This mystery items looks kind of like a knife with training wheels.
A blade that is flanked by two angled pieces of metal.
From tip to tip, this item measures 6 1/2 inches, the blade is 2", and the guide pieces stick out about 1/4" more than the blade.
What is this? 
I have a hunch what this one is. I believe this played a part in a movie that launched the career of an actress with a million dollar smile.
When you squeeze the sides, the top opens up.
Hint: this is made in France......
What is this?
This is a very interesting looking item. This looks to me like something you might use for sewing. I don't sew, but wouldn't this tool be handy to push out the corners? or maybe to split a seam?
I'm pretty sure this is a tool for the kitchen.
What is this?
The second mystery item is a little more challenging - I really don't know what this is!
It is made from a thin metal. You can press down on the sides like tweezers.
The center section is a blade that looks like a cheese cutter, but it doesn't look sturdy enough to cut cheese.
It looks like it might be capable of cutting things like paper or sheets of nori (dried seaweed).
What is this?
I am a HUGE fan of the Oakland Museum's White Elephant Sale. It supports a great organization, and I'm a sucker for the biggest garage sale ever!!
I spend a lot of time in the household goods area. Over the years, I have picked up some random items that I don't really what they are supposed to be used for. I'm hoping my friends out there in the blogosphere might be able to help!!
Let's start with an easy one.
What is this?
The weather in the Bay Area has been rainy, with a side of hail and wind.
I'm convinced that the sky is sad, and acting out over all of the crazy things happening in the world lately. It makes me sad too.
I am participating in the Bakesale for Japan, on April 2nd 2011, organized by Bay Area chef, Samin Nosrat. Last year, Samin raised $23K to help relief efforts for Haiti's earthquake by holding bake sales in the Bay Area. The Bakesale for Japan is turning out to be a nationwide event with participating locations all over California, as well as in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin, Portland- even Maui! Proceeds will be donated to Peace Winds Japan, a disaster preparedness and response organization that improves connectivity, coordination and collaboration among various disaster responders. 100% of the money will go towards relief related items - like medical and sanitary supplies, blankets, clothing, or applied towards long-term reconstruction.
I have been thinking about what my contribution will be for the bakesale. Since I am a self-professed "tinker-er" in the kitchen, not everything I bake turns out like it is supposed to. I really want to contribute something delicious. So I am testing out some recipes before I decide on what my contribution or contributions will be.
Since it has been so rainy, I was hoping to make something using the ingredients I had on hand. So I did a search for: banana, almond meal, oatmeal - I came across a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson for Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe. I have had success with many of Heidi's recipes. I thought I would give it a try.
The only change I made to this recipe was to add a couple shavings of fresh nutmeg - which I feel makes bananas even more banana-y.
I can't stop eating these cookies. There's no butter and no added sweetener of any type. That said, these are NOT low fat - with almond meal, oil, coconut, and chocolate chips, but they ARE full of fiber and delicious goodness. Maybe this will be my contribution for the bakesale.....
To find a location or more information about the Bakesale for Japan, check out Samin's blog, Ciao Samin, or email Samin directly at bakesaleforjapan@gmail.com.
If you are not donating baked goods, come purchase something, donate cash, or just stop by to support the event. At each location, they will be giving demonstrations on how to fold cranes with origami paper. Senbazuru is a Japanese tradition based on the belief that folding a thousand origami cranes will make your wish come true.
Hang in there Japan! We love you!!!
Above logo created by very talented artist, James Baker
[[posterous-content:pid___2]]
The weather in the Bay Area has been rainy, with a side of hail and wind.
I'm convinced that the sky is sad, and acting out over all of the crazy things happening in the world lately. It makes me sad too.
I am participating in the Bakesale for Japan, on April 2nd 2011, organized by Bay Area chef, Samin Nosrat. Last year, Samin raised $23K to help relief efforts for Haiti's earthquake by holding bake sales in the Bay Area. The Bakesale for Japan is turning out to be a nationwide event with participating locations all over California, as well as in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin, Portland- even Maui! Proceeds will be donated to Peace Winds Japan, a disaster preparedness and response organization that improves connectivity, coordination and collaboration among various disaster responders. 100% of the money will go towards relief related items - like medical and sanitary supplies, blankets, clothing, or applied towards long-term reconstruction.
I have been thinking about what my contribution will be for the bakesale. Since I am a self-professed "tinker-er" in the kitchen, not everything I bake turns out like it is supposed to. I really want to contribute something delicious. So I am testing out some recipes before I decide on what my contribution or contributions will be.
Since it has been so rainy, I was hoping to make something using the ingredients I had on hand. So I did a search for: banana, almond meal, oatmeal - I came across a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson for Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe. I have had success with many of Heidi's recipes. I thought I would give it a try.
The only change I made to this recipe was to add a couple shavings of fresh nutmeg - which I feel makes bananas even more banana-y.
[[posterous-content:pid___1]]I can't stop eating these cookies. There's no butter and no added sweetener of any type. That said, these are NOT low fat - with almond meal, oil, coconut, and chocolate chips, but they ARE full of fiber and delicious goodness. Maybe this will be my contribution for the bakesale.....
To find a location or more information about the Bakesale for Japan, check out Samin's blog, Ciao Samin, or email Samin directly at bakesaleforjapan@gmail.com.
If you are not donating baked goods, come purchase something, donate cash, or just stop by to support the event. At each location, they will be giving demonstrations on how to fold cranes with origami paper. Senbazuru is a Japanese tradition based on the belief that folding a thousand origami cranes will make your wish come true.
Hang in there Japan! We love you!!!
Above logo created by very talented artist, James Baker
penecillin?
I had a bowl of beautiful meyer lemons on my table. At the very bottom of this bowl was a perfectly-powdery-molded-on all sides lemon.
The geek in me found this fascinating and beautiful.
A Mac user for years, I have never clicked the iMovie icon.
With my friend Brian as a willing partner in crime this is the product of my first fling with the iMovie program (big sigh of relief.) This took multiple tries, multiple computer re-starts, and now still, my iMovie program is partially frozen. Video savvy friends - any insights or recos? iMovie - grrrrr!
This video documents my first actual visit to southie, the new venture from the people who brought us Wood Tavern.
I have stuck my nose into southie several times since their opening (the smell coming out of this place is absolutely divine!!!) Their menu changes every day - and the menu also changes from lunch to dinnertime. On the top of the menu, they still print the # of days in business (I love that they are still so new-born!). We went on day 35.
Southie is known for their dungeness crab roll (but I'm allergic to crab), so we tried two other fabulous sandwiches. The pulled piggie - pulled pork with tangy southie slaw, chunks of crunchy pickles hidden inside the sandwich, and lime-jalapeno aioli - YUM!!! The "nana carmella" is a meatball sandwich with niman ranch beef and pork meatballs, provolone and reggiano cheeses, on a la farine baguette.
I will definitely be back - I was eyeballing the truffled bacon & poached egg salad, and really REALLY want to try the Sarah's whoopie pie (maybe dessert FIRST next time?)
good food was consumed while making this video..... enjoy!
This post is dedicated to the FIERCE ladies of the League Champions: Los Angeles Gold Lady Kings Hockey Team.
Over the holiday, my friend S gave me this recipe. This is something that she makes with her mom while she's home visiting. This is ridiculously delicious, they call it "Christmas Crack".
I love this recipe!! It is now my "go-to" potluck contribution. It takes only 5 ingredients, and is so easy-peasy to make and oh, so delicious!!!
During a recent visit to LA, I made it for my best friend SB, aka "Cheech". After I left, she called me to tell me that she had been rationing every piece until I could come back and make it for her. Silly rabbit, it is sooooooo easy!
Cheech plays Center for her hockey team, the Gold Lady Kings. They play every Friday night - she decided that this would be the perfect treat to bring to her team!!
Through text and MMS, I was able to coach Cheech on every step of the process in real time!
This is my version (it is a variation of the Saltine Toffee Cookies Recipe from AllRecipes):
I and E are 4 1/2 year old twins. They love their backpacks and are excited for their trip to Germany (which isn't happening for another 2 months, but hey, doesn't hurt to be prepared....)
I - might grow up to be a girly kickboxing champion (cuz she kicks "big chunky butts").
E - likes books about traveling into space, and can build magnificent things with his Legos.
A - is 9, and the poised and responsible older sister of this energetic duo. She is a budding concert pianist, a talented artist, and loves baking! (me too!)
L and B have a meyer lemon tree that has a generous bounty of fruit. We thought a fun way to spend the day would be to make something "lemon-y"! Lemon tarts!!
This was truly a team effort - here's the team hard at work filling the tart tins with dough for the crust.
The pugs supervised the production.
Ta-dah! Lemon Tarts (proudly presented by I)
The Lemon Tarts were the perfect finish to a fun evening of feasting which included L's Chicken Chili, two trays of Gourgeres (made by A and auntie e), and Uncle E's homemade pork and butternut squash/goat cheese empanadas and homemade cream puffs with chocolate sauce - YUM!!!
The evening ended with a rousing rendition of, what else? Chopsticks on the piano!!
Meyer Lemon Tart (adapted from Terry Paulding via Bon Appetit)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
For Crust:
Blend flour, powdered sugar and salt in processor. Add butter; process until coarse meal forms. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time; process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Press over bottom and up sides of pan. Pierce all over with fork. Freeze 30 minutes.
Bake crust until golden, about 25 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.
While crust is baking, make filling:
For Filling:
Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Pour into crust.
Bake tart until filling is set, about 25 minutes.
Cool tart completely in pan on rack. Serve with whipped cream.
NOTE: If using mini tart tins, adjust cooking time for both crust and final baking - we reduced by about 5-10 mins.
Thanks to L,B,A,I,E, pugs, and Uncle E for a great feast!
And congrats to all of the 2011 Academy Award winners!
I try to visit them in SoCal as much as possible. K and E are so full of energy. Spending time with them is always so much fun!!!!!
We love breakfast time together! E tends to wake up earlier than K - and both wake up much earlier than auntie e would prefer ....
Early in the morning our hair defies gravity, especially E's curly hair!
When auntie e visits, she makes her special "crazy hair toast"!
It goes like this:
Whole grain bread lightly toasted. While warm, spread on creamy peanut butter. The warmth of the toast makes the peanut butter soft and melt-y.
Cut up a banana and line slices on top of peanut butter.
(E commented that they were "oval" shapes. She's a brainiac - she does have Einstein-esque hair, after all.....)
Finish with a drizzle of honey on top.
Cut in quarters (if you're serving to 3 year old-sized hands) and devour!
Enjoy!!
Confession - I don't like to eat marshmallows in their "as-is" original form.
I love marshmallows, but I will never be one of those people who will pop those powdery pillows in my mouth straight from the bag
My favorite way is on a stick, toasted in a bonfire.
A close second, is to put them in the microwave for a few seconds til they puff up as big as they will puff without burning. When they cool down, they become kind of crispy, kind of chewy, and a bit toasted on the inside.
Rice crispy/cereal treats are another fav. I like them on the crunchier side (vs. chewy). And I like to use a variety of cereals, not just Rice Krispies.
I saw these new JUMBO marshmallows in the store the other day.
What would you make with them? Maybe jumbo s'mores?
(these would be VERY impressive in the microwave........)
Last night, Hawaii Five-O opened with a dialog between Dano and Chin about "coco puffs" from Liliha Bakery.
Dano declared that these delectable delights would be what he would want as his last meal.
On my latest trip to Hawaii. Those coco puffs from Liliha Bakery were actually the last thing I ate before I came back o the mainland. The "last meal" of my trip.
Liliha Bakery
515 N. Kuakini Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone
(808) 531-1651
