HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ....what? it's the 10th!?

Me: Happy New Year, blog.  I haven't been around.

Blog:  Yeah. I noticed.   

Me:  You see, I've been doing other things. Without the Internet. 

Blog [aghast]:  What's that?  Without... The Internet?  How can this be?  

Me: Well, you see, it's because I was on a very large ship sailing around the Caribbean Sea with Famous People.*  

Blog: Ah. Well. That explains it.  

Me: Yes. Here are some pictures.  I'll talk about letting go of things and what I want for the coming year and all that stuff that Every Other Blog In Creation talked about two weeks ago while I was packing my family of four to get on a floating hotel for a week in another post.

Blog: Ok.....

Blog: I missed you.

Me.  I know.  I missed you, too.  Though not enough to take a single picture of food while I was gone.

Blog:  I understand.  You were on vacation.

Me:  Thanks.  I heart you.

Blog: Shut up and make with the pictures.

It's good to be on a boat with old friends.
Peter Sagal and my husband, Bill.

Fruity Rum Drinks in Neon Plasticware!  With FRUIT!

A view of the ms Eurodam from the beach at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Beautiful!

Happy.

Having stupidly watched Titanic two weeks before the cruise,
I was happy to see these awesome lifeboats that also served as shuttles to the islands.

The Paul F. Tompkins Memorial Mustache Formal.
Paul's not dead or anything, he just couldn't join us on the cruise.
Formal wear was optional, mustaches were mandatory and provided.
I brought monocles for Bill and me.

A theater full of geeks every night.  What's better than that?

This is as close to Jamaica as I got.
I was in the stateroom with my 3 year old who was throwing up from a virus for three days.
My 5 year old went ashore with my parents and came back braid-less,
but bearing color-changing gifts of barrettes, rings and nail polish.
She didn't start throwing up until the next day.

If you squint, you can see the crescent moon just under the  clouds.

Why almost 400 people were sailing on the ms Eurodam last week:
As best I can, from left to right:
John Hodgman, Wil Wheaton, John Roderick, Paul and Storm, Jonathan Coulton, Dammit Liz, David Rees, Molly Lewis, Mike Phirman, Peter Sagal, Bill Corbett (my husband), Stephen Toulouse, Kevin Murphy.

The scarriest of all the towel animals.
Towel Monkey.

I cannot tell you all that happened here.  But I can tell you that I had a wonderful time and am so lucky and so happy to have been a part of it all.  I saw some of the best performing I've ever seen, I hung out with some really amazingly talented people.  I had real conversations with people I've admired for years (one in particular since I was 12 years old), and got to meet their amazing families.  I met new friends and grew real connections.  Thank you so much, Jonathan, Paul and Storm, Liz, the Universe, for putting this all together.  Thank you, Bill  for including me in it.  Even though our poor children were throwing up for days, I still got to have nights most people only dream about.  Thank you to my parents for coming along and making those nights possible by watching the kids and for getting us really sweet chairs on the beach in the Bahamas.  I hope you got a good vacation out of the deal, too.  Thank you Holland America, for making my first cruising experience awesome enough - even with sick kids - to consider and look forward to a second.  With service and food like that, I'm sticking with you kid.

Thanks for being patient with me, Blog.  I'll start taking pictures of food again now.

*may not contain actual famous people.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Oh, Minnesota State Fair, I love you so much!  We went twice this year.  Once Monday Morning with the kids, once last night without the kids to see Weird Al Yankovic.

I didn't eat enough the first time around, but I made up for it last night.  This year I wasn't disappointed by anything (oh, woe was the year they first had deep fired candy bars - mostly batter, mushy candy inside...yuk).

So, the first day I put on my ugly yet comfortable sneakers:

And I ate:

HOT DISH ON A STICK!

That's a stick with a meatball, tater tot, meatball, tater tot, meatball on it. 

Battered and fried.  

Served with a cup of wild rice mushroom soup sauce.

I ate it at 9:30am.  YEAH! Breakfast at Ole and Lena's FTW!

We also ate foot long hot dogs, mini donuts (I only had one - turns out I'm not as big a fan in my adulthood), and honey/sunflower nut and chocolate/almond ice creams at the honey building (I remember liking the honey ice cream last year - this year, not so much).The kids went on lots of rides and we all returned home hot, happy, and in some cases, asleep in our carseats.

Then last night we left the kids with my parents and headed off on the shuttle bus from Southdale Mall (where we saw our awesome babysitter and her friends) to the Fair again.  This time to get a quick bite of some of the things we missed on Monday, and to see Weird Al Yankovic at the Grandstand.

BIG FAT BACON! 

(On a stick)  (With lime chipotle sauce)

(INCREDIBLE!)

CHEESE CURDS!

(Do you eat yours with ketchup? 

I liked them better without.)

Then off to the show.  We found our seats - and sitting next to us were our friends Katie and Trace!  My cell phone pictures are crap, but here's a nice one of the crowd.

 So. Many. Cell Phones.

After an amazing two hour show including high kicks, about 25 costume changes and a lot of big laughs, we lined up along the side of the stage.  The Beaulieus and we had backstage passes and were led into a tent with about 50 other people.

Then this guy came out and called Trace's and Bill's name as well as Mad Magazine artist Tom Richmond's name.  He was there with his wife and two of his kids.  It was like the best incarnation of being called to the principal's office.  The eight of us went out to Al's trailer and chatted for a little while and took pictures.

 Trace, Al, Bill

Not only is Al a terrifficly talented performer, he is also an amazingly nice man.  He greeted me with a big hug, "Virginia!!" as if we were old friends.  Bill did a show with him last December, and I spoke with him on the phone then, but this was the first time we met in person.  I only had one nerdy  moment, right after this picture was taken, where I told him I was at the 1986 State Fair show when he opened for The Monkees. I was so happy to meet him, and he was just lovely and easy to be around.

On our way out, we got Sweet Martha's cookies.  It was the end of the night, and I'm sure I got about three times as many cookies as I would have been allotted at 3pm.

 The three that made it home for my kids.

In conclusion: If you have a Fair near you, urge them to get Hot Dish on a Stick (Ole and Lena's stand) and Big Fat Bacon.

Also, if you ever get the chance to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert.  Go.  Even if you "don't know his music", by the end you'll not only realize you knew his music, you'll have seen an amazing, energetic, wonderful, funny two hour show by a truly talented (and really nice) man.

Geeked Out Barbecue

 

Last Sunday I went to a really great barbecue at the home of a lovely man named Neil Gaiman.  The food and company were wonderful and his home and dogs and cats are beautiful. White German Shepherd, Lola, was especially cute after a roll in the mud.  Of course, I may think so because I didn't have to bathe her afterward.

Neil showed us around his garden, where the oregano was taking everything over, so a bunch of it met its fate between the briquettes and the chicken on the grill that evening where their smoke made our meal even more delicious.  I learned about garlic sprouting little garlicky bulbs way up on their  shoots to reseed themselves, and I learned that asparagus, when left alone, becomes an amazing, Seussian bush taller than I, that looks not unlike a giant runaway dill plant.

Then we all went down to see the bees.  Our friend Sharon keeps Neil's bees, and donned her bee suit along with me.  Not everyone wore one, but I can't figure out why - they're super sexy.

Dig my red Wellies, too.  

I had ankle socks and low top Chucks, but apparently bees are ankle stingers, so I opted for the borrowed boots as well.  Thank you, Lorraine.

We went down to the hives and I learned a lot about bees.  (They will - and did - eat honey right out of your hand!)  Sharon and Neil selected a comb to bring back up to the house, and my un-bee-suited husband, Bill carried it back up the hill for us.

We were told this side looked pretty much like a perfect comb.  Isn't it pretty?

  

This side, obviously, not so much, but doesn't Bill look like a kid showing off his 4-H project?!  CUTE!

Back up at the house, we unsuited (DAMN, bee suits are hot) and were handed plastic spoons.  If you ever get the chance to eat honey this way, please take it.  It's amazing.  There were little dark spots that were actually little pockets of pure pollen.  It took a little thinking, but Bill eventually came up with what they tasted like: artichoke.  Oh, man.

 L to R: Me, Neil, Kevin Murphy and Bill dig in with some new friends.  

Woodsman Hans gets a beer in the background.

 

See the little dark orange hexagons in the bottom right of the liquid honey?  That the pollen. 

We watched a storm roll in and when it started to rain, we took a tour of the house, leaving the two chickens on the grill with a can of Strongbow up each of their arses and a huge bundle of flowering oregano beneath them, lending their delicious smoke to the smell of the rain.  The house, as you can imagine was beautiful and full of amazing things. 

The tour and the rain stopped around the same time -- though not exactly, as some of the brave souls finished cooking rounds of the zucchini-the-size-of-my-calf from the garden on the grill along with the chickens and the heads of romaine in the end moments of the rain.  The meal, which also included grilled eggplant, fruit salad and bison sausages, was delicious.  It also included a fantastic potato salad that I had to ask the recipe for.  And here it is:

This is a rustic dish, and you should use proportions that please you.  I had left over onions, bacon and dressing when I made the potato salad.  The night I made this, I put the extra onions and bacon on the hot dogs we were having, and today I used the leftover dressing for a chicken pasta salad with grapes, cucumber, almonds, dill and chives.

Neil Himself's Warm Potato Salad, as interpreted by me:

Red Potatoes, whole or halved if bigger than a tennis ball.

1 cup plain yogurt

2 TBS mayonnaise 

1 TBSish lemon juice

Bacon

Onion, large diced

Boil potatoes, skin on, til fork tender

Cook the bacon til crisp, drain on paper towels and eat at least three strips while cooking

Cook the onions in the bacon fat

Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, bacon fat and onions in a bowl/measuring cup

Pour dressing over warm potatoes, crumble in bacon, stir.

The next day, I was advised by Neil's amazing assistant, Fabulous Lorraine, to fry up the leftovers if you have any.  I did, and I topped them with fried eggs.  Yeah.

Dice up the leftovers.

Fry them. (I used butter and olive oil)

Fry two eggs and put them on top.  Looks like I had a strip of bacon to crumble on top, too.

I call this "Next Dress Size Up Hash"

We were also served three different kinds of pie purchased at the local farmer's market and vanilla frozen custard.  Good thing, because by the time dessert came around, only a few of the Blueberry White Chocolate Ginger Cookies (from EatingWell) I brought were left, as they had been snacked upon in the kitchen all day.   

These were the first thing I cooked in my new oven (learning that it runs 25 degrees hot). I added a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger to that recipe, and will do so again!!

Cookies:

Pretty ingredients

Ready for the oven.

I keep crystalized ginger, dried blueberries and white chocolate chips in the cupboard at all times so I can make these super easy, delicious and impressive cookies any time.

To close this post, I will leave you with a picture of our merry band outside, marveling, snapping pictures and making internet meme references....

...of the double rainbow that we were blessed with that day.

I know what it means.

w00tstock. Three (five) hours of geeks and music (and food).

Hi, foodies.  I have a confession.  I'm not only a foodie.  I'm also a geek.  A nerd.  Often a spaz and a dork.  Sometimes even a dweeb.  I read David Eddings novels.  I like etymology.  My mom took me out of 3rd grade early one day to go to the opening day matinee of Return of the Jedi.  I carry a towel in my car, and not just because I have kids.  I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation every week while making tacos.  I played Diablo, Diablo II, WarCraft II, and Balder's Gate.  Before that, I played games on my ColecoVision and Nintendo 64.  Hell, I married the guy who played Crow T. Robot and Observer on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

None of that may make any sense to some of you.  Some of you already know.  One thing you should all know is that there is a show you should see, should it come to your town.  It is full of geeks, music, and runs about three (or five) of the funniest, most awesome hours evar.  That show is w00tstock.  And here are some pictures and clips.

Don't worry, foodies - There's cake - it's in the middle (and it's not a lie).  And I made cookies.  They're at the end.  You can skip down there if you just don't get it and/or care about the geeky stuff.  It's ok.  I won't judge and/or know.

So here are pictures and clips of what I saw last Monday at the Guthrie in Minneapolis.  It still geeks me out that my husband gets to do stuff like this for his job, and that I get to go along for the ride - my life is pretty surreal sometimes.  And awesome.

My Pass.  It's made of fabric and is a sticker!

Bill and some of the cast.  There was a lot of photobombing happening that night.  

This was sort of the mass photobomb.    

This clip is Paul and Storm introducing Len Peralta.  You should click that link and then click FlipFace and pay the man to make you one.  They. Are. Awesome.  Here's mine:

From this....

....to this.

...or this for Christmas.

Then I got bangs...

...and a new FlipFace (complete with necklace!)

OK, so that's Len.  Also in that clip above, is the CAKE from Celebration Generation. (See mass photobomb above, too.  Marie Porter, pastry genius and chef to the nerdy, is in the chef's whites in the middle.)  Backstage there were coffee brownies and chai blondies.  I bought the mix for the chai blondies - they have CAFFEINE IN THEM! And ARE AWESOME!!

She also inspired me to make these:

They're Rummy Bears.  

These little Gummy Bears are currently soaking up rum as I type this. 

More later on that.

Now, back to w00tstock. Here are some clips.

My husband, Bill, and Kevin Murphy invite Paul and Storm to the stage for a Sing-Along.  

Do you know the chorus?

The Whole Cast sings a generic National Anthem.

A w00tstock first.  

She said yes!

  

The big finale with the Dating Game Kiss at the end.

Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy and Bill with Molly Lewis.

She plays the ukelele and writes songs.  And wants to have Stephen Frye's baby.

.

Here's Wil Wheaton wearing her shirt.

Here's Bill and the rest of the cast signing autographs.  

Yes.  After a FIVE HOUR SHOW, everyone signed autographs for 90 minutes.  

Bless you, Guthrie Staff, for not killing us all.

Wil Wheaton, Bill, Adam Savage and me.  

Dig my @rootsandzest tee shirt. 

You can get your own, personalized Twitter shirt from TinyRun.

I promised you cookies.  Here they are.  I made two kinds, but only took pictures of one.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate cookies.  Don't let the fact that it's a Weight Watchers recipe scare you.  They're awesome.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup natural peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's peanut butter with flaxseeds)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Instructions:

*Beat butter and sugars with a mixer until blended.   Add vanilla and egg; beat well.  Add peanut butter, beat until blended.  Divide butter mixture evenly between two bowls.

*Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.  Spoon half of flour mixture into one of the bowls of butter mixture; stir until well blended.

*Stir cocoa into remaining flour mixture; add to remaining bowl of butter mixture, stirring until well blended.

*Cover both bowls and chill at least one hour. (I did it overnight.)

*Preheat oven to 375F

*Roll peanut butter dough into 76 balls (1/2tsp works well for amount).  Roll chocolate dough into 76 balls.

*Gently roll together one chocolate ball and one peanut butter ball.  Place balls 2 inches apart on lightly grease baking sheets.  (Make sure to place them so you can see both sides.)

*Flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass or ramekin.

*Bake at 375F for 8 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

38 calories per cookie!

I also made EatingWell's Blueberry & White Chocolate Chunk Ginger Cookies, but I had to do it quick so my kids wouldn't see, and didn't take any pictures.  Sorry!!

I brought these cookies and some wine to the show.  For backstage, not for me in the audience.

The wine (Rootstock Sauv. Blanc from Trader Joe's, changed with a Sharpie) was gone by the end of the show.  Finished onstage by the cast. (photo by HellZiggy)

(Len Peralta, Bill, Me, Adam Savage, Wil Wheaton,  John Scalzi (foreground), Mrs. Wheaton,  Chris Wright.  Photo taken by Molly Lewis.)

The leftover cookies were brought to the lobby of the hotel where the cast was staying and enjoyed until 4am.

The End.