I fell asleep there for a while.

::adds self on painkillers to list for Hec::

Hey, trip to San Francisco! Excellent. This is all working out so well.

Barb, you look fab!

omnis, I will email you. Hopefully, we can find the time!

Burrell, I said as much in the F2F thread, but YAY!

Look forward to your author appearance report, Barb!

Bought a sleeping bag on special at REI Outlet with additional discount. Still a lot for me but I've never owned one before and I'll need it for the SF visit in Jan. Also in case I ever have to live in a car or become homeless...

Made the mistake of looking up two people I was close friends with in HS & college. Will take a good snow shovel to scrap my spirits off the ground now. I think this feeling is bad enough that it may have cured me of looking up people who cut off ties with me so long ago. I'm trying to channel some of the feelings into something more positive and motivating. We'll see how that goes.

Sold 2 autographed CDs today, which is great (his request that they be autographed...I'm not deluded enough to offer autographing on my website as if I were some big deal). He works at Disney so hopefully it'll start to percolate around and find some receptive ears.

Oof. Last night, I got home, ate dinner, and fell asleep on the couch at about 7. Woke up around 1:30, very confused, and went to bed. I actually don't need to be up now for another hour, since I don't have any early morning stuff on Wednesdays, but I'm awake anyway.

I'm intrigued by the idea of a latke recipe. (Mainly because I don't know anyone who makes latkes who didn't learn how to make them from either their mother or grandmother, so nothing's ever measured or written down. And the secret ingredient is ALWAYS schmaltz. Or goose fat, if you're very very lucky.)

I'm babysitting G today who is home sick after having an asthma attack at day care yesterday. The poor thing was all out of sorts when I got her, but is now fast asleep. I need to wake him up in an hour for his treatment though. I've never given him one before. It should be interesting.

After I leave here I get to meet two little ones who I may be sitting for tomorrow night (paid!)

I'm putting together a short list of resources and videos about violence against women for work. (I suggested Hollaback and especially Hollaback Israel, but I don't know if the editor will include them, as we seem to be focusing more on a domestic violence angle.) So I've been watching videos designed to bring home the seriousness of domestic violence. There are some that do that very well, and kudos to them for it, but now I want to go somewhere soundproofed and scream for a week or so. However, I'm on the clock, so I'll settle for discussing the concept of trigger warnings with my manager. (Note: I'm lucky enough to not get triggered by much of anything, but it seems like a good practice to advocate for on our website.)

Hollaback talk reminds me. While we were in Jaipur, there was a news article about a group of models who were on a train and some young guys started "eve teasing" them. They banded together and got it to stop. [link]

I took a picture of the article, then I remembered Shir's not on facebook for me to post it to her.

I'm officially a crank...my LTE about McCain and DADT was published yesterday, complete with stupid internet comments. This was the first LTE I ever published in the Republic, although I was in the New Times once just out of college, ironically also bitching about John McCain. if life were a really sick romcom, we'd probably be fucking already, he bugs me so much.

Yay, crank erika!

Poor G was so tired he slept right through his nebulizer treatment. I'm guessing it doesn't matter if he is awake or asleep while breathing in his meds.

I'm intrigued by the idea of a latke recipe. (Mainly because I don't know anyone who makes latkes who didn't learn how to make them from either their mother or grandmother, so nothing's ever measured or written down. And the secret ingredient is ALWAYS schmaltz. Or goose fat, if you're very very lucky.)

I know what you mean-- but this one was given to me by a friend who got it from a magazine, then tinkered with it some, then passed it on, and then of course, I'm constantly tinkering. These are so consistently perfect though, and so different from any other latkes I've had, I just can't imagine making any others.

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar (I used Splenda bc I'm out of sugar. Worked fine.)
2 heaping tsp curry powder (MORE SPICE BABY YEAH)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 heaping tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (like hotter with slow burn as you take another bite? Add more.)
1/4 tsp pepper
scant 1/4 tsp dry mustard

2 eggs beaten (Kinky!)
1/2 cup milk (we used Lactaid; lactose is not change I can believe in).

4 cups grated peeled sweet potatoes

oil for frying

Mix the dry ingredients (flour through mustard). Stir in eggs and milk until blended. Add sweet potatoes and fold with a spatula or your fingers to coat thoroughly

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. I used enough vegetable oil that it was probably between 1/4 and 1/2 inch deep.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls into oil. Let set for about 30 seconds, then press gently to flatten out. In my big honking skillet I could fry about 6 or 7 at a time.

Fry for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown. Add more oil if you need it.

Drain on rack covered with paper towels. Try to avoid eating while they're piping hot (ow. Good luck with that).

NOTES:

I tried making bigger than heaping-tbsp size, and they were soggy in the middle, so keep to the smaller size for browned, crispy latkes with chewy centers. The batter will get soggy at the bottom so stir every now and again to mix the potatoes with the wet stuff.

We're serving with honey mustard, chipotle mayo, drizzled honey and whatever else I think will taste good.