leafing through

These past four days have felt like July with highs in the 90s. Might I remind you it’s still April!? And as much Claritin as I’ve taken, you’d think I haven’t taken any. All the cars are tinged yellow, just thinking about it makes my eyes water…aaaannd I’m procrastinating. Again. So what else is new? I do research for my Netflix paper by reading about the swine flu. Which, by the way, I feel is more hype than serious. But who knows, maybe I’ve been desensitized to the gubment’s crying wolf at the drop of a hat. Code orange my butt.

I’m leaving my job. Again. My boss is in a bit of a panic about how to handle the things he refuses to learn. For all the times a prior colleague and I have been trying to teach this old dog a not-very-new-trick, he has somehow managed to absorb none of it. I need some more coffee. Should’ve taken home those leftover churros from Ceiba.

Last Friday the Better Half and I went to Ceiba for dinner. In short, it was delicious; I would go back; and I would also recommend it to others. I had a wonderful time, our server was attentive but not hovering and the food was flavorful and fresh. It’s dressy but not stuffy and that’s one of the things I liked that about it: relaxed ambience and romantic. They sat us in a loungey area away from the dining room, which was nice because it felt more private.

Now, the important part: The Food!
We started with two ceviche appetizers:
This is a shrimp cocktail ceviche. Even though it’s called ceviche, the shrimp is cooked with heat, not lime juice and salt.

The other appetizer we had was Yellowtail Ceviche. Also very tasty. Both are spicy.

Next we split an octopus salad. It’s topped with queso fresco (fresh cheese) and served warm. If I had to pick the best dish of the meal, this would be it. The server said he eats two servings of this as his lunch almost daily. Amazing.

This snapper was big. It would’ve been enough for the two of us if we shared it, but we didn’t know any better. Next time though, I’d order this dish again to share. It’s very fresh and went great with saffron rice. I love the capers and olives in there.

This was my entree, the red pepper tamales. I’d been craving tamales, the corn-y masa mash. If you’re eating out with vegetarian friends, maybe you can consider Ceiba.

And for dessert we had churros dipped in melted chocolate, although we were both so stuffed we could only manage a few bites. Next time, we’re sharing an entree and having that dessert!

April 18 12:36 PM

After 11.5 hours April 18 11:55 PM

13 hours later April 19 1:04 PM

19 hours later April 20 8:19 AM

35 hours later April 21 6:56 PM

That is my job at work and I’m so good at it I do it at home. I have been hammering away at a 9-10 page paper for the past… entire day. And I just reached page five. The topic is my negotiation skills – why I am a bad negotiator, and what I need to do to fix it.
So far, I have learned:

• Distracting yourself is a great way to resist temptation and boost your willpower.
• It’s also a great way to waste time.
• I want a marshmallow.
• Everybody was in cahoots with the Bush administration to torture people.
• Correction:  It’s not really torture.  They had doctors present.  Or maybe it was torture and those weren’t really doctors.
• It’s shad season in Washington.
• Princess and the Frog!  This year!

A few months after giving the orchids a good ass freezing, I’ve learned a thing or two from my charges.

Listen, that was pretty egregious treatment but we’ll forgive your transgression this time.

They’re not orchids, they’re pansies. 45 degrees was perfect.

We have no knowledge of the previous tenant. We have nothing to do with their disappearance. Keep the water coming though.

*Not available for comment.

When I started at my job two and a half years ago, I joined a team of five people. One woman left and one woman came. One intern came and went. One woman left. Another woman left. One intern came. One man left. One woman left. And today I learned, another man is about to leave. So if your head hasn’t spun yet, we’re down to me and the intern. There are no more people left from the original team. Not quite the revolving door I thought it to be. More like a one way street.

This dish is easy. Come to think of it, everything I share here is relatively easy to make. But easy can be very delicious too, like these garlicky buttery shrimp! These came piping hot out of the oven.

1. For peel-and-eat shrimp, I like to get the biggest shrimp I can find.  Any smaller and I tend to just eat their shells because I’m part goat.
2. Clean and de-vein the shrimp.
3. Toss minced garlic into the shrimp.  4-5 tablespoons of it.  More if you like.
4. Add black pepper.  You don’t have to use the fancy fresh out of the peppermill type.  I just dumped in about a half a tablespoon to a tablespoon of that regular ground pepper.  This isn’t fancy.   I mean, it can be, but it doesn’t need to be.
5. Cut a few pats of butter and lay them atop the pile of shrimp.
6. Cover and bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes.  (Depends on how many shrimp you have.)
7. Peel, dip into the garlicky sauce, and eat.

One of the tastiest foods I got from the farmer’s market in Berkeley was slow roasted tomatoes. It didn’t look too hard to replicate so we tried it at home. They go great in sandwiches or just by themselves. My mom & I finished this tub in a matter of minutes with some of the leftover bread from Chez Panisse.

1. Cut tomatoes into thick half-inch slices. Rub them with a little salt and roast them in the oven at 350 F.  You might want to put some oil on the bottom of the pan to keep the tomatoes from sticking to the bottom.
2. Chop garlic and basil finely
3. Combine the garlic with the basil in a large bowl and add the tomatoes.
4. Stir in the olive oil and add some pepper. The tomatoes from our grocery stores are picked green and more acidic so we added some sugar too.
5. Let it cool, then refrigerate.

The first time I tried chai was with a friend at Starbucks I believe, back in 2002. So even though I don’t really know what chai is supposed to taste like, I like it anyway. Since then, I’ve been on some kind of mission to find good chai. I’ve forgotten all the various brands and types I’ve tried. There was a powder and liquid form from Trader Joe’s. Tea bags are better. But every time I think I found a great one, I find another seemingly better one. Honest Tea’s version is very mild for example, but still good. I found Zhena’s Gypsy Tea at Berkeley Bowl in California. I’m sure they sell it here too in some obscure store somewhere. I’ll probably have to look around. But this chai is very very good. I’m reluctant to say it’s the best I’ve had thus far because it could be the recency effect. Besides, I can’t recall the past ones I’ve tried. But then again, I haven’t purchased them again either so they probably can’t be all that great right? I did get more Honest Tea chai teabags but that’s it. For now, I think I’m sticking with this one until I find another brand. It’s very flavorful like the Starbucks version, but without the syrupy sweetness.

Ingredients for the Gypsy King Chai (the coconut chai is similar, just with added coconut flavoring): Black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom pods, whole cloves, orange peels, nutmeg, black pepper

Who cares about basketball anyway? I LOST the know-nothing bracket! I was winning up until the Final Four and then *poof* my chances disappeared when Villanova lost to UNC. I am done. Done with NCAA. Done with college basketball. Next year, my pretties… I’ll get you next year!!