100% Hybrid

100% Hybrid
Originally uploaded by revalani

Does this make sense in any known universe? I don't even know what they intended it to mean.

A Shucking Discovery

A Shucking Discovery
Originally uploaded by revalani

I've never seen anything like this before. Well, yes, I've seen something like this...

Let rise until duh- oh

Let rise until duh- oh.
Originally uploaded by revalani

I used the same recipe as last time, the classic Tassajara whole wheat bread with some millet flour added because I happened to have it. I realized partway through -- i.e., when I walked into the kitchen and saw this -- that I usually cut the quantity in half.

It turned out fine, despite the mess.Two of the three loaves and fifteen of the sixteen burger rolls are in the freezer.

I don't use butter per se very often, but a slather on fresh-baked bread is butter's highest calling. Yes, "slather" is a noun, at least in this household.

Watch for Serendipity

We were out walking last Sunday and I commented to Jer that we might take in an open house or two. Just joking; I know that touring real estate at random is not one of his favorite pastimes. That's probably a gender-linked characteristic.

Lo and behold, the REX house -- Recycle Everything eXperiment -- was open for inspection. This is Shannon Quimby and partners' attempt to do a major remodel without a dumpster on site. Not only did they reuse much of the original framing lumber in the new structure, they've imaginatively repurposed everything from archaic electrical wiring components (now cabinet door pulls) to trashy old miniblinds (plant markers for the garden). She's been blogging about it for the Oregonian, and I've been following the process, so I was jazzed at the chance to see it near completion. Once I dragged Jerry inside, he was fascinated, too.

On the way home we noticed this colorful reminder: Watch for Serendipity. We hadn't been, any more than usual, but apparently it was watching for us.

Unrelatedly, my birthday dessert photo was in my camera all this time. Here's Chef Jerub's Peach Bavarian. He'd never made one before, but it turned out beautifully, of course.

Gifts

The girls next door believe in leprechauns. They showed us a tiny dwelling the other day that surely belonged to one. It looked like a bird house, but it was bright green (the same color as their garage door, oddly enough), and carpeted in rose petals. I'd move right in, if I were a leprechaun.

They also believe in magical fairy gifts. On more than one occasion, we've answered a knock at the door, realizing en route that it was best to rein in our distance vision and act surprised, and found a spray of flowers or a painted rock on our doormat. Most recently, it was a pair of stones, each wrapped in a leaf and tied with pink string, with a shell balanced on top. Later, a deconstructed coda: a rock in a leaf in a shell. Art is all about exploring your medium to the fullest.

Today's my birthday. It's an off year; I'm 61. Unlike most days, the friend calls outnumbered the telemarketers by about 8 to 3.

Jer and I acknowledged a while back that birthdates are arbitrary; we give each other gifts all year long. He cooked waffles from scratch last week, and chicken tagine served over bulgar with green beans almondine, and an incredible veggie dish consisting of shiitake mushrooms in a pinot noir sauce with asparagus and polenta. I'd requested salmon for my birthday dinner, and he made this amazing rendition with fresh basil, tomatoes and onions, cooked in foil on the grill. Sort of like a stone wrapped in a leaf, only much more succulent.