Sunday, February 26, 2012

gettin' our culture on

Do movies count as culture? Let's say they do.

Have you heard of FotoFocus? It's this October in Cincinnati and it's basically a month-long focus on photography. (I'm super excited about it.) There will be exhibits and lectures and events all over the city for the entire month. But, the fun started early!

On Tuesday, at the Art Museum, Brian and I went to listen to a lecture by photographer Uta Barth. I'm a photography newbie, so I had never heard of her. She's got a pretty impressive and enviable resume and I was enchanted with her images. It was my first in-person encounter with a current working artistic photographer and I found it encouraging and inspiring.

Then yesterday, Brian and I completed our second day of our Oscar Best Picture marathon. And now we're seeing how our opinions match up with the academy's.

mental snapshot

This morning, I watched my seven-year-old scamper away. It hit me, just before, that the time is quickly approaching when he will be as tall as me. The top of his head is nearly to my shoulder. And he bounced away from me, clutching his beloved Roar in his hand. So big. But there's still some little kid in him.

Monday, February 20, 2012

i can breathe again

The dark days are over. Welcome, Spring!!!

Brian has given me a lot of grief for not properly citing this photo. Did anyone think I may have actually taken it? So sorry. I ripped it right off the website of the Cincinnati Enquirer. There you go, English professor. Properly cited. Or good enough. :) (He also really loves emoticons, so that smiley face is for him as well.)

a new favorite

In 2000 or so, on a trip to the city that would soon become my home, I had my first taste of Indian food. I went to a restaurant that is now our favorite and had a delicious combination of flavors I had never experienced before. And I started loving Indian food. And I still do.

But my cravings for Indian food far surpass my budget for Indian food. So I've been trying to find a recipe that won't exactly replace my favorites, but will allow us to have something similar a little more often.

I've tried a lot of recipes. Most of them really disappointing, in spite of their lengthy lists of ingredients and complex preparations.

But...I've found it. And it's absolutely delicious. And not too fussy. The most labor intensive part is the chopping of the veggies, but it can be done ahead of time or with one of those hand choppers and it's worth it.

I made it yesterday and meant to take a picture of it to accompany this post, but I honestly got too excited about eating it and forgot the photo. Once I had eaten half of it, I figured that probably made a less appetizing photo and just decided to skip it. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to control my hunger and represent visually the amazingness that is this recipe.

Just in case you want it...here it is:

Vegetarian Korma

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 (really generous) teaspoon minced fresh ginger (I keep my ginger in the freezer and use my microplane zester gadget.)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, cubed (keep it small so they cook quickly later on, like 1/4 inch or smaller)
4 carrots, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted cashews, chopped fine
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper*
1 cup frozen peas
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

*I am guessing this is not accurate, but I kind of consider 1 t. of cayenne as a "4" (on a scale of 1 to 6) at the Indian restaurant. My own little scale is 1/4 teaspoon for each increase on the scale. So if you like a "6", add 1 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne.

1. Heat the oil over in a large skillet (with a lid) over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook until tender. Mix in the ginger and garlic and continue cooking for 1 minutes. Mix in potatoes, carrots, cashews, and tomato sauce. Stir in salt and spices. Cook and stir for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. (This is where the size of the potatoes becomes important. If the potato pieces are larger, this could take up to 20 minutes.)

2. Stir peas, pepper, and cream into the skillet. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

And, do you know the trick for perfect rice? Especially brown? Until my friend passed along this piece of lovely wisdom, every time I tried to make brown rice, I'd end up with an inch of crusted rice on the bottom of my pan. But this will turn out perfect rice every time.

Measure out a cup or two of rice. However much you want. Put it in a big stockpot. Fill the stockpot with water. Don't measure it. Just put in a lot. Like you were cooking pasta. Put in on high heat, boil it for 15-20 minutes, uncovered. Pour the rice and water into a strainer in the sink. Put the rice back in the pot, cover it, and place it off the heat for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Enjoy it's perfection. Seriously. Changed my life.

Friday, February 17, 2012

ice skating

Our final holiday activity. Yes, in February. Ice skating is something we try to do every year, though every year I drag my feet. Honestly, cold-weather outdoor activities and swimming require, in my mind, the same amount of labor. Lots. I don't know why these activities require so much dressing and preparation.

Anyway, we made it last weekend. It was frigid, but we were prepared. My new secret for ice-skating: snow pants. Genius! Why had I never thought of it before?



Brian and I took turns with the camera. I know the ones at the beginning are mine and the end ones are Brian's but I don't remember where the camera switch actually occurred.


































































Saturday, February 11, 2012

snapshots

Cardinals the bird, we love. Cardinals the baseball team? Not so much.



I'm a sucker for puddle reflections. 


I made a little valentine bunting for Brian's mom over the weekend.



My sweet, sweet Eli. I'm pretending like he's not going to be five in less than three months.

weekend tourists

Last weekend, we stayed with Brian's parents. On Saturday, we did some touring about Clermont County.



Our first stop was the Maple Creek Artisan Center. It's a place to buy locally made beauty. Pottery, weaving, woodwork, watercolors, etc. It was housed in an amazing log cabin and we had a great time wandering around, soaking in the amazing handiwork.









We drove on down the road and stopped next at the Chilo Lock 34 Park and museum. The museum was free and had plenty of interesting things to check out.









In the warmer months, we'll probably return to check out the Nature Preserve that is located here as well. The map of it showed plenty of great hiking trails along the river.















This one is probably too close to the one above, but I was having trouble making decisions when I threw the photos into this post.






Outside on the grounds, there's a paddleboat that you can climb onto and explore.