The Glades

We had lovely weather last weekend (read: finally cool enough that we can put the top down on the car), so we took a drive through the Everglades. Several entrances to the park are less than an hour from our house, so we managed the trip in an afternoon. I'm a bit pressed for time because I'm leaving for a short vacation tomorrow, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

From a distance, the Everglades kind of look like the Midwest. Flat.

Even slight changes in elevation are a big deal, because they're the difference between dry ground and swamp.

We saw many birds, but I don't know anything about them.

Andrew's straw hat fits again, now that he cut off all his hair.

Living in the past

I'm having a lot of fun dressing vintage lately. I seem to have hit some magic amount of vintage and vintage-style clothes in my wardrobe such that I can wear the look about half the time. This also means that I've been spending far too much time researching things like how to do your hair in rag curls and whether you can really wear dance shoes outside in rainy weather (they make a lot of inexpensive dance shoes in vintage styles, but many of them have suede soles).

Pity my poor husband, who is the unwilling recipient of all that I learn, and who listens to my debates about whether $110 is too much to pay for a petticoat. (Which of course it is, but there aren't that many petticoat manufacturers around any more, so it's not like I have a lot of options.)

In other news, I took a wonderful weekend trip to DC a few weeks ago. I was in Virginia for work, and extended the trip so that I could visit some of my old friends in DC. It was wonderful to see the fall colors. And to kick leaves. And to be able to wear a sweater. Because I love my job in Miami so much, I keep hoping that my longing for seasons will abate. I hear songs on the radio and think of cider and soup and my heart is struck with a feeling that has no name. Perhaps I will name it Herbssehnsucht, (longing for fall)? In the meantime, I will be happy that it is cool enough that we can sometimes turn off the air conditioner, and I shall look forward to the ten frosty days in Ohio this Christmas.

Rainy day at home

Mondays are my work at home day this semester. Right now I'm sitting down with a cup of tea and a piece of a new torte, Lingonberry Yogurt Chocolate Torte. This recipe has a feature new to me - the thin bottom layer is shortbread. When you build the cake and cream layers on top of it, it stays stable because the shortbread doesn't get mushy. Trust those Germans to engineer a cake properly.

Weekend projects

Andrew and I are both a bit behind at work, so we spent a good chunk of the weekend trying to catch up with our paid jobs. But we also found time for projects. Andrew installed a pedal extender on the clutch of our car (Yes, I am that short), while I painted our couch. That's right, I painted the couch.

Last year we bought a white couch from IKEA, primarily chosen because it was the tiniest couch we could find. A year of black cat love, red wine drinking, and a husband who regularly uses the white couch as a tool storage location left the sofa looking quite dingy. Slipcovers cost as much as a new couch, so I painted it.

Research showed that you could use regular water-based paint, mixed with fabric medium. It worked, and it actually looks better than this picture shows. It looks kind of like suede and you can't see any of the stains. Hopefully the new navy blue color will hide evidence of future mishaps as well.

Respite

Those of you dreading the approaching winter: now is the time to make your Miami travel plans. The temperatures here have dropped the all important three or four degrees. This week we're looking at highs around 85 F (That's in the 30 F for my non-US friends). It's still warm enough to go to the beach (we went twice this weekend, which is a record for us), but it's cool enough to put the top down on the convertible in the evenings.

Along with those two trips to the beach, we also spent Saturday evening listening to strangers tell us their true stories, at Lip Service. People can submit their stories, judges pick the best ones, and then they read them on stage. (Listen to examples here.) Good fun, although they were a bit overwhelming for my sensitive soul. The stories included three deaths and one stabbing. Good thing I always bring a fresh handkerchief to any kind of theater performance.

For bad hair days

I've been really diving into the 40's and 50's vintage look lately. A few weeks ago I found an online store called Scarf World which filled a hole in my wardrobe. With my latest purchases I own more than two dozen scarves. (And let me point out that collecting scarves is a much more fitting hobby for someone in a tiny apartment than collecting shoes.)

Now I can put these new scarves together with my new knowledge of 40's scarf tying so that I can go to work looking like this.

A Torte Tour

I don't know how it happened, but I've made three tortes in the last three weeks that never made it to the blog. I did a repeat of of the Eierliquoertorte, which is a flourless chocolate cake topped with cream and filled with lingonberry jam. Once again I was too rushed while preparing for the dinner party where this was served to pipe on the whipped cream. I'm sure this lack of piping is costing me style points in the competition judging.

We received lemons in our veggie share last week, which prompted me to make this Zitronentorte. I modified the recipe a bit, which was a white butter cake layered with a filling of sweetened lemon juice and cornstarch and topped with a powdered sugar glaze. I was looking for something with a bit more panache, so I added lemon zest to the cake, used the lemon juice to make lemon curd, and then folded the lemon curd into whipped cream. If you've never had it, lemon curd is lemon juice cooked with eggs (or egg yolks) and butter. It can be used like a jam, and it is heavenly.
This last cake is my hand-down favorite so far. It's a plain cake (Tortenboden), layered with poached peaches and topped with a mixture of whipped cream, yogurt, and gelatin. The yogurt and cream mixture just the right mix of tang and richness.

(And just in case it appears I eat nothing up cream and butter, here's photographic proof to the contrary: a salad of raw shaved zucchini and Parmesan, topped with lemon dressing. This recipe is definitely a keeper.)