45

...degrees. Not years, thank goodness. I think this might be the coldest birthday I have ever celebrated.

Just as a reminder that it is indeed spring, I snapped a quick photo of the daffodils outside this morning when I was walking Dottie. They've been in bloom for several weeks now and won't be around much longer.

Well, this photo is not my best work. It is raining and Dottie was NOT happy about standing in the cold and wet waiting for me to finish taking photos. I even got the growly, chatty pre-bark as a warning. Funny.

Anyhoo, gotta get ready to head out. I am having brunch with my wonderful friend, Kate, who happens to be on vacation this week. Then, I am off to the salon for a haircut. The day is off to a good start.

30 miler

On Saturday, Sean and I took our longest bike ride to date: 30 miles. It was the first rain-free day we'd had in a week. And, if we are EVER going to pull off the Seattle to Portland ride, we need to start building mileage soon.

So we set out on the fabulous Burke-Gilman Trail, starting from Matthews Beach a couple of miles from home (we drove there - no need to be overachievers, after all), rode north around Lake Washington to the Sammamish River Trail and headed south along the river to almost Redmond before turning around.

We did pretty well, even if we were a little slow. And, of course, there were learning experiences to be had. Namely, bring snacks! I am usually pretty snack driven but didn't even think about on Saturday. Needless to say, we were famished by the end of the ride.

One of the best things about riding - other than being outside in the fresh air and getting a good workout, of course - is the people watching. Here's what I learned from the people and pets on the ride:

• There is a bike for everyone. We saw lots of recumbent riders, including one guy who rode with what looked like a grill cover draped over him and his bike, leaving only his head sticking out. I am not sure why. It's not like it was cold or raining. Curious...
• Tandem bikes seem to be quite popular among a certain type of couple... generally the ones who enjoy dressing identically and look so much alike they could be twins. If we were in the south, I might wonder, but that's generally not been something I've noticed in the Pacific Northwest. A note to the middle-aged, overweight couple riding the tandem bike. Lady, it looked like you were steering your part of the bike with your guy's love handles. You might want to consider two bikes.
  
• Performance wear comes in a wider selection of sizes than I ever imagined. As a note, if you aren't actually a professional bike-rider, consider buying one size up. Otherwise, you just look like an over-stuffed sausage. And wearing fancy head-to-toe Lycra, an aerodynamic helmet and special clip-on bike shoes does not hide the fact that you are 50 pounds overweight and sweating profusely. You aren't kidding anyone, man.
  
• Some kids love the little bike trailers and dig riding with their parents. Some kids absolutely do not like the little trailers and will even try to jump out of said trailer while it and the parent pulling it are zooming downhill.
• Performance bike jerseys with lots of corporate logos seem to be code for asshole riding a bike. Seriously, jerks, this is the Burke-Gilman, not the Tour de France. You have to share the trail with me and the little kids riding their bikes and the old people walking their scraggly dogs. Deal with it.
• Basset hounds wearing pink tutus look just as ridiculous as you might imagine.

Overall, a great day. Can't wait to get back out!

16 percent

We are part of this 16 percent. Are you?

Seriously, fill out your 2010 U.S. Census forms. It's important, it's your civic duty and it takes about five minutes. Go do it now ... I'll wait.

Still here

Yes, I am still here. I just haven't been inspired to blog lately...

It's the same ole, same ole. Our apartment still sucks. We still hate it, and the three-day adventure last week when there was no hot water only strengthened our resolve to move this summer. On the positive side - I was able to re-purpose my canning pot and stock pot to draw baths the old fashioned way. It took bloody forever, but at least I was able to get clean.

We had a perfectly lovely Saturday this weekend - sunny and warm. So we spent part of the day at the beach in Carkeek Park. What a fun day. The picture at left is the ONLY photo we took that day in which my eyes were open. It was so extremely bright compared to the overcast, gray days we have been experiencing, and Sean deserves a medal for taking probably 200 photos until I could keep my eyes open.

Friday night treat

Homemade banana sorbet made with my new Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment. Yum. It's so very nice to have something new to do with rotten bananas. Hope your Friday night is equally as delightful.

Ready for the week

I love when Sunday afternoon rolls around and the laundry is done, grocery shopping for the week is finished, prep work for efficient weeknight dinners are neatly packed in the fridge and lunches are made. It feels good, and I feel like I am ready for the week ahead.

For lunches this week I made a repeat of a dish I invented a couple of months ago: whole wheat pasta, edamame, roasted squash topped with a homemade spinach pesto (minus pine nuts) and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. It's pretty darn yummy and filling and healthy.

I plan to spend the rest of the evening lounging on the couch with a furry bebbie on each hip. Hope your Sunday evening is half as nice.

Why I love Seattle

So here's a bonus post for today... this picture is from a stem cell symposium at work yesterday. I just love it, and I don't think I would ever have seen this in Texas.

Happy New Year

Now that the holidays are behind us, I hope to have more time to devote to blogging. We had a wonderful Christmas season and the New Year is already off to a good start.

Today has been a relatively quiet day - perfect after a busy post-holiday week, the first "real" work week since before Thanksgiving.

Dottie had her annual check-up at the vet today. She is healthy and doing well and received lots and lots of treats from the staff. She knows how to work a crowd, that's for sure.

While I was with Dottie, Sean spent the morning overseeing the door experts (I use the term very loosely) who made their third and hopefully final visit to our apartment to fix our leaky patio door.

Fortunately, you can no longer see daylight around the door and the cold winter air isn't (currently) pouring into our apartment. We should see an incredible improvement in our utility bills. Finally. We've been dealing with this issue for more than three years. I can't believe it might actually be resolved. Let's all do a collective finger cross now.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been one of my very favorite holidays. What's not to love? You get celebrate all the many things to be thankful for, spend time with loved ones and friends and eat lots of good food.

This year, Sean and I decided to try something new. We started our day with pumpkin waffles drizzled with warm butter and honey and peppered bacon.

Then, we participated in the Seattle Turkey Trot, a 5K fun run/walk benefiting the Ballard Food Bank. We had a lovely time (with the exception of having to climb two extremely steep sets of stairs to get from the parking lot to the registration area. Holy Cow - it was like climbing Everest). We were able to enjoy a leisurely walk through neighborhoods and along the Burke Gilman trail all with a view of Puget Sound blanketed in fog. We were back home by 11 a.m., plenty of time to get Thanksgiving dinner underway.

As we speak, the turkey is roasting and about half a dozen side dishes are poised and ready to go into the oven. How is your holiday going?

Greek-style yogurt

I discovered a new food love at lunch today: Greek-style yogurt. Oh my goodness, this stuff is dreamy. How have I never tried this before? It's very thick compared to traditional yogurt, almost the consistency of a soft cheese or thick sour cream. It was extremely smooth and creamy. The particular variety I tried was flavored with honey, slightly sweet and moderately tangy. I don't think I will ever be able to eat Yoplait again. Sean, be advised.

I must find a recipe for this. Especially considering the Greek-style yogurt is twice as expensive as other kinds. Ugh, that's just like me. At first glance, it seems the only difference is that most of the whey has been drained away. Surely it can't be that hard to make.

Oooh... this would be lovely with fresh fruit. I must remember this when summer produce is available again.

Cool days, warm soup

The weather has been pretty chilly and rainy in Seattle, providing the perfect opportunity for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I love this particular recipe for tomato soup because it's creamy and hearty thanks to a little cream cheese. It works equally well with fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes, making it convenient to make with whatever is on hand.

The recipe calls for fresh basil, which isn't in season right now. I substituted dried basil, but, alas, it's just not the same. The soup is still good (and it will certainly make good leftovers tomorrow), but there's just nothing like the flavor of fresh basil.

The grilled cheese sandwiches are on the whole wheat bread I made on Sunday. The trick with making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich, in my opinion, is to use defrosted bread with plenty of cheddar cheese that is slowly toasted on a skillet over low or medium-low heat.

As Sean pointed out this evening, this method creates three distinct layers on each slice of bread: a toasty golden outer layer, soft inner bread layer and a layer of melty, cheese-absorbed bread. While I am a grilled cheese purist, preferring only cheddar cheese on my sandwich, Sean's grilled cheese sandwich has a few dashes of Tabasco to give it a bit of a kick. Eh, he seems to like it so that's all that matters to me.

What's your cold weather comfort food?

Cranberry sauce

Sean and I are preparing for our trip to see family, and we are so excited. We leave in just a few days! I spent yesterday canning jellied

cranberry sauce for the potluck dinner on Friday.

Thank goodness the cranberries went on sale in time. As you may know, I simply refuse to buy expensive fruit just to can it. I see no need to pay twice what I would for a pre-made version in

the store just for the pleasure of saying I made it at home. No, I would much rather brag about making it home AND saving a bunch of money.

I do love canning, though. The product tastes far superior to anything I can buy in the store, and it is so satisfying to see the jars lined up on my kitchen bar when I am finished. It's even more satisfying to see the pantry well stocked.

I have some leftover cranberries and have been trolling my canning cookbook for a good recipe to use them with. So far, most of the recipes call for dried cranberries, not fresh. That's disappointing. I will either keep looking or break out the food dehydrator when we get back. Does anyone have a canning recipe using fresh cranberries (that isn't cranberry sauce - I am afraid I am sauced out) that they would mind sharing?

Cooking fresh cranberries is so fun. I love hearing them pop and seeing them turn such a brilliant ruby red. Word of warning, though - the popping and the color are a recipe for laundry. I didn't think to change out of my white t-shirt before starting this process. By the end, it looked like I had been to war. Luckily, with a little bleach, my shirt is good as new.

The Washington apples are in season now, too. There is one recipe I especially look forward to trying: a spiced apple jam. Supposedly, it is like having apple pie in a jar. I hope so - that sounds yummy!

Adventures in vegetables

We tried a new veggie this weekend: Romanesco cauliflower (also called Romanesco broccoli). I thought it was very tasty, and I found it very exciting to try a vegetable that was completely new to me. The florets are shaped like fractals and are light green; they taste like a mild broccoli.

It turned out to be a perfect compliment to our leftover pot roast. I sliced the florets like broccoli and steamed them for about three minutes until they were crisp tender. Yummy.

I harvested my carrots this week. My yield was about a dozen small carrots, which amounted to about two pounds. They were grown from seeds in a 16-inch square container. The carrots are so sweet and taste much different than the ones I buy in the store. I am very pleased with the results and will definitely plant carrots in the garden again next year.

I also have had success this year with the herbs: sage, basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary. The cilantro and radishes were unsuccessful. The bell peppers were only moderately successful - I am afraid they just don't get enough heat and sunshine at the right times to make them happy. Maybe I'll have more luck when Sean builds my greenhouse extension off the balcony...

The tomatoes were a bit disappointing, but I think my results had more to do with user error than anything wrong with the tomatoes. I have learned a lot about tomatoes these last two summers. I hope I finally get the hang of it next year.

Nine

Sean and I were married nine years ago today. It is hard for me to believe it - the years have gone by in a blink. I am lucky to have found my perfect partner and one true love so early in life and to have been able to spend so many happy years with him. Thank you, Love, for making our life together such an amazing adventure.

So very many adventures

October is shaping up to be a very busy month. Chili season began officially this past week in the Siem household. It was pretty yummy, if I do say so myself. And I can say it's still pretty yummy after having eaten it almost every day. Last night, I moved a few remaining servings to the freezer for quick go-to meals.

Sean and I saw Richard Dawkins last Thursday when he was at the U promoting his new book, The Greatest Show on Earth. It was so exciting to hear him read passages and answer questions. I had chills! Plus, the turnout was amazing - about 5,000 people. I have heard that this may have been the largest crowd Prof. Dawkins has addressed in North America . Cool - Sean and I were THERE!

Then, on Saturday, an adventure we could have done without: a trip to the Emergency Department after Sean woke up with a swollen, tingly and aching hand. Poor guy. We spent a very long time at the hospital getting him checked out, but it was for the best. The ortho team gave him an immobilization cast that went on in what seemed like a matter of seconds. This team was amazing. As soon as the attending uttered the words "immobilization cast," the residents went into action. The three docs worked like a finely oiled machine. If I had the camera, I would have filmed them in action. Wow.

Today, we are trying to get Sean a follow-up appointment with the hand specialist so I thought I would do a quick blog post while I am waiting for the nurse to call us back. Keep your fingers crossed for a speedy appointment and good news.

Welcome to Fall

Sean and I went to the MOHAI on Saturday for free museum day. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. The museum had good information about the rich history of Seattle and Puget Sound, but it seemed a bit underfunded. Still, it was a fun outing followed by a late lunch/early dinner.

Fall has definitely arrived in Seattle this week. Since I blogged last, the leaves on the trees have suddenly turned shades of gold and red. The rain has returned and it's definitely Fall rain: colder, steadier with sharper rain drops. It's getting dark early and tonight the sun should be completely in bed by 7 p.m. The air smells wonderful: crisp with pine undertones, rather than the sweetness of summer air.

The turn of the seasons is always an exciting time. I am still hoping to can one more batch of peach butter this weekend and dehydrate some tomatoes. But, I am also planning for recipes with roasted winter squash and other Fall goodies.

Chili season in the Siem family is scheduled to begin this weekend. Sean will be so excited! What are you doing to welcome Fall?

Free museum day

The Smithsonian's annual Free Museum Day is this Saturday! In case you aren't familiar with this amazing annual tradition, each year the Smithsonian partners with museums all across the country to provide free admission. It is a wonderful way to reconnect with museums in your area or even check out museums you haven't visited yet.

Sean and I really look forward to free museum day. It should be declared a national holiday. What can I say, we are museum junkies.

One year, we went to Experience the Music Project and Science Fiction Museum (which is actually one location, despite the misleading name). The admission is usually quite pricey, so it was the perfect opportunity to visit. As it turned out, this was really not one of our favorite museums and was surprisingly touristy. At least we were able to save our museum dollars for other venues.

Another year, we visited the Seattle Art Museum's Asian Art Museum. It has a wonderful collection and is in a great old, art deco building. What a fun day!

This year, I think we are going to visit the Museum of History & Industry. It is a well-respected museum for Seattle and Puget Sound history, and I can't believe we've lived in Seattle for almost three years and have never been.

Sean has been dying to see the Museum of Flight - we might actually have to pay for that museum. Or go on first Thursday evening when the museums are free and open late ... We are so lucky to live in a city that values cultural and educational opportunities and makes them so accessible.

What museum will you visit on free museum day?

Bread and other baked goods

I cannot believe it is Sunday evening already. Where does the weekend go? I didn't make it to the fabric store to see about yarn. No loss, there was no sale and, really, who wants to pay full price for yarn? Not I, even if the fabric store does sell dreamy yarn.

My weekend was still productive, though. I finished the dish cloth and started a second one. They are good, quick projects and perfect for getting back into the groove after several months off. Plus, when I am knitting, I watch TV with a guilt-free conscience. I do LOVE watching movies and good TV shows, but sometimes I do feel like the time would be better spent doing something a bit more productive.

I made bread: two loaves each of pumpernickel, whole wheat and sourdough. There will be lots of yummy sandwiches in our future.

I made a batch of dried chickpeas that were promptly turned into hummus to take for lunches this week. My dried bean-making skills are definitely improving, although I am not quite ready to declare an end to the era of buying canned beans.

I made a batch of oatmeal craisin cookies. What can I say, I am a sucker for Sean's little excited dance whenever he learns there will be cookies.

And we gave the kids a bath - both were smelling far too doggy. Their coats are so soft and even more irresistibly cuddly this evening. Four and a half hours later, Apollo is now on speaking terms with us again.

Well, off to bed now. Hope your weekends were equally as satisfying.

Knitting time

I decided to break out the yarn and dust off the old knitting needles this afternoon. Knitting is definitely a fall and winter hobby for me, and Seattle's somewhat cooler temperatures have given me the motivation I needed to start a new project.

My warm-up project: trusty dish cloths. The ones I made last season are looking a little sad, and it would be nice to have a few more to put into the rotation.

Boy, am I rusty - I frogged (er, ripped out all the stitches) the project three times before I hit my stride. I think I am finally back in the swing of things, though.

I am trying a new kind of yarn for this project: a recycled cotton and acrylic blend. Supposedly it's ecofriendly, but man, it is not very easy to knit with. At the risk of sounding like a complete yarn snob, I have decided that I just do not enjoy working with synthetic yarns - blended or not. Natural fibers are so much more friendly to my fingers.

Maybe this is an excuse to go shopping (as if I needed one!) and spend the last of the gift certificate that Mom and Dad gave me for Christmas. I have been savoring it since December. There is only about a dollar and some change left, but I am determined to spend every last penny.

Hmmm.... I wonder if there is a sale this weekend ...

Giving blood

I was fortunate that my afternoon meeting ended early today so I decided to celebrate by giving blood at the donation center three blocks over. It was my second donation of the summer and the most delightful and relaxing experience.

I walked into the blood donation center, flashed my donor ID card, answered a bunch of screening questions and was taken to the donation area with absolutely no wait. The phlebotomist took my things and helped me into a large, cushy recliner chair where she hooked me up to the donor bag.

Six minutes later, my little bag was full and I was on my way to the kitchen where the grandmotherly volunteer fed me a cookie, pretzels, two cups of juice and a glass of water before she would allow me to leave. She was cute and gave me a great excuse to gobble yummy treats.

It was definitely a worthwhile afternoon. I highly recommend that you rush right out and donate to your local blood bank. They always need donations, even if you are a lowly A positive blood type like me.

Happy giving!