fortitude vs. foible

Yesterday I succeeded in the water campaign (goal: 64oz, actual: 80oz), and I did, in fact, do a sinkload of dishes, but I did not, in fact, stay within my caloric goal range. I was brought down by the seductive lure of Ben and Jerry's cinnamon buns. It should be illegal. And, I also smoked several cigarettes, dammit.

So, half thumbs' up, half thumbs' down. I'm just a human bean. (My neighbor, Sherrie Epperly, had a t-shirt that said that when I was a little kid, and I always wanted it. It had a picture of two beans with faces. Cute.)

But, either way, I did make a fantabulous dinner last night. I thought Maggie was coming over, but she wasn't feeling up to it, but it worked out anyhow because this dinner was the bomb, and I was excited to have leftovers. I'm actually having a hard time not eating my lunch right now. But, I'm enjoying some delicious Fage greek yogurt (Total 0%) with a drizzle of honey and some water for breakfast (of champions), so I think I'll be okay.

I tried out a recipe from the cookbook I mentioned yesterday, The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley. I made the Tofu with Lemon, Soy, White Wine and Butter Sauce. Yum. This is one of the recipes I copied down when I was looking through Ellen's copy, and one of the first that jumped out at me yesterday when I was flipping through my library copy. It was really easy, and really delicious.

Tofu with Lemon, Soy, White Wine and Butter Sauce
from The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley

1 lb. firm tofu, slived into six 1/2" thick slabs [ek - I actually got eight, all the better!]
1/4 c. dry white wine
2 T. soy sauce, naturally brewed [ek - I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos]
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 t. honey
3 T. unsalted butter, cubed [ek - I used 2 T. to cut down on a little of the fat]
2 T. finely chopped shallot
1 1/2" slice fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 t. sea salt [ek - I skipped this]
pinch of red pepper flakes
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary

Set rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat ovent to 400. Lay the tofu in a small ovenproof skillet that will hold it comfortably without overlapping.

In a small bowl, tir together the wine, soy sauce, lemon juice and honey. Scatter the butter cubes, shallot and ginger over the tofu, pour the wine mixture over and around, and season the tofu with the salt and red pepper flakes. Scatter the thyme or rosemary sprigs over the tofu. Bring to a boil over high heat, then transfer the pan to the oven and bake for ten minutes. Place the pan over high heat, bring the sauce to a simmer, and simmer until it begins to thicken, 3-5 minutes. Discard the herbs and serve the tofu drizzled with the pan sauce. [ek - I was confused about the last part--bringing it to a simmer again after taking it from the oven. When I took it from the oven, the sauce was pretty thick, so I just turned the tofu, and let it sit for a few minutes, then served].

...

I made this with some mashed potatoes-n-chard and some steamed broccoli. For the mashed potatoes (I just made this up as I went along, but they came out remarkably well).

about 4-5 medium potatoes, washed and chopped into 1-2" dice (skin on)
2 large cloves garlic
about 6 stalks of swiss chard, stalks and leaves chopped
2 T. freshly grated parmesan
2 T. unsalted butter
sea salt and pepper to taste
just the teeniest bit of your favorite finishing oil to drizzle when serving (I used white truffle oil)

Place the potatoes and the garlic cloves (peeled but left whole) into a pan with enough salted water to cover them by about 2" and bring to a boil. Boil under tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and place into a bowl.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then add the chard and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender and leaves are bright green. Drain thoroughly, and squeeze out the excess water.

Mash the potatoes and garlic in the bowl with the chard, butter and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Voila!

...

For the broccoli, I just steamed it for a few minutes until it was tender and vibrant green, then tossed with a little squeeze of lemon juice, a tiny drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt and pepper to taste.

Yuh-um.



I'm dogsitting tonight in Squirrel Hill for a little maltese named Dolce. Since I won't be going home to cook after work, I'm thinking of justifying the java fried rice from Spice Island. Dare I?

is it lunch time yet?

I am happy to report that I met and exceeded my water-drinking goal yesterday.
goal = 64oz
actual = 88oz

Sweet. Now, the extended goal is to keep doing that every day (32oz down so far today), and add on an extra goal. Today's goal is to stay in my prescribed calorie range goal, 1200-1550. Yesterday my calories were 1838, so I need to cut that down a bit. Another goal is to do one sinkload of dishes.

Yes, baby steps.

I had my abdominal ultrasound today where they pressed on and photographed my gall bladder (which they think might be the offender), kidneys, spleen and liver. But, the tech said that she didn't see anything odd-looking with the gall bladder. Which is good since I'm rabidly anti-surgery (I had surgery about a year and a half or so ago, and I'd rather not do that again because it sucked), but bad because I just want to know what the hell is going on. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to talk about the results, so we'll see. Keep your phallanges crossed for me.

I just got a copy of The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley from the library. Ellen had it checked out, and when we did our hang-out-and-look-at-cookbooks-day I was entranced by it. I can't wait to dig it. It's full of recipes that have a meat and non-meat version so you can make them both simultaneously, if you like, to please the veg and non-veg diners at your table. I still won't make the meat, but I like the concept. And, he has some really great recipes, and lots of basics--which I especially love as I'm learning.

In non-cooking and/or health-related news, I went to see the new Harry Potter movie last night. Yeah, it was opening night, and therefore especially nerdy, so? What do degrees of nerdiness matter at that point? I had considered drawing on a lightning bolt-shaped scar on my forehead, but both ran out of time and suspected that my friend Roya might ditch me. But, we did see a few peeps in capes and such. Good times. And, the movie was awesome! I want to go back and read all the books and watch all the movies again now. I wish I went to Hogwarts. For reals.

I found this little gem on someone's myspace blog. I'm, like, so totally there!
Wizard Rock Concerts with the Carnegie Library
Celebrate the release of the new Harry Potter book and film with two free wizard rock concerts at Schenley Plaza! To learn more about the Carnegie Library's Potter Mania programming this summer, click here.
Tuesday, July 31, 6 - 8 pm - Remus Lupins help celebrate Harry Potter's birthday

Sunday, August 19, 6 - 8 pm - Harry and the Potters with Draco and the Malfoys

okay, baby steps.

Well, as you may have gathered from my whiny, morose post yesterday, I've kinda been down in the dumps. But, I got a really sweet email from Nowlzie this morning reminding me of the fundamentals and to take it one step at a time. So, I decided that I'm going to approach one goal each day, and then add on from there. Today's goal is to drink at least 64 oz of water. I used to be so good at this, but it's always a struggle. But, it's 1:01 p.m., and I have over half of it (40 oz.) down so far. Yay!

I'm also wondering if the down-in-the-dumps thing isn't a reaction to my therapist moving. Who knows? But, yeah. Baby steps.

Last night I needed--no, wanted--some comfort food. First I tried to talk Hurd into going to Spice Island Tea House for my favorite, number one comfort food--java fried rice (and then was imagining a trip to Dave & Andy's afterwards). But, she declined because she was going to the gym, and suggested that I make something comparable. So, I made Heidi's Millet Fried "Rice" (I made this a couple months ago, too, and posted the recipe here), and added in some broccoli, peas, and sprinkled on some of my baked shittakes. It wasn't as spicy and greasalicious as the java fried rice, but it was pretty good. I'd forgotten my camera card, but took a pic with my phone. So, the quality's not great but:


On the down side of last night...I bought a pack of cigarettes and two Heath ice cream bars. I figure if I make myself confess here on the blog, I'll be less likely to do it. We'll see. Thanks for following along with me, and for the reassurance--I can really use it right now!

In other news, hopefully the mystery illness will be identified soon. I went in this morning for my blood tests, and have the abdominal ultrasound tomorrow morning, and then a doctor's appointment next week to discuss the results. Keep your fingers crossed for me. But, the ear/throat thing did mostly clear up with the allergy medicine, so here's hoping it's an easy fix.

In other actual-good news, I've been doing well at the saving! Barring any disasters, I'm hoping that I'll have $400 at the end of the month! Who knew I could do that?!

Hmmm...it wouldn't let me post a title. What's up with that? Is this program tired of my uninspired blog titles? Well, it probably knew what it was talking about because I didn't have anything good today either.

I need to confess something, and hope that in confessing it will get me back on track. 'Cause that's the confession. I'm off track, and have been for a while. I plateaued over a month ago, and instead of kicking the exercise up a notch and cutting down on calories, I did the opposite and justified it because I quit smoking. But, then I smoked while I was at the beach, and since then have been smoking off and on, here and there. I haven't been feeling well for a while, and have used that as an excuse, too. Ugh. It feels like starting over again. But, I can't keep getting on the scale and seeing 214 and 212 every day. I'm so close to crossing that 200 pound mark, and I really want to! Why am I stalling? Why won't I make myself drink more water? Why do I justify eating ice cream? And, why is my apartment getting disgusting again?

Blah.

weekends, i love you.

This weekend was so fun that I'm not even really feeling that bitter about it being Monday! I like my weekends with a little laying about and a little bit action-packed. This one did not disappoint.

Friday I met up with Lauren to meet one of the dogs she sits for because I'm going to fill in for her this weekend. I had some time to kill before I met up with them after work, so I went to Trader Joes and got a couple of things and flirted withe some of their cute dykployees. Always a good time. Then, met up with Lauren and Dolce (a lil' maltese), and we took a little walk in the park and hung out for a bit. Then I went home, made a big salad with some jalapeno chips and mango salsa on the side (chips from TJ's, mango salsa from Reyna), watched a movie (Fixing Frank, 4 stars), pet and scratched and massaged the China-Bear and the K-Bear and we all passed out around 10:30. Good times.

Then, I was up at the cracka on Saturday because E-dawg and I were headed off for our raw milk roadtrip. We took a lovely drive (well, it was on 28 which isn't all that lovely, but still) out to Worthington to Le-Ara Holsteins/Wilson Farms. It's owned by two sisters, and we met Lara who I'd been emailing with. She's the cutest lady-farmer in all the land! And, they're planning on expanding into making a bottling facility so that they would be able to sell the raw milk in stores (like, the co-op, WF, etc.). It was a sweet little farm, and the cows seemed happy and clean (E's mom was concerned about them being clean), and with a gajillion barn cats hanging out looking cute (and also clean).



Then, we drove back to the 'Burgh, hung out for a while at Beleza, then in the courtyard at Zeke's house (where I was dogsitting) and shared cook books and recipes until we were hungry enough to warrant a salad. Nerdy and delicious. My favorite.

After E-dawg left, Zeke and I took a big walk and then just chilled out around the house, read, played around on the internet. Then I made a big ol' pile of Eric Gower's Breakaway Fries and watched some tv (cable!). But, he said that his are done in 5-7 minutes. Mine were more like 20-25 minutes. Hmmm. I forgot to take a picture, but they were freakin' awesome and very easy. I used four large potatoes cut into shoestrings. Heated 1 T. butter with 1 T. olive oil in a large skillet and added about 1 t. of chipotle chili powder. Pan fried them until they were golden brown and crispy-ish, and then shook on a bunch of paprika salt (just paprika pulverized with some coarse sea salt). Served it with a dollop of ketchup and a dollop of mayo. Not light, but mmm, mmm good.

Sunday morning Ellen and Kara came over for a raw milk waffle brunch. We were still at Zeke's house, so had the awesome courtyard for an al fresco brunch. Our menu was:
-coffee with raw milk and sugar
-orange juice
-wholewheat "almost as good as buttermilk" waffles, made with raw milk (I forgot to bring this recipe, but I'll try to remember it tomorrow--from Doggie's recipe from the beach)
-waffle toppings: ricotta cheese, sliced strawberries, the most gorgeous raspberries I've ever seen that Ellen foraged in the North Side, maple syrup and Richard's "country honey"
-Kara's tomatoes stuffed with an avocado-melon salad (I'm having the leftovers of this for lunch today!) with lemon cucumbers and watercress (was that watercress?)

Hot damn. That was some good eatin'!





Wow, that was good. I wish I had another waffle right now.

Then, E-dawg and hit up the Riverview Park pool (home of our favorite graffiti: "you know you eat shit") to cool off, then I met up with The Gooch for a Scrabble Showdown. She beat me. Again. I cannot abide this.

I had plans to check out the Fair Is Fair show last night to see some jazzercizing quipsters and other fun times, but I was pooped by then. Plus, Sunday nights are for relaxing, right? I went home and hung with my babies, watched the second half of a movie I'd started on Friday night (The Devil's Backbone, 3 stars), then hung with Zeke, read and went to bed early.


Ahhhh. I feel super today.

my newest love

I'd been hesitant to post about my newest love because I have his book from the library, and there's only one copy in circulation, and I want to keep it forever. But, I just checked the library site, and now there's a dang hold on my copy so I won't be able to renew it. Crap. Buying new books does not fit into the budget, but I'm in love with this chef and his cookbook. Whoever has the hold on this book--a pox upon you!

So, anyway, the book is The Breakaway Cook by Eric Gower.

Last night I made two of the recipes from his book. The Edamame Salad with Pickled Ginger, Maccha Salt and Roasted Almonds and the Crispy, Tangy Tofu. Holy cow. Both were amazing. Very light and perfect for a summer dinner. I made them, and took them over to Maggie's with a jug of my homebrewed kombucha. Yum.


Eric's whole philosophy of "breakaway cooking" is that:

A breakaway cook is, above all, someone who loves great home cooking without excessive fuss – it’s all about keeping things very simple and accessible. Simplicity is what distinguishes breakaway cooking from fusion food, which often muddies the waters with needless and excessive complexity. Breakaway cooking reaches all over the globe for inspiration and ingredients to produce easy, no-fuss food. The flavors are bright and fresh, and the ideas are simple yet sweeping.

Breakaway cooks aren’t fancy restaurant chefs trying to achieve cutting-edge or trendy results. They typically work solo, or if they’re very lucky sometimes have a friend or family member to help out, and they typically work in imperfect kitchens, with imperfect tools, limited budgets, and limited time to cook.

A breakaway cook is someone who's willing to take a culinary leap by combining everyday staples—chicken, eggs, common vegetables, pasta—with an international bazaar of readily available ingredients: miso, green tea, tamarind, chutney, star anise, pomegranate molasses, lemongrass, ginger and galangal . . . the list seems to grow everyday. The Breakaway Cook shows home cooks how to take these "global flavor blasts" down from the shelf and use them in new, time-saving ways. These intense flavors then get combined with the freshest of local organic produce, and are woken up even more with the liberal use of excellent salts, citrus, fresh herbs, and good olive oils and vinegars.

I love his style, and I LOVE the way those recipes tasted. And, they were really easy and straightforward. I had to make a couple substitutions/omissions, and it was still amazing. I'm especially down with his ideas of making flavored salts and vinegars as a simple way to infuse your cooking with "flavor blasts". I made his maccha salt last night for the edamame recipe, and used it today on some hard-boiled eggs with my lunch. So delicious!

Here's the tofu recipe:

Crispy, Tangy Tofu
serves 4 [ek: uh, this served 2 and I could've totally eaten more]
from The Breakaway Cook, p. 100

zest and juice (about 1/4 c.) of 1 large lemon, preferably Meyer
zest and juice or 1 orange
2 T. carrot juice [ek: i didn't have carrot juice, so just used water]
1 T. honey
1 T. soy sauce [ek: i used Bragg's liquid aminos]
pinch of cayenne
3 scant T. rice flakes or fine dry bread crumbs [ek: i used panko]
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of freshly crushed black pepper
1 block silken tofu, drained, then wrapped in paper towels to absorb moisture
1 egg yolk
1 generous T. unsalted butter
1 t. chopped fresh chives (optional)

Put the citrus juices into a small saucepan, add the carrot juice, honey, soy sauce and cayenne, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer while you prepare the tofu. [ek: i actually added the zest, too. when i read through the recipe i thought he forgot to add it, but i'd do it again. it made the sauce extra citrusy and delicious].

Put the rice flakes (or bread crumbs), salt and pepper in a coffee or spice grinder and pulse a few times. Be sure the paper towels have absorbed as much water as possible from the tofu, then slice the tofu along its "equator", creating 2 large flattish slabs. Cut each of those in half, giving you 4 pieces. Spoon the egg yolk on one side of each piece and evenly spread the rice-flake crust over them. Heat the butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and saute the tofu, crust side down, for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Carefully flip the pieces over with a spatula and briefly cook the other side, about 2 minutes. Pour some of the reduced sauce into a warm plate or shallow bowl and slide the tofu into the center of the sauce, crispy side up. Top with the orange and lemon zest and the chives, if desired.

And, here's the edamame salad recipe.

Edamame Salad with Pickled Ginger, Maccha Salt, and Roasted Almonds
serves 5 or 6 [ek: Mags and I each had two helpings of this, and I had one helping left over for lunch today]
from The Breakaway Cook, p. 66

1 T. unsalted butter
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. minced shallot
3 c. cooked edamame
1/2 c. pickled ginger (p. 38), juilienned [he makes his own pickled ginger, which I'm totally going to do, but I didn't have that ready, so just used it from a jar]
1/4 c. vinegar from Pickled Ginger
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced into irregular shapes
freshly crushed black pepper
maccha salt (p. 36)
1/4 c. roasted almonds, roughly chopped

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the galic and shallot and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl and add the edamame, pickled ginger, vinegar and avocado. Mix and sprinkle in plenty of pepper. Divide the salad among individual plates, dust each serving liberally with the maccha salt, and top with the almonds.

I can't wait to try as many of the recipes as possible before I have to return the book (on 7/18, you bastard! no, not you. that person who has a hold on the book). I will definitely be buying a copy of this when I'm more financially solvent.

In other news, I've been on a quest to track down a source for raw dairy. At the beach Doggie made some waffles with raw milk, butter and cottage cheese that were amazing. I haven't been able to stop thinking of them, so I emailed around and found a couple sources for raw milk and cheese (alas, no butter or cottage cheese yet, but one farm said they may start making yogurt soon). E-dawg and I are making a little road trip out to Le-Ara Holsteins/Wilson Farms tomorrow to pick up some milk. And, then she and Kara and I are making the waffles tomorrow. I'm getting some strawberries and ricotta cheese (the raw cultured cottage cheese was sorta like ricotta) and maple syrup, and Ellen's brining some of her friend Richard's country honey and some raspberries. Kara is going to make "something complimentary", and I can't wait to see what that is because she's an insanely good cook. Now, that is what a Sunday morning is all about!

Oh, and the kombucha. I finished one batch on Sunday (took about a week and a half to get to the acidity that tasted good to me), and started two more. I bottled what I'd made, and have been drinking it up (made about a gallon). It's not as effervescent as the stuff you get in the store (I'm thinking that's probably because it's mixed with fruit puree which gives it something to eat and build up pressure), but it's delicious and I feel good when I drink it. The two mothers that will come from the batches I'm making now are spoken for, and one of the ones from the batch after that, but if you're interested in making your own, just let me know and I'll put you on The Mother List.

a mid-week holiday equals an extra "monday"

I know it's ungrateful to complain about a day off, but still. It feels like a second Monday today. I was emailing with E-dawg about it this morning, and we were both feeling cranky. I freakin' hate waking up by an alarm. It makes me want to throw a temper tantrum, even though I'm not normally prone to temper tantrums.

But. But! I had a great day yesterday! I got up early and headed down to Morgantown and met up with Nowlze and B-dub for breakfast, then had a brief visit with Nowlzie's family.

Then headed out to Cooper's Rock to meet up with my family. My mom, step-dad, brother and niece all drove up to meet me for a picnic/hike/hang-out. Good times. Here we are!


I made some picnic treats to take. A pesto pasta salad with the pesto I made on Monday. Just used some pasta, toasted pine nuts, yellow bell pepper, feta and grape tomatoes with the pesto. Yum.


And, a beet salad. Here's a recipe I winged. It was good, but I also made some notes for next time, following:

8 small-medium beets, peeled and sliced into rounds
3 small carrots, grated
1 small red onion, frenched
1 handful of cilantro and parsley
1-2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
2 T. olive oil

Cook the beets, just covered with water, the vinegar, salt and sugar until tender (like, 20 minutes). Toss with the other ingredients, and chill.

NEXT TIME NOTES:
-use a mild white onion instead of red
-maybe dill instead of cilantro
-double the amount of carrot
-make a vinaigrette with the beet water, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, shallots and pomegranate molasses? honey? fresh horseradish?

This picture is right after I made it. The next morning it was all beet-colored. Both are pretty, but I loved all the bright colors when I first mixed it:


I also sorta made up a recipe for a strawberry tart after looking at recipes from a bunch of people. The crust is based on the Pastry Sucree Crust from Anna Thomas. It was very, very tasty, but I'd still change a few things for next time.

Crust:
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. butter (oops! i meant this to be 1/4 c.!)
1/2 c. macadamia nuts
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg + 2 egg yolks
pinch of salt

Cut the flour, butter and macadamia nuts together until it resembles a coarse meal. Separately mix the sugar, salt and eggs. Then combine together, and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then pat into buttered pan, and poke holes for steam to escape. Bake at 400 degrees for about 5-10 minutes.

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese (I only had Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, so used that, and it was good, but I'd probably use cream cheese or marscapone next time)
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 t. almond extract (couldn't really taste this, so either omit or add 1/2 t. instead)
zest of 1 orange
1 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 large basket of strawberries (and I used a small basket of cherries to make two individual tarts)

Cream first five ingredients together and chill for about an hour. Then, spread into the cooled crust and bake for about 40 minutes (put foil around edges of pan so the edges of the crust don't get too browned).

Now, in this version I actually placed the fruit and glaze onto the pie before baking, but next time I'm going to put the fruit and glaze on afterwords so the berries stay beautiful.

Glaze:
3 T. orange marmalade
1 T. freshly squeezed orange juice

Before baking:


After baking (still pretty, but would be so good with the unbaked berries--actually, probably would still bake the cherries, but not the strawberries):


My mom brought her famous butternut pound cake (my favorite!), deviled eggs and a bunch of stuff from KFC. I took some cake and eggs home with me. Here was my leftovers plate.


I'm actually having more beet salad and pasta today for lunch. Right now. Right as I'm typing this. Like magic!

p.s. big news

I can't believe I forgot to write about this in my earlier post. It's big news.

I had my last therapy appointment last night! I was discharged for being suitably sane enough to make my way in the world!

Actually, this came about because my therapist is moving to Portland. When she told me a couple months ago, we both decided that I'm ready to be discharged. So, we talked about lots of stuff, and about strategies for coping in various situations that may/will come up in the future. She's fantastic. The best therapist I've ever seen.

I started seeing her last year after my dad died and I was really depressed and struggling with anger at my mom, huge regrets, hating myself, issues with food, and all sorts of other ugliness. But, since November I've made some pretty remarkable progress, if I do say so myself, and much of it is due to my therapist being so freaking awesome.

I hate that seeking professional help for emotional problems still has so much negative stigma associated with it, and that people are scared, for a host of different reasons, to seek out help. So, if you've thought about entering therapy but are scared or unsure of what to expect, I'd be happy to talk with you about my experience with it. I'm not saying it's easy. It isn't. It's hard work, and there were many times that I did not want to go to my appointments, but I was always glad I did.

I was telling her last night about the analogy that I like to think about when I'm trying to do the right thing and grow as a person and it hurts. It's like when you're a kid and get growing pains. The pain is breathtaking at times, and it sucks in the moment, but ultimately it's a wonderful thing that you're growing and changing, and it makes the pain worthwhile. I think it works the same way mentally. Growth hurts. But, it's good.

I think it's time to dust off my personal mantra: opting for personal growth. Because it is a choice. It's a choice that each of us makes every day, multiple times a day. We often choose to stick with what's comfortable--whether it be right or wrong or whether it hurts us in the long run--because the unknown is scary. But, if I preface every choice I make--even the small ones--by asking myself, honestly, if I'm opting for personal growth, it makes the path a bit clearer.

Thank you, Lynn, for being an incredible listener, guide, mentor and friend!

hey! i'm ridin' around, ridin' around on it, hey!

The title of today's blog is from a song that a Hurd put on a mix for me last year about a girl that inherits a bike and, well, rides around it, rides around on it. I keep hearing it in my head because...

Yay! Guess what! I have a bike! My pal Marsha hooked me up with a free bike! And panniers! And, Maggie is lending me her bike rack! And, I'm picking it up today! Hooray! I'm so excited! You better believe that pictures will follow! Woo hoo!

I'm meeting my parents, brother and niece in WV tomorrow, and Drew (my brother) suggested we meet at Cooper's Rock. I love it. It's a great park right outside of Morgantown. I'm going to take my bike, and my little niece Savanah (4, almost 5) is going to bring her's, too. I talked to her on the phone last night, and she said, "I done got me some Barbie band-aids for my only self, but you can use them if you get hurt, too." Can you tell she's from WV? I hope I don't need the Barbie band-aids, but I appreciate the offer. In related news, I just heard that I will be getting a new niece or nephew in March/April!

In other unrelated news, I'm still sick. I'm not really sure what's going on. I've been getting nauseous and throwing up randomly for a couple months now, and then have had this cold and flu thing for a couple weeks. The doctors don't seem to have any clue either. They gave me medicine for acid reflux (which is weird since I've only had heartburn twice in my life), allergies (for the continued sore throat and ears) and an anti-nausea pill. And, I'm supposed to go in for blood work and an abdominal ultrasound this week. And, they kept asking if there was any chance I could be pregnant. So, my theory is that I have a petrified baby, or the next coming of the messiah, stuck somewhere all up in there. We'll see. But, really, I'd be satisfied to just stop having to throw up all the time.

While I was at the doctor's I asked for them to check my weight history and when the last time I was under 200 pounds. It was March 2002. Come on, girl! I want to break that line! I've still been hovering between 208 and 213. I'm so ready to move down. Of course, that means that I need to re-give up ice cream. Ouch. But, the bike will help, I hope!

I made some pesto last night for dinner. I thought about trying Heidi's instructions for How To Make Pesto Like An Italian Grandmother, but I was hungry and didn't have time for all the chopping. Instead, I did a quick food processor version. All amounts are approximate. Vary based on your tastes:

2 c. basil (like, smashed down into the cup)
1/4 c. mint leaves
1-2 cloves garlic (I used one because it was pretty big)
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 c. olive oil
1/3 c. freshly grated parmesan or pecorino romano (I went with the romano because it's less expensive)
1/3 c. toasted pine nuts
sea salt and pepper

I made some fresh pasta that I got at Penn Mac on Saturday, but I can't remember what flavor I got. I'm thinking it might have been a basil-lemon? (do you remember, e-dawg? i remember that you got rosemary, but what did i get??). Anyway, yeah, I had it with pasta, and sprinkled on some more toasted pine nuts and some of the baked shittakes. Yum. That is some fantastic freshness.


And, I still have about 1/2 c. left. I'm having visions of pizzas and sandwiches and eating it with a spoon. I love pesto!

why do mondays always come so quick?

Okay. I have realized that this blog is turning into a 10% celebration of weekends and a 90% bitchfest about the weekdays. I would like to say that this will stop, but I cannot. Weekends are where it's at and way too short, and it makes me wanna squeeze someone's face in anger when they're over. I just read on Wikipedia that Mondayitis is a real disease! Well, something like that:

Many people claim that the "condition" is in fact a diagnosable illness based on the human circadian rhythm being incompatible with a 40-hour work week. However, the medical credibility of the condition is a matter of debate.

Anyway. Yeah. Boo for Monday.

But, the weekend was freakin' lovely, wasn't it? Friday evening I was finishing up dog-sitting with Zeke. I got off work early to go pick up my car (now with all four windows functional!), and shopped at the co-op--which took forever because I was on the phone with the Hurd, and her scintillating conversation was distracting. And, then went to the Citiparks farmers market and got some cherries, a slice of raspberry pie (dear lord. delicious. Sand Hill Berry Farms.), some basil, and potatoes. Then, I got Zeke, and we met Sandra and her little doggie-gal Talulah in the park for a nice little stroll and dogstravaganza. Good times. Then, I went home and watched Music and Lyrics. Whoa. Real bad. My uterus has horrible taste in films. But, a lazy night in with some bean-n-cheese-n-avocado soft tacos was a good time (and, I like a good time).

Saturday morning Ellen and I walked over to the Strip to hit up the Firehouse Farmers Market, Reyna, Penn Mac and La Prima. Now, that is totally my idea of a good time! At the farmers market I got some mushrooms (1/4 lb. of shittakes and 1 lb of criminis), some mint and cilantro, and some fresh horseradish. Those fluffy, beautiful flour tortillas and some mango salsa from Reyna. Some Breemster cheese, saffron, fresh pasta and dried fava beans from Penn Mac. A latte from La Prima.

I did the same baking of the mushrooms that I did last week, but this time I had what Ellen called a "mushroom off". I wanted to see if I could use other (less expensive) mushrooms and still achieve the deliciousness that the shittakes gave me. So, I went with 1/4 lb. of shittakes and 1/2 lb. of criminis. Brushed off any dirt, removed and discarded the stems, sliced them thinly, tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and ready, set, go'ed them at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes (flipping/shaking after ten minutes, then every 3-5 minutes after that) and tasting along the way, as per Doggie's instructions.

before (criminis on the left, shittakes on the right):


after:


I declare the winner to be....shittakes! Yes, they were just smokier, saltier, crispier and just had more depth of flavor. However, that said, the criminis were good, too. Just not as good.

But, the criminis still had a chance to redeem themselves, and they did! I'd been wanting to bake something since the weather had cooled down to a manageable temperature for having the oven on. I wanted to do some kind of savory tart. So, I dug around through some recipes, and found a recipe for Onion Tarte Lyonnaise with pastry brisee crust in The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas, the old skool edition. I added potatoes and mushrooms and forgot the cheese (d'oh!), cut down the amount of cream and increased the milk, but otherwise stuck closely to the original. It was simple and rustic and freakin' delicious (even without the cheese). It made enough for a 9" pie pan and two individual tarts in small ramekins. So, here's what I did:

2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
4 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. mushrooms, thinly sliced
butter and olive oil
4 eggs
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. milk
nutmeg, salt, pepper

pastry brisee:
2 c. flour
2/3 c. butter
salt
1 T. sugar

Okay. So, first I made the pastry crust. She describes it as the "shortest of the short crusts", and it is. It's very flaky and crumbly. I put everything in the food processor and cut it until it resembled a coarse meal. She suggested forming it into a ball and chilling in the fridge for about an hour, but I just pressed it into the pans, poked it with a fork, then chilled it in the pans for about a half-hour. It's too crumbly to roll out, you just have to work it with your fingers to press it into your pans. Easy, peasy.

For the tart filling, I sauteed the onions until translucent with a little butter and olive oil and s+p, then added the potatoes, and cooked on low with a cover for about 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, I sauteed the mushrooms in a separate pan with a little butter and olive oil and s+p for about 5 minutes. Then tossed them all together, and spread them out over the bottom of the crust (it filled most of the pan). While they'd been cooking down, I combined the eggs, cream, milk, nutmeg (maybe 1/2 t.?), salt and pepper. After the potato/onion/mushroom mixture was in the crust, then I poured the egg mixture over them to fill them up. Sprinkled with a little more nutmeg and s+p. Anna also had called for some grated gruyere (3 oz?) in with the eggs. I had planned to add an equal amount of chevre in little dollops, but just spaced it. Luckily, it was still tasty without.

Next time I think I will cook the potatoes a little longer over higher heat to get them a little crispy, and add the cheese, of course.

before:


after:


Saturday night I went to Cattivo. Someone (I think it was Lisa Campbell) put an idea out on the queer events mailing list to have a meet-up there for "The List", so I had to go, right? It ended up being a heck of a good time! Tons of ladies there! I'm bad with guessing how many jelly beans are in a jar, but maybe 150? maybe more? I don't know. Lots. And, I wore my fancy new dress that I'd gotten at the beach and was unsure if I'd ever wear. I liked it. This is how cool I looked. So cool that I had to pose with my sunglasses on.


Sunday I slept in, then got a call from Ellen for a coffee quest. We tried to hit up Beleza and Amani, but both were closed. And, right after we'd been talking about how righteous it is to have two coffeehouses in the North Side! Dang.

Actually, it ended up being a-okay. We went over to La Prima again in the Strip (and Ellen suggested that we pick a place each weekend to make it our hangout, and hang out there a lot, but only for that weekend. This was La Prima's big chance!). We ran into another local lesbian and had some coffee and chatted and eased gently into our Sundays. Good times. Then I went by Bobcat's new digs (super cute!) briefly to drop off some tart for her moving-in sustenance, then on to the Quiet Storm to meet up with my pal The Gooch for a Scrabble Smackdown. Unfortunately, I was the one smacked down. D'oh! But, it was still relatively respectable. 307 (The Gooch) to 301 (The Me). Still, dang. I was even wearing a Scrabble-themed outfit to inspire fear and intimidation. I was imagining myself to be some exotically plumed bird of paradise and was planning to freak her freak with my mere Scrabble-esque presence. So much for that. Then I was just left being a nerd. Ah well.

Then I got a call from The Hurd who suggested that I come over and join she and Ellen for yardening (sans yardening). Now, Hurd recently posed a question in the comments asking why our joint adventures rarely show up in the blog. And, the answer was that our shared adventures are seldom fit to print. This is not an exception, but here goes. We had a little wine, smoked cigarettes on the deck (I have to start the freakin' Chantix and quit again), had a kitchen dance party, smoked more, had an upstairs dance party to "Dick In A Box", may have engaged in some borderline illegal activities, then wrapped it up with a trip to Giant Eagle for Ben & Jerry's ice cream. We both wanted Willie Nelson's peach pie thingy, and there were two pints left. However, one of those pints was shoved all the way to the back. Hurd's solution? Have me climb into the freezer case with a package or Pringles to use as a reaching aid. Classy. (You like that Hurd?)