theses

Look what I got! They are all shiny and new with hard covers from the library. They have that new book smell. And best of all they say "Ph. D. 2010" on the side in gold.

tortilla soup

Triffid and I made tortilla soup today and it turned out pretty good. Here it is:

2 cobs raw yellow corn
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
2 minced cloves garlic
1/8 tsp each cumin, chipotle, cayenne chili powder

8 cups chicken stock

juice of 2 limes

1 roasted red pepper, chopped
2 cans black beans
1/3 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

5 chicken thighs

1/4 head cabbage, shredded

1 avocado

tortilla chips

sour cream

Cut up the corn, onion, chiles and garlic, then sautee them together with the cumin and chile powders in butter until the onion is translucent and the garlic has lost its bite.

Add the chicken stock and lime juice and bring to a boil.

While the soup is coming to a boil, roast the red pepper either on a burner or under the broiler. Also, brown the chicken thighs and cube the browned meat. When the soup is boiling, add the beans, chicken, pepper, and cilantro, and boil the soup until chicken is done, 5-10 minutes.

Top with cilantro, tortilla chips, avocado, shredded cabbage, and sour cream.

Chia, I bet you know a better recipe. Can you top this one? Also, I need to learn to take better food photos...

Scootie is repaired

The Baron is resurrected! After not running all winter and spring, we finally have the scooter up and going again. It's for sale on CL now. Here is a picture of it in all its soon-to-be-not-ours-anymore glory.

ready to go! almost.

All our stuff is in boxes in the back room waiting for a trailer to take it to Portland. We cleaned our room today and got a LOT of dirt out. Plane tickets bought, motorcycle sold, office keys turned in. Everything is ready to go... except, we have to go camping one last time. So, next week we're off to Nevada for the stars for a few nights.

Kitty's not excited. She knows something's up because we are constantly rearranging the room. Her water dish keeps moving around! She's suspicious.

We tried a sedative on her the other day to see if it would work on the plane. Poor cat, it only kicked in after about 5 hours, and then the rest of the day she couldn't walk straight. She DEFINITELY couldn't jump. It was funny and sad to see her try to get up on the furniture like she usually does, and fail terribly.