Omelettes, Julie, Julia and me

For Christmas Lindy gave me Julie and Julia, wherein Julie Powell decides to prepare (and then blog about) every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking (MtAoFC). Everyone knows that Bob is the master chef at our house, but every time Julie Powell describes a recipe, I am inspired to try it. Last night I read about how she made these fabulous omelettes for dinner, and when I woke up this morning, I was itching to make an omelette. Then, I found this vintage video of Julia Child--special bonus! Here she shows correct omeletting technique, and that voice of hers..... Watch it, and see if it doesn't make you want to run to your kitchen, grab two eggs, and go for it.




Next I want to try Oeufs en Cocotte with Sauce au Carie (I'm not sure what it is yet, but it probably involves eggs), mainly because Julie Powell says this is how it makes you feel: "....Oeufs en Cocotte with Sauce au Cari, a cup of coffee, and an enormous glass of water is like a meal fed to you by the veiled daughters of a wandering Bedouin tribe after one of their number comes upon you splayed out in the sands of the endless deserts of Araby, moments from death--it's that good." (Side note: Did you know that ramekins are teeny weeny casserole dishes? You make oeufs en cocotte in them. I thought ramekins were bread.)

And tonight, Bob and I are making potage parmentier, named after the guy who showed France's masses that the "poisonous root" that had been given to him in a German prisoner-of-war camp isn't poison after all. Louis XVI credited Parmentier with saving France from starvation. And we're having bread, too.

Postscript #1: The potage parmentier was fantastic! Next time we're putting asparagus spears in it.

Postscript #2: The omelettes didn't work at all like Julia said they were supposed to. Maybe I need a different pan.

Postscript #3: The coddled oeufs were fabulous, just like Julie Powell predicted. We used brie and chives....ummmm.

Cashew fruit

To get my students excited about our trip to Brazil, sometimes I search the Web for cool-looking photos or facts about Brazil, and I post them on the course Web site. One of the things I've discovered is cashew fruit, which an "accessory fruit" produced by cashew trees. As it turns out, cashew trees are native to Brazil and were spread to countries around the world by the Portuguese. In addition to cashews (the nuts), the trees also produce cashew fruit (also known as cashew apples). Supposedly it is edible and sweet, and is sold at fruit stands in Brazil. We didn't get to taste any when we were there last year, but someone I asked said the fruit doesn't taste all that great. It does meet my cool-looking criteria, however. Cashew apples are eaten raw and used in jam and beverages.

Speeches and music

The night before the inauguration I listened to Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and cried like a baby. His sacrifice paid off. Here's part of the speech set to music--very moving.



And now for a change of pace, check out this jazzy accompaniment for Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric. Henry Hey is the composer. See, we the people are pretty dang smart after all. How close we came....

A really big jar

Have you ever ordered something on the Internet that you thought would be this big, and when it arrived, it was THIS BIG? This happened to me last week. I saw a cool-looking "ocean glass" jar that I thought would look great on the bottom shelf of our sofa table, so I ordered it. It arrived in a box that was about 2 feet by 4 feet, and when I opened it, I realized it was way too big to put under the sofa table. It was almost as tall as the sofa table. Here is a photo. Notice the molecule-sized quarter in the lower left corner of the photo--on the floor.

Ribbie really enjoyed having Jordan and Olivia come to visit. Here she is being "warmed up." Apparently she was cold.

Jordan and Olivia stayed with us overnight while Holly and Narith took a night off in Park City. We know they are at least spiritually connected to the Koerner side of the family, because they took a 30-minute shower before bed.

Christopher came over to read to the girls. Olivia is good at multi-tasking, and man, is she flexible!

Snowoman, snow reindeer, and Besty, just because she's so dang cute!

Can you guess which is which? (And thanks, Betsy, for taking the photos of the snowthings. You have many talents! )

Photo A:

Photo B: Photo C: