HOLIDAY TIME IS ALNOST HERE

I have that giddy holiday feeling. You know the one, all warm and fuzzy inside for no reason. I also have a bit of nerves. I absolutely love the holidays. Not only will I be going home on Saturday to spend the holidays with my family but Tony will be joining me on Christmas Eve. After 4.5 years of being a couple we will get to spend Christmas day together. This is pretty freaking exciting. Although, I think after finally getting incredibly comfortable with my family and the new people nerves having worn off, we just might scare him with our slightly nuts and painfully happy festivities. Oh well.

Last week I was talking to him about our trip home and I was saying how he would get to go to the Christmas Café (just our table) and get breakfast and he said, “I don’t’ want to have to go to any Christmas Café. I just want to hang around the house.” Once I explained that he would be hanging around the house and would get to be served breakfast with my parents by Sister and I he was more agreeable. Although, I swear he knew the Christmas Café existed. I think he doesn’t listen to me sometimes. I then pictured him flying in and being accosted with Harry Connick Jr. singing “This Christmas” (cause it’s hilarious) and Sister draping him with tree decorating stuffs. HEHEHEHE. I’ll get pictures.

Plus, Hanukkah starts while I will be home. This means that I will NOT forget to light candles this year. Last year I had every intention of lighting my menorah. I took it out of the drawer got it set up nice and pretty and went to get the candles...get the candles…where were the candles? I spent the next eight days reminding myself to go to the store and buy candles. I failed completely. After the holiday break I returned to work and told my Jewish colleague of my failed menorah attempts. Amusingly enough she had candles but no menorah. That gave us a good chuckle. Tony should also enjoy lighting the menorah. Although he was raised Catholic, he has a strong affinity for all things Jewish. I think he knows more Yiddish than I do.

At this point all the presents are ordered and the planning is done. Well, most of the planning. I am having thoughts about the traditional Christmas Pizza. We usually do two big pies with different toppings. I will have to check it out with Sister because Christmas cooking has kind of become our thing but I think that we should do more, smaller pies this year, thus maximizing our flavor variations. I have all kinds of wondrous pizza ideas milling around in my head. A Mexican pizza with beans and salsa as the base, a pesto pizza like we had last year mmmmm, a caramelized onion and apple pizza with brie, a normal pizza, a wild mushroom pizza with some kind of delicious sauce. Oh, Christmas Pizza, why must you be so far away?

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and all the wonderful things that come with it. Hooray!

ITS ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL TIMES OF THE YEAR

Tomorrow is a special day; Monica will turn the big 3-0. It also happens to be Thanksgiving. While the main festivities for Monica will be on Saturday, her birthday couldn’t be ignored and I got her a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. No pies at my house. We will keep ourselves entertained with Wii, PS3, TV karaoke, and if Netflix behaves Kung Fu Panda on blu-ray.

When I get home I will start the final stage of Thanksgiving preparations. Cleaning the living room and getting stage one of cooking going. When Tony gets home we will start cleaning our room. We might need the extra space. Our menu for thanksgiving is an awesome one:
Main dishes:
Turkey
Ham
Turkey Tofu (NOT tofurkey)

Sides:
Butter dipped rolls
Collard Greens
Macaroni and Cheese
Stuffing (turkey and vegetarian)
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes (regular and roasted garlic blue cheese)
Cranberry Sauce (homemade no cans here)
Asparagus soup
Brussel Sprouts
Vegetarian gravy

Dessert:
Gravy Cake
Aforementioned ice cream cake

Tonight I will help Monica’s turkey thaw, marinate the tofu and assemble the turkey tofu casserole, and make the cranberry sauce. The rest should be okay for tomorrow. I think we have 12 people confirmed and we may get up to 7 more stoppers by. It should be a good time. I hope everyone has as much fun as we will. I hope there is enough wine. Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

The End of Vacation

Cabin number two was more remote than the first. It was in the Stevens Pass area in the Cascade Mountains. Being a kid from the Plains I haven’t had much experience with mountains. Sure, I drive through Pennsylvania plenty of times but that was about it. These mountains were beautiful our ears popped continuously and Tony was a little scared of my driving. I wasn’t going above the speed limit (was below it plenty because f the rain), was keeping with traffic and was being perfectly safe. He just wasn’t as sure about all that as I was. I was having a blast on those curves. We had a little problem finding our turn off because Tony didn’t realize the directions were two pages but that was solved relatively quickly and we made our turn and came upon this.

Yes, that is a one car at a time wooden bridge with a 5mph speed limit. I wasn’t scared driving on winding roads up and down mountains in the rain but that bridge kind of freaked me out. The rest of the drive up to the cabin was pretty scary. Lots of turns and dirt roads and places where you could fall in ditches. We made it and all was well. I didn’t snap a shot of the outside of this cabin as you drove up which is a shame but the real beauty of the place was the view. You have the views from the living room, the balcony, and the other side of the living room. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time we were there and we didn’t get to hike around like we wanted. Someone from the area might not have been bothered by the rain but we city folk weren’t having it. We did have a rainy hot tub experience and it was fun but very cold upon getting out. I wished that tub had a cover over it like the other one.

While our first spot was all about luxury, this one was all about being in the woods at a good old fashioned log cabin. We made a fire in the big fireplace, kept the fire going in the pellet stove, and sat down with board games and an extensively random VHS collection. It was quite the cozy time. The second night I made a wild mushroom alfredo on this scary old fashioned stove that was just delectable. I used Lobster mushrooms, chanterelles, and a chef’s sampler of all kinds of random mushrooms. I caramelized an onion and then threw them in the skillet, how yummy is that? After they had cooked down I dusted them with flour, poured down some milk, and dumped in some Gouda. The plate was garnished with fresh chives and we sat down to look at the river and the mountains to eat. I had taken a really great picture of the plate but it didn’t download for some reason so you get us making faces and tucking our napkins into our shirts while we eat instead.

The last morning I woke up and was leisurely cooking breakfast when the maid drove up…WHAT? Apparently checkout was at 11. I thought it was 3. I told her I thought it was 12. I woke tony up and we rushed out of there. We got a motel on the road to shower and catch some more sleep since our plane wasn’t until 11:30 that night. It is very strange to drive up to a motel and tell them you need a room for a few hours. Oh well. The rest of the way back was rather uneventful. We stopped at a mall somewhere to try to find a book. There was no bookstore in the mall…WHAT? We went to a casino by the airport but there were no slot machines, only real games…WHAT? The flight was uneventful and we made it to our apartment at 5something the next morning. We proceeded to sleep for days. We still haven’t unpacked. So it goes.

Vacation Part 1

So I am back in the real world after 12 days of no alarms, very little required things to do, and lots of hanging out in bathrobes. Needless to say I am somewhat sad to have returned.

We flew into the Seattle/Tacoma airport on Saturday the 4th and had a very uneventful trip, rented a car and got on our way. We headed to the Seattle to get on the Bainbridge island Ferry. My impression of Seattle was, WOW. Hills. Kind of scary to drive down a hill and not be able to see the bottom. That’s about all we saw of Seattle though. We get a glimpse of the space needle from the plane and from the ferry deck and I feel that legitimized the trip. We drove off the ferry directly onto the road we needed to be on and followed the directions to the best grocery store ever. Oh, Central Market, Poulsbo. How I miss you. I never expected to find a 24hr grocery store filled with tons of gourmet produce and the biggest selection of vegetarian meat type products I have ever seen in the middle of nowhere Washington but I did. We walked in to a cart of fresh chanterelles and lobster mushrooms. I knew that I would be making a mushroom alfredo at some point during our trip. We stocked up and headed out to the Maplebrook Retreat.

The directions we had were a little…confusing. We spent a VERY long time looking for Front Street and never found it. We even stopped and asked someone where it was, they seemed to know exactly but their directions didn't help us much either. I think it’s a fake name. We started to think that maybe this place did not really exist and that some people made a website to direct unsuspecting people to the middle of the woods and kill them, or simply to take their money for a nonexistent property. We soon found the street after Front Street on our list of directions and took that, hoping that we weren’t heading to our deaths.

The next direction told us to look for an old bus stop around mile marker 2 with some mailboxes in front of it and turn onto the dirt road. I’m a city girl. To me a bus stop has a bench, a sign, and maybe a little enclosure to shield you from the elements. We drove and drove on a barely lit 2 lane highway at speeds of 50mph so as not to get hit by cars around us looking for a bus stop. We found mile marker 2 but no bus stop. We found the street that let us know we had gone too far and needed to turn around. We drove back and forth between mile marker 2 and the street that was too far for a while. There were a couple of dirt roads with mailboxes but no bus stops.

“There it is!” Tony shouted, and pointed to a small shack. “What do you mean?” I replied. I saw nothing resembling a bus stop. He explained that there was an old warming house for kids to wait for a school bus and I was passing it. I supposed he was right and we turned around to turn up that proper dirt road and look for the property. I turned on the brights (or held them on because I couldn’t figure out how to make them stay on) and we looked for our property number. We were still terrified. It was a scary place. We found the property number and turned up the drive.

As soon as we made the turn we were greeted with small lights leading up a winding drive to a very well lit cabin. The thoughts of death started to abate. As we pulled in fully we saw a covered, and well lit, hot tub beckoning us. We opened the door and were greeted with dim lighting, soft music, and wonderful smelling candles. We walked through the cabin and found the most luxurious bedroom, opened the closet to find cushy wonderful bathrobes, and quickly decided that we were certainly not going to die and were instead going to have a wonderful time.

In the day, everything was much, much, less scary.

SADNESS REDEEMED

The weekend started off wonderfully. I went out for a quick drink with some co-workers, went on a nice walk, and had my Mom come pick me up so we could watch some basketball. I wasn’t all that excited about the basketball but my folks love the NBA and Kevin Garnett in particular. Even though he is no longer a MN player, he remains near and dear to their hearts. We watched the Celtics getting their butts kicked and then stopped and watched Ratatouille instead. The Celtics ended up pulling it out though and we saw some post-game coverage.

I had a day off on Friday and was happily lounging around my apartment when I turned on the computer and saw that Tim Russert had died. I’m not one to watch many politically focused talk shows, or any talk shows for that matter. However, if I had to choose three to watch it would have been; Charlie Rose, Inside the Actors Studio, and Meet the Press.

I never planned to see Charlie Rose, sometimes nothing else would be on and it was always a good standby. I also never planned to see Inside the Actors Studio but I would often notice it was on and see someone I wouldn’t mind hearing an interview with. Meet The Press was different. I certainly didn’t always plan to watch it and I often didn’t remember that it was on, however, if there had been some particularly juicy happenings during the week I would occasionally look forward to hearing what Russert had to say about it. I found him to be very fair, and rather funny. He was someone who I would love to just sit down with and hear him tell stories. I wouldn’t have thought that his death would make me as sad as it did but there really isn’t anyone out there that does what he did, or at least nowhere near as well. I’ll miss the guy.

Mom and I took a nice trip to Target and then we picked up Monica to eat at Irizu, a Costa Rican place. Monica made us try Oatmeal Shakes and I was quite hesitant but then very pleased. They tasted like cookie dough. The food was none to shabby either. On Saturday morning I awoke and called Mom to have her come and pick me up. When she arrived at the door I opened it only to find Dad heading up the stairs. The sun of a gun surprised me! It was wonderful to see him and we proceeded to have a fantastic weekend together. Sat night Tony, the parents, and I went for dinner at a Pakistani restaurant. I forgot it was Pakistani and thought it was Indian, because the food is so similar it was easy to do. The food was delicious but they didn’t have appetizers on the menu and that bummed me out. Also I thought I was ordering chick peas and I got lentils. Not that it really mattered because the food was very good and I like lentils. I think their mango lassi and naan were some of the best I have ever had. Mom took pictures of Tony and I that she must send to me because we have none and they are the best to date I think (hint hint). We came home and watched Sunshine, which is like a faster version of 2001 with a different plot and Cillian Murphy. It was enjoyable. Anything with Cillian Murphy is enjoyable. After my folks left Tony and I watched the new Rambo movie on Blu-ray. Can I just say BEST EXPLODING PEOPLE EVER! If you like to see people explode the last 30 minutes of this movie is a must see and the rest won’t make you mad either. If you like plot…maybe not your thing.

On Sunday I showed Dad the last 30 minutes of Rambo because I know he likes exploding people and we tried the new Uncommon Ground by my apartment for brunch and were incredibly happy with our decision. Best Sweet Potato Fries I have ever had! The chili was okay but I’ll order something else next time. Then we went on a shopping extravaganza that completely tired me out. We stopped at the cheesecake factory for a snack and ended up with a meal. The Fried Macaroni and Cheese was very tasty but I could have used a little more macaroni in mine. Not that I’m complaining. Ever since I saw Alton Brown pull that treat of death off I wanted to try some. The Avocado Eggrolls were delicious and I was a little iffy on warm avocado. It wasn’t too warm though. We also got some fire roasted artichokes and they were quite good but I wasn’t incredibly happy with either of the dipping sauces they came with. We got cheesecake to go cause we were so full and I still have the better part of my piece in the fridge at home. MMMM Key Lime Cheesecake. I eat a lot when my parents are in town. We watched the game Sunday night and it was a pretty good battle but unfortunately the Celtics couldn’t pull it out. I almost want to watch other games in the series now because they got me into it…almost.

1. She feels like/ A stranger has come in the night/ And stolen her life/ And left her with this

2. You always felt like Suede/ there are days I feel your twin/ Peekaboo/ Hiding underneath your skin. Suede, Tori Amos. Identified by Brooke.

3. I’m a pixie/ I’m a paper doll. I’m a cartoon/ I’m a chipper cheerful free for all and I light up a room. Pixie, Ani DiFranco, Identified by Brooke.

4. Well there ain’t no/ Ain't no telling baby/ when you will see me again/ But I pray it will be tomorrow. Ain't No telling, Jimi Hendrix. Identified by Brooke.

5. Looking at the devil/ Grinning at his gun/ Fingers start shaking/ I begin to run

THE BEST THING ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS

I haven’t had much to say lately, which is strange because I feel that I have been very busy. I guess I have enjoyed playing word games on Facebook more than blogging lately. Therefore, during my lunches I sit down to have a quick game of something and then notice an hour has passed and I have no time to write anything. Again, not that anything interesting would be said. Maybe I should change my blog name back to “I Have Nothing Interesting To Say: Read Me”.

I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis, as I always do. It is truly a great city. On Thursday I went out for Thai food with Roxanne, my oldest friend. She isn’t the oldest of my friends but I have known her since I was about 6mo old so she is really more like family than friend. I mean I’ve known her longer than my sister. It is amazing that we still enjoy each others company as much as we do. Anyway, the point of my story was that we went out for Thai food and I got to eat mock duck. I don’t know what it is about Minneapolis that every Thai and Vietnamese place has mock duck on the menu but it is a wonderful thing. Maybe there is a mock duck factory in the twin cities somewhere that I have never heard of. What I wouldn’t do to get some proper mock duck here in Chicago. Sure my family lives in Minneapolis. Sure I love the quiet vibe of an ever more cosmopolitan city. Sure I get to see old friends who mean the world to me. Regardless, mock duck is quite possibly the best thing in Minneapolis.

Of course I have no idea if the mock duck tastes anything like real duck but I do know that it tastes delicious. It’s moist and firm and chewy all at the same time. It has a fantastic flavor and it makes me incredibly happy. I ordered mock duck pad thai at a level five spicy out of five and didn’t even need to put more hot sauce on it, although I could have. It was nice and red with spice when it arrived on my plate. It even had big tofu pieces along with the mock duck! Usually they just put some little crap pieces in there if it isn't your main "meat". I have to do some research and find out where I can get some of this wonderful product and make my own mock ducky dishes. I actually just did a google search for "mock duck chicago" and found a restaurant that serves the stuff. Dharma Garden here I come. I should also mention that the first entry on google was from someone who went to college in Minneapolis and was lamenting the mockducklessness of Chicago.

On Friday the entire family (parents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and grandparents) went for dinner at Cristos, a Greek restaurant. The food there was incredibly delicious as well. I ordered dessert, which I never do, and tasted a little piece of heaven called milopita. This thing was filo dough wrapped around baked apples in a ricotta/cream cheese mixture. There was some kind of sweet wonderful sauce all around it. I won’t want another one for about five years because it was incredibly rich but it was certainly something wonderful to store in the back of my, “delicious things to eat” corner of my mind.

I also saw two movies, Iron Man and Prince Caspian, which is insane because I never go out to the movies. It was great fun even though I took a benadryl, which never make me sleepy but miraculously did that day, before going to see Iron Man and dosed a little bit. Oh well, just gives me more reason to see it again. I now have to reread Prince Caspian because, while I think it was similar to the book, if it didn’t follow the story closely it was a total Two Towers rip off. Then again, the first one was very true to the story so I’m not really sure why it wouldn’t be. If anyone remembers and will let me know so that I can continue to read Atlas Shrugged (which I am enjoying immensely although not as much as The Fountainhead) and not have to bother with minor literary distractions. Then again, literary distractions can be cool as I just read a book called Running With Walker, which was a father’s memoir of taking care of his autistic son and was incredibly glad that I did.

Now for the song reveal

2. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran. Barre Baby, Big Moe.

5. They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I’m coming now I’m coming to reward them. First We Take Manhattan, Leonard Cohen

6 THINGS ABOUT ME

Colleen tagged me with the Six Quirky Things About Me meme. I am struggling with the idea because I can’t think of anything I haven’t already talked about before. I’ll give it a try though. Who knows, I might come up with something new. I just spend about 20 minutes not being able to come up with anything so I decided I am going to narrow things down and stick to quirky food things. This too may be hard.

1)I eat my pizza like a weirdo
I prefer to eat my pizza with a knife and fork. Although a little strange it is certainly not unheard of. However, utensils are only the beginning of my pizza neurosis. I always start by cutting off the crust, or ripping it off if there are no utensils. I do this because it is one of my least favorite parts of the pizza. I then cut (or rip) a one inch strip from directly below the crust. If there is some cheese that has crept upon the crust and gotten nice and brown I will generally take it off and put it on the side of my plate to eat later. As I pick up little squares of pizza to eat I bite the crust part first, put down the fork and then eat the cheese part. Sometimes I try to eat cheese and crust together but I invariably separate them in my mouth. After I have eaten the top third of the pizza slice I turn my plate and work at it from the tip up. Eventually I am left with the middle third of the pizza slice. This third is where most of the toppings and goodness tend to be. I will peel the cheese off in one big chunk, eat the crust, and then savor the last wonderfully full cheesy bite. It doesn’t matter whit kind of pizza it is the process will be the same. This process may be why deep dish is one of my least favorite pizzas. It can be very hard to separate the cheese and crust because of the way they are constructed. Stuffed crust is easier. With that I usually will eat away the bottom crust and eat the top crust and the stuffing together. I despise pizza being cut into squares because it really messes up my flow.

2)I will always save the second best nacho.
If eating nachos, I will find the one with the second best combination of toppings and set it to the side of my plate. The best nacho should be eaten immediately while everything is nice and hot and melty. If there are tons of nachos and I won’t finish them in one sitting I eat the second best nacho just as I am about to be full. I will eat nachos as leftovers but they are never as good as the first time and I don’t want to waste my perfect one. My little sister, Shoshana, has this nasty habit of stealing my second best nacho. I don’t blame her, it is the best one left on the plate. For a while, she tried to play it off like she thought I put it to the side because I didn’t want it but that only worked once or twice. She will still try to steal it though.

3) I eat my burgers and sandwiches from the outside in
Yes, they are veggie burgers. I always start by nibbling around the edges and then slowly making my way to the middle. I bet you can guess why…the middle has the best mix of all the yummy goodness. With a sandiwch I try to leave the center for the last bite as well. Sometimes this can be hard because of all the things in the sandwich. You can bet my last taste won't have any crust though.

4) For most of my life I would turn down desert for more dinner
I didn’t have a huge sweet tooth but I sure loved a savory dish. Typically I would rather have a taco or some pasta than a bowl of ice cream. However, lately I have been craving sweets to end a meal. This has been a bit of a problem because I have never really kept sweets around as I would rather have some cheese. I’m going to have to make some changes.

5) I eat candy bars in layers
Chocolate is certainly not one of my favorite foods. I do like candy bars though. I like to meticulously eat as much of the chocolate from around the edges of a bar as possible so that I am just left with whatever is inside. This I particularly easy with things like Kit-Kat bars and Twix bars. Twix may be the easiest. With those I like to eat the cookie part separate from the caramel part. I like the caramel part better. They separate quite nicely.

I have just realized that most of food quirks revolve around getting the best bite possible. I wonder if they are all that quirky. Doesn’t everyone want the best bite possible? Anyway, I tag anyone who wants to do the meme.

1. Well I’m reading this poem and it’s so profound/ and I/ I like its rhythm/ and I/ I like its sound

2. Can I come over/ Tonight/ Can I come over/ Tonight/ What do you think I wanna do/ That’s right/ Can I come over/ Tonight

3. I got bullets in the clip/ So what you want/ I got a lyric I can spit/ So what you want

4. Andy would bicycle across town in the rain to bring you candy/ and john would buy the gown for you to wear to the prom/ With Tom the astronomer who’d name a star for you

5. Loyal fans and new found followers/ What’s up ya’ll/ Hello how are you doing out there/ You chillin/ I’m winnin/ Oh by the way the album’s out/ Go get it

FOODIE FRIDAY- A CHIP

A bad bad thing has happened to me. I found a good Dill Pickle chip. I have been on an eating better kick for the last few months and it has certainly done my body some good but I seem to have hit a plateau. I actually don’t mind plateaus, I mind backtracking. I really can’t complain. This morning I stopped by Dominick’s on my way to work to raid the salad bar and thought I might want something more than a mere salad. By the deli there were many chips, I love a salty snack. Then I saw Dill Pickle flavored chips and I got excited.

Let me tell you a little about the Dill Pickle chip. When I first saw them I thought it was so incredibly disgusting that I had to try it. I believe this happened sometime during the mid 90s. Old Dutch (a very popular brand over in good old Minnesota) was the maker and I couldn’t wait to eat the nastiness that I was sure would come out of the bag. Why I was excited to eat nasty food I do not know, but I was. However, the chip was far from disgusting. In fact it was quite possibly the most delicious chip I had ever tasted. It was a regular potato chip and was dusted with these dill pickle flavored specks, similar to what you might see on a sour cream and onion chip. I was hooked.

When I went off to college I had my mom send me a bag of Dill Pickle chips in a care package. It got completely pulverized. Friend and I ate the entire crumbly bag in about 30 seconds. She had been wary but they were a hit with her too. Over the years there have been a few other attempts at dill pickle chips. Lays has one but there are no flecks on it and, therefore, I feel it doesn’t have the charm. It tastes a little too much like a salt and vinegar chip to me, like they just dunked them in pickle juice. Lays are also notoriously greasy.

The bag I saw today was of the Kettle Classics brand. A kettle cooked chip is generally a good thing so I figured even if the pickling wasn’t right on I would still enjoy the chip. When I opened the bag (it was actually the hardest to open chip bag I have come across in a long time) I was greeted with crunchy kettle chips, pickle flakes, and a light pickle taste on the chip itself. I bit into it with anticipation and I was disgusted. The chip was so damn good. I’ll have to stop myself from eating them all the time. I haven’t had a dill pickle chip craving in years because there haven’t been any good ones to crave. It may all fall apart. For shame.

And now for something completely different. I watched Sweeny Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street last night. It was absolutely wonderful. I loved the whole look of the film and was thoroughly entertained. Unless you hate incredibly bloody and stylized musicals I suggest that you watch it as soon as possible.


1. Well they say that birds do it/ Bees do it/ Time the freak Money B gets to it

2. If the music make you move/ Cause you can dig the groove/ Groove on/ Groove on

3. Went down to the mountain I was drinking some wine/ Looked up in the heaven lord I saw a mighty sign

4. What’s the matter/ Why don’t you answer/ What’s the matter with me

5. Tie yourself to me/ No one else knows you’re not rid of me/ No you’re not rid of me. Rid of Me, PJ Harvey. Identified by Brooke.

FOODIE FRIDAY- CHEESY PASTA AND YUMMY BEANS

I have actually been cooking a fair amount this week. I’ll share what I think was the most successful meal. As far as the pasta goes, for something in a cheese sauce it keeps very well. I know because I have been eating it at lunch more a good chunk of the week. For an even better reheating I put a little in a mini ramekin and covered it with parmesan to get a nice baked thing going for dinner one night. It certainly isn’t the most healthy of dishes but in small amounts it fit into my not eating horribly plans quite well and, like I said, lasted a really long time. Since the smoked gouda has such a strong flavor I didn’t need as much as I would for other cheese sauces I have made.

Sauce
3tbsp butter
3tbsp flour
1 grated shallot
1 clove garlic pressed
3oz smoked gouda
3 cups skim milk
5oz frozen spinach cooked and drained
2 packets boca ground burger (I could have done without this but Tony wanted it and it added a nice boost of protein so it wasn’t a bad addition)
Salt and pepper to taste

It’s just your typical cheese sauce preparation and would go well with any pasta but I used whole wheat rotini.

Melt the butter, add the shallot and garlic, stir in the flour, let it cook together for a min or so, add the milk, stir until the flour mixture is dissolved, add the cheese, add the boca meat, spinach, and seasonings, let it thicken.

So go with it I made the most delicious bean dish I have had in quite a long time. They complimented each other very well

1 can small white beans
1 can whole tomatoes each tomato cut in thirds
1 zucchini
3tbsp fresh basil
1tbsp lemon zest
Juice form ½ lemon
2 shallot diced
1 clove garlic pressed
.5 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute shallot and garlic in the olive oil, add everything except the basil, let cook about 5-7 min or until zucchini is soft, add 2tbsp basil and adjust seasoning if needed, let cook for a few more minutes, serve with a light dusting of freshly grated parmesan and the rest of the basil as garnish

Tony isn’t usually excited about eating beans. He'll do it but without enthusiasm. He was LOVING these

1. You had all of them on your side/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you/ You believed in all your lies/ Didn’t you/ Didn’t you. Ruiner, NIN. Identified by Brooke.

2. The fat is in the fire/ A fryer made of chicken wire/ Gettin sick and tired of a friggin liar

3. Three hits to the heart son/ And it's poetry in motion/ One can send you down the river/ Three's a strange way to be delivered. Three Hits. Identified by Citizen of the World

4. You are a splendid butterfly/ It is your wings that make you beautiful/ And I could make you fly away/ But I could never make you stay

5. You can't hide/ Behind your social graces/ Don't try/To be all touchy feely. As Is, Ani. Identified by Brooke.

IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING

Well I am back in the land of the living and still have no idea why I was out. I can’t say I feel 100% because I would be lying but I have made it through half of a workday and I am pretty sure that I will make it through the rest just fine. If I am still feeling off in the head by mid-week I’m calling the dr. again.

Needless to say things have been pretty uneventful since my last post. My bloodwork was perfect. I guess that is good to know but since I felt imperfect I was kind of hoping for some validation and tangible illness. I did run a fever on Friday, which was my first measurable symptom and I was very excited about that. I watched a bunch of movies, many of which helped to confirm that I was not feeling well. Can I just say how much I LOVED The Gameplan! Yes, that is the movie where The Rock is a football player and his unknown daughter appears on his doorstep. Man did it ever make me cry. Then again, every movie makes me cry. I can’t really remember the last movie I watched that didn’t get me a little choked up.

I did manage to go to the grocery store on Sunday and made a delicious fruit salad. Even though it isn’t Friday I feel like sharing food stuffs cause it’s all I got.

• 1 container strawberries, halved (obviously Monica was not coming over)
• 1 container blueberries
• 2 pluots chopped
• 2 nectarines chopped
• 3 kiwi chopped
• 2 banana chopped

It would have been great just like that but during my time confined to my bed I saw this lady, whose name I never remember but she is the Healthy eating lady with short dark hair and blue eyes, make the best looking fruit salad dressing ever so I had to have a fruit salad. I now want to put this dressing on everything because I haven’t had anything so yummy in a long time

• 2 tbsp honey
• Zest of one lime
• Juice of one lime

Stir and put on EVERYTHING
Awesome

1. Identity/ Identity is the crisis you can’t see/ Identity/ Identity

2. Did I/ See a moment/ With you/ In a half-lit world

3. Ghost, ghost I know you live within me/ Feel as you fly/ In thunderclouds above the city/ Into one that I

4. I’m tired of wasting gas living above the planet/ Mister show me the way to earth/ The boys from quadrant 44 with their vicious metal hounds don’t come round here no more.

5. Downtown/ We’ll drown/ We’re in our never splendor/ Flowers/ Showers/ Whose got the new boy gender

A WEEKEND FULL OF STUFF

I had an utterly exhausting weekend full of stuff and things. To most people it would have been a relatively low key weekend. Oh how I love my extreme debilitating INFPness.

Friday after work I headed over to Monica’s office to meet her for dinner and Be Kind Rewind. We had a lovely meal at a Mexican joint called Su Casa that we never go to because it is right next to Grand Lux and we felt it would be overpriced. It was pretty standard dining out Mexican food priced. We even ordered marguerites, which is unusual because usually we are all about being hella cheap. It was nice to eat like regular adults. While we were there we discussed how I only have three friends I see on a regular basis and one of them is Tony. This leaves me with Monica and Dave. It isn’t that I don’t like my other friends; I like them quite a bit. However, seeing Dave once a week and Monica about once every other week give or take, and Tony all the time more than satisfies my need for human interaction. This, coupled with my laziness, means that I love seeing my other friends but it doesn’t happen all that often. She then wondered why it was that she has like 20 friends who she sees semi-regularly and still feels like she doesn’t’ have enough friends. I had no answer, the thought of the stress of seeing so many people just made me want to curl up on my couch and I had a movie to see. The movie was plenty entertaining, the end was a little on the cheesy overdone side but it was still fine.

Saturday was a day that most people would say was full of absolutely nothing. Tony slept late so I watched some TV and messed around with the computer. Then we went out to Diner to eat food, then we went to the grocery store, then we cleaned the fish tank (those poor little guys needed it so bad) and installed a new heater, then we watched Torchwood (which is totally awesome) and had some dinner. I think we might have read some as well. It was, as you can see, incredibly busy.

Sunday was even busier! We got up and made some breakfast and then decided that since we had a nice clean fish tank that we possibly needed more fish to go in it. We headed to the fish store up the street only to find that it was closed and they are also having a going out of business sale. We saw a bus coming and decided to hop on it to go to a fish store up in Evanston that we visited the last time my parents were in town. They didn’t have any fish we particularly wanted, which was a bummer because we really wanted some fish. They did have a Sugar Glider and I immediately wanted to take it home forever but it was like $285 and that wasn’t happening. After the fish store we decided to go for a walk and ended up walking back to Chicago. It was only about two miles but it was also 34 degrees and Tony had no hat. We passed a cemetery and I really wanted to go inside and walk around but it wasn’t the right time. Instead we just looked through the gate and commented on how certain mausoleums looked more like they housed vampires than others. We also noted how long ago everyone was born. Where do they bury new dead people? We decided that we would need to have a visit cemetery day when the weather gets nicer. They are pretty cool. After making it back to Chicago we hopped on the bus and headed home. Later that night I made a lasagna! Talk about doin stuff.

So my point is that if I do ANYTHING it seems like a whole lot of action. I’m totally exhausted today but we’ll say it is because of the daylights savings thing because if that lame nothing weekend made me this tired there is no hope for me at all.

Time for the reveal of last weeks songs.

1. Close my eyes/ feel me now/ I don’t know how you could not love me now. Sometimes, My Bloody Valentine

2. Elephant wields the rod/ While the donkey throws you the bone/ I'd rather have a bone than a beating I suppose/ Either way still the dog. Master and Dog, Quasi

3. Silver birch against a Swedish sky/ The singer in the band made me want to cry/ We're all inside our own heads now/ We are leaving new friends/ We are leaving this town. Country Mile, Camera Obscura

4. When I had you to myself/ I didn’t want you around/ Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd. I Want You Back, Jackson 5

5. So they say I was sometimes cruel/ I don’t know if I would say that too/ oh I/ I don’t know about that. Sixteen, Le Tigre

GOOEY GOODNESS

Apparently I said I was going to write a post about sandwiches today. In all honesty, who doesn’t love a good sandwich? I firmly believe that the sandwich is one of the more perfect foods out there. In fact, one of my first, and favorite, posts was about sandwiches.

I’ll call this sandwich Gooey Goodness because I like things that start with the same letter yet describe the product. It is important to be catchy.

• Four thin slices of sourdough or other delicious bread with a nice crust
• 1 large cap Portabella mushroom
• ½ Zucchini
• 2 slices Red onion
• 1 Roma Tomato
• Sprouts
• Brie cheese
• ½ tbsp butter

1. sauté the mushroom and zucchini in a tiny dab of butter until cooked
2. Put the rest of the butter in a pan and melt
3. Rub the bread, on both sides, in the butter
4. Put a layer of Brie on two slices of bread and cover with mushroom and zucchini then cover with other slice of bread
5. Press together with spatula
6. Cook over medium/low heat covered for a few minutes and flip
7. Repeat process until bread is nice and golden and cheese is gooey
8. Remove from heat
9. Open sandwiches and top with onion, tomato, and sprouts (in that order so as to avoid slippage, a successful sandwich is all in the layers)
10. Close sandwich and enjoy the gooey goodness

I suppose a Panini press would also work in this situation but who has one of those? Not I. I had a green apple with this sandwich and it was delightful. Green apples are so good with Brie. As I was typing I think a super thin layer of Dijon mustard may have complimented this sandwich as well. MMM Sandwich.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Though you are not content here with me and you feel you must go

2 You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down

3. They got a committee to get me off the block. Cause I say my rhymes loud and I say them non stop

4. On the corner/ We talk away/ Everybody’s older these days

5. I’ll light the fire/ You place the flowers in the vase that you bought/ Today. Our House, CSNY. Identified by Mom.

WEEPY WEEKEND

Apparently my post on Friday was my 300th post. Neat. I totally had no idea.

I had every intention of going to Jamie’s to watch the Super Bowl. Then I slept really late and felt pretty lazy when I woke up. Then I looked and saw it was going to snow at some point during the game. I decided to stay home. I really had no interest in the game either so it made the decision a little easier. Regardless, I am kind of a bad friend. Sorry. Instead of Super Bowl, Tony and I watched The Karate Kid. I had actually never seen the entire movie and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I also made some of the most delicious sandwiches ever but you’ll have to wait until Friday to hear all about them.

Speaking of movies I watches this weekend, I really have to recommend The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters to everyone. It is a documentary that chronicles the epic battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Weibe. Who are they you ask? They are the best Donkey Kong players around, duh. Although I had heard wonderful things about the movie I was a little skeptical about the entertainment value of a documentary about guys playing old school video games. Why? I have no idea. It was brilliant. There were shady dealings, bitter rivalries, and aloof masters of the joystick throughout. Even if you don’t care a thing about Donkey Kong or, like me, have never made it past the first board (or maybe second but apparently most people never make it past the third) you will enjoy this movie. Get it get it get it.

We also watched Pride. I can’t get enough of movies about sports that are “based on a true story” when there is racism involved it is even better. Pride is the one about the Black swim team from Philly. There were only two references to the whole “Black people can’t swim thing,” which I thought was interesting in some way. I never thought I would be typing this statement but here it goes, Bernie Mac was brilliant! He was just hilarious and delightful and made the movie. Terrence Howard wasn’t too bad himself but that is more expected. I mean did you see Hustle and Flow? He was so awesomely dirty. Like any movie about underdogs and racism it got me teary and Tony laughed at me. Whatever, The King of Kong made me a little teary as well. So did The Karate Kid. I just cry. I ain’t ashamed. Whatever.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Though you are not content here with me and you feel you must go

2. Coming out the slums/ It's the hoodlums/ I'm pulling my gat out on all you bums

3. You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down

4. I’d like to be/ Under the sea/ In an octopus’s garden/ In the shade. Octopus's Garden. The Beatles. Identified by Jenn.

5. Wow/ You sure got to climb a lot of steps to get to this capital building here in Washington/ Hey/ Who’s that sad little scrap of paper?/ You really want to know? I'm Just A Bill, Schoolhouse Rock. Identified by Janeylynne.

GARBANZO CURRYISH DISH

Seems like over a month since I pulled a Foodie Friday. I guess part of that is because I have been eating staples for some time now. Even though I have been cooking almost nightly nothing has been particularly new. While this recipe is a lot like my lentil, potato, and cauliflower dish I think it is different enough (kinda) that I can post it. It sure was delicious.

• 1 big ole can garbanzo beans
• 2 potatoes peeled and cubed
• 8oz fresh spinach chopped
• 3 large tomatoes sliced and halved
• 1 red onion thinly sliced
• 1 serrano pepper thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp capers
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1tbsp vegetable oil
• Lots of cumin and curry powder
• A dash of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste

HERE ARE THE STEPS

1. Put a big old pot of water on to boil
   
2. Heat the oil in a large and deep pan and sauté the onion
3. After about 4 minutes add the serrano and garlic and let cook for a little while
4. Add the capers, tomatoes, spinach, and spices cover the pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally
5. Add the potatoes to the now boiling water and let them get nice and soft
6. Once the tomatoes reduce and make a nice sauce add the garbanzo beans and the potato.
7. Give it a nice stir and let everything cook together for about five minutes.
8. Serve with flour or corn tortilla with the dish because it is somewhat Indian like and tortillas are somewhat naan like (I know this is a stretch) and I thought it would be good. I was right.

Enjoy.

People guessed all the songs from yesterday, cause they were all pretty awesome, so here is a new group.

1. I love you/ Completely/ Please I don't want you to go/ Thought are not content here with me and you feel you must go
2. Coming out the slums/ It's the hoodlums/ I'm pulling my gat out on all you bums
3. I'm trying to tell you something 'bout my life/ Maybe give me insight between black and white/and the best thing you ever done for me/ Is to help me take my life less seriously. Closer To Fine, The Indigo Girls. Identified jointly by Mom and Jason. How Cute.
   
4. Isn't she lovely/ Isn't she wonderful/ Isn't she pretty/ less than one minute old. Isn't She Lovely, Stevie Wonder. Identified by Mom.
   
5. You've got a bad reputation/ That's the word out on the town/ It gives a certain fascination/ But it can only bring you down
   

DANG THAT LOOKS GOOD

I gave my first Financial Fitness workshop today and it went just swimmingly. I had seven people initially sign up and Brenda got three emails saying people canceled but three came so I was happy. I hear we have a 50% show rate anyway so I was only expecting three. I had some very minor technical glitches but nothing that disrupted the presentation as a whole.

Glitch 1. To get the presentations on the computer that hooks up to the projector you have to email them to yourself then download them onto that computer. I did this with no problem. However, I neglected to close out my email when I was done. Therefore, every time I got a new email during the presentation a window would pop up that said “you have new mail”. It would go away after a few seconds but it was slightly embarrassing.

Glitch 2. Not only did I not close out my email, I didn’t close out anything. Therefore, when I needed to go to a website during the presentation, I had to sift through all these mucky windows to get there. I thought it made me look a little technically incompetent. I also flubbed the should be seamless transition back into the slide show.

Glitch 3. This is actually not a glitch, I just thought it was. There is a remote thing by the computer that I assumed you were supposed to operate your presentation with. I couldn’t’ make it work so I operated the presentation by mouse. I guess that is just how it works.

Needless to say those errors are really minor. On a scale of 1-5 I received one 4 and two 5s for the presentation and two people said they planned to take action on what was discussed so that is a good thing. I was even able to answer all questions. Tomorrow’s presentation may be another story. While the material is easier only three people signed up. We’ll see what happens.

Although I haven’t had a Foodie Friday in some time, I thought now may be a good time for some foodie stuff. Why? Because Mom sent pictures from Christmas and that means you can see the Christmas Pizza. Yes, my family eats pizza for Christmas dinner. We never had a tradition and one year my sister said she wanted pizza and fudge. It stuck. Shoshana and her friend Will handled the crust, cheese grating (mozzarella, romano, provolone), and ingredient chopping while I made the sauces and picked ingredients. This year we made some beautiful pizzas.


Pesto
3 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 cup + (or so) olive oil (add more if needed)
Squirt of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste (All this stuff is really to taste)

Toppings
Artichoke hearts
Spinach
Feta
Onion
Fresh Basil

The lemon juice was a totally new thing to my pesto making but it really hit the spot. I tasted it and thought it needed citrus but wasn’t sure but Shoshana suggested it and I knew she was right. It was delicious.


Red Sauce
1 big can of whole tomatoes drained
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil
Dash sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
Mushrooms
Onion
Fresh Garlic
Fresh Basil

I think we ended up adding some of the drained out tomato juice to the sauce for volume but you can’t blend it all together, then you don’t get the nice chunky quality.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones

2. Hot Cha where are you/ Everybody’s eyes are closed/ I can’t see why I miss you so/ So Hot Cha where are you. Hot Cha, They Might Be Giants. Identified by Monica

3. Little bag of bones been out all night/ Little bag of bones been out all night/ Can you hear him scratching at the screen door. Kitty, The Presidents of the United States of America, Identified by Jason.

4. On a rooftop in Brooklyn/ One in the morning. Watching the lights flash/ In Manhattan

5. Look on yonder misty mountain/ See the young monk meditating/ Rhododendron forest/ Over dusty hills I ask you. Epistle to Dippy, Donovan. Identified by Monica

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

Being back at work after many days off is never an easy thing. Luckily, I have plenty or organizing and planning to do and it doesn’t involve an extraordinary amount of brain power. Mostly I just have to read lists and then put the information in different places. Good times. My office is freezing. I think I need a heater. When I get home I am totally sitting in front of one.

Since my last post the year has changed. I had a fantastic New Years Eve and a very slow New Years Day. So it goes. Tony and I got all dressed up at around 5pm and left the house at six for our 7pm reservations at MK. We got there at 6:55 and were promptly taken to our table, which was nice and private but still in the middle of everything. We were thoroughly overwhelmed by the wine list and asked the waiter to recommend something, he did and it was delicious. I have no idea what it was. All I remember is it was Spanish and white and had an apricot aftertaste.

Our meal started with an amuse bouche. I had some salsify with a few sprigs of what was either very large sprouts or very small greens, a lemon sauce (we’ll call it a reduction to be fancy), and some black truffle shavings. It was delicious. Tony had some kind of shooter in an oyster shell. I think there was something cucumberish about it. He said it was nice.

Course two was an endive and field green salad for me and a lobster salad for Tony. Endive is an interesting food. It is very bitter and yet somewhat sweet, almost licoricesque. The dressing was light and lemonish and complimented the bitterness of the salad very well. There were also some baby croutons and orange slices in there that went perfectly. Tony said the lobster salad was good.

The third course was, in my opinion, the highlight. I had a sunchoke soup that was poured tableside over two small piles of diced endive topped with an orange slice. It was creamy, just the right temperature, and had the most delicate flavor that I’ve had in quite some time. However, it still really stuck to the ribs. The tiny orange slices were the icing on the cake. The way they just burst apart and complimented the soup was exceptional. Tony had the squab which was served over lentils. His face lit up when he tasted it and seemed to enjoy it most of all. Monica later told him that squab is pigeon. He still thought it was tasty.

My main course was a risotto trio. The first didn’t quite seem like a risotto as it appeared to be made of diced endive (a common thread) but I could be wrong about that. It was topped with baby carrots and delicious carrot foam. I was ecstatic about getting foam on my meal. It just made me think of Marcel and smile and laugh. I was surprised at how carroty and delicious the foam actually was. The second risotto had a delicious parmesan flavor and was topped with I believe oyster mushrooms that were cooked to perfection. MMM delicious. The last was a black truffle infused risotto with an abundance of black truffle shavings. Also divine. We ordered some pomme frites with the main course and they were served with a white truffle aioli. Those were some killer fries. Unfortunately, we were fat too full to eat all of them. Tony had turbot which he said was tasty but he was getting too full to really enjoy it anymore.

The dessert course was also a highlight for me. I ordered the lemon dessert while Tony opted for the chocolate. I was so glad I had the lemon. The chocolate wasn’t bad; warm chocolate cake with some chocolate moose type stuff on the side. The lemon was heavenly. I had a very light custard that just melted on the tongue and it had these sweet lemon curls of wonder on top. Then there was the lemon tart with a caramelized crust on top and a flaky wonderful crust on the bottom. Although I couldn’t finish it I most certainly wanted to. Although we took longer than the 90 minutes we were told we would get the staff didn’t rush us out at all and were more than accommodating throughout the meal. They were an absolute delight.

Then it was into a cab and over to Dave’s place. He assured us that the march to the lake would be optional so we didn’t need to go home and change first, which was good. I don’t know if I would have made it back out had I been able to enter my cozy abode. In true Dave fashion there was a plethora of delicious looking food at his house, sadly we were far too full for anything although I did sneak a couple handfuls of popcorn and a forkful of enchilada at around 1 or so. I did help myself to the rum and hot apple cider though. MMMM. After a march around the block (although some continued on to the lake) and some more chillin, Tony, Brooke, and I headed home and proceeded to drink some wine which I think helped me feel very lethargic on Monday. I went to bed around 3 while Tony and Brooke stayed up until about 7. Crazy. Tony still managed to get up around 9, take a shower, and head to the store to buy breakfast. What a goofball.

I forgot my iPod today, although I did remember to bring my iPod speaker to the office. No songs today.

FOOD FUN AND FRIENDS

You gotta love friends being in town. After I spent Thursday recuperating from my trip home by lazing in my pjs, doing puzzles, and sleeping Friday was a time to get out and get going. I planned to meet Monica and Brooke for lunch downtown but that didn’t quite happen. Brooke came over after lunch and we got to chat a little bit and then headed to the train where we met Dave and then were off to Ba-Ba-Re-Ba for some Tapas and Sangria. Monica and Lakeiya met us there. Hooray for lots of friends! After four pitchers of sangria and delicious tapas, one of which looked like a caramel covered nutty poo (but was incredibly delicious) we though it would be an excellent idea to travel far out west for Karaoke.

Sadly, I had forgotten my check card but since I was with friends they made sure I wasn’t too thirsty during the singing festivities. That’s what friends are for. Brooke and Monica’s band, The Obnoxious Hollering Assholes, made their official debut, which is funny because I am kind of the only friend who isn’t in the band in some way shape or form. Apparently you have to ask them to be in the band and I thought they should just ask me because I am so obviously talented. Guess not. On the way to karaoke Dave became the costume designer and Lakeiya became their lawyer. I was still just chillin. Anyway, I am now at least something since I had a fairly large part in the debut. Our first two numbers were a complete group effort (Brooke’s first time up on the karaoke stage) and were both completely Asshole type songs.

Lakeiya had to go home at around ten because she is a sleepy little girl who likes to go home. Plus she lives in the suburbs and it takes her a while to get anywhere. I guess it was acceptable. Monica and I both did atrocious solo songs. We both decided not to do those songs again. I should have sung The Letter instead. We should know better then to get up and sing when we are afraid. We are never afraid to get up there. It was a sign. Dave and Brooke did an awesome rendition of a karaoke staple, which sealed the deal for Brooke becoming a full fledged karaoke lover. We then closed out the night with a very fast song with hard to pronounce words. I can’t believe we sang it as well as we did. Our voices were totally sore and horrible when we were done but it was totally worth it. 2am it was and obviously time to go home.

It took us a while to get out of there, being that the place is in the middle of nowhere, and it was rather extremely chilly but cabs came and we got in them and then were able to get to our homes. Today should also be a good time. We plan to eat burgers and drink bad sangria (not to be confused with the delicious sangria at Ba-ba-re-ba) at Moody’s. Should be a good time. I have once again made a post and it isn’t yet 2008. However, as I got an awesome laptop for Christmas, it makes posting wile doing other things much easier and therefore possible.

For the songs today I will use the ones we sang for karaoke in the order of which they were sang. This does mean six songs instead of five but it just seems right. Obviously, Monica and Brooke have no business answering these.

1. I pulled into Nazareth/ I was feelin' about half past dead/ I just need some place/where I can lay my head. (sung awesomely by the Obnoxious Hollering Assholes) The Weight, The Band. Identified by Johnny Yen.

2. He went out tiger hunting with his elephant and gun/ In case of accidents he always took his mom (sung awesomely by the Obnoxious Hollering Assholes). The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, The Beatles. Identified by Johnny Yen.

3. He came from somewhere back in her long ago/ The sentimental fool don’t see/ Tryin hard to recreate/ What had yet to be created once in her life (sung quite poorly by Monica) What A Fool Believes, The Doobie Brothers. Identified by Johnny Yen.

4. Heard of a van that’s loaded with weapons/ Packed up and ready to go/ Heard of some gravesites/ Out by the highway/ A place where nobody knows (sung quite poorly by Natalie). Life During Wartime, The Talking Heads. Identified by Johnny Yen.

5. Twenty-five years and my life is still/ Trying to get up that great big hill/ of hope/ For a destination (sung incredibly awesomely by Brooke and Dave). What's Up. 4 Non Blondes. identified (with the wrong title) by Mom.

6. Harry Truman/ Doris Day/ Red China/ Johnny Ray/ South pacific/ Walter Winchell/ Joe DiMaggio (sung surprisingly well by The Obnoxious Hollering Assholes (although Lakeiya had left)). We Didn't Start The Fire, by Billy Joel. Identified by CS.

ADVERTISEMENTS LIE

So I watched about 50% of the Vikings Bears game last night and although I haven’t seen sloppier football played for a while the end result was just fine with me. I always think it is mean when teams who have little or no chance at the playoffs beat teams who have something of a chance. I know they get paid to win no matter what but sometimes I think it is more sportsmanlike to make sure some fellow players get their dream. Actually throwing games may be the epitome of being unsportsmanlike so never mind.

While I was not watching the game I was watching the Extras finale. What a depressing show. It made me want to cry repeatedly while slapping the people who were making me cry. I guess that is something of an accomplishment.

Note to self: stop being taken in by commercials about pizza.

A while ago there was that Dominoes commercial about the garlicky crust pizza with the guys who had extra big sensory organs. They made the pizza look so incredibly delicious. I don’t do Dominoes pizza, it was been pounded into my head that they have some political leanings I don’t believe in (although who knows if that has changed since the mid 80s) and the pizza is relatively disgusting on top of it. Pizza Hut, on the other hand, is a guilty pleasure of mine. Man that stuffed crust is awesome. I do realize that I live in Chicago and if I want a delicious pizza there are far better options but sometimes I just want some of the Hut. Anyway, Pizza Hut had this new double deep pizza that looked pretty delicious in the commercials. I wanted to eat it. While it wasn’t disgusting, it certainly wasn’t as delicious as my typical Pizza Hut pizza. I swear that pizza commercials will not take me in anymore. I am always disappointed when I open the box. Actually, this happens with many food items I see on TV and think look delicious. They never look the same on my plate as on the TV. I take that back, there is one product, the ice cream I have seen on TV is just as delicious if not more so when I try it. I love ice cream.

Note to self: When you get up early to go to a breakfast at work, don’t eat breakfast before you go.

I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean I got up an hour early specifically to go to breakfast. However, as part of my typical morning routine I ate breakfast. What a dumbass. There was fruit at the breakfast though and I hadn’t eaten any fruit already so I had some but not as much as I would have if I hadn’t already eaten. Stupid stupid stupid.

1. Across the lines/ who would dare to go/ Under the bridge/ Over the tracks/ That separate Whites from Blacks. Across The Lines, Tracy Chapman. Identified by Mom.

2. Today was the day/ For dancing and for singing/ The birds in the trees/ And all the bells are ringing

3. Goodbye Cruel World/ I’m leaving you today/ Goodbye Goodbye Goodbye. Goodbye Cruel World, Pink Floyd. Identified by Auld Hat

4. My head’s been lying dormant like a sleepy little mouse/ What I have inside me it’s enough to fill a house

5. Repair the hull/ Replace the sail/ The monkey wrestles with the ghost

SO VERY FESTIVE

I’m getting the holiday spirit in full force. I spoke to my friend, Friend, and found out that she will be here for a nice chunk of time and I will be able to hang out with her as I have no work and I am incredibly excited about that. I also found out that friend Lakeiya is coming to town for a week or so as well. YEAH! I miss Lakeiya so much. Monica and I will have to do something fun with her. I feel all festive and warm and fuzzy thinking of their smiling faces.

Tony and I made reservations for New Years Dinner at MK, a swanky type spot. We opted for the earlier dinner seating because eating at 7 costs about 35 less than eating at eight although Tony was hoping for a slightly later meal. Oh well. We are only allowed 90min at the table before they kick us out but that is a pretty long dinner for the two of us. We are not slow eaters. We opted for MK because the samples of dinners on the prix fixe menu sounded yummy to Tony and they also have a vegetarian prix fixe option. Two years ago we went to The Green Zebra, a 90% vegetarian restaurant, for New Years (which was 100% vegetarian) I loved the food but Tony wanted some meat. This will work out well. Plus, Tony really wanted a reason to wear a suit. That means when we show up to Dave’s party we’ll be all swanky. That might suck as we head to the beach for fireworks…. Oh well, make it work. Awesome.

And now for something completely different, a very short and very hilarious video spot courtesy of “Tim and Eric Awesome Show Good Job”.



By the way Tim and Eric to have an awesome show and every time it is over I want to say, "good job". They have wonderful guests like Fred Willard, Bob Odenkirk, and John C Riley. They are on adult swim. You might like it.

1. We are two mariners/ Our ships sole survivors/ In this belly of a whale. The Mariner's Revenge, The Decemberists. Partially identified by Identified by Monica

2. I let the beast in too soon/I don't know how to live/ Without my hand on his throat/ I fight him always and still. Fast as You Can, Fiona Apple (I know people don't laugh)

3. Have mercy on me sir/ allow me to impose on you/ I have no place to stay/ And my bones are cold right through. Song of Joy, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Identified by Brooke.

4. Sleepwalking through the all night drugstore/ Baptized in fluorescent light/ I found religion in the greeting card aisle/ And now I know Hallmark was right. Superhero, Ani DiFranco. Identified by Brooke.

5. Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as /parklife/And morning soup can be avoided if you take a route straight through what is known as/ parklife. Parklife, Blur. Identified by Brooke.

3 UNRELATED THINGS

There are a few things of interest for me to say today.

1. Ike Turner is dead.
Typically when I read about the deaths of people who have had some sort of musical influence I get pretty sad. Sad wasn’t really an emotion that I initially felt when I read about good old Ike. I’m not saying that I was happy to hear of it either. Just because someone was a bad abusive beater doesn’t mean that I think they should necessarily die. Basically I was confused. I was confused that I wasn’t sad and I was confused that I didn’t feel bad about not being sad and then I decided that I would just let it go. So I did.

2. Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice Cream is awesome.
Some time ago Haagan Dazs had a contest to find a new ice cream flavor. They narrowed it down from five finalists who got to create three versions of their product, get it reviewed by judges and then choose one ultimate example of what their flavor should be. The five finalists were: Chocolate malt, Toasted Coconut Sesame Brittle, Something with Fig, Cannoli, and Sticky Toffee Pudding. Out of those I wanted to taste the fig, the brittle, and the Sticky Toffee Pudding. I absolutely hate chocolate ice cream so the malt was out of the question and I have never been a huge fan of cannolis. At the first elimination the fig and Malt got the ax so the remaining three went cross country for taste tests. Apparently Sticky Toffee Pudding blew everyone out of the water and was ultimately named the winning flavor thus being put into production.

Sticky Toffee Pudding is sticky and there is some toffee type thing going on but it is definitely not a pudding in the sense that I would think of pudding. It is more like cake. In fact, it is like a moist delicious spice cake. It is then topped with a sticky toffee sauce. In fact, it is remarkably like Dave’s Gravy cake but with different flavors. It also has a name that you just can’t help but say. I wanted some!

Our neighborhood store doesn’t have the largest ice cream selection and I have not seen Sticky Toffee Pudding there. Months and months passed since I watched the pick a new flavor special on the food network and I had essentially forgotten about it. Then, while picking up my prescriptions I walked past the ice cream case and there it was. I had to pick some up. I want to hug it. The spice cake is simply wonderful and spicy and great. The Sticky toffee sauce is very sugary but simply divine. I am so glad they made it.

3. I heart dinosaurs
When I was younger I loved Dinosaurs. What kid didn’t? Last night on the National Geographic Channel there was some great dino stuff going on. First they found a pit of dinosaur fossils in China. There were hundreds of dinosaurs on site and in one particular pit they found five (4 different species) piled one on top of the other. How cool. Unfortunately, I was falling asleep and only got to understand some parts of the show. Luckily it taped so I can learn more later. That show was followed by one where they found a “dinomummy” and were going to put it though a cat scan. Awesome. I was totally asleep by that point but I watched a little this morning. You could see scales and everything and they learned that this species had a much bigger ass than was previously believed. It also had different sized scales which lead them to reconstruct a striped pattern on its body. I can’t wait to see what else they uncover. It made me feel five again.

1. We are two mariners/ Our ships sole survivors/ In this belly of a whale. _________, The Decemberists. Partially identified by Identified by Monica

2. To me/ Coming from you/ Friend is a four letter word/ End is the only part of the word/ That I heard. Friend is a Four Letter Word, Cake. Identified by Phil

3. I let the beast in too soon/I don't know how to live/ Without my hand on his throat/ I fight him always and still

4. Have mercy on me sir/ allow me to impose on you/ I have no place to stay/ And my bones are cold right through

5. Sleepwalking through the all night drugstore/ Baptized in flourescent light/ I found religion in the greeting card aisle/ And now I know Hallmark was right.