Back to work

After 9 months of traveling, cooking, volunteering, visiting family and contracting, I start working full time again on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to going back to work full time, but am a little sad about having less time to cook and try new recipes. From desserts to Asian foods, I can honestly say that I've gotten better as a cook. I can now properly pan sear scallops, make a restaurant quality Thai noodle dish, and cream butter and sugar for baked goods. Twenty more years of practice and I might actually be good at this cooking thing :-)

Recipes tried over the past 6 weeks
1) Pretzel crunch
2) Fruity pebbles cookies
3) Compost cookies (potato chips and pretzel mix-ins)
4) Cornflake marshmallow chocolate chip cookies
5) Apple pie cake (with frosting that tastes like pie crust)
6) Pecan "crack pie"
7) Candy bar pie (peanut butter nougat on top of salted caramel and chocolate)

8) Thai curry mashed potatoes
9) Brussels sprouts with pancetta and garlic
10) Green bean casserole (from scratch)
11) Seafood miso soup
12) Mushroom soup
13) Italian wedding soup
14) Portuguese kale soup

15) Gluten free monkey bread
16) Gluten free apple pie cake
17) Gluten free cornflake cookies
18) Gomae (Japanese spinach with sesame seeds)
19) Thai steamed turbot (from Ellie Krieger)
20) Slanted Door's crab cellophane noodles
21) Raclette
22) Sausage and swiss quiche with hashbrown crust

Severed head catnip toys

While looking for some holiday gifts for the family pets I ran across these little gems. They're funny in an "ewwww, gross!" kind of way. I couldn't bring myself to buy them, but if you're looking for a gift for someone with a dark sense of humor, these just might do the trick.

You can buy them here if you're so inclined.

Wegmans Lobster Humor

I spent a few days back in DC last week and made a stop at my beloved Wegmans. While walking through the seafood department I came upon this display. Poor Darryl.

Ocean Trash as art

I started to explore doing some pro bono marketing work for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA. They rescue, rehabilitate and release distressed marine mammals on the northern California coasts - and they typically get the most calls for seals and sea lions.

While visiting an art festival I saw a piece of artwork made from ocean trash and found it fascinating stuff.


An artist in Oregan collected trash that washed up on her beach over time and turned it into sculptures that educate the public on the dangers of ocean trash to marine life. Seals mistake some items for food and get ensnared in others. I won't post photos here but it's heartbreaking to see a seal pup that's trying to grow with a six pack soda ring or abandoned fishing line around his neck. Unless they're found and rescued, they won't make it.

The good news is that this type of thing can be minimized if we watch our consumption of plastics, and recycle what we do use. Try using a refillable water bottle instead of those cases of disposable ones, and save up those empties until you find a recycling bin. We only recycle 7% of the 15 billion TONS of plastic we use each year. I think we can do better.

If you're near Sausalito, stop by the center. You'll see the rest of their incredible sculptures and may get to meet a patient or two. But be warned. They're stinky. One story told at orientation was of a well meaning officer who placed a lost sea lion pup in his police cruiser. Let's just say that car was never put back in service. :-)

Hello again Sammy Hagar!

A few weeks ago I posted on Facebook that we were seated near Sammy Hagar for Brett's birthday dinner at El Paseo (the restaurant Sammy Hagar co-owns with Tyler Florence).

Brett saw him immediately (or rather, he saw his hair) - and when we were seated at a table nearby, Brett chose the seat facing away from Sammy so he wouldn't be tempted to stare. Brett played it cool all night until Sammy got up to talk with Tyler in the kitchen. Sammy walked right past us, and on his way back he stopped to greet some tables. Unfortunately he didn't stop at ours. I knew Brett was disappointed, because I watched his eyes follow the former Van Halen star around the room. I also watched a sly smirk creep onto his face and noticed a twinkle in his eye as he pondered what he'd say if Sammy stopped by. By the end of the night, we went home without meeting him, and Sammy enjoyed his dinner uninterrupted.

The next day unbeknownst to Brett, I emailed the restaurant and asked them if they'd have Sammy sign a restaurant menu. They agreed and put it in the mail. When Brett got back from his business trip, he picked up the envelope, said "Did my mom send us a gift certificate?" and then after opening it - gave a long skeptical "Riiight...." He looked at me and said "is this your handwriting? Did you tell my mom? You had something to do with this didn't you?" I feigned ignorance for about 3 seconds and then burst out laughing, telling him the story and that the signature was likely legit. We had a few more good laughs and then stuck the paper on a shelf for a reminder of a fun night and an even funnier joke.

If you can't read the scrawl, it says "Brett - I saw you gnawing on that bone. Nice work Pal. - Sammy" (I may have fed Sammy his line - but he's still a stand up guy in my book).

Method Home: People Against Dirty

Many years ago I saw a really cool looking bottle of hand soap at the store made by a company called Method Home. I liked the design of the package so I tossed it in my cart. It worked and smelled great, and I later discovered that their complete line of home and personal care products are all natural. What more could a girl ask for? Cute packaging, good for the environment (and my health) and it actually works. I was hooked.

As a marketer, I've continued to admire them and have been impressed by their punchy copy (ex: People against dirty), their cool partnership with Virgin America, and their creative user engagement tactics.



In their "laundry room love" video they asked fans to submit video of themselves doing scripted moves and then stitched them together into a master video. Fun stuff.



Then last week I was in the city in a cafe, and the Method Home biodiesel truck pulled up. On the back was an e-mail address and a message offering "handsome rewards" for those that wrote in saying where they spotted the truck. I wrote in, and got a voucher for a free product in the mail.



Needless to say, it was a positive experience with their brand, and I remain a raving fan.

My chance encounter with a balloon art star from TLC's Unpoppables!

I recently went to a birthday party where I knew just one person: the birthday girl. I assumed my afternoon would be filled with awkward small talk with other guests while she flitted around greeting her many friends. I couldn't have been more wrong.



I met a balloon artist: Brian Asman who runs a business called Balloons Equal Fun. Now, I know you're probably thinking "Big deal Lori. A guy who makes animals out of balloons" - but this isn't your average balloon guy. Go, go, GO to his web site and click through the "folks, decor and twisted" photo galleries to the left of the main image. It's truly amazing. He even does personal caricatures and has worked corporate events for companies like Yelp and personal parties for stars like Robin Williams.

Brian makes INCREDIBLE Balloon art. He wasn't working at the party, but when he casually showed me a few of his photos on his phone, I immediately said "you could be the Duff or Cake Boss of the balloon world." Then he told me TLC had already taped 6 episodes of a show called "Unpoppables" profiling a team of "balloon artists" working together for events. You can see another clip here:


Personally I think the show would have been better with just Brian, but I'm probably biased given my chance to meet him and see him and see his work firsthand. It just goes to prove that you never know who you're going to meet and that there are fascinating stories to be heard in the least expected situations. Thanks Robin, for inviting me to meet your friends. As they said in Avenue Q, "There is life outside your apartment."

A golden retriever's kryptonite

Holly has loved the water as long as I've owned her. Even though her voice recall off leash has improved over time, she just can't resist the call of the water.



When Brett and I got married, we took her with us to Rochester. While packing up the car for the drive back we realized she was gone. We called for her and she was nowhere to be found. Starting to panic I yelled out one more "HOLLY!" and we saw a head pop up in the pond behind my parents' house. We smelled wet dog for the entire trip back to DC.

When we lived in Amsterdam our teenage dog walker asked if he could take her off leash at the park to throw a tennis ball for her. We told him he could, but that he had to keep her on leash on the way to the park, and whenever water was in sight. He proudly told us that he had already tried her off leash and "she listens." We shrugged and said ok and then laughed when he brought her back dripping in mud an hour later. "She doesn't listen when she sees water" he said. We didn't have to say "I told you so."

Yesterday I was cleaning the house and heard splashing out back. I saw a golden retriever playing in the marsh and realized it was Holly. She was having such a blast that I decided to let her play - but I've learned my lesson to keep the deck door shut.

Cupcakes cupcakes cupcakes

Last weekend I flew to Rochester to spend some time with my niece and nephew. One of our activities was to make cupcakes. I brought my cupcake book with me and they each chose a design. My niece wanted to make banana split cupcakes, while my nephew went for the ghost angle.
Although the cupcakes didn't look quite like the ones in the book, everyone agreed that eating them was fun.

My own personal "Cake Wrecks"

I'm a sucker for cute cupcakes, and last week I saw an adorable book called "What's New Cupcake" which proclaims that making adorable cupcakes is easy for even the average person. I'm heading to Rochester to see my family so I bought the book, thinking it would be the perfect afternoon activity for me and my niece.

After getting home and browsing the adorable pictures, I went to their facebook fan page to look at user submitted photos. While the user photos were all cute, many were far short of the beautifully styled cakes in the book. Could the average person REALLY do this?

Since I manage a Canadian team, and it's Canadian Thanksgiving today, I thought I'd try to make their turkey cupcakes. Armed with about $30 in ingredients, I set to work, melting caramels and rolling them out to make turkey skins and drumsticks, and to make "lettuce" out of corn flakes, food coloring and frosting.


How did it turn out? Let's just say, I'm not a pro and don't have the patience to make 12 cupcakes all by myself. I gave up after the 1st one. My own personal Cake Wrecks.

Santa Fe - Not a bad place to spend the weekend

When Brett and I started dating, he spoke fondly of the 2 years that he had lived in Santa Fe. We've gone a few times over the years, and I have to say it's a great little town.
Lots of nice hikes, galleries, spas, restaurants. I enjoyed browsing the numerous shops, though I'm not sure I want a mirror in my house with "lo feo" on it...

Not sure I need an inflatable fruitcake either :-)

A nature movie in our back yard

One of the things I love about our rental is the waterfront location. Growing up with a mom who was a wildlife rehabilitator and animal lover was bound to leave its mark.

With the tide changes we see a never ending mix of shore birds and wildlife - like the flock of pelicans, or the seagull that poops on our dock, running towards us when he sees us, hoping for a handout. We've also seen seals, sand pipers, and the usual ducks and geese. Every now and then a heron will wander the marsh grasses behind our house. I love watching it all.

"Good Things"

Martha Stewart always talks about "Good Things." Somehow I don't think the "good things" in this vintage Kent cigarette ad would make her short list. Lots of change in 30 years.

Subtle Butt, Meet Flatuscents

Back in the 80s I used to watch "In Living Color" and I never forgot the comedy skit they did on an invented product called Flatuscents, which was a suppository that enhanced the scent of, well, errr...."personal scent emissions." They had scents like fresh herb, lavender and my personal favorite - new car smell. I thought it was just a comedy skit, but a similar product has hit the market (for real this time), called "Subtle Butt."

It's a charcoal insert you put in your underwear to mask the odor of embarrassing gas. Although it sounds funny, I can think of very real situations where this product would be useful. I almost died due to poor air quality on a recent flight to Orlando, and would have loved standing up and yelling "If you have to fart, fine - but could you stop assaulting your fellow passengers? Depressurizing doesn't have to impact those around you. Try wearing an underwear filter!" Maybe the flight attendants could have some for sale onboard.

For your viewing pleasure, see the original Flatuscents skit below, and a new one I found for subtle butt. The beauty of social media first hand.

Chemicals Make Everything Taste Better

Flipping through the retro cookbooks, I came across this tasty looking swiss cheese bread. Yummy, I thought.....until I read the ingredient list. It calls for "processed american or swiss cheese" and it specifically says not to use "natural cheese." Maybe I've been living in San Francisco too long. With all the emphasis on organic and natural foods out here, they're really bursting my bubble of childhood goodness. I used to love processed cheese!



Next up was "skinny dip." I'm all for healthy low cal foods, but somehow blending cottage cheese with bouillion cubes just won't cut it anymore. It's probably surprisingly good (like the Velveeta fudge I made). Sometimes I guess you just need to look the other way.

Potato Candy

I guess it's true that sugar and fat make anything taste good. Like the Velveeta Fudge, I may have to actually try this one....

Sausage Fruitcake: An improvement over the original? Or just as gross?

I've never been a big fan of fruitcake - though my mom used to give them as gifts every year. I've always wondered how many of her gifts were actually eaten. The one my mom kept for us somehow always lasted a really long time, unlike other desserts in the house.

I saw this recipe in a cookbook at the rental house. Maybe my mom had it all wrong. Maybe if she just added sausage to her fruitcake it would have flown out of that fridge.....OR....then again, maybe not.

BBQ Raccoon, Dove Hash and Baked Possum

The rental house also had a cookbook with recipes for how to cook various forms of game. I'll let the recipes speak for themselves in the pictures below, but somehow Squirrel Stew and Possum Bake won't be the first to hit my dinner table. I know that it's just another animal that people can hunt, but where I grew up, this type of game was more commonly road kill.

Man Pleasing Recipes - from the Rice Council of America, 1971

I laughed when I saw this "Man Pleasing Recipes" cookbook sitting on the counter at the rental.

Like any good housewife of the 1970s I was reminded that "no man likes the same thing every night" and was shown a number of ways to spice up my rice.

The recipes inside didn't seem all that memorable, but the title alone will stick in my mind. When googling "man pleasing recipes rice council" I found this ad from the 1960s. I guess 2 things never change. Sex appeal sells, and va-rice-ity is the spice of life.

Retro recipes have returned! Velveeta fudge anyone?

When I was cleaning out my dad's house, many of you liked my retro recipes series. I'm happy to announce that there were some fun cookbooks at the Kiawah rental house, so for the next few days, retro recipes is back.

Let's start with Velveeta fudge. When I read the the recipe I thought "Ewww. Gross." Then I realized Brett's grandmother had all of the ingredients on hand except the cheese, and I knew I had to make it.

It's really really simple to make. You melt Velveeta and butter together in the microwave, add some cocoa powder and vanilla, and then some powdered sugar. Stir together and refrigerate. Other than the little smear of orange in this photo you'd never know there was cheese in the recipe.

After mixing well, you simply put it in a pan, refrigerate and cut just like normal. The verdict: It's actually pretty good - and you don't taste the cheese. In fact, I recommend not telling people what's in it until after they've tasted it. It can be your little secret.