leafing through

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.

Left the house today at 9:30 AM and returned at 7:30 PM. It’s now close to 12:30 and I am plumb worn out. Started the day with brunch at a friend’s house to meet her family and have lunch with them. We had bagels and cream cheese, something she made called “Christmas Bake” (bacon, eggs, cheese… need I continue?) and spinach kugel. They have a mean cat, a super affectionate dog, and 2 cute little boys, 4 and 1. The 1 year old is a cuddlebug and couldn’t care less if you were a stranger or not, he’ll come up and cuddle or hug you. After that, it was shopping from one store to another. Balducci’s. Costco. An Asian market. Dinner at Cava (delicious!). Home Depot. Office Depot. Then after I returned it was Olympics and cooking. I have to shorten the description of my shopping because reliving it is tiring. As much as I enjoy cooking and shopping most of the time, doing these marathon shopping trips can be tiring. Especially the part about Costco on Saturday.

I wanted to make a few dishes tonight so they could marinade in the sauce over night. I’m hoping the flavors will have a chance to absorb and blend better.

The first was a bean salad. Canned beans (any kinds you like), chopped red onion, lime juice, salt & pepper, Adobo (optional), cilantro, olive oil. The recipe had called for edamame but all the ones sold at the Asian market were from China and you know I’m not gonna eat that.

The next dish was this curry which started out small and wound up being a potful as most of my dishes generally turn out. This came from desultory thoughts.
In a blender: ginger, onion, coconut milk, garlic, lime juice, salt, and curry powder. Or food processor. Add cayenne too if you want a bit of spicy.
Cook the chicken until it’s just done, set it aside, saute some onions, add curry sauce and more curry powder, then add carrots and peas, any other vegetables then chicken. Simmer.

Being the lazy cook that I am, I didn’t set aside the meat. I just pan fried it in oil. Then added onions, then the vegetables, then poured in the food processor sauce.*

Oh, look. From Home Depot. Them chinchillas are chewing on the wood around their room! But it was either the painter’s tape or …
This! Do I hear a collective “Awww…”? The wooden house chew toy has cut down on the chewing a bit but Marco is unstoppable, as shown here.

*Update on the curry: Veggies in the curry will add a natural sweetness to the sauce. Add some cayenne to balance it out. I like a bit of spicyness to my curries anyway. If you like a thicker sauce like I do, use some corn starch. Also, next time I might add lemongrass. And go ahead and make a ton of curry for extra leftovers. It seems to get better the next day, and the next day, and the day after that. The flavors just meld and absorb more.

No car = no shopping! (Well, no money can generate that same effect too.) Who knew it could be so simple? I miss shopping though. Very, very much. Thankfully, I make up for it on the weekends and so far, it’s mostly just groceries and basic necessities. Yes, I needed 500 lbs of oatmeal. Thanks Costco. That place can be so counter productive sometimes (I have no space to keep this crap!), yet I keep going back. Why is that? I would like to meet their marketing genius. What is it with largeness and excess that makes it so appealing?  So this weekend, being snowed in, there was no shopping.  Just a lot of browsing online and pretending like I’m gonna get something.  And today, no work!  Yay!  I guess I’ll be staying home and eat, eat, eating some more!  I can’t even remember what I did all day yesterday aside from watching TV and eating.

UPDATE:
Why do I always do this?  Every time I blog that I’m not going to do something, I do it right after.  I say I’m quitting coffee and right as I hit publish, I’m brewing a big pot.  And in the same breath I say I’m not shopping, I hit the Order button.  It was for the chinchillas though, so that doesn’t really count.  Gina has a leaky water bottle, and that won’t be good for being away on an extended weekend, even if the neighbors are checking up on them.  What if they forget?  So while I’m at it, if I’m gonna place an order, I might as well get some more bedding, a coupla’ toys and maybe a bunch of timothy hay for them to munch on.

T3 Bespoke Featherweight Tourmaline Professional Ionic Ceramic Hair Dryer

This thing is the bomb! It’s quiet and powerful and makes blowdrying quick and easy. With all my other hairdryers, I just stand there waving the thing around in the hopes that my hair will airdry before my arms fall off. This one I wave around a few times and done. Plus it’s so light my arms barely feel it. It’s even bedazzled on the handle. That’s all you really need to know, it’s bedazzled.

Sunday was more more clothes shopping (all Winter season items are on sale now) paired with more unshopping (dropped off three large bags of clothes to donate), and more grocery shopping.

I got this new bag for hauling the big hulking camera. It fits well and doesn’t look camera-bag-like.

Stop 0 – Gym
Stop 1 – Goodwill for some un-shopping.
Stop 2 – Oriental Market (wasabi peas, dried cuttlefish, and ginger candies).
Stop 3 – CVS (band-aids, cotton swabs, and beautifying products).
Stop 4 – A late dimsum for lunch at 2 pm – as soon as we sat down, all the carts descended upon us hawking whatever was remaining. Nevertheless, I hadn’t had it in a while so it was good.
Stop 6 – Home Depot for a closet rod and cleaning products and to ogle at their sample kitchen displays.
Stop 7 – Furniture store to browse for bookcases.
Stop 8 – GStreet Fabrics – basic black and white thread. You never know when you might need to sew something up in a pinch.
Stop 9 – Starbucks!! Dimsum induced food-coma.
Stop 10 – Shoppers Food Warehouse for everything else that the Asian market didn’t have.
Stop 11 – Marshall’s for a vegetable peeler and potato masher. Came out with scented drawer liner and the vegetable peeler.
Stop 12 – Ross because Marshall’s didn’t have the masher I was looking for. Came out with a bath mat and masher.
Stop 13 – Petco – Marco and Gina’s bedding.
Stop 14 – Pit stop at home to drop everything off, have a snack and light dinner of mashed potatoes and leftover stir-fried vegetables and more coffee.
Stop 15 – Ice skating with friends!
Stop 16 – Jaleo for dessert and sangria (and more coffee). Brrr… it was freezing cold this evening!
And finally, home again. Whew!

I got a new computer! It’s so fast! My last desktop was six years old and the speed difference was so stark the first time I tried transferring photos from my SD card to the computer, my jaw dropped. I was ready to walk away and go do other stuff but the transfer happened in a second or two.

Ok so the setup isn’t exactly OSHA compliant or ergonomically acceptable for the long haul but I’ll get the desk soon. In the meantime, I’m sitting on the floor craning my head to blog. I don’t care right now though, it’s so unbelievably fast!!

Look at this big hulking camera! I LOVE IT!!! It’s a gift to myself. Just charged the battery last night and I’ll test it out today.

Oh, and after all that load of crockery on choosing healthy foods, I had Five Guys for lunch yesterday. It was delicious! I love their fries!

Taking public transportation to work has not only helped me save money on gas, but it’s helped me financially in other ways too like no more impulse shopping. I realized, having a car handy almost cries out for me to go shopping. One time, I worked somewhere where my daily commute to and from work had me passing through strip malls with Ann Taylor, Banana, Gap, TJ Maxx, Barnes & Noble. Every day!! The temptation was more than I could bear, I would stop buy at least once a week to shop after work. I blew my per diem on so many things.

These days, I don’t have that luxury because taking public transportation means I have to either do a lot of walking to cover that “last mile” or just forgo shopping. So I fill up my gas tank about once a month and have extra disposable income to splurge in the occasional earring. See, I knew I could work in another earring picture!

Had I not said anything you would never have guessed these were $15! I would’ve preferred silver round ones but bargain hunters can’t be too picky. Plus they’re so bright and sparkly that you can barely make out their shape. I’ve been on an earring shopping kick lately. Macy’s has a 50% off sale and I just can’t help myself. Lately, every time I see a Macy’s it’s all I can think about: earrings!