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Monthly Archives: August 2009

daisy in the kitchen

Daisy, my 89-year-old grandma from Braselton, Georgia, knows how to turn out a good baked good. My friends sure love her recipes I’ve made, and a few have contacted me recently for the how-to. Here are a few of her classics:

Grandma Daisy’s Buttermilk Biscuits (the best in the world)

A “grandma’s house” tradition, these flaky golden biscuits are perfect topped with butter and honey. She’d often have honey fresh from a local farmer.

  • 1 c whole wheat flour
  • 1 c white flour, sifted
  • 2.5 t baking powder
  • 3/4 t salt
  • 1/4 t baking soda
  • 1 c buttermilk
  • 1/2 c Crisco (I sub this unhealthy ingredient with butter or unhydrogenated shortening you can find @ health food stores)
Mix ingredients and turn out on a lightly floured board. Roll or flatten, then use cookie cutters (I love my hand-shaped cutter) or get creative by molding the dough into something special (I usually make a dinosaur with each batch). Bake @ 425° for 10–12 minutes.

Grandma Daisy’s Zucchini Bread

While most folks have banana bread, it was always zucchinis that made it to Daisy’s oven—probably because lots of locals grow squash around Braselton. We always toasted any leftovers, and added butter of course.

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 c flour
  • 2 c grated zucchini
  • 1 c cooking oil
  • 2 c sugar (I often put way less than this)
  • 3 t vanilla
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 3 t cinnamon
  • 1/4 t baking powder
  • optional 1 c raisins
  • optional 1/2 c chopped walnuts

Lightly beat eggs in bowl, then stir in oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl, then stir into egg mixture until well blended. Add raisins and nuts. Bake in greased bread pans @ 375° for 1–1.25 hours.

this cover marks a decade

Tahoe Quarterly is celebrating a decade of publication, and I’ve been a contributor for 4 of those years. Ah, the joy I get when I finally see all that hard work in gloss. This issue, I compiled a timeline feature covering the past 10 years in Tahoe—talk about hours and hours of research! The final result is a beaut, and a great memory igniter… did you know that Tahoe had its own airline in 1999?

Also see my picks from a decade of TQ Market, my Arts department profile on 17 “Tahoe Masters” and our editors’ list of where to get the best gardening advice, which was super informative to compile and has inspired me to volunteer with the Thunderbird Lodge master gardeners.

So my first Reno Aces game last Thursday was uh-mazing. Why? One word: Archie. Sure, the new ballpark was great and the game was exciting—especially when the Aces rallied to score 4 in the fourth inning—but the amorphous mascot took the cake.

Maybe I am just a sucker for furry animal-like creatures, but I loved  him, despite the fact that A) I have no idea what sort of creature he is B) his girations and oversized tongue weirded me out. Anywho, here’s a detailed account of the craziness that ensued:

It all began when I saw his first major dance sequence above the home team dugout. He had moves, bumping his belly around to the music, shakin’ his red fur and playing air guitar with his roll-out tongue. We asked a security guard about Archie’s species, “What is it exactly?” His reply: “No one knows.”

archie in full swing

We then ran into Archie up by the Refreshments and stopped for a few photo ops. As you can see, we bonded right away—we even have the same smile and gestures!

luxurious fur, check. squeezable tush, check.fraternal twins

If I wasn’t already smitten, the deal was sealed when the sixth inning rolled around and Archie plopped down in a seat in front of us. A chatterbox, the red guy just kept bringing the hits, one after another in his high-pitched raspy voice.

excuse me, I can't see past your big furry head

But it didn’t stop there. Oh no. Another mascot, a UNR Wolfpack member, jumped into the mix.

my new neighbor

And this guy was serious about one thing: cutting Archie’s hair (don’t ask why). Comb and scissors in hand, the silent wolf began his style session and things got out of control practically on top of my lap. When the scissors fell, I grabbed the opportunity to conjure up my own inner stylist.

chop chop

But when the next booty-shaking song came on, Archie was gone again, out of our section and up on his dugout stage. And though the Aces didn’t pull through for the win, I think you’ll agree it was an epic night.

roses are red, violets are blue, i loved wanderlust, now you can too

While you are all jazzed up on the Wanderlust Festival after reading my post-mortem in Moonshine Ink (full story here), take that enthusiasm and secure some tickets for next year. The festival just launched a contest for their return in 2010. The winner receives two music + yoga tickets. Here are the details:

Compose an ode to Wanderlust, in any media, and send it to us here.  This could be a photo essay, a poem, a video, a sculpture or an interpretative underwater dance — it’s really up to you.  Our panel of multimedia art experts will pick the winner and notify them by email by September 15.  Your entry must be received by midnight (EST) on September 7 to be considered. Good luck!

my sugar glider + friends

Just arrived home from the first-ever Brickelltown Crafternoon… it was as amazing as expected! But I won’t spill all the details just yet. Look for a play-by-play of the action and more on Crafternoons in my next Moonshine Ink arts column, out mid-September.

For now enjoy my sugar glider creation, pictured above with a few other carved stamp friends. I can’t wait to explore this art form more!

pistol stencils, which created the background's artwork

It was a busy month for my keyboard. Moonshine Ink‘s August edition brings much from yours truly, including my photography in the photo annual (p26), short write-ups on Art’s Coffeehouse and Fiamma Cucina Rustica (p42), and articles on Tahoe Quarterly‘s 10th anniversary (p17) and the Wanderlust Festival (p56).

But best of all, I kept my promise from June. And so it is that my latest art column (p67) details the talented Kat Hutter. It was a joy to meet with the artist a few weeks ago at her home studio, and it’s even more exciting to bring her work into the eyes of Moonshine readers this month. Kat’s got loads of talent, so be sure to keep up with her.

As a matter of fact, just as my article was hitting the press, Kat contacted me with some good news: She’s having a solo show at Reno’s McKinley Arts & Culture Center April 5–14. yay! I’ll be there.

Here’s a parting shot of her studio. (I liked it so much, it’s currently my desktop wallpaper.) Check out the article—along with all the others—on newsstands now, and online soon. Be sure to throw me some comments online!

kat's pallete

only 8 hours old

Today, we celebrate the birth of a baby girl! My good friends Zan and Trevor had a cute little 8-pound, 6-ounce bundle at 1:20 a.m. I visited the new family this morning and took a few shots of beautiful baby Makenna.

Makenna also meant a new project for me: a crocheted granny square blanket. Hanni and I cranked out some squares (she did the brunt of that cranking) and then I sewed the whole shebang together. Success! Next up, I’d like to attempt the color block blanket detailed in The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller.

ps. Makenna is wearing a handmade beanie by the talented Tahoe crocheter Jenna Minnes, whose idea it was to make the aforementioned blanket but never got around to hooking a stitch.

20 squares become one for baby

yep, i made her

Seriously people. Someone snuck into my room at night, snatched my dreams and then wrapped them up in this cute little Crafternoon package. I am so excited I want to run outside with my spray paint and go crazy… but that would just be silly, and wasteful.

I’ve always wanted to take a printmaking class with Sierra Nevada College’s Mary Kenny. Now, I can at Brickelltown’s first Crafternoon session. I’ve already RSVPed. You should too!

Please note the time is incorrect on the flyer. Class is from 4:30 to 7pm, same date.

(now all I need is a pet…)

yes!

green is the new view

So I’ve been meaning to stencil the backside of our planters all summer long, but just got around to it today. I always cringe when imagining our neighbors looking at that plain wood (while such a good view greets us daily).

I went with a jade/manzanita inspired design to match the foliage under our deck. My first “test” design (pictured above) came out pretty well, but I’ll perfect it a bit before moving on to the larger planters.

Though I’m happy to tick this off my craft to-do list, I am running out of wood to stencil. Wonder what our landlord would think of some wall art?

Yep, I’m another year older. Just so you don’t miss out on the fun that was my birthday, here’s a quick recap of the weekend.

Friday morning: I wake up to the best wrapped present ever, from Chris.

dying to know what's inside? though i guessed a kitten, it was not

Then, it was on to kayaking and paddleboarding off Sugar Pine Point.

the water is so blue!

chris is the tiny speck in the middle left of the photo

Saturday was River Prom, an annual Truckee River float in formal attire. EPIC

this ain't seaworld... it's as real as it gets!

Saturday night we camped at Lover’s Leap, then climbed the next day. Here I am on Pop Bottle, clinging for dear life. SO HAPPY to say that I totally enjoyed the experience in the end. (For those of you who don’t know: rock climbing was formerly my nemesis, taking me out for a summer after breaking my ankle on this very same route.)

somebody help me!

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