Thoughts of a Titan

Thank you, God, for Michelle

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:27:55 GMT

I got a big package in the mail today from Michelle's mother along with a card:

The package also contained a stack of printed email I'd sent to her more than 10 years ago. Huge stack.

I'm so lucky she was my friend. She was as beautiful and wonderful a friend as anyone could ever want and my memory of her will always be of how she was so unfailingly sweet and empathic. She was the best listener, but she also always told really great stories.

I'm relieved that she's not in pain any longer. But my heart aches for her family and not one single day will go by that I won't miss her.

Saturday Morning's Brunch

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:00:43 GMT

Baked apple butter french toast using my mom's homemade bread. This is Michael's with regular syrup on it, but I put cherry syrup on mine. I make it with cherry preserves, frozen cherries and a bit of fresh lemon juice cooked down until it's super syrupy. Sweet and tangy and just the right counter point to the rich, buttery, cinnamon-y, gooey french toast (with the crisp, chewy edges).

Something Different for Breakfast

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:49:12 GMT

If you read my blog even a little, you know how much I love Everyday Food magazine. I never fail to find delicious recipes that are easy to make and fairly often, using ingredients I already have... or at least, a lot of things I already have plus a few inexpensive ingredients. And usually, it's food that would appeal to me and Michael (which is reasonably difficult).

Last night before I went to sleep, I finished looking at the latest issue and marking the recipes I want to try and came across one that sounded delicious and included ingredients I already have. In this issue, the recipe was presented as a dinner entree, but because it includes bacon and eggs, would work just as well for breakfast/brunch. I made up my mind to try it for breakfast this morning.

The only thing in this recipe I didn't have was the frisee... however, I did just buy a head of iceburg lettuce and I knew that would work almost as well. Frisee has a little bit more body and a touch of bitterness, but as far as I'm concerned the key to being a great cook is knowing how to substitute. I knew that iceburg lettuce would add a bit of watery crunch to the party and it would soak up the flavors probably a bit better than frisee.

Here I am getting started... bacon is chopped and in a pan, water is boiling and lettuce is shredded.

Pasta boiling, bacon crisping, Screwdriver chilling.

Here's my pasta, lettuce and bacon all ready to receive the fried eggs.

This picture is from the magazine, what the dish *should* look like.

And here's mine. It looks like a LOT more only because I used a teeny plate. And my eggs aren't fried as pretty... I need a better spatula for turning, mine tends to rip up my eggs which bums me out. However, it tasted delicious!

The pasta and the lettuce soak up the flavor from the vinegar which offsets the salty richness of the bacon. The pasta is a little bit chewy, the egg is soft with its golden yolk richness and the lettuce has a kind of juicy crispness while the bacon brings its hard crunch. It all works together beautifully, especially the tang of the vinegar that soaks into the pasta with the warmth of the little bit of bacon fat that coats the lettuce.

I recommend this!

A Follow Up to My Earlier Post

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:24:10 GMT

Tonight I was waylaid by The Mission. Which did not end happily. And now it is nearly 11:30pm and, clearly, I am not already asleep. So, apparently I'm doomed to be sleepy this entire week.

Oh well.

yawn blink, blink

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:48:02 GMT

Sunday night, I ended up staying up until past 1am… for no good reason (although I like to blame FaceBook)… which is not a good idea considering that I have to be to work half an hour earlier than usual on the new summer schedule (Not a complaint! But I have always had difficulty getting up early and even more with earlier), which means getting up at least half an hour earlier. <-- There it is!

Staying up late + getting up earlier = yawning all day.

Which I did.

So it seemed to make sense to go to bed earlier on Monday night, and I did try! I got in bed at 10pm. I read a book for a little while and got sleepy, so I put the book down and turned off the light and next thing I know… I’m thinking about stuff and not sleeping. What stuff? Oh, I don’t know… the usual stuff, I guess. No new stuff, that’s for sure. So why be bothered with old stuff right when it’s time to sleep? Hey… if we knew that there’d be no market for sleep aids, right? I guess I did finally get to sleep… but I know for sure it was after 11:30pm. *yawn* Which made it quite difficult to get out of bed this morning. Or I should say even more difficult than usual. I wish I could trade how sleepy I am right NOW for how wide awake I felt last night!

Garden Fresh

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:45:23 GMT

Just look at how much the herbs in the pot my mom and dad gave me for Mother's Day have grown!

This is the pot on Mother's Day:

And this is the pot today:

So... I really needed to harvest pretty much all that basil because it's getting to where it'll start to flower soon and it's not good after it flowers. I was trying to think what I could do with that much basil and there's pretty much only one thing: make pesto.

My favorite thing using pesto, is pizza. I spread pesto on a pizza crust, then top with just a light sprinkle of shredded mozzarella (just enough so it's cheesy) and then lay on slices of fresh tomato and sliced fresh mushrooms.

I bought the rest of the ingredients for pesto: pine nuts, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic. And a pizza crust. I wish I could say I made the crust, but I'm not much of a ~~chemist~~ baker, so I generally buy mine. However, I did find the kind I like best... a brick-oven style thin crust. YUM!

I came home and harvested and washed all the basil.

Then I put about six small cloves of garlic, the entire 4.5 oz. bag of pine nuts, all the basil and the entire 6 oz. tub of grated parmesan into my food processor. As it processed, I drizzled in some extra virgin olive oil. Not sure exactly how much oil, but it's easy to tell how much you need... just keep drizzling until the mixture is moistened enough to spread.

Look at how gorgeously bright it is... I didn't need to add any seasonings, the cheese made it plenty salty. It's bright and fresh, but creamy and nutty... super delicious!

Here it is painted on my brick-oven style thin crust:

Now it's all dressed and ready for the oven... those are my mom's homegrown tomatoes on there, too:

Just out of the oven:

And now, cut and ready for my pie-hole!

The crust is super crisp and tasty, the pesto is bright, herby, salty and creamy, the cheese is gooey and baking the tomatoes and mushrooms on top of the pizza concentrates their flavor so the tomato gets super rich and tangy and the mushrooms earthy and meaty. The combination of all these flavors on the pizza is just heavenly. And I love that it's vegetarian and extremely nutritious. Makes me not feel so bad about eating more than two pieces!

Quick and Easy Summer Good Recipes

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:07:15 GMT

I made my own Asian Noodle bowl for lunch today.

I put one package of ramen noodles into boiling water along with a handful of broccoli florets, carrots and snow peas from a bag of California stir-fry mix. I like my veggies reasonably soft, so I cooked the veggies with the noodles for the full three minutes. At the last minute, I put in two handfuls of Rainbow Slaw that is a bag of julienne-cut cauliflower, broccoli and red cabbage.

After three minutes, I drained the noodles and vegetables and ran them under cool water to stop the cooking and cool them off a little.

Any Asian salad dressing would do, but I used some I'd made myself:

3 cloves of garlic, grated
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons softened chunky peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon of chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup canola oil

Use a hand blender and stream oil in slowly to emulsify.

If I'd thought about it, I would've garnished with toasted almonds and/or toasted crispy chow mein noodles or wonton strips.

For dinner tonight, I made another quick and easy, very flavorful, cool and refreshing dish. I'll call it Lemon Orzo with Sauteed Shrimp, Tomatoes and Asparagus.

First, I marinated my peeled shrimp in some lemon zest, red pepper flakes and canola oil.

Then, I cooked one cup of tri-colored orzo (supposedly spinach and sun-dried tomato flavoring in with the red and green ones) for all but two minutes, then I added in about 1 1/2 cups of asparagus cut into 1/2 inch pieces and let it all cook together for the final 3 minutes.

When the pasta and asparagus were finished cooking, I drained it and ran it under cool water to cool everything down then put it into a bowl with the zest of one lemon and the juice of one and a half lemons. I stirred it all to make sure all the pasta got soaked in the lemon juice then added in some quartered cherry tomatoes. I also put in some fresh parsley and oregano from my herb pot, salted and peppered the whole deal and sprinkled in some shredded Parmesan cheese.

Meanwhile, I sauteed the shrimp for just a couple of minutes on each side until they were pink, then turned them out onto a paper towel and salted and peppered them.

I mixed the cooled shrimp into the pasta salad and served up a big bowl of it:

Yum!

Looking Worse Before It Gets Better

Sat, 30 May 2009 08:18:49 GMT

I know the entire Internet is worried about my poor little pinky toe... so I wanted to offer this comforting information: I saw the doctor today and while he agreed that my toe does, indeed, look very bad... after looking at x-rays (that were a lot of fun to take, btw), it does not seem to be broken. Amazing, right? At least, the bone is not disconnected... I suppose it may still be fractured and he said I definitely "tore something," but it's going to heal and be fine.

In the meantime, I guess all the walking on it has made it look worse:

Yesterday:

And today:

Yes. It hurts. I know you were wondering about that. But don't worry about me... along with the super fun x-ray and a pronouncement of "it looks good," my lovely doctor sent me off with an Rx for Darvocet.

And now... I think I'll go put my feet up.

Brack Toe

Thu, 28 May 2009 03:26:45 GMT

Remember in Lost in Translation where Scarlett Johannsen kicks a table in her hotel room and then a couple of days later shows her broken toe to Bill Murray in the sushi restaurant and he gets all upset about her "brack" toe and whisks her off to the ER in Japan? Well, where the hell is he when I need him?

I think I got some kind of hex from reading Dooce's blog. She recently broke her toe and apparently that's common for her. It's NOT common for me. It's happened only twice before and, interestingly, not as painfully.

The first time, I was getting into the tub and by some weird coincidence, managed to whack the second toe from from far right on my right foot on the edge of the tub. It hurt. It bruised. But I don't recall it impeded walking or wearing shoes much. It was kinda sore and bruised for longer than most regular bruises, but that was really the only indication I'd done more than just bang it on something.

The second time was a flamboyantly astounding incident wherein I managed to smash the big toe on my right foot with a folding chair in rather spectacular fashion. I smashed it, then later went to the ER because it hurt so damn bad, at which time it was lanced because so much blood had built up and, oh, by the way, is why it hurts, young lady. Yum! I know!

It was x-rayed at the time and was initially deemed "not broken." However, a week later, there was a message on my answering machine that "the radiologist (the guy who can really read x-rays) says it looks like it IS broken."

Hmm. Okay.

Well, what was I gonna do? Go get a cast? A sling? Uh... no.

Then another week later there was an alarming yellowish blister all along the cuticle and it was still wildly... uncomfortable. So I went to the walk-in clinic again and the doctor was, first of all, mad at me for not saying right away that it was, in fact, broken... and then also said the entire nail needed to be removed. Oh good, it hasn't hurt REAL BAD for at least a week, let's DO THAT!

It's complicated to explain, but basically, the nail cracked horizontally down the middle when I hit it with the folding chair and cut into the nail bed of my toe without me knowing it and after the lancing, kinda healed up but then got infected, blah, blah, blah... All. Not. Good. Nail. Removal. Six. Shots. Of. Novocaine. In wildly sore, swollen, infected toe. Woo! MAS TEQUILA!!!!

I remember the doctor saying the numbing would last four hours at least, but by the time I'd gone next door to the pharmacy my toe already hurt so much I was breathing fire and ready to rip the heads off anyone who spoke to me. I'm lucky I wasn't arrested for the constant vehement spewing of obscenities.

That all got over with YEARS ago, though. But... you could say, I'm familiar with toe pain.

Tonight, out of nowhere, I get up to get dinner and promptly CRACK, and I do mean *CRACK*, the pinky toe on my right foot on the coffee table leg... not only did it hurt, but I immediately started laughing hysterically because CLEARLY this was a DOOCE! I've been DOOCED, for God's sakes! She's spreading her misery with malice aforethought and so I, I with the tiniest, most introverted toes known to man (did you SEE them!?!), managed to wing one out to catch the table leg and promptly crack it into enough pieces to be breathtakingly painful and will probably impress my doctor... whenever I can get to see him... with the number of pieces into which I've managed to fragment the smallest possible bone on my body.

Last Night: What do you think? Is it broken?

This Morning: Yeah... I think it's broken

Heather! I hereby stake a CLAIM to at least 30 minutes of your labor on behalf of my broken toe which you hexed on me!

However, knowing she's related to you and Jon and gorgeous Leta... even I... O sufferer of BRACK TOE, deem it a worthy sacrifice. I love you guys. :::sniffle:::

Just KNOW... you are NOT suffering alone!!! Now, please... pass the Pabst and Donettes!!!

Tell Me What You Think

Mon, 25 May 2009 14:52:57 GMT

View Poll: Does Canned Dog Food Smell Good or Bad?

My answer is a reluctant yes, although I've decided that the fact that it does kind of smell good is what makes it so gross. Because it's a gelatinous glop of meat we all know are the most disgusting leftovers so the fact that that is in any way aromatically appealing makes it even more gross than if it smelled gross, too.

Disgusting Zombie Fly

Mon, 25 May 2009 05:24:58 GMT

Tonight for dinner I had a leftover brisket sandwich and some waffle fries.

I pre-heated the oven and covered my baking sheet with foil and sprayed that with non-stick spray and then spread a few waffle fries out on the baking sheet. I stepped away for a second because the oven hadn't quite finished pre-heating, but when I came back and went to pick up the baking sheet to put it in the oven, I noticed the fly that came in when I let the dog out earlier was on one of the waffle fries. (I don't normally have flies in my house!!) I went to pick up that fry to throw it out and almost squealed in dismay when the fly didn't move. Gross! I guess its tender little fly feet got stuck to the frozen waffle fry. I guess that fly hadn't seen A Christmas Story.

I immediately picked up the fry with the frozen fly and tossed it in the garbage.

And an hour or so later, when I was cleaning up the kitchen, I opened the lid to my trashcan to throw something out and that dang fly flew out of the trashcan. I don't know what I was thinking, of course flies can live in trashcans... that's where they prefer to live! Trashcans are the Land 'o Plenty... the Lord of the Flies said its the land of milk and honey for flies! In fact, I don't know why that fly flew out of there, that's where all the most delectable fly delicacies are kept!

But now... NOW... that nasty, half-dead, mouldering fly that spent an hour in the depths of my trashcan is flying around my house. GAH!

Auuughhh!!!!

Be afraid! Be very afraid!!!

Requested Salad Dressings

Mon, 25 May 2009 02:27:58 GMT

Green Tomato Relish Salad Dressing

Put

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup green tomato relish (or chow chow)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

into a deep cup that will fit the stick of a hand blender, then while blending, stream in

3/4 - 1 cup canola oil

until emulsified.

Honey-Orange-Vanilla Fruit Salad Dressing

2 cups plain greek yogurt*
3/4 cup sour cream
Zest of one large navel orange
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey
Juice from half the orange
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or scrapings of the inside of one vanilla bean

Whisk all together and serve over fruit salad.

*For thicker dressing, substitute one tub of whipped cream cheese (room temperature).

My favorite fruit combo is:

2 - 3 Granny Smith apples, chopped
2 - 3 Red Delicious apples, chopped
1 bunch red seedless grapes
Canteloupe, chopped
1 quart of strawberries, quartered

Top dressed salad with toasted walnuts.

Leftovers Hash

Sun, 24 May 2009 18:12:41 GMT

Some years ago I watched Rachael Ray make ham & spinach hash with fried or poached eggs and I've been making that pretty regularly ever since. It's delicious and I'm as liable to make it for dinner as breakfast. I've made it for company and for celebration brunches such as Mother's Day or Easter. It's informal, but delicious and exactly the kind of thing I like best about cooking... throw a bunch of stuff together and cook it up... perfect.

Which is what's great about hash in general. I've made numerous different versions, really the only basics of it are diced potatoes and onions... every other ingredient is pretty flexible. The word hash suggests the inclusion of meat, but what kind of meat to use is completely optional. And hash lends itself well to using up leftovers, especially vegetables that are just less than crisp and totally fresh or little bits of things. Leftover grilled meats would work beautifully, but anything that is on hand will work, including a blackened, grilled or even fried fish. If you're using any kind of leftover fish, add that in absolute last and just fold in until it's heated.

My mom and dad took Michael out of town to visit family this weekend and I stayed home to work. They left their dog with me, who is better company than none, but only just... he sleeps more than I do and that's really saying something! He's a very, very aged dog and sometimes I have to look at him closely to make sure he's still breathing.

My mom also left a bunch of her leftovers in the fridge... some of which I used to make Leftovers Breakfast Hash Burritos this morning.

I chopped up some potato and onion and started it in a hot skillet. It's important not to add salt too early so the vegetables can brown/carmelize.

Then I added in the little bag of leftover taco salad topping which was a mixture of cooked ground beef with taco seasoning and black beans. I put in a can of green chiles and then stirred in some chopped up Campari tomatoes she left.

With the tomatoes:

Almost ready:

Burritoed, ready to fold up... I painted a smear of sour cream on the warmed tortilla and then put the hot hash on top of that. Then I put the scrambled eggs next to that:

I would have topped the burrito with either some shredded cheddar or jack or pepper jack or some melted velveeta cheese... if I'd had any. But this is a leftovers hash burrito so I wasn't going to make a trip to the store to buy anything. The sour cream was perfect, though.

I think I can cobble together a recipe...

Leftovers Breakfast Hash Burrito

2 tablespoons oil
3 small Butter Gold potatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup of leftover meat & bean mixture (or any leftover meat you have, chopped, shredded or crumbled up)
1 can green chiles (or chopped green pepper, jalapenos or other peppers or chiles)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (or salsa or canned tomatoes)

Put oil in skillet and heat over medium, then put in potatoes. After about 5 minutes, add in onion (add in raw peppers or chiles now, too). Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for about 15 - 20 minutes, then add in leftover meat. Keep stirring and continue to cook until meat is heated through. Add in canned or jarred chiles or peppers now, if using, plus salt and pepper. Stir and continue to heat through, then add in tomatoes at the last minute. Season again with salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper.

Serve with soft scrambled eggs also seasoned with salt and fresh black pepper in a warmed flour tortilla. Paint tortilla with a stripe of sour cream and/or top with shredded cheese (cheddar, jack or pepper jack or any combination of two) or melted Velveeta cheese. Optional to serve with extra salsa.

Third option: serve hash on top of crispy corn tortilla topped with poached or fried eggs drizzled lightly with hot spicy or smoky cheese sauce and sprinkled with parsley, chives or cilantro. Garnish with extra shredded cheese and some sweet-hot toasted pepitas.

Sticky, Wet and Kinda Stinky

Wed, 20 May 2009 03:18:13 GMT

Last weekend, I took time off. And what I mean by that is... I've signed on to work 50 hours per week through the summer, so last weekend was my last weekend of goofing off, sleeping late and watching cooking shows. Which is what I usually do on weekends. What? What do you do on weekends??? Is there anything else?

...anyway...

Friday after work, Michael and I did our usual weekend shopping which always includes wine (for Mama), pizza, cookies or individual pieces of cake... and, for the past few weekends, cinnamon rolls. I've discovered that even if you buy the store-brand cinnamon rolls, as long as you place a thick pat of butter on top of each roll before you bake them, they cook up decadent and delicious every time, even if the name Cinnabon is not on the package. *grin*

What I did not anticipate is that my son, who knows better, would be so anxious to eat cinnamon rolls that he would dare to wake me at 7:45am on a Saturday. This from a child who has been buffeted by the winds of my weekend early morning grumpiness since he was 3-years-old. But the siren song of cinnamon rolls proved too much for his acquired wisdom of Don't. Wake. Mama.

However, even when I am grumpy, I am a good Mama. I got up and made him cinnamon rolls. Reluctantly and with vociferous protest and dire warning. But... in the end I drank coffee at my leisure and watched the early shows on Food TV. (Don't worry... I napped later.)

Early Saturday shows on Food Network include the brand new Ask Aida. Now... I didn't love this show the first couple of times I watched it. Mainly because Aida seemed nervous and awkward and her "assistant," Noah, was almost hilariously shaky and geeky... I imagine similar to a technologically-inclined Chihuahua. Also, I was almost never surprised by her food-related "advice."

However! Noah has proven himself an adventurous and hearty eater and very useful geek (both excellent qualities), she's become much more smooth (and even funny) in her delivery and the main point is, I'm liking her food. I can ignore the "advice" tidbits easily enough, although I will say her viewers tend to go out of their way to compose theatrically entertaining question videos, so even those have become worth watching, even if not terribly informative (to me).

Last Saturday, among other things, she made Sticky Five Spice Short Ribs. I know, right? Doesn't that sound outstanding?? I thought so, too, and you didn't even watch her make them. Irresistible! I had to make them for myself. And so... I formulated an entire menu to include the short ribs, but also, steamed white rice and... uhhhh, some kind of salad. A salad that would be... Asian-y. Sugar snap peas. Water chestnuts. Avocado. Mmmm, some kind of dressing to be determined later.

I will post the recipe for the ribs, because I did make them and I can personally attest that they are just outstanding. But before I do, I must tell you what happened on the quest for this recipe.

I found everything I needed for the recipe, that I didn't already have, at my regular grocery store. I did have to substitute country-style pork ribs for the "English cut" short ribs, but... I already knew that would make no difference.

The only thing I did NOT find was Chinese Five Spice. Well... as you may imagine, in this recipe, there is no substitute. I might could have made my own five spice blend, but that still would have required star anise pods and I didn't find those either. I knew the gourmet grocery store would have what I needed, although... I admit, I am generally reluctant to make a special trip anywhere for just one item. But this was important, so we drove to the other store and headed in to complete our quest.

And just at that moment, just as we set our feet onto the shiny, over-polished concrete inside the heavily air-conditioned store, the worst thunderstorm I've seen in years spewed forth from the heavens. The skies "opened up" in the sense you always hear that... it was unbelievable. At the checkout stands, many feet back from the open front doors, it was possible to feel the spray of cold rain as it was whipped by both the insane wind and its violent ejection from pitch-black clouds. For a moment, I worried we were in for an un-forecast tornado that would make the Sunday papers. DOZENS LEFT HOMELESS WHILE STRANDED IN HEB PLUS. Please... no.

We ventured our way to the cover just outside the far-right front entrance clutching a pitiful, ineffectual purse-sized umbrella and our hard-won bottle of Chinese Five Spice. We watched the rain come down in sizzling white sheets and listened to the exhilarated and soaking-wet HEB employees tell the stories of their storm-fueled bravery attending helpless customers. I thought if only it weren't blowing so hard, we'd have a chance. My son whined. I thought... well, we're both wearing shorts and Crocs... how bad could it be?

We stepped out into the maelstrom and were immediately soaked. Utterly useless umbrella! Even without the impetus to keep shoes or clothes or hair dry, it's still a major imperative to get OUT of such a raging storm as quickly as possible. Which would have been great... if only I could have found our car. But unfortunately, I could not. And so we wandered and slogged through ankle deep puddles as my son clung to me and screeched and I attempted to keep the umbrella from turning inside out for what seemed like forty days and forty nights in the driving rain... lost... looking for the car. Which we probably passed several times. Finally I found it and we threw ourselves into the car in two sodden, shivering heaps. I could not even dry my glasses, none of my clothes were dry! The drive home was painstaking as I attempted not to hydroplane on flooded streets. When we got home, we both had to strip out of every stick of clothing we had on. Michael was so cold he had to have a hot shower before changing into his dry clothes.

But... the Chinese Five Spice was unaffected and we did manage to get it into the house.

I made the ribs on Sunday night since Saturday was so traumatic the best I could manage was baking a frozen pizza while helping myself to a vodka + mineral water over ice.

Check it out:

*drool* And now... the recipes!

Sticky Five Spice Short Ribs
3 to 4 servings
from Aida Mollenkamp

1 1/2 cups of dry sherry or Shaoxing wine (I used sherry)
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 pounds short ribs, English cut (I used 3 lbs. country-style ribs)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons five-spice powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 medium garlic cloves, smashed
1-inch piece of ginger, sliced
1 small serrano or Thai bird chile or jalapeno pepper, halved (I used two serranos)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and arrange a rack in the middle.

Mix together sherry, oyster sauce, and brown sugar until evenly combined and set aside. Pat ribs dry with a paper towel and season well with salt and five-spice powder. (Rub your meat!)

Place a 3-quart Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed, shallow pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat and add oil. When oil starts to smoke, add ribs and sear until well browned, about 2 minutes per side.

Remove ribs to a plate and set aside. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of drippings, return pan to stove and add garlic, ginger and chiles. Cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in reserved sherry mixture and bring to a simmer.

Return ribs to pan and bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to oven to cook, turning occasionally, until meat is knife tender, about 1 1/2 hours then increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F and cook, uncovered, until ribs are sticky, about 30 more minutes.

If sauce is still runny after ribs are finished, remove ribs to a plate, strain off solids and return cooking vessel to medium-high heat on stovetop. When mixture comes to a boil, let boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Then add 2 - 3 teaspoons of water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon less than an equal amount of corn starch until smooth. Whisk in cornstarch slurry until sauce is thick (coats the back of a spoon). Add ribs back into cooking vessel, nestling them into thickened sauce, cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

I recommend serving ribs with steamed white rice. I place a smashed coin of ginger on top of my rice while it steamed to add a little bit of extra flavor.

I completed the meal with a cold salad of steamed sugar snap peas, water chestnuts and sliced avocado drizzled with a salad dressing I made.

Asian Salad Dressing
Totally Mine, but WARNING: the raw garlic in this dressing will render your breath lastingly stinky. Just be sure everyone eats it.

2 - 3 cloves of juicy garlic, peeled and grated
1-inch ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/2 cup rice vinegar

Put all that into deep cup that will fit the stick of a hand blender, then slowly drizzle in...

1 cup of canola oil

...while blender is running to emulsify.

After the ribs and rice are gone and all that's left in the fridge is a sad little bag of sugar snap peas and water chestnuts... make this salad:

Butter lettuce greens
Leftover sugar snap peas and water chestnuts
Half an avocado, cubed
1/4 cup mandarin oranges

Drizzle that with Asian Salad Dressing and top with toasted sliced almonds and crispy chow mein noodles or crispy wontons. (Toasting very important.)

To make a meal of that, include almost any cold fish or chicken you have on hand... particularly if that happens to be leftover flaked, grilled salmon or sliced teriyaki-marinated chicken breast.

Writer's Block: Look at Me/Don't Look at Me

Sun, 17 May 2009 17:33:15 GMT

Do you seek attention or hide from it?

Submitted By novarr

View other answers

BOTH!!!

*waves to get your attention, then runs away*

Big, Huge News

Thu, 14 May 2009 03:36:14 GMT

So... I haven't shared this here yet and I should because it's so big. It's so big, it's huge. It's beyond huge.

I got a new job. I start this Friday. I'm still working at the college, I just have a new job there starting Friday.

Guess what it is... c'mon guess!!

What'd you guess?

I am going to be, not "a," but the writer/photographer. Professional, full-time job: WRITING. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it and I can't wait to get started. And I can't believe I managed to find a job doing something I love as much as I love writing. AND photography... I mean, for Pete's sakes it's gonna be like playing all day! <-- Okay, that may be overstating it a TEENSY bit, I'm sure there will be plenty of times when work will seem like... well, work. But I really cannot think of anything else in the world I could do all day every day that I'm sure I will love doing as much writing, even when it seems like work.

This is what I have always wanted to do and my friend, Paula, whom I've known since 5th grade, can vouch for that when we were kids in... mmm, 6th grade I think... I used to say I wanted to be a journalist. Which is just a specialized kind of writing. I did also say I wanted to be an interpreter at the U.N., but being a writer has always been my first choice.

Mad Libbing My Dream Man

Mon, 11 May 2009 04:04:51 GMT

My Dream Man

My "Dream Man" should, first of all be very Crinkled and Furry. He should have a physique like Johnny Depp, a profile like Orlando Bloom, and the intelligence of a/an Worm. He must be polite and must always remember to Snip my Lawn, to tip his Car and to take my Knuckle when crossing the street. He should move Gingerly, have a/an Gleaming voice, and should always dress Quickly. I would also like him to be a/an Bubbling dancer, and when we are alone he should whisper Rough nothings into my Hair and hold my Cottony Plate. I know a/an Cabinet is hard to find. In fact the only one I can think of is Ted Allen

Yes, the intelligence of a worm is a deal-breaker for me... my man should definitely have worm-like intelligence, anything else is simply unacceptable.

Favorite Quote

Mon, 11 May 2009 02:35:45 GMT

"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in -- forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old mistakes and nonsense."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

All About Mother's Day

Sun, 10 May 2009 23:00:28 GMT

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! We had a great day around here. Mom and Dad got here about 10:30am for a Mother's Day brunch complete with mimosas, ham and spinach hash with poached eggs and some delicious summer fruit salad (apples, grapes, canteloupe and strawberries) with my honey-orange-vanilla dressing.

Mom and Dad brought me a big pot, some dirt and all my favorite herbs! Check it out, isn't it pretty?! I can't wait until I can harvest a little bit, I love fresh herbs. Now all I need is my own little charcoal grill so I can do shrimp skewers and steaks and stuff and I am all set!

The pot contains basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, chives and rosemary:

Michael got me a some perfume: Giorgio Red. I had never smelled it before and I quite like it, it's very spicy. I got my mom the grapefruit and lemongrass Dove Cool Essentials set of deodorant, body spray and body wash so she'll smell nice, too.

And now, for some Mother's Day Quizzes!

Michael (7) answers about me:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you.

2. What makes mom happy?
Me kissing her.

3. What makes mom sad?
Not kissing her.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
By saying stuff funny.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A kid.

6. How old is your mom?
40.

7. How tall is your mom?
I don't really know.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Sleep and read.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Lay on the couch and watch movies.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
The Next Food Network Star.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Snoring.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
I don't know.

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Be a photographer and writer.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Tomatoes.

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Her new job.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Jerry (from Tom & Jerry).

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Watch movies.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have the same eyelashes.

19. How are you and your mom different?
She's taller than me.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she kisses me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
The movies.

You'd think all we do around here is kiss and watch movies... and snore.

Me (40) & Michael (7), answering about my mom:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Michael: How is school?
Me: What'cha doin'?

2. What makes mom happy?
Michael: Hugging her.
Me: Red wine.

3. What makes mom sad?
Michael: Not hugging her.
Me: Spilling her wine.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Michael: By cracking me up.
Me: Spilling her wine.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Michael: A pre-K student.
Me: I bet she was bossy... and she probably really, really liked horses.

6. How old is your mom?
Michael: 62.
Me: 62.

7. How tall is your mom?
Michael: 53.
Me: She's not.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Michael: Sit on the couch and watch movies.
Me: Drink red wine.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Michael: Take a nap.
Me: Drink red wine and take a nap.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Michael: Being the president.
Me: Inventing red wine stain remover.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Michael: Reading.
Me: Whistling.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Michael: I don't know.
Me: Opening jars.

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Michael: Take out the trash.
Me: Take care of my dad.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Michael: Broccoli.
Me: My guacamole.

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Michael: Sleeping very good.
Me: She's nice to everyone all the time even when they don't deserve it.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Michael: Pucca.
Me: Minnie Mouse.

7. What do you and your mom do together?
Michael: Skip while holding hands.
Me: Drink red wine.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Michael: I don't know.
Me: We used to have the same color hair... but now we do not.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Michael: She has blonde hair and I have brown.
Me: She has blonde hair and I have brown.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Michael: She kisses me.
Me: Because she always does really nice stuff for me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Michael: Restaurants.
Me: The boat/marina... or, my house, when I'm cooking.

Snarkyness Unlimited

Fri, 08 May 2009 06:59:18 GMT

I stole this from Erik:

1. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
I sit down at all restaurants and, I'm sorry, but I feel it would be unfair to the other restaurants to play favorites. I love them all equally.

2. What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
All food.

3. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Yes, but does it count if some of it grew back?

4. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
My butt. I'm not sure that counts because I lift it all the time, but it is pretty heavy.

5. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No, but I have been rendered unconscious.

6. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
Well, it won't ultimately matter to me, but my loved ones might want to know so they can plan the party.

7. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Well, I can change my name... and I was thinking of changing my first name to some kind of weather and my last name to Foxx. Like Misty Foxx or Rayne Foxx or Stormy Foxx. I'm sure I'll get noticed more if I have a name like that.

8. What’s your goal for the year?
To get noticed.

9. Last person you hugged?
Ran away gagging... hmmm, must be this garlic and salami I've had in my pocket all day.

10. First place you went this morning?
To the bathroom.

11. Do you always answer your phone?
Well, yeah, because otherwise... it's usefulness is reduced by half.

12. It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
Santa!?!? Oh wait, no, no, no... sorry, got that mixed up a little bit. I mean: Satan!?!

13. If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I would like for my eyes to be totally solid black. Just think how that would freak everybody out and plus I bet I'd be a lock for every Silent Hill sequel ever made!

14. What’s on your wish list for your birthday?
The usual.

15. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
That changes from one day to the next, I can't answer that.

16. Do you have any saved texts?
Yes, GAW!!! Did VirginMobile call you or something?? Sheesh, I got the message that my inbox is 91% full, I just haven't had time to delete any messages yet. Hold your horses, for pity's sake.

17. Ever been in a car wreck?
Yes, and it was such a pleasant experience I must say thank you for reminding me.

18. Do you have an accent?
Not compared to most people in the south, but someone from the north or another country probably would say so.

19. What was the last song to make you cry?
I get wrecked every time I hear that "I Thought I Lost You" song from Bolt sung by John Travolta and Miley Cyrus only because I can't imagine how painfully poignant that must be for John Travolta since he lost his son.

20. What did you do last night?
Why? What have you heard? Whatever it was, it wasn't me... I was, ah... sleeping. *nudge, nudge* Remember! C'mon, Satan, step up, man!

21. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Oh yeah! That must be where this giant bruise came from!

22. Current hate right now?
I really hate bugs that get into my house. Because I really hate bugs, but when they get inside, I must deal with them. And I try deal with them as little as possible.

23. Met someone who changed your life?
Yes, George Bailey, you changed my life, okay!? Now get over yourself.

24. How did you bring in the New Year?
Oh crap! I KNEW there was something I forgot to bring in! I'll be right back...

25. What song represents you?
Oh no... I'm a white chick... I don't represent. I mean, I could try, but I'd just look like an idiot.

...since 1979!

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:03:43 GMT

Ahhh, more brilliant use of Ozzy to sell things. This ad... is pure genius. This is by far the best ad I have ever seen.

I've heard World of Warcraft is more addicting than crack, so even though I love gaming and I especially love RPG gaming, I've avoided it. I mean, who would ever willingly get themselves addicted to crack, right? But I am seriously, seriously considering buying World of Warcraft just because I am so in love with this ad! This ad is so good it makes up for the deficiencies of almost all the ads where Billy Mays screams at me and maybe one or two of the offensive Glade ads.

Almost Invisible

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:55:33 GMT

Do you see him?

I am so delighted by how very adamantly and loudly art is not imitating life here.

Why?

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:44:47 GMT

I can never manage to get to bed early on Sunday. In fact, I'd say I probably go to bed actually later on Sunday nights than on any other day of the week. It's not good to start the week tired, I don't know why I can't manage to get it together better than that.

:::yawn:::

Half an Hour to Sunday Stealing

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:45:52 GMT

Meme stolen from Sunday Stealing:

1. Are you single?

Yes.

2. Are your parents still married?

Yes.

3. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Well... not really. But that sounds so cynical I can hardly bear to admit it.

4. Who ended your last relationship?

Technically, me. But I didn't start it.

5. Have you ever been hurt by a break up?

Uh, yeah. If anyone (over the age of 12) on this planet answers differently, I want to hear from you. You need to tell your story to the world.

6. Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

Unfortunately, yes. Wow, bummer... thanks for reminding me.

7. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

Not that I know of! Still secret...

8. Prefer love or lust?

If I must choose, I'll say lust... but really I'd rather have both at the same time.

9. Prefer a few best friends or many regular friends?

I could really go either way, but I guess the example of my life demands that I answer "a few best friends."

10. Wild night out or romantic night in?

Hmmm, a wild night sounds so fun and different, but realistically I'd prefer a romantic night in.

11. Back in the day: Been caught sneaking out?

I snuck out... I didn't get caught. Although... I only did it twice ever, so that's probably why I didn't get caught.

12. Ever wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?

Yes.

13. Who are/is your best friend(s)?

Well, I think the term "best friend(s)" is a little high school-ish, but I'll say... Paula, Michelle and Danette.

14. Ever wanted to disappear?

Ooooh, yeah! That would (and would have) come in extremely handy!

15. First attraction: Smile or eyes?

Um, smile, I think.

16. Prefer intelligence or attraction?

There really isn't any way to have one without the other, I can't answer this question.

17. Last phone call you received?

Mom.

18. Last thing you drank?

Sparkling mineral water.

19. Before your current one, when was your last relationship?

Ended last September.

20. Do you and your family get along?

Absolutely, I love my family... they're all great. I'm very lucky.

21. Would you say you have a "screwed up life"?

Well... heh, not any more. It's pretty regular.

22. Have you ever gotten kicked out somewhere? If yes, do tell.

Never been actually kicked out, but I did get in trouble with management once in a strip joint. I was making out with a hot guy from Holland one night in the Crazy Horse in Chicago and apparently I looked enough like I could work there that other customers were getting upset, so the manager came and tapped my shoulder and politely asked us to cool it. True story.

23. Do you trust all your friends?

Of course... hence... friendship.

24. Who knows the most about you?

My family.

Potpourri Posting

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:29:26 GMT

I have some related things and then some wildly different things to post about so I thought I’d do a Dixie Peach-type post and just put everything in one neat, tidy little post.

A couple of Fridays ago I had some Car Trouble. Given the extreme age of my car, you should be hearing the words Car Trouble along with an ominous "dun dun DUN!" And it did the thing that scares me the most... it was all fine and then, oops, nope... dead. My blood ran cold as I mentally begged it to start back up again and Hallelujah, it did. But then, oops, nope... :::chugga, chugga::: dead. And it kept doing that... even while I was driving. Ohhhh, soooooooo not good. Again, mentally begging the car not to make me have to call a tow-truck: please make it to the service center, please make it to the service center, please make it to the service center.

It did. It took them an entire day just to figure out what was wrong with it. Never a good sign! And, yes, it turned out there was a veritable melange of things wrong with it. I spent quite a lot on the repairs so now I’m all worried it’s going to break down again and that it will be more than I can afford next time and/or that the repairs will cost so much it would make more sense to just buy another one, but I’m kinda not in a position to buy another car right now for various reasons, blah, blah, blah.

The car issue has been preying on my mind. Preying and weighing, weighing and preying. So much so that I have now had three different ~~dreams~~ nightmares about my car just… quitting. Just giving out. Did you see The Mask with Jim Carrey? Of course you did, everyone did. Remember the part where he’s on the bridge with the embarassing ~~antique~~ loaner car he got from the seedy garage where he left his Honda with the two filthy mechanics who looked and acted like they just stepped out of Deliverance? Remember how it just quit running right on the bridge and he jumped out and slammed the door and the entire car just disintegrated? Yeah, that’s pretty much where I’m at.
Last night, I watched the little mini-marathon of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel. Love ST:TNG. My favorite Star Trek. I’ve seen every episode of the entire series, but it’s been such a long time, I don’t remember the outcomes of any of the episodes. It’s as much fun as talking over old times with friends. (“Hey! Remember that time…” “Oh, yeah!!!”) I love the episodes with little Wesley Crusher as an actual officer on the Enterprise, he’s so adorable I just want to chew on his cheeks. I love the episodes with Guinan, some of the best work Whoopi Goldberg ever did. She was well-directed, I think… very understated. I especially love ALL the episodes where Johnathan Frakes had a beard and is the most powerfully handsome man with a full beard I have ever seen. I wanted to marry him. I still do.

Johnathan Frakes as Will Riker

Later last night, I dreamed my car stopped working and Patrick Stewart (aka Capt. Jean-Luc Picard) was going to fix it for me. Somehow he intuitively knew what was wrong with my car, handed over the keys to his car (some ridiculous little white hatchback thing) and his credit card and sent me to buy parts. What a swell guy! I love Patrick Stewart, too.

Yesterday afternoon I was in Family Dollar shopping for laundry detergent. As I stood there carefully considering unit pricing and whether or not I wanted my laundry detergent scented or not, a tiny voice repeatedly saying, “Senorita!” finally penetrated the full-on brown study that engulfed me. There stood a woman who put the little in Little Old Lady, trying to get my attention. She spoke no English, but I gathered from the way she was waving her tiny arms ineffectually at the top shelf that she needed me to hand her down the box of laundry detergent she wanted. So I reached her down a box of Tide. She took the box from my hand in the same cute way tiny little mice take pieces of cracker or cheese from benevolent rodentiaphiles. She said, “Gracias,” and toddled away. I should make a point here of saying that I am only 5’ 2”, and I positively towered over this woman. She was not a dwarf or a “little person,” she was simply a very tiny woman.

I wanted to update about the things I mentioned in the Lemony Goodness post. I made the strombolis (or calzones… not sure what you’d call them) last Friday night and that was SUPER easy and every bit as delicious as pizza. I was a little worried that maybe the crust wouldn’t cook all the way or something, but they turned out perfect. Michael and I both liked them. Yay! Another easy thing to fix and clean up that we both like. As a first effort I stuck with just turkey pepperoni, sauce and cheese. What I did was cut the pepperoni rounds into quarters, cube up some cheese from a block of mozzarella I had purchased and stirred everything together with some Ragu Pizza Quick sauce. I put a few spoonfuls in the middle of refrigerated pizza dough I had cut in half and then just kinda folded it up. I baked it at the temp recommended on the can of dough for as long as it recommended. I think it needed a few more minutes than it said on the can, but I just eyeballed that and took it out when it looked done. It was. And very tasty. And, it will be easy enough to include some other veggies next time I want to make them… plain pepperoni for him, mushrooms and zucchini in mine. YUM!

I made the sausage and peppers with penne last night. Michael liked that okay. I don’t think it was his favorite, but he ate plenty of it and I loved it. I love anything with that much tomato in it. It was also reasonably quick and easy and the good news is, that is exactly the kind of leftovers I will eat without fail. I’ll be having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Oh, and speaking of lunch… dare I tell about what I had for lunch today? I know no one cares, but let me offer this with the intention of making recommendations: I had a Healthy Choice Chicken Tortilla cup of soup. Delicious. Best flavor they make, hands down. With that, I had a 100 calorie package of pretzel Goldfish. That works well, because the soup needs that little bit of extra salt, in my opinion. I also had a Bumblebee Sensations Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil tuna salad lunch pack and I cannot stress enough how delicious that is. In fact, I am resolved to look for that stuff in a larger package because I can think of a million other ways to serve it and every time I eat it I end up wishing I had more. I also had a little snack pack of Sunmaid dried cranberries. Love the little snack packs.

I’ve saved the best for last! Last Saturday night I heard from Michelle. She’s begun her drug trial at M.D. Anderson. The drugs are shrinking her tumors!!!! That news did a lot to loosen the agonizingly painful constriction I get in my chest every time I think about the cancer that is burning fast as a grass-fire in her body and eating up her future in great greedy gobbles. Thank you to all my Internet friends who have helped me pray for her. Help me continue to pray. The good news was qualified: she’s had some alarming perforations that have caused leakage and that is potentially fatal for her. However, she sounded great, she said she feels pretty good and they think they have her side-effects under control. Her family, along with her precious kids, are visiting her over the Easter weekend holiday and then I will go see her again the weekend after that. I can’t wait.