leafing through

No, not NCAA. Work! Since day one at my job, I was warned about the insanity that happens in March. We have begun formulating the 2012 budget and the process is in a word: disorganized. Everything seems to happen at random and we have meetings upon meetings to discuss… To discuss. But I’ve been talking to various people who are in different jobs and it seems like everyone is working some long hours! I’m trying my best to not “wish my life away” but geez I’m ready for the weekend!!

This weekend, I saw mounds of dirty snow in a park, right next to some people playing tennis in shorts and t-shirts. It was sunny and probably in the mid-50s. I walked about outside with only a light jacket. It felt cool but what a nice feeling to be out in the sun. Then, I spotted some bulbs poking through the earth. Could it be? Spring is coming!? Or is March coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion?

Dining at Thai House can be described as consistently inconsistent. Some days, the food’s the BEST THAI I’VE HAD IN THESE HERE PARTS!!!, the service is attentive too. Other days, the chef doesn’t show up and you go next door for Greek food instead. Last night was another evening of surprises. The food was wonderful.
We tried curry fried rice noodles for the first time and we couldn’t decide if this was better or the stupendous pad thai.

I would’ve loved their green curry too I’m sure… had it arrived at our table. As it were, the owner/sous chef/busboy/waiter was so swamped with in-house business and carry-out that he delivered our check forgetting about the green curry. 2 hours after we arrived for dinner. Coming here is always a treat for my taste buds but you have to have time and patience to enjoy this place. A family of four came and almost left but the owner told them it was almost ready and to just hang tight. A table of three got wonton soups and decided that was enough for their evening. I love that they’re getting enough business to stay afloat in these tough times, we saw 2 or 3 shuttered businesses in that stripmall, but this barebones business operation is hard on customers. Luckily, their food is just too good to resist.

Yesterday night, we had big plans! Plans to go out to dinner, see a comedy show, stay up late and maybe even meet up with pals. Alas the convivial evening out was not to be. The chinchillas wore us out and we had our convivial evening in. I did taxes (a first try), and made granola (a second try). Then off to sleep where I dreamed about, wouldn’t you know it, food.

This morning we headed off to the Kettler Iceplex to watch the Capitals practice before their game against the NY Rangers. Incidentally, it’s playing right now. The rink looks a lot smaller than on TV and so do the guys. Without all that gear, they’re pretty skinny. It kinda’ gave me a nice feel for what a live game would be like, especially if you had front row seating. You can feel the cool air as they skate by and the puck thuds pretty loudly against the walls. After they finished, you could see Coach Boudreau giving a television interview. He wasn’t actually on the ice coaching, that was left to the assistant coaches.

Then it was off to Raaga for all you can eat Indian food. And believe me, I ate all I could, and then some. Still feeling full. Raaga’s naan is so good. They don’t leave it in the buffet line, rather they bring it out to you as you’re eating. It’s one of the few naan’s I feel like are good enough to eat alone. Crispy on the bottom, chewy on top. All the dishes pictured here were tasty enough to end up on my round two plate.

After that, it was off to go grocery shopping. I can skip one week, but there’s no way I’m going to go 3 weeks without grocery shopping.

Look what I made!! Hamantaschen! They’re little triangular cookies with fillings in them. I made two kinds, almond, and prune. Baking for me is a bit challenging because it’s so labor intensive and requires attention to detail and some amount of precision. You actually have to measure!! I whipped out the measuring cups and spoons for this one. The cookies came out well though. Crumbly and still triangle shaped after baking. They go well with wine. As do many other foods.

I just had a sudden realization of something I witnessed about 2 or 3 months ago.

Riding home from work on the Metro, it was maybe 7PM or so on a Friday night I think, two young (20s) people hopped on board. They looked like they’d just gone shopping or out somewhere, there were a couple of bags. It didn’t appear as if they were a couple, maybe friends or acquaintances. They didn’t appear to sit very close or familiarly together. She appeared kinda’ FOBby or maybe they both did. They were talking and smiling, a bit distanced politeness or shyness and then his stop came and he waved good-bye to her and she waved bye. No hugs or kisses. Just a friendly wave. Then she kept waving and I couldn’t see if he was standing there waving back or what but she kept waving and re-waving and then as the train pulled away, she started frowning, then crying. I was staring, maybe slackjawed. Or not. But I kept wondering what that was about. Was one of them leaving for good? Going away on business? Long distance relationship in two different college towns? Did he give her an indian burn before stepping off the train while I wasn’t looking? And I have no idea why it even entered my brain this afternoon but I think I may have figured it out. I think she regretted not getting that pair of cute shoes when they’d gone shopping. Non-buyers remorse.

It’s funny I thought I’d have more free time after I was done with school but I don’t feel it. I can’t believe we’re already into the third month of 2010! Part of it is moving out, having to do chores (which is time and labor intensive!) and another part is this new job which has longer hours than the last job. With my current schedule, school wouldn’t be impossible, but it’d definitely be a bit more challenging. Then again, if I really look honestly at how I spend my weekends, I do putz around a lot. Aside from cooking, which I resumed due to interest and necessity, I’ve mostly been enjoying my free time, relaxing, watching TV (I find 16 and Pregnant very intriguing.), and playing with the chinchillas. Lately, I’ve picked up reading for pleasure again. Before starting school, 2007, I was in the middle of reading The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I finally finished it on the Metro to and from work. Then I read The Tipping Point and Freakonomics. Then Confessions of a Shopaholic (Excellent!! But it made me impulsively purchase a face product at the Lancome counter for free makeup which only a year ago I said I wasn’t going to do! And buy a pair of boots, but they’re cute and on sale!), and now I’ve started Catch-22 (It’s bizarre and somewhat frustrating). I don’t know what’s next on my hobby list, but it feels good to slowly pick things up where I left off when my personal time was put on pause for school. Maybe the next hobby I reinstate will be… knitting? Maybe!

Last weekend, my mom remarked that her pantry had cleared up considerably since I’ve moved out. That’s funny, cuz my pantry is now stocked to the brim. Ok, I know I like to eat, but really!? So yeah, I’m the common denominator. Where ever I go, stockpiles of food appear. Two weekends ago, I went grocery shopping at Costco and the Asian market. I didn’t think I got that much stuff but even after skipping a shopping trip this past weekend, I’m still working through the food we got 2 weeks ago. Towards the end, I generally wind up with a few random ingredients. I even ran out of eggs, bread, and milk! Don’t worry though, that was quickly rectified this evening. Phew! So this week, I’m trying to creatively cook through what I have in the fridge and pantry. Tonight, in the slow cooker (which is probably one of the most used and versatile gadgets I have in the kitchen), beans, onion, carrots, tomatoes, ground turkey. I have no idea what it is or what it’s supposed to be but I’ll find out tomorrow at dinner. It’s the dish I never planned for but somehow I concocted it in my noggin’ based on chili recipes. Only there’s no chili pepper or cayenne. Maybe I’ll add that too.

We got our GSC’s on Saturday night. By Sunday a box and a half – Gone! I don’t know what happened. It’s like I had a cookie, or six, or whatever, and then wham-o! They disappeared.

Here’s how we’d rate the 3 types we got this time:

1. Lemon Chalet Cremes
2. Thank U Berry Munch
3. Tagalongs

Tagalongs use low quality peanut butter and chocolate. You’d think for $3.50 a box, they could use gourmet organic free range fair trade peanut butter, but no. They use the kind with 20% rat poop in it. It was hard to decide which was better, Lemon Chalets or Berry Munches. The Lemon Chalets have partially hydrogenated oils which make them crumble nicely whereas the Berry Munches don’t have those oils, so they’re a bit dry/crunchier. But the chewy cranberries went perfectly with that hard crunch texture. For someone who dislikes white chocolate (they have white chocolate chips which almost made me not get them but Special K raved and raved about them) these cookies were tasty. That’s an empty box in the photo. The creme in the Lemon Chalets were tangy with lemon flavor and there was a hint of cinnamon. So tasty! Next year, I’ll want both of these again.

About the hardest part of making baba ganoush is finding tahini. That’s to say, this dish is very simple to make.

• 2 big globe eggplants
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp tahini
• 3 or 4 cloves of finely grated garlic paste
• Juice of 1 lemon (I didn’t have any and used 2 limes instead)
• 1 teaspoon of (Kosher) salt
• cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Prick the surface of the eggplants all around with a fork.  Under the broiler, char the eggplant for 20 minutes on each side.  You want it to be shriveled and mushy.

In a vessel big enough to mix the baba ganoush,  (I love saying that, baba ganoush), throw together all the dry ingredients: salt, cayenne (to taste), cumin, cinnamon.

Then scoop in the tahini, add the chopped cilantro, garlic paste, and olive oil.  I forgot the olive oil this time but it tasted delicious anyway.  To make up for it, I poured it over the top to keep it from drying out.

Mix it all together and there you go!

It’s great with pita bread, crackers, by itself.

I got this recipe from Pioneerwoman.com and Simplyrecipes.com and just changed it a bit combining both of their ideas.

So in making this dish, I learned something new.  Pyrex glass, though heat proof, isn’t broiler proof.  I laid two eggplants in a Pyrex dish and the broiler shattered it.  Luckily, the eggplants were unscathed.  It just made cleaning the broiler a big pain in the butt.  I think at least once a month, I’m cleaning up glass in the kitchen.  I’ve broken so many dishes, jars, whatever left and right I’m kinda’ getting good at cleaning up glass now.  That’s how I make more space in the cabinets and fridge.  I break shit.

Well, it was neither rain nor snow. Maybe just a flurry, but wind! Gusts of it.

Behold, my latest kitchen gadget purchase: a grater, zester, shredder, slicer contraption! Mostly I wanted it for the zester/grater. Rather than get a zester/grater and then a separate shredder, I decided to get this all inclusive set which will save space too. I also got a can opener and am still hunting for a juicer – hand operated. Cuz I’m old-fashioned like that. Plus, I need more bowls!! So I can fill up the dishwasher rather than having to wash bowls every night. I’m considering Mikasa, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Ikea, you know, the usuals. I only need maybe 6 or so. So I’m thinking I can get 6 different pretty bowls which would be more fun, or I can get 6 identical ones which would probably stack better. These are the kinds of conundrums and decisions that keep me up. Last night, I went to Home Goods to look for bowls and walked out with a can opener and 2 mugs. Then I went to TJ Maxx to look for bowls and found a grater, zester, shredder, slicer contraption, same make, different model, for about $4 or $5 less. I don’t wanna talk about it. I walked out with a pair of smokey topaz earrings. I don’t wanna talk about that either.