Tortitude

Got up. Cleaned house. Got a call from a raptor (not veloci). And then got myself out the front door to get some groceries for the evening.

I came home. Remembered that I should eat sometime before dinner, and had some very unsatisfying Safeway deli chow mein. I know. I never thought I would be someone who didn't care about food, but for the first time in my life I see it largely as a nuisance. If I could take my daily nutrition and calories in a pill form first thing in the morning, I would be ecstatic. (Exception: when friends are coming over, like tonight. Then food is a celebration!) Mostly I've accepted that all I want to eat right now are saltines, frosted mini wheats, and tunafish. I can also handle Safeway soups and salads. Weird, huh? Really not in the mental space to cook, lately.

So I unpacked groceries.Juiced a thousand key limes. Chased Annouk around for a bit. And then Sarah arrived! She arrived early because we were going to go to Greenlake, and poor Neel's knees can't handle that right now, so she came alone. But then her eyeball was owie, so we walked back to Safeway to get some Visine and Claritin, and decided not to further offend her allergies by immersing her in nature.

We watched the addictive Gotye video.That guy is so my current imaginary boyfriend. He's adorable in interviews, too. I started to get dinner together. On the menu: homemade tortilla chips, guacamole, steak and black bean chili, jalapeño-cheddar biscuits, frozen key lime pie. Thank you, Pressure Cooker, for making life so much easier. This was my second time with this adaptation of the Smitten Kitchen chili, and this time I didn't scorch the bottom of the pot to hell. I think the spices were a little intense, a little raw tasting, but overall I was okay with it. Next time I would add the spices earlier, like with the garlic.

Neel arrived. And then, as the best nights go, we listened to music, shrieked with laughter, I cooked, we all ate. We'd decided upon the most bizarre double feature ever--First Wives Club and Tombstone. Connected thinly by our love for both Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. That was too much fun.

Tomorrow the horror of laundry awaits, but as it's only two loads, I can't really complain.

It's been such a nice weekend. I think with the frenzy of socializing during the week, it's been especially nice to have some quiet time this weekend. It's gone alarmingly fast, but I'm not too worried since we have a four-day weekend next weekend. I'm thinking of bookending it with days off on Thursday and Tuesday because I have some home projects that are getting neglected by all the funtimes.

I slept in gloriously on Saturday and then went to meet my new hair person at ZeroZero. Her name is Estelle and she's sort of adorable. My cousin Mo told me about her, and her Yelp reviews were worshipful. I got my hair colored, and while I think it's a little too auburn, I am enjoying the novelty of my entire head being a different color, particularly one that is not BLACK. She was really enthusiastic with suggestions for my hair. She told me what she thought we should do, and then showed me a picture, and I really think it's an improvement. Also, I hated the shampoo/conditioner I tried from Mode (to the point that I'm going to call them to ask if I can return it--I've only used it twice) because it complete dried my already overly dry hair out. We got me a new shampoo/conditioner that I'm much happier with. So, that was fun. Also, and I don't know how this is but she charges $60 for coloring whereas everywhere else is like $120-200. So. That was exciting. She also specializes in coloring super dark, coarse hair--Asian/South Asian. And she got it to change color without bleach, which no one else ever has. It was awesome.

There was a fuckton of traffic, everywhere, on Saturday. So, I really did not want to go and run my errands. So, I stayed at home cleaning and it felt great. The day went by so damn fast. I watched some tv and read a bunch. We're reading Little Earthquakes for ChickLit book club and I'm making steady progress on A Clash of Kings as well.

I went to bed really early. SO nice.

Today was the day to do the things I didn't do yesterday--namely, laundry and groceries. It was one of those days where I'm super excited to go grocery shopping. My fridge was pretty bare, so it was high time to replenish fresh things. Also! I just bought these heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo (per David Lebovitz's rec) and they've already arrived! I bought a cannellini bean, a yellow bean, and these red beans. I AM SUPER EXCITED OMFG. I never work with dry beans because of the overnight soaking (or quick soaking required) method, but this is so exciting!!

I really want to recreate the flavors of that cannellini dish at Barolo, but all these cooking sites warn against adding tomatoes during the bean cooking process, because they're acidic. So, not sure if I must cook a tomato sauce separately and then combine? Because other recipes have you cook the tomatoes with everything else. Hrm. MUST EXPERIMENT!

I've soaked them and will have them for dinner tonight!! I'm feeling inspired by this cookbook that Amy T gave me as a spontaneous gift once upon a time, it's called The New California Cook. I've never used it before because there are ZERO pictures of the food and I need pictures to be inspired, dammit. But the recipes sound so good, and I am really in a California Cuisine sort of mood lately. Amy loves the cookbook and I also really trust her judgment!

Also, even though it's summer, I really want soups. I'm going to make my roasted tomato basil soup tonight. VERY excited about that!

I'm off to meet Sarah now for Greenlakea neighborhood walk* and then it's back home to cook!

* Sarah just called and pointed out that a sunny afternoon, one of the first nice sunny afternoons, on a Sunday are likely to be jam-packed at Greenlake. So we're going to do a less chaotic, but equally lengthy, neighborhood walk from my house.

Okay, I know the entire eastern side of the country is miserably buried in snow and we're having a mild winter, but my feet have been so freaking cold ALL DAY. And I'm not rebelliously running amok in bare feet either, I have fleece footie things on for once. I kept fantasizing about immersing them in really hot water. But then I didn't have a magic wand to make that appear, so.

I can haz spring?

Oddly, I am obsessed with ffwding to summer. I mentioned this to someone who said that maybe it was because we didn't get much of a summer last year. I'm dying for summer foods and they're just not available right now. (TOMATOES. I WANT TOMATOES. And I'm not even a big tomato person. WTF. I want to eat them sliced on a plate with some salt and pepper. Why?)

So, I made brownies. Because that is the answer to all woes. New recipe for me. (Test Kitchen.) Hope they are good. Will take them into office.

I'm still having vivid Black Swan flashbacks at night, which aren't helped by all the trailers for it that are still running everywhere. Also, I wish Sarah were here so we could play more Mario. We have a standing slacker-date for Monday nights, and it's beyond glorious. And that is all I want out of life. Mario with Sarah. And pizza. Oh, and cherry coke zero. But that's it. I swear.

I so desperately want a cherry coke zero right now. And we even have them in the house! But I'm insomniackish lately enough without pre-bed-time caffeine. BOO.

This being a grownup thing suuuuucks. I want a refund.

Poor entrée. It's almost never photographed. Ultimate culinary middle child syndrome.

But, to start: spicy cheddar straws

From Food

And to finish, Hot Chocolate Cake with Homemade Marshmallows

From Food

Have a fabulous end to 2009, and the best start possible to 2010 everyone!

Thank you guys so much for voting. the feedback was very helpful!!

My final menu is:

(I know. Can you tell I love Ina Garten?)

- Cheese platter/tapenade/marcona almonds/champagne-marinated grapes
- Mini steak and roasted veggie sandwiches on foccacia
- Roasted shrimp with chile dipping sauce
- Tomato goat cheese tarts
- Stuffed mushrooms (meat and meatless versions)
- Garden salad - roasted red pepper dressing, sunflower seeds, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes
- Dulce de Leches Brownies and I'm going to try an upside down pear cake. It's based on the Alton Brown upside down peach cake. But this time I'm going to try to do one cake instead of four minis and as always, I'm using pear instead of peach. If it's an epic fail, I'll have the brownies for sure!

And, if I can find mini popcorn boxes locally (it's too late to have them shipped) I was thinking it would be fun to make white cheddar popcorn and serve it in little boxes while we watch! Maybe if Pete and I decide to suck it up and go to see Benjamin Button on Saturday I can buy some from the theater.

And I've decided to give a bottle of wine as the prize, because I'm going to be doing so much cooking, I just don't want to deal with making another item. I figure, I foist my baking endeavors onto my friends often enough as it is!

As with anything trivial, it's fun to set a goal. I really wanted to see as many nominated films as I could.

( More Oscar Tawk )

In no particular order.

1. I'm making my mom's Aloo Gosht (beef/potato curry) recipe. It was my childhood and adult favorite meal (i.e., what I would want for my last meal). My mom would sometimes not have potatoes and would make it with turnips and I would HOWL at her, "WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME OMG THIS IS CHILDABUSE HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! EWWWWWW TURNIPS ARE LIKE MEMBRANOUS BAGS OF GOOOOOOOOO" and she would shake her head at me, laughing, and say, "I didn't have any potatoes!!" And I would carry on for like 5 hours and refuse to eat it and whine at her to make me something else.

This glimmering insight into my childhood should surprise no one.

Anyhow, as I'm cooking, I realize I'm having conversations with her. And it was really comforting. "Should I chop the potatoes this big? A little smaller? Okay."

I hope it turns out okay. I only have some vague instructions and nowhere near her skills. I'm letting the memories of watching her make it a million times guide me.

2. I am really looking forward to a chatty-chat fest with serenity_valley today. Schedules being what they are, we've had to wait to find a good time for both of us. AND THAT TIME IS ALMOST HERE! (Though I also really enjoyed the sneak preview call we had yesterday.)

3. Sarah is coming over for a Wii Play Date and then Tanielle is going to come, too! And I'm going to make the roasted chicken with yukon gold potatoes and carrots because I'm obsessed. But also I'm going to do roasted tomatoes to go with it. Yay! AND AND individual upside-down pear cakes with ice cream.

4. So, OMG. My childhood hero was Judy Blume. I voraciously consumed her books. They were a religion to me. Those books are probably what lit the reading bug under my ass. She just turned 71. She has a blog. And I went there to wish her a happy birthday (along with a lot of 7, 8, and 9 year old children), AND SHE WROTE BACK! It was the sweetest note!!

Thanks so much for your warm note.  I'm touched by how well you remember my books.  Readers like you have made my career, and I can never thank you enough.  If you have a chance check out my blog and let me know what you think.  I'm trying to add a new post every week.
Love,
Judy

That's right, bitches! Judy Blume loves me! I can die happy now.

Also, how much of a phenomenal badass is she? Blogging at 71? Probably still working on another book? I love her. I feel an epic re-read of everything from SuperFudge to Forever coming on. Too bad I can't include those in my 50 Books in a Year thing.

Hokayso. I have to go do things. And then I will come back.

AND OH YEAH IT'S A LONG WEEKEND, BABY! *AWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

(This is without caffeine or sugar. PH34R ME!!! *thumps chest*)

Holy shit people. Go. Now. Drop your pencils. Get into your car and drive to the store. And get the ingredients to make these.

As I've blathered earlier, I'm really getting into David Lebovitz's recipes. I just made these cheesecake brownies and was going a little nuts waiting for them to cool. And I just had my first bite of warm, gooey, cheesecake-y brownie. I may have died of joy. It's the rare recipe where I feel I can just tell that it's going to be good, but as I poured the rich, dark, bittersweet chocolate-y batter into the pan--I could tell.

His recipes are pretty straight-forward and easy to do. And the results are absurdly rewarding.

I'm just going to sit over here and purrrrr.

So, please. For the love of GOD. Someone else go make these right now!! Because that was seriously a sexual experience.

I wonder if I'm coming down with something. I feel so totally sacked out. And a little queasy. And parched. Bleh.

I did end up taking a nap, but not feeling much rested for it. Then I drill-sargented myself out of bed and ran to the store for the powdered sugar. And let me tell you --it was totally worth it. I would have died a little if I didn't get to make Jeff's birthday cake. The bittersweet-chocolate orange frosting's made and it's as tasty as I remembered. The crumb coat's on and it's chilling in the fridge. I'm anxious about having enough to pipe a border on top, but I think it'll be okay.

Dinner reservations are at 6, on the eastside. Brian is supposed to chauffeur us all in his car, but not if it snows. Oh, right. It's fucking snowing out there. Just tiny little feathery puffs that seem to be saying, "Yeah. It's THAT cold, bitches."

While the crumb coat chills, I think I need to take a shower so I can look semi human tonight.

And I forgot to hit Submit, so I'm now freshly showered and feeling MUCH better. The final frosting layer is on and the cake looks fine. I even have enough to pipe a border, I think. I just need to transfer it to my cake plate and do the final touches there. Whew.

I'm bummed that all the random events of the weekend kept me from spending more time with Jeff and Ni. They're off at a movie now, and I can't help but think if I'd done more yesterday, I could be hanging out with them now. Boo.

Today's tip: don't drink spicy v-8 if you're not feeling great. You will reflux v-8 all day and want to barf.

Okay. Must finish cake.

Fridge: Cleaned
Kitchen: Tidied
Pasta casserole for the week: Made
Dishwasher: Loaded and running

Still need to make the tangerine cupcakes but I've been hit with a sudden attack of the Lazies. I should at least go measure some ingredients and get that part of it out of the way.

Days like this, I really wish I had a sous chef. ("FranCIS! Grease 18 muffin tins and prep my ingredients!!") (No, I don't know why my imaginary sous chef's name is Francis.)

Also, because I'm still giddy and I can't stop thinking about it:

This is our president and first lady:



It's so nice to be so proud for once. (More awesome images here.)

So, I'm having Judy and Ellie and Milo over for brunch on Sunday. This is very exciting because it involves my favoritest activity of all: FANTASY MENU PLANNING.

I think I have it mostly narrowed down.

Fresh Orange Juice
Jamie Oliver's Potato and Asparagus Tart
Italian Chicken Sausage Patties
Salad with field greens, red bell peppers, sunflower seeds, carrots, and scallions with a roasted red pepper dressing.
Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Cream Tart (or possibly something else from the Bon Apetit issue that just landed in my mailbox)

I know there's enough starch with the potatoes, but I really like a bread-y component to my brunch. Maybe some toast with Jeff's pomegranate jelly? Would scones or biscuits be overkill--sweet or savory? I did just make these cheddar/scallion biscuits for NYE that went over quite well.

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