Foodie + science geek = heaven at the Exploratorium!

This is SOOOOO neat!!

I love cooking, and I love eating, and I luuurrrrvvve science!! vegan cooking (experimenting) is really a science. Learning to replace animal-derived ingredients is not just a flavor thing, let me tell you.

Most people who enjoy cooking will tell you that it is aallllll chemistry. I REALLY liked chemistry in high school, probably because my teacher was a burned-out hippie with big white hair, and a rainbow lab coat. On the first day of class he wrote "ACID" and "BASE" on the white board and asked us to respond with things that we thought of when seeing these two words. Us  10th graders said "Milk," "Litmus test!!" "pH balance!!!" and he responded with, "Hasn't anyone ever heard of dropping acid? Come on!"

Ha!

The next time I thought of chemistry was when I saw it as an option on the GE requirements list. MUCH to my surprise, all of the chem classes were full. (I really thought I was the only Nerdy McGeekPants obsessed with plating pennies...) SO, I took three geology courses (because my other secret passion is rocks...) and learned a WHOLE lot about the state of California. Now road trips are rich with descriptions of the formation of all mountains and fault lines in sight. My favorites/ones I always drive over are San Andreas Fault and Bay Area Fault lines. And of course my OBSESSSION with liquefaction:  What happens when you build land on water?

Geology Rocks. We did sooo many experiments with food! including one with oreos... subducting convergent boundaries, where we would take one cookie off and try to scrape the frosting away to imitate the accretionary wedge. (snarf.)

The point:  I always get there eventually!
At San Francisco's Academy of Science Exploratorium there are exiting events for geeks of all ages! But, for the sake of this post/blog, there is an event coming up called Gastronomy in San Francisco which is literally the science of food! I REAAALLLY want to go! Who wants to join me?

and i'm totally making these oreo sugar cookies when I get home! 

Wow, tangential tendencies!!!

I hope my loud clothing distracts you from my awkwardness!

A few years ago, my mom showed me a 12-year-old's style blog, Tavi Gevinson's style rookie. I was totally baffled and HOOKED. I know I had style at that age, but I don't think I could write the way she did when I was 12. When I was in middle school, I collected all sorts of strange objects that were ties to childhood when I was dreading growing into a young lady.  Quarter machine rings, and OH the rubber rings that came with  Hard Candy nail polish, and Barbie shoes....Barbies. Those were hard to get rid of. We still played with them in secret, but justified our actions to ourselves by saying we were re-styling them, by cutting their long manes into butch pixie cuts, because what did we know about cutting hair!?

My best friend and I were effected by our mothers collective eclectic style. A little old, a little new, a little flea market, a little chic boutique-ing. We both wanted to look different than everyone else, so much that we both chopped out hair into barbie pixies too! (which neither of us will EVER do again... for fear of looking like we'd been attacked by a lawn mower) At least butterfly clips had been invented to soften the blow. My hair was just long enough to put some gel and random sparkly clips in to call macaroni.

Every attempt to make ourselves blend in was really a ploy to stand out. Don't look at my awkwardly almost-grown-up body and unibrow, but look at AAALLLLL the necklaces I have on, and my really huge pants!!!

SO,  the point of all this jabbering:  My mom sent me a video of Tavi! A closet interview!! I was so excited to hear her voice, and I TRULY enjoy how often she discusses "aesthetics".

Tavi Gevinson Closet Interview (vimeo, so I don't think I can imbed. SORRY!!!)


I completely understand what she's saying. I know the feeling of wanting to look interesting to deflect insecurities. that was my life in high school! She says she collected insults and came back fiercer the next day.  The best ones I got were "did you get dressed in the dark," and "so, do you just roll around in a pile of clothing and wear what sticks?" (oh and that lawnmower one? that was from an ex boyfriend. clearly not a match made in heaven).

So I made some Borscht!

"I called over the chef and told him to take it away, and bring it back hot. He did. the looks on their faces still haunt me today." -Rimmer from Red Dwarf on Gazpacho soup
This is a story of cold soup. not Gazpacho, but BORSCHT!

Borscht has come up in conversation from time to time, but I had never considered making it until yesterday. My mom suggested trying the kind that comes in a jar, but I thought that was silly, and I have to make everything..... or at least do it the hard way!

Thanks to the WWW, I found a delightful recipe from the region of Russia in which my family hails: UKRAINE!  From Allrecipes.com i discovered my Borscht. I left out the sausage part and it came out beautifully! Also, I used Tofutti Sour Cream because I'm lactose challenged.

Yes, beets are messy, but the color is sooooo pretty!!! and I'd never prepared a beet from its natural form, and discovered the beauty within. ENJOY!

   the beautiful beet!                                                             

The cold soup with added salt, pepper, and (of course) sour cream to taste!

And don't forget to mix it all around!

My Love for Anthro is Ever-Increasing!

So, Anthropologie is a great store for becoming inspired. Its usually very expensive, but once in a while they have spectacular sales. What I love most is the atmosphere and store design, and that they have a companion website for showcasing artists!

The artist that caught my eye on the companion site was Foster Huntington.  The Anthropologist: Foster Huntington.

I am still unpacking boxes, a month after moving, and finding everything I've kept since probably the 6th grade. I found a junk drawer that went with me my to my first year of college (7 years ago). I pulled out the important things, like keys and sunglasses, and dumped all the knick-knacks, old gum, keychains, and hair product samples in the garbage. All of this feels great to get rid of, but I kept it all because I thought it would be a lovely contribution to a future art project. EVERYTHING is about art projects.  Snort.

First Post!!

Hi everyone!
I have finally started a blog.

Fitting this into my CRAZY schedule is a daunting challenge, but I am constantly posting vegan sweets and new art projects on my Facebook wall, so I thought I needed special place for that! (and my rants about interesting fashion choices!)

I'm going to get to it now... blogging that is... by working on a dollar store plant arrangement project. Pictures and process to come!