A face mask for dry skin

Lately my skin has become appallingly dry.

I don't know if it's age or the new climate (maybe both?), but my face is dry all the time. Like, peeling. Even with multiple applications of high-powered facial moisturizer every day. I'm experimenting with different lotions, and I've given up trying to use powder or exfoliators on my face. It's not a reaction to anything, and I'm drinking plenty of water, so maybe it is age. Bleh.

I'm also using this homemade face mask every other day or so. It's one egg yolk, mixed with one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of plain yogurt. Mix well, put on your clean dry face, and let sit for 20 minutes or so. Wash off with cool water. It makes my face feel almost hydrated again.

Work as supply

One of the benefits of being a restaurant worker are the secret perks. It's a hard job, physically demanding, with long hours and low and/or inconsistent pay. But the perks can sometimes make up for that.

Perks include: being a known part of the industry, and getting freebies at other restaurants. Getting restaurant leftovers (stale bread, seafood that won't keep through the holidays, half-rolls of toilet paper), being able to purchase wine off the wine list at cost, borrowing cookbooks from the chef's personal library.

And sometimes, other perks. Like my new personal favorite: being able to purchase food, at cost, from the restaurant.

Not prepared food; not the menu items. I mean basic food supplies. Shallots, kale, mushrooms, celery, fresh rhubarb, shrimp, even the occasional steak. The walk-in refrigerator is so much more exciting when you can shop from it.

I've started bringing some things home, including some fresh ramps. (Next project: pickled ramps.) The great thing about this system is that the food is all top-quality and really fresh. It's not crappy supermarket produce, and it's cheaper than the farmer's market. It's also incredibly convenient. I can just grab stuff after work, right before I head home, and save myself a trip to the store.

Hooray for my job!

Gardening update

Ha ha! Fooled you! You thought I wouldn't have a garden this year, because I live in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Seattle now, right?

Well, technically, I still don't. But the apartment building offers metal planting tubs on the roof deck, if you want one. I signed up for one (they're each about six feet long, two feet wide, about three feet high, already filled with dirt) and planted a few seeds each of kale, parsley, and carrots.

I haven't done anything to the plot since I planted the seeds--I figured I'd let the natural sun and rain cycle do its thing while I watched. I haven't watered or fertilized.

The seeds are coming along slowly--I suspect there's not quite enough sunshine--but they are definitely coming along. Maybe once summer gets here, they'll take off.

Cleaning out the fridge

Sorry there hasn't been much happening on this blog. While my stepson was in town, I wasn't doing very much cooking at all (outside of spaghetti). I think he ate his weight in sandwiches. Now that he's gone, I'm trying to use up everything that got neglected while he was here.

Also, it looks like I'm going to continue to be the primary breadwinner for a bit longer. Which means an increased interest in keeping grocery costs to a minimum.

So, I made a baked pasta thing (used up: box of rigatoni, a container of tomato sauce, a box of frozen spinach, some cheese) and an herb risotto (used up: a bunch of fresh herbs--cilantro, parsley, basil--about to go slimy, some broth, and some pesto). Next I'll make a batch of gumbo (to use up: a package of chicken and andouille sausage). I'll freeze what's left of the milk, to save for yogurt-making. After that, corn and potato chowder.

The Rhuby Boomershine

I've invented a cocktail for work.

And look! It's on the menu!

It's 1 oz each of Rhuby (now renamed Rhubarb Tea) and the rhubarb shrub I wrote about a couple of weeks ago--which is equal parts chopped rhubarb, brown sugar, and vinegar, left to sit for a few days. Pour over ice, top with Dry Rhubarb soda, and mix well.

It's light and refreshing, like rhubarb lemonade without the lemons. It makes you want to sit in the sun and drink three of them.

And it's paired with a bite of foie gras wrapped in pastry. What could be more awesome?

Teenage boy update

We've returned to normalcy. That is, a teenage stepson who won't actually eat anything.

I'm not sure what prompted Sunday's gorging: maybe this is how kids eat? A day of eating constantly, followed by a week of picking? Since then, he's been picking. Taking the lettuce out of his sandwiches, eating around the green stuff, and generally claiming to not be hungry.

Then again, he's still consuming more than he has in the past. And while most of what he's eaten has been sandwiches, at least he's eating the crusts.

I haven't been cooking much. I made a baked rigatoni thing with frozen spinach, and a new batch of cookies. Some salads and wraps. I return to work tonight, so I suspect I won't need to cook much more before he leaves this weekend. Maybe some more chicken, a batch of mac and cheese, something like that.

We've been doing some good sightseeing. Sorry the blog has been uninteresting--I hope to have some new recipes soon.

Olympic National Park, WA

Another day, another national park.

We've had a string of spectacular days in Seattle--cloudless, sunny, almost 70 degrees. One of those days is pretty rare; to have 2 or 3 of them in a row is a first for me. On Saturday, we got up early and went to Discovery Park. We hiked out to the point to see the fantastic views.

Yesterday (Easter Sunday), we got up even earlier. We took the ferry across, to my stepson's delight, and spent the day in Olympic National Park. It's not really a driving park; most of it is wilderness, and it's big, and there's no road that goes across it. However, we saw the highlights in three vastly different ecosystems: Hurricane Ridge at the top of the mountains, where we got to see 12-foot snowbanks and glaciers; Rialto Beach, a rocky, surf-torn Pacific Beach covered with massive logs of driftwood; and Hoh rainforest, North America's only rainforest, with massive moss-covered trees and ferns everywhere.

(My Southern California-raised stepson on the rain forest: "There's something wrong with this stream! I can see all the way to the bottom of it! The water is perfectly clear! It's not supposed to be like that!")

We ended the day at Kalaloch Lodge with burgers and beers, overlooking the ocean. Why? Because my stepson has finally discovered his appetite. I packed what I thought would be a day's worth of food for three people, lunch and dinner: six sandwiches, several bottles of water, plus a totebag full of apples, bananas, dried fruit, a gallon Ziploc bag of popcorn, some protein bars, some cookies, etc.

All that food was gone by 3 pm.

I got one sandwich and an apple for lunch. My stepson ate everything else. Then he ate a burger and fries at the Lodge, and had the last sandwich for dessert.

I'm not complaining. Yesterday he ate more food than I've ever seen him eat, cumulatively. And he didn't pick at the sandwiches, and leave the crusts, and take the nuts out of the cookies, or eat only half the apples, or otherwise pretend to eat like I've seen him do so often. He ate everything. Even the crusts.

I was so proud.

So it was a good day. A lot of driving, and a long day overall, but the weather was perfect, the scenery was amazing, and there was very little traffic. I really like spending a beautiful day like that on the road, seeing new things, out away from the crowds.

And next time, I'll pack more sandwiches.