Thanks, Nature Valley

There's a picture of someone doing yoga (tree pose, if you must know) on this box of yoga granola bars I have. I have not decided whether this is because yoga and yogurt sound like they might go together or because yoga is good for you and it is being done right here on this box, therefore these granola bars are totally good for you, too, even though yogurt-covered snacks are not ever all that good for you.

Overheard on the playground*

"I want to learn Mexican. I want to be able to speak Mexican."

*Though she was using the swings, the speaker was high school age. I thought her friend was about to redeem the Baltimore City School system when she said, "You mean Spanish?" But then she added, "Bonjour."

Twin Peaks

I was in elementary school when everyone's parents were watching Twin Peaks, so it seemed to me that it was your typical adult show and probably looked something like Dallas. I only learned as an adult that it was directed by David Lynch.

Troy would only let me watch two episodes a week. But once we got to Season 2, it was on VHS, and that seemed to slow us down natuarally.

Season 2 is on DVD now, and Slate looks at The Overlooked Genius of Twin Peaks' Season 2. They've even included video.

Pretty things

Swap
Originally uploaded by airhen.

Crystal in Michigan made me many pretty things for the Crafty Daisies swap. I can't imagine how much patience (and good eyesight) it takes to work with those tiny beads. I have been needing a needle case and stitch markers, and there they were. How did she know?

Click on the photo to see it on Flickr, where I've labeled everything. Not pictured is the orange Vitamin water. It is not pictured because I am thirsty.

I am going to plant my flowers now.

Life kit

Artist Toland Grinnell tells The New York Times' "Posessed" column that he and his wife furnished their home entirely from Ikea: "Ikea is like a kit, and all my art is like a kit."

Ikea, thank you for giving us your kit for living.

Let's eat stromboli

It seems like stromboli used to be more common. Or maybe that's just because my mom makes it, and my mom hasn't been providing my meals for a while now. Often when I see stromboli on a menu, it's really a calzone. Stromboli is rolled, so you have layers of fillings and crust, while a calzone is folded.

I used this recipe for the crust, and I filled mine with sauce and part-skim mozzarella. I don't even know whether you're technically supposed to put sauce in stromboli, but I say add whatever you want.

For the sauce, I sauteed three large cloves of garlic in olive oil, and then took the pan off the heat and added a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Then I mixed in some dried basil and oregano. I just threw in an amount that looked right and then tasted.

You have to wait for the dough to rise, but there's not much hands-on time for stromboli.

Spring harvest

Maybe it was more of a spring thinning, but the French radishes I pulled from the ground today tasted great in my salad. There were more, but I ate them before I took this photo.

Two tomato plants went in the ground today, and I can't wait for some real tomatoes. That's a long way off, though.