Grandma and me on the beach in Florida, 1998

I recently lost my last grandparent, my paternal grandmother.  She was 94 years old and had Alzheimer’s.  It was expected, but still sad.  I was very close to her, although we had been unable to communicate for the last 8 years due to the Alzheimer’s.

She was born Marian McHugh – she had no middle name that we know of – in Brooklyn, NY on March 9, 1917 to parents who had immigrated from England.  Her childhood was not an easy one, but she managed to overcome the hardships of her early life to become a remarkable and inspiring woman who lived life to the fullest and was not scared to try new things.  With my grandfather, she raised three sons, co-owned/ran a restaurant, worked for Pan American Airlines, and started up a paper company.  They moved from Brooklyn to Miami in 1946 and she spent the remainder of her life in South Florida, where she adored the sunshine and the beach.

She introduced me to dim sum, told me to get a job working with computers because “someday they will be very important,” taught me about the stock market, and blew past me on I-95 in Miami doing 90 mph while yelling, “You drive like a grandmaaaaa!” at me.

She was a social butterfly who had an extended circle of friends throughout her life.  Well into her late 70′s she would get together with girlfriends for barbecued ribs and strawberry daiquiris.  She rode her bicycle almost daily on the boardwalk in Hollywood Beach, and always found someone to stop and talk to.

From her I inherited my blue-green eye color, my curvy figure, a love for travel and Asian cultures, and a strong work ethic.  She taught me that life is fun, no matter what age you are.

In spite of only having an 8th grade education, she was a sharp and insightful person.  She read the newspaper daily and was knowledgeable about world events.  She did multiple crosswords daily until she was about 92 – her vocabulary level was exemplary.  Her world travels gave her a perspective into social, cultural, and economical policies that made her stand out from her peers.  She had a great interest in traveling to Asia and made many trips to that region, particularly to China.  I remember her telling me once, “The Chinese are a very smart people, and very misunderstood.  Always keep an open mind about other cultures.”

Her descent into Alzheimer’s was not an easy one to watch. What was once a bright, vibrant, fashionable woman who traveled the world, swam in the ocean daily until she was 89, and rode on the back of a motorcycle in England in her sixties – slipped away until she no longer recognized us.

I’m sure she’s sitting on a beach somewhere, and that she’s made friends already wherever she is.

Could my grin be any bigger??

I’ve been trying to write a post about my experiences at Kennedy Space Center in April and May, but I haven’t had the time lately to sit down and write.  I’ll try to sum it all up here.

Reader’s Digest version: Holy cow!  Longer version: click below …

The Tweetup event was two days – April 28th and 29th.  On April 28th, we got our Tweetup badges at the KSC media building and then proceeded to the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, and parked in the media parking lot between the VAB and the famous Countdown Clock.  In the press area next to the bleachers and news vans, an air-conditioned tent had been set up for the Tweeps, and round tables were scattered throughout that seated 6 to 8 people.  Power strips were all over the place and wifi was set up in the tent.

We spent the day Thursday listening to talks by NASA scientists and astronauts, and then we boarded buses and got a tour of KSC.  First stop was the VAB, where we got to go inside and stand with our mouths open marveling at it.  We could see through the wall the external tank and solid rocket boosters that would be going in STS-135 Atlantis.  I shot video of the VAB interior, but in no way does it really display the scale of this building.  It’s so voluminous that it has its own weather system; clouds and rain can form at the ceiling, and there are mechanical systems in place to prevent this.

We also go to go to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, which has now been turned into a museum, but they thankfully preserved the actual control room that the Apollo missions launched from.  They simulated a Saturn V rocket launch, and the entire room shook – quite an experience.  The rest of the building has many fascinating exhibits and relics of the Apollo program and is worth seeing. It’s part of a bus tour that you can purchase if you go to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.

KSC lies on Merritt Island, which is a large national wildlife refuge, so it’s not uncommon to see alligators wandering around.  Our bus tour guide mentioned that recently a family visiting KSC saw an alligator, thought it was sleeping, and put their 3-year old boy on it and took photographs.  People – alligators are not toys or props, asleep or awake.  Avoid them!

We were scheduled to be driven out to Launch Pad 39A that evening to watch the retraction of the Rotating Service Structure, but a bad storm rolled in and delayed the retraction to much later in the evening.  Trey Ratcliff, an amazing photographer, was one of the Tweeps and took this incredible HDR photo of the storm rolling in.

The next day was Launch Day.  it all started off well enough; good weather and wind conditions, everything seemed to be go, and there were 750,000 people around the Titusville area.  At noon, we walked over to the side of the road in front of the VAB to wave at the Astronaut Van as it drove by en route to Pad 39-A.  First, we saw the helicopters, and then we saw the shiny silver van come.  We excitedly waved.  It stopped in front of us, then turned left into the VAB parking lot.  There was a long pause and some NASA officials standing near us said, “Huh, I’ve never seen it do that before.”  It came back out of the parking lot, and approached the road.  It stopped.  We held our breath.  Then, it turned right and went back in the same direction it came from!  We all groaned “Nooooooo!” and wildly gestured towards Launch pad 39-A.  Here’s my video of the astrovan turnaround:

About 15 minutes later we learned that the launch was scrubbed due to electrical problems.  There were many sad faces in our group.

Well, I didn’t know what I was going to do.  I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back for the rescheduled launch, whenever it was.  The best thing I could do was go come, continue my life, and wait and see what happened.  We all had a Brewup that evening and talked about all the stuff we saw and learned, and although we were disappointed we didn’t see a launch, we:

• got to tour the VAB – this doesn’t just happen without a lot of clearance and red tape!
• met astronauts
• held Aerogel
• listened to NASA scientists talk
• met each other!

Here’s my Picasa album from the April portion of the NASA Tweetup: http://picasaweb.google.com/kosmonaut/20110429#

STS-134 was rescheduled for May 16th.  I must be on a lucky streak, because everything aligned up right and I was able to return.  I shared a hotel room with fellow Tweepers.  On May 15th, we were driven out to Launch Pad 39-A where we were 600 yards (!!!) from Endeavour and got to watch the RSS retraction.  We spent about a hour out there taking pictures and just looking at Endeavour in wonder.  She is a beauty.

Then at 2 PM it was back to the hotel to sleep as we had to be back at KSC at 3:00 AM, wave at the astrovan at 5:15 AM, and then (hopefully) watch a launch at 8:56 AM.  I was too excited to sleep and got maybe a hour of sleep, then dragged myself out of bed and went to IHOP for a quick breakfast with my hotel mates.  There was no traffic going over the NASA Causeway, and after I parked the car, I found the other Tweeps huddled on the bleachers in the dark.  (No Twent this time.)

At 5 AM, we all lined up in front of the VAB at the side of the road to wave at the astrovan.  We weren’t taking chances this time – a few of us had “NO U-TURNS!” signs ready.

The van came by.  It stopped right in front of us.  I held my breath.  The door opened, and one of the astronauts in his orange flight suit WAVED AT US!  Then the van continued on towards the launch pad!

We went to the media briefing room and watched live TV coverage of the astronauts in the White Room getting suited up and loaded into the orbiter.  They all looked so jovial and yet so calm.

Between 7 AM and 8 AM I took a quick catnap in the car, and then joined everyone back at the countdown clock.  Finally it was time for the launch.  I found a spot behind the countdown clock, to the right of the flagpole, and waited, my eyes fixated on the shuttle.  Before I went to NASA, all my friends were wondering if I’d feel the vibrations of the shuttle launch.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought I’d feel it the minute it ignited.

I didn’t.  I stood there with my eyes affixed on the shuttle, which was 3.5 miles away, waiting to feel something.  Then I barely saw smoke and thought, “has it ignited yet?  It should be igniting any second now.”  I still didn’t feel anything.  And then it went up!  I grabbed my camera and turned on the video, but I still was not feeling anything.  About 15 seconds later, I started to feel a slow rumble.  The shuttle picked up speed fairly quickly.  Unfortunately, there was a low cloud ceiling that day, which meant we didn’t see a lot of the actual launch, but Trey Ratcliff of course managed to turn it into an outstanding photo.  After it got behind the clouds, the vibrations moved across the water and towards us, and then boy, did I feel it.

And then it was over.  I was riding a high all day.  I actually saw a marvel of science and engineering get shot into space.  Couldn’t stop replaying it in my head.  Back at the hotel, we tried to sleep, but we kept watching replays and mission updates on NASA TV and live-tracked Endeavour in Google Earth.

Photos of the May section of the Tweetup: https://picasaweb.google.com/kosmonaut/20110516#

I have some advice for future Tweepers:

1. Get a Google Group.  We only had a Facebook group, and some people were slow in discovering it.  I didn’t discover it until a few weeks later, so I missed out on the opportunity to join group housing.  Facebook groups don’t let you search message archives – Google Groups do.
2. Don’t eat in the NASA cafeteria.  The food is terrible, and you waste time walking there and back.  Stay in the Twent, bring your own lunch, and relax.
3. Be sure to thank and show your appreciation to Stephanie Schierholz.  She works tirelessly to make these Tweetups happen, and  bent over backwards to get us access to the VAB and to Launch Pad 39-A.  She also made sure I had the accommodations I needed.
4. Get a group messaging system like GroupMe to let each other know about social events, rides, locations, etc.
5. They aren’t kidding when they say pack bug spray, sunscreen, and water.
6. Have fun!

Last month, @NASA on Twitter held a 24-hour registration where entrants could submit their name for a spot in the next NASA Tweetup at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of STS-134 Endeavour on April 29, 2011 at 3:47PM EST.  Out of over 4000 entrants, 150 lucky people were selected for a 2-day package that includes a VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center, talking with the astronauts and engineers, and the opportunity to view the launch from the press area.  I was surprised to receive an email from NASA saying that I was one of the 150 picked.  Wow!

I received the full Tweetup schedule and itinerary from NASA yesterday and it’s looking pretty exciting.  We have a full day on Thursday, April 28th with lectures, a tour of the Kennedy Space Center complex, watching the retraction of the Rotating Service Structure, and more.  The 150 attendees are coming in from all corners of the world and we’re all looking forward to meeting one another.  Among the Tweetup attendees are actors LeVar Burton, Seth Green, and Clare Grant.  Rep. Gabrielle Giffords‘ husband is STS-134 Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly, and yesterday, President Obama made plans to attend the launch.  I’m still blown away that I have the opportunity to attend this amazing and historical experience.

STS-134 is the final launch of Endeavour and the penultimate space shuttle flight.  The final space shuttle flight is STS-135 Atlantis, which is scheduled to launch on June 28, 2011.  After this, the 30-year space shuttle program will be retired.  Endeavour has had a long and storied career with NASA, having been part of the first servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and launching the first African-American woman, Mae Jemison, into space.  During her swan song mission, Endeavour will be delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station.  After returning to Earth, Endeavour will be decommissioned and taken to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Coming from a family with a long history in aviation, (my grandfather was a career USAF officer and both my parents were licensed pilots) we always took family trips to air shows and aviation museums when I was a child.  While my mother was a stewardess for National Airlines in the early 1970′s, she was invited to Kennedy Space Center on a VIP tour and sat in the LEM simulator with John Young and Charlie Duke.  John Young let her practice moon landings in the simulator and told her she was the first woman to do so.

Affordable tourist space travel may be a possibility in my lifetime, and I’m curious to know what assistive technology NASA has in mind for people with disabilities during space travel.  I’d also like to know if a deaf person’s experience in zero gravity would be the same as or different than a hearing person’s experience, so these are questions I’ll be asking NASA next week.

While I will have an interpreter with me, the Twitter updates from the other 149 attendees using the hashtag #NASATweetup will be almost like a live captioning stream for me.  Twitter not only helped me get to this event, it will also be keeping me in the loop.

Next Thursday and Friday, April 28-29, I’ll be Tweeting from NASA so keep an eye at @KathrynLHill for updates and photos of my NASA experience.  The Tweetup will be broadcast on NASA TV from 12 PM – 1:40 PM EST on Thursday, April 28th.  NASA will also be tweeting the event at @NASATweetup.  The STS-134 Tweetup attendees have set up a blog and a Flickr group for photos.

I sent my friend Adam Ellis, a talented artist, some pictures of me in a kimono and picking mushrooms, and he made these awesome drawings of me.  Check out his work at http://www.booksofadam.com/.

This week is SF Beer Week, and yesterday, I attended a sour beer tasting at The Jug Shop, where I got to sample 18 sour beers. I’ve been wanting to learn more about sour beers since I discovered Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour Ale and Deschutes‘ The Dissident. Here are my notes. The ones I really liked have an asterisk next to them.

1. Leipziger Gose - very pale color, wheat/lemon notes, very dry finish.  Light-bodied with some carbonation.

(*) 2. Rodenbach Grand Cru – bronze color with some reddish tint.  Notes of sour apple/cherry and malt, subtle touch of vinegar.  Smooth mouthfeel, light body.  I think this would be great paired with cheese.

(*) 3. Liefmans Goudenband – Copper brown in color.  Very nutty and malty notes, hints of apple cider vinegar.  Some oak notes.  Smooth, medium-bodied finish.

4. Grande Dame Oud Bruin – dark reddish brown color with a very fruity aroma reminiscent of plums and cherries, some hints of oak.  Acidic finish, light bodied with slight carbonation.

5. Fantôme Pissenlit – very pale color, slightly foamy.  Very light bodied with wheat and lemon notes.

6. Fantôme Spéciale De Noel – Caramel colored with fruit and wheat notes.  Medium bodied with a finish that tasted slightly like tart apples and honey.  Very complex and kind of hard to figure out.

(*) 7. L’Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien – Color of burnt caramel, with strong fruity notes and some malt.  Oaky/cherry finish, medium bodied.

8. Haandbakk – Reddish brown color with very malty notes.  Taste is acidic and antiseptic, almost like pine tar.  Very dry finish.

9. Oud Beersel Oude Gueuze Vieille – very pale golden color. Very fragrant and complex on the nose.  Very dry finish.

10. Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René – Golden colored, with notes of honey and pear.  Hints of lemon – very dry and medium-bodied.

11. Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze – very pale color and somewhat cloudy.  Very yeasty amd funky notes.  Very tart on the palate, like rhubarb.  Dry finish.

12. Russian River Sanctification – pale color and murky.  Tart, fruity, and malty notes – fruit smells like apple and pear.  A very dry, crisp, and tart finish.

13. Russian River Temptation – Light golden color.  Notes of malt, oak, apple.  Grassy and green apple in the mouth with a very dry and clean finish.

14. Russian River Supplication – Reddish caramel color, with a very fruity nose – like cherry and rhubarb.  Very tart sour cherry and oaky flavor and medium-bodied.  Dry finish.

(*) 15. Russian River Consecration – Nice burnt caramel color.  Very malty and fruity notes with lots of cherry and oak.  Medium bodied, semi-dry finish.

16. Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille – Raspberry colored, some carbonation.  Malty and fruity notes, like apples and berries.  Very light bodied with cherry tastes, very dry finish.  Would pair well with a goat cheese.

(*) 17 Cascade Kriek Ale – very rich copper color with very distinctive cherry notes.  Semi-dry mouthfeel with definite cherry palate.  Medium-bodied with hints of apple.

18. Oudbeitje Lambic – Pale yellow color and murky.  Malty notes with hints of strawberry and rhubarb.  Very astringent.

Chanterelle Chowder

I told you about those 12 pounds of chanterelle mushrooms I picked, right? The cold, soggy Bay Area weather is still working its magic on the mycellium, and a hike through the woods provided me with a bounty of golden delectables. I had some other winter vegetables in the crisper, and was in the mood for something creamy and chunky, so … ta-da! Recipe behind the cut.

Chanterelle Chowder

2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup of mirepoix
1/2 cup diced leek
1/2 cup diced fennel bulb
Salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup diced fresh chanterelle mushrooms
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. saffron threads
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. dry white wine
2 1/2 c. stock (vegetable or chicken)
1 pint heavy cream

In a soup pot with a lid, melt the butter and olive oil and add the mirepoix, leek, and fennel, and sweat them. Add salt and pepper to your taste, and then the mushrooms, thyme, and saffron, and cook some more until the mushrooms soften, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir well, and cook for a few more minutes to get those nice browned bits on the bottom of the pan called fond. Now deglaze the pan with the wine and the broth and let simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the cream and simmer for 5 more minutes while stirring.

Serve immediately.

I think next time I’d try to experiment with maybe a little bit of bacon or potatoes.

From left to right: chanterelle/shallot with cream sauce, chard/butternut squash/beet with sage, and roasted leek/fennel/potato bruschetta.

I know in the winter it’s a common refrain to sigh and long for the tomatoes and peaches of summer, but to be honest with you, I love the change of seasons and the foods that come with them.  It’s in this way that I have a bit of a Japanese mindset in my approach to cooking.  Right now is the season for wild mushrooms, root vegetables, apples, citrus, chestnuts, and crab.  It’s the time of the year when we see more darkness than light, we stoke fires in the hearth and drink mugs of hot beverages, and we bore down, stock, and bundle up.

I recently picked 12 pounds of chanterelle mushrooms and while browsing the farmer’s market, I acquired some butternut squash, fennel, potatoes, beets, Swiss chard, and shallots.  And somehow the idea to make bruschetta based on these seasonal ingredients formed.  I bring you: winter bruschetta!

This was something I cobbled together on the fly, and it was all very savory and filling.  The bread was an olive loaf from Acme Bread, and of course, you can use whatever crusty bread you have: sourdough, batard, pain levain, etc.  As far as the ingredients go, one can be really creative here – use your imagination and have fun!

The basic template for bruschetta is to take a good, crusty bread and make slices that are ½ an inch thick, and lightly toast them.  Then brush them with olive oil and add whatever bruschetta toppings you’ve got planned, and you’re good to go.

I made three styles of bruschetta, and here are the approximations in a freehand recipe.  This can serve one as a full meal, or three to four people as an appetizer.

Chanterelle and Caramelized Shallots Bruschetta

1 tbsp. butter
½ tbsp. olive oil
3 shallots, peeled and sliced 
1 large chanterelle mushroom, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Melt half of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat and add the shallots.  Cook until nicely browned and set aside.  Add the remaining butter and olive oil to the pan and sauté the mushrooms and the rosemary together until the mushrooms are browned.  Add this to the shallots and mix well.

Swiss Chard, Butternut Squash, and Beet Bruschetta

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup butternut squash cubes, peeled and seeded and sliced ¼-inch thick (I used the peeled and cubed butternut squash in a bag from Trader Joe’s – saves so much time) 
1 or 2 small beets, cooked and peeled (again, from Trader Joe’s)
3 big leaves of Swiss chard with stems, chopped
3 to 4 fresh sage leaves, chiffonaded
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Brush a small baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and layer the squash slices over it.  Brush the extra oil on the pan over the tops of the squash.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.  Put in the oven and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the squash is soft inside and browned.

In a skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat and sauté the chard until it wilts, then add the sage, beets, and squash, and mix well.  Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another five minutes.

Roasted Leek, Fennel, and Potato Bruschetta

1 to 1½ tbsp. olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
A 3-inch length of the white part of a leek, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 small potatoes, scrubbed and cut in ¼-inch cubes
About ¼-cup diced fennel bulb

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Brush a small baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and layer the vegetables over it.  Brush the tops of the vegetables with oil.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.  Put in the oven and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are lightly browned.

Chanterelle Risotto

I first learned to make risotto in a Hipcooks class with Monika Reti.  She taught us how to make mushroom risotto and pumpkin sage risotto.  Risotto is one of those versatile dishes like quiche where after you have the base ingredients, you can adjust the spotlighted ingredients. My friends Rob and Xep gave me some dried chanterelle mushrooms that they picked on their property a few years back. I’ve been conserving them like they are gold, and they are still super fragrant and delicious. (I keep them in a glass jar in a dark place.)

Anyhow, I sort of improvised this recipe, so measurements are approximate.

Chanterelle Risotto

Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock (vegetarians can substitute vegetable stock)
1 cup dry white wine
4 tbsp. butter
2 minced shallots
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup diced celery
About 3/4 to 1 cup of dried chanterelles, reconstituted in hot water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup short-grain rice (arborio)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preparation
Melt 2 tbsp. of the butter in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add shallots, carrot, and celery and sauté until translucent. Add the chanterelles and cook for about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove and set aside.

Melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter in same pot over medium heat, add the rice, and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the chicken stock and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid is almost absorbed. Add the wine and stir until almost absorbed.

Add the stock, about 3/4 cup at a time and stir frequently. Add the vegetables just before the last amount of stock is added and keep stirring. This is ready when the rice is tender – about 25 minutes. The rice should be creamy. If it’s soupy, keep stirring and cook a few more minutes.

Stir in the Parmesan and add more salt and pepper if you like. Enjoy!

Gorgeous Arkansas Black apples

I love trying new fruits and vegetables.  It never ceases to amaze me how much variety there is out there.

The other day at my local co-op, I saw these very dark-colored apples called Arkansas Black apples.  Naturally, I had to buy a few and try them out.  They turned out to be extremely crisp, which I like, and slightly tart.  The color of the skin is a very deep black-red color, much darker than red wine.  Supposedly they turn blacker as they age and are a good apple for long-term storing, but they didn’t last long enough in my larder for me to see whether that’s true.  Wikipedia says they can last for 6 months in storage.

Arkansas Blacks are a cultivator developed in Arkansas in the late 1800′s.  Their parentage is uncertain, but it’s thought they came from Winesap seedlings.  This apple is widely considered to be best for cooking and desserts, but I’ve been enjoying eating these with some Cheddar.

Well, it’s been a while since I worked with an all-white site background, but I’ve been on a Kelly Green kick lately and white is the perfect background for it.