Episode 7: Indu Thomas for Superior Court Judge

Commissioner Indu Thomas was an assistant attorney general, legal counsel to the senate, and has served on the bench for the past 5 years. She is the guest of honor on the July episode!

Episodes 5 & 6: Kids and the Kitchens

I have definitely begun to push the program in a more non-fiction direction than ever before with this 2-part documentary called “Kids and the Kitchens,” shot over a month and a half and airing this May and June. In the episode I explore the intersections among various food related movements that all lead to getting kids cooking and in the very same episode kids cook chicken adobo, mac n’ cheese, raw pudding, and tofu stir fry. With an emphasis on the disproportionally among different socio-economic and racial groups to food procurement this episode also took on more of a political tone than my previous work.

Latest Monsanto ad Campaign

Arrived into DC this morning and was caught off guard by these ginormous completely offensive and outrageous banners hanging at the end of the DCA bridge to Metro. That's right - these banners were inside of the airport... And I thought after going through airport security in Seattle (full-body scan) I was done handing in written complaints to airport officials.       

                                                                            As it turns out when you go to Monsanto's home page these images are all the first things you see, all part of their feed Indonesia image clean up campaign. Fortunately I had the privilege of sharing my airport outburst with another traveler, also staring at the advertisements in complete bafflement. 

Yes, Monsanto, by introducing a high yielding GMO corn in Indonesia in the 70s for decades you have empowered farmers to drive down the price of a crop thereby making corn unprofitable to farmers growing native varieties,  contaminated their native corn varieties, and made a huge profit while at it. Congratulations. Let's go lie about it.

Episode 4: Passover Desserts

After absolutely no production downtime (see episode 3) I present you with the inevitable, a half-a**ed masterpiece, if I may say so myself. In light of the lost Kugel and Hamentaschen footage what started as "Jewish Desserts" becomes "Passover Desserts". A blessing, also if I may say so myself. The simanim (signs) have spoken, and there will just have to be a Jewish Desserts part II episode where I reenact cooking in war paint and what was the closest thing to a kitchen meltdown. In any case a lot has happened since the seance, and well, you'll just have to wait for May and see for yourself... I hope you find these recipes visually intriguing and don't attempt making any of them at home. As you may have noticed in this episode I kind of drop the ball on measurements. Thank you for watching and chag sameyach! 

Those Bones Must Go. A Photo Essay.

It's official - Martha + Me has it's very own camera/video camera! YAY!!!!!!

Julia & Me/The Seance Episode

Episode 3 is here, people! We get on craigslist, we cook French food, we bring Julia Child back from the dead...what's not to like!? The production of this episode was a serious collaboration. Thanks all!

Richard & Me

Why is this a cooking show with no cooking? That's the beauty of public access television, I can do almost whatever I want! In episode 2 we take a 28 minute break from the kitchen and Joaquin and I get our aerobics on to a live set by local metal band Vanguard. Thank you Olympia Film Festival for sponsoring this event and thanks to everyone who danced!

Vancouver BC.

"I do what I please, and I do it with ease." 

- Martha Stewart

It's negative one day until the deadline for Martha and Me episode 2 and I have yet to even synchronize my clips. The irony of Martha's notorious yearbook quote has seriously been kicking me in the butt these past few weeks. The combo of learning Final Cut Pro X, X not supporting multi-cam edits, my slow computer, lack of access to video equipment, and doing this all by myself is making this thing, well to put if frankly...makes me feel like I can't do it. 

So naturally in celebration of my 22nd birthday I've put my production challenges aside and joined forces with my incredibly supportive mother for a weekend of relaxation and fun in Vancouver BC. (Trip planned long-before my editing woes.) And to thank her for all the youtube hits in the form of her emailing the link to every person on the planet I've decided to pay for all our car gas.  But seriously, the episode will get done and done well, so not to fear... I think. 

In the meantime I can tell you all about what I've been up to in Canada. We stayed in historic Gastown in a hotel we found on Groupon. It was very "green" and on that note I forgive the water pressure in the bathroom even though it meant I had to flush the toilet 10 times and take twice as long showers. On the bright side every room had a recycling bin that I filled with cans of ginger ale. More on that later...

Things we did:

#1 Spent a while trying to hook up my VCR to the flat screen to no avail... Seriously, why advertise a flat screen if all I can do is order movies and games off of it?  

#2 Met up with hosteling buddy Helena for afternoon tea at the Fish House, long walks, and then even more finger food.

#3 A fundraiser at Rhizome for Owen's upcoming surgery.

#4 Dim sum at vegan Chinese restaurant 3G, most notably vegan drumsticks. 

#5 Thinking a lot about whether we'd make it to the Michaelangelo Antonioni film at Cinematheque.

#6 Continued the tradition of adding pieces to my Starfruit Lock & Lock tupperware collection upon each Vancouver visit.

#7 After the long wait since November, finally getting those Goretex shoes, my first pair!

#8 Reminded myself of the value of an oreo cheesecake crust. 

Lessons learned:

#1 There is vegan poutine and the vegan gravy doesn't even taste so bad if you use real cheese curds.

#2 Vegan food can still give you a stomach ache.

#3 Even if you go to Canada for the weekend it doesn't mean that for half the weekend you won't be thinking about that thing you wanted to get away from in the first place.

#4 You can wear goretex without a pair of Carharts but you should probably buy yourself some Carharts the next time...

Roasted Veggie Panzanella

It was a brief but lovely last minute dinner with Eleanor and Kelsey before heading to Dance Oly Dance to get our live local public access groove on. It was really almost like bandstand tonight as Eleanor wore her new old holiday gift from me, a December 31st find at the Free Store at the Co-op that came with the instructions to have a fabulous New Years Eve. A beautiful vintage late 60s, early 70s soft yellow empire-waisted lacy frock with an iridescent light green layer beneath and a miniature bowed vest to the bust (buttoned in the back)!

We altered Karlee's Dog Food You Can Eat white board illustration to be an advertisement on Dance Oly Dance and the board received quite a bit of air time, actually. Many people held it and of course I awkwardly danced with it as much as possible. I love cross-promotional schemes. How so very Martha of me!

Anyhow, tonight's recipe Roasted-Vegetable Panzanella , is so easy you don't even need a recipe! This is one of my go-tos when I need something easy, fast, veggietastic and delicious. Mozzarella, basil, tomato, green beans, chickpeas, olive oil, salt and pepper is all.  I found it (June 2006 issue) a couple years ago in a stack of my mom's old Gourmet issues. While I admit the mis-matching seasonality of the dish (2 of my 3 veggies came from Mexico and the third from a Washington greenhouse), being in-season all the time is a concern of mine but not my sole concern. Tonight the priority was lack of dishes and time. Note how all ingredients were roasted on the same rimmed baking sheet.

Next time... how to pack a freezer with 60 lbs of meat!

Dog Food You Can Eat

Oh my it's rainy and it's cold! I have nothing to eat nor the strength to set foot to locate this food of which I dream. But, wait. My dog has food that I made. It's gourmet and human-grade. "Charlie, will you share with me until the storm subsides." "Why yes, Lisa. Let's eat this food, you and me, together."

World, behold, a new blog and tv show beseech you. Honor them. Cherish them. Love them. 

Martha & Me. Episode one. Dog Food You Can Eat.