Category Archives: weekend

Bettas!

Posted by Leaf on March 18, 2012 None comments

Meet Chara!
Chara

And his frenemy, Attila!
Atilla

We drove all the way to Lancaster, PA to check out That Fish Place and it’s not what it was 6 or 7 years ago I tell ya. This store used to be an aquarium hobbyist’s mecca. It’s now just your run of the mill pet store. I didn’t find a single thing I was looking for except for 25 lb. bags of chinchilla food.

Camel Shrimp
We also bought 3 camel shrimp and about a half dozen hermit crabs. Their saltwater stock had a lot of aiptasia, which is supposed to be an undesirable saltwater creature. At any rate, it was a fun day trip to Lancaster despite the poor turnout at the store. Not to be discouraged, we headed to a local aquarium shop, Congressional Aquarium, and picked up these 2 bettas. They’re doing okay so far. I also got a clump of java moss which I’m keeping separately in the 10 gallon tank.

Aquariums

Posted by Leaf on March 12, 2012 None comments

This past weekend, we went to salvage all the old dusty fish stuff I accumulated years ago when I dabbled in fish-keeping. I picked up a 2.5 gallon bowl and tank, and a 10 gallon tank. I also grabbed 2 air pumps, 3 heaters, a hang-on-back filter, and some old coconut shells my dad sawed into little betta hideouts. These things have been out of commission for at least 6 or 7 years so everything was dusty and groady and filled with bug carcasses and cobwebs.

I brought them back and stuck them in the shower and gave them a good scrubdown and even boiled some water to sanitize things.

See? Good as new!
Bowl

All that’s missing is the fish.

Betta News

Posted by Leaf on March 6, 2012 None comments

Last weekend, our neighbors got new bookcases and offered us their old one. I’d been eyeing their space saving corner hugging bookshelf for years. And it’s even better than I hoped for. In fact, it’s so space saving that we have room for a little fishbowl. And what better fish to keep in said bowl than a betta?
Gosh it’s been how many years since I’ve kept bettas? Maybe it was 8 or 9 years ago. At the peak of my obsession, I had somewhere around 11 or 12. I even bred them once upon a time. This time around, I’m not trying to breed them or get a dozen fish in separate tanks. I want one. Or two, maybe. Let’s not get carried away again, and besides we haven’t the space.

Channeling Patti Stanger

Posted by Leaf on February 28, 2012 None comments

I went to our rec room this Sunday and happened to see a neighbor there shooting pool by himself. It was one of those walk-bys where I wanted to go in the rec room only if it was empty cuz I’m antisocial that way. Since he saw me looking in, it was too late to back out because it would’ve appeared rude to just turn around upon seeing him there. When I went in, I reminded myself that sometimes, people just want to be alone and do their own thing, y’know? So even though I knew I was probably being an annoyance, I thought it would be again, rude, if I didn’t acknowledge his presence by making small pleasantries. So I made nice and chatted a bit and he was friendly and for some reason I thought he was married but when I asked about his wife, he said he wasn’t. So then I got it into my brain that he’d be perfect for my coworker so I was all, hey are you interested in dating or looking? I can throw a party and introduce you to someone I know. And he was like, nah. And I was all bummed but then I think I might have made him uncomfortable cuz he left shortly thereafter. Anyway, in hindsight I don’t think they’re a good fit, but why did I do that?! I am such a doof sometimes!! FILTER!! It was one of those moments I could hear myself talking but couldn’t stop my mouth!

Super Bowl Dinner

Posted by Leaf on February 7, 2012 4 comments

For this year’s Super Bowl Sunday, I made chicken wings using this Buttermilk Roast Chicken recipe I had tried a week or so ago.

I had originally done it using drumsticks as the recipe recommended and it was very simple (which is why I attempted it in the first place) and very tasty. The only thing I changed was, I added cayenne pepper to make it a little bit spicy. Result: I tasted the small kick but the spicy-eaters barely detected it. So Sunday, when I decided to make this again with wings, I decided to really kick up the heat with tons of cayenne pepper and Sriracha!
Buttermilk marinade
Let the chicken marinate in this buttermilk spice mix for a day or so.

Also, veering from the recipe, I coated it with corn starch mixed with Adobo seasoning
Coat with corn starch

and pre-fried the wings before baking them for about a half hour at 400 degrees.
Fried Chicken Wings

They came out crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Fried Chicken Wings
A little bit spicier this time, but again, not very spicy overall. I think buttermilk has a way of cooling off the heat. Next time I make this, if I really want it more spicy, I’ll add cayenne to the seasoned corn starch and try the hot sauce we got from the Virgin Islands.
I got tired of frying them and baked about a third of the wings without pre-frying.
Buttermilk Roasted Chicken
They were good too.
We also had a beef chili going in the slow cooker all day. This dish came out really good, like real chili! Maybe because I didn’t make it. I think in the past, I’d been putting in too much crap in my chili. This had beef, tomato paste, salsa, onions, tons of garlic, salt, mushrooms, kidney beans, scallions, three fresh chili peppers in it and a lot of cayenne. That’s it! It was quite spicy but so yummy. And another sign that I didn’t make it, it actually fits in the Crock Pot!
Chili
You know if I had made it, it would’ve grown into a dish big enough to feed us for two weeks. We were going to add tomatoes but Whole Foods forgot to bag our tomatoes at the check out! Boo. I think this is the second time they’ve done this reverse-shoplifting to us.
I can’t say much about the game but the food sure was good.

Pinzimini

Posted by Leaf on February 6, 2012 None comments

We’ve been trying to explore our hometown a little every weekend. Food-wise mainly. Just about every weekend, is a new find and I’m actually getting more and more impressed with the food around here. This surprising find is located in a Westin hotel. Who knew a hotel restaurant would be so good, but it was. It was also very empty and therefore very intimate and the service was attentive, not overbearing though. We got there at 11:40 so we ordered one breakfast entree and then at 11:50 ordered a lunch entree. Technically lunch isn’t available until noon. For breakfast we got a Florentine egg white frittata and potatoes. The potatoes were seasoned well and tasted like fries. Lunch was a spicy Italian sausage panini with a leek and potato soup and a caesar salad. Their caesar salad was really delicious and it had a generous amount of anchovies! Yum! We polished off breakfast and lunch and even splurged on a pear cake with white chocolate shavings and ice cream. We’re definitely coming back here because they have an oyster happy hour on Friday evenings. Come to me little oysters!

Gaming

Posted by Leaf on January 8, 2012 2 comments

When the weather outside is frightful, we like to stay in and play games. The latest one we bought this week was San Juan.
San Juan
We played it a little in Taiwan and because this one can be a two to four player game, we decided it was good to have for just the two of us. Also, it’s basically a card game so it’s very compact and portable. I even played a four player round myself once. It’s quite a simple game to pick up and much faster than something like Settlers of Catan. It’s a neat little game we enjoy muy mucho!

Business as usual

Posted by Leaf on December 9, 2011 None comments

Coming back from vacation feels so… so something. I mean I’m glad to be back in the comfort of home but it’s a bit of a jolt having to go back to sitting at my desk for hours at a time again. At least it’s the end of the week.

Game Night!

Posted by Leaf on November 20, 2011 None comments

Saturday, we hosted another game night with the cousins. It was 7 Wonders and Catan until 4 AM this time!! Fun times. I was so fritzed out by the end of it though, I don’t think I could even see straight. This was after drinking coffee throughout the evening. After a while, caffeine just doesn’t do a thing. I’m still a bit out of sorts today.

I got to learn some new names though. “Luck box” – someone who is lucky. That’s all I can remember.

The next day, our cousin treated us to Tachibana. It was delicious. I got the rice bowl which was filled with egg, onion, and chicken. It was kind of sweet and very tasty. Next time, I want to try their ramen.

Non-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner!

Posted by Leaf on November 14, 2011 None comments

We celebrated this Thanksgiving a week early at a cousin’s house this past Sunday. There was turkey, smoked and roasted, vegetables, dressing, trifle. Food galore! I went in like I usually do, in my battle gear, stretchy jeans. If I was really serious though, I would’ve worn sweatpants. I wanted to reserve a little dignity though. Or try.

I loved meeting cousin’s 2 English bulldogs and cat. All three such sweet furballs of softness. The dogs were so loveable with their ugly smooshed noses, tongue too big for the mouth so it rested between its underbite jaw, right between the 2 canines, and funny butt wiggling gait. I need one!! NEEED!!
Mr. T
After dinner we watched some football and then were sent home with leftovers. I had it all over again for lunch today. Delish! Smoked turkey is awesome. Anyway, I think I like this method of celebrating Thanksgiving, doing it on another weekend. There was no traffic whatsoever, and I bet the grocery stores weren’t as crazy.

Did I mention the flappy jowls!?!