High Class Fossil Jewelry

Last April, the Engineer and I went to the American Women Geoscientists Annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction Scholarship Benefit. (How's that for a mouth full?) The Engineer bought me a beautiful ammonite pendant. I love it.

Last night, we attended the 2009, 20th Anniversary do.
The artist who had made the ammonite pendant had two more necklaces on the tables. one with a geode pendant, very nice, and one with a rusty brown polished stone. But then I saw the fossil I needed for this year.

It was a simple pendant stone with a silver ring and no chain, but something about it called to me, so I wrote the opening bid on the sheet. The Engineer wrote the fifth and final bid, and the fossil was mine. I can hardly wait to wear it.

What kind of fossil is it, you might ask?

A coprolite, cut and polished and ready to shine.

What's a coprolite?

Fossilized poo.

Just wish I knew what kind of a critter had produced it.

The Great Nibs Challenge

My friend, Jess of Bioephemera, and I both appreciate chocolate. We have grown well past the stage of eating anything brown and sweet to become chocolate sophisticates, Jess more than I, but still, we only make that Homer Simpson "Mmmmmm, pork," gargle and drool internally. No one hears us make it any more. (Well, I don't know about you, Jess, but it's still my nonvocalized response to fine chocolate.)

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to buy some Amano "cocoa nibs". A true choclaholic, I bought two bags and mailed one to Jess. I went to Amano's web site to read about nibs before I opened my bag.

Here's their quick description:
If you aren't familiar with nibs, they are the roasted pieces of cocoa we use to make chocolate. What many people don't realize is how good they are to nibble on. You can use them in many recipes, such as mole. They are also fantastic in salads. One of my favorite things to do is put some on some arugula with an nice vinaigrette and dried cranberries.

Ooh, nibbling, I'm altogether too good at that. I ripped open my bag, inhaled the lovely aroma, and poured some nibs into my palm.
They look like nothing so much as the cocoa husk mulch I put on my raised vegetable beds to keep the cats from using them as giant litter boxes. Smell pretty similar too, come to think of it.

Ewww.

But, I'm brave, so I nibbled.

What can I say... They won't ever replace M&M's.

Now what to do with them?

Surf the web. I'm not a Martha devotee, far from it, but some site or another said that she had popularized nibs by using them on one of her shows. A little disappointing, I'd thought I was cutting edge buying nibs. Well, darn sure I won't use her recipe. But, what to do with them, so...

I am hereby issuing The Great Nibs Challenge to Jessica.

One month. Let's see who can come up with the best and yummiest thing to do with their nibs within the next month.

Winner gets bragging rights.

Winter Redux

And in less than two days, it's April...

The only way to look at it is as water -- we need it!

Or really great spring skiing.

Just Wait a Few Hours...

or: This One's For You, Elrond Hubbard (and svetx)


Yes, my last blog post showed the first tender crocus of spring and it was 74 degrees Sunday.

This is Utah, this is spring, this is inevitable.

First Crocus of Spring

Silence

Sometimes I just go quiet. No words flow from my lips or fingertips. Don't know why it happens, it just does.

When I'm in silent mode, I usually won't initiate a conversation. I have no trouble responding to another's overtures. I remember how to talk. I just don't particularly want to.

The Engineer gets uneasy when I'm quiet. He worries that I'm mad at him. Heck, if I was mad at him, I'd growl at him. Wonder why he hasn't figured that out after ten years of marriage.

Some of my friends worry about me. I guess I can see why. I'm usually the sort who'll talk your ear off, so it's abnormal when I'm mum.

Isn't it okay to not talk when you don't have anything to say?

I will make myself communicate with friends and family even when I'd rather not, simply because I don't want them to worry. Once the conversation starts, I'm always interested in what they have to say.

I've never learned to force myself to overcome writer's block, however. Maybe it has to do with the lack of immediate feedback. Maybe it's because anything I write seems like drivel. This soliloquy being point in case. Reading back over what I've written, it's gobbledygook. Seems to me silence would be preferable.

But I wouldn't want anyone to worry, so, hey, I'm alive and well.

Cooking Again

Had the monthly meeting of the SSA here tonight. Refreshments, for the most part, were simple: veggie tray, fruit tray, triangles of Toblerone dark chocolate, white wine and soft drinks.

Those things were all nice and were appreciated (especially the Toblerone) but I also felt that something showing a little more effort was required, so I made bite size quiches. Those were gobbled up and the recipe was requested. I don't usually use formal recipes when I cook, so here's my best guess.

Smoked Salmon Mini Quiches

Dough for one pie crust - or if you want quick and easy, one Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust.

1 small onion - diced

1 Tbs butter

Fresh ground pepper to taste

3 oz smoked salmon

3 oz shredded swiss cheese

2 extra large eggs

2/3 C milk

Preheat oven to 350°.

Roll the pie crust out about half as thick as normal. Using a donut cutter, without the hole cutting part in the middle, cut two dozen circles. Use two one-dozen cup mini muffin pans. If the pans are not nonstick, spray with Pam. Line the cups with the pie crust circles.

Saute the diced onion in the butter until just translucent. Grind pepper over the onions and mix.

Remove any skin or icky parts from salmon then break into small pieces and shreds.

Beat the eggs with milk in a small mixing bowl.

Divide the onion, salmon and cheese evenly among the 24 lined muffin cups. Using an eighth of a cup measuring cup, fill the muffin cups to almost full with the egg mixture.

Bake at 350° for about a half hour, until tops are puffed up and mottled with brown.

(No pictures of the mini quiches, they were devoured before I had a chance to snap.)