Re: For This, We are Grateful

This is a re-post with some italicized augmentations. I'm thankful for so many of the same things that I'm recycling. Yay, recycling!

in no particular order: a strong, fun marriage * a smart, helpful, cute, supportive, funny husby who I looooooooooove * generous and loving family, near and far * Olive * Herb * Rachels! Tovah! * new friends * reconnecting with old friends * decent, hassle-free (knock on wood) health insurance * Dan Savage * new adventures * Mother Jones * Smart Wool * chickens * our local bookstore, local whole foods stores, and local gift shops * Obama * The Stranger (they gave me this idea and I used and/or changed some of their thanks) * a job that sort of lets me come and go as i please * Purity's cinnamon ice cream * our own (well, not OWN own) little house * access to fair trade and direct trade coffee * Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, David Pakman * NPR * so long, DADT * reliable transportation * Wegmans * Nutella * access to local meats, eggs, cheeses, butter * Roku box and NetFlix * my new super-cute and fast puter *Google * chiropractics * close proximity to Ithaca * only one more semester * Joel and Ethan Coen * smart phones * our mostly good health and that of our family and friends * everyoneisgay.com * learning to make the best of things (still working on this one) * 30 Rock * Apples to Apples * farmers markets * things that used to be disposable but now are compostable! * This American Life * Cook's Illustrated * turbo-fast internet * kefir * (getting close to?) finding my niche * extra, extra, extra sharp cheddar * kombucha * AVG * smoosh-faced dogs * too many other things to list

Comeback Kid

I've been removed for a bit. Too long. So much is going on. The last couple of weeks of school were way more excruciating than I expected, and I've had a lot of additional trouble with my back. Most recently, I've been so uncomfortable that I couldn't find a comfortable sitting position that lasted for more than a few seconds. Friday, I had Cortisone injections in my lumbar spine to try to treat the pain related to my bulging disc.

I am finally starting to feel a bit better, and I hope to be able to catch you up on the following things:

• the update on my Spring 2011 internship
• the results of our Local Christmas Experiment
• Olive the dog?
• more?

Don't go away. I'm coming back soon. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Olive's first snowball.

Fa La La La La: A Local Christmas Experiment

Since I'm still in school, and we have limited monies for Christmas gifts, we're trying some new things:

1. J and I aren't gifting to each other. Boo.... I guess my present from J is ... school? Blerg.
2. We're planning to buy all our gifts locally/regionally. This is savvy in regards to money and in regards to the environment. It means no Amazon, no extra monies for shipping and no carbon footprint for the transportation of an item from wherever it comes from to Broad Street, no disappointment if the UPS driver leaves a note instead of a package. Not only will we be supporting the local economy, we'll be able to give slightly larger gifts since we won't be paying for shipping from 5, 8, 12 different online purveyors.
3. Additionally, we'll be patronizing local shops, bookstores, farmers markets and craft shows and only hitting the big box stores if we have to.
4. We're not buying any wrapping paper this year. We'll be using what we have or what we find or what we can repurpose.

J and I both really love giving totally unique gifts; hopefully we'll be able to find and gift neat things despite the (lack of) local shopping options. I suppose I can concede on gift amazingness provided that we're being better to the planet and the local economy. If it goes well, we'll probably try it again!

image via Perfect Duluth Day

Overheard in the J and L House

Scene: Lisa is standing over the stove, poking at what's in the skillet.

Lisa to Jesse: Goat meat is much fattier than I expected.

Quick and Tasty Italian Sausage Soup with Vegan Substitutions

I recently made Italian Sausage Soup with some fresh, local sausage. It was so delicious! The recipe is from Slashfood; it is so speedy and requires minimal knife work. I've included the specific ingredients I used in our soup in parentheses. Vegan suggestions follow.

Slashfood's Italian Sausage Soup
serves 3-4

• 8 ounces hot or sweet turkey Italian sausage (I used the fresh sausage from a local farm)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced*
  
• 2 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano (We used Muir Glen's Diced Tomatoes with Basil and Garlic)
  
• 1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta (try 60 % Whole Grain Organic Small Vegetable Shells from Eden Organic)
  
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage and garlic* to pan and cook about 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; return to pan.

While the sausage is browning, start a separate pot and boil water for pasta. Salt the water and cook the pasta until al dente.

Add broth and tomatoes to the saucepan with the sausage in it and bring to a boil over over high heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in spinach until wilted.

Add desired amount of pasta to the bottom of a soup bowl and ladle sausage soup on top. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.

*garlic not included in original recipe

Tovah! Mikus! Eric and Tiffany!! Try this recipe with Tofurky Italian Sausage and your preferred brand of vegetable broth. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast. I think you'll like it. Will you try it? You should.

French Breakfast Radishes

These French Breakfast Radishes are so pretty! Their flavor is much more subtle than standard radishes from the grocery store; they're sweet and mild without the strong peppery flavor that you expect from radishes.

We used them in an awesome Senor Caesar salad with fresh homemade dressing. I roasted garlic and a jalapeño for the tangy, delicious dressing. It was creamy but not at all heavy. This is our second great winner from Married with Dinner (the first was last night's soup).

Anniversary Brunch at the Carriage House

Jesse and I had a really great, fun day yesterday. We started by celebrating our 2nd anniversary (Sept 30) by having brunch with my family at the Carriage House in Ithaca. The atmosphere is really relaxed and the food is amazing: Brie stuffed french toast with fresh fruit, baby portabella omelets, grilled heirloom tomatoes and cheddar on house-baked muti-grain bread. It is all terrific. My sister, Lauren, generously treated everyone!

My parents surprised us with a fantastic anniversary present: a new queen size bed! I'm so excited to pick it out and have so much space. I am married to a bed hog who occupies 2/3 of the bed on a night when he's being generous. I am relegated to a portion of the bed that is hardly wider than my bod. When we get the new bed, I am pretty sure the proportion of space I am allotted will remain the same yet my proportion will be wonderfully larger. Yay! Its a great prez and was a complete surprise.

After brunch, Jess and Lauren and I headed to the farmer's market and packed our canvas bags with enough produce to nearly fill the fridge: Yummy Peppers (this is the variety, not a description), French Breakfast Radishes, Honeycrisp apples, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, carrots, onions, parsley, basil.

We made a couple more stops in Ithaca before dropping Lauren off at home and heading back home. After unpacking all of our produce, I started our dinner: Bleu Cheese Cauliflower Soup and fresh artisan bread from the market. It was incredibly tasty; a certain addition to our favorites.

Afterwards, we took a long (apx. 3 mile) walk with our friends, Philip and Emily. Our day was so full and fun; I was entirely exhausted.

cafe image via Carriage House Cafe

Cheap Date

Local-made gelato makes a good, cheap date.

News in Blurb Form

• J and I spent Sunday morning at the Ithaca Farmers Market. In addition to a great assortment of produce, we picked up some ultra-fresh, local bratwursts from The Piggery that we put on the grill for Monday dinner.
  
• John, Julie, Jack and Tony were in town on Sunday and Monday. It was great to see everyone and catch up for a little while. Hopefully, Jesse and I will be able to visit them sometime this fall. Jack and Tony are getting so big; Tony will be in kindergarten in a couple of weeks!
  
• I got the job at the bagel shop.
• Jesse didn't get the job at Goodrich.
• I did 8 miles on my bike today. I didn't randomly fall over and I didn't almost run into anyone so I'm improving!

Please send good energy J's way.

Aldo A. Rossi, Jr. Dead at 42

A local police officer was killed in the line of duty on July 27. Aldo A. Rossi, Jr., 42, part-time police officer owner of a local auto glass business put himself through police academy when he was 39.

This is of interest to you, my most likely out-of-town friend, because it reminded me of some of the things about funeral service that were important and remarkable to me. I'll start by commenting on how non-traditional my preferences tend to be. Consider my wedding, complete with green Chucks on the boys, hundreds of assorted green fowers, and "In My Life" by the Beatles as the recessional. Very non-traditional.

That said, I am quite stirred by the tradition and formality that is an integral part of a funeral service for those who served the local community in a public capacity: active-duty military personnel, police officials, government officials. The bagpipes, the six or eight pallbearers wearing white gloves and bearing the weight of the deceased, the somber funeral coach, the police-escorted procession, the 21-gun salute, the bugler playing "Taps," the presentation of the flag to the surviving widow are the elements that remind me to focus less on myself, my isolation and my issues (myriad as they may be) and more on the surrounding world.


images via PressConnects

I Smell Parsley and I Think of My Dad

Today, in preparation for a barbecue with our neighbors, I was chopping fresh Italian parsley for a French potato salad with Dijon mustard and fines herbes. Do you know how certain smells immediately remind you about something or someone? Well, the fragrance of the parsley instantly made me think of my dad. I grew up always finding dad in the kitchen or in the garden tending to the produce that would eventually make its way to the kitchen. Dad was frequently dashing out to the garden for asparagus, tomatoes, string beans and a wide array of herbs: dill, basil, mint, parsley and more.

I know my interest in and penchant for gourmet cooking and my maybe-its-green thumb comes directly from the Mastroberti DNA and was fostered by my parents. I am certain that there is an herb garden if not a more comprehensive vegetable garden in my future. I'm really lucky that I have a dad and mom who value fresh, homegrown and homemade foods and have instilled that appreciation in me.