Our Ithacan Adventures

The Rest of October

The rest of October flew by, because of travel, sickness, and holiday. Now it is November, we've already seen snow, the storm windows have been down, and there are no more leaves on the trees.

1. Travel

We made a whirlwind (less than 24 hours) trip to NYC a few weeks back. Cynthia and Elvin are getting married and they had an east coast shower. I met Cynthia as a junior at Cal when she was a freshman. We bonded instantly. I was her Bible study leader for a year, and then we led together for another year. We had a lot of adventures those two years.

John and I dropped Storm off at a kennel for his overnight stay and drove out to the city. It was the most relaxed time I've had in the city that never sleeps. We arrived a little late for the shower, J wandered outside while we did girly things inside. Then all the guys came back, we watched a lot of college football (GO BEARS) and relaxed at Albert and Sophie's (more Cal alums).

Several us decided to walk the 20 some blocks to the restaurant for which we had dinner reservations at 9:30. 9:30?! Seriously late for us Ithacans. We went with it, and it was a lot of fun, and really good food and sangria. We were in bed before 1 and up by 9. Not too shabby!

The next morning after getting our stuff together John and I made a last minute decision to get some brunch at a place uptown that was recommended. We had the great fortune of driving there, finding a parking spot immediately, only a block away, and walking in and being seated immediately in a full restaurant. The food was pretty good too! Our adventure complete, we drove back, eager to see our boy Storm. Not much of a gluttonous, over stimulating trip - but it was really nice to catch up with old friends grown up, working, getting married, having babies! But for those who prefer the former, don't fret, we're going back in a month for a longer visit. (mmmmmmm)

2. Sickness

Poor John got the flu suddenly and violently the following weekend. It wasn't H1N1, but it still knocked him out for a few days. He watched a lot of movies, drank a lot of tea, and ate a lot of soup. Storm kept him company when I couldn't.

3. Halloween

In a second year of tradition, we had dinner and accepted trick or treaters with Dan and Holly. This year, we were dressed up for it. They were very last minute costumes - how many of you have seen me dressed as a mechanic before? We had Dan's famous chicken noodle soup, mac n cheese, too much Halloween candy, and some Wii and wine for entertainment - not to mention a steady stream of costumed youngsters knocking at the door.

What can I say, we love living with these two and are going to miss them... well now isn't the time for that.

Announcement: Our Family is Growing!

(It is kind of fun to mess with your minds. Just a little.)

We are getting a new sister! Andrew proposed to Aimee on Saturday while they went horseback riding/apple picking outside of Beijing. She said yes!

 

For the sake of racial congruity, I am personally pleased that my side of the family will remain half Chinese and half Caucasian for another generation. Plus, we think Aimee is wonderful. So between their wedding, Vi's wedding (my best friend), a Mayberry Hawaiian Christmas, job interviews and decisions, and our big move in June (destination TBD), we're looking at some eventful months!

Canada: Don't drink the water

Contrary to the title, we really do like Canada as a country and appreciate it as a concept. As you'll see, some part of Canada did not sit well with all of us, which is why I (E) titled it so.

As we did last year, this past weekend we headed up to Kingston, Ontario to visit John's Aunt Margit, Uncle Steve, and cousins Hayley, Becky, and Nick for Canadian Thanksgiving. The weather was beautiful, if not brisk. 

The big deal this trip (our third) is that Storm came along! He was a little anxious in his crate in the car, but we took lots of sniff/pee/walk breaks along the way which seemed to allay his fears. We weren't sure how he would do with two new dogs (Tiki-the gentle retriever, and Oscar-the grumpy chihuahua) in a home setting but as soon as we arrived he ran around the yard and tried to play - as per usual. I'm sure the three dogs were quite the scene with their different personalities and ages and sizes.

Oscar kept Storm at bay all weekend with his barks and growls - Tiki tolerated young, jumpy Storm and taught him a thing or two. For example, we went to a school playground and Tiki began digging in the sand for rocks. After a few minutes Storm suddenly began running in circles, digging like a mad-dog for 5-15 second spurts. It was as if he discovered Disneyland! Tiki also has a rock fetish. She goes swimming in the lake....

...and goes diving for rocks. And I mean.. ROCKS. She then selects her most favorite rock and carries it back with her. She likes to chew on them, and has a whole collection in the back yard. The next day, Storm attempted to pick up one of her rocks in the back yard and immediately dropped the heavy thing - unsure of what the big deal was - he pawed and sniffed it and finally walked away, unconvinced.

The big event, of course, was the delicious dinner! Here is Tiki eyeing the action:

 

On Sunday (dinner day) about mid day, Storm started appearing sluggish. We noticed him drooling and thought maybe he was stressed in some way (possibly the little barking dog?). It was so out of character from the highly energetic dog who fell up the stairs his first day and a half of our visit. Then, he threw up. Twice. Mostly on the carpet. J's aunt and uncle were so gracious and helped us with rags and club soda. We took Storm outside and watched him graze... graze on grass like a cow - which is what some dogs do when they are nauseous. Then he just sat there and threw up some more. J went out to comfort him. It was so sad to see him so uncomfortable!

 

That night, we experienced what parents of human children must experience - the joy and horror of being awoken several times in the middle of the night (1:30 - 2, 3-5) with a sick boy. I had to work hard to stifle my gag reflex as I scrubbed his vomit with J leading the way.. what a man I married!

We left Monday morning with Storm still weak and refusing to eat and drink. Once we crossed the border and stopped at a NY rest stop, Storm got some energy back, and wanted to eat! It was amazing and made us think maybe there was something in the water, or maybe he drank some bad lake water, or maybe ate something he really shouldn't have on one of our walks or in the back yard. Needless to say, Storm didn't fully appreciate Canada after a day or so. He was so happy and relieved it seemed when we arrived back in Ithaca to our home.

So if you're a dog, be careful of that Canadian water... you never know.

And for the record, we humans consumed plenty of Canadian water without ill effect.

The Original Mayberrys Come to Town (or 62.5% of all Mayberrys in one place)

That's 5 out of 8 in case you don't know! So I admit that we have been neglectful bloggers of late (and by we, I mean I because it was decided long ago that this was my topic to blog on!) Two weekends ago, my parents came to town (and by my, I mean John's). And hence, for the first time, they got to see not only where their son and dutiful daughter in law live, but got to meet their grand-dog Storm. And Storm got to enjoy being spoiled by his grandparents!

 

Yeah, he's not usually allowed on the couch! They arrived Thursday night and we got to try Hog's Back BBQ, the new joint that opened up literally a block from our house. Our assessment: the big ass pork plate was pretty good, covered with a healthy dose of habanero chiles, but  pulled pork on a bun cut into fourths does not qualify as pulled pork sliders. Sorry Elizabeth. :( After dinner, we returned to the house and everyone sang me a belated happy birthday over E's famous apple pie. We have a video of this, but E won't let me post it because she's embarrassed about her loud singing. After dinner, we finished the evening by watching my childhood favorite Major League which I've only seen 50-100 times in my life and then passed out early; congestion and the prospects of getting up at 6 am to teach were hanging over my head.

The next day, E and my parents met me up on campus and checked out my cool office.

It was getting pretty cold outside (though not as cold as it is now) so we mostly drove around campus, but after grabbing brunch at the Carriage House, we did walk around the Johnson art museum for some of the best views in Ithaca!

We drove down the hill on one of my usual walking paths and took this picture for Elise. We thought it would be nice. (family joke)

Actually, it was this very graveyard that Elise, Dan, and myself walked around in at 2 am after a night full of...ah...eating sandwiches. 

We sort of sat out the rest of the day inside, listening to the Beatles anthology my parents bought me for my birthday and watching movies. The next day we got lucky with one of those rare days of sunshine here so after getting the opportunity to make my childhood favorite breakfast of palatschinken for my mom...

(pictured here with blueberries and cinnamon sugar, the best way to eat 'em!)

...we took Storm to the dog park and for a walk down by the marina...

before ending our outdoor adventures with a trip up to Taughannock falls, the largest in the state (but I'm sure we've talked about them before!) Then in the evening, we got to take part in one of the great new Mayberry rivalry traditions: Cal vs. USC!

Elizabeth and I have been to this game twice together now, once before we were dating in the USC sunshine and once after in the pouring rains of Berkeley :) This is now our second year watching the game in our favorite Ithaca sports hangout and it was great to share some pitchers of Magic Hat with my parents while we watched a great game. Well, it was a great game for 60% of the 62.5% of us in Ithaca (as you know, Storm's a Cal fan!) 

The next morning, we grabbed some breakfast at State Street Diner and my parents were off just like that! The whole trip went by as quickly as this blog entry.

Being on the other side of the country from those we care about most can get rough sometimes. And it really makes me happy to know that my parents now know a little bit more about our life out here and understand what we're talking about when we talk about Ithaca! So thanks again, Mom and Dad, for coming out and sharing the weekend with us!

And for those of you who haven't had a chance to see what Ithaca is all about, don't miss out! After 25 years at Cornell, my advisor is leaving for Duke after this year so we won't be here another year. Our queen sized aerobed is always open!

The Return of the Parentals

Marking the second, and their likely final visit to Ithaca, my (E's) parents came last weekend when the glorious fall weather was hitting us. I'm glad because their last trip was pretty muggy and my father, who makes it his business as a retiree to avoid extreme heat and cold was uncomfortable most of the time. Also, since they had a less than favorable bed and breakfast experience last time, they stayed with us on the air mattress in the living room. Surprisingly, the weekend was pretty comfortable for 2 + 2 + (wild) dog in our small apartment.

In other changes, I noticed that I let up on some expectations I had of myself previously. Maybe it is the higher levels of dirt and chaos that Storm brings to our previously neat and ordered lives. Maybe it is just realism setting in. In any case, I didn't feel the need to clean every inch of our apartment or to cook a complicated meal for everyone. Granted, we DID clean and maybe more than most people. And we DID eat some cherry cobbler - but it was leftovers! But for me, it felt more relaxing overall. I didn't feel the compulsion to prove how happy and self-sufficient and grown up we are. We just were. We also decided mid weekend that we didn't NEED to take that long ass day trip to the Jello museum and opted to relax in Ithaca, go to the Farmer's Market and take Storm for a walk. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend. 

First, and probably not surprisingly, much of our weekend was centered around food. Plus, we must have watched 3-4 episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. We decided to drive to Binghamton to pick apples and try a Road Food recommendation, Sharkey's. Apparently, they are the originators of the spiedie which is essentially grilled pork on a skewer served with a slice of bread. We ordered several, as well as some pierogis (mashed potato dumplings covered in butter sauce - COME ON!) and stuffed cabbage. We gave the place 8 thumbs up!

Apple picking was really fun and the weather was perfect. The place had a tractor ride, donuts, cider and ice cream! Largely thanks to my mother (a farmer's daughter who must have been getting back in touch with her agricultural roots) we ended up with about 20 pounds of apples.

And of course, what trip to Ithaca would be complete without a visit to a waterfall?

My mom made a pretty big deal before coming that she was very excited to meet "the grand-dog" (her words, not mine). Once they got here, what surprised us even more was how much my dad (often the stoic about everything except politics and food) loved Storm. He kept calling him over, petting him, and saying "good dog!" They called me en route to China (yes, back to visit my brother), my dad got on the phone and the first thing he asked me was if Storm had eaten the rib bones we saved him from our dinner the night before. Very cute.

The next time they visit us, only God knows where we will be living! We've started compiling a list as jobs come out. Here are some possible states we could be living in this time next year: Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Washington, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Oregon, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Alabama, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Idaho, Washington, and of COURSE, California!

Cooking ain't so bad!

After returning from our travels, I felt really lethargic and uninspired in the kitchen. I don't know if it was the heat or sheer laziness or adjusting to daily life plus dog. I was worried that I had lost my interest in cooking and trying new recipes. I am happy to report that a few weeks ago, "it" returned and we have more "Definitely Repeatables" to share.

A grilled skirt steak sandwich - I discovered that when you buy good meat, its really hard to mess it up. I felt pretty tough watching the beef sizzling to perfection on the cast iron skillet.

I don't have an online recipe for this fresh blueberry pie, but we got it from our friends Jenny and Joel, who go it from another friend Barb, who got it from someone else. It's so simple but a perfect way to enjoy pie in the summertime. I can email you the recipe if you'd like.

In more adventures in seasonal eating, I made calabacitas burritos, loosely following a recipe online. It's a great way to use up vegetables in the fridge and easy because you just throw things in a skillet/wok. I am a big fan of single-pot meals.

If you know J, you know that he loves himself a pulled pork sandwich. I followed this recipe but modified it slightly since we didn't have a grill and used the slow cooker instead. Obviously, they lacked the smoky grill texture/flavor but they were nice and tangy and soft and yummy.

I follow this blog, and thought that this looked pretty good and since J loves scallops, I thought I'd give it a try. It was worth the effort and will make an appearance on our table again. We also made collard greens with it, and were pretty pleased with how they turned out!

Last but not least, Vietnamese Pork with Vermicelli Noodles and Nuoc Cham. This is very similar to my favorite dish to order at Vietnamese restaurants. I have always preferred my noodles dry, so Pho is generally not my first choice. The dish is vermicelli noodles, served with vegetables, grilled pork, egg rolls and covered in nuoc cham which is a fish sauce dressing. I first came across it in Paris when I was traveling with Naomi and her sister Borami on Christmas Day in 2004. It was probably one of the top 10 meals I've eaten in my life because we were wandering in Chinatown, hungry and looking for food since so many things were closed. We turned the corner and found a place with a line (perfect, because you know it must be good). And it was SO good. I'd never had it before and considered ordering a second bowl.

We added mint, cilantro, and basil. As you know, we don't have a grill, so we had to George Foreman the marinated pork, and it turned out pretty good. We have found Vietnamese food to be lacking in Ithaca, though we hear there's a new place in town with some good bahn mi... wish us luck because I think that our beloved Pho Ha in Pomona has ruined us for life, not to mention Vi's mom's homemade cooking. OY!

Here Comes the Sun

As in, Jenn Sun! I (E) first met Jenn before Troy started in 1995. We were trying out for volleyball. She made the team, I did not because overhand serves elude me. Still, we were among the mass of "rogue" new freshmen that fall who arrived knowing a handful of people because our school attracted people from many different school districts. Social groups were yet to be formed. Fourteen years later, she's still my dear friend!

As a LA girl, she told me explicitly that she wanted the domestic country experience, which I did my best to provide for her. She got her waterfalls in, and plenty of doggy time with Storm.

We went blueberry picking with two of the coolest girls in Ithaca. (Seriously, John and I are trying to pick their parents' brains about how to raise children like them and their little brother. Proverbs, their mom said, is a good place to start.) Jenn was enthralled by the adventure of traveling in the middle of no where, picking blueberries, and then driving to someone's back porch where, based on the honor system you pay $1 a pound or leave half of what you pick and keep the other half for your labor.

We had tapas, and made blueberry muffins! Storm shocked us when he ate three of them, paper and all. He finally realized that he can put his paws on the counter and get food on it. Our worlds are changed forever. Sometimes, being in our small kitchen brings out my inner control freak and John bears the brunt of my wrath:

We walked around the campus and went up into the McGraw Tower. The weather behaved perfectly for her visit!

It was so refreshing to have an old, dear friend here visiting us in our new digs.

Bearojans

It's that time of year again. College football season is upon us. It just so happens, for the time being, that our teams are nationally ranked, in the top 10, and undefeated. We remain cordial, and even supportive. We'll see how that holds up on October 3rd when they face each other in Bear territory.

Summer, Swimming, and Storm

Fall has been creeping in - cooler weather, leaves starting to change. We love the season but really wish it would hold off for a few more weeks because summer in Ithaca is glorious. Storm loves the water. I don't know if he'd really been exposed to it before because we've observed him becoming more comfortable swimming. Next year we'll probably get him a doggy life vest (yes, they make them!) so he can go further. Seeing your dog or child enjoying something so thoroughly must be one of the best feelings in the world. 

We only got to take him out about four or five times this year, and three of those times were in a single weekend. Here are some favorite photos and videos from our adventures.

If you click on this first picture and expand it, you can see Storm's hilarious "sassy face". This was the first day we really took him out in the lake:

 

Here's a clip from a Sunday afternoon when we hiked to a creek. Storm found this huge stick on his own and was able to scale the steep edge of the rock ledge to comfortably chew on his prize:

This may well qualify as a belly flop:

Last weekend it was in the 70s, and while we couldn't quite justify a dip in the water, we found a private beach on the lake and brought a picnic (panini!)and a fetch toy and had more fun and entertainment while Storm frolicked in the water and ate unidentifiable things off the ground (to our dismay).

His water fetch toy is called a flying squirrel, which is somewhat appropriate because Storm's daily walks are more like daily hunts and squirrels and cats are the objects of his desire.

In keeping with the above video's "stick" theme, this clip proves that no stick is too big for Stormy:

Summer, thank you. For these sweet memories and others. For our brief tans. For wildflowers, especially Queen Anne's Lace. For berry picking. For the Farmer's Market. For fewer college students. For a few months to just be and not think about grown up things like careers and degrees and babies and home ownership and geography and permanence.

Love, J, E, and S

MADE

Every now and then, I (E) get bursts of craftiness (the making things kind, not the evil intentions kind). Here are some things made in the last few months.

A purse for Megan, following this template:

A shirt for me, using this template:

In the months of June and July, four newborn baby boys came into my life. My mom's youngest sister is a few years older than me and had twins! So, I have two new cousins - Hudson and Asher! I thought these were pretty hilarious and adorable. So, I had to make them.

Last, a few weeks back I picked a peck of peaches. Our downstairs neighbor Holly has all the canning equipment, so with her expertise and equipment, and our peaches we made some peach preserves! We tried some and I have to say, not too bad for a city girl!