The first one we did was actually late last fall. Andrew and I scored this LP of German beer drinking music - aptly titled, "German Beer Drinking Music" and I made Sausages, Sauerkraut and Apple Strudel.

More recently we had our usual Valentine's Day Tiki Festival with "Polynesian Fondue", a flaming Scorpion bowl and then the little girls did a hula dance around the dining room in their grass skirts to the enchanting sounds of Les Baxter.

[An amazing collection of free Les Baxter and Martin Denny LP rips can be found here, at Xtabay's World blog. Yes you could get them on iTunes or CD but they sound so much better with those little pops and hisses!]

Even foster pug Miri got into the act:

Last week it was Italian night. I waxed nostalgic about my Italian grandmother's red and white checkered tablecloth, the basket covered chianti bottles, the 1960's Cinzano ashtray... oh wait, that was all stuff I saw on this album cover, wasn't it?

[In case you have trouble, right there in the "O" it says "Pronounced 'CHOW'" Thank goodness.] Available for download here

We threw in a little Dean Martin for good measure. And he genuinely did remind me of my wonderful Italian grandmother. Though she never owned this Cinzano ashtray.

Next theme: Space night! I have this LP on vinyl. Download it here

Theremin Music, Star Trek (TOS, natch), Tang and vodka and something wrapped in tinfoil for dinner. I was so sad to see that TV dinners don't come in foil anymore. Because I would serve my family this - but only once.

Miribelle, she is 3 or 4 years old and perfectly healthy (for a change!) She is available for adoption via the (newly redesigned by me :) pug Pug Rescue of Sacramento website.

And in other god-help-me-before-I-volunteer-again news, I just got a job as a doggie photographer at the Peninsula Humane Society! I'll be taking pictures for the website and writing descriptions too.

Saturday, February 27th
Forbidden Island in Alameda
Vintage Clothing and Accessories Sale
11 am - 4 pm
Forbidden Island's Parking Lot
Strictly 21 and Over
It doesn't matter if your tastes run to sharkskin suits, go-go boots, cotillion
dresses, swanky fezzes, hippie cool, or frilly tulle, you're sure to find something
to love at our sale. Whether you are looking to swing out at the U.S.O. dance or
to boogie down at Studio 54, we'll have just the threads to make you the belle
(or the beau) of the ball.
The sale starts at 11 am, the bar opens at noon and will be serving alcoholic beverages
and a small food menu
NOTE: This is NOT the annual FI parking lot sale. This is a vintage
clothing and accessories sale only. Some of the vendors may have a selection
of Hawaiian clothing and/or accessories mixed in with their wares, but
it will not be the primary focus of their inventory. Sorry you're just
going to have to wait until Sept. for all the tiki goodies.
ALOHA!

Evie designed them herself and is doing the blanket stitch on one of them.

Gingerbread Cookies

Note the injured Shriner on the lower left (who was involved in an unfortunate baking accident). Can you find the pink flamingo?

Each recipe makes about three dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookies.

Gingerbread cookie dough (above)

2 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated), room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured (light) molasses
1 large egg

Sift flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat shortening and butter in large bowl into light. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in molasses, then egg. Add dry ingredients. Using spoon, stir until mixture forms dough (dough will be very soft). Divide dough into thirds. Gather each third into ball; flatten into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Lemon sugar cookie dough

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and lemon peel in large bowl. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients. Using spoon, stir until mixture forms dough (dough will be soft). Divide dough into thirds. Gather each third into ball; flatten into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly, if necessary, before rolling out.)

Shaping and baking cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously flour work surface and rolling pin. Place 1 dough disk on work surface (keep remaining 2 dough disks refrigerated). Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness, lifting and turning dough to prevent sticking.

Using a basic gingerbread fella cookie cutter, place the cutter on the dough and press only the lower half of the body (below the neck anyway) firmly. Try not to let the top of the head cut through the dough, but a slight depression is fine. Remove the cutter and use a knife to add a fez to the top of the head. Go over the edges of the head and shoulders to make sure the dough is cut well and cookie can be lifted. Use a spatula to get the cookies off the work surface and onto the baking sheet.

Transfer cookies to lightly greased baking sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake until cookies turn brown on edges, about 15 minutes. Let cookies stand on sheets 1 minute. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. Store cooled in airtight container at room temperature until ready to decorate.

Royal Icing

3 tablespoons Wilton Meringue Powder
4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons warm water
Food coloring paste

Beat first 3 ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). Tint small batches with desired food coloring pastes. Makes about 3 cups of icing.

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

In a week the girls are off of school so we are going to spend vacation mostly at Yosemite (PLEASE LET IT SNOW) and loafing around in an Irish coffee stupor for the New Year.

Speaking of consumerism, Joan Jett Barbie - indeed- rocks!

Check it out:

Cupcake tree ornaments!

Paint your own Russian Nesting Dolls set! The monster designs are cute, but I am going to paint them to match my tattoos.

My freezing/grumpy little girls and I at Tunnel View, Yosemite, Thanksgiving 2009.

Pink Jackalope from Girlsavage's Etsy Shop

Yes. I threw a princess party.
No. I can't believe it either.

I hate to admit it but it was a shitload of fun and I would totally do it again :)

Fiona the Wonder Pug went to her new home a few days ago and we already have yet another. Rescue is inundated with unwanted dogs lately because of hard financial times (and the pug trend is fizzling out, thank god). The new one is named Ollie, he's pretty cute and hasn't whizzed on any furniture yet - which is why I usually refuse to foster boy dogs (sorry, fellas). Got him from the Peninsula Humane Society, where I made sure to browse the selection of Chihuahua mixes before leaving. They are so cute and tragic! It was really hard to not stuff as many as could fit into my purse before leaving! Andrew is so forgiving about all the strays I bring home ("Oh, hey, wow. A new dog. Huh.") but I don't want to overdo it, you know.

Aside from stray dogs I'm volunteering at Evie's kindergarten for two hours a week teaching painting to the kids. I love it. I can't wait until the higher grades when I can do some art history too. She has an awesome class, we love her school! I think I got a little too enthusiastic when I agreed to teach block printing to 125 kids at the holiday craft fair though. Doh.

The thing I am most excited about this holiday season though is spending time at Yosemite, teaching Evie to use an EZ Bake Oven and this present that she specifically asked for:

I finally get to teach her to sew on a Hello Kitty Sewing machine, manufactured by Janome! Awesome!

Isn't she cute? That's her tennis ball. Good luck taking it away from her, unless you use the words "let's play FETCH!" She will chase it till she collapses. I have never seen a pug fetch before, she's amazing! Just got her spayed yesterday, so she's a little pissed off at me right now, but will be going to her new home in two weeks.

A few months ago I found out that I had a hyperactive lump on my thyroid - which was causing all sorts of mood swings, weight loss then gain, my hair was falling out, and I was (and still am) so tired. So I went through a radiation treatment a few weeks ago to try to kill off the hyperactive lump and am waiting to see if it worked. I couldn't be near the kids for a week because of the radiation! And I sadly gained no superpowers. At least no new ones...

Evie started reading last week! She got really excited about these Hello Kitty early readers we ordered from school and just sat down and started reading them to me! It was amazing! Exactly one month before her 6th Birthday. I'd like to attribute it to a month of Kindergarten, but I think it was those 3 years of Montessori that really did it. So far Kindergarten work has been pretty boring for her. But she loves all the friends she's made and is excited to go every day!

We went to the opera to see Salome last weekend and it was so good! Big orchestral pieces that drown out the singers, and Salome writhing on the floor making out with John the Baptist's bloody severed head at the finale. I have only seen one other Strauss opera and that was Elektra 10 years ago in DC. That one wasn't quite as shocking.

Cardboard Tube Fighting League

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (see June 30 entry below)
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson
Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940: How Americans Lived Through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression by David E. Kyvig

So yeah, aside from laundry and tiny sock matching, I did pretty well!
I just started my brother in law Bill Loehfelm's new book BLOODROOT which was just released a few weeks ago by Putnam. Congrats Bill! Again!






Now school is in full swing for the girls. I did fine getting Evie off to her first day of Kindergarten without getting too sentimental or frazzled, until a few hours later at home when I realized that I had my dress on inside out. Guess I was a bit distracted after all.

Alternate caption:

"You can has STFU"