even dogs like christmas!

I am a sucker for Christmas. I love to decorate, listen to Christmas music, discover new crafts ... and buy presents for pretty much every one I know, including dogs.

My mom has two dogs, Riley and Mae, who really believe I am their sister. My mom's boyfriend Lester, henceforth referred to as Mo, also has two dogs ... Poppy and Pea, who would like you to believe that she was abused in her former life. And I would be remiss if I did not mention my niece Abby, see gratuitous cute picture below.

This year, instead of getting them all toys which they would destroy, ignore, or lose in their already huge pile of current toys, I decided to bake them dog treats. The idea came to me while browsing through the aisles of Cookin' Stuff, my favorite local cooking supply store. Cookin' Stuff has bins upon bins of cookie cutters and I found a dog bone I thought I could do something cute with.

After googling "homemade dog biscuits," I was surprised to find hundreds of recipes. After doing some research, I settled on the following recipe:

First I mixed together 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups white flour.

I then added my dry mixture to 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 cup milk - and then beat it all together in my KitchenAid.

I then took the mixture and rolled it into 1/4 inch thick sheets, and then using my bone cookie cutter, cut out the cookies.

After only 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven, they came out perfect! One back made nearly 60 treats, enough for everyone to have ten cookies each. I forgot to take photos of the dogs enjoying their gifts, but trust me, they did!

butternut squash soup

In October, I attended a party at Wolfgang Puck Bistro in downtown LA. During the party, we were served Butternut Squash Soup shooters ... and for me, it was love at first bite. Coincidentally, I had volunteered to make a soup course for Thanksgiving ... et voila!

I have never attempted to make butternut squash soup so I was a little nervous about the process, especially when it's a Wolfgang recipe! Turns out, while time-consuming, it's very easy to make and so delicious - I've made it several times since Thanksgiving!

Wolfgang Puck Savory Butternut Squash Soup
3 3/4 pounds pumpkin or butternut squash
1 acorn squash (about 1 3/4 pounds)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 white onion (about 4 ounces), peeled, trimmed, and finely diced
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used garam masala instead)
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 sprig fresh rosemary

For those of you unfamiliar with what butternut and acorn squash look like ... here is a photo. I actually found my squash at Trader Joe's, but I know Whole Foods carries them as well. Acorn seems to be more difficult to find.

Unfortunately, these types of squash are difficult to cut, so my trick is to pop them in the microwave for a few minutes - it will make your life so much simpler!

After cutting the squash in half, and spooning out the seeds, brush with melted butter and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Arrange the squash cut side down on a rack placed in a baking tray and bake until tender, for about 1 1/2 hours. Cool, scoop out the insides of the squash and reserve.

In a medium stockpot, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Over low heat, sweat the onion. Do not allow it to brown. Add the pureed squash and cook over very low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. Do not allow it to bubble up. Season with the salt, pepper, ginger, and cardamom.

Pour in the stock and bring to a boil, still over low heat, stirring often. Cook about 20 minutes.
In a small saucepan, heat the cream with the rosemary sprig. Remove the rosemary and pour the cream into the soup. Transfer to a food processor and process, in batches, for 2 or 3 minutes.
After reading an article in Food Network Magazine, I decided to serve my soup with a topping bar – croutons, parmesan cheese, pepitas, scallions, and crème fraiche.

This soup is truly delicious and one I will keep eating until all the winter squash is gone!

muscial memories

I love music.

I love hearing the first few notes of a song, and instantly being trasported back in time, to a memory, clear as day.

The ability of music to make us remember a time, an emotion, a place, a person is remarkable.

Today, while driving home, I put my iPod on shuffle. As I was passing through Long Beach, The Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley" came on. As soon as I heard the banjo strumming, I knew what it was.

When my sisters and I were young, we used to pile into our dad's Mercury Sable, and later our mom's cherry red Suburban for trips to visit or grandmother in Marin County and our grandparents in Carmel. I always had a window seat (I do get car sick!) and we did our best to entertain ourselves, but this was before cars had personal DVD players and we didn't all have walkmans.

Instead, we were forced to listen to our parents' music, which inevitably consisted of a recorded tape - one side The Kingston Trio and the other, The Limelighters. If you are into folk music, you know who I am talking about. Now, my parents had really good taste in music - I owe my love of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, etc to them (Abba too!), but for some reason this was the road trip tape.

My sisters and I grew to appreciate folk music, and to this day, it's not uncommon to hear us recite the words to Tom Dolley verbatim.

Hearing the banjo instantly brought me back to 80, driving to Novato with two sisters, and a mom and dad. A family.

I miss it everyday.

run, run, run!

For the past three weeks, I have been training for a 5k as part of Cool Running's "Couch to 5k" Plan. And while my weight-loss may not be noticeable and I haven't run three straight miles quite yet ... the difference this plan has made in and on me is amazing.

My stamina is back. I feel better, happy. My blood pressure is down. And my mood-swings are less. I know the weight loss will follow, and I am okay with that for now.

For the first time in a long time, I was frustrated with something at work today (wait, that's not the first time in a long time) and I thought to myself, "Ugh, I can't wait to get home and run!"

So chipped knee, fractured toe, and toxic Helberta House be damned. I am back!

a tale of two girls ...

Once upon a time, a young couple was blessed with their second child, a little girl named Carrie. About six months later, in another suburb of Sacramento, their best friends were blessed with their first child, also a girl. Naturally, the two babies played together:

And as they grew older, they became best friends. They had the first can of soda together. Ate Nerds together. Played with their Cabbage Patch Kids. Escaped snakes. Survived being babysat by Tyler and Shaun. Put up with younger siblings. Shopped for tye-dye "leggos" with their dads. Roasted marshmellows. Made up cheerleading routines. Drank champagne with their moms when they turned 16. Watched their parents divorce and remarry. Graduated from college. Visited each other when their families moved from Sacramento. Celebrated new apartments. Met new boyfriends. Got attacked by crazies in line for the bathroom. Sang along with Van Morrison.

And then one day ... one of them met an amazing guy. She came over to her friend's house and showed her the guy's picture on the internet. She agreed he was cute. Then she met him, and liked him even more.

Soon after, the girl and the boy decided to get married. Everyone was excited - how could they not be? And the girl asked her friend to stand with her as she embarked on this new chapter of her life.

... and so it began, their next memory in the making.

hurt

In the past six months, I have received unkind emails from both my grandparents and an uncle - both of which declared they wanted nothing to do with me. I have had a sister stop speaking to me. And a mother who excluded me from a family celebration.

Growing up, I always thought your family loved you unconditionally. I thought they were the people you leaned on when you were done. Were happy with when you were sad. Not mine.

If someone asked me to describe my family today, I would tell them that my family has caused me more pain and saddness than anything else I've ever encountered. Unless I am who they want me to be, they want nothing to do with me.

I'm struggling. I'm struggling a lot. When the tears dry, I turn to the people who do love me. I have people who I call my "family," even though we don't share any of the same blood and while some may say we aren't related, these people love me and support me, in the good times and the bad.

It is these people who make me who I am today. I have bad moments, like I am having right now, but those people are there for me. I hope they know who they are, and I hope they know how much I love them.

My only hope is that someday I will be fortunate to have my own family and that no matter who they are, or what they do, I will love them just the same. I will hug my children and tell them that I love them. I will support my new siblings and be there for them.

I never want anyone I love to ever feel like this.

spring forward

Spring has arrived in Southern California! As I type, I am wearing a sundress and sweating. Yeah, that didn't come out like I wanted it to. Point is, it is gorgeous here in Redondo Beach - the sun is shining, the birds are chriping (literally), and the Goodyear Blimp is passing by.

In honor of spring, I thought I would feature my patio. Like any good "city" apartment, my patio is small, but it gets great light and it is a perfect place for me to read in the morning. I had held off on doing much of it, but when my mom visisted she brought me a box of things I had taken from my grandma's house when we helped her move into a senior apartment community.

My grandma had a ton of statuaries (sp?) in her garden and while I am not particularly religious, I love religious artifacts. When I went to put them out, I laughed because all of her items are western-based, while my Buddhas are all eastern. I like the ending result ... very balanced, yin and yang :)

Please ignore the dirt, I just watered. And the empty Talavera pot - I just planted a New Mexio cactus garden that should bloom in three weeks. Oh! And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the custom-made trellis my mom decided I HAD to have! Enjoy ...