Blush and Bashful

I've been lusting after this recipe by The Pioneer Woman for cold-brewed iced coffee.

I don't need 8 gallons of it, but I decided to start a small batch of 2 gallons. I bought an organic, free trade, shade grown variety promising notes of chocolate, nuts, and citrus. The grounds don't smell as tasty as other ground coffee I've bought before, but here's hoping!

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.

Here's yet another article to share: http://www.saveur.com/article/Our-Favorite-Foods/The-Ice-Queen

I've personally always liked iceberg lettuce. My friend Judy taught me to eat chunks of it to provide a contrasting crisp freshness to the greasy goodness of pizza. I'll admit to loving the wedge salad and while I've bought into the myth that iceberg lettuce is totally nutritionally-deprived, I think I may have to start using it again.

(This is also partially motivated by the fact that I just had some wild field mix that was oddly and unpleasantly grassy tasting. Bleh.)

On another green note, Swiss chard season's here and it is GOOD!

As ever, Ellen and Judy's Mock Thanksgiving party was a blast. Too much glorious food and the love and warmth of a lot of friends I don't see often enough.

I was pleased with the carrot cake cheesecake. I didn't pipe an edge on top (even though Jeff bought me some more cream cheese), but I decided to sparkle sugar a carrot on top. See?

From Food

I was pleased with it!

I'm trying to have my cake decorating be a more organic process. Instead of trying to pipe a decorative border onto this uneven-edged cake, I just let the whorls of frosting droop over the sides and did the abstract-y carrot on top. I wish I had darker green sanding sugar on hand for the top, but it was fine as it was.

It was really well received at the party, which was very satisfying. The most flattering thing was, Ellen almost didn't let me bring a piece home for myself. (There was like half the cheesecake left!) I finally convinced her to let me have some since I didn't eat any at the party! The marbling of cake and cheesecake turned out nicely, but I'm too lazy and tired at this point to snap another picture.

I'm starting to feel a bit like a baking peacock. I like to fan myself and flutter my eyelashes while people praise me. It's come to this, people.

In other weekend fun, Jeff and I walked around Greenlake and snapped beautiful pictures of trees and then we came home and I snapped beautiful pictures of Jeff and Brutus sunning on the balcony. It was a gorgeous PNW day and we enjoyed it thoroughly. (I'll share some pictures of that soon.)

And soon, we're going to go see The Secret Life of Bees. I know the movie can't compare to the book, because I really just loved the book. But I hope it's sweet and charming. And that I don't fall asleep during it, because it's not until 9:50PM! Eek!

David Lebovitz's German Chocolate Cake

( A lot of baking details. )

It was such a nice weekend with Jeanne. It just freaking KILLS me that she doesn't live here anymore. She's seriously made of WIN. We had a great time--late nights chatting with Jeff and making him laugh at our discussions about The League of Fantasy Boyfriends. We can also relate to each other as professional single women in our thirties--and that's something I don't have with anyone else. She just gets it. I love her. (I LOVE YOU JEANNE! *waves*) Also she made me another glorious pair of socks which I immediately put on--they're green stripes!

After Milo's awesome first birthday party, we went to see Mamma Mia with Kelly, Rob, and Jen. It was a squeal-y fun time. As much as I love my guy friends, this was a very girlfriend-y movie and I'm so excited I got to see it with Jeanne! We browsed at Barnes and Noble and I bought the first Charlaine Haaris vampire book. Then we drove back home, hung out with Jeff, looked at shoes and cakes online (because, duh) and went to bed.

Today we drove down to the public market for breakfast at Maximilien's. Mmmmm warm pastry basket. OF JOY. We then went shopping at Sur la Table because Jeanne'd gotten me an absurdly generous gift certificate. I once told Jeanne, back when she was completing her training that I was buying her dinner because one day she was going to be a very rich trauma surgeon and it made sense to butter her up now. Apparently that has turned out to be true. I got a cake pan of joy (9x13, FINALLY) and a chrome cooling rack (so I too can make bacon in the oven).

And then we parted company. Jeanne drove her rental car back to the airport and despite being tempted by a cab, I took the bus back. I was very lucky--the 10:30 bus was running 7 minutes late and I didn't have to wait until 11!

I walked to Safeway for the ingredients for vegetarian chili. The reality is, this is quickly turning into a vegetarian household. Jeff certainly doesn't demand that I cook for him or that I not cook meat at home, but for better or for worse--he's my Culinary Muse. (He'd look good in Greek draping and an olive wreath, non?) I don't have the energy to make separate food for us and I love cooking for him too much to give it up. No chance that I'll ever actually become a vegetarian, but clearly there's going to be a lot more veggie cooking around here. It's just so deeply unsatisfying to have food on the table that he can't eat.

And now I'm home and it's only noon. As tempting as it is to do sweet fuck all and nap with Brutus, I have some goals to accomplish today, dammit!

Here they are for my crossing-out-pleasure:

- dishes, and cleaning the kitchen in general
- deflate air mattress and box for Jeff to return to Kirsten
- tidying up the mess in the dining room from packaging gift bags
- laundry
- make room for the pressure canner in the cabinet
- make chili
- make peach pudding cake
- water plants
- scoop Brutus' litterbox


I am NOT going to sit around doing nothing. NOT!

Jeff: Did you want to grab dinner now?
Me: I can... but I'm not in a rush, are you? And actually, my stomach hurts.
Jeff: No. I'm actually not hungry yet. And I have a pretty bad headache. Do you have Advil?
Me: Yup. And, okay, cool. Let's wait then.
Jeff: Cool. Um. But I might fall asleep here...
Me: You know. I'm wiped out too, want to just take a nap first?
Jeff: God yes.

If he wouldn't have kicked my ass for it, I would have snapped a picture of Jeff napping with a bag of frozen edamame on his head. That or when he was using my boo boo buddy, which he found so soothing he couldn't even complain about its lacking in the butch department.

Eventually we trolled around Phinney trying to compensate for our mutual indecisiveness. We tried The Santa Fe Cafe and it was really disappointing high-end Mexican. It had a very inventive menu, although I'm not a fan of blue corn tortillas and they clearly were. We got a starter of guacamole and salsa which was okay. I liked the salsa but the guacamole was a little bland and Jeff was disappointed by the lack of homemade tortilla chips. (They were a little like Tostitos.)

Jeff got the vegetarian tamales which came with a salad, and both weren't terrible, but weren't good either. I got the chicken tortilla soup which I liked less and less as I ate it. It had big chunks of rawish tomatoes and onions and the flavor was sorta meh. It also was topped with red and blue corn tortilla strips which I don't like. I wasn't especially hungry which made it worse, I think. I had a few bites of its bland broth.

The best part of the meal was actually this hunk of blue cheese and French bread served bizarrely along with my soup. It was the creamiest blue I've ever had. Not too sharp and the soft French bread was really excellent. So not a total miss. Oh, and Jeff had a pretty fantastic house margarita. And their service was pretty flawless. Very friendly. Water glasses always filled. But, unfortunately, when the food is such a miss--you're not going to return.

I'm bored with all my food and trying to make a grocery list/meal plan for the week.

What are you guys eating for lunches and dinner lately? I don't even need recipes, if that's a pain, I just need some ideas!

I did not eat my turkey sandwich. The turkey sandwich that I brought to work yesterday, but promptly ditched when I realized it was Free Soup day.

I left it in the fridge, thinking that I would eat it today, though secretly rebelling in my mind.

THEN, I went and got a quesadilla today and just ignored the turkey sandwich in the fridge.

Tomorrow it will be too old for me to eat and I will throw it out.

Also, scenes from a disturbed friendship:

Me: You know. Other People think I'm terrific.
Jeff: Oh, I think you're terrific. Terrifically EVIL.
Me: You are a bad person and no one likes you.
Jeff: I know, I know. People just keep me around to feel better about themselves.