Maybe little pinch?

R & R caught a bunch of crabs Sunday morning, so I spend part of today cracking some tasty Dungeness. It's a pretty gross job, all things considered, but I'm happier to pull the guts out of a crab than handle raw meat. It does take forever though, I only got through 2 before I gave up. Your hands are constantly wet, so you have to stop before your skin becomes too soft to deal with the hard shells. But tonight we'll have sushi, yum! I invented a tasty form of ceviche sushi- crab, avocado, salsa, & lime juice, highly recommended!

I've been reading a book of travel essays on Tuscany & Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie", so I've got traveling on the brain. I've wasted a bit of time today researching Tuscany trips. You might not know this, but I'm obsessed with researching vacations. We aren't even planning to go to Italy for another 2 years, and only then if the Euro/dollar exchange isn't abysmal, but I want to go so badly it's like a hunger. I've been thinking about a bike trip, though certainly we'd have to train for it, the Chianti hills would be murder on our lazy butts. I read trip reports and see TV shows where people spend a lazy week or month staying in gorgeous towns & traveling around sampling countless wines, cheeses, meats, and meals- a gastronomic paradise. Visit ancient oak barrels full of fermenting grapes, watch olives be pressed to oil, taste the terroir in everything, and learn how to cook, speak, and live Italian. I wish I could afford it. Maybe it sounds selfish, since I've already spent 2 weeks in Tuscany, but we didn't have a vehicle, so we couldn't ever travel to the hilltowns or small farms or vineyards; go taste unique local foods. I saw amazing art in Florence & got hay fever in the wheat fields south of Siena, but I didn't get to explore rural Tuscany in all its splendor. I hope I get to in the future.

This may sound morbid, but hear me out: when I die, I want my wake to be held somewhere really cool so that my loved ones get to experience someplace new and wonderful. They can remember me while seeing new things & they can be joyful about my life instead of depressed about my death. Yeah, travel!

I learned that the temporary Spanish position at the HS has been filled, so I guess I'll just be doing regular subbing next fall, which is ok. I don't think I was ready for it anyway.
Must go work on my stupid Brother's baby gift #2 now, I am determined to finish it before I can start my new sweater for myself.

** Dog cookies:
4 Cups spent grain (after brewing)
4 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
mix well. Spread on cookie sheet with sides and roll out to approx 1/4 in thick.
Bake @ 350F for 30 minutes
Score into sizable cookies
bake at 225F for the next 6-12 hours until they are completely dried out.
(feel free to experiment, use bullion powder, gravy, tomato paste, etc. You might need to adjust ingredients slightly depending on how wet your grain is.)