Tag Archives: colorado

Mom & Dad’s Autumn Sauerkraut

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I’ve been swamped lately with my new job and the required barista training. It’s been really fun and interesting! We did drip and French press coffee training at House of Air. Then, I went to Oakland for 3 hours for 3 days to do espresso training with Blue Bottle Coffee. I went from knowing practically nothing about espresso to so much! I felt very accomplished when the last day, I made a cappuccino that was actually drinkable and delicious. Also, I loved the Blue Bottle vibe. Our trainers were very knowledgeable, yet laid back and fun to work with. And every morning, when we came in at 8 AM, they were playing  metal or punk. That’s the way to start the day!

My new coffee training reminded me a lot of learning tea ceremony in Kyoto, with my high school students. It really resonates with me that we build rituals and importance around the simple things in life – what we drink, what we eat, and understanding how they are deeply affected by the season, the month, the week, the day, and our very selves in the moment of preparation.

It’s Fall, and it’s actually been feeling like it here in SF. October is my favorite month. The cool weather, the changing leaves (as much as we get that here in CA), and the darker hours always sets me musing. It’s a thoughtful time, and this month I’ve been really feeling nostalgic and homesick for both Colorado and Japan. I’ve been yearning for “home,” even as I wonder where that is these days, as I feel more and more attached to SF, yet continue to miss other places and people. Maybe that’s why I called my parents up one evening and asked for a recipe that I always want to make when October rolls around. To me, it’s a quintessential autumn recipe; surprisingly simple and always delicious!

Another Adventure in Cooking: Mom & Dad’s Autumn Saurkraut (for 2 people)

You’ll need:

1/2 yellow onion – chopped

2 Bratwurst or Sausages – cut in half, or however you like to grill them (Fun Fact: We bought supplies the night the Giants started the series against the Phillies, and got special “Lincecum Brats”!)

1 – 1.5 red apples – peel if you like, cored, and sliced

Lots o’ sauerkraut

Proceed:

In a frying pan, brown the Brats or sausages. Add the chopped onion and when it’s soft and brown on the edges, add apple slices.

Drain out most of the liquid from the sauerkraut and add to the pan. Mix everything together.

Simmer on low for 20 – 30 minutes.

Add extras as you like: Salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, Dijon mustard (my fav!)

Notes:

Brats are a little harder to use as I found you needed to cook them longer before everything else and they have a tendency to fall apart.

If you like your apples a little firmer, I would add them later – after adding the saurkraut, maybe even once everything is set simmering – otherwise, they tend to get mushy and lost in the mix.

Enjoy!

Even More Autumn Cooking Fun: I’ve been trying to cook with squashes more, now that they’re in season. Last night we chopped up half a delicata squash and added it to a pasta sauce and were really impressed with how the texture and flavor benefited the sauce. It was so tasty! Also, we tried added freshly grated ginger to baked acorn squash and it really adds a delightful zing!

Oh, morning! Oh, mornings…

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I love mornings.

When I was… maybe in the 5th or 6th grade, or younger – I’m not sure – I used to get up early and write. I would always make a cup of Earl Gray with too much sugar in the fancy blue cups with the saucers. I’d sit in front of our PC, my mom’s exercise music in the background, and click away in my pajamas. I had aspirations of writing a novel. Young adult, fantasy.

When I was in high school, getting up early was less of a choice and more of a requirement. By then I was making time for yoga, not writing, but I still had to catch the bus. I hated riding the bus, mostly because of the other rowdy teenagers. With no one I ever really knew on that bus to talk to, their chatter seemed crass, overwhelming, infringing on the possible meditations of the hour (poetic snobbery? I am guilty). But I was the first stop, so my only favorite part of the bus ride was the stretch when it was just the bus driver and I, trucking down Gold Camp Road. With the glowing mountains at my back, the still, glimmering city stretched out to the glorious sunrise. The colors in my memory are Intense.

I liked that bus driver. I don’t remember her name now, but we had some good chats on that stretch.

These days, 7:30 is typically my earliest. But this morning, I was awakened by my boyfriend getting an early morning call and suddenly having to head out much earlier than we expected. I found myself sitting in the kitchen alone, with two full cups of Earl Gray, the sink dripping forlornly, and the city starting to buzz. I admire the shade of the sky. The quality of light in the early mornings is what I love most. Is it gray? Pale blue? Tinged with pinks and yellows? Like a perfectly pale streaked Easter egg. Those in between shades…

But what’s my inclination? To write.

Here’s a poem about mornings in my neighborhood that I wrote not too long ago:
mission morning

mission morning
laundry lines
tangled stairs
bright
teal and adobe
mysterious murals
the Green Lady
leads
our search
for 5
interlocked
interpretations

see: bright sky
hear: restaurant clatter
smell: ripe melon
taste: torta gorda
feel: sharp-edged palm leaves
on my cheek
contrasts
your
sweet
kiss

written september.23.2010
remembering september.20.2010

All of my friends are so nice!

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I didn’t quite understand this comic by my friend Amy until today.

I woke up emotional and exhausted. Lately, I’ve been having these nights where I sleep deeply, but I have these crazy dreams that are so intense I wake up feeling like I’ve run a marathon. My brain isn’t resting even when it’s supposed to! Last night was vampires + ice skating + university graduation… WTF? Less amusing, my lower back and hips have been hurting a lot again in the last week. Towards the end of the day I’ll start feeling really sore and tight and then by the time I lie down, it’s painful.

Of course, all of this whining is following a really good Monday yesterday, when I got a TON done, saw friends, got ear acupuncture, so I feel bad for complaining.

Anyway, I went to my chiropractic appointment and almost burst into tears describing my chiropractor how my back and legs were feeling. Luckily, I have the BEST CHIROPRACTOR IN THE WORLD, and he really helped me talk it out, calmed me down, adjusted my spine and my soul, and sent me back into the world feeling so much better.

He reminded me that when I started treatments with him, I was injured and overly emotional about that. I’ve been doing so much better the last couple months really allowing myself to rest, which is hard for a dancer/athlete, but I AM healing. But now I’m on the other end of the spectrum – I’m going through a lot of changes which is emotionally difficult and now my body is reacting to that, asking me to continue to take it easy and be kind to myself. Why is that always the hardest thing to do? Why do I always run myself ragged?

When I got back from my appointment, my new roomie, M, asked me if I wanted to go get a torta with him down on 24th. It was a really simple gesture, but today, it meant a lot. And it was my first torta in the Mission and it was AMAZING. I definitely want to try all the torta places near our place now! Which means I will get increasingly chubby, but it will be sooooooo worth it…

Also, I picked up some flowers for the apartment, to brighten our kitchen. I’ve been missing sunny Colorado a lot these days, and sunflowers always remind me of Bear Creek Canyon in late summer/early fall, bright against that brilliant CO sky…

Maybe the CO vibe somehow inspired my CO BFF to contact me today… a long chat with the MQ is always a life saver!

Lastly, I’m quite pleased with how a new project is turning out… more to come, but here’s a little preview pic…

Now if only I could escape to a nearby mountain for a good hike, I would feel right as rain… hopefully soon! But until then, I really am grateful for the good people I have in my life.