October 25, 2007 by Alaya

All around the world

Here’s a map of all the countries I’ve been to:

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

I feel pretty pathetic. I’ve got to go to more places than that! At LEAST Australia, Yap and Tuvalu. And lots of Europe. And Egypt.

Time to start putting some money in my mattress…

October 1, 2007 by Alaya

She stuck in her thumb and pulled out a plum

I have finally unloaded some pictures from my digital camera, and discovered these beauties. I made this pie about a month ago for a lunch party. Yes, it was filled with plums, and yes, it was oh-so-delicious.

I made the crust all-crisco because my friend is lactose intolerant. It makes it harder to roll out, but it is just about the flakiest crust I’ve ever made. I like to use apple cider vinegar in my crusts instead of water, and I roll them out between sheets of wax paper, because otherwise everything just sticks to the counter and I end up having to peel it up in strips. Very frustrating. And for the filling, since I hate with a passion all things cornstarch, I blend up poached almonds to absorb some of the liquid and add some thickness to the filling. Yummm.