Try your own hand at my Nosebleed Mustard or Rumkirschen and tell me what you think.

My genius husband suggested that I add a roster of recipes to my website, and this is one of those rare moments in our relationship where I listened to him. Go figure! I've got four on there now - the very same recipes that are in my book proposal for The DIY Kitchen: Edible Crafts for Do-It-Yourselfers. Yum it up on me.

My pal Howie did an audio interview with me for his radio show to help promote the new book to his hordes of listeners in Olympia, Washington.  Here's his email on where to find it.  I'll post the interview once i get it.  Thanks, Cowie!

Fascinating fact: - He is one of the few people who still calls me "Scooma", an old college nickname.

So, last night i tried my hand at something I've always wanted to try - chicken with 40 cloves. Yes, of garlic. I learned a few things along the way. First of all, peeling 40 cloves of garlic takes more time than you'd think - particularly when a hungry baby is trying to climb up your pants leg. Secondly, don't ever try cooking brown splattering chicken quarters with a squirmy toddler in your arms. Third, though I love Alton Brown, I had turned to his recipe for my primary inspiration, and he really let me down on this one. Sure, the garlic cloves get sweet and caramel-y after 1.5 hours of braising, but for chicken quarters? I don't know how I didn't think of this beforehand, but after a sear and that punishing braise, they dissolved into ropa vieja when i touched them with a spoon. And, to add insult to injury, the whole magilicutty needed at least a cup or so of broth or water or something, yo. The whole thing left a ring of unprecedented baked-on, caked-on at the bottom of my Le Creusset (but, because it was my beloved Le Creusset, it scraped right up once I added some more liquid after cooking). Here's what else I learned - don't forget the crusty bread while you're at the store. Eating it with my whole grain sandwich bread was not ideal, and made it feel more like eating chicken salad for dinner, which feels kind of transitory and half-assed. Today I'm paranoid that I have the smell of garlic edging from my pores.

So...it seems that I'm suddenly doing a ton of freelance work for the Chron's Datebook and other various A&E assignments. Also doing a ton of stuff for SF Mag, a piece on Park(ing) Day, a very cool art installation of parks in parking lots, and a travel piece on lovely Pescadero.

Also, it turns out that my book, Cheap Bastard's Guide to SF, has been postponed somewhat. Looks like it won't be out until September or so - about a month later than I'd originally heard.

...but I made the best bread I've ever made.  Tip I picked up from Cook's Illustrated - use honey, rather than sugar, to proof the yeast.  Also, here's what else seems to work for bread:  total neglect!  Let it rise not only multiple times, but for more than an hour while you're out at the farmers market.  The yeast gets Thanksgiving bloated and eats a bit more, but just stops after it has had its full.  

...but not as a writer. This time, I'm a lush.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/18/WIGCEPRCQ91.DTL&hw=karen+solomon&sn=001&sc=1000

...and my book proposal! I am in the midst of putting together my finest work - a proposal for The DIY Kitchen. And yes, you URL squatters, I've already had the foresight to purchase www.diykitchenbook.com (though, unforch, someone else already had the foresight to buy up www.diykitchen.com). I plan to let this baby start shaking its moneymaker shortly.

My partner, Matthew, and I started keeping a blog when I was pregnant, and now we struggle to keep up a parenting blog on Babycenter.com. Check it out - www.babycenter.com/shesaidhesaid.

...and ready to rumble.

I am investing in my career and taking a month or so to write up a book proposal. It's a food book that's timely and it will sell about a zillion copies. I keep you in suspense on the subject! All will be revealed once i sign that hundred thousand dollar contract.

However, my workaholic tendencies won't allow me to fully give up everything else entirely. I'm also working on a story on organic beer for the SF Chronicle.

Yet another fascinating fact about moi: I have appeared on three episodes of Bay Area Backroads, one episode of Check, Please! Bay Area, and on CNET Radio.

I've also contributed to Chow! San Francisco Bay Area: 300 Affordable Places for Great Meals & Good Deals, and I've been quoted in Writing for the Web and Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself.