way back when, k+m brought us green tea from japan. the fishy neon green kind you get in japanese restaurants. the kind they probably brew in mass quantities. the kind that is usually complimentary when you dine. every time i make it, it doesn’t come out tasting right, it’s either too strong or too bitter. i think i mastered its brew today: use 2 tsp of tea (or just under the “1 tablespoon” mark on a blue MLT scoop) for 12 ounces of water at 185 degrees fahrenheit. steep for 2 mins or even slightly less.

i set the chaff on fire in the roaster today and subsequently had to open the windows and turn the fan on high so it’s pretty frosty in the house right now. i am also frosty. hence the green tea.

m and i have just signed up for a drawing class at the brentwood art center. i’m totally jazzed about it. i love to draw but i suck at it. i’d love to draw cartoon strips or be a digital illustrator but i can’t get away from either drawing 2D or drawing in a grid or drawing exact representations. the quick, abstract, representative sketch just isn’t me. not yet, anyway. perhaps what excites me the most is all of the cool drawing supplies i get to buy for the class.

UPDATE: see our artwork. isn’t it wonderful?

it’s winter in LA, which means it’s the rainy season. this year reminds me of the winter of 2004, my first winter in southern california. my family came to visit for christmas and it rained all week. this year, we are experiencing the same: sometimes there’s a break in the rainfall, but it has been constant for over 36 hours at times, too.

in 2004, i was a dog walker. i walked all sorts of dogs, sometimes more than one at a time, and sometimes it was my 120-pound akita and 80-pound husky pair. carrying an umbrella just wasn’t a practical option. so winter meant donning my gore-tex parka, hiking boots, and nylon pants and slogging around in the rain for 6-8 hours. i stayed warm and dry and had the sidewalks all to myself.

so it’s really no surprise that today, when it’s pouring rain, i didn’t even think twice about going out without an umbrella. driving didn’t even cross my mind, either. my destination was only 3 blocks away. i can walk further than i used to be able to so i ventured out of my warm, dry home to mail some xmas packages sans umbrella. i don’t have the same rain gear that i used to, but it didn’t matter. when i got home, i changed into dry pj pants and my slippers. no harm done.

Using 6 pears, ground ginger, honey, lemon juice and the dehydrate function on our oven, my sweetie just made fruit leather.

all my life, ever since childhood, i’ve put colors in a rainbow or from light to dark or in some kind of order. i color in a pattern, according to some kind of innate schedule. i try to be random, but order exerts itself time and time again. i fight it. i fail. today, i put my colored pencils away with my eyes closed. i felt for the last pencil. i felt for the last slot in the cloth wrapper. lavender, spring green, purple, blue, salmon, red, orange, crimson, black, light blue, sky blue, mint green, yellow-orange, lemon yellow, brown, white, dark green, grey, navy, dark brown, cerulean blue, pink, light green, forest green.

A few days ago, i started writing all my journal exercises in the third person. I feel like someone gave me a new toy. Or i upgraded from a flip phone to an iPhone. Suddenly, what i write seems a lot less like rambling and a bit more like a story…at least *i* think so.

i offered to teach a guy — let’s call him joe — how to bake bread. he has been diligently trying to bake bread using packaged yeast, with disappointing results. my own process has changed over the course of the past year: i’m more casual now with my measurements and my timing as my bread really doesn’t need a strict regimen (i know! i was surprised too!). i’ve “standardized” the process a bit more so i can yield consistent results and it worked. i’m leaving white boules and confidently moving on to partial rye boules (again). my next self-appointed assignment is other flours and/or adding vital gluten to white bread to see how it changes the taste, appearance, and rise.

here’s what joe needs (besides my awesome sourdough starter):

• weight scale – absolute requirement
• canning jar – large (for storing the mother)
• mixing bowl (for mixing – duh!)
• shower cap or pot lid that precisely fits on the bowl (to keep the contents airtight)
• bread flour or flour with higher gluten content
• sea salt (never use iodized)
• flour sifter or mesh strainer (to aerate the flour during initial mix)
• razor blade (for scoring)
• pie pan
• another mixing bowl (serves as lid on pie pan to steam the loaf; this one bakes and will get discolored)
• cooling rack
• extra bonuses: long spoons, instant read thermometer, french scoring blade, parchment paper, electric knife/slicer for cutting even slices

that’s it. no kitchenaid mixer. just hands. and patience. water, flour, salt, elbow grease…you have ruined all other breads for me.