Trans Day Jesus

Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, and this cartoon is extremely appropriate:

Naturally, the far right are having a meltdown about this, claiming the President took over Easter for the event, when March 31st has been the International Transgender Day of Visibility since 2009.  I guess that shows how little they've paid attention to the date in the past.  Easter is the date that moves all around the calendar.

Following up on last week's post, here are some photos I took while wandering around the UCLA campus.  Several buildings wear mosaics that align to the coursework inside:

Other buildings are just pretty:

Apparently there is a show being filmed on campus during break.

The conference center was filled with all kinds of art - sculpture, paintings, prints, photography, and so on.  Many of the artists have a connection to UCLA.  I may do a post later with some of the images but this one is getting long enough.

It was spring break, so most students were away, which meant most places on campus were closed.  This only affected me on Sunday evening when I decided to get some food, preferably takeout.  The restaurant in the hotel had a basic menu of burgers, pizza, and salads that I did not find appealing (apparently there is a better menu Monday-Friday), and when I asked about food options nearby I was directed (vaguely) to the student union.  Luckily I found it, but only a Carl's Jr was open, so I got a chicken sandwich.  The next night I learned that not far away were many eateries of all kinds, but the maître d' at the hotel restaurant wasn't about to send a guest to an appealing option.

The student union also had a vending machine room that featured Asian treats.  I was overwhelmed!

  

  

  

I chose preserved mango, which was
not what I expected. Edible but meh.

In addition to the architecture, there were lots of plants with which I am not familiar:

I could recognize wisteria - this is the seating area for
one of the food courts, closed due to spring break.

  

  

Monday night the event scheduled some "Dine Around" groups, and mine was sent to a pricey steakhouse.  We discussed quickly and decided to find a local place, ending up with hotpot that was tasty and much less expensive.  

Definitely a place to check out next year - and next door is a Korean quickstop that I noted for my Sunday meal because we're supposed to be in the same place next year.  Less than a mile away, so definitely an easy walk for me!

It's Easter today, for those who follow the Roman calculations (Western Christians count from the vernal equinox), and I bought a small treat for myself:

My mother suggested that we have our weekly soufflé today, and it was very well-risen, which seems in keeping with the holiday that some are celebrating:

This week it rose higher than the rim of the dish!

Knot quite there.

A report before I head out for some travel, including a cybersecurity conference.

First, I (nearly) finished some things - ends need to be woven in, and that might wait until I return:

  

Those are the very fraternal mittens made from a hank of handspun wool from The Knitting Buddha.  It was going to be a hat, then I changed my mind.  When I decided to make mittens instead I divided the skein in two with a knot at the halfway point - you can see that the second mitten finished just before the knot.  That is the restarted mitten, when that end was thinner enough that the mitten was coming out very differently from the first one.  The cut-off started bit is on top of the mittens, and below is the remainder of the ball of yarn, with the knot marked by a yellow pentagon in this second photo:

I also finished (but it also needs to be blocked) the "Age of Brass and Steam" shawl in Forbidden Fiber's Pride DK, colourway 'Merchant Dynasty' is no longer in production:

  

I changed the pattern by adding rows of eyelet between the stockinette bands, it should have been only one but most have two.  And I was tempted to frog back and make all of them two, but decided that was more reknitting than I wanted because it was almost done when I changed.  I'd been adding a row each time, but didn't have enough for four at the end, so frogged back to the third eyelet band and made it just two.

As for other projects:  The blue baby blanket is ready for it's I-cord bind-off, but I didn't like how the first two starts looked so I am going to wait until I return to try again.  I am down to the "don't think I'll need it" project from the six I quick-started on Fat Tuesday (technically, the red/white/blue C2C scarf isn't finished, but it's bulky enough to wait for my return), and am taking it plus the Caledonian Cardigan on this trip.  Plus a book.

I Read Harder

I finished the local library's challenge (read three books in different categories for a prize) and received my prize: a bookmark.

  

My third book was in the category "Choose a book from a library display."  The first two books I read were ones I have at home, and I wanted to read at least one library book for the challenge.  When I went into the building to select a book they had two displays near the entrance, one a general topic and another for Black History Month.  Since I am from Dallas, I instantly was drawn to this one:

I found it interesting both because I remember some of the time, having lived in the Dallas area then, and also for his personal journey.

Maybe next year I will read more than three books for the challenge; I thought about trying to read th4ree more quickly and get another bookmark, but there isn't time and I have a couple half-finished books I should finish first:  Charlie Wilson's War (still working on it from the course I took in November!) and The Catcher Was a Spy which I started on the trip to Spring Training.  I might take the latter on next week's trip to a cybersecurity conference, since the topic seems appropriate.

π day 2024

I wasn't sure what I would do to celebrate today, but a plan came together.

I had trouble deciding what type of pie to make, and how large.  I'm still not sure I can find all my pie plates, or should I use a small cake pan?  If I made a big pie, who would want to share it?  It came down to a chicken pie or a peach pie, because I have both in the freezer.  Then I got the crazy idea to try both.  Together.  In one dish.

I wasn't feeling excited about making pie crust, and when I took the peaches and chicken out to thaw, noticed a roll of puff pastry I'd stashed over the holidays.  Perfect solution!

The chicken part would be a riff on b'stilla, with a bit of some 14th-16th Century as well.  The peach pie would be much more traditional, other than the crust.  For the b'stilla I checked a couple of recipes, scaled them down, and decided to use some Penzy's Pie Spice in addition to the saffron and a bit of black pepper.  Most recipes just use cinnamin, saffron, and pepper.

First step is to cook chicken with onion, saffron, butter, and water:

  

While that simmered I lined the dish with pastry and saved the rest for on top:

I also mixed the peaches, about half the full recipe:

   

I made a wall of pastry to keep the two sides apart.  Yes, I should have chilled the pie, but I was heating the oven and didn't want to put a cold Corning Ware® item into a hot oven, just in case.

Next, I chopped almonds and added raisins (which are not traditional in b'stilla, but I like them and they fit with the additional spices), then chopped up the almost-cooked chicken, and put everything back into the pot to cook until the liquid was gone:

When that happened, I let it cool a bit, then added a beaten egg and the spices, stirred it all together, and spooned the filling into the other side of the dish, where it fit perfectly:

   

I added a suitably marked top and it was time for the oven - 350ºF for about 45 minutes.

It was very yummy, and the two sides hold together nicely:

I've got suppers covered for two more nights.