happy days are here again!

I'm still holding my breath and refraining from counting chickens until I'm actually driving away, which should happening in mere hours, but...I got a car!!

(this isn't the actual one, but it looks like this)


I'm so, so, so (cautiously) happy!

The process of shopping and buying a car is not pleasant at all (a serious understatement), but I've learned a lot.

Also, fyi, blue cars are chosen by the more introspective, reflective and cautious driver. Just sayin'.

Also, I am in love with my little XO laptop! And, everyone I've shown it to is in love, too. The nerds at my office almost staged a riot at my desk vying for their turn at playing with it. And, as a result of showing it off (both here and other places), several peeps are going to make the donation and get one for their only selves!

And, I feel better than I've felt in a week! I've still got the disturbing cough, but I'm feeling pretty okay.

Heck, at this rate, I might even get my kitchen cleaned up this week and do some cooking!

Last night the "Queers: They're What's For Dinner!" monthly dinner that I organize for the queer ladies in da 'Burgh. We have it at the Gypsy Cafe, and it's always delicious and a good time. If you want to get in on the fun for next month, email me and I'll get you hooked up with the deets.

In other news, I'm kinda obsessed with Buffy. I wasn't sure about it at first, but now I can't stop thinking about it. I should have a netflix when I get home. That's how I'm going to celebrate the new wheels. With Buffy. Now, I'm not obsessed to the point I was with Queer As Folk, and it hasn't made me want to do it to ridiculously hot gay men, but still. It's a good time.

back in action!

Woah. It's been some week. Delirious highs, staggering lows. And, I'm serious about the delirium. I was dog-sick all week. I was off Thursday all day from work, and took off early Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Phew! I'm still coughy and a bit tired, but I'm starting to be able to breathe through my nose and move around without getting dizzy and sweaty again. That is progress.

Also, I went car-shopping again today, and I'm cautiously optimistic that I may've found a car. I'll give details when/if it actually materializes. But, today I looked at cars being sold by individuals instead of dealers, and it couldn't have been a more different experience than the one I had last weekend. These people were nice, helpful and genuine. What a refreshing change!

And, then I came back home to find a box sitting on my steps. It was from my friend Alex, and contained one of these:


If you don't know what that is, it's an XO laptop. You've probably heard something about this program over the past couple of years on NPR, the news, and the like. The mission of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is to give children in the developing world laptops to give them educational opportunities they may never otherwise have. A quote from their site is "to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege." It's pretty amazing. And, they're currently running a promotion that if you donate the XO laptop, then you can also receive one for "the child in your life". I am the child in Alex's life. And, I'm so, so grateful that I am! This little machine is totally amazing. Alex is totally amazing. She's at it again, being generous and doing good deeds, all the way from Poland. (Annnnd, after some, uh, to-be-unnamed slacker never got a care package in the mail to her. d'oh.) You can find out more about this amazing organization, including donation information, here.

So, yeah. It's been an action-packed week. I also paid a visit to Hoi Polloi a couple days ago, paid up from the dine-n-dash incident (my not-so-secret shame), got some delicious cream-of-mushroom soup, a grilled cheese and some hot tea. And, some fantastic service from Hoi Polloi fella, Daniel.

And, the queer book club had our holiday meeting and gifty book exchange meet-up extravaganza this week, too. We'd read Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw, and had a great discussion (seriously, the best/most literary book club I've ever been involved with), exchanged our book-gifts, and picked our next selection--Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children. It sounds like a good one. (If you're interested in joining the book club, send me an email and/or post a comment with how to email you).

Peeps, life is good. Sometimes I forget that, and often I lose focus, but I do believe it. I'm lucky to have wonderful friends, a fantastic family, a good job, and now all the little things are starting to fall into place. I'm looking over the last year, and see that I made some significant progress, had some setbacks, learned a lot and am grateful for it all. Sometimes I get to feeling really low and small and frustrated and embarassed at feeling that I've fallen behind my peers in this ol' game of life. But, it's all interesting, it's all, ultimately, good. And, I'm trying, really trying, to opt for personal growth as I can. I want to recommit to the commitment I made to myself at the start of 2007. I'll post more about this soon. I'm still pondering. But, the overall feeling is that, indeed, life is good.

oh, lordy.

You know what? Yesterday I had the most hits on this-here blog of any day since I've started counting. I'm guessing it's because you, dear readers, hate used car salesmen as much as I do. In fact, with the reputation they've got, doesn't it seem like they'd try to correct that? I'd like to see some overcompensating used car salesmen trying to make good. You know, stuff like not ripping people off, not lying, not being total jerks. I'd buy stuff from them if they did that. Instead I'm just still dreading the next round out with the sleazy jokers. I will not, for sure, be stopping by Monroeville Kia. They can suck it.

I actually had to go there last night to drop off the car I was using until "my" car was ready. It took everything in me not to drive it through the ginormous glass display window onto the showroom floor. But, I didn't. I wanted to, but I didn't. That's just how virtuous I am.

And, now I'm sick. It actually started on Saturday, the very day I spent with all those a-holes. (Coincidence? I think not). But, now it's blossomed into a body-shaking chest cold/cough sort of thing. Yet, it's a dry cough, so it hurts, but is getting me nowhere. Except sent home. In the last few hours I was at work, every passerby suggested I get the hell out of here As Soon As Possible. So, I'm busting a move soon, and hopefully it'll be a quick bus ride, and I'll soon be nestled under covers, in bed. I wish I had some "Buffy", but the next discs aren't due from Netflix until tomorrow or Thursday. Dang.

(Ashley--aren't you excited I'm watching Buffy? I'm getting ready to start Season 6).

I set out some soup base (a veg/tomato broth) to thaw (the base from the "peasant soup" I made not long ago), so I think I'll just throw in some veggies and cook it a bit, and it'll be ready soon with little effort.

Now, if I could only whip up my mom as easily. That's what I really want when I'm sick. I want to be babied. By my mom. Accept no substitutes.

i hate car salesmen

Well, I thought that I was going to be writing about a tale of triumph today because I thought I bought a car on Saturday. I managed to get a car loan approval from my credit union, and spent all morning Saturday looking at cars, then spent all afternoon (with the Hurd, god bless 'her) negotiating, signing paperwork, etc.

I was set to pick up my brand new [to me] car today after work.

And, then...

Well, they effed me. The car isn't in sale-able condition, and the deal is off.

Never buy a car from Monroeville Kia.

I had other stuff to write about, but now I'm so depressed about this that I just need to go cry.

dine-n-dash

Oh, dang.

Well, last night E-dawg, Mags and I went to Hoi Polloi to check out the space, get a cuppa and a snack, and see how Sandra and Jessica were doing on their opening day. We'd all been there for a Halloween party when the space was still very much in transition, so I was pleasantly surprised by how finished everything looked! The gals looked a little exhausted, but were fantastic hostesses, along with Jessica's younger brother Daniel who is working there for them (and such a polite young fella!). (oh wow, just was checking the link I added above for Hoi Polloi, and see our picture's on their site already!). It's a really warm and inviting space, has a good mix of simple, wholesome offerings on the menu and it's in the North Side! woot!

I had a decaf coffee, a currant scone, a garden salad (which was truly beautiful) and a grilled cheese (which was perfectly cheesy and perfectly grilled). I can't believe I didn't think to take my camera to snap some pics for the ol' blog! Ah...next time.

In fact, we got so caught up in chatting and eating and enjoying that we left as they were closing, and uh, E-dawg and I accidentally dined and dashed. Sheesh. But, we promised to show back up for more good times and to pay up soon, and they promised not to send their henchmen out after us.

(Actually, they haven't actually emailed/called me back yet, so the henchmen are possibly on their way).

I only dine-n-dash friends. Awww...

Aiight, have a good weekend, peeps. TGIF!

simple is as simple does

Okay, so I was trying to come up with a title for today's post about simple food and preparations, and that's what I came up with. And, then I realized that I'm calling myself simple. Ah well.

Anyhow, I was just thinking about ways to make really quick, healthy-ish, tasty dinners. When I get home from work I'm often ravenous, and if I don't have leftovers for the day before I sometimes find it hard to have the patience to take the time to cook up something good. Tuesday night was one of those nights. I got home, walked the dog, pet the cat, and found myself staring blankly at a ridiculously over-stuffed refrigerator and pantry shelves thinking "I don't have anything to eat!". And, that was half-true. I didn't have anything prepared to eat, but I did have (do have) tons of food with lots of kinetic meal-stuff stored up inside 'em.

So, I first made a snack to tide me over until dinner was ready. Some of my leftover biscuits with jam. (have I mentioned that I love these biscuits?)



Then I scrubbed up a couple of sweet potatoes, poked them with a fork a few times (to let the steam escape), wrapped them in foil, and baked them at 350 for an hour. When they were done, I opened them up, and decided to make them into sorta twice-baked potatoes. So, I scooped out the flesh, and mashed with a little maple syrup (3-4 T.), a pat of butter (you could easily leave this out or use Earth Balance to make this vegan, unless you're a maple syrup-eschewing vegan, that is), a shake or two of cinnamon, ditto for cayenne, cumin/coriander (I have a spice blend that has both). I topped them with chopped pecans, and stuck them back in the oven for a bit while I was making my greens.

A couple weeks ago I had some really fantastic sauteed greens at Leslie's. I can't remember exactly how she did them, but this was an homage to that meal, and also because I love the word "garlicky".

Garlicky Sauteed Kale
(you could sub any green leafies for the kale, makes 2 big servings)

1 bunch kale, washed and chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with some coarse sea salt
1-2 T. olive oil
red pepper flakes
malt vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a skillet of medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook for a few minutes, but don't brown the garlic. Throw in the greens, and stir around to get all the leaves coated in the olive oil. Cover, and cook about twenty minutes, or until tender but al dente (time will vary if you're using other greens). Splash with a few shakes of malt vinegar. Enjoy!

It was exciting to have this really beautiful and easy meal with very little effort!


What are your favorite last minute or lazy evening meals?

Oh! Oh! Oh! Big news!

My pals Sandra and Jessica just opened their cafe, Hoi Polloi, today! Check out a great article on Pittsburgh Dish here.
They're serving coffee, veg food, smoothies and good times. It's at the corner of Galveston (if you want to fit in as a true NorthSider, you'll pronounce that: gal-VES-ton) and North Ave. North Side represent! And, it's walking distance from Zeke's house, so whenever I'm there, I'm, like, totally there!

Speaking of Zeke's house, he and I just decided that we're going to host a little New Year's Eve soiree. Just a small thing, but hopefully fun! Now, I need to figure out what kinds of snacks to make. And, what I can make early and freeze... That is what I call fun!

crankful

Crankful is how you feel when you're full of crank. Uh, I mean crankiness, not, like, methamphetamines.

Today the downfall of being a non-driver hit hardcore. Since I live in an out-of-the-way neighborhood there's only one bus that services it, and it only comes every so often. So, you gotta count on it. But, this morning, due to the cruddy weather and snowy roads it was late. Which meant that I stood outside in the bitter cold for about twenty minutes waiting for it. And, it also meant that I missed my second bus, and subsequently had to wait another half-hour in the cold for the next round. And then, I was on the bus forever this morning because traffic was moving so slowly. GRRR! Not the way to start a day.

So, in search of ways to elevate my mood I bused into Squill today at lunch to hit the library (a book I'd requested and wanted to read for a while, Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen by Julie Powell, was in), Dozen (it's raspberry zinger day) and rustle up some lunch. I'd made a similar lunchtime journey yesterday, and had a truly disappointing lunch at Uncle Sam's, so I was determined to Get Something Good today. I often go to Bangkok Balcony for lunch, so I thought I'd check out their sister restaurant, Silk Elephant, today. But, much to my surprise and disappointment, they actually have the same exact lunch menu! Is that wise? Having two restaurants within a couple blocks of one another (neither of whom is doing a brisk lunch business) with the same menu? I vote no. But anyhow, I ordered my usual, but then found out the only difference between the two eateries (at lunch, anyway), is that a level 5 spiciness at Bangkok Balcony is not the same as a level 5 spiciness at Silk Elephant. I'd put SE's closer to a 7 or 8. Ouch! (why does Silk Elephant have a website, but Bangkok Balcony doesn't? weird).

Harumph.

Also, I forgot my camera card today with my photos from last night's cookin'. Ah well. Tomorrow is a another day.

despite my best intentions

Well, I had big plans last night for cooking up some grub so I'd have lunch and dinner for today, at least. But, I got home, had some dinner, read a little, decided to flip on the TV just for a minute, and the next thing I knew my alarm was going off this morning. This guy was all worned out!

But, it made for an easy morning awakening this morning. I'm not even sure what time I fell asleep last night, but early. I feel pretty rested. (Except when I just typed "rested", I yawned).

I just checked Dozen Cupcakes website to find out the scoop on when their new shop in Lawrenceville is opening (January 2008, by the way), and found out that their going to do more than cupcakes; they're going to do all manner of baked goods, and even have a Sunday brunch! I love brunch! It's the best meal of the week! And, I have complete confidence in any Dozen venture. I think James, the fella in charge, is a peach, and their cupcakes are divine (my current favorites are the Raspberry Zinger and the Snowball). Plus, I also found a fantastic video they have on their site. Check 'er out! I love that there's a Dozen coming a little bit closer to me...now, if only the next-next shop would open in Troy Hill...

On a completely different note, any Euchre players in the house? Maggie and I are long-time players, and we taught the e-Dawg last year, now we just need a fourth. I was thinking of setting it up for some early Sunday evening(s) at my pad, making dinner, playing some cards, good times. Right on.

I just ran up to the library on my lunch break, and picked up a copy of a cookbook I'd requested, Fresh Everyday by Sara Foster. One of my favorite Pittsburgh food bloggers says it's one of her favorite cookbooks, so I'm really looking forward to it. And, I also stopped by the bookstore to pick up current copies of Food and Wine and Cooks Illustrated. I love, love, love reading cookbooks and food magazines. And, now I have more reading time since I'm busing it, to make up for the reading time squandered on the altar of the cable television.

In other news, I have two new favorite bands, but don't yet own anything by them. One of them is for babies. Like, literally. (But, I often share tastes with babies--you know, soft-n-fuzzy outfits, sleeping, boobs). They're so sweet. Renee and Jeremy (that's twice in this post that the inability to use ampersands on the blog client has stifled me! grr!). My favorite song is "It's a Big World". You can listen here. My other new favorite band is Beirut. Check 'em out, and listen here.

Okay, that's quite enough outta me.

ps. The Gooch is an international sensation!

You all might remember me mentioning my pal The Gooch every now and again (when I kick her ass at Scrabble)? Well, a month or two ago she started a website called One Cold Hand. This mission of the website is this:

“onecoldhand.com is a project that connects the Pittsburgh community through one unfortunate event – the loss of a glove. This site creates a method for dealing with the conundrum of finding these lost articles. Do you leave it and hope the owner comes back to find it? Do you pick it up? Throw it away? With onecoldhand.com, the abandoned object now becomes a symbol of benevolence and hope."

[coincidentally and interestingly, my friend Dylan has been photographing single lost gloves in NYC for the past few years, but they're not related projects].

So, she started getting some media attention in the local papers and stuff, and then it blew up! She's interviewed in the New York Times! And, will be interviewed today for the BBC! And, for various TV stations (she told FOX TV to shove off! heh!). Check out the site!

She needs volunteers for picking up drop-boxes around town, and I'm sure lots of other related tasks since she's all busy being famous. And, you can get stickers, too, for when you find some lost-n-lonely gloves.

Go, Gooch, Go!

car, schmar

I have to say, for my first car-less weekend, and weather that was not necessarily ideal, I had a heck of a good time! Friday I went about my shopping with determination and ferocity. I hit the co-op first, then the Giant Eagle, and then...well, by then the room in my backseat and my patience were pretty much gone, so I headed home. I put all the groceries away, made some breakfast-for-dinner and retired to watch some netflixes and cable. Good times.

Breakfast-for-Dinner was roasted potatoes, fried eggs and toast. I got these beautiful little local fingerling potatoes at the co-op. They were gorgeous! The flesh was brilliantly golden and the skin was red, so while I was cutting them up I kept thinking that they looked so much like peaches that my mouth kept watering for juicy peachiness, and then I'd remember that they were potatoes. Seriously, look!


So, I heated up the oven to 350, tossed the potatoes with some herbs de Provence, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and salt and pepper, and put them in for about 15 minutes. At that time, I took them out, tossed them again with some onions, garlic and fresh parsley and rosemary, and stuck them back in for another 15 minutes. In the meantime, I chopped up more parsley, and mixed that with some lemon zest and coarse sea salt, and topped the potatoes with that when they came out of the oven.


So, here's my breakfast-for-dinner:


Saturday was a lovely day! E-dawg picked me up in the morning, and we hit the East Liberty Farmers Market, which operates indoor year-round. It was small, but fantastic! I got so much good stuff. Check it:

l-r, clockwise:
sweet potato gnocchi, sweet potatoes, black walnuts, garlic (two kinds, one regular, one that's little and supposedly stronger, but I forget the name), turnips, dried sweet corn, brussels sprouts. Now, that's a good haul from a wintertime farmers market in the 'Burgh, you know?

Then we hit the Strip for oodles of more delights. I didn't photo them, but I got a bunch of cheese from Penn Mac (brie de meux, beemster, Black Diamond sharp white cheddar), some almonds, some baguette, some beautiful fluffy tortillas from Reyna's, and some treats from Cafe Richard. I got a spinach-feta-sundried tomato quiche, a couple croissant and a coconut tart. All fantastic. And, when I got home, I got a call from a WV friend, Jeffron, who was in Pittsburgh for a few hours, so he came over and shared my quiche and some of my leftover roasted potatoes, and we sat around drinking coffee and playing cards for a few hours.

Then Hurd and I hit the town early-evening, old lady-style. We went to Verdetto's 'cause Hurd had a hankering for their delectable mac-n-cheese triangles, but alas, they're not serving food on the weekends (whack). But some old guys bought us shots of some Slovokian liquor that tasted a little like Jaegermeister. Then, we continued our downward spiral by hitting up Donny's for dinner. Yes, you read that correctly: Donny's for dinner. (Thankfully) their kitchen was also not open. Then we rolled up to my 'hood, and went to Billy's. Now, it's only a mere five-ish blocks from my house, but I don't frequent it. But, we had a really nice time! We got some pretty good pub grub, cheap beer, and friendly service. I have decided that this will be our gang's new hang-out since I can walk to it. Pass it on. Billy's is where it's at.


Sunday was an inside day. The weather was cruddy, but I had cable to keep me warm. And, I've been craving a veggie version of biscuits and gravy for a while. Leslie told me about some gravy a friend of hers makes, and gave me an outline of how to make it. So, I made a recipe of Heidi's cornmeal biscuits from Cook 1.0. They are tender and delicious!

Cornmeal Biscuts [ek: this is not a "light" recipe by any stretch, but good enough to splurge!]
(from Heidi Swanson's Cook 1.0: A Fresh Approach to the Vegetarian Kitchen)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Into a large bowl or food processor, sift:
3 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. salt
2 T. baking powder
1/2 c. finely ground cornmeal

To dry ingredients add:
1 c. chilled butter, cut into 1/4" chunks.
Using a pastry cutter or 25 quick pulses of a food processor, blend until mixture resembles tiny, sandy pebbles.

With a fork, stir in the following until just combined:
2 c. milk (lowfat is fine)

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased nonstick baking sheet. Brush the biscuit tops with a bit of egg white and sprinkle with a dusting of cornmeal.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the tops and bottoms are golden, roughly 12 minutes. [ek - I got about 2 dozen biscuits out of this]

Yummers.

And, for the gravy, Leslie said that her friend Mary makes it by:

(from Leslie's email description)
First sauté some onion, garlic, mushrooms and chopped up frozen veggie sausage links (don't thaw) until nice and browned. Remove from pan. Then make a roux with butter and flour. Toast your roux for a few minutes over medium heat, then toss in a good sized handful of brewers' yeast. Toast in pan for a few minutes until fragrant.

Slowly add milk (maybe ½ - 1 cup…see how it looks in the pan, depending on how much brewers yeast you use), cayenne pepper (if you like a nice kick), black pepper and white pepper (I like a spicy gravy). Get crazy and add a little sage or thyme, if you like.

Stir until thickened, serve on sweet potato biscuits! (my favorite)

So, here's what I did:
Sauteed 1/2 an onion with a clove of garlic and about 8oz of white mushrooms (stems removed), diced, with a little butter. I added some (about half the package) Gimme Lean (sausage-style) and browned/chunked it up. And some fresh thyme. In another pan, I made a roux with some butter and flour, then stirred in some Brewer's yeast. You may remember that I am afraid of making roux, and with good reason. It always turns too thick and pasty and floury. This time was no exception. When I started adding in the milk, it just turned into a thick paste. Hmmm....so, I got a larger skillet, and warmed the milk in there, then slowly added little bits of the butter/flour mixture (the roux, sorta), and just whisked until there were no lumps and it was a nice thickness/viscosity. Then added in the brewers yeast, cayenne and black/pink pepper. Oh, and some freshly ground nutmeg! I love nutmeg in cream sauces. Then, added in my sausage-mushroom mixture (with a splash of marsala), and cooked it a little longer. It was still a little too thick, so I added a little water until it was the right consistency. Salt to taste. It is sooooooooo good! Exactly what I'd been wanting! And, I felt like a champ for rescuing the roux.


Seriously, it is so good that my stomach just growled writing about it, and I have more (yay!), and I'm really excited to have it for dinner tonight. The biscuit recipe made enough biscuits to share, and put a few up in the freezer for another time. When you heat up the gravy, you'll have to thin it a bit again with a little water or milk.

Expect more lovin' from the oven this week as I bought enough groceries on Friday to last me though the winter!