"The S.S. Muffin" written by Kara on estrip.org

Category: food

07/19/06 09:52 - 81ºF - ID#25003

The S.S. Muffin

As I try to come up with clever names for recipes, like the Ro-Ro-Rollup, here's one that pays homage to my love of boats: the S.S. Muffin. Sounds like a good name for a ship, doesn't it?
Baking when it's 90 degrees in our apartment isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but in the history of bad ideas, it's among the top 20.
The S.S. stands for sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. The recipe is adapted from one on allrecipes.com for five spice muffins.
Tools
One big bowl
One small bowl
Spoons
Muffin tins (I used one tin w/ 6 muffin molds - supermuffins. This recipe would make 12 regular size muffins.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (I had some frozen - in the summer, when it's local and fresh, I always shred a few and freeze them in bags of 1-2 cups.)
4 tbsp boiling water
1 3/4 cup of AP flour
1 cup sugar, any kind but powdered
2 handfuls sunflower seeds
1 handful sesame seeds
3/4 tsp each of: baking powder, salt, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, cloves. I used several liberal dashes of cinnamon, and a giant tablespoon of my four spice mix (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and something else that escapes me).
2 eggs, beaten
3 tsbp veggie oil
a splash of vanilla extract
Steps
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease your muffin tins.
Add boiling water to shredded zucchini, mix.
In another bowl, mix all dry ingredients.
Add the eggs, vanilla and oil to the zucchini mix. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
Add milk by 1/4 cups until it's a muffin consistency. I can't be more specific than that.
Spoon into your muffin pans.
Bake in the oven for 25+ minutes - mine took 28, but I constantly peek in to see its progress. I need an oven with a window.
Gosh they were yummy.

Permalink: The_S_S_Muffin.html
Words: 296
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buy

07/18/06 07:51 - 80ºF - ID#25002

Buy our Boat

We're simplifying our lives a bit here at Casa Kane, and part of that involves divesting ourselves of some boat property.
(e:ladycroft)'s entry made me ask myself: does anyone else on (e:strip) have a boat? Like, a real boat, that you can sail - not a noisy motorboat that wastes gas and hurts eardrums.
We have a Potter 15

and it's the cutest thing. If we didn't already have the Catalina 22 in the marina, this would be our main boat. It's trailerable with a decent sized van or SUV, and comes with an engine and all necessary rigging and sails. I have more pictures and other details available; it's perfect for someone who wants to get into sailing, but who wants to start small. What better way to enjoy a western New York summer than out on the water - this is easily launched into Lake Erie, Chautauqua, or any of the Finger Lakes.

If you're interested, or if you know someone who should be, send them my way. Depending on how committed they are to a sale, we could be tempted to take the Potter out for a cruise.

Permalink: Buy_our_Boat.html
Words: 198
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: clothes

07/17/06 08:30 - 81ºF - ID#25001

Ruined

I just ruined a load of laundry - an entire load of whites, including one of my favorite shirts of J's, white sheets, and some of my new white dinner napkins. I've read that it's possible to rescue some types of fabric from the inky mess I've made, but generally not if it's cotton (yep) or if it's been set in the dryer (yep, again).
A question for the (e:peeps) - what's the worst laundry experience you've ever had? Mine just happened tonight . . .
And what made it even worse was having my dear J show me, again, the wife school clip

chico writes at 08:45:12 07/18/06 - Comment #10046: ladycroft, thanks for reminding me -- I washed a load of clothes with a Chapstick in the pocket of a jacket and ruined a bunch of things, too -- damn, had forgot about that. Nasty stuff, Chapstick.

ladycroft writes at 10:30:07 07/18/06 - Comment #10030: i washed a tube of hemp chapstick (and dried) which left oil stains on all my clothes. couldn't get it out. boo.

kara writes at 08:25:04 07/18/06 - Comment #10029: Thanks to overstock.com, a new set of sheets is on the way. I made a valiant attempt to use nail polish remover on a rather large spot on a shirt, but it ended with me having made an even bigger mess of the shirt, ink on the sink, and blue fingers.
Maybe the moral of the story is that I shouldn't ever spend more than $5 on a piece of clothing; that way, if I stain and/or rip it, I don't feel so darn bad.

carolinian writes at 05:18:32 07/18/06 - Comment #10022: My worst laundry experience was when I went to the beach with my father and he put a load of dishes into the dishwasher. The reason this qualifies as a "laundry experience" is because he mistook a jar of white powder the timeshare's owner had placed under the sink for dishwasher detergent, when in fact it was powdered laundry detergent.

We were up until 3AM cleaning up the remnants of the unintentional "foam party" in the condo's kitchen that resulted from my dad's attempt to launder dishes.

jenks writes at 11:07:09 07/17/06 - Comment #10020: if it's really just solid white, and already ruined (i.e. you can't make it worse)- it's worth a try to just bleach the hell out of it... like qtip straight bleach onto a spot and see if it does anything... That sucks though. :( sorry to hear it.

mrdt writes at 10:43:50 07/17/06 - Comment #10016: My worst laundry expirience - well, this is kind of gross.

One Saturday morning, after working the night before, I was washing my chef pants, work unders and t-shirts when I noticed a pair of my girlfriends black panties from the same night on the floor. Trying to figure out why they were down there, I gave them a good look and saw a very nasty white stain in the crotch.

I don't know what the fuck it was but I always had the feeling that this insecure girl was cheating on me.

Needless to say a few months later the girl left me for someone else. But thanks for reminding me of that. There's nothing like the feeling of being told I love you by someone who's been around the entire neighborhood.

chico writes at 08:49:27 07/17/06 - Comment #10014: Oh Kara, so sorry to hear about the laundry disaster. Did you pick up some of that dye remover stuff, just to give it a try? "Ritt" or something like that...

For the record, I once left a very nice wristwatch in my pants pocket and not only washed it but threw it in the dryer as well. To say that it was pulverized would be putting it lightly.

Also, I once shrank one of (e:chicoschica)'s favorite wool sweaters down to Cabbage Patch Kid size.

Permalink: Ruined.html
Words: 113
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: places

07/05/06 10:32 - 67ºF - ID#25000

Alaska

My in-laws have a wide collection of books. Some line bookcases in the living room - these are the reference books, the photo albums, the cookbooks, the encyclopedias. Other boxes of books sit in storage in the basement, waiting to be opened one day. Still others line a set of shelves heading downstairs - popular fiction from the 1950s onward sitting next to non-fiction books that will teach me French or Spanish, biographies of infamous men, and cast-offs from various libraries and book sales from my travels and their travels
This weekend I picked up the novel Alaska by James Michener and haven't been able to put it down. At this rate I'll finish the thing by the end of tomorrow, and for a book that measures at 900 pages, that's a pretty good clip.
I've read Michener before, starting with The Source in a high school global studies class. Michener's standard style is to take a place (or, for his novel Space, a concept), and weave a set of stories throughout history, beginning with the start of time itself and ending with present day. You get used to his weighty, layered historical detail after a few hundred pages, and if you can get past the sheer volume of his words, the pages reveal a compelling story. This book makes me want to go to this strange state and travel around for a bit, and I imagine that the author would take this as a compiment if he were still alive

.
It's hardly a bit of light summer reading - but it does give me an idea - would anyone here like to start up a book club? Something like, we read the same book, then post about it at some point(s). There are a few other Michener books I'd like to try, but I need to take a break after this one, maybe with some non-fiction or a really trashy chick-lit paperback.

Permalink: Alaska.html
Words: 351
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: music

06/28/06 09:45 - 71ºF - ID#24999

Pandora

As trendy web projects go, Pandora

is pretty sweet. Signup (for free), pick an artist, and the "music genome project" will style a personalized music station for you.
My current stations include:
Jem, Tori Amos, Sarah Slean, Nickelback, Tegan and Sarah, Armin Van Buuren (creator of the 24 Longest Day Remix

, my favorite techno song in the history of favorite techno songs), DJ Tiesto and The Cranberries.

Any other suggestions?

[I just watched the 24 music video, again. That's almost too much Jack Bauer for me to handle. Almost.]

Permalink: Pandora.html
Words: 96
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: potpourri

06/23/06 08:22 - 67ºF - ID#24998

I love my coop

I won't be able to make it to their grand opening this weekend, but Buffalo Rising

features (e:laurajean)

in an article today. Kudos to one of our (e:peeps) (laurajean, are you still around?)

Ilovemycoop:

Today is also special, as it is Take your Pet to Work day

Permalink: I_love_my_coop.html
Words: 82
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: pop

06/20/06 06:14 - 71ºF - ID#24997

Connie and Maury

(e:peeps) - I give to you the site What Would Tyler Durden Do's post, which contends that "Connie Chung Is Insane"

After seeing that video I am not sure that insane is the right word for it.

Permalink: Connie_and_Maury.html
Words: 47
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: food

06/19/06 06:26 - 75ºF - ID#24996

Pasta, Spritzer

I was going to post my awesome recipe for a simple pasta cassarole, but the pasta is too sticky and the flavor is good, but weird. I attempted the Rachael Ray Southwestern Pasta Bake but didn't feel like making the cheese sauce and instead tried to - well, it doesn't matter. It's edible, but as a choice between this and a nice bowl of cereal . . . I'd probably take the cereal. The chicken came out good though:
- 2-3 chicken breasts, diced into bite-sized pieces;
- season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, italian seasoning (this is where I lost the "southwest" part of it);
- put EVOO in the saute pan, twice around the pan;
- heat, toss in chicky;
- stir until cooked, splashing a bunch (a tablespoon?) of lemon juice halfway through;
- add to something that is not my horrific pasta disaster. Maybe a quesadilla? Or with some rice.

(e:matthew), did I tell you about Gluten Free Girl?

She's incredible.

So here's a recipe for a Saratoga Spritzer. I can't find a reference for it online, so I'll go with the recipe in my head (courtesy of my mama):
In a chilled glass (ALWAYS keep glasses chillin in the freezer), combine a tablespoon of lemon juice (more or less, to taste) and 2 sugar cubes.
Add Ginger Ale and some ice.
Add a few dashes of Angostura Bitters on top.
Swirl.
Enjoy.

You can use sprite or sierra mist or 7up too.

Permalink: Pasta_Spritzer.html
Words: 249
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: sailing

06/16/06 05:29 - 78ºF - ID#24995

Marina

Seeing as (e:leetee) and (e:paul) have both written about the Marina this week, I wanted to add my own pictures from last night.

my captain, showboating in the laser :)

my dear puppy, demonstrating how easy it is to walk around our deck.

my dog eats ropes. she also falls in lakes, but she has her own life preserver. Yes I love my dog, what of it?

on the dock.

an after sunset view, facing west.
See all the sailboats? If you go out in a motorchoker, and hear a dog barking at you, that's my puppy. We've already trained her to bark and growl when the words "george bush" or "dick cheney" are spoken; now she's starting to bark when hearing the roar of a speedboat engine too.