corners

I love my camera because I can point it at a tiny corner of our nest and make it look 'put together' - like the dwelling is all cute and decorated. Ha! Nothing can be further from reality. I make the corners pretty so that the mess around me does not drive me crazy. The painters were here a couple of days ago and painted the rooms under construction and I can finally envision what things might look like - hopefully before Christmas!!

I was insanely busy this past week but in all the mayhem managed to squeeze in a 'non-cooking' class, otherwise known as the 'raw food experiment' around here. This escapade into a completely different style of cooking (or un-cooking, depending how you see it) has already produced a Vita-mix blender that cost more than a mortgage payment. I am taking the crackers and breads class next week using a dehydrator!! Ahem! I am really scared I am starting to resemble my father who has every possible appliance a human being can procure.

...and, finally, I did finish a pair of socks and I love them! They are knit from koigu yarn and fit like a glove. Now I need to start another project...I have some pink cashmere....quite a bit of it. Hmmmm!! What to do?

spontaneous action

First let me say that I cannot believe that a week has passed since my last post. It is not possible! Days are melding into each other and time is on over-drive. Secondly, I did finish a pair of socks, but decided to not blog about it....yet! Instead the Babe and I had a spontaneous cooking lesson tonight! Our friend Patrick, who is a most talented chef, came over to teach us how to make a Thai curry. We love curry and one of our desires was to be able to cook a panang curry just like the one we eat in our favorite Thai restaurant.

What a most excellent night. I have a recipe for you, but honestly you had to be here, cooking along with Patrick. Sometimes spontaneous decisions are so much fun, especially when the outcome is great food and wine. I will leave you with the recipe just because the end result was so delicious.

Patrick's Panang Chicken Curry

1 ½ cups Coconut Milk (about a full can)

4-6 tbsp. Red Curry paste
2-3 Kaffir Lime Leaves (optional)
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. Chicken Breasts, thin sliced
1/2 cup plucked Basil leaves, unchopped
2 tsp. Fish Sauce
1 tsp. Sugar
1 tbsp. Tamarind Puree (optional)

¼ cup medium diced fresh pineapple
1/2 cup Onion, (thin sliced)
1/2 cup medium diced red bell pepper to garnish

In medium saucepan, heat ½ cup of coconut milk, and stir in curry paste and lime leaves. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds or so.

Add your cut up chicken and onions, stirring and coating it thoroughly, allowing the curry to penetrate the chicken.

Stir in remaining coconut milk into saucepan. Increase heat to high boiling. Allow to boil for about 5 to 10 minutes or until reduces about 1/4.

Reduce to simmer. Add fish sauce, Tamarind and sugar. Toss in your chopped red pepper, diced pineapple, fresh basil leaves and serve.

You can check out Chef Patrick's website at www.inter-course.com

playing with murky shadows

It's evening right now and the house is wrapped in plastic - a completely pointless solution to prevent drywall dust from permeating every corner of my dwelling. I have been so busy this past week that I did not even have time to pick up my camera and look at the world through the therapeutic angle of a lens. The house is quiet except for the soothing tones of 'yoga' music and most of the lights are inoperable so everything is shrouded in shadows. I kind of like it - the most utilitarian objects take on a surreal aura.

Everything is at peace here....except for the cat! She got a kitty pedicure today - fake claws. I bought new furniture and she destroys everything - perhaps this will be the solution. She has been licking and gnawing at her toes all night. She has pulled one off already. I keep hoping that she will get tired of it. Sigh!

i finished!

I am back from beautiful Victoria, and yes....I finished my marathon in four hours and thirty-nine minutes. It was the best experience! The weather on race day was absolutely brilliant with the beautiful blue of the ocean serving as a backdrop. My favorite girlfriend and the Babe were there to see me off at the start line and were there in those final few kilometers to encourage me to keep running. Honestly though, I did not have a single hard moment - which makes me think I should have been running faster! Will I do it again? Absolutely!

Victoria itself is a wonderful city and unlike Calgary, where it was snowing hard when we left, Victoria was still resplendent in roses, geraniums, and buildings were covered with blushing ivy starting to turn a brilliant color of red. We shopped, ate, drank wine and walked and walked everywhere.

Now, it's back to reality. Happy weekend everyone.