Most. Relaxing. Trip. Ever.

Awful picture of me. Great picture of Bainbridge.

I am back in the swing of things after a terrific week in Seattle. In no particular order, some highlights include:

-Biking Bainbridge Island while rediscovering some of my favorite moody, grey-day music: Nick Drake, Emily Haines, Bright Eyes and Her Space Holiday

-Ohhing and Ahhing over beautiful flower arrangements and blackened salmon sandwiches at Pike’s Place Market with Amber

-Catching up with Gwynne in Ballard (fantastic neighborhood a little bit off the beaten path with a seemingly endless amount of locally owned shops, restaurants and bungalow houses)

-My daily, relaxing “routine” on Bainbridge: reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, eating, spending time with Kimber’s lovely family, reading some more, eating a lot more and falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.

-Walking around Ballard and down to the locks on a glorious Saturday morning with Katie and her dog—all while wearing Katie’s too-short sweat pants, my riding boots and a fleece that had me wondering if it was the first one that Patagonia ever made.

-Touring the Seattle Public Library with Amber. I know this sounds boring, but the library downtown is amazing! The architecture, gift shop and views of the city are not to be missed.

Since coming back yesterday, I have caught myself looking out of the window at my office and wishing I was still exploring the pacific northwest. Such a wonderful trip!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Marcy, Amber, Jackie B, Carrie, Audrey, Emily, Carley, Kate

Threesomes, Of Montreal, bra-fitting—these were some of the topics of conversation at my "Celebrate Autumn" dinner party last night. It's amazing what happens when the wine starts to flow...

With the exception of the popovers that I attempted to make, everything turned out pretty well. Special thanks to Kate for running to the store for bread when the popovers emerged from the oven burnt and gross. Successful recipes below:

SQUASH CASSEROLE:
3 Lbs. Yellow summer squash.
1/2 Cup Chopped onions.
2 Large eggs.
1 Stick, butter.
1 Tbs. Sugar.
1 Tsp. Salt or to taste.
1/2 Tsp. Black pepper, or to taste.
1/2 Cup Cracker meal or bread crumbs.

1. Place a 3 to 4 quart pot of salted water on the stove, over high heat, and bring to a boil.

2. Wash and cut squash into 1/2 inch chunks.

3. Place squash chunks into pot of boiling water and return to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until squash is fork tender. Approximately 10 minutes.

4. Drain *VERY* well. Mash and/or puree to whatever texture you may
desire.

5. Add onion, eggs, sugar, salt, pepper and half the butter to your *Squished* squash. Mix well to blend.

6. Pour mixture into a 2 quart buttered casserole.

7. Melt remaining butter and pour evenly over squash mixture. Sprinkle with cracker meal or bread crumbs.

8. Bake in *Pre-heated* 375°F. oven for approximately 1 hour or until
nicely browned and cooked through.

SALAD:
1 bag Romaine lettuce
2 avocados
3 Roma tomatoes
1 cucumber
LaRosa’s creamy garlic dressing. In case you aren’t planning a trip to Cincinnati anytime soon and don't want to pay to have this shipped, you can substitute another creamy garlic dressing.

PORK TENDERLOIN:
You can use any of the pre-packaged and seasoned pork tenderloin. I like the garlic and herb one.

SWEET POTATO FRIES:
Here I just used the Trader Joe’s brand of fries. They are awesome.

PUMPKIN BUTTER:
Trader Joe’s came through again! Their pumpkin butter is great, but I added cream cheese to it to make it a little more flavorful. 2 parts of cream cheese to 1 part of pumpkin butter seemed to do the trick.

CARAMEL APPLES:

1 bag of Kraft caramels

1 tablespoon of water

5 apples

5 popsicle sticks

Toppings: I used walnuts, but other suggestions are Oreo cookies, peanuts, graham crackers

1. Heat the caramels and water in the microwave for about 1 ½ minutes. Stir and then put back in the microwave for another 1 ½ minutes.

2. Dip the apples in the caramel, then the topping and then place on wax paper. Refrigerate for an hour.

At Home with Wayne Coyne

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the lead singer of the Flaming Lips has a crazy, trippy house. I love a lot of the things featured in this Times piece: the fact that Coyne still lives in a run-down part of Oklahoma City (a couple of blocks from where he grew up); the fact that Coyne met his wife while he was working at Long John Silver's between tours; and the fact that the local Home Depot had to amp up their supply of foam attic baffle because Coyne was buying them out of stock. If you've ever been to a Flaming Lips show, then you know that Coyne is creative, outrageous and colorful. Just like his house, apparently.

Egg on Your Face. Or lack thereof.

I tried out this detailed, step-by-step recipe on how to poach an egg from Smitten Kitchen this weekend. And then I proceeded to somehow fit poached eggs into almost every meal that I made for the rest of the weekend. Who knew that it could be so damn easy?! And delicious. Try for yourself!

Perfect Autumn Bike Ride

Cool, sunny, autumn days like last Sunday are made for long bike rides. So my biking partner-in-crime (and Ratatat concert partner-in-crime) Charlie and I decided to take on one of the area’s most talked about routes: the Mt Vernon trail. I was cursing myself for not bringing a camera because there are so many parts of this trail that are unbelievably pretty. We started out in Virginia, near Gravelly point, and biked along the GW Parkway through Old Town, Alexandria, Riverside Park, Dyke Marsh and out to Mt. Vernon. And then back to Washington. All in all, we biked a total of 36 miles in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. And while I wasn’t ready to run a marathon when we got back, it wasn’t too exhausting either. I can tell that this route is one that I will want to do again and again and again.

A couple of tips:
-The last three miles from Washington to Mt. Vernon are probably the hardest. It gets pretty hilly at parts, but the worst hill is the last one right before you get to the Mt Vernon parking lot. If you make it to the hill that you think you won’t be able to beat, you are almost there!

-There are two dining options at Mt. Vernon. A sit-down, fancy-pants restaurant and a food court that has a variety of sandwiches, salads, pizza, etc. Since you will likely bring a limited amount of cash and will be wearing spandex and a t-shirt, the food court is the best option. Grab a bite and then sit outside on the patio—nice views!

-If you need to stop for food or water before you make it to Mt. Vernon, there is a great little Safeway just past Old Town and before you go under the Wilson bridge.

-The guided tour of Mt. Vernon is a little pricey--$13 per person—so make sure you bring enough cash if you decide to do that.

More Movies!

JFK: In anticipation for Oliver Stone’s W (due out Oct 17th), I decided to Netflix JFK. If you are interested in seeing it but don’t think you can sit through three and half hours of Oliver Stone in all of his glory, the best way to approach the movie is as a mini-series. Divided between two or three sittings, the intensity, paranoia, and over-the-topness of JFK becomes tolerable. While based primarily on Jim Garrison’s book, I kept trying to wrap my head around how the filmmakers sifted through so many government reports, hours of film footage, books and interviews to incorporate archival material into the movie AND were able to recreate locations in Dallas, New Orleans and Washington down to the last detail. JFK is the type of movie that you can tell took a lot of effort to make; it’s best just to appreciate it for that. Award: Golden Globe.

Sense and Sensibility: There are about a million versions of Sense and Sensibility out there, but this one is probably the most accessible. Emma Thompson (who also wrote the screenplay for this version), Kate Winslet and, of course, Hugh Grant look and act their best in Victorian costumes with rolling English countryside backdrops. But for some reason, whenever I watch any Jane Austen movies, I inevitably want to sit down and just watch the ridiculously long BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Regardless, I can’t believe the scope of director Ang Lee’s films—society of Jane Austen, gay cowboys in Brokeback Mountain and whatever the hell Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was about. And he seems to do a good job with them all. When the mood for a Jane Austen movie hits you, this will do a good job satisfying your craving. Award: Golden Globe.

A Very Long Engagement: As a general rule of thumb, I don't do war movies. So it is a good thing that I didn't know that A Very Long Engagement is a war movie because I probably wouldn't have given it the attention that it deserves. While WWI plays a central role in the film, the real story is about a girl trying to reconnect with the love of her life (a French soldier). Because the movie was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and stars Audrey Tautou, there are the inevitable Amelie comparisons. And while it does have the stylized camera work and special effects that gives it the fanciful vibe of Amelie, I think it can stand on its own as a gut-wrenching love story to be enjoyed by those who like a little bit of epic in their movies. Award: Golden Globe.