't had to add any extra water). If its dry, add another tablespoon or two of water (but no more than a total of 1/4 cup in this step) and process for another 10 seconds. (In the unlikely event that the mixture is too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time.)

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. Put the remaining olive oil in a bowl, turn the dough ball in it, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap; let rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours.

 

Knead the dough, and let it rest for five or ten minutes. Then roll it out, place it on a cookie sheet and bake in an very hot  (475°F or higher) oven until golden brown and cooked underneath.

For the Bechamel Sauce:
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the milk until very warm but not boiling. In another pan melt the butter on medium heat; do not let it brown. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until golden. Gradually add the hot milk and continue whisking until the sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

For the Merlot-Caramelized Onions:
1 large red onion, sliced very thin
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup Merlot
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until starting to turn color. Add the Merlot and brown sugar, cover and reduce heat, and cook until caramelized, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper when they are as caramelized as you want, and serve.

Related recipes:
Waffle Pizzas
Cheater's Risotto
Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic
Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Vegetables

Ordinary Moments

I recently came across the website of Darrah Parker, a Seattle-based photographer who take some wonderful pictures of people (via The Mrs., another blog I enjoy reading and who takes some lovely photos as well). Darrah has created Slice of Life Tuesdays "...in which I provide a little inspiration and a gentle nudge, encouraging you to find the beauty in your everyday life." This really resonates with how I try to view things, so today I'm playing along.

Today's theme is Ordinary Moments. My day to day generally goes like this: wake up, get ready for work, take care of the pets, commute, work, commute, do something fun with Ayla, make dinner, good off for the rest of the evening (except for Thursday nights, when I have band practice). I've been listening to a lot of podcasts on my commute, since is kind of long, and I've really been enjoying it. Lately its been This American Life, Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class, and The Moth. I love that I can turn a very ordinary moment, at least for a Californian, into something entertaining, educational, and just enjoyable.

Another ordinary moment for me, and one in which I find a lot of beauty, are my outings with Ayla. We often hike the hill behind our home, which has great views of the valley; or walk in the neighborhood or on the golf course, where I often find something small that catches my eye; or head to the dog park where I enjoy seeing all the variations in the canine world. A couple days ago we did the hill, and I took a few pictures while we were up there. We saw the turkeys (I love hearing them gobbling around our place), and I snapped a picture of Ayla mid-run, where she just looked happy. These are quite ordinary moments for us, but they always make me smile.

Shenanigans

Chris' brother Greg visited us a couple of weekends ago. I got the pictures up on Facebook right away, but I haven't put together a slideshow until now. So here it finally is! And a quick run-down of what we did while he was here:

We went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. It was very, very cool! I was a little hesitant to drive the new car to the city; I'd like to put off that first door ding as long as possible, thank you very much. Anyway, the Academy has a very cool Rain Forest Sphere you walk around and around, up and up, through the different rain forest levels. Below the sphere is an awesome aquarium. There's also a natural history section focusing on Africa, with penguins; a planetarium which we didn't have enough time to visit, and more. Our favorite was the aquarium.

Then we went down to Fisherman's Wharf / Pier 39. We spent a long time watching the sea lions, walked around, and had lunch at Bubba Gumps, always a fun place. We had to head home after that, since Ayla and Greg's dog Willy had been home alone the entire day by this point. We hung out at home, played with some remote control helicopters my parents had gotten us at Christmas, and had a good time.

The next day we spent locally. After a quick stop at Best Buy for camera lens shopping, we went up to Blackhawk Plaza. We walked around the shopping center, taking pictures of the ducks, geese, and swans; had lunch at Prickly Pear Cantina; and admired the Porsches outside the Auto Museum. Then we took the dogs up the hill at home to play, where we brought out the helicopters again. They don't do well in the wind, but we didn't lose them! For dinner we went to Pyramid Brewery, figuring Greg would enjoy the beer tasting.

Greg had to head home the next day, after this jam-packed weekend. But we all had a great time, and there's lots more we'd like to do with Greg and Willy, so come on back out again soon!

On with the pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Someone must have been a very good girl this year.

Happy Holidays!

Muddy

I had to work a weekend recently, so I brought Ayla in with me for the day for company. She did really well too: she ran around the office in the morning, then hung out in my office. At lunch we took a hike on the Fire Trail, and then she came back and slept the rest of the afternoon. I'm very lucky to have a job where I can bring my dog in with me on occasion, though I'm very careful not to abuse that privilege. Here's a few shots from the day...

 Babushka Ayla - her neckerchief fits well over her head.

 A forest of fungi

On the Fire Trail - it was a beautiful, slightly foggy day

We went on a walk this afternoon and passed this tree or bush I've been admiring for a while. It looks so interesting without its leaves, all bare white branches.

That's it for now. Time to get ready for Christmas!