comfort, schmomfort

Well, the colcannon was a big, fat failure. It turned out more like spackle or papier-mâché or glue than a bowl of fluffy love. I'm not sure whether it was the potatoes (they were more sweet, less starchy) or the fact that I cooked them the night before (even though I rewarmed them for mashing). It may have been a combo of both, but I'm leaning towards the potato variety. You need starchy goodness, but I just wanted to both use up my CSA potatoes I'd been stockpiling for weeks and wanted colcannon, so I made a gamble. And, lost.

So, after I realized that the potatoes were glue it just hurt my heart that I'd already invested ten or twelve (smallish/mediumish) potatoes, three cloves of garlic, half a head of cabbage, a bunch of chard, a bunch of parsley, lots of grated parmesan, some half-n-half, some butter...well, I just wasn't ready to throw in the towel that easily. So, I came up with the plan of making them into potato cakes. So, I threw in a couple eggs, some more cheese and an entire bag of panko. I formed them into cakes (not easy since they were still so gluey), and fried them in a little olive oil. Guess what the result was?

Yep, glue cakes.

The flavor wasn't horrible, but the texture was grody. So, I threw the finished cakes in the trash, but was still left with a giant bowl of the glue. I called Schwatts for her expert advice. Guess what that was. She said, "Make a piñata?". And, then she settled down and shared her own tales of Potatoes Gone Wild, and suggested that maybe I could try using it as thickener for soup. So, that's gonna be my last-ditch effort. I'm gonna warm some stock, and whisk some in and see if that'll work. Otherwise, I just gotta bite the bullet and toss 'em (dang, and today was garbage day). So sad!

So, I went empty-handed to book club last night, but I didn't leave with an empty belly. There were lots of delicious treats--E-dawg's chocolate chip pumpkin loaf (yum!), Nat's baked apples (yum!), Hayley's madeleines (yum!), and all the other delectable treats that I can't think of right now. All in all, apart from the colcannon debacle, a delightful evening.

And, today's Friday! Woot!

Handmade Arcade is this weekend, and it's two days this year! It's this big annual DIY craft fair, and it's awesome-awesome. I plan on getting all my holiday shopping done there. Halfly because I don't plan on doing a ton of holiday shopping this year (down with capitalism, up with good cheer!), and halfly because there are so many incredible things to see and purchase (okay, so not totally down with capitalism).

Also, I'm getting a hair cut tomorrow. Finally. My head is looking like I'm sporting a mullet mop. It's so displeasing to me that it actually makes me nauseous. It's that bad. Yet, I'm going back to the same person that cut it last time. If anyone has excellent hair-cuttin' suggestions for the 'Burgh, please bring 'em on. My friend Beth once told me, "You should always have someone cooler than you cutting your hair." And, hey, let's face it, it's hard to get cooler than this guy.

And, I'm pet-sitting Zeke this weekend! My special little guy!

Annnnd, Slow Food Pittsburgh is having an Apple Festival tomorrow at the Union Project! Complete with apple pie baking contest and Johnny Appleseed look-alike contest! (I love this gal's blog, and she mentioned a while back that she's entering the contest. I'm pulling for her for the win! Seriously, her blog is called "Pittsburgh Needs Eated". That's the cutest name ever).

So, it'll be an action-packed weekend! Not so great for hibernating, but good for the soul, nonetheless. Hope you have a good one, dear readers.