Adventures in Travel

So I travel a lot. I have mostly gotten used to it. I have noticed though that my annoyance level has increased when it comes to inexperienced travelers at the airport: those who take forever to get through the security line because they have stuff in their pockets or they have giant bottles of lotion in their purses and then they don't know how to board the different airlines?

But I have also noticed  something about my own traveling lifestyle.

You know how you buy certain things at certain stores? You have a special brand of something that you really like and so you purchase it at a specific place. Right? Well, I do that too. Except, here's what I realized the other day: As I was planning my travel day, I built in an extra 10 minutes at a certain airport because that's where I buy my make-up at that little spa in that one terminal. Incidentally, there is also a specific airport for rain gear (I bought my last rain jacket there after I built in an extra 15 to 20 minutes for that purchase!) and there's a specific airport for gifts for any occasion.

I could probably find places to purchase these things locally or online. But I have a routine and it works for me so for now, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

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In other news, I overheard the strangest conversation on a plane yesterday:

Passenger A: "It's ironic. Both of my parents were doctors but I have just never believed in medicine or the power of medicine to do anything. That's why I never go to the doctor. It just doesn't make any sense."

Passenger B (after what seemed like an uncomfortable silence in which he was trying to think of a way to respond): "What do you do?"

Passenger A: "I work for a group of health insurance companies doing sales."

Passenger B didn't respond to that one.

A couple of things:

1. Wait, what???? Who doesn't "believe" in medicine? I know there are people who, for religious reasons refuse medical treatment and care but they still believe that medicine exists and does something, right? This person doesn't believe in the power of medicine, as in, medicine doesn't do anything. Even those who refuse medical treatment do so because they believe it does something.

What kind of doctors were her parents? What kind of parents were her parents??

2. Seriously????? How can you reconcile these two statements? You don't believe in medicine but you sell health insurance to people? Huh?. How? Why? I... I don't understand.

People are weird.

Anyway, that's the latest from the road.

Happy travels!

Packing done right!

I have so much catching up to do! Since my last post, I took that train trip up to Seattle, I went on a trip to South Africa/Zimbabwe/Zambia, I've seen some terrible fashion choices on which I had some very clear opinions (if you can't walk in them, your heels are too high!), but now I'm about to embark on another adventure and I figured it was time to at least check in.

So, I'm going to Guatemala and Costa Rica. And I'm going there TONIGHT! I've never been to Central America and I'm excited for a serious vacation. I will be hiking, fishing, exploring, and beach sitting. I'll read, sleep, doze, laugh, and have a really amazing time. (At least that's what I'm expecting!)

In the meantime, I have to post some pre-vacation pictures because, lets face it, I'm not getting any work done today!

Ok, anyone who has traveled with me knows I take pride in my packing abilities (2 1/2 weeks in South Africa and I almost only packed one carry-on bag) so here's today's packing success:

4 pairs of pants (+1 pair of jeans because someone forgot to pack his jeans)
3 sun dresses
3 swim suits (because, why not? I'm going to be spending some serious time on the beach.)
7 T-shirts/tank tops (I'm overpacking on this one)
3 other shirts
3 pairs of shoes
underwear
socks
wine and chocolate for the people I'm staying with
hair products, including a curling iron (you never know when you need to look cute!)
sunscreen, mosquito repellent, etc.
chargers, other electronics
a baseball cap (because someone also forgot to pack his baseball cap)
band-aides and other 1st aid stuff

in one small, carry-on sized bag, which I will be checking. My actual carry-on is a tiny little day backpack. And I'm not at all concerned about having room for stuff I buy there because I'll make room by giving away the chocolates and the wine and besides, I have the ability to get a bag of some sort there if I need one.

I'm so proud of myself!

Happy Holidays!

Tis the season, right?

Right.

Although, I had decided not to decorate my place this year. It didn't make sense to decorate, I'm not going to be here anyway. Actually, I'm leaving today and I'm very excited about it! (Next post will most certainly be all about my train travel adventure!)

So, I'm leaving today. Apparently in my world this means that today is the day I need to decorate my apartment. What? Yup. That's the logic of my brain.

I think it has something to do with how dreary it is outside and I know I'll be coming home late next week to a dreary day and there's something about a little sparkle and twinkle that brightens up dreary winter days.

And so...

I give you Happy Holidays in the form of an avocado tree, a dwarf lemon tree, and a bay window:

The full view of the living room with lights and everything!

This poor sad avocado tree is my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. It's where the presents are waiting for me to open when I return next Friday.

The lemon tree. It smells really good!

And remember this guy? The whole reason I created this picture window was to be able to change it seasonally. Seemed appropriate to actually do it.

Thanks to Julia and David for my coke-can angel on top!

Fall... beets... cupcakes!

It's fall in Northern California. That means that the days are a bit shorter and cooler, the nights chillier, the leaves yellow and brown and crunchy under foot. It's lovely. It also means it's the season for root vegetables and I love root vegetables. I especially adore beets.

So naturally, I made cupcakes.

Okay, I'll explain. I was inspired by a recipe I read in Sunset magazine which I have recently mysteriously begun receiving. It had a recipe for red velvet cupcakes colored not with food coloring but with roasted beets. I thought that was brilliant! And so I set out to make them.

Being me, I couldn't just follow the recipe exactly. First, I decided to make mini cupcakes instead of full sized ones. Then I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of the cake flour, I used truvia instead of sugar, being diabetic and all. I also changed the buttercream icing to a more lactose-intolerant-friendly vegan cream cheese icing with a dash of grapefruit bitters for extra flavor.

They turned out alright. Next time, I will not bake them as long as they got a bit dry. They are still pretty tasty though and I like that they aren't super sweet. They are a really pretty red color though, which is great for Halloween!

Anyway, here are some pictures and the recipe. Original is from Sunset Magazine, Northern California edition, October 2012.

roasted beet puree

finished batter

Adding icing.

 And here's the recipe:

Red velvet cupcakes with orange buttercream

Makes 12 cupcakes (32 mini cupcakes)

Cupcakes
1 lb. red beets (3 medium), scrubbed

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. kosher or fine sea salt

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup plus 2 tsp. granulated sugar (or 3/8 cup truvia or other similar brand if doing sugar free)

3 large eggs, beaten to blend

2/3 cup canola oil

¾ tsp. vanilla extract

Orange buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar (10 tsp. truvia if doing sugar free)

½ tsp. pure orange oil (or zest of 1 orange)

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

• 1.       Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350. Wrap each beet in foil, put on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast until tender when pierced, 1 to 1 ½ hours. Let cool. Peel, cut into chunks, and puree in a food processor. Measure 1 ¼ cups puree.
• 2.       Line a 12-cup muffin pan (1/2 cup size) with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• 3.       Whisk together beet puree, granulated sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl. With a plastic spatula, stir in flour mixture one-third at a time just until smooth.
• 4.       Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each almost to the top of the liner. Bake until cupcakes spring back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted in center of one comes out with a couple of moist crumgs clinging. 25 to 30 minutes (15 – 17 minutes for mini cupcakes). Let cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.
• 5.       Make buttercream: Beat butter with a mixer on high speed until very smooth. Add powdered sugar, orange oil, and vanilla; beat on low speed to blend, then on medium until fluffy and smooth.
• 6.       Spread a thick layer of buttercream on cupcakes, swirling it decoratively. Or pipe frosting from a pastry bag, using a star tip.

Per cupcake: 481 cal. 29 gram of fat, 53 g. carbs, 176 mg sodium, 94 mg chol.

Per mini cupcake of sugar free: not sure of the calories but it’s much less, 10 g. of carbs.

President McKenzie

Ah, yes. President McKenzie. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? 

It's not what you think. Really. It has nothing to do with politics or countries or clubs (or country clubs for that matter). Instead, it has everything to do with my new company and the fact that I have accepted the position that I offered to myself. That position is as President of the company. 

I'm also the CFO, the Secretary, the gofer, the marketing department, the payroll department, and several others that I'm sure I don't even know about yet.

Regardless, I went through a lengthy meeting with my lawyer doing the official things a board, a president, a CFO, and the secretary of a company do.  And after I signed my employment agreement with McKenzie Solutions, I signed a lot of documents as Kate McKenzie, President.

I thought that was pretty neat.  

And now I'm terrified I'm going to do something to get in trouble! Yikes!

Social Norms?

I'm spending the morning working from my local coffee shop. I decided I needed a change of scenery - because apparently I haven't had enough of that lately... No, it's just that my cleaning lady is at my place and I don't like to be there when she's cleaning. I feel like I'm in the way.

Anyway, I'm at a coffee shop. There is music playing as there is in all stores and coffee shops and restaurants these days. As a side note: have you ever wondered what it would be like if there wasn't any music playing? Would that affect you in any way? Would you even notice?

Ok, back to the current situation. So, there's music playing. The shop is fairly busy, most tables are taken. People are working, talking, reading, etc.

There is one woman at one table who is full on dancing to the music that is playing. She has a book in front of her but she hasn't paid attention to it at all, at least not from what I can tell. Instead, she's sitting in her chair, dancing to the music. Smiling, enjoying herself.

Now, what is interesting to me is that everyone sees her, walks by her, makes sure not to make eye contact with her. Everyone seems to be thinking, "oh wow, stay away from the crazy lady!"

Why? Why do we assume that someone who is enjoying the music and is free enough to dance to that music when it moves her is crazy or dangerous? Maybe she's really just having a wonderful time!

I'll admit that I, myself, initially avoided making eye contact but now I can't stop watching her. I caught her eye and smiled at her and she just smiled back and continued dancing.

Maybe she's nuts. Maybe she's weird.

But maybe she is exactly what we should all be: free enough to hear, appreciate, enjoy, and act on her impulse to dance to the music around her.

YUMmmmy!

It has been a long while since I posted anything but this new recipe is too good not to share. I've made it twice in the last few weeks and I just can't get enough of it. It is creamy and nutty and utterly scrumptious. The creaminess comes from the cashews, not cream. I've rediscovered cashews recently. They are amazing!

It's from Vegetarian Times and actually it's a vegan recipe so all of you non-dairy types can enjoy it as well.  Now, those of you who know how I cook know that I use a recipe mostly as a guide, a starting point, a suggestion, so I altered it a bit as I went. I also don't measure my ingredients so I wasn't very precise and it was absolutely delicious.

Anyway, here it is:

Black Pepper Fettuccine with Chardonnay Sauce
Serves 2
Sauce:
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup Chardonnay wine
1 Tbs. nutritional yeast (I use vegetable broth powder, this is where the sauce gets its salt)
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Pasta:
3 oz uncooked fettuccine (or any other kind of pasta, I used spinach linguine the first time, whole wheat penne the second)
1 cup baby spinach (I used more like 2 cups)
6 asparagus spears (the second time I made it I used broccolini simply because that's what I had on hand)
1/4 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (I skipped this)

1. To make Sauce: Blend cashews and 1 cup water in blender or food processor until smooth. Strain out solids using fine mesh strainer; discard solids (I used the solids as well, they added the tiniest bit of nutty crunch but make sure the mixture gets nice and smooth first.)
2. Simmer Chardonnay in a small saucepan over medium heat 7 to 10 minutes, or until reduced to about 1/3 cup liquid. Stir in cashew mixture, nutritional yeast (or vegetable broth powder), lemon juice, and ground black pepper. Keep warm.
3. To make Pasta: cook in boiling salted water according to package directions.
4. Meanwhile, bring 1/4 cup water to a simmer in a small skillet. Add spinach, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until wilted. Keep warm.
5. Heat grill pan over medium heat. Grill asparagus 7 minutes, turning once. Grill bell pepper 2 - 3 minutes (if you're using them) until wilted. Keep warm.
6. Drain pasta, and return to pot. Toss with Sauce, and divide between 2 plates. Top each serving with wilted spinach, asparagus, and bell pepper strips.

Here's a photo of my first finished product.

The second time I made I deviated a little more and added sauteed mushrooms for a nice meaty vegetable. Still delicious. Whatever you do, whichever vegetables you choose to use, enjoy it. And try not to eat all the sauce before you put it on the pasta!

Enjoy!

P.S. For anyone who is interested, here is the nutritional value per Vegetarian Times:
per serving: calories: 386; protein: 15g; total fat: 16g; saturated fat: 3g; carbohydrates: 49g; cholesterol: 0; sodium: 184mg; fiber: 5g; sugar: 6g.