The big cheese

My fondest memories of my short trip to Portland in January were cooking and/or eating with friends.  One night, exhausted from the day and the cold, wet PDX weather, Mami and I made grilled cheese sandwiches.  We used prosciutto, apple slices, and spinach (or was it basil?) and good ole' Wisconsin  cheddar cheese, bought by Ethan during his quick trip to Wisconsin. 

A grilled cheese sandwich is an easy fix for lazy nights in Phnom Penh.  I swear Ethan makes the best ones. 

Food & Wine named the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the States!  Some of them look insane.

 via Food & Wine

Wardrobe dilemma

via rennes

Moving out of Cambodia to a presently undetermined location provides wardrobe questions.  (Cambodia is a vacuum of casual dress.)  How do you look somewhat polished without screaming "corporate," which itself is not bad, though it can distance communities you are working with, and it is just plain boring! 

Case in point: I have a beautiful Coach attache case that was given to me as a law school graduation gift from V.  I'm not a big Coach girl, but this thing is pretty and polished. I brought it with me to Cambodia, but I've used it maybe once during a high-level meeting. It has no place in my NGO world.

I'm currently using my Trader Joe's canvas bag to tote around documents. What can I say? I have a soft spot for canvas bags.

The next destination will require more structure and dress-up.  This tote fits the bill and yet is playful, but I'm concerned that the cloth would dirty up easily.

Note to Self: On Working in Cambodia, Pt. 2

via Landesa

Can I confess that some days I am just so tired?  Land rights work in Cambodia is taxing. It is such a highly politicized area of law.

I'd like to share an exchange I had with a superstar American lawyer, who has worked on rule of law and land law issues in Cambodia for nearly 10 years, after having been in private practice in the States for a decade before.  Now based in Geneva, he was one of the people who warned me that land issues can be "toxic."  This first warning came about 9 months ago.  And I shrugged it off.  You see, while I certainly  am not an optimistic do-gooder, I did think I was a little tougher than that. 

I ran into him at a dinner party a few months ago.  I confessed to him that when I first met him that I did not listen, but (in the same breath) that 9 months can take a toll on you.  He advised me that it's okay to take a break from this work now and then, to leave the country, to re-energize, and to come back in some shape or form.  "There's no shame in it," he said.  This is a little sad, but it should be indicative of the state of things: we chuckled under our breath when he confessed that his recent work with domestic violence and gender issues in an un-named repressive country was a "nice break" from land law issues in Cambodia.  Seriously?

That's my mindset at the moment.  It has been for a few months.  I've  recently been offered an opportunity to represent refugees before UN bodies for a short period of time starting after my self-imposed summer vacation.  I was warned by the lead attorney that this was no break - that stories of rape and torture are often interwoven in these tales of displacement.  Still, I cannot help but think the experience might re-energize me, if not by allowing me to learn a new field of the law. (I'm not a refugee lawyer.)

But I am getting away from myself again.  The pictures of the women in Odisha!  Amazing, right?  Even when I am bogged down with the weight of Cambodia and land issues, I get really jazzed up about women and land issues, which makes me think that, no matter which path I take in the next few months, I may keep coming back to this work.

 

I'm looking back, to nearly two years ago when I moved to Cambodia.  It's been an incredible journey.

To be continued. 

Breakfast apple granola goodness

 via Smitten Kitchen

What on earth is going on with me?  All of a sudden I love breakfast, even plan ahead for it?  I am baking this now so that I can enjoy it for breakfast tomorrow with yoghurt.  The house smells so good!

Recipe via Smitten Kitchen

Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp

3 pounds* of whatever apples, or mix of apples, you like to bake with, peeled, cored and cut into medium chunks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup flour
2 cups oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, as you wish; I used unsweetened)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix apple chunks with lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and pinch of salt in a 9×13-inch baking dish until apples are evenly coated. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with the honey. Stir in the flour, oats, almonds, coconut and another pinch of salt until clumps form. Sprinkle evenly over the apple mixture and bake in the oven for about 45 to 55 minutes, or until the apples are softened and bubbly. Should the granola brown before you wish it to, cover the baking dish carefully with foil for all but the last few minutes of baking time, when removing the foil will help the granola recrisp. Cool to room temperature and then stash in the fridge to eat with your morning yogurt.

Thoughts of Spain

all photos via Lost

Have you been here?  The first and only time I walked inside the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona I was blown away.  Vic's blog is amazing.

Another Cambodian sunset

Thida took these photos with her phone, while we sat on a pier in Sihanouk Ville and watched the sky grow dim.  I will miss images like this.

La femme vintage

via La Femme Vintage

My oldest friend  and co-conspirator of vintage finds just opened her very own vintage shop in Long Beach, California!  Unfortunately, I'm too far away.  For now, I can only check out her etsy shop.