The Life of My Mouth

Gluten-free makeup from Minerals on a Mission

2012-01-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

I often feel like I somehow missed out on some important "girl" lessons that it seems like most of my peers received. I'm a total klutz with a curling iron, I can't do hair products and make-up is mostly a mystery. In high school I tried to cover up acne with a thick coat of concealer or foundation but those days are long behind me. I haven't worn such things in more than a decade. But... still, while I don't dabble in make-up on a regular basis, I can't resist the occasional urge to try a little lipstick or eyeliner. Just a little. And it occurred to me recently that it's pretty stupid that I spend a lot of time making sure I'm not putting too many crazy chemicals in my body, but I've been happily drawing on my eyelids with chemical-laden gunk. Well no more of that. This girl is going upscale with a brand-new eyeliner from Minerals on a Mission. I'm still not ready to go into an actual makeup store without feeling like a tourist in a strange land, though, so this baby comes courtesy of the cosmetics section of Whole Foods. Toxic chemical-free and gluten-free too!

That one where I rate the gluten-free beers

2012-01-29T16:50:00.000-08:00

The other day there was a one-day sale on beer (and cider) at the Whole Foods in Santa Cruz. Twenty percent off the whole selection. Naturally, I stocked up on Sam Smith's organic cider, Bard's gluten-free beer, Estrella Damm Daura and a few other ciders. I've been feeling a little moment of joy every time I open the fridge and see all those GF beers there. That never happens! It got me thinking about the various gluten-free beers I've tried and which ones I like the best. Let's take a look at the rundown.

1. The best gluten-free beer I've had, by far, is Estrella Damm Daura. I suppose this is probably not that surprising as this Spanish import is also the only GF beer I've heard of that's actually made with barley malt. I'm not sure how they do it, but somehow they take the glutens out before bottling it. I can only guess that it's some sort of brewing chicanery or just plain magic. Whatever the cause, it's paying off, big time. Even BK, beer connoisseur that he is, thinks this stuff is pretty good. It's typically about $8-10 for a four-pack, which isn't that atrocious. It isn't always the easiest to find though. So far, I've found it at a few Whole Foods stores, including the one in Evanston, Ill. and the one here in Santa Cruz, and they serve it at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba in Chicago. It's a lager and it's gotten pretty good reviews on Beer Advocate.

2. New Planet -- Off-Grid Ale I like this one quite a bit....

3. Sprecher's Shakparo - An African-style beer. It's really a shame that this beer has such a limited released because it's really good. Let's see what Beer Advocate says about it....

4. Bard's Tale and 5. Lakefront Brewery's New Grist - There's a tie between these two. They are two of the first gluten-free beers I ever had and surprisingly, still some of my favorites. The folks at Beer Advocate weren't much of a fan of the New Grist, or the Bard's, but you know what they say about opinions.

6. Gluten-free Goldilocks at Hamburger Mary's - I really wish there was still an HM's near my place, or that they bottled this stuff and sold, because it's really good...looks like they switch it up with another GF brew, Sleeping Beauty.

7. Green's - I want to like these a little more than I do, but it's probably for the best because they are on the expensive side. Still, I'm always happy to see them on a menu. But really, $6 and up for a bottle retail seems to translate to at least 10 or 11 dollars at a bar and that's just too much for me. Give me some wine instead.

8. Redbridge -- Bk thinks it tastes like blood and I guess I can see that. This isn't exactly my favorite thing to drink but it was first introduced to the market, I was thrilled. It represented the fact that the big brewers were recognizing that there's money to be had in GF and that's great for me. It's nice to have an opportunity to pick up a GF beer in the regular ol' grocery store sometimes and this stuff does nicely for times when I want to have a "beer," like Superbowl parties and stuff like that. Also, I prefer it to most Woodchuck ciders.

9. St. Peter's Sorghum Ale - At first I thought I liked this one, but now I've not so sure. I drank it in Europe because I found it at a store in Italy but I wouldn't seek it out. It's a little too sweet for my tastes.

And speaking of sweet... at the very bottom, there's

10. Toleration Ale -- I don't think I would drink this again unless you paid me. And even then, I might have to really consider how much you'd be willing to go. This English beer is brewed without any type of grain, using just sugars, and it's frankly quite foul. I don't even want to waste any more words on it. Avoid. Seems like most of the folks on Beer Advocate will concur.

Honorable mention: Ramapo Valley's Passover honey beer This was the first gluten-free beer I ever found - or tried. It was horrendously sweet but I appreciated the sentiment. I have no idea if this beer is even still produced. I haven't seen it in years.

Post-holiday briefing: Left coast Christmas

2012-01-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

I feel like I still haven't totally recovered from the holidays, or more accurately, the holidaze. I was so busy with work up until the 24th that I pretty much failed this Christmas season. My decorated rosemary "tree" dried out rather quickly and began dropping needles (like they were hot) almost immediately.

Ooops. This year, there was no homemade wrapping paper, no painstakingly hand-lettered cards....and not nearly as many homemade gifts as I was hoping for. I did, however, make a lot of DIY spice and salt blends that I packaged in cute little tins , sets of notecards printed with photos BK and I took on our cross-country drive and of course, my famous bottle cap magnets. I would have liked to have made bottles of homemade kahlua and infused liquors, amongst other items, but in addition to being strapped for time, I didn't go home for the holidays this year. Sending liquids via USPS still seems a bit risky to me. I managed to pad my homemade items with some lovely things from our local shops, including a bunch of lavender sachet dryer bags from the Homeless Garden Project.

I spent Christmas Eve running around, finishing up last minute errands. BK and I bought some delicious sausage and charcuterie from El Salchichero for our dinner, along with some macarons from Kelly's French Bakery. Our landlords are pretty much the nicest people in the world and had sent us a $50 gift card to Trader Joe's, so we went and stocked up on wine and goodies there too. I'm a dissenting voice when it comes to TJ's, but I certainly wasn't going to turn my nose up at a gift card. It was warm enough that we were also able to indulge in some cocktails on the patio at one of our favorite places, 515 Kitchen and Cocktails.

Christmas morning started out with mimosas and bagels. BK's parents sent us a package of goodies from Zabar's, including Nova Scotia lox, NYC bagels, mustard, pastrami, cream cheese, rugelach, and some other things I'm now forgetting. I picked up some Udi's GF bagels for myself, along with red onion, tomato and capers. Yum! We also watched my holiday favorite, "A Christmas Story."

Later, after breakfast and a good walk on the beach, we set out for Jewish Christmas -- aka movies and Chinese food. The movie -- "Young Adult" -- wasn't quite up to my expectations, but the theater -- the Del-Mar-- couldn't be beat. And the Chinese food ended up being Indian food because our first choice - O'mei - was closed and the other places we checked were packed to the gills. So Royal Taj it was. The food was good but I'm hesitant to recommend it to other gluten-avoiders because I woke up feeling pretty gross the next day. I'm still unsure what caused it, but I definitely need to be more careful and scrutinize the menu more next time. We came home after dinner and lit the menorah. All in all, it was a pretty damned good day. I love the traditions of Jewish Christmas!

The next day we picked up my mother and one of my brothers at the airport.

meyer lemons to the max!

2012-01-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

Before moving to Santa Cruz, I had no idea there would be so many citrus trees. When I think citrus, I think SoCal, not NorCal. But lo and behold, we've gotta lot of citrus here. In particular, this region seems to produce a lot of Meyer lemons, which I love. I bought a bunch of them at the Live Oak Farmers Market last week and am looking forward to making some of these meyer lemon whiskey sours.

colleges and gluten-free foods

2012-01-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

This is cool. It's a list of a the top 14 colleges that cater to gluten-free diets. Sadly, neither of my alma maters make the list.

I was pretty impressed when I was in graduate school last year and checked out the campus center's food offerings. I never stepped foot in the dining hall, but on days when I had to kill a little time between classes, I was thrilled to find several gluten-free products in one of the campus eateries. Being able to find something like an Amy's frozen entree was a surprise to me, given what I experienced as an undergrad. While obviously most schools still have a long way to go, it definitely seems like things have improved a lot since I was in college the first time.

I first started getting really sick when I was a junior in college. My options were pretty limited. Until I moved off campus, I pretty much lived off yogurt, salads and plain rice. I haven't tried eating at SUNY New Paltz since graduation, but my instincts tell me it's probably a lot easier to be gluten-free there now.

apologies for the hiatus

2012-01-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time I went this long without a post. I have been a busy, busy beaver. My mother and brother visited around the holidays and work was keeping me fairly nutty for awhile as well. There have been many days in which my "lunch break" consists of a Larabar and a cup of coffee while driving. But I'm going to try hard to return to the regularly scheduled programming just as soon as I can.

Thanksgiving 2011: Good times on the West Coast

2011-12-07T10:04:00.001-08:00

I'm a bit of a funk so I'm going to do a quick post about Thanksgiving to cheer myself up. I was initially a bit sad that we wouldn't be spending the holiday with our families back east, but it turned out to be one of the best T-days in recent memory. (Sorry mom.) We still don't really know many people here and I tried to finagle an invite somewhere, but it was a no go, so bk decided we'd forgo the turkey and do something different. I signed us up to help with prep at a local food pantry in nearby Watsonville called Pajaro Loaves and Fishes. We got stuck with an early shift, which I initially wasn't thrilled with, but I'm really, really happy we did it. Watsonville is a predominantly Mexican city, so it was cool for me to be working in the kitchen alongside older abuela-types as they roasted chiles and tomatoes. We live in an area flush with farms, which donated much of the produce we used. Many of the other items donated were also organic, which is fun to see. It's so typical California.

I was tasked with washing, drying and chopping head after head of local organic lettuce for salads, while bk masterfully mashed giant vats of potatoes by hand. After two hours of helping with prep work, we went home to take Ruby Tuesday on a nice walk by the beach.

I'm really obsessed with succulents lately. I have some of these in pots and can't wait for them to get huge.

Then we relaxed with mimosas and coffee, and in my case, newspapers. I always love the bigger Thanksgiving editions.

During a last-minute grocery store run to get more wine and a few other items, I insisted on dragging some pine boughs into the car. BK laughed, but don't they look nice? While the food cooked, we watched "Rushmore," which is one of those movies that I always seem to forget is really good.

I made a salad using our homegrown microgreens and some pomegranate arils along with a little bit of locally-grown organic mesclun mix. These salads came Buddha-approved.

And for the creme de la creme, here's a shot of our full meal taken by Mr. BK himself.

Here we have roasted beets, mashed parsnips with garlic, and roasted cornish hens done two ways - one unstuffed and one done with a quick GF stuffing I made using some broth, spices and GF bread. Oh and the obligatory cranberry sauce. I think everything -- including the beer and wine -- was local except for the cranberry sauce and the bread. I love that living in California makes it easy.

Later we had dessert: Pajama pants and a pint of Double Rainbow pumpkin ice cream shared on the couch, traded back and forth, with Ruby in between us.

Okay, so it was hardly a traditional Thanksgiving in any sense, but it definitely was one of the best I've had in a long time.

naturally gluten-free holiday cookie recipes from Saveur

2011-11-29T09:01:00.001-08:00

Photo by Todd Coleman for Saveur

I make no secret of my love for Saveur, especially since Gourmet went more or less defunct. Saveur truly is like food porn. I drool over the photos whenever I get my hot little hands on a copy.

I was thrilled to see two recipes for holiday cookies that just so happen to be naturally gluten-free because they are made with nut flours.

BK loves pignoli cookies but I didn't realize they were made with almond flour until we were in Italy last summer. I want to try this recipe out soon.

I'm also admiring these "Baci di Dama" cookies, which are made with hazelnut flour. I bought a cake mix made with hazelnut flour at Eataly in Genoa and the cake turned out amazingly. It was sweet and nutty without being at all overly sweet. I made it for my mom's birthday and it went perfectly with some good vanilla gelato. If these cookies are anything like that cake, I'm sure they're wonderful. I just wish nuts and nut flours weren't so expensive....

Snacks: gluten-free soft pretzels from Kim & Scott

2011-11-28T20:09:00.001-08:00

I really missed soft pretzels. There's just something about a hot, soft pretzel from a cart in Manhattan, eaten while walking with plenty of spicy mustard. It's going to be a long time before I can completely recreate this experience, but when I spotted Kim & Scott's gluten-free soft pretzels, I had to give 'em a whirl.

I was pleasantly surprised to find they actually are pretty good. The salt wouldn't stick as nicely as I'd wanted, and they still had a bit of that slightly gummy texture that GF products unfortunately often have, but overall, not bad. I feel like this is generally my opinion on most gluten-free products these days: they aren't exactly wonderful but they're decent, at the very least. This is a huge improvement upon the GF items that were available when I first found out I had celiac. I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to no longer feel forced to make do with hermetically-sealed packages of styrofoam-like bread that comes with it's own silica gel packet and trays of dense, poo-colored brownies that weigh almost a pound and come with an $8-9 price tag. Hallelujah! I am thrilled those days are behind me.

And now we have GF pizzas, cupcakes, ravioli and so much more, like soft pretzels!!! Unfortunately, at nearly $6 a box for just two pretzels, they probably aren't a snack I'll be indulging in too often. Still, I'm glad that should the urge emerge, Kim & Scott have got me covered.

Pop-up dinners by Lightfoot Industries and Dig Gardens

2011-11-21T16:46:00.001-08:00

Course 1: a lovely little salad with frisee and orange slices

Thanks to the local food blog Blame it on the Food, I found out about the supper club run by local organization Lightfoot Industries. Lightfoot Industries is, in its mission statement from the website, "a hybrid social enterprise that provides entrepreneurial training for teenagers. We use a for-profit restaurant, retail line and innovative curriculum to model social, environmental and fiscal responsibility." Basically, it's a four-year supplemental academic program that's sort of like a vocations or BOCES type program except that it's a private organization that runs it rather than just being an extension of the public school system. Essentially. It's a very cool idea and one that's very Santa Cruz. They do not have their own brick-and-mortar restaurant at this time, so they have had various venues host them. Most recently, they've partnered with local plant store extraordinaire DIG for weekly dinners in a pop-up restaurant format. DIG is no ordinary garden store. It's a really cool place that focuses on succulents, air plants and terrariums, although they also sell things like orchids, canning supplies and other cool items. It's such a cool place, in fact, that I bought BK a gift certificate there for his birthday, so he could get himself a little terrarium, which he's been wanting for ages.

Courses 2 and 3: Roasted beets w/ carrots; sauteed swiss chard.

The dinners are made from all local and organic ingredients, and you get five courses for $35. Wine is available for $6 a glass and of course, it's also local.

Our friends Kate and Rich recently came to visit us and I decided to get tickets for one of the Dig/Lightfoot dinners.

Going to this store just makes me so happy.

Although the interior of DIG is very cool, the outside is also very cool. They usually hold the suppers outside in their nursery area, under little white lights that have been strung above. It would be beautiful, I'm sure, but sadly, the night we went, it was pouring so everything had to be moved inside. This was still totally fine but it did slow the dinner up a bit. No worries - we had some wine while we waited.

I forgot to take a picture of our "main" dish, course #4, which was a hearty cassoulet-type dish comprised of white beans and roast pork. It was very tasty and very much a stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish, which was good for a cold and rainy night. (Cold being relatively speaking, of course. Sorry East Coast.)

Pumpkin bread pudding: not gluten-free, but it sure looked good.

As part of their program, Lightfoot also sells gluten-free baked goods at a number of local places, so they are very good about being accommodating of gluten-free diets as well as vegetarians. You're supposed to let them know two days in advance of the meal that you need a GF version, but I stupidly forgot to do this. Fortunately for me, it worked out as everything that night was gluten-free except for the dessert. No worries, I had a cup of coffee and another glass of wine instead.

All in all, it was a very good time even without dessert. The kids who served us were all pretty endearing, and even their little mix-ups were very cute. Sadly, their season is ending in a few weeks and this will also bring the end of their partnership with Dig as a venue, although I'm not entirely sure why. They're currently seeking a new venue/host for the next season of supper club.

a very gluten-free Thanksgiving

2011-11-19T09:54:00.001-08:00

Back in New York, my grandmother on my mom's side has hosted Thanksgiving for the past several years. She's always made sure to be careful about cross-contamination and she typically tries to make me at least a few gluten-free items. Last year, I couldn't get back to New York from Chicago because I was busy with graduate school and I'd just gone home a couple of weeks prior for bk's birthday. Fortunately, a bunch of fellow grad students were in the same boat and one offered to host a "grad school refugee Thanksgiving dinner." We ended up with vegan, gluten-free and "regular" versions of many dishes, including pie, stuffing and gravy.

This year I'm a little bummed that it will just be myself and bk for Thanksgiving California-style, so I decided we should volunteer somewhere. The dinner I've signed us up for is pretty early in the day though, so we will probably have our own dinner of some sort later on. We both have to work the next day so it won't be too complicated I'm sure - okay, who I am kidding? BK doesn't know how to not cook complicatedly. I was rallying for a turkey out of tradition but I think I at least convinced him we should go for duck rather than chicken.

Side note: One year my ex and I held "Friendsgiving" in which we made duck confit with pumpkin risotto and roasted veggies. It was awesome. Also, I made everyone share something mortifying from their teenage years. I am a great hostess, clearly. In my defense, I bet my show and tell was one of the most mortifying. I'm a glutton for self-mortification.

All that aside, Thanksgiving can be a very tricky holiday for us gluten-free folks to deal with but fortunately I've acquired a good collection of bookmarked gluten-free recipes. My first year eating GF on Turkey Day was the worst but it's gotten so much easier now. Some tips after the jump:

Gravy can easily be thickened with cornstarch instead of flour, and cranberry sauce is just fine and dandy. I like the look of this spiced-tea cranberry sauce recipe.
Mashed potatoes and roasted veggies are also totally fine and really, who doesn't love roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta and shallots?
I've personally always hated that gross green bean casserole (my aunt makes it every year) and I'm happy it's not gluten-free so I get out of eating it, but if you're so inclined, Elizabeth Barbone has de-glutenized the recipe for us.
Barbone's also got a great-sounding gluten-free stuffing recipe up on Serious Eats as well.
This recipe for cider-glazed turkey from Michael Symon sounds great too, although obviously you'd have to omit the lager gravy he recommends. Oh and here's a fun video from Serious Eats about, what else? Turkey!
My previous experiences with gluten-free pumpkin pie have been pretty disappointing but this one from Saveur looks promising because instead of different flours, it uses pecans as the crust. In recent years, I've just opted for the pumpkin ice cream from Adirondack Creamery instead.
But perhaps most importantly, what's to drink? I usually bring a pinot noir to my grandmother's but I've also brought a good hard cider on a few occasions. It goes great with turkey! I particularly like the ones from Slyboro Farms, which just got a shout out in this month's Food and Wine. Of course, if cocktails are more your thing, Gourmet Live's got a nice little list of GF cocktails for you. Or try the craft liquors from Tuthilltown Spirits, in a shout-out to my old New Paltz-area stomping grounds.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! Don't forget to be thankful - for your food, for your health, and all that good stuff. I know I am - I live in a beautiful place, I have a great partner in my life, I've got a great pooch and I'm gainfully employed in my field. Everything else is gravy:)

plants! plants! plants!

2011-11-17T09:51:00.001-08:00

One of the best parts of moving to California is that I can grow plants outside all year long. Not all plants of course, but I did find a few varieties that are able to withstand the "winter" here.

My little microgreens sprouted so quickly inside. This is how they looked just 3 days after planting the seeds.

BK wanted a little citrus tree. He was hoping for more of a straight-up lime but opted for a Rangpur lime, which is not actually a true lime. The fruit is round and orange. I think it will still taste good in cocktails.

Look at those cute little fruits already!

Lettuce!

Swiss chard and little English sweet peas.

I've also got another big thing of microgreens going, some more swiss chard and some lovely looking purple kale.

Verve comes to Santa Cruz' Seabright neighborhood

2011-11-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

BK and I were very excited when we heard Verve Coffee Roasters was opening a new joint right in our neighborhood. We already had a cafe by us, but to be frank, we were very underwhelmed by it. We'd heard very good things about Verve so the prospect of it being in such close proximity was very exciting. In 2009, GQ declared it among the top 10 coffee spots in the US, and considering that list features the likes of Blue Bottle, Stumptown and my two Chicago faves, Metropolis and Intelligentsia, that puts it in pretty good company.

We had high expectations and I'm thrilled to report that Verve has met them all. First off, I'm totally in love with the aesthetic. The new joint --which is also where they've moved their roasting operations to -- is in an old warehouse so it has that very post-industrial look I've come to love. I also love the planters full of succulents they have outside. You see this type of landscaping all over Santa Cruz but I never stop digging it.

More importantly, the coffee is legit. BK has very high standards for cappucino and has quickly declared the one at Verve to be the best he's ever had. This declaration has held true after several visits too - no one-hit wonder here!

Everyone who works here has been very cool and nice, and I like how they even have their own hand-stamped cups. Is it cheap? No way jose, but hey, that's what you expect for high quality....and considering this place is just a few blocks from our apartment, well, let's just say I'm definitely crushing hard on Verve.

And for those on the east coast, Verve coffee can be had at a place in Long Island City. Or you can get your fix through a newish venture called GoCoffeeGo.

pickled green tomatoes

2011-11-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

Our tomato plant didn't exactly thrive this year. We started it rather late so I'm not too surprised. The few tomatoes we got were also incredibly disappointing. They just didn't taste like anything. I attempted to turn the rest into tomato confit but last week's take turned out to be a little bit of a fiasco.

I decided to give it another shot. This time, I asked our neighbor/friend if I could harvest her tomatoes as well. She was equally unhappy with the taste of her fruits, so she happily obliged. The few red ones I collected were dried in the oven for 8 hours and then popped into a little jar, and topped off with olive oil. And all the green ones we had became ... pickled green tomatoes!

I have never had such a thing before but I am very excited to try them.

all work and no play

2011-10-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week in the LoMM household. Work work work. Flummox on couch. Sleep sleep sleep. Our kitchen is undoubtedly not a fan.

horseradish bloody mary's

2011-10-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those days where everything just kept going awry. First I forgot to set an alarm to wake me up in the middle of the night to go check on my oven-dried tomatoes, so by the time I did get up in the middle of the night, I was left with blackened tomato chips. Gross.

Then I had to go get new brake pads put on the Subie, and unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, I needed to wait for it rather than going home. Three hours of estimated labor quickly turned into 4.5. By that time, it was 12:30 on my day off and I just felt defeated. This feeling would be perpetuated by a series of events, including forgetting to put the xantham gum in my cookie batter so that the dough immediately spread out across the cookie sheet and quickly turned into a burnt, inedible mess. Then my soup didn't come out right and I burned my tongue badly while taste-testing. I was just feeling like nothing I did was turning out right. Like Midas, except everything I touched turned to crap.

I needed to remind myself of something I'd done right. And so, voila, I remembered that my horseradish vodka project was actually decent. The smell is a bit off-putting to say the least, smelling disconcertingly like nail polish remover, but the taste is quite good. I wouldn't drink it neat, but it is the perfect addition to a Bloody Mary made with our favorite, McClures spicy bloody mary mix. So good!

lunch: pizza from Simply Shari's Gluten-free and Fabulous

2011-10-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

The pesto margherita frozen pizza from Simply Shari's "Gluten-Free and Fabulous" line was on sale recently so I decided to give one a shot. I am not usually a fan of most gluten-free pizzas available in the freezer section. I'd much prefer making my own. For a long time I remember only being able to find the Amy's brand in grocery stores. Amy makes a gluten-free frozen mac and cheese that I adore, but the GF pizza was not very good the last time I tried it. It was dried out and lacking in flavor.

So I was a bit hesitant to try Shari's, but I took the plunge and was pleasantly surprised. This isn't a typical red sauce pizza, which is beneficial in this case. The pesto and plenitude of vegetables kind of kept me from comparing it to "regular" pizza in my mind. Instead, I was able to enjoy it as a tasty lunch of crust, veggies and cheese. I liked that it was extra garlicky. Like most gf-pizzas, it's definitely a thin crust but it's definitely not as dried-out or overly crispy as many of the ones I've tried previously. Well done Simply Shari's!

wine-tasting in Los Gatos

2011-10-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

When BK's mother and grandmother visited us recently, one of the things his mother told us she wanted to do was go wine-tasting. We hadn't even done that ourselves yet, so we're definitely down.

First, however, we needed some food in our bellies to soak up all that wine. We decided to take them to the Los Gatos farmers market. We had some delicious samples and got brunch/lunch from the Oaxacan food stand there. This place is off the hook. It's so delicious and it's all gluten-free, with much of it also organic and vegan. I had an awesome tamale.

Then it was on to the wine! Our first stop was the Fleming Jenkins Winery's tasting room in Los Gatos. This winery is actually owned by Olympic figure skater Peggy Fleming, so there's some skating memorabilia decorating the place. For some reason, I thought this was really cool. Alas, the winery is being sold off because Fleming and her husband want to retire from the biz.

Next we headed to Big Basin Vineyard's tasting room in nearby Saratoga, CA. We got there and realized it was conveniently located next door to another winery, Cinnabar. We decided to save the best for last and hit up Cinnabar first. None of the wines there really amazed me, but they certainly weren't bad.

None of them could compete with the wines we tried at Big Basin though. I definitely would go back there.

After all that wine, we were feeling pretty beat so we went back home to rest, clean up before dinner and have a little snack. Okay, and some more wine.

photo: mid-afternoon snack

2011-10-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'm in a blogging slump. Writing all day at work makes me just want to come home, eat dinner and drink wine. This saddens me. I'm working hard to overcome this. BK's mother and grandmother came to visit us recently and I really want to post about all the fun stuff we did. Soon.

For now, here's a glimpse of our afternoon snack one day, following a visit to the farmer's market and wine-tasting in Los Gatos. We bought a wine barrel at one of the wineries for $20 to make into a table. Now we just need to go visit the local glazier to get a round glasstop cut for us.

not food: the new Apple iPhone cards app

2011-10-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Warning: this post has nothing to do with food.

Bk's something of a tech geek, to put it mildly, while I am decidedly not. In fact, there is a photo a friend once took of our belongings that I feel perfectly sums the difference up: it's of BK's iMac next to my Underwood typewriter in a moving truck. Yup.

Anyways, I'm crafty and like vintage stuff, while he tends to be all about the modern. Thus, I didn't initially share his enthusiasm for the new Apple iPhone cards app because, well, I either make all of my own greeting cards or buy them from other crafty folks on Etsy or at little shops, or from friends and acquaintances. And frankly the idea of an Apple-made "letterpress" card just seemed a little abhorrent to me.

However...I was still tickled to see this little guy show up in our mailbox the other day, the product of BK's experimentation with the new app. Isn't it cute? I still prefer making and mailing my own cards, but for I can see why this program has its perks --- not only can you pick out the design through the app, but you can also arrange for it to be sent through the app. Too hands-off for my tastes, usually, and I thought the "handwriting" font they'd chosen to address the envelope with was a little cheesy, to say the least, but other than that, I'm not totally opposed to the app.

Down on the boardwalk: Few gluten-free options but still fun

2011-10-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest attractions in Santa Cruz, aside from the beaches, is the boardwalk, one of the oldest of its kind in the country. It was originally intended as sort of a Coney Island of the west. I had two free unlimited one-day passes that we've been meaning to use and finally, on Sunday, the weather was nice and we had no other obligations so bk and I rode our bikes down to the boardwalk, down by the sea.

The Giant Dipper roller coaster is touted as the sixth oldest in the country. I've long had a serious fear of roller coasters, but I was hoping that perhaps I'd outgrown my phobia. Unfortunately for bk's eardrums, I apparently have not. In fact, I actually hate roller coasters. Hate them. Did I mention I hate them?

Unfortunately for me, one of the other fun parts of the boardwalk is one that I can't very well indulge in - fair food. Corndogs, fried things on sticks, fish and chips, pretzels and all sorts other fried, delicious and glutenous things are available all over the boardwalk. As you can imagine, this junk food smells delicious. I suppose I'm fortunate in a way to be unable to eat it as it definitely is better for my waistline not to.

Still, I couldn't resist trying something. I found the spiral Tater on a Stick truck, which sells only spiral taters-on-sticks and soft drinks, so I decided to give it a whirl. I was expected a potato with a crispy outside and a soft inside, accompanied by a whole DIY bar of various flavorings. Sadly, this Tater-on-Stick must have been sitting in the warmer for an awful long time, because by the time we got it, it was lukewarm and crisped to a point of no return, sort of like bland, thick, stale, overly-hard potato chips. Gross. After just a few bites, this baby was sent to circular file.

I may not like roller coasters, but I do like carousels, Tilt-a-Whirls, Ferris wheels, bumper cars, and a plethora of other rides. All in all, it was a pretty nice day....Oh, we also checked out an awesome semi-new place near the boardwalk called the Picnic Basket. I'll give that its own post.

photo: this is what Friday night looks like

2011-10-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

After an 11+ hour day of work, relaxation was on my mind....and yes, that's a case of $1.99 wine from Whole Foods. Only the best for this woman.

home: kitchen cabinets

2011-10-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

When we moved in to our current apartment, I was immediately charmed by the decorative cabinet pulls in the kitchen. So cute!

Snacks: In which I discover the Whirley Pop from Wabash Valley Farms

2011-10-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

My buddy Daniel B. was talking about microwave popcorn recently.
I love love love popcorn. I don't have a microwave now though, and I think microwave popcorn is pretty gross. For awhile, when the apartment I lived in came with a microwave, I was using the bag technique. Before that -- and after -- I'd always used a pot and some oil.

But when BK and I moved in to our current place, he suggested that the pot-and-oil method was too cumbersome. I started researching air poppers but he was intent upon getting the Whirley-Pop. I normally try to avoid owning many single-use appliances/devices, (except for my rice cooker,) but I went along with him.

Well color me impressed. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our Whirley Pop. It's easy to use, the popcorn tastes great and when I use it, I can sing a little song that goes "Whirley Pop, Whirley Pop, oooh ooh Whirley Pop" to the tune of the "Lollipop" song made famous by the Chordettes. I think a catchy theme song is important when it comes to my kitchen gadgetry.

home: settling in, settling down

2011-10-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

The idea of settling down has never been one that came easily to me. I've often imagined that for many women in their 20s-30s, the act of settling down was appealing and came naturally. I could be terribly wrong on this, of course, but the older I get, the more I feel as if everything in the universe is telling me that I'm supposed to want to settle down, find a mate, create a home. But none of this has ever felt innate or natural to me. Rather, I've spent a good portion of my life feeling terrified by the prospects, petrified really. Historically speaking, my family history hasn't given me a lot of faith in those things...

But back to my original point....sort of. Domesticity is one thing. I've always loved baking, although that's dropped off considerably since I was diagnosed with celiac. I like furniture and decorating in my own strange, quirky ways. I love vintage glassware. I love color. I love making meals and gifts. I love hosting parties and trying to grow plants. Domesticity ala Martha Stewart is no problem.

But it's the settling down part of domesticity that has long made me break out into sweats. I've lived with three different partners at this point; the first when I was just 21. Looking back, I wish I hadn't allowed myself to be pushed into such things before I was truly ready for them. And the second time, well, the living together part didn't last very long and the romance was horribly complicated.

I didn't want to live with BK at first. I protested. I cried. I yelled. I dug my heels into the dirt at every turn I could. Because I'm stubborn and difficult and fiercely independent and the idea of losing any of that scares to me to my absolute core.

And yet....

And yet...

For the first time in my young life, I'm finding that I actually like living with my partner, that I enjoy creating a home with him. I enjoy coming home from work in the evening to clean laundry, dinner on the table and cuddling on the couch with wine. All of this still confuses me sometimes. There's a large part of me that feels uncomfortable about all of it, but there's another part of me that is trying very hard to embrace it. So I've decided...I'm giving it a shot, for better or worse.