No, this is not an homage to my father-in-law who actually eats apple pie for breakfast. I don't really have anything interesting to write so I thought I would send out a recipe that I invented. I am not a person who typically invents a recipe. I am a person who follows recipes exactly and never sways from doing exactly what it tells you to do. My mom is a person who, when you ask how she made the fabulous dinner you just ate replies "I don't know. I just threw it together". She makes these fabulous portabello mushrooms. She says she just sautees them in olive oil and garlic. It sounds easy enough but when I make them they end up looking (and tasting) like a dog's dinner. Is that genetic do you suppose? This ability to throw things together and make a fabulous meal? Will I ever possess that ability?
Well I've gotten a tiny step closer with this recipe. It's nothing groundbreaking but it tastes damn good. I actually did just throw it together without measuring so the measurements are approximate. You might need to adjust accordingly.
Here it is:
Apple Pie for Breakfast
1/2 cup of quick oats
1 tsp. ground flax seed (optional but highly recommended because it's so good for you!)
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 dashes cinnamon
handful chopped walnuts or pecans
Put the oats, flax seed, and almond milk in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 45 seconds. Stir in applesauce and cinnamon and sprinkle nuts on top.
You could probably make it with regular milk but I think it tastes better with the almond milk. Almond milk also has as much or more of the good stuff (calcium, iron) and as much or less of the bad stuff (fat, sugar, animal cruelty) than regular milk. You can also cook it on the stovetop if you want but it's way quicker in the microwave.
So there you go! It seriously tastes like apple pie with no added sugar (just what's in the almond milk and naturally occurs in the applesauce) and it has lots or iron, vitamin C, and protein to start your day!
Here's another recipe courtesy of Asha. It's called Puddling Poo. Now I thought it sounded like what would result if you ate too many Christmas oranges but apparently it's delicious. I'm told it looks like poo but tastes like chocolate. I've tasted it and I beg to differ...
Puddling Poo
Sand
Sea water
Seashells (optional)
Fill a bucket 3/4 full with dry sand. Get a very small container and ask your mom to go scoop some sea water out of the ocean for you repeatedly. Continue until she says she's had enough of going back and forth and the mixture has a mud-like consistency. Season with seashells to taste. This is particularly delicious if you take it home and let it sit for several days (if you can convince your mom to let you take it home. Mine wouldn't let me.)
Hmm... Maybe the ability to throw ingredients together skips a generation??
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Best Game You Can Name
Our time in California is ticking down so we have made a list of things we definitely want to do while we're here.The list ranges from likely (go to the Zimmer Children's Museum) to not-so-likely (go on the Price is Right). At the top of this list was to go to a Kings vs. Oilers game. There are only a few home games versus the Oilers each season so we had to wait until the end of the season to go. Never ones to actually pay full price for anything, we scoured Craigslist ads for people selling off tickets from their season ticket packs. None of the seats were great so we decided to chance it and find a scalper at the game. (On a side note, isn't the word 'scalp' disgusting? Not only is it just yucky sounding it has such horrible connotations. How did the the resale of tickets to sporting events become synonymous with the removal of one's enemy's scalp?)
Well in good ol' Edmonton you can count on several people hanging around under the statue of Wayne Gretzky trying to sell you tickets. I assume it's either legal or the authorities look the other way. In Los Angeles it seems to be a much shadier business. A guy around the corner from the gates asked if we wanted tickets but as David perused the merchendise some cops approached and our 'dealer' told David to put the tickets in his pocket. We then casually walked up the block with the guy several steps ahead of us. After a little negotiation (on David's part of course. I am really horrible at bartering) we landed 2 tickets, 10 rows behind the Oilers' bench. Not bad.
It turns out that actually selling the tickets isn't illegal but you can't do it outside the arena without a permit. Still though, don't you think that the LAPD has better things to do than patrol the Staples Center for scalpers? This is a city where people get murdered daily. The whole undertaking was actually pretty thrilling, as was getting past the gate without being told the tickets were bogus.
When we found our seats it turned out that the guy next to us had been given 4 tickets and sold 2 of them to a guy in the parking lot who then sold them to us for $25 more per ticket than he had paid. It really worked out well for everyone because the guy beside us made a little money, the entrepreneur in the parking lot made some too, and we got great seats for way less than the box office price. Unfortunately I think some of that money went up the guy beside us's nose. He was awfully sniffly and really hyper. Oh well.
There were a remarkable number of Oilers fans in the crowd. I suppose some people were expats like us but lots of people probably traveled there for the game. I guess if you want to travel to an away Oilers games, L.A. is a good place to go. It beats Pittsburg! A guy in front of us took one look at my Oilers jersey and asked, "do you live in Edmonton?" and when I said 'no' he said "why do you cheer for them then?".
Lots of things were the same as hockey games at home. Beer, popcorn, annoying people constantly shouting "shoot it!". There were some differences though. One of which was people that came out and shoveled the ice during commercial breaks. It was different because they shoveled the blue and red lines as well as the area around the nets. It was also different because these people were scantily clad women. During the first period, they were wearing low cut shirts and pants. During the second period they seemed to have lost the bottom halves of their shirts. We waited with baited breath to see if they would be pantless in the third but alas they were not.
Another similarity was the chants. You know, when the organ plays and people hollar "DE - FENCE!" and "let's go Kings, let's go!". A difference was that there was also a chant involving a little ditty played by the organ and the fans yelling "Oilers suck!". This was shocking to my Canadian sensibilities. I couldn't help thinking that in Canada we're not mean hockey fans.
We wondered what the crowd would be like and if these Angelenos would know anything about hockey. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the arena was fairly full and the crowd were pretty hard core. I guess if you're a hockey fan in a baseball/basketball town you must really love hockey. In other words, it doesn't take much to be an Oilers fan in Edmonton but if you choose the Kings over the Lakers, Clippers, and... what are the baseball teams called? .... you must really be hard core.
So did we win? Of course not! Don't you know that the Oilers suck?! I like to say that we lost the game but we won the fight. The highlight of the game was the fight in the first period where our guy worked the other guy. What is it about hockey fights that I love so much? I really am a pacifist at heart. When I was a kid I used to let mosquitos bite me because I found out they only live for 2 weeks and I felt bad for them. When I was 5 years old my mom asked me to choose between an ugly plaid dress and a cool one with stripes and a mock turtle neck. I chose the cool one but felt horrible for the ugly one. As an adult I don't eat meat and close my eyes whenever there's violence in movies. But a hockey fight? I go crazy! I find myself saying things like, "come on! Throw off your gloves, you sissy!" and cheering like a crazy person when someone lands a punch. I guess it's because it's mutually agreed upon by both players and usually increases the energy of the whole game. So although we didn't win and most of the Oilers (excepting the goalie) seemed to be counting down the minutes until golf season, even Sniffy beside me had to admit his guy got worked.
So I would highly recommend going to an away game of the sporting team that you love. It's kind of thrilling being the underdog and cheering when no one else is. It must be so fun for all those Leafs and Flames fans in Edmonton! We just might have to schedule any future North American travel around the Oilers' travel schedule.
As a side note, Asha's current favourite song is "The Good Ol' Hockey Game". She sings it all the time and tells people that hockey is the best game you can name. I have her convinced that when we fly back to Canada they are going to ask us at the border what the best game you can name is and if we don't say 'hockey' they won't let us in. She has also told David that when we go back to Canada he should be a house builder and a hockey player. Do you think it's to late for him to make the big leagues??
Oh, and one more thing. I'm going to use this blog as a way of recording something for posterity. David seems to think that he has a knack for predicting the Oilers' future. He insists that he predicted that Ryan Smyth would come back. By the way, it was nice to see Smitty back! Although does he always play wing now and therefore can't take his position in his "office" (i.e., the crease)? So anyway, David's new prediction is that the Oilers will just barely miss a playoff spot next year, make it to the playoffs the year after, and then they'll be on fire. I guess he believes all this "it's OK that we suck because it means we'll get great draft picks" business. Well, we'll see!
Well in good ol' Edmonton you can count on several people hanging around under the statue of Wayne Gretzky trying to sell you tickets. I assume it's either legal or the authorities look the other way. In Los Angeles it seems to be a much shadier business. A guy around the corner from the gates asked if we wanted tickets but as David perused the merchendise some cops approached and our 'dealer' told David to put the tickets in his pocket. We then casually walked up the block with the guy several steps ahead of us. After a little negotiation (on David's part of course. I am really horrible at bartering) we landed 2 tickets, 10 rows behind the Oilers' bench. Not bad.
It turns out that actually selling the tickets isn't illegal but you can't do it outside the arena without a permit. Still though, don't you think that the LAPD has better things to do than patrol the Staples Center for scalpers? This is a city where people get murdered daily. The whole undertaking was actually pretty thrilling, as was getting past the gate without being told the tickets were bogus.
When we found our seats it turned out that the guy next to us had been given 4 tickets and sold 2 of them to a guy in the parking lot who then sold them to us for $25 more per ticket than he had paid. It really worked out well for everyone because the guy beside us made a little money, the entrepreneur in the parking lot made some too, and we got great seats for way less than the box office price. Unfortunately I think some of that money went up the guy beside us's nose. He was awfully sniffly and really hyper. Oh well.
There were a remarkable number of Oilers fans in the crowd. I suppose some people were expats like us but lots of people probably traveled there for the game. I guess if you want to travel to an away Oilers games, L.A. is a good place to go. It beats Pittsburg! A guy in front of us took one look at my Oilers jersey and asked, "do you live in Edmonton?" and when I said 'no' he said "why do you cheer for them then?".
Lots of things were the same as hockey games at home. Beer, popcorn, annoying people constantly shouting "shoot it!". There were some differences though. One of which was people that came out and shoveled the ice during commercial breaks. It was different because they shoveled the blue and red lines as well as the area around the nets. It was also different because these people were scantily clad women. During the first period, they were wearing low cut shirts and pants. During the second period they seemed to have lost the bottom halves of their shirts. We waited with baited breath to see if they would be pantless in the third but alas they were not.
Another similarity was the chants. You know, when the organ plays and people hollar "DE - FENCE!" and "let's go Kings, let's go!". A difference was that there was also a chant involving a little ditty played by the organ and the fans yelling "Oilers suck!". This was shocking to my Canadian sensibilities. I couldn't help thinking that in Canada we're not mean hockey fans.
We wondered what the crowd would be like and if these Angelenos would know anything about hockey. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the arena was fairly full and the crowd were pretty hard core. I guess if you're a hockey fan in a baseball/basketball town you must really love hockey. In other words, it doesn't take much to be an Oilers fan in Edmonton but if you choose the Kings over the Lakers, Clippers, and... what are the baseball teams called? .... you must really be hard core.
So did we win? Of course not! Don't you know that the Oilers suck?! I like to say that we lost the game but we won the fight. The highlight of the game was the fight in the first period where our guy worked the other guy. What is it about hockey fights that I love so much? I really am a pacifist at heart. When I was a kid I used to let mosquitos bite me because I found out they only live for 2 weeks and I felt bad for them. When I was 5 years old my mom asked me to choose between an ugly plaid dress and a cool one with stripes and a mock turtle neck. I chose the cool one but felt horrible for the ugly one. As an adult I don't eat meat and close my eyes whenever there's violence in movies. But a hockey fight? I go crazy! I find myself saying things like, "come on! Throw off your gloves, you sissy!" and cheering like a crazy person when someone lands a punch. I guess it's because it's mutually agreed upon by both players and usually increases the energy of the whole game. So although we didn't win and most of the Oilers (excepting the goalie) seemed to be counting down the minutes until golf season, even Sniffy beside me had to admit his guy got worked.
So I would highly recommend going to an away game of the sporting team that you love. It's kind of thrilling being the underdog and cheering when no one else is. It must be so fun for all those Leafs and Flames fans in Edmonton! We just might have to schedule any future North American travel around the Oilers' travel schedule.
As a side note, Asha's current favourite song is "The Good Ol' Hockey Game". She sings it all the time and tells people that hockey is the best game you can name. I have her convinced that when we fly back to Canada they are going to ask us at the border what the best game you can name is and if we don't say 'hockey' they won't let us in. She has also told David that when we go back to Canada he should be a house builder and a hockey player. Do you think it's to late for him to make the big leagues??
Oh, and one more thing. I'm going to use this blog as a way of recording something for posterity. David seems to think that he has a knack for predicting the Oilers' future. He insists that he predicted that Ryan Smyth would come back. By the way, it was nice to see Smitty back! Although does he always play wing now and therefore can't take his position in his "office" (i.e., the crease)? So anyway, David's new prediction is that the Oilers will just barely miss a playoff spot next year, make it to the playoffs the year after, and then they'll be on fire. I guess he believes all this "it's OK that we suck because it means we'll get great draft picks" business. Well, we'll see!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Smog Sunsets
I'm now in a peculiar position because I'm sort of in between places. I know I'm moving away but not for 2 months. I don't want to squander my time here thinking about the future but I also don't want to forge new connections here if I'm leaving anyway. I'm in the Waiting Place, as Dr. Seuss would say.
Of course now that I'm moving I've suddenly become friends with some of the parents at Asha's school. That seemingly unpenetrable group of friends. It turns out that two of the kids who have a long-standing twice-weekly playdate only have it because one of the moms works and pays the other mom to babysit. Well we now have a weekly yoga class date with Maya and her mom and most weeks we go to the farmer's market with some other kids and their parents. We're going to the zoo tomorrow with another family. I guess it's like those women who desperately want to get married and as soon as they stop trying they find him immediately. I still haven't found my L.A. best girlfriend but a bunch of playdates will do.
The fact that our time here is winding down has made me think about what I've learned from my time here. I had a lot of pre-conceived ideas about Los Angeles before I came here and most of them were unfounded. When David first threw out the idea of moving here my immediate response was "absolutely not". I thought that this city represented all that was wrong with the world: disparity of wealth, obsession with fame and beauty, pollution, crime. Don't get me wrong, those things all exist here but there's more to this city than that. Here are a few things that I've learned about this crazy place:
Not all of L.A. is Beverly Hills
I was literally prepared to be the ugliest person in the entire state. When you picture California you imagine beautiful, blond women who have paid ridiculous amounts of money on plastic surgery. I also thought that everyone would drive fancy cars and wear fancy clothes and I wouldn't fit in at all. Well it turns out there are parts of the city where that is the case but in my little 'hood and most of the neighbourhoods people are just normal. I also imagined everyone here would be snobs and look down their noses at our hillbilly truck and reserve dog but this hasn't been true at all. I guess the people that are too cool for us stay away!
Not all of L.A. is Hollywood
As I mentioned above, not everyone here is a movie star. However, although not everyone in this city is a wannabe starlet, it has actually surprised me how big a part of the local economy the film industry is. I have met the following: a movie producer, a costume designer, a talent agent, a rapper, and several movie extras. I been inconvenienced several time by movies being filmed on location. I even met an actual, real-life actor! Remember that movie "10 Things I Hate About You"? I met the woman who played Julia Stiles' best friend. And I was very close to meeting Blossom. Remember Blossom?! She's the co-leader of a holistic mom's group. Unfortunately she was absent at the meeting I went to. Rats! David said she would definitely fulfill my need to see a celebrity while I'm living here.
Not all of L.A. is South Central
I suppose I assumed that if an area of L.A. wasn't fancy schmancy Beverly Hills then it would be sketchy and crime-ridden. Although the area that we live is Inglewood-adjacent it seems to be really safe. I probably shouldn't say that out loud. Now I'm going to get mugged for sure. I often walk Stobie at night by myself without batting an eye. I suppose any would-be muggers would be scared of my tough, res dog! Little do they know he recently got his ass kicked by a cat and he's scared of water to the point that he walks on the road to avoid people's sprinklers.
The Mexicans are the hardest-damn-working people in this place
I know there is more to the immigration situation down here than I understand but I'm pretty sure that if they fixed the "immigrant problem" the city would fall apart. The Mexicans are the people who do all the jobs that people could do themselves but choose to outsource including mowing their lawns, parking their cars, and taking care of their kids. I have never seen a Hispanic homeless person. Every Sunday night people go around with headlamps looking for bottles and cans in people's recycling bins on the curb. I think that's downright resourceful! Our neighbours across the street are from Mexico and I am not exaggerating when I say that they are the hardest working people I have ever met. Both of them work their butts off so their kids can go to a fantastic private school in Brentwood. And did I mention that they have the 3 nicest girls in the world?
It isn't that smoggy (most of the time)
We live on the west side of L.A. so most of the smog gets blown away from us and into the valley. I've heard the air quality can be so bad in the eastern part of the city that asthmatics can't live there but on our side of town it's not too bad. It does get noticably worse as the week goes on. There was one day when the wind had shifted so there was a haze of yellowish-greyish smog over the ocean. It was fairly disgusting. Someone told me that it's not too bad though because smog in the west makes for beautiful sunsets. How's that for a silver lining (or a yellowish-greyish one).
People in L.A. are actually pretty friendly (most of the time)
Someone told me that Los Angeles had been voted the rudest city in America. That hasn't been my experience with the exception of when I'm in traffic. People become downright evil in traffic.
Airplane travel is very safe
We live about 10 minutes away from LAX airport which can be noisy although we live near the part of the runway where planes land which is much quieter than the area where they take off. It's been very convenient for picking up visitors and it has provided endless entertainment for visitors who like watching planes land. The thing you realize when you watch a plane land every 5 minutes all day long is that airplane travel is really quite safe.
Well I may have tempted fate with this post. I'll probably get mugged and yelled at and then die in a plane crash now. Oh well. I still stand by my observations!
Of course now that I'm moving I've suddenly become friends with some of the parents at Asha's school. That seemingly unpenetrable group of friends. It turns out that two of the kids who have a long-standing twice-weekly playdate only have it because one of the moms works and pays the other mom to babysit. Well we now have a weekly yoga class date with Maya and her mom and most weeks we go to the farmer's market with some other kids and their parents. We're going to the zoo tomorrow with another family. I guess it's like those women who desperately want to get married and as soon as they stop trying they find him immediately. I still haven't found my L.A. best girlfriend but a bunch of playdates will do.
The fact that our time here is winding down has made me think about what I've learned from my time here. I had a lot of pre-conceived ideas about Los Angeles before I came here and most of them were unfounded. When David first threw out the idea of moving here my immediate response was "absolutely not". I thought that this city represented all that was wrong with the world: disparity of wealth, obsession with fame and beauty, pollution, crime. Don't get me wrong, those things all exist here but there's more to this city than that. Here are a few things that I've learned about this crazy place:
Not all of L.A. is Beverly Hills
I was literally prepared to be the ugliest person in the entire state. When you picture California you imagine beautiful, blond women who have paid ridiculous amounts of money on plastic surgery. I also thought that everyone would drive fancy cars and wear fancy clothes and I wouldn't fit in at all. Well it turns out there are parts of the city where that is the case but in my little 'hood and most of the neighbourhoods people are just normal. I also imagined everyone here would be snobs and look down their noses at our hillbilly truck and reserve dog but this hasn't been true at all. I guess the people that are too cool for us stay away!
Not all of L.A. is Hollywood
As I mentioned above, not everyone here is a movie star. However, although not everyone in this city is a wannabe starlet, it has actually surprised me how big a part of the local economy the film industry is. I have met the following: a movie producer, a costume designer, a talent agent, a rapper, and several movie extras. I been inconvenienced several time by movies being filmed on location. I even met an actual, real-life actor! Remember that movie "10 Things I Hate About You"? I met the woman who played Julia Stiles' best friend. And I was very close to meeting Blossom. Remember Blossom?! She's the co-leader of a holistic mom's group. Unfortunately she was absent at the meeting I went to. Rats! David said she would definitely fulfill my need to see a celebrity while I'm living here.
Not all of L.A. is South Central
I suppose I assumed that if an area of L.A. wasn't fancy schmancy Beverly Hills then it would be sketchy and crime-ridden. Although the area that we live is Inglewood-adjacent it seems to be really safe. I probably shouldn't say that out loud. Now I'm going to get mugged for sure. I often walk Stobie at night by myself without batting an eye. I suppose any would-be muggers would be scared of my tough, res dog! Little do they know he recently got his ass kicked by a cat and he's scared of water to the point that he walks on the road to avoid people's sprinklers.
The Mexicans are the hardest-damn-working people in this place
I know there is more to the immigration situation down here than I understand but I'm pretty sure that if they fixed the "immigrant problem" the city would fall apart. The Mexicans are the people who do all the jobs that people could do themselves but choose to outsource including mowing their lawns, parking their cars, and taking care of their kids. I have never seen a Hispanic homeless person. Every Sunday night people go around with headlamps looking for bottles and cans in people's recycling bins on the curb. I think that's downright resourceful! Our neighbours across the street are from Mexico and I am not exaggerating when I say that they are the hardest working people I have ever met. Both of them work their butts off so their kids can go to a fantastic private school in Brentwood. And did I mention that they have the 3 nicest girls in the world?
It isn't that smoggy (most of the time)
We live on the west side of L.A. so most of the smog gets blown away from us and into the valley. I've heard the air quality can be so bad in the eastern part of the city that asthmatics can't live there but on our side of town it's not too bad. It does get noticably worse as the week goes on. There was one day when the wind had shifted so there was a haze of yellowish-greyish smog over the ocean. It was fairly disgusting. Someone told me that it's not too bad though because smog in the west makes for beautiful sunsets. How's that for a silver lining (or a yellowish-greyish one).
People in L.A. are actually pretty friendly (most of the time)
Someone told me that Los Angeles had been voted the rudest city in America. That hasn't been my experience with the exception of when I'm in traffic. People become downright evil in traffic.
Airplane travel is very safe
We live about 10 minutes away from LAX airport which can be noisy although we live near the part of the runway where planes land which is much quieter than the area where they take off. It's been very convenient for picking up visitors and it has provided endless entertainment for visitors who like watching planes land. The thing you realize when you watch a plane land every 5 minutes all day long is that airplane travel is really quite safe.
Well I may have tempted fate with this post. I'll probably get mugged and yelled at and then die in a plane crash now. Oh well. I still stand by my observations!
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