The New WaMu

I'm feeling a little bit nostalgic watching WaMu become JP Morgan Chase. I guess probably because I spent seven years of my professional working career for them in product management and deposit strategy, as well as managing branches. I moved to Seattle for employment with WaMu and joined a company firmly grounded in four states, and just ramping up for mergers in three more. I joined the ranks of 9,000 employees. At the time I left the company, I was able to watch it grow to 65,000+ employees conducting retail banking in 14 states and mortgage banking in 32 or so states. Watching it fail, and be taken over by the FDIC and sold has been very interesting. I feel very fortune I offloaded my stock options and common stock in the company back in 2004 when I left financial services, and moved over to health care services. Every time I drive by a branch here in WA state and see the signage changes over to Chase, I always make a brief mention. Too bad the company failed due to poor choices and bad decision making, as well as a very interesting economic melt down. It's interesting to see part of your past be wiped off the face of the planet.


No more "Pixie The Pig," that used to be sold at WaMu Ocassio Financial Centers in four different colors. It's now just a vanilla looking white piggy with a internationally recognized logo. At least the company has that going for it now.

Chihuly Paintings

At my employer, I really feel fortunate that these two world class medical centers are making a concentrated effort to showcase beautiful art throughout the halls and public spaces. Art can be extremely soothing, and can help lessen the level of stress, when most people in a hospital environment are high stressed or have high emotions due to a loved one undergoing something health crisis related.

This is a recent procurement and unveiling of Dale Chihuly. He donated five panels that are hanging above a grand circular staircase up at UW Medical Center. The colors in this are amazing, and it's a nice contrast to the overly clinical white walls often associated with hospital space.

Yum!

...not sure I can say more than that. This is what I woke up to after my Sunday nap, chocolate cupcakes with orange flavored buttercream frosting. It's like a sugar miracle, thanks honey!

It's Tori Time Again!

I'm counting down the days until the new Tori Amos CD releases on May 19th. I really like the single that has been playing on the radio "Welcome to England." She's also on tour again later this fall and winter. I'll have to decide if this proves as good as all her last albums, and maybe purchase tickets to see her again. Every last album of hers, I play over and over again. Probably to Holly's dismay. We own almost every CD she's recorded, with the exception of all the concert specific live track recordings and so forth. I'm sure this new CD will be just as good as her past dozen or so.

Summertime Citrus Tart

I was in the mood to make a home made key lime tart this past weekend for Mother's Day. Normally this would have been made with lime curd, but I couldn't find it, and did not want to make the curd from scratch. Instead I used good pre-made meyer lemon curd and lime zest and it came out perfectly. I made the crust out of crushed gingersnaps instead of graham crackers. The filling is lemon curd, cream cheese, granulated sugar, fresh lime zest and fresh lime juice. Yum!


I whipped some cream until stiff and piped it with one of my star tips onto the tart. I flavored the whipped cream with coconut extract instead of vanilla extract. I decided to take a half way point picture, mainly because my hand needed a break from all the piping.


The finished product with some lime wedge garnish. I'll be making this again. I love lemon or lime flavored desserts. This made a nice summertime dessert for Holly and I to enjoy on Mother's Day. We have leftovers. Who wants some?

Honoring Our Mother's

I had an extremely neat opportunity to honor my mother and the women of this world yesterday in sacrament meeting at church. Mother's Day is always hard, as is Mom's Birthday. It was nice to be able to gather my thoughts on the amazing influence women leave in our lives, and pay public tribute to Mom yesterday. I hope everyone loves their Mom as much as I love my Mom.



Miss Me – But Let Me Go
Author Unknown

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little – but not too long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me – but let me go.

For this is a journey that we all must take
And each must go alone.
It's all a part of the Master's plan,
A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss Me – But Let me Go!



Happy Mother's Day Mom! We love and miss you terribly! Not a day goes by that I don't see something that reminds me of you, or think of a wonderful memory we shared. I spend more and more time in the kitchen as I get older, feeling closer to you, cooking all your recipes and sharing amazing food with my friends. Thank you for sharing all your amazing talents with your children.

Drenched

For those of you not it Seattle, let me begin this post by explaining to you the weather we are having. Last night we had around 45mph winds and torrential downpours. I would like to say the winds were at higher speeds as I listened to them and the pelting rain from 3am on...which is where this story begins.

It's 3am, I've been woken by the rain and can't get back to sleep. Not only because of the drum roll on the window, but because of the motor boat on choppy water sleeping next to me. 6am comes awfully early, I'm grouchy because I had to get up a half hour earlier than normal so I could drive Dan to the Medical Center for a meeting.

We make it there in plenty of time, my task is to drive down to Dan's office, park the car, take the trolley, take the bus walk to work. Not ideal, but doable. I get to Dan's office, I realize I have his keys which means he can't get into the car and pick me up at the end of the day. I'm already cranky so I decide not to check in at the front desk with the freak security guy and just sneak up to Dan's floor and drop off the keys. I forgot that you need a key card but luckily some nice, and probably should be reprimanded, guy asks me what floor and uses his key card to let me in. Sweet!

I go up drop off the keys and head out for the trolley. Lucky again it is no longer a downpour outside, just light rain. I figure it's just a block to the trolley so I don't need to use my umbrella. As I approach the trolley stop I see that it is already parked and waiting, I also see the only bus that rides along that street pull up behind it and let the passengers off. I curse under my breath, but to my delight the trolley stays put so I jog a little to get there before it darts off, only to find that the doors are closed and won't open when I press the button to get in. The trolley driver then tells me that she's been sitting there for 2 hours because the tracks are blocked and she won't be moving anytime soon. The next bus is in 45 minutes.

So, I decide to walk, in not so good shoes and in weather that is raining just enough to need an umbrella, but so windy that it would do you no good. It is not a short walk. So I sit here typing soaking wet, with frizzy hair and annoyed.

Well, maybe I feel a little better now that I've let it all out.

Boehms Chocolates

This past weekend, Holly and I were out running errands over on the east side in Bellevue and Issaquah. We decided that we wanted to pop up and see the historical Boehms candy shop and chalet. When one sees a Bavarian village replica, you might think, "How cheesy is this place going to be?" Regardless of the cheese factor, you can't turn down a good piece of homemade candy! Particularly, since we both have recently started making homemade candy.


Our gut instinct was right, the inside of this chalet was cheesy, and the teenage girl sales associates were in period clothing, but they did have a vast array of chocolate candy offerings. This place is pretty historical apparently, and learning/reading the history was a fun aspect to the actual purchasing of candy. My favorite piece of candy was the "Matterhorn." It was a fudge ganache center, dipped in a pale green tinted white chocolate. It has a pointed tip to simulate the top of a mountain. You could tell that some of these candies were produced by a machine. But you could also tell which ones were hand dipped, and which ones seemed to be past down from each generation. I liked reading the history of how the Matterhorn candy came into existence. All and all, it was a fun distraction from our day of errand running. If you are heading east on I-90, take the front street exit in Issaquah and follow the signs.

Homemade Chocolate Orange Gelato

Holly and I were in the mood this past weekend to get the ice cream maker out, and try some new recipes. We both were in the mood for chocolate gelato. I looked up some recipes in Bon Appétit, Cooks Illustrated and Gourmet. I also looked at a basic Ben & Jerry’s recipe. I decided to sort of meld these all together and get this recipe exactly to where Instead of just plain chocolate, I wanted to enhance the basic flavor a bit with a hint of orange. The end result was amazing! We will be making this new recipe I came up with, over and over all summer long.

Dan's Chocolate Orange Gelato

1 & ½ C whole milk
1 & ½ C heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
¾ C sugar
12oz best quality bitter or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 TBS best quality pure orange extract, do not use imitation
Candied orange zest – optional

In a double boiler slowly melt 8oz of chopped chocolate over simmer water bath. When melted, cool to room temperature. In a large saucepan heat milk, cream and ½ C of sugar, until sugar is fully dissolved. Gently heat this mixture to 120 degrees if you have an instant read thermometer, about five minutes. Do not boil. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl beat the four egg yolks with the remaining ¼ C of sugar and orange extract. Beat until yolks are pale yellow and sugar is thoroughly incorporated. Mix cooled chocolate into egg mixture. Whisk thoroughly. Add milk/cream mixture ½ C at a time into egg/chocolate mixture, stirring well after each addition. If you incorporate the milk all at once, it will not mix together properly. After milk/cream mixture has been incorporated into the egg/chocolate mixture, place entire mixture back into saucepan and simmer gently to 180 degrees. This step is about six more minutes. Gently simmer until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and refrigerate until completely cool. Once completely cooled, transfer to your ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s directions. Once ice cream is almost solid, mix in the remaining 4oz of chopped chocolate and orange zest, if desired. Once set, transfer to freezer proof container and freeze until solid.

Summer 1980 Flashback

One yard of bargain priced fabric, made for four swim suits which equated to months of summer fun! Look at how cute we all are in our "matchy-matchy" shamrock swim suits and speedo. How come as adult siblings we rarely wear matching attire? Maybe next time we fly to visit my family, I'll try to convince Rebecca, Melanie and Gretchen to all go shopping together and we'll pick up new matching suits to enjoy. Doubt it!

Emergency Preparation

Holly and I, have been making a concentrated effort to really beef up our emergency preparation supplies. Over the past 18 months, we have been putting together a comprehensive emergency kit, a 1+ year food storage system, and other associated supplies in the event of a major natural disaster, widespread pandemic, or just because it really is good, sound common sense to have this in your home to fall back on. Disasters and pandemics aside, given the state of the economy and people being laid off left and right, food storage is a saving grace if their is no continual income. I purchased a few things today to try and finish off a portion of our kits.

1) Portable potty lid [we need to purchase another 5/6 gallon Home Depot bucket]
2) Disposable portable potty bags
3) Portable potty chemicals
4) A dozen or so 115-hour liquid candles
5) A solar powered / battery / hand crank, radio which easily converts
6) Gas shutoff wrench & water shutoff wrench
7) Portable water tables and water purification system

I know no one is truly ever prepared for a natural disaster. I'm always surprised how many people don't take this type of preparation seriously. If you really think about it, it's not a church's responsibility or a community's responsibility or the governments responsibility to take care of you in a disaster, or even your extended family's responsibility. Though, I'm sure all three organizations and your family will step up to the plate to help out if it's super extreme. Adding a little bit to your preparation, food and monetary supply, month by month can quickly add up. Same process for building a substantial nest egg to fall back on at some point in your life. As far as I'm concerned, its all about systematic spending and saving that is well below your take home pay, and choosing to live conservatively when it comes to fiscal spending. I think at this point I just need to get a few army issued thin style wool blankets, and a gun to keep all the unprepared people in the community away from our home during a disaster. I'm sure I can barter in a disaster with them all. $100.00 for a can of tuna fish or a bottle of water. Kidding of course! :)

Roasted Chicken & Bulgar Salad

I got a recipe from Kelly, who got a recipe from Cooking Light magazine and we’ve been cooking this recipe for dinners and lunches ever since. I’ve made adjustments to this recipe to get it to our liking. We took this to game night last Friday with friends and I was asked to share. The recipe makes a huge batch, be sure to half the recipe unless you are feeding eight or more people.

41/2 c. water
3 c. uncooked medium bulgur
3/4 c. fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons) divided
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
4 grilled, boneless / skinless chicken breasts
2 c. halved grape tomatoes or roasted tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes or mixture
1 cucumber seeded and diced
1 bell pepper, red preferably, seeded and diced
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil
1 small finely chopped red onion
1 to 1+1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c. best quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine water, bulgur, 1/2 cup juice, and 1 tsp. salt in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Uncover and cool to room temperature.

Combine remaining 1/4 c. juice, remaining 1 tsp. salt and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss to combine. Add cooled bulgur mixture; toss well to combine. Cover and chill.

Since You Asked

Many of you have inquired about how to make the embroidered flowers I posted about a few months ago. I finally remembered to scan the instructions, so here they are.



You should be able to click on this image and it will enlarge for you to print out.




The only thing I did different was making about 10 french knots in the center first instead of the small loop they do, then did the loops around it. After split stitching the stem, I also added 3 french knots at the end for the leaves instead of a small loop. However, I've done them both ways and either option with knots or loops looks great.

Have fun!

A Twist On Traditional BBQ

I always enjoy good BBQ. I was in the mood to make pulled pork this past weekend, with my homemade sugar free, and corn syrup free BBQ sauce. I purchased a 2.5# pork shoulder and smothered it in sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and my own fennel and orange rind salt rub. I worked this in, and let it sit for a while. Then slow cooked it all day with some Worcestershire basting sauce.


I also pulled the sourdough starter out of the fridge and made a yummy batch of homemade sourdough buns to eat the BBQ on. As my starter gets older, the tang of the flavor gets better with time. From my perspective, nothing beats homemade rolls, no matter what kind they are.


My BBQ sauce recipe has all sorts of things in it from Dijon mustard, to tomato paste, cinder vinegar, lots of onions and garlic, and cayenne pepper. I sweeten it up with a combination of honey and molasses. This way I'm keeping the unnecessary refined sugar and syrups out of my system. Holly and I also like our BBQ with good sharp cheddar cheese on it. We like the Kerrygold Dubliner Irish cheese best. It is sharp cheddar with a light sweetening of honey.


We rounded off the meal with a big tossed green salad. I also marinated some heirloom tomatoes and made a potato salad. Instead of a traditional mayonnaise based salad, I like to roast a whole head of garlic. I then squeeze out the caramelized bulbs and whisk that up with best quality olive oil, some good white wine, and lots of fresh herbs. Yesterday I decided to use fresh parsley, dill and basil. Lots of sea salt as well. We had an amazing meal, and were able to enjoy the company of good friends as well while we ate. I hope Patrick was able to get his fill of "yummy pig" yesterday.

Life Perspective

Do you ever have those moments in your life, moments that define you, and moments that really make you appreciate how well your life is going, and how easy you have it, and how blessed you are? I had a really interesting experience yesterday at work. As a professional marketer my job is to schmooze the world, sponsor everything for the right price, and promote the sale of products morning, noon and night. A bunch of folks from my office attended the 100th birthday celebration of Childhaven as we sponsored a table for them.

Childhaven is a resource in the Seattle city area for mothers who are victims of domestic abuse, and children who are victims of neglect and massive abuse in the home. One of the key note speakers was a very courageous young woman who at 19 has beaten the odds for falling into the same trap as prior generations in her family. This young woman was verbally, physically and sexually abused by her mothers numerous boyfriends starting at age three. Three! And her mother would often leave them for weeks on end to fend for themselves in deplorable living conditions while she was out selling and soliciting drugs. This girl had to take care of her younger brother and sister and often times resorted to shoplifting food just to survive. The girl and the family were on a fast track to total and complete life destruction. A few years ago the sister of one of the mothers current boyfriends, decided to be the first adult role model in these kids lives and help them get back on track. This young woman stated that this role model was the first adult who respected her as a young adult, also respected her boundaries and encouraged her to accomplish anything in her life and gave her the nurturing that she needed and the validation to keep going. This volunteer eventually took them under her wings and is nurturing them with her husband as parents. These children have not seen their biological mother for over three years and she was recently found dead from a drug overdose in the region. This young woman was able to cope with her life by volunteers giving of their time at community centers. She learned how to paint and draw from a volunteer in the community, and this was her escape over the past few years. This courageous young woman is now 19, and with the help of her sponsor has obtained a GED in an evening program, has already completed her two year associates degree from Edmonds community college, and is moving on to more schooling this fall to become a sociologist and social worker to help kids get out of the environment that she grew up in.

Listening to her and her story, I had tears streaming down my face. All my colleagues and I had tears, as did most of the 1200+ attendees. I can’t relate at all to what it’s like to be in a home where boundaries are not set, where abuse is allowed to occur, and your mother does nothing about it. I had an amazing childhood and home life and realize that for a lot, that is a rarity. Statistics now show that more than ever, a home needs to be a place of refuge from the world that is turning more and more chaotic as the weeks and years go by.

I have so many things to be thankful for, and I have time in what appears to be a busy schedule, to give to the community and not just my church community. I felt completely energized to quit being so self absorbed and start trying to give more of my time in the community. It doesn’t have to be this non-profit agency, or just my ward. There are many agencies in our communities doing amazing things and they need volunteers as much as they need fiscal resources. Hence my comments on Facebook earlier this week; are we all really doing the world well, by spending so much time online, or by watching TV? Or are we letting volunteer and life lesson teaching opportunities pass us by, because we are too “busy” to even notice that lots of people around us are struggling and need a listening ear, or some sound advice, or to just vent. It’s time to seriously change my priorities.