stir until crumbly, like coarse and wet sand...

date taken: march 31, 2010

photo by: me

subject: strawberry pecan shortbread crumble bars

quick and painless, the hardest part about this recipe was chopping the pecans finely. otherwise, a solid recipe for those days (or late late nights) when you're fixin for something yum and uncomplicated.

Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
3/4 cup strawberry jam/preserves

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and pecans, then stir in the butter and egg until mixture is crumbly, like coarse and wet sand. Set aside 2 cups of the mixture, and pour the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Press down gently, but firmly, into an even layer.
Spread strawberry jam over the shortbread layer. Sprinkle remaining crumbs evenly over the top. If the mixture is too wet to sprinkle, simply break it up with lightly floured fingers and spread it out.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool bars in the pan before slicing.

Makes 24 small bars.

all the streetlights are broken

"bucket"

date taken: september 23, 2007

photo by: me

subject: man resting at bus shelter

here's a lighthearted jam about falling on hard times. stay dry, friends.

Kidd Russell - E North Ave

make me beg for it

"denial"

date taken: february 3, 2008

photo by: me

subject: mimi's booty

notes: what a night!

once in a while, the machine spits up a track from major label artist that i just obsess over. like pancake syrup, i know it's just the high fructose corn syrup, it's probably not all that good for me, but dammit it tastes good. and yes, occasionally, riding in other people's cars, i hear what they're playing and the same thing happens. this is one such occasion.

i actually like the new drake stuff, but i guess the blogs are all pissed off 'cause they're comparing it to a particular release of his from last year, which was goooood. and aptly titled ;-)

Drake - Best I Ever Had

reclining on an ocean swell

date taken: august 2, 2009

photo by: me

subject: jellyfish lake, palau

got my scuba certification today (woot!). which means i can take photos underwater without the burden of coming up for air.

nothing good comes easily

photos, top to bottom:

date taken: march 27, 2010

photo by: me

subject: 311

date taken: march 27, 2010

photo by: me

subject: cedric diaz, rock bottom

date taken: march 27, 2010

photo by: me

subject: ct mcjohn, rock bottom

big names don't come through guam very often. it's good and bad. on the one hand, you rarely get to experience mainstream music live from the original artists. on the other hand, when they do occasionally come through, you can get close enough to the action to experience it in a way you couldn't in the states without getting bruised, banged up, or elbowed in the chest (ouch). last night, 311 played on Guam. it was lovely.

the first opening band was up-and-coming local band rock bottom, led by cedric diaz, the mcjohn brothers, and chauncey colbert. i was surprised at how far along these guys have come. as with any band on guam, they have to play cover songs at their gigs because, well, that's what the guam audiences want to hear. well, at this show, rock bottom played an entire set of solid originals, which were well-taken by the predominantly military audience. their fresh fusion of reggae and rock coordinated with the headliners without being copycat. good showing from a relatively young band. i know these guys are putting together a CD, and i'll see if i can talk them into lending me an mp3 for the blog. stay tuned.

311 still rocks my socks off. the last time i saw them, i was 19 and crowd-surfing for the first time. hearing "all mixed up" again made me all verklempt and i almost forgot to take photos. almost. i took about a billion photos of nick hexum, who i assure you all is still all that and a bag of chips (yeah i said it). it's hard to stay relevant when you're playing to the mtv generations. but hearing the chorus of young voices singing along to the encore hit "down," confirmed, in case the question was out there in the universe, that 311 ain't going nowhere.

311 - amber

combine bourbon with sugar...

date taken: march 27, 2010

photo by: me

subject: boca negra

One of my mock trial kids, Dara, made this sneaky bet with me, by which he wagered that he would score no lower than a 9 out of 10 on every score from every judge in our final game against Academy last week. The bet? "Black Mouth Cake", which I had never heard of before, let alone made. We won the game, Dara lost his bet, but the recipe looked too good to leave to the idle hands of a self-absorbed 17 year old boy. Made it for the team yesterday. Served with fresh whipped cream. Tasted almost like pudding with a thin crust on top. The deepest, richest chocolate thing ever, in the history of mankind. But really, any recipe with bourbon in it is a friend of mine.

Boca Negra

(recipe courtesy of Baking Bites)
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup bourbon (or rum)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, cut in 10 pieces
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of parthment or wax paper and butter again. Set the cake pan in a roasting pan and set aside. Set a kettle of water to boil while making the batter.
Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
In a medium sauce pan, combine bourbon and sugar. Cook over high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Bring it to a full boil and pour over chocolate. Whizz chocolate and syrup until smooth, about 20 seconds.
With the motor running, drop in the butter piece by piece, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in the eggs one at a time.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Place roasting pan in the oven and fill it with boiling water from the kettle until it reaches 1/2 way up the side of the cake pan.
Bake for exactly 30 minutes. (***was still wet when i took it out at 30 minutes. put it back in for 10 more minutes, looked fine and tasted amazing!)
Carefully remove the cake pan from the water bath. Dry the cake pan. Lay a piece of plasti wrap over the top of the pan. Invert cake (and plastic wrap) onto a flat plate and remove the parchment paper circle. Reinvert cake onto a serving platter and remove plastic wrap.
Serve warm, or at room temperature, with whipped cream.


Note: This cake can be stored at room temperature for one day or in the refrigerator for up to three days. It can also be made well ahead and kept frozen for up to a month. If it is frozen, defrost it, wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight. Bring the refrigerated cake to room temperature before serving.

stay a while with me

"lonely as i am"

date taken: july 7, 2008

photo by: me

subject: los angeles, from the LAX hilton

far as i can tell, trishes is a DJ and producer from austria, with good ears and a lot of respect. he's perfected the art of restraint and dusted off this gem for a new generation of listeners.

Bill Withers - Make a Smile for Me (Trishes edit)

"someday"

date taken: march 20, 2010

photo by: me

subject: inday rolyn and baby of guest

notes: this was at rolyn's bridal shower.

hello interweb. i come in peace.

i'm not ambitious. i'm just trying to detox from facebook.

i'm resuri. i don't actually have a lot of spare time. but sometimes i like to use time i should be dedicating to more practical obligations doing things people ordinarily do in their spare time. i spend an obscene amount of time on the internet. and while i am interested in grand things i assume a lot of people are interested in (travel, adventure, witnessing spectacular moments in history), i am preoccupied with the dailiness of my life. so whether i'm admiring the flourescent green lawn of my neighbor's yard in upstate new york, stapling crude neon fliers protesting sweatshop labor on berkeley bulletin boards, or smoking some hookah with my toes sunken in the soft sands of fujita beach in guam, my passions are constant. and this is how i hope to fill these pages, with the music, food, and photographs that fill my life.

i don't know. i guess i'm just hoping someone finds something meaningful here.