I Am Not a Dumb Woman,
You Sexist Bastard
So, I have been in the deapths of moving over the last two days. Last night, around 8:30, I hauled in the second to the last vehicle-full o'crap and then proceeded to change clothes and suggest to mia madre, who is down helping, that we go somewhere for steak. About to head out the door, I said, "Do you smell something hot?"
Indeed, something was hot: the slightly defective oven that I knew had to be replaced within the next month. Somehow, it was turned on. And, even when we moved the knob back to "off," it stayed on. And got hotter and hotter. And neither of us could find the gas turn off, not that I had my toolbox available to get a wrench and turn it off, anyhow.
So, I ran next door to the neighbor's to see if I could get the number for the gas company. I knocked on the door and saw that the person inside could see me, and he just ignored me. Looked right at me and then looked away. So I ran to another neighbors, who despite the fact that I don't speak Spanish well and they didn't speak English well, managed to understand and get me the number for the gas company.
Well, the gas guy showed up and fiddled with the knob and goes, "It's off." I said, "No, it isn't. It will come back on. We tried the same thing - it seemed off but then it popped back on." He gave me this look like I was a stupid female and repeated himself. I asked him to disconnect it from the gas line. Which he did, but somewhat sulkily.
So, tonight, instead of relaxing after two exhausting days of movage, I will be going to Sears and getting a new range. And since I need a new gas dryer, I will be getting that as well. Joy!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Giving up on dating
So I am giving up on dating. What between the closeted gay guys who think if they can get married, their gayness will magically disappear to the those searching for a mommy who looks like a Playboy Bunny and will shag them silly on demand to the liars and cheats to the desperate jerks to the boys who are still babies at 44 to the asshats who think any fat woman should kiss their ass and give it up because they are the only ones who would stoop low enough to have you - well, frankly, it is just too damn exhausting and pathetic.
Honestly, it is beginning to look like the best path would be to find a good woman and go together to Lovers' Lane and pick out our favorite penis for $19.95.
So I am giving up on dating. What between the closeted gay guys who think if they can get married, their gayness will magically disappear to the those searching for a mommy who looks like a Playboy Bunny and will shag them silly on demand to the liars and cheats to the desperate jerks to the boys who are still babies at 44 to the asshats who think any fat woman should kiss their ass and give it up because they are the only ones who would stoop low enough to have you - well, frankly, it is just too damn exhausting and pathetic.
Honestly, it is beginning to look like the best path would be to find a good woman and go together to Lovers' Lane and pick out our favorite penis for $19.95.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Greedy Capitalist Bastards
I just found out that my cats have been eating one of those cat foods that was just recalled for having illegal pesticides and additives used to make plastics incorporated into them. As some of you may have read, these illegal substances were incorporated into these cat foods to increase the protein content artificially and, thus, lead to higher profit margins. These substances can lead to permanent kidney damage, kidney failure and ultimately death.
Now, my cats have been eating a special prescription diet for almost two years because my youngest has severe IBD and protein allergies. If he does not it a special hypoallergenic food, he screams in horrible pain and has the worst diarrhea ever. I have been feeding them this special food so he doesn't die and here I may have been killing him all along.
I am angry and disgusted and I hope these bastards who took this shortcut in the name of the almighty dollar burn in the lowest levels of hell.
Unforunately, every other hypoallergenic food available also appears to be tainted by this filth. The food he has been eating is made with soy protein - no animal protein at all (yes, I have vegan cats). And he mostly eats dry food, because the wet food is very touch and go with him. Almost every other cat food out there is made with chicken, lamb or beef, which he is terribly allergic to. I am about to try Leo on this Wellness brand food made with salmon, turkey, and herring - all of which I believe to be proteins he can actually eat. I am a bit worried, as it has some chicken fat in it and chicken is a protein he can't eat. I'll let you know if the screaming starts again.
I just found out that my cats have been eating one of those cat foods that was just recalled for having illegal pesticides and additives used to make plastics incorporated into them. As some of you may have read, these illegal substances were incorporated into these cat foods to increase the protein content artificially and, thus, lead to higher profit margins. These substances can lead to permanent kidney damage, kidney failure and ultimately death.
Now, my cats have been eating a special prescription diet for almost two years because my youngest has severe IBD and protein allergies. If he does not it a special hypoallergenic food, he screams in horrible pain and has the worst diarrhea ever. I have been feeding them this special food so he doesn't die and here I may have been killing him all along.
I am angry and disgusted and I hope these bastards who took this shortcut in the name of the almighty dollar burn in the lowest levels of hell.
Unforunately, every other hypoallergenic food available also appears to be tainted by this filth. The food he has been eating is made with soy protein - no animal protein at all (yes, I have vegan cats). And he mostly eats dry food, because the wet food is very touch and go with him. Almost every other cat food out there is made with chicken, lamb or beef, which he is terribly allergic to. I am about to try Leo on this Wellness brand food made with salmon, turkey, and herring - all of which I believe to be proteins he can actually eat. I am a bit worried, as it has some chicken fat in it and chicken is a protein he can't eat. I'll let you know if the screaming starts again.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Update
Well, closing has happened, I started painting, and have been packing and moving small loads over to the new place whenever I can. I have been taking pictures and will post as soon as I get a bit more recombobulated. I have been spending the last couple of days finding new homes for my koi as they are now too big for their tank. I will not be able to do any moving this weekend because of a wedding (dammit).
Pray for me!
Well, closing has happened, I started painting, and have been packing and moving small loads over to the new place whenever I can. I have been taking pictures and will post as soon as I get a bit more recombobulated. I have been spending the last couple of days finding new homes for my koi as they are now too big for their tank. I will not be able to do any moving this weekend because of a wedding (dammit).
Pray for me!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Fluff Posting
Well, the big push is finally here. Over the next few days I am going to be completely crazy what with the walking through, documenting, signing, packing, and moving type activities. Nevertheless, here is a fluff post to tide you over...
FIRSTS
1.Who was your first prom date?
I didn’t go to prom. High school was hell for me.
2. Who was your first roommate?
Some stuck up snotty bitch named Alison. She was very monied and I was completely fraeked about everything.
3. What was your first alcoholic drink?
Apparently, I had a wine cooler when I was about 16. I don't remember so maybe I had more than one....
4. What was your first job?
Not including lawn mowing and babysitting, my first job was as a summer janitor at Colfax High School. I haven't chewed gum since.
5. What was your first car?’
89 Dodge Omni
6. Name of 1st grade teacher?
I honestly have no idea…. It’s been so long ago! Did I go to 1st grade? I vaguely remember a lot of Farmer in the Dell and Frog Went A'Courtin' and kicking Ricky Hanestedt and not wanting to take a nap in kindergarten and I remember refusing to go to 2nd grade because "everyone hated me" but I remember nothing about 1st grade at all...
7. What was your first computer?
I had an Apple IIe. It spoke in the voice of Patrick Stewart.
8. Where was your first spring break?
I went to West Virginia on a service trip. I did a pseudo-Native America ritual one morning and freaked all the fundy kids out!
9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
From Chicago to Minneapolis for a conference at Carleton College.
10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
I never did this.
11. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them?
Probably Michelle Hanson. We still chat once in a while, but our lives are incredibly different and we have little in common now.
12. Where was your first sleep over?
At Judy Mizer’s house. I got homesick and puked everywhere.
13. Who is the first person you talk to in the morning?
the cats. Yes, they are people. Don't give me any lip.
14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
My aunt Nancy’s… I was a flower girl.
15. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
trip over a cat. Which is why I usually talk to them first. I am busy cursing them out…..1
16. What was the first concert you ever went to?
Peter, Paul and Mary (folk) and The Moody Blues (rock).
17. First tattoo or piercing?
I got my ears pierced when I was about 5 as a reward for being a good girl during my allergy test. The ear piercing was horrible. I cried and hid behind a toilet after the first hole was punched.
18. First celebrity crush
Probably River Phoenix. I remember reading about him in Vegetarian Times. Why we had a Veggie Times at my house, I have no idea…..
19. First crush?
Gary Evanson. Jerk! I think he is in jail now.
20. First girl crush?
Oh, I have these all the time.....
21. When was your first detention?
I was a goody two shoes. No detention for me. Although I did get a demerit once for kicking Chad Lee after he teased me so bad and threatened to push me down the stairs.
22. What was the name of your first pet?
Maxie
23. First Kiss?
was disgusting...
24. Who was the first person to break your heart?
Kavan Peterson, but it was good that it happened because it made me jaded and cynical so when my heart got broken again, it was hardly a big deal.
25. Where was your first date?
All my dates have been terribly casual, usually involving coffee or dinner. I had one date that was brunch… that was my personal favorite
26. Who was the first person you dated this year? I have given up on dating, thank you. I am going to be a spinster aunt.
Well, the big push is finally here. Over the next few days I am going to be completely crazy what with the walking through, documenting, signing, packing, and moving type activities. Nevertheless, here is a fluff post to tide you over...
FIRSTS
1.Who was your first prom date?
I didn’t go to prom. High school was hell for me.
2. Who was your first roommate?
Some stuck up snotty bitch named Alison. She was very monied and I was completely fraeked about everything.
3. What was your first alcoholic drink?
Apparently, I had a wine cooler when I was about 16. I don't remember so maybe I had more than one....
4. What was your first job?
Not including lawn mowing and babysitting, my first job was as a summer janitor at Colfax High School. I haven't chewed gum since.
5. What was your first car?’
89 Dodge Omni
6. Name of 1st grade teacher?
I honestly have no idea…. It’s been so long ago! Did I go to 1st grade? I vaguely remember a lot of Farmer in the Dell and Frog Went A'Courtin' and kicking Ricky Hanestedt and not wanting to take a nap in kindergarten and I remember refusing to go to 2nd grade because "everyone hated me" but I remember nothing about 1st grade at all...
7. What was your first computer?
I had an Apple IIe. It spoke in the voice of Patrick Stewart.
8. Where was your first spring break?
I went to West Virginia on a service trip. I did a pseudo-Native America ritual one morning and freaked all the fundy kids out!
9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
From Chicago to Minneapolis for a conference at Carleton College.
10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
I never did this.
11. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them?
Probably Michelle Hanson. We still chat once in a while, but our lives are incredibly different and we have little in common now.
12. Where was your first sleep over?
At Judy Mizer’s house. I got homesick and puked everywhere.
13. Who is the first person you talk to in the morning?
the cats. Yes, they are people. Don't give me any lip.
14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
My aunt Nancy’s… I was a flower girl.
15. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
trip over a cat. Which is why I usually talk to them first. I am busy cursing them out…..1
16. What was the first concert you ever went to?
Peter, Paul and Mary (folk) and The Moody Blues (rock).
17. First tattoo or piercing?
I got my ears pierced when I was about 5 as a reward for being a good girl during my allergy test. The ear piercing was horrible. I cried and hid behind a toilet after the first hole was punched.
18. First celebrity crush
Probably River Phoenix. I remember reading about him in Vegetarian Times. Why we had a Veggie Times at my house, I have no idea…..
19. First crush?
Gary Evanson. Jerk! I think he is in jail now.
20. First girl crush?
Oh, I have these all the time.....
21. When was your first detention?
I was a goody two shoes. No detention for me. Although I did get a demerit once for kicking Chad Lee after he teased me so bad and threatened to push me down the stairs.
22. What was the name of your first pet?
Maxie
23. First Kiss?
was disgusting...
24. Who was the first person to break your heart?
Kavan Peterson, but it was good that it happened because it made me jaded and cynical so when my heart got broken again, it was hardly a big deal.
25. Where was your first date?
All my dates have been terribly casual, usually involving coffee or dinner. I had one date that was brunch… that was my personal favorite
26. Who was the first person you dated this year? I have given up on dating, thank you. I am going to be a spinster aunt.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Words That Describe Yours Truly
A friend sent me a fun little game to play yesterday - the One Word Game. This is where you ask all your friends to describe you in just one word.... thus far here are the descriptions I have received of me:
A friend sent me a fun little game to play yesterday - the One Word Game. This is where you ask all your friends to describe you in just one word.... thus far here are the descriptions I have received of me:
enjoyable
eudaimoneous
brillant
empathetic
fun-loving
unique
giving
engaged
What's terribly funny is this: how people see me is totally related to our relationship. My intimates (family and lovers) see me as kind and companionable while my friends see me as eccentric. smart, and socially engaged, except for Blaise who believes me to be akin to a kindly otherwordly messenger somewhat like an angel but slightly more sinister.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Loves Me Some Surveys
1. Can you cook? Yes
2. What was your dream growing up? To be a T Rex or the benign dictator of a small country
3. What talent do you wish you had? The ability to transport myself hither and yon
4. Favorite place? Big Falls County Park
5. Favorite vegetable? Tomato. Wait, that's a fruit. Um, cabbage.
6. What was the last book you read? Firethorn
7. What zodiac sign are you? Pisces
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? None anymore. I let my ear holes grow shut
9. Worst Habit? Playing with tweezers
10. Do we know each other outside of lj? I have no idea. What is lj?
11. What is your favorite sport? To do or watch? To do: walking in the forest. To watch: men's backstroke and women's volleyball
12. Negative or Optimistic attitude? About what?
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Who are you? Don't come near me! 1
4. Worst thing to ever happen to you? Hmm, lots of things that seemed like the worst thing ever have become not so bad in retrospect.
15. Tell me one weird fact about you: When I was a little girl, I was convinced I was really an alien and that my real family was going to come and get me …
16. Do you have any pets? Here kitty kitty
17. Do you know how to do the macarena? No.
18. What time is it where you are now? 3:00 on the nose!
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? They're kinda stupid.
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? How long do you have
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Who are you again? And do you have any criminal talents?
22. What color eyes do you have? Gold hazel, but they are more green now than they were three years ago
23. Ever been arrested? No, but I should have been
24. Bottle or Draft? yuck
25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it? goodbye, student loans.
26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew? I don't chew gum. When I was 16, I worked as a summer janitor at Colfax High School chiseling gum off the bottom of desks. Gack!
27. What's your favorite bar to hang at? Um, hell no.
28. Do you believe in ghosts? Oh yes. 2
9. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Cook, feed people
30. Do you swear a lot? hehehhehehehehehehehehe
31. Biggest pet peeve? People who are always late 3
2. In one word, how would you describe yourself? bratty
Prologue
1. Where did you take your default pic? I will never tell.
2. What exactly are you wearing right now? Sweater, pants, socks
3.What is your current problem? I am feeling a bit tired and dizzy, and no, it is not because I am blonde.
4. What makes you most happy? Happiness is a process.
5. What's the name of the song that you're listening to? Nothing right now. I have the radio off. I listened to “Rabbit Bites” earlier.
6. Has anyone you've been really close with passed away? Depends on how close…
7. Do you like MTV? Not at all. It totally sucks now.
8. Name something that's really annoying to you? Liars. People who are never on time.
Chapter 1:
1. First name: Heather
2. Nicknames: HB, Earth Woman
3. My room... Won’t be my room for too much longer
4. Eye color: gold hazel, although they are greener now than they were three years ago
Chapter 2:
1. Do you live with your parent(s)? Um, hell no.
2. Do you get along with your parent(s) Usually
3. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Divorced, thank god
Chapter 3: Favorite
1. Ice Cream flavor: I don’t really like ice cream
2. Season: Fall
3.Color(s): I go through phases. I am currently in a green phase but I think I am moving into a blue phase
Chapter 4: Do You..
1. Write on your hand? once in a while
2. Call people back? often but not always
3. Believe in love: no, it’s all endorphins
4. Sleep on a certain side of the bed? yes, strangely
5. Have any bad habits? hehehehehehehehehehehe. Yes.
6. Any mental health issues? I have seasonal depression which can be treated with Vit D supplements
Chapter 5: Have You...
1. Broken a bone?: I broke my tail bone. Worst pain ever!
2. Sprained anything? My ankles, many times over. Worst pain ever!
5. Taken painkillers? Yes, I had a shit load of Oxycontin but I hated it cause it messed with my dreams
6. Gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling: No, but I have gone body surfing
7. Been stung by a bee: I don’t recall ever being stung by a bee, but it could have happened when I was little bitty
8. Thrown up at the dentist's office: Not at the office, but I got kicked in the head once and had a concussion and puked multiple times in the emergency room.
9. Sworn in front of your parents? Yes, my mom was so proud the first time I openly cussed.
10. Had detention? Nope!
11. Been sent to the principals office: Yup
Chapter 6: Who/What was the last...
1. Movie you saw? Zodiac - it creeped me out!
2. Person to text? no one.
3. Person who called you? A chem. Prof wanting to schedule a meeting
4. Person to tackle you? um, not certain… maybe while playing football as a 6th grader. I did have someone drag me to bed. That was fun.
5. Thing you touched? My water bottle
6. Thing you ate/drank? chopped veggie salad
7. Last thing you said outloud? I can’t wait to get the hell out of Lake Forest.
1. Can you cook? Yes
2. What was your dream growing up? To be a T Rex or the benign dictator of a small country
3. What talent do you wish you had? The ability to transport myself hither and yon
4. Favorite place? Big Falls County Park
5. Favorite vegetable? Tomato. Wait, that's a fruit. Um, cabbage.
6. What was the last book you read? Firethorn
7. What zodiac sign are you? Pisces
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? None anymore. I let my ear holes grow shut
9. Worst Habit? Playing with tweezers
10. Do we know each other outside of lj? I have no idea. What is lj?
11. What is your favorite sport? To do or watch? To do: walking in the forest. To watch: men's backstroke and women's volleyball
12. Negative or Optimistic attitude? About what?
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Who are you? Don't come near me! 1
4. Worst thing to ever happen to you? Hmm, lots of things that seemed like the worst thing ever have become not so bad in retrospect.
15. Tell me one weird fact about you: When I was a little girl, I was convinced I was really an alien and that my real family was going to come and get me …
16. Do you have any pets? Here kitty kitty
17. Do you know how to do the macarena? No.
18. What time is it where you are now? 3:00 on the nose!
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? They're kinda stupid.
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? How long do you have
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Who are you again? And do you have any criminal talents?
22. What color eyes do you have? Gold hazel, but they are more green now than they were three years ago
23. Ever been arrested? No, but I should have been
24. Bottle or Draft? yuck
25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it? goodbye, student loans.
26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew? I don't chew gum. When I was 16, I worked as a summer janitor at Colfax High School chiseling gum off the bottom of desks. Gack!
27. What's your favorite bar to hang at? Um, hell no.
28. Do you believe in ghosts? Oh yes. 2
9. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Cook, feed people
30. Do you swear a lot? hehehhehehehehehehehehe
31. Biggest pet peeve? People who are always late 3
2. In one word, how would you describe yourself? bratty
Prologue
1. Where did you take your default pic? I will never tell.
2. What exactly are you wearing right now? Sweater, pants, socks
3.What is your current problem? I am feeling a bit tired and dizzy, and no, it is not because I am blonde.
4. What makes you most happy? Happiness is a process.
5. What's the name of the song that you're listening to? Nothing right now. I have the radio off. I listened to “Rabbit Bites” earlier.
6. Has anyone you've been really close with passed away? Depends on how close…
7. Do you like MTV? Not at all. It totally sucks now.
8. Name something that's really annoying to you? Liars. People who are never on time.
Chapter 1:
1. First name: Heather
2. Nicknames: HB, Earth Woman
3. My room... Won’t be my room for too much longer
4. Eye color: gold hazel, although they are greener now than they were three years ago
Chapter 2:
1. Do you live with your parent(s)? Um, hell no.
2. Do you get along with your parent(s) Usually
3. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Divorced, thank god
Chapter 3: Favorite
1. Ice Cream flavor: I don’t really like ice cream
2. Season: Fall
3.Color(s): I go through phases. I am currently in a green phase but I think I am moving into a blue phase
Chapter 4: Do You..
1. Write on your hand? once in a while
2. Call people back? often but not always
3. Believe in love: no, it’s all endorphins
4. Sleep on a certain side of the bed? yes, strangely
5. Have any bad habits? hehehehehehehehehehehe. Yes.
6. Any mental health issues? I have seasonal depression which can be treated with Vit D supplements
Chapter 5: Have You...
1. Broken a bone?: I broke my tail bone. Worst pain ever!
2. Sprained anything? My ankles, many times over. Worst pain ever!
5. Taken painkillers? Yes, I had a shit load of Oxycontin but I hated it cause it messed with my dreams
6. Gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling: No, but I have gone body surfing
7. Been stung by a bee: I don’t recall ever being stung by a bee, but it could have happened when I was little bitty
8. Thrown up at the dentist's office: Not at the office, but I got kicked in the head once and had a concussion and puked multiple times in the emergency room.
9. Sworn in front of your parents? Yes, my mom was so proud the first time I openly cussed.
10. Had detention? Nope!
11. Been sent to the principals office: Yup
Chapter 6: Who/What was the last...
1. Movie you saw? Zodiac - it creeped me out!
2. Person to text? no one.
3. Person who called you? A chem. Prof wanting to schedule a meeting
4. Person to tackle you? um, not certain… maybe while playing football as a 6th grader. I did have someone drag me to bed. That was fun.
5. Thing you touched? My water bottle
6. Thing you ate/drank? chopped veggie salad
7. Last thing you said outloud? I can’t wait to get the hell out of Lake Forest.
My Bad
I usually can admit when I am wrong, and wrong I have been. yesterday, I went off on Home Depot for discontinuing the Earth Elements paints and replacing it with craptacular Ralph Lauren stuff. Well, the Ralph Lauren stuff is still awful, but it turns out that Earth Elements is actually a Lowe's paint, which make since as Lowe's is my preferred home improvement store of choice. So, Lowe's still has the line and this coming weekend, I will be traveling to Kenosha to pick colors (Kenosha is the nearest Lowe's).
It's actually a good thing I didn;t pick colors this last weekend because my book "Bungalow Style" just arrived through interlibrary loan and it has a section on choosing paint in bungalow homes and how you can update your colors while still staying true to the Arts and Crafts style. So, earth tones it is - but my choice will be jeweled earth tones. They are darker colors, which might make the space seem smaller, but they are rich and inviting. Yum!
I usually can admit when I am wrong, and wrong I have been. yesterday, I went off on Home Depot for discontinuing the Earth Elements paints and replacing it with craptacular Ralph Lauren stuff. Well, the Ralph Lauren stuff is still awful, but it turns out that Earth Elements is actually a Lowe's paint, which make since as Lowe's is my preferred home improvement store of choice. So, Lowe's still has the line and this coming weekend, I will be traveling to Kenosha to pick colors (Kenosha is the nearest Lowe's).
It's actually a good thing I didn;t pick colors this last weekend because my book "Bungalow Style" just arrived through interlibrary loan and it has a section on choosing paint in bungalow homes and how you can update your colors while still staying true to the Arts and Crafts style. So, earth tones it is - but my choice will be jeweled earth tones. They are darker colors, which might make the space seem smaller, but they are rich and inviting. Yum!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Weekend of Nincompoopery
We all have bad weekends once in a while. Mine normally involve the idiocy and apathy of checkout children at various retailers. But this last weekend, everything went badly.
Everything started off well enough Friday night. I got 75% of the dishes and 50% of my laundry done, made a pot of chicken noodle soup, and went to a series of student-written plays here on campus. After the plays, i came back to eat dinner and realized that I am just souped out. I normally love chicken noodle soup, but I guess I have just had too much. It just sat in my frig all weekend. I will try again to eat it tonight, if it is still good, but I suspect I will be flushing it.
So, I went to bed to the sounds of student partying, which will be a constant now that the weather is nice. Woke up Saturday morning and headed out the door a little before 10, only to be flagged down by my neighbor. "Are you going somewhere?" she asked. "Yes, I actually have plans today." "Can you hold on for a few minutes and take me to the train station?" Umm, well, ok. This isn't the first time this last-minute trip has happened, and I normally don't mind, but I actually did have stuff to get done on Saturday, stuff related to my move and to my mortgage and to my attempts to find a wedding present for my cousin who is getting married one week after I close on the house.
Well, it turns out we both needed to go to the bank, so we did that, and then she walked to the train and I headed out to check out the HOBO store in Waukegan. HOBO stands for HomeOwner's Building Outlet. For those of you from the MA, it's kinda like a Bargain Outlet - part Ocean State Job Lot, part Home Depot, part Building 19. I had never been to the HOBO, but as a new homeowner, I figured I had better check it out and see what was there. Besides, the local advertisement said they had handcarts for $25, which I will need since I am moving most of my stuff by myself. So the HOBO was cool. Lots of stuff, most of it decent quality and cheap. I purchased a handcart and a cushion set for the nice wicker furniture mia madre has passed on to me for my new home.
Then, I headed off to Ace Hardware, where I wanted to get the paint chip booklet for their new "cultural tapestry" line, as featured in a newspaper article. I got there only to be told that despite the article and despite the website information, they didn't have the booklets yet. Come back Tuesday. Um, hell no.
So I headed south to the Home Improvement Show at the Lincolnshire Marriott. It was actually quite small. I was surprised. I wandered through while several unscrupulous contractors attempted to interest me in their services. I did connect with three that seemed good and had info from the Better Business Bureau that they are legititmate and were more interested in my needs than in selling me some $30K project. One designer I talked to told me she had the same problem in her condo as i have in my new house, i.e., a kitchen smaller than a postage stamp. She was actually somewhat excited about the possibilities but basically said that if I can't afford to be knocking out walls and totally reorienting the kitchen right now, there are some things that can be done sooner rather than later.
Now my original idea was to put the kitchen cart in the dining room and put the nucker-wave on the cart, which is ugly but I can't think of anywhere else to put it. But that takes up a lot of space and wastes a bunch more. And to tell the truth, I don't use the nucker-wave much and wouldn't use it at all if I planned ahead better. So, here's what I might do:
First, I can seek out help to get some of those above-the-stove nucker-waves or I can ditch the nucker alltogether. Second, Mia madre is gifting me her portable dishwasher, which she never uses but which also has a beautiful butcher block top. That will provide me with a nice countertop upon which to do meal prep. It can be situated in a little nook in the kitchen area. The garbage can go next to it. And then I can install shelving above the unit. The kitchen designer suggested having the bottom shelves be able to slide back and forth, so I can put my little appliances like the toaster oven and the coffee pot on the shelves and pull them out as I needed them. I can also use a drapery road and some metal hooks as a potrack, freeing up more space in the cupboards. All in all, it seems like a good temporary solution. As the designer said, if you can't spread out right now, spread up. A trip to Ikea might be in order to check out their kitchen set-ups.
So, that wasn;t so bad and I was feeling ok, so I headed off to HomeGoods to see if I could find my cousin a wedding present. Nothing, not a thing, and it started pouring.
So I went home and was all mopey, and was still all obsessed about picking out paint colors for my house and kicking myself because i seem to have fallen in love with a color called "White Raisin," which is, well, you know, white-ish. And I am not liking the traditional colors suggested by the Arts and Crafts movement (my house in as arts and crafts house) because they are dull and boring and oh so neutral when I remembered that Home Depot has this line of colors called Earth Elements and while they are, well, earthy, they are some richer jewel tones in there as well. So, on Sunday morning I woke up early early and headed to Home Depot, where I waited 20 minutes for a cart, because they had no associates to collect carts from outside and my hands were full and they wouldn't let me leave the store, only to discover, after finally receiving a cart, that, within the last month, the Earth Eements series has been moved out in favor of some crap ass Ralph Lauren paint colors. Which are ugly and require very expensive special equipment to put up and which actually got pretty bad reviews in a consumer review magazine. So I did get rollers and brushes and painters' tape and four nice clematis as well as a bamboo design vinyl stick for that window that is in my shower (window in shower - the neighbors do not deserve such a sight) and headed off to Bed Bath and Beyond, because I wanted to price towels, only to laugh like a mad woman when I found out that the cheapest towels they sell are like $9 a piece (yeah right) and then I head to the TJ Maxx to search yet again for the wedding present.
Why am I making this so hard, you might ask? Your cousin does have a registry. But it is a WalMart registry. I can't do it. I just can't. it causes me great spiritual pain just contemplating it. I mean, if you are going to go through the tremendous hassel of getting married at all and you are actually going to, you know, register for gifts, you should at least go to someplace like Kohl's and get half way decent stuff that won't fall apart next week. Ugh!
Anyway, I wandered through the store and finally found a niec gift that scraemed "Heather gave this to me," a very nice ceramic apple pie dish with a cover shaped like, get this, and apple pie crust. Too cute. I took it to the front and the clerk begins to ring it up and then all of a sudden stops and hands the plate to what I presume is a manager who leaves with it and the clerk starts folding clothing. I just looked at her. A couple of minutes go by. "Um, what is the problem? Why are you not ringing up my purchase." "Oh she has to look up a price." "But the price is on it." "Well, there is an old sticker on the top and she has to make sure you didn't try to scratch it off." I just looked at her, again. Really, a $20 pie plate is not worth the aggravation. About five minutes later, the manager comes back and takes the plate and puts it on a shelf. "I can't sell this to you." "What's the problem?" "I don't believe they go together. I can't find the piece the top goes to." "But the two pieces were together on the shelf." "But I don't think they go together." "Why not?" "Well, the top has an old price tag that is partially removed, so they don't belong together." "But they are by the same maker and they, um, you know, fit together, like hand in glove." "I don't care. I am not selling them to you. We'll have to throw them away." "Did you ever stop to think that the top should never have had a price tag on it and that your worker screwed up and tried to scratch it off? " "That doesn't happen here." "Really? What about the three pairs of jeans I was thinking of buying, none of which had price tags?" And the manager just walked away. And the sales clerk eyed me nervously and said, "I'll ring up the rest of your purchase." I told her not to bother, that their customer service was so poor, I would never come back.
And I walked back out into the pouring rain.... idiots.
We all have bad weekends once in a while. Mine normally involve the idiocy and apathy of checkout children at various retailers. But this last weekend, everything went badly.
Everything started off well enough Friday night. I got 75% of the dishes and 50% of my laundry done, made a pot of chicken noodle soup, and went to a series of student-written plays here on campus. After the plays, i came back to eat dinner and realized that I am just souped out. I normally love chicken noodle soup, but I guess I have just had too much. It just sat in my frig all weekend. I will try again to eat it tonight, if it is still good, but I suspect I will be flushing it.
So, I went to bed to the sounds of student partying, which will be a constant now that the weather is nice. Woke up Saturday morning and headed out the door a little before 10, only to be flagged down by my neighbor. "Are you going somewhere?" she asked. "Yes, I actually have plans today." "Can you hold on for a few minutes and take me to the train station?" Umm, well, ok. This isn't the first time this last-minute trip has happened, and I normally don't mind, but I actually did have stuff to get done on Saturday, stuff related to my move and to my mortgage and to my attempts to find a wedding present for my cousin who is getting married one week after I close on the house.
Well, it turns out we both needed to go to the bank, so we did that, and then she walked to the train and I headed out to check out the HOBO store in Waukegan. HOBO stands for HomeOwner's Building Outlet. For those of you from the MA, it's kinda like a Bargain Outlet - part Ocean State Job Lot, part Home Depot, part Building 19. I had never been to the HOBO, but as a new homeowner, I figured I had better check it out and see what was there. Besides, the local advertisement said they had handcarts for $25, which I will need since I am moving most of my stuff by myself. So the HOBO was cool. Lots of stuff, most of it decent quality and cheap. I purchased a handcart and a cushion set for the nice wicker furniture mia madre has passed on to me for my new home.
Then, I headed off to Ace Hardware, where I wanted to get the paint chip booklet for their new "cultural tapestry" line, as featured in a newspaper article. I got there only to be told that despite the article and despite the website information, they didn't have the booklets yet. Come back Tuesday. Um, hell no.
So I headed south to the Home Improvement Show at the Lincolnshire Marriott. It was actually quite small. I was surprised. I wandered through while several unscrupulous contractors attempted to interest me in their services. I did connect with three that seemed good and had info from the Better Business Bureau that they are legititmate and were more interested in my needs than in selling me some $30K project. One designer I talked to told me she had the same problem in her condo as i have in my new house, i.e., a kitchen smaller than a postage stamp. She was actually somewhat excited about the possibilities but basically said that if I can't afford to be knocking out walls and totally reorienting the kitchen right now, there are some things that can be done sooner rather than later.
Now my original idea was to put the kitchen cart in the dining room and put the nucker-wave on the cart, which is ugly but I can't think of anywhere else to put it. But that takes up a lot of space and wastes a bunch more. And to tell the truth, I don't use the nucker-wave much and wouldn't use it at all if I planned ahead better. So, here's what I might do:
First, I can seek out help to get some of those above-the-stove nucker-waves or I can ditch the nucker alltogether. Second, Mia madre is gifting me her portable dishwasher, which she never uses but which also has a beautiful butcher block top. That will provide me with a nice countertop upon which to do meal prep. It can be situated in a little nook in the kitchen area. The garbage can go next to it. And then I can install shelving above the unit. The kitchen designer suggested having the bottom shelves be able to slide back and forth, so I can put my little appliances like the toaster oven and the coffee pot on the shelves and pull them out as I needed them. I can also use a drapery road and some metal hooks as a potrack, freeing up more space in the cupboards. All in all, it seems like a good temporary solution. As the designer said, if you can't spread out right now, spread up. A trip to Ikea might be in order to check out their kitchen set-ups.
So, that wasn;t so bad and I was feeling ok, so I headed off to HomeGoods to see if I could find my cousin a wedding present. Nothing, not a thing, and it started pouring.
So I went home and was all mopey, and was still all obsessed about picking out paint colors for my house and kicking myself because i seem to have fallen in love with a color called "White Raisin," which is, well, you know, white-ish. And I am not liking the traditional colors suggested by the Arts and Crafts movement (my house in as arts and crafts house) because they are dull and boring and oh so neutral when I remembered that Home Depot has this line of colors called Earth Elements and while they are, well, earthy, they are some richer jewel tones in there as well. So, on Sunday morning I woke up early early and headed to Home Depot, where I waited 20 minutes for a cart, because they had no associates to collect carts from outside and my hands were full and they wouldn't let me leave the store, only to discover, after finally receiving a cart, that, within the last month, the Earth Eements series has been moved out in favor of some crap ass Ralph Lauren paint colors. Which are ugly and require very expensive special equipment to put up and which actually got pretty bad reviews in a consumer review magazine. So I did get rollers and brushes and painters' tape and four nice clematis as well as a bamboo design vinyl stick for that window that is in my shower (window in shower - the neighbors do not deserve such a sight) and headed off to Bed Bath and Beyond, because I wanted to price towels, only to laugh like a mad woman when I found out that the cheapest towels they sell are like $9 a piece (yeah right) and then I head to the TJ Maxx to search yet again for the wedding present.
Why am I making this so hard, you might ask? Your cousin does have a registry. But it is a WalMart registry. I can't do it. I just can't. it causes me great spiritual pain just contemplating it. I mean, if you are going to go through the tremendous hassel of getting married at all and you are actually going to, you know, register for gifts, you should at least go to someplace like Kohl's and get half way decent stuff that won't fall apart next week. Ugh!
Anyway, I wandered through the store and finally found a niec gift that scraemed "Heather gave this to me," a very nice ceramic apple pie dish with a cover shaped like, get this, and apple pie crust. Too cute. I took it to the front and the clerk begins to ring it up and then all of a sudden stops and hands the plate to what I presume is a manager who leaves with it and the clerk starts folding clothing. I just looked at her. A couple of minutes go by. "Um, what is the problem? Why are you not ringing up my purchase." "Oh she has to look up a price." "But the price is on it." "Well, there is an old sticker on the top and she has to make sure you didn't try to scratch it off." I just looked at her, again. Really, a $20 pie plate is not worth the aggravation. About five minutes later, the manager comes back and takes the plate and puts it on a shelf. "I can't sell this to you." "What's the problem?" "I don't believe they go together. I can't find the piece the top goes to." "But the two pieces were together on the shelf." "But I don't think they go together." "Why not?" "Well, the top has an old price tag that is partially removed, so they don't belong together." "But they are by the same maker and they, um, you know, fit together, like hand in glove." "I don't care. I am not selling them to you. We'll have to throw them away." "Did you ever stop to think that the top should never have had a price tag on it and that your worker screwed up and tried to scratch it off? " "That doesn't happen here." "Really? What about the three pairs of jeans I was thinking of buying, none of which had price tags?" And the manager just walked away. And the sales clerk eyed me nervously and said, "I'll ring up the rest of your purchase." I told her not to bother, that their customer service was so poor, I would never come back.
And I walked back out into the pouring rain.... idiots.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Deer Ahoy!
This morning, I came into work early after a night of not sleeping due to a potential identity theft scare, and three little yearling deer were in the back parking lot where I parked. First, they ran toward the ravine, but they must have changed their minds because all of a sudden, my car was surrounded by cutesy deers. Then, they sprinted for Carneigie, home of English and foreign languages, where they decided to hang out for a while, eating the little tree in front of the building. They looked at me, completely unconcerned. And several students walked by, not even noticing they are there - which is probably not good as pissy mad deer can kick a human's ass.
I wish I had my camera with me, as it was totally adorable.
The funny thing is that I have a pack of venison steak defrosting on my counter for dinner tonight, and these little bambis would be tender and delicious!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Houston, We Have a Contract
There have been no posts for a while. This is partly because I have only 3 readers, one of whom is my mom. Hi Mom! The other reason though is that I have been busy making plans and taking steps towards the future.
First, I gave my first GourmetGoddess cooking lesson - an Italian spring vegetarian meal. I think it went fairly well, although I did bouil the pasta water over on the stove. Just not used to working with electric anymore.
Second, I have been searching for a new place to live.
Now, don't get me wrong. My plavce on campus is ok. It could be worse, but when I started doing my taxes this year and realized how badly the subsidy was screwing me up, I decided, if I am going to pay close to $1000 in rent and extra taxes due to the subsidy, I am damn well going to just pay close to that in order to own my own place and build up some equity and get to garden as well (yes, I like mowing the lawn). So I found a fantastic place in Zion situated next to a forest preserve and a rive and made an offer. A reasonable offer. And the sellers refused to negotiate. So I took my money back. This turned out to be a good thing because the river flooded and therefore the house flooded. Mwahahahahahahaha!
So I was pretty resigned to being in my housing for another year when a house that had previously been out of my price range was reduced. it's gorgeous, in a decent part of Waukegan, and has excellent potential. I made an offer. They countered. I countered their counter and they countered my counter of their counter. And a deal was made. I got the signed contract last night. Now all that needs to be done is getting the mortage, which shouldn't be a problem as I am pre-approved.
So, the journey begins. Here are pictures. Over time, as I change things, I will post new ones!
I start moving on April 16.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Chinese Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
As you all know, I am interested in fusion food. So I recently made my version of Chinese spaghetti with meat sauce. The dish is similar to what one often finds on Chinese menus as "Marco Polo Noodles: This is the original spaghetti and meat sauce that Marco Polo brought back to Italy from China!" But is also plays a lot on traditional Singapore or dan dan fun.
1 pound ground meat (I use venison but it would be as good with ground chicken or even those Boca TVP crumbles. I would not use ground turkey unless you use an all dark meat version.)
1 T ginger paste (you can get this as Indian markets)
2 t dried minced garlic
1 t aleppo pepper (for heat)
1 small onion, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
1 stalk of celery, diced fine
1 t galangal powder
2 cups crushed tomato
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti noodles
Coat the bottom of a large pan or wok with oil and preheat. Add in ginger paste, minced garlic, and aleppo pepper. Cook until the aroma of the spices really smells great and then add in the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook just until the onion starts to brown. Add in ground meat. Cook this, stirring often, so that the result is very fine pieces of ground meat mixed with the other stuff. Then add the tomato paste, stir for a couple of minutes, then add in crushed tomato. The result should look a bit like a Bolognese sauce at this point. Then add in galangal and hoisin sauce. Cook pasta according to the manufacturer's directions. When pasta is done, serve it with a scoop or two of meat sauce. The sauce is can also be enhanced with chopped up green onion or the addition of frozen peas or corn. This recipe should serve 4 very hungry people.
As you all know, I am interested in fusion food. So I recently made my version of Chinese spaghetti with meat sauce. The dish is similar to what one often finds on Chinese menus as "Marco Polo Noodles: This is the original spaghetti and meat sauce that Marco Polo brought back to Italy from China!" But is also plays a lot on traditional Singapore or dan dan fun.
1 pound ground meat (I use venison but it would be as good with ground chicken or even those Boca TVP crumbles. I would not use ground turkey unless you use an all dark meat version.)
1 T ginger paste (you can get this as Indian markets)
2 t dried minced garlic
1 t aleppo pepper (for heat)
1 small onion, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
1 stalk of celery, diced fine
1 t galangal powder
2 cups crushed tomato
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti noodles
Coat the bottom of a large pan or wok with oil and preheat. Add in ginger paste, minced garlic, and aleppo pepper. Cook until the aroma of the spices really smells great and then add in the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook just until the onion starts to brown. Add in ground meat. Cook this, stirring often, so that the result is very fine pieces of ground meat mixed with the other stuff. Then add the tomato paste, stir for a couple of minutes, then add in crushed tomato. The result should look a bit like a Bolognese sauce at this point. Then add in galangal and hoisin sauce. Cook pasta according to the manufacturer's directions. When pasta is done, serve it with a scoop or two of meat sauce. The sauce is can also be enhanced with chopped up green onion or the addition of frozen peas or corn. This recipe should serve 4 very hungry people.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Experimental Cookie #4
So this weekend while I was having a guest, I decided to try out experimental cookie #4. The guest had requested to become a guinea pig, so I figured why not? Our experimental cookie was Banana Chocolate Chip. The cake did not have enough banana flavor, but was otherwise tasty.
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup Splenda
1 cup light brown sugar
4 T banana flavor
2 large eggs
1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375. Sift flour with baking soda and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated. Blend dry into wet slowly until you have a nice smooth batter, then mix in your chips. Drop by the tablespoon full unto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes,This recipes makes between 2-3 dozen cookies. The cookies are very moist and rich and somewhat cakey in texture.
My guest's take on the cookies: "Best cookies I've had today!"
So this weekend while I was having a guest, I decided to try out experimental cookie #4. The guest had requested to become a guinea pig, so I figured why not? Our experimental cookie was Banana Chocolate Chip. The cake did not have enough banana flavor, but was otherwise tasty.
2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup Splenda
1 cup light brown sugar
4 T banana flavor
2 large eggs
1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375. Sift flour with baking soda and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated. Blend dry into wet slowly until you have a nice smooth batter, then mix in your chips. Drop by the tablespoon full unto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes,This recipes makes between 2-3 dozen cookies. The cookies are very moist and rich and somewhat cakey in texture.
My guest's take on the cookies: "Best cookies I've had today!"
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Frozen Concentrated Winter
A reader brought to my attention that I haven't posted in a while, and he is absolutely correct. Instead, I have been participating in the latest round of frozen concentrated winter. Rather like frozen concentrated OJ, we are experiencing winter in such a concentrated form that we are getting a whole year's worth of it in 23 days. Insanity! Between the sub-zero temps, wicked winds, and massive snow falls, well, I am just exhausted. Too exhausted to write.
That being said, I did recently participate in the Three Questions meme. This is where you invite 10 friends to ask any three questions, questions you must answer absolutely honestly and then post the questions and answers to your blog. My friend Donna is the only one to ask me questions... here is our exchange.....
Her Questions:
1. Where do you ultimately WANT to settle down by the time you are ready to retire – still thinking about Jump river?
2. Are you glad you had the stomach surgery or are the side effects making it not worth it?
3. Are you EVER GOING TO WRITE THAT BOOK?
My Answers:
1. Where do you ultimately WANT to settle down by the time you are ready to retire – still thinking about Jump river?
This is a very interesting question and a discussion I recently had with the potential love interest. I have never really been drawn to any one place. There isn't anyone place that I consider to be home. I love the Jump River. Of all the places I ahve been that is the one I like best. Rather than places, I have always been attracted by the opportunities in any given place. Which is why I am inclined to stay put here for a while.
2. Are you glad you had the stomach surgery or are the side effects making it not worth it?
I think it was a good thing I had the surgery as I was killing myself slowly. but I am struggling now. I have increased side effects the longer out I go. And I still feel like a fat failure.
3. Are you EVER GOING TO WRITE THAT BOOK?
Only if I radically change careers. It is too hard to write all day long and then go home and write for 4 more hours....
A reader brought to my attention that I haven't posted in a while, and he is absolutely correct. Instead, I have been participating in the latest round of frozen concentrated winter. Rather like frozen concentrated OJ, we are experiencing winter in such a concentrated form that we are getting a whole year's worth of it in 23 days. Insanity! Between the sub-zero temps, wicked winds, and massive snow falls, well, I am just exhausted. Too exhausted to write.
That being said, I did recently participate in the Three Questions meme. This is where you invite 10 friends to ask any three questions, questions you must answer absolutely honestly and then post the questions and answers to your blog. My friend Donna is the only one to ask me questions... here is our exchange.....
Her Questions:
1. Where do you ultimately WANT to settle down by the time you are ready to retire – still thinking about Jump river?
2. Are you glad you had the stomach surgery or are the side effects making it not worth it?
3. Are you EVER GOING TO WRITE THAT BOOK?
My Answers:
1. Where do you ultimately WANT to settle down by the time you are ready to retire – still thinking about Jump river?
This is a very interesting question and a discussion I recently had with the potential love interest. I have never really been drawn to any one place. There isn't anyone place that I consider to be home. I love the Jump River. Of all the places I ahve been that is the one I like best. Rather than places, I have always been attracted by the opportunities in any given place. Which is why I am inclined to stay put here for a while.
2. Are you glad you had the stomach surgery or are the side effects making it not worth it?
I think it was a good thing I had the surgery as I was killing myself slowly. but I am struggling now. I have increased side effects the longer out I go. And I still feel like a fat failure.
3. Are you EVER GOING TO WRITE THAT BOOK?
Only if I radically change careers. It is too hard to write all day long and then go home and write for 4 more hours....
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Another Sure Sign of Midwestern Insanity
I went yesterday to fill up my car's gas tank (always full during cold cold weather) and add a bottle of Heet to make sure it will start when needed. And it has been cold cold here......it's 20 right now, which is as warm as it has been in days. Well, I am sitting at the pump, trying to get my gas tank open, as it has frozen shut and what do I see? A line of eight cars waiting to get into the car wash. The car wash! It is below freezing! They must all have heated garages at home.
Insanity!
I went yesterday to fill up my car's gas tank (always full during cold cold weather) and add a bottle of Heet to make sure it will start when needed. And it has been cold cold here......it's 20 right now, which is as warm as it has been in days. Well, I am sitting at the pump, trying to get my gas tank open, as it has frozen shut and what do I see? A line of eight cars waiting to get into the car wash. The car wash! It is below freezing! They must all have heated garages at home.
Insanity!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Best Soup Ever
or
How Heather Got Seven Meals for Under $15
Last week, I got a hankering for boiled dinner. And the hankering did not go away all week so I knew, I just knew, I had to give in to it. Not that I struggle all that hard against cravings anyway, but still.
For all those who don't know, boiled dinner is a typical bit of peasant food. In the case of my family tradition, it is basically a chunk of somewhat salty ham, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes thrown into a pot, cover with water, and then boiled. The ham gets all soft and juicy and the broth is tasty, and when you eat it, you throw stuff on your plate, smoosh the taters, spoon on the broth, and maybe - maybe - put a pad of butter on the cabbage. Damn good stuff!
So, I went to go and gather the ingredients only to discover that all the available hams were huge - big enough to feed a family of 24 - way too big for little old me to make myself some boiled dinner. So after a nice discussion with the butcher, I decided to purchase some pork hocks - four fresh and two smoked - in palce of the ham ($4.13). I also got a head of Savoy cabbage ($1.93), two large carrots ($.63), a dozen small potatoes ($1.23), and three small ears of corn ($1.49). Total so far - $9.41.
I took everything home and chucked the hocks in my largest pot, chopped the cabbage and carrot into large pieces and chucked them in the pot, too. Then I added to corn cobs (trying adding corn on the cob to your soups... they add an incredible flavour). Then I scrubbed the potatoes (I got baby ones so they didn't need to be chunked). I added some salt (because I wasn't using ham) and proceeded to boiled it all until the potatoes were just soft. Then I ate.
Because there was so much in the pot, I knew it would be more than one meal. I kept everything in there, though, and every night reboiled it, further infusing the water with yummyness. I ahd boiled dinner for four nights. There were still a few little potatoes left, so I took those out and for breakfast mashed them up with onions and a beaten egg and fried them up as little potato pancakes. Then, I took the about two quarts of broth left, added some chopped onions, threw in about a cup of lentils and a half cup of barley and cooked it til the lentils and lentils were cooked. Hark! Two nights of the best soup ever!
I think the soup was so good because the flavour of the hocks had been concentrated and also because I used a special spice mix I had never tried before - something Australian that is called "garlic and onion" but also includes cloves, cumin, cinnamon, bell peppers and a bunch of other cool stuff. I got it at TJ Maxx, where I also find the coolest cooking mixes. It's great because they are cheap so if what you picks up sucks, no biggie. But it's bad because if you really like something, you may never find it again. I am currently facing that with my "grind your own" African BBQ spice mill. Which I adore tremendously but have never seen again since I found it. It also cannot be found on the internet and I can only make an educated guess as to what is really in it.
So anyway, the cost of the lentils and the onion and the barley and the egg was way under $5 bucks, so my grand total for seven very filling meals was under $15.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
I Am Many Things - Ayup
You are The Moon
Hope, expectation, Bright promises.The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window. The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.
You are a dragon.
You're smart and cunning, and enjoy taking risks. Your need for independence is an advantage, but sometimes it alienates you from others. As far as *good* and *evil*, you're pretty neutral--but you may have something of a wicked streak
You are The Moon
Hope, expectation, Bright promises.The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window. The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.
You are a dragon.
You're smart and cunning, and enjoy taking risks. Your need for independence is an advantage, but sometimes it alienates you from others. As far as *good* and *evil*, you're pretty neutral--but you may have something of a wicked streak
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
I Miss Sebastian's
I eat lunch pretty much every day in the cafeteria. It's easy and I often can either hang out with the faculty or listen in on their conversations. But, really, the food is bad. I think it is much worse than when I was a student here, ten years ago. Of course, it could just be that I have become a food snob. But I really think the food is pretty bad even if it is attractive to teens (burgers and fries every day! Dude!)
Take today, for example. I had to go to lunch later than normal and I got there and, after seeing the menu, I almost left. Except I was hungry and an overpriced sandwich at the little cafe was unattractive to me. Available to me - burgers and fries (dude!), a bacon cheesburger wrap, pork satay stirfry (overcooked pork in a gloppy sweet sauce on ramen noodles), meat paella (don't ask), some mushy cooked frozen veggies, and an overcooked chicken breast in a creamy bacon sauce. I selected the breast with the least amount of sauce on it and then made myself a salad at the extremely small and hard to access salad bar.
And that is when it hits me. I really miss Sebastian's.
Sebastian's is a mostly lunch place in downtown Boston with the world's greatest salad bar. First, you pick any one of three lettuce blends. Then you can add as many of about a gazillion add-ons that you want. Ok. maybe not a gazillion, but at least 30, including beans, nuts, tuna, roasted veggies, fruit, cheeses... I mean, just about anything and everything. Then, they mix it with your choice of dressing throw it in what seems to be a half gallon bowl and hand it to you with a slice of pita. Price? As long as you didn't get something totally weird as an add-on - about $7. This is a salad that took me almost an hour to eat. An hour of steady eating. An incredible salad that when you were done with it, you thought, "Dude! I just ate a SALAD!"
Dudes. I just really want to eat a SALAD!
I eat lunch pretty much every day in the cafeteria. It's easy and I often can either hang out with the faculty or listen in on their conversations. But, really, the food is bad. I think it is much worse than when I was a student here, ten years ago. Of course, it could just be that I have become a food snob. But I really think the food is pretty bad even if it is attractive to teens (burgers and fries every day! Dude!)
Take today, for example. I had to go to lunch later than normal and I got there and, after seeing the menu, I almost left. Except I was hungry and an overpriced sandwich at the little cafe was unattractive to me. Available to me - burgers and fries (dude!), a bacon cheesburger wrap, pork satay stirfry (overcooked pork in a gloppy sweet sauce on ramen noodles), meat paella (don't ask), some mushy cooked frozen veggies, and an overcooked chicken breast in a creamy bacon sauce. I selected the breast with the least amount of sauce on it and then made myself a salad at the extremely small and hard to access salad bar.
And that is when it hits me. I really miss Sebastian's.
Sebastian's is a mostly lunch place in downtown Boston with the world's greatest salad bar. First, you pick any one of three lettuce blends. Then you can add as many of about a gazillion add-ons that you want. Ok. maybe not a gazillion, but at least 30, including beans, nuts, tuna, roasted veggies, fruit, cheeses... I mean, just about anything and everything. Then, they mix it with your choice of dressing throw it in what seems to be a half gallon bowl and hand it to you with a slice of pita. Price? As long as you didn't get something totally weird as an add-on - about $7. This is a salad that took me almost an hour to eat. An hour of steady eating. An incredible salad that when you were done with it, you thought, "Dude! I just ate a SALAD!"
Dudes. I just really want to eat a SALAD!
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