easter auf deutsch

we had a german christmas {with the fabulous marty and dee}, why not a german easter? you can never go wrong with schnitzel. and knödel? love it. don't forget the fresh steamed asparagus. plus the green beans. it was the perfect easter meal. hope yours was equally as fantastic.

happy easter, one and all!

okay, now back to watching the ten commandments. classic.

finding friday: size six

this just makes me happy, because being a size six obviously made her happy. you go, girl!

"the cold war. neither cold nor a war. discuss. "

here is a question I pose to you, dear blog readers:

if you had a severe cold and were held hostage with a piece of duct tape over your mouth, would one of your nostrils drain as a survival instinct? or would you just suffocate?

please discuss.


I asked peter this question and he told me that we should both ponder it quietly. I think that was his way of telling me to shut up so he could concentrate on his work. so let's all ponder quietly together--in the comments.

the special mix

for almost a week now I've been sick. it has truly sucked my energy and will to live. though it has gotten me out of things such as church and work, it has been devastating to my running and my general feelings of well-being. basically it has been completely crappy.


a couple years ago this guy told me about his tried + true cold remedy: the cayenne pepper/orange juice mix. he swears by it.

now I swear by it too.

to make:
take one juice glass
pour in oj
shake in desired amount of cayenne
stir
enjoy!

I'm not sure if it actually works or not. my friend, mr jason latour, says the heat in the cayenne makes your nose run, getting all the gunk out; and something else about it was supposed to help as well. can't really remember. {the cayenne was a key ingredient for cleansing my body of unwanted waste, maybe it's the same idea} but what I really like about it is the way it makes my ears burn. and it does make your eyes water and your nose run. it feels cleansing for that one minute I'm feeling the effects. afterward it's back to the same stuffy nose. but at least I'm getting in a little more vitamin c, right?

peter does not like this remedy at all. I made him drink some once when we were dating. he almost died. he will never try it again. I guess the special mix isn't for everybody.

frijoles negros, the soup.

we love our beans around here, it's true. so much so my cute husband almost cried in costa rica when the first meal he ordered, the black bean soup, was nothing of what he expected. {and he had some pretty high expectations} basically it was just the water the beans were cooked in with an egg thrown in. he was heart broken.

I'm glad to say that last night I made everything right. last night I made the black bean soup this boy dreamt of. the soup he was expecting, but never got.

thank you stephanie, the crockpot lady, for giving us this soup. this ridiculously easy crock pot soup! your year-long adventure into the slowcooker has been worth it, if only for this.

changes I made to the recipe:
*instead of canned beans I used the dry variety. it was so simple. I soaked the beans overnight in the crockpot. in the morning I rinsed the beans again and then put new water in. added other ingredients. set on low to cook all day long without any effort from myself. the beans cooked along with the rest of it! so beautiful.
*I used a half a cup of corn, carrots and onion. blended thoroughly.
*I also used cotija cheese instead of parmesan for sprinkling. we're all about the authentic mexican flavor around here.

finding friday: angelica's birthday

I found this little lovely party invite three years ago on main street in park city after a day of skiing with mr rad dog himself, mike. (btw, mike, are you still out there???) it made me happy that her birthday party was two full days long. she must be one cool chick. it made me sad that we had missed it. we were skiing the PC pow on april 9th. total bummer.

oh, this isn't yours?

as you can see I work with the cream of society. not only do I have to deal with subarctic temperatures and unsafe working conditions, but I have to deal with my fellow warehouse employees. and sometimes they're just not that nice.

every morning I have the joy of discovering what's missing from my desk. will it be my garbage can? my favorite sharpie? my chair?! usually it's just my box cutter and/or radio. so what's a street tough girl to do in the slums of bcdc? threaten her coworkers with the ill-effects of karma that's what. yeah, it doesn't seem to work so much.

one morning, soon after I had written the lovely note atop my mini radio pictured above, I came to work and found my radio missing. again. after searching all over, I found it about fifteen work stations away. it was obviously someone on the night crew who stole it, so I left a lovely little post-it-note. you better believe it had something to do with disrespecting the property of others and bad karma and all that good stuff. and can you believe it, the next morning I found a post-it-note at my desk! it enraged me + made me laugh all at the same time. seriously. I wish I had kept it. kept both of them for that matter. they couldn't believe I was "bringing karma into this." it was "just a radio, after all." and besides, they "put it back where they found it." oh really? they did?! that's why I found it five hundred feet away at their desk?! the nerve of some people. didn't they see my notes? oh, this isn't yours? then please don't take it. thanks! and the do not take from this spot! sounds pretty serious too. unfortunately I didn't want to start a post-it-note war over this. . .

now I've just resorted to taking the cord and hiding it, and hiding all other valuables, before I leave each day. these people cannot be trusted.

how do you bake your potato?

seriously, how do you bake your potato?

I always figured there was one way to do it: wrap it up in tin foil and throw it in your oven. then about a month or so ago I was looking online to try and find an approximate cooking time + oven temp and came across a website that told me I didn't need to even use tin foil. brilliant! I thought to myself. I can save our natural resources one potato at a time.

see, the trick is poking all the holes in the potato (obviously--we don't want exploded potato guts all over the oven), rubbing it in olive oil, sprinkling a little salt all over it and then placing it right on the rack. no pan, no tin foil, nothing.


baked potatoes sans foil are crispier on the outside and oh so soft on the inside. but y'all probably already knew that.

image via.
photos deserving of an honorable mention:
mr. potato head goes home. he looks so happy among his kin.
the evolution of the potato. doin' darwin proud.
the bumper crop. it reminds me a little of these guys.