someone is a bad blogger

I'm not naming names, but someone forgot their camera all weekend, and thus did not capture a bunch of deliciousness. Someone will just have to describe, and hope for the best.

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I was feeling pretty low energy, but I still managed to pack a lot of activity in. Friday I was dogsitting Zeke, and we made a quick-but-delicious dinner of some frozen cheese ravioli's I'd picked up on the way home at Groceria Italiana. I used to get these raviolis a lot, but hadn't in probably a couple years. They're so good! And, so easy, and it feels like a very comforting home-cooked dinner, even though it requires very minimal effort. You select your flavors (I got one box of "cheese" which was a ricotta-herb filling and one box of "artichoke-gorgonzola"). Then you just preheat your oven, spread a little sauce on the bottom of your baking dish, put the ravs in (still frozen), then cover them with a mix of half sauce/half water, cover them with foil, bake them for about 45 minutes, take them out, sprinkle on a little freshly grated parmesan, make a little garlic bread (I used a Mancini braid loaf, also sold at Groceria Italiana), and enjoy. Yum!

After my belly was full I went to the Queer Songwriters Night, where I was emceeing the show as MC SweetE! The music was fantastic, I had the best seat in the house (on a couch in the front row with Barbara, Mags and E-dawg), and I got to make some announcements, tell a few stories that I hope were funny, and generally have a great time.

Saturday I hit OUTrageous Bingo with Barbara, Jr., Kramer and Kara. And, none of us won a g-d thing! I wasn't even close this time. Yet, it was still a heapin' helpin' of good clean fun. Afterwards, we went to Cattivo for a celebratory birthday drink with my pal Nicole. We got some pizza and fries, and they were really good. Plus, there was a fry-eating showdown between Barbara and Kramer, and that is some good entertainment!

Sunday was a day of rest. We had Barbara's mom over for brunch, and I made the cornmeal biscuits with veggie sausage gravy, and Barbara made some fried potatoes with spinach. And, the K-Bear found his new BFF in Barbara's mom. When she came in I was still cooking, and she sat in the living room. Within a minute, Caleb was on her lap. I think they both were charmed by the other's company. And, it was pretty adorable. In other dog news, I'd left a bag of stuff on the counter on Saturday night, and Barbara's dog, Mama, decided to help herself to two sticks of butter. Ouch.

We spent the rest of the day watching Harold and Maude, hanging out at the book store, and having an L-Word marathon while eating leftover biscuits. (I'm typing this while eating leftover biscuits, too).

Some of my co-workers at my current job are planning a little lunchtime shindig on Friday as a send-off for me. They're putting together a band to play a little tribute! So far I think there's a bodhrán, a sitar, a saw, a recorder, a fiddle and a singer (and possibly a bottle of whiskey). I love it!

ev-er-ry daaaay is like Friiiiiiiday!

Okay, so every day isn't really like Friday, but I am totally jazzed that today is!

TGIF!

Last night I met up with friends Beth and Alan who have volunteered to help me build a website for all the queer goodness stuff. It's gonna be so cool! I'm hoping it'll be ready to launch in a couple months, and then all my wildest dreams will come true. Totally. Also, Beth greeted us with a bowl of warm stew, perfect for a winters' night. She said it was an Anna Thomas recipe, but it's not in my (original) copy of The Vegetarian Epicure. But, it was delicious. Chock full of turnips and parsnips and mushrooms and brussels sprouts (my favorites!) and a lovely broth with a little sweetness from some wine and molasses. It was fantastic. I brought a loaf of really crusty, hearty multi-grain bread from Allegro Hearth and some grape leaves. Alan brought vegan chocolate chip cookies (also very yum!).

The weather outside is frightful, but I'm hoping that all will still be delightful for the weekend. Tonight is the Queer Songwriters Night, and I'm emceeing--MC SweetE in the house! I'm still trying to fine-tune (er, come up with some) funny banter, info about the performers, etc. If you have suggestions, send 'em. And, if you're in the 'Burgh, come on out! It's guaranteed to be a good time with Garrison Starr, Joey Murphy and Autumn Ayers performing.

Saturday morning I'll hit the Strip for a little Cafe Richard action, Saturday evening I will be getting my BINGO on (and winning One...Million...Dollars!!). Sunday morning I'm going to reprise my cornmeal biscuits-n-veggie sausage gravy for Barbara and her mom. Sunday evening I'll make some sort of dinner, but it is TBD at this point.

It's going to be a good weekend. I hope yours will be, too!

b-i-n-g-o

My people, I hope that I am coming to you on this Monday afternoon following a wonderful weekend for you. Mine was splendid. I spent lots of time with my Number One Gal (aka PYT, aka Barbara), checked out gay bingo for the first time (it was OUTrageous!), and did lots of good eatin'. I still think I need one more day (at least) for it to feel like a real weekend, but still. Good times.

When I was in middle and high school I used to play bingo with my Granny B on occasional Friday nights. She is a bingo fiend, and actually goes on bus tours around different states to get her bingo on. And, she's a winner. So, even though it might not be in my blood (she's actually my step-grandma) I thought I'd gotten in some pretty good early training. I'd been planning to check out the gay bingo for the past couple of years, and it just never seemed to come together. But, this week it did. My pal Jr. and I got there early, and were in a bingo frenzy right outta the gate. We bought extra packs of tickets going in, multiples of every special, a ridiculous number of 50/50 raffle tickets, and lots of snacks. And, then we ran into some other pals--E-dawg, Nat, Heather, Jess, Adele and Janice--who got randomly assigned to our table, and so we were convinced that was an auspicious start. E-dawg won a cool $50, but alas, Jr. and I struck out. However, on the final special, I was working 18 cards at once (which could potentially and literally make one crazy) and then I was one number (N46) away from winning $1000. I almost puked. And, then, seemingly in slow motion, the caller called out Nnnnn....Foorr...tee...sssuhhh...seven. Forty-freakin'-seven. One number away, and all was lost. Several people then called a joyous "BINGO!", and it was all over. I left considerably poorer (I'd gone a little overboard because I was convinced there was no way I'd lose). But, it was a really great time, and I'll be back. I've already made a table reservation for next time (six open spots, gals-about-town, just sayin'!).

Otherwise, I had a bonus breakfast on Saturday at the Original Pancake House (aka OPH, pronounced "oaf"), which is my secret shame and favorite chain, largely because they have fantastic grits. It's hard to find grits in the 'Burgh, and they do them right. I tip my hat to their grit-maker extraordinaire. Delicious. However, when I force-fed some grits to PYT, she scrunched up her face (and did a dance, shook a little...).

We also brunched on Sunday at the new Dozen Bake Shop. Outstanding! I had the Southwestern Strata. Divine. For real. I love this place. Really cute, great food, really nice staff. Kudos!

And, yesterday evening I finally got to try Udipi Cafe! I've been hearing of this place for a long while, and it was definitely deserving of the talk. So amazing. PYT's Aloo Gobi was the best I've ever had. I had a dish with "tantalizing gravy", and it was, it was.

Okay, let's do this thing again tomorrow, whatcha say, peeps?