You say potato...

I say deliciousness! I'm so excited - today I ordered my first set of potato "seeds". They aren't really seeds, they are just pieces of potato with the eye on them. Why not get them from the grocery store you ask? Well, I wanted to get special organic ones. I found a place called Grand Teton Organics in Idaho that sells a bunch of different varieties (and they must be great, they are from Idaho after all!) I ended up getting French fingerlings and Kennebec's. French fingerlings are my favorite roasted with a little bit of garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. Kennebec's are great for mashed potatos and french fries - I've heard that In N Out uses Kennebec's for their french fries. Mmmm....

Desktop Coop

How adorable is this mini paper desktop coop??

Here's what mine looked like:

Go get your own here!

Tom -YUM soup

I made this bomb-diggity soup a few days ago and it BLEW my mind away. Now, I haven't been to Thailand, but this soup tasted super authentic. Here's what it looked like on the website:

And, here's what mine looked like:

Ok, maybe mine didn't look as nice, but it sure was yummy!

Enough of the food pics. Here's the recipe. Straight from Sunset Magazine:

• 1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
• 1 can (14 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 6 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
• 1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut in 1-in. pieces
• 1 pound boned, skinned chicken breast or thighs, cut into 1-in. chunks 
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 
• 1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
• 1 teaspoon sugar 
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili paste
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, broth, ginger, and lemongrass and bring to boil over high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and chili paste. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is firm and opaque, 5 to 10 minutes. Discard lemongrass. Garnish servings with basil and cilantro.

On Spring gardens....

My seeds are here!

 My lovely heirloom seeds are here, straight from Baker Creek Seed Co. in Missouri. If you're ever in Petaluma, they also have an awesome shop there as well. Check it out! I'm so very excited to start these babies in my new seed starter (I splurged and got a new one this year - last year I used old yogurt cups but I don't have many left).

I'll let you know how things progress. I got some pretty interesting seeds - lemon cucumbers, sweet peas, orange tomatoes, mini bell peppers, tiny pickles (and about 15 other varieties).

Job Update

my morning route to work

Many of you have been asking me about how my job is going, so I thought I'd share a little bit about that.

First of all, if you didn't know I'm now the Statewide Events and Meetings Coordinator at the California Faculty Association (CFA). This is the union that supports the 23,000 faculty (professors, coaches, librarians) at the 23 California State University Campuses (CSU). The organization itself has a lot of members, but the number of staff is fewer than at NWP (my last job). It's really exciting to work for an organization that is politically involved and stands up for the rights of it's employees. It is very evident that the staff (and members) are very aware of what's going on in the world. Every thing is political, and though some people might not like working in an environment like that, I've come to like it a lot. But, for those that know me, you know I'm a political person - I've always been an advocate for something!

While I like working for a political organization, and like being surrounded by informed individuals, I like that my work itself isn't political. I'm organizing logistics for events, managing registrations for conferences, and working with hotels to make sure that things go smoothly. I know that some folks may find that boring, but I thrive on organizing anything (must be my OCD!) So I would say, so far, so good!

My commute hasn't been so bad either. When I was working in Berkeley, my commute was an hour - now it's and hour and 15 minutes. Most of that is spent on the train, whizzing through the pastoral views of Vacaville, Dixon, and Davis. I love being able to read, nap, or listen to music and not have to deal with traffic.

The only downside to my new job is that Coco is having to adjust to being home alone again. Though we are lucky enough to have neighbors that check in on her, she's still stressed and sad about us not being home all of the time. We're trying to deal with that as it comes, but as more than a few people have told me...."it's time that she becomes a dog." Instead of the human/baby that I treat her as :)