kimchi with jim

after inspiration from his favorite cooking magazine, my great uncle jim came up with a new idea for our holiday cooking project. kimchi! which is especially fitting since the roommates and i have been considering making it for the past...3 months. aside from some minor setbacks, no korean hot pepper, a rotten napa cabbage, and slight misunderstanding of directions, kimchi madness ensued! check back in 4 days for more craziness and taste-testing.

napa cabbage enjoying a salt bath

daikon and carrots

massive amounts of ginger, garlic, dried chili pepper, "kimchi base" ie sauce sort of used in kimchi but with absurd levels of msg and fish sauce, and some rice wine vinegar for extra liquid

de-salted cabbage after a quick bath

second to last step: slather cabbage with pungent paste
last step: cram in jar with julienned veges and cover. pray to avoid explosions

the kimchi patiently awaiting its 4 day re-emergence into society. by that time it will have fermented, halved in size, and hopefully become unbelieveably spicy. mmmm.

pies!

family tradition dictates more homemade pies than people. unfortunatly since pies only came from once source we were lacking a bit. but we certainly put a christmas day hurting on those that were present.

from top: cranberry raspberry, pecan [pronounced pi-cahn not pee-kaan], and apple

mmmmm gooey cranraspberry goodness

i can't bring myself to make a pecan pie. what with a cup of corn syrup... but ill definitely eat my share of someone else's pie.
apple made with golden delicious

the sad remainders of the cranrasp which were finished today. turns out cranberry raspberry pie goes very well on top of homemade lemon bars.

jet blue

since i have earned the nickname "last minute liz" more than once in my life, it seems fitting that the sis and i flew to florida for the holidays... at 8pm xmas eve. fortunately, we didn't fly delta.

we flew jet blue! err jetted rather. after miraculously making the ronkonkoma train [thanks to the secretary's incredible driving skills] we caught the air train and got to the new T5 no problem. once there, check-in and security were a breeze [amazingly] and we wandered into the airport muji for some pre-flight ....pen buying.

then it was time for wholefoods-esque buffet food

leah's meal

• mac & cheese
  
• fried rice
• chicken wing
• pasta salad 1
• pasta salad 2
• corn salad
• hard boiled egg

my meal

• raw spinach i hoped would wilt a tad
  
• honey bbq ribs
• mac & cheese

and some live xmas jazz music. which i got a really bad picture of on my phone. mostly i was too busy cramming down food. mmmm ribs for the second day in a row.

at the gate we found they had desk terminals where you could both plug in your laptop and order coffee, alcohol, and snacks without actually talking to anyone. eeeeexellent.

a preview of florida pics:

holiday decor

xmas/hanukkah/solstice/kwanzaa decorations are scarce around the house. the roommates are leaving for home and the fam is going to florida. frank and the neighbors are left to create holiday spirit. fortunately mel sent me an early xmas present which i must say looks quite nice amongst our kitchen gear

mmm wine

close up of sparklies

we also did xmas presents early due to the traveling baggage restrictions and whatnot. and i pretty much enjoy wrapping presents

hello kitty wrapping paper! feeding the addiction i know.

sweet metallic bow on foily paper

purple. the color of winter.

well purple and black. at least in our laundry.

• dress: h&m
• gloves [just cos they matched: h&m
• leggings: urban outfitters
• shoes: target
  

black angels

george crumb's black angels is by far the weirdest most badass quartet ive heard. specifically written for electric string quartet with additional requirements being: 20 crystal glasses, 6 thimbles, 2 maracas, and the ability to whisper numbers in foreign languages.

black sparkles abound

the quartet in height and instrument order-leah, clara, mario, rich

7 of the crystal goblets

semi-acoustic violin

scroll detail

photoshop

at thanksgiving i procured a copy of pictures from my great aunt's life thus far [shes only 100]. the cold preserves the maine women.

no one was really clear who this is. or i wasnt paying attention when the name was said.

grainy sepia/b&w scan of an old picture

looking more like a "vintage" ad for booze...

95% sure this is minnie picking blueberries

reminiscent of christina's world, a painting i have always found creepily depressing and oddly enough, christina was a mainer

foggy turkey day

i am thankful for thick pile area rugs and the force of gravity only being 9.81 when grammie fell. it could have been much much worse.

i however am not thankful for having participated in the preparation of creamed onions. i abhor onions. with a firey passion. well not actually. just the semi crunchy-smushy texture that activates my gag reflex.

pearl onions

trimmed pearl onions

foggy morning

mmmm food [note the green bean casserole! amazing as always]

my first round of food. complete with hard cider, water glass, and empty glass waiting for some white wine

before the festivities ensued however, we attempted a family picture. after several attempts on a different camera, i remembered why we dont let the old ones use technology without a quick lesson. but fake smiles and without the top of my head, here we are: the sis and grammie

• dress: saks off 5th ave [faux two piece dress-ruffly black bottom]
• black long sleeve: gap
• leggings: somewhere in nz
  

umm yea

welp just kidding. study. GRE. right. maybe tomorrow. or when my new book finally comes.

the sis and i went to dc for thanksgiving. stayed with my grandma's niece, who is my mom's first cousin and my second? i never know how all that works. regardless, they are most enjoyable company and make a mean french silk pie. apparently in our family it is known as salmonella pie. but its fucking awesome and i havent had a piece in probably 8 years.

the day we ventured out into dc proper, there were 35mph wind gusts and it was 55...with a wind chill of 37. inappropriately dressed just slightly.

• borrowed down vest: eddie bauer
• sheer "burnout" cotton sweater-ie not warm: ny&co
• purple shirt: kenneth cole
• black tank top: h&m
• jeans: calvin klein
• purse: calvin klein

and here's a recent work outfit. and contender for weirdest pose/face of the year.

• sweater: uniqlo
• dress: old navy
• leggings not tights: uniqlo
• blue boots: zara