Out with the …

When we (separately) moved for a couple years of living overseas many years ago, we each took everything we ‘needed’ in two not-to-exceed-70-lbs pieces of check-in luggage and one carry-on.  My three pieces of luggage were my backpacking pack, another travel pack and not surprisingly, a small backpack.

the red strings were to tell our group's bags apart

How is it that twelve years later, our material lives manage to fill up so many more pieces and weigh so much more?  I mean, how much stuff do three people and a dog really ‘need.’

closetful

So, some stuff purging was in order,

including one of the red-tagged bags

a ritual that made for a much lighter start to a new year.

thanks, famille B

But with the changes and a move from the west coast to the east coast that comes with this new year, there are some old ‘ordinary’ rituals I will miss.  Or really they’re more like the ‘ordinary’ things I have come to love and take for granted about living here (aside from the weather).

Like all the places to explore.

new year's first walk at hidden falls regional park

And that — for someone whose family is so widely dispersed — I’ve been lucky enough to live close enough to a few family members.

outside the Folsom Sanctuary

Or  the easy opportunities to visit with friends either away from their homes

a dim sum place on Stockton Blvd

or at one of their homes.

a bouillabaisse and tarte tatin kind of evening

Or the camaraderie of sharing in someone else’s — now also my  — holiday ritual.

part of our lefsa stack at M's this year

Or the simple fun in introducing a two-year old to old past-times in familiar surroundings.

e's first movie in a theatre ever-'cloudy with a chance of meatballs'; at the second run cheapie theatre

And so much more….

But moving will also bring new experiences, different perspectives, new growth, and different people and places to get to know.

Hidden Falls trail at the end of the day

And so I resolve to keep ties to people and places that matter to me, while enjoying the changes.  And hopefully, while being  less encumbered by baggage –  literally.

Sayote Nostalgia

sayote fruit with coffee cup for scale

This week was our turn to purchase the groceries for our two year old’s daycare.  The daycare is a parent’s cooperative which means — partly — that parents can earn ‘parent hours’ by doing certain chores.  Buying groceries for about 20 active 2 to 5 year olds was not too much of a hassle, although it did mean we had less fridge space over the weekend.   Their meals are meat-free but not dairy free, so we had several jugs of milk and yogurt and cottage cheese containers taking up fridge space.  We also did a run to the farmer’s market and came back with more bags of fruits than we normally would have.

While at the market, we came across sayote (or chayote, as they are sold in stores here) .  These pear-shaped light green fruit from the sayote vine are commonly sold at Asian and Mexican markets here.  I never buy them.  What drew me to these particular ones were their size.   They were small compared to the large spiny ones sold at the stores.  So I bought a few — three, actually, for 60 cents.

one of my mom's many sayote vines

To be frank I was never that fond of sayote.  As a child, I could always tell when we were running low on produce and that a market run had yet to be done when this vegetable/fruit made its appearance in a meal. Sayote grew year round on my parents’ property, so there was a constant supply. The fruit and the new shoots are edible.  But as a child, I put the sayote fruit in the same flavor bin as cauliflower — innocuous and rather dull, contributing some texture but very little flavor.  I know — not a fair assessment — for either the cauliflower or the sayote.

When sauteed, the sayote fruit has a crunchy texture.  When it is still young and small, the crunch has a crisp mild sweet taste.

With two of the small sayotes I purchased, I made a quick saute my mom used to make.  It turned out well, and our two year old enjoyed it, along with some leftover kale brown rice, for lunch.

sayote guisado and kale brown rice

Clearly this was a food nostalgia moment for me.  But a part of me also wanted our daughter to be familiar with another fruit commonly found in some Filipino cuisine.  I cook Filipino dishes every so often, but it is just one of many ‘cuisine types’ we cook and eat here.  We also regularly go out to eat at different ‘types’ of restaurants.  No one in our household is a picky eater, so our food repertoire is varied, usually driven by what seasonal produce we find in our CSA box, what we find at the stores, and what we feel like having.

Nonetheless, I find myself making more of an effort to ensure that she is familiar with certain flavors, dishes and ingredients one finds in Filipino food.  I rationalize that — at least, she is exposed to them and they will not be foreign to her when she encounters them during our future trips to the Philippines.  I guess I also hope by extension that she will not feel so far removed or so foreign from her Filipino heritage either.  Or that by exposing her now to parts of her identity, including the birth/adoptive/cultural aspects, she will eventually achieve some level of comfort when she navigates through those aspects of her identity.

I know — these are weighty outcomes to expect based on such superficial efforts. I mean, what does it really matter if she’s familiar with Filipino dishes, or that I use palm vinegar for adobo or that she’s had patis (fish sauce) and bagoong (shrimp paste) or gets to have rambutan, lansones, or sayote when I find them here?

It is obviously not well thought out on my part.  I also know that, especially as she gets older and more independent, she can choose what she likes and doesn’t like, in food or anything else.   Clearly I need to continue to think this through.  But, just maybe, at least at this point — maybe exposure and offering options is a good starting place.

…oh and that third and last sayote —  it will play a starring role in sayote chilaqueles I plan to make later this week.

Florida Detour

A series of November thanks

…for a Florida trip with family to see family, and…

~for the many landscapes too large for my field of vision to take in ~ like swamps, mangroves, shorebirds and mudflats, beaches, and bays

San Carlos Bay-Bunche Beach Preserve, Fort Myers

and  those small enough to be easily missed ~ like glimpses caught from a foot bridge

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel

~for a little irony~like wood storks, endangered because of habitat loss from development, feeding at a ‘lake’ at one of these developments

at a country club development

~for the awe-inspiring energy of theme parks

the big mouse, Magic Kingdom, DW, Orlando

and the welcomed subdued feel of nearby state parks

Wekiwa Springs State Park

~for ‘new’ common plants to know ~ like the beautifully colorful and apparently very common sea grape

Indigo Trail, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel

and ‘new’ common birds to see ~ like the beautifully colorful and apparently very common tricolored heron

Indigo Trail, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel

~for the many shells shared at the beach

Sanibel

and just the one shell shared at sunset

Sanibel

~ but especially for very generous family;  and for 2 and 8 year olds that travel well;

Wekiwa Springs State Park

and for being back home;

home for now

and for changes…

Our long west coast despedida

Lately, we seem to be operating under personal mental ‘bucket lists’ of must-do things as we prepare to move away from the place that has been home for many years.

Some things are obvious — like spending time with nearby friends and family.  Other items on the list are pretty indulgent — like accumulating a stash of wines from the small local wineries around here that are not likely to have their stuff in stores outside this area.  A few are just a little more grounded — like making sure to take advantage of my herb garden right outside my kitchen…I’m pretty sure I’ll have a kitchen at our next place, but I doubt we’ll have a garden.  But, all have some level of self-indulgence….but maybe it wouldn’t be a personal bucket list if it weren’t.

Many things on the list seem to involve trips to visit places we have always wanted to go to or to revisit places we have come to love.  They are places we would have gone to anyway, but with an impending move in the works, the trips take on an air of nostalgia and urgency.

Here’s the first in a series of those ‘places’ photos, my attempts at capturing pieces of what my husband is calling ‘our long west coast despedida’.  It seems futile sometimes, these attempts to take worthy photos of places captured much more eloquently by others.  But photos, worthy or not, are my jump starters for memories that can’t be trusted to remain true with time.  They are my placeholders, reminding me of these places until we can come back to them again.  I did say there was that element of nostalgia, right?

Here is this week’s trip.  The eastern side of the Sierra can be challenging to get to at this time of year as most passes to get there from this side of the mountains are closed for the winter.  But, what an awesome reward for those who can make it over to the starkly beautiful area that is Mono County.

Mono Lake ~ is an alkaline and saline lake supporting a unique ecosystem.  Diversions starting in the 1940s by the LA Dept of Water and Power resulted in a 45 foot vertical drop in lake level.  If you have seen the movie Chinatown, Mono Lake was heading to the same fate as Owens Lake.  The battle to save Mono Lake is famous for invoking the public trust doctrine.  These photos were mostly taken at the south tufa formations, towers of calcium carbonate deposits.

a small portion of Mono Lake

getting close to sunset

foam from wind, waves, and alkalinity

Bodie State Historic Park~ is a very cool gold-mining ghost town kept in a state of ‘arrested decay’. We found other types of gems.  With an elevation of 8375 feet, it logs some of the coldest temperatures in winter.  Fortunately, it was relatively mild when we were there.

peering into one structure while another is reflected on the window

formerly part of a tub of 'family lard'

e and w on main street

Around Walker and Parker Lakes, June Lake Loop area

e, e and w

Until next time, east side of the Sierra.

A cupcake-worthy kind of day

pomegranate cupcake and pomegranate juice

Some days are pomegranate cupcake-worthy…

• not just because you had to have a physical for your parent’s job
• or that you had already had an immunization shot on your thigh and sprays shot up your nostrils just before they had to try to find your vein
• or that you looked at the seemingly friendly lab technician whose last name was the same as yours with confused tear-filled eyes when his needle found your vein
• or that you just whimpered while four vials were filled
• or that you slept quietly on the way home instead of the usual jibber-jabber and songs
• or that you gamely ate the potato-poblano-kale soup for lunch

Some days are just pomegranate cupcake-worthy.  Because of all of the above.  And because you’re two.  And you love pomegranates.