Tragic Sandwich

Tag: California

  • “Go Outside Walk in Rain”

    California is experiencing a record drought. To those caught in a polar vortex, our balmy winter temperatures may sound like paradise–but they actually indicate a really big problem.

    Winter is our rainy season, and we just haven’t gotten rain this year. But finally, starting Thursday evening, we did get some. By Friday, the streets along my route to work were flooded, with cars or water or both. I chose to go home and work from my kitchen table, and that turned out to be the right choice; when I did head in, my drive was only about 30 minutes. It would easily have been two and a half hours if I’d gone during rush hour, like everyone else.

    There have been breaks in the weather, but for the most part it’s been pretty wet. And it’s wonderful.

    Baguette is in heaven. She loves the rain, and her boots, and her raincoat. Thursday night, she had me take her out at 8 p.m., and I swear I could see her beaming in spite of the nighttime darkness.

    This afternoon, she walked to the front door, rattled the knob, and said, “Go outside walk in rain.” So of course we both suited up and splashed down the sidewalk, even when it was pouring. She had me sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” about four times, and she signed it along with me.

    Walking hand in hand in the rain with my little girl? I can’t think of a lovelier way to spend the afternoon. Even though it turns out that my trenchcoat has sprung a leak.

    Rainboots

  • Too Many Apples

    Apples in Hardanger

    So Honest Mom wrote about 12 Signs It’s Fall in Suburbia, and #1 just got me.

    Have you ever been apple-picking? You know, where you drive somewhere far away and pay to pick apples off the tree?

    When I lived in New Jersey, my alumni club organized a trip to a (reasonably local) apple orchard. I drove three women I’d never met before to a vaguely rural section of New York, where we and several other cars full of people paid good money to pick apples.

    As I discovered when I got home, a lot of apples.

    It was clear that I would have to come up with a use for these apples. And so I began to search the Internet. I found a few recipes and whipped up a batch of apple bread, which I took to the office the next day.

    There were still apples.

    So a day or so later, I baked an apple coffee cake and took that to the office.

    At this point, one of my co-workers IM’d me, asking, “This is a lot of baking. Is everything okay?”

    I assured her that everything was fine, I’d just been apple picking.

    Then I made more apple bread and shipped it to my brother in Texas. When I called to let him know to expect it, the receptionist asked, “Are you the one who sent him that apple bread? His office smells so good!” Now my brother makes me bake him apple bread every year.

    You can pick apples here in Southern California, but it’s quite a drive from us, and I think we’ll wait until Baguette is a little older. Plus every time I’ve gone, I’ve missed the actual picking part and have just bought a bag of apples. It’s a long way to go to not pick apples.

    So, with no further ado, here’s something to do with your too many apples:

    Apple Bread

    Ingredients
    1-1/2 cups flour
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/2 tsp. baking soda
    1/4 tsp. baking powder
    cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    3/4 cup sugar
    2 eggs
    1/2 tsp. vanilla
    1 cup peeled and chopped apple

    Instructions
    1. Grease and flour a loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
    3. In a bowl, mix oil and sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
    4. Combine dry and liquid ingredients.
    5. Stir in apples. Pour into prepared pan.
    6. Bake 50–60 minutes.

    Photo by Tecfan, via Flickr.

  • Be Prepared

    We’re watching Escape from New York, and J is going through our earthquake kit to make sure that everything is up to date. Actually, that should be earthquake kits. We have a lot of gear.

    When I was little, my family lived in Sherman Oaks. I started elementary school, and after a year we moved to Maryland. After a while, I started to wonder: how would all of my classmates in Maryland survive an earthquake, since we never had an earthquake drill? Would I be the only one who knew to get under my desk?

    After I got home and confided my concerns, my mother explained that Maryland was not likely to experience any earthquakes. I was skeptical, but as things turned out, she was right. And, of course, I know now that getting under my desk would have been fairly useless as a protective measure.

    I don’t know how useful the earthquake kits would be, either. For starters, we’d have to be at home to use them. But better safe than sorry. It may be a cliche, but it’s a pretty harmless one.

    And on the plus side, it’s very unlikely that we’ll need to prepare for entering and escaping a prison city.