Bit of a complex?

I don't even know you sir, but all signs point to you having a tiny _____ (fill in the blank)

Happy Wednesday.

Cactcus Blossoms and Culinary Exploration

Its Spring in Phoenix and our prickly pear is not only about to take over the world, but is also in nearly full bloom.  Last year when I noticed a few, literally the first few flowers on the cactus, I was through the roof.  Check out this bad boy now!  This type of cactus is known to be an aggressive grower, and thankfully it is a hearty beast seeing that it shows no ill effects of the frost this winter. In addition to this glorious bloomer we unfortunately had some noticeably damaged plants/trees in the front and the back yard, but luckily only one out right goner. 

 Making a quick transition from our front yard, into the kitchen, I wanted to give a little run down on some recent culinary adventures. Per expectation, some have turned out well, some not so well, and some have been full on FAILS. I'll start with the complete fail, carrot-cake cupcakes.

I decided to go with a recipe from a trusted TV personality and ended up with a disappointing oily-sugar-gu. I do not know what went wrong, but within the first few minutes of backing the smell of burning sugar should have been my first sign to abort. 

Using my amazing food processor I produced these perfect shreds of carrots, but after all was said and done I ended up with these disgusting oil-sugar-carrot toss-aways. Needless to say I haven't re-attempted carrot cake cupcakes since..

My favorite of the recent attempts is a Roasted Salmon with Soy-Marmalade Glaze (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/salmon-soy-marmalade-glaze-50400000126820/) from cooking light.  I enjoyed the flavor of the glaze but most importanly appreciated the darn near perfect cook time which created a tiny bit of crisp while leaving the salmon steaks cooked to perfection.  I've tried gently poaching salmon but still manage to dry it out a bit.  The roasting/broiling method in the recipe is by far the way to go.  I served it with brown rice and a mix of sauteed sweet peas and asparagus. 

Next up the most adventuresome, Tempeh and Broccolini stir fry.  Tempeh is essentially fermented soybeans smashed into a patty.  Yummy sounding I know, but it seems to be all the soy craze so I wanted to give it a try. The temph I used, from Trader Joes, included soybeans, brown rice and barely, smashed together in mini paver-like formation.  The best way I can explain the texture is to imagine something like pressed, having been moist at some point but no longer, granola.  I know I'm not selling it, but I like its texture when cooked, and like its tofu cousin, it derives most of its flavors, beyond "nutty", from what its cooked with.  (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tempeh-broccolini-stir-fry-50400000119698/).  I was a tablespoon short on the Hoisen so I cut back a little on the other ingredients and added some random asparagus, but overall I really enjoyed the dish.  Jonathan, well, he wasn't the biggest fan, but its something that will likely be repeated in the Hupp household.  Insert semi-maniacal laughter of being the main dinner cook : )

 The last two recipes include Granola Cookie wedges, also from Cooking Light (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/granola-cookie-wedges-50400000126849/), and a second attempt at marmalade.  The cookie recipe is tasty, but not my favorite cookie texture, since it was bordering on a bit too hardy.  The best part about the recipe has to be its dough size and its ease/speed.  Because there are so few ingredients, neither a mixer, nor seperated bowls for ingredients are needed.  Also, thanks to the pie plate cooking, the overall bake time is quick, and requires minimal fuss. I added more chocolate chips than called for, and a secret ingredient, but would guess the original recipe would produce equally tasty results.

Lastly, my marmalade re-do.  Last year, for the very first time, I attempted marmalade. It was made from our grapefruits, could turn even a honey badger's stomach and well, likely could have been used as a warfare projectile it was so stinkin hard.  Needless to say I wrangled it out of about 8 mason jars in order to prepare for this year's attempt.  Instead of a grapefruit focus I went for something a little more traditional, Orange Marmalade (that included Grapefruits and crystallized ginger).  The prep went better, and the cooking went well, but this was my first run with pectin and I might have just missed the mark. The result is mighty sweet, which I, the perpetual sweet-tooth doesn't have too much of an issue with, but unfortunately it never quite thickened/gelled like it should have.  Can it still make a cavity inducing tasty toast spread, sure, will I be quitting my day job... not quiet yet.

PS. Just as a quick update, thankfully Toby is back to full health.  He's returned to his 5:52 AM on the dot daily wake up calls, is fully active in the house and outside, and is sharing his normal sounding kitty meowing perspective as often as possible.  I'm not the biggest fan of the blur in this picture, but proves his back to normal, enjoying life, self.

Sands in an hour glass

No, I did not watch Days of our Lives, but just caught those who know the line!

Its been some time since the last post and I must admit, life has been flying by.  The weekend after the baby shower adventure Jonathan returned to the Garden State for a Rutgers buddy's bachelor party weekend.  Man adventures, included paint balling, a pro hockey game, and unknown debauchery, within reason.  While in Jersey Jonathan sent me a picture of falling snow, to which I chuckled as I shifted my lounge chair to a better shaded section of the yard.  Mid to high 70s in March is this cat's meow.

Only a few days after Jonathan returned home, I headed out to LA for an office move.  I will not bore with too many details, and it was certainly no pleasure cruise, but I managed to sneak in 5 minutes at the beach for the very first time since having supported the office for over two years. I was in Malibu, yes, on a work mission, and having arrived 10 minutes early, booked it to the beach for a quick toe in the pacific before returning to work.  As much as I love California, by the end of the 6th day of nose to the grindstone working, I was quite delighted to return home.

While I was out of town, Toby kept with his tradition of keeping veterinarians happily employed when he 

 managed to come down with a rather serious spontaneous illness.  Sunday night, while chatting with Joanthan, he mentioned that Toby was acting odd, wasn't eating, was lethargic, was hot to the touch and actually panting.  We agreed he was not well and Jonathan rushed him over to the kitty ER. By the time they'd arrived the poor little guy's temperature registered at 105, which for cats that normally range from 100-102, was mighty high.  The doctors knocked him out, set him up with an IV for hydration, and ran x-rays to verify he didn't have any throat or intestinal blockages.  Jonathan had to leave him overnight for additional observation, but thankfully was able to bring him home the next morning.  Toby was still noticeably uncomfortable and had a wicked cough, but despite it all, he was doing much better than the night before. He was still hiding on occasion, but thanks to follow up from our terrific dog walker/cat sitter, we learned that on Tuesday afternoon he was feeling energetic enough to greet her when she came to walk Jackson.

After several days of antibiotics Toby's bronchitis like cough didn't seem to be improving, so I stayed home with him Wed and attempted to get him a last minute vet visit.  Toby's eating habits were still less than normal, and he rarely meowed which is not normal for a cat who can be quite chatty when he wants something.  The vet gave him a shot to help with the inflammation, prescribed him some more meds, noted that his temp was normal, and said despite a cough, he was a mighty healthy young bob-cat, I mean, kitty.  I expected the cough to fade away faster than it was but the vet clarified that these types of illnesses can take quite sometime to kick, usually around 10 days to 2 weeks.

Within the last few days Toby's 4:30 and 6:00 AM serenading wake up visits indicate his health is steadily returning to normal.  As much as I miss the quiet mornings, I'm glad our kitty is back to near perfect health  His cough has noticeably decreased and his resistance to me flinging a pill down his throat has gained considerable strength. Three more days of meds, and soon enough Toby will be back to routine which includes his much missed unsupervised outdoor adventures.

This past weekend Jonathan, Jackson and I took a trip up to Prescott to check out some national forest land, do a little Prescott shopping, and of course enjoy some delicious brews at the Granite Mountain Brewery.  We took an off road adventure route to see the land that ended up much to bumpy for this lady, but I certainly appreciated the fresh mountain air, the greenery. We finished up the weekend Sunday night with some new dinner recipes.  Joanthan worked the grill to smoke some very tasty pork chops while I gave a go at mac and cheese from scratch.  A tasty way to finish up an interesting week.

Pillow case?

A recently purchased zebra print dress arrived today and after trying it on, and deciding it was a keeper I tossed it on the bed. When Jonathan got home I saw him eye the dress so I commented,"that's my new dress, its different, but I like it". He looked back at the dress, then turned to me and said,"oh, thought it was a pillow case". Well, I suppose it was better them him thinking it was a duvet cover!

Action Jackson

All kinds of drama has ensued since the last time I posted, but instead of listing what I'm finding to be the rude and unjust depletion of my good karma, I'll focus on the positive.  One key factor of our most recent weekend adventures has been the purchase of a bike basket for Mr. Jackson.  The purchase was an adventure in and of itself, but after its installation we've all been thoroughly enjoying our new family adventures.

Last weekend we rode to a street festival in the Melrose district on 7th Ave. This trip would make for Jackson's first bike ride, and he did great. Each time we passed people their faces would light up with a smile at our little guy.  Even the police officer who passed us while we were waiting to cross Central smiled at the sight of Mr. Jackson. 

The street fair had a strange corporate section before it transitioned to local vendors, but I suppose it makes sense because street closures and events rarely pay for themselves.  We scoped out the various antique, hot rod, and oddity vehicles, that book ended the street vendors before popping in and out of various booths to examine locally made trinkets and novelties. Jackson did a fantastic job of intermingling with the crowed as well as fellow quadrupeds

 

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Before heading home we stopped for some extra sweet, extra weak margaritas where Jackson not only enjoyed some admiration and attention from some youngsters, but also displayed his apparent love of ice chips.

A week of work, chores and the usual passed, then, thankfully another weekend.

Saturday we attended a baby shower, co-ed, thank goodness.  I have yet to attend any ladies only, "traditional" baby showers, for which I'm grateful. After the shower we headed home for a bit then made our way to a nearby new brewery.  This brewery has been a hair away from opening since, well, almost a year.  The place was packed when we got there, but it turns out the crowd certainly wasn't an indicator of a successful brewery/restaurant. The atmosphere was a little too bright (bad lighting), the food we tried was ok, but the beer, which obviously tends to be the focus of any local micro brewery, was a complete let down.  I tried the Hefeweizen, Jonathan tried the IPA and both were without any redeeming quality. I only drank about half of my beer seeing its consumption as a waste of calories, and we both left shaking our heads in disappointment.  Unlike a terriblly disapointing dinner experience last Friday, which drove me to a snarky Yelp review, we have decided to give the brewery one more chance.  We'll likely give them about a month or so to work out the kinks, before we drop in again for what is hopefully not the last visit.

Sunday I started the day with a new bran muffin recipe.  Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) rarely does me wrong, and her bran muffin recipe was no exception.  The muffins contain orange zest, walnuts and bananas and are supposed to have raisins, but not being a fan of raisins in my baked goods, I choose to omit them. Post Jackson walk we made our way to Ikea, found way more than we planned for, and headed home for the afternoon, or so we thought.  We enjoyed some local produce on the patio, an orange from our neighboor, before Jonathan suggested a bike ride to a nearby park where Jackson can run as much as his little heart desires. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like last weekend we loaded Mr. Jackson into his basket, securely fastened him in, and made our way for the canal. The photos taken do not quite convey Jackson's total cuteness, but are the best I can do on the move. Once at the park Jackson fetched, met new dogs, chased Jonathan on his bike and just plain enjoyed the great outdoors. Against the wind, we made our way home where Jackson was quick to nap on the coach, surely a signe of a worn out but happy little pup.

Suntastic Solar Power!

When we signed our solar panel contract we were told it would be about six months before they could be installed.  Sure enough six months later we had a total of 14 panels secured to our roof, but still had to wait about a week and a half for the panels to be operational. This past Wednesday, only a few days after the power company "ok'd" our set up, the City of Phoenix gave us the thumbs up and initiated our green power generation.

Our panel set up works like so.  The bright and glorious Arizona sun beats down on our panels creating a DC current. I'm not entirely sure how said current is created, but its created, which is good enough for me. The DC current is then transformed in our inverter to an AC current, which provides power to our house.  Our power demands initially consume the power that is created, after which, excess power produced is sent out to the energy grid.  I will not say we are minimalist power consumers, but we certainly make a concerted effort to keep our power use to a very reasonable amount.  Because of our consumption pattern, we will likely be giving back to the grid most of the year, with the exception a few summer months.  For the brave souls who have visited us in the summer or even late spring months, you'll be glad to know that with our green energy production comes a slightly reduced guilt regarding the use of our air conditioner to make our house a bit more pleasant than before.  I have no doubt Jackson and the kitties will also be delighted with this anticipated temperature adjustment.

We can monitor our power creation on a website that shows daily, weekly and total power creation. To the rightt are two days, Saturday which was a lovely warm, sunny day, and last Wednesday, a very gray day that included snowfall. I'm impressed that we still managed a minimal amount of energy production.

For instant gratification we can also sneak a peak at our digital power meter to see if we are consuming or producing power.  When an arrow is pointing to the right it means we are receiving power from the utility company, but when its pointing left it means that power is being received by the utility by our panel's generation. 

Can you imagine if every house in just the state of Arizona required owners to have a few solar panels?  Heck, the state would power the nation!

Longest legs ever...

A proper looking Mr. Jackson enjoying last weekend's warm weather.



Snow in Phoenix?!?!

Sometimes Jonathan and I are mocked by relatives and friends when we report that its cold in Phoenix, but just yesterday it was cold enough to snow! The storm initially woke us up around 2 something Wednesday morning, but was kind enough to pause while Jackson and I enjoyed our morning run/walk.  We turned out to be quite lucky since only moments after walking inside, a wave of rain crashed down on Northview.  Throughout the day the skies would darken and a light rain would, spontaneously become a deluge.  

Around 4:00 that afternoon I started hearing rumors of snow in the valley.  Sure I thought, north valley perhaps, but turned out Central Phoenix was also blanketed with snow!

I didn't see too much snow in person, but here is a picture of my usual route home at about 3:30 PM. (Photo is taken by a co-worker's wife)

By the time I got home, the only snow remaining in our backyard was in one of our planters (don't mind the dead plants they were over taken by an invasive moth), in our poor little Sago Palm, and around the solar panels (more on those in the next post)



                             



                          

If you look near the blue pillar, you can see blue skies nearby 

 

Just in time for sunset we were back to our usual clear blue sky.

Hello gravity!

For the first time today I felt the true strength of gravity. No face plants to the sidewalk nor visits to the scales instead, this afternoon I had a dentist appointment.  After plenty of Novocaine, and a little bit of work it was time for a short break while my temporary's mold set up.  I turned ever so slightly in my chair to rise and was struck by the force pulling at what felt like my walnut stuffed check.  I leaned away, the pull dissipated, and back again, and smiled, albeit lopsidedly, when it felt like the left side of my face was steadily dragging the rest of my face in a southern direction. Who would have thought a visit to the dentist's office would be so entertaining.

Staying on the grid

What have we been up to lately?  Doing a mighty fine job of enjoying our weekends!

Two weekends after Sonoma I wore my very first official NFL jersey, Ravens number 27 (the one and only fellow Rutgers grad, Ray Rice), while I yelled, cheered, and occasionally pouted my way through the Superbowl. Yeah it was pricey, but the cost was well worth the Raven's victory!!

As of late, our lovely desert state has been a bit wet and chilly, so unfortunately our shed progress has been a bit lacking.  This cold weather has also left us crossing our fingers in vein for the well being of our plants which have taken quite a beating during the recent freezes.  A few cactus have bit the bucket and one of our backyard trees is far from looking its finest.

Deciding to break from routine, this past overcast Sunday we took a road trip to check out some land that Jonathan has had his sights on for a little while. We share the idea of eventually having a small place north of the valley where we can escape the valley's heat and enjoy some open land, however this past road trip might have helped sort out some of our differing "expectations" of said properly.

With Jackson buckled in and comfortably settled we started our trip north to Peeples valley. Silly me, upon hearing it for the first time I thought "Peoples", and it wasn't until I took a closer look at my photos that I realized it was quite the Hippie altruism I had been expecting. We passed through Wickenberg managing not to stop for another Tiki, and continued along past Congress before we started switch-backing up the mountainside.  Now I've seen many a documentary that includes the vile nature of  feed lots, but its not often that you see one in person.  The feed lot, seen to the left, is far from the road, but its still quite a sight. I think it looked worse the first time I saw it, under full sun, coming down the mountain last spring, because it doesn't look quite so offensive on the way up.  I'll admit, I find them quite disgusting, and it makes me think for a moment if eating beef is really worth it... but its only a moment because I know I'm a happy little carnivore.

 

 Eventually we made it to Peeples valley and and turned off the paved road to begin a short off road adventure.  It didn't take too long before we crested a few hills past the tiny town to find spacious lots and open land. Yet, despite its rugged beauty, the farther we traveled from the paved road the more I started realizing I just might have more standards for this property than I'd expected.  Not that I got a bad feeling from the area, but it just didn't feel right.  I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted from this eventual retreat of ours, but I knew I likely wasn't going to find it where we were.

Back on the main road we decided to continue on to Prescott for some lunch.  Having recently learned of a new nano-brewery in town we made our way to Granite Mountain Brewing.  I enjoyed a beer cocktail, a Shandy, made with their blond ale and some sort of locally created sweet-lemony reduction/simple syrup, while Jonathan tried their darker brews.  Their small bites menu contained many items and/or accouterments made from either the beer itself, such as a unique mustard for pretzel dipping, or the beer cheese sauce on the nachos, or from the spent grains from the brewing process which were used to make the bread for my sandwich.  Tasty brews and tasty bites had us wishing we could continue to support them more frequently, and may have aided in my quest to keep our eventual land purchase semi near a town with a little life and culture.

Before we headed back to the valley we walked Jackson about, but only for a limited time seeing that the snow falling all around him was making him prance a bit. He couldn't seem to figure out why cold little rocks (corn snow) were falling on and around him, and didn't much care for the chill in the air. As we got closer to Central Phoenix the clouds dissipated, leaving us with a partly cloudy, mostly sunny late afternoon. Not quite the eureka trip Jonathan may have been hoping for, but another good weekend none the less.