Hoppin' John and some pics

Ok so first, some pictures from this weekend skiing.
























Aren't we just fucking adorable?

Ok, last night we had new Eating Well recipe number 4 for dinner. Black-Eyed Peas with Pork and Beans. It is kind of a take on Hoppin' John. It was pretty damn tasty. I have a few suggestions. Firstly, I would use ground pork next time since I felt like I was eating pork and then rice and not really pork and rice together. And I think we would use mustard greens next time instead of kale. We used white rice because we had it and I actually thought it was brown. I would also add another half to full tablespoon tomato paste. And we both think it should have a little more spice. The smoke paprika was great, but we had smoked sweet instead of smoked hot. So next time I would either add some crushed red pepper or some chipotle chili powder (so you get some more smokiness). But over all it was pretty tasty and we would make it again. It was really easy and fast as well and made enough for 2 dinners and 2 lunches. The top picture is what it is supposed to look like and the bottom picture is what it did look like. Pretty close in my opinion. I am going to start trying to do this when possible for recipes since I know it is helpful to know what it is is supposed to look like. Though it is easiest (and therefore more likely that I will do it) to take the pics with my phone and therefore the pics are gonna kind of suck. Sorry.

South Steet Bridge Update

So I told you awhile ago that Iwould take pics of the bridge progress every week and then post them here. Well I lied. Because did you really think I would be that up to date and stuff? But I have been taking some pics. So here they are.

December 17th, 2008









February 2nd, 2009









February 13th, 2009









February 19th, 2009









March 10th, 2009

This American Life and Stew

So we finished watching the first season of the Showtime This America Life TV show last night. If you dont know what This American Life is, shame on you. Just kidding, I am not that kind of NPR listener. But you really really should check it out. It is a radio show . . . where they pick a topic . . . and then offer vignettes on that topic . . . about life . . . in America. So yeah, it doesnt sound nearly as fantastic as it is. But really, you should check it out. Like yesterday. Because it makes me laugh out loud while walking to work. And cry on the walk sometimes too. The topics are timely and the reporters and content providers are excellent. And Ira Glass . . . . oh Ira. I had no idea how old he was! Not that he is old. But he just always struck me, as a radio listener, as a 30ish year old hipster type of guy. Not a 50 year old. But yeah. So check it out. And one good way to maybe check it out if you aren't a public radio listener or podcast subscriber is to check out the DVD of the show. Ok, so I was a bit concerned about turning a radio show that does such an excellent job of telling stories and relating ideas without needing to see anything into a television program. I was concerned that the visual representation would take away from the story they were telling. But it didnt. At all. It added in a nice way, but I think many of the stories could have been made for the radio as well. Because they are just that good. The format is the same, a topic, a lead story, Ira introducing the show from a desk in a . . . location (you just have to see it), then a few acts ont he topic. The shows are half hour instead of a full hour which left me wanting more. And there are only 6 episodes in the season. But I have heard that the show really didnt come into its own until Season 2. And if that is true I cant wait to see it because Season 1 was great. So yeah. Check it out! Or at least the radio show. Or hey, if youw ant to jump right in the This American Life Live show is being broadcast (maybe to a theater near you) on April 23rd.

Last night for dinner, while watching This American Life we had Pinto Bean and Andouille Sausage Stew. Again from Eating Well. We modified it some. Firstly we used 4 cans of canned pinto beans instead of dried. Because I didnt want to deal with dried. And so then we simmered it for half an hour, then added the sausage and bacon back and then simmered for another hour. And we only used 3 cups of liquid instead of 8. I used 2 and a quarter cups low sodium fat free chicken broth and 3/4 cup water. And I used a whole red pepper and a whole green pepper because I didnt read the directions and what was I going to do with a quarter of a pepper leftover anyway? And I used a whole jalapeno which was probably about 4 tsp. And I minced the garlic. And it was really good. Next time I might smash a can or half a can of the beans so it thickened it a little bit. But otherwise it really was excellent. And made enough for the 2 of us for dinner and then probably 4 lunch portions. Ours was a bit wetter, than that picture. Maybe I should start posting my pics of dinner too. Ok, well here is the best I can do, this is a pic of the leftovers (taken with my phone). So it wasnt as thick last night when it was hot and fresh. So maybe it will be even better leftover. Wow, that is not a very good pic is it? Well pretend it is less green looking. It really is really good and we will be making it again and you should try it.

Some recipes and an update

Quick update: Matty and I had a fabulous time this weekend skiing in New England. The conditions werent great (close to 50) but skiing in bad conditions is still better than not skiing in my humble opinion. We stayed at a cabin on Lake Winnipesaukee owned Sue and Don. Saturday we skied Attitash and then Sunday we played around on their snowmobiles and played in the snow and made a snowman and roasted marshmallows over the fire in their fire pit. It was a lovely mini vacation. And Matty is 100% officially hooked on skiing. Which makes me totally excited since that means I have a skiing buddy! And hopefully we will do it more often than once every 3 years or so. And he is an excellent skier. We had him on double blacks Saturday. His sixth day skiing! I will post pics as soon as I get them from my dad, I forgot my camera.

I have not been a very good cook recently, first we were preparing for the Mardi Gras party. Then I was sick. Then we had a busy week with a movie night, a Lost night and the hockey game. So we have been eating mostly leftovers and quickie meals the last few eeks. So this week I decided to try to get back to cooking and most importantly trying new recipes. First up on Monday we had Barbecue Portobello Quesadillas. They were excellent. We pretty much followed the recipe to the letter I think. The pic is from the Eating Well website. But ours pretty much looked like that. Matty cooked them the way he always cooks quesadillas. He put the tortilla in the heated pan with a little oil, once it starts to brown a little bit, he flips it over, puts the cheese on half, lets it melt a little, then adds the filling and then closes the quesadilla and cooks until filling is heated through. We had a side of chips and guacamole and each had 2 quesadillas. So this was actually a good size for us (even though it says it is 4 servings).
Last night (after drinks at Sidecar) we made Alpine Mushroom Pasta, also from Eating Well. Ours looked a little different because we modified the recipe a bit. We used Trader Joes Organic Sprouted Wheat Peppardelle since they didnt have whole wheat fettucine. We also used 5 large baby bok choys instead of the Savoy cabbage. It ended up being about 3 cups instead of 6. And we used smoked gouda because TJs didnt have any other smoked cheeses. This is excellent and I would highly recommend. It takes practically no time at all to make (the "sauce" takes about the same time as boiling the water and cooking the pasta). I would recommend (if you used the pasta and amount of cabbage we did at least, cutting a minute or two off the cooking time so the pasta is a little more al dente). It is pretty sagey and garlicy which Matty and I both enjoy, but just a warning in case you dont. It made enough for us to have for dinner last night and then to each take for lunch today. It is also very good leftover. We will definitely have this again. I think smoked mozzarella would be fantastic though the gouda did work well.

Happy National Frozen Food Day!

3 posts! In one day! Just thought I would throw in a bit of an update since it is Friday and I dont have anything to do since something actually worked for me this week! and because we are going away this weekend to New Hampshire to go skiing! Yay!

Ok, so let's see, I was sick all last week which was awful but am doing much better now.

We had a busy week this week and I was sick last week and the previous week we were busy with Mardi Gras prep. So we havent been doing any creative cooking, but more will be coming soon I promise.

My parents may have bought a new boat! The survey is next weekend and then the decision date is the 19th. A big day for lots of people as it is also residency Match day, so everyone keep your fingers crossed for my parents and also for Beta!

Last night we went to the Flyers-Sabers hockey game. The Flyers got trounced. But we had a good time. At least partly because we were in the All-You-Can-Eat section which is a great and awful idea. All you can eat hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, soda and ice cream.

Hmmm . . . that might be all.

I am going to try my hand at talking about the economy in the near future I think. We will see. I highly recommend everyone to check out the The American Life episode - Bad Bank. It is available for free on iTunes and other places for the rest of the week, then it is $.95 and totally worth every penny. I would also highly recommend Another Frightening Show About the Economy which aired in October. The episodes are free to stream. I would also vicariously recommend the the Plant Money podcast. I havent heard it much myself, except the pieces that work their way into This American Life and NPR's Story of the Day. But what I have heard is fantastic. They do a most excellent job of distilling this terrifyingly complex and jargon-y topic into an easily digestible discussion that is equally terrifying for a completely different reason.

Battlestar Galactica, aka I am a dork

If you want an actual review and episode by episode guide to the miniseries and first season, I once again implore you to check out The Daily Drew. And I am going to say right off the bat that some of what I have to say comes from Drew, but I totally wholeheartedly agree with it and couldnt say it better myself. And I figure most (if not all) of my readers have never seen the show and so an episode by episode recap and review is less helpful. My facts are probably not perfect. So shoot me. I will try not to include many spoilers, but I have to tell you some things to get you interested. But I will nto tell you anything you wouldnt already know by the end of the beginning of the miniseries.

Ok, so Battlestar Galactica is a drama set in the trappings of a sci-fi show. Much like Lost is a sci-fi show set in the trappings of a drama. I have pretty much decided that I am going to avoid discussing Lost because nothing I would say would make any sense to anyone who hasnt seen it and it wouldnt give it justice even if it did. Just suffice it to say that if you are willing to watch all 6 (once the final ones are shown) seasons of a show, I would highly highly highly recommend Lost. Expecially if you are at all interested in JJ Abrams-style conspiracy and analysis stuff. Because it is all over the internets. You could probably spend a lifetime analyzing it (and it seems like many have tried) and still not be happy or have all the answers. Mostly, in my opinion because not even the writers have (or will have) all the answers. But if you are just going to watch a few episodes here and there, dont watch Lost. It isnt worth it.

But that is totally off-topic! Ok, so Battlestar Galactica started as a miniseries based on the 1978 series of the same name. I havent seen the original, I will say that right off the bat. I originally decided to watch because my dad kept nagging at me and I was impressed that a "sci-fi" series had such a large audience base today. So I will admit I am a fan of both the original and Next Generation iterations of Star Trek (and the movies) and my favorite show as a kid was Dr. Who (I have not seen the new ones at all yet). Whenever I am looking for a book I inevitably pick up something written or edited by Asimov or Herbert or Heinlein or Card, when I am not reading Stephen King of course. I actually liked The Postman. The book, havent seen the movie. So that is where I was starting from. But this is not Star Trek. This really is a drama. The emotion and the impetus behind watching and interest in this series is the stories of the people. And they are real people. They are 3 dimensional. None of them are wholly good, or wholly evil. They make mistakes and they make them for the same reasons we make mistakes. They make rash judgements based on raw emotion or gut feelings and sometimes, they are wrong. The show uses the setting (in space) and the basic plot (fleeing from robots) to move things along and set up a backdrop to watch how these people deal with stress and personal relationships. And that is what makes the show so neat and cool.

So ok. The basics. There are a few "spoilers" here but nothing that you wouldnt have gleaned from the first part of the miniseries. Humans create robots (Cylons) to do their bidding. The Cylons revolt. There is a war which eventually leads to armistice and peace. 40 years later the Cylons come back. They have evolved. They look and feel like people. (I totally took that all from the show's intro) They attack the 12 colonies and kill off mostly everyone. There are a few survivors, mostly on ships that were in space at the time of the attack. That is pretty much the basis of the show. The attack happens in the first part of the miniseries and everything goes from there. The first season covers what happens to the survivors in the first 3ish months following the attack. There is suspense because, since the Cylons look like people now, they have infiltrated the human race. And so no one know who is a Cylon and who isnt. And not only that, but not even all the Cylons necessarily know that they are Cylons! Boom bom bom! There is religion, but not the Bible. Because, I forgot to mention. There aren't humans from Earth. They are from Kobol, where (supposedly) the gods and man lived together. Then something happened and lead to 12 (or 13) colonizations by the 12 (or 13) tribes of Kobol 2000 years before now. These colonies are names (loosely) after our zodiac figures (Aerilon, Aquarion, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonan, Libris, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron, Virgon) and their gods (The Lords of Kobol) sound awfully familiar as well (Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemic, Athena, Aurora, Hera, Zeus, Isis, etc). Which brings be to this "13th colony," in the "myths" of their religion, there was a 13th colony which left before the other 12. And this colony was on . . . . dun dun dun . . . a planet called Earth. So, like us some people believe that Kobol and the gods and the prophecies are myths and stories and some believe they are true. And this is a major plot point (or maybe crutch) of this whole show. And there is also discussion, by the Cylons of all "people," of a God. See the capital G there? And one of the sayings or proverbs of the show is "All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again." Which of course leads to a question of when is this exactly? So there is a lot going on in the show. And don't forget, they are in space, fighting robots, some of whom look like people. So dont think that their aren't also awesome space fights and robot battles and such.

Ok, so main points -

This show is a drama set in space. It is enough sci-fi to keep sci-fi geeks happy (I think) but not too much to piss off the average viewer. There is enouch drama to keep the average viewer (I think) happy but not too much to piss off the sci-fi geek.

These are real characters with flaws. They make mistakes. They swear. A lot. Of course, since you can't swear that much on TV, they say frak as opposed to fuck. They have complicated relationships and emotional ties that make them do foolish and heroic things.

They have actual issues glossed over in many sci-fi and drama shows. For instance, they have to eat. They have to go to the bathroom. They have to have fuel. They have a government. It is a remnant (at least to start) of the colonial government, except that most of them died in the attack and so number 43(ish) on the totem pole, Secretary of Education, is now President. They also have a military, which as in most real life situations sees things very differently from the civilians.

So seriously. Check it out. I think you might like it. At least check out the miniseries. If you dont like that, dont keep watching. If you do, there are 4? seasons total, the final season is happening now-ish. It is a little hard to tell since there are a bunch of half seasons. We are on Season 2 right now. I will try not to talk too much about it from here on out since I have a feeling this is not my audience. But I had to at least try.

Death Race review

Ok, I am going to try to get through two posts today. First will be a movie review of Death Race. Then I am going to try to explain the basics of Battlestar Galactica (because I am a dork) in order to try to convince you that I am not really that big of a dork. We will see how far I get.

So first off, Death Race. Not to be confused with Death Racers, which also came out in 2008 but was a straight to DVD B movie starring the Insane Clown Posse. (I only know this because it came up when I Wikipedia'd Death Race. Really. I promise. Ok, so Death Race is very loosely based on the the 1975 Death Race 2000 starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone in which a the death race is a cross country sporting event where pedestrians are killed for extra points. In this movie (set in 2012 US after the collapse of the country's economy) the overcrowded prison system (sound a bit prophetic?) has been privatized and in order to make money one prison has started a television car race in which inmates try to win their freedom and kill over inmates. That is pretty much where the plot development ends and is all given as text before the start of the movie. Well there is one other plot point, that actually makes the movie a movie, but giving it away would give away the movie. I HIGHLY recommend this movie under the conditions that 1) you are not at all beholden to to such movie constructs as "plot", "character development" or "basis in reality". 2) you are at all interested in seeing an incredibly jacked and (at least in the unrated version) naked Jason Statham OR in seeing scantily clad hot women. 3) you like or at least are not adverse to car racing and blood, gore and violence. I am really serious about recommending the movie though. We saw it at Dan's almost-biweekly movie night this week on Blu-Ray on his big fancy TV, with surround sound. So maybe that helped. But it was a fun time, a good movie to watch with friends. Maybe I should start a rating system. Well, for now, let's just say, highly recommended for a thoughtless action-movie evening. Not at all recommended for the light of heart or those people who think that all movies should have a developed plot.

Grab your popcorn!

It is time for some way overdue movie reviews. And maybe some TV thrown in if I have time.

Mamma Mia! I liked it. It was pretty much what I expected. I mean it is certainly not an amazingly high quality drama. It is a musical. Based on the music of ABBA. I mean, come on. But the story was cute, the singing was really well done (I thought, Matty disagrees, he is not a fan of Pierce Brosnan's singing). Not a whole lot else to say. If you sing whenever Take a Chance on Me or Dancing Queen and if you like silly musicals, see it. If not, well of course you should probably avoid it.

Horton Hears a Who! Umm. It has been awhile since I read this. But it seems to follow the gist of the story. But it is a bit weird. There are some parts that do not fit in and I am not entirely sure how a child would actually like this movie. I don't know. I was a bit disappointed. I mean I felt like in some ways they tried to stick to a very Seussian way of doing things but then it is like someone smoked a little too much and threw in a scene or too that fit more into an adult movie. I dont know. I wouldnt recommend this really unless you have nothing else to do.

Tropic Thunder. I have to say I was very very pleasantly surprised. I had absolutely no hope for this movie and I ended up really enjoying it. It is raw. It is certainly not for the faint of heart or stomach. But it was pretty funny. I was concerned about having so many funny people (Ben Stiller, Jack Black) and so many strong and different personalities (Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte [who looks awful!], Tom Cruise [who was fantastic], Matthew McConaughey) in the same movie and trying to outdo each other. But they all wroked really well together. And I totally dont get the whole uproar about the "R" word. Because honestly, it kinda seems like they didnt actually see the movie. Sooo . . . yeah. On the other hand, Jewish movie producers and funders, they have something to yell about. Just kidding. Really though, highly recommended.

Paragraph 175. Yeah. Didnt see it. Sent it back. Couldnt come up with a night that felt like a "documentary about the Nazi's policy on gays during the Holocaust" night. I feel bad. But it was slowing up the queues. We will try again.

Angela's Ashes. This was Matty's answer to Paragraph 175 being too depressing. Sigh. He read it on his way to Ireland and so wanted to see the movie. I havent read it. He says it sticks well to the book. It was very good. The acting was good, the story was heartbreaking, the scenery was sad and dreary.

When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.

Pretty much sums it up. Well worth the watch, might want to grab some tissues.

The Duchess. Yeah, I am a girl. A period piece about an obscure duchess who was the political and social force of her time in an unhappy relationship? Yeah. I am going to rent it. Shoot me. And I dont think Matty hated it exactly. I think he liked it better when he realized it was based on a ture story. I know their are Keira Knightley haters out there. But I think maybe they might not hate her in this. Maybe. I dont know. The costumes and sets (mostly actual locations) were superb. The acting was good all around though I disagree that Ralph Fiennes did much to make his character less awful. And it made Matty bring up an interesting question (to which he flip flops on his thoughts I think):

How is it different and is it "better" that we have so little surviving information about her (relatively important for her time) and about other people in history (both unimportant and middling important and very important) but what information there is is concrete (letters, paintings, castles) or that there is so much surviving but digital information (emails, tweets, flickr accounts, facebook pages, blogs) about every one of us?

Gran Torino. My dad knows this guy . . . never mind. But anyway, we watched this last night. I really really liked it. It was much different than what I thought it would be, but I cant exactly say what is different. Clint Eastwood was fantastic! He was so angry and disgruntled! That grunt he makes. Oh my god. And the comments he makes, the things that actually come out of his mouth! Matty thought it was too hammy. I think if they didnt throw in some humor (not ham, in my opinion) it would have been too downright depressing. And you are supposed to want to pull for him and I dont think you could if he was too serious. He reminded me a lot of Matty's dad. Which is probably not a compliment. Highly recommend it!

Ok, no more for now, but I will try to get back soon with some thoughts on The Wire: Season 2, Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, Season 1 and Season 2.0 (though if you are actually interested in Battlestar Galactica, check out The Daily Drew [see sidebar]) and maybe if I am ambitious Lost: Season 5 (the current season). Also at home now we have Changeling and This American Life Season 1.

Grrrr!

Ok. So I used to use this blog to rant about personal things so that I would be a calmer, less angry person, with whom Matty could more easily deal. So I might as well use it for that again.

So every year since I was a baby my parents and I have gone up to my godparents' for Easter. For the last 8 years or so Matty has been invited. And for the last few years he has been coming. We fly into Manchester Saturday morning and then fly back home Sunday night after dinner. Well this year Good Friday happens to fall on Matty's father's birthday. His 60th birthday. Which of course I didnt know, because Matty didnt know. And so since birthday's must be celebrated on actual birthday's in some families. Not mine, maybe that makes us bad people? Well anyway, since it is his 60th Matty's mom called tonight to ask if he could fly into RI Friday to have some sort of something for him. Which is fine. Whatever. I mean we had plans for the night, we have tickets to go see Bela Fleck which Matty wanted. But they were cheap. And I am sure I could find someone to go with me. Because that is the thing. She called to see if He would fly home Friday. Oh of course, I am invited if I want to go. But We werent asked to go home. And Matty would never say no to his mother. So he wasnt asked either. She said she wanted him to come home. So of course he would go home. Which is great. I mean I am very happy that he is that close to his family. But what I wonder and part of what really upsets me this fine frigid evening is if his sister-in-law is also invited if she wants to come. Or if she is expected to be there, while I am not. Because I am just the Girlfriend. It has only been 10 and a half years. I am Just the Girlfriend. That's the thing that gets me. I am just the girlfriend. I will stay just the girlfriend because we will never (I hope I am overreacting) get married. Because that is apparently beyond us. But fine. So I ask Matty, well, do you want me to be there? I mean they were cheap tickets. And it is only like $20-30 to change my flight. And I am sure my parents will understand and we will just drive up with them for Easter anyway. So does he want me to go? And all he can say is what he always says. I want you to do whatever you want to do. Whatever will make you most happy. Yeah. I know that. Obviously I know that you want me to be happy. That is why I am still here. I just want him for once to say "I would really like you to come and be part of my family." And that is stupid. I know that is stupid. I know that he probably would want me to be there. But I dont understand why he cant just for once say "I want you to be there." "I want you to be part of my family." "I want it to be a foregone conclusion by everyone that of course you would be there, because you are not Just the Girlfriend." Even if he has to add "But only if you really want to be there." Just say you want me there. Just want me there. And maybe in my wildest dreams at some point it would just be assumed that I would be there. Just like it is assumed that Marisa is going to be there. Because I am not invited to things by my mother. We are invited to things. It is just assumed that we come as a unit. Of course if he cant be there, or he doesnt want to be there, then that is fine. But of course he is invited. It was such a shock when I was there for his uncle's funeral. Why? Why is that such a shock? It is family. It is important family. Why wouldnt I be there if it was in my power to be there? And of course when they all went out to lunch after the service, where was I? I was at home, with my parents. Because I wasnt invited. I mean as they walked to their car Matty said "Oh, we are going to Twin Oaks, if you wanted to come, I am sure it would be ok, but I figured you would want to be with your folks." That is not an invitation. That is not what you say to family. That is not saying you want me to be there, to be part of your family. And so when later I was asked while I wasnt there, at the family lunch, what do I say? Do I say, oh, I wasnt invited, I am not really family, I am Just the Girlfriend? How can I say that? How can I admit that that is the truth? So I say that I wanted to be with my parents. I decide that I would rather be the selfish jerk instead of Just the Girlfriend.

Ok. I am done. I know it is stupid and overreactionary and very girlish. Maybe I am just pissed about the tickets. Whatever.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Well Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday) isnt technically until tomorrow. But I dont have parties on weeknights, so we threw the first annual (hopefully) Smith-Gallagher Mardi Gras party Saturday. It was a success I would have to say and not nearly as stressful as my holiday party. It was still stressful, but for different reasons. We took this party over from my parents who had like a decade worth of highly popular and successful 80-100 people parties. So I had a lot to live up to. Especially since they and some of their friends came down to attend. It was much smaller (only 20 people) but I had never made the vast majority of the recipes before, and I didnt use my mom's recipes either since they had a lot more seafood than I was going to serve. Also, I usually do either cookouts (easy), brunch (relatively easy) and appetizer-based parties (not easy, but lots of variety to appease any food pickiness and restrictions). But this was large quantities of a few things so I was pretty concerned. But as I said it all went well I think. Thursday night we made the crab cheesecake and king cake. The cheesecake is a variation on a combination of Emeril's Lobster Cheesecake (I used this crust) and Hanson's Landing Lobster Cheesecake (I use this filling) but then I switched out the lobster for crab (my mom used crawfish). Everyone seems to have loved the cheescake. It is very rich and a bit unexpected, but supposedly delicious. I didnt try it since I dont eat crab. The king cake was also an Emeril creation. We got the recipe from Everyday's a Party. My parents always ordered their and had it delivered since my mom is not a baker. It is a double rise yeast dough that is supposed to double in size during the first 2 hour rise (it didnt rise at all). Then you roll it out, fill it, form a cylinder and then a ring and rise it a second time (double in size it 45 minutes). It didnt rise at all again. So we did not have high hopes. At all. In fact I was pretty sure it would be disgusting. But you have to have a king cake. We couldn't find a baby to put inside so we used a walnut and hoped for the best. It turned out fantastic. It really did. Not too heavy (shockingly), not too dry (again a surprise). Matty thinks the filling needs more sugar as it was a bit cheesy, but I liked it. We couldnt get purple sprinkles so we made the glaze purple and then used yellow and green sprinkles. And Karla found the
walnut, so she was queen of the party. She is also supposed to make the cake next year. But that never worked for my parents, and I doubt it will work for us either. But c'est la vie :-).

Friday afternoon I left work early and made the 2 gumbos. One was a vegan okra gumbo. And the other was a chicken and andouille gumbo. They both turned out fantastic. But started out as disasters. Now a gumbo requires a dark roux (the color of a dirty penny) and mine would NOT darken. Even after an hour! My dad swears by doing it in the microwave. I was adamant about making my roux on the stove. Well after an hour and then throwing away both roux, I tried the micorwave method. They each took 8 minutes. It was a miracle and he told me so and seriously, I would definitely recommend the microwave method to anyone and everyone. So I made the roux then got everything cooked and to the point of simmering to hours and then stopped them. Friday evening the RIers all arrived. My parents were coming from a weeklong trip down to NC via Annapolis and Virginia to look at some boats, some condos, some houses and to see some friends. Bob, Edie and Sue were coming from RI. They all stayed at La Reserve B&B at 18th and Pine. It was perfect. The closest you can stay to us and relatively cheap considering the prettiness and comfort and amenities. So once they arrived and Matty got out of work we met them there, then walked to Rittenhouse and DiBruno's and then went to Continental for martinis before dinner. Everyone loved the back room upstairs. They also loved the pomegranate daiquiri martinis and the Buzz Aldrins. Then we went to Devil's Alley for dinner. Everyone loved that too. I love Devil's Alley. Then we went to the new Naked Chocolate on 18th St for dessert. All in all a lovely, decadent and delicious evening that everyone seemed to enjoy.

Saturday morning we got up around 8:30-9 (late for us for a party day) and started cooking. My mom came over around 10 to help. My dad and the other RIers spent the day exploring Philly. My mom was a huge help. With three people everything was done without a problem. Then the party. So for beverages we had a Mardi Gras Madness punch (layered purple, yellow and green + vodka), Hurricanes and Cyclones from Pat O'Brien's, purple, green and yellow jello shots and of course lager.










For food we had a variety of dips: (Kickin' Cajun (vegan from a mix), trinity bean (Matty's creation, also vegan), remoulade sauce (veganized from the Gumbo Shop's recipe), Sue's famous ham and cheese bread dip, and a slightly cajun-ized version of buffalo chicken dip. And dippers: smoked andouille sausage, shrimp, tempeh, crackers, chips and crudite. We also had cajun hot sticks and peanuts. Then we had crabbies (Matty's mom's recipe fro Shrimpies, but with crab instead of shrimp) that everyone seems to remember from when they were a kid.

And then for main dishes we had: red beans (I left out the sausage so it was vegan and used canned beans, so I didnt have to cook them so long though I didn cook them in a bit of vegie broth so the softened. I used Tony Chachere's seasoning which has salt so I left out the salt but I think they were too salty, so I need to find a salt-free cajun seasoning.); jambalaya (my favorite recipe from New Orleans with ham, bacon, chicken and smoked andouille so definitely not vegan but awesome. I will share if anyone is interested, as with all these recipes, just let me know); white rice for the beans and the gumbos; shrimp, andouille and tempeh to add to the gumbos and jambalaya since I did not make them with shrimp; the crab cheesecake; the vegan okra gumbo and the chicken and andouille gumbo. For dessert we had the king cake, a fantastic chocolate bread pudding (totally using this recipe again!!!) with bourbon sauce, vegan cupcakes, and a vegan rum cake with bananas foster topping that Tara brought. And of course purple, green and yellow M&Ms :-). The food was all really good in my opinion. And people seemed to enjoy themselves. Though people left early. Almost everyone was gone before midnight. But then Matty and Dan stayed up for awhile playing Guitar Hero while I cleaned up and then then Matty did all the dishes.

Sunday we went to Cuba Libre for brunch with my parents which was fabulous as always. And then they headed back to RI and we took a nap and then watched the Oscars and ate leftovers. Well there ya go'. Let me know if anyone wants any recipes.

Happy National Battery Day!

I am glad this is a day to celebrate those little powerhouses that keep our electronics working, as opposed to beating someone up.

This will be short because I need to do something work related. But I figured I would do a quick one.

1) I added a new link to the sidebar to our friend Drew's blog, The Daily Drew. It is significantly more organized and well though out than this here. He reviews TV and movies. So check that out.

2) I am adding labels to blog posts. Hopefully that will be worth the effort.

3) Saturday is our Mardi Gras party. We have done the major shopping and are starting the cooking tomorrow. This is big. We inferited this party from my parents who had like 10 years to make it awesome. And they and 3 of their friends from RI are coming in for it. This will be my first event with them here. And it is almost all food we have never made before. And much larger quantities of food than I have ever made before. So fewer things, but more of each. So we will see. I am excited. I think it will be fun. I hope it is anyway :-).

Ok, well that is all for now.

Get off the Fucking Sidewalk!

I am gonna rant here for a bit. About something I have mentioned previously and am going to mention again. Bikes on sidewalks. It is pretty much my number 1 pet peeve. It drives me to the point of wanting to actually stop them and yell at them. And frequently I do say, out loud, as they ride past me and give me that "could you please get out of my way, I am so much more important than you" look, "Get off the goddamn fucking sidewalk!" It is a sideWALK. There are bike lanes. In the road. Where bikes belong. In the ROAD. I know they aren't on all streets. I know that it is dangerous to ride you bike in this city. I know that there are many one way streets in this city. I DONT CARE - GET OFF THE FUCKING SIDEWALK! If you need a bike lane, find a street with one. I know it is dangerous in this city, buses trying to run you down, people opening doors without looking first. I DONT CARE - GET OFF THE FUCKING SIDEWALK! That is why I dont ride a bike. It isnt just because I am just lazy. It is because I am afraid of getting hit by a car. Or a bus. So I walk my ass where I need to go. And yeah, it takes longer. But that is the price I pay for not riding my bike. And yeah, one way streets. Ok, well if you go up, or down, one street, you are going to find a street going the other way. And since you are saving so much ever-loving time on your bike, I think you can take the extra minute to go on a street that is going your way. Or go against traffic. I dont fucking care. Just get off the goddamn sideWALK. ESPECIALLY those of you 1) going the same direction as traffic on a street with bike lanes (I am talking to all of your who pass me going west on Walnut). 2) Those of you with fucking saddlebags. There is not enough room for your big ass bags and me on the sidewalk and since you are bigger, that means I either have to stop and move out of your way, or step into traffic that you think is too dangerous to ride your fucking bike in. You want to walk your bike on the sideWALK? Whatever, but just like I get out of people's way when I am carrying 30 lbs of groceries and my bags might hit them, get out of my way with you bike so that it does not inconvenience me that you are WALKING a faster more efficient mode of transportation. As far as the new controversy in PHilly about whether it should be legal for you to run red lights in the city when there is no traffic coming - I DONT GIVE A SHIT. GET OFF THE FUCKING SIDEWALK. Seriously. One of these days I am going to push one of you into traffic and I will feel bad, but also a little vidicated. And if I see someone else do it first, I am going to clap. Fair warning. It is a sideWALK. It is for pedestrians. For people WALKing. I would get just as angry if I was a biker or a driver and there was someone walking down the street instead of the sidewalk. Vehicles (including bikes) stay on the road and walkers (and babies [babies, not 4 year olds - dont even get me started about strollers] in strollers or people in wheelchairs) stay on the sidewalk. K? The sidewalks in this city aren't kept up, are frequently closed due to construction and arent big enough for all of us. But they dont have to be, because they are only supposed to be for pedestrians. So stop giving me that look because you have to slow down because I am WALKing on the sideWALK and get off it!

I got a snuggie!

Yes I am happy about this.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know what a Snuggie is. It is a blanket. With arms. Or a shapeless robe you wear backwards. It is similar to, but far less expensive than, a Slanket. It also has a better name. The first time I saw the Snuggie commercial:

my first response was: Wow, that is ridiculous. My second thought was: I totally want one. Now some caveats. 1) I would never wear a Snuggie out of my own home. 2) We do not turn on our heat very often. Unless it is a special occasion or one of us is sick, or we have company the heat is not turned on in the apartment unless it is below 55. Inside. And even then, the max we turn it to is 65. Maybe 70 if we are feeling decadent. We often wear our hats inside. As well as sweaters, blankets, slippers and sometimes gloves. We are cheap people. We also grew up in households that were always cold. Many of you can attest to this. So it makes sense to me to be able to be wrapped up in a blanket but still able to eat dinner. Or change the channel on the TV. Or type. (I have special fingerless gloves for this. Thanks Beth!)

So when I found out that Matty's father had asked him if he should buy me a Snuggie for Christmas and Matty said No, I was a little upset. I mean, I wanted a Snuggie. I put it on my Amazon wish list! This has come up in conversation several times recently and so, because my friend Dan thinks I am awesome (and it makes for an easy birthday present), he bought me a Snuggie this weekend. So I am now the owner and wearer of a Snuggie. It is warm. It should not be worn while walking around unless you are 7 feet tall, otherwise you will probably trip over it. Especially on stairs. I am fine though. So thank you Dan for buying me a ridiculous As Seen on TV item that I will happily use in our frigid apartment.

Swish swish swish

We went skiing this weekend! Yay! We had a really good time. Friday after work, Matty went to the airport to pick up a rental car (a lovely Chevy Malibu) and I stopped at Wawa and picked up dinner. Then off to the Great White North . . . well, north anyway. We drove up to Scranton to the Days Inn Scranton (actually in Dickson City). It was a Days Inn. No better or no worse than any other Days Inn, especially for less than $60 a night.

Saturday we got up early and drove about 20 miles to Elk Mountain. An adorable PA ski resort in Union Dale, PA. 1000' vertical drop, 27 trails, 6 lifts. Cheap rentals ($52 for 2 days) and decent weekend tickets (all day and night both days for $95). Oh and really cheap food! We skied the entire thing by early afternoon. I would say it is a solid Intermediate mountain. Nice wide trails, great snowmaking. There were a few true blacks due to moguls and maybe steepness. But nothing terribly difficult. I mean this was Matty's 4th day skiing. Ever. And he had no problem with anything at all. It got pretty warm by late afternoon but the conditions actually held up pretty well overall, I was surprised. More snow than I am used to actually. And they have night skiing (6 trails, 3 lifts) til 10! Who needs to be able to ski from 8:30 am til 10 pm? Who can ski that long? We made it til 7ish and then called it a night. Luckily for us, they had overnight ski locks. For .50 apiece! Nice! So we didnt have to put out the skis in the Malibu. A wonderful thing about these new (to me) shaped skis. They are so short! I was skiing on 150s! Had some trouble finding dinner but ended up at an Uno's. Because honestly, I love me an Uno's every once in awhile.

Sunday we got up a bit less early though feeling remarkably good conisdering our overall out-of-shapeness. We were a bit concerned that it was already 45! At 8:30! And then it started to rain on the way to the Mountain. We stopped at a Krispy Kreme to console ourselves (the light way on!) But it was MUCH colder on the mountain, thanks in large part to a considerable wind. But again, the conditions held up fantastically. I brought my camera to take some pics since I wasnt as worried about falling since the trails simply werent that difficult. But it was too cold to take many pictures. I got a few nice ones. The views were really awesome. I dont think they look as good in the pics but it really was pretty. (More pics here) There were many fewer people on Sunday, probably because of the forecast. But it seems like most people there were locals. And rich. They all had their own equipment, and really nice equipment at that. And mostly all newer stuff, only saw a half dozen to a dozen people with straight skis. They all had really nice gear. And all the kids were on race teams it seemed. Must be nice. We skied until 5ish and then called it a day and headed back to Philly.

Overall a delightful (though not cheap) weekend.

Hey! Ya wanna cry a little?

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
Or a lot maybe?

Hey, so guess what?

Yeah yeah, I have been sick for a few days . . . yes we went to RI for the weekend for a funeral . . . yes Matty's mom threw down at said funeral and was all awesome and shit and like totally stood up to the Eye-talian bullshit . . . yes the Steelers won the Superbowl (yay!) . . . But you know what I really wanted to tell you?!?!

I just filed my fucking taxes!

Me!

In February! Early February! As opposed to mid-April like I usually do. So yeah. Ha!

Happy National Kazoo Day!

I have never been able to play a kazoo. Is it just me?

Ok, so let me see. This weekend . . . Friday we finally got to see Rob and Jennie's place in Bella Vista. It is adorable. They have done a really nice job with it. And best of all, it is around the corner from Royal Tavern. Ok, maybe not the BEST part. But definitely a plus. We went there for dinner. Mmmmm . . . Royal Tavern . . . we split nachos and then I got the BBQ puled pork sandwich special and Matty for the meatloaf sandwich. Both of which are just so yummy.

Saturday we were a little slow to start. We did some shopping around the city. We are in the market for a new coffee grinder. Any suggestions? Matty really liked this Cuisinart one (see pic). But the amazon reviews suck! We are replacing a Black and Decker one that was a hand-me-down from one of our parents. Saturday night we went to Dan's for Rock Band and Marshmallows. Meaning that we played Rock Band and roasted marshmallows in his fireplace. Now I have gone to great lengths to compare how I feel about Guitar Hero World Tour vs Legends of Rock. So now Guitar Hero vs Rock Band. I like Guitar Hero better. I feel like they map songs better and the songs are more guitar-centric (obviously) which is good for me since I play mostly guitar and a little bass. I should never sing and I am not that good at drums. Also, I like the Guitar Hero guitar better than the Rock Band one. And I am more used to the timing of Guitar Hero. While I feel like Guitar Hero is a lit bit harder, I think it is a little more forgiving on individual strums. But maybe it is because I am more used to the Guitar Hero timing. I also like the breakdown of performance for Guitar Hero. That being said, I think that Rock Band is a far superior party game. First of all, there are WAY more songs. And WAY more variety of songs so that there is much more likely that someone will be able to find a song that they are willing to sing. And each song comes with a little rating of how hard the guitar is, how hard the bass is, etc. Which is good for beginners. Or people that are between difficulties. Like Matty is getting close to expert on bass, but some songs he needs to play on hard. Though I am not sure how much I necessarily trust the ratings all the time. And most importantly and really a huge deal killer (IMHO) for Guitar Hero as a true party game - The No-Fail Mode. Because you are not going to be able to get someone who has never played to keep playing and have a good time at it (which is neccessary to get any good at it) if they keep failing out of songs. Because in Guitar Hero, when one person fails, the whole song stops and that is awful for a first time player. So while guitar hero has beginner mode to help first timers, I think that No-Fail is key. We stayeda t Dan's til after 3. So apparently I dont dislike Rock Band that much. But I like Guitar Hero better. Oh and we brought soft pretzels (Matty had a craving) and buffalo chicken dip (I had a craving). It was the first time I had made the dip and I was pretty happy with it. It is a recipe I got from my cousin who made it for one of my parent's Christmas parties.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 12-oz bottle Frank's Red Hot
1 12-oz jar Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3-4 breasts cooked chicken, cut into small pieces or shredded (we poached and shredded it)

Spread cream cheese on bottom of large glass baking dish. Mix chicken with hot sauce. Spread chicken over cream cheese. Pour dressing over chicken. Spread cheese over dressing. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until melty and delicious. Serve with tortilla chips and celery sticks.

It was a little wet when it first came out of the oven (probably from the poaching liquid) but it was better after a little while.

Sunday we went to Cantina for brunch. I was having a bad day. I could not for the life of me make a decision. I was starving and could NOT decide what to get. It was awful. But brunch was excellent. We did halvsies on chillaquiles with eggs and a breakfast burrito. After brunch we went shopping again. I desparately needed pants. I HATE pants shopping. I think it is awful for all girls, but for us fat girls, it is downright depressing. Because nothing fits to begin with. And all of the popular styles - skinny jeans, flares, wide leg, trouser cut, low rise - should never, ever be worn by fat girls, and yet, there are few other options. Luckily I had a pair of jeans that I liked so I could just go and buy another pair of the same. Then we went back on our coffee grinder and tea kettle search.I finally talked Matty into getting a tea kettle. My mom always had one on the stove, with water, so if you need hot water you can just heat it up real fast. But we dont drink a lot of tea, so Matty always refused. Well, then he went to Ireland and fell in love with hot whiskey. And so now he is heating a lot more tea. Also, Rob and Jennie had one. So apparently that made it ok.

I want this one (on the left). Matty wants this one (on the right). We will see.

Monday night we went to Mercato for Restaurant Week. It was fantastic! Highly recommended. A word of caution - highly meat-centric. Also cash only. But the food was excellent, the service was great, the portions were perfect. And it is BYO! The make old fashioned Italian sodas by the glass or pitcher and recommend bringing your favorite rum or vodka which I think sounds lovely. For appetizers we had a roasted portabella and arugula in puff pastry with peccorino, pine nuts and thyme citronette. And a trio of bruschetta - fresh mozzarella with tomato, basil and truffle oil; wild mushrooms and cheese; white beans and pesto (fantastic pesto!). For entrees we had a short rib ragu with ricotta gnocchi, broccoli rabe and shaved locatelli. And orecchiette with meatballs, sweet sausage and broccoli rabe in a red gravy. Both were excellent. The short ribs were the best. Cooked to perfection. For dessert we had tiramisu and a warm bittersweet chocolate molten cake. We brought a bottle of Apollonio Elfo Salento Negroamaro with us. One of our RI 3 for $9.99 bottles. A very serviceable red Italian table wine. I would buy it again if I saw it. Overall, I would highly highly recommend Mercato. Normal prices dont look bad either. And as a BYO you can have a nice meal without paying a fortune.

Movies:
Finally saw WALL-E. It was of adorable. I loved the story. He was soooo cute! the animation is amazing and was great all around. I do wonder how much darker original plans were for the plot. But maybe that is just me.
Charlie Bartlett - This was on the previews for a bunch of movies we have gotten recently but I totally dont remember it coming out. I am not sure why. Fairly good cast. Anton Yelchin (I know him from Huff) plays Charlie. I like him. (I am interested to see that he is playing Chekov in the new Star Trek, I am concerned to see that JJ Abrams is directing it.) Because I am a geek. Hope Davis plays his mother, just like she did in Hearts in Atlantis (A little bit of trivia for ya). Kat Dennings plays the girl. And Robert Downey Jr. plays her dad. It was good. Nothing awesome, but worth seeing I would say.
We watched the Dark Knight last night at Dan's. You know the only thing better than the Dark Knight? The Dark Knight in HD baby!

TV:
Still loving The Wire Season 2.
And Lost has started. Yay!!!!!!! I was very happy with the premier. They answered questions! Yay!!!!! 3rd episode tonight. Exciting.

Yeah. I should get back to work now. Oh, we are going to RI this weekend. Matty's great-uncle passed away on Monday so we are going back for the funeral.

Pork and Pasta Bake

As requested, here is the pork and pasta bake recipe that we made last week. It is from the Everyday Italian cookbook from Parragon publishing. I have a few books from them, including their Vegetarian cookbook and their Appetizers cookbook and have been very happy with everything we have made from them.

Pork and Pasta Bake
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 oz pancetta, chopped
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup dry white wine (we used Vendange Pinot Grigio)
4 Tbsp strained canned tomatoes (see next ingredient note)
7 oz canned chopped tomatoes (we used 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained for these two items)
2 tsp chopped fresh sage
8 oz dried elicoidali (I had no idea what this was, so we used penne rigate)
5 oz mozzarella cheese, diced
4 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 oz unsalted butter
3/8 c all-purpose flour
generous 2 c milk (we used skim)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 400F. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottom skillet. Add the onion, garlic and carrots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for an additional 2 minutes. Add teh pork and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned all over. Stir in the wine, tomatoes and sage. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 25-30 min. (We did 20 cuz we were starving.)
Meanwhile, cook your pasta and make your bechamel. To make bechamel, melt butter, add the flou, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Add the bay leaf and let simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper (also a dash of nutmeg, but I left this out). Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the mozzarella and half the parmesan. Add the drained pasta to the sauce, or vice versa.
Pour the pork mixture into a large ovenproof dish. Spoon the pasta and sauce over the pork. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Hope you try it and love it. Let me know!

Brrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it cold there? It is cold here in Philly. And not just cold, because I should be able to handle cold. RI was cold. But the wind. For Christ's sake. I totally wimped out and took a bus this morning. That was how cold it was. I was willing to pay money to not be in the cold for another half hour.

Ok, so last night we made an Irish Farmhouse Bake from Irish Food & Folklore which Matty bought for me in Kinsale, Ireland. It is a really cool book actually. It has both traditional and modern Irish recipes along with explanations and a goodly amount of Irish history and folklore thrown in for good measure. Yeah thats right. Goodly. Ok, so this was by far our least healthy meal this week. Though I did make a spinach salad on the side. First you boil some potatoes. While they are boiling you fry some bacon in butter! That's right, not just bacon, bacon fried in butter. When that is crispy you remove it from the pan (and I made Matty drain some of the fat too) and then fry onions and mushrooms in the bacon fat-butter combination. When the potatoes and the onions and mushrooms are done, you toss the bacon, onions, mushrooms and potatoes in a baking dish. Then you season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with some fresh parsley. Then you pour double cream (or in our case heavy cream because I wasnt finding cream with MORE fat in it) over the top. And then you top with shredded farmhouse cheddar (or Celtic cheddar in our case). Then you bake. And it was delicious (how could it not be right?).

We also played some Guitar Hero. We finished the co-op career mode on Legends of Rock. I have to say, I like some of the songs on Legends of Rock, but I like World Tour better. 1) When playing co-op career (I am not sure about two player quickplay), in order to activate star power, you both have to do it at the same time. And you have to do the swing up in the air thing. Well there is rarely in a song a good time for both the bassist and the guitarist to do that at the same time. 2) Legends of Rock is way harder than World Tour. So I guess I am saying that I am just not that good. But it was really frustrating. There were two songs that we could not do. Black Sunshine by White Zombie. The bass part is just ridiculous and Matty had to give up on hard. And One by Metallica. I just couldnt get either the bass or the guitar. I cant do blue to green or vice versa transitions fast enough I guess. I mean we could obviously have kept trying and eventually gotten through it. I mean people do it on expert all the time. But that just isnt that much fun. I was playing on Medium. I want to be able to get through it within 4 or 5 tries. Not 100% or anything. But not fail out. Thats all. 3) You know when you screw up and you get that little bouncy thing? Well that is fine, but I dont want to get that little bouncy thing when Matty screws up. It throws me off. And the noise when you screw up is also too loud.

Ok, so for some back up updates. Though I have lab meeting in 18 minutes. So we got new bookcases for the apartment, but I will tell that whole story once I can post pics. So back to Matty-Sara Christmas which was the 3rd. It was very nice. We were better about buying less crap for stockings. So that was probably good. My big gift to Matty was that I got a half dozen or so gift certificates to restaurants that he has wanted to try but that I have been reticent to go to. Not because I dont think i will like them, but because I like going to the same places and staying home and he likes to constantly be out and about and doing new things. The gift cards themselves arent worth much. But since there is money behind it, we will actually go to those places. And whenever he wants to use one of those, I promised to go with him. And I got him the Philadelphia Inquirer Restaurant guide and put them all in there. So he really liked that I think. Matty's big gift to me was a new food processor. The day before our holiday party I kinda killed ours. Like it wasnt dead, but it was hurting. And I use it a lot and it was a cheapy Hamilton Beach one and it was REALLY loud. So he got me a Kitchen Aid 12 cup food processor** and it also has a 4 cup insert so that I have a big one and a small one at the same time. So we got rid of our little Black and Decker one too. It is really heavy but it if Kitchen Aid and I shouldnt be able to kill this one. And it is really pretty and comes with its own case for all the attachments and blades and stuff. I know people always say not to buy girls appliances for presents, but I dont know why. I havent gotten a chance to use it yet and I am totally itching. Yay! He also got me the Hug series of blocks from Absolute Abstract that I love and are now on the new bookcase. I will post pics, hopefully this weekend. Let me see. I got 2 Irish soccer scarves. One real real one for Celtic. And one generic Ireland one. I am using the Celtic one everyday now, except in bad weather I will use the Ireland one. And I gave him my goggles that he used while skiing. He is officially a skier now and should have some of his own ski gear. He got me a bunch of chocolate in Ireland. Yum! So yeah, we had a very nice Christmas. I made a little baked ham and my mom's Christmas frittata (potato, sausage and mushroom).

Ok, lab meeting time. More later. Next up (after bookcase) is New Years. And then skiing!

Edit: Matty has informed me that it is a 12 cup, not 9 as I originally wrote. Sorry Matty!

Happy National Hat Day!

I know. I know. I told you I would write more often and I havent been. And I am sorry. Ok? I will try to catch up some now while my gel is running and I dont feel well and therefore dont feel like starting anything new.

First of all: Dinners.
Monday night we had a chef's salad (salad + salami + pepperoni + cheese + hard boiled eggs = chef's) and stuffed portabello mushrooms. I cooked cannellini beans with onion, garlic, hot peppers and some chopped pepperoni. Then I put some asiago on the mushrooms, topped with the bean mixture, then some fresh sage and topped with mozzarella. Then bake. This is something I used to make ALL the time. Because it is easy and filling and yummy. And you can stuff a portabello with damn near anything. But we havent made it in forever it seems. So it was nice to get back to it.

Tuesday we had pork and pasta bake. It is from a new Italian cookbook I got from Matty's aunt for Christmas. First you saute onions, carrots and garlic until soft. Then add pancetta, mushrooms and ground pork. Cook until the pork is done and then add white wine, canned tomatoes and fresh sage and simmer 20-30 minutes (depending on how hungry you are). While it is simmering, make a mozzarella and parmesan bechamel. This bechamel recipe was actually the best I have made and am really happy with it. I will have to remember it. (If you are looking for a good bechamel or cheese sauce recipe let me know and I will post it. I just cant remember it all off the top of my head). Also cook half a pound of penne. When the penne is done, mix it with the bechamel. Pour the pork mixture into a baking dish and then pour the penne-bechamel on top. Top with some more parmesan and then bake 30 minutes until golden brown. It is delicious. As with everything else I post, if anyone wants the actual recipe let me know and I will totally post it. I had this leftover for lunch today and it was almost as tasty as it was Tuesday. Note: this makes quite a bit! So you need a big baking dish and a bunch of friends. Or a love of leftovers. I would say maybe 2 dinner servings (with nothing else, I got too lazy to make a salad or a veggie to go with it) and 4 lunch servings.

Last night we made Mediterranean Chicken Stew from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food cookbook which I also got for Christmas. I have to say I was underwhelmed and we will not be making it again. First off, it isnt a stew by my definition. It was a wet saute. But the liquid was thin (like a soup) but there wasn't even close to enough of it to actually be a soup. So it was just kinda soppy. Second off, it wasnt that tasty. It was kinda boring. The only changes we made were that we used red instead of white wine vinegar and used mixed olives instead of kalamata. And we served it over premade polenta (the slice and bake kind) cuz we couldnt find polenta (or Matty couldnt anyway). So I guess if you are looking for a kinda bland meal one day, go for it. But meh . . .

Movies and Television:
Not much to report. We watched Nightmare Before Christmas. Cuz I havent seen it since high school. And we have continued watching the second season of The Wire. Still a fan.

Other things to report: My sidebar
So I dont know if any of you pay any attention to what I put on my sidebar. But you should. Some new arrivals:
Cake Wrecks: Tagline: "When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong." This is one of the funniest new blogs out there IMHO. And it has gotten me to wander bakeries wherever I see them in search of a Wrecks. I found a few good ones over the holiday. And believe me, once you start looking, they are out there. For instance this one? Matty and I saw this cake in Lancaster. Yeah. Flaming deer. So check it out if you dont already. Oh and I first heard about this story on Cake Wrecks. And this week it was reported that little Adolf Hitler and his sister Aryan Nation have been removed from their parents. Shocker.
Fuck You Penguin: Tagline: "A blog where I tell cute animals what's what." Now you know I love penguins. I LOVE penguins. So I was a bit concerned when I first heard about Fuck You Penguin. But then I read it. And I am hooked. I cant really say any more than that. Just check it out. If you hate animals that look just too goddamn cute or you just appreciate on-point articulate humor, go. Now!
Craftastrophe: Tagline: "because handmade isn't always pretty." It is crafts that have just gone wrong. But not in the Cake Wreck sense. These crafts are not (necessarily) poorly done, they just make you scratch your head (or shudder) and ask (or weep) why?!? More spot on comments and hilarious finds.
Publicly Relating: To steal a description from her bio as a Blissdom Conference speaker, "a space to bridge the gap between marketing professionals and bloggers." A new blog from a friend from "way back" who now works as an "online and social media strategist at Ketchum PR."
Words I Learned From Reading David Foster Wallace: This is by the same lady as Publicly Relating and the title is pretty self explanatory.

So that is my roundup of new stuff on my sidebar. I am also trying to keep Goodreads updated so y'all can see what I am reading. As you can see there are many books that I read on and off and my full time book right now is Duma Key which I am really really enjoying. I should write a whole post about my Stephen King-like. Matty might call it an obsession. I don't think it is. Really. Truly. Really. I mean it. If he happened to break down on South Street I promise I wouldnt lock him up in our apartment and make him rewrite the ending of the Dark Tower. I promise. I am just trying to read his entire catalog. Everything he has ever written. Ever! No really. Just the easily accessible published stuff. And probably just the fiction.

Right, well I am so not going to actually go back and update on anything old. Sorry. I have a headache, and a backache and a throatache and I wanna go home.

Working backwards

Ok, I am way behind on posts, I know. And I am going to do my best this week to catch up. And I am going to do it in reverse chronological order. So most recent stuff first. So if you are waiting to here how my Christmas was you are going to have to wait a bit.

So this weekend was our post-New Years brunch. We used to throw the brunch on New Years Day and watch/make fun of the Mummers. But there were several problems with this. 1) It meant we had to be up and functional on New Years Day in order to cook and throw a party. 2) It meant our guests had to be up and function on New Years Day in order to attend and not throw up at a party. And honestly, those 2 criteria simply werent working out. So generally we throw the brunch the first Saturday after New Years. Saturday because, well it isnt a regular 2 hour, single mimosa brunch and I at least need time to recover from it. However, the first Saturday after New Years this year was also the first Saturday Matty and I were back from vacation and so it was Matty-Sara Christmas. So, to make that long and boring explanation end, this weekend was our post-New Years brunch.

It went pretty well I think. 12 people, 13 bottles of champagne/asti/cava/prosecco, 8 hours. Doesnt sound like your normal brunch? Well you are doing it wrong. This year we served blueberry french toast casserole; carmelized onion, spinach and asiago quiche; veggie and real breakfast sausage (real from Martin's - delish!); Matty's potatoes; assorted fruits; assorted olives; sundried tomato provolone bread; spinach and cheese foccaccia that Tre brought; brie en croute with sherried mushrooms; apple, almond and cranberry quinoa; cranberry and blood orange zest scones with mango chutney, strawberry preserves and honey butter; pumpkin bread (a gift from someone Matty works with); cranberry bread (from my Aunt Lyn); moose munch (from my grandparents); egg nog cake; mississippi spiced pecans and frozen mocha cheesecake (from Dan). We also had fixins for hot whiskey (Matty's new favorite drink from Ireland) and premixed Malibu Cranberry Splashes. Oh and lots and lots and lots of bubbly stuff.
The first guest showed up at 11:59 and I think the last ones left around 8ish maybe? I am not entirely sure as I helped my fair share towards the 13 bottles and lost track of time around 7. I was also asleep by 10. It happens. Thank you to everyone (beth, tara and nancy) who provided playlists and music for the brunch. It was much appreciated by many of us. Some of us preferred gay house and that took over for awhile. But the official playlist was great. If anyone is interested let me know and I will post the whole list.

Yesterday we went on a guitar search. Dan gave me Guitar Hero World Tour and one guitar for Christmas. So Matty and I wanted to get a second guitar so that we can play together. So off we went. 6 stores and 3 phone calls later we find out that 1) they do not sell the Guitar Hero World Tour guitar separately. Only as part of the bundle with the game, or part of the 2 guitar/2 game bundle, or part of the whole band kit bundle. 2) No one in the city seems to sell the Guitar Hero Legends of Rock guitar. Well not entirely true. fye at the Gallery had it for 50. And Gamestop at the Gallery had the Aerosmith guitar and game for 80. So then we called Best Buy and they said they had lots of the Legends of Rock guitar and game for 60. So we got a car and went down there and bought it, because at that point I just wanted it bought and done. Of course by "lots" they apparently meant 1. But whatever. We got the one and now we have Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero Legends of Rock, 1 World Tour guitar and 1 Legends of Rock wireless guitar. The new (legends) guitar is going to be mine. It is a bit smaller than the world tour one, but it doesnt bother me. And it doesnt have the tap thingies on the neck, which I dont imagine I will ever be good enough to use. And it doesnt have a star power button, which kinda sucks, because I am not good and the move thingy you have to do to activate star power. But it is something to work on. It feels a bit tighter than the world tour one too. But I cant explain what that means. You will just have to come over a play. Legends of Rock the game is pretty cool. A whole new group of songs to play. And there is a co-op career mode so Matty and I get to play that together. I kinda feel like Medium is a bit harder on Legends of Rock than World Tour. But maybe I am just not used to the songs yet. But that is what we did last night.

Ok, food wise we have not done much new cooking lately. But I have 3 new recipes I am trying this week so I will have to let you know how they go.

Movies:
10th and Wolf - A movie about the Philly mob shot entirely (and very obviously) in Pittsburgh. That doesnt really even mention Philly. So why not just set it is Pittsburgh? I mean it isnt a true store or anything. The only thing Philly about it was that Tony Luke Jr was in it. But not as Tony Luke Jr. I would say, watch it if you want, but dont spend any time or money getting it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Wow. Fail. Really. I mean it is kinda cute and fun. But it isnt an Indy film. And it isnt a 50s alien film, which apparently they were going for. So, fail. I was really hoping for awesome. And then I was hoping for "not cringeworthy". And there were some cringeworthy, shark jumping scenes. So yeah. Indy fans, you should see it cuz it is part of the legacy, but dont get your hopes up.

We now have Nightmare Before Christmas, which I wanted to watch before Christmas but didnt get around to and Matty doesnt particularly want to watch. And Paragraph 175. This is what Netflix has to say

"Actor Rupert Everett provides the narration for this disquieting documentary that shines a light on the Third Reich's vicious persecution of male homosexuals during World War II. The title comes from an arcane, 1871 German statute making sodomy punishable by incarceration (with the ultimate goal to eradicate gays completely). Only a handful of survivors -- now frail and withered -- remain to recount their traumatic tales in this poignant film."

Sounds like fun! So I predict a major slowing down of the Netflix machinery.

TV:
Mad Men Season 1: It started a little slow. But we are definitely hooked. Cant wait for Season 2 to come out. Really spectacularly done. Acting, wardrobe, directing. Really.
The Wire Season 2: Just started last night. We will see how it goes. Liked Season 1, but not sure how this season will go.

Ok, well I should do some actual work at work today. I will fill you in on Matty-Sara Christmas, New Years, skiing, and Christmas soon. Hopefully! As a preview:

Last call for playlists!

Yes I know, I have to write about Christmas. And New Years. And skiing (Matty did awesome!!!!). And post some pics. And I will. But first!

I would like to collect the "Playlists of 2008." What were you listening to this year? Not necessarily music that came out this year or even that you discovered this year. But if you were to design the playlist for the last year in 10ish songs, what would be on there? Now most useful would be if you could actually send me the songs. I recommend drop.io or sendspace. You can just put the link in a comment. If you do not want to share with all of the readers of this blog, all 4 of them, get in touch with me with the link directly. If you do not actually have a way of getting in touch with me, you can send me a comment and tell me not to publish it and I won't. If you either do not have the songs in a shareable format or do not believe in sharing music, that is fine, just send me the list and I will find the songs myself. I would really like to have the lists by January 6th and actual songs by January 8th. I will be posting reminders (like this one). But start compiling and let me know. If anyone else is interested I will post my list when I actually complete it. Thanks!