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In a previous blog, I wrote about the growing percentage of children who die from the flu who were co-infected with MRSA, the superbug staph infection that’s resistant to antibiotics. I see that The Boston Globe has now written a (more…)
The first time I went on a big vacation outside of the U.S. was a trip to Mérida, Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula in the southeastern corner of Mexico. I was 8 years old and I’m sure I didn’t appreciate it enough. Since then, I’ve been back several times, each time enjoying it more. I love the city and the region. It’s so inviting and comforting there. The city is beautiful, the food is fantastic and the whole place reminds me of a Garcia Márquez novel.
In the evenings, when it is finally cool enough to want to be outside, everyone is drawn to the main plaza. Children play, couples of all ages stroll arm in arm and weathered old men and women sit on benches and watch the people pass by. Horse-drawn carriages stop outside the colonial buildings ready to take tourists and lovers on rides around the city.
The last time I was there, my sister and mom and I were lucky enough to spend lots of time with our friends, Jose and Anita Gamboa. The two are both from the Yucatan and are teachers there. They also love to eat and cook. Almost everything we did revolved around eating. One of the foods they introduced us to was kibis. Kibis are a Yucatecan take on Lebanese kebbehs, fried meatballs with mint and bulgur wheat. I’ve seen the name of the food spelled kibbis, but my friends say there’s only one b. Who am I to question?
When Jose and Anita visited us a year later, they make kibis for us at our home and were gracious enough to share their recipe. This is the only recipe I’ve seen for kibis that includes a little surprise of cheese and ham in the center. I like the addition.
Courtesy of Jose and Anita Gamboa
2 lbs bulgur wheat
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
4 ounces fresh mint
1 white onion, quartered
1 yellow chili, such as banana chili, stems, veins and seeds removed and quartered
4 serrano chilis, stems, veins and seeds removed
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound deli sliced ham (optional)
6 oz Manchego cheese, or any other you like (optional)
Oil for frying
Put bulgur in a bowl. Cover with water and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze out as much water as possible. Place onions, mint and chilies in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Combine bulgur, beef, pork, mint mixture and salt kneading with hands.
Cut ham and cheese into 1/2 inch pieces.
Shape meat mixture into 2-inch discs. Place cheese and ham on top. Cover ham and cheese with more meat mixture, sealing to make sure cheese doesn’t leak out.
Heat about 2 inches of oil, enough to cover the meatballs. Place meatballs gently into the hot oil. Fry until browned.
1 Red onion, diced
2 cups boiling water
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pour boiling water over the onion and let sit 10 minutes. Drain, reserving a tablespoon or two of the water. Add lime juice, cilantro and salt to the onions.
Note: Both Kibis and onions may be made a day ahead of time. Kibis can be reheated in the microwave. Onions keep for several days
Yield: About 30 large kibis
Here are some of the things we’re working on this week. Let me or the reporters know of a story you think we should cover.
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This was a weekend of weeding, flowers and backyard tombstones.
Take a look at this photo as I explain.
When we moved to our house in Wenatchee, we found that previous owners left us a couple of surprises. That would include the daffodils you see in the photo. They used to be in a corner of the yard, but we rounded most of them up and now they hang out together in a flower bed.
Then there were the tombstones. (more…)
“Flight of the Conchords”
Flight of the Conchords, $15.99
I actually first heard about Flight of the Conchords when the New Zealand-based comedy duo was promoting its HBO series on myspace.com. Of course, I paid no mind to this at the time; I just figured it was another mindless program pandering to trend-watching teenagers. It was, in fact, several months later that I grew aware of my folly. A friend of mine was listening to “Business Time,” a song from the group’s Aug. 2007 EP, “The Distant Future.”
“Business Time,” also included on the new record, is by far the greatest thing Flight of the Conchords has ever done. The song is full of “win and leetness” — in other words, it’s wicked awesome. It’s a Barry White-esque groove that gives an honest and humorous look at the mating rituals of married folks, or people in otherwise long-term, committed relationships. The song opens with a familiar circumstance of anyone who’s been in that type of relationship: “Girl, tonight we’re gonna make love/ You know how I know/ Because it’s Wednesday/ And Wednesday night is the night that we usually make love.” It only becomes more hilarious from there, describing how the rest of the evening unfolds.
I greatly looked forward to the release of the duo’s full-length, self-titled album, hoping to hear more of the same. Well, it’s not exactly more of the same, but a lot of it is very good. The group’s style manages to cover most bases, with some R&B, hip-hop, folk and rock, complete with a hilarious riff on David “Ziggy Stardust” Bowie on its next-to-last track, “Bowie.”
I wasn’t especially pleased with the musical aspect of about half of the songs on the track list, but the lyrics more than make up for it. These guys are seriously funny.
Some songs succeed in both aspects, such as “Robots,” about what the world would be like in the year 2000 if robots had taken over the world and destroyed all the humans. Another song that really stands out above the others is “Leggy Blonde.” “Everyday I look across the office floor/ There you were/ Your hair down to your legs/ And your legs down to the floor,” the singer begins as he laments the departure of his eye candy coworker. I especially enjoy this sweet, melodic track because about a minute into the song, he slips in some very random lyrics that seem completely irrelevant: “I had a budgy but it died/ Whoa ah whoa/ I like pie.”
It’s music like this that makes me really happy to be a part of this particular generation. Though, I’m still mildly upset that I had to miss out on the ’70s.
When my sister and mother first traveled to Europe after my sister graduated from high school, they came back talking about one of their favorite foods from the adventure, a butter and ham sandwich on a baguette, that they had eaten several times in France. Oddly enough, one of the best ones they ate, they say, was in a train station in Paris. Upon returning home, they bought baguettes, butter and ham and tried to recreate the simple sandwich for those of us left behind. Both agreed their American versions weren’t quite the same.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to go to France a couple of times. And I’ve had the opportunity to eat the ham, butter and brie sandwiches. It’s the brie that makes all the difference. The sandwiches are delectable and very easy to make. Brie and ham sandwiches are one of those things I make several days in a row enjoying them more with each successive bite.
When I lived in Seattle, my sister and I would make the sandwiches (or buy them at Central Market), grab some pop and head to the shore for a picnic. We’d watch people fish crab pots out of the water from the piers near Golden Gardens Park, head to Carkeek Park and stare across the Sound to the Olympics or go up to Edmonds and watch the ferries run their routes.
Now, when I make them, my memories aren’t of Paris or some exotic locale, but of warmer days in Seattle when the weather had brightened just enough to make a quick picnic near the shore one of the most enjoyable experiences possible.
It’s really important to get the right ingredients for these. European-style butter is preferable over regular; a thin baguette works better than thick French bread; cooked, not smoked, ham is best; and imported brie, soft but not runny, is imperative. These ingredients are easy to find in any grocery store.
One loaf of thin baguette bread
2/3 Pound thin-sliced, cooked deli ham
French brie cheese
European-style butter
Slice bread lenghthwise. Butter one side generously. Place ham slices on top of butter. Spread brie cheese generously on top half of bread and place on top of ham. Cut into four portions.
Serves: 4
Did you know it’s Apple Blossom time? With all the banners around town, the carnival getting set up at Riverside Park and the food and entertainment booths up and running at Centennial Park, I’m guessing you know it’s here.
This will be my second Apple Blossom Festival and I’m really excited about it. You see, growing up in the suburbs on the West Side there weren’t any big community festivals when I was a kid. The closest thing to a community festival was Seafair, and I thought Seafair was pretty boring.
It wasn’t until I worked in Ellensburg three years ago that I discovered the joys of small town community festivals. The Ellensburg Rodeo is a massive event for the community about 75 miles south of Wenatchee. While I have some personal, work-related trauma connected to the Rodeo that I should have gotten over by now, I do recommend putting on your cowboy boots and spurs and heading over to my old ‘hood to check it out. Besides, from my experience, a rodeo is quite the cocktail of culture, and a little bit of culture never hurt.
I spent eight days in Costa Rica with my church’s youth ministry mission team and came back with around 2,500 images that I edited down to 541 that I was happy with and then another edit to get a slide show put together with sound from our trip. It is on the World’s video site.
I also wrote a story about one afternoon we spent in a slum area of Los Guido, southeast of San José. Here are a couple of photographs from that afternoon.
It was an exciting trip for me, my first mission experience outside the United States. I came back drained from lack of sleep and the physical activity but also the emotional toll of being around such poverty and bonding with the people who live there, day after day, after I return to the comfort of my surroundings.
It will take some time to know what it all means to me personally but I have faith that God will lead me in the direction I should go. I’m fortunate to also have a family who is patient and understanding, having served on mission trips in the past.
Now shooting video as well as still photographs, my new challenge is sound.
While trying to make a video of the setup at the carnival Wednesday, the best visuals were over at the rides with workers moving large pieces of equipment painted brilliant colors but I had to stay away because of a diesel generator chugging away nearby. My only option was to stick to the carnival games area that was far enough away from the generator that I could hear what the workers there were saying. Not as exciting but still a decently interesting video story.
On Sunday morning I looked out the window at my house and saw a light snowfall, not sticking on the ground, but still, snow in April! Went to the start of the Wenatchee Marathon where I wandered amongst the competitor who for the most part were huddled under shelter downtown. Two pictures I really like from the start include a slow shutter speed of the adults. Normally you wouldn’t be able to see the snowfall with a slow shutter speed because it would be blurred too much but there is a hint of it in the picture.
And then the children’s race where I was blessed to see this child catching snow on his tongue while running.
We used this as a weather feature photograph. Notice how more defined the snow is with the faster shutter speed.
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