4000+ miles, 13 states, 14 days

Mark is currently in Taiwan and I am at my parents' house on the Savannah River, but for the last two weeks or so, we've been a moving dot on this map:


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This was a fantastic road trip! Maybe my favorite of the 3 big cross-country trips we've done together. This is Mark rubbing off on me, because until a few years ago I wouldn't have thought a combination hiking-camping-road trip could be so great. 

Last year this time, we were in Paris for the summer. Maybe I've just reached my Paris quota, but hiking in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and the San Juans was just as beautiful and enjoyable as being in Paris. (Unless we're talking food. Eating well/healthfully while on the road in this country is pretty hard, even if you are trying, which is sad.)

More/better pictures to come when I take the time to upload all the pictures from our SLR.

the view from Colorado

I know we are only a few weeks away from the official start of summer, but I need a break from my to-do list. Humor me: I'll post our snowy vacation pictures and then we can all get back to our tank tops and our lime-centric cocktails. Actually, I hope you all can get back to cocktails, but I have to get back to my to-do list. We're moving on Monday. I can't talk about it right now; too much to do and too many goodbyes to say. 

In mid-May, we rented a cabin in the Rockies with our wonderful friends Mike, Megan, and their little boy Michael. It was the mountain cabin of my dreams. Surrounded by trees, grazing animals, huge windows with views of the Rockies, a crackling fire place, awesome hikes only a short drive away ... and, most importantly, the company was awesome. I want to go back as soon as possible.  

 

I suppose I have to believe it

As of this month, my birth certificate says I'm 29. We had a party, more to take advantage of the spectacular weather and our backyard than about celebrating my birthday. It was pretty great. A breezy Saturday, feet in the grass, sun shining, music playing, mint iced tea and cold beers, a long table covered with food I love, good people. 

In the spirit of sharing, I want to tell you that these recipes were all very well-received: carnitas (but not the accompanying salsa, make something else), fire-roasted salsa, corn salad with cilantro and caramelized onions (hold the bacon), humongous chocolate chip cookies.  
 

Every year around my birthday, I think about how my 16 year old self would assess my current life.  Funny how my dreams and priorities have evolved since then, when I was a serious-minded but naive person who thought she had life all mapped out. I've decided that my 16 year old self would be both thrilled and nonplussed by the series of decisions I've made and the life I lead. However, as I'm not as good at writing out my thoughts as I am at teasing out insights through rambling conversations with friends, you'll have to settle for photos of favorite moments/spaces/people from the last year. There were about a million more memorable moments, but some things just can't be captured with a camera. Excuse my nostalgia.

pad see ew at the golden hour

Hi everyone. Let's make noodles.

Let's call this dish pad see ew-ish, the -ish because, as I learned over at the excellent Thai cooking blog She Simmers, it is really hard to make restaurant-quality fried noodles at home. For various reasons -- my weak little stove, namely -- my pad see ew is not exactly the same thing you might get at a street stall in Bangkok.

However, I don't let that deter me from wok-frying noodles at home and neither should you. Because this is very good: chewy rice noodles, tender chicken, sauteed greens, all tossed together with a savory/sweet sauce. With a spoonful of sambal oelek and a cold beer, you've got dinner and a satisfying one at that. The only problem is afterwards. Groan. Wokky. Oh, have I not told you about Wokky?

We affectionately call our wok, a gift from Julia and John, "Wokky" (sometimes "Ewokky"). She is well-loved and often-used and manages both most dishes beautifully. But if you want to prevent rice noodles from bonding to the surface of the wok, the price of admission is more oil than I can bring myself to use. Fortunately, scrubbing off cooked-on rice noodles is Mark's job (he tends to that wok quite lovingly) and he only grumbles a little.

Another note for the diary: finally we have enough warmth in the air to linger outside after dinner once the sun goes down. Very nice.

Wok-fried rice noodles with chicken and kale 
serves 2 with leftovers, adapted from She Simmers

oil
8 ounces of dried rice noodles
8 ounces chicken breat, thinly sliced and marinated in a couple splashes of soy and 1 tsp baking soda (to tenderize)
1 bunch kale, leaves pulled off the stems and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons light soy
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Soak dried rice noodles (like banh pho) in room temperature water until pliable, about 20 minutes. They should be soft enough for you to twirl around your finger without breaking the strand. Drain well.

Meanwhile, marinate your chicken, prep your kale, and combine the oyster sauce, light soy, and white vinegar in a small bowl. 

When you're ready to cook, heat your cooking vessel over high heat. Drizzle in a bit of oil, add the kale and a pinch of salt and let it wilt. Toss and cook until just tender, adding a splash of water if it looks dry. Dump kale into serving bowl. Next, cook your chicken. I had chicken breast, so I poached it to keep it nice and tender. You can also saute it in a little oil until cooked through. Add to bowl with kale.

Now, wipe out any food residue and add about 3 tablespoons of oil. When oil is hot and shimmery, add the noodles and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of dark sweet soy. Let everything sit (without stirring) until the sauce starts to smell really good and caramelized. At that point, toss the noodles a couple of times. If they stick too much, tip in a little more oil. Add in the cooked kale, chicken, and oyster sauce mixture and toss again to distribute. Done.

sour cherry coffee cake

This was my contribution to a party our friend Jaskie hosted last week at his new apartment in the Mission. The night included a really good lentil/farro soup and a remarkable Texas-style lightning and thunder storm (rare in SF), and we also got to meet some fun new people. It was great!

I wanted to make something with last summer's sour cherries sitting in our freezer -- picked, processed, and schlepped down from Washington state by Mark's parents just for us, we're so lucky -- and after a little googling, I settled on a basic coffee cake recipe from Lottie and Doof. Since I was working with frozen cherries, I defrosted them and drained off most of the liquid before starting the cake. And instead of buying buttermilk, I used the equivalent amount of regular milk plus 2 drops of white vinegar. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written.

The sour cherry coffee cake tasted pretty good on the first night -- rich cake, tart cherries, a buttery streusel topping, how could this be bad, it can't -- but I believe its true calling is to be nibbled on with a cup of black coffee. The bottom layer of cake is sweet and a tad on the dry crumbed-side (not in a bad way; this is just that kind of cake), and it really benefits from ... oh man, I don't know why I feel compelled to explain this right now. It's coffee cake, after all. It tastes good with coffee!

If I had any complaint about this cake, it's that there are not enough cherries. For the cherry-loving fool I married, the proportion of cake to cherry was too high. Sour cherry coffee cake should have more than 4 cherries to a slice, no? Next time, I think I'll scatter 1 or 2 cups of cherries on the bottom of the pan, then scoop in the cake batter, then add 2 cups of cherries, then top with streusel. I'll be sure to update when I try this out. And try this out we will, for we have many sour cherries to use up before we move.