First finished dish! Bok choy ohitashi style

Getting a head start with our galette des rois because my puff pastry maker is heading back to college before epiphany. Fun to share with friends at our NYE cook-the-book dinner though not on-theme. Our book is Washoku, recipes from the Japanese Home Cooking by Elizabeth Andoh

In(accuracies) in depiction of Catholicism in Sister Act vs #wakeupdeadman, in this essay I will…

Merry Christmas. More than 75% of my gifts ideas came from either @smartbitches.bsky.social , @sarahmackattack.bsky.social or Bluesky (including the great Night Market feed) and everyone is delighted

I love gift-giving and a big part of the fun of Christmas for me is going through the box of things I’ve procured over the months since the last gift-giving holiday and surprising myself with what I had thought up

How it started below, how it’s going

And so it begins. We get more ambitious every year

Shout out to my dad, yes the one who told me that I would naturally grow more conservative as I grew older, for suddenly popping into the family chat to say that he’s disgusted by Trump’s immigration policies and how he’s proud that his and my mom’s parents were immigrants.

Pro-tip: if you need to get your hot liquid down below the danger zone, use a metal cocktail shaker filled with ice water to put in the center in addition to an ice bath for the outside

Behold, the Stuffing Pie. What we do is make double the gravy we need (since it’s not double the effort), and extra stuffing. Then I put frozen peas & carrots & cauliflower in a dish with leftover turkey, cover with the gravy and uncooked stuffing. Either cook & eat for Black Friday or freeze!

Thankful today that our kitty has decided, after 5 years, that perhaps she’s interested in sitting on our laps or legs after all.

I resent having to get up early to get my kiddo ready for school, but this morning I did catch a gorgeous sunrise looking west over the Olympics in Seattle.

The Michael W. Twitty event with Kristi Brown at @townhallseattle.bsky.social was an absolute delight. Wonderful rapport between speakers, lively and engaged audience, meaningful conversation. I hope the book is a bestseller!

Incredible light in Seattle right now

OH from my 8th grader, “My favorite part of my morning is hearing you yell at our Senators.” ❤️Today it was telling them to hold the damn line on the shutdown #DidThisToday

I find it hilarious that my Seattle Pubilc Schools student had to go away to a small liberal arts college to find straight people to hang out with

I mean I was already a no on Harrell but now I wish I could vote against him even harder. His later statement about historical figures “we could all agree on” is equally gross.

Excited to see Michael Twitty in conversation with Kristi Brown at @townhallseattle.bsky.social in November!

Shout out to the staffers at Jayapal’s and Murray’s offices who are presumably working without pay right now and picked up the phone to listen to me (politely) yell about my worry that Schumer is not up to the job of managing this fight. I read them this post with comments. #DidThisToday

Oooh, I sense a special fiction @ifbookspod.bsky.social episode if they can force themselves to read it

Strongly encouraging my college first year, who was assigned an extremely Eurocentric bullshit article to read, to wear her Maintenance Phase tshirt that says “Citation Needed” under a cardigan and flash everyone every time an unsubstantiated claim comes up

Not a CA voter so no idea how I got on Newsom’s mailing list but it sure felt good to give them my reason for unsubscribing, even if auto-correct did screw me over on “unhoused”. #DidThisToday

First time in months I got a live staffer at Sen Cantwell’s office so I got to rant about the new think tank and Chuck Schumer and the necessity to oust RFK Jr and to protect trans healthcare to a real person! She said she looked forward to hearing from me again, lol. #DidThisToday

Parenting my kids has been the most significant factor in my healing from a bunch of childhood stuff: reparenting myself through being an attuned, loving and imperfect parent to my kids and gaining insight into my past through parenting milestones like college drop-off has been revelatory. YMMV

Some of my choices lines to my electeds (Dems) this morning: “Today is the first day of school for SPS and it’s time for me to school my elected officials in how to fight back” and “Collaborating with fascists is not a good look” and “Chuck Schumer is an appalling leader”. #DidThisToday

Like an anglerfish, the introverted college freshman is using her @morningwitch.com cardigan to lure in people to start conversations with her. Brilliant on all levels

Eighteenth outing for this drugstore party decoration. Grateful we got to use it in person before the legal adult goes off to college next week

First bumper crop of Centennial crabapples, sweeter than most. Adapted a King Arthur baking recipe for GF apple cake: swapped streusel for frosting and made it dairy & nut free for a work potluck. This thing is delicious! Very soft but not gooey in a bad way. Not too sweet. Perfect breakfast cake!

Received a survey about a newsletter I’ve liked and I got to scribble “I will not give money to Substack” and “I will not engage with your further until you leave Substack” all over it and that felt good. #DidThisToday

Made the kids watch the 1954 Brigadoon tonight, having (as usual) forgotten most of the plot. We had a good laugh at a lot of it. I also realized that Brigadoon is the most NIMBY village possible!

I think I’ll call all of my federal electeds today and tell them to pay attention to these results, especially Cantwell and (surprisingly) Jayapal who endorsed Harrell. Hoping Jayapal rescinds—Wilson is much more aligned with her platform. #DidThisToday

The homily this week was on living our purpose. The priest used the choir as an example of a group living their mission. And it occurred to me that the best way to foster this in our society is universal basic income and universal healthcare. What beauty would be released into the world through it!

Impeccable use of Lady Catherine to describe Slotkin’s statement on the Israel bomb vote

Teabegone: adj. The sensation of woe when you grab your teacup to take a sip and realize it’s empty

The rhetoric surrounding kids + screen time or ultra-processed food is very similar and similarly problematic.We need to teach our kids how to live in the world we actually have by giving them supported practice in navigating their environments.“Protection” can be as misguided as abstinence-only ed

Can you spot the adorable sleeping bees on our blueberry bushes? I was careful to harvest in a way that did not disturb them.

Record-breaking number of dogs at the WS Farmers’ Market today. Kiddo & I counted 103* in the one-block area of the market. Previous high this summer was 78 and not more than 90 other summers. (We count in other seasons but summer is peak). Otis isn’t a dog we saw there but this post needs a pic!

Was appalled to see a pro-Harrell mailer with endorsements from both @jayapal.house.gov and @cantwell.senate.gov. I called their local offices today to express my disappointment (and to call for Schumer’s ouster, as per usual). Harrell has been terrible for Seattle #DidThisToday

Now that every member of the family is old enough to have a Bluesky account legally, our family chat has become 90% us sharing links to cute skeets with each other

Absolutely incredible night at PCH San Francisco for Sisters’ Night In. The menu is chock-full of extremely delicious drinks across a wide spectrum of tastes.

So many compliments on our masks & the teen’s hoodie today at @montereybayaquarium.org. I was able to tell the staffer about all my fave indie marine artists like @thelifeofsharks.com , @sharktopia.bsky.social and @pegushi.bsky.social. They were so impressed.

Will always chat up www.portseattle.org/SEAspotsaver. The security line is always my biggest stressor as a super variable variable. Spot Saver is free to all with no fingerprints etc and allows me to get to the airport 75 min before my domestic flight with no anxiety

First year we’ve harvested enough raspberries to eat our fill fresh AND make freezer jam and we’re only 2/3 through the season ❤️

Adorable little volunteer pansy or viola that traveled really far from its original pot to bury itself in the patio. Thanks, birds (or wind or fate)

I have finally cracked the code for managing refrigerated butter. Butter bells don’t work when the butter is nearly gone, special butter knives are hard to use & the butter mill I enjoyed broke. A Y peeler is the easiest, least annoying solution yet! No need to put butter in a different container

Dream scenario!

Very excited to take my teen to this event at my very own workplace!

I have added Eurovision bangers to my 80s and 90s standards for my solo dance parties. When Baby lasagna came on I had to dance right through my timer!

I love the brief crossover period where I can harvest strawberries, raspberries and early blueberries for our dessert. Seattle summer

Ooooh Senator Murray got an earful from me this morning. As if I (and many others) hadn’t also been phoning her about this for weeks. Also, reading is her job, ffs.