it was a long week

Hi folks.

Sorry for the lack of blog fodder last week. It was a hectic and tough week, and all the extras (like, bloggin') had to fall to the wayside. I got a very sad fatal diagnosis for my car--which just totally blows 'cause I'm not sure how it's all going to shake out, but it could be that I'll be car-less for a while. On the upside, it's winter, and my mental bumper sticker reads: "I'd rather be hibernating!". So, I may not have much choice. Eh.

This also means that I won't be traveling for Thanksgiving. I'm sad to miss cooking with my mom and seeing my nieces and nephew. But, I'll have it all figured out by xmas (right?!?), so I'll see them then. Savanah (my favorite!) is really bummed. She said that she made me a "special Christmas centerpiece for your table, and you need to have it before then so you can enjoy this whole time!". It was so weird when she told me that. She's five. And, obviously has been possessed by my mother.

the good news, however, is that I'm going to have Thanksgiving with some friends, and Leslie is going to be cooking up a storm. And, she's an incredible cook. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to make those roasted brussels sprouts with cranberry brown butter I posted about a few weeks ago. Yum!

In other news, it was an action-packed week. On Wednesday I took in a show at the Warhol. My Brightest Diamond features one of my favorite peeps, bdub, on the skins. I hadn't listened to much of them before then, but they're really great. Shara, the gal behind My Brightest Diamond, has a truly gorgeous voice. Operatic, even. I went with my pal Tracey, and we'd tentatively plan to scoot out early since we were both feeling kind of exhausted, but it was too good to skip out. Good stuff. And, she's in Sufjan Stevens' band, and I LOVE SUFJAN!

On Thursday I went to the (not safe for workplace clickin'!) Girls Night In going-outta-business sale at Amani. I got some good stuff for not much scratch, and even won a special treat from the raffle! I hear that Karen still has stock to liquidate, so give her a holler!

The weekend was pretty quiet. I met up with the E-dawg parade for lunch at People's on Saturday. I'd also planned to hit up the E. Liberty farmers market, but didn't realize they closed at noon. That's okay, next week. The rest of the city farmers markets ended last week, but this one is indoor and stays open all year! I haven't been there yet. I can't wait to check it out. I was lamenting the long winter with no CSA and no farmers market, but it's gonna be okay. Also, the folks that run the CSA I subscribe to are having winter boxes. You can get on their email list here. The way it works is that they send out an email each week, and you choose whether to opt in that week (and get your delivery location). And, of course, the co-op will be there to supplement everything else.

Okay. It's Monday, and I actually don't even mind. I had a restful weekend, and it's a short week. (Work usually lets us out by 3:00 p.m. the day before a holiday, too!) Good times.

get your turk on

Hi all,

I just got this email from Carrie at Farm to Table regarding getting orders for local, organic Thanksgiving turkeys. So, for the meat-eaters out there looking for a bird, she's taking orders today only, so act quickly (most other local outlets for heritage and/or organic turkeys have already filled their orders.

In other news, I'll try to write some stuff later, but just wanted to get this posted because of the time crunch!

Buy Local!

.........
Sorry for such short notice! I have been very busy preparing for a conference in DC that I just returned from.

If you are still in need of a FRESH, healthy, great tasting, locally raised, organic, soy free, grass fed turkey – I am taking orders TODAY ONLY.

More information:

· Orders must be received no later than 10pm tonight. I will order a few extra (these will be on a first come first serve basis for those of you who did not receive this message in time).

· These are broad breasted white turkeys (not a heritage breed).

· Fed organic, soy free grain along with their grass and bug diet from being outdoors all summer.

· Birds will not come with a USDA certified organic label - only because the farmer will be processing them himself as there are no USDA certified organic poultry processors in the area.

· Necks and organs will be included. (if you do not want them please let me know and we will remove them for you before you pick your bird up).

· Feet are available on request (when making soup from the turkey carcass, adding the feet will make for a wonderful, nutritious broth)

· Turkeys will average 15-25lbs and we will do the best we can to fill any requested weights (but no guarantees).

· The cost is $3.00/lb with a $2 per turkey delivery fee. (I am not marking this up at all).

· Birds will be processed tomorrow – Friday, November 16 – and stored just above freezing until delivery.

· Turkeys will be delivered on Monday to my house on Ashland Ave in Mt. Lebanon. You must pick your order up by 9pm Monday night.

Turkeys are also great for all your other holiday dinners but you must purchase your turkey now as they will not be available later. I may be able to store some turkeys but will have to charge some nominal storage fee to do so.

Call me if you have any questions. 412-337-1671.

Carrie Hahn
bchahn@verizon.net

Hahn's Farm to Table

322 Ashland Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15228

this is you

Okay, it's not you, it's me.



I love it. If there is a fire and I have to quickly snatch up my most favorite things, I will grab it.

In other news, this guy is so, so, so crompy! I thought for sure the action would begin on Saturday, and stopped at a drug store and bought: a heating pad, a bottle of ibuprofen, tampons (eff divas!), pantyliners and a package of ferrero-rocher. The check-out lady looked at my stuff, looked at me, and said: "Normally I ask 'How are you today?', but I can tell how you are." Right on, sister, right on.

Strangely, my uterus isn't requesting java fried rice. It's see-you noodles she wants. She will not be denied (or defied)!

In other news, I'm reading a book (on a suggestion, like many of my reading selections, from E-dawg) called Women Who Eat, edited by Leslie Miller. It's a bunch of essays by women about food. I'm about a third of the way through and really enjoying it. Check it out!

Speaking of E-dawg, her b-day is coming up! She's doing a birthday run-then-eat. It may come as no surprise to you that I'm skipping the running part. But, feel free to send her gifts and accolades. If you wanna send cash, I'll collect it, and uh, hold onto it for safe-keeping. Happy Birthday, E-dawg!!

no fair

I have made no secret about my hatred for Mondays. And, that hatred gets ratcheted up a billionfold when there's a Monday work holiday that I am not privy to. Veterans, I salute you, but to everyone else: pppbbbbbbbbbllllllllllltttttttttttt! (aka, a raspberry).

But, the weekend was swell. Friday night I just had a quiet evening and watched a movie. Um, Ratatouille. Yes, it's a kids' movie, but it's also about a rat that's a chef. It was really cute! I give it two thumbs up.

Saturday I got my hair did, and actually really like it. So, crisis averted for now. I was thinking that I'd stop by the Apple Festival, but I got busy with other errands, and then went to hang out with Zeke, so I missed it (did anyone check it out?). Saturday night I sat in traffic for over an hour on 376E (while, remarkably, not freaking out. i mean, bummed that i was late, but no road rage), then went to see Persepolis (part of the Three Rivers Film Festival). It was amazing! It's based on the Persepolis book(s) by Marjane Satrapi, and I love the books. The movie was perfect.

Sunday I met a Hurd at Handmade Arcade where I found some really wonderful things. I got a couple prints, a cell phone charm that is also a screen cleaner (I've been looking for these for two years!), a print for my neice (of an inchworm. she loves worms or "wormies"), a t-shirt for my brother (of the "major award" lamp from A Christmas Story), some assorted cards, a couple buttons, my favorite vegan cupcakes (fell in love with her coconut-avocado cupcakes last year at Handmade Arcade), a book mark and stocked up on a year's supply of my favorite lip balm (I'd sooner be without cigarettes than lip balm. i literally freak out without it), and saw loads of peeps that I enjoy running into. And, the best thing I got? Hands down it was a little custom portrait of me. This guy, Reverend Aitor, had a little sign up that said "Unflattering Portraits--while you wait! $10". He said that the concept was that he was talking about those caricatures that you get at theme parks and stuff that are always kinda dumb and unflattering. He thought if you're gonna make it unflattering, you should just really go for it. His style is a little reminiscent of R. Crumb. The portrait is definitely unflattering. And, awesome. I'll try to scan it this week and show yinz.

Good times.

And, Sunday evening I went over to my pal Leslie's for "boyz night", which was gonna be beer n' pizza, but then she kicked it up a notch, and decided to stay in and cook (so, we renamed it "gay boyz night"). I grabbed a bottle of pinot and headed over (again, sitting in traffic for over an hour! Steelers! dang it!). She had a lovely assortment of cheeses, then served butternut squash crepes with sauteed kale with barley (yuh-um!), and an applesauce cake for dessert with caramelized apples and maple whipped cream. Dang. This girl is a whiz in the kitchen and an excellent hostess. And, also introduced me to Miss Leslie. Miss Leslie does not tolerate slovenly and vulgar behaviour! You have been warned!

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.

comfort

When the weather gets cold all I want to do is hibernate in pajamas with lots of blankets and pets and snacks and dvds and books and magazines. I am anti-leaving the house. Since hibernation isn't an option for my gainful employment I make do by cooking comfort foods. So, tonight I'm leaving the house for Queer Book Club, but I'm taking some (modified) colcannon with me. It's one of my favoritest, comfiest foods. I cooked some potatoes last night so I'd be all ready to go after work today. I'm adding in cabbage, chard, spinach, and also adding garlic, parmesan and some white truffle oil. So, even though colcannon might be weird as a snack food, I don't think anyone will mind. I mean, who doesn't like mashed potatoes?


Okay, that's all I got today, folks. It's been a long day.

ps. vote for Heidi

Heidi's blog, 101cookbooks.com was nominated for the 2007 Weblog Awards for best food blog! It's a close race, so go here and cast your vote!

hello, my lovelies!

How I've missed you!

Okay, actually I was having way too good of a time with Schwatts in York to miss anything. I didn't want to come home! First of all, it was just great to see my gal since I hadn't seen her since our beach trip. She's one of my very favorite people on earth, and I don't know anyone else like her. If there were any justice in this world I would be able to clone an extra to keep in my pocket at all times. Plus, even before she went to culinary school she was one of my favorite cooks ever--always beautiful and delicious food infused with love.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and we had some wine, ran some errands, and then came back home and made dinner. She made grilled pizzas--three varities! I was in charge of rolling out pizza dough, and she was in charge of making the magic happen. My favorite variety was arugula, pears, honey, olive oil and brie. Oh, dang. It was amazing! And, then we had a tomato-veggie version and a pepperoni-veggie version for her main man, Joe.






The next morning she let me in on her plan of attack (personal cheffing takes a LOT of organization), and we shopped, made sauces and then made ourselves a fabulous dinner. Firstly, I gotta say, I'd never made homemade mayo before. I've made vegan mayo, but never the real deal. It makes such a difference! We made a regular mayo and then an herbed aioli--which is one of the Best Things Ever To Touch My Taste Buds EVER! Seriously, rich, fragrant, gorgeously velvety. I'll never buy store-bought mayo again (unfortunately I *just* bought a jar of Hellman's). I could've eaten a bowl of it!

That evening we made ourselves a pasta dish with lots of veggies and a rich cream sauce (I've always been terrified of making cream sauces and gravies, but Schwatts let me do it with her guidance). It turned out so well that I forgot to take pictures! Suffice it to say, it was heaven with a side of garlic bread. For real. We ate it, and then both passed out on our respective couches moments after she said, "now, let's not fall asleep out here...".

The next morning we got up early and went to the local culinary school where she rents a kitchen (for her Jon & Kate clients since she can't cook there), and whipped up a Chicken and Veg Soba salad with peanut sauce, scalloped potatoes, roasted asparagus and crabcakes (with the glorious herbed aioli). And, I got to have her teach me to make a roux (for the potatoes), which is another one of those creamy things that I'm a-scared of. I meant, again, to snap some photos, but forgot until we'd already cooled and packaged everything. But, it looked gorgeous and delicious. It was so fun to get to work in a big kitchen like that, and so fun to cook with Katherine (aka Schwatts). I normally get all uptight if there are peeps in the kitchen with me while I'm cooking, but we worked like a well-oiled machine (well, I thought so, she might have been telling me to get offa her land! in her head). Then we stopped off for some giant and tasty burritos at a local spot.




That night for dinner she made a big salad (arugula, toasted pine nuts, parmesan, gorgonzola, red peppers, sugar snap peas, carrots, scallions) with a fantabulous pomegranate vinaigrette and I made some grilled cheese sandwiches on pumpernickel with triple cream brie and some hard farmers' goat cheese and, Schwatts' brilliant addition, herbs de Provence. It was heavenly. Really. The perfect meal.


I got to see all the ins and outs--the cooking, the scheduling, the writing menus, making grocery lists, cooling, packaging...I didn't get to do the delivery with her because they pushed it back a day, but it was all so much fun!

And, when we weren't cooking, we were hanging out with her fabulous fella, Joe, and their dog, Gus (The Gutmaster General, Baby Lambda--half lamb, half panda, Guttercup) and two cats--Natalie (who I dearly, dearly love and who has the sweetest cat face ever) and Goya (who is kind of a jerk, but has the cutest spotted back left foot and moments of pure sweetness).

I wish you could see her face straight-on because it is seriously gorgeous:


Goya, doing his every-two-minute ritual of being let in/out the door:


The Gutmaster General, and I don't know if you can tell in these pictures, but he is huge. Seriously, his head is at least twice the size of mine. He's a St. Bernard, and weighs almost 150 pounds. And, all those pounds are comprised of sweetness and love. He could be the K-Bear's long lost soul mate.
Here he is taking up almost a whole couch:


And, here's his glamour shot on the porch:


Speaking of the porch, it's beautiful. They have a beautiful home, and the back porch is very reminiscent of our porch at the beach, but even bigger and more beautiful!


All in all, it was a dream visit. Katherine and Joe are incredibly gracious hosts, have a lovely and comfortable home, anticipate the needs of their guest, and I learned a ton. I wish they would adopt me! Thank you, Schwattzie-Bear!

let the games begin!

I just had one good thing happen, one bad.

The bad is that I'm done with pet-sitting Emmett and crew for now. It was heartbreaking to leave my little love. All of them are sweeties, but EK + Emmett = TLA! For reals! For keeps!

But, the good thing is that when I went over to Emmett's house at lunch, Kramer met me over there with two hot vegan reubens! Like, two for me! And, they were pipin' hot! 'Cause I was supposed to get in on some reuben action last night, but I was exhausted from lack of sleep the night before and begged off to curl up on the couch with Emmett and watch a bunch of episodes of Weeds on demand. So, Kramer did a wonderful good deed by not letting me miss out on the reuben fun. These are the reubens she made last night for herself, Mags and E-dawg. That is a pile o' love right there if I ever saw one, son! Kramer is a reuben fairy.


Actually, I ate pretty well all day yesterday. For lunch I got some take-out from a little spot near my work called the Orient Express (that link is actually to a not-so-good review, but what I had was excellent). I got the General Tso's Tofu, and it was outstanding. Not the overly sweet goopy sauce I usually see, but a bright sauce that was sweet and spicy. The tofu was lightly fried and was the texture of little clouds. The rice was great. The veggie eggroll was great. Yuh-um. I'll be back (and yes, I did say that in an Arnold voice. so?).

Guess what I'm gonna do this weekend (actually Sat-Tues)? I'm going to visit my friend Schwattzie-Bear in York, PA. She has a personal chef business there, and so I'm going to be her volunteer sous chef (we're actually cooking for a reality show--"Jon & Kate...Plus 8!", so that pretty much means I'm famous by association. For real. No, really. For real, as in reality show. Feel me?). It's gonna be so fun!

So, you're probably wondering where the games come into this post since the title is "let the games begin!", right? Well, when I was parting ways with Kramer this afternoon she said, "This is gonna get a mention in the blog, right?". And, it gave me an idea. You, dear readers, can now compete to do wonderful things for me so I'll mention you/it in the blog. I know you're probably really, really, really excited right now, and may not be thinking straight in the moment so here are some ideas. Please feel free to mix-n-match and make up your own. Please also feel free to do as many as you can. Because, through the wonders of the internets and this-here blog, you Could.Be.Famous!!!

--foot rubs!
--neck and shoulder rubs!
--cupcakes!
--mashed potatoes!
--pretending to be me and going to work in my place!
--being my personal driver!
--buttermilk biscuits!
--your own perfected and healthy version of java fried rice!
--a lifetime subscription to Spice Island!
--items from my amazon wishlist!

Have a good weekend, loves. See you on Wednesday!

Have you read "Conscious Loving" ?

Actually, I don't even know what "Conscious Loving" is. I mean, yeah, it's obviously a book, but I don't know anything about it. I just read Craigslist this morning, and this was the title of a post in the "strictly platonic" section, and for some unknown reason it keeps running through my head. Maybe that's a sign from the babyjesus that I should read "Conscious Loving". Lemme look it up on amazon...

Book Description
Here is a powerful new program that can clear away the unconscious agreements patterns that undermine even your best intentions. Through their own marriage and through twenty years' experience counseling more than one thousand couples, therapists Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks have developed precise strategies to help you create a vital partnership and enhance the energy, creativity, and happiness of each individual. You will learn how to: Let go of power struggles and need for control; Balance needs for closeness and separateness; Increase intimacy by telling the "microscopic truth"; Communicate in a positive way that stops arguments; Make agreements you can keep; Allow more pleasure into your life. Addressed to individuals as well as to couples, Conscious Loving will heal old hurts and deepen your capacity for enjoyment, security, and enduring love.

Hmm...I'm not so much on the self-help, but if the babyjesus thinks so...um, okay. Still no. When I think about all the books out in the world, and how little time I have to read them I fall into the depths of despair.

I'm reading The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan right now for "classic" book club. It's so good. He's a genius. For reals.

In other news, SPELL was freakin' awesome last night! Richard was a hit (even though a woman said my chest hair looked "gruesome"! ha!), and I networked, chatted up some peeps, saw some amazing costumes, shook my groove thing and...met RuPaul! Super-fun.

But, then I couldn't fall asleep last night, and so only got a couple hours of sleep. I'm dyin', peeps! I don't function well without at least six hours under the ol' belt. I'm a mess. I've got a headache, my neck and shoulders are all balled up, I'm gassy (could or could not be related; don't worry about it), and--obviously--whiny. All I want is to head over to Shadyside, cuddle up with Emmett, and fall asleep for 3-4 hours. Is that so wrong?

Speaking of Emmett, I really don't think I'm going to be able to give him up tomorrow. I need him. He completes me. So, anyone have any dognapping tips?