Since my last post, I think I've gained one hundred pounds, maybe one hundred and two. With the festivities surrounding Christmas, my brother's graduation, upcoming family birthdays, a friend's engagement and so forth...I've eaten more food than I care to admit.

This holiday I've taken a break from my vegetarian preferences and I've given a little meat and fish a try, and admittedly, most of what I've had has been really damn tasty. But I also long for my simple veggie meals, and I think I'll return to that simplicity when I get back home. First and foremost, I want some brown rice, an avocado, and some steamed kale smothered in a really spicy curry sauce accompanied by a pint or more of Alsip cider when I get back to California. Mmm!

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As was alluded to in a post many months ago, this was the last year that my family gathered in Illinois for the holidays. Everyone except my parents will be relocating this next year...and our future holidays will probably be spent in Texas drinking margaritas and eating tostadas and maybe also in Washington DC trolling through the Smithsonian!

This year, though, we followed tradition one last time, and we gathered at my Aunt Kris' place on Christmas day. Her house is a magical one nestled next to a small forested area in Wacounda, Illinois. Standout memories from Christmas Days past are many. Many years ago, my cousins and I stayed over night after the festivities and were initially petrified that the static 'lightning' in the sheets was actually ghosts sparking us as we slept; another year our older cousin Jeff from Colorado showed up with dredlocks down to his butt and offered us hemp seeds, which we ate thinking we were really daring; in college, I became the first cousin to bring a boyfriend with me, and I still remember the relentless teasing that Kevin got that year as we forced him to wear a goofy hat and hand presents out to us all.

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This year, only the immediate family was together, but it was wonderful nonetheless. My Uncle Tom tended the bar downstairs and my aunt put the ham in the oven upstairs as the rest of us caught up with each other after a year of separation. My Uncle Greg had driven up from Texas in near monsoon-like conditions so that he could fish before the festivities; my cousins came from Austin and Dallas and shared their stories of living in big Texan cities; my Aunt Kris and Uncle Tom were full of excitement for their impending retirements in June; my Aunt Colette was sporting the cutest spiky hairdo I've ever seen her with, and my Grandma was crying with joy to see us all together. I was just plum happy to be drinking an entire bottle of Riesling! It turns out my family can't even tell when I'm totally sloshed :)

One of the first things I notice when I come back to the midwest is the strong influence of European culture. There are nearly one million people of Polish descent in Illinois, and it is said that Chicago is the second largest "Polish" city in the world, the only other city having more Polish residents being Warsaw. My Uncle Tom's family roots are Polish, and our meals on Christmas day have always featured delicious Polish food.

This year was no different, except that I actually tasted almost everything (instead of heating up my own veggie dog in the mircowave), and it was delicious! We had kraut pierogies, cheese pierogies, and potato pierogies from Alexandra Foods in Portage Park;

we had smoked polish sausage (my favorite!) and the regular polish sausage;

we had my grandma's famous potato salad and my aunt's delicious spinach salad. For dessert, I'd made a flourless chocolate torte and apple pie, and my Mom had made a coconut pie.

The girls finished up the evening reading each others' tarot cards, which led us to have quite an emotional adventure on Thursday :) More to come on that.

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On Tuesday, my cousins and I took the Metra in to see Kurt, Masha and Krysa downtown. Chicago is, architecturally, one of the most interesting cities in the United States, in my opinion. Along the river, there are soaring skyscrapers; in amongst new construction are old, historic brick buildings that puff smoke from their chimneys; on the side streets are rows of cozy Brownstone homes; the railroad yards are worn and covered in graffiti; the bridges are dark and strong. It's awe-inspiring, and the city is always bustling with life and color. It's a wonderful place to come back to.

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Our dinner was amazing. I would highly recommend that anyone coming to the city who has a taste for contemporary Mexican food visit De Cero taqueria. We started with house margaritas which came in hefty glasses generously salted at the rim. For dinner, amongst us, we had Ahi Tuna tacos, Roasted Red Pepper tacos, Duck tacos, Chorizo tacos, Battered Salmon tacos and so forth...it was a feast for the eyes and the belly!

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That night, all five of us crowded into Kurt and Masha's tiny one-bedroom apartment for a good night's sleep. Being neither a cousin nor a wife to my brother, I got the short end of the stick and got stuck sleeping on the hardwood floor as the others dozed in comfort. I did have a few pillows, though, and I slept just fine :) Krysa is their cat, and she's adorable, but very shy and pretty prone to biting. She slowly warmed up to us and by the morning was playfully (in her mind) nipping the legs and toes of my fearful cousins as they slept in the family room :)

more to come when i have time tomorrow...

Happy holidays from the Midwestern United States! I'm home for a couple of weeks with my family, and I'm really enjoying my time here.

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Although I moved out to California (five and a half years ago, now!) where nature is bitchin' at every turn, I still find an exceptional amount of beauty in the simplicity of nature here in Illinois. Each morning, I've been waking early, bundling up, and walking to the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, which is about ten minutes from my house. It's a 135-acre refuge of fields, forests, marshes and streams and in the winter, it's full of prairie grasses, bittersweet berries, pine trees, grey squirrels, and deer.

At the west entrance is the Volkening Heritage Farm where one can step back in time to the 1880's when Schaumburg was a rural German farm community. The horses stand idly around the red barn,

and roosters hang out on the fence keeping watch on the visitors.

On Thursday morning, there was even a fire burning in the pit on the farm. There's nothing like standing over a warm fire on a foggy, drizzly day! My explorations at the sanctuary have been a good way to start the days and to reacquaint myself with the land here.

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On Thursday evening, my Mom took me with her to her yoga class which was held in the log cabin in the Nature Center. For one hour, we stretched and cleared our minds while the fog rolled in over the pond and the leaves rustled outside. The teacher even had hot peppermint tea for us after the class was over! I'm hooked.

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Of course, I have also been baking. My neighbor Serena (who I remember being a tiny little thing) wanted to bake, so I invited her over to make some cookies. She's in eighth grade now!

We had a great time baking and telling each other our life stories. She was born in Tokyo, then moved to Manhattan as a littler girl, then here to Illinois when she was in the first grade. She may only be 14, but she already has a black belt, is an excellent pianist and wants to be a surgeon after she goes to Stanford :) She had great stories about her recent trip to Tokyo this summer, and she wanted to know all about California and baking, so we shared stories all afternoon.

It was so much fun! The cookies we made were delicious: potato chip cookies (big surprise, huh?) and cranberry pecan tassies (recipe to follow).

When Serena left, I continued baking and made chocolate ginger cookies, lime meltaways and date pinwheels. I think that this was my most successful year baking - all the cookies were delicious, and nothing burned!

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The day ended on a great note with my bestest boyfriends on earth: Kevin and Royd. I met these clowns when I was in the fifth grade, and we've stayed close ever since.

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Kevin works as Chemical Engineer in Chicago, and Royd is a producer for the Dan Ho Show on Discovery Health in New York City, so amongst the three of us, we've got the country covered from East to West! We tried out Cousin's Incredible Vitality in Chicago for dinner. It was all raw (cold), vegan (no dairy), and healthy (no greasy fat). I was really excited to try it out, but I was not impressed. The food was mediocre and generally unpleasing, which left us disappointed. The worst part was the crummy 80's dance music that started blasting about twenty minutes into our meal; the lights went off and the disco ball started spinning as a dance party got under way in the center of the restaurant.

To erase the memory of a mediocre meal from our minds, we headed to the Hopleaf Bar and ordered Framboise Lambics, Belgian beers, Belgian frites (fried food! fat! mmm!), a bread and cheese plate (dairy!) and some Tomato Bisque (warm food!) Now *that* was fun. We gorged ourselves, talked about our lives and laughed until our sides hurt - the usual order when we're together.

Kevin generously put us up for the night in Chicago, but we had to get up at the crack of dawn to drive back to the suburbs so that Royd could go to chuch. Here are the boys this morning, clearly, none of us are morning people.

And that's that! I must now get on to cooking and baking even more :) And I also have a few token gifts for my family that I'll wrap in old newspapers and put under the sprig of pine I foraged for this morning :) Happy Holidays, friends! Much love to you all.

When I was little, my best friend Katie and I had code names: she was Kabi Habada. And I was Kiwi Keebo. At the time, I associated 'kiwi' with the fruit, and when I traveled to New Zealand, I was familiarized with kiwis in entirely new ways: both as birds and as inhabitants of New Zealand. It wasn't until much later that I learned that the fruit should be called the 'kiwifruit,' and that 'kiwi' refers only to the bird or a human New Zealander.

The kiwifruit orginiated in China and is also called the Chinese gooseberry. In the 1960's, New Zealand farmers decided to sell their fruit overseas, but to avoid the negative references to mainland China (tension between China and the West was thick at the time), they gave the fruit the name 'kiwifruit' for its resemblance to the fuzzy national bird.

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I've always held a special place in my heart for kiwifruits, and this weekend I got to know the green-fleshed fuzzballs even better. About 35 miles south of Half Moon Bay off the Cabrillo Highway (Highway One) which runs, literally, along the Pacific, is a rather unadvertised turnoff called Coastways Ranch. My girls and I pulled onto the muddy, unpaved road and drove through lush greenery to a tiny parking lot where a single dilapadated wooden shed stood. A young man welcomed us and after telling him that we were interested in picking kiwis, he cheerfully led us to a few piles of plastic buckets and a row of Radio Flyer wagons. "Take some buckets, take a wagon and follow the path around the ranch until you see the kiwis; you can't miss them and there are plenty to pick!"

We gathered our supplies and headed off toward the fruits. The land was breathtaking. Barely damp and under a sky of grey clouds accentuated by patches of blue sky, the plants and trees hung heavy with life in myriad shades of green. Mud squished under our feet as we pulled our wagon past newly-pruned vines and toward the drooping, overgrown richness of the kiwi orchards.

I'd never seen kiwi vines before! And before me were rows and rows of them full of furry brown fruits. There was simple trellacing with lines of thick wire parallel to the lines of vines. The vines wrapped around the wire in the most beautiful ways. We picked and picked until we'd filled half of a bucket.

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On our way back to the shed, we did some foraging, gathering pine cones, dead spirals of kiwifruit vine, and vagrant branches of fir lying on the ground. We emptied our kiwis onto the scale: $12.00 for eight pounds (60 kiwis) and an invigorating experience in nature! That's a deal :)

Afterwards we headed south to Santa Cruz for vegan comfort food at the Saturn Cafe and some thrift-store browsing. After a few hours, it started to get really chilly and rainy, so we packed back into my car and headed north along the windy coastal highway back up to Oakland. It was a great day.

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After sleeping in little on Sunday, I headed over to Alicia's to help her and her fellow teachers out with a food, clothing and toy drive that they were holding for the kids at her school. Alicia had mapped out at least twenty different locations from San Leandro to Walnut Creek to San Pablo and down through Berkeley and Oakland of people who were willing and ready to donate. We thought we were going to have more help, but it ended up being just the two of us. We drove around for six and a half hours knocking on doors, schlepping bags off porches, and stuffing boxes into my trunk and back seat. We had to make *three* trips back to Alicia's place to drop car loads off, and by the end of the day, her apartment was filled to the brim with donations. It was quite overwhelming! On one hand, it was heartwarming to see that people were willing to donate items, but on the other, it was unsettling to see some of the things they donated. Old, used underwear? A broken tricycle? A stained glass coffee pot with no coffee maker? Baby shoes with holes in the soles? No, thanks. Fortunately, we did get some rather new toys and some really cute clothes that will make some kids very happy. I'm grateful to all the folks that donated...it was worth the effort :)

A new blog I'm developing to track our progress in building a school garden from the asphalt up in East Oakland: http://newhighlandgarden.blogspot.com/

This past Sunday afternoon, Alicia, Sam, Adrienne (see foto below) and I crowded into my tiny apartment and crafted and baked while it rained outside. I made my first batch of cupcakes from Isa's new cookbook and they were delicious. They were vanilla cupcakes frosted in a chocolate ganache and filled with pastry cream. The recipe was really involved, but that added to its appeal. In the end, they tasted delicious! Alicia went off on her own limb and made a deadly chocolate caramel torte. We were double broiling chocolate, stuffing piping bags with pastry cream and decorating cupcake tops with sugar tiki fruit and googly eyes. I really do think that baking is one of the best ways for people to get to know one another. I learned that Sam and Alicia have to taste everything in-process and that they they'll both lick the spoons and scrape out the bowls until they're clean (hyperactivity) ... Adrienne will take just about any baked good donation because her fiance loves to eat (communal) ... and I like to get flour in my hair and I shun the use of measuring spoons (chaotic) :)

In any case, it was a great Sunday and I'm so glad we had leftover treats because I devoured them tonight. If I need another reason *not* to pursue graduate school at this point, it's because I'd turn into a blimp. Something about academia and snacking go hand in hand for me...and so if only for my personal health, I think I'll avoid the life of a full-time student again. I had to write the shortest lesson plan ever in anticipation for an interview today, and it took me four hours, a cupcake, a piece of chocolate torte, a pint of cider and a mug of soynogg.

I've decided, at this point, to pursue part-time studies instead of going for full-time graduate school. For the longest time, I was caught up on getting into a full-time program, but I think I'll be better off as a part-timer. I've started a certificate program at the UC Berkeley Extension in TESL (Teaching of English as a Second Language - to adult learners). I have about five more classes to go before getting the certificate, but I'm enjoying the coursework and am meeting lots of intelligent and seasoned folks in the classrooms...and all that is satiating my persistent academic hunger for the moment :)

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Tomorrow I'm sticking another pot on the fire, and I'm not sure where it will lead. I applied and was asked to interview for the Oakland Teaching Fellows program which places non-certified teachers into high-need schools in the city of Oakland while allowing them to concurrently obtain their teaching certificate. They're seeking teachers starting in September 2007 in the areas of general science, math, biology and chemistry, to name a few, and, if accepted, I'd be placed into a classroom teaching one of these subjects. If for no other good, though, preparing for this interview has given me a newfound respect for the teachers in my life. To all of you that have labored over lesson plans and such...it took me over four hours to prepare a five-minute lesson! I have no idea how you held it together to plan weeks of classes and activities...and how you then went and taught them! You are truly to be admired.

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No matter how it turns out tomorrow, I know the processes I'm going through right now are moving me ahead in the right direction, and I'm excited to see what's in store. If I could have my cake and eat it too for this next year, I'd work on developing or maintaining a school garden in some capacity, I'd travel out of the country for at least a few months at some point, I'd spend time with good people, I'd learn and grow and learn and grow, I'd cultivate even more friendship and love in my life (maybe I'd even meet a spirited and caring boy!), and I'd work in a place or places where I can have a significant positive impact on the lives of others. One can always hope, right?

the ingredients have been measured, and the batters have been mixed. the dough has been rolled out and the baking sheets lined with parchment. the ovens have been heated, and, most importantly, the cookies have been baked...and they came out fabulous!

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after a month or so of sporadic, then hurried, preparations, shanti and i taught our first CUESA baking class together to a group of over twenty people at the ferry building farmer's market today. yay, shanti!

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it was drizzling slightly, and although it was chilly in the market, the air around the dacor kitchen was comfortingly warm and filled with the delicious aroma of baking cookies.

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for weeks, we had been tweaking and developing recipes that would utilize ingredients that are available in the market right now. in the end we we decided to focus on using pumpkin, squash, honey, walnuts and dates. butter and eggs are always available, and we sourced those from the market as well.

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we read through our old baking science books and researched the functions of baking soda and baking powder as a refresher; we went over different flours and protein contents; we read about the history of dates and walnuts, and we hashed out the essential differences that occur when baking with different fats.

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the three cookies that we decided to demo were date pinwheels, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and tipsy rum date gems. we were both terribly nervous about teaching the class beforehand, but once we strapped on the mics and started doing our schtick, we were just fine. shanti, i must say, is a *natural.*

i learned a lot from this experience, both about baking and about teaching and i can't wait to do more of this next year :) we're already planning a baking class that will cater to special diet needs (like gluten-free or vegan). i'd really like to teach a baking class every couple of months to show people how simple it really is to bake locally and seasonally! lemon tartelets, pear and gorgonzola turnovers, roasted figs, strawberry shortcakes, zucchini bread, citrus shortbread, cherry pie, quince jam, apple crisp....the possibilities are endless. more to come on the blog...this week i also did my linguistics presentation focusing on food idioms and food etymology...i'll share some fun stuff soon :)

Last night we made and then feasted on lots of veggie food: vegi chicken ham soup (above), fried potstickers, and 'Dragon Sauce' with brown rice and japanese sweet potatoes, avocadoes, kale and red pepper. Pure health food before the bike race today :) The fixins came from the grocery at 8th and International in Oakland and the Saturday farmer's market in Berkeley.

Today I finally went to my first Alleycat - here's my crew beforehand (Becca, Sam and Alicia). I was stoked that this race was a food-drive; I definitely prefer to mix goodwill into hedonistic fun when possible. We pedaled from the Embarcadero up Nob Hill down to Bernal Heights and all over in-between for four hours stopping at certain grocery store 'checkpoints' in the city buying donatable food at each one out of our own pockets.

The weather was absolutely perfect! Crisp and cool and clear. By the end, our bags were stuffed with Jiffy baking mix, canned goods, pasta, rice, beans, mac and cheese, etc...and we lugged it to the final stop which, conveniently, was a bar.

Although we didn't end up winning the competetion to bring the most food to the finish line, we did manage to fill up three garbage bags full of food amongst the four of us. Yay, Riders!

dear readers, sorry for all the blog ping-pong. but this is where my blog shall stay from here on out! promise. i know it's a mere calendrical structure, but i sure am glad that last night i went to bed in november, and that this morning i woke to the clean slate and promise of december. stay warm out there.