By my limited potlucking experience, there’s almost always too much food at potlucks because the guests bring enough to feed everyone and then some. For example, last night, our party of 8 people wound up with 64 portions of food at least. That’s a lot of food.
It was a small classmate reunion with a potluck at Crotchety Bichon’s house. Sheru is still crotchety by the way. We just leave him alone and he learns to put up with us.

I didn’t notice last night but just mentally trying to count how many people were there, I realized we were all Asians, all immigrants, except one guy. No wonder conversation steered to why-the-single-people-aren’t-married-yet. How kids back in the old country don’t have manners anymore and it’s the emigrants who retained the old-world customs in the new country. And only one of us remembered to bring wine! Our trusty young partier brought in one bottle of wine and said there was another bottle in her car if we wanted more. 5 minutes later, she offered that there were 2 more bottles in her car. We all know she probably drives around with a case of wine in her car, prepared at any moment to throw a party. Namaste!

Don’t be fooled by his lazy daisy, I-have-big-cute-eyes demeanor. He’s an attack dog.

My friend came over with her family for brunch this morning. I made fried rice and dumplings (store-bought). It was only a few weeks ago that we met the one year old who could barely stand. He was good at crawling, but today he was tottering down the hallway with a cantaloupe. It’s amazing, like a switch from crawling to walking. The older one, four, was into Scooby Doo. The kid’s got good taste in cartoons. He also likes Spongebob Squarepants. Another good one. After lunch, while J, the 4 year old played YouTube Scooby theme songs in various languages, my friend and I couldn’t help ourselves from talking about work. We had to get in a few rants about the juvenile behavior of the 50/60 some year old boys we work with. After they left the whole place suddenly felt quiet. Too quiet. I almost wanted to go on YouTube again to play the Scooby Doo theme song .

It’s 3PM. When I go home, I will make sure to finish one of the opened bottles of Passover wine. I am toasting to Friday. Toasting to April. Toasting to good weather. Toasting to the end of a crazy week. You know that feeling when you’re all stressed and wound up all week and then Friday comes and you just collapse into a heap of relief? Yeah. I’m toasting to that feeling of relief. To top it off I was so moody earlier this week due to crazy ass hormones. I was like pissy, tired, stressed, grumpy. Yeah all’a that. Today, I am going to leave the office before the sun sets. And I’m toasting to that too.

We had fun watching the Capitals practice last time so we headed that way again this morning to see another practice session.  Last time, there was maybe only half of the team because we got there late, but this time, the whole team was there including Coach Boudreau.  He actually took to the ice and did some coaching.  Laich came early and left early probably because he was still nursing an injury.  Towards the end, Alex Ovechkin and his teammates were goofing off, egging each other on trying to make fancy shots, and playing to the crowd which was surprisingly large.  It was a fun practice session to watch.

After, we went for a lunch of saltenas and soup.  It was chilly today so the hot soup helped thaw me out a bit.  Saltenas are pretty much empanadas and they reminded me of Australian meatpies.  Very tasty.  I did have my camera with me but I was too hungry to stop for photos.

Next it was off to El Chaparral Meat Market.  We got t-bone steaks and delmonicos for dinner tonight with friends.  Since the Whole Foods was next door, we went there next to grab the rest of the ingredients to put together tonight’s meal for our guests.  After all was said and done, we started with a tomato and bell pepper soup (I cheated and got it from Costco, it was good though!), then (served family-style) mushrooms cooked in a red wine sauce, spinach noodle kugel, mashed potatoes, steak, and for dessert, sweet mung bean soup and brownies from our guests.

After, we played Raving Rabbids on the Wii.

This counts as my 2010 list of things to do – entertaining friends.  I’d like to do this more often.  In fact, next weekend will be another set of friends.  I’m a bit worried though because this time, there will be two young children.  I hope I can make something they’ll eat.  Then again, I was a bit worried about this dinner too.  Cooking for others is kind of putting yourself out there.  At least it seems so to me.  I want my guests to enjoy the food and have a good time and I think we did tonight.

Every weekend for the past 3 weekends, I have been doing my taxes. I’ve done it five times now and gotten 4 different results. I can’t use the repeated answer because I know the mistake in both of those. Yesterday, before doing my taxes I putzed around for a good bit. I tended the plants (Farmville and real life), cooked, ate, entertained the chinchillas, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, wiped the windows, cleaned the blinds. This place is going to shine like the top of the Empire State Building! … by the time my taxes are done. Today I need to do it again to double check what I did yesterday! AAAGGHHH!! I’m so sick of typing in my W-2s for what feels like the jillionth time! In the meantime, I’ve done laundry, even folded and ironed shirts! ME! IRON!! Unheard of. That’s how much I am hating taxes right now. Dishes are loaded in the dishwasher, plants are watered. Chinchillas have busted loose. And I’m thinking of hiring a tax accountant.

Update: I just vacuumed the place again. Then I put another layer of topsoil over the pots filled with peat. Then I watered everything again. No plants in them yet. Just prepping for the seedlings. I think I see some streaks on the windows still.

Update: Vacuumed floor again. Mopped floor again. Did taxes for the 7th time. Am officially a tax dunce! I dunno, I might wear out this floor by the time this tax season is over.

I haven’t stepped outside today yet but I’ve noticed that it’s kinda’ dark indoors even with the shades open. What a glum day. Though it does feel Spring-like to be getting these rains. Actually it makes me want to start my garden soon! All this free watering happening and I’m missing out. So with the rain, today’s get-to-do activities consisted of cleaning the shower, toilet, floors, and tables. I broke another item. A statue. Dearie me, at this point, I don’t know what to say anymore. I had no idea I was so good at breaking things. It’s like a newly found talent. Who knows how long those six bowls will last. I’m putzing around doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen and eating snacks to further slow down my tax filing. I’m torturing myself with it. It’s not hard but so tedious. And I just don’t feel like typing in numbers anymore after doing that all week.

Let me go see what the animals are up to.

Putzing around, like me!

“Quit blogging and gimme more food woman!”

Update:
I was hoping to submit my taxes this afternoon but after doing it twice and getting two different results, I need to do it a third time! Dangit!

Update 2:
Ahmigawd!! No charm doing it a third time. Now I have three different results!! GAAAAh!!!
That’s it. I can’t do this anymore. I will have to finish it another time.

Update 3:
I got a repeat result! 2nd and 4th try were a match. Whew! Though based on this bad track record, I think I might do it again. Just to mess with myself. Later, with a fresh brain.

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.

Yesterday, my friend’s 4 year old son randomly asked, “Mommy, what’s a slow day?” Kids ask such random questions. She made something up off the cuff, it’s a day where you can relax. You don’t have to do anything. There’s no school.
Today would be my slow day. Very slow day. I had a list of get-to-do’s I wanted to tackle but decided to just leave them. Aside from the necessaries like laundry, the floors don’t have to be cleaned. The taxes can wait. And so can the filing. I’m just going to enjoy my slow day.

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.

Happy Lunar New Year! I come back from Florida and what do I see? More snow! Not enough to keep me from going to work tomorrow though. Durnnit. Ah well. I guess 10 days off was a good run.

Where do I start with this trip?
Food.

Manatees.

Food.

Olympics.

Cruise. (This is Thomas Edison’s house, tucked in the trees with the red roof.)

Parade.

Food.

The amazing view.

Wonderful!

There was tons more food but these were all I captured. The rest flew into my belly before the shutter even had a chance.