Working for a Living

Livin' and a workin'. Given that I am not the biggest Huey Lewis fan, this is an interesting choice. In fact, I could be called the smallest Huey Lewis fan. He is, for me, in the same category as (sorry) The Pretenders or Katrina and the Waves, i.e., when they come on the radio, I pick another station. Which reminds me that I just heard recently that 80s music is now officially "oldies". What does that make the classic girl songs of the 60s, cultural anthropology? I understand why it happens, I just don't feel as old as my parents were when their music became oldies.

I do love music-- all music. When I was 16, I used to say that I loved "all music except jazz and reggae". Very soon after making that statement, I learned to love both. When I said it, by all music, I probably meant "all music that is on my local radio station" which was in the category "Rock" in those days. Quiet Riot and AC DC. Bob Seeger. Tom Petty. This was the eve of "New Wave" when the techno sounds of Casio and drum machine went into battle against classic drums-and-guitar rock and roll music. When Duran Duran duked it out with Bruce Springsteen and everyone won. Sort of. It was like a musicultural lava lamp: you could feel the oil and the wax of the opposing audio forces moving back and forth against each other, with your ears in the middle.

I love classical, opera, dancehall reggae, folk, rap, disco, house, dance, 50s, 60s, 70s, you name it. Benny Goodman, Dean Martin, the Beach Boys, the Ronettes, the Beatles, the Eagles, the Cure, Modest Mouse and Mary J. Blige. I monkey-bar from one genre to another like a serial monogamist exchanges college boyfriends. Today I listened to some piano music and some opera, and Un Bel Di sung by Leontyne Price made me cry. Again.

But where was I going when I started? I've been working a lot lately, and so have pushed the blogging to the side a little bit. But there has been so much going on! The weather was awful, now the weather is beautiful again. Last week, I was so busy that I freaked myself out completely, and this week, it's all falling into place. Last week, of course, was the week of Terrible Technical Difficulties, when one small update (I'll get you for this, Apple!) created a week's worth of problems that required hours and hours on the line with various "support" entities and resulted in the following conversation:

(While waiting for a download)
(Spoken in Indian accent) Do you have any hobbies?
Uh, yeah, my husband and I like to kayak, and I read a lot, exercise.... do you know what a kayak is?
No I don't ma'am.
It's like a canoe-- a narrow boat for one or two people that you paddle. It's fun to take in the lake or river.
Oh. Do you like music?
Yeah, sure, I like all kinds of music (as you now know). Why do you ask?
I ask because I am a DJ.
Oh really, what kind of music do you play?
Psychedelic and House.

That would be "Keith". I talked to Keith, Kevin, Nadine, Heather and Erin. At least. And Jay, who told me that doing an archive-install wouldn't change any of my files. Never, ever listen to Tier One Support. Always go to the next level.

Things seem to be (crossing fingers) ok today. I have my G5 running, and the "craptop" or out- of-date Dell laptop running right along in the office. I'm making PowerPoint (o joy!) presentations and troubleshooting them on the red-headed step-computer, since it is the lowest common denominator. But it is time-consuming and thus, I have not been keeping up with posts on either blog. And no hyperlinks for you, either. If you need to look something up, you're going to have to do it yourself.

Today, by the way, is the kickoff to my BIRTHDAY, because I received a card in the mail from a friend. I don't think that she realized that birthdays last from the first wish to the last, but she just made my birthday almost a week longer! (Thanks, Tani!) What a treat it was to open the post office box and find a real, hand-addressed, hand-written card! I don't know if people remember how special that is anymore. Email has taken the place of so much personal communication that it's rare to see your friends' handwriting anymore. I miss the friendly, careful, rounded print of my friend Karen, Tani's precise, tiny, swirling cursive, Janet's dynamic, irregular, angular script. My friend Catherine and I wrote letters from the time we were 9 years old and I moved away to Modesto, until we temporarily lost touch with each other in college. And we are back in touch again. Her handwriting is her, as much as her voice or her laugh or her face.

Which reminds me, because I am rambling right now, and I've felt out of touch this week, I LOVE my friends. If there is anyone I've ever loved, they never get un-loved. When I see someone I love, no matter how long it has been since the last time, I am so happy to see them. The recurring characters of my life. Time is irrelevant. I'm happy just to jump back in.

Wouldn't it be great if heaven was a big coffee shop, like on Friends, where you got to sit around and endlessly catch up and laugh with all of your favorite people? And eat amazing food that wouldn't make you fat, because you'd be permanently beautiful basking in the love of all of your friends. And animals could talk and they'd hang out with you, and all the extinct things would come back to life, except icky things like giant cockroachy slime beetles. And there would be lots of music. And dancing, except when I danced in heaven (like no one was watching? ugh!) I wouldn't look like someone's mom trying to be cool, I'd look like Britney before she lost it, except I'd be the me version of that.

Oh look! A chicken!

This Week in the Garden

I was pleasantly surprised to find all of these flowers amid the gray today. It still seems like we're in the middle of winter. In spite of the battering of rain and wind last night and this morning, there were still some pretty blooms. If it's cold and gray-- or white-- where you are, I hope this brightens your day.

Baked Eggs

I like a lot of things about baked eggs, and have been making them a lot lately. Not only are they easy and flavorful, but they include a vegetable (hard to work into breakfast sometimes) and stay warm after they are cooked without overcooking. And unlike omelets and fried eggs, don't require babysitting at the stovetop, so I'm free to sip my coffee and read while they cook.

Baked Eggs
INGREDIENTS
One or two eggs per person
butter or olive oil
1/2 tsp finely chopped chives, shallots or scallions per egg
Swiss chard 1-3 leaves, chiffonade or julienned (cut into 1/4 inch
strips)
1/2 tsp soft goat cheese per egg
salt, pepper
pinch of oregano or herb of your choice per egg
finely grated parmesan cheese, one heaping teaspoon per egg

TOOLS
One 4 oz ramekin per egg
Oven or toaster oven

METHOD
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350
Butter or oil each ramekin
Sprinkle onion-like substance into bottom, top with chard and herbs
Add goat cheese
Add 1 large fresh egg
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parmesan
Place in hot oven
Set timer for 15 minutes
(If you'd like the top cheese browned, turn oven off and broiler on for the
last few minutes. This does mean you have to watch them to make sure they don't overcook for the last few minutes, so I don't do it.)
Remove eggs from oven
Can be served right-side up with a spoon or fork, still in ramekin, or loosened with a spoon and turned out onto plate.

A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. "
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This wonderful and appropriate quote is currently posted on the site of Robert Chunn, a fantastic Seattle-Chicago painter. Take a moment and go check out his work. I LOVE it. He is also very nice and very prompt in sending the artwork once it is dry.

Taking a Header

You know, I just put this new header up for no other reason than this dahlia photo, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, taken by me, is my favorite photo of the moment. I have my screen saver set to source from this album and change the image every 30 minutes (a gentle timekeeping system). Every time this one comes up, I have to minimize my windows and just look at it for a minute.

But when I sat down and wrote the title, it reminded me of when my good friend Tani's Japanese cousin Miki came to visit (I think I'm remembering it right) and we, well, probably I, tried to explain some metaphors to her, like "eating sh*t," "biting it," etc.. I'm sure there were more, and as I recall, they were mostly food and eating related, and involved falling or crashing. I'm sure she wields them confidently now as she drunkenly ricochets her way down the alleys and ski slopes of Japan like a pachinko ball, eating sh*t, biting it, and taking headers as she goes. Hope she doesn't have a "yard sale"!

Then I thought of the story of Tani's dear grandfather, who complained that American toothpaste tasted terrible. It was discovered that Grandpa had been brushing his teeth with the tube of Head and Shoulders. Head and Shoulders. Used to come in a tube. Prell, too. Yeah, I'm that old. I used to have records, too.

An Ethical Dilemma

Tonight on my way home from work, I stopped by a major discount retailer to pick up a couple of plain t-shirts and some sundry items. I had said items in hand and was making a final loop back toward the cash registers when I saw some crumpled paper in the middle of the aisle ahead. As I came closer, I saw that it was money, and I saw the number 20. When I got to it, I picked it up and found that it was TWO twenties. I looked around, and the only person in sight was a very large woman on a motorized cart wearing a pink crochet cap, coming towards me.

"Did you just find some money?"
"Yep."
"It looked like money. I saw it from down there but I wasn't sure. You're going to turn it in, aren't you? I'll go with you over here to the counter." (?)
"Yeah, I guess so, but I think I'll ask some people around here to see if anyone dropped it. There's a lady down there with an open purse and two babies, maybe it was her."
"That's a good idea. Don't tell them how much it is though, or they'll say it's theirs."

So I go from one end of the aisle to the other, asking each person if they might have dropped some cash, and everyone says no, I look up the cash register aisle, to see if there are any little children weeping at the register with a new toy and no way to pay for it, or any women frantically dumping their purses out on the counter. Nothing.

So I put the cash in my back pocket. If it had been a credit card, a check or checkbook, or a wallet, by all means I would have turned it in. I would have felt even better calling the person or the credit card company myself, to avoid possible employee dishonesty.
But cash? Cash has no one's name on it. I asked everyone I could find.
I figure it's a lucky find, and I should use it to do something nice for someone else, or donate to a charity. Finders keepers.

Was I wrong to keep it? Was I cynical to think that if I turned it in to a store employee (the store with the red circle inside the other red circle) that it would go immediately from my pocket to the employee's pocket? Or, as I feared, Mrs. Knittycap would buzz right over there the minute I dropped it off, and feign tears as "her" money was returned to her. Her meddling presence affected my behavior, though I can't say how I would have done things differently if she hadn't been badgering me.

I had this thought as I walked to my car: that maybe the woman on the cart was really God, and that was a test to get into heaven and I failed. I don't know if he or she will be watching when/if I do the right thing with the money in the end, so that can be the makeup quiz, or if it's just pass/fail. Save me a seat by the fire.

At this time I would like to apologize for my negative portrayal of one of the cheerleaders in high school whose name has been deleted from my blog as, in the end, she did invite me to go along with her to the New Year's Eve party, even though it turned out to suck. She was just trying to be nice and make a friend. I say that not because I hope the incarnation of the supreme being wearing the pink crochet hat and rhinestone studded Disney logo glasses will forgive me, but because I recently re-read that post and I felt bad for not giving her credit for that. I'll bet she's come a long way from where she was then, as I have.

A Happy Bra Ending

By the way, I went bra shopping at Maidenform, which sells my favorite bras, and I bought the right size in the style that I usually buy, and everything is...um,... looking up, and going smoothly. So the other bra was not a case of mis-fitting, just a style the dimensions of which were not quite right for me.

Hot Time, Sausage in the City

Mike and I spent today in the city. (San Francisco for you folks with a different "City"). We got a new food book a few days ago while shopping at the Fatted Calf at the new Oxbow Market in Napa: Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Guide. (Go there just to check out the red, non-electric slicer-- it is a thing of beauty.) I flipped through it a bit yesterday and marked some potential stops, so today as we drove out through Carneros on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge and surf shops beyond, we looked for something interesting in the neighborhood we'd be visiting. Neighborhood, or "district" is key. Today's destination was the Sunset and Richmond Districts, to visit Mollusk, Wise, and Sunset surf shops. You see, Mike is in the market for a long board, about twelve feet long, to be exact, or at least 11". These are not easy to come by. He's been talking to the guys at Wise, but he is eager to get going, now that he has his wetsuit, so we were hoping to find one.

Anyway, that put us in the outer Sunset, so on the way, we flipped through the book to see what might sound good. I love that the book is organized by neighborhoods, so you can eat where you are. We picked Old Krakow cafe and had Polish food for lunch. I've never had Polish food, besides kielbasa, that I know of. Since I'm part Polish, it was a little exciting.

The borscht, a sublime scarlet broth (no pieces), was vinegary, savory and soothing, with little meat-filled dumplings in it. I have never tasted anything like it. My immediate feeling was that I would seriously crave it the next time I got sick. Total comfort food. Mike slurped it up. The mushroom soup I ordered was creamy and mushroomy, delicious but not mind-blowing. Next, we shared a cucumber salad with sour cream, dill and scallions. Then Mike had an entree called "Hunter's Stew" a mix of sauerkraut, potatoes, pork, kielbasa and mushrooms which he devoured and I thought was just ok, and I had the "Potato Dumplings" which came in a mushroom cream sauce, not unlike the soup. My mistake. Both dishes could have been hotter. Overall, the food was all tasty, though, and the service was quick and friendly. Mike's lunch beer was pretty high-octane, so I drove to the surf shops.

Mollusk is really warm and funky, and has tons of t-shirts, books and artwork, in addition to many boards so cool looking that you'd want to take up the sport immediately just to be that cool-- if it wasn't so cold and foggy in the Sunset. They were also friendly.

On the way home, we decided to look for the high-octane Polish beer we'd had at lunch, called Okicim Porter, at a Russian market behind Wise. Found it, and several others, which we brought home.

Next stop, a particularly rich corner in the Richmond, at Geary between 20th and 23rd, where we found a Polish sausage shop (all handmade), another Russian Market, and a Russian bakery, two thanks to the book, and one thanks to the nice Russian waiter at the Old Krakow. We brought home two varieties of Polish sausage, a small loaf of black bread, and some interesting pastries for dessert.

After about 6 thin slices of black bread with butter this evening, I made braised cabbage with leeks to go under the sausages when we heated them up. Yum. After dinner, we both polished off a strange and still yummy tapioca cream horn pastry that we didn't know the name of. It was an interesting and satisfying day, and a great food adventure. I wish a) that the sun had come out while we were there, b) that I had known about that sausage shop a long time ago, and c) that Mike had been able to find/order the surfboard of his dreams. Another day.

HVDTY

Lemon Shortbread Hearts with Raspberry Preserves
(adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook, page 261)

INGREDIENTS
3 sticks butter, softened (that's right, three sticks, baby)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 cups unbleached AP flour (all-purpose) sifted
(I used 1-1/2 c fine whole wheat and 1-1/2 c unbleached AP)
1/2 tsp salt (less if using salted butter)
2 T lemon juice
1/4 c granulated sugar (optional)
3 T grated lemon zest

TOOLS
Mixer with paddle is great, but can be done by hand
Cookie or biscuit cutters, one small heart-shaped cutter
Cookie sheet

METHOD
Cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light.
Sift flour and salt together and add to creamed mixture.
Add lemon juice and zest and mix thoroughly.
Gather dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap, chill overnight or at least 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350.
Roll out dough to 5/8" thickness and cut circles or scalloped circles with a large round cutter. Use a small heart cutter to cut out a heart in the center of one circle per pair. Arrange the circles, heart-circles and hearts on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until just starting to color lightly. (My directions say cookies should not brown at all, but I think I undercooked all of mine, so blond is fine.) Cool on a rack.
To assemble (this is from the Linzer Hearts recipe on the preceding page of TSPC if you are reading along): Spread 1/2-1 tsp raspberry preserves thinly on round cookie, top with cut out heart circle cookie. Save the little hearts and pile them on a plate for munch monsters and other cookie thieves to dissuade them from sampling the sandwich cookies until you've had time to assemble and admire them all as a group.

In retrospect, I should have just made the Linzer Hearts cookies, as they have walnuts in them, which are good for you, and an egg. Same amount of butter, though. These are delicious and tangy (and pretty) but because of the undercooking, are rather soft. I would have liked more contrast between the jam and the cookie. Maybe should have stuck with the standard shortbread recipe. Oh well, Mike liked them, and they were his valentine.

Cards from Bella Muse and You Send Me.

Signs of Spring

So You Know

I took the picture that is the current header at work. At Hendry, where I can still be found a couple of days a week. Cool scenery, eh?

Words of Wisdom

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
Dorothy Neville

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Abraham Maslow

Veggie Notes and Shopping

If I haven't mentioned it lately, we are still receiving our weekly Riverdog Organic Veggie Box and still feel like it is a great value. We've been introduced to a world of new things to try, and it saves us wandering around the grocery store with the same old broccoli or green beans. We know it's always in season, comes from somewhere close, and supports farming we believe in. Tastes better a lot of the time, too, because it's fresh-picked, and the sugars in the carrots and other vegetables have not yet converted to starches. Our new Whole Foods has recently opened in Napa, and they also have Riverdog Veggies, among, of course, a world of others.

I wanted to be sure to note that although I don't specifically say it in my recipes, when I say turnips, I mean organic turnips. When I say canned kidney beans, I mean organic canned kidney beans. When I say ground beef, I mean the best organic or grass fed natural you can get, from as close as you can get it. If you don't have access to anything else, try your best to change your meat and dairy to organic.

There is tons of information out there, and too much stuff to try to remember at the grocery store sometimes. Once you zero in on your brands, though, it's not too hard to remember. In canned food, dairy and eggs, I look for organic first, and if there are two brands, I pick the one that has the closest source or distribution center. Organic canned kidney beans, for example, can come from Ohio, or they can come from Sacramento. I pick Sacramento. Sometimes there is no substitute for what I want or need. I still (sorry!) buy the non-organic Greek style yogurt that comes all the way from Greece, because all of the American mediterranean style yogurts I have tried are too sour. But I'm honing in on a better choice, and I think the Trader Joe's organic mediterranean style is going to work.

I realize that I'm speaking from a position of relative freedom of choice in terms of availability, variety and ability to purchase these items. The more we support organic farming, the easier it will become for these items to be distributed and more farmers hopefully will get on the band wagon, bringing prices down so that more people can have access to food that is good for them and for the planet. Don't you think?

Turnip Triumph

Turnips are somewhat of a mystery to me. I don't think I ate a single one growing up, so it took me a while to confidently identify them in the veggie box. Still a little shaky if I have rutabagas in there, too. Turnips smell a little bit like radishes, but are, except for the tiny white Tokyo turnips, bigger. I think. (Note: Here's what Brian Lee, of Riverdog Farm advises: Regarding root vegetables: Turnips and Rutabagas can be prepared in similar fashion, but the flavors are distinct. Rutabagas usually have a purplish top with a beige bottom half (not to be confused with the purple top turnip which has a near white bottom half). Rutabagas generally are more elongated than the squat, round turnip roots. Finally, rutabagas tend to have a sweet, smoky flavor.)

Last night, I was sure that the scarlet beauty turnips were indeed turnips. I washed them and cut off the tops. I halved or quartered the turnips, according to size, and sliced them about a quarter inch thick. The tops were chopped to roughly one half inch pieces, toughest stems discarded.

We sauteed the turnip pieces in a little butter, added about two teaspoons Better than Bouillon mixed with 1/4 cup hot water. Monty threw in a half teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt, and I threw in another tablespoon of butter. When the turnips themselves were just short of tender, the tops went in and were cooked until wilted. They came out very pretty pale pink mixed with the green stems. (Lovely for Valentine's Day next week.) They were also mighty tasty. Give 'em a try.

A Few Words About the Election

Listen up, Democrats and Independents: no matter who you voted/caucused for in the primaries, the time is going to come to join forces. When it comes time to choose a candidate, it is going to be very important to commit to whomever the party selects, in order to defeat a strongly supported Republican candidate. Whether you like Hillary or Barack, they, and we, need to put aside our strong feelings for one or the other and support the chosen candidate. Allowing ourselves to be divided puts us right where the Republicans need us to be in order to continue on the same conservative, destructive, corporation-coddling, have-and-have-nots path we are already on.

Personally, I am pretty cynical about elections. As far as I'm concerned, at this early stage, we're just electing a different bus driver to drive the same old, gas-guzzling dinosaur of a bus. For the most part, the status quo will be maintained. The next president, should he or she be able to sustain two terms, might be able to get some retrofitting done on the bus, and possibly change its direction a little. It's too soon to tell, amid the dancing with Ellen, pointless name calling and aspirational oration, whether either of these people has the vision and the courage to actually make the changes they speak of happen, and whether we, as a country, can summon up enough energy and steadfastness to hold them to their promises and shape their leadership.

The nation cannot endure another George W. Bush.

Either Democratic candidate will make history the day he or she is elected. I want a president who will make history better.

If you're not registered, register. If you're undecided, decide. If the Democratic party doesn't pick your candidate, support the candidate they choose. Push and don't stop pushing until we turn this goddamn bus around.

Recent Photos

There is a little, teeny, tiny coyote in the picture above, just to the right of the third y-shaped vine support in the left-hand row.

Online Site for Election Results

Here's the link for California election night results, which should be updating momentarily.

Cheap, Simple Chili for a Cold Night

Easy Chili

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey (optional)
1-2 cups diced zucchini or green leafy vegetable (optional- this is a good way to sneak in a green veggie if you need to)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon mild chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch of chili flakes or 1 squirt sriracha (to taste-- optional if you don't like your chili hot)
1 28 oz can diced stewed tomatoes (I like Muir Glen organic)
2 15 oz cans cooked kidney beans (or pintos or black beans)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1-2 cups water or stock (optional)


Tools
Pot
Spatula
Knife and cutting board
Can opener

Method
Saute onion (and optional vegetables) in olive oil. Add ground meat and continue to cook until veggies are soft and beef is browned. Add herbs and spices, stir to combine.

Add canned vegetables, including all liquids. Simmer on low for 1/2 hour to 1 day+, adding liquid if necessary.

From here, it's all you. This recipe is infinitely customizable depending on what you have on hand. If this isn't spicy enough, or cumin-y enough, add your desired spice. Be careful with salt, as things taste saltier when they cool. If you oversalt while it's simmering, it may be too salty when you're eating it. If you need more veggies, finely dice some carrots, throw in some frozen corn, whatever. Tonight, my chili has chopped bok choy in it, because we have extra in the fridge from the veggie boxes. I put in one head of baby choy.

Chopped cilantro is nice stirred in and fresh on top, as are the traditional accoutrements of chopped green or white onion, sour cream or cheddar cheese and cornbread. Or this easy wheat bread.

If you have dried beans and are starting from scratch, just make sure the beans are cooked before they get in the pot with the tomato. All the other ingredients are fine to cook with beans that aren't soft yet, but the acid in the tomato won't allow the beans to soften all the way. You can use the quick beans method at the bottom of this older post. This recipe can be made very inexpensively, especially if you purchase the inexpensive packets of spices in the Mexican/Ethnic area of the supermarket.

Chili is also very important to chili dogs, chili burgers, chili fries and chili nachos covered in cheese if you are entertaining a hungry crowd. It's all about stretching those proteins as far as you can. Chili nachos= 1 bag corn chips on a foil-covered baking sheet, covered with chili, sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese and baked until melty, topped with sour cream, salsa and chopped green onions. Yum. College food.

Note: always start your shopping in the vegetable area, picking up staples like onions, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and zucchini when in season. These vegetables are inexpensive and keep well. They can be diced and added to almost anything to improve the nutritional value. Buy a bag of frozen peas and frozen corn, too. I like green onions in eggs and cornbread and with potatoes. Steamed cabbage with a little soy sauce over cooked rice is a great base for dinner, with meat or tofu.

Starting in the vegetables puts the focus on the less-expensive and more nutritious fresh foods. This is from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Gradual Vegetarian, published in 1985. It shaped my shopping habits in college, and most of the advice still holds up 23 years later.

Yes I Made These in an Hour Cheesecakes

Individual Creamy Lemon Cheesecakes
(Make and bake in 1 hour, allow additional time to set in refrigerator)

Ingredients
Crust
8 double graham crackers
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp butter, melted

Filling
1 and 1/2 packages of cream cheese (you can use 2 whole packages for a slightly firmer cheesecake)
2/3 c sugar
5 egg yolks
1 lemon (zest for garnish, then juice- you'll need 3 T juice)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 large container sour cream (2 cups), plus one tablespoon per ramekin if you'd like to garnish with sweetened sour cream


Tools
Kitchen Aid with whisk attachment or regular whisk and a strong arm
Silicone spatula
Large deep pan
5-6 medium oven proof ramekins-- these hold about 1 cup
or 12 dinky ramekins-- these hold 1/3 cup
(or 1 standard cheesecake pan)
Optional food processor for graham crackers
or a plastic zipper bag plus a rolling pin

Method
Heat oven to 350. Melt butter on low heat.
Crush graham crackers in food processor or in bag with rolling pin. Mix in sugar. Mix in melted butter in processor or in bowl with fork. Divide crumbs evenly among ramekins, press down with fingers inside of a plastic bag or piece of plastic, or even with the bottom of a small glass.

In stand mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar thoroughly. Whisk in egg yolks until fully combined, add lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Mix again. (If you decide at this point that you would like to garnish with sour cream later, you can still take out the 6 tablespoons and the recipe will be just fine.) Fold in sour cream. (Ok, at this point, you can no longer take out the sour cream.)

Distribute the batter evenly among the ramekins. Place ramekins in deep roasting pan in the top 1/3 of a preheated oven. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the ramekins. Set a timer for 45 minutes. Take a look halfway through to make sure nothing (ahem, sorry) make sure nothing is cooking unevenly. If so, rotate pan if possible. If you use the smallest ramekins, they may need less than the total 45 minutes to cook.

At 45 minutes, check for doneness. The cakes can be ever so slightly jiggly in the middle and a little bit golden. (If making a full-sized cake, turn the oven off at this point and wait for it to cool-- the cake will finish cooking as the oven cools-- then remove to rack.)

Remove roasting pan from oven and carefully remove each from water bath with potholders. Set on a rack to cool. After mine had cooled slightly, I moved the rack to the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, for an additional 2 hours while we had dinner. Overnight would be nice if you have the time, but as long as they are cold, they'll be fine.

**Aha! I forgot to tell you what to do with the reserved sour cream, if you did decide you wanted to reserve it. Mix it all with a tablespoon of fine sugar and put one tablespoon of sweetened sour cream on top of each cheesecake, then sprinkle with zest from the lemon you remembered to zest before juicing, or one special little curl of peel, if you like. These are meant to be eaten directly from the ramekin with a spoon, rather than unmolded, but you know how I am. If you choose to separate each one from the ramekin with a knife, unmold onto a plate, and then flip back onto the dessert plate, THEN garnish, that is totally fine with me.

Adapted from a Fine Cooking recipe